Three Things

I just re-read the post about when to euthanize a dog on Ruffly Speaking, and though I've heard it before, she's a good writer, and puts it together well.

The most important thing, is to decide BEFORE your dog is old or sick, what gives him joy in life?  You need to pick 3 things that give him the most pleasure, and if he gets to the point where he can do only one or none of those things anymore, it's time to let him go.  If you decide before he gets sick, it's easier to have perspective later.

Since Bruno is in good health, I could pick his three things today:

1.  Hunting (especially rodents in long grass)

2.  Eating (especially cheese and liver and cookies)

3.  Playing  (especially ripping up kleenexes and tugging a rope)

If I could add a fourth and fifth, it would be going for walks, and greeting visitors.  He gets very excited to do those things too.

Anyway, if at some point he gets to where he can still eat, but it hurts too much to walk, hunt, or play, I'll know it's time.  Or if he will still go on walks, but has no enthusiasm for hunting or eating, I'll know it's time.

What are your dog's 3 things?

Sad-ish news

My mother just called to tell me that her mother passed away today, about 2 hours ago.  (This is NOT the same "grandma" I mentioned in my previous post, that's my dad's mother.)

Am I a jerk for not feeling sad?  Or has it just not hit me yet?  I remember her as a crabby old lady, but she loved her cat, and gave me a bunch of kitchen stuff once for helping her move into a new apartment.  All her grandkids called her "Gersher" which was short for Grandma Shirley.  One time she was babysitting me and my younger sister when we were small, and I brought a "pet slug" into the house, in a jar.  She got angry and flushed it down the toilet.  My sis actually remembers this better than I do, but it makes me laugh a little today...

When my mom told me that Gersh died, Mom sounded sad, but more relieved.  (I hope I'm not reading that wrong...)  She had been in a care facility for a long time, was depressed, very disabled from a stroke, and in the past few days, had become unable to eat or drink.  Her quality of life was basically zero.  The last time I saw her was Mother's Day, when she was confined to a wheelchair, but could still talk a little, and swallow liquids.  She had gone downhill from there.

Since her family are Christian Scientists (sorry, that wikipedia page is not well written, but is a decent overview if you're not familiar with that sect) they didn't do any heroic measures to prolong her life, they just tried to keep her comfortable. For a person who never went to a doctor her whole life, never used any medicine, she did okay- she lived a long time and was quite healthy until a few years ago.   This morning, both my mother and my aunt visited her before she died.  It was after they left, but it sounds like she went peacefully.

Rest in peace, Gersher.   I hope there are cats in heaven...

So why?

A couple days ago, I watched the first episode of the new season of "Dogs 101" on Animal Planet with my grandmother.  One of the featured breeds was the American Pit Bull Terrier, and though they mentioned that yes, it is a strong dog, very tenacious, very energetic, and when trained to fight it can be dangerous (like ANY dog) all the pits they showed were loving, sweet, well-trained dogs. (Of course.)

So my grandma said, "So why do they have such a bad reputation?"

I replied, "Media hysteria."

I just read a post on No Kill Nation that got me thinking a little deeper.  Of course, media hysteria is number one reason pit bulls have a bad rap.  Whenever a dog attacks someone, if it is even a POSSIBLE pit mix, it will be labeled a pit bull. And any dog with short, smooth hair and a blocky head will be labeled a pit, even if breed-experienced people can see that it is a mix, or a completely unrelated breed.  More people get killed by lightning than dog attacks, but even the small number of serious dog attacks has thrown the nation into a panic.

No Kill Nation's point of view (and I think they are correct) is that intact, unneutered dogs, and chained, neglected dogs are responsible for almost every fatal attack.  The mix of hormones and frustration, plus the complete lack of social contact, lead to crazed killers. (Rarely!  Think of how many neglected pitbulls there are, and how FEW go bad.)   Pits are the number 1 most neglected dog in America, I feel.  And legislation is NOT HELPING.  Stricter dog control laws lead to MORE dogs being neglected, because if you can't take your pit bull out in public without a muzzle, and he must be kept in a maximum-security enclosure when he's at home, who's going to bother with socialization?

Pits are not my cup of tea when it comes to dogs, honestly, but that's mostly aesthetic.  All the ones I've met were sweet-as-pie goofballs, not killers.  It really hurts when I hear people say bad stuff about them. For example, my ex-boyfriend has a dog that's 1/2 pit, 1/2 blue heeler. She's extremely obedient and loyal, good with dogs, cats, chickens, kids, you name it.  But when he first got her, I told my aunt that he had bought a 1/2 pit puppy and she said, "Why'd he get a dog like THAT? A pit bull?" with a frown.  My dad has a dog that is (to me at least) obviously a pit mix, but his wife insists that it is a Mastiff or Ridgeback or Boxer mix instead of the dreaded "p-word," because such a friendly dog could never be part pit, no sirree! (insert sarcasm.)

And then you have people like Terrierman saying that only gangbangers and wannabes have pitbulls, which is so not true.  (Way to go! Perpetuating stereotypes again!  While he occasionally says something insightful, Terrierman has his head up his butt on the issue of pits.) Lots of normal people have well-behaved "pibbles", which of course doesn't make the news because it's not exciting.    

I don't quite know where I'm going with this, but it frustrates me that so many people, even dog lovers, have fallen for the media hype about these dogs.  They're just dogs, people! A dog is what you make of it, and if you neglect it and abuse it, sometimes they snap.  That's just elementary psychology.

I want this kitty...

I really, really do.

My mother fostered his litter, and he is the last one left- I can't believe no one wants this little cutie!  He's obviously a Siamese mix of some kind, but without the grating "mrow" noises.  He's pretty quiet, and very purrrrrr-y and playful, which is a big change from how he was several weeks ago- terrified of all humans, covered in fleas, belly distended from all his worms.  He's a real handsome little guy now! He is batting at my fingers while I type, it's so adorable it's ridiculous.

If I could get a cat, I would so take him, but I don't think he would be safe with Bruno. (Who is, as I type this, staring daggers at the purring kitten on my lap, and no doubt thinks of him as prey. We joked about "snack size cats" but it's really no joke.  Kitten is NOT allowed on the floor while Bruno is in the room.) Bruno has improved HUGELY in his behavior around cats, but I would never trust him unsupervised.

So Mom, if you are reading this (and I know you do!) I say to heck with finding this one a home.  Can you find room for one more in your flock of cats?

To explain...

The reason I have zero posts for a week and then a whole bunch at once is because I don't have internet at home, and don't like to waste gas to drive to a wifi hotspot. We live in a rural area, and it's about 5 miles to closest spot, and about 15 to my favorite one, the public library.  

I write blog entries on my computer when I think of something, and then upload them all at once when I can.

I guess in training language, I'm "intermittently reinforcing" my readers- usually there is nothing new, but once in a while- JACKPOT!  (This method actually leads to the strongest response on the trainee- it's why slot machines are so popular...)

Pottery News!

So, while it was cold and wet, I used the opportunity to fire some pots I made earlier this summer.  I like to use primitive wood-firing for my pots, because it’s quick, simple (though much more complex than just popping them in a kiln and pressing ‘start”) and it makes them look FABULOUS.

A shiny black tea bowl- ignore the George Forman grill in the background...

The variable atmosphere in the firing (oxidation versus reduction) and the trace minerals from the ash, and carbon from the smoke, all combine to create beautiful, unpredictable, “fire cloud” markings on the pots.  Oxygen brings out the red of the iron oxide in the red clay, lack of oxygen (reduction, in potter’s language) dulls the color and makes the blackest blacks and whitest whites. I LOVE the uncertainty of it- I can try to set it up to get good results, but you never know exactly how they’ll turn out, or even if they’ll survive- pots crack or even explode at much higher rates in primitive firing than kiln firing.

A bowl I made being removed from an outdoor pit firing- we used horse turds for fuel!

My firing chamber is my household woodstove- that’s why I had to wait for cool weather to fire.  For clay to become ceramic, it must reach at least 500 degrees F (but hotter is better, I aim for 1000F) A regular woodstove is quite capable of getting pots that hot.  My other option is outdoor pit firing, but it is still fire season here in the West, so all outdoor fires (other than barbecue grills) are illegal.

Pots in stove with fire merrily blazing...

A firing from start to finish takes 45 minutes-several hours.  The pots must be preheated on top of the stove before they are moved into the firebox, and then gradually heated by building the fire slowly. I know they are done when they are starting to glow- then I pile on a whole bunch of wood, get it blazing just to make sure. Then I let it die down.  For better fire clouds, I throw some crumbled-up punky wood (old, rotten stuff) onto the pots when they are still very hot, but the fire has mostly burned out.  It smokes like crazy! If I do it too soon, it burns up completely, and the pots don’t take any color. Too late, it doesn’t burn at all, and the pots don’t get any color that way either.  It’s a judgment call.  When done right, the carbon black color is absolutely bonded to the clay, sucked into its pores.  That’s what I aim for. 

Once they pots are cool enough to touch (well, sometimes I burn my hands because I’m impatient) I pull them out and rinse off the ashes in water.  Voila, beautiful handmade, primitive-fired pottery!

Tail Talk

It’s pretty obvious that a dog’s tail is a crucial element of his communication.  Even humans can read a lot of what dogs say with their tails, but we tend to miss the subtle things, and misinterpret some of the obvious ones.  A wagging tail does NOT always mean they are happy. 

As previously mentioned somewhere on here, I grew up with cats- different tail language altogether!  A cat’s tail wagging is a baaaaad sign- you are about to get swatted, make no mistake.

One thing I learned pretty quickly, when I first got a dog, is that a tail raised in the air, still or stiffly wagging, is not the same as the stiff upright cat tail (which is friendly, and how kittens greet their mother).  Stiff upright tails signal trouble brewing.  It is a sign of a dominant or wanna-be dominant dog- at best, it is one dog telling another, “I’m the boss,” and if the other dog agrees, it doesn’t go any further.  But sometimes it is a sign of a fearful dog who thinks that he must prevent the other dog attacking him by looking as big and scary as possible. This kind of dog is paranoid that the other dog will attack him, and can misinterpret friendly or neutral advances as aggression, and will aggress back in return. 

That’s the kind of dog Bruno is. At first I thought he was naturally dominant, the way people talk about Akitas (which he resembles) and was just intolerant of other dogs getting in his personal space.  This is how it usually goes when he meets a new dog- his tail is curled over his back, his hackles come up, and his posture is very stiff.  He will cautiously try to sniff the other dog, and it tries to sniff him.  At some point in the transaction, usually while the other dog is trying to sniff his butt, he whips around and goes ballistic- barking, snarling, rapidly biting the other dog over and over.  I can easily break it up, the other dog never appears to have actual wounds, but it’s scary and embarrassing. 

It got me thinking- does Bruno’s curled Spitz tail make communication harder for him?  A lot of the curled-tail breeds have reputations for being unfriendly to other dogs (Akita, Chow, Malamute, etc), so I wondered, maybe they can’t help it- other dogs might see them as trying to dominate simply because of their tail position.   Perhaps in Bruno’s early life, other dogs “put him in his place” for his tail being up, so he learned to pre-empt that and get them first. 

Or does having a curled tail actually make a dog feel more dominant?  What is the connection between mind and body here?  In the same way that forcing yourself to smile can make you feel better if you keep doing it…

I guess it goes without saying that I think tail docking is unethical not just because it causes pain, but because tails are so vitally important in dog communication.  

I need a new camera

Well, “need” is a bit strong. I would LIKE a new camera, because my current one is frustrating me to no end.  It’s a cheap Kodak point-n-shoot, and it takes 2 seconds after you push the button to capture the image, and FIVE seconds (one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, etc.) to be able to take another picture after that.  A lot can happen in 2 seconds or 5 seconds, I’m missing cool shots because I’m waiting for my stupid camera to catch up. (If I put it in ‘fast action mode” instead of full auto, it’s slightly better, but tends to make dull, dim images.)

For example, I was trying to capture the elegant (but also hilarious) way that Bruno chooses to exercise himself in our pasture.  He leaps about, pouncing on the grass, in a way that looks exactly like the “airs above the ground” exercise that high-school dressage horses do.  Like this:  

  

And here's Bruno's version... I didn't get a good up in the air shot, because he moves too fast.  These are take-offs and landings.

 

I don’t want to go all out and get a DSLR (even if I could afford it) I just want a better pocket-size camera that won’t cost me hundreds to replace if I drop it in a river (which actually happened to my first digital camera- whoops.)

Life Planning

So I have developed a new strategy (well, not new, really… what I have is new motivation.) 

I just read the FABULOUS book Excel-erated Learning. It’s a good overview of the current state in academic learning theory, (the study of how all organisms learn) specifically geared toward professional dog trainers with the goal to bring training practices into line with science. (To make training easier and less stressful for man and beast.)   I am not a pro trainer, but I loved it.  I am such a wonk at heart, it reminded me of how much I love psychology and the brilliance of a well-designed, well implemented experiment.(There are a lot of them referenced in the book.)  It made me want to be part of it all, back in the fray of academic life. 

My theory is that a lot of people who really love psychology (and are good at it) are those who are not naturally good with people- since we had to teach ourselves to understand other humans, it lays the framework for cataloguing and analyzing human behavior. (And animal behavior.) I could be wrong, but that’s my experience.  I was definitely a real dork growing up. (Still am, maybe…)

So my new plan is to work this fall, save up enough money to enroll in community college for the spring term, get as many credits as I can, and then transfer to one of the Oregon state universities and major in psychology, with a focus on learning theory.  This will take several years, but I think I could tolerate going back to school if I had a clear plan of what I’m working towards.