I suspect I have been classically conditioned from years of school to relentlessly read in fall. Oh yeah, I also love to read. There's that. This weekend I read How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog) by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut. I highly recommend it, with the following caution: The book is based on non-intrusive experiments done on foxes originally from fur farms, and most of the foxes, many generations away from the fur farms, are still kept in wire cages that I find heartbreaking. (More on this later.) If you can't past that, you might want to take a pass. That said, the science and the stories described in the book are riveting. Most of us know the basics of Dmitri Belyaev's work on creating semi-domesticated foxes by only breeding the tamest ones Read More
Archives for November 2017
What are You Thankful For, 2017?
I woke up in a bad mood. Perhaps too much information, but well, it's just true and surely it's also just part of life--a life one often doesn't read about on social media. Behind the vacation photos and the smiling children and playful pets, we all know that everyone's life has peaks and valleys. Luckily, my job this morning is to write my annual Thanksgiving post, and list some things that I am thankful for, a process that we know is a great way to boost one's mood. I got started by reading some of what I've written in year's past, and that in itself buoyed my spirits. How life has changed since I wrote in 2011 about Willie's recovering enough from his surgery to be able to play, and in 2015 about the potential publication of my memoir. In 2016 I added a list of things I'm not Read More
New York, New York–It’s a Wonderful Town
"The Bronx is up and the Battery's down..." (Remember that song?) Jim and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago and New York City. The trip originated with an invitation to speak at Google's New York office. That was the "mystery trip," a mystery because the talk is for Google employees only, and the speaker is not allowed to publicize it to keep it in house. I was gratified to be asked, but honestly had no idea what to expect. I knew it was a lunchtime talk for employees, and was told not to expect many people. But, hey, it's Google NY after all. I read online that the office space was amazing, including super healthy cafeterias and food stations everywhere, lots of nooks and crannies for working privately or small meetings, and most importantly for sure, a dog friendly Read More
Trust Me; I’m Coming Back
One of the issues readers have asked me to address is how to help a dog feel comfortable when being left at a kennel or a friend's while they are away on a trip. It’s a great question, and is especially relevant now that the GREAT ROLLER COASTER OF HOLIDAYS is looming ahead of us. (You do have your Thanksgiving dinner made and all your Christmas presents purchased and wrapped, yes?) I’m going to expand my answer to include teaching dogs in a variety of contexts that they are not being abandoned because their owner has to leave them in an unfamiliar place. This seems like a reasonable fear, although perhaps not in the sense of "my owner is deserting me" but rather "My owner just walked away and I have no idea what is going to happen next". How would an adult dog dropped off at a Read More