The Dog Blog

There are only twelve months in a year and 365 days in most of them. Assignations for months and days for various interest groups to raise awareness abound. This month is National Stress Awareness Month and I phool you not. It must be legal now as this is the 18th year.

I know I have animals around me — my own pets and an awareness of nature and animals in the world — because their presence, antics, focus on the things in life that really matter — reduce my stress (not that stress isn’t sometimes a good thing but that’s a post for another time). My dogs add joy, motivation for exercise, a reason to sweep obsessively and a grounding that keeps me centered. An ethologist at heart, I spend inordinate amounts of time just observing. It never fails to fascinate me.

I was interviewed today by a freelance writer on the topic of interactive dog toys. The question was posed as to why these toys are important for dogs. The most obvious answer is that they provide mental stimulation. As most of us know, mental stimulation is just as important for dogs as is physical exertion. And if solving a puzzle or a problem is involved, even better, as this helps to create new neural pathways and boost dogs’ problem-solving skills. It stands to reason that dogs who have better problem-solving skills will find training and learning new things easier. (Warning: If you’re not careful, this improvement in problem-solving skills can also have unwanted consequences such as figuring out how to get to things that are off-limits!)

Yesterday the air filled with the sound of laughter and applause! I looked around. Was I at the Oscars? Were we in a theatre or at a show? No. I was in a schoolyard surrounded by young adults, a head teacher, and a dog.

Welcome back to the Coco Academy!

Someone donated a very fine book called “The American Book of the Dog” to our veterinary school. I was the immediate recipient and eagerly unwrapped the anticipated package when it arrived. Edited by G. O. Shields and Published in 1891 by Rand, McNally & Company out of Chicago and New York, this book is a 19th century equivalent of today’s “The Complete Dog Book” put out by the AKC. It is a large brown, leather-bound tome with over 700 gilt-edged pages and many fine full page or text illustrations. It tells of the origin, development, special characteristics, utility breeding, training, points of judging, diseases, and kennel management of “all breeds of dogs” as appreciated almost 120 years ago, the year Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera and while Queen Victoria of England was on the British throne.