Elka does not know the difference between skunks and cats

I did not witness this particular adventure; my fiancé related it to me after coming back in the house. I have no pictures of this adventure, so I'll provide you with some stock photos and you can use your imagination.

Because the backyard is still techtonically snowy and icy (spring is here or coming or something), we're still just letting Elka out the back door and into the fenced area to go potty (which reminds me, I'm going to need a new poop scooper for when that is no longer the case). We're working on self control, so she doesn't just bolt out that door as soon as it's opened, but rather waits to be released.

No, I don't think that's the right book for your puppy

At the library, I have an awkward problem sometimes. A person who's gotten a puppy or a new-to-them dog comes in looking for dog training books. Oh good, right? My favorite topic! (well, one of)

Not so good: the only dog trainer they've ever heard of is Cesar Millan.

I've given my opinions on Mr. Millan's methods before. And yes, I have read his show, and have read a bunch of his books. If I'm going to be opinionated about something, I prefer not to be factually inaccurate. And his methods, in practice, do not mesh well with mine.

Dog Bite Prevention (though sometimes, you can't)

We've all heard about cases where a dog has bitten a child. Arguably, too many cases. Funny for me to say, perhaps, being a Dog Person™, but obviously, I can explain.

Lots of dog bites you hear about seem, from the outside, to have been completely unavoidable. Small child left alone with dog, child starts crying, dog has attacked the child. No adults there to see what happened. These cases are, in my mind, the fault of the adults. Dogs should not be left alone with tiny children. Tiny children do unreliable, misunderstandable things. Tiny children have little to no intent in their actions. Dogs, in general, have a specific set of reactions to stimuli.

Oh yeah, and last week was Dog Bite Prevention Week.

(drawn by Lil Chin)

Wordless Wednesday November 20 2013

Calming Signals, illustrated with Aussies

I talk about "calming signals" with regards to canine body language once in awhile here. I even reviewed Turid Rugaas' book on it.

Well here, on Quality Aussies, is a fabulous page on Calming Signals (though unfortunately, the linked Rugaas web sites at the beginning of the page are no longer up). I really know little about Australian Shepherds, and have never interacted with one, but that doesn't matter in this context. These are things that every dog does, naturally. Instinctually.

Now, does every dog listen to the calming signals of others? Even if they're doing some of their own? No, I can't say that they do. I think dogs are rather like people in that regard (or people are like dogs) in that we can miss the messages that are right in front of our faces, and end up making poor decisions.

I've got a good "yawn and head turn" picture of Elka:

The "sideways approach" illustrated by the Quality Aussies is one that I do frequently with a library patron's dog. She's a little mini Aussie-Border Collie cross (okay, so I've interacted with half an Aussie), and she's demonstrated herself to be rather fearful. So, I sideways approach. I turn my head. I let her come to me. Typically, she'll wiggle over to me, and then turn her back to me and sit. Then she looks at me, grunt-whining, and I scratch her rump and haunches, which makes her get up again and close her eyes with happiness.

Really, I'm jealous of all those great Aussie pictures (though if I'd properly socialized Elka, I'd be able to take pictures of her playing with other dogs. Sigh.) I do have a piloerction one:

But really, situations in which Elka is doing a play bow, or the occasional whale eye, or anything like that, I don't have a camera out. I'm typically interacting with her, or watching her interactions.

I might as well share it too: Doberman Playing with Baby

Obviously, I feel the Doberman needs all the good press it can get. Well, within reason. I don't want a breed popularity explosion like the Dalmatian or the Chihuahua did after certain movies came out.

But, this has (or is perhaps in the process of?) gone viral and it's worth discussing.

Are you smiling at me?

Some Dobermans smile.

This is an unsettling thing to the unprepared owner. If you're not versed in the package of canine body language, such smiles might look like snarls. It is a lifting of the lip and a baring of the teeth. But there is no piloerection, no stiffness of posture; when I've seen it in pictures and video, it's been accompanied by body wiggles and airplane ears.

Of course, there are generally accepted "dog smiles" as well:

The tribulation of Trixie the Doberman (don't worry, she's been adopted)

Spoiler alert: If you watch this, you will bawl your face off. Or maybe just tear up a little. 

The low down is that Trixie the Doberman's owner died 30 days ago (give or take, at this point) of natural causes, and she stayed curled up on the couch with him. She almost died herself, but neighbors called the police when they noticed the mail piling up. As is typically the case with stories like this, there were many offers to adopt her, but according to the above newscast, a vet tech fell in love with her and was bringing her home the next day.

Trixie is a sweet looking red girl, shaking very hard in the video. I wonder if part of this is because she was confronted by a camera. It could also be the shock of the shelter environment, which seemed very barky at the time, and is a whole lot of people when you've been with your dearly departed owner for a month.

I'm happy to hear that Trixie is going to a new and loving home, and I hope that she learns to love her vet tech as much as she did her previous owner. I hope she's never in a situation like that ever again, as it's a terrible thing for anybody to go through. In part, it's made me think of a post KB did a little while ago on Romping and Rolling in the Rockies, entitled "Do Dogs Understand Death?" My comment on the topic is currently thus:

I definitely read your post with interest, but I haven't really experienced dogs around death, so I don't really have a formed opinion on what they understand. Really, I don't understand death either, so I can't blame them if they don't.
I will say that Elka seemed particularly sad the first (and so far only) time that she killed a moth. She was following it and sniffing at it, and smooshed it against the glass of the front door. She then brought it to me and looked at me with big liquid eyes, like "Why won't it fly?" It was like a Disney movie.

Canine Body Language: Piloerection

There are times Elka becomes aware (or decides that she's aware) that Something Happened outside. Or that Somebody is there. Or maybe the wind blew. Something.

But she'll go look out the door, or a window, growl or grumble, and sometimes give a bark. Invariably, when she decides she's the home's protector (or at least that something requires our attention), she sports a "mohawk", as we call it. Or, as Real Dog People call it, piloerects. Piloerection is when the hair stands on end; on a sleek, short haired dog like Elka, it is really very apparent.

We got new furniture!

We got new couches. And a new coffee table. Elka, to say in the least, is dismayed.

See, first, we emptied the living room. Took the furniture out. The whole nine. Poor princess had nowhere to lay, and was very disgruntled the entire time.

(please ignore our unsightly Internet wires. They were in a table that is no longer there)

NaNoWriMo: And, done

Well, I didn't finish the book, but I certainly reached 50,000 words (50, 937 according to the word count validator, though Open Office says 52, 037. That's a disappointing discrepancy). And ordered the t-shirt.

This was an interesting novel to (mostly) write. I outlined most of it, for one, though there was a point at which the outline didn't matter anymore. I made some changes in the actual writing of the novel, which made some things make more sense, and made the outline eventually obsolete.

My interest in dogs has quite permeated my writing, depending on the topic. Considering this is a werewolf series (well, duology currently. I'd like to make it a trilogy, I think), I made an effort to use canine body language, even when the characters were acting as humans rather than canids. It made sense in the context, and was interesting to think about. What does angry look like? Interest? Nervousness? It's interesting to compare these things to human body language as well; have you watched the show Lie To Me? You should.

NaNoWriMo 2012

Well, it's that time again.

That's right, kids, it's National Novel Writing Month again. Every November, like clockwork. 30 days, 50,000 words.

This year, I'm writing the sequel to a book that I started in March and finished in September. I've noticed, since getting Elka, that dogs have found their way into my fiction pretty often. This time around, I've once again decided to embrace it. Why argue with a good deal, right? I already read and write about dogs so much (and read about wolves once in awhile), I might as well do something with that source material.

I'm writing about werewolves (though not really in a Twilight or Underworld sort of way, trying to make them my own without getting too squirrelly with the folklore), and so there are dogs. There are wolves. There are people who are wolves, but use the same body language in varying forms. It's interesting to use canine body language that many of us pet bloggers are in particular familiar with: yawning, lip licking, head turning, hard stares, hard mouth, that kind of thing. It'll be interesting to me, should these books ever get published, if those sorts of things come through to the reader, or at least the dog-savvy reader. We'll see how it goes, right?

So, if I'm not replying to comments on here all that diligently, I'm not ignoring you! I'm just making my wordcount. My goal is not only to reach the 50,000 words for the month, but actually finish the novel itself. Book one ended up being around 80,000. I've never pulled quite that many words in a NaNoWriMo, but there's a first time for everything, right? I hit 13,500 words on Monday night/Tuesday morning (midnight isn't called the Witching Hour for nothing), and that's an unprecedented and blistering speed for me.

I've also noticed that some other dog/pet bloggers are participating in NaNoWriMo, and I'm so glad! Good luck to everybody, I hope you're having a lot of fun.