Thursday, December 9, 2010

THUMBS?

All the talk about stocking rules yesterday kinda made my head hurt, so today I'm taking a break from Christmas. Don't worry though, even though you can't see my head - I'm still wearing the stupid deer ears.

Anyway. For some reason my human has been really into my feet lately. I'm not a huge fan of people messing with my toes, so lucky for her she's ju
st taking pictures of them. I didn't understand why anyone would want to see pictures of my feet, so I looked at the pictures to see what the big deal is. And the big deal is thumbs.

Thumbs!


Seriously. I have thumbs. At least I think I do.
You can see what I mean in today's picture, right there on my front feet: four toes and one, uhm, thumb? Dutch has them too. Just. Like. My human's hand.

No idea how I didn't notice the maybe-thumbs until now. I mean, do you know how huge this is?? Google says thumbs are what make humans human. Or at least let them type and do lots of other stuff I can't do without my human's help.

Does anyone else here have the maybe-thumbs? More important: if you have them, do you know how to use them??

20 comments:

pepper the pugalier said...

i have thumbs. i don't know how to use them though. my mommy says they creep her out, especially when she has to cut my nails. so daddy has to do it. ***gross thumb story: my sister daisy had her thumb nail ripped off when she caught it in our cousin's collar during a bacon fight. she had to go to the vet and came home with a funny sock.***

anyway, puglet. if you figure out how to use them, let me know. there are a lot of things in need to get into and thumbs might help me.

pepper the pugalier (who turns three tomorrow...)

DMBY said...

I don't know, Pug. That thumb looks awfully small compared to a human thumb. Maybe you need some special thumb cookies to help it grow bigger?

Caylee the corgi mix said...

Alot of animals have thumbs...the deal with humans (and other primates) is that they have Opposable Thumbs, which means they can grab things (or make that O-shape). Us dogs only have thumbs that go the same direction as the rest of our toes. I kind of use mine a little when I'm holding onto a big toy I'm chewing on but I can't pick things up with them. My mommy thinks my thumbs are cute.

Did you know some people have dog thumbs TAKEN OFF?! I don't know why...I think it's a looks thing like docking tails and ears. (I don't like that idea.)

Molly in PA said...

Heya Puglet!

Breaking news!

I got excited until I realized that I have those thumb things too. But they don't work, they just sit there like .. useless thumbs?

If you can figure out how to use them I think you'll be an inventor or something.

Licks,
Molly in PA

Percy coco said...

I have maybe thumbs, but I dont use them. I suppose I could use them to hold my bone, but thats what my mamas thumbs are for!
Snorts & love from Percy

Chang said...

My Alpha calls them "dew claws" and says that they are sometimes removed ... but I think that's not right! I use mine to help hold larger objects. The nails are a bit longer and I can grasp my Big Blue Ball with them!

Anonymous said...

Hi Puglet,
Yep, Chang is right them things are called "dew claws" aka thumbs. Our thumbs were removed by our breeder when we were just little tykes. Has something to do with pugs could somehow scratch their eyes with their thumbs. Whatever, we don't have them so we don't miss them. Oops gotta go, mom is taking a little black kitten to a rescue place soon and she does the typing so we have to say ta ta for now.
Ellie, Emmitt and Eli from San Antonio

Mary said...

Hi Puglet, Murphy here. I was born on a farm, and right after birth my owner clipped off all the thumbs of all the puppies. At birth they are soft and fleshy, it's a nail clipper kind of thing. Only the farmer missed one. Sometimes they are so tiny at birth, that the nub? stub? bud? gets missed when the clipping is done. So I have only one thumb. He said it was because the thumbs ("dew claws") are a danger to working dogs on a farm, they catch on wires and stuff and get torn off, and then it hurts. On a farm that can really get infected too. When I went to live at my forever home, my new vet asked my new human if she wanted thumb #4 removed, and my forever home human said no.

xoxo

Murphy, the Gollie (golden retriever/border collie cross)

Gabby, The Fabulous Feline AKA "The Gabbinator" said...

Puglet,

OMC (Oh My Cat), I found the perfect gift (certificate) for someone to put in your reindeer stocking.

Check out this ultra deluxe canine spa in NYC:
http://www.usatoday.com/video/index.htm?bctid=703719063001#/News/New+York+spa+a+treat+for+dogs/42804638001/40264770001/703719063001

Maybe your human can find you and Dutch such a place in San Francisco to take you to when she leaves you alone for the day?

I can see you as the receipent of all the special treatment they give!!!

Wish we had a place like this in Maryland for felines. Somehow cats always get left out of all the fun!

Gabby

THE PUGLET said...

Hmmm. My thumbs are like Molly's - they just kinda sit there. I can't even wiggle them and totally can't make an opposable O.

Even though my thumbs don't work, I don't like the sound of having them chopped off. Google says I still have mine because I'm not a "show pug" and Dutch still has his, even though he used to be a show dog, because he's from Europe and people in Europe don't go around chopping off dog parts (ears, tails, toes, etc.).

Anonymous said...

yeah, we americans like to chop off extra body parts, even though my human said they're there for a reason! Good to see you discovered your thumbs. now you just have to work on exercising them, and maybe someday they'll work!

THE PUGLET said...

In case I forget - Happy #3 tomorrow, Pepper the pugalier!

THE PUGLET said...

Oh Gabby that looks very fabulous. Dutch would TOTALLY love deluxe pampering like that. I think I'm more of a get-down-and-dirty kinda guy. I mean, Dutch likes pink.

THE PUGLET said...

Maybe the American are afraid that if they don't chop off our thumbs, we might figure out how to use them.

Anonymous said...

Puglet

We talked to our human about this, she says one of our ancestors had hers removed when she was all grown up, and it was awful, said she would never do it again unless very very young like Murphy. Tessa must of had hers removed, but she doesn't thank goodness, probably a baby, and she was suppose to be a show dog (she has a baby girl who is a champion pug!). Sounds awful. But our Aunt Abby (a corgi) has a claw that grows up instead of down, she has a tendency to get it caught, so our Granny has to be really careful with her.

HoHoHo

Pearl and Tessa

Anonymous said...

OOPS, left of a word...Tessa doesn't remember having them taken off.

Nan and B.A.G.S. the pug said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb#Opposition_and_apposition

You have to go here to where it talks about opposable thumbs

What I learned in evolution the difference between us and apes is that we can touch our tubs to our pinkies. pugs and apes can't!

pugsx4 said...

We want to learn to use our thumbs, maybe we could open those packages of goodies!

Minnie Moo said...

Mom is really into Lincoln's paws. She wrote a whole post on it. Pretty silly if you ask me.

We should totally learn how to use these thumbs. Any plans?

Muah,

Minnie Moo

Two Pugs in a Pod said...

Klausie's thumbs were removed when he was a puppy by his breeder, but miss Natty still has hers! She can definitely hold a bone better than he can (advantage!) but we do worry about her scratching his eyes when they play, or getting them caught on something. Be careful with those thumbs, Puglet!