Welcome to my home pageWelcome to my home pageMy name is Jennie Lamond, I am 29 years old, very social, and I love to browse the web discovering new found information. I live in Melbourne Australia, enjoying occasional trips to other parts of the world, and also discovering parts of my own country.
Surprisingly, this is the second place I can be found on the net. I feel quite famous having a listing, able to be read world-wide, which I didn't put there myself. And all because I said one line in French on camera when I was about 9 years old.
I am now the proud owner of a big rectangular piece of paper with signatures on it, a degree. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts double major in Psychology and Psychophysiology, and didn't even trip over collecting it on stage (does everyone have that fear?). Anyway, I am doing Honours now and would like to know why it is considered an honour to keep studying and get to the stress point of pulling your hair out :-). Psychophysiology is an interesting area, and my current thesis involves emotional intelligence, something everyone should have that actually has nothing to do with intelligence.
Meanwhile, I have built a small career on the side with dog training (involving operant conditioning), encompassing the wonderful world of clicker training which is just like a Skinner box technique, lure-based operant conditioning and dog leadership (this is the only way my dog Nikita will listen to me). I co-ordinate the training program (my design) for the Siberian Husky Club of Victoria Inc. and also created and co-ordinate the rescue and rehoming program. Training Huskies is my specialty, and they are truly a challenge for anyone. They make training other breeds easy. I guess this is why the rescue and rehoming program gets so many calls. I am also happy to say that I am now Vice President of the Siberian Husky Club of Victoria Inc. and my policy is to provide for the pet-owning members.
With my academic background and counselling experience doing volunteer work, I am now beginning counselling for those who have lost pets. Unfortunately we live in a society which does little to recognise the significance of such companions. I have joined the committee for Agape, an association devoted to assisting those who are bereaved from pet loss. My intention is to support people, validating their grief and giving the understanding of someone who has been there.
My favourite sports are rollerblading, mountain bike riding (truth is, I don't own a car), and downhill skiing. I love to rollerblade beside the beach, having been a devoted rollerskater as a child, though I have reduced the work I have to do up hill by training my Siberian Huskies Nikita and Cody to pull me along. They also pull my bike, so I don't walk it up hill so much any more, but I don't really need them to help me ski, as the lifts take me back up hill. And all of these activities made me sound like such an energetic person before. My latest desire is a bit of a change. I am enthusiastic about persuing the sporting activity of ice hockey. Most people think I'm mad because I can't see very well, but let's face it, I'd be well padded, enclosed in the rink by walls, armed and looking for a black puck on a white rink, what is difficult about that?
I love to watch movies and television, having been to the movies regularly as a child I gained a real taste for it. Some of my favourite movies are An Officer and a Gentleman, Parenthood, The Doctor, The Breakfast Club, The Castle, Good Will Hunting and When Harry Met Sally (which I didn't see until about 5 years ago). While my favourite current television shows are ER, Friends, Mad About You (how could they end it!), Dawson's Creek, Charmed and The Panel (where I have been in the audience a couple of times). Movies, movies and more movies! I can never get tired of seeing the ones I haven't, so sometimes I will take 10 home for the week, though I have yet to see some of the great classics. I'm sure I drive Ian nuts, especially watching some movies over and over again. I don't think I could holiday anywhere without television.
Some people ask me what makes a relationship with a pet so special. It is summed up quite well with the use of the word AGAPE, which means unconditional love. Unlike human-to-human relationships, those relations with pets are not weighted by popularity, sociability or prejudice. Yet they have the dependency of a child, the devotion of a new lover, the comfort of good Swiss chocolate, and the stress-reducing properties of a good massage. Although the effect is not so overwhelming with all people, those who experience this deep companionship have participated in a meaningful, strong, valid and important relationship.
It has long been assumed that dogs do not participate in calculated and directed thought as do humans. I beg to differ on this point. My experience in dog training, and particularly with my own dog, has taught me otherwise. Dogs may not be able to do hand-based tests of intelligence like monkeys do, but they can show their higher order thinking in other ways.
For example, one day Nikita (our dog) was most disappointed that another dog had been given a plastic bottle to chew (this was her favourite type of plastic bottle too!), so she looked at him, appealed to me, and then set about another path of action. She searched the floor, clutching a toy she found and taking it to the other dog. She placed the toy in front of him, nudged it towards him with her nose, and then removed it from his grasp. When the other dog showed no interest, she returned to the floor to look for toys. She used the same procedure with about four toys before visibly sighing when the other dog ignored them. She then wandered, apparently aimlessly, not with so much purpose this time, but suddenly stopped, leapt onto the other dog's favourite toy (she was really enthusiastic at this find), and took the toy to the other dog. She placed the toy in front of him, nudged it towards him, and removed it before he could grasp the toy himself. She repeated this twice more, increasing his enthusiasm for obtaining the toy, then allowed him to take it and pinched the plastic bottle from him. When she had the bottle, she immediately left and sat on her bed chewing with apparent feelings of achievement. I believe this demonstrates my point well. E-mail me if you have an interest in this subject.
Most of all though, these days I enjoy being with my family.
You can e-mail me from here if your browser is capable.