Dogs do have emotions.

I have some friends that think, or have determined through some readings from some researchers that dogs dont have feelings or emotions. well, ive been reading through some research, cause i 100% disagree.
emotions come from a part of the brain that is considered the most primitive, and is present all mammals, reguardless of the size of brain. and, these animals do produce the chemicals needed to generate the physical side of emotions (ie. seratonin, GABA, norepinepherine, dopamine..etc.) anyway, i dont want to dispell all the little things but i do want to throw it out there for discussion, (even though not too many people are frequenting this blog..buuttt i dont care). On one side of the front people say dogs are based on biological instincts and training, that their actions are based on straight animal instinct...again i disagree whole heartedly...or they say that dogs react based on what theyre trained. this i do agree with but, it's relatable to us as well...its the hot stove experience...we know not to touch the stove cause it hurts, well a dog knows to "sit" or "shake" cause he/she is getting a treat...and the feeling is that this is an example of almost like a programming..but..my problem with this is.. we do the same thing..its the "if you do this ..this will happen" so then you keep doing it..or stop doing it. there are several thousands of studies throughout the past yrs that will say that they do or they dont, i say they do. heres some examples. when im at home with my dogs, you can sort of notice their moods, good, bad, irratable...etc...and..reguardless of these moods, they are always up for showing you graditude with a "kiss" or other various signs of love, also they are always will to protect the house, their domain, but it's deeper than that. not only are they standing up for their den, but those that live in it..even other dogs biologically unrelated, why?..cause they are now EMOTIONALLY connected to them. the fact that when my wife leaves, all the dogs are sad and sit by the door for about an hour..reguardless to what i say to them. im home, but because someone is missing from there fold, the lead female presence..they are saddened..
alot of people want to believe that dogs dont have emotions and want to disconnect the idea they they feel. im not sure why they want to try to reason the idea away but, beautiful things can happen if you except the idea that they do, that they even understand your feelings, whether it be based on body language or chemical emissions from our body..they know.
heres another quick example; my dog edward, who is an amazing dog..almost too smart for his own good. if we're away at work all day and he does something like grab the bread off the counter and eat the whole loaf, or get into the garbage..he'll be hidden before we enter the house, not after we enter, not after i say anything but before we enter and find the mess he created. i feel that this is guilt.. he knows he did something wrong, i didnt have to say anything or even point it out..he just knew...lil devil...i love him..

total double standard.

So, i was thinking last night as i was watching an old episode of crossing jordan on like..fx or A&E or something. the show was about this care giver that takes care of the elderly and in his track record the majority of the old folks past on as result of a stroke. well, turns out he was drugging them up to help put them out of their mercy. i realize im going to get a lot of grief for what im about to say but im going to toss it in the ring and let it get kicked here and there. I dont disagree with the idea. i however dont think that it should be as the result of one mans decision. but heres the conundrum that i have issues with. with previous postings here and elswhere and as i watch different show specials i hear all of these horrible things that are happening in different parts of the world, such as the polar ice caps and the loss of food for the polar bears, therefor resulting in there endangered status. well we have the possibility to kick some help, but we dont, cause theres a large group of people that feel that we need to let nature take its course. or when we're in drought here in az and the mountain lions and coyotes are screwed for multiple reasons, we "let nature take its course". we have technologies to help. if we're going to let nature take its course then things like modern medicine and technology is worthless. if you have an 80+ yr old grandma and she's surviving on medication alone..well in the previous reguard, let nature take its course. we all die, its a fact of life..death and taxes, and i used to say "death, taxes and your hair grows" but thats not even true...cause im balding quite severely.

dragons and such

On another blog that i have (my personal blog) i posted this little blurp about dragonflies and damselflies. the more i watch and witness their actions, the more amazed i am by them. so i decided to copy into this blog, cause i believe it is worth a read.

check this out..
i know sometimes i have nothing really important to say, and to alot of you this my being boring, but i find it amazing.
here's your educational spot for the week. read it, look around and open your eyes a little wider.
Dragonflies.
these amazing insects are seen through out AZ and other parts of the US, and i was always curious to what their purpose is. Do they bite, sting or do any other harm to us?..well i looked into it. Hopefully what i found out will help curb the fear that alot of people have when these truly beautiful insects buzz by your noggin.
There are a few myths about dragonflies that are totally untrue.
Dragonflies are insects in the sub-order Anisoptera (meaning"unequal-winged"). Hind wings are usually shorter and broader than the front wings. They are usually larger, strongly flying insects that can often be found flying well away from water. When at rest, they hold their wings out from the body, often at right angles to it. The eyes are very large and usually touch, at least at a point. In the dragonflies infancy they are actually water dwelling, and their life span is 1-3 years as water dwelling larvae before they at some point venture up out of the water, sprout wings and take flight. Once out of the water their adult life span is up to only 4 months, in which time they have to find food (which is other insects), find a mate, and reproduce. Some larger d.flies have lived from birth to death up to 7 years! (a myth about life span is that they live 24hrs..NOT TRUE).
Sometimes when you're out kickin around and you see a small dragonfly..it is infact not a dragonfly at all. It's a Damselfly.
Damselflies are insect in the sub-order Zygoptera (meaning "yoke-winged"). All four wings are near enough equal in size and shape. They are usually small, weakly flying insects that stay close to the water margins or water surface. When at rest, most species hold their wings along the length of their abdomen. The eyes are always separated, never touching. The larvae have external plates (lamellae) at the end of the abdomen, which act as accessory gills.
Can they cause harm to humans? No, similar to the idea of a daddy long leg(Opiliones, which aren't actually spiders at all..i'll explain at a different time)a dragonfly/damselfly (and daddylongleg) mouth arent strong enough nor large enough to bit, and the long part of both types of D. flies are not stingers, they are birth or egg tubes. In fact D.flies of both are more passive sometimes even willing to land on your finger if stretched out to allow them. One of the ways the myth started was when they land sometimes their long bodies will curl alittle presenting the visual idea that they are preparing to sting you (which is untrue, and impossible). They also make a motion that appears that theyre trying to bite you (not true as well as pointed out above).

ALL NEW! small polar nuggets.

this is actually quite interesting, cause i was just reading about the melting ice caps cause a loss of life in the antartic. these cuddly bears (not really) are slowly working themselves into a dangerous level of extinction to begin with..now there male-hood is dwindling...son of a !!#$. poor fellas.

by ana b
Watch out guys...you could be next!
(LOL!)

"Study: Polar Bear Genitals Are Shrinking

The polar ice cap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic.

The genitals of polar bears in eastern Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants, a new study finds."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210444,00.html

poor pluto.

she's now a planette...hahaha...whats next gary coleman's not a real person...LOL

Entry posted (actually pasted from her site) from Ana B.

My, oh my...BUGS-- oh my!

So a friend, being an aspiring entomologist, has been writing a lot about bugs on his blog lately. I think it's really interesting. It reminded me of a discussion I had with my mom not too long ago about all the microscopic "bugs" that live on our bodies and all around us. Did you all know about the little mites that live in our hair and eyebrows/eyelashes? Don't worry, it's not a bad thing and it doesn't mean you're dirty--it's perfectly normal! And did you realize how dependent we really are on bugs and micro-organisms? People always talk bad about dust mites (actually some people ARE especially allergic to them)-- but they help us keep our houses clean by eating the tens of millions of skin cells that slough off our skin every day! I found an interesting article about this type of thing-- here is just a taste:

"The beasts that live on our bodies are by no means all bad. A normal population of bacteria on the skin, for example, may actually benefit us by preventing infectious bacteria from gaining a beachhead. But if you tell people that a normal population can mean a hundred bacteria per square inch in the barren habitat of the shoulder blades (or millions in the sweltering armpit), they are liable to scrub themselves raw."

If you want to read more, here's the link:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9812/fngm/index.html

Sorry if you're grossed out about this topic. I find it pretty phenomenal! Just remember, this is all part of God's design! ;)

SIDE NOTE: (from matt) the picture is an external ear mite.. learn more by going to the following address as well-
http://www.seps.org/oracle/oracle.archive/Other.K-5/2003.07/001058156445.26327

This is the start line.

Welcomo to bio-a-gogo. I'm dedicating/hosting this blog for everything that lies under the umbrella of biology. From zoology to entomology..life science in other words. I dont want this to be a page about "look how smart i am" or anything. My hope is to house a forum of discussion about different topics within this realm, weather it be micro-bio and the discussions of SIV and HIV..or the purpose of different species of ants. Even topics like the recent discovery/technology of harvesting stem cells, or evolution..and any other topic that mixes theology with different aspects of biology. This wont be censored (unless your just flat out being ignorant) so feel free to speak (type) freely.
ALSO know that some "comments" may be copied and pasted as actual entries, as the host I get the say of which does, but also may be persuaded if alot of posts are being made in reguards to someones comment.
Ask question, no question is a dumb question no matter how elementary you think it may be, in someones explanation/answer it may shed light on other topics that we may all benefit. This isnt an english site so, dont point out things like bad grammar or wording..cause frankly i could give a crap about that stuff.
Lets do it.