What do we do after, to quote a line from the play Hamilton, "The world turned upside down"? I rarely write about current events, but it just feels wrong to not acknowledge the profound effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic. I have several fun topics for posts in the hopper for the near future (how to pick a new dog, how to handle a dog who plays rough, for example), but, like you, our lives here on the farm have been upended by what I am calling "the new abnormal". But it's not all bad. Surely there is a silver lining here for dog and cat lovers--surely we can make lemonade as much as possible? That's what I want to focus on today: How can we pet owners take advantage of the cancellation of so much of the rest of our lives? I should preface this post by saying that everyone has to Read More

    I always have the same reactions after seeing Ken Ramirez speak or watching him train. One: He is an astoundingly good animal trainer, possibly the best I've ever seen. Two: I myself am, by comparison, completely incompetent. Three: I can't wait to go home and train everything. Or anything. Right away. Because I know I'll be better than I've ever been before after watching Ken train. That sums up Ken's brilliance--presenting what he knows in such an organized, thoughtful and benevolent way that you leave his presentations excited, no crazed, to put into practice what you just learned. Rather than feeling discouraged by the gap between his abilities and my own, I always end up feeling inspired. The same thing happened after reading just the first few pages of Read More

Hi. I'm Skip. Tall Two-Leg Female asked me to introduce myself. My name is Skip, and I was born in Ireland. I'll be three years old soon. I am handsome. I very am strong and powerful, so please ignore all those strange sounds that Two-Legs make about "congenital heart malformations" and the fact that I get long tongue and side heaves sooner than other dogs. I am learning to live in the biggest barn ever, with things called couches and dog beds and rugs and cooked chicken in a tall, miraculous box. I learned that we don't scent mark in places like this, although it's hard for us intact males to stop ourselves from lifting our legs. But I am a very good dog, so I don't do that anymore. There is a beautiful bitch who lives here too, called Maggie. I love her very much. She loves me Read More

Dog Parks. No controversy there, right, about the good, the bad and the ugly of them? However, the pros and cons of dog parks are usually discussed inside the dog world, not in a national news outlet like the New York Times. But the Times jumped into the fray, with an article provocatively titled The Dog Park is Bad Actually. The article points out problems that can be found in dog parks, problems that many of us are well aware of: They are lousy places to "socialize" young puppies, they may contain dogs who are not necessarily aggressive (although that too is possible), but are playground bullies who terrorize other dogs like some nasty kids on a playground, they have the potential of spreading disease, there is usually no separation between small and large dogs, which can cause Read More

Just in case you were wondering why I've been a bit quiet... I was kidnapped, but rescued by a bloodhound, so everything is fine. No, that's not right, that's a friend's amusing title to this photo. It's actually me in rapture with the anti-poaching team at the Ole Pajeta Conservancy in Kenya, on an animal behavior focused safari. These brave men have had a significant effect on the poaching of endangered rhinos, thanks to this bloodhound, trained to track people, and an adorable springer spaniel (out of the photo), trained to find guns and ammunition. No poaching attempts in three months. These guys are my heroes, doing a dangerous and vital job!   FYI, I had planned to do a lot more writing, but I sliced my thumb pretty badly last night and typing makes it worse. So, Read More