Cute face, cute curl and fawn fur.
Food and treats come and go in a blur.
But oh, so much strife:
She didn't choose the pug life,
The pug life, it chose her!
Saturday 27 September 2014
Saturday 20 September 2014
Saturday limerick: Classical conditioning
Once these two nutters
Did not act like civilised mutters
When the other was near
Food especially was dear.
Peace through peanut butter!
Sunday 14 September 2014
Saturday Limerick: The Hoodie (two versions)
Most think my little pug
is a delightful little bug.
Mostly that's true of my pup
Until she puts her hood up.
Suddenly my cutie's a thug!
+ + +
Once upon a time
A pug with a gangsta rhyme
Put up her hood
and gave everyone 'tude
"bitch, I'm out to do crime!"
Saturday 6 September 2014
Saturday Limerick - Bee Sting
"Get it out, get it out, get it out!"
A clear message from her little snout
But if I touch that paw
That she holds near her jaw
My finger I will be without!
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Do dogs self-medicate?
Last night, around three am, Talos suddenly got up, and asked to be let outside. I figured she might want to go use the bathroom, usually she uses her litter box, but she has not done so in a couple of days. This could mean one of two things, either she has not pooped, or she's been pooping outside. If she has not pooped, it would make sense for her to need to go at an odd time.
This was not the case, however. Once outside, she proceeded to eat grass. Huge mouthfuls of it. Grabbed it and mowed it like a horse. Kept it up for about five minutes, then came back inside.
She repeated this a number of times, I watched her for the entire time for the first four or so, then I pretty much let her out, checked that she was doing the same thing, and went back to bed leaving her to her grazing.
I expected her to throw up, but she did not. I expected poop this morning, but there has been none. That's not so much the topic of this post, however (don't worry, her behaviour is otherwise perfectly normal, wolfs down her food, plays, walks, naps on my lap and we've taken some 'move yer bowls' action. If there's no poop by tomorrow we're headed for the vet!)
What this has me wondering is if dogs have the ability to self medicate. I know they eat grass occasionally anyway, but many people have a similar story where their dog eats grass seemingly to get their bowels a-moving, or to induce vomiting. Basically, it looks like they're taking a laxative to feel better.
This is pretty much right up there with anthropomorphising your dog, as bad as seeing the 'guilt' in their eyes when they've done something bad (it's all in out heads, by the way, they're not feeling guilty at all). Most dogs will nibble on grass, and some seem to really love it, especially fresh young shoots. It's hard to argue that this nibbling has much to do with inducing vomiting or bowel movements, given that after their graze, they have perfectly normal digestion related events. It would be an entirely reasonable supposition that their grazing when they're feeling less than optimal is just ordinary grazing that we now take note of because of our heightened observation of our unwell furry buddy.
But that does not quite cover what I saw last night. That nearly desperate ripping out of the poor lawn and gulping it down looks nothing like the dainty sampling of leaves she does ordinarily. It also does not cover other pet owner's experiences, which seems to hint, like I'm thinking, that dogs do indeed have some sense of which plants (or minerals, many dogs eat clay occasionally) have what effect on their systems, and use them to effect changes in their bodies. Zoopharmacognosy is the official term.
The evidence is hardly clear on the matter, but it seems there may be a case for it. It is well documented that animals make 'choices' regarding foodstuffs that do indeed relate in some way to their physical state. Especially interesting to me is how other mammals than us humans also sometimes get it wrong, and ingest substances that harm them in association with a certain physical condition. I mean, we know how very many of our 'folk' medications turn out to be duds, despite people having sworn by them for hundreds of years, and even our contemporary biomedicine gets it wrong all too often (pills for depression being a big one, often being only as effective as a placebo in long term studies - here's an interesting article) . It's quite cool then to see that it's a feature of animals to 'get it wrong' sometimes. To me, at least.
Here are some additional articles, if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoopharmacognosy
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2012/10/zoopharmacognosy-do-animals-self-medicate/
http://pacificcrestpethealth.com/blogs/?p=68
This was not the case, however. Once outside, she proceeded to eat grass. Huge mouthfuls of it. Grabbed it and mowed it like a horse. Kept it up for about five minutes, then came back inside.
She repeated this a number of times, I watched her for the entire time for the first four or so, then I pretty much let her out, checked that she was doing the same thing, and went back to bed leaving her to her grazing.
I expected her to throw up, but she did not. I expected poop this morning, but there has been none. That's not so much the topic of this post, however (don't worry, her behaviour is otherwise perfectly normal, wolfs down her food, plays, walks, naps on my lap and we've taken some 'move yer bowls' action. If there's no poop by tomorrow we're headed for the vet!)
What this has me wondering is if dogs have the ability to self medicate. I know they eat grass occasionally anyway, but many people have a similar story where their dog eats grass seemingly to get their bowels a-moving, or to induce vomiting. Basically, it looks like they're taking a laxative to feel better.
This is pretty much right up there with anthropomorphising your dog, as bad as seeing the 'guilt' in their eyes when they've done something bad (it's all in out heads, by the way, they're not feeling guilty at all). Most dogs will nibble on grass, and some seem to really love it, especially fresh young shoots. It's hard to argue that this nibbling has much to do with inducing vomiting or bowel movements, given that after their graze, they have perfectly normal digestion related events. It would be an entirely reasonable supposition that their grazing when they're feeling less than optimal is just ordinary grazing that we now take note of because of our heightened observation of our unwell furry buddy.
But that does not quite cover what I saw last night. That nearly desperate ripping out of the poor lawn and gulping it down looks nothing like the dainty sampling of leaves she does ordinarily. It also does not cover other pet owner's experiences, which seems to hint, like I'm thinking, that dogs do indeed have some sense of which plants (or minerals, many dogs eat clay occasionally) have what effect on their systems, and use them to effect changes in their bodies. Zoopharmacognosy is the official term.
The evidence is hardly clear on the matter, but it seems there may be a case for it. It is well documented that animals make 'choices' regarding foodstuffs that do indeed relate in some way to their physical state. Especially interesting to me is how other mammals than us humans also sometimes get it wrong, and ingest substances that harm them in association with a certain physical condition. I mean, we know how very many of our 'folk' medications turn out to be duds, despite people having sworn by them for hundreds of years, and even our contemporary biomedicine gets it wrong all too often (pills for depression being a big one, often being only as effective as a placebo in long term studies - here's an interesting article) . It's quite cool then to see that it's a feature of animals to 'get it wrong' sometimes. To me, at least.
Here are some additional articles, if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoopharmacognosy
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2012/10/zoopharmacognosy-do-animals-self-medicate/
http://pacificcrestpethealth.com/blogs/?p=68
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