ANIMALS GET US<\/p>\n
An animal\u2019s eyes have the power
\nTo speak a great language.
\nMartin Buber<\/p>\n
A.R. Gurney created a debutante in his comedy \u201cThe Cocktail Hour\u201d who cries, \u201cNo one understands me but my horse.\u201d\u00a0 The line got a big laugh but it wasn\u2019t a joke. Our horses, dogs and cats catch on to our moods a lot faster than our partners or our relatives do.<\/p>\n
Mothers, of course, are an exception. One glance from you tells them everything.\u00a0 My own mother insisted she could read my entire days activities on my forehead.\u00a0 It turns out that my puppy could do the same thing.<\/p>\n
A new study confirms that animals gather information and transmit it through their eyes. This can be very unsettling\u2026.especially when sitting down to a holiday meal. There you are digging into your roast turkey and gobbling up your roast potatoes when you feel a forceful presence watching you lift your fork to your mouth and chew those brussel sprouts.\u00a0 You look down at Fido, his mouth open and saliva dripping down his fuzzy little chin.\u00a0 He is watching you so intently he doesn\u2019t even blink.\u00a0 \u00a0You would have to have a heart of iron to ignore the longing, the unbridled desire on your puppy\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
Guilt overwhelms you and you slip him a bit of dark meat and then a bit more.\u00a0 How can you resist?<\/p>\n
Fluffy is even more insistent.\u00a0 The minute you put your napkin in your lap, there she is, her whiskers quivering with desire. What can you do? \u00a0You were the one who rescued her from the shelter.\u00a0 The other guests at the table try to ignore the fact that your cat is sitting ON the holiday table lapping up your cranberry sauce as if it were catnip.<\/p>\n
Horses are even more capable of transmitting their needs to you with their unblinking eyes.\u00a0 Last year, I had Christmas dinner in the country and as I dug into my mince pie, I froze.\u00a0 There was Dobbin staring through the window with such intensity that the glass melted.\u00a0 It was no use.\u00a0 I picked up my plate and handed it over.<\/p>\n
This year, I have decided to fast for the holiday.\u00a0 It is a lot easier on my conscience.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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ANIMALS GET US An animal\u2019s eyes have the power To speak a great language. Martin Buber A.R. Gurney created a debutante in his comedy \u201cThe Cocktail Hour\u201d who cries, \u201cNo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"