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Is It OK To Change Your Dog's Name?

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:58:30 -0800

It happens to rescue dogs all the time - and they are usually fine it. I would rather a person changed their dog's name than call them MORE than 1 name! Here's another OK example:

Article from: The Bark Magazine
By: Karen B. London

Tim Tebow’s Dog has a New Name Bronco has become Bronx Karen B. London, PhD | May 16, 2012 Tim Tebow and his dog, Bronx Football player Tim Tebow ‘s every action seems to attract attention, so it’s no surprise that when he changed his Rhodesian Ridgeback’s name recently, it made the news. The name Bronco, which was such a great name when he played for the Denver Broncos, became awkward once they traded him to the New York Jets.

Many sportswriters are discussing how cruel it was to make this name change and claiming that the dog will suffer terribly as a result. Most dog professionals, myself included, think that changing a dog’s name is fine, even if the new name is nothing like the old one.

Bronco to Bronx is a minor change, which makes me suspect that Tebow made a real effort to change his dog’s name to something similar. Most people do think that it’s a big deal for a dog, so this gesture may have been prompted by a thoughtful attempt to minimize any issues for his dog.

Love him or hate him, Tebow’s big news is a sign of many things: his status as a cultural icon, the pattern of naming our dogs after what’s important to us, and the ever-increasing importance of dogs in our culture.

LINK

How to Choose a Dog Breed (Book Reco)

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:04:58 -0800

Link to book website

Breedfreak – The Dog Breed Guide for Normal People with Real Lives, Families, Houses, and Budgets is a complete guide to picking a dog breed. While other breed atlases and breed organizations have a financial interest in making sure you think their breed is flawless, we are here to lift the veil and give you the dog breed secrets that all vets, behaviorists, and dog trainers know but are afraid to tell you.

There are no “bad” breeds but there are breeds that will make your life a nightmare if you do not choose wisely.

Each breed entry includes a thorough, extremely biased, and remarkably opinionated breed description; an estimate of what you can expect to spend on your dog (hint: it is more than you think); and a whopping dose of humor to keep you interested. Here is a list of breeds that are included in the book.

In addition to the breed entries there are several background chapters with excruciatingly important information you need to know about selecting a breed including:

The basics of picking a dog breed
The truth about owning a “tough guy” dog
Information about mixed breed dogs that every prospective dog owner should know
A guide to the most important congenital health issues in pure bred dogs
The truth about health certification including hip dysplasia screening (the truth is out folks)
What is REALLY costs to own a dog
Which breed thinks like this: “Here comes a little kid, should I bite him in the face or should I let him live a scar free life? Wait, I cannot stop barking. Why am I barking. I think I just bit him. Wait, I just peed. Dammit. I keep peeing all over. Duh.”

This book is not for everyone and comes with a PG-13 rating. If you are OK with with words and phrases like turd and crack baby; and you like your dog breed descriptions with a small dose of crass and a side of humor, you should order your copy today. If you listen to what we have to say you will save THOUSANDS of dollars in headaches, destroyed furniture, and maybe even a failed marriage. Yup. It’s that good. Buy it today.

How to fix submissive urination!

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:52:09 -0800

Many people use a classic approach to fix and train a dog's behavior. I ascribe to some classic methods as well. When it comes to submissive urination, meaning when your puppy simply cannot help peeing when you walk in the door, classic approaches can be the key. Sometimes however, you need a new approach.

A classic approach says: ignore the dog COMPLETELY when leaving and entering. NO eye contact, NO petting, and NO talking. This is also helpful to prevent puppies from peeing at the door when they grow up. If your puppy started peeing out of excitement when they see you and you were the culprit - you made your own bed.

Other than ignoring your dog, some tips involve managing the problem such as making sure they have gone to the bathroom recently and to only say hello to your dog on an easy to clean surface. Diapers or Belly Bands can contain messes. But they don't fix them.

Sometimes the dog grows out of it at a year old, if you stop getting them too worked up by the door. If it doesn't go away, try this:

Keep some treats by the door and feed you dog treats for sitting nicely at the door. If your dog doesn't pee, then you can move to the next step - lean over your dog a little bit (introduce the idea that they can be submissive very slowly).

Eventually, you should be able to pet your dog, if only a little. If they pee - go back a few steps and move slower towards the goal.

Another tip: sometimes the dog still gets excited by sitting. If so, try teaching your dog to do a down instead. You can also try keeping your dog crated when you arrive and only letting them out after a few minutes after your arrival. Good luck!

Remember the Dingo? Australia sees them anew

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:19:50 -0800

GROWING CONCERN More dingo attacks have been reported in recent years.

By JAMES GORMAN and CHRISTINE KENNEALLY Published: March 5, 2012

NYT Article:

Thirty-two years ago, 9-week old Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from a campsite in the Australian outback, and her mother’s claim that a dingo took the child caused a storm of public outrage and disbelief.

The saga reached far beyond Australia when it inspired “Cry in the Dark,” a 1988 movie starring Meryl Streep. And as popular culture transmuted tragedy into morbid comedy, a misquote from the movie, “A dingo ate my baby!,” caught on, popping up in “Seinfeld,” “The Simpsons” and other shows.

The reason the whole story became so well known, of course, was that in reality it has remained unclear whether the dingo did it. And over the ensuing decades, the human drama and the figure of the dingo, Australia’s enigmatic wild dog, have become entangled. Like the wolf in America, the dingo is a symbol that may mean one thing to hunters or sheep ranchers and another to scientists and nature lovers.

Now the Chamberlain case, and dingoes themselves, are back in the spotlight. On Feb. 24, testimony ended in the fourth coroner’s inquest on Azaria’s death, and the office of the Northern Territory coroner, which held the inquest, said a ruling would be handed down within the next two months. This time, the Chamberlain family hopes that the coroner will conclude, once and for all, that a dingo killed Azaria.

Lindy Chamberlain, Azaria’s mother, has struggled for years to get such a ruling. She was originally convicted of killing her child and sent to prison. She was released after three years and acquitted only after Azaria’s jacket was found near a dingo den.

When Azaria disappeared, dingoes were thought to be shy of people, and with no known attacks on humans, it was hard to believe one had been aggressive enough to come into a campground and take a baby from a tent.

But in the past decade or so, there have been a number of reported attacks, some disputed, and one unarguable fatality. Adrian Peace, an honorary associate professor of anthropology at the University of Queensland, who has studied the change in attitude toward dingoes, said, “The demonization of Mrs. Chamberlain has been replaced by the demonization of the dingo.”

Much of the change, Dr. Peace says, comes from public encounters with dingoes on Fraser Island, a nature reserve visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists yearly. Starting in the ’90s, minor human-dingo incidents started worrying managers of the reserve, and in 2001 two dingoes killed a 9-year-old boy, Clinton Gage, and injured his brother. “That was really the game-changer,” Dr. Peace said. There were calls for the extermination of dingoes on the island, which did not happen, but rangers kill any dingoes believed to pose a danger.

Dingoes are generally classified as a subspecies of wolf, Canis lupus dingo, although in the past they have been classified as a subspecies of dog and as a separate species. Physically, they resemble a generic, medium-size dog, about 40 pounds, usually tan-colored, with pricked ears and a bushy tail.

They do not have some of the physical signs of domestication found in many dog breeds, like barking as adults. They breed once a year, like wolves, and when undisturbed they have a stable pack structure topped by one male-female pair, the only ones in the pack that reproduce.

Bradley Smith, a research associate in public health at Flinders University in Adelaide who has studied dingoes, said by e-mail that experimental tests put dingoes closer to wolves in the kind of intelligence they display. “Both dingoes and wolves, being highly effective predators, are great at problem solving, working well in groups, and independent problem solving,” he said.

But they also understand humans in a way that wolves do not. They get it when a person points at something, while wolves are clueless or supremely uninterested. Dingoes are not as good as dogs, however, at following a human’s gaze.

Dingoes, Dr. Smith wrote, “seem to be a prime example of one of the first types of ‘dogs’. Not domestic dogs as we know them now, but some form of early dog that made it easier for the human-canid relationship to develop. You could almost say dingoes are frozen in time — as they have made a very good home in Australia and have been isolated for many thousands of years.”

Dingoes came to Australia 3,500 to 5,000 years ago, probably with Asian seafarers, and already at least partly domesticated. At the time, people had been on Australia for almost 50,000 years, without dogs. The dingo quickly became an essential part of Aboriginal life and stories.

Deborah Rose, a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney who has done research with Aboriginal peoples and is the author of “Dingo Makes Us Human,” said the dingoes were a deep part of Aboriginal life. “The dingoes had names, they had kinship classifications, which makes them so unlike all other animals in Australia,” she said. “They had a place at the campfire.” Or even closer. The phrase “three-dog night” has been attributed to indigenous Australians as a way of describing how cold it was. However, it does not seem that Aborigines bred dingoes selectively.

Europeans, who brought sheep with them, did not share the Aboriginal affection for dingoes. They killed them as pests, and built a 3,300-mile fence to keep them out of southeastern Australia. The result is a confusion in even the legal status of dingoes. In some parts of Australia dingoes are pests, but in other parts they are protected. Their status can change with shifts in public opinion.

For instance, Ernest Healy, a founder of the National Dingo Preservation and Recovery Program, said that in the state of Victoria in 2009, the legal status of the dingo changed overnight. “It had been legally categorized as an introduced pest species with pigs, feral dogs, foxes, and it is now endangered wildlife,” he said.

In the United States something similar happens with wolves. They may be endangered one day and hunted the next. Wisconsin, for instance, is now considering a wolf hunting season.

Whatever the outcome of the coroner’s inquest, and even as new science shows the ecological importance of dingoes, their populations are under some kind of pressure all over Australia.

Arian D. Wallach, at James Cook University in Queensland, said research has shown that dingoes, as top predators, are essential to preventing “breakouts of opportunistic species” like rabbits and feral cats, and should be left alone as much as possible.

But even protected populations are controlled, she said, by shooting, trapping, poisoning — what Dr. Wallach calls “persecution.” Killing adults, she says, destroys pack structure, and means the young are more likely to kill livestock or cause other problems. They are, she said, like “hooligans,” whereas in a traditional pack, “they’ll have jobs to do; they won’t be unemployed.”

The problem, Dr. Wallach said, is that from sheep country to Fraser Island to national parks, “every single population of dingoes that I know of in Australia is persecuted.”

See Full NYT Article

After Duty, Dogs Suffer Like Soldiers

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:14:02 -0800

Dereck Stevens bonds with his military working dog before a practice drill at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio

Full NYT Article

SAN ANTONIO — The call came into the behavior specialists here from a doctor in Afghanistan. His patient had just been through a firefight and now was cowering under a cot, refusing to come out. Apparently even the chew toys hadn’t worked.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, thought Dr. Walter F. Burghardt Jr., chief of behavioral medicine at the Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base. Specifically, canine PTSD.

If anyone needed evidence of the frontline role played by dogs in war these days, here is the latest: the four-legged, wet-nosed troops used to sniff out mines, track down enemy fighters and clear buildings are struggling with the mental strains of combat nearly as much as their human counterparts.

By some estimates, more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are developing canine PTSD. Of those, about half are likely to be retired from service, Dr. Burghardt said.

Though veterinarians have long diagnosed behavioral problems in animals, the concept of canine PTSD is only about 18 months old, and still being debated. But it has gained vogue among military veterinarians, who have been seeing patterns of troubling behavior among dogs exposed to explosions, gunfire and other combat-related violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like humans with the analogous disorder, different dogs show different symptoms. Some become hyper-vigilant. Others avoid buildings or work areas that they had previously been comfortable in. Some undergo sharp changes in temperament, becoming unusually aggressive with their handlers, or clingy and timid. Most crucially, many stop doing the tasks they were trained to perform.

“If the dog is trained to find improvised explosives and it looks like it’s working, but isn’t, it’s not just the dog that’s at risk,” Dr. Burghardt said. “This is a human health issue as well.”

That the military is taking a serious interest in canine PTSD underscores the importance of working dogs in the current wars. Once used primarily as furry sentries, military dogs — most are German shepherds, followed by Belgian Malinois and Labrador retrievers — have branched out into an array of specialized tasks.

They are widely considered the most effective tools for detecting the improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.’s, frequently used in Afghanistan. Typically made from fertilizer and chemicals, and containing little or no metal, those buried bombs can be nearly impossible to find with standard mine-sweeping instruments. In the past three years, I.E.D.’s have become the major cause of casualties in Afghanistan.

The Marine Corps also has begun using specially trained dogs to track Taliban fighters and bomb-makers. And Special Operations commandos train their own dogs to accompany elite teams on secret missions like the Navy SEAL raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Across all the forces, more than 50 military dogs have been killed since 2005.

The number of working dogs on active duty has risen to 2,700, from 1,800 in 2001, and the training school headquartered here at Lackland has gotten busy, preparing about 500 dogs a year. So has the Holland hospital, the Pentagon’s canine version of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dr. Burghardt, a lanky 59-year-old who retired last year from the Air Force as a colonel, rarely sees his PTSD patients in the flesh. Consultations with veterinarians in the field are generally done by phone, e-mail or Skype, and often involve video documentation.

In a series of videos that Dr. Burghardt uses to train veterinarians to spot canine PTSD, one shepherd barks wildly at the sound of gunfire that it had once tolerated in silence. Another can be seen confidently inspecting the interior of cars but then refusing to go inside a bus or a building. Another sits listlessly on a barrier wall, then after finally responding to its handler’s summons, runs away from a group of Afghan soldiers.

In each case, Dr. Burghardt theorizes, the dogs were using an object, vehicle or person as a “cue” for some violence they had witnessed. “If you want to put doggy thoughts into their heads,” he said, “the dog is thinking: when I see this kind of individual, things go boom, and I’m distressed.”

Treatment can be tricky. Since the patient cannot explain what is wrong, veterinarians and handlers must make educated guesses about the traumatizing events. Care can be as simple as taking a dog off patrol and giving it lots of exercise, playtime and gentle obedience training.

For full article go here >>>>FULL ARTICLE<<<<

Premier Changing Its Brand Name

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 06:27:01 -0800

Premier products, responsible for many great dog foods, toys, and more, is changing it's brand name to PetSafe. PetSafe is the seller of many 'safe' products for dogs using shock properties-most notably, electric fences and more.

Although Premier didn't actually request this change, it's parent company Radio Systems, did.

The move is decidedly monetary. Radio Systems believes they can merge Premier with PetSafe in order to inherit Premier's positive reinforcement clientele for more profit.

For full article, go >>>HERE<<<<

Dog Impersonating an Elephant?

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:21:55 -0800

This was posted on Tumblr. Goes to show you that dogs can mimic other animals!

Click HERE for link

The Search and Rescue Dogs of 9/11

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:38:04 -0800

This is a book coming out in Fall 2011. The full article is HERE. The book is called 'Retrieved'.

The dogs are beautiful, and their service is unmeasurable. The book pays them tribute.

Photographs by Charlotte Dumas

Moxie, age 13, Winthrop, Mass. She arrived at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11 and began working the next morning. Though she is trained to find survivors, she identified six bodies and many body parts during the eight days she worked there. Since her owner retired her at age 7, she has hunted and spent time on the waterfront.

Orion, age 13, Vacaville, Calif. He worked at the World Trade Center for five days after the attacks and later participated in searches for missing hikers in the High Sierras, at elevations of as much as 12,000 feet. Orion’s owner says that the dog ‘‘loved the work. His purpose in living was doing search and rescue work.’’

Guinness, age 14, Highland, Calif. He worked at the World Trade Center site for 10 days. In the wake of Katrina and other catastrophic hurricanes, he searched for survivors in areas where the water receded. Guinness’s owner says, ‘‘We keep the training fun for the dogs; it’s like a game for them.’’

Red, age 11, Annapolis, Md. Trained as a ‘‘live find’’ dog as well as a ‘‘cadaver’’ dog. Red was driven by her owner to the Pentagon after the attacks, and she worked for 11 days, finding remains for DNA identification in the north parking-lot area. She retired in July. Her owner says, ‘‘Red wants to work, but her body just can’t do it anymore.’’

Bailey, age 14, Thompson Station, Tenn. She went to the Pentagon following the attacks of 9/11. Later in her career, she was active in wilderness searches in her home state. Her owner says: ‘‘Even today, if I say we’re going to search, she’ll get all excited. She still perks up.’’

Tara, age 16, Ipswich, Mass. She arrived at the World Trade Center site at about 1 a.m. the day after the attacks. At that time, her owner says, ‘‘there was a lot of hope that people would be found alive.’’ Over her nine-year career, she located the victim of a crane collapse and participated in wilderness searches. She died earlier this year.

Bretagne, age 12, Cypress, Tex. She worked at ground zero for 10 days; it was her first deployment. Subsequently, her seven years of active duty included searching for survivors in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Men and Their Puppies

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:25:04 -0800

Purely for your enjoyment

Delay! Food Can Injury

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:19:49 -0800

Dear Readers,

If you use Natural Balance wet food for your dog, please beware! They do not open properly, and after using them for almost a year, I finally injured myself opening the can. I have been unable to comfortably type due to the injury on my right hand, and actually had to get some stitches.

After being back in working order, I hope you'll find my next post interesting!

Thank You.