All animals including us, are sentient beings. Meaning they have culture and the capacity to experience emotions, they have perception and understanding. Animals pick up on their owners feelings and often, long before the person does. They are also telepathic and know when their owners are coming home. Experiments have been done to prove this. Some of us are more sentient than others, meaning many humans are not in touch with that part of themselves. Although we can and do surrogate for others without even knowing we are doing it. We also have gut reactions which we often disregard.
I have always found it amazing that our dog Pippi Longsox knows when we are leaving to go on holidays even before we start packing. She also knows when we are coming home regardless of what our concrete plans have been. If we come home early, the house and dog sitter says Pippi Longsox knows, she knows we are coming even before we get home. Her behaviour changes and five minutes before we arrive, there she is sitting at the front door waiting for us.
Though I love the sentiment and care for animals greatly - the ‘telepathic’ thing has turned out to be something a little different. Dogs and cats (and I presume, other animals) have such a keen sense of smell, that they can determine time lapsing from the degradation of smells in items around them - food, of course, but also clothes and often-used items. They have the ability to pretty much nail the ‘time’ by the changes in smells, to the extent that they seem almost telepathic. Their attention to detail such as in facial expressions also gives them clues as to what humans around them are feeling.
Our other dog is Emmie the Malamute, she is Mrs Fox’s therapy assistant in her counselling practice. this is photo of her interacting with a disabled lady when I was taking her for a walk.
The lady was quite desponent, but Emmie gave her love and the joy on her face was amazing.
Mrs Fox says that Emmie can sense clients that are thinking about self-harm well before she can. She also goes into the waiting room and greets all clients judging what they each need to set them at ease.
She is a wicked big girl at home and playfully chases the cats and runs amok at times, but when she is at work it is all business.
My telephone ring is the Bomber theme song and she joins in singing the song; we are trying to get a video of it, so I can post it here, makes me smile. A friend played the Collingwood song and she just sat and showed no interest !!
My little dog loved her visits to the aged care home, she got so many pats and stroking sitting on laps, the tail wagging and the human faces lighting up. Somehow she would go to the saddest looking ones first and never got a rejection.
The dog I’m adopting has a $600 adoption fee. This is very high on the scale for rescue adoptions, mostly because she’s young. Older dogs, and plentiful breeds like greyhounds, tend to be cheaper.
There’s no upper limit on what you can pay for a breeder. Mates of mine who breed pedigree Afghan hounds for dog shows routinely sell puppies for far upwards of $10k. You can get cheaper, though bear in mind the really cheap ones are probably from ■■■■■■ abusive puppy mills.
In general though, unless you’re getting into dog shows, the amount of money you spend on purchasing a dog is tiny compared to the amount you spend on feeding, vetting etc the dog over its lifetime. If the cost of getting a dog is troublesome for you financially, it might be worth rethinking whether you the cost of actually owning a dog is something you can deal with.
My next dog will most likely be a recuse dog just breaks my heart and makes me angry with how the previous owners abused them or leave them stranded on the streets
@Mackster congratulations!!! They are magnificent. GSP ‘s ( or in your case GLP’s) are such clever, happy, friendly dogs. I really envy you & wish you & your family nothing but happiness with your newest family members.
Puppy was a little terror tonight.
A couple of hours of concerted biting and nipping. Took a great deal of time with tug toys to see her off. We got there in the end…
.
