Weekend Update February 27, 2010

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: February 26, 2010

The New Jersey Tundra

The New Jersey Tundra

What does your dog’s name say about you? According to Forbes, more than you think. It’s an interesting line of thought, but I found the idea that a name can be too “dominant” to be a bit of stretch.

A dog that went missing in Virginia showed up 600 miles away in Florida! What a nice surprise!

In the United Kingdom, a dog that has saved many lives in Afghanistan was recognized with the Victoria Cross.

A woman punched out a coyote that attacked her and her puppy.

A dog kept a toddler alive in the cold by staying with her.

Keep your dog on a leash! A Springer Spaniel plunged 300ft off a cliff while chasing a seagull. Here’s some amazing footage of the rescue.

A while back I posted about the wonderful production of 101 Dalmatians that is using rescue dogs. Mary Haight at Dancing Dog Blog has background and backstage information on 101 Dalmatians over here.

Last, did they nail the dialogue on this one or not? “Lazy energy,” “actively submissive,” “kitty leader,” “negative conduct”…..maybe he consulted on this?

Posted in News | 4 Comments

Weekend Update February 12, 2010

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: February 12, 2010

The Brodies

The results for the first annual Brodies are in, and I am proud to announce that the Dog Spelled Forward blog………..lost! It was an honor to be included in the contest, and hopefully I’ll be back next year.

Debarking

The New York Times published a story about debarking, something that I had thought was a thing of the past. (Of course the fact that the procedure is illegal for elective reasons in NJ probably contributed to that notion.) Dancing Dog Blog covers the debarking controversy very well. Take a look.

Oreo’s Law and the Politics of Destruction

Moving on to another controversy, you’ve probably heard the story of Oreo and Oreo’s Law. Oreo was rescued by the ASPCA after being thrown from a rooftop by an apparently very abusive owner. After spending months (and no doubt thousands of dollars) nursing Oreo back to health, the ASPCA made the heart-wrenching decision to euthanize him because of serious aggression. Professionals in probably the best staffed behavior department in any shelter on the East Coast made a decision about a dog’s behavior.

At some point prior to Oreo being euthanized at least one rescue offered to take him. For whatever reason, and there has been some ambiguity on what and how things happened, the APSCA did not hand Oreo over.

The reaction to this situation has been loud, intense, and unfortunately, very predictable. Some people in the “no-kill” movement thrive on the politics of destruction, and what better target is there than an organization with a national presence that has done tremendous good for animals? Is there a better strategy for raising your own profile than playing “gotcha” with someone bigger than you? After all, when it comes down to it, the people that really cause the pet overpopulation – puppy mills – are faceless and nameless, but when you can tear down an animal welfare icon, you’ve struck gold!

But I digress.

Part of the fallout from the situation is “Oreo Law’s,” which runs the risk of allowing rescues that are already ill-equipped to deal with serious behavior problems the ability to demand any dog they want from a shelter, especially if the dog has serious behavior problems. Speaking from experience, this is not good. Here is a great essay on Oreo’s Law from Animal Law Coalition.

Posted in News | 12 Comments

The Puppy Diaries: Temple Grandin and Anthropomorphism

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: February 10, 2010

Jordan, retired service dog

Jordan, retired service dog.

Anthropomorphism can be a “bad word.” It is often used as a perjorative to indicate that someone doesn’t fully understand dog behavior.

I’ve used the word that way myself, as recently as this past weekend in the comments section of a post on this site. I feel that Cesar Millan’s description of “dominance” is anthropomorphic — that he puts very human thoughts into dog’s heads, like “taking over” when people are not signaling to the dog that they are “in charge.”

But, as I discussed a while back on Dog Star Daily, is anthropomorphism always bad?

To listen to John Homans in New York Magazine, the answer seems to be yes. In his well-researched and very informative article in the February 1 edition of New York he issues the familiar complaint about dogs being pampered and treated as children. I’m a little tired of this argument and the subtext that dog’s treated like children are always spoiled and over-indulged. Seriously…check out how spoiled some children are and then get back to me. (The article covers a lot more territory and is definitely worth a read.)

The latest Puppy Diaries picks up on this argument. Ms. Abramson discusses meeting Temple Grandin, at the premiere of her biopic. Grandin agrees with much of what Homan says, but does say that it’s OK to treat dogs like children. She seems to indicate that while dogs have specific needs and that keeping them cooped up in apartments can cause issues, that if these needs are taken care of, it’s still OK to treat them like family members. Ms. Abramson ultimately decides that Scout “is NEVER going to sleep with us” presumably out of fear that it will “spoil” Scout.

I find this attitude unfortunate. Like Grandin, I think it’s possible to treat our dogs as “full” members of the family without “spoiling” them, and reflexively recoil from grand pronouncements like “no dogs in bed” or “no dogs on the furniture” when there’s nothing more than broad generalizations behind them.

Photo credit:

Posted in News | 11 Comments

Weekend Update February 5, 2010

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: February 4, 2010

Dogs Welcome Sign

I missed posting the Weekend Update for last weekend. Things were heating up here at Dog Spelled Forward World Headquarters and I didn’t have the time to put together a decent list of news and posts. Fortunately this week is a very different story with some great information on the blogosphere.

The mercury has broken 30 degrees a few times over here and I’m already thinking about spending some time outdoors. The Take Paws blog over at Go Pet Friendly had a couple of great posts about dining with your dogs. While being able to take our dogs to a outside cafe for a bite (no pun intended) may seem like a no-brainer to us, some don’t like the idea of eating with dogs around.

Speaking of travel, truth be told I don’t travel a lot and I am no expert. But I am starting to think about it a bit more and I’ve started to subscribe to a few very interesting blogs to get some pointers. Dog Jaunt posted a great article this week on packing for air travel with a small dog. Since I can’t even pack for myself (just ask my wife) I found this very useful.

How about grooming? I’m sporting a bit of a Grizzly Adams look at the moment and need all the help I can get taking care of a fuzzy character like Buddha. Will My Dog Hate Me gave me a new perspective on what grooming means and how to make it seem more manageable.

Earlier I linked to a story about Baltic, a dog that was rescued from the Baltic Sea last week, over on the Dog Spelled Forward Facebook Page. At the time, the identity of Baltic’s family and where he would end up was still unknown. Well, Baltic’s fate has been decided and I couldn’t hope for a happier ending.

Posted in News | 4 Comments

The Inaugural Brody Awards

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: February 1, 2010

Uncle Yorkie Wants You!

Dr. V over at Pawcurious is hosting the first annual Brodies for excellence in pet blogging. Dog Spelled Forward is a finalist in the area of training! I am honored.

Please pop over there and vote. In addition to having a chance to vote of DSF (or one of the others – your choice) you have a chance to see links to some of the best pet blogs on the ‘net!

Posted in News | 3 Comments

Weekend Update January 22, 2010

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: January 22, 2010

It's the weekend update! The weekend update!

Another week in the can folks. So far 2010 is looking like a bunch more of 2009, but hopefully we’ll get to a new and better year soon.

The New York Times has an online-only feature called “Home Fires” that periodically prints letters and essays from U.S. military war veterans. Being a (peace time only) veteran myself, it’s always been high on my reading list. But on Sunday I found the letter from regular contributor Michael Jernigan especially fascinating. Mike lost his sight in Iraq and he has written some very poignant and touching entries about his struggles. This week he wrote about how important his guide dog, Brittani has been to him.

Last Wednesday, in the shadow of the Haiti disaster, what was the most read article on the BBC’s website? A dog that only understood Polish. The NY Times “Idea of the Day” discussed this briefly on Monday. There’s a link to the original blog post that pointed out the phenomenon, some very interesting discussion in the comments — and of course video about the dog.

They say the secret to getting web traffic is a good headline. I saw this, said “No, duh!” to myself and clicked. I guess it worked.

And last but not least, Daryn Kagan brings us an oldie but a goodie.

Have a good weekend. That’s an order.

Also posted in Dog Stories, Videos | 3 Comments

Weekend Update for January 8, 2010

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: January 8, 2010

Happy weekend! It’s been a long week for me and I am looking for some west and wewaxation. I hope you have a great weekend too!

Gene for OCD isolated in Dogs

While studying Doberman Pinschers with obsessive compulsive disorder, scientists isolated a gene associated with the disorder. This research may be applicable to humans and other researchers are now studying it too! It turns out that the relatively small populations offered by some purebreeds are useful in this type of research.

Dog lost for over a year reunited with human

A dog lost in California in 2008 was recently located in South Carolina because of his microchip. Is there a more compelling reason to chip your dog that than?

Dog saves boy from cougar

This is probably story of the week! Last weekend Angel, a young golden retriever threw herself between an 11-year-old boy and a cougar as it charged at him. Wow!

What’s the difference between a bite and an attack?

If you spend any time working in the pet industry, especially with dogs, you see the annual numbers and periodic research on dog bites and attacks. But what is the difference? Severity? Intensity? Brent Toellner has some thoughts on dog bites and attacks this week.

Doggie Zen

Last, here’s a training video from Mary Hunter’s series on Clicker Training Doggie Zen. The exercise looks a lot like how I train “leave it”, but adds a bit of an impulse control twist.

Also posted in Fun, Videos | 3 Comments

Why does breed specific legislation always fail?

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: January 3, 2010

Why's everybody always picking on me?

I just posted a new article over at Dog Star Daily about some research involving different dog breeds and aggression.

The research was pretty interesting and very well done as it used surveys rather than just assembling generally unreliable bite statistics. Take a look and leave a comment over there!

Posted in News | 2 Comments

Christmas Weekend Update 2009

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: December 23, 2009

Christmas AussieIt is Christmas week and time for bloggers to spend time home with their families. I’ll be back for a single post next week and then, after the New Year begins, back to some kind of regular schedule here and at Dog Star Daily

Bo Obama is back in the news. Actually, he hasn’t really left the news but most of the stories that fly by are pretty lame. The Examiner has a nice Bo in the snow slideshow. (A rhyme like that only comes up once a year. Hope that wasn’t it for 2010.)

Also, here’s Michelle Obama demonstrating Bo’s training for some TV reporter she was entertaining:

Hat tip to the Examiner, where I also found this. (And yes, I know who that is with the First Lady.)

Did you know that puppies (and kittens) make you more careful? Neurocritic highlights a “goofy” study wherein people looked at pictures of either puppies and kittens or adult dogs and cats and then played Operation. The people who saw puppies and kittens did better. Like Neurocritic, I’m ambivalent about the results, but it sure is a cute holiday story.

Here’s a tearjerker from Agility Fusion. Please, remember shelters and rescues when you get your next dog.

Are you getting a puppy this season? You’ve been lectured enough I’m sure, so here’s some things you should know.

Also, if you are in the Bergen County NJ area, I have some new puppy and basic classes starting next month. Register today!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Also posted in Videos | 4 Comments

Weekend Update December 12, 2009

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: December 12, 2009

Cat and Dog with Santas Claus hatsThis week New Scientist compared dogs to cats in 11 categories in order to determine which is the superior pet. Dogs won “by a whisker.” Despite the obvious light tone of the “competition,” the research was pretty interesting. Check out the video accompanying the article.




Personally, if I didn’t think Gage would constantly terrorize any cat we brought home, I’d probably have one.

On the shelter and rescue front, there was news this week on a glut of chihuahuas in shelters in California, mostly likely due to their visibility in the arms and purses of various pop icons. (Seems like Paris Hilton is capable of doing more than just embarrassing herself!) More evidence that puppies are not good gifts or fashion accessories.

Have a good weekend!

Also posted in Fun | 2 Comments