Tails from the trail and tips on training your human

Dog are Unsung Heroes: Loyal, compassionate, dutiful, and protective, dogs are truly man’s best friends. All these adjectives define what our beloved pets mean to us. Dogs have been by our side for millenniums, from aiding hunter-gatherers to being household pets. They have provided us with comfort, protection, and companionship.

The term “man’s best friends” was first coined by Frederick the Great in eighteenth-century Persia. Dogs are indeed unsung heroes and don’t get enough appreciation and recognition, especially for people with disabilities. The stories that we hear on the news regarding dogs and their noble acts merely scratch the surface of what happens across the world.

Empathy in Dogs

A study by Ramiro Joly-Mascheroni, Atsushi Senju, and Alex J Shepherd stated that dogs catch human yawns and that this “may indicate that dogs possess the capacity for a rudimentary form of empathy.” Annika Huber studies dog behavior at Switzerland’s University of Bern Veterinary Public Health Institute. She believes that dogs may experience human-like emotions and feelings that result in empathy.

Countless stories narrate how dogs saved their owners’ lives by risking their own. CNN Health has tried to explore this wonderful phenomenon and tried to explain the science behind lifesaving dogs. Dogs have also saved the lives of strangers they have never encountered or share a bond with.

Dogs also provide various services to people, which range from helping people with disabilities to sniffing out drugs and serving alongside soldiers at the front line. Humans have trained dogs to make use of their heightened senses in performing various tasks.

To appreciate these unsung heroes, let’s take a look at some ways in which dogs help people:

Dogs of Warfare

Military dogs are trained to help soldiers survive in battle. Soldiers gain an advantage over their opponents when they have a trained canine by their side. In both major world wars, dogs have been used to spot wounded soldiers, identify enemies, deliver messages, soothing anxious soldiers, etc.

Sergeant Stubby was one such dog that served in the Yankee Division of the 102^nd Infantry of World War 1. He was recognized as a hero after fighting and saving his comrades from being harmed by gas. He would bark out warnings when enemies were near, which saved the lives of tens and hundreds of soldiers who managed to stay clear of the line of fire.

The military later recognized Sergeant Stubby’s heroic efforts, which paved the way for other military dogs who served in World War 2. A formal training center was created for dogs, called the Department of Defense Military Working Dogs Training School (DoD MWD) at Lackland. Labradors and German Shepherds trained in these institutes can track drugs, weapons, gases, bombs, etc., more accurately than other invented by the military.

Service Dogs for People with Disabilities

Service dogs help people with disabilities become independent by not having to rely on other people. They are trained to perform various tasks according to aid people with different disabilities. A disability is a mental or physical impairment that limits the functionality of people. Dogs help increase functionality by assisting people perform daily activities.

For example, they guide visually impaired people move around safely without getting hurt. They alert deaf and hard-of-hearing people to sounds such as the honking of an oncoming vehicle. Medical alert dogs can realize when people are suffering from episodes of heart attacks, seizures, low blood sugar, etc.

Psychiatric service dogs help people who suffer from mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety in managing symptoms. They calm down people and help ground them by providing comfort and company. They may even perform tasks such as turning on the light to reduce stress when people have a mental breakdown. They also alert others when their owners need attention or assistance.

It is not just specially trained dogs who help people. Our beloved pets with no formal training also save us in many ways on many occasions. Here are some famous stories about how dogs saved their owners’ lives:

Shelter Dog Saves Baby Girl

A Doberman Pinscher saved his owner’s life just a few days after being rescued from a shelter. Her newly adopted dog saved a baby girl of two years of age from being bitten by a King Brown snake. King Browns are extremely venomous. The dog saw this snake slithering towards the baby and immediately stepped up to push the snake away, getting bit itself instead. It took the dog a few weeks to recover from the bite after receiving anti-venom.

Blind Dog Saves Drowning Girl

Enjoying a swim in the sea, a young girl became tired while swimming and started to drown. She screamed for help. Just at that moment, a blind dog was passing by at the beach with its owner. The dog was off the leash and immediately jumped into the swim and swam its way to the girl, pulling her to safety.

Blind Woman Saved from Being Hit by a Bus

A Seeing Eye dog saved a woman’s life when an approaching bus driver failed to see the woman walking on the sidewalk. The dog immediately stepped in front of the woman, barked to get the driver’s attention, and stopped the woman from moving forward. The Golden Retriever was hit by the speeding bus and was badly injured. He continued to serve the woman as her Seeing Eye while recovering from the impact.

Dog Identifies Suicide Bomber

At a wedding in Nigeria, a dog got nervous around a particular woman and decided to confront her. The woman accidentally set off the bomb that she was hiding in her vest prematurely. This dog saved hundreds of people that day and sacrificed its own life in the process.

Awards like the National Hero Dog do present some appreciation to these wonderful and brave animals, but dogs deserve so much more!

Dogs are our unsung heroes. They help and save their beloved humans on numerous occasions. The way they put themselves in danger just to protect humans shows how truly loyal these creatures are. In other words, dogs are truly a man’s best friends.

by Bobby J Davidson

We are in business to provide great products for the outdoorsy hikers, campers and their dogs; and to help clean our parks, rivers and oceans for a better planet earth for hikers and their dogs.

Parks Clean

Parks are high-traffic areas in most cities. This means that trash is bound to show up in and around your park and playground.

When discussing ways your family can help clean your local park, don’t overlook a literal cleanup! Picking up trash will make a huge difference in the appearance and vibe of your park. A clean area will encourage others to keep the park pristine. When picking up trash and debris, make sure to wear gloves to protect yourself, and put trash in appropriate receptacles or lawn bags. You can also contact your local trash company to schedule a pickup when you are finished.

Rivers Clean

The storm drain on your street collects the water from your roof, driveway, and sidewalk and funnels it directly in your local lake or river. Nutrients from grass and leaves, pet waste, and fertilizers “enrich” our lakes and streams — feeding algae blooms and harming fish. Chemicals from washing your car in the drive and household chemical spills add up, taking a nasty toll on our favorite swimming areas and fishing spots. Soil can also be picked up by runoff, reducing the clarity of water and hurting fish.

So as you prepare your lawn and garden, here are a few helpful tips to keep our lakes and rivers beautiful and safe for all of us.

Use mulch and vegetation to keep soil from washing away.
Sweep or rake grass and leaves away from street curbs.
Mulch and compost grass clippings and leaves.
Keep paved surfaces to a minimum.
Capture water runoff with a rain garden and rain barrels.
Wash your car on the grass, where the water will get filtered.
Keep chemicals away from storm drains.
Collect your pet’s waste.
Aim your rain-gutter downspouts onto grass.

Beaches Clean (do it for the ocean)

In 2007, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Clean Beaches Week Resolution to recognize the value of beaches to the American way of life and the important contributions of beaches to the economy, recreation, and natural environment of the United States.

Clean Beaches Week, celebrated annually July 1-7, offers the perfect opportunity to encourage stewardship and volunteerism along our coastlines. But where do you even begin? Follow these tips to get started.

Identify a clean-up site. Choose a place that needs some TLC, making sure that volunteers can safely access the site. Get permission, if needed, for your clean-up event, perhaps from the local parks agency.
Choose a site coordinator. (That might be you!) A beach clean-up takes a lot of work and needs an organized person to keep everything on track before, during, and after the event.
Visit the site in advance. The coordinator will need to know where to set up a volunteer check-in station, where to leave trash and recyclables, and what area(s) volunteers will clean.
Gather supplies. Depending on your location, you’ll need supplies such as trash bags, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, wipes, and large coolers of water. You should also provide (or ask volunteers to bring) items such as reusable work/garden gloves, reusable water bottles, sunscreen, and bug spray.
Plan how to handle the recyclables. Reach out to recyclers in your area (and perhaps your community’s solid waste departments) to make arrangements for accepting any glass, plastic, and aluminum that you collect.
Line up event partners. Contact local businesses for donations of drinks, food, and supplies. Ask a local solid waste hauler to donate their services for trash removal.
Plan for handling hazardous waste. Determine how you’ll dispose of any medical and sewage waste you might find. One solution: A wide-mouth container with a tight-fitting lid, such as an empty laundry detergent bottle. Clearly label that it contains hazardous waste.
Get volunteers to help. Recruit friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Create an event on Facebook and ask volunteers to sign up online. This will give you an idea of how many people to expect and will help communicate event details.
Stay safe. Be prepared for a variety of health emergencies, from minor cuts and scrapes to heat stroke.
Take photos! Post pics online to share the success of your event and recognize volunteers for their hard work.