Nicole Wilde

A puppy nips incessantly. An adolescent dog jumps up and practically knocks guests over. A pushy adult grabs food out of a child’s hand. Are these dogs aggressive? No. Obnoxious? Yes. In need of manners training? Absolutely! But they are not aggressive in the true sense of the word.

True aggression carries an intention to cause harm. Unfortunately, although many dog owners notice signs of escalating threatening behavior, nothing is done until there is an actual bite. Sometimes, if the dog is only biting family members, the behavior is tolerated until the dog bites someone outside the family, as that carries the threat of legal action.

I thought I did. It’s the second leading cause of death among dogs, after all. I knew that a potentially fatal thing can happen when a dog’s stomach fills with gas and fluid, and that it’s often accompanied by gastric torsion—a twisting of the stomach. If the dog isn’t given emergency veterinary treatment in time, he will die. Bloat happens most often to deep-chested breeds, although the cause is still largely unknown. The warning signs include a stomach that’s bloated and hard, and dry heaving without the ability to vomit.

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recently released a position paper on the importance of early socialization for puppies. It states that because the first three months of life are the most important time to expose a puppy to new people, animals, things, and places (in a safe and non-threatening way), “...it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated.” The paper goes on to state, “While puppies' immune systems are still developing during these early months, the combination of maternal immunity, primary vaccination, and appropriate care makes the risk of infection relatively small compared to the chance of death from a behavior problem.” Well, hallelujah! I know trainers everywhere will join me in rejoicing at this progressive statement. The paper even recommends having puppies enrolled in group classes prior to three months of age. Imagine if owners took this excellent advice!

A Canadian newspaper recently reported on a study carried out at the University of Victoria. Scientists were interesting in researching the behavioral effects of tail docking in dogs—both on the dogs whose tails were docked, and on the dogs who encountered them.

The men used a life-like robotic dog they deemed “robo-dog” (I can hardly wait for the movie) that resembled a black Lab. They brought robo-dog to off-leash dog parks to observe how other dogs would respond to it. In half the trials, robo-dog wore an artificial tail that was roughly the same length as an average Lab tail; in the other trials, the artificial tail was the length of a typical docked tail. In both cases, a motor powered the tail so it could be wagged and held in various positions.