Pawgress Report

Pawgress Report April 2018

Secret Life Of Pets Review

This months

Spotlight Pet

Why Do We Love Our Pets So Much?

Finding your Freedom

4.Letter from the Editor 6. Why Do We Love Our Pets SO Much?

10. Secret Life of Pets Review

12.Finding your Freedom

14. Spotlight Pet 15. Reader Sent in Pictures

Content produced by Pawgress Report Photos and articles unless otherwise stated

Letter From the Editor

Emily Shyloski  Animals have been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. I have loved everything from cats and dogs to horses and hamsters. I have had countless pets growing up, including a chinchilla named Gus, a hamster named sneakers, and currently I have a little farm of my own growing at home. I have a 12 year old beagle named Ebbie, a 13 year old cat named Pepsi, a four year old cat named Chloe, a seven year old Morgan horse named Bella, and an eleven month old husky puppy named Bandit. My passion for animals branches out further than owning a ton of animals. I am a devoted vegetarian and have been for five years. I am very active in the animal rights community and love to raise awareness and spread kindness between people and animals. I hope that by reading this magazine, we can share a love of pets together.

Emily Shyloski

Editor

Why Do We Love Our Pets SO Much?

To many Americans, pets are a member of the family. According the the American Veterinary Medical Association sixty-eight perfect of American families welcome their home to four legged friends ranging from cats, dogs, hamsters, horses, and reptiles. Most of these families take very good care of their pets by buying them the best food, getting yearly vaccinations, monthly flea and think preventative if necessary and even taking extreme measures like emergency veterinary care in times of need. Why do people take such good, loving care for pets when in all reality they are just an animal?

According to Kayla Coates a graduate of Psychology from Alfred University we form a special bond towards pets for many reasons. Some of which we don’t even know we are doing. According to Coates, people are inclined to want to take care of something. Be that another person, like a child, or an animal. There is something instinctual for humans to feel the mushy gushy love feeling for something cute, be that a kitten, dog, or baby.

For those who don’t raise children an animal can take on that nurturing role over for the person. This tends to happen to people who have raised children and their children have grown up. . “So being a “crazy cat lady” actually isn’t all that crazy. It is just an overwhelming need to take care of something” said Coates. According to Coates, pets are also great for people who may be lonely. They make great companions and there are many circumstances where animals help people with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. In these special instances the bond between animal and owner will only become stronger. Coates says “ The animal is doing everything it can to make you feel better, so even if you don’t know it, it is in human nature for us to do the same for them”.

Human Psychology might play a factor in why we love our pets but what about bonds that we just can’t understand? There are countless cases of pets that truly are mans best friends, grieving for loss, and saving humans life. “ Miguel Guzman adopted the German Shepherd, Capitan in 2005 for his son Damian. Guzman passed away in 2006 and Capitan went missing.

The family looked but couldn’t find him. They found him the next day near Guzman’s grave barking and crying.He kept watch diligently for at least six years, rarely leaving the spot. And at 6 o’clock every day he would go and sleep on Guzman’s grave and not leave till morning. “I think he’s going to be there until he dies, too. He’s looking after my dad,” said Damian” said the Daily Mail. According to the Daily Mail we may love our pets so much because they love us so much.

Clive Wayne, an animal behavior scientist, says we love our animals so much because “they tricked up into it”. Wayne believes that because humans and animals have evolved through time together they have come to evolve together. For example, dogs started as wolves when we were hunter gatherers. As time went on, the bond between dogs and humans grew so close from thousands of years. Now we all look at a cat and get this overwhelming flooded with love feeling. So if you were to ask Wayne why we love animals so much, he would say it was learned during evolution.

Putting science aside, what do every day people think about the topic? Why do we love our pets so much? According to Tiara Wilson, a 22 year old, married woman thinks that “we love our pets because they are like our family, for me they are like our kids. We feed them every day like kids, we take them to the vet when they are sick, we give them medicine when they don’t feel good. I don’t know why it is we treat animals as family members but I know we do love them as if they are a member of the family”. Wilson has had three dogs in her lifetime. Now she has rescued two pure breed Pitbulls, Roxy and Diesel. Art Wilson says “ I think both dogs know they were rescued and appreciate it, they love us for it which makes us love and appreciate them. Because our dogs endlessly love us how can we not give that back to them”?

Another reason EVERYONE may love pets so much is because its a trend. According to BBC “ We have predispositions to find puppies and kittens cute, but that puppy that is so cute in the US can be perceived as a meal in South Korea, so what’s going on there? That pet-keeping is a result of picking up on social cues from others.

In other words, pet-keeping is a meme, a trend that is continually reinforced by its own popularity”. That being said loving our pets as strongly as we do may be because everyone does and we are subconsciously reacting to social cues from society coming from the people around us.

All in all, the reason why we love our pets is something that is going to vary from person to person. A lot of why we love our animals so much has a considerable amount to do with human psychology. Humans may actually be pre programmed to love and care for animals because it is in human nature to want to care for something. Another reason we love animals is because it is socially “normal” to love a cute puppy or kitten. But what it really comes down to is, pets are really like another member of the family for many Americans. They are treated just as any other person would be treated and are loved just the same. An animals unconditionally loyalty and companionship creates a bond like to other. For most people, they end their day curled up with their cat, or snuggled up with their dog and start their day to the furry face of their best friend. How can you NOT feel love from that?

Photo Credit Google Images

PLOT- The Secret Life of Pets follows a small dog, Max, as he goes on an adventure after trying to get rid of his new living companion Duke. Along the way he runs into an sewer dwelling band of pets that have strayed from the path of domestication either from abandonment, being flushed away, or lost.

The plot of The Secret Life of Pets gets to be busy at times, especially for a children’s movie. From time to time the movie has too many side stories that the over arching plot gets lost in the background.

HUMOR- The Secret Life of Pets makes up for a weak plot background with a lot of humor. The humor is mainly directed for children. However there is some hidden adult humor sprinkled throughout the movie. These hidden jokes are mainly surrounding “Snowball” a vengeance driven white bunny, voiced

by Kevin Hart, who is hellbent on destroying humans. Kevin Hart really outdid himself in the making of this movie, and was perfect for the roll of “Snowball”.

In fact, every voice actor really owned their part. Each voice was perfectly selected for the jokes their character would be saying. Writers found a good balance in keeping the movie appropriate for children without losing the interest of adult audiences.

VISUALS- Illumination does a great job with keeping their character adorable. They stuck with their usual style, big eyes, little legs, small, dramatic, and bright colors that is consistent in all their movies. You can see this style in pervious movies such as “Minions” and “Despicable Me”. Illuminations is spot on with the visual effects of this movie.

OVERALL IMPRESSION- Is The Secret Life of Pets worth seeing? Yes, absolutely. It was an enjoyable film to watch for a family film. I would not go as far as saying The Secret Life of Pets is up to par with Disney movies however. Where Disney movies go above and beyond for the character to learn a deeper lesson, or show a deeper emotional connection this movie falls short. It leaves everything on the surface. The movie’s general plot of what to pets do while we aren’t around is a good one, the movie looses points as it simply gets to be too busy. I wish the writers went deeper with more character development and a less complicated plot. Where the plot lacked the movie made up for with a stellar cast and great jokes. Again, good movie to sit down and watch with the family, but it certainly won’t be going down in movie history like 101 Dalmatians.

Rating: 3/5 Paws

Out Of

Feeling of Freedom Freedom. It is something that has a slightly different meaning for everyone yet something everyone craves. For me, the feeling of freedom is when time stands still and the problems around you cease to exist. I found my freedom on the back of a black Morgan mare named Bella.

There is no better feeling than being on the back of a horse. There is a bond created be-tween rider and the horse. But for years the bond was created when I got my foot in the stirrup and then was broken when I dismounted. I was a show girl. I could get on any horse and ride like second nature.

When I first rode Bella, a seven year old, spunky Morgan the bond never broke when I dismounted.

Bella is a fire cracker. Her personality shines during the ride and flares up even more once you leave the arena. The first time I rode her it was mid summer and she challenged me. She wanted to see what she could and couldn’t do while I was on her back. I enjoyed the ride because it was difficult for me. We left the arena, sweaty, I was sunburnt and ready to go home and shower.

I thought our bond was over since I was no longer on her back but I was so wrong.

 We had both worked very hard that afternoon, so I thought she deserved a cool bath. I filled up a bucket of cold water and turned around to get some soap. The quick crash behind me caught me off guard. I spun around to find the 5 gallon bucket of water spilt all over the place. I figured she just kicked it over by accident so I filled it up again. When I turned back around for the second time I heard that very familiar sound of water spilling all over the floor. But this time before I could even turn around Bella grabbed the curry comb out of my back pocket and held it in her mouth. I thought this was adorable. She then flung her head back and threw the comb be-hind her into a mud puddle. It was at this moment I knew she was just having some fun and was joking around with me. This is when I knew she was not just another horse. She would be my friend.  To this day Bella and I are always having fun, joking around, and enjoying our time to-gether. When I pull into the barn I hear her whinny to greet me. The second I hear that greeting is when I feel free and happy. It is when time starts to stands still. I never thought of a horse as anything more than a tool for my riding before I met Bella. Now, she really is a best friend to me.

April’s Spotlight Pet

This months Spotlight pet is a one year old Husky named Bandit. Bandit is the youngset dog in his graduating April class to recieve his Emotional Support Dog certification. In order to be legally registered as a emotional support animal in the state of New York, a dog must undergo basic obedience classes as well as an advanced class conducted just for the emotional support certification.Bandit passd his test April 4,2018. Ten days shy of his first birthday, making him the youngest dog in his class to pass the test! We applaud the hard work and dedication of Tyler Barnes, for his countless hours of work putting a puppy through school. As well as the trainers at Westmoeland Dog Training center for teaching Bandit how to be a more nurturing pet.

Reader Sent in Pictures