Perhaps not quite as rare as the African Golden... ladies and gentlemen, the mysterious Bodega Cat:
Very amusing... and very true! Our local bodega has one, though we don't call our local bodega a "bodega" -- we call it Convenience George, to distinguish it from our local small grocer, who we call Grocery George. We have a lot of Georges in our neighborhood. But only one bodega cat -- long may she rule.
Scientists tracking one of Africa's most elusive and poorly understood animals say they've recorded a rare - and possibly the only publicly released - video of the species in the wild.
The video, recorded by a motion-activated camera placed in a Gabon
forest, shows an African golden cat: a shy, medium-sized feline that
ducks human contact and lives in hard-to-access parts of central African
forests. [Info from CNN]
"I don't think I can put (capturing the video) into words," Bahaa-el-din
said of the rarity of the footage. "I live and dream golden cats most
days. To get back to camp and put the (footage) on the computer and have
this cat basically posing for the camera, it's incredible. I watched it
five times in a row and pretty much didn't sleep that night."
Aw. What a beauty. More info on the African Golden here and here and some nice photos here. And here is the Panthera blog post, with more great photos.
Humans aren't the only ones who get cranky and indulge in domestic squabbles: Watch these two Siberian Huskies, Mishka and Laika, navigate an issue of differing expectations about the best way to spend their Saturday afternoon. Seem familiar at all?
These two sweethearts actually each have their very own video blogs on YouTube, where more talking and cuteness ensues: Mishka; Laika.
Have you seen this popular video of a dog "faking his death"?
It's very cute -- as long as we feel that the dog is doing this on purpose: not exactly "playing dead," but enacting an exaggerated submission response, perhaps to encourage the reluctant dog: "see? ya got me! Come on and play and you can get me again!" But some of the people commenting on Patricia McConnell's blog post about this are speculating neurological disorder, although that's just one of the many theories. One commenter says:
"In my experience owning a pet resort and seeing hundreds of dogs play
day in and day out...it looks like a very brief neurologic episode to me. I
have seen these several times over the years. Some dogs bounce back
extremely quick. (The head raise could have been "I want to get up, but
my body needs another second to recuperate".) Some dogs take longer. I
had a dog who collapsed just like the one in the video, and the only
part of the body that she could move voluntarily was her head. I carried
her to the car and rushed to her to the vet with her seemingly
paralyzed in the back of my car. After driving 20 minutes praying she
would not die on the way, we got to the parking lot and she sneezed. The
moment she sneezed, all other body movement returned to normal. She
trotted into the vet and all tests were normal. She never had another
episode like that again. I also have had dogs in grooming which seem to
have a "neurologic episode" which is not a seizure, but clearly the dog
loses the ability to move and then rebounds quickly. I have had two vets
equate these responses to the canine equivalent of a "panic attack-like
episode" due to the heighten sound, smell and touch sensory stimulation
in the grooming environment."
Hm. I've heard of panic attacks in dogs, but never fainting as a symptom... though there are several conditions that cancause a dog to faint. So... a bit of a mystery here about this "dog who played dead," but if you ever witness odd fainting or "frozen spells" in your pup, best to make sure it isn't a sign of illness.
Hmmm. Not exactly a soothing bathing experience, is it? I have a feeling this dog is not going to come away with a good attitude towards bath time.
So, how do you give a bath-shy dog a bath?
Here are my personal tips, from the owner (me!) of a dog who was so absolutely terrified of baths that the attempt was literally dangerous for both her and us because her panic was so out of control we were afraid she was going to break a leg, or maybe a tooth against the tub, or claw us severely in the struggle. Here's what I suggest:
Get a handheld spray faucet attachment in advance, and practice a bit so you know how to control it
(This one comes from Amazon -- but I don't endorse it specifically, as I've never used it)
Remove items from your bathroom that you don't want to get wet
Assemble your bath items: doggy shampoo; baby shampoo, several old towels; peanut butter
Make sure you have a good, large, sturdy no-slip rubber bath mat in the tub or shower area since a slippery surface will only add to puppkin's panic
Bring your dog into the bathroom with a lead, and then close the bathroom door; if she won't get into the tub or shower on her own, you may have to lift her in
Get in the bath/shower with your pup; this is very reassuring, and works best if there are two human types involved -- one in the bath, and one assisting from the sidelines to dispense shampoo, offer peanut butter, and restrain the victim when necessary.
Be very careful to ensure that the water is body temperature
Begin with a slow trickle of water and start wetting your dog as you reassure him by stroking and talking to him; your assistant can offer a bit of peanut butter (which can be a good distraction since it usually requires some concentration; you can also give some to the dog)
Begin lathering the body, tail and legs; avoid the face area for now
If your dog isn't freaking out, you can slowly increase the water pressure
Rinse the shampoo off the body (be thorough, because residual shampoo can cause itchiness and dry skin)
If your dog is the type to easily get ear infections, pop in a couple of cotton balls now to block the ear canals
Wet down the face while avoiding spraying into ears or nostrils, and try to get through this next bit as quickly as possible -- peanut butter probably won't help at this point
Lather up her face quickly with baby shampoo (unless your dog shampoo is a proven no-tears formula) while assistant helps to either hold/control the dog, or soothe with stroking
Quickly but thoroughly rinse; it's best if you have decent pressure at this point so that it doesn't take a long time
Turn off the water, blot your furry pal with one towel and put another one or three on the floor. Remove the cotton balls from ears, if you've used them.
Carefully lift him out of the tub, or allow her out of the stall, and let him shake himself and rub himself on the towel or towels on the floor
Open the bathroom door and watch as she zooms back and forth through the house like an insane dingbat on doggy speed (you will have already put down old towels on the couch, bed, or wherever he likes to sprawl, because there will be more furious rolling around to remove the horrid, horrid H2O)
Once she calms down a bit, offer a delicious treat or special toy for undergoing such a grueling experience. You might keep one super special amazing reward item for only this occasion (you can also give one to the dog)
Repeated application of this process means that my little girl is now conditioned and stoic enough that I can bathe her on my own with very little resistance, though when flying solo I do have to use a leash attached to the faucet fixtures because when we get to the face, she usually tries to make a break for it. When team-bathing we actually found it best (more reassuring for her) to fill the tub with water, and for my husband to get in first, and then I lifted her in... but total immersion may not be the best approach for all watershy dogs.
This whole thing tiptoes around the question of why some dogs are so terrified of water and/or baths, and I'm afraid I don't know that. In our case, we suspect that our rescue dog had been punished by being sprayed with a hose, because every time we get out the hose to water the garden, she beelines it inside the house -- whereas usually she wants to stick right by us for every activity. I also wonder if some dogs with Northern-breed genes don't instinctively avoid water as the life-threatening danger it could be in some environments?
At any rate, this is the process that has worked for us. Even if it's not the bath bible for every dog, I hope there are some ideas that will prove helpful for your bath-shy furbaby. :)
And our award goes to... Puff and Puppet, perfect pals:
Can you guess which one is "Puff"? Hint: the lizard is a Bearded Dragon. I love these adorable little buddies. Elsewhere on YouTube, another Bearded Dragon cross-species relationship is proving a bit more complicated: Puppy is eager to play with Beardy, but Beardy is having none of it:
Okay, this video made me laugh 'til I cried. Poor Denver. Really, who could resist delicious kitty party mix? Certainly not Denver.
Or so it would seem. But how reliable is your dog's "guilty face"? According to scientists, not very reliable at all. This article relates an experiment that tricks dogs and owners alike, and shows that dogs will often act guilty when they are scolded -- even if they didn't do anything wrong: "The dogs offered significantly more 'guilty' behaviors when they were scolded, regardless of whether they'd eaten the treat. And -- drumroll -- dogs who didn't eat the treat showed as many guilty-looking behaviors as dogs who did eat it. In other words, how guilty the dogs acted had no connection with their actual 'guilt.' In fact, the dogs who acted guiltiest of all were the 'innocent' ones being scolded." (However, the scientific community is still out on the question of doggy whistleblowers: video.)
Perhaps you've heard about the recent internet firestorm regarding domain registrar Godaddy CEO Bob Parsons posting a video of himself killing an elephant in Zimbabwe as a part of his holiday activities. Animal lovers and animal rights activists are condemning the action, while Parsons defends himself as a humanitarian who helps the poor farmers of Zimbabwe. My personal feeling is that he has an awful lot of money he could dedicate toward efforts to help starving villagers... that don't necessarily depend on him flying down every once in a while to shoot an elephant and pose by the body while adorning everyone with Godaddy hats.
At any rate, to counter the bad taste this left in my mouth, I present you with something totally different, and very, very sweet: the story of Tarra and Bella, a rescued elephant, and the stray dog she "adopted." Here is the CBS report about the inseparable friends:
Here is a brief update from CBS, and another lovely little video update from the Elephant Sanctuary from last summer. "The Bark" has nice article about the couple, and you can find out more about the Elephant Sanctuary on their site. Here's Tarra's bio page, and here's the Tarra and Bella page. The site also offers the "Elecam," live, streaming video from various points in the compound. From the site's news update section, it looks like there will be a feature on Tarra and Bella on "Dateline" (which has been postponed due to coverage of the Japan earthquake), so if you have fallen in love with these two, you can keep your eyes peeled for that.
From Japan this week, here is an incredibly touching video (in Japanese) of a dog that refused to leave his injured companion:
The good news is that both dogs were rescued: the injured dog taken to an animal hospital and the guardian to a shelter. For many of us, natural catastrophes weigh on our minds not only for the welfare of our country, community, and loved ones, but also for the safety of our pets -- and the more devastating a disaster is, the less likely it is that there are resources and money to put toward helping them, so I'm sure that many of you have wondered and worried about the lost pets in Japan. In partial answer, I'm going to reproduce this comment from a Metafilter member in it's entirety below, because the whole, huge page with news and comments about the earthquake is so long that it may be difficult to load, and is actually crashing my browser:
Regarding the pet question, because I too have worried about them and their poor owners. Of course you'd prioritize your family's safety... I adore cats, but a frightened cat is not easy or quick to rescue in a short time frame :( plus I imagine many people didn't conceive of how bad the tsunami would be (who did, after all), and left their dogs behind, figuring they'd be able to fend for themselves until they could get back home.
So, in addition to donations I've already made to Doctors Without Borders and Second Harvest (which does have an option for pet food, btw), I too looked into pet rescue possibilities. It does seem time-sensitive; there were two dogs in a video linked earlier (the brown and white splotched one who cared for the sick cream one). In that video, they mention that with no fresh water to drink, the lost animals are turning to sea water, which is slowly killing them.
I found this coalition of rescue orgs yesterday: Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. The donations go to a Canadian woman who runs HEART Tokushima, a no-kill shelter whose credentials seem pretty strong, and she also keeps up the coalition's Facebook page. Everything I've found surrounding it seems to check out; it would indeed be great if any MeFites in Japan who know more could confirm? She's mentioned Nippon SPCA's rescue fund too. The coalition's FB page has been good about focusing on animal rescue; there's a note up for lost animal locations.
Again, of course human needs take precedence. It's just that as an animal lover, I certainly know that my pet's well-being would be an immense boost to my own in such a desolate situation.
And to end on a somewhat lighter note, if that is possible at all, Internet-sensation-kitty Maru is confirmed safe and sound in Japan. If you've never seen the Maru videos, I can't think of a better time to acquaint yourself with this adorable little guy who never met a box he didn't love. Seriously. It will cheer. you. up. Hugs to all of you and your precious pets.
