Category Archives: Animals

Earlingo – The Animal Assisted Therapy Headband

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About a year ago, I took an online class on how to certify your dog as an Animal Assisted Therapy pet.

I have a very gentle Chihuahua mix and thought she would be a good candidate to go into senior homes or hospitals to cheer folks up a bit.

So I signed up for the class. The class was very informative, but unfortunately my pup was too old. Your dog must be 7 years old or less to become certified.

This got me thinking about training my dog in a special way. A way that facilities would want her to come in, certified or not. She had to have a skill. Something other dogs could not do, and would be interactive for the person.

In college, I did a paper on “Signaling Behavior Among Wolves.” I’ve had an interest in animal communication (Cuttlefish Comm Board) for many years. In 2016, I had a very interesting experience at the San Diego Zoo (Dee Meets The Maned Wolf). These two experiences gave me a unique idea.

Develop a headband (I call it an Earlingo Headband) with controllable dog-shaped ears on it that the user can control and interact with the therapy dog. Even if the person was not able to control the ears, I could wear the headband, move the ears, and interact with the dog while they watch.

The concept is that the dog will perform different movements (sit, stay, lay down, etc.) based upon the headband ear movements – visual communication only. Of course, I’d train my dog using operant conditioning prior to any visits. With positive reinforcement, she would learn to associate an ear movement with a particular behavior.

I will use servo motors along with an Arduino Kit, as mentioned in my Cuttlefish Comm Board post, to make the ears move.

I really think that this might bring a smile to someone’s face!

Cuttlefish Comm Board

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Communicating with animals is something that has interested me for quite some time. Whether it’s dolphins, chimps, seals, elephants, whales or wolves – I am interested in what they have to say.

Not an easy subject to study unless one happens to be an academic or a scientist. However, I have an idea to study animal communication from my garage to a local aquarium.

I plan to learn more about how the cuttlefish communicates. Cuttlefish belong to the class Cephalopoda – same as the octopus, squid, and nautilus.

Cuttlefish communicate primarily with their skin cells. They have specially adapted cells (chromatophores) that can change color, pattern and shape. These displays communicate to other cuttlefish various behaviors – aggression, mating, territory, and more.

Here’s my idea: build a cuttlefish communication/display board that is equipped with a programmable LED display strip. The LED strip can be programmed to simulate known cuttlefish displays (very rudimentary), as well as present new ones to see how the cuttlefish behaves. I am not even sure if it will work?

Where would I test this – at an aquarium with cuttlefish of course. I’d have to obtain permission, but I would wear all dark clothing (less likely to be seen in the background) with the cuttlefish comm board hanging about chest high. The LEDs would be controlled via an app on my phone.

Okay, crazy, but so interesting to really try it.

This is a long-term project. At this time, I have the board cut out and the addressable LED strip.

I am working on obtaining an Arduino kit (microcontroller and software) so I can program using my PC (with help) the LEDs to display in specified colors, patterns, and rates. First, I will emulate known displays and then create some mixed displays.

Once I have a functional prototype, I will contact a couple of local aquariums to set up a demo.

I hope that I can clearly communicate to them what I am trying to do. Do you think that they will understand?