Eric Goebelbecker

You can twist perceptions / Reality won’t budge / You can raise objections / I will be the judge / And the jury - Rush, “Show Me Don’t Tell Me”

Have you ever seen Patricia McConnell’s blog? Every week she mixes useful training information, her thoughts on behavior, and some fun snippets of information about her farm. It’s what I want my blog to be when it (and I) grow up.

We enjoy an unprecedented ability to share information with people literally all over the world. With what has become pretty much a standard cell phone and a free account on too many web sites to name (without writing an, ahem, unbelievably loooong blog post) one can share words, pictures, and even video containing useful information.

Or not so useful information.

Because what we have we, as a community, used it to do?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “We thought we would get a smaller dog because he would be easier.” It’s even funnier if you’re in the room with a Jack Russell Terrier or a Chihuahua.

Choosing a dog can be tough, whether you are an experienced dog person or a potential first time dog owner. There are both ethical and practical implications. During the next few weeks I am going to go over these issues and provide you with some advice and homework (for when you are looking.)

In 1961 Stanley Milgram conducted his famous experiment. Subjects were led to believe that they were "teachers" and were administering shocks to other volunteers ("learners" — some with heart conditions) for each wrong answer in a memory test. As the test progressed the voltage was gradually increased to 450 volts, and with each increase the "learners" would protest more and more loudly, pounding on walls and screaming in pain. At the same time, the experimenter would urge the "teacher" to continue. Depending on how far the "teacher" was willing to go, the "learner" would eventually stop responding.