dogs are the best pool players too
:weep:Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life – like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”
The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long"
Yep, kids are much better at death than us oldies, remember not being able to talk to the vet nurse for the lump
http://www.healthmonitor.com/dogs-ma...hy-some-people
almost completely agree with this - it's always more shocking to see a dog get hurt than a humanDogs May Elicit More Empathy Than Some People
Adult crime victims drew less sympathy than kids and puppies in study
SATURDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- People may feel more empathy for dogs than for some of their fellow humans, a new study finds.
When it comes to victims of violence, people may be less disturbed by the suffering of human adults, who are considered capable of taking care of themselves, the study suggests. Meanwhile, children, puppies and full-grown dogs are perceived as dependent and vulnerable.
The study involved 240 men and women. Most of the participants were white college students between 18 and 25 years old.
In conducting the research, Jack Levin, a distinguished professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University, and study co-author Arnold Arluke, a sociology professor at the school, randomly gave one of four fictional news stories to each participant.
The scenarios involved the beating of a 1-year-old baby, an adult in his 30s, a puppy or a 6-year-old dog. After reading the story, the participants rated how much empathy they had for the victim of the attack.
More empathy was shown for the child, the puppy and the adult dog than the adult human, the study revealed. Surprisingly, the participants had about the same amount of empathy for the child as they did for the puppy.
The study is scheduled for presentation Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York City.
"We were surprised by the interaction of age and species," Levin said in an association news release. "Age seems to trump species when it comes to eliciting empathy."
The authors noted the findings would likely be similar if the study had involved cats instead of dogs. As family pets, they said, dogs and cats often are assigned human characteristics.
Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
the bit I don't agree with is the bit about cats, when most people would probably be cheering or assisting with hurting the cats
i have a bloke i work with at dalhousie, I'm leaving this shitty uni asap
http://www.dal.ca/news/2012/12/05/da...-the-dogs.html
Considering their reputation for eating homework, dogs may not seem like the ideal study buddies.
But for hundreds of Dal students eager for a break from the stresses of exam period, the Dalhousie Student Union’s “Puppy Room” was just the friendly, furry reprieve they were looking for.
By the time the doors opened Tuesday afternoon for the first of three Puppy Room sessions this week, more than 100 students were in line to hang out for a few minutes with a Labradoodle, a Sheltie and a Golden Retriever — all volunteering their time through the non-profit Therapeutic Paws of Canada.
“We ran from class,” said Megan Sommerville, a commerce student who was first in line with her friends.
“Puppies are pretty much the best thing ever,” added fellow student Trisha McWilliams.
Dog days of exams
Despite the event’s name, the dogs are only puppies in the “awww, a puppy doggy!” sense: though the DSU looked into having actual puppies, there were too many concerns about how young dogs would be affected by large crowds. That’s why all the canines provided by Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPoC) are at least one year old and specifically prepared for the sort of intense love and affection you'd expect in a "Puppy Room."
Lulu, a seven-year-old Golden Retriever, spent her afternoon visiting with students, all smiles. She's been volunteering as a therapy dog for four years, and her primary gig is with TPoC’s “Paws to Read” program, which brings dogs into local libraries to work with children struggling to read.
“That was what really drew me to the program — not just the visits with seniors, but also the Paws to Read program,” said Laura Smith, Lulu’s owner. “She’s very fond of children, so she really loves it.”
See also: Video – Students visit with cute, cuddly canines at the "Puppy Room"
The other dogs at Tuesday's Puppy Room session were Colby, a five-year-old Labradoodle, and Charlie, a two-year-old Sheltie. Wednesday promised a Sheltie and a Papillion, while Thursday would bring a Papillion, a Dalmatian and a loveable, 170-pound St. Bernard named Roc.
They all came through TPoC, which brings animals to hospitals, schools and other places where they can assist people in therapy, be it physical, mental, educational, motivational or social. The organization provides its services free of charge, though they do accept donations.
“We’re active in the community every week, and almost every day,” explained Don LeBlanc, team leader for TPoC in Halifax. “A lot of our teams, they visit at least two different facilities, and a lot of them are involved in the Paws to Read, which is in eight different libraries . . . we get requests for daycares, going into schools, seniors communities and more.”
Hounds of love
The idea for the Puppy Room came from Michael Kean, a third-year Environmental Science student, who had heard of a similar program at McGill.
“A lot of people are really stressed at this time of year, with exams and papers,” he explains. “Many are also missing their own dogs at home too. And some just are looking for a break from their studies.”
The DSU was on-board right away, with Gavin Jardine, vice-president student life, reaching out to Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPoC) to make the event possible.
“I was instantly floored by the idea, and so excited,” says Jardine, though even he had no idea that the event’s announcement would spark a media sensation.
“All we did was share the poster on Facebook; we never actually printed any copies,” he says. “I went into a four-hour meeting [last Wednesday] and when I came back, the photo had more than 600 shares and the Huffington Post had an article up about it.”
Since then, the Internet has gone crazy for canines. Twitter has been flooded with thousands of Puppy Room tweets, and the news has been covered by outlets such as CBC’s The Current, The Toronto Star, NPR (National Public Radio), Yahoo News, The National Post, Cosmopolitan magazine, Jezebel and many, many more — as far away as India.
Puppy love
The fact that the dogs were not “puppies” in the literal sense didn’t matter one bit to the smiling students — almost 500 of them on Tuesday alone — who got to spend a few minutes with the dogs.
“Relaxed; full of happiness,” said student Rachel Foster, when asked how she felt after her time in the Puppy Room. “I don’t have a dog at home, but I really love them.”
After social media and news outlets went crazy for the canines, the DSU arranged another option to help meet the demand: during the Puppy Room’s operating hours, the Tiger Patrol is shuttling students to and from the SPCA in Burnside, where students can walk dogs or cuddle with cats at the facility.
Kean has been impressed with the DSU’s championing of his idea: “They were so responsive, and great to work with.”
Jardine says it reflects the sort of crowd-sourced idea generation that the union is encouraging with its Soapbox platform, a website where students can submit and vote on ideas for improving campus life. If an idea gets enough positive votes, the DSU pursues whether it’s possible and updates the community on its status.
Both Kean and Jardine say they’re glad that the Puppy Room has ganerned such attention, and say they hope it sheds some light on the stresses that students go through during exam time.
“It’s not a solution to the problem,” says Jardine, “but it’s a small bit to help.”
look at his jacket!
we will loose
ahahaha, I was just thinking about that picture the other day, pretty sure I stole it from you a while back
Originally Posted by SuperDyl
IMG_0693.jpg
don't get between a dachshund and a piece of toast bitches
Obi-fat-dog.jpg
Transformation of Obie....brilliant
Best video ever
http://www.whas11.com/news/national/...223556671.html
can't imagine a cat doing anything like that - a cat would probably molest you and steal from you as well
Good angle. Any attack from an errant cat or dog will still leave permanent damage.
I found a video of a dog...called Ben Sigmund
Sometimes people are the best dogs.
Actually, sorry Boz and everyone...dogs have more integrity than this turd.
I never see a cat trying to hump chicks in pron.....
jut another dog, saving another baby
dogs make the best piss and shit magnets as well
http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/co.../1/80/abstract
"...With this in mind we searched for signs of magnetic alignment in dogs. We measured the direction of the body axis in 70 dogs of 37 breeds during defecation (1,893 observations) and urination (5,582 observations) over a two-year period. After complete sampling, we sorted the data according to the geomagnetic conditions prevailing during the respective sampling periods...
...Dogs preferred to excrete with the body being aligned along the North-south axis under calm MF conditions..."
Tom Brady.
Super dooper famous NFL quarterback.
Rich as all hell.
Married Gisele.
Has his priorities firmly in order.
dogs make the best emergency services workers
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