Going to the dogs

I understand dogs a great deal better than I understand my fellow humans.

Dogs are straightforward.  They interact with their world in a direct way, whether it be motivated by love, anger, curiosity, hunger, enthusiasm, or fear.  There's nothing feigned about a dog's emotions or the way they express them.  I've sometimes misinterpreted one of my dogs' signals, but that's on me; the signals were there, even if I only recognized them in retrospect.  Once you grok dog behavior, it's much less fraught than the complex, confusing morass of human interaction.

This is why when I'm invited to social events, I'm always hoping the host will have a dog so there'll be someone for me to have a conversation with.

The dogs we've had have nearly all been rescues, and came with all the baggage and bad backstories that rescue dogs have, but one and all were and are wonderful companions, and enriched our lives tremendously.  This latter part is the only possible explanation for why during the holidays, my wife and I were looking around and thinking, "Wow, our house sure has a lot of clutter and dirt and chaos.  We never seem to be able to keep up with the housekeeping.  Hey, I know... let's get a puppy!"

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce to the Skeptophilia readership...

... Jethro.

Jethro is -- and I say this with all modesty and restraint -- the cutest puppy in the whole entire world.  He's five months old, has the sweetest, happiest disposition ever, and soft, silky hair that gathers burs, mud, and debris like some sort of bizarre magnet.  Like many puppies, he has two settings -- "Full Throttle" and "Off."

He's currently set at "Off" and is sleeping at my feet, which is the only way I'm able to write this.  Otherwise I would be engaged in the essential task of Playing With Jethro.

We got him from the amazing Stay Wild Rescue and Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on New Year's Eve.  If you are looking for a wonderful and deserving place to make a donation, please consider Stay Wild.  They do fantastic work on a shoestring budget, and the owners -- Jane George and Dan Soboleski -- work tirelessly to help find rescue pets forever homes, and to rehabilitate wild animals for re-release.  Please check out their website and consider supporting them.

In the few days we've had Jethro, he's already bonded with our other two dogs, Guinness and Rosie.  Rosie is an Australian Cattle Dog mix who pretty much loves everyone, so she was easy.

Guinness is a big galumphing American Staffordshire Terrier/Husky/Chow cross who can be cranky and gets jealous easily, especially when it comes to sharing Carol's attention with anyone, because he's a big ol' Mama's Boy.  He is, however, a very natty dresser. 

But yesterday, all three of them were romping around together in the back yard, and Guinness was letting Jethro chase him like they'd been best friends forever instead of just three days.  Guinness even responded with the doggie "play-bow" before they took off running again.

Like with most rescues, we're not sure what kind of a mix Jethro is.  Jane at Stay Wild said she thought he had some Golden Retriever in him, which makes sense given his silky coat and general head shape, but his striking and beautiful black face and brindle coloration have to come from somewhere else.  He's got huge paws, indicating he's got some serious growing to do, but whether he'll turn out to be long and lanky or barrel-chested and stocky is anyone's guess.  Dog-loving friends of mine have speculated a lot of possible contributions to his ancestry -- suggestions have included various spaniels and setters, Border Collie, Boxer, German Shepherd, even Saint Bernard -- but we won't be sure until we have him DNA-tested.  (The kit has already been ordered.)

A photo of Jethro from five minutes ago, because why not

It's tempting to say his lovable, playful temperament is indicative of his Golden Retriever genes, but a surprising study at the University of Massachusetts just last year found the contribution of breed to behavior is way smaller than most people think.  We often associate particular behavioral traits with certain types of dog -- labs are friendly and loyal, hounds laid-back but stubborn, Dalmatians nervous and prone to biting, and so on -- but the researchers found exceptions to the rule are so common that the rule isn't really a rule.  And while we've had dogs who seemed to conform to the breed expectations, all of them have their own unique characteristics and quirks.

Dogs are as varied in personality as people are, I suppose.

In any case, now we've got three dogs.  I commented yesterday that this means we're outnumbered, and that it's a good thing this is a benevolent dictatorship and not a democracy.  Although a friend of mine responded, "I'm sure your dogs would vote for you anyway."

Given the fact that Jethro is snoozing happily right next to me, I suspect my friend is right.

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What's bred in the bone

See this innocent-looking face?

This is Cleo.  She's a Shiba Inu, a Japanese breed (the name means "underbrush dog" because they were used for hunting small game in overgrown places).  We adopted her from a rescue facility in December, and she has settled right into our home, including becoming best buds with our other dog, a big, goofy pittie mix named Guinness.

Cleo is sweet, charming, funny, playful, and cuddly.  However, she is also stubborn, independent, willful, and has zero interest in learning commands for rewards.  For any rewards.  She is the only dog I have ever met who is completely unmotivated by food.  She sort of likes cheese, so that occasionally works, but she approaches everything with the attitude, "I'm doing this only because I want to.  And if I don't want to, even cheese doesn't tempt me."

For example, shortly after we adopted her, we installed a dog door (once it became obvious that she wanted in and out dozens of times a day).  And for weeks, she steadfastly refused to use it.  We were becoming convinced that she wasn't smart enough to figure out how it worked.  Turns out she understood perfectly well, she just didn't want to.  Last week she started using the dog door -- going through it, both directions, as if it was nothing.  Apparently she wasn't going to do it until she made it clear to us that it was her decision.

Then there's her volubility.  There's a phenomenon called the "Shiba scream," which was one of many things we didn't find out about her breed until after we adopted her.  When she's excited by something good like my wife pulling into the driveway, or there's a red-alert situation like the FedEx guy or a cyclist going past or a squirrel farting somewhere in the next county, she goes -- and this is as accurate a transcription of it as I can manage -- "ruff ruff ruff rrrrOOOWWRRROOO WAAAAAHHWAAH WAAHWAAH."  She also barks when she's excited, or (especially) when she wants something and we are not providing it right away as we, of course, should.  This includes taking her on a walk at two in the morning, a habit that led my wife to christen her "Demon-Spawn Dog," or, more succinctly, "Beelzebark."

It's not that we don't love her, or don't appreciate her positive qualities, of which there are lots.  Something my wife and I have said about 358 times since adopting her is, "She is so cute -- fortunately for her."  It turns out we're not alone in this experience of Shiba Inus.  Here's what the site Shiba Rescue has to say:

In their eyes, Shibas can take on the world no matter how big the foe or the task.  They are dominant with other dogs and do not usually get along well with other "bossy" dogs of the same sex.  Many Shibas will, however, get along great with another dog or cat that agrees the Shiba is boss.

Shibas always like to be in charge; their favorite word is "mine."  Although not "barky" dogs, they do yodel and scream anytime they feel they are being violated, such as nail trimming, bathing, and leash training.  Shibas can be runners.  The Shiba Inu is a natural hunter.  Given a chance, Shibas will take off in search of game.  It is advisable to never trust your Shiba off-lead unless in a fenced yard.

The Shiba's least favorite word is "come."  They will usually take your number and get back to you, when called.

Shibas have a mind of their own.  While it is possible to obedience train a Shiba, it is a challenge.  Tell him to sit and he sits . . . sometimes.  If there is something in it for him, and it is convenient at the time.

The first thing I thought after reading this (besides "Amen!") was how interesting it is that you can characterize an entire breed like this, irrespective of how an individual animal was raised.  Not that prior treatment is inconsequential; one thing that Cleo still exhibits is wariness from having been abused as a puppy (you'll notice if you look closely at the photograph that she's missing her left eye).  But the fact that you can draw a detailed picture of a typical Shiba personality like this indicates something fascinating -- that a great deal of dog behavior is controlled by genetics, not by training.

Way back in 2008, a paper in The American Journal of Human Genetics considered this phenomenon, and suggested that these kinds of behavioral trends are caused by a fairly small number of genes (and speculated that the same sort of thing may be true of human personality types).  A more recent 2019 study looked specifically at canine aggression and fearfulness, and found that those have between sixty and seventy percent heritability.  Consider how many breeds you characterize in a word or two  -- the friendliness of Golden Labs, the intelligence and always-on-the-job attitude of a Border Collie, the aggressiveness (despite its size) of a Chihuahua.  And Shibas are not the only ones who have built-in, almost certainly genetic, difficult behaviors; a friend of mine once told me that if you want an exercise in frustration, try to house-train a Cocker Spaniel.  This kind of thing has an unfortunate effect on dog owners who are unprepared or uninformed.  A particularly sad example is that after the movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians aired, there was a run on Dalmatian puppies -- and six months later, an influx of Dalmatians being given up at shelters.  Far from the cute, cuddly stereotype of the puppies from the movie, as a breed Dalmatians tend to be high-stung, nervous, reserved, and aggressive; they are considered to be one of the top-ten breeds most likely to bite, and a great many of the people who adopted a Dalmatian puppy very quickly regretted their choice.

I say this knowing, of course, that "unprepared and uninformed" is a pretty good description of my wife and I when we adopted Cleo.  However, in our defense I have to add that we're experienced dog owners with a history of adopting rescues, just about all of whom have had bad pasts and the attendant behavior problems -- and we have yet to own a dog who hasn't turned out to be a wonderful and charming, if quirky, companion.  We strongly believe that pet adoption is forever; if you can't commit, don't adopt.  (I do reconsider that stance on occasion when Cleo starts screaming in the middle of the night, but those lapses are short-lived.)

So we're not expecting Cleo's personality to change, and indeed, we don't want it to.  She's a charmer even when she's being a pain in the ass.  We'd like to modify some of it -- such as the twice-aforementioned barking for something in the wee hours -- but by and large, those kinds of characteristics are what make dogs interesting.

It reminds me of the famous quote from John Heywood, "What's bred in the bone comes out in the flesh."  There's a lot of truth to that, for better or worse.  For better at the moment; right now, Cleo is cuddled up at the foot of the bed, paws twitching as she dreams of chasing squirrels.  And she's already become part of the family, difficulties and all.  Whatever the source, each dog's personality is as rich and varied as each person's is, something I've come to appreciate more and more with every dog we've adopted.  And we've always been rewarded tenfold by having pets -- receiving love for kindness, devotion for care, deep trust for patience.

For me, that makes it all worthwhile.

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Seizure dogs

Yesterday I looked at a possible "alt-med" treatment modality that may actually work -- "Intranasal Light Therapy."  Today, I want to look at another odd claim, and one that also seems to have some sound research to back it up: the idea that some dogs are able to sense when people near them are about to have a seizure.

I have a personal connection to this one, because our neurotic border collie, Doolin, has a strange ability to recognize when my wife is going to get a migraine.  Now, Doolin's behavior is peculiar at the best of times, but in the hours before a migraine strikes, she becomes even weirder -- following Carol around, staring at her mournfully, and whenever she comes to a complete stop, Doolin presses herself up against Carol's leg.  Once the migraine hits -- which it invariably does -- Doolin won't leave her side until it abates.

Doolin, the Migraine Dog, with one of her diagnostic instruments

Now, I know that one anecdotal report doesn't prove anything, especially that "dog behavioral weirdness" is hardly a quantifiable dependent variable.  But there have been peer-reviewed studies done (read two of them here and here) that indicate that some dogs are able to detect seizures before they begin, and potentially give their owners advance warning.

Here's the thing, though.  Once there are claims like this, the woo-woos get involved, and you get all sorts of wacky explanations flying around.  Here are a few that I saw, after perusing woo-woo sites as long as I could stand to:

• Dogs are in psychic contact with their owners, and are sensing the oncoming seizure through ESP.
• Dogs can see auras, and seizures cause changes in the color or configuration of the aura.
• Dogs have a special god-given talent for protecting their owners from harm.  The whole thing is "spiritual."
• Dogs are living in "several different realms simultaneously" (whatever the hell that means) and get their information about our medical conditions from some other "astral plane."

So.  Yeah.  Predictably, I think all of the above are unadulterated horse waste.  But assuming that there is something going on, here -- and it very much appears that it is -- what are the dogs picking up on?

It's pretty well established that dogs can be trained to detect when a diabetic's blood sugar is too high, and the likely cue is that high blood sugar triggers ketoacidosis -- and results in chemicals being expelled via the breath that the dog could detect by smell.  While it's unlikely that seizures (or migraines) result in a chemical in the blood, and therefore in the sweat or breath, that a dog could sense, it's a possibility.  On the other hand, it's been suggested that dogs may simply be picking up on changes in mannerisms that occur prior to the onset of the seizure.  Dog behavior, and particularly their sensitivity to human expressions, has been studied extensively, and it's not too far a stretch to think that changes in a patient's demeanor prior to a seizure might be detected by a dog who knew the person well, resulting in changes to the dog's behavior that the owner might be able to learn to recognize.

Whatever is going on here, however, it's a pretty cool phenomenon.  I know that I feel more at ease knowing the Doolin the Migraine Dog is on the job.  On the other hand, most of what she spends the rest of her time doing is pacing around the house, looking guilty, sneaking onto the recliner when no one's looking, and bossing around our other dog, Grendel, so I'm not sure that her migraine-detection skills are quite enough to put her in the "useful" column just yet.