Meandering With Myrn

Using animal symbols to spread misinformation undoubtedly works because doing so has been a common human activity for thousands of years. But as soon as we look at animals as evidence of something other than what they are, their unique identities give way to those that reflect our own needs.

Loch Ness

Here are links to one video and one article that illustrate the human willingness to attach symbolism to animals for those people’s gain. Though we may be most familiar with this human tendency in the companion animal realm, such relationships may involve wild animals as well as imaginary ones.

The post Episode 536- Animal Symbols and Misinformation appeared first on MMilani.com.

For many people seeking to take a more natural ethology-based approach to their animals’ problem behaviors, making the training-ethology mental transition is the most challenging part.

And the more training experience we have, the more difficult this may be.

The post Episode 535 – The Training-Ethology Transition appeared first on MMilani.com.

Few studies have shaped my understanding of companion animal behavior and the bond as much as the decades-long Russian Farm Fox study. I felt that way when I first read about it in the 90s and still feel the same about it today. Back then I considered it a virtual Rosetta Stone relative to understanding the inextricable relationship between domestication, animal behavior and physiology.

But I also realized that domestication and all the physiological and behavioral changes it created was first and foremost a bond phenomenon, These were fueled by human and animal changes, not just changes in the animals. The researchers and foxes in the study had to be willing to engage with each, to change their behaviors in some way to accommodate each other.

Because the study focused only on the foxes, we don’t know whether the researchers experienced comparable changes during these relationships. But it seems highly likely.  If this process occurred, how far it progressed, and its results also  depended on the physical and mental environments in which these human-animal interactions occurred.

Those same factors influence us and our companion animals today.  We may have different physiological, emotional, and environmental bonds with each of them, depending on what we perceive as their and our own needs. And they may do the same as they interact with us.

When I originally recorded this, Frica and Ollie were young, there was a canary, a geriatric cat, and a physiological, behavioral, and a physiological behavior, health, and bond wildcard named BeeBee in our household. (You can read more about BeeBee’s and our bittersweet time in The BeeBee Chronicles – read from bottom up) Today, Frica, Ollie, Bamboo and I experience those same human-companion animal dynamics as they play out here as we adjust to changes in today’s world.

The post Episode 534  –  Companion Animal Behavior and the Russian Farm Fox Study appeared first on MMilani.com.

What do naked mole rats, dogs, cats, have in common? Many people most likely would say, not a darn thing. However, there are others like myself who enjoy learning about their similarities even amidst all their differences.

The post Episode 533 – Naked Mole Rats, Dogs, and Cats appeared first on MMilani.com.

Do wild animals display social distancing and other self- and group-protective behaviors when contagious diseases occur? Or are they oblivious to what’s happening to them and those belonging to the same species?

The post Episode 532 – Do Wild Animals Practice Social Distancing? appeared first on MMilani.com.

This podcast celebrates Retro-Thanksgiving, a perfect celebration for those of us separated from our loved ones Thanksgiving 2020. Often when I’m separated from family and friends during key periods in our lives, I enjoy remembering the good times we did share to lift my spirits. This year when I joined millions worldwide experiencing their Mother of All  holiday separations from loved ones, I turned to my past Thanksgiving podcasts. I recorded this one in 2011.

I heartily recommend reminiscences of happy holidays past to comfort you and lift your spirits. Just those 5 minutes of  Thanksgiving memories made me think about others. Then others. My own and those shared directly or indirectly by those I knew and some I did not.

The more I did this, the more I realized that we often think of  such memories as mere condiments in good times. But in difficult years like this one, these recollections of times spent with loved ones and special people and animals can provide the ingredients for a memorable holiday even when we’re alone.

The post Episode 530 – Retro-Thanksgiving appeared first on MMilani.com.

When I first read about people doomscrolling, I wondered if doing it could undermine the quality of some companion animals’ behavior and mental health too. If so, that meant this human behavior also could undermine the animal’s physical health and the  bonds with their doomscrolling people. And indeed it may.

The post Episode 529 – Doomscrolling and Companion Animal Behavior appeared first on MMilani.com.

Because Halloween signals the start of the food-focused holiday season for many, it seems like a good time to think about tricky treats for dogs and cats.

To test your perceptions of your dog’s or cat’s body condition, below are downloadable canine and feline body score charts from the World Small Animal Veterinary Medicine Association.

Canine body condition score 

Feline body condition score

The post Episode 528 – Tricky Treats for Dogs and Cats appeared first on MMilani.com.

Most of us don’t think of pet cats and dogs as they relate to landraces. In fact, most of us don’t think of landraces at all. But whether we’re familiar with landrace animals, we may find them showing up more on the companion animal behavior and bond radar as time goes on.

The post Episode 527 –  Pet Cats, Dogs, and Landraces appeared first on MMilani.com.

What is the fundamental role of companion animal problem-solving? What help do our animals get in this regard from us? Being only human, our help may reflect our thoughts and feelings more than theirs. And it goes without saying, some animals and people are better at communicating than others.

The post Episode 526 – Companion Animal Problem-Solving appeared first on MMilani.com.