Are you thoroughly sick of this topic yet?
I found that I couldn't rest until I located the source of the photos of dogs in mid-air in this post.
I remembered I had found the photos on the icanhas.cheezburger.com website (here), and when I checked that site I found that they were taken from a book by Julia Christe, called Flying Dogs.
You can click on that link to go to the Amazon website where the book is listed and described.
The last line of the description reads: "No dogs were harmed in the making of this book."
All good, right?
Then I read one of the reviews that disclosed the dogs were dropped onto a mattress with a wind machine blowing on them while the photos were being taken.
Horrors, right?
So then I really got serious about digging further, Googled some more and found an article which I hope is the end of this rabbit hole. The article explains exactly how the photos were done and what precautions were taken.
Bottom line, I think I can assure you that the whole procedure was okay. But check the article just above and read it for yourself. And tell me if you know anything else about this that would change my conclusion.
Fact-finding is exhausting! Maybe that's why some people don't bother.
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Don't listen to the lying cat. |
16 comments:
Thank you.
Fact finding IS exhausting - perhaps because there are so many rabbit holes to explore (and to get lost in).
"If a dog showed signs of stress, I stopped right away."
That's from the article you linked. I dunno. That doesn't make it sound any better.
You sure did a good sleuthing job. The dogs really came to no harm at all as I see it. It was a low drop with a soft landing. None seem to hate it, and some even seemed to enjoy it.
There's a really good video on how the phoyos were made at the end of the article - see for yourself.
My BiL's two dogs (German Shepherd and Husky) loved the tall, net-enclosed trampoline in his backyard--originally bought for his children. The dogs made a beeline for it whenever they were let out and happily jumped on it nonstop. They loved it. Guess it just depends on the dog.
I love that you did this research! Thank you! Because we all DID have questions about it. Having read the article, I'm sure the dogs come to no harm, but I can't help but think it must scare them a little bit to be "released from a certain height onto a well-padded mattress." (Whatever a "certain height" is.) That still sounds a bit dubious in my book. I don't think I'd do it to Olga. But that's just my opinion.
I just watched the video, and it looks like the "certain height" was just a couple of feet. Still, I wouldn't do it. :)
The problem with rabbit holes is the side burrows. Ah, that's interesting. Save it for later.
After the cat's Wiki editing efforts, a dog took over and there was a complete change.
Nancy Drew has a rough life.
Since most dogs i know adore having the wind in their faces and jumping around, i can see how they might enjoy the process. In fact, i can think of a couple of dogs that would love to jump like that, especially if a wind machine was involved.
Fact-finding is something I suck at. how do I know the "facts" I'm reading are the true "facts"? What if someone just made stuff up that sounded good enough? This is why I don't research for any stories I write. I just make stuff up.
Ah yes, the fact-finding rabbit hole. I've been down so many, I'm starting to feel quite at home there. Thanks for all your hard work! :-)
The problem I see with the fact finding is that the dogs don't speak English. That said, they do seem to be having a good time. They quite reminded me of pictures of Zsuzs' former dog Timber, a pitbull, who used to leap into the air and snap at soap bubbles...
-Doug in Sugar Pine
It's hard to hurt a dog. I've seen a few dogs take some falls that would break half the bones in my body but they just get up shake it off and move on to something else.
Elephant's Child: A person couldn't read everything there is on the internet in a thousand lifetimes, could they?
Sandi: After some more thought, I agree with you. See my post today!
Charlotte: I had the opposite reaction to you after seeing the video! I'm glad you pointed out the video; I had missed it.
Mary: I think that's true, and a dog on a trampoline has a choice if it wants to jump. I was disturbed by the other video showing the dogs being dropped, because they had no choice.
Steve: See my post today, in which I rescinded my "okay"!
Andrew: Side burrows - yes :)
Joanne: Cue the violins :)
Mimi: Jump - yes, but being dropped? I wonder if any dog really would enjoy that. Maybe so, I don't know. I think the trampoline situation would give them a choice, but being dropped doesn't.
River: I try to look at the source to determine whether the author is likely to know what they're talking about. For instance, for medical information I use large hospital or health centre websites like The Mayo Clinic, for science stuff I use science websites like NASA, etc. If I read something in a newspaper online, and don't know if it's a respectable newspaper or not, I use Wikipedia to get an idea. That's how I do it, anyhow.
Diane: Thanks to your posts, we know ALL ABOUT your fact-finding, LOL
You find some very odd things both when you're looking and when you're not looking :D
Doug: Yes - if only the dogs could settle the argument once and for all! I think there is a difference between dogs jumping and dogs being dropped though. See my post today.
Mike: I've read about dogs that get seriously hurt just running! We all have different perspectives, I guess, based on what we've seen. I grew up with a dog ... but just one.
But thank you for your thorough-ness! Would that more people were as careful!
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