Book Reviews: Late Summer Version
There's only one problem with having active dogs, doing a massive home remodel and a garden begging for attention--there's not enough time in the day to read as much as I'd like. But I've still managed to enjoy some of the tsunami of books being released, and I thought I'd share what I've been enjoying lately.First, on the canine behavior front, The Science Behind a Happy Dog by Emma Grigg, PhD and Tammy Donaldson, is a great addition to anyone's library, whether a first-time dog owner or an expert in behavior and training. What I like about it especially is its unique perspective. Yes, the book contains a lot about who "dogs are" and how they see the world, how to read their visual Read More
Assessing Food Guarding Tests in Shelters
Oh my, I wish you could have been at the Animal Behavior Society Conference, just held in Milwaukee, WI. The "Applied Track" and "Public Day" were awesome. I'll be writing posts about it for many weeks to come. (Next year it will be in Chicago, IL. Be there or be square. More on that in another post.)Here's a summary of one of the talks most relevant to dog owners, trainers and shelters--a fantastic presentation by Heather Mohan-Gibbons, ASPCA Director of Research. In a talk titled "What happens when animal shelters stop assessing for food guarding in their shelter assessments?" we learned that the answer was crystal clear: Nothing. In this study, just published in Read More
Canis lupus “On offense” Visual Signals
On our trip to northern Minnesota and my talk at the gorgeous Virginia Public Library (thank you for your gracious reception!) Jim and I stopped at the International Wolf Center in Ely.Lucky us, we just happened to arrive when the "enrichment" exercise was the delivery of a rack of ribs and a beaver. A caretaker delivered the goodies in a wheel barrow, and then we all got to watch, behind glass and just a few feet away, as the wolves sorted out who got what, and when.I got a few photos that I thought you'd enjoy seeing, given that they are such good examples of canid social communication through facial expressions and body posture.It's pretty clear in the photo below what wolf Read More