Dog Umwelt/ Elephant Crackup?

Human and nature. Human nature. I suppose that when one thinks critically, it is safe to assume that though the two have different meanings, they can be interlinked.
When reading Horowitz's, Inside Of A Dog, and the article, Elephant Crackup, I definitely had to some critical thinking myself.
Though I have never had an actual pet, my family member around me did. My grandmother had a Great Dane. I never understood why friends cried when their dog died until our Rocky had to be put to sleep because of an enlarged heart. While reading the short article, it provided a small insight into a dog’s mentality. Their umvelt, their subjective or self world, is a perfect way of putting it. While they may participate in activities we engage in, it has a different meaning and difference to them. We as humans, for the most part thrive on our emotional senses. It was just amazing to also get a glance at how their sense of smell impacts other aspects of their life. Not just their noses.
An Elephant Crackup was an article that intrigued me. In reading this article I found myself asking,” What is going on with these elephants?” After reading more I found my speculations transforming from a defensive opinion to a thought of sympathy. It was amazing and heartwarming to see that the mentality and emotional state of these animals are a lot more sensitive than one would imagine. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is something that they can suffer from during their life span. Reading that young elephants can have this syndrome because of prior experiences of watching their parents poached, or killed in front of them causing them long term pain mentally and perhaps altering their behavior, really spoke to me. I also came to the sudden realization that took me back to certain events in my childhood that did damage to me. Things that I am recovering from that do have an impact and are factors in my thought process and values today. These animals have an amazing ability through action and way of life to express how they feel or state of mind and I find that amazing. I definitely agree with Bradshaw that there are ways to affect the lives of these elephants and our own to better live together instead of continuing with the cycle we are in now.