Chimps with Wolves

I picked up Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D’s book The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs after my mentor recommended it to me with the review of “you’ll look at dogs completely different after reading this.” She was right. This book is phenomenal.

Whereas a lot of dog books talk about how to train our canine companions and give training advice, The Other End of the Leash compares and contrasts how humans and dogs interact with their own species and with each other. As McConnell points out, as humans part of the primate family, we’re so ingrained with certain behaviors that we easily forget that what we find to be socially acceptable isn’t the same in the dog world. McConnell clearly illustrates all the similarities and differences and where we,, as humans go wrong when interacting with our dogs. And she does all this in a reader-friendly way, mixing in anecdotes with scientific research. It’s a fast read and an informative read.

This isn’t a “how to train your dog” book but a “how to understand your dog better” book. She explains how dogs are expert body language readers, why rough primate play can cause trouble when we do it with dogs, how to get your dog to come to you when called, translating “primate speak” to “dog speak” and much more. How many times have we bent down and said, “Come Fluffy. Come Fluffy. Come Fluffy.” only to have Fluffy stare at you awkwardly and unmoving, or repeat “sit” a hundred times, each verbal command getting louder than the last with no results? McConnell explains why and how we can communicate better with our pups.

My favorite section of the book is her chapter on dominance and how social status relates to the behavior of both humans and dogs.  This topic of dominance and being “alpha” definitely wins the Inigo Montoya’s “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means” Award, and trainers and owners a like will benefit from reading the chapter. McConnell explains why dogs prefer a benevolent leader over a status seeking “alpha-wananbe” and why “getting dominant” over your pup can make things worse.

If you really want to understand your dog better — and when we expect our pups to understand English, we should take the time to understand them — pick up The Other End of the Leash. You, and your dog, will be glad you did.

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration is warning dog owners and consumers not to use Merrick Beef Filet Squares for dogs distributed by Merrick Pet Care with a package date of “Best By 111911″ because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

There have been no reports of illness from the treats, but why risk it?

In December 2009, the FDA conducted routine testing of Merrick Beef Filet Squares and detected a positive finding for Salmonella. A follow-up inspection found deficiencies in the packaging and manufacturing processes.

Free come-when-called clinic: January 17th, 1-2pm

For those in the Somerville, MA area (or don’t mind traveling to the city):

City Dog Training in partnership with the City of Somerville will be hosting a free come-when-called clinic at Powder House Park (by Tufts) on Sunday, January 17th from 1-2pm. I’ll be there helping out, so if you’re free come on down and get some free dog training help. Remember, it’s Train Your Dog Month!

Check City Dog Training’s website for weather cancellations.

Note: Staying and coming-when-called are two very important bits of dog training every dog and dog owner should know. Not only does it make the owner’s life a bit easier but it can save the dog’s. So, if you don’t have a strong stay and come-when-called, want to work on it some more or have your dog meet other pups, mark your calendars and come on down

First Weekly Bark of the new year. Onto the headlines!

PETS: Resolove to spend more time with your dog
We all live busy lives. Between work, hobbies, errands and hanging with friends and family, sometimes when we finally have a minute to sit and relax we want to do just that. And our canine companions can suffer for it. This online column gives five ideas on how you can incorporate your every day activities with your dog.

Dogs get bored if they never leave home
It’s cold. A Nor’Easter just blew through your city and there’s a five foot snow drift in the back yard. Tough, I say! Your pup still needs to get out of the house, see the smells and smell the sights. If not, your dog can start unwanted behaviors in an attempt to relieve their boredom. Think of it as doggie cabin fever. This column goes over ways to keep your dog well exercised even during the dead of winter.

And Now for the Star of the Show
Training your dog doesn’t have to be all about “sit”, “down” and “stay.” This piece shows you five fun tricks to teach your pup, including “high five”, “boing!,” “weave” and “bow.”

After the jump, finding dog-friendly vacation accommodations and Vermont dog owners don’t dig city’s deicers.

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As noted in a previous post, the Associate of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) has named January “Train Your Dog Month.” They’ve set up a nice website with some puppy and dog training tips, including “The Benefits of Training,” “The Importance of Socialization,” and “Teach Your Dog to Play with Toys” as well as different uses for every day commands: sit, down, wait/stay, come when called, and walking without pulling.

Training is very important for dogs. Not only can get you more control over what your dog is doing, but by training and working with your pets you build a connection and trust with your dogs. You learn what to expect from your dog and how they’ll react in certain situations and, at the same time, your dog trusts you that when you give a command they do it.

Positive reinforcement or the traditional method?
One decision you’ll have to make will be what method of dog training you’ll want to use with your pup. The two main theories are the old-school/”Cesar Millan” style training and positive reinforcement. There’s heated debate in the training world of which method is best. I prefer positive reinforcement as it uses classical and operant training which is very simple and easy to use. It’s also, in my opinion, more effective as it teaches your puppy how you want him to act, as well as what not to do. I also find it a bit more humane than the older methods but, as in all things in life, it’s important to make sure you’re educated before making a choice one way or the other. You make the decision on what you think is best for you, your family and your dog, but feel free to contact me and pick my brains on the matter if you wish. Here are some blogs and articles I recently found supporting both sides.

Positive Reinforcement
What is Positive Reinforcement Dog Training?
Dogs: Positive Reinforcement Training
Dismantling Cesar’s House of Dominance

“Cesar Millan”/Traditional method
Traditional Dog Training Methods
Cesar Millan vs. Positive Reinforcement with Treats: Must it be All or Nothing?
Treat Training Creates Aggressive Dogs! Cesar Millan is Right!

After the jump, more useful dog training web sites and articles. Get going on “Train Your Dog Month!”

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As I noted in one of my last posts (Winterizing your dog and avoiding winter hazards), I was dogsitting for a couple of friends over Christmas while they enjoyed their “second wedding” in Brazil. Their dog is Zach, a Lab-Border Collie mix that we like to joke has the intelligence of a Border Collie, but the attention span of a Lab. He’s a great dog who enjoys sitting on the couch, curled up in a big black ball of fur with his monkeys beside him. In fact, that’s mostly all he does.

Good ol’ Zach Dog has only two speeds — sit/sleep and walk. He’ll do anything for food and for a walk, but from all the times I’ve seen him he seemed to have no drive or impulse to play. Rope tug-o-war toys are merely just odd shaped pieces of twine  to him and if you throw a discs and or balls, he stares at you like you’re an idiot for throwing the darn thing in the first place. I even tried getting him to chase me after tossing the ball a few yards away and acting like the ball is the greatest object on earth in hopes to getting Zach to play, but nothing. He just stares at you and maybe yawn, bored by your tireless attempts to get him excited and interesting in the toy.

Never thought I’d see the day when a Lab-Border Collie mix wouldn’t want to go running after something… and yet, there’s Zach. Good ol’ Zach.

I tell you all this so you fully understand how important this most recent Christmas was for Zach… and for me as a trainer-in-training.

Kate, Zach and myself made the few hour trek to upstate-NY where my parents now live. Their part of town is pretty rural. Everyone’s backyards are huge and every other house has some sort of dog running around in the backyard. Pine trees line every yard. It’s like dog heaven and Zach being a city-dog must’ve been in smell bliss the entire weekend.

And me being the sucker for dogs that I am, bought Zach a few Christmas gifts — a new Kong, a bullystick (which he loved thoroughly all weekend) and some Bison Bites. Before one of his walks (and he got plenty of walking every day), Kate made him some treat concoction of Biston Bites smothered in peanut butter with some of his kibble sprinkled on top –  it looked like a canine version of something you’d see on Iron Chef America. After he devoured that we took him for a nice long walk, ending it by jogging around the final block (our attempt to get Zach to stop smelling every blade of grass).

When we got back to our house Zach continued to run around like a madman, actually taking part in a game of chase with me and stopping once in a while to fall in a semi-play bow. This went on for a few more minutes before we took Zach in where he continued to play (that’s right, I said it, play) chase in the house, chasing me up and down the stairs and running from one bed to the next and going into a play bow.

What caused Zach to finally play is a bit of a mystery to me. We couldn’t get him to run around and play chase the next day. Maybe it was the jogging at the end of the walk, Kate’s superdogtreat, all the smells and open space that upstate-NY provides, or some other unknown variable. Mostly likely it had nothing to do with me learning to be a trainer.

But, at least for a few minutes, Zach played.

It was a Christmas miracle.

This week’s Doggie Headlines:

Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man’s best friend
According to a new study, dogs are worse for the environment than cars. The study was conducted by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale. Their conclusion was a medium sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) — around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4×4 driving 6,200 miles a year, including energy to build the car. The results were confirmed by another scientist who used his own data.

Personally, I wish I was only driving 6,200 miles a year. I’m probably twice that amount (sadly, but bills must be paid), so the disparity between both carbon footprints is much smaller. Also, I think the scientists are looking at it the wrong way. A car is a tool of people and should be looked more as a piece of man’s carbon footprint instead of being compared to a pet… and man’s carbon footprint is much higher than your standard canine. Still, it’s an interesting story and study.

Owner responsibility, not the breed, is key to dogs’ actions
Many people blame the breed when a dog acts up or gets destructive. No breed knows this better than the Pit Bull, which gets a bad reputation for being “aggressive” and “dangerous”, and are constantly being singled out in breed-specific legislation. It’s truly unfair and this column is great at disproving the bad rep Pit Bulls get, especially of late.

Things to know when getting a new pet
With the holiday season comes a wave of pets as gifts. And depending on the motivation and planning put into it, it could be a perfect fit or a bit a complete mismatch. Just like buying a car, it’s important to do your homework before adopting a dog. This column is short, but gives nice bullet points on things to know and consider before bringing home a new dog.

After the jump, are Labs the best choice for a family and a search-and-rescue Border Collie gets some online love after being quarantined.

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As useful as I hope you all find the “Keep your dog safe” posts and news items, I also want this blog to show the fun, amusing and light-hearted side of owning a dog, because, honestly, it’s moments like the videos below that we adopt a puppy from a breeder or save a dog from a rescue. Dogs find endless ways of entertaining us in the most parculiar ways.

Exhibit A: Bulldog puppy, Beatrix. She was about 11-12 weeks (I believe) when I took these videos a month ago, so she’s half the size she is now, but just as fiesty.

Breatrix takes a break from playing, finds interesting place to take a nap

After the jump, two more videos of Beatrix entertainment, including Beatrix showing skills she’s learned from her three cat siblings.

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This week’s Doggie Headlines:

Senate approves funding for service dogs for veterans
Last week, the US senate voted 57-35 in favor for funding of a bill that will provide service dogs to veterans with disabilities. This includes those with mental disabilities as well, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Nice to see our vets getting some canine help when needed.

Study: Dogs beat humans as walking buddies
According to a study from the University of Missouri, people who walk dogs are more consistent about it and are more physically fit than those who walk with people. Doesn’t sound too surprising as dog walking is a must for dog owners, but researchers were surprised when dog-walkers were walking faster at about the time people-walkers were making excuses for staying indoors instead. The NY Times posted a blog story, too.

BBC debuts dog training show
The BBC debuted a new dog training show, The One Man and His Dog. Specifically, this show deals with sheep herding dogs and four handlers vying for herding trophy. Not sure if this is going to be airing on any of the BBC-US stations, but if you’re in the UK or find it online, it sounds worth a glimpse.

After the jump, dogs train inmates (or is it the other way around?) and a two-legged dog gives Army vets a little faith.

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Well I just came inside from shoveling a foot of snow from the sidewalk, cleaned off the car and took Zach for a walk. Zach is a friend’s Lab/Border Collie mix (see the dog in the header-pic, stretching out and showing his dignities) that we’re watching until after Christmas while his owners are in warm, sunny Brazil celebrating their marriage. As much as I love Zach, somehow I think they got the better end of this bargain.

But I digress…

As Kate and I were walking Zach, he started whimpering and hobbling around, his back leg held high in the air like a horse about to give a quick kick. We stopped and I checked our his paw to see what was the matter. I didn’t find anything but it was clear what had happened. He walked through a salt patch.

Despite the pads on a dog’s paw and the fur surrounding it, dog’s paws are very sensitive and things like sand and melting salt — although great for breaking up ice and snow — is irritating to dog’s paws. Many times it’s easy to spot salt and sand patches and the best thing to do is just avoid that bit all together, but sometimes the particles are smaller or in some other way harder to see. To help in this instance, “doggie booties” can be used. Some are made of rubber, others cloth. An example of these is the Paw Tectors Paw Protector and Paws Dog Boots.

The Cocker Spaniel I owned as a kid didn’t take to having anything on her feet, so don’t be surprised if your dog isn’t a fan either. You might have to convince them that the boots are good and fun.

If you need to use salt yourself, I suggest getting some pet-friendly melting salt. You can get them at any pet store, so stock up.

If your dog does walk through some salt, you need to clean the paw out before it hurts your dog more. Not only is it very irritating, but it can also cut your dog and that’s a whole new world of trouble you want to avoid. Also, you don’t want your dog trying to get the salt out itself because if it does, it’s going to use it’s mouth (note: more trouble you want to avoid). So, if your dog does get salt or sand in its paw, clean it out but be gentle. I recommending using a warm, damp rag or towel to clear the pad and between the paw pads.

After the jump, get a quck rundown of other winter hazards to avoid with your pup.

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