February 2020 - Boxes Near Me

New Kitten sleeps on me. Wife is Jealous. About three months ago we adopted a new kitten as a playmate for our male cat. He was getting bored chasing the other male cat around. We found this small female kitten at a rescue group. One of the women who cared for the litter our new cat was in told me that none of the other kittens would play with her. She was too rough. That is exactly the type of kitten we were looking for as a playmate. From the day she came into the house she stood up to the big orange make cat that outweighed her by 12 pounds. This little kitten is now six months old and does her best to antagonize the orange cat.

All of this is not what makes my wife jealous. About a week ago the kitten started to sit on my lap while I am in my recliner watching tv. After ten minutes of kneading my belly with her needle like claws, she curls up and takes a nap. Now this is the point my wife becomes jealous. I tell my wife this is not my doing. The kitten obviously likes me better. I have no control over who the kitten likes.

The kitten sleeps between my wife’s ankles. My wife sleeps on the sofa while watching tv with her favorite blanket. The kitten finds the place where the blanket hangs between her feet and uses it like a hammock. This does not count in my wife’s opinion as the kitten is not with in arms reach to pet. I tell her that is not my problem and to take it up with the kitten.

New Kitten sleeps on me. Wife is Jealous. I find the entire thing humorous to say the least.

Why do Dogs love humans. As I was looking through the channel guide last night I saw a new Nova episode on Dogs. I have seen many other shows that try to determine why wolves became dogs. There is a general consensus that humans did not domesticate wolves. The wolves domesticated themselves. Specifically all dogs evolved from the grey wold. It is thought that the wolves that were the least afraid of humans gradually changed into what we call a dog over a period of about 5000 years.

The episode went back to the Russian research facility that 70 years ago accidentally created fox-dogs. The women at the facility identified a number of foxes that were the least afraid of humans. They breed male and female foxes for their temperament. In just a few generations the offspring of these first foxes-dogs developed traits that humans associate with dogs. These foxes craved human attention, became passive and most interesting lost their natural fur camouflage. The Russian researchers showed that the fox with lower levels of adrenal gland hormones were the most likely to be domesticated.

This still did not explain why dogs have such a close relationship with humans. A chance discovery of people who suffer from William’s syndrome may explain why humans think dogs love them. William’s syndrome causes higher levels of oxytocin in the brain. Researchers found that dogs have the same mutation on the same chromosome as people with William’s syndrome. The discovery of the influence of adrenal hormones coupled with the mutation that causes William’s syndrome go a long way in explaining why dogs and humans have such a close bond.

Why do Dogs love humans. It is a complicated evolutionary story that changed human history. Could humans have been successful hunters and animal herders without dogs? We will never know. What we do know is that dogs made everything easier for their humans.