Wordless Wednesday – The Yawn Monster

my yawn is a rawrrrr

Watch This: Inside Animal Minds

Do you ever wonder why your dogs do some of the things they do? Why they roll around in the grass or how they can seem to sense when someone is about to come home?

Well, this documentary does not have the answers. But it’s got some interesting theories.

It’s called Inside Animal Minds; Dogs and Super Senses, and the basic premise is that to understand how animals think about and experience the world, we have to examine how they sense it. For instance, it posits the idea that perhaps dog can use their amazing sense of smell as a sort of clock. It’s not a fully formed theory or anything, and they admit that, but it’s a fun idea.

The documentary does not focus solely on dogs; it also talks about dolphins and their echolocation ability, sharks’ magnetic sense, and birds’ sight, all of which I also found pretty cool. And if that kind of stuff sounds interesting to you, I recommend the entire documentary.

But if you are only interested in the dog parts, the sense of smell is explored from the beginning until 12:26. And then it picks back up with talking about wolves, and some similarities and differences between wolves and dogs, at minute 32:52.

It’s really a very compelling and informative video, and if you like learning about dogs – their history, evolution, science, behavior – I highly recommend watching this!

Plus, it’s got some pretty cute footage.

STOP DRAGGING YOUR DOG

I can’t stand people who don’t treat their dogs right. I mean, who can, really? Unless you’re one of them.

“Them” includes people who leave their dogs tied up outside all day like a lawn ornament. And people who scream at their dog for every apparent wrong doing.

And especially people who drag their poor dog around on its leash.

The latter is a disturbingly common occurrence. I see it all the time; people who don’t have the patience or kindness to get their dog to move any other way besides yanking them by the collar around their neck.

Don’t get me wrong – I know there are times when you really don’t have any choice but to give the leash a little pull. Sometimes you just need to get your dog to move along from that blade of grass they’ve been sniffing for the last three minutes. Or, you know, keep them from chasing a squirrel into oncoming traffic.

But to drag your dog by the neck because you’re too lazy to train them is just wrong. And you usually find that the person is giving their dog about 3% of their total attention – because they’re too busy (talking or texting or taking an artistic picture of a fallen leaf on the ground) to pay attention to the living creature at the end of that rope.

The other day, I was walking Michga and we saw another woman with her dog coming at us from the opposite direction. I should make it clear that this was a small dog, barely bigger than Michga and posing absolutely no threat to her. It was a fluffy little thing; looked like a Maltese with a puppy cut.

When this other little dog saw Michga, it tried to bound forward as fast as it could, tail wagging. You could practically see the inner dialogue of “friend, friend, friend, friend” running through its mind.

This other woman, who was talking on her cell phone, suddenly yanked the leash back and stopped the dog so violently that it nearly fell backwards. I stopped walking, preparing to go back the other way lest I get this poor dog any more excited. But it kept trying to get forward. The lady continued to yank on the leash, the next time actually succeeding in tumbling her dog backwards.

I just wanted to scream at this woman.

What the hell, lady? Are you consciously abusing your dog?

Did you try to verbally call you dog back? No. Did you simply hold the leash still so your dog couldn’t advance further? No. Did you try picking your dog up? Walking the other way? Even just telling your dog ‘stop’? Nope. You just stood in the same spot, talking on you cell phone and ripping you dog back, either not caring or not considering that that’s a living thing you’re tearing around by the neck.

I’m not saying she shouldn’t have stopped her dog from running forward, but there are less harmful ways. If she must stop the leash, okay, but to yank it back so violently that her dog topples over – twice – is just cruel.

I just – I do not understand how someone could think this is an acceptable way to walk their dog. They act like it’s a doll or a puppet or a pet rock. I guess they either don’t think it can feel pain or they just plain don’t care.

michga is exasperated with this lady