It took us two days and driving through the remnants of Hurricane Katia, (with 80 mpg winds) but we finally made it to the Isle of Arran. Once there, we took another ferry to the tiny Holy Isle where we hiked up the two middle mountains in search of the islands unique animals: the Eriskay ponies, Saanen goats, and Soay sheep. I was most interested in the Soay sheep, who are believed to be closely related to the wild-type predecesser of the domestic sheep, the mouflon. I talk about the origins of domestic animals in my UW class, and have lectured about mouflons for years.. and here was my chance to see animals as close as it comes to ancient sheep. And there they were: grazing on the grass right in front of the pier. They were very tame, so we were able to sit and watch them while we Read More
It Works! How to Stop an Approaching Dog in an Emergency.
Here's a familiar story to everyone who has had a dog-dog reactive dog: You're out walking in the neighborhood, your own dog responsibly on leash, when you look up and there is a ___________ (pick one: set of Golden Retrievers, Jack Russel Terrier, Black Lab, trio of Dachshunds) charging toward you and your reactive dog. Many yards behind the oncoming bundle of doom, the owner waves and smiles, shouting "It's okay!!! They love other dogs!!" Meanwhile, you're not fine at all. Holy moly, now what? You know your dog is not going to react well, and you know the other owner has no control over his/her own dogs, who are running toward you. This is when you want to employ what Karen London and I call the "Emergency Sit-Stay" in which you ask your dog to sit and stay behind you while you step Read More
Two New Books — Snack Food and a Five Course Dinner
I thought you might be interested in two books I've devoured lately, as different from each other as a Bichon and a Bouvier, but both wonderful in their own ways. Right now I'm immersed in The Divine Life of Animals by Ptolemy Tompkins, subtitled "One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On." This is not beach reading, it's a serious yet engaging inquiry about whether animals have souls. (Note that he asks that in the book, but answers in a way in the subtitle.) I'm only half way through, but I'm fascinated by it, and love that someone has taken the time to seriously ask the question: "Do Animals Have Souls?" To answer that question, Tompkins first takes us through a comparative survey of how different cultures and religions have perceived who animals really are, and Read More
The Nail Wars
Poor dogs. Some of us think getting a manicure is akin to heaven, but for dogs, getting their nails done is more often like going to hell. I was thinking about this last night while I was working with Willie on nails that grow extra long and extra fast because of his restricted exercise. I just switched him over to a "grinder" (Oster Grinder or Dremel, mine is an Oster) and asked myself this question: "What took me so long?" I used the Oster on both Pippy Tay and Lassie for years and with great success, but was a tad lazy about conditioning Willie to it until now. Although I've only cut into the quick of one of his nails one time, (and then not badly -- but still, I hate it when that happens) and have used buckets of treats while trimming his nails, Willie clearly hated having his nails Read More
Puppies of the Corn?
I just returned from a quick trip to Washington DC, where I was on the Diane Rehm show and taped a segment for Animal House, the WAMU replacement for Calling All Pets. (You can listen to the Diane Rehm interview on her website, and you should check out her show if you haven't yet -- she's such a great radio host and dog lover; I'll let you know when the Animal House segment runs.) I also snuck in a quick dinner with my pal Meg Boscov of MuttMatch who came up from Philly and the next night's dinner with folks from Dream Dog Productions and All About Dogs. During the last dinner, those of us who have been teaching puppy classes for years got to talking about our perception that the pups are getting more difficult, even on the first day of class. Trainers at Dog's Best Friend here in Read More
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