Our good friend Debby G came to visit recently, with a report on how her dog Monty was doing. Monty was found on a porch a year ago spring, starving and close to death. Here's a photo of the poor thing soon after he was found. Not surprisingly, although physically healthy now, Monty has a lot of fears, including even the sight of another dog. The good news is that Debby is a dedicated dog owner, and that she has a great team of trainers helping her. Her primary goal is to walk Monty down the street without him freaking out every time he sees another dog. They are making good progress, walking in parallel with one of those worth-his-weight-in-gold Goldendoodles who is stable, unreactive and probably hoarding dog food to deliver to rescue organizations if he could just get a hold of Read More
Archives for 2019
Spay-Neuter or De Sex?
Years ago, I was in the Scotland at a reception kicking off a conference on animal welfare. I was introduced to the group by my host as an "American Ethologist." There was a smattering of welcoming applause in greeting, and then a kindly-looking gentleman approached me, asked if he could get me a glass of wine. He returned, passed me my glass and said: "You Americans are butchers." I had meant to sip my wine, but now I began gulping it. I had no idea what he was referring to but my mind went to American foreign policy. I said nothing, while he went on to say he was appalled that Americans de-sex their dogs and cats as a matter of course, no matter how healthy they were. "That's disgusting," he told me. "Should young girls have their sex organs removed to prevent the possibility of Read More
Adventures at the Midwest Championship Sheepdog Trial
Holy Moly, Batman, the Wisconsin Working Stockdog Labor Day Trial really is held on the biggest, baddest course in the Midwest. What you see below is only part of it, I don't have a wide enough angle to show you the whole thing. The dog and handlers begin the course standing far to the right, way out of the photo, and in the Open class, the sheep are actually set out far on the left, up at the top of the hill you can see at the edge of the picture. Here's a recap of our adventures: First Run, The Good: Maggie did okay, in her second attempt at running on an Open course, on a ridiculously challenging course with what turned out to be extremely difficult sheep. She found the sheep, which in itself was a major victory. I couldn't see her for about 2/3 of her run because of the Read More
Communication, Plus and Minus.
Bark magazine recently had an interesting article about a dog trained to a series of vibrations instead of verbal or visual cues. Tai, a Labrador retriever, wears a vest that allows the handler to signal him through different types of vibrations--pulsed or steady--placed above different legs. In other words, a pulsed vibration over the right front leg might mean back up, a steady one over the left hind might mean lie down. (Note to those of you going on electric collar alert (pretty much like I did): These are truly described as vibrations, similar to what you feel when your phone is on vibrate.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofNjevpHdX0 An expensive motorized vest is hardly something that most of us need or want for our dogs, but it could be a boon for dogs working in noisy Read More
The Books on My Bookshelf
Holy moly, Batman, the books on my night stand are piling up. Here's a sample: OUR DOGS OURSELVES, by Alexandra Horowitz. (Released September 3rd, but available for pre order.) This thoughtful book by the author of The Inside of a Dog and Being a Dog deserves to be read by dog lovers everywhere. I say that, full disclosure, not having read the entire book yet. An "advance readers edition" came several weeks ago, and I will admit to, at first, feeling a bit wary of how much new information it would contain. But then I started reading it, and this is, bravely and insightfully, a book that goes far beyond the usual musings about our relationship with dogs. One early chapter is titled "Owning Dogs," and explores our contradictory relationship with dogs--legally defined as property Read More
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