Last Friday, Lilly and I created our very own foundation online so that we can better manage and accrue our charity donations for favs like Humane Society of Boulder Valley. Join too, and you might win one of the $1,000 per day prizes before GiveBack.org’s 100 Days of Giving ends July 16.
Despite concerns it might be too much for her, we took Lilly with us to the awards event at Humane Society of Boulder Valley Thursday night. At times, she threw oh-hell-no looks me. Other times, she smiled and even wagged. A few strategies helped Lilly cope in the crowd.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a funny voice-mail message from Kim Sporrer, who handles communication stuff for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley (where we adopted Lilly in October 2004). She asked me to call her and, in the meantime, to keep the evening of February 24 open. She was a little cryptic.
Because that’s where we adopted Lilly in October 2004 and because Boulder Humane is truly one of the most progressive animal welfare spots in the country, we could not be MORE thrilled to support their efforts … first by raising money through our Be the Change campaign and now by spreading the word about the No-Choke Challenge.
A while back, Stephanie Feldstein, the animals editor for Change.org, contacted me about our Never Shock a Puppy efforts. She asked a bunch of questions via email. I answered, and the result is this blog post. Many thanks to her for the interest and enthusiasm.
Lilly and I are so pleased that we can return the favor to Stephanie by asking those of you who agree with our very public stance against shock collars to sign this petition, asking Petsmart to stop selling shock collars. Please.
The $500 donation is one of the biggest reasons I hoped to win the DogTime Media Best Dog Blog Award. It took some doing to work out the details, but I had the chance to celebrate the donation that YOU made possible last Friday. Thanks, again, for your votes!!
Many of the Never Shock a Puppy coalition members attended BlogPaws West in Denver, back in September. We even enjoyed a team dinner one night. I was so touched that Debbie Jacobs from FearfulDogs.com brought Lilly and Ginko a gift.
We’re still in the process of sorting through the results of the Never Shock A Puppy campaign. The biggest news is that we indeed surpassed our goal of raising $2,500 for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. As we process other campaign data about site/blog traffic and outside participation, we’d appreciate if you could answer this question, if it applies to you:
The poll will be open for a week or so. Thanks for your input.
In the final week of the 2010 Never Shock a Puppy dog blog campaign, we revisit why a bunch of us banded together on this somewhat “controversial” topic as our first Be the Change effort. It boils down to this: We believe dogs deserve a pain-free future. All dogs. No matter their size, age, breed, etc.
In week 7 of the 2010 Never Shock a Puppy dog blog campaign, we discuss whether or not snake aversion training is the one “acceptable” use of shock collars. Personally, my answer is no, but there are many people I like and respect who believe otherwise.
Since Lilly has survived TWO rattlesnake bites in TWO years, I like to think we know a bit about this particular subject.
We only have TWO weeks left to reach our goal to raise $2,500 for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. So, we’ve added some donation incentives, with many thanks to Kevin Myers from Dog Lover’s Digest, who has written TWO terrific posts in support of our Never Shock a Puppy campaign:
In week 6 of the 2010 Never Shock a Puppy dog blog campaign, we discuss the special cases of training a fearful, reactive, or “aggressive” dog. Unlike the other topics so far in the campaign, this one is harder for me to summarize.
Every dog is different. Every situation is different. So, my fall-back reminder about doing any rehabilitation work or training with a fearful/reactive dog is this:
You cannot change how a dog behaves until you change how she FEELS.
In week 5 of the 2010 Never Shock a Puppy dog blog campaign, we offer a few ideas on how to get your dog to COME when you call. The main post started to get REALLY long, so I’m continuing one idea here. And, it is this: Playing FETCH is a great way to practice recalls every single day. We even made a little how-to video (see below).
This week’s topic in our Never Shock a Puppy campaign is barking. And, if you’ve ever seen those border collie t-shirts that say, “Welcome to the BARK side,” you know I speak from experience. Some dogs, some breeds, simply bark more than others.
Lilly barks to try and "control" other dogs during play. Here, Ginko waits happily for me to throw the ball. Lilly ... Well, Lilly does her thing. Different breeds of dogs bark more than others. This is a good example of that.
Border collies (and many herding dogs) bark. So, do terriers of many stripes. One way to manage barking is to know your tolerance for it and which breeds might better meet your expectations from the get-go.
This barking video dates back two years, and you can hear me trying (not succeeding) at getting Lilly NOT to bark incessantly at her best, best dog friend Katie (the borzoi). Lilly is noisy when she plays. I’ve accepted that (somewhat).
More Than One Barking Dog: Divide and Conquer
I’ve tried to address the group dynamic of two barking dogs in the past, particularly when it comes to chaos right before they go outside or right before they eat. Lilly and Ginko get so riled up. It can be quite noisy.
I’ve tried teaching that barking/noisy dogs don’t get what they want, but trying to teach BOTH of them at the same time is very hard (at least for me).
So, my advice … if you’re dealing with more than one barker … is to train/re-train them individually before you ever attempt to manage the situation with both together.
While this is somewhat better in my mind for the timing required (versus the kind of shock collars triggered by a remote control held by a person), I’m still opposed to their use.
Very few dogs bark for “no reason.” So, for me, the key is to know why your dog barks and WHAT you can do to reframe the situation so that the dog doesn’t bark or HOW you can retrain that scenario so that the dog learns that barking doesn’t pay.
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Enter to Win Great Prizes (tell your friends!)
Again this week, we’re doing random prize drawings for some awesome gift packages on the Never Shock a Puppy site. We’ll take entries (via comments posted on Never Shock a Puppy). I hope all of you will hop over there and comment for a chance to win. Seriously. Nice. Prizes.
Please Donate?!
We are halfway through our 8-week campaign, but we’re ONLY about 22% toward our goal of raising $2,500 for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley’s upcoming No-Choke Challenge (set to begin in November 2011).
Every little bit helps, even $1 or $5. So, if you believe in our cause, we’d appreciate your vote of support via a donation.
The donation widget will be to your right in the sidebar during the campaign. Just click the donation button on this handy-dandy donation widget to get started! If for some reason you cannot see or use the donation widget, please visit the Never Shock a Puppy Donation Site instead.
