Everything is the same, and everything is different. As every year, the multitudes of people who have died in the military deserve, at the very least, our gratitude, our honor and our remembrance. But this time, our thoughts expand to those who have died from Covid-19, and to those who have fought valiantly to try to save them. This will be a short post today, because I simply need the time and the space to find my way through holding profound grief alongside gratitude and joy. That's the challenge of all life, isn't it? Dealing with the juxtaposition of coffins and carousels, untimely deaths and daffodils. Finding a way to hold those contradictory emotions in our hearts, respectfully and fully, requires attention and intention both. Sometimes I think that we pet lovers have Read More
Archives for May 2020
Book Review: Wag — The Science of Making Your Dog Happy
Zazie Todd, the author of Wag, The Science of Making Your Dog Happy, has already made many contributions to the world of animal behavior and dog training. She has her own blog (which I never miss), Companion Animal Psychology, and a column in Psychology Today, "Fellow Creatures". One of the things I like about her work is that she's a science nerd in the best of ways, and her writings are full of research that is both theoretically interesting and relevant to our daily life with dogs. Just as the subtitle suggests, so is Wag, her new book. I hereby admit to having read only some of the chapters, the dogs and the Garden-in-May keeping me busier than I would have expected. (Not to mention what I am now calling Covid Brain, a syndrome in which one finds reruns of beloved TV shows Read More
The Best Exercise For a Dog is Using Its Nose
Maggie, Skip, Jim and I are just back from a lovely hour-long walk this morning. All four of us were serenaded by the songs of a newly-arrived migrating birds, including Yellow and Palm Warblers. Bird photos from Wikipedia, such a great resource. Jim and I gloried in the sights of these gorgeous birds, the French-blue sky after a day of rain, and baby leaf buds springing forth, full of life and promise and hope. While we walked and looked, the dogs walked and sniffed. And sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. Yes, they got some physical exercise--especially good for Skip now that he can take longer walks along with his physical therapy exercises. But mostly what they got was brain food, and I can't think of anything more Read More
The Premack Principle to the Rescue
New dogs always bring new challenges, and besides poor Skip's leg injury, one of ours is his obsession with the cats. Frenzied Feline Focus Syndrome, or FFFS, (I do hope it's clear I made that up) is common in Border Collies, some of who categorize cats as weird, mutated livestock creatures without hooves. Others don't, and it seems to be hard wired. Maggie came into the house at 14 months, having not been exposed to cats either, and immediately became protective of the cats when Willie began stalking them. After being here just a few weeks, and having just recently become comfortable enough with Willie to be loose in the house with him, she darted between Willie and the Nellie, nose bumped Willie, and returned to sit beside Nellie like a body guard. They are best buddies to this Read More