Trained dogs can easily distinguish dozens of different words of human speech. It is always a temptation to believe that they actually understand what these words mean, yet given the nature of their own communication system, the odds seem strongly against it.

Dogs have come to associate certain sounds with certain actions, but those associations are often extremely dependent upon other contextual cues that we may not be aware of. One way to show this is to try giving a dog a familiar command over an intercom. Even a command that the dog is highly motivated to carry out is often ignored unless it is accompanied by some additional cues in our body language.

Indeed, for all of the many continuities that link humans with nonhuman animals, one of the great discontinuities is the way we use language. Human infants, almost as soon as they begin to learn the names of things, take a manifest pleasure in using the name for its own sake. They will point to an object and say what it is - not because they want it, but for no other reason than to share the pleasure of calling the attention of another human mind to it. Even language-trained animals, such as chimpanzees, that have been taught to create "sentences" with computer symbols or sign language expend something very close to 100 percent of their utterances on demands for food, toys, or attention. There is no evidence that they have an independent notion of the symbols as standing for concepts. They have, rather, learned to manipulate series of symbols to get results. Dogs have certainly learned to look at us, or come, when we speak their name, but there is not a scrap of evidence that they grasp the notion that their name is their name, in the sense that it stands for or represents them.

Given all that, however, it certainly seems odd that dogs can distinguish words in human language. Studies by Russian speech scientists found that dogs can readily be trained to distinguish the vowels a and i produced by an audio synthesizer; even when the base pitch of the vowels was changed, the dogs had no trouble telling the two apart.

Dogs may often be confused by substitutions of one consonant for another - try saying "Fly clown" instead of "Lie down," and your dog will probably react exactly the same. But the ability to distinguish vowels depends on rather precise analysis or the higher-pitched resonances that accompany their base pitch. Dogs do not utter vowels themselves; why should they be able to tell them apart when we say them?

The simple and general explanation for this happy circumstance is that ears are older than speech. Mammalian ears have been around for tens of millions of years, and the ears of all mammals have much in common. Human speech, however, has been around for only 100,000 years or so, and the human vocal tract is a unique and late development. Only humans possess the vocal apparatus needed to generate the sounds of speech. 

 

New by laws!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

WHEN THE PET POLICE

RAID YOUR HOME

 

The Johannesburg metro council has implemented its new by-law imposing limits on the numbers of pets a household may care for despite strong public opposition.  No believable, rational, legally justifiable or constitutionally compliant reasons have been offered for this anti-animal by-law.  Animal welfare is covered by national legislation, the Animals Protection Act (APA) of 1964.  Environmental, health and noise by-laws already exist – therefore this is superfluous legislation.

The Johannesburg metro council has made it clear that the by-law has nothing whatsoever to do with animal welfare.

It is extremely disappointing to animal-lovers that the SPCA, to which the public has entrusted the safeguarding of the welfare of animals, is acting as an agent of the council in enforcing the head-count by-law.  The SPCAs are already massively overloaded with unwanted and abandoned animals and the noxious by-law will cause the euthanasia rate to soar even higher. The public should, as a moral imperative, adopt more homeless animals, not fewer.

Before the advent of the by-law, the SPCA was bound by the Animals Protection Act, sound legislation that empowered it to act only in instances of animal cruelty or neglect. Animals could be removed from a home only if immediate seizure was necessary because of their condition.  Any seizure had to be preparatory to a criminal prosecution in terms of the APA.  The animals could not be killed until after a successful prosecution in a court of law for cruelty or neglect.

The SPCA, in being prepared to act as the metro council’s “pet police”, has shown itself willing to remove from homes and kill healthy well-cared for and loved companion animals simply because they are in excess of the number arbitrarily set by the council.

The new numbers-limits by-law would evade the legal requirements for confiscation specified in the APA.  The lives of thousands of animals are put at risk by the implementations of these cruel by-laws.  And thousands of animals will be killed.  The SPCAs mission – preventing cruelty to animals and ensuring their welfare – has been made a mockery of and superseded by counting heads.

The metro council stated that it would only act on receiving complaints.  It takes only one anonymous call from a spiteful neighbour or family member to summon the “pet police” to do a head-count of animals. Any SPCA will confirm that the majority of calls received from the public are groundless and often vindictive.

The irrational numbers-limit by-law is unconstitutional and discriminates against less well-off people, who would not be able to afford a permit. Money wasted on expensive permits would be better spent on good quality pet food and veterinary services.

 

 

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN DEALING WITH AN SPCA OR CITY COUNCIL INSPECTION. 

1.       If the inspection is by an SPCA inspector in connection with an allegation of animal abuse or neglect, demand that you be shown a warrant, signed by a magistrate, authorising the inspection.  The warrant must include your address.  To obtain a warrant, an inspector must swear before a magistrate, under oath, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that animals at the given address are being abused or neglected.  If your animals are not abused or neglected, you have the option of complaining to the magistrate and querying the grounds used to obtain the warrant  The inspector will have to substantiate the grounds for suspecting abuse or neglect.  Do not confuse a magistrate’s letter of appointment, carried by all SPCA inspectors, with a magistrate’s warrant authorising an inspection of a specific premises.

2.       If the inspection is in terms of the Johannesburg by-law that restricts pet numbers, you may demand to be shown a letter of authority from the council in which the SPCA is authorised to enforce the by-law. If the inspection in terms of the by-law is by a council official, and not by the SPCA, presentation of a similar document, stating that the official is authorised to make the inspection, may be demanded.

3.       The SPCA has no authority to demand that a householder produce certificates of inoculation or sterilisation for pets – the inoculation and sterilisation of pets is to be encouraged, but failing to inoculate and sterilise is not a criminal offence – but the inspector is likely to make that demand. If it is refused, the threat (implied or explicit) is that you will not be given a permit

4.       In the event that you are found not to be in compliance with the by-law, you are entitled to a grace period of 30 days in which to comply.  Animals may not be removed until the expiry of the 30 days. The following is extracted from a sample letter supplied by the City of Johannesburg:

APPLICATION FOR A PERMIT IN TERMS OF SECTION 3 OF THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY BY-LAWS RELATING TO DOGS AND CATS (GN 1334 OF 2006): STAND 235 HIGHLANDS NORTH

You are obliged to apply for a permit in terms of the above By-laws as you are keeping a greater number of dogs on the abovementioned premises than the number permitted …

You are therefore required to submit your application to this Department within Thirty (30) days from the date of this letter in the prescribed format …

5.       Tell the inspector to return at an agreed time and date.  Make sure that you have at least one witness on hand when the inspector returns – preferably an attorney, preferably not a blood relative.

6.       Photograph the inspection, particularly the ransacking of cupboards and drawers,  breaking of furniture, physical violence by the inspector (who might be accompanied by the police, a health inspector or other council official, even by the fire department).  You have every right to record photographic evidence in your own home.  Keep a record of physical and verbal abuse.

7.       Get a lawyer.

 

 

 

The anti-animal by-law is eminently open to challenge in court on constitutional and other grounds in the opinion of advocates in Johannesburg and in Cape Town, where a similar by-law is to be promulgated.  Litigation is almost certain in Johannesburg and is probable in Cape Town.

 

Issued by United for Animals

unitedforanimals@wol.co.za

 

Stubborn dogs - a case of miscommunication!

Good one taken from one of the dog training secret web sites.

 

Do you ever ask your dog to do something, and he just doesn’t seem to listen?

 

Have you ever asked a friend to watch your new puppy shake, or lie down or sit on command, only to have your puppy completely ignore your commands when you try to give him the cue?

 

This type of seemingly stubborn behaviour really isn’t stubbornness at all. Let me explain by telling you a short story…

 

When I was trying to train my dog Bauer the “down”

command he seemed to catch on very quickly. I would just sit in my living room, and every time my dog laid down I’d just watch closely and give him the cue for “down” right before he’d go to lay down and in no time at all he was laying down on cue.

 

Most people make the mistake of thinking this is all it takes to teach the down command. In reality, even though I could sit in my living room, give my dog the “down” command, and 99 times out of 100 he’d lay down and wait for his reward, that didn’t mean that he really knew how to obey the “down” command.

 

What I mean is that even though the dog knew how to do the behaviour. My dog didn’t fully comprehend the cue for when to do the behaviour.

 

I realized this when my in laws first came over to my house to see our new puppy after we first brought him home.

 

I was so excited, because I thought I’d taught him the down command at 10 weeks old… after all he would lay down every time I trained him in our living room.

 

But what I didn’t realize, was that even though I was sitting in my living room and saying “down” as the cue for my dog to lay down… my dog wasn’t paying any attention to the words I was saying.

 

Instead, he was actually watching my head movement.

 

Because in addition to saying down as my cue, I was also looking at my dog and giving him a quick little nod of my head each time I gave the verbal cue.

 

And little did I realize that my dog wasn’t listening to a word I said, he was just waiting for me to give the little head movement.

 

So when I went to show my in laws how quickly I’d trained my new puppy to lay down, I just gave the down command without my little head nod, and the dog wouldn’t obey me.

 

Some people would naively think that the dog is being stubborn. These types of peoples say things like “I know he knows how to do this, he’s just being stubborn”…. WRONG!

 

He’s not being stubborn at all. You just don’t realize that your dog is capable of noticing EXTREMELY small cues, and you’re giving them off without even knowing it.

 

This is actually a HUGE problem in training animals.

 

The first people to really discover that animals could pick up extremely tiny cues, were the people who first trained chimpanzees sign language. These people swore that they had taught chips to communicate via sign language in a way where the chimps could convey wants, needs and desires.

 

But when scientists were brought in to first analyze this they discovered something AMAZING. The chimps were not using sign language as a way to communicate.

 

But in fact the chimp trainers had accidentally trained the chimps to sign using accidental cues with their EYES!

 

That’s right, the chimps would see their trainers eyes move up, down, left or right and depending on the patterns of the eye movements of their trainers, would sign the coordinating signs.

 

That’s how capable animals are of understanding TINY cues.

 

And it’s a mistake that even veteran animal trainers make. So if you catch yourself thinking that your dog is being stubborn and not wanting to obey you, what’s probably happened is you’ve accidentally trained your dog in a way where he doesn’t really understand what the cue to the behaviour is.

 

How I ended up fixing this with my puppy, is I made sure that I gave the verbal cue of “down” from dozens of positions. I’d give it sitting, standing up, with my back to my dog, from a distance, with my eyes closed etc. etc.

 

Because as soon as I stopped offering my little nod as a cue for my dog to lie down, my dog started to think that the cue only worked if I was sitting in a chair, cuz that’s where I’d been doing the training.

 

And if I was lying on the floor of my living room and gave the cue for “down” it was like my dog never even heard the cue.

 

Again, this isn’t that my dog was stubborn, but that I was giving off cues that I still don’t even realize I was giving off. And only by really forcing myself to train the down command while I was personally in a LARGE variety of situations was I able to get the dog to really understand that he needs to listen to the verbal command and not watch my body language for the cue.

 

When you think about it, it makes sense. Why would a dog who’s trying to figure out what we’re trying to teach it first think to look for clues in the English language? That would be absurd.

 

Of course it makes sense that instead of listening to words, the dog would look for physical cues like posture head movements etc.

 

So next time you catch yourself thinking your dog is acting stubborn, rethink through your training process, and maybe, just maybe, you haven’t REALLY taught him to understand the cue like you thought you did.

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - TAKEN FROM A VET'S BLOG!

Here is an entry that comes from Wikipedia:

 

 

"Many dry foods can be less expensive, per pound, than their canned (wet) or semi-moist counterparts, and are less likely to spoil than an open can. In addition, dry food is much more nutritious than canned food because of the canned food's high water/moisture content (anywhere from 60%-90%, depending on brand)."

 

 

My issue here is with the statement: "

 

"Dry food is much more nutritious than canned food because of the canned food's high water/moisture content"

 

 

WRONG

 

 

Let's apply the common sense test..

 

and this once again comes from Wikipedia:

 

"Pellets of dry dog food, called kibble in the US, are produced

by one of two methods, extrusion and baking. During the extrusion

process, cut dough or a mixture of raw materials is fed into an

expander, while pressurized steam or hot water is added. When

removed from the high pressure  that results, the pellets

puff up like popcorn. The resultant kibble is allowed to

dry, then sprayed with vitamins, fats and oils, or any

other ingredients that are not heat-tolerant.

 

If extruded kibble is exposed to air for too long or not

properly stored, the fats and oils added after cooking

can become rancid, and vitamins and minerals in the food

may be destroyed by heat during storage or shipping"

 

 

 

That does NOT sound good.

 

 

In other words we make ALL of these artificial changes to

the food- PLUS spray on nutrients AFTER

because they are LOST in processing, ADD some artificial

flavour, colour, preservatives and MORE,

and create an environment that allows this stuff to

be stored for MONTHS..and we call it healthy?

 

Think about food that you KNOW is healthy.

 

IF it can be stored for an INDEFINITE period of

time, then it is NOT healthy.

 

Think of the Cheese Slice

 

or packaged ANYTHING.

 

It is artificially preserved- it has toxins often in the

containers ( such as BPA) that leach into the food.

 

My neighbour ( who is extremely healthy) lives by

the food motto that " it ain't healthy IF it comes

in a package"

 

Think about it.

 

Apples are NOT sold in individual cans.

 

Note from Lou: I would be interested to hear your points of view???

 

10 Reasons your dog's haircut costs more than yours!

10 Reasons Your Dog's hair cut costs more than yours

10. Your hairdresser doesn't wash and clean your rear end.

9. You don't go for 8 weeks without washing or brushing your hair.

8. Your hairdresser doesn't have to give you a sanitary trim.

7. Your hairdresser doesn't have to clean your ears.

6. Your hairdresser doesn't have to clean boogies from your eyes.

5. You sit still for your hairdresser.

4. Your haircut doesn't include a manicure or pedicure.

3. Your hairdresser only washes and cuts the hair on your head.

2. You don't bite or scratch your hairdresser. (I hope not anyway).

    And the Number 1 reason your dog's haircut costs more than yours....

1. The likelihood of you pooping or peeing while your hair is being cut is extremely slim.

 

 

 

From Dog Tips Submissive urination

Does your dog pee every time you great him? Did you know that this behavior may be a result of his way of saying "Hello"? The good news is that there are ways to help get rid of this reaction. Follow the tips below and you and your pup will be well on your way to a non-pee greeting!

1. Make them feel taller: Every dog has a little bit of a Napoleon complex. No matter how big or small a dog is, she wishes she were bigger. Dogs who are insecure are especially conscious of height. These are the ones who are most likely to splash the floor in the foyer.
    
You can't make your dog any taller, but you can make her feel taller - and this can work wonders for her self-esteem. Teach your dog to climb up on a picnic table or some other elevated surface outside. Let her get comfortable, then practice a few "sits" or "downs." Better yet, bring someone - a person or another dog - over to meet her. You'll be amazed at how much a little height can do for a dog's self- assurance.

2. Get low and reach up: Dogs read our body language in ways we can hardly imagine. Take a welcoming rub on top of the head. For people, this is a natural show of love. For dogs, however, it's a sign of domination, especially when it's accompanied by direct eye contact.

Dogs who are nervous about confrontations will get even more nervous, and nervous dogs are the ones who tend to pee when their owners come home. Try abandoning the head rub and replacing it with a rub under the chin. This is how dogs greet older or more dominant dogs, and they view it as a very gentle salutation.

3. Come home quietly: People are just as happy to see their dogs at the end of the day as their dogs are to see them. But this isn't the best time for energetic greetings. Coming home quietly and not making a fuss will go a long way toward keeping things drier.

4. Go out as soon as you come in: Rather than having your homecomings in the hall, try opening the door, then immediately stepping back outside, letting your dog follow. The extra physical space will make your arrival a little less overwhelming, and your dog will also have a chance to relieve herself before she gets worked up.

5. Help her learn self-control: Unless your dog is still a puppy, it's unlikely that she's going to learn to control her bladder any better. But she can learn to control her emotions generally. The less excited she gets, the less likely she'll be to make a mess. By far the best way to teach dogs to control their exuberance is to teach them basic obedience. For one thing, dogs who have learned to listen for instructions are generally calmer than those dogs without any training.