The Dog Blog

A few months ago, Dog Star Daily co-founder, Dr. Ian Dunbar, and myself were quoted in an extensive New York Times article entitled Animal Pharm, about behavior canine modification with and without medication.

Ian represented the training perspective while I defended the use of medication to treat certain cases as part of an overall behavior modification program. As a result of this article, NBC's Today Show decided to cover the subject as only they can, with video footage of interesting cases to make the point. The Olympics and one other dog feature held up their plans but finally our piece has been filmed and will appear on the Today Show tomorrow.

Most of the focus on BSL is placed on dog behavior and how to effectively reduce dog incidents that are injurious or fatal. There is another aspect that does not get spoken about by proponents of BSL, the cost to implement such legislation and the lack of effectiveness of the approach.

Since its inception around 1989 BSL has not reduced dog - human fatalities or serious injury statistics; they have held steady.

How can a breed ban even begin to be enforced? How can you really be sure there are no “Pit Bulls” in your city? You cannot, and this is the fundamental problem with BSL, it is unenforceable and the cost does not justify the results.

In my ongoing quest to help people think out of the box, at least with respect to interacting with their dog, I have put together a list of some treats. First, the definition: A Treat Is Something Your Dog Likes. You Need To Be Honest About That! If you say “good dog” thinking it’s a treat, think again.

You can certainly TRAIN your dog to think “good dog” is a treat, but without actually doing that, the probability that “good dog” has the same cachet as say, liver, is doubtful. The dictionary states treat (noun) as “an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure.” If you can keep that in mind, it helps.

Treats can fall into TWO categories. FOOD and NOT FOOD.

In honor of Halloween, I thought I would share some doggie horror stories.  Unlike most haunting Halloween tales, these ones are all true.  They are all true Tails of Terror at the Dog Park.  I truly love the concept of dog parks and have been to a few in other places where everything seemed to be going very smoothly.  However, I have seen too many bad situations at the parks in my area to feel comfortable taking my dogs to them.  The really bad situations may not happen often, but when they do it happens fast and there may be no time to react to prevent disaster.  Too many people at my local parks are too busy chatting to watch their dogs, and often prove to be oblivious to what their dog’s body language is saying when they are bothering to observe.  It is like allowing young children to go unsupervised to play at a park where teenage hoodlums are hanging out!  Here are just a few of the experiences that have led me to swear off my local dog parks.