Skip ran in our first trial last weekend, and while watching the video to figure out how the heck he got a shed (the only really good one of the trial), I realized what a great opportunity it was to play the "Sharpen Our Observation Skills" game. I'll never forget my first day of Ethology Lab at UW-Madison, in which Professor Bayliss sat us down in front of a glass cage with rats in it and asked us to record our observations of their behavior. Afterward, our discussions went something like this: Prof: Describe what you saw, from second one to second ten. Us: One rat was asleep, the other walked to the side of the cage. Prof: But what was the posture of the sleeping rat? Respiration rate? Did you describe it's coloring so you could ID it in another group? And what do you mean Read More
Behavioral or Medical? Or both?
I recently had a great talk with Emily Priestley, the author of Urban Sheepdogs. I reviewed her book a few weeks ago, and although I noted some issues, I am a big fan of her attempt to help people understand that the behavior of their border collies or cattle dogs is not a mystery or a sign of dysfunction--rather a manifestation of what the dogs were bred for. These dogs need to be helped to adjust to an urban/suburban environment, not punished for it. I started out by asking her what she recommends to people who have dogs who are especially sound sensitive, as so many herding breeds tend to be. She answered by saying that she often asks that the dog be checked out by a veterinarian. That led to a discussion about how often pain or illness can exacerbate or create behavior problems, and Read More
March 11, 2024
Last week a dear friend brought her teenage Bernedoodle, Leo, over to meet Skip and Maggie. Leo was like Sheldon at a Comic Con Convention (can you tell I've been watching Big Bang Theory?)--all enthusiasm and no social finesse. This is Maggie after he tried to mount her head. (Please supply caption.) In spite of his enthusiasm, Leo is a dear, sweet dog, but his owner asked for some advice about teaching him to come when called off their home territory when he is highly distracted. We did a little work, and he'll be over again soon, but he got me thinking about how recall training isn't as simple as it often feels. I was about to write a new post on the topic, and then remembered I've done that already. I wrote a post in August of 2017, and I offer it to you here, with a few minor Read More
Book Reviews: Who’s a Good Dog? & Urban Sheepdogs
I don't pretend to be able to keep up with all the dog/animal behavior books being published right now, but two books got my attention this week that I thought you might find interesting. In some ways, they couldn't be much different from each other. Who's a Good Dog? And How to Be A Better Human, by Jessica Pierce, is a beautifully-produced book published by The University of Chicago Press, has perhaps the greatest title and cover of any dog-related book I've seen in a long time, and has a nine-page index. Urban Sheepdog: Understanding Your Herding Breed, by Emily Priestley, is published by . . . ? (All it says is Made in the USA, Monee, IL). It is a small, almost booklet-size book, presumably published Read More
Winter Get Away in Jamaica
We're just back from a week in Jamaica. Good to go, good to be home. Usually winter trips around here are motivated by a desire to escape the cold. Not this time, I think it was in the 50's when we left. We basically had about two weeks of real winter--very cold, lots of snow--but before and after it's been like living in three month-long November, a month known for gray skies and lots of mud. Yuck. Because of that, it was still wonderful to get away, mostly to glory in bright colors-Turquoise! Orange! Green!, and to escape the relentless To Do list that exists for all of us. Mine is especially, uh, challenging now. Mix my Epstein Barr/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with ADHD, and interesting things happen. I am grateful to my bones that we were able to get away. Here is the scene that Read More
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