I thought I would start off my introductory blog post by first introducing my animals. There’s a sign in my house that reads: “We got rid of the kids, the dog was allergic”, so naturally, I know that I’m a little less important! My family is incredibly dog friendly – we currently have 3 Spinoni; Gioia, Piccola, and Trevi. Spinoni (or Spinone Italiano) are Italian bird dogs, similar to a wire haired griffon. Both of my parents professionally handle, breed, and occasionally hunt. The dog-craziness that absorbs my household was even the topic of my college application essay.
I’m from New Hampshire but have primarily lived in upstate New York my whole life. I’ve also moved high schools 3 separate times. I’m an avid Red Sox/Patriots/Bruins fan and have a sushi and seafood obsession that has only skyrocketed out of control since moving to New England.
In my spare time, I photograph and occasionally paint. For the past three summers, I’ve worked as an assistant photographer for Nadra Photography – an established Maine wedding photographer. I also love to cook.
That’s a wonderful photo of your dogs, Abby.
Looking forward to working with you this semester.
Hey Abby!
I don’t actually have a dog but I always wondered if dogs treat you differently when you come back from school or a long vacation. Behavioral changes in animals can often be looked at as a parallel to children, they are mad at you for the first three hours, but then then come right back like clockwork.
You often hear that dogs are “mad at us” or “guilty” when they’ve done something wrong. But how is it that we know these things?
There have been a couple of recent studies, for example on “the guilty look” in dogs, that show the “look” is a response to their owners’ tone of voice. Here’s a summary of those studies for anyone who’s interested.