Posted on 09/18/2009 3:06:19 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
A little while ago I made my wife laugh by doing an impression of a dog acting guilty. After the laughter subsided I started thinking: How does a dog even know how to act guilty? Guilt is not an emotion in any part of the rest animal kingdom except perhaps to a much lesser extent in cats and maybe chimpanzees although I am not sure about the latter due to little contact with chimps. Cats have such a superiority complex that they really don't show much guilt about anything.
But dogs go completely overboard in the guilt department. You come home and if your dog did something it shouldn't have done, such as leave a "deposit" on the floor, you can often tell right away. The head is down, you might hear some whimpering, and the eyes give away a great deal of guilt. Not only can dogs act guilty, it is much more exaggerated than in humans since people often tried to hide their guilt.
We take this feeling of guilt for granted in dogs because we are so used to it. However, guilt is a very complicated emotion. How did dogs pick up feelings of guilt? It's really amazing when you think about it.
The will eat everything except wild mustard but you have to dig out burdock cause that can poison them. We had different pastures that could be closed off to let the timothy and alfalfa regrow..
Wild mustard looks a lot like alfalfa and I wondered how they told the difference so I chewed a piece one day, spit real quick, its very bitter... A city girl can learn real fast...:O)
EIC? I guess I haven’t kept up with labs, what is that?
We alphas are great...as long as every one else toes the line! ;)
Pauli has started thinking that when we get back from our morning walk, it is ice time. She goes and stands by the dispenser. I just hope she never figures out how it works!
AHHHHHH! Too cute!
ping 166
I'll warn you that it's a little unnerving to watch, but it's also obvious that the dog is not in pain and perfectly happy.
Miss Ruby has only had one episode, which scared us half to death, but she's never had another and seems none the worse for her experience. Some dogs have a more acute form than others - a few can collapse just from excitement without much exertion or heat. But that's the exception not the rule.
They've seen it in other retrievers, but most cases are in high-bred, high-strung field Labs. They think the gene is VERY common, but if the dogs are not pushed to the limit they never have an attack, so your average couch potato retriever is not going to be doing repetitive 200 yard blinds in hot weather with multiple whistle stops and collar corrections. That's generally what brings it on.
That was such a cute puppy! But he was very noisy!
Yes, I saw your explanation. I guess I had not heard it referred to by the initials and my brain was too lazy to decipher! I had one golden who collapsed one day, chasing a ball in the hot E TX sun. I wasn’t there, my son was, he called his dad and was told to hose her until she got better. By the time I got home she was fine. I *think* it was heat stroke (she is a ball fanatic and will not stop and my son didn’t know she would keep going no matter what).
Later, when I first heard about that, I wondered if it was something like that instead of heat stroke, but she’s never had another episode. Then again, she is an indoor couch potato. FWIW she was never bred.
1. Heat stroke is a general collapse, with unconsciousness, hyperventilation, vomiting, and diarrhea. EIC onset is sudden, it is almost always confined to the hind end weakness/paralysis, and the dog otherwise remains alert and happy, although sometimes a little bit confused or 'out of it'.
2. Genuine heat stroke (as opposed to mere heat exhaustion) takes several days to recover from - the dog will only gradually recover and remain weak, somewhat dehydrated, vomit, etc. With EIC they are right as rain in 10-15 minutes or half an hour, as though nothing at all happened. Ruby was up trotting around, sniffing, and watering the shubbery in 10 minutes without a care in the world.
The fact that your golden was fine by the time you got home indicates EIC. The emotional excitement of being a ball fanatic, the heat esp. with a heavy coat and the exertion, would line up with EIC.
The UMinn guys say that they believe the gene is JUST as common in conformation Labs as field Labs. But a dog that doesn't do the strenuous, stressful work of a field dog may never have an attack.
In fact, they believe the gene's so common it will never be completely eradicated. And it may be unwise to do so because EIC seems to actually be genetically associated with the high-energy traits that make a good retriever. . . the breeding goal for now is to try to eliminate affected dogs with two copies of the gene, not the carriers with one copy.
You might Email the UMinn guys and ask if they have ID'd the gene in Goldens . . . . they might be interested in a blood test if they haven't.
Wow, thank you for the info. I thought it odd that she was fine by the time I got home (altho it was probably 2 hours after the fact, they didn’t call me because they didn’t want me to worry—my poor son called my husband and said, “I think I’ve killed Mom’s dog!” Funny in hindsight, but not at the time.
DEFINITELY not funny at the time!!!! I understand why they didn’t tell you though, didn’t want you to have a wreck speeding to the dog’s side . . . .
Exactly! My poor son.
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