Last year, on the drive home from our annual vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine, our 11-year-old Brittany, Vinny suddenly and inexplicable awoke from a sound sleep and began to tremble, pant, pace, and obsessively lick at the sides of his travel crate. When I crawled back over the seat to find out what was wrong, Vinny’s … Continue reading Fear Itself
Behavior and Training
Death Throes of the Guilty Look
I just talked to a potential client who is interested in bringing his 7-month-old Golden Doodle to train with us at AutumnGold. His dog, Penny, has the usual young dog issues - jumping up, a bit of nipping during play, still the occasional slip in house training, etc. Penny also raids the kitchen garbage bin, removing and shredding food wrappers, napkins, and … Continue reading Death Throes of the Guilty Look
Our Best Friends’ Friends
Our Golden, Cooper has a friend named Pete. Cooper and Pete groom each other, take naps together on a favorite bed, and play their own special version of "wolf and caribou" around the dining room table. When Coop goes on walks, he likes to have Pete come along with us. And oh yeah, Pete is our cat. Many folks who live with dogs … Continue reading Our Best Friends’ Friends
Talking Turkey
I grew up with a story-book grandmother. She was my mother’s mom, “Nana” to my sister and me. As required of all perfect grandmothers, Nana was a great cook and regularly expressed her love through sumptuous meals and comfort foods. Although she did not actually reside “over the valley and through the woods”, her home … Continue reading Talking Turkey
You Barkin’ At Me?
I have a ring tone on my mobile phone that I really like. It barks. Five barks (bark-bark-bark-bark-bark) for each ring. It is a real dog's voice, not a person fake-barking in that annoying way that certain people feel compelled to do when they see a dog. (Really, what is that about anyway?). Earlier this week, my phone started barking while I was … Continue reading You Barkin’ At Me?
Lend a Helping Paw
Dogs are highly social beings who express their social nature in a variety of ways. They desire companionship with others and readily integrate into our human families and lives. Most of our dogs love to play and to learn new things and enjoy spending time together going for walks, a ride in the car or simply hanging out for a cuddle on the couch. Given the choice, most dogs … Continue reading Lend a Helping Paw
I Yawn for Your Love
Vinny, my Brittany, yawns a lot. He yawns first thing in the morning when he rises, in the evening when he is tired, and many times in between. We notice this because Vinny emits an adorable little squeaky sound whenever he launches a particularly wide and emotive yawn. We also know that Vinny seems to be highly susceptible … Continue reading I Yawn for Your Love
Hey, Teacher! Leave Those Dogs Alone!
It is a fairly common practice among dog trainers who teach group classes to "borrow" one of their student's dogs to demonstrate a training technique or learning concept. Opinions of this practice vary. Proponents say that it helps owners to observe their own dog being handled by an instructor or responding to someone else, while opponents argue … Continue reading Hey, Teacher! Leave Those Dogs Alone!
Its All Rock-and-Roll to Me
When training my dogs, I always have music playing. And, truth-be-told, my personal tastes gravitate neither to easy-listening nor to high-brow classical music. Rather, I am a rock n' roll gal, all the way home. On a given day, my dogs and I may be training agility to The Who, retrieving to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and practicing tricks to Ray Lamontagne. On days that my feminist freak … Continue reading Its All Rock-and-Roll to Me
Fear Factor
Experiencing fear is not pleasant. Any human will tell you this. As one of our most basic emotions, fear functions as a rapid-fire means of communicating to our bodies "DANGER, DANGER - GET AWAY NOW!!" As a physiological state, fear is associated with a set of bodily changes that are decidedly uncomfortable. Respiration and pulse increase, we become … Continue reading Fear Factor
And Your Little Dog Too……
Little dogs often get a bad rap. People who dislike small dogs say that are yappy, hyper-excitable, nippy (reactive), untrained, and often spoiled (whatever that means) . Indeed, it appears that even the Wicked Witch of the West had it in for the wee ones. So, are any of these beliefs true? Are little dogs truly as bratty as some would have us believe? And, … Continue reading And Your Little Dog Too……
Mr. Licks-A-Lot
Do you live with a Mr. Licks-A-Lot? You know what I mean - a dog who, for reasons that he is not readily sharing, will suddenly and obsessively begin to lick the floor, the couch, the wall? Note that I am not referring to the dog who licks you, a behavior that usually communicates appeasement, affection, or in some cases, … Continue reading Mr. Licks-A-Lot
What the Dog’s Nose Knows
In "Thyroid on Trial" we used an evidence pyramid to examine the various types of scientific studies that have been used to examine the hypothesis that there is a connection between hypothyroidism and aggressive behavior in dogs. We followed this example up through most of the levels of the pyramid, finishing at the penultimate level, the randomized, controlled trial. At the tippy … Continue reading What the Dog’s Nose Knows
Thyroid on Trial
Every day, we are bombarded with new information about dogs that arises from a variety of sources - via the internet, through our smart (or not so smart) phones, from our colleagues, friends and family, and of course from our neighbor Joe next door (who happens to know a lot about dogs). In this day and age of information overload, it should … Continue reading Thyroid on Trial
The Kids are Alright
A SAMPLE OF "KIDS WITH DOGS" PHOTOS TAKEN FROM A 30-SECOND GOOGLE SEARCH Disclaimer: If you are not horrified by these photographs (even worse....if you think they are cute), you are probably not going to like what follows. A few statistics: According to the CDC, approximately 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each … Continue reading The Kids are Alright
The Science Dog 