The Misanthropic Shiba

Click on the image to go to the Cafepress store! Mugs, stickers, etc.

While I was in the hospital, I wasn’t entirely idle.  I created a couple new Cafepress shops with the following images:

Click on the image to go to the Cafepress store. Stickers, mugs, clothing and more!

Tierce pouting as far away as possible because I a) discouraged him from scratching and b) offered him water.

Well, I’m whiling away the hours in the hospital… egads! Let’s write a blog post! Let’s write a blog post and not really edit it because I’m hopped up on adrenaline! That sounds like FUN!

Anyway, as I’ve said before, Tierce is scratching.  When we left for Vancouver General Hospital, I noticed that the area immediately around Tierce’s eyes was a little bare.  Not great, but Mom and Aunt Pat report that he hasn’t been scratching a lot.  That’s a little reassuring, but until I see him again, I won’t know just how much or little.

Jen over at Inu-Baka has mentioned that it’s allergy season where she lives, too.  Comments on her blog mention yucca as something that can help a dog with allergies.  She is giving Tsuki colostrum and Benadryl and is considering Atopica but wants to see what alternatives are out there.  Care to help her/me out?  What have you found to be effective in dealing with canine allergies?

Here is Mischa, my partner, using Tierce as a puppy pillow.

Mischa has kidney failure and has been on dialysis for the last 5 years.  Today he got the news that an anonymous donor of his blood type has been cleared to donate a kidney to him in a week.  Much happiness ensued.  Our Facebooks were inundated with well-wishes.  My work immediately approved my request for emergency leave so I could be with him during the procedure.  We went out to dinner at Amrikkos to celebrate.

During dinner, we were talking about the glorious future that was to be ours (if everything goes as hoped).  Mischa mentioned being able to go back to work.  He doesn’t work right now because while the dialysis keeps him alive, it doesn’t do the same job as a kidney would.

Sometimes he can barely make it out of bed and if he does, he spends the day sacked out on the couch.  There’s not a lot that can describe the feeling accurately.  Think of it like this:  You’re going through your life, but day-to-day, you never know if tomorrow you’re going to feel okay or if you’re going to feel like you’ve just completed the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race, you haven’t slept in a week and now you have to get up and do an 8 hour workday.

It just doesn’t work.

One thing Mischa said during dinner stuck with me.

“You know, it’s easier to make it through the bad days if you just get up, but getting up is the problem.  If it wasn’t for Tierce needing to go out, some days I just wouldn’t have gotten out of bed.  But he needed to go out, so I got up, got dressed and took him out and after that, the day wasn’t as bad to get through.”

…and Tierce is scratching.  It’s not as bad as it was that first year, but we’ve been controlling it with Atopica.  Unfortunately, it appears that Tierce is going to need a full-time, pill-a-day regime from May to September.  March and April, we can get away with cutting it back and I’m thinking in the winter we can cut down to two or even one.

We’ve got to keep on top of this because he’s starting to show worn eyebrows and the tips of his ears are a testament to increased scratching.  He has been nibbling at his front legs, but not as bad as other years.  He is showing a preference for rubbing his face in the grass, something that is somewhat counterproductive, since I suspect that he’s allergic to grass pollen.

I know that there was little way to know that the rabies shot he got would affect him so badly, but I’m still kind of mad about that.  Not at the vet, not at myself, but just at the fates.

Here’s another picture of him (we went on an epic 4-hour geocaching trip yesterday).  He still seems to be having fun with life so, again, he’s not as bad off as he was the first and second year.

Pet dogs unable to think for themselves after centuries of adult pampering

Dogs have become so reliant on humans that they have lost the ability to think properly for themselves, according to a new study.

Researchers believe that years of domestication has led to dogs losing the problem solving skills they once had in the wild.

Pet dogs failed basic intelligence tests that wolves and wild dogs pass with ease, according to the research.

The findings suggest they are now so dependent on people they are simply stupid versions of their forefathers.

What bothers me about this news item is the assumption that because dogs are not like wolves, they are “dumb”.  I think that this ignores that a) we bred dogs to behave like baby wolves and b) we bred dogs with the intelligence they have for a reason and c) most pet dogs’ lives are not conducive to problem solving.

Adult wolves are generally big, fearful, aggressive, high-prey-drive, active animals.  Wolves that have been “tamed” have attacked people, domestic pets and other animals.  Their high reactivity and combination of fear and aggression, especially towards people and domestic animals that they have been exposed to on a regular basis, makes them very bad choices for “pets”. (NO, wolves are not evil, nasty creatures that hunt down children just to hear them scream.  They’re wild animals with their own set of behaviours.  As it makes no sense to ignore their capabilities, it makes no sense to vilify them.)

On the flip side, wolf puppies are playful, have a high degree of tolerance for physical contact, pay attention to their Alphas and pack members and have a lower (controllable) prey drive.  They are also pretty damn cute, something that some breeds of domestic dog also replicate.

The reason we domesticated the dog is because an animal behaviourally similar to a wolf puppy is more likely to coexist with humans than an animal with the behaviour, instincts and capabilities of a wolf adult. We have manipulated canine DNA to the point where some breeds have a high degree of a particular trait and low degrees of other traits that wolves have to their highest degrees.

People generally don’t want a pet with the intelligence to figure out how to get out of the yard, into food on the counter or into any number of potentially hazardous, annoying situations.  People with Northern breeds often find out that they have a little bit more of the wolf than other dog breeds and have an unfortunate predeliction for escape, problem solving and other traits that would make them likely to survive in an unforgiving landscape.  This also makes them hell to live with for the person who thinks a waggled forefinger and a stern “Bad Dog!” is the limit for redirecting canine behaviour.

Dogs aren’t wolves.  Who knew?  In breeding for the traits that make the dog able to live in human society, we have also bred for the comprehension level of the wolf puppy.  Saying that dogs are ‘dumb’ because they don’t think like wolves is like saying a 2 year old is dumb because it can’t do what a 10 year old does with ease.

I also wonder how feral dogs (not dingoes) would perform on these tests.  The dogs of Moscow have learned to use the commuter trains and recognize the announced names for the various stops.  Pet dogs don’t have a lot of chances to develop their problem solving skills.  We don’t want a dog who can figure out how to get to a bowl of food on the other side of the fence; we want a dog who will stay in the goddamned yard.  Perhaps dog intelligence is not bred out but trained out.  I don’t know how many times I’ve told Tierce, “Shut up.  Let me do the thinking.”  He doesn’t listen to me, but sometimes it would be nice if he did.

Sony makes device that livetweets for cats

Currently, only fixed phrases can be used as comments for Twitter, and there are 11 phrases available. But Sony CSL is planning to increase the number of phrases and add a function to change comments in accordance with the preceding action. For example, if a cat eats something after taking a walk, a comment like “Meals taste better after a walk” is posted on Twitter, the company said.

Oh, I want this.  Want, want, want.  Tierce’s life will be Tweeted to all and sundry.

TierceTheShiba is sleeping
8:23 AM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba First pee of the day!
9:03 AM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba just got his allergy pill. 
11:59 AM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is going for a walk!  Awesome!
12:24 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is loose and keeping away from Mischa.  Haha, catch me now, fucker!
12:53 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is back on the leash.
1:03 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is barking at that weird kid next door.  IT’S RIDING A TRICYCLE.
2:47 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba Julie’s home!  Awesome! 
4:32 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba She isn’t taking to me to the dog park right away.  She sucks.
4:36 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is napping
5:09 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba Walk!  Awesome!
5:38 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba DOG PARK!
6:01 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is eating that crappy hypoallergenic dog food. 
8:27 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba is sleeping
10:43 PM June 3, 2010 via that thing i wear

TierceTheShiba Last pee.
12:13 AM June 4, 2010 via that thing i wear

Hey, look, exciting new products that help keep Tierce in chew toys!

Shiba Face Stuff!

Audit of USDA Puppy Mill Inspections Finds USDA Ineffective at Enforcing the Animal Welfare Act

Audit Report 33002-4-SF
May 2010
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of Inspector General
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Animal Care Program Inspections of Problematic Dealers PDF; WARNING: Graphic photos

Newcastle Island is a provincial park just opposite Nanaimo’s Maffeo-Sutton Park, downtown.  This is Tierce and me on the way back.  Take a look at our adventure! Read the rest of this entry »