Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Stolen show dogs in CA, Please pass on!
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FMI: http://akitasdreamhi.com/StolenDogs.html
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Please pass this information on. I can't imagine the fear the poor owners are experiencing right now. Let's try to help get them all home safe.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A surprise visitor
He is almost all grown up. Check out how handsome he is now.
Friday, November 19, 2010
You had me at woof
Thursday, November 18, 2010
NFL = Epic Fail
I read this article recently and it sparked a conversation on facebook when I shared the link. The frustrating part of it is that so many people seem to think because Michael Vick served time for the crimes he committed that it means we should move on and forget about it. We can't control what he is doing now and he has the right to make a living. Because he paid his debt to society. Yeah right. I cannot disagree more. He served time in jail yes. Paid his debt to society? I think not. When there are victims still left living with the memories of what he did to them the debt will never be repaid.
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I like the line in the article: "Cruelty to animals isn't something somebody does, it's something somebody is." This is exactly why dog lovers will always hate this man. Let's remember that he LAUGHED while he killed and tortured dogs. (by strangling, drowning and electrocutions) And not just 1 or 2 dogs either, as if that mattered, but repeatedly. He admitted it! I also think this of some other criminals as well. Do child molesters and rapists ever really pay their debt? They serve time and hopefully it is a punishment that makes them think twice about doing it again. But I doubt their victims would agree that anything has been paid. They live with that trauma forever. I have a problem with anyone who hurts defenseless people and animals. Would you trust someone who did that? What does that say about their character?
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Does he have the right to work? Sure, he can pump gas or flip burgers. Should he be allowed to become a role model for others playing football? I find that sickening. If anything he is an example of having enough money or talent means if you get caught doing something horrendous it won't impact your life very much. You can still become a super star and make oodles of money. Shame on the NFL for not having a morals clause. They have only proven that the all mighty dollar is the bottom line for them. People who are in the public eye SHOULD be held to a higher standard, at least in my world. Because they are watched and emulated whether they should be or not.
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Would I feel differently if he stood up and took responsibility for his actions? If he volunteered his free time at a local shelter to help out? (that was not court ordered) If he voluntarily pledged a percentage of his "earnings" to other former fighting dogs? Maybe. If it were done with sincerity I might consider it. I haven't seen any of that yet and I'm not holding my breath.
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The whole topic makes me angry and sad. Angry because it is an example of how unfair life can be. That a monster is worshiped by some merely for having talent at a sport. Sad because there are still thousands of fighting and bait dogs still out there living horrific lives daily. Put yourself in their shoes and just imagine that kind of life for a few minutes.
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Michael Vick is an example of how celebrity gets you a pass and how sorely lacking our society is when it comes to ethics.
Whoa momma!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Link share tuesday
Monday, November 15, 2010
Puppymill rescue
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Semper Fidelis!
In case you can't read the text it says: Listed as missing for three days during front line action at Guam, Peppy, a Marine dog made his way back to camp and was treated for a bullet wound in his head. His handler's face is a study of emotion as he comforts his four-footed pal.
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There is a wonderful book with the title Always Faithful that is about the Marine Dogs of WW2 and talks more about dogs like the one above. For those that don't know Semper Fidelis is latin for Always Faithful and is the motto of the Marine Corps.
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And this is one of my favorite cartoons saved from my own time in.
Text: "He said I was the most intelligent girl he'd ever met, and that was the last I ever saw of him."
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Some shaping fun
Quite awhile ago I mentioned how I wanted to teach Jenny a trick that had her filing down her own nails. Here is some video of one of our training sessions. This video ends when she got distracted by a treat that fell under the stove. There is sandpaper glued to the board and no it isn't bothering her paws. She is holding them so that she is scraping just the nails and not her paw pads.
I also now have a dremel I have been working on getting her used to. I'm finding the noise and vibration of it doesn't seem to phase her at all. It's the taking her paw in my hand that presents the problem. We will need to concentrate on that for a spell. The tricky part of that is I need to make sure she differentiates between a flat hand held vertically in front of her face means touch with her nose and the hand held flat horizontally to the floor means give me her paw. Any mix up means she will be slapping me in the ring for our stand exercise. This is just one example of why clarity in hand signals is important.
In other news we got our certificate in the mail today for our APDT Rally Level 1 title and our Award of Excellence. She is officially Prone's that's my girl RL1 AOE! Yay Jenny!
Making progress ~ pug health news
Approximately 1.2% of Pug dogs die of necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME), also known as Pug dog encephalitis (PDE). NME is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that is usually progressive and fatal. Symptoms of NME include seizures, depression, ataxia, abnormal gait and blindness (1). Female, fawn-colored Pug Dogs younger than 7 years of age are more apt to develop NME than older, male and non-fawn colored individuals (2). Recent research has revealed that susceptibility to NME is associated with the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) region of dog chromosome 12 (3). The association is at or near the region containing the DLA class II genes. Dogs that have two identical copies of the NME associated markers in this region, have an observed risk (OR) of 12.75 for NME in their lifetime over Pugs that have only one or no copies of these markers (OR 0-1.08).
Here is the original site:
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/PDE.php
And here is the link to purchase a test kit.
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/dog.php
Add this to the list of things that should be checked before breeding a pug. At least in the world according to me.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Alpha Rolling in Wolves and Dogs
Wanna see a real "alpha roll"?
And here is a video of an alpha roll between 2 dogs.
For a more in depth explanation of alpha rolling see this post. It's hard to believe that people are still using this method on their dogs in the name of training. It's bunk. Spread the word.
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(Hat tip to Retrieverman for sharing the wolf video.)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
If you hike in the woods, please watch this
Unfortunately dogs don't always stay on the safe parts of trails. Thank you Dr. Heather for the information. Hopefully you'll never need to use the info. Please pass this on so it can help others too.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
More APDT Rally fun
Distraction work
So even though it is for different reasons they both need the distraction work. This is just one important skill that will help them when they get adopted into a home. No one wants a dog that goes crazy when they pass another dog during their walks together.
They both did well and by the end of the session were lying down with Jack walking past them and vice versa. It will take more sessions with multiple dogs for this to be something they generalize to all other dogs. How the other dog acts towards them will also come into play. I brought Jack because he is non-confrontational and friendly towards other dogs so his body language is appropriate.
If you bring a dog that is threatening towards Gordon for instance he would take much longer to calm down. He would also be less likely to trust what the other dog was doing. I also recommend using the BAT behavior program for dogs that are fearful towards other dogs approaching. It basically teaches the dog that you are listening to them and rewarding them for not getting reactive with a functional reward in that moment. This also helps build the dogs trust in you as the handler.
As always most training is about learning how to communicate with each other. I'm pretty lucky to have Jack as my helper. I'm sure he appreciates the extra treats he gets paid for the work.
(Yes he is tethered in the above photos so I can better direct the handlers but prevent any unwanted contact. I also walked him around on leash as well.)