Rent A Dog?

Animal welfare organisations expressed concern about a rent-a-dog service introduced in Britain which allows busy people to own part-time pets.

If I wouldn't let some stranger walk off with my dog, then why would I set up a business where strangers could walk off with my dog? Crazy. People don't take care of things to the same level of care that they do with things that are their own.

Kids and Dogs... Another Bite That Could Have Been Prevented

Kids and Dogs... Another Bite That Could Have Been Prevented

A TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has been bitten on the ear and head by a long-haired labrador after she took away his bone on a country property in Victoria's north.

Was this a pit bull? No. Was this a Rottweiler? No. Just an average dog in an average town doing what dogs do.

Dogs and small kids SHOULD NOT BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED. This type of situation, where the kid takes the dog's bone is a sure fire way of triggering a bite. Small kids should not be messing with a dog's bone, and parents need to be aware of this and put the bones away when the dog and child are together. Similarly, kids need to be kept away from the dog's food bowl when the dog is eating.

Yes, I know you can do all kinds of training and socializing with dogs to try and prevent this kind of thing. But, you are still messing with nature and you are taking chances that you shouldn't be taking.

Watch dogs play sometime and see what the rules of the pack are. All the training in the world won't change the fact that dogs are dogs.

Off Leash Park Hazards

A greyhound was fatally injured in a collision with another dog at the off-leash park in Sequim.

I am sure there are a lot of unreported injuries at off leash parks. Some dogs and activities bring a lot of risk to some dogs. For example, some of the large breeds have a tendency to run and smash into the sides of other dogs, which can blow out the knee joint of the dog that was hit. I know a breeder who does not let her large breed dogs play at full speed together for this very reason. With smaller dogs, say under 70 lbs, this isn't typically a problem. They are more agile and usually have quicker reflexes. You just have to watch what is going on in such a situation and get your dog out of there if you see something that looks risky.

I am not opposed to off leash parks, just so you know... It is just that they are unregulated and managed by novices who might not see the risks before it is too late.

Communism... Doncha Love It?

Outraged that his Internet posting about dogs had been banned, Chen Yuhua wrote to the mayor of Beijing. No answer. He wrote to the city council. Still no answer. When all else failed, he consulted a lawyer, studied China's civil code and marched into court with a lawsuit... it was also a sign that, beneath the ever more prosperous surface, some of China's educated elite may be growing impatient with a one-party authoritarian system in which anonymous bureaucrats decide what movies, plays, novels or social commentaries are safe enough for public consumption. Chen's posting was an attack on the Beijing municipal government's regulations barring any dog over 14 inches high and restricting each family to only one dog. These rules are unreasonable and are enforced arbitrarily, he contended in his essay. "It is so funny that people may have a 35-centimeter-high dog but may not have a 36-centimeter-high dog," he said. Criticism of government policies and nonconformist political views, however, are not taken lightly in China.

China is a great nation, and I highly respect the Chinese people. Hopefully, they will throw off the chains of Communism soon. This is how silly it gets when you try to over-regulate people. We even see this kind of garbage here in the good ol' free US of A... proposed pit bull bans, stupid anti-barking laws, and on and on. No one likes a world run by a bunch of busybodies.

Case in point...

"Subject: Barking dog

Dear Sam,

Hello. Wondering if you have any ideas for the following situation? I have a neighbor behind my house, who happens to be a deputy sheriff who do not want my dog to bark AT ALL; and has nearly gotten me a MISDEMEANOR with potential jail time, because of my barking dog. I have a 5 year old dog who is mainly an in-doors pet. I adopted her from the dog pound 4 years ago. This dog barks when the door bell rings, when hears someone comes into the yard, loud noises etc) and has a rather loud bark. --I don't believe it barks excessively or constantly, nor any of my neighbors, except for the one deputy neighbor of mine. Who called the police to my home 7 times since I moved to the neighborhood, left nasty notes at my door, and ultimately landed me in court to face a poss. misdemeanor, which I fought and got dismissed. I've tried citronella sprays, shock collars, anti-bark devices, correcting the dog immediately when it barks etc. Despite all that an my best efforts to keep her quiet, the dog still barks (though not excessively) for the above reasons... What else is there to do?? I am at a point that I am about to take the dog back to the pound. My kids are in tears every day about it, and that is not really what I'd like to do, but this neighbor has managed to harass us constantly that we live in a continued stress and worrying that the dog may bark. I've heard about a surgery where the dog's vocal cords can be removed. Is that recommended in a case such as this?? And, what is involved with doing that?? I would appreciate your advice."

I'd do what this guy did in China... Maybe it will work here. Banning barking and making it criminal is no different than banning dogs. Dogs make noise, folks. Get used to it.

The Cause?

PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- A Paulden man slit his dog's throat after complaining that the dog was staring at him, then assaulted the deputies trying to arrest him, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said.

Drugs? Mental Illness? Who knows what causes people to do things like this. I wonder how many pets suffer at the hands of people who are addicted or who need professional psychiatric help.

Dogknapping!

A Yorkshire terrier snatched from the arms of its 13-year-old owner in Hawthorne remains missing four days after the theft. Hayes' daughter was walking home with two friends about 3:30 p.m. Friday in the 4200 block of 116th Street when they were approached by a woman who asked to see the dog, named Lil-Man. Ishii said it is uncommon for dogs to be stolen right from an owner's arms; pet thieves usually take dogs from backyards. However, recently there have been a string of pet thefts in the Los Angeles area, including an incident last month at a La Mirada pet store.

Most crimes like this are to support a drug habit or some kind of organized crime related to drugs, is my guess. I wrestled for a long time over whether or not to legalize illegal drugs. After seeing what it does to to people, knowing of people who have died, and how it affects society, I am solidly convinced that illegal drugs should stay illegal.

I know that people can get into desperate straights in life. I know that young people can do dumb things to try and fit in, and abuse drugs and alcohol. And I have compassion for them. Yet, once hooked, they harm themselves and others. The greater compassion is to not enable them to further injure themselves or others.

(By the way, notice that dogs are increasingly being stolen in LA, and what filth happens there eventually moves out across the rest of the country. and mostly from back yards. Don't leave your dog unsupervised in the back yard, especially if it is a purebred or pit bull!)

What About Prong And Chain Collars?

Some things in dog training don't make sense to a novice. There are a lot of things like that in life.

Dog killer gets 30 days in jail

During the trial, jurors heard testimony of how one man held down the miniature Yorkshire terrier named Gizmo while Crawford got a running start and kicked the animal high in the air.

What kind of person do you have to be to do something purposeful like this?

Freak Accidents

Firefighters said a grease fire that left $50,000 in damage to a Topeka home erupted after a dog shut a woman out of the house while fish was frying on the stove.

Sound like something that can't happen to you? I know of a similar situation that happened to someone I know earlier this year.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Enjoy yourselves!

By the way: 1.) Keep holiday foods away from dogs. Much of it can kill a dog, especially fatty things like the turkey skin; 2.) Watch escape points from the house so your dog doesn't run away; 3.) Protect your dog from guests and your guests from your dog.

Can You Tell Me How This Makes Sense?

Can You Tell Me How This Makes Sense?

Woman gets a dog (pit bull) two days ago

Dog is left in the yard and it digs up the plants

Woman hits dog

Dog bites woman

Dog is taken by animal control and the dog is going to be put to death.

Why should it be OK for someone to hit a dog and then it not be OK for the dog to defend itself from someone that isn't its pack leader?

Kids And Dogs

Kids And Dogs

Follow me and see where I'm going... The first story is about a dog who attacked and killed a kid in Phoenix:

A family is grieving after learning their pet dog is responsible for mauling their four-year-old loved one to death. Sheriff's deputies say initially the dog nipped and grabbed at Tori's arm when she and her sister were alone in the backyard. The two girls were in the presence of three other dogs, including a pair of terriers that were staying at the home temporarily. When Rachelle went to get help from the nanny inside the home, the dog started grabbing a Tori's throat. A close family friend, Dani During, said she believes the dog got jealous of the two terriers that had been staying at the house.

During said that the dog seemed friendly and would jump on and lick visitors to the home. The family adopted the dog about a year ago. During contends the bulldog may have become jealous when he attacked because Tori was playing with other dogs the family was keeping temporarily.

Then here is the second story:

Police are still looking into what exactly happened in a Waukegan apartment early Sunday morning when a dachshund chewed off the genitals of a 4-month-old boy. The father of the boy told police he was visiting his girlfriend with his son when the infant fell asleep on a couch. The girlfriend had placed blankets around the child and the two went into another room to sleep. Police said the girlfriend’s dachshund may have smelled urine in the child’s diaper and began to chew away at the diaper. The dog continued to destroy the diaper until he mutilated and ingested the child’s genitals. The girlfriend awoke to the child screaming and immediately called 911.


First thing I notice, as a dog trainer, is that in both situations THE KIDS WERE LEFT ALONE WITH THE DOGS! Kids and dogs SHOULD NOT BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED WITH A DOG, EVER! I don't believe a child under 12 years old should be left alone with a dog. The whole social situation changes when the adults leave the area, and behaviors that would be inhibited by the presence of the adults are no longer restrained. The behavior of the kids changes when the adults aren't present, and they will do things they shouldn't do. The behavior of the dogs changes when the adults aren't present, too, and they will do things that they shouldn't do.

Second, I am especially concerned about the set up of the first story. In this situation, there were new dogs introduced into the home. That can, and probably did, set up a competitive situation. That is one reason why we don't let strangers enter into the daycare area at Paws To Play doggie daycare without our direct supervision. Even friendly dogs can do bad things when ignorant people do dumb things with them.

There is a way to enter a pack of dogs. First, you need to walk in calmly, allow the dogs to properly greet you, and then and only THEN should you consider giving any affection. Most people do it the other way around, and that can set up either a dog fight or someone being bitten. This little girl was apparently playing with the two terriers. Most people don't know how to read dog behavior in a situation like this, and don't realize that a fight is about to break out. Kids have a tendency to nurture dogs that are being picked on by bigger dogs, or to gravitate towards the vulnerable looking dog. Kids MUST be supervised, because you have to know how to approach and interact with dogs that have not formed a pack. This is also why you should never let your kid go unsupervised into a friend's backyard when dogs are present or into a leash free dog park.

I notice that in the first story, "the dog seemed friendly and would jump on and lick visitors to the home." Dogs that are jumping up on guests on greetings are more likely to engage in a dog fight when a competitive situation arises. Many people interpret jumping up and licking guests to be a friendly behavior set. Not always. It can be rude and often can be a clue something about the dog's status in the home. I recently entered the home of a potential customer, the dogs started jumping up on me, a bit too hard, the owner was telling me how friendly they were, I was starting to say how rude they were (and was about to tell him to separate the dogs), when a dog fight broke out. The jumping up on me wasn't friendly at all. I think it very possible that this kind of competitive situation happened with this little girl who was mauled to death. Spoiled dogs often are the rudest of dogs. I have written about them before. Spoiled dogs don't have proper leadership, and that can lead to a situation such as this. Spoiled kids can also trigger such an attack. I've offended a number of customers when I told them to modify how their kids interact with the dog. I lost a potentially good customer the other day for that very reason. Let's just hope that something tragic like this never happens in their family.

Third, if you read the stories, you'll find that the kid that was mauled to death was playing on a swing set. I have evaluated a handful of dogs that were overly stimulated by kids on swing sets, and would bite at them as they were swinging or when they got off the swing. I think swing sets stimulate a dog much the same way as swinging a rag around can stimulate some dogs. It frustrates them and frustration can lead to aggression. If you watch a protection dog trainer run around a dog, back and forth, to try and stimulate the dog to bite, then you'll see what I mean. I think that swing sets can do the same around some dogs.

Who knows? There could be alternate reasons why these horrible things happened to these kids. News reporting can oftentimes leave out important story details since reporters aren't dog behaviorists or trainers. They just tell the story that was told to them. But, I think my take on the story is probably the best explanation of what happened given what we know at this juncture. And now that the dogs are dead, and we aren't there to set up an evaluation, we will never know.

I will say this: If you get a dog, and you don't train it, enforce proper manners, supervise the dog when it is loose, and contain the dog when it can't be supervised, then you are asking for trouble. This is more than just getting some treats and going through a couple of classes at your local pet store. And if you have a kid: never leave the kid unsupervised with a dog, and teach the kids how to act around a dog. Don't let your kid be unmannerly around a dog, or you could be very sorry one day.

Puggles: I Told You So!

The appeal of the puggle is evident at first glance: A puggle puppy inherits a slightly less smushed-in face than its pug progenitor, framed by the floppy ears of the beagle parent. It is cuteness defined. But the puggle's downfall is not its appearance. It is its energy level. While pugs have been bred for centuries for companionship, they have a reputation for clownish stubbornness. This gets taken to NASCAR levels with the infusion of beagle blood. An unapologetic hunting dog, the beagle gives voice when he is excited, or frustrated, or bored, or basically just breathing. He laughs at your obedience-class enrollment forms, preferring instead to dig up the dahlia bed or bark nonstop. As a result, while a puggle is a delight to look at, he is a challenge to live with. The word that recurs in conversation with rescuers is "hyper."

Scroll through this blog and find the articles I have written on the Puggle, and then read the comments. Now, as I predicted, Puggles are starting to fill up the animal shelters. As I predicted, they would be hard to house train. As I predicted, they are a lot like a Beagle... on steroids. It has a long way to go before it should be considered a breed. And you have a lot of homework to do before you breed or buy one. If you already have a Puggle, hire a good professional and get to work. You still can have a great dog, but this is not a dog for novice or lazy dog owners.

Shopping Mall To Allow Dogs!

Gilbert's new open-air mall, the SanTan Village regional shopping center, allow shoppers to take their dogs shopping.

This is good stuff. Many dogs are suitable for such environments. My recommendations: making sure you require parent's permission before you let a kid pet your dog, that you don't use a retractable leash, that your dog is obedience trained and well mannered, that you pick up your dog's poop and mop up any pee accidents, don't let weirdos pet your dog, don't leave your dog unattended, don't let your dog be a nuisance for others, and don't take a dog that isn't good with everybody and every animal.

More Dog Meat Stories...

WINDHOEK, Namibia — Sixty-eight villagers in northern Namibia were hospitalized last week after eating a dog that had been killed by disease, the local daily The Namibian reported Wednesday. The paper said the dog's owner had killed it after it contracted an unknown skin disease and ordered it to be burned. Instead, the inhabitants of Oikokola village insisted on eating the meat, which was also shared with people from the nearby Onepandaulo village.

OK, I know I'm going to make some people angry about this... but some cultures are inferior to other cultures. I think Stone Age cultures are inferior to modern day cultures. The Aztecs engaged in ritual human sacrifice. The ancient Greeks endorsed sexual relationships between boys and adult men, which we would today consider the crime of pedophilia. We put Catholic priests in prison for that kind of thing today because we have come to know that young people below the age of consent should be protected from adults. The Romans arranged public spectacles of animals fighting animals, people fighting animals, and people fighting people to the death. We are putting Michael Vick in prison for this kind of thing because we know the horrors of engaging in blood sports. Well, as far as I'm concerned, we should no longer be eating dogs. Sorry, but we don't live in the Stone Age any more. I also feel that some modern cultures are barbaric: such as Nazi Germany and today's Iran and North Korea. Time to move on folks.

Mandatory Spay / Neuter?

Palm Beach County commissioners appear ready to adopt a mandatory countywide pet sterilization policy, tapping into an emotional issue that affects thousands of pet owners and has already drawn howls from some animal lovers.

This is just ridiculous. I hate people meddling in my life, whether it be friends, family, neighbors, employers or government. Doesn't the Constitution prohibit the "taking" of property? This is taking my property, the breeding rights I own when I purchase a dog. This is one reason I oppose the changing of dog "ownership" to dog "guardianship" in the law. If the dog is your property, then you can fight this on Constitutional grounds, and probably win.

IF you have this kind of thing happening in your area, contact some of the pro-dog activist groups listed on the sidebar of this blog. Some have legal funds and attorneys ready to fight against this kind of thing.

My Take On The Ellen DeGeneres Adoption Story

Should Ellen DeGeneres have been put through the meat grinder over her placement of her adopted dog with someone else? I really don't think so.

Most rescue people I've worked with aren't so rigid in how they place the dogs. They are typically volunteers whose main purpose is to find a good home for the dogs they rescue.

I think this thing with Ellen DeGeneres is more the exception than the rule. See: How common is Ellen's 'Iggygate' scenario?

And the fact is you have a lot of options when it comes to adoption. You can get the same type of dog, same breed, from a variety of organizations. So, if you don't like working with one group, switch to another. Some are super rigid, some aren't, in their philosophy on dog adoption.

Many are afraid of being sued if the dog injures someone... that is a lot of why the rules are so tight. No one talks about that, but it is a fact. Rescue is full of armchair lawyers who see risk and lawsuits behind everything. They are so afraid of complaints that they do stupid things with the dogs, and over-regulate the adoption process. Further, many become little political kingdoms where personalities use rules and procedures to make themselves feel important, to the detriment of the dogs and the other people involved. That is why rescue groups form and fall apart every year. Money is wasted, goodwill of donors and rescue volunteers is wasted, dogs are needlessly put down because of stupid policies, and good homes are eliminated from consideration for irrational reasons.

Postscript: So, Ellen... don't get a dog without reading and abiding by the rules of the rescue organizations you go to. You blew it, and you brought some of this on yourself. A contract is a contract is a contract. To Rescue Groups: maybe it is time to organize an advisory group and adopt a model adoption contract, dog evaluation procedures, group liability insurance protections, and organizational bylaws. You could get professional lawyers to help you draft up the agreement and look at your bylaws and policies, vets and dog trainers to help with evaluation procedures, and so on. AKC... it is time to get involved in this.

Hat Tip to DoggieNews.com for staying on this story.

Dog Meat Recipes

You'd be surprised how many mentally deranged people go to this blog looking for dog meat recipes.

Look folks: YOU ARE CRAZY IF YOU THINK IT IS OK TO EAT A DOG! You are mentally disordered. You are psychologically deranged. You are neurotic. You don't need dog meat, you need medication. You need to be put in a secure facility with padded rooms and guards. Go get help. Check yourself into a mental ward. You need a check up from the neck up. You have a distorted sense of reality and society, and you are a danger to yourself and others.

Ever studied serial killers? About a third of them start out by killing pets. I don't care if you are from another country, or that eating dog meat is a part of your culture. Some cultures eat humans, too. Is that OK, too, just because it is part of their culture? If you can eat a dog, then you have serious problems.

Clinton Photo Op Pets

AS THE “first pet” of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed “chilly” Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea. So where is Socks today? Once the presidency was over, there was no room for Socks any more. After years of loyal service at the White House, the black and white cat was dumped on Betty Currie, Bill Clinton’s personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship with the intern Monica Lewinsky.

This does not surprise me. It was reported back in the Clinton presidency that they got Buddy the Labrador Retriever to soften Bill Clinton's image. After he was out of office, they didn't need Buddy any more. So, Buddy, exiled to living at one of their homes, forgotten and unsupervised, ran into the street and was killed by a car. These people have no shame. It was well known that the Clinton presidency was run by polling numbers not principle. Whatever the numbers showed made the decisions, not principle, not affection, not even what was legal or moral. And here again, we see the same phenomenon. They are more concerned about how this cat story will affect Hillary's run for office than asking how the cat is doing. They want to "soften" Hillary's image, not ask what is good for the cat. They want her to win, they don't care about the cat. In other words, we are being fed an image, not the real person running for office. And that sickens me.

Their incompetency and corruption led to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade towers, allowed the Chinese to obtain secret missile and nuclear weapon technology ("The financial sleaze that dominated the final Clinton years is also making a comeback. After Norman Hsu, one of Clinton’s biggest campaign “bundlers”, was exposed as a fraud, it emerged last week that waiters, dishwashers and street pedlars in New York’s Chinatown have been handing over $1,000 and $2,000 sums to her campaign – some with genuine pride, others because they were ordered to do so by neighbourhood bosses."), stalled the country for years because Bill couldn't keep it in his pants, and opened the door for the Clinton's to amass more power by selling Presidential pardons at the end of their second term in office. The People's Republic of China is funneling money into the Clinton campaign again. Think on that one.

Pet owners know what this is all about: "Flanagan’s article, headed No Girlfriend of Mine, points out that Clinton wrote a crowd-pleasing book Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets, in which she claimed that only with the arrival of Socks and his “toy mouse” did the White House “become a home”."

We are being used again. It is hypocrisy.

This is typical Clinton politics. Why anyone would put such people in office is beyond me.

When Dog Fleas Attack!

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Four officers investigating a burglary were attacked, not by a fleeing burglar, but a swarm of fleas in a filth-ridden vacant house. The tiny, biting attackers were so overwhelming that the South Bend patrolmen had to be decontaminated and ended up being sent home early from their shifts. Stokes said the house's tenants had recently been evicted, but returned periodically to feed a dog tied up in the backyard and allowed it to run around inside the garbage-filled house.

Fleas are bad enough. But, when they infest a place, they can be horrible. The first time I encountered fleas was in 1986. I had gotten my first dog, Kate, and had taken her to Marymoor Park's off leash area in Redmond, WA. My pup had gotten a greeting from a particularly scruffy black dog, I didn't feel good about it, so I left the area. Sure enough, when I got home, I found fleas on her. I bathed her and figured that was the end of it. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Fleas had buried themselves in my car on the way home. It took a long time to get rid of those fleas.

I figure that the fleas you encounter at off leash parks are the military type. They've fought man wars with many other fleas, been in combat with any number of dog owners, survived all mankind's WMD's, and have a variety of medals on their chests for their doggie conquests. I dipped and sprayed Kate. I gave her white pills that were a kind of internal insecticide (an early version of insecticides like FrontLine that are absorbed into the dog's body, and supposedly kill the fleas that bite the dog). I sprayed my yard. I bombed the house with foggers I purchased from my veterinarian. I tried herbal remedies (which were pretty much worthless). And they still kept coming. It took months and repeated treatments to kill them off. Even then, they would get inside the walls, stay dormant for months, and come out if there was any humidity or wetness to re-activate their eggs. Kate became sensitized to their bites, and then, for the rest of her life, she'd get some large, ugly looking, blood red, wet sores on her tummy after she'd been bitten. Sometimes that was the first clue we had a flea somewhere. Since all this happened in the mid-1980's, I figure that maybe these were survivors of Saddam's WMD attacks against Iran. These blood suckers were nasty. They could survive anything.

And they bit me, too! Until then, I didn't realize that fleas would bite people. They gave me some pretty itchy welts that took days to go away. I later found out from real estate agents that they would sometimes encounter hungry fleas in vacant homes for sale. They'd get bitten pretty badly. Old timers know to recommend to sellers that own dogs to bomb / fog their homes if they are going to be left vacant during the sales process. Nothing like a flea infestation to kill a sale.

The nice thing about moving to Arizona is that there aren't fleas here. Wrong climate. Instead, we get ticks. Sigh. Ticks. Seems that monsoon season, from about July through August, is tick season, with the high humidity being the factor that causes them to grow and spread. Ticks aren't so bad as fleas, however they carry tick borne diseases that can kill a dog. I know someone who lost their Akita a couple of years ago to a tick borne disease. The good news is that it seems that the insecticides seem to be more effective in dealing with, and preventing, ticks. You just have to be diligent in spraying your yard and home, and treating your dog with a topical insecticide and/or dip.