Dog Communicating?? You must be kidding!!

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080916/twl-dog-dials911-1be00ca.html

By AMANDA LEE MYERS,Associated Press Writer AP - Tuesday, September 16

PHOENIX - "Man's best friend" doesn't go far enough for Buddy _ a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner's life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure. And it's not the first time Buddy has been there for owner Joe Stalnaker, a police officer said Sunday. On a recording of the 911 call Wednesday, Buddy is heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answers and repeatedly asks if the caller needs help.

"Hello, this is 911. Hello ... Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to," says the dispatcher, Chris Trott.

Police were sent to Stalnaker's home, and after about three minutes Buddy is heard barking loudly when the officers arrived.

Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Stalnaker spent two days in a hospital and recovered from the seizure.

"It's pretty incredible," Clark said. "Even the veteran dispatchers _ they haven't heard of anything like this."

Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stalnaker's address was flagged in Scottsdale's system with a notification that a trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated.

Clark said Stalnaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if he began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said.

Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures.
He said Stalnaker's seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise.

Stalnaker was not listed in the phone book, and he did not immediately respond to a request through police for an interview.

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When I came across this article, I was really amazed. This 18 months old dog was able to save his owner's life by making a phone call to 911. Isnt there really alot of communication going on here? Personally, i feel that there really is alot of communication going on.

To be able to communicate with an animal is something that alot of people find ridiculous. "Why would you want to talk to a dog? It would not understand you at all." This is something that many people have said to dog owners. Well, if this dog was unable to communicate with humans, the owner would have died already. This demonstrates to us that dogs are able to communicate with humans through the use of their barking, whimpering or even crying. If animals are able to communicate through their own means, why not humans?

Perception is the process by which we make sense of the world around us. It is physiological and cognitive in nature. It is influenced by psychological as well as social factors. Knowing this, how do we perceive this situation to be? Dogs are intelligent and they are aware of their surroundings more than humans. Therefore, can dogs perceive the information that their owner is having a seizure? I think so.. Humans develop a mental framework over time and it will affect our perception in the future, does this also apply to dogs as well?

881's Non Verbal Communication!!

Just a couple of days ago, as I was travelling on the way to malaysia, i watched the show 881 on the bus ride there. I sat there and thought about the different ways the actors were portraying their communication with each other.

As the psychological perspective of communication states that communication takes place when 2 minds connect, the show really portrays that in which the actor, Qi Yu Wu, who is deaf and mute, is able to communicate with the other actors and actresses and they are able to understand each other without having the use of words. Communication can take place in various forms, through eye contact and feelings and actions towards someone. This perspective of sommunication also says that individuals are the one that creates communication. I believe this is so true because communication is 2 way and without the other person, it is difficult to communicate.

In the movie, wide use of singing throughout the show was used as another form of communication, besides just talking. The main actresses in the show felt that through singing, they could express themselves better than through talking or other forms. Royston Tan, the famous Singapore director who directed this show graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a Visual Communications certificate. Visual communication, as the names suggests is communication with the use of visual aids. This is clearly shown in the movie, 881 where he uses alot of visual aid to show the audience what he means by communicating, not through talking alone.

The pragmatic perspective of communication states that it is impossible not to communicate; silence is also a part of communication. Royston Tan managed to show that through the actor being deaf and mute in the show but was still able to understand and be understood by others. This movie has alot of ways in which communication has taken place and I personally feel that it is a very good movie to consider watching and learn the various ways comminication can take place.

Heyy all..

Communication is a form of art is our everyday life and with this blog, we can communicate and further discuss and debate on interesting stuff so feel free to post your opinions and comments.