Read, Watch or Listen

Newspaper

The St. Petersburg Times had an Associated Press article in Sunday’s Nation section that was originally written by Jan Sears of the San Bernandino County Press Enterprise,  published on 10/28/09.  Sheep Fire victim Bobby Wright gives thanks for his dogs that survived ”

“Smoky and Lady would have some hair-raising tales to tell, if only they could talk. <Smoky, a golden-eyed, 6-month-old mutt, would tell of wandering more than two weeks on scorched feet through the barren landscape of Swarthout Canyon, feeding on what carrion she could find. Last Friday, after 16 days on her own, she returned to the wreckage of her home, gaunt with starvation, her feet stinking of infection. Lady, a 6-year-old Queensland heeler, would tell of scaling a six-foot chain-link fence to escape the flames about to consume her kennel on Oct. 3.”

As usual the New York Times has several stories:

Picked From a Lineup, on a Whiff of Evidence By JOHN SCHWARTZ Published: November 3, 2009

“. . .dog-scent lineup, in which dogs choose a suspect’s smell out of a group. The dogs are exposed to the scent from items found at crime scene, and are then walked by a series of containers with samples swabbed from a suspect and from others not involved in the crime. If the dog finds a can with a matching scent, it signals — stiffening, barking or giving some other alert its handler recognizes.”

Scout Takes a Splash By JILL ABRAMSON Published: November 2, 2009

“Some people swim with dolphins. I swim with dogs.

The other night, Scout, Henry and I headed over to Water4dogs, a place in Lower Manhattan with an 8,000-gallon heated swimming pool. We heard about the place from one of the regulars at our dog run. Although Water4dogs specializes in hydrotherapy for dogs with ailments and postsurgical issues, they also offer fun swims for healthy dogs.”

Happy Times at the Dog Run, Now Coming to an End By SUSAN DOMINUS Published: November 6, 2009

“He whipped up cartoony illustrations of all the dogs at the run who, like Kitty, arrived like clockwork for the morning shift, and turned them into a chart labeled with their names. Mr. Sebastian sometimes brought the work in progress to the dog run, and over time, even owners who were not part of the regular crew — many of them part of a downtown, arty scene — asked if their pets could be included, or agreed when approached by Mr. Sebastian.”

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting database – L.A.’s Top Dogs – The most common dogs in L.A. County by number of registration –  The most popular name/breed are Chihuahuas named Princess.

Magazines

The November edition of the Whole Dog Journal is out.

Best Dog Training Treats for Different Training Scenarios

Food rewards are powerful tools in the hands of a good positive trainer. Food is considered a primary reinforcer because it has innate value; a dog doesn’t have to learn to like food through association. Using a clicking sound made by a clicker (or other reward marker, such as the word “Yes!”), followed by a high-value food treat is a quick and easy way to send your dog a powerful positive message about which behavior he could repeat to get reinforced again. Food is also commonly used in classical conditioning and counter-conditioning, to create and build a dog’s positive association with a specific stimulus. But what do you do when your dog can’t or won’t take a treat? It depends on the reason he has to decline the food offering.

Canine Health News and Current Events November 2009

There are currently seven different pet identification microchip registries in the U.S., making it difficult to track down a found pet’s owner even when a scan finds a microchip number. Adding to the confusion, the chip’s manufacturer may not be the company that registered the chip. For example, I had a dog whose microchip was made by HomeAgain but registered with AKC Companion Animal Recovery (CAR). All the registries that exist in the U.S. will register their competitor’s chips as well as their own, but most charge a fee for doing so. Two companies have emerged with Internet-based products that make it easier for rescuers to quickly locate the owner of a dog with an implanted identification microchip: the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) launched its PetMicrochipLookup.org, and Chloe Standard introduced ChecktheChip.com. Each built a website with a searchable database of microchip numbers, and attempts to return information about where a microchip is (or is most likely to be) registered.

Dogs Riding Safely and Calmly in Cars

Contrary to the advice I offer to clients and WDJ readers, I admit that I’m sometimes careless about taking my dogs in the car with me. I don’t always use crates and seatbelts on short trips to town, although I always do on longer travels. Just recently, however, my husband and I loaded up all five of our dogs for their annual well-pet visit to a veterinarian, and I did take the precaution of crating everyone rather than risk canine chaos on the highway. Other than Bonnie’s panting, it was an experience in car-ride serenity, and I vowed to crate everyone, always, on future rides. Granted, my dogs aren’t the worst in the car. They don’t sit in my lap, leap over seats, get into fights, hang out the windows, do laps around the back of the van, or bark at everything outside the car. Other than Bonnie, who pants a lot and sometimes Even so, they’re safer in crates. Loose, they are a distraction, which decreases my driving safety. Not as bad as texting, but still!

How to Identify and Pick Top Quality Dog Treats

Surely there is no such person as a dog owner who never gives his or her dog a treat. We all like to see our dog’s tail wag, and his face light up with attentive anticipation, right? But how do you know that the treats you give him are healthy? It’s actually pretty simple. As with every food you buy (for yourself or your dog), it’s all about the ingredients. If you do not already read the label of every food item you consider buying, get in the habit! Most of the information you need to know in order to determine the product’s quality is legally required to appear on the label. Ingredients are listed on the label by weight; there is more of the first ingredient on the list present in the treat than the second ingredient, and so on. (One exception: If equal amounts – by weight – of different ingredients are present, the manufacturer can list those ingredients in any order; that is, as long as they are still in order relative to the other ingredients). The first few ingredients on the list are the most significant; since they comprise the majority of the content, they should be especially high in quality.

Dancing With Dogs

Snapping fingers and tapping feet are the signature moves of musical freestyle – and that’s the audience! What happens between dog and handler during a musical freestyle performance is simply magical. The handler gives subtle cues, and her dog executes complicated maneuvers, one after the other, as the pair moves across the floor, their routine choreographed to music that emphasizes their connection. For those of you whose introduction to this sport was watching a widely distributed video clip of Carolyn Scott’s routine to “Grease” with her Golden Retriever, Rookie, you were probably awestruck. You may have even gotten a little misty eyed, recognizing the commitment, training, and connection between two different species. But it was the look on Rookie’s face that sold you that this was a sport worth exploring. This dog was having a blast, and the behaviors he was doing were difficult! How could training something so hard be so fun?