4 Modern K9s Worth Knowing About

Moscow has had a stray dog problem for almost two centuries, but while plenty of other cities have similar problems, Moscow is the only one where some strays have taken to using the subway just like the rest of the city’s citizens. The 500 or so dogs that have moved into the subway system aren’t feral monsters either –indeed, they’re some of the most civilized homeless dogs in the world. In fact, the dogs have trained themselves to identify which residents will give them food and which they should avoid.

While the animals still live in packs, the leader of these groups isn’t the strongest one, but instead the smartest one. The packs aren’t territorial and often the leaders will interact with one another –something unheard of in both wolf packs and packs of feral dogs. The packs will often deploy their cutest, smallest members to beg for food from people while the stealthier dogs will often sneak up behind people carrying food and then bark, spooking the person to drop their snack. Because the dogs have an easy time getting food, it is rare to see malnourished animals and many will even be highly selective about what scraps they take. While these pups have learned to rely on people for food and many are even very social, none of them are prone to becoming attached to people or relying on one particular person.

Many members of the pack have learned to recognize which subway station they want to get out on and some have even learned to observe traffic lights. As for their bathroom issues, well they may not know how to use toilets (yet), but they still are careful to only defecate outside in less trafficked areas. All of these unique behaviorisms have made them quite popular amongst researchers who seek to understand how the dogs have adapted, how they understand the subway system and how they will continue to evolve.

Fascinating.

(OK, now I'm picturing Spock in a Russian subway.)

eta:

I've never heard of coywolves before:

If you couldn’t tell by the name, coywolves are a hybrid between wolves and coyotes. They generally have more coyote in them then wolf and, while their gene pool is in a constant state of change right now, many scientists believe they are an emerging species.

Kishōtenketsu contains four acts: introduction, development, twist and reconciliation. The basics of the story—characters, setting, etc.—are established in the first act and developed in the second. No major changes occur until the third act, in which a new, often surprising element is introduced. The third act is the core of the plot, and it may be thought of as a kind of structural non sequitur. The fourth act draws a conclusion from the contrast between the first two “straight” acts and the disconnected third, thereby reconciling them into a coherent whole.

The first thing I thought of was Doonesbury, which had a very influential four panel beat-structure. There was always a twist/joke/punchline/strangeness in the third panel, and the fourth panel was usually an after beat/ironic put-back kind of joke. When Bloom County got dinged for being a Doonesbury knockoff, mostly they were noting how it copied that particular comic rhythm.

All of these unique behaviorisms have made them quite popular amongst researchers who seek to understand how the dogs have adapted, how they understand the subway system and how they will continue to evolve.

I suspect the Chinese are way ahead of the researchers on this: [link]

[grump redacted about everything I predicted this morning]

It's a bit like a modified harold, if you kind of think three beats followed by group game. The first three beats of that description are how harold scenes should go, anyway.

Skipping oh-yeah-yet-again because, according to the Buffista Calendar, today is EpicTangent's birthday.

Also, since this grading is taking up even what little I may skip, and then shabbat soon will not let me be in front of a computer at all, I'll already post that tomorrow, the 22nd, will be Fred Pete & hubs' anniversary, and Saturday, the 23rd, will be Steph L's birthday.

Lots of wishes to all!

Saturday, the 23rd, will be Steph L's birthday.

What! She hasn't said anything about it! Where is the countdown??

My troupes didn't play Harold. I'm not familiar with the structure.

As predicted it is still my responsibility to get the information into the developer's brain. I'm not sure how I can work the system to get to be the one with no culpability.

Maybe if I weren't an older child...

Psych. Also, j/k.

Maybe if I weren't an idiot.

Jonathan Coulton has a fascinating (to me) discussion of intellectual property and the future of manufacturing here: [link]

I love that Nilly still keeps us on track with celebrations, even though she can't post at all!

Happy birthday, EpicTangent!

I think the person who wrote this document meant effectiveness. What he wrote was affectability.

OMG and LOL.

I just went to the presentation about our most recent employee survey and it was kind of fascinating, but maybe only because I find the COO weirdly compelling. He always seems so frank. But now I don't think I actually got anything from the presentation.