The Dog Blog

Holiday weekends often revolve around an extra day off for people with real jobs, weekend getaways or the jumpstart to an anticipated vacation of some duration, family and/or friend get togethers and yes, even specials at your local and online stores. Holidays during summertime also mean BBQ's and long days. In the spirit of the season and the giddy joy I experience playing with dogs all day long and enjoying the great outdoors,  I offer a HOLIDAY HAR-VEST WEEKEND SPECIAL. Not just to celebrate the country's birthday, but the pride I have in not only creating and patenting a unique and wonderful product that helps both dogs and owners in so many ways, but in celebrating this great country by keeping my footprint small manufacturing right here in Cleveland, OH U.S.A.

Are female dogs better at spotting when things are not as they should be? I'm not sure whether the explanations are what they seem, but a recent study on dogs at the University of Vienna appears to show that female dogs are more able to notice changes than their male counterparts.

Corsin Müller and fellow researchers discovered that when a tennis sized ball was rolled behind a screen, and a similar but larger sized ball appeared at the other side (or vice-versa), female canine subjects stared at the different sized ball for longer than male canines. The males, by contrast, did not stare at the new sized ball any longer than they had stared at the same sized ball appearing.

You can watch the video here

As a behavior consultant, I am often asked to assess the behavior of a client’s dog based on their interpretation of what they think their dog is doing and what his motives are. For example, some recent comments include:
“She is very dominant of her toys and things she thinks are hers.”
“Even with someone holding her, she still wanted to continue attacking.”
“He really wants to be a part of his owner’s life. He really wants to please – you can just see it in his face...the way he turns his head up when he does something right with almost a smile of excitement.”
“After this incident...Buddy remained angry at our friends.”

It happens about once a month.  Some enthusiastic student keeps punctuating my opening remarks to a new class with that “tsst!” sound popularized by Cesar Milan.  The dog on the receiving end of this “correction” seldom seems to notice.  He has usually learned to tune it out completely.  I envy him.  That sound travels up my spine like nails on a chalk board.  Somehow it taps directly into my frustration over the fact that - in spite of all that we have learned in recent decades – the public face of dog training in the US relies on confrontation and pseudo-mystical ideas about projecting the right energy towards the furry Machiavellis who allegedly spend their lives like Pinky and the Brain, plotting to take over the world.  Fortunately, I am able to take a deep breath, ignore the sound, and remind myself that I LOVE it when new clients are Cesar fans.  I honestly do, and for many reasons.