The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior released a position statement against the use of dominance theory in behavior modification of animals. The lengthy statement provides good scientifically based talking points you can use if/when you find yourself in a discussion with someone who believes in methods like those espoused by people, who we will NOT name. …
We went to a really neat farm/ranch sale up the road many years ago. I don’t remember all the rural do-dads that Tom bought, but I do recall getting this sign. We thought it was funny on the dog house because it doesn’t say exactly what the guard is armed with. In my mind, it’s usually a ferocious weapon like very bad gas. Considering Lilly’s recent, prolonged tummy upset, likely from hunting and eating voles, it seemed appropriate to show you this now. …
We have NOT gotten nearly enough snow this winter, so it’s very, very dry as we head into what will be a scary fire season. Our current struggle, however, is getting all the dead grass off of the dogs after they’ve wriggled on the tiny patch of real lawn we have. Case in point. …
I am devastated to report we have decided NOT to adopt
Katie, the beautiful, sweet, amazing Borzoi who has become Lilly’s best, best
friend over the last year. After several weeks of overcoming many dog-dog
obstacles, about which I am endlessly proud of all three dogs, the final
decision rests in my own human failings … as so many outcomes for pets do.
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You have my apologies for being so far off our primary topic lately. After all, isn’t my objective to see if some day, somehow, Lilly might actually be a competitive agility dog? Well, I’ve actually accepted that won’t happen, but I do want her to be a confident, well-trained, agility-minded girl in her daily life that more and more includes being around more dogs. I point only to the distractions from the outside world, the dog world, the work world as my excuse for all the craziness lately. Seriously. How much can one girl think about/worry about before her head …
Last Sunday, we got the sad news that Lilly’s best friend Katie needs a new home. Without bogging down in the details, suffice it to say that Katie’s own shyness/fear issues have impacted her bonds at home. Our hearts immediately turned toward heroism. Where better, we thought, for Katie to live than with US? Lilly loves her. We love her. She thinks we’re pretty neat, too. She often watches us play in the pasture, looking longingly over from her front corner perch. So, despite our rule of being a 2-dog house, we started figuring out a solution. Sadly, …
I’m beyond sick with some crazy winter virus. No energy to write anything. Hope to be back to normal later this week. …
In our continuing efforts to notice dog language based on what we learned from Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff, I shot these two photos of the dogs sitting inside one of our sliding doors in the sun. Both looked at me, then looked away in unison. I love these pics of my golden-eyed pair, sharing a dog bed in the sun.
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Squeak, squeak, squeak. Whine, whine, whine. That’s all I’ve been hearing for several weeks now. Lilly has a new attention-getting ploy. She goes and cries to Ginko, which frustrates him, so then he barks. Ginko never bothers me unless he really needs something, so at first, I’d go running to see what was up. VOILA! Lesson learned. Lilly figured out that fussing to Ginko garners attention (from both of us). STINKER! …
Earlier this week, Lilly’s friend the Boer goat spent a lot of time in the pasture behind our house. We’ll go a whole week without seeing her, then she’ll be back, grazing with the horses. Tom and I each left the dogs inside and went to smooch on her at the fence. (We think its a her.) And, she loved the attention. Do you think a raised paw means the same thing in Goat-Speak as it does with dogs? …
