All of my fav articles with Prof. Coren

WHAT DO DOGS DO 2? - Stanley Coren

In most places in the Western world, laws only acknowledge the value of dogs as if they were just anothe form of property. One newspaper article, for example, reported the case of one Else Brown, a 67 year-old widow, whose dog, Tilly, was killed by a neighbor in a drunken act of aggression. The court ruled that this was not an assault, but just a crime against property, which would be treated like simple vandalism - the equivalent of breaking a window. Thus Tilly's murderer was simply given a fine equal to the cost of the dog (just a pitiful few dollars, since she had been adopted from an animal shelter). The years of love and caring, the loss of companionship had no dollar value in the eyes of the law.

Dogs know that you can buy them if you have enough money. It will take more than money; however, to buy the wag of their tails.

WHAT DO DOGS DO? - by Stanley Coren

Dogs do many things to help people. One of their most unusual functions involves assisting in psychotherapy.

This all started with Sigmund Freud, who had a series of dogs, most of them chow-chows. Freud felt that dogs had a special sense that allows them to judge a person's character accurately. For this reason his favorite chow-chow, Jo-Fi, attended all of his therapy sessions; Freud admitted that he often depended upon Jo-Fi for an assessment of the patient's mental state. He also felt the presence of the dog seemed to have a calming influence on all patients, particularly children.

More recent studies have shown that Freud was correct. Physiological measures show that petting a calm and friendly dog actually reduces stress (as shown by reduced muscle tension, more regular breathing and a slower heart rate). There is even some evidence that people who own dogs are likely to live longer and require less medical attention.

Freud's dog Jo-Fi would alert him to any stress or tension in a patient by where he lay down during the session. He lay relatively close to calm patients, but would stay across the room if the patient was tense. Jo-Fi also helped the great psychoanalyst determine when a therapy session was finished by unfailingly getting up and moving toward the office door when the hour was up. Freud, however, denied the rumor that Jo-Fi actually did the therapeutic psychoanalysis and wrote up the case reports.

WHAT TALES DO DOG TELL? - by Stanley Coren

It is probably the case that few dogs know there is a holiday set aside for them - the third of November, which is the feast day of Saint Hubert, the patron saint of dogs. Hubert was the son of the Belgian Duke of Guienne. As a young man, he was boisterous and self-indulgent, and he dearly loved to hunt. His redeeming grace was his love of dogs.

The story is that he and some friends irreverently took their hounds out to hunt on Good Friday in 683 A.D. During the hunt, the dogs suddenly stopped their pursuit and reverently lay down in front a great white stage. When the stag turned, Hubert saw the imagine of the Cross between its antlers and heartd the voice of God telling him that it was time to begin to hunt for virtue. Shortly thereafter Hubert took holy orders, established an abbey, and eventually rose to be a bishop of the church. At the abbey he continue to breed dogs and created the Saint Hubert hound, from which our modern bloodhounds have descended.

In early November, some years ago, I was traveling through rural North Carolina. I stopped when I came upon a large crowd standing in front of a church. The crowd consisted of all kinds of people and dogs: children with pets, shepherds with sheepdogs, and hunters with hounds. The priest mounted the church steps, dressed in white robes, and proceeded to give the "Mass of the Dogs" in honor of Saint Hubert. At the end the oldest dog was called up and blessed, and then every dog in turn received a benedictory touch from the priest. I am certain that no dog present barked even once during the entire proceedings. Actually, according to my recollection, many dogs seemed to bow their heads respectfully during the prayer service.