Not going to write much, am a bit tuckered from doing an all day seminar at Happy Tails in Portland and an evening speech at Planet Dog in Portland, Maine. Both events were hosted by great folks and had educated, informed audiences that were a joy to work with. The talk at Planet Dog was on play (appropriate for a company that makes dog toys, hey?) and reminded me how interesting play is to biologists. It’s common in many species, it’s dangerous and injurious and no one really knows what makes it worth all the risks. Especially relevant to our relationship to dogs is our mutual love of “object play,” which is not very common in most species. There are exceptions, (river otters, etc.), but few species are as obsessed as dogs and people are about balls, frisbees, etc. I’m inspired for my next seminar in July in California–an entire morning on play. What fun.
The seminar was on dog-dog reactivity, both between unfamiliar dogs and dogs within the same household. The demo dogs were great and the audience was truly lovely to work with. I am, however, a bit droopy, and I’m committed to keeping my laptop shut for TWO ENTIRE DAYS (oh my!) and visit a dear friend in New Hampshire. I’ll be back in the ‘world’ on Wednesday. My sincere thanks to all my hosts and helpers… you were great.
Meanwhile, back at the farm: I MISS MY DOGS! (and Jim, and Sushi, and sheep……)
Here are some photos for you:
Okay, this is a trite shot of boats in a harbor, but it sure looks different than the farm!
Here’s some of the good staff at Planet Dog in their retail store. The place makes me want to retire and do nothing but play with my dogs!
This license plate is thanks to the work of BOTH Planet Dog AND Happy Tails (and others), who worked to get a state license plate whose income goes to shelters and animal care. How cool is that? Shouldn’t we do this in other states?
“See” you next week….
Trisha
Marie says
The seminar was fabulous. I am SO grateful to Planet Dog and Happy Tails for having you. Thanks for signing my book too. Sorry that I forgot to say that when we finished speaking as I was distracted by the topic. (lip tucks) I hope I wasn’t to distracting as I hung around afterwards evesdropping while you signed books and answered questions. I have found I can get alot of great extra info doing this at seminars. I usually find other peoples questions far more interesting than my own.(Is evesdropping rude at a public event?) I also hope you have a great visit with your friend and a safe trip home. Thanks for coming to Maine!!
Marjorie Goodson says
A huge thank you for today in Portland. I have arrived back home in the White Mountains, fed my horse, Willie, and let out my labs, Lily and Luna. I feel melted, but so inspired from my day. When you are at Squam Lake, feel free to come up north. Just give send an e-mail.
Your depth of knowledge, research base, and ability to communicate with people and dogs is an awesome combination. Again thank you for coming our way.
Marjorie Goodson, (front row in pink, sitting beside Wendy and Lizzie)
R.L. says
A couple of the Humane Societies here in Montana have sponsored plates which means if people choose that plate and pay the extra $20 then $3 goes to that Humane Society. Since mine isn’t one of them I chose the Montana Spay and Neuter Task Force license plate.
Robin
Kait B. Roe says
Patricia, thank you, thank you, thank you… for coming to our little berg! I do hope (if you could) you had a lobster or some seafood! The talk on Thursday was great fun and I have already started getting Levi, our little Aussie mix, to understand when “Enough” means enough. He isn’t obsessed with play, but he does (at 5 months) get pretty wound up with tug and so helping him learn to modulate his arousal level is a wonderful “trick”!
Just so you know, I am the one whose girlfriend bought my way into the seminar for her anniversary gift to me. I don’t think I could ever match that amazing gift!
I do wish you would retire here… according to Forbes, this is the best city in which to make your home, and though we don’t have any sheep farms on Munjoy Hill, there is plenty of land in the nearby ‘burbs, to have a nice little farm house with sheep.
Blessings to you and yours, and thanks again for giving us the tools we need to have better relationships with our dogs – and quite possibly everyone else!
Fondly, Kait, Britt and Levi
catherine frost says
Bye from Portland!
So sorry to see you go. We thoroughly enjoyed your visit and took away so much from it. People flocked to the Company Store after your seminar at Happy Tails and raved about the session. Thank you!
Wet kisses to your pups ~
The Planet Dog Team
janiceenberg says
I feel I might introduce my self here. My name is Kate, I’m a newbie here, someone told me that i might find some good information here so… basically that’s why I’m here, and for any good advice i might get also… hope to have good time here
Candy Blakeslee says
And Planet Dog Toys are made right here in the USA! Enjoy your time off.
Kaffa says
Hi
Just found your website … remember you from so many years ago at Wiz Kid Dog Camp (that should take you back a few years!!!) … anyway enjoying browsing around and reading your articles again … hope you had a wonderful time in NH and wonder if your dear friend was also someone I consider a dear friend Julie D
Also please know that Virginia has an animal friendly plate that incoporates “revenue sharing” back to the locality of the vehicle owner. So we can help our local SPCA by purchasing this style of plate!
Kaffa
John N says
Could you direct me to the best resources for learning about “dog-dog reactivity”? I adopted a pair of rescue corgis who were in a home together but are not socialized well with “other” (unfamiliar) dogs. Any help would be appreciated.
JN
Tammy says
I apologize for the length of this comment, but I was lucky enough to attend both the Planet Dog and Happy Tails presentations and truly enjoyed them both. Your knowledge, sense of humor, and most of all, your graciousness as we all descended on you for questions and comments during breaks, were wonderful. You were even better in person than the image I got of you through your books and columns!
I recently graduated with a Psychobiology degree and wish to pursue animal behavior further. However, at this time, I am torn between wildlife and domestic animals as they both interest me. Although, why does it have to be one over the other I suppose?
That is one reason why I was extremely disappointed when my boss would not allow time off for the Botswana trip at this time (even when I offered to take it unpaid!). Since completing a wildlife conservation internship in Kenya, I have been itching to get back to Africa. Botswana would have been a dream come true by having not only your presence and expertise, but also Dr. McNutt’s insight. African wild dogs have become one of my favorite carnivores since I saw them at the Bronx Zoo and being able to converse with an expert on them would have been amazing. Best wishes for a great trip for you though!
Thank you again for informative and fun seminars and keep up the great work! I came home with some new ideas for my Canaan dog and she has responded quickly to them. It’s amazing what a little patience, some kind words, play time, and oh yeah, treats – lots of good treats – can do! As you said, some things are so simple, we don’t know why we didn’t think of them before. I hope to see you in person again at some point, but in the meantime, I will stay up to date by reading your books, blogs, and columns!
Lauren says
I just wanted to say thanks for you book Feisty Fido. My westie recently developed leash aggression even though she’s been well socialized and meets new dogs all the time. It was totally out of the blue and I was distressed about it. I found your book and it really helped up work on it together and though she’s not “cured” (whatever that means) we recently met some off-leash dogs barreling towards her and there was no growling or snarling, only tail wagging and sniffing. It was great to see, and I really appreciate your research and your thoughtful training ideas.
Head south sometime – Texas perhaps – when you get the chance! I’d love to go to one of your seminars, but will settle for the blog and books since you are so far away!
Trisha says
John: A couple of ideas for dog-dog reactivity are my booklet, Feisty Fido, Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt and Click to Calm by Emma Parsons. Best of luck with your Corgis.. and yeah for you for adopting them. (And good news, this behavioral problem has a high success rate of substantial improvement if the owner has the time and inclination.)
Trisha says
Thanks to all of you who commented about the seminar, it was my pleasure, truly! Tammy, I am SO sorry you can’t go to Botswana this August but I have faith that you’ll get there sometime. After all, I never in a million years imagined I’d be able to go to Africa four times in one lifetime. I am excited both about Kenya and Botswana. Botswana because of the wild dogs for sure, and our contact with the research camp that has been studying them for so long. Kenya because I’ve been there twice before and every time it is absolutely amazing. We’re staying at different camps, mostly tent camps (believe me, you’ve never seen tents like these!) and I can’t wait to be back in a jeep early in the morning, streaming through the fresh air in search of lions and leopards and elephants and birds birds birds!
And to all the folks at Planet Dog, thanks again for being such great hosts and getting the ball rolling. It was their Portland store manager’s idea (Ken Hahn, as good a person as you’ll ever meet) to bring me out for an evening talk and it all fell into place from there. If you haven’t been there, the Planet Dog store in Portland will make you want to retire and do nothing but play with your dog. You are warned. Thanks again to Happy Tails too, for being such great hosts for the seminar.
Kay says
Thanks so much for your Happy Tails seminar; it certainly was well worth the 3-hour drive from Sullivan. I want to tell you about how I was “saved” by using the “U-turn” command a couple years ago. We were on the ferry to Grand Manan with our two Aussies, one of whom was a potential fear-biter who had to wear a muzzle onboard. A lot of us were heading down the wrong stairway at the end of the trip, trying to get to our cars. When the people at the bottom figured out our group error and turned around to head back, I thought “Oh, God, I’m a dead woman.” Then I remembered “U-turn,” which we had practiced. I said “U-turn,” the dogs wheeled and we all went back up. Hooray!!!!!!!!!!
Rhonda Hamerslough says
Any advice on steps to take in getting license plates in my state (Idaho) This is a ‘mountain’ I’d like to fight on. I believe this is an important and great educational venue and fundraising opportunity. Any advice would be appreciated. THANKS for all you do for the animals and lovers of animals of the world.
Bonnie Hensley says
Washington state has license plates that support WA State Federation of Animal Care and Control. It has a cartoon of a dog and cat (the dog is Rover from the ‘Red and Rover’ cartoon strip), and ‘We love our pets’ on the bottom. We got one when we purchased our SUV a few years ago (the one with the doggy nose prints all over the inside back windows).
Bonnie in Snohomish, WA