My UW students just took their last exam, and along with grading all 150 of them, I'm off with Jim to pick up the pup tomorrow. He'll be nine weeks, a male Border collie of excellent herding lines who are also carefully bred for health and temperament. I've known his dad for years, always considered him a "bomb proof" dog--so much so that he was the first dog that Will was allowed to be in physical contact with after a year of classical and operant conditioning to turn his dog-dog aggression around.) Some background: Two days after Lassie died I was online looking at rescue sites and shelters. I've never done that before, always needing a long time to let the other dog go. I'm not sure why I did it after Lassie died. Her death was profoundly difficult for me; the loss of her was hard Read More
Archives for 2010
Miscommunication about Meta-Communication
Well, I just hate it when I mess up. And I did... instead of clarifying something I confused it. Sigh. Let me see if I can do a better job this time: In my last post I talked about saying "Ready" before I lifted Will's paws to clean them, and how valuable I felt it was to communicate to a dog what you are about to do. Readers responded (so beautifully I might add) with their own examples of the value of communicating one's intention rather than always just giving a "cue" asking the dog to perform an action. All good so far, and if you haven't read the comments yet, I'd advise you do so, because there are so many good ideas about how to help your dog prepare for what is about to happen. (I liked them so much I printed them out.) At the end of the post I labeled this as Read More
“Ready?” Using meta-communication to help your dog
A short post today, but I hope a helpful one. It's inspired by the "mud luscious and puddle wonderful" nature of spring, and the need to wipe off Will's paws as we enter the house when it's wet outside. As I was drying Willie's paws a few days ago, I thought about how much easier it is now that I say "Ready?" right before I pick up each leg. Since I started communicating my intention ("now I am going to pick up this paw"), he is beginning, on occasion, to pick up a paw himself, but more often he will shift his weight so that it is less awkward for him. (Yep, I could train him to pick up each paw on cue... also a potential solution, but keep reading for some potential benefits of a more generalized cue.) Keep in mind that this is the dog who, as an adolescent, growled at me when I picked Read More
Silo Sadness & Sister Happy
Good news and bad news: Best and wonderful news for me is that my sister, Dr. Wendy Barker, is coming to do a reading for her new book, Nothing Between Us, this Thursday night at UW. (Come one come all!) Her book has not a darn thing to do with dogs, but it's pure and simply brilliant and I can't wait for her reading. (For those of you who are interested in a novel in "prose/poetry" form about a multi-racial affair and life in the 60's in Berkeley, California, the talk is in Helen C. White, Room 66191, 7 pm, Thursday the 29th). Full disclosure: Yup, she is my sister and so my objectivity might be a tad, uh, challenged? But I'm not the only one raving about this book... everyone I know who has read it loves it... Sad news is about the farm. It might sound strange, but I have to have my Read More
Could Breeders and Shelters Work Together?
Thank you so much for all your insightful comments about overpopulated shelters and whether responsible breeders could help reduce the number of dogs who enter shelters in the first place. Here are a few, admittedly somewhat random, thoughts about the issue. One: Boy would I like to see more collaborative efforts between good breeders, shelters and rescue groups. I know that already occurs in some areas, and Here Here! to that, but I wish somehow we could more often use the energy and commitment of these groups to 1) publicize a universally understood definition of "responsible breeder" so that the public understands what that really means 2) create more, affordable support systems to help people when they need help with training and behavioral problems. (FYI, I too have heard a common Read More
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