A Christmas tale about dog’s origination

Who were the ancestry   of dogs: wolves, jackals or an unknown animal. Or may be all of them.  Nobody knows for sure.    I have an idea  of my own about how dogs appeared.

Having created a man the God tried to teach him to live on his own.  When he considered that the education was completed he took the man to the road, and leaving him there started back home. In a minute  he looked back: the man was still standing on the road lost and alone. The God felt confused. Yes, it was his first experiment in creating a man, however he hoped the outcome would be more promising. The God decided to correct the situation: he created a dog and sent him to the man.

The  dog got many useful  talents, the most outstanding is dog’s ability to change for he could follow and live with the man in any place of the world and take any shape according to man’s fantasies. However, the God was generous that day and gave the dog one more feature - the most valuable: dog’s inexhaustible  ability to love man and the readiness to go with him till the very end.     

Our dogs - our alter ego?

http://vk.com/album145376788_151819280

Canistherapy - is it so new?

In the 60-ties the concept of the therapy with the use of animals was launched by Boris Levinson, a children’s therapist. He noticed that his little patients enjoyed playing with his dog when they came to him for a psychotherapy.  In 1969 he used the  term “pet- therapy”.

However, canistherapy has ancient roots.

In Ancient Egypt dogs were sacred symbols of  goddess Gula, an outstanding healer, as well as of other gods responsible for healing. Dogs also made company for Marduk, the main god of the ancient Babylon. In the Antique Greece  dogs played a key role in the cult of Asclepius, son of Apollo and the god of healing. Asclepius came to his patients sometimes as a man sometimes as a snake or a dog who licked wounds. 

Saints of the early Christianity were often painted with dogs who had healed them.

In the late XVIII century zootherapy was used in England in the  psychiatric clinic  “York Retriete” A lot of various animals were kept by the clinic: dogs, cats, rabbits, birds. Patients were involved in taking care of the animals and communicated with them. The head of the clinic considered that  patients believed in their own forces when they took care of those who were weaker.

A little later in Germany one of the hospitals for healing of epilepsy started to use animals. This hospital for 5 thousands of patients still works and kept two cattle farms, horses for riding, a lot of small animals.

Dr. Levinson was far from being the first who discovered the effective  positive results of communication with animals. However he made a great contribution as  he founded scientifically the use of animals in healing and attracted attention to this method.

Karsons were among the first who actively supported the idea and developed a program  “Psychotherapy with the help of pets” in the Ohio University.

Dogs on Christmas vacations

It is more than canistherapy.

What is the real goal of doghunting?

       Doghunring – a particular phenomenon  of modern Russia. In 2011 this movement got an official support when St.Petersburg authorities invited doghunters to eliminate street dogs and cats, and promised to pay 800 rubles (about 20 €) for each … dog’s or cat’s head. What kind of authorities we have which cooperate with people who enjoy cutting off dogs’ and cats’ heads?  This year the wave of doghunters’ activity got a new force. Only in Moscow more than a thousand dogs were killed. Recently a internationally well known  dog-diver was poisoned in Vladivostok.

Bonifaciy - a dog-diver
His master Sergey Gorbunov

 

       It seems at a first glance that doghunters are maniacs and sadists. It is true. However, a few questions emerged relating to these dramatic events. Poisons – each year more and more sophisticated – are rather expensive, poison is put into meat, which is also rather expensive. All the activity is well organized and needs a lot of time. Doghunters have weapons. Who stands behind the scene? Where is the inexhaustible financial source? And why the police does not even make an effort to stop this inhumane activity?  And – the final question – whether dogs and cats are the key goal of these actions? Or the poor creatures are only the instruments for reaching some other purpose?  

Thanks to those who rescued this dog!