Trust-based training and pet care. Pet sitting. Pet dog, Service dog, therapy dog and emotional supp
I’d love to have a conversation about avoiding over heating in dogs. We all know that it can be a life or death issue for all dogs, but the fact is that my Skip overheats easily. Very, very easily. It may be that his bad heart is the only factor, or perhaps there are others, […]
Social fears in dogs are linked to less socialization, less exercise, fewer activities with the owner, and less training, survey shows.
So, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration seems to be doing well.
PDF | For the past several decades the mantra for the age of spay/neuter of dogs not intended for breeding was around 6 months---maintained on the basis of pet population control, as well as beliefs in prevention of mammary and some other cancers and prevention of some behavior...
A dog names Baru just ascented a Himalayan peak.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-first-dog-ascent-of-a-7-000-meter-himalayan-peak?utm_source=pocket-newtab
We don’t want to hear about the time your dog did a fourteener. Mera, recently renamed Baru, made the first canine ascent of Nepal’s 23,389-foot Baruntse in November 2018.
In its continuing commitment to increase transparency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine is announcing today the availability of data from over 30 years of adverse event reports related to animal drugs and devices used in animals.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/03/dogs-illness-detection/584614/
Dogs can act like illness psychics.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/what-the-crow-knows/580726/
What science can tell us about how other creatures experience the world
Interesting discussion with another trainer who asked me, "Since the the writing of your book Bones, have your thoughts, philosophies, definitions changed in regard to leadership, status/hierarchy?"
I finished Bones in 2000. So 18 years later, would I go in and change my comments re status/hierarchy and leadership? Nope. Social animals are still social animals, and social status and hierarchies are still very real, though "positive trainers" would really like that not to be true.
Have I ever subscribed to the notion of a rigid "pack" hierarchy? Nope. Healthy social groups are far too fluid, and status can be both relative and dynamic as well as situationally responsive. I may be in charge during the seminar hours, but you bet that status granted to me by attendees goes right out the window when a cop pulls me over for a broken taillight.
Status is real. But it only matters when there is conflict (or potential conflict). My goal remains finding the path to a conflict free, cooperative and mutually satisfying relationship. My book, Finding A Balance, has been updated and is now back in print. It addresses head on the realities of power in relationships.
Sapolsky and deWaal are two great starting points for thinking about status and its fluidity in the social animal. For Sapolsky, he's looking at wild olive baboons; deWaal did a lot of research with captive chimps and other primates. The individuals involved, the situation(s) they find themselves in, the availability of resources and so much more play a part in the complex dynamics. Endless fun, watching and learning about the complexities and paradox inherent in social animals.
Our dogs live in a world of nuance. We understand them best when we also seek nuanced understanding. Pretending status does not exist in social animals does not help them. Throwing out overly simplified constructs - well, that's always a good idea!
Thanks, Gregory Lagios, for the interesting question.
Animal Drug Safety Communication: FDA Alerts Pet Owners and Veterinarians About Potential for Neurologic Adverse Events Associated with Certain Flea and Tick Products Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing options Linkedin Pin it Email Print September 20, 2018The U.S. Food and Drug Administration....
Time for a bit of honest reflection about the shock collar. Call it what you want. Bark collar. E-collar. Remote training collar.
I'm going to call it a one-way trip to the bank for the makers, who are rubbing their hands together making money hand over fist for something that fails.
Tuesday morning, a dogue de bordeaux in my neighbours' garden came barrelling down towards us as I walked my three back home. There was an audible beep from the very recognisable collar and he stopped dead at the gates. The gates open into their horse field which is sealed off by 1.5m high posts around which there are two layers of electric fencing. I will say my heart skipped a beat.
This morning, the dog sees us from outside the house. He races to the boundary and I hear the beep. I guess he does because I'm a distance away. But he doesn't stop. He just keeps running. Into the horse field. I'm praying the electric fence is on (first time I've ever prayed an animal will get shocked) because he's coming at us at such a pace that he isn't going to stop. He comes to the electric fence and he kind of ducks, but it catches him anyway and he yelps. He's now limping as he runs the last 50m towards us, yelping and barking, and growling.
I now have three dogs on leads and a dog racing towards us who is not going to back off. He outweighs my biggest by 20kg or so and now he's MAD. He's furious and angry and hurt and he's still coming.
Luckily, my super duper super social Flika saves us. I'm running my other two to the next neighbours and get them behind the gate. Luckily she has proper fences. I get Tilly and Heston inside and Flika is off in the mayhem. She capers off and intercepts the furious dogue de Bordeaux and, God love her, she starts her flirty circling. He's stopped dead in his tracks as my flirty 14 year old girl does the unexpected.... she tries to play with him. I make a slip lead out of her lead and catch him, marching him back up past the horses, Flika still trying to play with him, and up the driveway to the gate.
Only thing is that bloody collar beeps. He stops dead in his tracks. I try to take the collar off but he's neck sensitive and I'm trying to pull at the catch. I'm yelling for the neighbour to get his arse out of his house and the DDB has planted himself squarely. No coaxing and no cajoling can get him to approach the gate, not with that blessed beeping every time he gets near. All the rage and territorialism that fuelled his escape has now gone.
Eventually, I wrench the collar off. But he still won't approach the gate.
In the end I have to take him back to my own home, secure him in the chicken pen, retrieve my own dogs, including my Mighty Interceptor, put them safely in the house, go up to the neighbours and knock on the door - they come out completely oblivious to everything - and I hand them the collar.
"Your dog is in my chicken pen," I say. "He won't come up your path."
They're mortally embarrassed.
Frankly, I don't care less. I've had to walk past their property worrying about the security of that electric fencing and the electric collar and hidden electric sensor system. I'm not rude, but I'm angry.
Now I don't deal in what ifs and could haves. It's a main road. You don't need me to explain what could have happened. If I hadn't had Flika extricate herself and intercept... if I hadn't got him on a lead... if he'd been aggressive towards me... if I hadn't been quick enough to get to my neighbours' gate... if my neighbour's gate had been locked...
But let's be honest. Luck and the super interception saved the day. I can't speculate about it would have been a bloodbath or even a real fight. I'm not going to say the dog would have bitten or that there would have been a fight.
Nope.
What I will say is this: that electric system failed this morning. It failed twice.
He's not the only dog in the village who has been let down by a shock collar.
The bark collar fails to stop the breton spaniel over the way from barking. It's so useless in fact that he barks less without it (mainly because he's less wound up without the added stimulation) and I managed to convince his owners that he'd bark less if he couldn't see out. They put up a screen and guess what? The dog barks less. Now my dog also barks less. That's kind of cool. The DDB also barks less, and so does the breton down the road.
But the makers of these devices don't tell you how often they fail and how often they let dogs down.
If my box of magic stuff (food, toys, functional reinforcers, internal motivators, natural drives, praise, contact and environmental reinforcers) fails, dogs in my charge are always in a safe enough environment that nothing really bad happens. No dogs get lost. No dogs are injured. No bites occur. No dogs get hit by cars.
But what happens when that 'failsafe' electric shock system fails?
Your dog starts barking. Not a catastrophe.
Your dog escapes. And then they don't want to go back home. Now depending on why you don't want them to escape, that could mean various things: dangerous roads, dangerous animals, being a danger to animals, being a danger to people.
Don't put your trust in devices when the stakes are so high. I don't, with my bits of ham and my squeaky toys.
Yet loads of people trust these devices, when I see time and time that they fail.
Why do they fail though?
Let's first talk about 'punishment' as it applies to behaviour. If we want to reduce a behaviour like escaping, poor recall or barking, a shock collar is one way some people use to get quick results.
The problem is that it has to be horrible enough for a dog to think "woah, I don't want to do that again!"
And to pair it up with a warning tone, you need a few times of it being paired. Pavlov didn't ring his little bell once and find automatic salivation. So you've got to have a history of shocking your animal. That means you can't trust them straight off.
But also, the effects of punishment diminish over time. In fact, the horrible side of science proved that rats will work for shock if the rewards are great enough. How crappy is that? Shock a rat and follow it by something intensely pleasurable and it will link the shock up with the pleasure and choose to shock itself.
Unethical science at its worst.
But what it tells us that you can't have your dog follow the shock by something that it really wants. So if your dog is escaping to play, to chase or to have fun, the power of the beep and shock over time will diminish and also they will just turn into cues of great stuff.
So that's why they fail for pleasure seekers.
What about aggression like the territorial DDB (who was just doing his job by the way, in lieu of having actual instruction from his owner) Well, do you think you'll like the crappy thing MORE or LESS if every time you see it you get a shock? Will it make you feel better or worse if every time you see the crappy thing that you hate, you ALSO get a shock?
And it makes you more fearful. Fear often fuels anger and aggression (because a territorial dog is afraid the other dogs will impinge on its turf or will threaten them) and so what you have is a dog whose shock collar is little by little losing its magic power and then - bam - the shock pales into significance compared to the crappy thing.
Our shelter has a local pound attached, responsible for around 200,000 people's pets. How many strays come into the pound with a shock collar? Yes... a fair few. They fuel aggression and fear... they are unsafe and their capability diminishes over time, and relying on them to recall your dog or keep your dog in an unfenced property is just insanity.
What I want to know is what my neighbour will do next. Two shock collars? A chain in the garden? And all the time, all the dog needs is a secure run that would cost less to have created than all his expensive gadgets.
So if you rely on shock collars, think about the potential consequences if it fails.
And if you're thinking of investing, remember that they fail far more often than anyone will let on. If you don't believe me, I'll send you our photographs of the collars we've removed from unclaimed dogs in the pound this year.
Amended: don't forget, if dogs' feet leave the floor when they jump over a fence or invisible boundary, they're no longer earthed and the shock will also no longer work. A dog that can clear a physical tape or slide under it would also be an issue. And yes, if your electric fencing is connected to the mains, if your power trips or you have a power cut, it's another time these 'devices' fail us.
Or...
Invest in some great training and a bit of environmental management instead.
I have had a small number of clients whose pets have found great relief with medication, but in each case, multiple behavioral solutions were always tried first.
A psychiatrist looks at how the meds he prescribes humans are also used for pets.
"He Just Wants to Say Hi"
Suzanne Clothier's great article about dog-dog meetings. https://suzanneclothier.com/article/just-wants-say-hi/
Phobias may be memories passed down in genes from ancestors
Memories may be passed down through generations in DNA in a process that may be the underlying cause of phobias
Animal Farm Foundation
Thanks to BarkBox for spreading the word that an amazing dog can change a person's life in so many beautiful ways.
Smiling human faces are attractive to dogs, thanks to oxytocin
Researchers found that oxytocin made dogs interested in smiling human faces. It also made them see angry faces as less threatening. Associated with affection and trust, the hormone oxytocin is probably a key factor in the interaction between dogs and humans.
The Dodo
This amazing service dog knows EXACTLY how to take care of his mom after her brain injury 👏👏👏
We know all about this in our house.
In patients with sleep apnea, nightmares, narcolepsy, parasomnias, and other sleep disorders, service animals may add a valuable treatment option.
The answer to my years' old question as to whether a cat's whiskers get longer if they get wider.
Whether being used to aid navigation, warn of incoming predators or mop up milk, whiskers are an important addition to a cat's senses.
The Ultimate Guide to Financial Aid for Pets - The Simple Dollar
There are many organizations dedicated to helping pet owners in need. Find resources in your state & get help with our guide to pet financial aid.
Your Dog Knows Exactly What You're Saying
Until now, scientists didn't know that the canines understand both our words and the tone in which we say them.
Dogs really can smell your emotional state
Not only can dogs tell when you're scared, but they can adopt the emotional state they sense in you.
Suzanne Clothier
Just the other day I was asked by someone I consider to be sensible and fair what I thought of training their dog to become a "service" dog so the dog could go everywhere with them. While I understand the emotions behind wanting your dog to go everywhere, I was shocked to even be asked this.
I know that's a naive response coming from me -- I see what i suspect to be fake service dogs everywhere I go. To be fair, they could just extremely poorly trained service dogs with lousy temperaments for the work. Either way, the world is suddenly chock full of "service dogs."
This is a real problem for real service dogs who work for people with real needs. This article by Wes Siler does a terrific job of taking a look at the problem, and what might be solutions. I really appreciate that he's coming from a dog lover's point of view.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2236871/stop-faking-service-dogs
What a Border Collie Taught a Linguist About Language
The whistles that a shepherd uses to command her dog sound a whole lot like human language.
http://nautil.us/issue/50/emergence/how-we-really-tamed-the-dog
Suppose you wanted to build the perfect dog from scratch. What would be the key ingredients in the recipe? Loyalty and smarts would…
Tapping Into A Dog’s Senses Can Be the Most Powerful Tool to Keep Them Happy
Massages sound just as good to dogs as they do to you.
Program aims to change public perception of pit bulls and pair them with police
Six dogs from shelters, all part pit bull, will head to police and sheriff's departments and correctional facilities across the country
A new program pairing child-abuse victims with dogs helps with healing
“One of the things we know from the research is when kids are around dogs and they have that interaction, it increases the chemical in the brain called oxytocin.”
Having an open-minded personality manifests at a basic level of visual perception
People who score highly on Openness to Experience (a Big Five personality trait) seem to see the world differently, at a very basic level. By Christian Jarrett
I will be the first to admit that I've had some truly awkward moments with my service dog- having her crawl into the stall next to mine i...
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