Plant a Garden

I have a magnate on my refrigerator that says, “Change your shoes…Change your life.” The relationship between planting a garden and quality animal interactions may seem equally unconnected, but it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. Gardening teaches basic skills that carry over into all areas of life and I’d heartily recommend it for anyone who works with animals and/or wants a quality relationship with them. Consider the following and judge for yourself.

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I’ve traded in the mountains of Colorado for my valley in New Hampshire where the flowers managed to survive in my absence. This podcast marks my first attempt using the laptop and results were mixed. The quality isn’t as good and some technical difficulties ultimately drove me back to the desktop to finish editing it.

The idea that we use words such as “healthy,” “normal,” to say nothing of “aggression,” “dominance” and that whole Pandora’s Box of behavioral terminology as if some universally accepted definition of these exists continues to fascinate me. It’s another one of those areas where certainty seems to affect those at the opposite ends of the knowledge spectrum the most keenly. Those who know little or nothing about these subjects take an Alice in Wonderland “Words mean what I want them to mean” approach. Those who are deeply entrenched in some behavioral pursuit or discipline of one sort or another assume that their definition is the only right one.

It’s only when we step back and get the big picture that we realize how these terms are defined may vary to the point that their use may be meaningless.

One of the most awkward situations for me is to find myself among a particular group of  dog- or cat-lovers  who assume I’m a kindred spirit. The distinguishing feature of these folks isn’t just that they’re head over heels in love with dogs or cats—a lot of people are, including me. What makes them stand out and, to me, sometimes painfully so, is that these dog-lovers are as rabidly dismissive of cats as the cat-lovers are of dogs. I find this troubling because I owe a great deal of what I know about canine behavior to my knowledge of cats. And vice versa: I couldn’t understand domestic feline behavior nearly as well as I do without my knowledge of dogs. Hence my wish for a cloak of invisibility at such times. When I found myself in such a gathering, I could surreptitiously slip it over my shoulders, and vanish.

Every once in a while I get distracted by a phone call or something else while I’m proof-reading a blog. If I’m almost near the end of it, my distracted little brain may decide I’ve finished it. Said distracted little brain then deletes “proof-read podcast blog” from the mental do-list and replaces it with “upload blog”. That’s no problem if the last sentence has no errors. But sometimes it does..

which is what happened this week. I’ve already corrected it on-line, but sometimes and maybe all the time—how such forwarding programs work is all a big mystery to me—these changes aren’t sent to those who receive the blog via email or other feeds.

So this is for you. The corrected last sentence appears below:

Once years ago I was complaining to friend about how difficult it was to find clothes that fit me. What can I say? I’m not a matched set. Either some other female got my boobs or I got her butt.  As so often happens in such conversations, the idea of buying clothes of the one-size-fits-all ilk came up. As most women faced with anatomical inequities well know, the response to this concept depends on where one is in one’s monthly cycle. If in a kindly mood, the idea that such clothing is possible is amusing to rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. On more testy days, the desire to do something very painful to its creator seems like a very reasonable response. Nonetheless, one-size-fits-all has been the most common teaching standard for years.

Once years ago I was complaining to friend about how difficult it was to find clothes that fit me. What can I say? I’m not a matched set. Either some other female got my boobs or I got her butt.  As so often happens in such conversations, the idea of buying clothes of the one-size-fits-all ilk came up. As most women faced with anatomical inequities well know, the response to this concept depends on where one is in one’s monthly cycle. If in a kindly mood, the idea that such clothing is possible is amusing to rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. On more testy days, the desire to do something very painful to its creator seems like a very reasonable response. Nonetheless, one-size-fits-all has been the  most common teaching standard for years.

Any couple who has expected a child knows how much busier life can become during the pregnancy. So many baby-related things to do! And if there’s a dog in household, chances are some of the items on that seemingly endless do-list are about baby-dog issues.

In this podcast, I ponder how the same well-intentioned, but limited problem-oriented approach that can pave a hellish road when applied to other human-animal relationship concerns can come back to bite us when we apply it to those related to dogs and babies.

One of the things that happens when I record a podcast is that, as with my writing, it sometimes doesn’t go where I plan it should go when I start. This happens even when I have a list of points I want to cover. Usually I manage to get the first few points recorded, but then something happens and I meander off in some other direction. Perhaps aliens take over my mind. Or maybe that’s another perk of age: there are more mental trails that my notes open for my exploration. If I recall one I think is more interesting than the one I had in mind in when I wrote the note—or if I happened to forget the first one—down that path I go.

So what began as an overview of the past 100 weeks turned into something else, including a celebration of getting older.

You may notice that I didn’t brag about my continued mastery of electronic technology. I didn’t because I couldn’t without lying.

Also note that no cats were harmed in the recording of this podcast.  In our 50-odd weeks together, Bamboo has made it clear that he has more than 9 lives and he intends to live them all…even if he has to shorten my life to do it.

In all the year I’ve been writing commentaries, I’ve never received as many emails as I did for the July commentary on the service animal dilemma. These were sufficiently numerous and thought-provoking that I pondered them while enjoying the sites in Colorado and mastering a new computer and its software.

I’m back in New Hampshire and stuck with my dial-up connection, but pleased to report that a Toshiba Satellite with an external modem and Windows 7 so far works very well. Whew!

But getting back to those responses. These came response came from those who use service animals and/or those who train them. And, not surprisingly, they fell into two categories: those who disagreed with my remarks and those who agreed.

Want to know more about what they said? Click here.

Also, two additions since I wrote the commentary. One is a response from another reader who rightly pointed out that the 24/7 responsibilities of those dogs trained to provide hearing service may exceed those of animals trained to provide service for the blind. This occurs because these animals must always be on high-alert even when the special needs person with whom they live is sleeping.

The second addendum takes the form of the following book  announcement I received from the International Society of Anthrozoology:

Every Living Being: Representations of Nonhuman Animals in the Exploration of Human Well-Being

By Marie-France Boissonneault

Synopsis

Every Living Being analyses the historical integration of the role of animals in care-giving positions, and their depiction in popular Western culture. It establishes the degree to which nonhuman animals, domesticated and wild, have contributed to the emotional lives and care of humans in contemporary Western culture. In examining the historical depiction of animals in literature and art, as well as their interpretations in contemporary mass media, the aim of my book
is to provide an in-depth analysis of the cultural interpretation of animals as they interconnect with a diverse array of human-constructed realities principally in the area of ‘wellness and
suffering.’ It seeks to explore the dichotomy between those species which have been utilized primarily as products for human consumption and those species of animals that have become regarded as human companions which can enhance or ameliorate the lives of human beings suffering from illnesses or disabilities on an emotional and/or physical basis.

From the back cover

"Animals are ‘in.’ We find nonhuman animal beings in all sorts of places – in print, on canvas, on the screen, in captivity, in the wild, in our own backyards, and on our plates and covering our
skin. Much research shows that when we take care of and respect animals we also are taking care of ourselves. Every Living Being carefully analyzes how animals have been incorporated into
contemporary Western Culture – some as companions and care-takers and others for consumption without any respect at all. It is the first book to analyze how animals have been portrayed as healers in literature and art and as such is a novel and extremely important contribution to the burgeoning literature on the nature of human-animal relationships — anthrozoology. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the diverse, intriguing,
fascinating, challenging, frustrating, paradoxical, and evolving relationships that exist between human and nonhuman animals." 

MARC BEKOFF, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint

****

"In India we refer to the Earth Family as Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. The  Earth Family includes human and non human animals, plants and all life on earth. The dominant culture of today excludes other species as well as most humans from consideration. In the process humans are
loosing their humanity. ‘Every Living Being’ celebrates our humanity through non human animals. And in doing so it  helps reclaim our humanity."

VANDANA SHIVA , author of Monocultures of the Mind, Recipient of the Alternative Nobel Peace  Prize (the Right Livelihood Award), and Founding Director of Bija Vidyapeeth in Dehra Dun, India.

****

"Every Living Being is a vital book, for it is ‘of or about life (vita)’ in three senses. It is about other-than-human lives as these are found within, near and far away from our communities. It is equally about human lives and how other living beings so richly impact, even heal us. Just as interestingly, this mind-opening book reveals how our images, symbols and ethics can take on a life of their own, too, either helping us place ourselves in the larger community of life or walling
us off in a prison of human-centeredness. Because this book is vital in all three of these senses, it offers readers the chance to step out of that prison and into the larger world of all life."

PAUL WALDAU, Barker Lecturer on Animal Law at Harvard Law School, former Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and author of Oxford
University Press’s Animal Rights and The Specter of Speciesism.

****

"Boissonneault is among a growing cadre of scholars who recognize the need for a dramatically new way of relating to animals. Hers is an erudite contribution to the emerging idea that our superiority complex towards other sentient creatures is a dead end, and that to regard them as things rather than beings is neither ethical nor sustainable."

JONATHAN BALCOMBE, PhD. Biologist and author of Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals

****

"In Every Living Being, Boissonneault provides a fascinating and timely analysis of the ways in which our representations of nonhuman animals in literature and popular culture affect our beliefs about and treatment of other species. She inspires and compels us to confront our anthropocentric history so we may forge more compassionate interspecies relationships based on respect and wonder for the intrinsic beauty and difference of all creatures. I will definitely be recommending  this book in my classes on Human-Animal Studies."

ANNIE POTTS, Co-Director and Associate Professor, New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, University of Canterbury

This title is available through the below online retailers.

www.amazon.com

www.bn.com 

www.powells.com

Ideas for my podcasts often come from strange places. The seed for this one was planted by several reports I read or heard about the ingenious way the Youth Safety Council of Vermont came up with to convince kids that driving while texting really isn’t a good idea.  (Click here for a video of teens taking the texting-while-driving test, and here for more about the campaign.)

This got me thinking about how much better some animals, and especially dogs, grasp what happens to human minds when we’re talking on the phone. And sometimes we can use our distracted mental state to our animal’s advantage, too.

Here’s the second vignette to test your powers of analysis. Also, think about how your responses to this story mesh (or not) with those to the first one.

Looks pretty nondescript doesn’t it? It’s not, though. It’s filled with wildflowers and birds, some familiar but many others unknown to me. But more than that, it has a prairie dog town beside one section of the path that rings the area.

What can I say? I’m sucker for prairie dogs. I know some people (unfairly, I think) consider them vermin, but I don’t. Each time my granddaughter, Lauren, her dad’s dog Lumpy, and I approach the outskirts of the town, the same prairie dog sounds the first alarm.

His call reminds me of a study of prairie dog communication, specifically how the animals used different calls to signal when the researcher came alone and when he came with his dog. Did this prairie dog, who Lauren calls Bill for reasons unknown, recognize Lumpy from his previous daily walks by with my son? Is the call I’m hearing the same call my son hears? Or do one of those barks I hear translate “older unknown human female with small female child approaching”?

I have no idea. What I do know is that the call is picked up by prairie dogs up the line, causing babies to scamper and dive into the nearest burrow only to pop up for a look-see a few seconds later.

So while they do recognize that we’re something worth paying attention to, they’ve also figured out some way to determine that we  pose no danger to them.

I like to think this is because Lumpy is indifferent to their presence and Lauren and I are enchanted by them. But maybe it’s just because they think we look funny.

For the next two podcasts and maybe longer depending on the response to it, I’m going to try something different. But first some background. Over the years I’ve spent a fair amount of time pondering how to best help people make the kinds of changes necessary to improve their animals’ behavior and health. One of the things I’ve noticed is that, when we make up our minds very quickly regarding what’s going on, it’s more difficult to consider alternatives. Not only that, we’re more likely to take any suggestion that requires change very personally. When that’s the case, we can add a lot of useless, energy-wasting, negative emotion to the process. And when that occurs, the result is often an inconsistent response that makes the animal’s problem worse.

What’s equally interesting is that people who normally are able to see multiple sides of most issues completely lose this multi-dimensional skill when it comes to certain issues related to animals. This explains why I’m apt to use analogies as well as stories, some of them totally unrelated to animals, when I want to communicate a particularly complex point regarding human relationships with animals and/or animal behavior.

This week’s podcast begins a two part self-test that consists of two vignettes. What I’d like you to do is to think about your first impression regarding what’s going on in each story. Next, think about all the other possible explanations for these same events. And, naturally, think about any emotions that attend this process: Do you see it as a fun challenge? Hard work? A useless pain in the butt? If so, think about why you feel that way, too.

After my lackluster success with growing vegetables the past few years, this year I decided to focus on flowers, the sight and scent of which I consider food for the soul. Below is a picture of my first soul-food harvest that brightened my spirits in spite of the troubling event described in this podcast that also occurred in the garden that day.

Have you ever noticed that when we humans think about combining two different components we automatically assume that the result will be the best of each? There are multiple examples of this concept in the animal-related world, with the natural or artificial breeding of animals from two different breeds or species being the most familiar. We cross a Siamese and a Persian or a dog and wolf and assume any offspring will possess only the best qualities from each of their parents. But this month I’d like to discuss a different kind of hybrid: working dogs who also are expected to fulfill the definition of loving canine companions.

Read more here.

You may notice that I don’t say anything about the quality of the shelter I provide for Bamboo the cat. This was not because it slipped my mind that he’s part of the household. Unlike as is the case with the dogs, I can’t point to a particular location—highly valued or not—that Bam claims as his own because he claims the whole house. I’m as likely to find him sitting in the sink as on my desk, in the back of my closet, on my bed, in the dog bed, or the back of couch. And while there are a few areas that are off-limits to him, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if these were only off-limits during those times when I wasn’t around to enforce the rules. So all in all, I’d say the quality of his shelter is pretty good.

As so often happens when I discuss behaviors in animals and humans, I realize after-the-fact, that I used the  same word to refer to opposite states of mind. Come of think of it, that’s the way behaviors are, too. The same behavior can have two completely opposite meanings depending on the context in which it occurs. In this podcast I used the word “dependence” to describe relationships between animals and their owners that have quite opposite consequences for the animals. Luckily for me, the intelligence of those who listen to these meanderings is so superior, I’m sure you won’t be confused.

Click here to learn more about the mouse study.

How much of what does your pet have to do to prove to you that he or she loves you? And how much of what must you do to prove the same to  your pet?  Even though most of us may not consciously think about the answers to these two questions, most of us have some idea about what these are or should be. Not only that, wondering whether we or our animals measure may take up a fair amount of our time.

But is all this soul-searching necessary?  I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Normally when I think of guilty pleasures, I think of something like chocolate or reading when I should be mowing or weeding. But this podcast explores another kind of guilty pleasure: the ability to sometimes interact in a less-than-perfect way with our animals without succumbing to guilt. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t all strive for perfection. But there’s something to be said for not getting so involved in such a quest that we lose sight of what’s really important.

Here’s Ollie preparing to protect me form the invasion of the Demon Cat, as if said Demon Cat doesn’t live here and isn’t his best bud!

If this podcast doesn’t convince you to lighten up, here’s another good reason. According to researchers at Loma Linda University (CA), repeated bouts of laughter offer some of the same benefits as moderate exercise, among them lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Laughter also affects levels of ghrelin and leptin, two hormones that help regulate appetite and are also affected by exercise. So not only does enjoying life make it easier for us and our animals to relax and learn, we can exercise at the same time. (To read more about the study, click here.)

Hmmmm. I wonder if happy animals belonging to happy people can lose excess weight faster than stressed dogs whose owners are uptight…

The Bond: More Than What We Want

Last month I attended a seminar on the human-equine bond held at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. The attraction for me was two speakers from the United Kingdom. Because a sub-theme of the meeting was equine rescue, I knew it was possible that their view of the relationship, while equally intense, could be more comprehensive than is sometimes the case in this country.

I was not disappointed.

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