Kaya, archived

Draw mouse.

Ondangar is not Mauru’s only dog. Mauru owns several dogs and all fulfill tasks that seem to suit their character perfectly. Okandono, for example, loves to be away with the cattle. She knows her task so well that without command she comes along when the cattle go into the bush. The dog Babille is entirely different: she prefers the presence of the women in the camp. This is not only because the good-tasting sour milk is prepared here: she also stays at their side if a hut needs to be renovated or when the women go into the bush to collect wood. The women welcome this—less so out of fear of animals, who usually avoid humans, but more out of a fear of snakes. Snakes can lie invisible in the high grass and easily bite a careless walker. Babille reliably warns them of this danger—doing so out of instinct, since nobody ever taught her this.

Just as Babille stays with the women, the young Tahanau takes care of the children. Playfully the dog is taught this responsibility. At first she accompanies her human playmates on their search for mopane worms, which are a change in the diet of the Himba. In this season the worms are plentiful and the children collect them in mopane bushes. They then roast them over the fire and let them dry in the sun for a few days before eating them. Tahanau tackles this challenge with with visible joy and of her own volition. She seems to believe she’s the worm dog of the village. Through her participation in the search for worms, she becomes more of a protector for the children. This side benefit seems to have developed completely naturally and without any prompting by humans. The Himba never force a particular responsibility onto a dog; the dog chooses its own.

Apparently if you put a red band on a male red wing blackbird his harem size can double

uomdogs Thyme was full of energy during his assessment and completed twelve consecutive runs, showing us that he can successfully detect the frozen odour while initially trained on the dried odour. Lots of stamina and lightning footwork from this young boy! ⚡️ #goodboy#springerspaniel #pupper

This is recorded in real-time, for when I tell him to start searching and when he finds the scent. 

There’s no mistaking when Thyme finds the scent :) very important to try and make the indication super noticeable. 

One of the other dogs indicates by bowing. One scratches the container. A few others drop. My other dog, who is not a suitable test subject, indicates by freezing in a stand - this makes it hard to tell when she has found a scent versus sniffing intently.

Other indications I’ve seen that pop up include barking, sitting and in the sports world a border collie who will reverse backwards to do a rear end target! Indications can take many shapes, but when shaping remember how obvious you want it to be, do you want your dog scratching (car search volunteers might not like this), freezing in place (hard to spot from handler perspective).

Many contain either xylitol or malitol. 

The latter isn’t as toxic as xylitol, but can still put a dog into hypoglycemia, especially if they eat a lot or are a small dog. If you do keep candy or gum around that contains these, keep it well out of reach of your dog, including off of counter tops where it might accidentally get knocked to the floor (or where a larger dog could each) by a person or a cat. 

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