I was just going to get some casual shots of the BCs lying in the sun, when I noticed a trend. Here's the first photo: Followed by the next two: Can't miss it, can you? No matter what I did, clicking or smooching or waving my fingers, Maggie would not look at the camera lens. And no wonder. Here I was, down on my knees at eye level, with this huge, round, black eye staring straight at her. She's much softer than Willie, and easily intimidated, and that flat, black eye-like shape was just too much for her. I've seen this repeatedly over the years, and always assumed it related to dogs perceiving camera lenses as the black, dilated pupils of another animal. Dilated pupils are signs of arousal, and we all know that direct stares can be intimidating. Dogs don't have to Read More
Archives for October 2018
“Non-Traditional” Cue Update
What's in your dog's repertoire? We all know the standard cues we use with our dogs--Sit, Stay, Lie Down, Come. (Some of our dogs actually do too.) But cruising through old blogs led me to this post from 2012 about "non-traditional" cues that some of us use. I was gobsmacked at how many responses it got (182), and also motivated to think about what cues I still use most often. I do indeed ask my dogs to sit, lie down and come when called often, but much more often I ask the dogs to Wait, (One of the commenters called it a 'Soft Stay". Love that.), Get Back (are you listening Mr Willie?), Enough (several folks use All Done) and Settle Down, which means please go somewhere else and chill out. Also Hup for jump, Go Around, Enough, Here (sloppy heel). There are so many other great ideas Read More
Pica in Dogs–Or, Eaten Any Good Rocks Lately?
It's not often that a photograph motivates a topic for the blog, but when friend and colleague Melissa McCue-McGrath sent me this image of her dog Captain, along with a suggestion to write a post on pica, how could I resist? In spite of the amusing photo (no, Captain didn't really drink any booze), pica can be a serious problem. I saw one dog who lived by a rocky outcropping, and ate rocks compulsively. The vet had already done three surgeries to remove them, and said there was too much scar tissue to attempt another. Pica refers to the ingestion of non-food items, often with an assumed compulsive component to it. This isn't too difficult to diagnose in people, but gets a bit trickier in dogs. Animals whose name in Navajo is "eater of horse poop" can hardly be diagnosed with a serious Read More
Joyful-Dog Play Personified
I'm reading a book called Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, by Ingrid Fetell Lee. If you need a lift (who doesn't now?), get yourself a copy of this book immediately. I bought it awhile ago, feeling somewhat abashed that I'd been convinced by slick marketing to spend money on a superficial "feel good" book with little substance. Oh, how happy I am to have been wrong. Joyful is a wonderful combination of stories, experiences and science that truly does have the power to make our lives better, without massive investments in time, energy or money. The author has spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what actually, truly makes people happy, and her conclusions are head-slappingly obvious--once stated--but usually Read More
A Voice
I just can’t write much today. I’m both gutted and enraged by what’s going on nationally related to sexual assault and trauma. I cycle between stunned immobility and anger-fueled empowerment. I've struggled about what to write--nothing? Repeat a post? But the feeling that I had to say something wouldn't go away. And then I realized I’ve already said something. As a matter of fact, I wrote a whole book about it. Here's part of it: From The Education of Will, Healing a Dog, Facing My Fears, Reclaiming My Life: I wasn’t crazy about my job at the nonprofit, but I did enjoy organizing our annual conference. During my last year there, I was also responsible for presenting a talk on the importance of including women in treatment plans for alcoholics. . . An hour before my presentation, Read More