Archive for July, 2009

Today, I am featuring a story of a cheetah, a hyena and two baboons.  Why talk about man-eaters and monkeys, on this site, you might ask.  This story is so amazing I wanted to share it with you. 

One night, a female cheetah on a prowl, attacked and killed a female baboon.  While she dragged away the carcass she felt something moving.  She looked down to see a baby baboon extricating itself from the mother’s body.

 The cheetah let go of her meal and sniffed at the cowering, terrified little animal.  In the background, she also heard a hyena approaching for its share in the kill.  By then she had become curious about the little animal and gently carried it in her mouth to a safe place.  She came back to chase away the hyena.

 The cheetah’s motherly instincts were triggered of when she saw a floundering baby animal.  And hunger was forgotten when her maternal instincts took over.   National Geographic has filmed these beautiful and touching moments that etch the sanctity of motherhood forever in the annals of time and life.

 They say a picture is worth a 1000 words.  A video is probably worth a million words!  So here it is - the amazing video that shows a mother is a mother, whether human or feline!

Man domesticated the first dog 14000 years ago to help him search and hunt for food.  Since then the dog remains an unwavering, loyal and loving companion of man.  Instinctively, a dog idolizes man and is happy to serve mankind, just for some care and love. 

Do you know what PTPs are?  Pats, treat and praise - that’s what your dog expects from you when he accomplishes something you expect him to.  The dog’s appetite for appreciation sometimes seems inexhaustible.  But do pets do what you say just for rewards? 

Well, research shows that pets will do anything you say willingly without expectations.  However, if you reward your dog’s buddy and do not reward your pet (for the same task), then he is sure to notice the difference!

A researcher, Fredrike Range, of the University of Vienna, Austria, and her colleagues, conducted experiments that showed dogs did not react favorably to commands when they saw other dogs being rewarded in a better manner for the same tasks.

The study, in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”, investigated the dog’s sense of fair play

It was seen that a dog willingly obeyed “give the paw” command several times and did not expect any rewards. But the same dog later refused, hesitated or took longer to obey the command when he saw his buddy getting a reward every time after “giving the paw”!

So now you know that your dog too believes in fair play.  Be fair to your pet and in return you have unstinting devotion for life!