Canine Characters

A Dog is Invention of the Year

by Jonathon Hardcastle

Earlier this year, the prestigious Time magazine came out with an issue highlighting the previous year’s great inventions, an annual practice. There was lots of stuff that made computers work more efficiently and which made things around the house better. There was a bicycle with a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell engine. Why, there was even a robot cat that could recognize and follow speech commands. An interesting bunch overall. The cat probably could have been voted by Time as its Invention of the Year, but no. That honor went to a dog. And no, it wasn’t a robot dog, either. It didn’t follow commands or do any special tricks. It was just an ordinary living, breathing Afghan dog. Except for one thing: it was a cloned dog, the first of its kind in the history of science.

Yes, Snuppy the cloned dog was Time magazine’s “Invention of the Year” for 2005.

Snuppy has 45 fathers, namely a 45-man team of Korean scientists from the Seoul National University or SNU. And that’s where Snuppy got his name, from the combination of “SNU” and puppy. He was born on April 24 last year and, follows behind the footsteps of “Dolly the Sheep,” cloned in 1996, as only the second mammal to ever be cloned in the world.

There’s nothing really extraordinary about Snuppy except for the fact that he is a cloned dog. And that’s the most amazing thing about him – that there’s nothing odd or abnormal about him and that he looks as natural as any other dog conceived from its mother’s womb, except that Snuppy doesn’t come from a womb. He came from a cell in an Afghan’s ear from where thousands of dog embryos were created. Over a thousand of these embryos were planted into about 120 female dogs and this produced a grand total of three pregnancies. Two of the three died, one because of miscarriage and the other due to pneumonia. Snuppy was the sole survivor. It was his first big test.

Now, his next big test is to keep on living. Dolly the Sheep died after six years. And that’s the benchmark that Snuppy’s creators are looking at.

Snuppy’s creation has come under some controversy, considering that his chief creator, Hwang Woo Suk, has been under investigation for possible fraud in his experiments. However, a thorough government investigation of Snuppy and his DNA has shown without a doubt that he is a legitimate cloned dog.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Science, Computers and Nutrition

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Everything I Need to Know In Life I Learned From My Dog

By Mary Rosendale

I was mooching around the Self-Help section in my local Barnes and Noble the other day when I got to thinking about the first Self Help book I ever read. Most of the early ones were actually based on psychology and written by psychologists. Remember “I’m OK. You’re Ok.”? It actually had pie-charts and you needed some intelligence to get through it.

I remembered, too, that during the rise of the Feminist movement in the Seventies the greatest of all self-help books were feminist books. Heady political stuff. These books actually changed the course of lives. How well I recall my first Consciousness Raising group. It was full of scary looking women in black mao slippers carrying well-thumbed copies of Simone de Beauvoir’s “Second Self”. I was introduced to many of these books in my Assertiveness Raising Groups. A phenomenon so familiar, back then, we would casually refer to it, over our Chablis and Fondue, as A.R. Groups. As in “Whose A.R. group are you in?” I don’t think A. R. Groups even exist these days. Why would they? They’ve gone the way of Betty Crocker and hipsters. Anyway, those books were rare gold. Passed around, recommended, endlessly discussed and few and far between.

Now, Self-Help rivals only Computer Software as the largest department in any bookstore. Everybody, it seems, has something to say. Self-help books are opinion pieces. And some of them are opinion pieces in very slim volumes with very big writing. And just to make things really interesting we know nothing about the writers so as to evaluate whether their opinion is actually worth more than a bus ticket and a cup of coffee. Do this. Do that. They are written by the dying the sick, the addicted, the narcissistic. Especially the narcissistic. Everybody’s got the secret of life. Or at least that magic bullet which will help you go one or two days more.

Because there’s no FDA to regulate the claims of these books there’s no redress. And, being human, we’re all looking for short-cuts. As if there’s a substitute for doing the work yourself. I personally believe that self-improvement is an inside job. It’s not a “How do I” – more a “Why can’t I”. Most people know what they have to do they just don’t want to do it. (Stop bingeing, drinking, whining, blaming everybody else. Get your butt off the couch and welcome the day and take responsibility for your life).

Of course, the placebo value is great. You actually may be getting something really valuable. But you don’t know how your life would’ve turned out if you hadn’t read them. Although I will cheerfully borrow self-help books I don’t buy them for the same reason that I don’t take expensive supplements or vitamins. There’s no quanitifiable measure of investment. The half-life of my vitamin intake is about two weeks or whenever I come to the end of the bottle, whichever comes sooner. Then – if I am not halfway through writing the Great American Novel or training for a triathlon I lose interest and assume they didn’t do anything. I guess the books make you think a little more. Another advantage is that by giving you shrink-wrapped pre-packaged insights they save you the work of actually trying to figure out this stuff yourself. Kind of like some people figure they’re off the hook for eating right if they supplement their diet with pre-fabbed nutrients.

And you can’t argue with any of them. None of them suggest that you criticize your neighbor or cut people off on the freeway. It’s all “be nice to people. Cherish your family. Don’t limit your potential”. All based on good solid Judeo- Christian, Buddhist, Bill W. values. All whirled together in one big centrifuge

They work on fear. If you don’t do what they exhort you to do you run the risk of not succeeding; not achieving or reaching your potential.. What if you end up eating cat food all alone and this was the one last thing you hadn’t tried?

So, again, there I was mooching around the Self-Help section the other day half-expecting to come across “Everything I need to know about life I learned from my Manicurist” When I realized that, actually, everything I need to know in life I probably learned from my dog.

You don’t know him but he’s quite a distinctive individual. He’s brave, relentlessly optimistic, completely present and entirely without artifice. What you see is definitely what you get. He’s also a great listener. He’s scared of a big monster dog which lives a few doors down and lunges at him each time he passes. So my boy steels himself and trots as quickly as he can past the terrifying fence to get to his favorite pee spot. No eye contact. He comes back the same way at a run. He gives me a hurried, frightened look as if to say “Waddya gonna do?” . If I leave him alone he sleeps. If I take him out he runs around happily and breathlessly until he can run no more. Either way works. He never holds a grudge and is always willing to kiss and make up if I hold a grudge. He is an opportunist and will take whatever he feels he needs i.e. any food that falls on the floor or looks like it might fall on the floor.

He trusts that the Universe, aka me, will provide for his needs. He’ll walk over to his bowl and if there’s food in it he’ll eat – if it’s empty he’ll go back to sleep until food appears..Either way works. He doesn’t pace the floor worrying about when the food will come and if it will be enough or if it will be his last meal or if it’s meeting his nutritional needs.

I love my little guy with all my heart. After all – he’s my guru. I’m just trying to figure out how to translate his teachings into my own life.

Mary Rosendale is the earthly caregiver of Mr. Wally Barker and proud mama of “The Constructed Life” – a unique Holistic Life Coaching program to help you design and build the life you want. She loves to coach – so make her happy. Visit her on the web at http://www.TheConstructedlife.com or http://theconstructedlife.blogs.com and sign up for her free newsletter. Come play.

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Dog Behavior – Our Two Australian Shepherd Puppies And The White Couch

by Connie Bowen

I had heard about a Sunday evening spiritual gathering in my neighborhood and was curious to go and make some new friends. My husband and son decided to stay home so I went along looking forward to a quiet evening with like-minded folks. I arrived right on time and was greeted by my gracious hostess. As I entered the lovely living room, I actually screamed when I saw it! A pristine, white couch! The couple’s Persian rugs still had all the fringe and the rungs on their wooden chairs were without bite marks. Their woodwork had no scratches or mud spatters and their screen door was still in tact! Right then and there I made the decision; these people could not survive one minute in my house.

That’s because the day our two Australian Shepherd puppies, Jesse and Harley, came into our lives was the day “that lived-in look” took on new meaning. Old towels now cover our kitchen wall and floor beside the newly installed “doggie door.” Our spring flowers lost their blooms to curious taste buds long ago and the grass in our large backyard has all but turned to mud.

Trying to keep Jesse and Harley off the couch is like learning to fly by jumping off a cliff. We tried our round of obedience classes and agility training. We devoured the stack of dog books written by experts who ran the gamut in their advice from throwing a rolled up magazine at the dogs to ignoring them completely. As I stare at the once matching wicker tables and couch that have been dismantled piece by piece, I literally drool with anticipation remembering that day at the dog park when I heard one lady’s hopeful story who told us her 3 year old Aussie is a couch potato and loves to sleep and take it easy! Under threat of attack to our remaining furniture, we now schedule the dogs’ daily exercise time into our day timer right beside our other appointments.

All in all, would I turn back the clock if I had it to do all over again? Would I drive right by that open gate and leave that purebred Aussie trail behind?

What would my life be like without the smile on my young son’s face as he wakes up every morning to his own furry cheerleading team? And when he stands in the living room with a handful of treats authoritatively spouting, “Sit! Now down! Come and sit! Hey, Mom, did you see that? They did it!” How could I even think of such a thing? Would I miss that sign my doorbell wears, “Don’t ring. It makes the dogs go crazy”?

As I contemplate my life this past year, I look out the French doors to what’s left of our backyard and I experience that rare moment when our puppies are lying side by side in a one-in-a-million pose with the sun gleaming on their fur and their noses tipped up to catch the cool morning breeze, and I remind myself, who needs a white couch, anyway?

© Connie Bowen

Pet Portrait Artist, and Professional Illustrator Connie Bowen creates stunning pet portrait paintings on canvas from photos. Specializing in capturing the spiritual nature of dogs, cats, horses and other animals in a realistic fashion with impressionistic backgrounds as seen on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s TV show, Art Beat. Over 200 pet portraits completed and counting! Visit http://www.conniebowen.com to view exquisite samples.

Article Source Dog News Center and Article Directory http://www.dognewscenter.com

Pug Encounter – My First Time Up Close and Personal

by Connie Bowen

I met Sharon, a pug breeder, at a local dog show. I’m a professional pet portrait artist and she stopped by my booth to commission a painting of each one of her pugs to decorate her living room walls. She mailed her photos to me straight away so that I could begin the portrait process. I must say, to get all those wrinkles exactly right was a bit of a struggle for me. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, connecting this line to that and figuring where one wrinkle started and another ended. When three of her paintings were completed, we decided on a time that would be best for me to drive over to her home to deliver her portraits.

I had never seen a pug up close and personal before. As I drove up her driveway, I saw a sign that read Pug Crossing. “Ahhh, must be the right place,” I reassured myself. As soon as I rang the bell, pug pandemonium ensued. Over the din of barked greetings, I heard Sharon shout, “Boys, go to the bedroom,” “Girls, into the kitchen.” Sharon actually corralled her four-footed darlings in this way. They understood every word Sharon said to them and obediently went to their respective posts, which gave me a space to enter into the living room.

As soon as I sat down on the couch, there were pugs everywhere around me; in my lap, under my arms, snuggling up to my nose and lips for happy licks. As my eyes wandered around Sharon’s living room, I saw every kind of pug memorabilia to be had! There were pillows, plates, a china closet full to the brim, rugs – you name it. If it had the picture of a pug on it, it was proudly displayed.

I felt immediately enthralled with each little curious pug face that stared into mine. There were happy snorts of approval as tiny tails wagged a mile a minute.

I eagerly anticipated my return visit to her home to deliver more paintings. With each pug wrinkle that I painted, thoughts of pugs grinning ear to ear filled my mind! It wasn’t long before my return visit was scheduled. It was then I realized, for some puppy lovin’, there’s no place like home – a pug home that is!!!

© Connie Bowen

Pet Portrait Artist, and Professional Illustrator Connie Bowen creates stunning pet portrait paintings on canvas from photos. Specializing in capturing the spiritual nature of dogs, cats, horses and other animals in a realistic fashion with impressionistic backgrounds as seen on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s TV show, Art Beat. Over 200 pet portraits completed and counting! Visit http://www.conniebowen.com to view exquisite samples.

Article Source Dog News Center and Article Directory http://www.dognewscenter.com