Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Pet behaviourists have claimed that dogs and horses are becoming bored and depressed, because global warming induced weather is stopping their owners from taking them out for exercise.
Leading pet behaviourists say the number of depressed and unsettled dogs they have seen in recent months is unprecedented
…
And they suggested that the spate of wet winters could be at the root of the problem, as owners cut down on the daily walks that are crucial to keeping dogs’ spirits up.
“I’ve been working with dogs for more than 20 years and I can’t remember a time when they’ve been this bored. I tend to see boredom in bursts but I’m seeing it chronically this winter,” said Carolyn Menteith, a dog behaviourist who was named Britain’s Instructor of the Year in 2015.
“They are just really, really, bored. People are quite happy to get their dogs out in frosty, hard weather but not when it’s muddy and horrible.”
“But we have over 200 breeds of dog in this country and an awful lot of them – especially family dogs like Labradors, retrievers and spaniels – were bred to do a job. So they are hardwired to work and need a lot of exercise.”
The lack of physical exercise – and mental stimulation that comes with it – is having noticeable consequences on the nation’s nine million dogs, she added.
Even the IPCC doesn’t think climate change has any verifiable connection to extreme weather.
This winter, at least the early part of the winter was unusually wet – but lots of rain and mud is something you just get used to, or should get used to, if you live in Britain; particularly if you are a pet owner.
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The only time our dog is depressed is when we go out to dinner. We recover quickly when we bring home goodies.
TW, remarkable. Our dog behaves similarly! Except we need bring home no goodies other than ourselves.
And here I thought I could get a grant to study why people with more birthdays live longer.
That dog won’t hunt.
Now now, don’t bark at him. 🙂
Pet Behaviorist? A possible future career path for sacked Australian climate scientists?
Nail polish consultant
When I was quite young my brother, who was 11 years older, had a cap badge I coveted. I tried all sorts of trades and offers of chores to acquire that badge.
However it was not until I was also 11 years older did I fully appreciated a badge that declared ‘Happiness is a Warm Pussy’ – courtesy, of course, the Cats Protection League, god bless them!
A survey of dogs has found that 97% think global warming is real.
But then they didn’t even know that there was such a thing a GHGs or that the Earth was a sphere or what that big bright thing in the sky was. They did, however, understand what “rabbit” meant.
My dog is a border collie who has not noticed any global warming in his lifetime but he has noticed I say those darn scamming climate scientists every now and again. This is a signal to go find a ball.
I’ve long suspected that I was a dog.
Funny
Let your wife accidently lock you in the garage all day on one of those hot global weirding days with no food or water, or beer or TV. When she comes open and finally opens the door if you curse in her general direction you are not a dog, however, if you wag your behind and lick her feet, you just may be.
Nothing wrong with my friends poodle cross. He’s a nutter! Friendly, always welcoming when I get home. And then for no apparent reason goes mental and runs about the garden growling, dodging his chocolate coloured doggie nuggets, or tries to catch the birds that land on the garden.
So, how’s Kenji doing? 🙂
For those who don’t know, by the way, Kenji is Anthony’s dog, and is a member in good standing of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
As a paid-up member of the UCS, Kenji ought to be especially sensitive to AGW fallout.
I have been talking to my dog about this and she doesnt agree, she is happier at the moment then she has ever been all of her life. And she is waiting for temperatures to rise since it makes alot more things possible for her.
The post topic is perfect for another of Stephan Lewandowski’s centrally important studies of global warming rejectionism.
Here’s a possible title for his next paper: The Role of Doggyist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Canine Lethargy as a Response to Conspiracist Seepage.
My Catahoula is in fine fettle and we walk daily. I find that dogs tends to reflect their
owner’s moods. Sounds like confirmation bias to me.
“The lack of physical exercise – and mental stimulation that comes with it – is having noticeable consequences on the nation’s nine million dogs, she added.”
I wonder how long it took her to interview all nine million dogs.
I think she took a random sampling of 8,897,663 of the dogs, or at least that was what the grant was written for, Tom.
Maybe she didn’t have to interview all nine million dogs….maybe she just talked to the chick who talks to horses and the horses talked to the dogs?
I think they called it the Barking Chain on 101 Dalmatians…or something like that….
Perhaps the one dog used in the study was named Yamal.
If she cut it in half and counted it’s rings….I hope they shoot her!
Aphan.
With thanks.
Clarence The Clocker… The Horse Told Me Song.
‘Oh, the Owner told Clarence the Clocker
The Clocker told jockey McGee
The jockey, of course, passed it on to the horse
And the horse told me.’
Mr Watts. When I come here I, and all WUWT readers expect, like the university students today, ‘A Safe Space’ and when you allow rampant, life disabling and distressing Mister Ed Denial then our Safe Spaces cease to exist.
We are delicate petals.
Sing Along With Me. You know you wanna.
‘A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.’
Sometimes I get the slight notion that you WUWT people do not always take Climate Science seriously. I just cannot work out why!
We don’t have to take it seriously until climate scientists do!
There once was a stallion from Blaire
Who pranced about lighter than air,
Till one day old Dale
Done lift up his tail,
And shouted “This horse is a mare!”
..Thankfully, all this stupidity will end when ANY Conservative is elected to the White House ! This is the most important election in 200 years !
Marcus I adore you, but I fear you underestimate the power/number of the idiots. 🙂
Sounds like absolute proof of the global warming paws
Good one!
Oh the pain 🙂
That’s a real howler!
I joked some years ago when Ace Ventura, pet dectective came out. I told my wife, watch, this will be come a new industry. Well!… specialists in bipolar dogs is even worse. Were it true that dogs were down in the dumps because of fewer walks, I would first suspect that a total bolix-up of the world economy by the trillions disposed of on a non problem and the taxes and fuel costs hikes to their masters. Probably the expensive animal food sales have been declining and the poor pooches have to rely on table scraps again and these are of a lower quality.
I can’t help but think this is a pitch for her services. I recall a famous psychological experiment set up to have a cheery person coming into work and being asked, “how are you feeling?” with a suitable concerned look. They changed the person greeting every day for three or four days with variants of the question. He wound up taking several days off. So tell your client when he comes in with his dog to see the vet, that his dog looks depressed, yeah that’ll do it.
Cats next? What about rabbits, gerbils and hamsters? Budgies? I knew someone that mice and rats as pets, them too? What about fish?
A good dog’s job is to take it’s master for a walk. Refusal of master to allow this causes doggie depression.
Oh, darn! I hate inappropriate apostrophes.
A good dog’s job is to take its master for a walk.
You do realize you’re talking to yourself, right ?
I hate it when I do that 🙂
“I hate it when I do that”
You must not be as old as I am.
Yes, this is the worst in recorded history, or 20 years, whichever comes first.
Yes, this is the worst in recorded history, or 20 years, whichever comes first.
For me, the unprecedented thing here is the talking horse.
Jo Nova
You done ??
You’ve obviously never met Mr. Ed.
I’m not sure it’s all that unprecedented…after all…congress is full of talking arses….
I’ve been riding horses for the better part of 15 years, and one of the rules emphasized to me by my various coaches is to never ascribe human attributes to a horse. This is known as anthropomorphizing, and you will always end up making excuses. Horses (and dogs) are not 4-legged people.
So now they’re Crying Canine!
““They are just really, really, bored. People are quite happy to get their dogs out in frosty, hard weather but not when it’s muddy and horrible.””
So they used to get no exercise in spring and fall, correct? Now it is only wet and soggy in winter. For shame.
It is strange to hear that for the first time Ye Olde England is foggy, muddy and damp. Curse you, global warming! England used to be sunny, dry and warm all year. Nothing’s the same as it used to be…sniff!
Too funny. It’s one reason I exported myself to New Zealand and then Australia. The bugs and spiders really give me the sheets.
Yeah, I don’t like spiders and snakes either:
Cry HAVOC set loose the hounds of WAR!
Can’t. They’re too depressed for battle these days.
“Global Warming is Causing Dogs to Become Depressed” Not any more. The Paris Climate Agreement has ended all forms of climate change for now and for all time. It is a done deal. That means no more global warming, ever.