Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Blog - Anime and Manga
Hey, I know that till now I have only posted things about dogs, and that can be understood, because, after all, this is a blog about dogs! But in this post I would like to give a break and talk about another blog, that isn't about dogs. My friend, Raven, is crazy for Japanese cartoons and comics, that are called anime and manga. It's a really cool blog and I highly recommend it to people who like those things and would like to know more. So here goes the link: http://mangaeanimereviews.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Can Dogs Smile?
In this blog, I will reveal the answer to your most profound question: "Can dogs smile?". Here it comes (suspense)... Yes! What?! Yes, dogs CAN smile! That's right! Let me explain this: One day, a very nice doggy called Missy wrote to me, and here's what she said:
"Hi my name is Missy. I live in Sacramento, California USA. I couldn't help reading your blog about dogs and just had to weigh in. I am a very happy pooch. I have nice parents who give me everything I want even though they don't always completely understand me. I try to communicate with them by looking at them with my big brown eyes, trying to smile and wagging my tail they don't always get it. I try to smile but for some reasons dogs don't smile (problem with facial muscles or something) do you know why? If you do let me know and I will try it out. Hoping to hear from you soon, your faithful canine correspondent here in America. Missy"
Isn't she a nice dog? Well, I really wanted to help her discover if she could smile, and if not, why, but that was kind of hard, because some said dogs could smile and others said they couldn't. So one day, I was searching that and I found a website that seemed to have convincing arguments, and it said that dogs have a body language to express their feelings, and when they're happy, they tend to loosen up a bit, and that includes the mouth area, so if your dog has his mouth's edges a little higher than usual, that may mean that it's having a good time. Other signs that help to identify a dog's happiness are a hanging tongue, a slightly open mouth, a wagging tail and a body rolling around the floor. Sometimes dogs also position their ears upward to show happiness or attention. He knows something, if not fun, exciting will happen. You have to be careful, though, because some signs can be easily mistaken. What does that mean? Well, since the post is mostly about dog's ability to smile, lets start with talking about that great facial expression that permits you to see weather someone is happy or not happy (if you just asked yourself something like "What?" I was talking about the smile): The thing is, there is more than one type of smile, each of them slightly different from the others. Apart from the happy smile, there are the anxious smile and the subordinate (fancy word, huh?) smile. Now I will describe those types of smile:
Anxious Smile: When a dog has a mouth open just a tad, and a smiling expression (the mouth's edges higher than usual), he may seem to be happy, but believe me, he isn't. When a dog has that smile on his face, he may be anxious, nervous or in distress. Other signs of distress include heavy panting with the tongue inside the mouth, whining and teeth chattering. In that case, you should consult the vet, even if your pet doesn't show all the signs (but I recommend waiting for at least two of them to show up: you don't want to waste money on a vet just because your doggy was whining for attention).
Subordinate Smile: According to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), sometimes, when the dog finds himself in a subordinate situation, that is, if he (or she) finds himself (or herself) threatened by any other animal (that includes humans) which the dog feels is more powerful, stronger or higher in ranking, he may try to show his subordination by baring his teeth in a non-aggressive way (dogs know the difference), that looks like a smile, but the poor thing is actually scared. In that case, look for other signs of subordination, such as pulled back ears, crying and a hanging head. So if you're shouting at your dog and it starts smiling, you should really stop it and pet it a bit, because not even the naughtiest dog deserves that.
Tail-Wagging: As I said before, tail-wagging, such as smiling, is a body sign of dog happiness, but it may not mean what you think: Dogs sometimes wag their tails in a quick, stiff motion if they're anxious, uncertain or apprehensive.
So hey, Missy, you can't smile? Try a little more, I'm sure you'll do it!
Font: http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-actually-smile-11434.html
Image 2: http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-actually-smile-11434.html
"Hi my name is Missy. I live in Sacramento, California USA. I couldn't help reading your blog about dogs and just had to weigh in. I am a very happy pooch. I have nice parents who give me everything I want even though they don't always completely understand me. I try to communicate with them by looking at them with my big brown eyes, trying to smile and wagging my tail they don't always get it. I try to smile but for some reasons dogs don't smile (problem with facial muscles or something) do you know why? If you do let me know and I will try it out. Hoping to hear from you soon, your faithful canine correspondent here in America. Missy"
Isn't she a nice dog? Well, I really wanted to help her discover if she could smile, and if not, why, but that was kind of hard, because some said dogs could smile and others said they couldn't. So one day, I was searching that and I found a website that seemed to have convincing arguments, and it said that dogs have a body language to express their feelings, and when they're happy, they tend to loosen up a bit, and that includes the mouth area, so if your dog has his mouth's edges a little higher than usual, that may mean that it's having a good time. Other signs that help to identify a dog's happiness are a hanging tongue, a slightly open mouth, a wagging tail and a body rolling around the floor. Sometimes dogs also position their ears upward to show happiness or attention. He knows something, if not fun, exciting will happen. You have to be careful, though, because some signs can be easily mistaken. What does that mean? Well, since the post is mostly about dog's ability to smile, lets start with talking about that great facial expression that permits you to see weather someone is happy or not happy (if you just asked yourself something like "What?" I was talking about the smile): The thing is, there is more than one type of smile, each of them slightly different from the others. Apart from the happy smile, there are the anxious smile and the subordinate (fancy word, huh?) smile. Now I will describe those types of smile:
Anxious Smile: When a dog has a mouth open just a tad, and a smiling expression (the mouth's edges higher than usual), he may seem to be happy, but believe me, he isn't. When a dog has that smile on his face, he may be anxious, nervous or in distress. Other signs of distress include heavy panting with the tongue inside the mouth, whining and teeth chattering. In that case, you should consult the vet, even if your pet doesn't show all the signs (but I recommend waiting for at least two of them to show up: you don't want to waste money on a vet just because your doggy was whining for attention).
Subordinate Smile: According to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), sometimes, when the dog finds himself in a subordinate situation, that is, if he (or she) finds himself (or herself) threatened by any other animal (that includes humans) which the dog feels is more powerful, stronger or higher in ranking, he may try to show his subordination by baring his teeth in a non-aggressive way (dogs know the difference), that looks like a smile, but the poor thing is actually scared. In that case, look for other signs of subordination, such as pulled back ears, crying and a hanging head. So if you're shouting at your dog and it starts smiling, you should really stop it and pet it a bit, because not even the naughtiest dog deserves that.
Tail-Wagging: As I said before, tail-wagging, such as smiling, is a body sign of dog happiness, but it may not mean what you think: Dogs sometimes wag their tails in a quick, stiff motion if they're anxious, uncertain or apprehensive.
So hey, Missy, you can't smile? Try a little more, I'm sure you'll do it!
Font: http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-actually-smile-11434.html
Friday, December 12, 2014
Pooches
Hey, there! In this post, I'll talk about pooches. First of all, I'll declare that they're the type of dog I like the most and, honestly, the type I most know about, since both my dogs are pooches. "Pooch" can be another word for "dog", but it's normally used to refer to the so-called "stray dogs", but that's not a very good term, so to define better what type of pooch I'm talking about I'm gonna use "a dog that does not have a pedigree or a defined breed". Got it? Yes? Good! No? Then comment your question and I'll try to eliminate it! Okay, now that it's all clear, let's continue. Now, I'm gonna say some of the reasons I really LOVE pooches: the first is that they're extremely resistant to sickness. But before I explain why I think that, I'll remember everyone: every dog is different, even though a certain group of dogs has certain resemblances (I think that's the word), there's always an exception. So let me explain why I think pooches are the most resistant dogs: I have a bitch (hey! Not what you're thinking! The other type!) that, when she was a puppy, got a serious disease of witch the name and all the exact symptoms I can't remember right now, but the thing is: she could have died, but, instead, she lost most of her teeth, and the few that remained are totally yellow, but the bright side is: she survived! And she's not a super sick dog that never get out of bed because she can't. On the contrary! She's super healthy (or at least she makes a real good impression of it), and if she spends a lot of time lied down, the only reason for that is her extreme laziness. The thing is, it isn't scientifically proved that pooches are more resistant than other dogs, but I have an hypothesis that says they are, and I base it in the fact that most pooches live in the streets (I said most, not all), so they have to adapt to diseases. But maybe I'm totally wrong, because I'm not a scientist (2017 UPDATE: Though I am still not sure if my hypothesis is correct, a most significant reason for why pooches are normally more resistant to certain illnesses than breaded dogs is that, as I explained a bit superficially in my post about 'puppy mills', normally when breeding dogs there is little concern for their "genetic quality". That is, breaded dogs, in account of having supposedly "pure genes" of their breed, are not genetically diverse, and, because of that, are more inclined to have certain weaknesses or diseases characteristic to their breed, whilst pooches are very genetically diverse, in account to being "mixed" and not "purebred", and, as a result, are less susceptible to weaknesses and diseases. This might sound a bit confusing, and to be honest I have to do more research on the subject, so I might write a brand new post about it after I have researched a bit more into it). Now, the second reason I like pooches the most is that you can't sell them! What I mean is, if you have a pooch and she has a puppy, you're forbidden to sell that puppy, so if you don't want to keep all the puppies (which is normally the case) then your only option is to donate it. As everyone knows, I'm against selling dogs, so I think that's awesome (repeating, I'm just saying my own opinion, if anyone has a different opinion feel free to say, because I don't have any problem with it, as long as you have a good argument). The last reason I like pooches is only the fact that, as I said before, my two dogs are a mixture of different breeds, so I am naturally inclined to prefer pooches. Okay, so I said my position in relation to pooches, if anyone has any doubts about the subject please comment and I'll see what I can do about them (the doubts).
I'm not sure if all the dogs in these pictures are pooches (the ones with no defined breed), so if you figure out any of them isn't, please say.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Pitbulls (2)
A Little More of what I Think about Pitbulls:
Last post I said that pitbulls were sometimes aggressive because people train them to. Well, I've been doing some research lately (National Geographic) and I discovered that that's not the only reason (of course). The other reason I discovered is that people are normally not used to dealing with a pitbull. What does that mean? For example: I have a pitbull. I live alone, with it as my only pet. It's very docile with me, but one day, when I invite my friend to visit me, it nearly bites his leg off (the pitbull nearly bites my friend's leg off, not the other way around). Or, one day, when I'm trying to take him for a walk, he starts running after another dog (I mean, in some countries you have to put some dogs in a nose band, but in others you don't). Why? Well, as I said before, "I" live alone, so my pet isn't used to other people or animals, so when he sees one, he imagines it's an "enemy" and his first reaction is to "protect" me. That's cool, but the only problem is: I don't want to be protected! I want to be able to have a social life where I don't have to worry about my dog eating another person or animal's head off! What can I do? Well, it's never to late to call a dog trainer, though it's best to treat your pet when it's still young. Just make sure you supervise the training, to know if the trainer is treating your dog badly. But the best thing is for you to know all these things when you go to adopt your dog so, if you fall in love for a pitbull, it's best that it's a puppy, so you can start educating it and getting it used to people and animals right from the start, to make sure you don't have any problems. But if you do, don't get scared and, most of all DO NOT AT ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ABANDON YOUR PET, because he (or she) really needs you. The best thing to do after a nasty moment is to call the best pet trainer you know (though it has, of course, to be one that you know you can pay). I just made this post to inform innocent people (by "inocent" I mean people who don't have some sort of mental illness and don't train they're dog to attack other living beings) of which they're dog (s) attacked any person or animal and that can't figure out what they wronged at to make this happen.
Last post I said that pitbulls were sometimes aggressive because people train them to. Well, I've been doing some research lately (National Geographic) and I discovered that that's not the only reason (of course). The other reason I discovered is that people are normally not used to dealing with a pitbull. What does that mean? For example: I have a pitbull. I live alone, with it as my only pet. It's very docile with me, but one day, when I invite my friend to visit me, it nearly bites his leg off (the pitbull nearly bites my friend's leg off, not the other way around). Or, one day, when I'm trying to take him for a walk, he starts running after another dog (I mean, in some countries you have to put some dogs in a nose band, but in others you don't). Why? Well, as I said before, "I" live alone, so my pet isn't used to other people or animals, so when he sees one, he imagines it's an "enemy" and his first reaction is to "protect" me. That's cool, but the only problem is: I don't want to be protected! I want to be able to have a social life where I don't have to worry about my dog eating another person or animal's head off! What can I do? Well, it's never to late to call a dog trainer, though it's best to treat your pet when it's still young. Just make sure you supervise the training, to know if the trainer is treating your dog badly. But the best thing is for you to know all these things when you go to adopt your dog so, if you fall in love for a pitbull, it's best that it's a puppy, so you can start educating it and getting it used to people and animals right from the start, to make sure you don't have any problems. But if you do, don't get scared and, most of all DO NOT AT ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ABANDON YOUR PET, because he (or she) really needs you. The best thing to do after a nasty moment is to call the best pet trainer you know (though it has, of course, to be one that you know you can pay). I just made this post to inform innocent people (by "inocent" I mean people who don't have some sort of mental illness and don't train they're dog to attack other living beings) of which they're dog (s) attacked any person or animal and that can't figure out what they wronged at to make this happen.
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