I was going to write a follow up blog about over marking, but I want to gather a bit more information before I do. I have to say that I've found the comments about over marking absolutely fascinating. I'm going to summarize them next week and will give you a report of what I find. I suspect there won't be any patterns there, given how variable the sex, status and context of markings that have been described, but if that's true, it's interesting in itself. (Keep the comments coming to my last post on the 17th, I'll post my summary next Tuesday.) While I'm working on that and Willie's recovery, here's a laugh for you. This is another video that is just plain funny, and doesn't involve intimidating a dog. And we all know that laughter is the best medicine. Wish I could watch old comedies Read More
The Power of Pee
Last week I talked about John Bradshaw's new book, Dog Sense, which I am enjoying immensely. In it, he discusses why wolf behavior doesn't necessarily predict dog behavior as well as any book I've seen. If you're interested in this issue you definitely want to read this book. In response to last week's post, some thoughtful comments came in about "over marking" behavior, when one dog urinates directly on top of the urine of another. It's traditionally been assumed to be a status-related behavior in which one dog 'covers' the scent of another with his or her own. However, if you look at the behavior closely, it's not at all clear that the hypothesis holds up. Of course, as I've discussed in other posts, the whole concept of dominance has been mis-used and mis-understood by the public Read More
Female Dogs More Attentive than Males?
Well, now, this is interesting. Corsin Muller at the Clever Dog Lab in Vienna believes he has found a sex difference in the attentiveness of dogs to the expected size of a ball. Dogs were brought into a room and were allowed to play with 2 balls, one big and one small. They then were taken out of the room while the researcher set up the experiment. When the dog returned, he or she saw a ball, on the left side of a visual barrier, that gradually moved to the right and eventually behind the barrier itself. After a pause, a same or other size ball appeared on the other side, as if the ball had continued to move to the right and had passed behind the barrier. The experiments scored how long the dogs stared at the ball that appeared on the other side. This is a standard paradigm used in studies Read More
Your Dog on A Book Cover?
As many of you know, Karen London and I are writing a booklet for people who have adopted an adolescent or adult dog. We're hoping it will be useful not just for individuals, but also for shelters and rescue groups, and ultimately for the dogs themselves. Right now our first draft is out to readers, looking for feedback about how to make it as good as it can be, and we're working on the cover. That's where you come in. We've been looking at commercial photographs, trying to find just the right one, and so far nothing has struck us as THE picture. And then I thought of you . . .I know that many of the blog's readers have dogs they've adopted as adolescents or adults, and how cool would it be if we could put one of YOUR dogs on the cover? So here's the deal: If you think you have a Read More
A Valentine to Willie
I've given several speeches lately about why we love our dogs so much, an issue that I think deserves more attention than it gets. Given that Valentine's Day is coming up, it seems appropriate to combine my speculations about our bond with our dogs with a valentine to one of my favorite guys. Here's to you Willie boy, an unapologetically mushy but thoughtful ode to why I love you so much: I love you because the feel and smell of your fur this morning somehow went right to the center of my being and made me feel centered and full and happy. I love you because even though I groused about putting on multiple layers of clothing, once you got me outside it was beautiful, even if it was 4 below. We stood still for a moment, and breathed in the clear air, exchanging breaths with the Read More
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