DOG PARK!

I’m tallying survey results to the Spay Day activity survey we asked participants to complete.   I’ve only picked up paperwork from four Veterinary Clinics so far, but with 40 respondents, at least half from outside Billings, 20 responded Yes, to the question of “Would you visit a dog park?”  Two said “maybe”,  one asked what a dog park was.

Considering only 15 of those responded Yes to the question of whether or not they visit the Billings Animal Shelter, I thought this response illustrated genuine interest in a dog park.

WGBH in Chicago, a PBS station, has some short dog stories, posted online, that you can read here. These are “selected” shorts, kind of like Readers Digest quips.

Great dog rescue story.

Love this.

What does it take to be called an Animal Behaviorist?

Here’s a blog interview with Veterinarian Nicholas Dodman that offers some explanation.

Well said: “Financial hardship is overwhelming, but when we lose our love for our animals, we lose our humanity, which to me is a million times worse than losing our homes.”

You can read the rest of her post here.

If today’s article about Bark Busters did some good, it reminded me the best cure for behavioral problems is positive reinforcement (which Bark Busters is NOT.)

Take it all in folks, but rely on the known, gentle, positive techniques of the Patricia McConnells and Ian Dunbars of the world. Maybe this fellow will eventually decide to adopt their techniques and practices in his training business.

Oh, and dominance?  Don’t oversimplify the complex hierarchy of the canine world.  Here’s a brief outline  from a Development of Social Behavior seminar that Dr. Dunbar was delivering back in 2003:

• Sexual differentiation of social development, intra-sex and inter-sex hierarchies.
• Female amendments to male hierarchical law.
• Puppy-adult relationships - developmental no-contest, psychological “dominance”, and subordinance hierarchies.
• The silly but serious extrapolation of the growly-wowly alpha-fallacy, the physical “dominance” myth, and rampant “lupomorphism” to pet dog training.
• The purpose of play and the importance of play-fighting and play-biting.
• The complexity of cooperative social structure - friendships, allegiances, & sharing.
• Good and bad play groups - producing social mannerly dogs with good bite inhibition, or inattentive, social loons, and bullies

It’s been at least 20 years since I first heard about throwing a choke chain near a dog to demonstrate dominance and/or scare them. So not really something new out of Australia.

If you are looking for a place to take your puppy for early socialization and training for both of you, consider the Puppy Pre-school and Puppy Parties at Animalodge in Laurel, (phone: 628-7311) or the Puppy classes offered through Circle of Life Animal Wellness Center. (phone: 245-4772)

Getting your pup out with other dogs and people is so important.

Also check with Ellie at Loveable Pets Bakery. She hosts a monthly Mutt Mingle. (phone: 254-9332)

Nice dog story circulating in email these days.

We’ve even got science behind us on this one, animals lift our spirits!

Some history of the day.