Gary Lyon Writes About Causes For Paws In Monthly Column
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Lyon's Din-
The domestic dog has truly become “man’s best friend”. They are family orientated. We had a Labrador who was very protective of his ‘adopted’ family. Whenever we had a visitor or visitors come into our home, ‘our Labrador’ would station himself between us and the visitor(s). As if he was there to protect us just in case we needed protection. From these experiences, I would rather trust a dog who did not like an individual than trust an individual who did not like the dog. This same Labrador would become very agitated when our sons became involved in a tussling match. This Labrador would intercede by growling and barking at our sons as if to stop the tussling from disrupting the tranquility of the home.
Clinical medical studies have proven that coexisting with a dog can relieve stress and reduce blood pressure in most humans. Depending upon the breed, dogs have 225 to 300 million olfactory receptors thus making them a natural choice within the medical profession. Dogs have been trained and are being used to detect certain types of cancer and to detect sentinel events, such as seizures, before the event occurs. To their credit they have saved many lives by using their using their olfactory senses.
Other professions have come to rely upon the dogs’ sense of ‘smell detection’. Fruit growers use dogs to detect blights and beetles that are damaging their fruit trees. Law enforcement agencies use them to detect contrabands. Our armed service personnel use dogs to detect IEDs and for support during combat operations. They are also trained to search and rescue.
Certain breeds can have the capacity of associative intelligence similar to that of a third grader. Dogs have been trained to herd farm animals and to hunt by obeying voice commands, whistles or hand signals. The CBS television program, 60 MINUTES, featured a dog whose owner taught him to understand 1,000 words and know the difference between a noun and a verb. These breeds are often selected and trained to be helpful companions for the disabled. I was told by a companion dog owner, “I am thankful to have Buster as my companion. I may be just one of many in this world, but to Buster, I am the world.”
I often wondered what this world would be like if all humans exhibited the same characteristics of our domestic dogs.
In my opinion, this world would be a better place to live in if we humans could mimic our domestic dog’s characteristics of devoted service, affection and love that is unbridled, unconditional, unfettered and guileless.
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The domestic dog has truly become “man’s best friend”. They are family orientated. We had a Labrador who was very protective of his ‘adopted’ family. Whenever we had a visitor or visitors come into our home, ‘our Labrador’ would station himself between us and the visitor(s). As if he was there to protect us just in case we needed protection. From these experiences, I would rather trust a dog who did not like an individual than trust an individual who did not like the dog. This same Labrador would become very agitated when our sons became involved in a tussling match. This Labrador would intercede by growling and barking at our sons as if to stop the tussling from disrupting the tranquility of the home.
Clinical medical studies have proven that coexisting with a dog can relieve stress and reduce blood pressure in most humans. Depending upon the breed, dogs have 225 to 300 million olfactory receptors thus making them a natural choice within the medical profession. Dogs have been trained and are being used to detect certain types of cancer and to detect sentinel events, such as seizures, before the event occurs. To their credit they have saved many lives by using their using their olfactory senses.
Other professions have come to rely upon the dogs’ sense of ‘smell detection’. Fruit growers use dogs to detect blights and beetles that are damaging their fruit trees. Law enforcement agencies use them to detect contrabands. Our armed service personnel use dogs to detect IEDs and for support during combat operations. They are also trained to search and rescue.
Certain breeds can have the capacity of associative intelligence similar to that of a third grader. Dogs have been trained to herd farm animals and to hunt by obeying voice commands, whistles or hand signals. The CBS television program, 60 MINUTES, featured a dog whose owner taught him to understand 1,000 words and know the difference between a noun and a verb. These breeds are often selected and trained to be helpful companions for the disabled. I was told by a companion dog owner, “I am thankful to have Buster as my companion. I may be just one of many in this world, but to Buster, I am the world.”
I often wondered what this world would be like if all humans exhibited the same characteristics of our domestic dogs.
In my opinion, this world would be a better place to live in if we humans could mimic our domestic dog’s characteristics of devoted service, affection and love that is unbridled, unconditional, unfettered and guileless.
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