Pavlov, Dogs and Newibies

[db5]

Pavlov gets far too much credit for discovering something that dog owners knew for several hundred or thousand years. He just did it in the laboratory and recorded it. Case in point: Pavlov (known as the very early founder of operant conditioning) rang a bell, fed dogs, repeated often, then rang a bell and noted that the dogs salivated. Marvelous! Not really. Observe your dog as I have observed mine. Pavlov apparently didn’t own a dog but just observed them in the lab.

Consider this: Squirrel is on the bird feeder; tell dog that the squirrel is there; dog looks at me as if she is looking at a new pan. I open the door and again shout squirrel. She runs out, looks, sees squirrel and charges. She runs around hedges giving the squirrel a 15 yard head start. Squirrel jumps and flees – to the far tree and even having a 15-yard head start is just 1 foot ahead as it jumps to the tree and escapes.

More time elapses with both the dog and squirrel learning. Muffet, a 10 lb Chihuahua/Italian greyhound (faster than a squirrel but not a speeding bullet) no longer runs around the shrubs but directly to the elevated bird feeder. Still the squirrel barely escapes by jumping down and fleeing to the nearest tree 20 feet away – not the 100 feet on the first attempt. The squirrel has learned to listen to the opening of the door. No matter how silent I do it the moment the door opens the squirrel is off. Both the dog and the squirrel have learned to respond to sounds; and the dog to a silent “squirrel” or just nodding to the door.

I can just look at the door and Muffet is ready to charge. No longer do I say squirrel or even mouth it. Just look. All of that is conditioning which every Scotland sheepherder observed far before Pavlov was born. If you’ve observed shepherding trials with sheepdogs you know that they sometimes look, long distance, to their handler and with just a hand gesture or nod proceed.

Pavlov gets credit for merely observing something that millions of dog companions had known forever. Those of you who have dogs already know this. This is somewhat like getting credit for observing that new Shopsmith owners logon daily looking for new information but overtime their inquiries abate. Having been the first to publish this information (not the first to observe it) I should go down in Shopsmith history as contributing as much to Shopsmith as Pavlov did to Psychology. Quasimodo did more with ringing his bell than did Pavlov.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I knew I'd like this thread the moment I read the title.

I concur wholeheartedly. Anyone who has lived with animals is rarely surprised by the published "findings" of those who merely study them.

Many years back, we had a feisty young squirrel that just loved teasing our two long-gone Bichons. We would let the dogs out to ramble in the back yard. (Fencing said back yard was my first big woodworking project. It was way easier than constantly picking burrs out of Bichon fur.). Fiesty squirrel loved teasing the dogs. As soon as we let them out, he would come over and hop about the treetops above the yard, chattering loudly, and reliably inciting the fluffy lapdogs into a yapping frenzy. At least the squirrel enjoyed it.

The older Bichon was very strong, but a bit on the dumb side. The younger one was small, but smart, and amazingly quick. Squirrel made the mistake of missing his landing branch only once. He landed on the ground about 6 feet from the small quick dog. And lived for about 100 milliseconds thereafter.

Did you know that dogs can grin?

["Wild Bad Bob"]

I raised and hunted "Field Trial" Beagles, not just show pups. 5 rabbit a day "bag limit" 2 sons, season went from Sept 15th to End of Feb . Rabbit taste like dark meat of chicken, minus some of the fat. Freezer was always full!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention, boat on Lake Michigan and 6 Salmon a day limit per person with the 2 youngens!!! Winter hunten rabbits, summer fishen Salmon!!!!!!!!!!!! YUMM!!!!! No wonder why she divorced me, "My father never had a boat" No he did not, but a member at Milw Country Club", golfing on his time off. Oldest son lives in Jupiter FL, his is slipped in his back yard on the Cause Way!!! X hates it, but when you, at 42 makes $200K+ a year, moms thoughts dont freaken matter!!!!!! Youngen of the 2, lives in Steam Boat, CO a freaken Attorney!!!! Licensed there , FL, CA and WI, got all the snow birds!!, More land sharks per capita in SB,CO then any where!!! She cant control him either, we, the boys and I, Elk and deer hunt on a clients "ranch" a mere 500K acres on the edge of a National Forrest, Oh, BTW only access to it is on his land!!!
Even though she owns the largest block of personally own shares of American Brand Tobacco, and "daddy" bought 100 block shares of Berkshire Hathaway, at $16.00 a share in '76 at the IPO!!!! You do the math on that one!!! Shit, she makes over a Mill a year just on divedens from ABT!!!!!!!!!!! To name a few!!!
I had grape vines over the kennel for shade, in the fall, when the grapes came in racoons at night would come in and crawl on top to eat them. Damn Rabbit hunten Beagles would just let them, not a bark or howl from them!!

[fredsheldon]

I raised and hunted "Field Trial" Beagles, not just show pups. 5 rabbit a day "bag limit" 2 sons, season went from Sept 15th to End of Feb . Rabbit taste like dark meat of chicken, minus some of the fat. Freezer was always full!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention, boat on Lake Michigan and 6 Salmon a day limit per person with the 2 youngens!!! Winter hunten rabbits, summer fishen Salmon!!!!!!!!!!!! YUMM!!!!! No wonder why she divorced me, "My father never had a boat" No he did not, but a member at Milw Country Club", golfing on his time off. Oldest son lives in Jupiter FL, his is slipped in his back yard on the Cause Way!!! X hates it, but when you, at 42 makes $200K+ a year, moms thoughts dont freaken matter!!!!!! Youngen of the 2, lives in Steam Boat, CO a freaken Attorney!!!! Licensed there , FL, CA and WI, got all the snow birds!!, More land sharks per capita in SB,CO then any where!!! She cant control him either, we, the boys and I, Elk and deer hunt on a clients "ranch" a mere 500K acres on the edge of a National Forrest, Oh, BTW only access to it is on his land!!!
Even though she owns the largest block of personally own shares of American Brand Tobacco, and "daddy" bought 100 block shares of Berkshire Hathaway, at $16.00 a share in '76 at the IPO!!!! You do the math on that one!!! Shit, she makes over a Mill a year just on divedens from ABT!!!!!!!!!!! To name a few!!!
I had grape vines over the kennel for shade, in the fall, when the grapes came in racoons at night would come in and crawl on top to eat them. Damn Rabbit hunten Beagles would just let them, not a bark or howl from them!!

And you let that big fish get away Time for you to start turning some pens and bowls and enjoy what time you have left and not sweat those things you have no control over

["Wild Bad Bob"]

Fred, remember in the Movie Jaws, when they cut the line!!!!!!!! She will be the FIRST to take it with her!!!!!!

[JPG]

Fred, remember in the Movie Jaws, when they cut the line!!!!!!!! She will be the FIRST to take it with her!!!!!!

So you planning to electrocute 'her'?:D

["Wild Bad Bob"]

In todays monitoring by the Man of Color, NO COMMENT HERE!!!

[JPG]

In todays monitoring by the Man of Color, NO COMMENT HERE!!!

Chicken!!!!!!!!!!




















Both of you!

["Wild Bad Bob"]

Men of Color eat chicken, ribs, collared greens ect!!! When Mechelle is not watching!!!

[JPG]

Men of Color eat chicken, ribs, collared greens ect!!! When Mechelle is not watching!!!

You left off watermelon.

So do pale faces!;)