One of the segments on the BBC show The Secret Life of Dogs that generated several interesting comments was the segment that showed "Betsy," (not her real name, you gotta love that some dogs now have 'nom de plumes') retrieving an object after being shown just a photograph of it. Wow. That truly is amazing. It got me to thinking about the trouble I had a year or so ago when I tried to teach Willie to discriminate between toys based on a name. For over a year he'd been told to "Go get your toy," and he'd pick out whatever toy he liked best that was nearby. When I tried to teach him to touch or pick up a toy based on a different word ("ball" or "rope"), he became hopelessly confused. He became so stressed over the entire operation that I dropped it and went on to teach him other things. My Read More
The Secret Life of Dogs
There is a great BBC special on dogs on YouTube, (sent to me by an alert reader, thank you!). I spend so much time in front of my computer that I rarely want to watch an hour long show on it . . but this time I sat down and didn't move for 60 minutes. It's called The Secret Life of Dogs, and it's great. Hands (and paws) down, great. It has sections on Miklosi's work on dog barks (people are very good at discriminating between barks given in 6 different contexts), Juliane Kaminksi's work on the ability of dogs to follow a pointing gesture (which chimps and wolves do not seem able to do), Belyaev's & Trut's work on selection for docility in foxes (resulting in a profound number of physical as well as behavioral changes which basically result in domesticated foxes in 20 generations), and Read More
Thanksgiving
I am grateful for so much. I often spend time every morning thinking about what I am grateful for, but it seems especially meaningful at this time of the year. Here's just a few of the many things I have to be thankful for: I am grateful for Willie's smiling face and his pink tongue. I am grateful for the times when he sends his joy spinning out into the universe. I am grateful to have Lassie still in my life and to be anticipating her 16th birthday party. I am grateful for the black circle around her eye, and the little brush of black on her ear. I am grateful for Sushi's soft, creamy fur, her cat ears and her cat eyes and the fact that she is so very different from my dogs. I am thankful for every day that I get to spend with her. I am becoming more allergic to her every week, Read More
Trouble Brewing, II
A few days ago I wrote a post on how to handle signs of impending trouble if you see it in someone else's dog (Please Believe Me, Trouble Brewing!) I asked for comments from other pro's on how they handle this situation, and from owners on how they would like it handled. The comments sent in response have been so helpful and interesting I thought this topic deserved another post. Here is an admittedly brief summary of how readers responded (see the original post for their complete comments and suggestions): PLEASE TELL US! Several people wrote in with sad stories of clear problems that trainers or vets never mentioned when the dog was younger. Many people wished that someone had said something to them sooner. The trick is how and when you say it (read on!) KINDNESS Oh please please Read More
Dogs and Kids
WRITTEN MID-JULY, POSTED WHILE I'M IN AFRICA: I recently spent three evenings with Jim's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter Taylor, and so the issue of kids and dogs is near and dear to me right now. I also, in that serendipitous way of the world, just received a question about how to find help for a Boxer who growled at a grand child from the post Who Should Treat Behavioral Problems. Young children and dogs can be the best of friends, or the worst of enemies. There's just no way around it, to some dogs, kids can be unpredictable, rude, and/or frightening. And surely, to some kids, dogs can be unpredictable, rude and/or frightening. Given that, here's some generic advice, sprinkled with specifics from Will's encounters with Taylor. 1) Never live in the land of Read More
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