Other Black and Tans in the Dog World

For me, when I think of dogs with black and tan markings (or black and rust, or black and rust markings are "fuego", flame, if you're in Spain), I think of Dobermans and Rottweilers.

"It's All in How You Raise Them"

I'm sure you've heard many a breed advocate utter this phrase: It's all in how you raise them. Meaning, vicious dogs are made, not born.

As an obvious Doberman advocate, you might be a little confused when you read my answer: That isn't necessarily true.

Doberman Health: Parvo

Back in November, the Doberman Assistance Network took in three puppies that they suspected had parvo. This may or may not have been the case (I guess there was some shady vetting going on down there), but it occurred to me that I haven't really talked about the bogeyman Parvo here. It's not a Doberman problem, specifically, so much as a dog problem. A puppy problem. I have heard it said that Dobermans and Rottweilers might be more sensitive to the parvovirus, though, and suffer more severe symptoms.

So, what is Parvo?

(little Bluebell, who pulled through just fine, from the Doberman Assistance Network Facebook page.)

Book Review: Teaching the Dog to Think, by Kimberley Davis

I learned about the book Teaching the Dog to Think, by Kimberly Davis, from a post at Chronicles of a Puppy Walker. It was many things that I'm interested in: a book about dog training, a book about "thinking dog" training, and free. For the Kindle, anyway. Not that I have a Kindle, but they have an application for every platform. So, I went to Amazon, downloaded the app, downloaded the book, and blitzed right through it.

Davis starts out the book with her first night going to agility class with her rough collie, Willow. Willow is a young, exuberant dog, and he frequently has problems with being nutso and pulling on the leash, so he wears both a flat buckle collar and also a choke chain.