A quick post today, trying to catch up before I leave for Toronto on Friday. Sunday at the BFF conference was great, I’ll write a post soon about Pam Reid’s talks on cognition, her talk about stress, and Emily Levine’s talk on compulsive disorders in dogs. All of them were great, very valuable. I thought this conference had the highest level of talks I’ve seen, and many others seemed to agree.
Although it’s hard to pack up and go before you have your paws on the ground, I’m very much looking forward to meeting folks in Toronto, and to traveling to Seattle to speak in mid-September. It is hard to turn around this fast when you’ve been traveling, leaving the farm and the dogs, sheep and Sushi, I won’t pretend it’s not, but I do meet such interesting people and always learn so much.
I get all the benefits later in September when I give the same talk I gave at BFF on “The Power of Pets” in Madison WI on September 23rd, a fund raiser for the Dane County Humane Society. I get to meet lots of great people in my own backyard (no airports!) and talk about a topic I love: the biology and psychology of why we love our dogs soooooo much. Please come up and say hi if you are a blog reader (and thanks for all of you who did in Pennsylvania, I LOVED meeting you and seeing real faces behind the people out there in cyberspace.) You can get tickets from DCHS for just the evening talk or, you can also come to the reception beforehand. The numbers are limited so we’ll all have enough time to talk. If you come to the reception, PLEASE bring a photo of your pet, nothing would make me happier than to coo over your dog or cat!
Here’s a photo from BFF of all the speakers and the organizers, Dana and Carolyn. I am using the one in which we are all cracking up, because that’s pretty much what we looked like when we went to dinner together every night. I suppose this is where I should thank Suzanne Hetts and Nancy Williams for introducing me to a Peachtini. Always glad to add one more fruit serving to my nutrition for the day. (Not to mention adding about 3 pounds. My only complaint about the conference is that if you add Pia Silvani, Suzanne Hetts, Nancy Williams and Pam Reid up together, you would still barely manage a Size 2. I said I was representing the cows of Wisconsin.)
From left to right, back row: Dana Crevling, conference organizer queen who lost her soulmate dog the same day that Pia lost hers. Together they decided to do something to honor them. Next is Carolyn Barney who was a invaluable help in the organization, Nancy Williams, Pia Silvani, Trish King, yours truly, and Vinnie Castalano. In the front is Suzanne Hetts, Pam Reid and Emily Levine. Not pictured are the legions of wonderful people from St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in NJ, who did tons of work. It looks like we raised lots of money for St. Hubert’s and that felt great to all of us.
Teri says
I’m sure traveling is hard for you but I am soooooo looking forward to seeing you in Seatle in september. I have a good friend going to see you in Toronto so we are looking forward to comparing notes :o).
Karen says
Trish, you are amazing! I don’t know how you find the time to do all that you do. You travel, lecture, teach, write books, teach dogs, run a farm and bake awesome pies! And you still have time to keep your blog readers up-to-date on news. We have just got to get you to Colorado!!!!! Dr. Hetts is in Denver so maybe we can get you two to do a seminar here.
MJ says
Hurray, a local event! Glad to have a heads-up on it.
Debby says
I can’t wait to hear what they said, I was so mad I couldn’t make it. So many good speakers and topics. When I thought I could make it, I couldn’t decide wich lectures to attend. Oh well, hopefully there will be something like this again in the northeast. I always enjoy your blog and hope to meet you one day. I will bring pics! Safe travels.
Tammy says
Trish, You are AWESOME, this was my first time hearing you in person (@BFF) and WOW, I was so in awe, I could have sat and listened to you for days. I would just love to have a touch of the knowledge you have on dogs and their behaviors. I have all of your books and DVD’s and love them all. You are quite an inspiration to all of us that have the same bond and love for our pets. Can’t wait to see you again.
Electric Landlady says
I so wish I could come to the Toronto seminar! I was all signed up and then I got invited to a wedding (in Montreal) that I really have to go to. I hope you’ll be back. (The timing would have been great, too, considering my dog just got chomped by a 1-year-old unneutered male Golden Retriever twice his size on a canoe trip… sigh. Mr. Does Not Know When To Back Down and I need to do some work.)
trisha says
Thanks Tammy and Karen! Ummmmmm.
And I can’t resist, while taking a break from working on the Toronto seminar, to post a great example of the kind of generic comments that bloggers get sent daily by people who are trying to boost up their networking/Google ratings. They send them to hundreds of blogs a day. Here’s one that came in today, a favorite for it’s specificity and clear passion for dogs and dogs training:
This is among the most outstanding blogs Ive understand inside a very long time. The amount of info in here is spectacular, like you practically wrote the book on the issue. Your weblog is excellent for everyone who wishes to fully grasp this issue additional. Great stuff; please maintain it up!
And so, to all of you out there, I repeat: “Maintain it up!”
Pike says
Haha! Your favorite generic blog comment sounds exactly like the output from some electronic translation device – the kind they use for translations of operator manuals! Maybe it was originally made in Japan or Germany 🙂
Eric Goebelbecker says
It was great seeing you again! What a great conference and what great work you and the other speakers did for St. Hubert’s! Thank you!
Kitt says
Hey, Patricia, I suspect you know this guy (or of him, at least, because of your tamarin research):
Marc Hauser, a Harvard academic who gained prominence with the publication of a book on the origin of morality, has gone on leave after an investigation by the university into problems with his research. Dr. Hauser, whose field is the comparison of human and animal minds, is the author of
Renae Masenten says
Our dog used to be so out of control with all the whining but time (and alot of patience) really paid off with the crate training.