How complex are animals?

New research shows that animals, including dogs, are a little more complex than previously thought.

According to an article by Marc Bekoff on the psychologytoday.com Web site, birds can plan future meals, fish remember and turtles grieve.

We all know that dogs produce a wonderful array of vocalizations. And now we know that dogs mean it when they [sic] "This bone is mine." Researchers from the Department of Ethology at Eotvos University in Budapest, Hungary, showed that when a dog has a bone and growls other dogs avoid him — the growl means "hands off my bone." They also discovered that a growl in play, for example, had a different acoustic structure and did not deter a dog from approaching the growler. The results show that aggressive vocalizations in dogs are context-specific and have a specific meaning when used to keep a bone from others.

Bekoff said we are learning more about the intelligence of other animals, including whether they can be emotional and have morals.

We need to keep an open mind on just how fascinating they are and how similar they are to us in many different ways. And, while there are many and significant differences, it's essential that we mind the similarities when we subject them to unnecessary pain, suffering, and death. We can all definitely do better in our interactions with other beings.

Kate update

For all those who have asked how Kate is doing she has many more good days than bad. She gets a sour stomach from the kidney failure on average every other week. Other than that she iseating well and her water consumption isn't too out of hand.

Seems to be more seasonal shedding this year. Kate is keeping the vacuum busy.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E whisperer

Do you confide in your dog or your cat?

Pets can be a bridge for children to cope with their parents' divorce, said marriage and family therapist Mitchell Rosen, writing in the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise.

Read his article here.

More and more I'm seeing young children who tell me their confidant is their dog, cat, or horse. They go for long walks and tell their pet all about mom and dad's fighting or the fears they have about what might eventually happen. This is not crazy behavior but might very well be sanity preserving. A child, an adolescent, an adult; we all need someone we can confide to. The alternative is to pretend, escape or deny. None of these are very healthy.

Rosen said he has also seen adults ensure through their divorce papers visitation with their pets.

But too often we neglect to ask the kids and actually get mad at them if they don't want to visit because it means leaving their pet.

Still finding new ways our pets are increasingly part of our lives.

Newsy Sunday

From Aurora, Ill., comes a story by Stephanie Lulay of the Beacon-News.

An Easter egg hunt for pooches was held Saturday.

The Sugar Grove Park District hosted its first Doggie Easter Egg Hunt in Volunteer Park, attracting about 50 dogs and their families to partake in the festivities.

Dogs sniffed out treat-filled eggs and posed for pictures with Mr. E. Bunny himself.

Never fear, the treat- and toy-filled plastic eggs were collected by the humans and not scarfed up on the spot by Spot.

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From NewsWest9.com serving Midland-Odessa in Texas comes an Associated Press story about a dog who helped find a missing man.

Jack DeBuck, 70, of Albuquerque, and his dog, who was not named in the story, were hiking and were missing for more than a day.

Eventually, they wandered into a cafe in Bernalillo, N.M., but DeBuck was disoriented and unable to give anyone information about himself.

The dog's microchip, however was able to tell police who DeBuck was and where he lived.

Maybe we should all get microchips implanted. Kidding. Just kidding.

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Thinking of moving to Montana and are wondering which city is friendliest to dogs?

Who isn't?

Erin Madison, writing in the Great Fall Tribune, in Great Falls, Mont., has a story that tells the tail, er, tale.

Missoula boasts three companies that will take dogs out walking during the day while their owners are out. Bozeman has numerous areas in its park system where dogs can play off leash. Like Great Falls, Whitefish opened a dog park this past summer, and Billings hopes to open three dog parks in the future.

Turns out, in Bozeman dogs are allowed in Lowe's and Home Depot.

Montana sure isn't sounding bad now.

Easter safety tips

With Easter around the corner (I personally am looking forward to the next WaPo Peeps competition), here are some tips for keeping your pets safe during the holiday.

From the Almanac on the University of Pennsylvania Web site:

• Don't give your pets chocolate.
• Put alcoholic drinks out of reach of pets.
• Pets should not eat sugar substitutes.
• Keep flowers out of harm's way.

These sound like pretty good ideas for all year round.

Diamonds are a dog's best treat?

Three days? What kind of diet is this dog on?

ABC News has a video about golden retriever who swallowed a huge diamond.

Watch it here.

I'll bet that dog was never so consistently picked up after than during that time.

Beacon going to the dogs in April

Now that spring is officially here, it's time to start thinking about Beacon Barks.

This year the 4th-annual dog-inclusive festival that takes over Main Street in Beacon is scheduled for Saturday, April 24.

Click on the link above for more information.

Beacon Barks is a collaboration between the Dutchess County SPCA and The Beacon Barkery.

These pictures and video are from last year's event.




Photos and video by Michael Woyton/Poughkeepsie Journal.

Who is stupider?

Fans of stupidity — and who among us isn't? — it's time to vote.

The Late Show with David Letterman has a Stupid Pet Trick vs. Stupid Human Trick competition going on now.

Go here for videos and to vote.

Each day you can cast your vote for your favorite pet trick or human trick. Today, for example, the competitors are a woman who spits out her gum and sucks it back in and a medical student who feeds his wife spaghetti using his nose.

Yesterday's pet tricks were a dog who says "I love you" and a dog with a monkey on his back who goes down a slide.

My choice from yesterday was not the winner.

The ultimate challenge — pet vs. human — will take place April 1-5.

Coming up is one of the most memorable stupid pet tricks: the duck who eats cottage cheese out of a woman's mouth.

Vote early, vote often.

You paid what for what?

My colleague Irwin Goldberg alerted me to an article in HV Biz magazine (unfortunately, I couldn't find a link to it) about Pet Acoustics' My Pet Speaker.

The $249.50 unit plays music composed with pets in mind and, according to the manufacturer's Web site, was "designed to support the hearing sensitivities of dogs, cats and horses."

OK.

A review by Helin Jung of PeoplePets.com found the speaker aesthetically pleasing (that's good), but said, "My Pet Speaker definitely didn't disturb her (the reviewer's dog Ethel)."

That's good, too.

Researchers quoted in the HV Biz article said some tones on commercial radio or TV station can be disturbing to animals' hearing.

Remember Law & Order (Chung-chung)?

The My Pet Speaker works with any music device, including mp3 players, iPhones and iPods. For $1.99 you can download from iTunes the Pet Acoustics Application which has relaxation music for animals.

For me, I think I will continue to leave the radio tuned to Symphony Hall on SiriusXM. Or sometimes classic country, though some of Randy Travis's low notes are too extreme for Kate.

Dog = emotional support?

Do you miss your dog more than your mate when you are away?

Do you "share a look" or have meaningful conversations with your pooch?

An article from Reuters in the Montreal Gazette said you might not be alone.

Read the entire article here.

A third of Americans admit to pining for their pooches more than their partners when out of town. But maybe that's because nine out of ten of them feel their pet is more pleased to see them after a hard day at work and is even more likely to notice when they've had a bad day.

A survey commissioned by Pup-Peroni (the San Francisco treat?) asked over 1,000 U.S. dog owners how they feel about the the animal in their lives.

Many Americans turn to their four-legged friends for solace before friends and family. Nearly two thirds believe their dogs are more dependable than their closest comrades and over 70 percent would rather go for a walk with pooch when feeling uptight than hang out with their best buddy.

Over two thirds say they feel more guilty about leaving their dog behind when traveling than leaving friends or loved ones. A majority say their pooch makes them feel happy, loved and relaxed.

Kate used to be excited when I came home from work. Now I'm lucky if she looks up at me.

Still, I wouldn't trade her for anything.