Going Home: Mollie

Yay! It's Feline Friday again! 

Time for some entertaining cat stories. And do you know why it's Feline Friday? It's because on Friday we present all the new cats that we've rescued this week to the public. In the honor of those cats who start out on the search towards new homes, we spend the day here with tales of cats. 

Cats such as Mollie, who, just a while back had their own Feline Friday debute, and then managed to find themselves a new family. Now, she returns to the limelight to show you just how much of a difference it makes for a cat to find a loving home.

Sometimes you get those stories where the words really say it all. Sure, it's always nice to be able to look at cat pictures, but Mollie's adopter's words paint a picture all on their own. Let's take a look: 

"Mollie has moved herself in pretty handily. She and I get along famously. I wake up to find her perched on the corner of my bed, she comes and mews in my face when she sees I am awake. She is affectionate but independent. After I've been away during the day, she is very vocal and attaches herself to my ankle for a bit.

I've come to learn the differences between her 'feed me' mews and her 'scratch my ears' meows. We're still trying to figure out what food she likes best -- wet is definitely winning (woe is me for buying a huge bag of dry). She eats fancy feast most voraciously, but (this might be misplaced concern) I feel there is healthier food for her out there. Will probably be a bit before we find the right one.

She occasionally hits the nip, wherein she turns on to a bit of a spaz; but she only does so occasionally.

I had intended for her to be an indoor cat, due to her age. However, she has tried to get outside one out twice when I've opened the door, and given how healthy she is, I might get her a collar and access to outside -- but that'll be at least a month or more away, need to solidify here as 'home' first.

She's tough to get a picture of, as she is very active, but I'll try.

So far there have been no bumps, adopting her has been one of the better decisions of my life. She is a smart old bird."

Isn't it heartwarming? The story of an adult cat seamlessly fitting into a new family is always a lovely thing, as is learning of adopters who really want to do right by their animal and are willing to adjust their ideas to benefit their feline friends. 

Michael, thank you so much for being Mollie's new family. We hope your bond will continue to grow and deepen! In the mean time, we love your story, and we're so happy you've really found a new friend in her. 

As I said earlier, today is the day you can find the newly rescued cats on our website. Take a look and see if there isn't one that can steal your heart!

Going Home: Bud

Happy Woof Wednesday, everyone! 

Today we have a lovely brief story from our Facebook page for you. It involves the very smoochable pooch Bud and his new family. Read below to see what they have to say. 

At the very bottom of this post you'll also find some important information about our adoption hours. Please read if you plan to come visit us anytime soon!

Look at that face!

"Thank you for saving our beloved Bud Bud three years ago. Due to the efforts of your organization, Bud found his forever family and is a happy, healthy, and well-loved dog. There's still time to donate before the end of the year to the Berkeley Humane Society!" 


It's not often that a call for people to donate money to us comes from our adopters, but we appreciate it all the same! We're likely  ot nearly as appreciative as Bud, though, because he gets a loving new family out of the deal, and there are few things that can make any pet happier. 

Did you hear that our adoption hours are changing, by the way? Per March 1st, we will only be open for adoptions from Friday through Sunday from 11 -5. We still want to see you to meet nww friends, though!

Going Home : Dahlia

Happy Feline Friday, everyone! 

Are you ready for another Going Home story? We sure are. 

Especially when it concerns a cat as gorgeous and sweet as Dahlia. Just this week we received a note from her adopters, which, of course made us supremely happy, read along and you can be happy with us (and with her adopters, of course)!

"A gigantic hug and a purr to the amazingly good folks at Berkeley Humane.  You made my Valentine's Day super happy by introducing my husband and me to Dahlia. She is a lovebug and settling in nicely."

Aaaaaahhhh, now that's what we like to hear. And look at the sweet portrait they managed to catch of her. It shows her off in all the regality a cat with the name of Dahlia deserves. She's a classy kitty, for sure. Thank you for adopting her, Karen.  We hope you and your husband and Dahlia will continue to get along. 

Speaking of cool pictures - did you hear that we picked the winners for the #LookingFurLove action? You can see who won on our Facebook page.

If you did not enter your adoption story, but still want a furry love story, come to our adoption hours to see if we have the friend for you. Cats can be visited from Friday to Sunday from 11-5. Dogs keep open house from Wednesday though Sunday, from 11-5. 

Going Home: Joey

Happy Woof Wednesday, friends! 

Valentine’s Day has just passed—and we're happy to report that Joey (formerly Theo) has spent it celebrating the great love he recently found in his life. He and his new family are truly smitten with each other, and Joey’s not afraid to show it with loads of puppy kisses. Here’s what his family had to say:

“Last week we adopted Theo, now called Joey, and he is such a joy! He is house trained, likes our cat, is so loving and snuggly, and came to us knowing lots of tricks. Thank you for bringing this pup into our lives!”

Affectionate, cat-loving, and has a repertoire of tricks? It’s clear why Joey is so irresistible and warms the heart of his new family! Many thanks to them for adopting this sweet guy and sharing an update.

Are you looking for some canine love? Here at Berkeley Humane, we are always happy to play matchmaker for your family. For more information, check out our website or visit us during our dog adoption hours (Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.).

Going Home: Velma

And here's another Feline Friday! On the day before Valentine's Day we've decided to share a post with you about a little wallflower of a kitty who is really coming into herself now that she has a home to call her own. 

When people come to the adoption center, they are often drawn towards the most social cats. Cats that don't do as well in loud spaces with many strangers can sometimes get overlooked. Too bad, of course, because sometimes the cats with the dainty personalities are the biggest love bugs once they get to know you. 

Velma says "Hiiii!"

The story of Velma is an excellent example, as we can see by what her adopter has to say in her first e-mail:

"Velma is doing great! Lots of hiding, but she is coming out slowly... Super friendly (eyes are relaxed) and she is snugly when I can get her in my lap. I'll try to send photos soon.  I have a few on my phone, but need to download to computer to email. 
Thanks so much for all your help!!"

And then she did the best thing: she sent us another email and included some photo's:

"Here a few pics of her getting comfortable in my son's bedroom.  She's really a sweet cat...:-)"

It's a cat's world, according to Velma

 Now isn't this a great story? We sure loved to hear it! It's quite common for animals to need some time to adjust after they have been adopted. Life as a shelter pet is simply different from being a family pet, and it can take even the most gregarious and outgoing critters a while to get their bearings again. 

If you've adopted an animals from us and you have questions about their adjustment, you can always call the behavior hotline. There, we have experienced dog and cat behavioralists who are ready to help you with tips and tricks to get you and your furry friend on their very best behavior. 

A comfortable bed for a comfortable cat!

Last but not least: Have you heard of the #LookingFurLove campaing? Post your adoption story on our Facebook page before Valentine's Day, and you can win a photoshoot with your pet! We look forward to reading all your stories of love! With a bit of luck, your happy tale will also feature on this blog. Wouldn't that be fun?

Going Home: Matilda

Happy Woof Wednesday, everyone! We are happy to report that Matilda, an adorable little pup, has found a loving family (and the fashionable rug to snuggle in). 

Her adopter, Connie Parsons, recently shared the cutest picture of this little princess on our Facebook page.

“Thank you for Matilda! She is so sweet, we love her so much!!”

A big thanks to Connie for the happy message and the pic! It sounds like Matilda has found a perfect new home, and we’re excited to hear her new family loves her so much.

Valentine’s Day is almost here. Open your heart to the wonderful animals at Berkeley Humane, who desperately need a wonderful home to call their own. You can check out our newest arrivals on our website, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please come visit us if you’d like to meet them in person. Adoption hours are 11am-5pm on Wednesday through Sunday for dogs and 11am-5pm on Friday through Sunday for cats.

If you have already adopted an animal from us, we would love to hear how it is settling in! Write us via Facebook or email, or drop by if you are in the neighborhood. 

How do dogs and people respond to a crying baby?

Guest post by: Min Hooi Yong, PhD

“Does your dog know when you are sad?” Puzzling question, perhaps? 

We get a range of answers from dog owners, from the confident “Yes!” to “Maaaaybe?”, and the hopeful “I like to think so...”. Many dogs are considered to be part of the family, and we expect our family members to empathize with us when we are sad.

A recent study found that dogs showed submissive behavior (licking and nuzzling) when an adult person pretended to cry but not when she is humming¹. Does the licking and nuzzling behavior mean that the dog understand that we are feeling sad? (I hear YES-es). Or can it be that because we are crying, we ignore everyone including our dog, and so, our dog will nuzzle us seeking attention and/or comfort?

(source)

There have been many studies showing that animals (e.g. rodents, birds, chimps) experience distress or concern (empathic response) when observing either kin or non-kin in distress. For example, giving electric shocks to rats and pigeons. The observer experienced a change both behaviourally and physiologically, and these responses are often considered as an experience of emotional contagion, an elementary form of empathy. Emotional contagion is essentially the spreading of all forms of emotion from one person (or animal) to another (like the spreading of joy or distress through a crowd - think of a flash mob dance effect filtering through a crowd)².

Hearing a baby cry can be quite distressing. What happens to us when we, the observers, hear the cry? We respond by getting up and checking on the crying baby, “increased attention”. Our body also releases the stress hormone cortisol when we hear the cry, regardless of age or parenting experience^3,4. Also, we can tell if the crying is urgent or not. We do, sometimes find crying aversive (imagine a baby crying non-stop throughout your long-distance flight).

Flickr/thedalogs

In our study, we wanted to know if dogs and humans show a similar physiological response to a baby crying. We had three questions: 

1. We know that dogs are attached to humans, so would dogs show increased attention to a baby crying and babbling? 
2. Exposure to uncontrollable white noise is considered aversive and elicits submissive behavior. If dogs find crying aversive, would dogs show submissive behavior towards crying as well as white noise? 
3. Do dogs show an increased stress response (measured in their salivary cortisol levels) to a baby crying compared to white noise and a baby babbling, similar to humans?

We had 75 dogs and 74 humans listen to one of three sounds. A human baby crying:

A human baby babbling: 

Or white noise:

Each sound was played at an average volume of 82 decibels – similar to chamber music in a small auditorium (not loud enough to cause hearing damage, but it is loud). We collected saliva before and after listening to one sound from both dogs and humans for their cortisol levels. We also analyzed dogs’ behavior while the sound was played, and collected sound ratings about how aversive people found the sounds.

What did our three questions reveal? First, we found that both dogs and humans showed an increase in cortisol levels only after listening to crying, but no changes to baby babbling and white noise. Second, dogs showed increased attention to both the crying and babbling sounds, but not to white noise. Third, dogs displayed increased submissive behavior (e.g. the dog’s body and head were lowered, the ears were held flat and back, the tail was lowered and sometimes slightly between their legs or wagging rapidly side-to-side, the tongue pro-truded slightly, or the dog raised one leg in a hesitant or placating manner) to the crying and white noise, but not to babbling. Additionally, human participants rated the white noise as more aversive than crying (see table below for a summary). We also analyzed other possible aspects that might have influenced the dogs’ responses such as time of testing, demographic data e.g. neutered status and sex, acoustic features in the sounds (pitch and melody), and even dog owners’ unintentional cuing. We found that the responses shown were a result of distress, evident from crying.

You might ask why submissive behavior was shown during crying and white noise. Let’s start with white noise. Our human participants perceived white noise as more unpleasant compared to crying. Humans tend to cover their ears and animals also show similar avoidance, and what better way than to lower your head? On the other hand, with crying sounds, one is generally more subdued (sympathetic concern) especially when you can hear the distress meaning in the sound. The combined behavioral indicators during these sounds (e.g. lowered posture, shaking, stimulus avoidance) points toward submissive behavior.

In humans, an increase in cortisol and attention is interpreted as a demonstration of
emotional contagion^3,4. This unique pattern of physiological and behavioral responding to crying in our study is most consistent with (a) emotional contagion in dogs, providing first evidence that dogs, like humans, experience a physiological response to human infant crying, and (b) suggests the first clear evidence of cross-species empathy (i.e. canine emotional contagion to human distress). 

Author

Min Hooi Yong has recently completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Ted Ruffman in the Department of Psychology, University of Otago, New Zealand. You can follow her research, or Prof Ted Ruffman. This study has been published in the journal “Behavioural Processes”:

Yong, M. H., & Ruffman, T. (2014). Emotional contagion: Dogs and humans show a similarphysiological response to human infant crying. Behavioural Processes, 108, 155–165.

Min Hooi Yong

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the dog owners and their dogs who participated in our study, and to Stephanie McConnon, Mary Saxton, and Barbara Lowen for allowing us to use their dog videos. Mia is a female English Setter aged 3, Annie is a female Border Collie aged 9, and Flack is a male mixed breed (Collie/Husky/Heading) aged 4.

References

1. Custance, D. & Mayer, J. Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: An exploratory study. Anim. Cogn. 15, 851–859 (2012).
2. De Waal, F. B. M. Putting the altruism back into altruism: The evolution of empathy. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 59, 279–300 (2008).
3. Fleming, A. S., Corter, C., Stallings, J. & Steiner, M. Testosterone and prolactin are associated with emotional responses to infant cries in new fathers. Horm. Behav. 42, 399–413 (2002).
4. Giardino, J., Gonzalez, A., Steiner, M. & Fleming, A. S. Effects of motherhood on physiological and subjective responses to infant cries in teenage mothers: A comparison with non-mothers and adult mothers. Horm. Behav. 53, 149–158 (2008).

Thank you, Min, for discussing your research on Do You Believe in Dog? View other guest contributors here ~ Julie & Mia 

©  Do You Believe in Dog? 2015 

Feline Friday: Looking Fur Love

Happy Feline Friday everyone!

We always tell you how much we love hearing from our adopters, right? And we're always going on about how much getting an update and a photo of our adopted animals make our day, right? 

This Valentine's Day we are giving you, our adopters, even more reason to share your fuzzy love story with us. 

Here is the official announcement: 

Clover is waiting for someone who needs a little good luck.

"It's February and love is in the air! Are you a Berkeley Humane adopter with a love story to tell? Share your adoption story with us (photos encouraged) before Valentine's Day here on social media using hashtag ‪#‎LookingFurLove‬ and inspire others to adopt. 6 lucky winners get an ultra-swanky photoshoot with the furry loves in their lives!

Winners will be announced 2/14. Photoshoot will take place on 2/28. Pets must have proof of vaccination. Photoshoot courtesy of Lola Creative Agency and Ellevor. ‪#‎shotatLOLA‬ ‪#‎lisavortman‬"

Etta wants to love on you furever!

Submit your story before Valentines Day. We can't wait to hear from you! 

Are you still looking for love? It's not too late to both find yourself an amazing new furry friend and participate in our campaign. First things first though: find a new pal by visiting our adoption center. 

Clover and her cat companions are all set up for a date with loving people from Friday to Sunday from 11 to 5. 

Etta and her puppy pals are waiting for the right person to take long walks with from Wednesday to Sunday, from 11 to 5. 

Going Home: Stella

Happy Woof Wednesday, Berkeley Humane supporters! Today we have a great update on Stella, formerly Shayne, whose owner sent us, not one, but TWO updates to show how the little girl is doing. It looks like Stella is growing up into a gorgeous young dog, and that her new family is justifiably smitten. Here is what Stella's mom had to say about Stella when Stella was still a little pup:

"Stella (AKA: Shayne) has been a wonderful addition to our family. She has only been with us five days, but fits in like she was meant for us."

And then just last month, Stella's mom sent us this note:

"Just wanted to send an update and appreciation for all that your organization does. Miss Stella (previously Shayne) is now 4 months and is a great addition to our family. To anyone considering adoption, Berkeley Humane is a great group of folks that truly care about animals and humans in their community."

Thank you SO much for the note of appreciation, Kristen! And also for the great photos and updates on Stella! These types of success stories make the work of Berkeley Humane all worth it. If you have an animal you recently adopted from Berkeley Humane, or if even you adopted him or her awhile ago, we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at sliu@berkeleyhumane.org.