I'm writing this in response to a discussion on a dog trainer's list that occurred recently.  As most doggy people know the use of crates as a form of dog management has increased monumentally over the last two decades.  Back in the day people used dog runs or cages to put their dog in for various reasons - but you wouldn't have seen crates sitting in bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms like you do now.  You wouldn't see so many dogs essentially living their lives in a crate until their owner comes home from work.
 
The crate can easily be misused - as so many dog trainers like to say, "It's not the tool, it's the fool".  Or, "any tool can be misused".  This is true and too many owners (and even many trainers, ouch!) see nothing wrong with confining a dog in a crate all day long and much of the night too.  "It's the quality time that matters", they say, "not the quantity".  I must disagree.

Konnichiwa, dog aficionados. I am sitting here in a hotel room in warm and sunny downtown Tokyo contemplating some talks I am due to give between now and June 1st. The first is on canine aggression and when it comes to owner-directed aggression, the type of aggression formerly known as dominance aggression, I often find myself somewhat stuck for words. A recent article by Sophia Yin in the Huffington Post explains current thinking on the matter and gives some pointers (not German short-haired ones though).  The gist of the article is correct, that physical punishment in dog training is passé and, whatever TV made lead you to believe, is counterproductive.

We have become a culture where low intelligence and shock value rules (think reality shows, dumb and dumber films), and judging others has become a spectator sport. Popular shows like American Idol ferret out real talent, yet there’s an awful lot of nastiness along the way. Let's face it, mean sells. Many internet sites have become festering forums of negativity where those who post their opinions would never dare say those things face to face to the person they’re maligning.

So in this Twitter, Youtube, let’s-all-share-our-every-thought era, I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise that so many people jumped on the Obamas when they dared to purchase a dog from—gasp! A breeder! In this article-- http://www.prweb.com/releases/stop_animal_cruelty/puppy_mill/prweb244369...