please check out this video of the scared #Maltese who only wanted a hug and who was just about to be euthanized. I could not watch it without dissolving into tears:
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Is #Crate/#Cage #Training a Good Idea for #Dogs?
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| I don't know about you, but I love my cage |
Each week, Dr. Patrick Tate, chief of the veterinary staff and a general practitioner at Webster Groves Animal Hospital, answers reader questions about pets.
Question: We have a new dog and were wondering if crate training is a good idea? We have never used a crate with our other dogs, but the rescue group where we adopted our new dog highly recommends them.
Answer: I highly recommend crate training to all of my clients, whether they are getting a puppy or an older dog.
COMMENT: ME, TOO. IF YOU THINK #CRATE OR #CAGE IS CRUEL, JUST GET OVER IT.
I have personally used crate training for every one of my own dogs (and there have been many).
COMMENT: AMEN TO THAT.
Often, new pet owners think that confining their dog to a crate is somehow cruel or harmful, but that is not true if a crate is used appropriately. Dogs are “den” animals and instinctively enjoy having their own private space where they can “get away from it all.” Once they are accustomed to their crate, many dogs will voluntarily sleep or rest in it throughout their lifetime.
Here are the benefits of using a crate with your dog:
Crate training is one of the fastest and most effective ways to housetrain your dog. A dog does not like to be near its own waste, so will make an effort to avoid eliminating in the crate.
COMMENT: WITH A CAGE, HOUSEBREAKING HAPPENS QUICKLY AND WITH FEW MISTAKES!!!
Dogs (hopefully) will learn to potty outside if taken directly there from the crate. Note: If the crate is too large, the dog will be tempted to use one end for a bathroom.
The crate serves as a safe environment for your dog when you are away from home, too busy to supervise carefully or asleep. Younger dogs (and even some older) should not be trusted to roam free in the house, especially while housetraining.
COMMENT: ANOTHER AMEN. WORKED WITH GIZMO!!
Dogs can get into all kinds of trouble when left alone–chewing electrical cords and furniture, swallowing socks and toys, invading the trash or pantry, chasing the cat or other pets, etc.
It is easier to travel with a crate-trained dog. Crates are a safe way to transport your pet in a car or plane, and hotels usually require a crate for canine guests.
• Avoid using the crate as place of punishment.
• Do not let children, adults or other pets taunt a dog while he is crated.
“All of the good things that have come to me have come through my dog.” Dog owner overheard in New York's Central Park
Monday, January 30, 2012
#Gizmo forms instant pack
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| I'm naturally friendly |
We recently spent three nights with our daughter, Russell, her husband, Mark, and their two beyond cute #Norwich #terriers, Tucker and Ginger. It went very well.
At the door, all three dogs stood and sniffed each other, after which they immediately went into play mode, leaping, jumping and running. After that, they usually warily ignored each other. The only reason, apparently, for one dog to keep an eye on the other was to make sure that he or she did not have any left over or ignored food in their bowls.
The only adjustments that we had to make was to take the cage from the car to our bedroom and, if Tucker and Ginger were running around and our bedroom door was open, to feed Gizmo in the cage.
When we went out to celebrate Grace’s birthday, we quickly heard barks from Gizmo. After a few minutes of debate, ending with “is this cruel or, if we do something, will that mean that Gizmo has won and is re-trained?”, we put a leash on Gizmo, took him downstairs and put him into our car, which would have our comforting smells in it.
That was when we heard barks from the two Norwich terriers left at home. Oh, well, we couldn’t make all three dogs happy at once.
We went to a Music in the Mansion performance, at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, where we parked in the shade and left Gizmo in the car. But he began to bark. It took three trips back to the car and several stern “No’s” before he settled down.
Other than that, Gizmo accommodated to being in a home belonging to two other partially territorial dogs.
"I'm an animal lover - but I wouldn't say I love my dog as much as I love my daughter. That's just stupid." Judge Judy
#Scorcese uses muscle, demands write-in for #Blackie, the attack #Doberman in #Hugo
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| But Dobermans are among my best friends |
You'll never find a dog lover who doesn't think that their dog -- or more specifically -- their particular breed of canine -- is the top dog. But #Martin Scorsese makes a very good point about his Hugo star, Blackie the Doberman, being totally shut out of the First Annual Golden Collar Awards.
COMMENT: NO, HE DOESN’T. IT’S JUST A PRESSURE TACTIC. DO NOT WRITE IN. STOP SCORCESE.
Blackie's job as Sacha Baron Cohen's train station officer attack dog, was to terrify and chase people, particularly the child stars of the Oscar-nominated film.
But really, two nominations for #Uggie, the Jack Russell star of Water for Elephants and another Oscar-nominated film, The Artist? Seriously?
COMMENT: YES, AND DESERVED FAR MORE THAN A DOG THAT JUST SNARLED.
Scorsese sniffs dog discrimination, and he lays it out in the LA Times: "OK, let's lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and — handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master's life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at.
COMMENT: UNCOMPROMISING? MORE LIKE ONE-DIMENSIONAL.
"I'm proud of Blackie, who laid it on the line and dared to risk the sympathy of her audience," he continues. "Let's just say that on the set, she had a fitting nickname: Citizen Canine. The bath scene alone is a masterpiece of underplaying, with Blackie's wonderfully aquiline face accentuated by the 3-D."
COMMENT: CITIZEN CANINE? SOUNDS LIKE HE WAS WHELPED BY NEWT’S EGO.
He ends his opinion piece by encouraging readers to make their preference known to the editors of Dog News Daily by write-in ballot to give Blackie the nomination she deserves.
Dog News Daily editor Alan Siskind has replied, "Rather than engage in a war of words over the merits of the brilliant and nimble Jack Russell versus the imposing stature of a handsome Doberman, we will do what Mr. Scorsese so eloquently requests.
COMMENT: AH, SISKIND JUST LOVES THE PUBLICITY.
"If Blackie receives 500 write-in "NOMINATE HUGO'S BLACKIE" posts by Monday, February 6th, on Dog News Daily's Facebook page then the Golden Collar nominating committee will request that the panel of 14 judges add Hugo's Blackie as the 6th Nominee in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category."
COMMENT: DO NOT GIVE IN, DO NOT ALLOW THIS KIND OF PRESSURE TACTICS. REMINDS ME OF CHICAGO POLITICIANS.
“Do not call to a dog with a whip in your hand.” Zululand Proverb
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