A link between animal care and child care?

According to the American Humane Society:
American Humane has completed a study establishing a link between animal cruelty and human violence.
E.g., in NJ, 88% of families where physical abuse occurred, animal abuse also occurred. In about 1/3 of these homes, the animal was killed as a threat/manipulation of the child. Finding that the sexual abuser threatens to kill the pet if the child speaks up – threat to silence the child.
California and Colorado make animal control officers mandated reporters for child abuse.
Violent and deliberate acts of animal abuse link to human violence. Among all the recent school shooting cases – there was an earlier history of animal abuse. Animal abuse is already a diagnostic criteria for personality disorder. Serious animal abuse can be a risk factor for juvenile delinquency. Systems may now take animal abuse more seriously. Source: casanet. org

I can add that there appears to be a link between child care and animal care.

According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Idaho ranks in the bottom 5 of states as being one of the “…worst states in the nation for laws against animal cruelty”.
Coincidentally,
According to the NACCRRA (National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies), Idaho ranks dead last as number 52 out of 50 states in the 2007 overall state rankings, with a score of 15 (Depart of Defense and the District of Columbia were included in the survey). The Department of Defense ranked number 1 with a score of 117. Source: naccrra.org

The other states that ranked in the bottom 5 according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund are: Arkansas (NACCRRA ranking of 42), Kentucky (NACCRRA ranking of 49), Mississippi (NACCRRA ranking of 31), and North Dakota (NACCRRA ranking of 7).

Shopping with the dogs

We took the dogs shopping last Saturday, first to the vet for worm medicine, since they catch and eat mice when we aren’t looking. Then a few errands for ourselves, and a stop at PetSmart for dog food and a free toy for Dakota’s birthday. Sophie panicked when she stepped onto the tiled floor but after a minute or so, when she realized that there was no choice but to walk, she gradually calmed down and did well although she was nervous. The dog food aisle took her mind off the floor as she scoured the floor for bits of dog and cat food here and there. On the way back, we stopped and walked the dogs before returning home.

I think that the more we take them to PetSmart or PetCo, the more Sophie will be accustom to walking on slick floors which might help her with her fear of our hardwood floor since she developed her fear of slick floors only a year or so ago.

Mid-March Meandering

The following is a “pass along” newsletter article from the Pointing Dog Journal.

Mid-March Meandering
by Steve Smith

I remember one time I sent my gunsmith’s wife a sympathy card. Inside, I put a little note that said, “I didn’t see the obituary in the newspaper, but ___’s had my gun so long, I figure he’s dead.”

The humor was appreciated about like you’d expect it was, but I did get my gun back in time for the season. It wasn’t entirely the gunsmith’s fault; most of it, in fact, was mine –
I took the gun in to have some work done on it in the middle of the summer. Along with several dozen or maybe it was several hundred other guys.

Right now — mid-March — is when you should be taking your gun in if it needs any work at all. Hopefully, if it’s something major like you broke the stock or something, you dropped it off as soon as it happened or right after the season. But now, even if it’s something small, is not too early to take it in. A recoil pad? Maybe a balky ejector? A safety that sticks? Yes, they are all pretty minor. But if you’re at the end of a long line, the problem isn’t the time it will take the ’smith to do the work; the problem is getting to your gun.

You’ve come to know The Pointing Dog Journal as the only magazine that sufficiently gives you your pointing dog fix. And if you haven’t, well, there’s a solution to that little problem: request your own no-obligation issue!

But at The Pointing Dog Journal, we’re more than just paper. We’re also pixels. We’ve had a pretty unique website for a while now, one that offers additional content (that is, content different from what you’d find in the magazine) including more articles, more photos, video clips, a highly active and addicting bulletin board, and lots of other stuff. And what’s neat is that it’s ONLY for subscribers to the magazine, which means that for one price, you get a dedicated magazine and a dedicated website. Take a peek in our “Vistor’s Section.”

Breaking and honor training day 4

The weather this weekend was more like May than March, and the dogs were so wound up with spring fever that yesterday, I took them to the river for training. A weasel came out and watched us for a couple of minutes but the dogs didn’t care for anything but the bumper. We purchased Cesar Millan’s “Illusion” collar which I use on Dakota for training as well as walking, and it works quite well in training.

We spent a good half hour training, then Sophie lost interest and began exploring. I figured that she had earned the right to have some “sniff time” and worked with Dakota on not breaking on the retrieve for another ten minutes or so. Dakota started out with dropping the bumper at the river’s edge, so I would send Sophie down to finish the retrieve – then I realized that this was defeating the purpose of everything I was trying to accomplish.

So I changed tactics. Just as Dakota would reach the bank on her retrieve, I would step back from the bank to where she couldn’t see me. Since she was intent on finding me, she would forget to drop the bumper and carry it up to me.

It’s Just A Dog

A co-worker emailed me “It’s Just a Dog”, which is also published on iReports. I’m grateful to the author for this eloquent tribute, which has given me pause to reflect on all my past, present and future dogs.

From time to time people tell me, “Lighten up, it’s just a dog”, or “That’s a lot of money for just a dog”

They don’t understand the distance traveled, time spent, or costs involved for “Just a dog”. Some of my proudest moments have come about with” Just my dog.” Many hours have passed with my only company being “Just a dog,” and not once have I felt slighted.

Some of my saddest moments were brought about “Just by a dog.” In those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “Just a dog” provided comfort and purpose to overcome the day.

If you, too, think its “Just a dog,” you will probably understand phrases like “Just a friend,” “Just a sunrise,” or “Just a promise. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person. Because of “Just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

For me and folks like me, it’s not “Just a dog.” It’s an embodiment of all hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. I hope that someday peoiple can understand it’s not “Just a dog.”

It’s the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from just being “Just a man or woman.” So the next time you hear the phrase “Just a dog,” smile, because they “Just Don’t Understand.”

Author: Unknown

Playing God?

Why do people breed dogs? Are they “fanciers” who enjoy the breed and wish to responsibly promote it? “Backyard breeders”, many of whom breed only for the easy money? Simply to win awards? Do they breed to benefit of the animal and breed, or for some kind of self-fulfillment?

While channel surfing last week, I came across a show about evolution on the Research channel that got me thinking. During the segment on the manmade evolution of wolves to dogs, two breeders were interviewed. One breeder, in speaking of her dog, said: “his neck is a little bit too short; he’s got great strength in the neck” but she would “like it just a smidgen longer”, and “would also like a little more muscle definition in the rear”. Another breeder stated “we really enjoy the ability to take the gene pool and use it like paints. It’s our art; this is my art. I made this beautiful dog. I made her.”

There have been discussions and arguments on whether the instinct in sporting dogs is being bred out of them, as breeders focus on dog show “confirmation”. There are also breeders who try turning a dog into something it’s not, such as Dakota. Dakota is an example of breeders playing with the Labrador breed and trying to turn them into a field dog. The problem with this is that her original owner (and myself as well) expected a “typical” Lab, not one who has the high energy level of a true field dog. The original owner was unable to understand and control her, and the little boys were afraid of her because of her hyperactivity, so she was sold to us. And although I’ve had Labs or Lab-crosses most of my life, it’s been a long learning curve.

Dakota is a powerful swimmer although her feet are not as webbed as typical labs; her retrieving instincts are much different and it took 2 ½ years of training before she made her first solo retrieve; but probably worst of all is that she doesn’t have an undercoat and cannot take the cold weather like a “typical” Lab. All of these nuances are deceiving to the average owner, and when they don’t get the type of dog they expect, it’s the dog who pays the price.

I’ve also been told that some breeders will kill or euthanize littermates that are somehow undesirable or not up to standard, allowing only the best prospects to live. Pet stores may tell you that they “always” sell “all” their pets but I find that highly unlikely and in today’s economic mess, more and more animals are being abandoned, destroyed, and neglected. Animal shelters are filling up rapidly with animals that owners can no longer support, which means that out of necessity, they are being euthanized with less stay time.

Yet there are some breeders out there who continue pumping out one litter after another with little regard for the animals themselves. Regardless of why dogs are bred – whether for money or the chance to play God with another living creature – it should be done ethically, morally, and in the best interests of the animal.

Wolf warning issued for the Phantom Pack

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has issued a wolf warning for the pack known as the “Phantom Pack” and will begin hazing the wolves in an attempt to drive them away from civilization. This pack of about 10 wolves has moved into the Wood River Valley, and are unafraid of people – they have driven elk off the ridges and into subdivisions for the kill, and eat on the carcasses within several hundred yards of people who are out and about.

I received an email several days ago with photos of a mountain lion just outside of Sun Valley – within sight of homes – that had been killed and gutted by wolves, presumably the Phantom Pack. While I personally don’t agree with hunting wolves (or other animals) only for sport, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop one or two if they came after my dogs.

I believe that about 1 in 6 wolves in Idaho were killed last year, and in spite of that they seem to be thriving very well. As with any wild animal, if you are out enjoying the outdoors, always be aware and prepared.

Spring migration 2009

Spring migration is in full swing and snow geese are heading north – we see the spring snow goose migration every year, but never the fall migration.

While letting the dogs out to sniff the other night, the sky was filled with the migrating geese. Unfortunately the largest flocks had already passed over, by the time I got the camcorder and began recording. Anyway, I did catch a few of the flocks passing overhead.

On another note, I got spring fever today and took the dogs fishing with me. Bad idea. After fighting to keep Sophie and Dakota out of the water for about half-an-hour, I gave up. They’ve got spring fever as bad as I do, and right now they’re pretty darn near uncontrollable.

Thoughts on crating dogs

I belong to a Lab chat board and an surprised (and dismayed) at the number of people who crate their dogs both during the day and at night. Hopefully most are doing it out of ignorance and will learn better, but I do have issues with crating dogs simply as a means of keeping them out of trouble. In my opinion, it constitutes abuse and neglect.

Crating dogs is a good way of training them, but should not be the primary means of keeping them. We crated Sophie at night for the first couple of months that we had her, until we felt that we could trust her… and she became too restless in her crate, keeping us up at night. We exchanged her crate for a blanket to sleep on and had no problems.

We crated Dakota for several months at night until she became house trained and we could trust her not to destroy things or make a mess. We never personally crate trained Penny and Squirt, and Penny did destroy a few things, but it’s just a matter of dog-proofing the house; Squirt’s previous owner kept her constantly crated and we housetrained her in one day.

I believe that crating a dog should only be done on a limited basis such as traveling or training, but crating and kenneling should not be used as the primary means of controlling them. Many people believe that dogs are “den animals” and “enjoy” being locked up much of the time. That is a myth propogated by people looking for an excuse to neglect their dog.

Dogs are highly social animals and isolation creates behavior problems. Before a person gets a dog, they need to make darn sure that they have the patience, knowledge, and time to properly care for the dog. That means addressing and correcting problems, not ignoring them by locking them up simply because it’s easy for the owner.

Ce-Lab-rities

The following is a “pass along” article from Just Labs magazine.

Celabrities
by Nat Almirall

How many famous Labs can you name? Given that they can do pretty much anything, it’s not surprising that they appear pretty much anywhere–on television, in the news, even during the halftime show–and they make quite a name for themselves doing so. Here’s a quick look at some of the superstars of the breed:

Few Labs are more famous than John Grogan’s Marley: destructive, neurotic, and the subject of his own film–where, according to the movie’s website, he’s played by a staggering twenty-two yellow Labs.

Forget Lassie, we want Vincent! This feisty yellow Lab on the phenomenal ABC hit Lost lasted longer than a lot of the human cast–is there any wonder why? Madison, the yellow Lab who played Vincent, was profiled in the May/June 2005 issue along with her trainer Kim Stahl.

There’s also Muttley, Ahmad Rashad’s yellow Lab who appears with his owner on NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad and Tuesday Night with Ahmad (N/D 2007).

And did you know that UBU Productions, Inc.–the company that produced Family Ties and Spin City –was named after founder Gary David Goldberg’s black Lab Ubu Roi?

Zeke the Wonder Dog catches Frisbees during Michigan State’s halftime shows and has been played by two yellow Labs, a black, and a chocolate; while Alien, a black Lab, was famous for retrieving the kickoff tee at Memphis Mad Dogs’ games. (In case you were wondering, the Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that never quite took off.)

We all know Bill Clinton had Buddy, but did you know Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has Koni? Koni’s a black Lab who was given to Putin in 2000 by General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, and she’s been known to accompany Putin to staff meetings, greet dignitaries, and act as “counsel” to the prime minister.

Yellow Lab Buck and his black-Lab buddy Aggie sniff out smuggled sea cucumbers and shark fins in the Galapagos Islands (J/F 2008); and be on the lookout in the current March/April issue for Tucker, the whale-scat-sniffing black Lab!

Then there’s Endal, the British service dog who’s often referred to as “the most decorated dog in the world” and, “Dog of the Millennium.” The jury may be out on that last title, but this yellow Lab’s still an amazing dog, able to recognize over a hundred commands from wheelchair-bound owner Allen Parten. Among Endal’s many duties include withdrawing cash for Parten from the local ATM.

And of course, there’s Sirius, the bomb-sniffing dog who perished in the Word Trade Center attacks. His story and that of other 9/11 Labs are chronicled in the September/October 2007 issue.

That’s just the tip of the tail; there are lots more Labs out there making names for themselves and proving there’s no end to what the breed can do. And we say, “Let ‘em!” because we already know who the biggest superstar Lab is: the one each of us is petting right now!