|
home>articles>current
page
Late-breaking News About Our Companion, the Dog
Author: Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach
"Well, you know Labs, they're almost human,"
I always say when
I'm out walking Bailey, my Chocolate Lab, and people
stop us. Do
you feel the same way about your dog?
I agree with prize-winning pet columnist obedience/therapy dog
trainer, Lexiann Grant, who said, "I love [dogs] immensely and
cannot imagine my life without them in it. Because of a dog -
their emotions and intelligence - I
·Have been lifted from depression ·Found a new, more profound
meaning in my life ·Coped successfully with a long recovery from
chronic illness ·Learned what is truly important in my daily
life ... and what is not ·Know about love freely given and
received without judgment"
My client Terry knows about therapy dogs. When her 21 year old
son died in an accident, her Retriever was her constant
companion. When she would cry, Tansy would push her head into
Terry's lap and look up at her.
There are plenty of tales about dogs rescuing families from
burning homes without being trained, or, like my grandmother's
dog, sitting patiently in the lap of aged companions when they
could be off playing.
Those of us who have dog companions know what we know, but
research has come up with a really fascinating bit of evidence
I'd never thought of. See if this ever occurred to you!
The closest other animal to humans genetically would be the
chimp, right? But the fact is, we humans have never made our
homes with chimps, so we may be closer to dogs in many ways.
Dogs and humans go way back. It appears Palaeolithic humans
tamed dogs 15,000 years ago. According to Peter Savolainen, an
evolutionary biologist at the Royal Institute of Technology in
Stockholm, Sweden, that's when we bred aggression out of wolves
and made dogs pets.
Another researcher, Brian Hare, at Harvard has been studying
dogs' special ability to communicate with humans. He did
experiments where he hid food and then used nonverbal means of
communication to indicate where it was. He tested dogs,
human-reared wolves, chimps, and puppies. Chimps and wolves
couldn't find it, but dogs and even puppies, who hadn't been
around humans, knew what it meant when researchers pointed at
the place, or 'eyed' it, or placed a item on it.
Hare's studies are showing that although chimps are our closest
relatives genetically, they cooperate and communicate very
poorly with us. But oh our dogs can! Want to make a webpage for
your dog? Go here: http://66.13.229.109/mature_pet_page.asp
About the author:
©Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, offers The EQ Foundation Course© on
the Internet, for individuals and for licensing. Your EQ is more
important to your happiness and success than your IQ.
www.susandunn.cc. mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE
ezine.
|
