Even though some consider the ability to communicate verbally as evidence of our species superiority, sometimes our words don’t communicate all that well. Like members of multiple species, we may have our own languages or dialects that others can’t understand…
Read more →After I finished editing this podcast, I started thinking about how active the process of breaking down and establishing new neuronal circuits must be when replacing old established behaviors and ideas with new ones. How does this affect human and animal dreams, I wondered.
Read more →I Imagine that most people who enjoy their work recognize some aspect of it that particularly enchants them. Although what we consider positive manifestations of this can make our day, we also notice and value negative ones because of what they teach us. For me, an awareness of tipping points fills that definition. I find them amazing, magical even. They add a dimension to my work and life that makes even the the worst event awesome in its own way. And it probably comes as no surprise that my favorite ones involve animal behavior.
Read more →f you had any doubts this podcast will convince you that, when it comes to my work, I like to know the lay of the land. Among the benefits I gain from this that I share with other members of the animal kingdom, I particularly value the role a perceived physically and mentally stable environment plays in quality teaching and learning.
Read more →This is one of those podcasts that might cause those with minimal interest in animal behavior to think that I need to get a life. Be that as it may, how animals of the same species, including humans, adapt old behaviors for new uses and then condense them into rituals to form a kind of behavioral shorthand intrigues me. Observing this kind of transformation between members of different species over a period of time… Well, that strikes me as living a life more than needing one. 🙂 Here’s a recent picture of my favorite feline playmate. This podcast also
Read more →The news report mentioned in this podcast served as the primary source of inspiration. But in that strange way life works, another seemingly unrelated event also played a role. For the first time in ages, I gave up on a book I was reading because it became apparent within the first 25 pages that the main characters had learned nothing from what they experienced in the first book and the interval that supposedly passed between when it ended and the second in the series began. Because I found that more irritating than entertaining, I deleted the entire series from
Read more →Years ago I attended one of those compulsory academic social events in which a lot of people from different disciplines congregated. I can’t remember the exact reason the subject of alcohol abuse came up, although it’s possible that the long line at the cash bar played a role. During the discussion one member of the group, declared that the problem never would be resolved in his home state. Like others in the group I expressed interest in what about the population in that particular state may him so pessimistic. “Oh, it’s not that we have more people with these
Read more →This is one of those podcasts that may cause some of you to say or think, “Yes, but in ________ (insert name of one of my books) you listed _______.” which is very true. This is why I generally tell people to look to the commentaries and podcasts for more current information. Not only do I know more than I did when I wrote those lists in my books—a process that begins the day after I finish a book—the humans and companion animals with whom I work have changed too. This creates another problem for me relative to the
Read more →This podcast is about one of the most extraordinary dogs I’ve met in my career. Even though he’s from a population with a breed name , I don’t and won’t mention which one except to say that, at least for now it’s a population bred for function, specifically to be farm dogs. And because as we know from the Russian fox experiments, behavior changes physiology and that all farms and the canine functions needed on function well on those farms aren’t identical, these dogs naturally look different. To create a cookie-cutter standard that ensures they all look and to
Read more →If a constellation called Companion Animal Labeling Major existed, it would have been right over my house when I recorded this. Granted my interest in the effect the terminology we use to describe companion animals goes all the way back to when I read pediatric neurologist Mel Levine’s groundbreaking book A Mind at a Time. In addition to pointing out how standard teaching methods weren’t kid-brain-friendly because they didn’t take into account how kids evolved to learn, he also pointed out the downward spiral set into place by labeling a child as “learning disabled” or otherwise a “problem”. This
Read more →