2019

Do children benefit from growing up with animals? The answer is yes and there is ample evidence to prove this both health wise and emotionally. Health care professionals constantly refer to the benefits of pet ownership to children.
Children who are brought up with animals are more likely to have a higher immune system and therefore are healthier. In fact children who live on farms are considered to exceptionally healthy.
It give children a sense of responsibility as looking after an animal requires them to feed it, make sure that It has water, and it needs exercise or stimulation.
On the subject of exercise it ensures that children get out and get fresh air and exercise
Living with animals gives children a sense of compassion.
Children with learning difficulties and those who experience problems with reading benefit from the presence of animals.
Children with physical difficulties also benefit.
Research shows that people who were brought up with animals are less likely to be involved in criminal activity.

Now the question is what sort of pet is best?
The answer quite simply is, it doesn’t matter and obviously it depends on many different factors. Lifestyle, finances, type of home etc, but knowing as we do most children regardless of circumstances benefit from growing up with animals it’s whatever suits. From a hamster to a horse, the list is endless!

To end this I quote from the mother of a badly injured child who wrote me a letter which I still have to this day.
Stuart was very young when he was kicked in the head by a horse sustaining 7 skull fractures, his life hung in the balance for weeks much of it in a deep coma. He had always wanted a yellow labrador puppy but his parents said no because they felt that their lifestyle was not right. Throughout this ordeal they had to keep talking to Stuart to stimulate his brain and repeatedly promised a yellow labrador puppy. Stuart survived, 6 months later he went home and started the very long road to recovery. It would take years,  walking, talking even eating had to be relearned and the promise was kept. The yellow labrador arrived and was called Honey. The two became inseparable and here I quote:

“One day Stuart was trying  to walk from one side of the kitchen to the other with the aid of calipers when he got stuck in the middle and was in danger of falling, before either of us could reach him Honey must have realised the danger and came to his side whereupon Stuart put his hands on her back and she lead him to the other side of the kitchen to safety. Coincidence maybe but we are so glad we kept our promise”

R

A house is not a home without a pet.

Anon

The question that has been asked many times? Do I get one puppy or two ? The argument being that two will keep each other company and get into less mischief. I venture to suggest that whilst this may work very occasionally, in the majority of cases it is a recipe for disaster.
Now trying to cope with one pup is hard enough, two puppies is double the trouble and in the majority of instances all that happens is that one puppy gets into trouble and the other one follows. They are only as good as the most badly behaved one of the two.
If you are looking to have a dog in the household permanently may I make the following suggestion. This will stand you in good stead for all the years you want keep dogs.
Think about your lifestyle, so you like walking, if so, you need a dog that can go for long walks so pugs, pekingese, English bull dogs or any sort of breed that has a flat face resulting in restricted breathing is out of the question. Are you house proud or have a respiratory problems then you need to be looking at the breeds that don’t moult like a poodle or a bichon frise.  If you have small children you are looking for a  dog that is very good tempered and is robust enough to cope with children. Remember that a working breed of dog needs stimulation and in many instances will not be suitable as a family pet.
There are a number of websites available for helping you choose the right dog. Train the dog well, put in the work needed and the benefits will be as follows.
Once you have one really well behaved dog in the home any subsequent dogs generally will be easy. Why. Because the first well trained dog will show the next one how things are done and so on for decades to come Example: when you call the first dog to return to you the second will almost certainly come as well as he will follow the senior dogs example. In the end you probably only need to train one dog and the rest learn from their predecessors.

R

Clearly animals know more than we think and think more than we know

Irene M. Pepperburg

Now I am sure that most people have not come across this particular rare breed. It is not to be found in any Book of Dogs and it certainly is not recognised by the Kennel Club. To the best of my knowledge it only exists on the island of St Lucia in the West Indies and is only spotted during the tourist season.
I was living on the island in the early 80s and therefore have a unique insight into the origins of this rather special creature.
When I was there I was regularly asked by tourists, mostly American, “What sort of dog is that”? The answer I had was as follows.

“As you can see a number of the palm trees don’t grow straight up, they lean, this is where the coconut hound comes into his element. They run up the trunk of the tree, reach the coconut, headbut the coconut, the coconut falls to the ground and the little boy catches them. This particular dog is an excellent specimen. In fact one of the best I have seen and if you want give me your camera I can take a photograph of you and the coconut hound, and you can show the folks back home.”

Yes, you’ve guessed it, I had a mischievous streak in me in my younger years and I was amazed at the number of times that the story was believed.
At that time there were hardly any pedigree dogs on the island other than those brought in by expatriates.
It has occurred to me that there must be a number of homes in the United States that have photographs of coconut hounds in their albums.

I hearby publicly apologise for the misdemeaners from my youth and if you are ever on the island of St Lucia and you are introduced to a coconut hound, you will say…….well I’ll leave that for you!I

R

The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog.

Ambrose Bierce

At the shelter we have a group of around 10 dogs, that we affectionally refer to as the ‘wild dogs’. 

These are all dogs that we have rescued over the years, that unfortunately due to one reason or another are not able to be re-homed. 

This lovely lady is a good example….. Before she was brought to us we do not know what sort of life she lived, we know it can not have been a very nice one, as she is soo distrustful of humans…… she runs and hides whenever we come near her….

She was found beside the main road, where she had been hit by a car and left for dead.

Now she lives in our open area with the other 10, where hey have houses, trees and bushes where they can hide and feel safe.

All these dogs would be just wondering the roads, if they did not live with us, they have a huge area where they can roam free, but safely…. with no worry of humans causing them harm.

We never give up hope that they will become more friendly, and possibly one day might find a home….. never say never!  We work daily with each of them, sometimes just sitting there quietly with them, letting them know that we mean them no harm.

If you would like to sponsor one of these angels, and help towards their feeding and veterinary costs, it would mean a great deal to us and them. 

 

Name: Malamo
Sex: Female 
Date of birth : 06/08/2014
Neutered: yes

Good with cats and other dogs: cats not known, but good with other dogs. 

Tests for Leishmania: yes… negative 
Vaccinations : all up to date

 

More about Malamo:

This slightly older lady, is a very shy girl.  She is not keen on meeting new people, this being said, if you were to bring her breakfast she will love you forever….

With the people she knows, and trusts, she will come and greet them straight away ask for a back rub.

Though she is shy, she gets on great with the other younger dogs, who kind of look at her as a mama figure.  She is more happy to lie in the sunshine, than run around playing with the others, but this would definitely change if she had a home of her own, where she felt safe and loved.

She has no problem being with other dogs, of any size or age.  And has no problem sharing her food, in fact she is a bit of a bowl hopper herself…. she likes to test out what everyone is eating before selecting which bowl to eat from.  

Have you ever been going for a walk with your dog and suddenly without warning your dog turns a full circle and is off chasing a rabbit? You ask yourself, how did he know the rabbit was there? For a start, stand still, focus on a point directly ahead then then stretch your arms forward palms together then slowly open your arms keeping your focus on the point ahead. At the point when your palms start to disappear from view that is your “field of vision”at very best this will be approximately 180 degrees (a straight line), but in reality for practical use it is probably more like 60-70 degrees. A dog with its eyes on the front of its head will have a slightly wider field of vision, however dogs like  greyhounds, salukis or any of the sight hounds who have their eyes on the side of their heads have a field of vision of around 250 degrees hence they can see backwards!! Other factors to note when understanding what your dog sees are: Your dog is much lower to the ground so to try and replicate what he sees  you need to go down on your hands and knees and for very little dogs lay flat!! Contrary to popular belief dogs see in colour albeit the colours are restricted and compared to a humans sight the dogs vision is not so clear. To compensate for any deficiencies in sight the other  senses are far greater than ours Dogs see better in the dark than us but we see better in daylight It has been observed that a working sheepdog can see a shepherd’s hand signal up to a kilometre away. A rather strange but little known fact is that in certain parts of the world a dog can see what is on the tv screen and in other parts of the world the dog will only see fast moving dots all depending on the transmission frequency. The technical stuff is way above my pay grade but inquires lead me to believe that in Europe your dog can see the television !! R I am indebted to Dr Bruce Fogle M.B.E. D.V.M. M.R.C.V.S.for the technical information contained in this article

Dogs are not our whole lives but they make our lives whole.

Roger Caras

I am sure that most dog shelters will tell you that puppies will find homes much quicker than the older dogs. This is understandable but I am convinced that many people miss out on the chance to adopt a wonderful pet that will give just as much pleasure as a puppy and with probably a lot less hassle. People are naturally concerned as to why dogs are in a shelter. Well quite simply in countries where strays are a common sight these strays can end up in shelters but in places like Crete many people both Greeks and expatriates have found them to be delightful pets. As somebody who puts great emphasis on good temperament, I have had 3 Cretan rescue dogs and all have been terrific companions plus several that I have fostered prior to them going to new homes. In northern Europe dogs can be in shelters for no fault of their own. Owners who have died, a change in financial circumstances, family break ups etc. These dogs can make loyal, committed pets. There can be many advantages to having an older dog, particularly if like me if you are not in first flush of youth. For example many of them are already toilet trained, they are calmer, quiet, sleep more, don’t need as much exercise, travel well in the car, in fact in  my experience they are delighted to find a home and behave accordingly. As I am writing this, close by is Chloe, my current companion, rescued a couple of years ago who, not only is she almost deaf but when I inquired about her age I was informed that she was so old that the veterinary surgeon was unwilling to hazard a guess!! So who wants to adopt a deaf geriatric dog. The answer is very few and obviously we won’t have her for 10 or 12 years but the overwhelming pleasure even for a short time more than makes up for the limited time together. We get a delightful, loyal dog full of character and she gets to spend her final days in comfort. While I am not suggesting that everybody goes rushing out to adopt an older dog, at least give the matter some serious thought. R

Some of my leading men have been dogs and horses.

Elizabeth Taylor

t’s not surprising that dogs are are sometimes not happy travelling in a car, in fact some become very distressed. If you think about it the first time that a dog is in a car is the day that he is taken away from his mum the second time is probably to visit the veterinary surgeon, a total stranger who sticks a thermometer up puppies bottom, shoves a worm tablet down his throat and pushes a needle into his neck. The third time is a repeat performance of the second so it shouldn’t come as a shock that puppy doesn’t have the car very high on his list of jolly things to do. So what do we do about it? Like everything when it comes to animals if we make the experience as stress free as possible and as pleasurable as we can then we get a favourable result so whether you are getting your pet used to the car or if your dog is unhappy with the car then give this a try. First week: sit with dog in the car, few minutes at a time several times a day don’t turn the engine on, just sit, cuddles and treats are in order as long as dog shows no signs of distress Second week: same as the first week but with the engine running but not going anywhere. Third week: try driving a few metres every day slowly increasing the distance each time. Fourth week: By now dog is beginning to realise that going out in the car is a pleasurable experience and you should be able to increase the distance accordingly. R

There is nothing in which birds differ from man than the way in which they build and yet leave the landscape as It was before.

Robert Lynd

This time I am going to recount a true story that occurred 30 years ago. Nowadays, we now have a greater understanding of the dogs mind, but even so, whilst we can come up with all sorts of explanations we still have no definitive proof that dogs possess extra sensory perception. I will return to this fascinating subject at a later date. The lady and her dog arrived in my office for a hastily booked appointment. The dog was a golden retriever. In those days the retriever was the most popular family dog and this one was a classic specimen He had a rich golden colour coat almost mahogany, broad handsome head, a benign look and a tail that never stopped swishing from side to side. This was the sort of dog that everybody who has children prays for, that wonderful dog who helps the toddlers take their first steps, accepts being pulled around, sat on and puts up with the indignity of being dressed up, in fact totally bombproof, that dog that you would trust never to hurt the children, who in 10years had never growled. The story went something like this: The lady and her dog are on a regular walk and a man approaches from the opposite direction. He is smartly dressed and does not carry a walking stick, umbrella or brief case, neither does he wear glasses or wear a hat. all the things that can set the alarm bells ringing for a dog, The man is at least 50 metres away and suddenly “bombproof” freezes, he doesn’t growl or raise his hackles but what his owner described as an continuous roll of thunder comes from his chest. The man passed by showing no sign of hostility and “bombproof” returns to normal as if nothing has happened. The lady is very distressed, such is the reliable nature of this dog and his behaviour so out of character, can he still be trusted with the children? Well I found nothing wrong with the dogs temperament and while I could accept the dogs reaction from a very short distance reacting to someone at that far away who was not behaving in any sort of threatening manner was puzzling, but just to be safe I referred her to a veterinary surgeon for a complete check up and he found nothing wrong as well. We all conferred and agreed that while we couldn’t explain the dogs behaviour there was no risk to the family and “bombproof” carried on being his usual self. The explanation came some two years later. The lady phoned me and told me that in the newspaper that day was a story of a man who had just been convicted of a series of crimes of attacking women, the photo was conclusive, it was the man, “bombproof” knew!! R

Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.

A.A. Milne

I don’t claim to have any specialist knowledge of cats but they are fascinating creatures, and since I have been here I have made it my business to learn as much as I can. Having come to live here 18 years ago and having bought a house that had been empty for a number of years that also backed on to an olive grove, the inevitable consequence was vermin. The local cat population, was largely made up of a rather thin,  apathetic, nervous bunch who all appeared to be totally disinterested. Now there has been a lot of research over the years into cat behaviour and the age old question regarding feral cats. 1) do we not feed them at all, then they will kill vermin because they are hungry 2) do we give them a little food so they will stay close and kill the vermin close to our house 3) feed them as much as they want Well an experiment was carried out many years ago; 3 farms were chosen and a colony of cat was introduced into each one. The first colony were not fed at all, the cats became weak, listless and unhealthy and quickly moved on to find food. The second colony were fed some food and whilst some cats went to find pastures new most stayed and the remaining cats were fairly efficient at reducing the vermin. Much to the researchers surprise the third colony were by far the most effective, this proving what some naturalists have been saying for years that cats hunt and kill for pleasure and the better fed they are the healthier they are and therefore the more efficient they become. In the early days, much to the horror of my neighbours, large bowls of food were made available for the local feline populace, this, and an energetic neutering programme made for a very efficient and effective cat patrol and vermin have been virtually eradicated from my road. A secondary consequence of this is that the cats are welcome on almost everybody’s terrace in my road as my neighbours have come to understand the benefits of a healthy cat population. In fact I have had to suffer the indignity of seeing some of the cats that I rescued, fed and had neutered abandon my terrace to spend more time on my neighbours terrace. The bowl of dry food at my house cannot compete with the tasty morsels available when their  BBQs are going!! R

What greater gift than the love of a cat.

Charles Dickens