8 minute read
Pets Corner
from SE21 February 2022
by SE Magazines
Does Your Pet Love You?
Pets Corner with Leonie St Clair | www.londondogstraining.co.uk
One interesting side effect of the COVID 19 pandemic has been the opportunity to take a closer look at the human animal bond. As the recent explosion in dog and cat ownership has shown, humans draw heavily on their pets for emotional and physical support. Many humans express love and devotion for their pets. However, what about the animals? Do they feel the same about us? In general the science advises that to conflate feelings and emotions is unwise. There are animal behaviours that connote emotions, but we cannot infer we therefore know what animals feel. All that said and setting to one side complex scientific and philosophical questions about the meaning and nature of love, there are indicators that dogs and even cats may feel something akin to affection for their humans. Here is a quick guide to some of the evidence: In 2014 a small study showed that during MRI scans the reward centres of the dog brain light up when they detect their owner’s scent. It seems the owner’s unique smell may be the canine equivalent of a loved one’s face or voice. Next time your pup steals a shoe or inhales deeply into your crotch they are not necessarily being naughty, they just love you and your smell! In 2015 a Japanese study found that when you and your dog gaze into each other’s eyes you may both experience a spike in oxytocin- the ‘love hormone’. It’s strong stuff and what mothers feel for their new-borns, and newly enamoured couples for each other. A 2016 study suggests dogs are uniquely attuned to human facial expressions and vocal tones and may ‘recognise’ human emotions. In tests dogs were able to match facial expressions to the appropriate tone of voice. This ability partly explains why some owners feel their dogs are empathetic. More recently, ethologist Clive Wynne, an arch critic of anthropomorphism, now says dogs may indeed feel something akin to love. In his Book ‘Dog is Love: Why and How your Dog Loves You’ he refers to research where dogs will often choose the presence of their human over food. Wynne also discusses recent research that may explain much more about how dogs evolved and became domesticated. Humans with the rare genetic condition, Williams-Beuren syndrome, share a number of physical and mental characteristics, including unusually high extraversion and sociability scores. Research on the canine genome has revealed that dogs share similar gene variants, partly explaining why most dogs are so dependent on human contact and affection. Unsurprisingly, it has proven much more difficult to get pet cats into scanners or laboratory test scenarios, so the evidence here is thinner. Also, Felines are not so well domesticated that they depend on us utterly. But can cats love us or only what we can do for them? The jury is out, but it is thought that some cats are more social than others and many show signs of something akin to affection. A cat that flags his tail and moves brightly towards you is probably pleased to see you. If he rubs around you and butts you with his head, he is scenting you, making you smell familiar- the more you smell like him the stronger the bond. Slow eye closing is usually a sign of trust, if not more. Try it out and see if your cat responds. Cats also show trust and affiliation, if not affection, by leaning against you, grooming you with their tongue, even offering their tummy for a rub. Purring, once viewed as a signal of feline pleasure, is now thought to be more about communicating a desire for something or to prolong an event. Paradoxically, cats also purr when they are in pain.
CwS | Smart Business Networking
meets on the last Wednesday of every month.
Now back in person at The Lordship Pub, 211 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich SE22 8HA Find out how to register for FREE at: www.cookingwithscissors.com | e-mail: sbn@ cookingwithscissors.com Next Meeting: Wednesday 23 February 2022 - 6.45pm
Take a look at our new website which covers the areas in and around Dulwich including Forest Hill and Honor Oak Park. Up to date events, more stories and news.
www.arounddulwich.com | twitter.com/AroundDulwich
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The Dovetail Joint
Bespoke Kitchens & Furniture since 1990
Sunday 13 February: A Fresh Take on Shostakovich: LMP with Sheku Kanneh-Mason
7:30pm - 9pm. The London Mozart Players return to Fairfield Halls in February 2022 with star soloist Sheku Kanneh–Mason presenting a ‘Fresh Take’ on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2.
LMP’s ‘Fresh Takes’ is a brand–new concert series which includes an engaging introduction by the performers at the start of the concert. The composer’s influences will be revealed, musical excerpts will be performed by the orchestra, while manuscripts, portraits and more will be projected on an overhead screen in a unique presentation which will enhance the appreciation and emotional impact of the work’s performance. In the first concert, superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh–Mason performs Shostakovich’s second cello concerto. Interweaving brooding melodies with animated themes, and featuring a virtuosic cadenza, it’s a dramatic work that makes demands on soloist, conductor and orchestra. Sheku will share his own insights into the challenges of this work on stage with conductor Jonathan Bloxham ahead of a full performance. Don’t miss this opportunity to find out more about, and then hear, a rarely performed work, played by one of the UK’s finest musicians. Mussorgsky’s iconic suite of ten short movements Pictures at an Exhibition is an evergreen favourite. Acclaimed artist James Mayhew will be on hand to paint along to the music, with his artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s dramatic melodies projected on the overhead screens in Fairfield’s iconic concert hall. This all–Russian programme will open with Glinka’s exuberant overture to his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1DG.
https://www.londonmozartplayers.com/
Monday 14 February: Dulwich WI Monthly Meeting
7.30pm-9.30pm. We meet on the second Monday of each month at Fifty Seven, 57 North Cross Road, East Dulwich, SE22. https://dulwichwi.com
Monday 21 February: Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting: Dulwich
6pm-8pm (registration from 5.30pm). The Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting is a new type of Business Growth Meeting (with some networking) that’s guaranteed to help your business grow... ...because as well as good old networking, our meetings always have a featured content session where we share a practical marketing tactic or strategy that you can use in your business to get more customers and make more sales!
It’s a DOUBLE WHAMMY!
You’ll get more customers IN the meetings through networking and referrals PLUS you’ll also leave with actionable ideas to market your business once you get home too. Whether you’re an existing EC member or this is your very first meeting, if you’re a business owner from the Dulwich area, we’d love to have you join us at our September Meeting. Whilst this event is exclusively for Members of Entrepreneurs Circle you can join for free via this link https://eclocal.co.uk/Dulwich/join/ or come along as a guest. Join your fellow Dulwich business owners for our Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting at:
The Clock House (Upstairs) 198a Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, SE22 9QA.
Wednesday 23 February: Cooking with Scissors – Smart Business Networking
6.45pm-8pm. An opportunity for local business professionals to meet, make new contacts and gain new business. The last Wednesday of every month. Free Admission. To find out more or register please go to our website
https://cookingwithscissors.co.uk/
The Lordship Pub, 211 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, SE22 8HA
7:30pm - 8:30pm. Join Village Books and Alleyn’s School Enterprises for an evening with Radio 4’s Justin Webb where he will be discussing his memoir The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and Other Train Wrecks. Justin’s childhood was far from ordinary: Between his mother’s undiagnosed psychological problems, and his stepfather’s untreated ones, his life at home was dysfunctional. Life at a Quaker boarding school wasn’t much better with gunwielding school masters and sub-standard living conditions. And the backdrop to this comingof-age story? Britain in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Free. Strikes, inflation and IRA bombings. A time in which attitudes towards mental illness, parenting and masculinity were worlds apart from the attitudes we have today. Candid, unsparing and darkly funny, Justin's memoir is a portrait of personal and national dysfunction. Was it the brutal experiences of his upbringing, or an innate ambition and drive that shaped the urbane and successful radio presenter we know and love now? ‘Justin is a great broadcaster because he sounds like a real human being. This hugely entertaining book helps explain why’. John Humphrys Justin Webb is the longest serving presenter of BBC Radio 4 Today programme. For almost 40 years he has been a voice on the airwaves or a presence on our TV screens. He has reported from around the world and has won several awards including Political Journalist of the Year for his coverage of the Obama presidential campaign.
https://www.village-books.co.uk.
The MCT at Alleyn’s, Alleyn’s School, Townley Road, East Dulwich SE22 8SU
Friday 25 February: Fay Hield, Laura Victoria, Jacken Elswyth 7pm-11pm
Fay Hield first appeared on the Folk scene twenty years ago in The Witches of Elswick. She is a singer who seems to have been born knowing how to carry a tune, but with the rarer gift of knowing how to go straight to the heart of a song. She combines vision, inspiration and outstanding musicianship into a fresh and original exploration of how we use songs, stories and music to understand what it means to be human. Fay breathes new life into timeless stories. Laura Victoria sings songs of love affairs, shipwrecks, imaginary worlds and cups of tea, accompanied by cello playing that veers between moving melancholy airs, punchy rock riffing and slap bass. Jacken Elswyth is a London-based banjo player. She draws on old-time Appalachian playing alongside American Primitive guitarists and English folk revivalists, adding drone accompaniments, extended playing techniques and elements of free playing to push at the edges of these styles and traditions.
Tickets are £14 advance, £16 on the door (cash only please). Advance tickets from: www.wegottickets.com/thegooseisout.
Please see our website for up-to-date information on the Covid precautions we will be taking at this concert.
