Dogs and happiness

I'm not here to talk about soul-fulfilling, enduring, long term happiness. That needs a lot more than a dog (or maybe, a lot less than a dog, given that it probably comes from inside of you and is at least partly a decision). I'm here to talk about that wonderful pick-me-up that you can get from spending time interacting with a dog.

No nonsense here, this is a scientifically studied phenomenon. Those same feelings you got when you are newly in love? A dog is a perpetual source of those. Simply sitting with your dog and gazing into their eyes has your body making lovely bunches of the stuff, but even better than that, your dog typically likes to move and be active, so if you have a dog, you are much more likely to move and be active ... and it's no secret that regular exercise is pretty essential to keeping a positive outlook on life. Elle from legally blonde had it right:

" Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't."

So, having a dog makes you happy. This is starting to sound like a "get a puppy" commercial (or an adopt a dog pamphlet, which might be even better if your main aim is a happiness provider). Might I mention that dogs reduce the risk of heart disease massively too?

Heh. Not really what I want to write about. Nor is an 'adopt a dog' message what I want to get at (dog ownership is a lot of work too, so never just impulsively get one).  What I actually want to write about is the specific things that my dogs and I get up to that makes me happy. There are three of them, physical touch, activities, and play.

1. Physical touch

My little pug, Talos, is a great source of physical touch and comfort to me. She's not a touchy-feely dog by any measure, she rarely stands still for petting and even more rarely enjoys it (a quick wrinkle rub is enjoyable, but that's about it). What she does do, though, is put herself on my lap and just stays there, napping, watching TV, or my computer screen, or just the world going by. She's done this since she was absolutely tiny.

Dis is my lap. Yoo mus go find other one.

She also cuddles while we sleep. Carding my fingers through her soft, soft fur is one of my day's great pleasures. She has a sense of when you're feeling less than wonderful too, and then, she makes extra effort to be near you.

2. Activities

Let's go do stuff! Both my dogs like getting out there and doing stuff. Be it tracking, or just a walk around the neighbourhood, they're almost always ready to go. If I'm feeling particularly low, taking them to a park with other humans and other dogs almost guarantees positive, pleasant human and canine interaction. I simply cannot feel sad while amusing children with your pets' antics (one having her belly rubbed, the other coaxing them into a game of chase or doing tricks for them). Getting your pooch and going to a class has much the same effect for me. We go, we work towards a goal with other people, and like magic your internal happiness tank is a little fuller.

Some days when I just don't want to see other people, getting out into nature makes a big difference too. If your dogs are reasonably healthy and willing to come back when you call, try a short nature hike (if their recall is less great, do the same but with a long line...). It is both really nice to just get out, and to watch your dogs just being dogs without the pressure to behave that is sometimes present around a house or in daily life. Plus, it's pretty!

So very, very pretty!

3. Play

This is the big one. Here's a challenge for you. Be sad. Very, very sad. Then look at these:

Is dere something in mah jowl?

Er mer ribbon!

No one can resist my play!

CRRRAZY EYES!

Feel better? Not yet? Have some more!





















Now? Excellent. Go play with your dog :)

Basically, one of the key parts of my happiness is my dogs. I'd bet they do the same for you, if you'd let them.

Spotted... The South African Wild-Pug

Day 1
Today, we set off on the greatest adventure of our lives! We have set up camp out in Faerie Glen Nature reserve, in the capital city of South Africa, one of the few remaining natural areas where we might find the South African wild-pug. Pugs are by no measure endangered locally, but most are domesticated lap warmers and bed-pugs, bearing little resemblance to their wild cousins. Or so I've heard! I cannot wait to see one.

...

Day 14
A hair! We think we've found a pug hair. Just one, though, which is suspicious. We've sent it off to the lab for confirmation. Oh, how I hope!

...

Day 35
With it's wild ranges increasingly threatened by rapid urbanisation that is so characteristic of developing countries, our odds of spotting the South African wild-pug was bleak from the start. The lure of warm houses with ready food supplies has decimated wild-pug numbers. But it's been more than a month, and so far, not even a hair has been found. Yes, the lab results are back... it was a cat hair. This is so disheartening. The wild-pug sheds profusely, using this abundance of hair to mark their territory. This is unique among wild domestic canids. Surely there should be some sign by now?
We will persevere, even though I am demotivated. At least our pug-sniffing hound, chosen for her curly tail, which should be a sign of solidarity to the wild pug, seems content.

These hills are made for the delight of small dogs, that much is obvious.

Day 36

We have changed tactics. We have decided, against our better moral judgement, that we shall use food to lure a wild pug to us. Yes, we are risking further reducing the wild population, but what choice do we have? We must study them somehow.

Day 36 - mid day
What a success! It had barely warmed up from the frosty winter morning when suddenly, we spotted it!

Approaching from the tall grass, cautiously. The majestic African Wild-Pug.

After scenting the food, it came running along the beaten down grass path where we set up camp.

It ate, and ate, and ate! You would not believe it! We got so close to it too! Close enough to see it's a female. We've decided to call it 'Specimen Alpha'.
When Specimen Alpha had eaten all the food, she took one look at us, peed on the boots of our expedition leader, and disappeared into the grass from where she came.
We will leave out food again tomorrow.

Day 37
Before we got a chance to set out food this morning, our pug-sniffing hound found her scent. Is it a risk to follow this trail? Will the wild-pug disappear if we come near its lair?

We followed, carrying food (the banana was eaten first yesterday, so we're taking extra of that). Hopefully, bearing gifts will put Specimen Alpha at ease.

Day 38
The trail is much longer than we anticipated. The wild-pug's speed and agility are noteworthy. We're still heading into the hills, pug-sniffing hound leading us as quickly as we can follow.

We are not small, agile dogs. We stomp along the rocky outcrop, we stumble on the loose rocks. We have none of the grace and poise of a wild pug.

Day 39
Just as we thought our pug-sniffing hound was leading us on a wild-goose chase, because yet another day what coming to an end, what appeared between the rocks but Specimen Alpha?!

She seems perfectly adapted to her environment. Even the light seems to converge to accentuate her best features.

Her legs are lean and long, her tail curled just like our pug-sniffer. Her teeth are white, her under-bite noticeable, and her eyes dark, like molten chocolate. Her ears are black, and seem to change form from moment to moment. She ate the bananas with great enthusiasm. She seems smaller and more timid than domesticated specimens.

The sun was setting, though, so we had to turn back much sooner than we would have liked. Our pug-sniffing hound seemed to know something before we did. She kept smiling at us.

We tried to say goodbye to Specimen Alpha, truly we did.

But she simply followed us.

So, we gave up. What can we learn from wild pug behaviour, other than a very large preference for human foods over what they can find in nature? Off we went into the sunset, now with one more member in our expedition. Was this the last wild pug? As she sleeps on my lap, I almost find myself hoping so. Truly, these dogs should be around humans. We are simply happier with them around.

Success!

So I promised to share the results of Kira being desensitised to a camera stuck in her face ... well:

Much better, no?
Even better than that, she chose to stick her face there, and kept it there while I focused and flashed and did camera thingies.

Good pup. Thank you classical conditioning.

Being a bad, bad human.

I tend to focus on the things I've had success with with the dogs. The two of them are learning fantastically quickly in training (one who only started training formally a month ago - see, even here I am bragging... :P ). Both are generally pleasant companions. Both look adorable and tolerate well whatever silly creation I dress them up in. But, I also make a lot of mistakes.

My biggest one is ignoring their feelings. I am bad at this. I tend to push through with things - like putting on collars/harnesses despite them feeling massively uncomfortable with being confined that near each other (this became a fight the other day, with my finger in the middle. Yep, I deserved that bite, but they sure didn't deserve me allowing aggression to mount between them like that!).

This is a happy Kira:

Her ears are up, her body is relaxed, her mouth is open and soft, her eyes are soft ... we were on a hike, which she loves. I didn't insist on her looking at the camera, which she dislikes. Ok, so I retyped dislikes several times. I first put it "less than loves". Truthfully, she hates it.

This is an unhappy Kira:

Why did I insist on shoving the camera in her face? Look at that squint, those puckered cheeks, the tension around the eyes and ears, all pulled back. I am a bad, bad human.

But she looked so cute on her chair! I have to shake my head at me.

Let's face it, I like taking pictures of my dogs. Now that there's two, I get to have twice the fun ... no? No. Seriously, what I'm doing is not fair to her, and it hurts out relationship. I want her to trust me to keep her safe and respect her feelings. I will try harder to not push beyond her boundaries.

This presents us with an opportunity, though, a chance to train Kira to like looking at the camera!

Step one is a solid "look at me" cue, which we're already working on in her socialisation.
To teach "look at me", you simply lure your dog's gaze to your face with a treat (they tend to watch treats closely, heh). If you move a treat to next to your eyes, you should have instant eye contact. Mark it with a 'yes', a 'good' or a 'click' (or whatever you use to let them know they've done the right thing), give your cue (I go for *dog's name* "look at me"), and reward. Kira finds this easy, we're progressing well (it's time to start asking for it at random times to generalise the behaviour).

Step two is to classically condition a love of the camera. This is easy. Camera comes out and taking pictures start means the sudden appearance of dried liver. You know you've succeeded when you bring out the camera and start taking pictures, and the pup in question starts looking for treats immediately.

One those two are in place, you proceed to step three!
Step three means asking for a "look at me" while the camera is out. By this point, your pup loves the camera (because it's treat time, baby!) and the "look at me" is foolproof, so you instantly get a nice "look at me", and you can take a beautiful picture of a lovely, attentive doggy face.

Just don't start step three in a difficult spot! This is not the time to pick a place where it's hard for your doggy to be attentive and calm. Start on a couch in your lounge, or in the kitchen, or wherever your pup is truly comfortable and super likely to pay attention to you. Reward well once you've taken your picture.

Always keep sessions short! No more than a few minutes.

I'll post the results once I have them :)