[pyrnet] anthropomorphizing and so forth

[Rhonda Collins <rhonda@castlepublishing.com>]

> I'll bet that was a sight. 
> You need to have a digital camera handy for 
> these occasions.  :)
>
> Gerry

Yeah, I know, but I still would've been too slow!

> How 'bout this - Yesterday I washed
> 11 goats for a client in my dog grooming
> van.
>
> I am now, as well as a dog groomer, a goat groomer.  Nothing like
> being
> multi skilled
>
> Anyone got any sheep they want washed?  How bout a chook or
> two?

Okay...what's a chook?  

> Ahhh, yes, the wall.  Like
> giving advice to requests for information on the 
> Pyr list, plus then having to endure the retorts that make this offered
> information somehow sinister.  We learn pretty quick on the list
> that 
> requests for information sometimes is very selective i.e. it should read
> "request for information I want to hear and the rest is not
> appreciated."   
>
> Joe

Yep, I learned very quickly, Joe. I won't ever ask for advice again
unless it's off-list to someone I know is capable of looking out of more
than one window.

_________________

On anthropomorphizing:

I grew up in the country and we had animals of all kinds. I practically
worship the Arabian horse. To me, an Arab is like a Pyr is to many of
you. THE breed. I haven't had a Pyr long enough to know if they are that
different from other dogs. So far, Newman seems pretty special. But then,
so was Madion, our Spitz. For someone who is not a breeder and doesn't
have experience with a particular breed in volume, so to speak, it's
impossible. for me to tell if it is a "breed thing" or merely
an individual animal being special. Cat owners feel the same way about
cats and give them human characteristics. I don't necessarily think of
them as "human" characteristics, but rather that dogs (and
cats) are much more adaptable than humans. They are able to re-adjust
their instinctual urges and normal characteristics in order to fit into
our human lifestyles, whereas we wouldn't do as well fitting into theirs.
I do know that both dogs and cats are a great deal more intelligent than
people (who aren't pet people) think. Humans tend to anthropomorphize
because frankly...it's fun. And it's true. Dogs and cats HAVE qualities
that are much like humans...and they acquire others as they live with us.
I do believe that when a person has a family, their animals may take
second place. I know that if I had to have a choice of shooting one of my
children or my husband or the dog, the dog would lose. I'm sorry, but
that's the way it is. If it's different for others on this list, it just
is. But at the same time, if I can possibly afford to give my dog the
best possible care, I will (neutering or not neutering
notwithstanding).  My co-workers smile at me indulgently as I talk
more about my dog than I do about my kids...but hey...my kids aren't
babies anymore and the dog is a lot cuter than they are. If my kids were
in the home and needed me still, and the dog was here at the same time,
I'd be talking MORE about the kids, but also about the dog.  All of
them are important to me, but just in different ways.

> For me dogs are not human, not even
> barely.  They are different beings.  Not
> us.  It is one of those things that makes them so amazing and
> interesting to
> live with.  They have their own reactions, needs, responses that
> arise from
> them being *dogs* and not pseudo humans.  It is a rare privilege to
> share
> life and space with another species.  I am adding here my favorite
> quote
> that speaks to what I feel:
>
> ||| Notes from The Outermost House
> by Henry Beston
>
> ....For the animal shall not be measured by the man. In a world older
> and
> more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted 
> with
> extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices
> we
> shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they
> are
> other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time,
> fellow
> prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth. |||
>
> Linda

I have to agree wholeheartedly with this. I always feel privileged to
have the love of a dog. It is always completely limitless, and you do
somehow know that they are not really "inferior", but merely
different, perhaps alien to your own being, yet nonetheless a part of
you.  

___________

> Just got back from the vets. It's
> not mange, thank goodness. However, 
> no one knows--could be an allergy that led to some impetigo like 
> spots and hair loss. Got some cephalexin and oatmeal shampoo. Going 
> to try some aloe vera as a topical skin mopisturizer (unless someone
> has a better idea for dry skin where he is bald.

Sue, well, I'm glad it's not mange. I keep watching Newman carefully to
make sure his isn't recurring.

> Olympia
> (pyr/kuvasz rescue) has developed a fascination with opening and 
> closing doors.  She loves to play in the bathroom with the several
> doors 
> that can be found there.  She especially enjoys cocking her head at
> the 
> squeaks that may emerge and experimenting with sounds and movement. 
> Unfortunately, she often closes herself in and then can't get back
> out.  
> This will remain cute as long as she doesn't figure out cupboards and
> refrigerators as I know some of yours have.

Pam, we had to put child proof catches on all our cabinets so that Newman
couldn't get in. He hasn't yet learned how to open doors, although he
KNOWS the doorknob is somehow responsible.  He bumps them with his
nose all the time.

> The feature/tool
> should look like a graph with a diagonal line from lower
> left to upper right.  Grab the right end and edge it down a
> bit.  I
> usually also grab a point about 20% from the bottom and raise it a
> bit.
>
> David 

Thanks, David. I'll keep that in mind when Im working with my pics.