WHAT’S IN A NAME?

What an exciting day! I am going to see my first prairie dog.

Imagine… a dog that lives on a prairie its entire life. Hmmm, I wonder what is so special about a prairie that you want to live on it for so many years.

So we pull around the corner, Jet (my foster mom) rolls down the window for me and as far as I can see, there are these hippity-hoppity, little critters. I don’t see one dog. Jet explains that what I’m looking at are the prairie dogs. They look like a new breed of rat. - Cute little guys that I would love to chase.

Take a look at these two videos of prairie dogs and I think you’ll agree.





So, here’s my lesson of the day… First, humans need to call things what they are and not what they seem. Prairie Dogs are not ‘dogs’.
All humans would get along better and communicate more easily if they followed this advice. Second, if you ask me “what’s in a name?” then I’ll tell you… A LOT! Before you name your child Beulah or your pet rodent, Prairie Dog, think about the message (and confusion) you’re communicating.

Okay, the question of the day is from Buster who asked: Why do humans eat something different at each meal and dogs have to eat the same food all the time? It doesn’t seem fair.


Dear Buster:
You’re right. It isn’t fair. Then again, life is often not fair. To answer your question more specifically, I’d say the reason humans constantly eat new types of food is that they tend to feed off variety and change. This would also explain why humans often dump one dog (or mate) for a new one without any consideration of whether or not it is really good for their life or family; or humans who elect presidents like Obama who bugle ‘change’ without any thought of whether or not it is good for our country.


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