All Sonyas Think Alike?

Hi, y'all~

If you're a frequent visitor, you may have noticed that the background has changed. The reason for this is because there is another blogger with the exact same name and same background as me (Perhaps all Sonyas think alike?). Naturally, I had to make mine infinitely better, so I did. I did get a suggestion to write the other Sonya a very angry email (How dare you have the same name as me?!), but I gracefully declined in the name of carrying good relations with my namesakes (though it appears she is older than me, and her blog is pretty much entirely in traditional Chinese).

Here's the picture motivation of the day! 

In regards to the pit bulls thing, clearly not all pit bulls are aggressive and dangerous (see above). Their temperament does depend on the environment they were raised and taught in, but keep in mind that pit bulls were bred to be good fighters; therefore, there are certain traits that purebred pit bulls were bred for that makes them better fighters: strength, athleticism, eagerness despite possible injuries, and sometimes aggressiveness. Don't let a few poorly trained/raised ones give a bad name to all pit bulls though! They can be loving and warm companion dogs.

Here's a general tip on mixed breeds versus purebreds. I have mentioned the Hybrid Vigor Theory, or Heterosis, in my past posts. While it is true that I and more educated experts believe and support this theory, it does not guarantee that any and all mixed breeds will be healthier than any and all purebreds. This is simply because mixed breeds may inherit genetic disorders, too. For example, if you have a mixed breed--or more appropriately, a cross breed--from two poorly bred, unhealthy purebreds, it is likely that your cross breed puppy will be unhealthy. Likewise, purebred puppies that are *responsibly bred* may be quite healthy. A good breeder will make sure to breed puppies for good qualities and away from bad ones.

That having been said, the general assumptions that many purebred dogs are irresponsibly bred or inbred

and have health issues like the Golden Retriever I saw at the animal hospital still holds true. Just keep in mind that there is no golden rule for choosing the perfect canine companion; you have to see for yourself the characteristics and temperaments of your future dog instead of deciding solely on breed or aesthetics. Even within a breed--a litter, even--the temperament of the puppies may vary greatly.

~S

No Pictures! Sorry

Hey guys! This post is actually more of a record of my observations. A little while ago, I managed a trip to the Hillside Animal Hospital for an observation day. What struck me about the vets wasn't just how amazingly knowledgeable they were, but how easily they performed each and every diagnosis and operation.

In my imagination, there were always lots of sterile, beeping machines and shiny metal trinkets hooked up to the animals being diagnosed, similar to my (probably mistaken) impression of humans getting checked out. In reality, whatever dog or cat was brought in was taken to a small room with the owners and the doctor doing the examination and checked out there. It usually is very simple, but depends on the case.

In one case, a pet rat with an abscess on her face right under the eye was taken in, examined, and put into surgery a few hours after. I don't think this was the first time the patient came in, but her surgery seemed relatively simple. The abscess was removed--literally cut off--and the wound sewn up, and that was all. Of course, there were the standard hygiene procedures, and she was given antibiotics and a neck guard to wear so she wouldn't reopen the wound, but it was a quick procedure overall.

Another patient that came in was an aging Golden Retriever who had some sort of blood clot or dark spots on his side; he was put under monitored anesthesia, and the dark spots were removed and the wounds sewn up. I was told that this purebred had several other severe problems with his legs and bones.

I also bore witness to multiple teeth related surgeries, and some teeth cleanings (teeth problems appear to be very common), but I was surprised at the ease the veterinarians performed with. I suppose it comes with experience, but it was really awe-inspiring.

~S

P.s. One of the vets told me that vets go through very extensive training (even more so than human doctors?) to know both human diseases and animal diseases. Wow! :o

Even More...

I bet you're bored of reading about canine intelligence now...but bear with me for one more post! We'll have a break...and then continue on the topic of intelligence. This topic is too vast and some parts of it are too inscrutable for it to be covered by a mere student like me, but I'm doing my best.

This post will comprise of some common statistics I've found. Since we've established that instinctive intelligence is too different to be compared, you should test for work & obedience intelligence and adaptive  intelligence instead, since those vary among individuals.

As far as work & obedience, Border Collies, Poodles, and German Shepherds are ranked the top three for their abilities to learn and follow commands, while Bull Dogs (I wonder why our school mascot is this), Basenjis, and Afghan Hounds are the three lowest ranked. Below is a picture of an Afghan hound; regardless of his abilities (or lack thereof) to follow commands, he sure is pretty (Wish my hair looked like that). Afghan Hounds are also esteemed hunters, and are very protective of their territory.

Some more statistics: according to studies, a dog's mental ability is close to that of a human child between 2 to 3 years old. They can apparently understand up to 165 words and signals, with the most ever recorded--based on a Border Collie named Rico--at 250 words. In addition, dogs can also count up to five and have a basic understanding of math, such as one plus one equals two.

That having been said, dogs are also very good at discerning body language. Being pack animals with very absolute hierarchies, it has always been important for dogs to be able to observe communicate. Thus, dogs (and cats) are very sensitive to the mood and atmosphere around the house. They are prone to watching you closely--are you smiling? Angry? Staring intently at them? Based on these signals, companion dogs are able to provide comfort to their owners. In fact, dogs and cats will generally be listless when you are, and are very easily stressed out when there is a lot of shouting or fighting around the house.

Bye for now!

~S

Expanding Upon Intelligence

Here's your motivational comic for today!~ And hello, long time no see.

The last time we talked about intelligence, we established that humans have two types of intelligence, fluid and crystalline, which can also be applied to dogs. We also accepted that the temperament of the breed (how food-motivated the dog is) may affect the testing of his intelligence. Upon further inspection, these two theories may be combined, and we can say that dogs actually have three categories of intelligence. In addition to fluid and crystalline intelligence, which for dogs are called adaptive and instinctive intelligence, there is also work and obedience intelligence. Here are the definitions, watered down:

• Adaptive Intelligence: what the dog can learn to do by himself by interacting with his environment; may vary among individuals, even of the same breed. (Crystalline intelligence)

• Instinctive Intelligence: the work a dog was bred for; something instinctual and innate. Pretty much the same for dogs of the same breed. (Fluid intelligence)

• Work and Obedience Intelligence: what a dog is capable of when instructed by a human; school learning ability. May vary among individuals. (A type of crystalline Intelligence)

Work and obedience intelligence is basically the ability of a dog to learn words, commands and actions from his human. This is the type of intelligence you build when you teach your dog how to play dead or fist bump you, or how to sit. In my mind, this is different from instinctive intelligence because learning how to fist bump a person is not instinctual, it is something a dog learns to please his master or receive rewards. 

Following that statement, instinctive intelligence is what a dog is bred for--for example, shepherds herd, hounds track, and guard dogs watch over things. Most dog breeds have a different instinctive intelligence, but the range is really too varied to compare which one makes the breed "smarter." 

Adaptive intelligence then, is what we discussed about the Husky--independent learning through experiences and personal desires. This is very individual. 

Interestingly, these three types of intelligence are categorized by a certain Dr. Coren, a name I kept coming across in my research on canine intelligence. I guess the universe is telling me to read his books, since he is a dog trainer, expert, and professor. 

As Promised: How to Spot a Good Breeder

Heyo~ Most of the time, I feel somewhat strange writing a blog all about dogs. The truth is, I have two cats (gasp) and I'm often described as a cat person (double gasp!). However, one of them is really fat and could probably suffocate a small dog with his weight, while the other exhibits sulky teenage behaviors, so it's a little like I have a small, fat dog and a teenage daughter. Keep in mind though, my first love was the dog; I've always loved animals, but dogs have had a special place in my heart (now cohabited by cats).

So as I promised in my blog yesterday, we will be discussing how to spot a good breeder. This is a sort of continuation of my Adopting vs Buying post, if you guys want to see the first part you can check the archive on the right!

Here's a comic for motivation:

To start, I present you with a golden rule to live by: do not buy puppies over the internet. The internet is very sketchy (In fact do not buy puppies from puppy mills, or sketchy persons milling parking lots either).A good breeder should ONLY sell a puppy to someone he has met in person. He should allow you to visit the living areas of the puppies, and said living areas should be clean and spacious (relative to the breed's needs). A good breeder should not have a gazillion puppies milling about, and should only have one or two breeds he specializes in. The puppies that are bred from a good breeder should appear healthy and clean, have vaccination and medical records, and should not be caged 24/7 or show fear of strangers.

In addition, a good breeder is responsible. This entails caring for each and every life it creates--many breeders will have you sign a contract to confirm that should you not be able to take care of your dog, your dog will be safely returned to the breeder instead of a shelter or a pound. Responsible breeders should also have you sign a contract stating you will spay or neuter your puppy, unless there are extenuating circumstances. 

A good breeder should keep his puppies the way any responsible person keeps his pets: healthy, clean, and happy. Should you have any questions about the puppy's parents or any genetic disorders, your breeder should be able to answer them and may even offer his assistance in regards to future training, or give references to veterinarians. Most good things in life do not come easily, and neither should buying a puppy. Hope this helps. :)

~S

Canine Intelligence: Methods of Testing

Ja, with no preamble, let's get into canine intelligence. Sit tight :)

Psychologists have classified two different types of intelligence in people, fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. In short, fluid intelligence is a capacity you are born with and is independent of acquired knowledge, where as crystallized intelligence is acquired through experience, like your abilities to apply the knowledge and skills you have. Fluid intelligence is something that can't really be improved on once you reach a certain limit, but crystallized intelligence is always growing, in accordance to you experience. Most human IQ tests are a combination of both of these types of intelligence.

Unrelated fact: the names actually confuse me a lot at first, because if you think about it, water is more fluid and has more capacity to change...and crystals are just...there. They're solid and...immutable...I guess you just have to associate the name with the opposite meaning?

In any case, according to Dr. Stanley Coren, a dog trainer and a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, fluid and crystallized intelligence may be applied to dogs as well. He claims that dogs, like humans, can be taught to improve their IQ. Similar to humans, dogs can only improve the crystalline part of their intelligence, through gaining new experiences and handling various new situations. 

Because fluid intelligence is defined as "the capacity to think logically and solve problems in novel situations" (Wikipedia), most intelligence tests utilize problem solving skills as a way to gauge intelligence. For example, one of the common tests you'll hear about is the "treat under a bucket" test. What you are supposed to do is place a dog treat under a bucket or can after showing it to your dog, and time how long it takes him to knock over the can and get to the treat. Supposedly, the shorter the time it takes your dog to solve this particular puzzle, the smarter he is. Honestly, I'm not very convinced by these, because I don't believe in simple solutions, but that's just me. I do think that they can give you a verrrrrrrry vague idea of how smart your dog is, though. 

In fact, for you dog owners, here are a couple of similar IQ tests for your dog, if you'd like to give it a shot: http://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/test1.htm

I'm somewhat skeptical because I think this author is kind of offensive...Apparently if your dog scores less than five points, he "must be an Afghan." Unless he's joking...then he's still offensive, but I'm just humorless. I have been told that before, unfortunately.

~S

P.s. Next time we'll take a break from intelligence and discuss how to spot a good breeder (Thanks VZ!), and then get back to it when we discuss instinctive and adoptive intelligence in dogs. Until then~

Intro to Canine Intelligence: Difficulties

Sometimes I feel bad for only feeding my fish once or twice a week, i.e. when I write my blog posts.

Guilt aside, we're starting a discussion on canine intelligence today! This is actually quite a difficult area to breach, because  unlike health, which is pretty universal, there is no set way to gauge intelligence for dogs. Although there are various tests that have been invented for that purpose, none of them are general enough to be accurate for all breeds of dogs.

Similarly, the IQ test for humans is not an accurate judge of intelligence either. In fact, intelligence itself is hard to define; if you look it up on Google like I just did, you'll find the definition is "the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills." However, does knowledge mean instinctual behaviors, like being housebroken to keep the living area clean? Is it the ability to repeat an action forced upon the dog a hundred times, like learning how to sit? Or is it independence and innovation, the act of learning without being taught?

The main issue is how to differentiate the signs of intelligence, since each breed is particular to certain behaviors. For example, Border Collies are naturally good at obeying commands due to their shepherd instincts, while Siberian Huskies are very independent problem-solvers. So which of these traits portray more intelligence? If a dog is more prone to follow commands, it could be because he is motivated by rewards--treats or affection; but if he has no such motivation and would rather do things his own way, like Huskies, who are famous and ingenious escapees, can they be called stupid?

On that lovely note, we'll continue this discussion next time, because I have a killer headache.

~S