Interspecies Play

Play is a very important activity for human childhood development, as well as often for what we might call adult emotional maintenance.  Other animals also engage in play, some to a very great extent.  I have no profound observations to offer, but I sometimes enjoy playing with dogs about as much as I do with people, and I find it interesting that play can become as subtle a method of interspecies communication as anything we've found so far.  In science fiction, a human mind can be merged with that of another being, including another species, and experience things through the senses of the other organism (sometimes even with something of the quality of existence that the other being experiences). If this is even possible, I suspect it would have to be a very long way off in our future, but it would be a direct way to address the issue people raise when they wonder what it is "like" to be some other animal.  What is it like to be a dog?  What is the nature of its reasoning, emotion, etc., and what does it feel like just to exist?  Regarding the last part of that series of questions, we might acknowledge that we can't even know for sure what another person's subjective experience of life is.  However, I think it's very reasonable to assume lots of commonality from one of us to another, and I also am convinced that there is much in the rich emotional life of a dog that parallels my own.  I don't know if your experience of colors is the same as mine, but I know that my dog Ziva experiences joy very much the same way that I do.  The same would of course be true of suffering, which is why I would go to very great lengths to protect her from that.

Yes, in the following pictures, you see a portion of a cow bone.  I recognize the inconsistency of protecting one animal while participating in the use of another one that may have been raised for slaughter.  The world is filled with carnivores, predators in every available niche.  The constant struggle for survival is how the incredible variety of microorganisms, plants, and animals (including people) came to be.  However, we can, and should, at least ensure humane treatment of any animals that we humans use for our own purposes.  We can be sure those purposes are good and necessary, and we can certainly avoid frivolous or cruel mistreatment of any creatures, including our fellow humans.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2015/01/interspecies-play.html

www.jilcp.com

Z is for Ziva

Perhaps novelist Sue Grafton should consider using Ziva as the eponymous inspiration for the final installment of her ongoing "alphabet" murder mysteries.  I suspect Kinsey Millhone would approve, though I can't think of any connection the lovely and charming Ziva Dog Diva could have to nefarious activities.

Last night I was reading a different author's work (I've long since caught up with Grafton's output, and eagerly await "X is for..."), and parked on a sofa for comfort.  Ziva parked by my feet, only slightly overlapping one slipper (she often puts herself squarely on whatever part of me is available). So as I absorbed The Racketeer, by John Grisham, Ziva emitted z's...zzzzzzz.

One quick glance to be sure she had my permission:

She didn't budge when I reached one arm to the side to get this perspective (a camera phone is much more practical than a DSLR for this sort of shooting):

Today, when I got home from rehearsal, after we went for a hike, Ziva made it clear that she wanted to play with a "snowman" that she was recently given by a neighborhood friend.  Our dear friend has an older dog named Alexa, who was best friends with our late, beloved Photon.  Alexa had grown tired of some of her things, gets along well with Ziva, and Ziva seems really excited about getting to play with them herself.  She wanted an audience, too, so I obliged with a camera.

After the exercise (there was a lot of running and fetching), Ziva calmed down, looked around and sniffed...what dogs do to explore their surroundings, after all...so I caught some tight portraits.

"Why don't you put down that Grisham novel and get back to The Calculus Diaries (Jennifer Ouellette)?"  Okay Ziva, you don't have to monitor my reading habits, even though I do monitor your eating habits.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2015/01/z-is-for-ziva.html

www.jilcp.com

Leaves Via Ziva

Ziva really loves to play in leaf piles.  I can't trust her off the leash on city streets, so to make a video I have to attempt everything one-handed.  Here's a still frame from a slow motion vid that worked pretty well.

And here are a couple of vids, a "slo-mo" and a normal speed (different occasions):

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/12/leaves-via-ziva.html

www.jilcp.com

Ziva - afternoon play time

I documented 12 minutes out of Ziva's sixth afternoon in her permanent home.  Twelve minutes to an approximately six month old dog is like two hours to a human adult.  (For a mature 2 year old dog, it's more like one human hour.  This is completely scientific!  I've verified the subjective experience of time with a large sample of dogs.  OK, just kidding.)

May I chase the squirrels in the front yard?

Well then, could I race out into the back yard and chase a squirrel?

Not fair!  How can you climb this very large tree so quickly?

If I could hollow out this stick, it would make a good alphorn, don't you think?

Or should I carve a violin bow?  This stick is almost straight...

...but it needs a chamfer on one end.

It is probably a good thing that no one documented the early (or later) portions of my life in such detail, but Ziva has assured me that she doesn't mind her twelve minutes of fame*, and plans on a career of celebrity.  If there are people who are "famous for being famous", I think this little canine charmer deserves to be famous just for being.

*Andy Warhol suggested that we would each have our 15 minutes, but while monetary exchange undergoes inflation, I'd say time intervals shorten - witness the general diminution of attention span!

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/10/ziva-afternoon-play-time.html

www.jilcp.com