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Author Archives: Eric Goebelbecker
Dog Discussion Wednesday: What is it with service dogs?
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I’m trying something new. On Wednesday I’m going to post about a topic that I think might stir up some discussion. I may even try to help things along by turning the sarcasm up to 11. I see more and more stories about service dogs being banned from here or needing to go to court [...]
Posted in Discussion 16 Comments
Product Review: K9 Cuisine and Taste of the Wild
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My dogs eat a combination of Kibble and home cooked food. Caffeine, one of my Border Collie mixes, has some environmental allergy issues that include storage mites, so high quality kibble with very low or no grain is best for her. Gage, the rottie mix, has a very sensitive stomach, and is prone toward pancreatitis, [...]
Posted in Training Tips 9 Comments
Dogs Help Coast Guard in Italy
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In Italy, their Coast Guard rescues about 3000 people every year. That’s a lot of work. Over 20 years ago they decided to get some help — from dogs. After 3 years of training a successful candidate works with human rescuers to help reach people and, if necessary, retrieve them. It’s no surprise that while [...]
Posted in Training Tips 1 Comment
More animal cruelty laws, or the will to enforce them?
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Over at KC Dog Blog Brent Toellner tells a sad tale. Here’s a quick synopsis: In December 2008 over 100 dogs are discovered outdoors on a man’s property, with inadequate water and food. There are also dead dogs on the property. He is arrested on 96 counts of animal cruelty. He is charged with 70 [...]
Posted in News 8 Comments
On-Leash Aggression: Don’t Watch That. Watch This!
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Solutions for on-leash aggression are not 500, or even 1000 word blog posts. I’m going to go over a few things you can do in a series of entries while also dipping, ever so slightly, into the theory behind them. While working on this issue, keep safety at the very forefront of your mind. Also, [...]
Posted in On Leash Aggression 5 Comments
Disabled Dog Provides Inspiration
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I had knee surgery earlier this year. It was, and in many ways still is, a miserable experience. I am still frequently in pain. What really needs to happen is I have to change my lifestyle and lose a bunch of weight. Like an entire other person’s worth. But I need to shut up and [...]
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Real Man’s Guide: Positive Reinforcement
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Last time in the Real Man’s Guide I introduced some of the basic aspects of learning theory, and promised to go over examples of how to use this stuff. You’re probably reading this on a web browser written in C++. C++ (pronounced see-plus-plus) has 63 “keywords” and about 30 or so arithmetic and logical “operators.” [...]
Posted in Real Man's Guide 6 Comments
Dogs Helping New York With Bedbugs
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Bedbugs have been making a comeback in New York City. The insects are terribly difficult to get rid of and spread very easily. The nickname “bed bug” is not especially accurate, as they are not restricted to beds or bedrooms. Now the parasites have been found in the Empire State Building, which has lead to [...]
On-Leash Aggression: Where Does It Come From?
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On the comments for last week’s post about on-leash aggression and on-leash greetings, Melinda asked where on-leash aggression comes from. I promised a response here in the blog, since it’s not a short topic. Before we can really discuss where on-leash aggression comes from, we need to understand what a Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) is. [...]
Posted in On Leash Aggression 10 Comments
Book Review: Katie Up and Down the Hall
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