Information on living with, training, and loving Dogs
Cait’s sitting on her favorite seat in the house — me. As she’s done since she was a baby, she brushes the hair back from my face with both her hands so she can see my whole face.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“You’re getting white hairs!”
Cait has announced this with some alarm. As though, for the first time, she’s realizing the clock’s not standing still.
“You can’t get old,” she adds with a hint of worry in her voice.
I joke, … Read More
If you’d just rub my tummy… And maybe one bedtime story. I promise, I’ll be a good boy and sleep through the whole night!… Read More
Here’s a great article on the socio-biology of empathy and the roots of moral behavior in animals.
The NY Times article begins:
… Read More“Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.
Biologists argue that these and other social
Andrew, reading the morning paper in one hand with a cup of coffee in the other, started quoting an article on one of the more popular dog trainers du jour. Every time he was about to say what the problem was, I absent-mindedly pre-empted him with the correct evaluation and training procedure.
Finally, he looked at me and said, “Why don’t you become a professional dog trainer? Any time I mention any article or magazine piece on dog training you … Read More
“Dad, Finn really likes you,” Cait says.
“I like Finn,” Andrew says.
“Finally, an animal you have no complaints about,” I say.
“That’s because there’s nothing to complain about. He does his job (Finnegan-now 9, Mice-0) and he’s quiet.”
“Sounds like a dating ad: Does job and is quiet,” I say. “Kiera and Graidy do their jobs too, you know.”
“Yep. We’ve got one dog who herds anything moving on the ground, one dog who herds anything moving up in … Read More
My vet has sent a reminder card to let me know that Kiera is due for a couple of vaccines. I’ll bring her in for titers to be taken. I stopped automatically vaccinating some years ago, after I’d extensively read up on the subject.
Here’s the gist of what I’ve learned:
The minimum duration of immunity for the four core vaccines (parvo, distemper, canine Adenovirus and rabies) was 3-7 years. (A USDA study I reviewed similarly showed an average 7-year … Read More
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