So, what's really important?

When Elka and I are out about town, walking, we see (and hear) a lot of different dogs.

Some of the dogs are on leashes, and calm.  Some are off leashes, and calm.  Some are off leashes, and little monsters.  Some are on leashes and monsters.  Some are clearly alone in houses, some are in yards with people who yell at them for barking, and with people who don't.

Clearly, different people have a lot of different ideas about what they want out of their dog's behavior.

Party Naked

Lately, the topic of dog nakedness has come up in a few places I've looked.

By "naked", I mean whether your dog wears her collar at all times, or only wears a collar when going out.  So, no collar when crated, no collar around the house, no collar at bedtime.

Really, before I started reading forums and blogs written by hardcore dog people, I had no idea that peoples' dogs went collarless.

Wordless Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Tennis Balls: Contestant Number Nine

In Tractor Supply today, I happened upon a type of tennis ball I had never seen before.  Shall I describe it to you?

They were, well, tennis ball shaped, and tennis ball covered, and had paws on it, as dog-intended tennis balls so often do.  What really caught my eye, though was that they were "mint".  I was fascinated, skeptical, and happy all at once.

Product Review: The Everlasting Treat Ball

Sometimes, you look at a product, dismiss it, and then look at it again going "Well, maaaayyybe".

I did this with the Everlasting Treat Ball.  At first glance, I really didn't think that it was made out of rubber tough enough to withstand being wedged between Elka's molars and really gnawed upon.  I didn't think the edges would stand up to a very intent Doberman's tender mercies.  I thought the treats themselves might be too brittle, and just crumble, and if I didn't use the treats themselves and just put treats in the center, well, why not use the Kong or Monster Mouth instead?

Well, I was wrong.

Command Clinic: Teaching a new trick

When I teach Elka  a new trick, it happens for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it's because I see or hear about what another dog can do, and I think "Well, Elka can do that."  Sometimes, some behavior she's already exhibiting is something that I wand to shape and encourage into a complete behavior.

Whether you're using a clicker or not, you need to have criteria.  You have the finished product in mind, and have to have an idea of what steps you want your dog to correctly take in order to reach that product.

"Find it" is something Elka already knows, depending on the context.  She knows the names of a few of her toys (Gumby, Pokey, ball, etc.) and I can say "Where's Gumby?  Find it!" And she'll find Gumby and bring him to me.  We in fact play the "Where's Gumby" game for some indoor fun; I have her down-stay in the kitchen and I hide Gumby in the living room, and then release her.

Then I heard about the Kyra Sundance Trick Dog title, and thought, "Well, Elka can do that."  I'm confident she has Novice in the bag (and already have a willing witness lined up), and am more or less confident about the Intermediate, but thought we ought to brush up, and perhaps add some more.  You can always add more tricks.

So, I saw the "Which hand holds the treat?" and thought it could be a different "Find it" context. To teach it, I have Elka sit, show her a treat, rub it between my hands, and then close each hand into its own fist, with the treat in one of them.  She can sniff both hands all she wants, and lick; I decided that my criteria for the trick to be successful is for Elka to put her paw on the hand that holds the treat, as it seemed much clearer to me than just nosing or licking.  Sometimes she will sniff the correct hand for a good long time before bringing the paw into play, but really, we've only had two sessions of it.  Unless I have it in my teeth, I can't use the clicker for this particular trick, as both hands are already occupied, so I'm using "Yes!" as a marker for when Elka uses her paw correctly.

Dog Fighting: Crime or Culture?

It's taken me along time to work up to writing this post.  Not because I'm afraid of making people angry, or because I was afraid people wouldn't agree with me, but because I wanted to collect my thoughts and make sure I was being clear.

Back in April, I reviewed The Lost Dogs, by Jim Gorant, but I didn't discuss Michael Vick at all, or dog fighting at all.  Just a bit of breed prejudice, and rehabilitation.

A lot of people argue that dog fighting comes from one's culture, which I can both understand and not understand.  There is a certain demographic (low income, black, urban, white, rural, high income, middle class) that seems more likely to have dogs that they pit against one another, but not all of those individuals choose to do so.  In fact, I'd say that most people live their lives never watching nor inciting animals to tear into one another.