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Angels or Devils?

Jeff Silverman | Thu, 01/22/2009 - 13:58

Most of us readily accept that our human loved ones and acquaintances have both good traits and not so good traits. We understand that good people with good intentions can get into serious conflicts. We recognize that children must be taught how to behave with others and will occasionally make mistakes along the way. We even know – and in most cases can forgive – that even the best people occasionally act very poorly. That kind of nuance often goes out the window, however, when we judge dogs and even dog owners. The specifics of how we judge dogs differ, but I’ve been noticing that the judgments tend towards the black and white. Some people seem to think that dogs are born either good or bad, with little room for anything in between. Others come right out and state that all dogs are born sweet and loving. If a dog behaves otherwise, they tell you, then blame the owner.

Dog Savages 76-Year-Old Man

Nicole Wilde | Wed, 01/21/2009 - 16:54

Former French president Jacques Chirac was rushed to the hospital today after his dog "Sumo" viciously attacked him. According to Chirac’s wife, Sumo had become increasingly violent in the past few years. She describes him as being “unpredictable” and prone to making “vicious, unprovoked attacks.” Any guesses as to Sumo’s breed? Pit bull, you say? German Shepherd? Nope. Sumo is an adorable, fluffy little Maltese/Poodle mix. Yep, a Maltipoo.

The Antithesis of Marley

Laurie C Willia... | Wed, 01/21/2009 - 13:57

Meet Oliver, a 6 month old yellow Labrador Retriever who just graduated from our 12 week Ultimate Puppy Program. His family planned a long time for his arrival, even before he was born. In fact, his mom tells me that she waited years for him. Like most of us, they are a busy family and waited until just the right time in their lives to add a dog to the family. And even when they decided on a Labrador Retriever, they researched breeders, found one, and then waited again until that breeder had a litter with an appropriate puppy for them.

The DiVot Code

Dr. Jon Klingborg | Wed, 01/21/2009 - 09:36

While conducting some ‘field research’ for my latest article, I was fortunate to stumble upon a secret society that knows the answer to one of the world’s most perplexing mysteries. For years, the Knights Fescue have closely guarded the truth, but they let me into the inner circle and now I can finally explain “Why do dogs eat grass?”

Insisting that we meet on his turf, the Chief of the Knights Fescue gave me directions to his hidden fortress—the Temple of Sod. It was located in the old, seedy side of town. The Chief Knight was dressed in green and wore a ceremonial blade around his waist.

When I asked why dogs eat grass, the Knight answered, “Because they don’t have thumbs.” He went on to explain that dogs understand their world based on how it feels in their mouth. Dogs test everything for pressure, taste, and texture. Since they can’t pick things up with their paws, everything ends up in the mouth!

Through a Dog's Ear free music to shelters

Lisa Spector | Tue, 01/20/2009 - 10:57

As the co-creator of Through a Dog's Ear, I receive emails from all over the world hearing how much it is helping dogs with behavior issues and how comforting the music is to them. There is no place I'd rather help dogs than in shelters. When I didn't even have a dog, I started volunteering at my local shelter and then when I got one, I got trained in their education department and took my dog to schools and spoke on the importance of neutering and spaying, positive training, etc. When we signed with our wonderful publisher, Sounds True, they agreed to donate 2,500 copies of Calm your Canine Companion to shelters and rescue groups. Sounds True, by the way, is a dog friendly company outside of Boulder, CO where employees bring their dogs to work. I've never experienced a more productive, calm, friendly office atmosphere.

In Service Of Dogs

Kelly Gorman Dunbar | Tue, 01/20/2009 - 07:30

This is a reprint of our Special Inaugural Edition of our weekly newsletter Puppy Bite. Several people have asked to link to it in order to share this call to action with others, so I decided to post it as blog so it will always have a home on the Dog Star Daily site. Though please keep in mind, the post and it's sentiment will remain relevant, however, the offer for the free download of Dr. Dunbar's book is for a limited time only.

If you receive Puppy Bite, this is an exact copy of it, minus a few links. If you don't receive Puppy Bite and would like to, please register on this page.

Leslie Smith was my co-author for this piece.

Kelly Gorman Dunbar
Executive Editor, Dog Star Daily

Ask not what dogs can do for you, but what you can do for dogs!

Joys of detection style training for the working companion dog....

Jill Marie O Brien | Mon, 01/19/2009 - 14:28

I thought as my first adventure into the world of blogs I would combine two of my favorite subjects; changing the word "pet" dog to "working companion dog" and detection dog training.

After my many years of working with clients and running a large city behavior and training department, I learned that being a "pet" dog can be the most difficult and risky job a dog is given and that many a detection dog are some of the most satisfied doggies out there. So, along with my colleagues with whom I train my own detection dogs we worked to bring the two together.

The goal was to give companion dogs a more focused task that encourages them to develop their most natural instincts; scenting and hunting. However, we wanted to go beyond nose games to actual focused nose work training based on the fundamentals of detection dog training. On January 25th we'll be holding our first sanctioned K9 Nose Work competition in Southern California.

Fang Shway

Rachel Friedman | Mon, 01/19/2009 - 12:50

Many modern enthusiasts claim that feng shui is the practice of arranging objects (such as furniture) to help people achieve their goals -- whatever they might be. To the traditional ones, feng shui is of great value in choosing a place to live and finding a burial site. To the green thumbers, it's of value in agriculture.

I define Fang Shway as my own derivative:
(Fang)The part used to bite (Shway)That is a Sure Way when dealing with dogs.

If Only It Were That Easy

Kelly Gorman Dunbar | Mon, 01/19/2009 - 08:16

Many people see training a dog as a one-time process. They’ll take a class or hire a trainer to help them for a while or for a particular problem and once the course is over they think, “Great! The dog is trained now.”

On the one hand I commend these people, because at least they understand that a dog needs to be trained. Training meaning taught to respond to human verbal cues generally by performing certain positions or activities and to follow a human list of expectations for manners and interactions. Dogs don’t come that way.

However, their expectations are not realistic and therefore they are likely to be disappointed either in the training process, the specific trainer, the methodology employed, or all of the above.

Under pressure: The fall-out of heavy-handed training

Gillian Ridgeway | Sat, 01/17/2009 - 07:06

We are all looking for a quick fix. We want (and hope for) the magic pill that will make us lose weight quickly, get out of debt in an instant, and give us a perfect golf swing and well-trained dog. But is this reality?

Years ago, it was common to have a choke chain handed to you when you joined a training class. You were shown how to give a leash correction and if the dog acted up or misbehaved, the leash pop got more intense until the dog complied. But at what cost?

Fast-forward to an age of instant access to training theories and methods. We should all be able to follow the maxim “When you know better, you do better.” There is no excuse for using the old-style heavy-handed methods. So why are we seeing a sudden influx of harsh training methods, and what does this mean to the dogs and our relationship with them? Is this the magic pill?