Let's talk dog

Discarded Dogs Find Spot on the Street

2012-02-02T12:33:00.000-04:00

The neighborhood can only support so many dogs per spot. Two of the satos, two of my favorite friends have died, both street smart boys were run over by cars. They have been replaced by two collies.

The older boy wearing the parting gift of a blue collar is in a sad state of hunger and apathy. “Lassie”, the younger, maybe ten month old lanky boy has few manners. Both have the long, sweet collie face.

I want to grieve and mourn for my lost satos, but life demands attention today.

We found the creature for which the kibble has an irresistible draw, ants. They found their way into my formerly invincible kibble box. In order to feed this morning, I had to rid the kibble of as many ants as possible, then to the canines’ complete delight I doused the kibble with milk to ensure rapid dining. It was a hit, so why am I bitching?

Lassie, named by my young neighbor, Manuel; didn’t want to let the older collie eat. Blondie was easy to persuade that I decide who eats, but the young male has no aversion to vinegar and water spray. His total focus was on taking the old guys food until I got it just right on his tongue. Oh, pooh, he didn’t like it then.

Collies have always seemed so soft temperament to me, without a loving family they seem to just give up and die. Later I’ll find out if my neighbors have a name for the old collie with the deep bark; let’s hope it’s not dead dog walking.

A little kibble and leche brought some life to his eyes. Today it’s good to focus on that because Bluto’s and my darling Stormy’s deaths bring pain to my heart, my jaw and my eyes. Only my faith guides me through.

My friends thank you for reading and commenting. I will get back with that thread.

Kibble for Hungry Street Dogs

2012-02-01T10:19:00.000-04:00

Hi,

When street dogs won’t eat the kibble you offer, what are you supposed think?

When Kirt and I finally arrived in Puerto Rico, we picked up a large bag of dog food. There are always dogs to feed here.

Imagine how I felt when I scooped out the kibble for the new and old street dogs in the neighborhood and they walked away after sniffing it.

What is this? Why do hungry street dogs walk away from kibble? I was shocked and without an acceptable answer; not that it’s just really crappy dog food is an acceptable answer.

Someone suggested that they didn’t know it as food. Blondie certainly has had a variety of kibbles; some she likes, some not. She hardly protects this kibble, which is unusual for the princess of I, me, mine.

Chiping, who was thrown away on our road last spring grew up on kibble. The two new street dogs to the neighborhood are Collies, the older one being pure bred. These are the hungriest of the lot; they pick at the kibble.

If this food is so crappy that dogs with a choice walk away from, how sad is that family pets with no choice are forced to eat it.

Yes, this is my first post in months and I’m bitching about dog food. Still, it’s good to be back.

Tricia

Dog Day Care Attendant; What Skills Are Required?

2011-07-17T12:04:00.000-04:00

Day care workers need skills in recognizing which dogs can go with each other, what signals mean a confrontation is imminent. The attendant, who redirects play when signals are sent, is better than one skilled in the fastest correction. Both are better than the lovely lady, who loves dogs, but stands shocked when they become animals.

Entertaining dogs is another educational category. Have you ever watched half dozen eager labs wait for one ball to be thrown? The skilled day care attendant can throw the ball, throw the next ball, so all the dogs have a shot at a ball. Not every dog wants to play fetch; what’s in your bag of tricks for these dogs? My personal favorites are the smart dogs tired of the usual day care games; what do you have to offer these pooches so they don’t go home restless and bored.

Lack of knowledge runs deep with inexperienced day care attendants, this is a skill set that must be learned by every new employee, we hire. Owners of day cares have a huge investment in staff.

Observing the dogs is an art form honed over years, where do you begin with a newcomer? Sadly, I’ve had people tell me that they didn’t count the dogs until they moved them to the yard where they were going to play. It’s already too late!

The day care attendant who thinks the dog lying in the corner is a good dog has ever so much to learn.

Have you ever watched the day care attendant who runs behind the dogs correcting all forms of doggie behavior, such as butt sniffing? Understanding normal dog behavior, when to correct and when not must be part of the training.

Dogs forgive us for tons of mishandling, but good in service education is a must for our business. This is an industry that must develop a skill set for staff, so perhaps we should identify what the skills are.

Socializing Feral Dogs pt. 3

2011-06-19T12:10:00.000-04:00

I don’t use food initially because a dog that becomes a food whore is more apt to lose it when stress/fear overcomes the desire for food. Getting accustomed to me without fear just feels like a stronger foundation. I bring food in 3rd phase because I want the food to diminish the reaction to crazy human moving.

By the time we get to phase III, the feral dog should be relatively calm in your presence and interested in what you’re doing with the friendly dog. Back pedaling should cause the feral to follow the friendly dog.

With Blondie, a semi-feral Puerto Rican street dog and Bonita, Blondie’s feral daughter, I would play the good morning game in which I bent at the waist telling Blondie, “Good morning”, while thumping her sides. She was my friendly facilitator with Bonita.

Blondie followed my back pedaling and cheery voice, Bonita followed her. They both liked the game with tails wagging. When Bonita noticed the game change, she went to her safe distance to think it over.

With the next morning came; no retreat, soon I thumped Bonita for the first time. She shot across the floor like she had been touched by a red hot poker. When she reached her safety zone, she turned and glared at me. Clearly, I had violated her trust. I will never forget the seething look into my eyes.

By violating the rules of our relationship, I established that she expected me to behave in a certain way. She didn’t fear me; she was mad at me. I always loved her spirit.

My qoal in phase II is not to touch the dog, but to get the feral comfortable with stupid human movement. Sooner or later something always happens so the hands fly up into the air or we slap our side in laughter.

Social dogs need to be child safe, so the human Bonita trusted most became a child. I threw my hands in the air, saying weeee. Startled, she retreated behind her mother. The dogs were about fifteen feet away when I did this. They both looked; I tossed them dog cookies. Soon my idiotic behavior meant treats are coming.

I chose to save the treats for this; instead of using them from the beginning. At this point, I started having friends come over to give treats to the dogs. None of my friends throw their hands in the air and act nutty like I do, so the dogs accepted them even taking treats from some hands.

Sometimes, I wonder if I should have used treats sooner. I didn’t because I thought of show dogs I’d seen turning down freeze dried liver. I mean; where do you go from there?

Socializing the Feral Dog Using A Facilitator Dog pt II

2011-06-18T16:58:00.000-04:00

Did I tell you that in phase one; no treats?! In phase I, it’s best if you just spend a little time with the friendly dog, which gets really excited when you come into the room. Each time the dog is all about you.

Dogs know enough about each other for the feral to figure out that its buddy likes you. Most ferals will come out of the corner or comfort spot to re-gain buddy dog’s attention. Don’t panic if they do it doggy style. Obviously, you’re not using a friendly dog that is being dominated, etc.

Frequently, the first big signal we get of the feral building confidence is it trying to separate the friendly from us. It shows that they are longer so afraid that they won’t move while in your energy field.

Ferals will behavior will range from lip licking submissive to teeth snapping attempts to herd the friendly dog back with the feral. I don’t worry about the feral attacking my buddy dog. It takes just a move on our part to scare the feral back into hiding, so don’t move much. Call the buddy dog close to you, if you fear harm.

Comfortable that your feral isn’t a neurotic mess going to hurt your dog? Good. Your first real movement should be pedaling backwards away from the dogs while telling them how wonderful they are. Yes, you know the voice.

When you stop and the dogs stop, don’t move; at some point the feral will look in your eye. That sweet second when a frightened feral looks into your eyes, wow. Bonita looked like she thought she was going to be struck by lightning and then got all happy bouncing away. The blog posts about Bonita tell about our progress.

With continued practice, the feral dog will begin making eye contact with you. Somehow it’s as if by eye contact, you are less mysterious.

This is you 2nd plateau; enjoy the success of eye contact. After the first time it may not happen again for days. Don’t push it; wait for it. It’s cute when they try it again.

The trickier steps are coming; build the foundation. Once I learned the steps and began to celebrate; it seemed like Bonita did too.

In the 3rd phase we start to move more in preparation for focusing on the feral. We’re almost ready to apply some games and techniques. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Socializing the Feral or Semi-feral Dog Phase One

2011-06-18T15:10:00.000-04:00

If the feral dog is safe with other dogs, introduce him to a socially skilled dog that is well bonded with you. Give them time to become buds. Once they bond, your k9 ally will pull the feral into your energy field.

This is a huge step; patience, please. Happy talk the friendly dog, pet and focus on the friendly dog only. There should be stillness, a quiet deliberateness in your movements. Be aware of your body postures, no stances where you are bent at the waist. Avoid facing the dog frontally, oblique is best. If the feral stands in front of you, fine, but he probably won’t.

Bonita, the feral I worked with the most, always came up behind me. When she built her confidence up, she began bumping me in the back of the calf with her nose.

Your facilitator dog will do wonders for teaching the feral that you are not a crazed monster about to attack at any moment. I don’t know where a feral dog would get that, but it will need convincing.

Taking this approach with a k9 facilitator, you’ll spend frequent, short times in the dog area; not the hanging around all afternoon, as you would without the dog.

After enough repetitions the feral knows that you are coming in the enclosure to pet and talk to the other dog. The feral lying comfortably in a corner is the end of the first phase.

Watch how the feral signals stress in the beginning. Absence of fear/stress signals demonstrate that a minimal level of trust has been created.

WARNING: At this phase, DO NOT be tempted to talk to the feral! DO NOT look at the feral trying to make eye contact. If eye contact occurs, make your eyes soft, then look back to whatever you were doing. Go back to talking to your facilitator dog, if appropriate.

Once you become predictable to ferals, they will relax. . Congratulations, and then begin phase two.

More on Predatory Drift

2011-06-12T00:12:00.000-04:00

My experience is that in many cases; the drifter has been trained with coercive techniques.

Okay, this isn’t exactly what I meant. What I meant to say aggression begets aggression. The dog that gets away with a behavior one time and then the next gets clocked in the head for the same behavior is more likely to be a drifter.

Dogs that don’t feel well or hypothyroid dogs may flair up. A dog with a sore back is notorious for being grouchy.

Often two dogs that aren’t getting along will take advantage of a stimulating moment to take a nip. The momentary snapping and spitting through teeth is a spat. That’s just two dogs getting their relationship worked out.

A spat is the k9 equivalent of having harsh words. It’s over in about twenty seconds or less. By the time you react to say no, stop or OMG; it’s over.

That may be what some are calling P.D. Is that what you see as predatory drift? Or does P.D. result in puncture or rip and tear?

Predatory Drift

2011-06-05T23:18:00.000-04:00

On the subject of predatory drift; can we agree that dog drifting over the line has a hair trigger compared to the dog that can engage in stimulating or competitive play without losing it.

Some breeds come by a lower threshold of stimulation genetically. Hmm, pits come immediately to mind.

My experience is that in many cases; the drifter has been trained with coercive techniques.

The other important factor in my opinion is young dogs need to develop social skills beyond the litter box. A litter bully needs to learn consequences to uncontrolled behavior. If a puppy like this has no further contact with others from leaving the litter mates it beat up until adulthood that dog has not learned the social pressure of self control. Does that make sense?

In street dogs I’ve seen groups of males interlope another dog’s spot. I could see the rage in the face of the dog whose space was invaded. The boys swarm around and may jostle the home dog. Home dog wisely tolerates the intrusion. Watching these dogs has taught me how naïve our dogs are when it comes to social skills or dog language.

Canine social skills are impaired by isolation during maturation.

Finally, we introduce dogs one on one. Two dogs without the skills acquired in adolescence are better when they get to know each other without one of them having his buds to back him up. A month later the new dog is friends with these dogs. The first dog jostles new dog, who can now respond without the dogs backing up the other dog, so now you get the one on one. It’s fast and it can be ugly.

Predatory drift is not a mystery. I believe it follows these threads. What do you think?

Dog Training, A Look Back continued

2011-05-29T08:37:00.000-04:00

Water parks with trained dolphins and whales amazing us with flips and tricks became popular. By the late eighties a new model of training hit the dog world.

The ever brilliant Karen Pryor changed the face of dog training and psychology with her ground breaking book, Don’t Shoot The Dog.

In her early workshops, Karen would talk about pondering the problem of training a whale as she sat poolside. What to do; you can’t put a leash or choke chain on a killer whale, always got a big laugh from the audience. Karen showed her video of a goldfish she trained to swim through a hoop. It was jaw dropping. Was there nothing this woman could not train?

Seminars and workshops for dog trainers were at best sporadic; until veterinarian, Ian Dunbar put us on the fast track by organizing the APDT, Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Networking and sharing info became common place in an industry dominated by lone wolves.

Terry Ryan taught us how to make dog training fun with games.

Through organizations like the APDT the science of behavior and training became available to masses of trainers more quickly. A standardized test for certifying trainers began in 2001.

A plethora of scientific trainers can quote quadrants and name behavior maladies.

This century has delivered to our doors the very best dog trainers ever. I say that earnestly. These guys are spectacular in their knowledge.

With all the wonderful trainers and scientific approach to dog training, why do we have more problem dogs than ever? On PBS we see shows with dogs snapping and snarling, out of control.

There is more legislation against dogs because we’re having problems with them. I don’t think that’s the answer, but I want to acknowledge the problem. What do you think?

Dog Training, A Look Back

2011-05-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

Each generation stands on the shoulders of the last. I remember thinking about that statement with gratitude as a young woman. Then my thoughts were about quality of life issues for women.

Now, I reflect on changes in dog training over the decades. We’ve come from a harsher way of being in general to a respect that includes other beings.

After World War II men who handled war dogs came home and opened up dog training schools. Training of war dogs required the dog to be more “respectful” of the handler than afraid of bombs bursting. That, of course, is the mindset these guys brought home with them. Sadly, “If you want the dog to respect you, just roll up a newspaper” can still be heard.

By the fifties our dog training heroes became the fellows training dogs for the movies. Old Yeller, Big Red, The Shaggy Dog were movies that made us laugh and cry. “How did they do that?” was answered in books by Bill Koehler.

As families made their way to cities, so parents could find work, we lost our connection to nature. A dog in the backyard was the only animal most kids had to relate to any species other than our own.

Lassie, Rin-tin-tin and Bullet were regulars on tv. Dogs were thoroughly romanticized by Disney in Lady and the Tramp. The natural ability of our species to connect to others was being lost, while it was being idealized.

Jim Pearsall was the gentler trainer of the sixties and seventies. He wrote about technique from a perspective of a relationship with the dog. When it came to dog trainers, Koehler was king.

In the eighties along came a lady with a funny voice and a British accent. Barbara Woodhouse hit the talk show circuit with her, ”Walkies” and “What a good dog.” America fell in love with her and positive reinforcement.

Tell a dog it did right; what a concept. As people started telling the dog it was good, kids started complaining that they never heard praise from their parents. It was a revolution.

Social Animals?

2011-05-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

Does it matter if a dog is socially dysfunctional with other dogs? Back in the day before we kept our dogs securely locked in their own yards, neighborhood dogs visited with each other. Dogs were proficient in their own language.

Fire hydrants were and still are places where dogs left scent marks to signal other dogs. Today when they meet on leash there is frequently frantic barking.

I am not suggesting we return to the days of free roaming neighborhood pets, but I’m trying to explore what we’ve lost; what the dogs have lost.

After watching the exquisite ways the Puerto Rican island dogs communicate with each other, I watched a couple of dogs introduced in one of our yards here at Carrvilla.

A sweet cocker spaniel and a lab beagle cross were put in a yard to socialize. It was considered a success because there was no barking or growling, no hackles were raised. Both are adult dogs. One is two years old and the other is four.

Both dogs focused on the human in the yard. Tails wagged; they were happy to be out with her. Because their behavior was appropriate by our human standards these dogs will be allowed to go out with an attendant to play in the field.

Two dogs without a clue of what to do with each other, they walked around the yard without interaction. Sooner or later they will figure it out; they may even like each other.

Beings who can’t relate to their own kind bother me. I won’t hire anyone who tells me, “I love dogs; it’s humans I can’t stand.” It seems to me that comfort with your own should be the framework from which you see the world.

Does this bother you or am I over thinking this?

Tail Talk Discussion

2011-05-01T18:12:00.000-04:00

Melissa said...

Tails and dogs are a never ending fascination for me. They can say so many different things. With my boy I can tell so much about what he is thinking by the position and then the movement that goes with it. His tail is most often held above body level. A high stiff tail if usually accompanied by stiff legs and a little bit of an attitude. A high tail wagging quick and short means, "Hey girlie, I like you..." His tail has a different position when interacting with me, it is relaxed lowered and seems to wiggle with his whole butt attached. He also does this lowered relaxed wiggle butt when he sees his "girls" after being gone.

My girls also have a lot to say with their tails. I live with 5 bitches and their tail carriage differs depending on who they are interacting with. My youngest rarely carries her tail at back level or higher at home. When we have company her age or younger she all of the sudden has this beautiful straight off the back tail (I would love to see this confident tail in the show ring with her...) When introduced to some younger puppies a few weeks ago I saw her tail higher than ever. My older girls also vary tail carriage depending on who they are interacting with, very interesting, it an change in a moment. It definitely seems to be a peace keeper. The strange this is, is the bitch in charge has a very low tail and rarely raises it very high. Is this confidence? I don't know. She never has the tail up look that Blonde does so well...

Melissa, thanks for the observations. Dogs talk with their whole bodies. Understanding tail talk is part of the communication picture.
Stormy with the politically unchallenging tail is the leader of the gang here. Some dogs lead with brute force. The smarter dogs lead with finesse. I think these savvy pooches know how to keep their egos out of it.

Blondie is a lovable brute. She doesn’t think as much as she reacts to things. She holds the curl in her tail. How high she carries it tells how she is feeling. She has never had a physical challenge so she doesn’t need to be a shrewd girl.

Owl’s tail is the most variable. It’s low around the other two guys. If he forgets to lower the mast, the boys react to it. He promptly lowers it.

When Owl gets excited usually about hunting, he gets the high straight tail carriage. A strut always seems accompany the tail.

Owl has to be smart to not get his butt kicked. He sits back in the corner watching the other dogs. I suspect later he will be one of these smart dogs, who does not display his status, much like Stormy.

Bluto is a lovable dope. Stormy and Blondie can bully him. His life has been limited to his yard. Some males do that curved tail look. Does a dog lacking self confidence disguise himself ? Or do the curved male tails go with small testicles?

If tails are the indicator of status, how absolutely brilliant of the smaller leader to not advertise or to give the brute something to challenge!

Is this the level of evolution that gave birth to deceit or duplicity? Ha-ha, makes you wonder.

In groups of dogs the language of the tails is the peace keeper. Our pet puppies don’t have opportunity to learn this language. Can you imagine how devastating early isolation would be to our communication skills?

So keep swinging yer tail, Tricia

Cute Dog Story

2011-04-26T11:38:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had a dog run to you a little too fast? Apply the brakes only to skid past; gripping toe nails toss turf into the air as they slide beyond the mark. We’ve all been there; right?

Picture my front yard, thirty to forty feet of grass plateau with sudden sixty foot drop off. We call it the infinity yard.

Our newcomer, Bluto sounds pretty bad ass about protecting his home. Bluto hates loud rap music; he gets spitting through his teeth, I will rip the tar out of you worked up. Barking may last a full minute after the sound is well down the road.

Boom, boom, boom; everybody alerts to it. Boom, boom down the hill road causes a collective aw, shit. Bluto growls; for a moment he’s in a freeze frame ears forward, ready to spring. Boom, boom; the sound heralds the way for the broken down piece of thundering towards us.

With as close to a doggy, oh, hell no, as I’ve ever seen, Bluto jumps up, springs forward like he’s going to lead the charge of the light brigade down our driveway.

Remember he’s a home boy; he doesn’t usually go beyond halfway down the drive. Boom, boom, boom; it’s getting closer.

Bluto charges back up the drive, runs around the veranda to the side facing the road.

BOOM, BOOM getting really loud, dog doesn’t stop growling and running; he runs past where we are sitting like a shot. He races back to see the culprit coming. This is one hot hound dog!

The other dogs stand poised for action, watching Bluto.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM; he flies off the porch and more than halfway or twenty feet across the infinity yard. So about this point hauling ass pissed off boy changes the forward body posture to brakes; where ARE my brakes!

You could smell the pads burning, as paws hit the earth in three big grasping attempts to call the whole thing to a halt. The skid marks end at the edge, where the angry dog barked his message for but a moment or two.

He managed a ceremonious strut to the nearest bush to relieve himself.

The adrenaline rush over Bluto settled next us for a long nap.

Did he dream of sailing through the air or landing on the car’s windshield? Perhaps, he wondered if we noticed.

Happy wiggle butts, Tricia

What Does Tail Carriage Say?

2011-04-23T12:23:00.000-04:00

The tale of three tails tells so much about who they are.

Blondie carries her tail in typical bitch fashion for a Puerto Rican street dog. The curl in the tail is most common to the females. She shows off her female parts confidently.

Owl (white dog dark head) has the most variable tail. It goes from typical poker straight male tail to look at this broken tail, can you see how it just hangs! He’s young and smart; confidence is coming. In the aroused state he carries it high. He knows when to lower it. For a taller dog to get Stormy to accept his presence, it’s an uphill battle. Owl manages to get along with both males few incidents.

Bluto grew up in his yard. He doesn’t have confidence. His tail curve got bitchier when his people moved. He is naïve, doesn’t know how to play with the other dogs. He rough houses with Blondie a bit. If she’s playing with Owl, he stands next to them barking; he’s doing that in the picture above.

He has small testicles held tight to the body. Maybe, one of you vets can tell me about testicular tissue mass contributing to gender characteristics; i.e. the bitch like tail carriage.

Stormy still bullies him. Blondie beat the snot out of him yesterday. She turned away from her dish; he got in it. She turned her head, saw him and it was on! He bit her hard; oh, was that wrong. All he did was cry after that mistake.

Once Bluto realizes his strength, if he overcomes his fears, things will change. It seems to me that as Bluto gains experience in the street, his confidence increases. When Blondie and Stormy are off, he gets cocky protecting the veranda. Just this morning during a protection event; he straightened the tail by a full fifty per cent, most impressive macho. He had a sheltered life, waah, he is a poor baby. At least that’s what I think so far. The more I watch, the more seems to come together.

Stormy has the most interesting tail of all, the broken rat tail. Not to be graphic, but it hangs like a limp dick. It tells the other males that he has no power at all.

Groups of males hang out; cocky boys have their tails raised like banners of social status.

The young Stormy’s tail was carried straight out, an extension of his spine; not straight up. The tail was lowered in two events in this dog’s life. Both were dog fights.

The first fight he came home with wounds on head, ears, neck and bad back leg. He hardly picked up his head as I cleaned him up. When he healed up, his tail carriage was low.

Stormy loves for me to work on his back. I’ve worked on hundreds of dog tails back in Illinois, so I am surprised when he doesn’t want me to do the work that will change his tail back. Conscious choice to keep his tail low??

The second incident was an event some dogs ganged up on him. It was breeding season; he lost his head. He lay under a car for days without moving according to a neighbor. We saw him about a month later; he looked like he tangled with a lawn mower. That was two years ago. His tail has dangled ever since.

Oddly, if Stormy is very happy; he can wag his tail.

The genius of Stormy’s low tail is that the cocky boys don’t alert to him to see him as a challenge. They put up with crap from him that they wouldn’t from a male with an erect tail.

When Stormy stays in the dog’s peripheral vision without the tail mark, he can bark his butt off. The other dog gets annoyed, but doesn’t react. Stormy is able to take advantage of this sweet spot for him because his tail doesn’t give him away.

So with this tail raising and lowering going on that keeps the peace; what does that tell us about dog socialization, dog language and dog park??

Don’t be shy; tell me what you think. Mean while wag yer tail. Tricia

Survival, Difference between Discard Dog & Sato/Street Dog

2011-04-22T16:14:00.002-04:00

It’s Good Friday and I’m rip roaring upset; not about Good Friday, it’s always good to remember that we are loved.

My ham is in the oven because of the discarded dogs showing up in this community. These dogs will not survive in nature.

The little lap dogs, any of the toy group would be doomed without a soft heart. If you think bigger is better you’d be wrong. A seventy-five pound dog is a lot of animal when dining on leftovers, basura/garbage or predation.

That lovely lab bitch will lose her body fat; she’s too large to survive. Even if she learns to hunt, she won’t make it without a human resource. Being an unsprayed female; that’s not terribly likely. Her picture is damned bleak. She needs to be rescued.

Personally I am a fan of the Puerto Rican island dogs, the satos. A sato is a street dog that can live of the land/street. The dog must be smart enough to not get hit in the street; that’s a biggie.

A sato knows how to get along with the other dogs. It’s a competition for resources. There are times when it’s beneficial to pack up. A rat hunt is one of those times. This is survival school for new satos. Owl loves the hunt. It makes his tail go straight.

A sato is a small medium to large medium dog on average. Toby the Airedale an old timer on the street barely keeps that big frame goiing.

A controlled number of street dogs actually benefit an area. They control the rodent population. Young men sometimes walk the roads at night. All dogs bark at them, but you can hear the satos escort them to the end of their home turf.

I’ve lived in the country long enough to know the value of predators. Coyotes and fox are fine, but Puerto Rico has satos and gatos. This is good for the island, discarded or throw away dogs are not. They aren’t going to make it.

The sad thing is that the shallow ass self centered thing throwing them out the window doesn’t care. Ok, I’d better quit here; God bless.

And Happy Easter, Tricia

Is this the Picture of a Street Dog?

2011-04-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

Don’t you think she’s lovely to be roaming the roads on Caribbean island? I saw the sweet look in her eyes; grabbed my camera, got this shot and she was gone.

Guessing that she was slinking away, afraid of us or something else with the low head and tail carriage, could be. Does this make sense or do you see something different?

It would seem that at least one leg is hurting; right?

Question: Is it the right rear or the left front? Or heaven forbid; could it be both?

By what looks like a layer of subcutaneous fat, she can’t have been on the road too long.

There are breeders of Labradors on the island. Pictures I’ve seen show me a nice quality of stock. Perhaps there is a lab rescue here. Let me find out; I’ll get back to you.

In the mean time let’s play which is the hurt leg!

By the way Chi-ping is doing well. She’ll get back with you later.

Tricia

Pure Bred Labrador in The Street

2011-04-19T11:03:00.000-04:00

Hey, dog show people, students of movement; tell me what is wrong with this picture.

This lovely pure bred bitch was outside the Boy Scout Camp on the other side of Lake Guajataca. After this shot she was gone.

Interested in what you have to tell me about her based on this picture. It’s the only one I have of her.

Thanks, Tricia `

Animal Rights and Rights for Mother Earth

2011-04-17T19:19:00.000-04:00

I come from the world of pure bred dogs, where the worthiness of an animal to breed is adjudicated in the show ring.

Workshops, seminars were a way of life for breeding better dogs. The sense of satisfaction standing in the winner’s spot with a fine healthy animal you bred is phenomenal. I was proud of what I did; I still am.

Animal rights people, animal activists scared us. Stories of activists letting dogs out of their crates were abound. Animal owners have lost the right to make decisions for their pets.

Did you know that in Illinois I can take my child to a faith healer, but I can’t take my dog to an animal chiropractor without the written permission of the veterinarian?

As my rights as an animal owner have been eroded, it was hard to listen to people talk animal rights. From the framework of my overly conscientious mind, I saw the interest of my animals being best served by my rights. I guess to me they were one and the same. Myopia is a metaphor for many things.

The journey I am taking is farther than Illinois to Puerto Rico. It’s like those books I’ve read on spirituality have a new meaning.

Why?? In a large part because of a facebook friend, Cindy Badano; thank you, Cindy, your post: Bolivia Grants Right to Mother Earth opened my eyes. What a concept! Even the U.N. hasn’t gone there.

This fascinating story reminded me that Gary Zukav wrote about granting rights to the earth as a living organism in his book the Seat of the Soul. I saluted the idea when I read it.

The realty that a nation granted rights to the earth; not as a symbolic gesture, but actual rights. How can I think that is so cool and not re-think the issue of animal rights?

I’m new at this, so let me see…… If I breed a litter of puppies, I don’t feed them and care for them because I’m a good person caring for what is mine. I take care of them because as my creations it is their right to be cared for.

I guess I always thought that was a given and perhaps it isn’t.

I like the right to life. It’s a life; we can’t throw them away or “put them to sleep”.

Killing for convenience stabs us in the gut. It’s like losing part of your soul.

Tell me what you think about this; it’s a virgin forest for me. I’m still waiting for an equal rights amendment for women.

Discarded Puppies at Beach in Isabela, Puerto Rico

2011-04-17T15:55:00.002-04:00

Not a Pitbull, I am house elf; Doby is my dad.

May I say, I am sad
that you don't see the resemblance!

Princess Leia here thinks my father was Yoda.

She just starts rubbing on me talking about one with the force;
I'm not sure what she means, but why try to fight it.

Puerto Rican Satos Share Space

2011-04-16T20:21:00.001-04:00

Three intact free ranging males and one spayed female sharing the same space can be interesting.

Stormy the resident male for almost six years wants no other male here; on that this dog is perfectly clear.

The injured Owl had no intention of leaving no matter how many beatings he had to endure from Stormy. Blondie began to like Owl, but would join in Stormy’s attacks. Every neighbor yelled, “Hey!” when Stormy attacked him, so he backed off. It wasn’t any more difficult than that to my surprise. Every once in a while Stormy can’t resist taking food from Owl; otherwise they get along.

Since Bluto moved up here, Stormy has focused on Bluto removal. Stormy’s tactics are genius. He constantly nags staying just out of reach. Any nippy games Bluto may want to play with Blondie or Owl end up with Bluto getting his butt chewed by Storm. He just makes his adversary’s life hell until they leave. Bluto just doesn’t want to be alone; we stop Stormy.

Stormy’s determination undermines the other dog’s confidence, once that stopped Bluto moved to bully Stormy. A couple of lacerations later, they both understand there is no fighting on my porch. These two got into it good; it was a blood all over brawl. Owl sat in the corner and watched. Blondie took Storm’s side. He still ended up with a badly bleeding ear. No wonder why he’s starting to look like Mickey Bourke.

Stormy, Blondie and Bluto can be raising hell, barking and spitting through teeth. Owl will wind his way through the mess, sticking his tongue out about an inch as he goes past each one. They completely ignore him. He must know the password.
Owl gets himself into trouble when he forgets to lower his tail. He riled up, runs down the drive with his tail straight in the air. When it’s all over and his tail is still straight the other boys will remind him to lower his mast or else. Being submissive immediately gets him out of it, so far.

Spay Day for Chi-ping

2011-04-15T16:31:00.005-04:00

Have you ever been spayed? I don’t care what they said; it is a big deal.

Early this morning Tricia, the lady up the hill came talking to me all nice. I don’t know her very well, when she tried to pick me up I growled.

I snapped my teeth at her. She didn’t have a good hold, so I leaped out of her arms. As fast as I could I raced up the road to the farmer’s house. She sat outside the fence talking sweet nothings. I was having none of it, so she left.

I stayed hidden until I heard my friend, Geri; call Chi-ping, Chi-pin. Oh, my friend I wanted to tell him all about Tricia trying to take me. We went up the side of the hill. He stopped to pet me. He told me how pretty I am; I love to hear that I’m pretty. He’s my new best friend. Did my human know he would be good to me?

I didn’t want to leave the spot where my human left me, but Geri put me in a car to go for a ride. I was on Kirt’s lap the whole time; he’s Tricia’s husband. He pets really good. He holds me close and whispers in my ear. I felt so special; I started panting hard. He said I was hot. I like him too.

Tricia took me into the PetVet in Isabela, then everything went dark. I drank some of my human’s rum once, I kinda felt like that only I have to go to sleep now.

Tricia put me down on the grass to let those satos sniff me. I didn’t like it one bit. I was going to walk off with my tail high saying, “Sniff this you satos,” but I fell on my face.

Blondie sniffed me for the longest time. She said this had happened to her also. I tell her, “Who cares; I feel worse than I did when I got hit by a big car.” Blondie gets all attitude with stiff tail standing over me.

Tricia tells her to go, but she comes back when Tricia picks me up. Blondie wants all the attention with Tricia, so she tries to bite me. I’m so stoned: I laugh in her face, “Tricia’s holding me, Tricia’s holding me, nah-nah!” Oh, Blondie’s pissed; I need a nap.

Before Blondie got all snarly she told me being spayed isn’t as bad as being hit by a truck and she knows.

I’m in a house on a pad; not bad. Chi-ping

Got a New Name

2011-04-14T17:11:00.000-04:00

Oh, what a day I’ve had running around with my new best friend. My tail held high as I pranced up the hill before him. We dug roots. He sat on a log and pet me. It feels so good to be pet; I almost forgot how good.

I got to go in the yard. He held the gate for me. I love going in the gate. The mami who lives there has cats. I ran in and chased them. Get those cats moving!

Later my friend and I worked on a construction site across the road. When we were on a roof, I barked at the satos up the hill. “See, I am a working dog; I’m not a sato.” Blondie said I was one of them.

My friend talks to me and smiles. I like talking and smiling. My tail just wags. My front feet step in place. I can’t be a street dog. I’m happy again, still I miss my human.

Today when it started raining, my friend left the gate open for me. It was great; I chased the cat off the pad. I was dry and on a pad, woo-hoo.

The mamis told the lady up the hill that my name is “Chi-ping”. That’s a good name. “Chi-pin” that makes my mouth hang open happy. Oh, there goes my tail. It’s good when everybody knows your name. :)

Chi-Ping

Puerto Rican Island Dogs Have Many Stories, but One Truth

2011-04-14T15:02:00.000-04:00

Blondie gets antibiotics twice a day for her bladder infection. Makes me wonder what would have happened to her if she had not been living on the door step of a former nurse.

Note to self: Create Puerto Rican utopian society in which all street dogs have veterinary care.

Blondie and Owl went for a walk with me shortly after the first light of day. Actually I tried to sneak out while they were eating their kibble. A dog on either side escorted me before I got to the end of my driveway.

On a walk up the steep, very steep road; Blondie killed a rat. She walked away from it. Blondie returned to the rat salivating like Pavlov’s dogs. I mean droolies that would make Hooch an amateur drooler.

A voyeur, as I watched her tear into the flesh. Finally, I was witness to the act of dining tartar a la sata. A brief kinship with our cave dwelling ancestors turned ninety degrees to what if the rat has been poisoned. I screeched, “Leave it.” OMG, I would have never made it as a pioneer woman.

My poor darling Blondie trotted up to me with her head down. My guilt rose as her low tail wags told me how contrite she was. The head line in my head read, “Human screws up street dog psyche; she’ll never rat again.” I praised her for coming to me and headed for home.

A couple of hours later, a man who is going to build a little higher up the hill came walking up our driveway. He was followed by two other men; they wanted to cut through our land.

Blondie decided one of them was an asshole (not very scientific:), but you know what I mean). She barked, growled and began to nip at his pant leg. She was working herself up to bite him! I had never seen her do that before; she has always been good with our company.

My experience with dogs that basically like people is that when the dog really doesn’t like somebody; they have always ended up being right. That doesn’t make any difference, when there’s a street dog in your yard about to bite an engineer from San Juan.

I corrected her verbally, but firmly; she cowered like I beat her. I wanted to cry. Head down, tail tucked she plodded to the far corner of the veranda, where she pouted. As I consoled her, the headline in my head read:”Mean woman, abuses trust.”

The neighbors like Blondie to be here because she will chase any man walking down the road at night. There’s always some asshole, who will steal your stuff, if they can.

Whether the neighbors know it or not; they’ve reinforced her for shagging guys down the street. Dogs know what it means, when our heads go up and down, while we are smiling.

What she couldn’t figure out is why I stopped her. She seemed so shocked and hurt.

Resorting to the cheap tricks of a dog trainer, I produced dog treats. The boys had a treat party. Blondie just laid there with her head on her paw.

I tell the dogs what I like all the time. Training is pretty much limited to: no fighting on the porch; no, you are not going to take his food or no boys pissing on my porch. I try not to interfere with their lives.

The quality of life for a Puerto Rican sato or street dog varies greatly. Ive learned a few things watching over the years.

One is that Puerto Ricans are good people, who will share what they can with the creatures of the pais. It is not their fault that obtaining a puppy is so easy that adults are thrown in the trash.

The people will be kind to the animals until there are too many.

Before things become toxic with too many animals spreading disease, we need a two year moratorium on back yard breeders.

We need to support our professional dog breeders, who breed to improve their line and to have new dogs to show. I would gratefully ask them to limit the number of litters per breed to two for the next two years.

Good animal control must have an island wide spay program.

These are incredible creatures, which share the island with us. A forward thinking people, who can enforce ley 154 can find a way to honor our friends, the satos.

Another Day on The Street

2011-04-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

Birds chirping announced the light. MY fine black Casanova trotted up the road without a sniff good-bye. I could go with him, but I was left here. Besides, the ladies here feed me. What if there is no food where he’s going? He thinks it will be better up the road, but I know he was afraid of the three big boys on the hill.

The two neighbor ladies open their houses when the sun lights the valley. They talk to me. My tail wags so hard; I like talking and food. I like talking and food. Oh, that was so good.

It’s a beautiful day in Puerto Rico; last night’s rain made everything so fresh and clean. That means it’s time to scent mark, so everybody knows I’m here.

My human must miss my cuddles. These ladies like me, but they don’t cuddle. I love laps and cuddles, but the grass is soft. The sun is warm. The mami in the one house has a clean bowl of water out for me. It’s time for a siesta.

Dreaming of my life on a lap before awakening on the street; I stepped into the road for a shake and a stretch. That’s all I remember before a big SUV hit me. “Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!,” I screamed.

The two mamis came running out of their houses. The lady up the hill appeared, watching as I shook it off. She gently held my chin, while her hand slid across my body. She said that I was lucky. Blondie and the boys came down the hill to give me a sniff; I’m okay. The ladies smiled at my prancing and tail wagging.

Now, I know why these street dogs hate cars. The lady up the hill said I was lucky; that must mean my human will be back soon.

Oh, How I Want To Go Home

2011-04-12T20:07:00.002-04:00

Can't you see, I'm a house dog!

It’s been two weeks since I saw my human. I’ve trimmed down, looking good. I’m right in the road where you left me.

The lady here feeds me a few table scraps. I run from house to house hoping to come in, please let me out of the rain. With a tight squeeze under the door, I can rest in a garage.

Why am I outside the yard?

I don’t bother with the satos; I’ve heard about street dogs. I don’t want to catch anything. Mostly they stay by the house on the hill.

During the day I go walking with a man who digs up roots. He talks to me; sometimes he pets me for a second or two. Oh, how I miss cuddles.

Just after the thunder storm, a car past me; it looked like yours. So excited, I ran as fast as my little legs would go up, up; the car slowed.

To my surprise a handsome black guy only a couple of inches bigger than me came out. We sniffed; he looked scared. I told him not to worry, my human would come back to get us. Until then, the kind folks share what they can. Be brave like me.

Night Moves

2011-04-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

Tonight is alive with the racket of the hunt. Frenetic barking gives way to yips and howls. Except for the barking, it could have been coyotes in Illinois.

Listening to the night sounds slowly reveals the picture. At first I thought all frenzied barking was about a dog fight. Some sounds didn’t quite fit a fight. It wasn’t until I realized that mornings when the dogs came back full of burrs were the same they didn’t care so much for their kibble. Tummies checked full. You do the math.

The nights, when some poor dog looking for a spot, gets his butt kicked all down the road sound different than hunting nights.

Hungry satos hunt to survive. It’s probably some of the best protein they get. Stormy and Blondie hunt regularly; they aren’t in the hunting party I hear tonight. Well fed satos hunt for sport.

Owl has learned from Blondie. He’s at that age where he gets so excited to hunt. They will kill any rat that comes in my yard. Those mangled carcasses left in the doorway by an admiring sato.

The experienced street dogs teach the new kidz the tricks of the trade. Bluto, the three year old home boy may not know how to hunt. It will be interesting to see if an older dog learns.

Speaking of Bluto; the family member has come two nights in a row to feed him. I’d say something about renewed faith, but I’d be full of it, so good night. Tricia

Blondie's A Sick Street Dog

2011-04-09T18:18:00.002-04:00

Blondie was a little out of sorts last night. Owl, the gentle scared to death of Blondie young boy, hurt her in play. After a fierce growl, she walked away. She had a head tilt, so I adjusted her neck. She held still while I worked down her back. There wasn’t the usual happy bouncing afterward, so I cleaned her ears. For a street dog, the ears weren’t bad.

This morning my gang buster girl was just flat. She held her head down in that way people usually associate with a guilty dog look. During our good morning ritual she could only manage a weak low tail wag. Blondie loves good mornings, now I’m worried.

Her back looked fine, so I cleaned her ears again, only deeper. Her tonsils could be a little swollen, this bitch looks sick.

She’s urinated three times this morning, a lot of bottom licking. The boys have been sniffing her rear and covering her urine, so I am going to go with bladder infection.

I can’t afford to get that other little bitch spayed. Money is so tight, I had to think how much.. Oh hell, she can’t wait til Monday. I have emergency antibiotics for a reoccurring infection. With a prayer Blondie got a dose.

A few hours later the big girl picked her head up and wagged her tail. We all know how it feels when you’re so sick and the antibiotics kick in, so you recognize the look.

To add to the excitement Stormy has a small cough tonight. I hope it’s from all the barking he’s been doing at Bluto.

Tomorrow is annual meeting for the Puerto Rican Animal Control Officers Asn or FOICCA. It’s in Florida, not the state; we’ve not been to this part of the island. So merrily we roll along.

We must get back to the three little snorts that say come hither. I overdid it yesterday. After a while they just look at me like you really don’t know what you’re doing; do you? If it’s in the wrong context, it gets ignored. When I manage to hit it right; it’s like getting my Spanish right, good communication.

Happy wiggle butts, Tricia

Que Pasa?

2011-04-08T15:14:00.000-04:00

I’m fat and spoiled. I didn’t think I was useless. My human loved me.

I ate so much, my tummy hurt. My human cuddled me so much. What will my human do without my cuddles?

I bark alert, warning is my job. My human gave me this green leather collar; it’s good leather too. How will my human know when danger approaches?

I love to be with my human. My human took me for a car ride. What will my human do without me?

Yes, folks, this beautiful little creature was dropped off just two doors down. My elderly neighbor would like to keep her; can’t afford to have her spayed. Here’s where I need to find out more about the spay certificates from the government. Like I need one more thing to do, well perhaps I do.

My neighbors are caring people, who do what they can for the satos.

In general people don’t seem to feel responsible for the dogs’ welfare. I suppose that’s the way we feel about fox and coyote in Illinois.

Still Learning To Speak Dog

2011-04-07T11:16:00.000-04:00

Those of you who are interested in dog language are going to love this.

Have you heard that little snorting some dogs do when we pet them? That dog is welcoming you close.

Not all dogs do this with us. Enough make this three “syllable” sonorous sound, that I eventually tried it back.

When I get it right, all the street dogs I’ve tried on have responded. Some have raised the head to give a quizzical look before getting closer. Others just zoomed in as close as they can get.

It’s like having a new toy.

It’s three little snorts on the exhalation. Get your body relaxed before trying this. It’s a friendly sound; don’t get uptight about doing it right. You know who you are. When I shake my head side to side (small movement) while making the sound some dogs get so excited.

The next step is to try it on satos I don’t know. We’ll have to go for a ride later; there is a colony of satos by punte blanco. They are well fed and a little aloof except the man who feeds them. This will be the acid test. After all it could be dogs who know me just reacting to me being silly. I don’t think so, but I’ll honor the possibility.

If you try this, please give me some feedback. Or if somebodyelse has already come up with this and I just didn't know. In which case, sorry it's new to me.
Happy wiggle butts, Tricia

Animal Welfare Activists

2011-04-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

I really am one of them. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Ever since I took the Animal Control Course, the welfare of the street dogs has been part of my day.

My life training, showing dogs has been a passionate adventure. I believed in pure bred dogs. The AKC was the mother ship.
Animal activists were the idiots letting dogs out of their crates at dog shows.

I volunteered at the Kendall County Shelter. Animal Control Warden Christine Wies was my hero. Raising money for things the shelter needed was my way of giving back, but activist; nah.

The direction of my life detoured when the little sato, Stormy got out of the rain on my veranda. It’s all his fault. What’s the life of a free ranging dog like? What can I do to improve the quality of life of dogs like Stormy?

The 2011 Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference confirmed it; I am an animal activist. The impressive lineup of speakers, who are making a difference for animals in diverse parts of the globe, gave nuts n’ bolts talks.

Kitty cafes, neuter and adoption programs where neglect was the norm is what I want to emulate. Networking, building support teams the conference organizers set us up for success.

Thank you to the Humane Society International and their sponsors for the opportunity to learn how to better help the animals. I am so honored to be one of you.

What Can a Dog Do?

2011-04-02T15:37:00.001-04:00

Bluto has been abandoned. When Kirt (my husband) told me that a family member was feeding Bluto, it seemed like a short term solution at best. Would someone come to get him? It’s not bloody well likely.

He’s just a bag of bones. The way he woofed down breakfast, Was the weight loss from depression? Whoever is coming to feed this dog hasn’t shown up since I’ve been back.

Stormy's ears and tail are all dry and scabby. Kirt said, “That street dog won’t let you do anything to his tail.” I have as good a relationship with this sato as I have ever had. Tyr, my top dog of all time read me like a book. Thanks to him I read Stormy almost as well as he reads me. Stormy let me oil his rat tail.

Health care is a huge problem for satos/street dogs. Lumps n’ bumps, rashes, broken bones, or lying on the side of the road dying; it’s all the same for a street dog.

Right now, I’d be happy to see birth control become the method of population control for these dogs. To that end I will be attending the Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference. It starts tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Bad Luck Flows Downhill

2011-03-30T23:05:00.001-04:00

My neighbor’s dog, Bluto rarely leaves the fenced yard even without a gate; although last year he left home for a few days to romance Snow White.

Recently Bluto began showing up in our yard. Stormy is never happy with other males being around his spot, but Storm and Owl know Bluto. They are after all neighbors.

Why would a home boy like Bluto begin to stray? It’s a dog question, of course I needed an answer. You know how they say the simple answer is best; it applies here. The family moved out.

Lock, stock and left the dog. They gave a local family member money to feed Bluto. Okay, so Bluto is lonely. I can jump up and down telling you about a dog needing more than kibble thrown in a dish to nurture them. Or I can say he hasn’t been abandoned, he’s being fed.

It would be easy to get pissed off about this, but…

The man’s handsome virile brother was paralyzed early last year. Cutting down trees can be tricky. The tragedy took a toll. The man spent much time back in the states helping his brother, who shriveled into a sad lump in a wheel chair. The family pulled together as families do in hard times. They were adjusting to the new reality.

In January I saw the man’s daughter, a pretty woman in her thirties. Holy smoke, she had dark circles under her eyes. Her gaunt face peered out the window, only a serious illness or drugs could cause a young woman to deteriorate like this. Unable to contemplate a debilitating illness in one so young, I prayed she overcome drug abuse.

Today I found out that the family rushed their Corazon (heart) to the states for cancer treatment and hospice. How much can you take?

Word is the family is not coming back. For now Bluto is being fed. He’ll hang out with the three already here, then what?
I’m exploring my way in a new land; keep you posted on Bluto. He really is a pretty cool dog.

Missing You

2011-03-24T12:33:00.000-04:00

All snuggled up on the sofa with Shaker and Mikki; thinking about Blondie, Stormy and Owl. I feel like such a canine chippie.

Running a kennel is not rocket science, but it is a million details. I’ve been back in Illinois handling all the little things that make a place run well or not. It’s been cold and crappy.

Carrvilla is exquisite in spring, summer and fall. I just don’t appreciate winter anymore. Dogs frolicking in snow leave me cold.

How dogs respond to their human’s absence is an issue I’ve been exploring. My last trip to Puerto Rico was the second time I’ve been away from Shaker for a couple of months. When I came back he was very clingy. My goal is to minimize the negative impact on him.

Shaker and Mikki love to be in the kennel for day care, so they go to day care all week. I have the staff feed them out there. The relationship isn’t all about food, but I felt the consistency of being feed in the kennel gave them one less thing to stress about.

Mikki has been through a few homes, so she seems less affected. In fact when she’s ready to go back inside, she goes to the kennel door. When I want her to come to the house, I have to call her. Shaker still heads to the house.

We become so important to our dogs that they miss us intensely. Dr. Dodman’s book about The Dog Who Loved Too Much shows us the extreme of separation anxiety. While it’s nice to be missed, I prefer my dogs to be well adjusted and happy.

I am way less important in the lives of the street dogs, still they each show how much they miss me in their individual ways.

Stormy holds a grudge, so we’ll see how he reacts my next return. The last time, it took six weeks for him to open up to me.

My First Sato

2011-03-23T21:45:00.001-04:00

An abandoned adolescent dog showed up a couple of weeks before we moved into our home overlooking Lake Guajataca. For days he followed Immanuel, a sweet seven year old to the bus stop. Soon the dog walked him home after school. The neighbor boy couldn’t keep him, so the dog slept in the bushes.

The little border collie mix was scarfing up leftovers and protecting the homes of his benefactors by the time we arrived.

A couple of days into our new home; surprise, there’s a dog living in the bushes at the bottom of our driveway. Recovering from surgery, in no condition to approach him I sat on the veranda watching him chase cars like a southern preacher after Satan.

One afternoon the little dog came up on our porch to get out of the tropical torrent. That’s the day we met Stormy, our first street dog.

My journey studying the street dogs of Puerto Rico began with falling in love with this clever critter.

Handling the Lonely Dog In the Kennel

2011-03-21T08:31:00.000-04:00

As a kennel owner, I teach my staff to be sensitive to when a dog seems “blue”.

Beginner level: shaking, continued barking, hiding in the corner are all obvious symptoms of a scared, lonely, stressed pooch. The number of kennels I’ve been in where these behaviors are handled as “normal” dismays me.

As part of training for kennel workers, we need to teach staff to notice these behaviors. It surprised me to learn how many people think that is just the way dogs are away from home.

We cannot take it for granted that our dog loving staff sees the stressed out behavior or knows what to do. In my book, once I’ve trained you to recognize and respond to the dog’s needs, if you don’t; you will want to work elsewhere.

Beginner level action: sit in the yard with a scared dog until the dog trusts you enough to approach you. When singing or talking to a dog, watch the dog’s response. The more you watch, your preconceived notions become dispelled.

Newcomers to dogs all think they know everything based on experience with a handful of dogs. It always takes a few teachable moments before people become open to really listening. The sooner a new hire realizes that they don’t know as much as they think they do; the quicker real training can begin.

During this phase it’s best to ask the newbie questions to stimulate their observational skills. “What position was the dog’s tail in?” always gets a, “Huh?” “Which dog controlled that exchange?” frequently gets, “What do you mean?”

Your superior skill at handling dogs is no guarantee that a newbie will follow your advice. My mouth flew open, when I heard a girl say, “When I’ve done this as long as you, I’ll be able to do that.” She wasn’t listening while I was trying to teach her something, so I don’t know how she thought improvement would come.

It takes those aha moments before we are ready to learn. I find that asking questions is more productive with most newbies. It seems to open the mind quicker.

Animal Control is Not One Size Fits All

2011-03-20T19:07:00.001-04:00

What does a street dog do? How do they survive? Do they have any quality of life or are they just poor suffering creatures best put out of their misery?

As I got to know a few satos/ Puerto Rican street dogs, I discovered how much motivation and opportunity the feral dogs have to improve their communication skills.

When I got past being shocked and appalled at dogs not having homes with full food dishes and pillows, I looked to see what they do have.

Gradually I began to understand the social structure of a neighborhood of free ranging dogs. Their lives are humble and often harsh, but they find time to run and play. Unless they are sick or injured, we don’t do them a kindness by killing them. I mean putting them to sleep.

So I am terribly at odds with those who collect and euthanize the island dogs.

If you want to know how a dog thinks, you look at what they do. Dog lovers all talk about the things our dogs do, how clever or how silly. Do we shade our impressions with our own thoughts or beliefs? Of course! And don’t you think that our dogs pick up behaviors because of us? Hah, every time I hear the dog in the kennel giving a death scream, I know the answer to that one.

At times I’ve felt selfish because watching dogs go about their lives without our guidance intrigues me completely. The premise of my dog training school has been to improve our relationship with dogs. It’s not enough to have a bag of tricks on how to control the dog’s behavior. When I show people what the dog is saying, they pick up on it. The street dogs have taught me to be a good canine interpreter. I pray to learn Spanish as well.

In the course of studying the satos, I’ve learned how important they are to the ecology. Do you know how fast rats breed? It’s like bunnies on steroids. Do you know what rats eat? Everything! People tell me that they pick their fruit green to get it before the rats.

So if you don’t think Puerto Rico has a rat problem; thank a sato. If you do think we have a rat problem, perhaps we should talk about an island approach to animal control.

I welcome your thoughts and opinions. Thanks, Tricia

Dog Update

2011-03-15T13:46:00.001-04:00

Since my return to Illinois, Shaker wants to go everywhere with me. He is one sweet golden boy. Mikki tries to give in to my leadership. This rottie girl struggles to do what I ask. When she’s at the window barking like a mad dog, I’ve been misting her with lavender. She calms and walks away from the window. I’ll let you know if this helps her get a grip long term. We live next door to a kennel. She needs to discriminate when she should alert and what is normal activity. In my opinion, my dog should not wake me up because my neighbor has company. She came so hyper excitable; this is taking a little time.

While I’ve been enjoying the dogs these two, the kennel has a couple of beautiful border collies. Borders can make up great games. Border collie watching is better than tv.

Kirt tells me about what the satos are doing. He’s getting to know when the dogs have been out hunting. Owl and Blondie came back home this morning all wet and covered in burrs. They hardly touched their kibble; these are signs of a successful hunt. As much as rats freak me out, I am so comforted that the dogs are dealing with them.

Blondie and Owl killed a young mongoose last week. Kirt said that they ripped the shit out of it, but made no attempt to eat it. Enemies or competitors, I have no idea. These dogs leave the cats and chickens alone. Well, they do like to chase the cats, but it’s halfhearted. We have some lovely small birds, so I hope the dogs are able to handle the imports before they get the birds.

Not Goodbye, See ya later!

2011-03-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

It’s so difficult to leave our pets. People frequently wait until the last minute to drop them at the kennel. Some folks cry, and then get embarrassed. All dog lovers know that momentary pang we get in the heart, when it’s time to say good bye.

How deeply is that pang felt by our dogs? How long does this little misery last for them? How do they feel about us, when we leave them?

Kennel operators know about how kenneled dogs behave. We all know how our pets respond as we prepare to leave and when we come home.

In the last few years I’ve left my own dogs for extended periods. How the street dogs react to my absence gives a new dimension to the depth of a dog’s feelings. Their behavior has helped me see more clearly how the dogs in the kennel are doing.

I’m back in Illinois with my dear Shaker and Mikki. My commitments require me to be back in Puerto Rico by the end of the month. My last stay in PR it took six weeks for Stormy to trust me again.

My next few posts will explore the dimensions of being an absentee dog ma. Now, I have to get to the dentist to fix my broken cap.

Later, Tricia

Let’s Take Another Look at The Street Dog Problem

2011-03-08T09:19:00.000-04:00

The satos/street dogs and gatos/cats of Puerto Rico protect the island from frantic procreation by rats. The dogs attach themselves to households, where they get table scraps. As an added bonus, the satos escort late night walkers through their territory, barking all the way.

For some families satos provide the benefits of having a dog without the responsibility of ownership. Many senior citizens have friendly relationships with street dogs, but can’t afford their own care, so the satos rarely get much more than leftovers. Some people own dogs, which they feed kibble. Scraps still go to the satos. This is a fairly healthy symbiotic relationship.

Beaches in the more heavily populated parts of the island are dumping grounds for unwanted pets. Pathetic pooches have little chance of learning the ways of the satos because experienced satos are picked up with the pets. The dumped dogs know nothing about living on the street; without role models to teach them to hunt they don’t have much of a chance. There is nothing healthy about this situation.

Big hearted animal lovers run around rescuing as many dogs as they can; others round up sick and healthy strays to be euthanized. Without any controls on procreation this is a cycle doomed to repeat itself forever.

After interviewing people across the island, my conclusion is that people are basically unaware that the satos and gatos help to control the rodent population. Perhaps a fresh look at the problem is in order?

The island does not have the rodent predators like we do on the continent. The U.S. model of animal control is not appropriate for the island. Before anyone suggests importing more predators, please, remember the mongoose.

Street Dog Class In Session

2011-02-28T17:33:00.000-04:00

I didn’t enjoy the dynamics of Stormy, Blondie and Owl as much as I did Stormy, Blondie and Bonita. The biggest difference is once Blondie accepted that Bonita’s presence didn’t mean less for Blondie, she wasn’t still posturing and threatening. Stormy bites and bullies Owl regularly. The male breeding imperative or as a human male I know once put it, “Be afraid; be very afraid.”

Blondie and Stormy taught Bonita each day; it was fun to see. Blondie teaches Owl. I see them hunting on the side of the hill. He does very well with the gimpy rear leg even when they wrestle and chase around the house. Stormy comes up to stop the fun. Blondie always sides with Storm turning on Owl.

Blondie has taught Owl the art of rat hunting. He has that sporting dog eagerness for the hunt. That group has far more virtues than I realized. You can see him thinking as he chases his prey. Some dogs just seem to make a mad dash. The dogs hunt and kill rats, whether they eat them or not. The dogs brought us a couple this week.

The trio acts like a pack at the doggy meet and greets. They seem to back each other up. Owl and Blondie back Stormy. Both boys bolster Blondie’s status. Owl just stays behind the two; he’s just there to learn. I have a feeling, if he were to make a mistake pissing off a dog at the get together; he might be on his own. That could change.

Watching the neighborhood meet and greets makes me think; all that is left of this ritual for pet dogs is the information they leave in scent marks. Wow, I always thought that the scent marking WAS the deal. I realize now that it’s more like an outdoor assembly hall, where messages are left.

Next breeding season Owl will migrate to where the bitches’ pungent odor calls. In the last five years, I’ve seen a fair number of dogs float past.

It’s taken that long for me to see loving dogs as the archetypal predator. Even the abandoned pets like Owl learn to survive, when they hook up with the savvier satos.

Seeing how the feral dogs survive, I have new respect for our fox and coyotes back in Illinois.

A Bird Day

2011-02-17T22:39:00.001-04:00

The neighbor boy found this baby in his dad's pick up. Open mouth barely able to hold his head up; we dripped water into his mouth every few minutes. Later he drank from my finger nail. A few hours later he flew off. Anybody have any idea what kind of bird this is?

Just the week before I got this adult building a nest, what pretty birds.
A little off the subject, but I hope you enjoy.

Anthropomorphic Fantasy

2011-02-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever said to anyone, “If I were to come back as a dog, I want to come back as your dog”? Or maybe someone has said that to you.

So you’re coming back as a dog, three spots are available. You get to choose.

Spot #1 is for a pure breed dog in the home of a rich lady. She is very nice; you’ll get regular meals and veterinary care. She needs a loving companion in her life, but she works long hours six days a week. Those days you’ll be put on the six by ten porch for an hour, then led by the collar back to the garage, where you’ll wait until after dark for her to come home. Depending on how her day went, she’ll talk to you as she leads back to the porch. On Sundays you may get some of her time.

Spot #2 is for a beautiful toy dog. The family is of modest means; you’ll eat generic kibble. The little boy will like to grab your muzzle to get you to show your teeth and snap at his hand. You must never bite hard or you’ll be smacked.

The lady of the house is in a wheel chair, when she’s depressed she likes to hold a dog on her lap petting while she moans in sadness. You will want to love her and be there for her. She has a dozen other dogs, so when it isn’t your turn you’ll be kept on a two foot chain with access to water and shade. Once a day, the husband will hose down your area. Each dog is on a similar two foot chain so you can only get to within inches of each other.

The only time you’ll be off your chain is if you are on her lap or if they take you in your crate on a family outing. The family can’t afford veterinary care, so don’t get sick; they will do what they can for you.

Spot #3 is for a street dog. The litter will be birthed in a banana orchard; half will die before being weaned. You will learn the dangers of the road, when you see the last of your siblings run over by a car. You will learn to hate cars. Geckoes and lizards become your first prey. Your mom will teach you to become a competent ratter. You’ll find a spot in front a fine house. At night you’ll bark warning when strangers approach. Any rat venturing close the house is dinner. The lady of the house provides tasty scraps. You’ll watch out for her family as your own, dedicated and loyal.

Days will be spent hanging around with other dogs or human friends. Sometimes you’ll go off in the woods exploring all day. You’re on your own, when sick or injured.

So which life would you pick, if you were coming back as a dog?

A Matter of Trust

2011-02-12T14:48:00.000-04:00

When we arrive home in Puerto Rico, good times roll for the neighborhood street dogs. We feed twice a day, snacks are given often. A bowl of fresh, clean water is available all day. We pet. We clean and treat wounds.

Dogs at our kennel in Illinois may not see us for a year, but they’re happy when they come back because we’re good to them. I guess I expected it to be that way, when we come back to the dogs here.

Blondie was happy to see us. She moved back up the hill the night we got home. She goes to visit the neighbors, but she stays with us.

Stormy may or may not come up for a meal; he doesn’t live here anymore. He lives in the street in front of Mike’s house. As long as Mike’s family is home; Stormy does sentry duty. When they leave, he will come by for a visit. After the family settles in for the night, he’ll sleep on our cushion.

Stormy did give up this spot to Owl, but some meals Stormy won’t let Owl near any food dish. He asserts his superiority, Owl backs down. Storm has what he wants, unchallenged by Owl.

Blondie plays with Owl. The old dog seldom plays, but Blondie and Stormy still go off on adventures together. At this point, if push came to shove with the boys, I think she’d back Stormy. Except for occasional feeding time power plays, all behave properly in our presence.

I don’t think that Stormy stays away because of Owl. He is fiercely loyal to those who are here with him. It has nothing to do with the quality of care they give him. This family has dogs; he is not one of them.

I’ve had this little dog’s love like that and lost it. Having a relationship with this dog isn’t about reinforcers or slick training gimmicks. It’s a matter of earning his trust.

The Dogs Are A Gift

2011-02-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

Nobody seems to honor that the feral dogs are part of the ecology on the isle of Puerto Rico. Pick up and euthanize them, tell us it’s in the dog's best interest to be dead.

We have here a historic relationship between man and dog, fighting a common enemy.

People aren’t aware of the valuable services these dogs provide. Perhaps, if school children were taught what the satos do for us; they would be more cautious drivers later.

For years I’ve watched the satos turn down edible stuff. Dog people would authoritatively say things like, “ He doesn’t know it as food.” Let me get this straight, a starving omnivore doesn’t know food. Okay, how about we try, they’re going out for fresh later and don’t want your crappy food.

Like any wise consumer, Stormy avoids highly processed foods. The less self sufficient satos scour the roadside for discarded human trash. Owl has a taste for geckos.

Rat hunting goes on at night; you don’t see it. The acoustics of this region allows you to hear well. The hunters don’t have the distinctive bay of hounds hunting in the mountains at night, but what sounded at first like squabbles in the night, now makes sense as some dogs after a pair of rats.

Lucky Puerto Rico has a friend to combat the invasion of rats. A recent Yahoo news article told of the Galapagos spending one million dollars for phase one of a program to get rid of rats destroying the environment.

So Puerto Rico what’s it going to be; care for your satos or a few million dollars? Please, don’t tell me you’d think about illegal poison! I just read about the neighborhood that lost so many loved family pets to a person, who just poisoned some rats.

Puerto Rico will have better policies for handling the dogs when she sees her satos as a special gift, maybe then we'll have an animal control plan suitable for the island.

The Natural Life

2011-02-04T21:43:00.000-04:00

The romantic school girl fell in love with the island beauty, a place to be in harmony with nature. Clever canines popped into her life. Were they the carriers of the ancient wisdom of her Indian ancestors?

She had learned a lot from and about dogs in her lifetime. For some people the attraction to an animal is so strong, it must be spiritual or you’re just bleeping nuts. Some days it is difficult to tell.

Watching nature at work teaches us about the simple rhythms of nature that we live with, but don’t think about when they work. For example, when a rodent population becomes large, predators move in for a feast.

Coyotes will sing, when they hit the treasure of a rodent colony. The wildness of their yips is scary and exciting. It engages the wild in us, so we don’t invite the coyote in for a cup of kibble.

The island dogs, our satos, hang around all day. They are thin. Many pets get thrown out. They don’t do well unless they hook up with experienced satos. What people do with their pets is another sad tale. Life for the island predators is no more difficult than that of their continental counter parts.

Dogs are energetically and spiritually connected to us. It is important to take care of them, but we must know them for the animal they are. It is apparent that the pets they have become do not have the proper respect of all.

A Working Street Dog's Day

2011-02-02T12:09:00.001-04:00

Another day in the life of a working street dog begins when commuters head to jobs. Stormy positions himself to bark, chase or dramatically snap at the cars which he designates as dangerous. When any of the neighbors (human type) are out, Stormy is on duty.

As the sun rises over the ridge, the neighbors rustle around their properties. Stormy checks in on each one before returning to our house for breakfast. My one consistent training is to squeak to let the dogs know when food is served. With a second squeak Stormy hits second gear up the drive.

Again Stormy lets Owl have breakfast first, takes his second. Blondie must like eat on the side of the veranda that faces the lake. No sooner than the third bowl is set down, Storm is chasing Owl away from his bowl. When I set Storm’s bowl down, he just looked at it like, “Crappy kibble again!” He picked up one piece stepped away from the bowl and chewed as if it were painful. At first glance, I wondered if his mouth was sore.

Blondie is really maturing; she chose to stay with her food instead getting involved. As I race around the house to separate the boys, I am so proud of her.

Stormy has Owl pinned. When I step into Stormy’s personal space, he looks at me. I give him a hard look, he dismounts Owl. I say nothing, but point to his bowl. Stormy trots back to it. A couple of low grumbles over kibble tell me this isn’t over yet. As soon as I walk away, Storm is back over there, making his point. This time I give him my, “I’m really mad look.” It works!

Peace is restored before Blondie finishes her breakfast. To my delight she comes over for a pet rather than compete for resources.

Blondie and Owl mouth dual on the grass, while Stormy head back to his sentry post in the road.

It is so common to hear Border Collie people say that this dog needs a job, but Stormy is the first Border Collie of my acquaintance to assign one for himself. He’s slowed down over the years, but dedicated as ever.

About five years ago I came here to recover after surgery. I could hardly move. Watching him chase cars in the road in the rain would break my heart, but I admired his dedication. Sometimes I thought it was out of control herding behavior, but through the lens of time I see a Border Collie doing his job. How do I tell him about social security and his pension?

Some Dogs Do Lie

2011-02-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

There’s not much smarter than a six year old Border Collie street dog. Stormy does some amazing things, but subterfuge is not something you see a dog do very often.

Stormy spends most of his day down in the street. Owl and Blondie are playing mouth duels on my grass. Storm stools up the driveway to see these locking canines. The guy turns on a dime heads back down to the bottom of the driveway where he is facing the garage.

This little son of a gun starts barking, facing the garage. It’s an alert bark. Blondie flies down the driveway looking for action. She runs up the road. I’d love to know what she was looking for, and then she heads down the road all ready for something. When she get back to Storm, I want to say she had a quizzical look on her face, but I won’t.

Blondie and Stormy stand there nose to nose for a minute, then head up the hill together. Blondie didn’t seem to mind that she’d been had.

The direction Storm faced seemed to have nothing to do with the message. She looked for something in the road. She took off like a bat outta hell. Owl responded to the call, but only went halfway down the hill. Stormy is still working on getting rid of Owl, so he can’t be too careful.

Owl is starting to use his leg more. I’ve been doing some passive range of motion exercises with him. The hock injury was new; the hip injury wasn’t as fresh. He may have been hit by a car.

At dinner time Owl is now the first to eat. Stormy takes the second bowl and Blondie walks all the way around the veranda to have her dinner overlooking the lake.

I wish some of the behaviorists on my list could see these guys in action. What I’m wishing everyone to see is the depth of dog language and relationships.

Friday In The Hood

2011-01-28T18:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Stormy and Blondie went on a visit to the neighborhood dog hang out. Scent marking is involved and I’d love to know what else.

I do know one other thing the little rascals did. They let Owl hobble along on his three good legs. The trio barked at a man walking up the hill. They sniffed and scent marked. It seemed like a casual outing. When they got to the end of their territory, they turned on Owl barking, and biting him.

Just out of territory Owl cut into the woods, up the side of the steep hill and down the other. Clever Owl was lying on the new dog pillow on our porch, when Stormy returned.

This is a guy-guy thing. Blondie chooses to back Stormy for now. Owl’s right rear leg is healing slowly. All bite wounds are closed, no abscesses forming. Every once in a while I see him putting the leg down to push with it.

The dogs know my no fighting rule. They no longer snarf and grumble with each other in our presence. At night when I hear low growls, doggie swear words, I only have to come near the window to silence them.

Stormy has always managed to run off other males wanting his spot. The method he employs is your basic nag constantly. He knows just how far he can push it before a larger male kicks his scrappy little butt.

Neighborhood dogs visit occasionally doing what I call spot checks because its more about checking out the other dog’s digs than visiting. At least that’s my impression when the guys visit Stormy. There’s an evening’s entertainment, if you like watching body language.

Blondie took off by herself this afternoon. She returned shortly before dinner. The new dog pillow now has her name on it.

We’re just hanging around the house for the weekend. I sprained my ankle. Have a good one.

Good Day

2011-01-25T22:53:00.000-04:00

Bedraggled and scruffy as ever, Toby the Airedale came trotting down the road. The big old lover boy is alive. About a year ago he bounced through the neighborhood, until he found a spot. He was only a block away from home when we saw him this afternoon.

We had lunch on the beach in Isabela. A cute foxy faced female with full mammaries swinging in the breeze trotted up to us. We counted her ribs, as she paused to look at us. Oh, poor little mommy, of course I’ll find something for you to eat. Holly, our ride is another dog lover who feeds the satos. We spring into action. Within moments Holly has water and kibble placed before the street waif. We stand there looking pleased with ourselves. Mommy dog picks through the kibble eating only the light colored pieces, leaving the rest. This lactating street dog snubbed the kibble.

We watch mommy dog work the outdoor diners. She sits about a foot away from the people; that erect good dog sit. The head cocks as she looks at each person. She’s working her magic. How long will it take until one of them gives her something? The lady hands her a French fry; she spits it out. The man gives her a bigger fry; she goes into a down while turning her head away. Both fries on the ground don’t get a sniff.

This little bag of bones with babies has the taste buds of royalty; a piece of hamburger and she is gone.

Stormy did the dog chatter tonight. His woo, woo calls answered by only two dogs in the valley, Toby’s deep bark the three woo reply. I could hardly hear the other dog.

Dogs, Study, Vacation

2011-01-25T11:38:00.001-04:00

For someone into dogs, Puerto Rico has the possibility to become the coolest vacation place in the world.

Imagine dog behavior not based on your presence, your control. In this place dogs don’t live with you as much as they live alongside you.

These dogs don’t do tricks for treats. Their behavior is shaped minimally by man; not really minimally, but nowhere near as much as pets.

A Puerto Rican dog learns to fear man, fear cars. They learn to watch humans closely or avoid them and yet, they are habituated to us in ways other predators will never be.

After twelve years of doggie day care I thought I knew so much about dog behavior. What I could not have guessed was how little our naïve pets know.

Around San Juan there is too much congestion, too many dogs on beaches, suffering. This is not a pleasant sight.

In the country where we live, man and dog can live in harmony. With population control we can have a peek at how our ancestors lived with dogs. The knowledge each species had for the other is all but lost. The number of behavior problems trainers deal with each day should tell us that. The level of organization found in the colony here on the hill is amazing. It’s like a prairie dog society, so is their sentence structure.

This is an interesting opportunity to study dogs. I’m thinking about doing a bed and breakfast for serious students of dogs. Anybody interested?

Appreciate A Sato Day

2011-01-23T11:27:00.001-04:00

Ha-ha-ha, now I’ve seen everything. Since our return to Puerto Rico, the satos, we know as Stormy and Blondie, have taken to sleeping on our porch at night. Last night the two ladies who live next door to each other came out with a special meal for them.

This little production number begins with each lady holding a good size pot of food. They call sweetly, “Lola! Pinto!” Dog ears pick up, they look at each other. Still holding the pots, they call, “Pinto, Lola!”

The dogs stand looking through the railing. “Pinto, Lola AQUI!” That one was a little short. They see the dogs looking through my railings. The ladies put the pots down and begin waving to the street dogs, “Aqui.”

Clearly, the dogs don’t know what to make of this turn of events. They look at each other, and then head down my driveway. The ladies hail them with “Bueno, bueno, Lola, Pinto!”

The ladies are waving them on telling them about what they have for them. Usually when these women set out leftovers in small containers, left without fanfare. The dogs hesitate to put their heads in the pots, while the ladies stand there. Now, the ladies have an audience of family members watching; they coo, “Bueno, hay que bueno.”

The dogs chow down with gusto; the people sound happy, talking with animation. OMG, this is serious; the meal is followed by petting. They are petting street dogs; you don’t see that too often around here.
Wonder what that's about; don't you?

Life and Death

2011-01-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

“It’s mine; I don’t care, if I don’t like it.” Stormy woofed down the commercial dog treat. You may know the one I’m talking about; it’s just so artificial. Naturally fed dogs like Stormy don’t want them, until another dog is interested. Once in the mouth flavor enhancers do their work, dogs must have more.

Stormy submits to Kirt chopping the burrs out of his matted fur. The occasional dose of flavor gets Storm’s full co-operation. I put some Neosporin over his right eye and on his ear wounds.

When a dog colony is stable, there is not a lot of severe fighting. Certain situations may require a fight, but within the colony they know each other. A bunch of new dogs in the neighborhood means fighting for spots. Once a dog has a rep as a hard biter, his adversary slows his readiness to “mix it up.” Last night dog fights punctuated the melody of the coqui frog for the first time since our return.

Given the rodent situation on the island; perhaps the poison was not intended for the dogs.

I have to believe that; Bonita’s death mustn’t sour my heart. My pain isn’t just for Bonita. Lance was a macho male by species standard, big shaggy wonderful Toby, Zorro a lady’s man into old age; I have to stop. This hurts.

Today is my day to mourn for the rat hunting party, the dogs who lived in the grass and the sentries in front of the gates.

I saw each one as special. They had a spot. They protected their neighborhood. They only asked for what scraps you could spare. They loved it if you pet them. And a little fresh water is a gift.

Good bye, my friends.

Veterinarios de Puerto Rico

2011-01-22T00:02:00.002-04:00

Why would the veterinarians of Puerto Rico want to have a meeting with the rescuers of the island dogs? Emotions run high on the subject of the satos.

In the states there is animal control, which generally has a veterinarian administrator. Maybe the vets here don’t want to take time from their private practice for such a post?

There is no time to build shelters for 100,000 animals. We must begin to control the population through sterilization.
Doctors, we need your input.

Of course, you will be paid for your services. Yes, some people think you should donate time to this cause. They are wrong. This is your business.

Your business is treating animals. Why don’t we help you figure out a way to access a larger share of the market place?

This is an opportunity; it doesn’t have to be painful for you. It can be profitable.

Puerto Rico has a model animal cruelty law, ley 154. Puerto Rico can lead the way in animal control.

Doctors, it is up to you.

Please, contact me through my blog email, if I may be of service.

Animal Control for the Island

2011-01-20T17:02:00.000-04:00

Free ranging dogs are a part of our history. Before automobiles, it didn’t matter so much if a dog was in the road. Videos of indigenous tribes show dogs just hanging around the village. The first dogs to be confined by humans were probably sentry dogs. Pampered little dogs had to be a close second.

Animal control as an organized effort didn’t begin until after the automobile. It seems like before the automobile everybody had a hand gun, so rabid dogs were shot on the spot. Population control was probably, shoot or run off.

Sixty years ago very few dogs lived in the house. Dogs were fed table scraps. Canned dog food was a new item in the stores. We changed the way we live with dogs. Today’s dog doesn’t leave home without health insurance. Dog training is better than ever; dog sports, day care, clothes.

Dog lovers happily take each step with their furry buddies. Most of us don’t live on farms anymore, so a dog or a cat is our connection to nature. We divorced nature a long time ago to head to the city.

One thing about dog people is that we all have strong opinions. Mine arrived in Puerto Rico with the luggage. Round up the strays; take them to the shelter. What could be simpler? I was the huffy tourist who couldn’t understand the way the island people live with dogs.

My good friend, Gloria said, “Before you condemn, understand that this IS a different culture. Be open to another’s way of doing things.” Thank you, my friend. It took me a long time to see more than the danger the dogs faced and the suffering.

After a few years of watching the dogs, I’ve learned that we have a symbiotic relationship with the island dogs. We can’t get rid of them. We need them. They eat rats. They eat our leftovers, better them than the rats. Rats carry more disease, left unchecked they will decimate the food crops.

The satos are a benefit to the island. Its just time we step up to take care of them. Trap and release, vaccinate, health check and spay the girls. Put a government collar on all healthy vaccinated animals. Animal control set up to meet the needs of the island.

Animal control in the continental US does not cover shelters for the rodent predators. Nobody worries if a coyote had enough to eat or a fox.

Does this make sense to anybody?

Dog Lovers, A Breed Apart

2011-01-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

Dog lovers understand how special each of their companion animals is. Dog lovers working at veterinarian offices or boarding facilities like mine recognize the personality of each animal in their care. People get excited when you tell them what their dog likes or how it behaves because they know you see that dog as an individual.

It is the ability to see the individual dog and not just a dog that makes us true dog lovers. When we cry over the loss of a pet, there is always the person who tells us to just get another one. The non dog lover cannot see that there is no other one.

And yet the truth is having another one to care for causes us to go on when your heart is pumping puddles on the floor.

Owl’s wounds are mending. The peroxide soaks are bringing the infection down.

My concern is that flies have laid eggs in the wound. I’ve seen that once before; it’s not pretty. Any advice on what to do here is appreciated. One puncture has two “chambers” The top one is damn near squeaky clean, in the bottom there is a brown something. I think it’s a clot. There is infection behind it or worse fly larva. Previously, I saw a wound at the maggot stage, when they were coming out. It was easy to figure out how to speed that process.

Stormy’s ears are all chewed to shit. His muzzle and the back of his right front leg have wounds that need tending.

Blondie has taken to buddy bumping me. I pick her up with my arms around her chest. She loves it when I shake her. There is no sign of the mange I treated her for last year.

Another neighbor stopped up last night. He told us all the gory details of how Bonita died. We didn’t understand a word, but we knew what he said. I don’t know why people feel required to be sure that you are wallowing in all the pain with them. He left out nothing. Just when I thought he would leave, it started raining. He doesn’t speak a word of English to us. Neither one of us speaks that much Spanish, so I showed him pictures of the neighborhood dogs. Muerte or no muerte was the best I could do. I could tell by his body posture which ones were dead. After a few his head just hung low, we could see his sense of loss.

Just when the sadness was too painful to bear, he spotted a picture of Snow White; she’s alive!

Home Coming Nightmare

2011-01-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

Free ranging feral dogs are like flies at a picnic. Bitches breeding every heat produce pathetic and adorable puppies. People toss out young pets once they have out grown the puppy charm. Back in Puerto Rico, I’m learning to accept what I cannot control.

Welcome home. There’s a new dog on my porch hobbling on three legs. Stormy shoots out of Mike’s garage, waiting when we pull into the carport. Stormy, the first sato or street dog that Kirt and I ever met is still a fixture in the neighborhood. Stormy’s ears and muzzle bear evidence to an altercation. Before long we see Blondie in our neighbor’s yard, escape is imminent. Blondie greetings are without reserve, we are now properly welcomed home.

As a parting gift this throw away dog received a complimentary flea collar. Perhaps the injuries to his rear legs are road rash. We’ve seen dogs ejected from moving vehicles before. His right hock joint is badly infected. Sweet boy with ears folded back, licking his lips and lowly tail beating comes to us seeking petting. Markings around his eyes look like glasses giving him the appearance of a wise little owl. Owl allows us to soak his infected joint in peroxide.

Lucky Owl landed on our road after the purge. Our neighbor, Mike told us that Owl fought Stormy to stay on the hill. The space Stormy gave up was our then vacant house. We came home a few days later. For a street dog this is like winning the lottery.

When the population of street dogs becomes too dense, there’s a concerned citizen who steps up to “solve” the problem. This barbaric remedy still used world over rid our neighborhood of some wonderful animals including the beautiful Bonita.

The packs of dogs hunting in the fields are gone. Absent are the canine sentries in front of the gates. Leftovers are in the garbage cans in this neighborhood. The valley is strangely silent.

No I take that back; there is a lot of weed whacking and trimming going on, more so than usual. Our neighbor is trimming an area we’ve not seen them cleanup before, so I ask what they are planning to do with the land. The answer is “Nothing, we’re having a rat epidemic. They’re in the tall grass.”

Go figure.

Psycho Bitch Begins The Road to Recovery

2011-01-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

My wild Rottweiler girl came with baggage we figured out quickly. The out of control lack of direction was simple to diagnose. The submissive flattening she did if a voice was raised indicated that when she was corrected; it was overdone.

Her scars spoke of dog fights. Her eyes told me she didn’t trust or respect human authority. When a dog intends to follow your leadership, the dog looks at you. Mikki didn’t look directly at us. It was a big indicator of her level of dysfunction.

The first pictures we took of the dogs with a flash created pandemonium. You guessed it. Somebody played with her and a flash light or laser light. The bitch went out of her mind. She ran into things, jumped on furniture.

This explained her interest in the ceiling fans. It also shed light on her occasional “hand shyness”. She was reacting to the reflection from my watch.

Mikki would be in the yard alone flipping around acting like she lost her mind. After the photo incident I watched this behavior more closely. The sun reflected off the chrome ring on her collar. The minute ray of light went unnoticed until the flash picture.

It was her crazy behavior in the yard that earned her the psycho bitch moniker.

My training is simple. I want my dogs to know what I like. Everything she did that I liked; I praised. At first Mikki seemed to totally ignore my positive words.

Shaker, the golden was raised on positive strokes so he gobbled up the praise. That he liked the praise is what first got her notice. Mikki watched Shaker as he basked in praise.

Soon the words “Good dog” had meaning to her. That’s the first step.

Isla Encanto Not This Time

2011-01-05T20:55:00.000-04:00

Visiting Puerto Rico should make memories not activists. Sounds like some lucky vet in Ponce is going to get a new best client, this letter is from a lady who visited over the holidays.

Is this how we want Puerto Rico to be perceived or can we say Spay is the Way Puerto Rico?

My name is ------- and I just signed up and joined the foundation on facebook. I recently came to Puerto Rico for Christmas 2010 and was devestated at the over population problem there on the Island. I spent my vacation feeding the animals in Ponce Puerto Rico as well as the beaches there. THey were everywhere. I cried so much I puked. I am still devestated and have nightmares. Im horrified and THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS LIKE YOURS. I want to be part and help in any way possible. I live in Florida..right out of Tampa..about 20 mins. I will be spending ALOT of time in Puerto Rico because I want to help the animals. I want to make a difference. It takes a special person to stop her vacation and take her own money and buy dog food and feed the animals. Ponce is loaded just like San Juan. Dead Dog Beach...I fed dogs there also on my vacation. Parguerra...Ponce area..fed there. The dry forest..fed there too. I have receipts...I spent 700 dollars feeding animals. My boyfriend never said a word. He loves me and knows how I am. We have issues here in FLorida and the states but NOTHING compares to what I saw there in PR. Please let me know what I can do to help in addition to traveling the animals back to Florida. We fly American Airlines so it wont be a problem at all. We are flying into San Juan in June and staying till July 28th. I will be happy to assist if there is a need at that time and any other time I make it in between. We are going to also be in PR December 2011 for 3 weeks..i will keep you posted and will also travel with the pets then too. This summer I will be there, we are planning to buy a place in Ponce while there so we can spend 6 months there and 6 months here in Florida. While there in the summer if you need volunteers to feed the animals, I am more than willing to do so. I will buying some food myself and feed as I take my kids to PR for the first time. I hate for them to see this but awareness needs to be made to what the PR govt is allowing to happen on the Island. I want to help make a change on the Island for these animals. My mom runs a animal sanctuary in Florida, I have seen what happens. I will let my voice be heard. I have letters to the Gov. and anyone else i can get ahold of. I am going to make a fuss here in the states also.

Please let me know how I can be part of your organization and help out when Im in PR weather its feeding the animals, giving medicines to animals..i want to help. Please send me any information on the organization as I can make regualar donations but need to make sure its all legit. You can understand that cant you..lol. I have so many ideas. Oh yea...this is my goal...I want to get involved with organizations to help take care of the homeless animals and bring about spay and neuter programs. My boyfriend and I will be buying a place in the Ponce area..more torwards the beach he has family there. We want a little land because I am going to start my own PR animal Sanctuary. I will be flying my dad over to build cat houses and dog runs and houses. I want the experience of volunteering so I can learn alot and start my own animal rescue. This is what my vacation did to me and my boyfriend. Most people wouldnt dare come back after what I saw. that is why tourism is down. Its really sad. PR has the potential to be a PREMIER VACATION SPOT. People are afraid to go there while the PR govt sits back with fat wallets. My voice will not go unheard...the govt ruined my dream vacation and now I cant sit back and do nothing..i have to do something. We are fortunate in our lives and want to share. Please let me know how to help and how to be involved. You want me to write letters every week to the PR Govt, YOU GOT IT...lol

SPAY IS THE WAY PUERTO RICO

2011-01-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

100,000 feral dogs roaming beaches, city streets, verdant country valley or palm tree orchard. Dogs fornicating; puppy corpses rotting in the road; is this the image of Puerto Rico?

How about rounding up the strays by the truck load and needling them; is this the image for Puerto Rico? Sad eyes rolling down the highway to death camp is not what dog loving tourists want to see; nor do we, very strongly we do not!

As if this problem were not bad enough; what would happen to the rat population if the dogs were gone? Would they bring in fox or coyote? Or would they poison?

When your poisoned pets die, people of Puerto Rico will you cry? Or will you demand of your leaders another way?

Will it take the death of a beloved family pet of a vacationing rich man? So if you can’t poison the rats, what are you going to do when rats ruin the food crops of the island?

Spay, trap & release anyone?

Psycho Bitch Moves In

2010-12-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

Milkshake our Rottweiler foster began to bully the golden Shaker. The fear in his eyes made me afraid that this was a bad idea.

Shaker would try to come to us for petting; she would warn him off. Shaker vacated his favorite spot on the end of the sofa, when she gave an almost inaudible growl. My baby looked unhappy.

When the dogs at the kennel came out, the bitch hit the sliding glass door so hard I thought it would break. She jumped on the table to get a better look. She stared and growled at the casa blanca fans like they were going to attack her. She jumped on my table! That will never do.

Wild out of control barking ruled the yard when the boarders were out, so I began to stagger her trips outside. We work hard to make our guests fell welcome. Milkshake’s fierce barking was not compatible with the energy dynamic we strive to create.

Sensitive to movement, yep that’s a way to label some of her weird behavior.

Running into people, jumping on them, no control; those are other labels that could go on her behavior.

We examined her neck and face to find multiple scars, so she was no stranger to dog fights.

Well, we understood why Patty did not have her on the adoption list.

The first thing we did was to change her name to Mikki.

Shaker lives to be in the good dog zone. Each time he heard the correction sound the poor boy shriveled up looking miserable.

Mikki knew no rules, so she heard the stop what you are doing sound frequently.

Should I remove Shaker from the house, while Mikki learned the rules? How long would it take to teach a 4 yr old the rules?

The fun had just begun.

Dog Center For Rent

2010-12-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

Hi,
Since a kid, I’ve always wanted to be around dogs.

Since 1983 people have brought their dogs to Carrvilla for help with behavior problems. I did it for free in the beginning, for the pleasure of having the opportunity to learn more about dogs.

That’s been my life.

www.carrvillak9.com is the web address. We are on a major highway in Kendall County, Illinois. It doesn’t get better than next door to the forest preserve.

The place was built by a dog lover- in floor heat, well fenced. This is a great place for dogs.

What the place needs is an enterprising dog loving entrepreneur to rent it.

This is my home, but my heart and passion have moved in with the feral dogs of Puerto Rico.

I’ve lost my passion for running this place and it breaks my heart.

A very reasonable price to take over an existing business and rent a beautiful property that was set up for dogs.

PLEASE, pass this on to the dog lovers in your life.

Thanks & God Bless!

Oh, check it out (online) don’t contact my staff and then expect to get along with me.

I welcome serious enquiries carrvilla@msn.com

Do Veterinarians of Puerto Rico Know?

2010-12-24T17:37:00.000-04:00

As long as people send me heartfelt emails like this, I will publish them. The veterinarians of Puerto Rico should know what people are thinking.

Carmen said:

The colegio de medicos veterinarios charges $2 for a stamp for Rabies shots. They should have some type of program of public health and they don’t. i would like to know what those funds are used for. It is not fair that rescuers have all the responsibility of attending this problem and many times use their own money it is everybody’s responsibility. I think we should somehow make the colegio to do some kind of public health service and to lower their fees it is much more expensive to take your dog to the vet than to take your kid to the pediatrician. I think it’s terrible that they refuse outside help if they are not willing to help with the problem their main concern is to be able to live to a high standard of life and to be able to pay for their yachts, jaguars, mansions etc.

This is not my opinion. Some of the people I admire most in the world are veterinarians. I love dogs, veterinarians save my “babies.”

I can’t believe that these guys know what I’m hearing the dog loving public say.

Let's Talk With the Vetrinarians of Puerto Rico

2010-12-24T08:24:00.001-04:00

Cheryl said:
A professional organization is in charge of writing their act. Legislators just pass it as they feel this is that organization’s guidelines for that profession. The state’s Department of Professional Review is in charge of interpreting that act and issuing warnings, fines, etc. to wayward practitioners. When changes are proposed, that organization’s highly paid lobbyist is behind the scenes rubbing the legislators backs.

Let’s say to work in IL, a licensed vet from IA has to be sponsored by an Illinois vet. Just not sure who carries the liability insurance for the IA vet. From what you’re saying, that’s true in PR. In a number of states now, it is illegal for that out-of-state vet to give you his opinion/advice via any form of telecommunications.
Now, if your volunteer vets want to contact www.ij.org and lodge a complaint, that’s a horse of another color. The Institute of Justice is free. They’re dying to come into Illinois and rip into the vet act, but it takes someone to lodge a complaint with the IJ.
You can’t as a group go in and mess with an organizations “act.” If it is in the pipeline with changes, with lots of money; lobbyist and grass roots support you might get an amendment added. You can get legislation introduced under a separate act to cover the street dogs. Back to lots of money, lobbyist and grass roots support.
Now it would be nice if they could work out a deal with vet schools and save face. Have you contacted http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/default.asp?

Thanks, Cheryl, you are a good friend and mentor. When I get back to Puerto Rico, I will approach the Vet Asn. Perhaps the timing will be right to open a dialogue. If not, I'll give this a shot.
We need the vets input on this problem. There has to be a way to take care of the strays. The vets are the top animal proffessional. Their silence on this issue angers many activists. The rhetoric gets hot.
Some how I think their silence says that they think the problem is unsolvable. Of course until we talk, that's only a guess.

Enter Psycho Bitch

2010-12-23T12:07:00.000-04:00

Our first foster experience with Cassie was sweet, so I petitioned Patty to foster another Recycled Rott. She had a girl named Milkshake with some problems; mostly she had never been required to follow rules. Okay, behavior problems, that’s what I do for a living. I embraced the challenge.

Francine, one of the dedicated Recycled Rott volunteers, dropped Milkshake off at the kennel. A migraine prevented me from meeting Milkshake until the next morning.

The pudgy rottie did the front end bounce while barking like a maniac. Every dog passing her door caused the barking to intensify. She looked at the door to her kennel. She looked at the door to the yard. She ran into me without looking at me. Hmm.

My husband, Kirt, walks with Canadian crutches, canes that wrap around the wrist for stability. They were introduced in the yard, so she had the option to be farther away from him. Woo-woo-woo with a low crouch was her first response. The old pro (my husband) had her butt wagging in no time. She liked us, but never looked directly at us.

Introduction to the blonde boy came next. We took her to the three acre dog park where she began exploring. With this kind of space two dogs came go to neutral corners until they are ready to deal with each other. Milkshake sounded like the hound from hell. Her body slams sent him sailing. He gave her a demonstration of golden speed. Milkshake went into prey drive, but couldn’t catch him. Both dogs stopped near us, so we redirected her attention.

Milkshake wanted to play, but the line was thin between friendly contact and I’ll kick your ass mode. Shaker would race away looking over his shoulder to see if she’d follow. The four year old fat bitch did until exhausted, perfect.

We sat in front of the house petting the dogs. Milkshake fell in love with us quite easily, but still did not look directly at us. I am NOT talking about eye contact. Her low body posture around us quickly changed to jumping up. Milkshake came with two gears: hypercontrolled submissive and out of control happy.

Patty was right; no one had worked with her. When she crossed the annoyance line, corrections were harsh. If you’ve worked with dogs, you’ve seen this behavior.

At this point I had no idea what fun this was going to change. I’ve worked with people, who go home to do the work. I’ve taken in dogs for specific training, but never lived with a bad dog, a four year old crazy bitch to boot.

I want to thank Patty from Recylced Rotts for seeing the good in this girl. Your judgment with her was right on target.

Shaker and Milkshake, what are the chances of that?

Colegio de Médicos Veterinarios de Puerto Rico

2010-12-22T20:53:00.001-04:00

Tourists shocked at the sight of starving street dogs contact shelters or rescuers. These tourists share their stories on travel blogs. The world is aware of the

chronic problem which plagues and humiliates Puerto Rico. How can the department of tourism combat such bad press?

Animal Activists cry for sterilization programs. The leading animal professionals are silent on the issue; why?

A wise woman I spoke with said, “How can the vets be for outsiders coming in to neuter animals when their biggest clients are breeders or rescuers?”

It’s easy to be altruistic when your ability to earn a living isn’t affected. It is not unreasonable to be worried and want to protect what they have worked hard to achieve.

The veterinarians of Puerto Rico must have legitimate concerns which should be addressed. I’m guessing that they are concerned about more than just their living.

Is it possible to work out a solution? It’s amazing what we can do when we just talk with each other.

Animal Control in Puerto Rico

2010-12-21T08:36:00.003-04:00

Dedicated rescuers in Puerto Rico beg for people to adopt dogs and puppies. Their hearts ache because of the conditions in which the dogs live.

Truck loads of dogs are put to sleep daily. Put to sleep, doesn’t that sound peaceful? Some people actually believe ending their lives is better for them. How pathetic to think that killing a young healthy being is good. Let’s hope the folks who think that way are never put in charge of programs for homeless people.

This does not sit well with me or many others. What to do? Some groups have organized spay clinics with volunteer veterinarians from the states and elsewhere. For the past year I’ve been doing research into conducting spay clinics on the island. This is a grand undertaking. Dog loving activists have gone through the effort and expense of putting all of this together to be refused.

The help of dog lovers of the world has been turned down. People ready and able to ameliorate a chronic problem have been casually waived off because they are not licensed in Puerto Rico. Are Puerto Rican vets not given reciprocity in any states? Why do no state side vets have reciprocity in Puerto Rico?

Is there no way for the legislators of Puerto Rico to give authorization to volunteer veterinarians to come in short term to alleviate a problem which plagues and humiliates the island?

Can we get enough Puerto Rican vets to volunteer to supervise the projects? Respected island rescue groups plead for animal control through sterilization. Why is it that when groups contact the professional organization of veterinarians in Puerto Rico they receive no response?

If the veterinarian’s organization will not address this issue with the rescuers, what can we do? Should we begin an organized effort to sit in the meetings of the legislature until the issue is addressed?

Do the Puerto Rican vets belong to a larger organization? Will the larger community of veterinarians require them to address the problem?

I imagine that the veterinarians of Puerto Rico have legitimate concerns which should be addressed on this topic. I imagine because there is no discussion. The rescue groups have been begging for this discussion.

As the Chairman of the Sterilization Committee of FOICCA, the certified Animal Control Officers of the island, I will be sending a letter to the Colegio de Veterinarios to open a dialogue. It is my fondest hope that the rescue groups have somehow been remiss in their approach; that our veterinarians will discuss animal control with another duly authorized group of professionals.

We prefer not to explore other options.

Foster Rott Finds a Forever Home

2010-12-20T22:18:00.000-04:00

Cassie, the sassy, glanced over her shoulder to see if Shaker was watching as she lapped the three acre dog park. The blonde boy picked up the gauntlet and took the lead. He slowed to let her catch him, then shifted into a faster gear. They were a joy to watch. She liked him. She let him pin her on her back. She let him win at mouth dueling. Talk about building the boy’s confidence.

Her moments of pushy behavior came at feeding time. Every opportunity her head went in his dish. Because of this I felt his assault of her dish more outstanding. Subtle signals completely reversed their usual roles.

Shaker taught Cassie to love a good car ride. The girl who refused to get in the car wanted to go everywhere. Her leash walking became polite. Cassie stayed with us for two weeks before Patty from Recycled Rotts sent her to her forever home.

Shaker experienced quality give and take with Cassie. She was sweet and not bossy. His confidence with a stronger animal has increased.

This went so well, I’ve asked Patty to let me foster another female. Shaker is ready for his next rehab experience.

Part of Decreasing Dog To Dog Aggression

2010-12-19T12:51:00.000-04:00

Cassie taught Shaker to share his house. She became daddy’s girl instantly. Shaker wasn’t sure how to handle that, so he got closer to me.

Cassie and Shaker played well, but he soon learn that she was stronger so he had better play nice, just the lesson he needed.

Meal time became difficult for the blonde boy. Cassie invariably ran over to Shaker’s dish grabbing a mouthful before she was corrected. Shaker grumbled, but she didn’t care. This was the time she pressed her advantage with him. Until I got it across to her that raiding his dish was not allowed, he harrumphed in vain.

Before Shaker can learn to allow dogs to appease him, he has to learn to appease other dogs again plus to say when he’s had enough. It’s learning how to negotiate.

Shaker looked relieved when Cassie went to her dish after I’d correct her.

This sets the stage for what I learned next about how dogs communicate. Occasionally Cassie would leave some food in her bowl. If Shaker came near, she would growl; he’d retreat. Sometimes she’d get up and finish her meal; mostly she’d just warn him away.

On this particular day Shaker must have still been hungry. Cassie lay in the narrow spot between the kitchen and the living room separating Shaker from her dish in the hall near the kitchen.

A frustrated blonde boy paced, and then laid down for a bit staring at her or the food. Soon he let out a sigh, It sounded like a sigh of resignation, so I went back to my book. Cassie turned her head away from him.

The sigh meant he decided to risk life and limb to get that food. He was up on his toes in the stiff legged posture that says, “Watch out, my legs are stiff. You never know what can happen, when I have stiff legs.” Whoa, this display shows how serious a dog is about something.

Cassie turned her head toward the boy. It looked like he swallowed hard, but I won’t swear to it. His posture became just a little less stiff and more like a stiff legged tippy toe. She closed her eyes; walked past her and ate her food.

Shaker successfully negotiated with a stronger animal for her food. I believe that he needs to be able to do that with a stronger dog before a weaker dog will be able to negotiate with him again.

That’s what I mean when I say that he needs to regain confidence in his own language. This needs to be the purpose of reintroducing a traumatized dog to others.

Many otherwise good treatment plans fall short, if we are not clear on what we want the dog to learn by contact with this animal.

Does this make more sense or I am being as clear as mud. What do you say?

Animal Control in Kendall County, Illinois

2010-12-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

Kendall County, Illinois, where I’ve lived for 30 years, could be the poster child for animal control doing well. Just recently the shelter had too many dogs. The warden was worried that dogs were going to have to be euthanized. The local newspaper put out the word; dogs need to be adopted. Crisis was avoided.

My dear friend Christine Weis was the Premier Animal Control Warden in Kendall County for 32 years.

We met in a snow storm on December 23rd at 10:30 pm. Two hounds were huddled against my fence along the road. No way was I going to handle potentially diseased animals. My beautiful Belle Star had 15 puppies in our first litter ever.

The sheriff’s department gave me the home number of the warden, who was out on a call.

Her then 86 year old husband gave me a hard time about taking the dogs in myself. It was almost Christmas Eve, she’d been on calls all day. Christine was 72. I was new in the community with my husband and my dogs. My attitude was it’s your job, do it. I had babies to worry about.

I fretted until the lights of her el camino turned into my drive. My puppies suckled making greedy slurps as their mother panted. The flames darted in the woodstove, as the wind whipped the snow outside.

Bent bracing the bitter hawk the smallish figure was swift. The dogs were loaded by the time I got to my gate. “Thank you” was all I could say. “Couldn’t leave them out here, Good night.” She replied and was gone.

Christine Weis was collecting stray animals when Kendall County, Illinois Board of Directors decided the county needed an animal control warden. She got the job because she was already doing it.

By the time Christine retired the current facility was built; previously animal control was in the lady’s barn. Thank you, Christine, you were a pioneer. Your love of animals is why Kendall County is where it is in animal control today. You are my hero.

Little Explanation

2010-12-17T17:49:00.000-04:00

Hi,

Just as we were about to get into some really interesting body language photos of the Puerto Rican dogs, I switched gears to tell you Shaker, my dog in Illinois.

As interesting as the blonde boy is the way in which the street dogs get along fascinate me. Their social structure is so much more complicated than I ever imagined.

For this almost year that I’ve been writing this blog, the words have been easy. In love with dogs describes how I’ve felt since childhood. At my age it’s almost forever. There is so much we learn by observation over time. That’s the stuff I want to share with you.

After enjoying thirty years in dogs, the specialness of street dog society makes me feel like a kid opening a great gift.

The point is I’m being emotional mush right now and can’t write about the satos.

More will follow on the recovery of the blonde boy, who by the way is doing well.

As you may know I am dedicated to getting the Puerto Rican island dogs spayed. Spay is the way Puerto Rico is a project I have been developing to humanely control the dog population.

Thanks for reading. I really love the comments.

Apology

2010-12-12T19:07:00.000-04:00

To Melissa,
When I first read your comment, I thought you were saying that he could have done something differently. When I re- read it I see that you didn't. I am being defensive of the boy, sorry.

Don't Hurt Me, I'm Just a Kid

2010-12-12T16:31:00.001-04:00

Melissa said...

Honestly before this post I was pondering the effects of male male vs. male female or female female confrontations. Made me chuckle when your thoughts went a little the same direction.

My question, do you think Shaker's original incident would have been different if a female would have been the attacker? Before the incident he treated the females much differently than the male here. He already had it worked out how far he could go with them and had a very great respect. On the other hand, with the male, because interactions were closely monitored he never was able to safely work that out. I know he had experiences with other males before wintering here. Just wonder if more of his dog education was with girls? Also in my opinion a lot of males neutered young tend to act more like bitches than dogs. Did he have much education with intact males?

I think you've mentioned his bullying is of males or females. What about his fear? Dogs he shows discomfort with? Ever female?

Unless the history of the dog indicates otherwise; I’ll always start transgender.
Shaker had been well socialized with intact males as well as those recently fixed. It wasn’t Shaker’s lack of social skills that caused the attack by the other male. If the other male had backed off when Shaker went submissive to him, we wouldn’t be discussing this. From what you told me there was nothing Shaker could have done to appease this guy.

For all of his social experience, Shaker was only a baby of ten months when he was attacked. He was a soft puppy. It takes a good two years for a dog to reach adult maturity. This includes mental maturity.

I honestly believe that if this had happened to Shaker at 2 years, he would have handled it much like Stormy has handled his attack.

In the acute phase post attack a scared and angry Shaker lashed out without thinking. Male or female did not really matter which pushed his buttons. Good management was why he didn’t injure more dogs or get hurt himself.

Some dogs get stuck in that scared reactive post trauma acute phase.

With Shaker I could sense his fear when he started back to day care.
My hope was that getting him back with his buds would trigger his old, familiar behaviors. I put him with Klondyke, a ten year old sibe. Klondyke rules the yard as my boss dog. He is everything we wanted Shaker to be. To this day Shaker has never had a problem with Klon. They ride in the car together. Isn’t that interesting?

The last dog Shaker went for in the reactive phase was Roxie, a leggy lab x great dane. She flipped him. Baby boy was on his back so fast. Each encounter teaches a dog something. He learned who not to mess with. That’s when he made the leap to chronic or bully.

In bully stage any sensed weak or vulnerable are subject to reprimand or attack. With Shaker gender didn’t seem to matter, if I’d let him he’d be one bullying little asshole. Some of the looks he’s given me, when I correct his behavior have been withering. He softens immediately, so it’s a non issue.

Since Shaker’s first day with me I have taught him but two things.

1) I like this. 2) I don’t like that.

One thing for sure is he knows I don’t like him attacking other dogs.

His fear is another long topic; let’s save that for another post.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

2010-12-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

What is the first thing I wanted Shaker to learn from another dog?

In her book Animals In Translation Dr. Temple Grandin impressed upon us how strong an emotion fear is.

Shaker is comfortable enough in his dysfunction that he could identify the weak to terrorize. It stands to reason that the bigger stronger dogs still scare him even if he hasn’t been attacked again.

1st Rehab step was to teach Shaker he can be safe with a big tough dog.

We needed: a female (transgender is always the better starting point) a good solid girl who likes to play hard, one who can always win but won’t.

Our last Rottweiler died of old age in 1999. I am a big fan of rotts, so I called my friend Patty at Recycled Rotts. After toying with the idea of fostering rotts for ages, this seemed like the perfect time.

A lovely girl named Cassie, who hated car rides, needed a foster home. We introduced them in the dog park. They ran and played. We all came into our yard where they played some more.

Everything went great until we walked into the house. No other dog had been in his house since his return in spring. Shaker’s signals were clear; he didn’t like her in the house.

Cassie didn’t care what Shaker thought, she was in the house. Shaker circled her on stiff legs as she investigated her new home. Suddenly she turned to face Shaker. Her hackles went up. This meant enough of your shit buddy.

I put both dogs outside to work it out. Let the whizzing begin. Cassie urinated, Shaker covered it. This went on for a bit and then they were playing again.

Time to feed the doggies, now, you know that had to be fun. Both dogs held their sits while I scooped out the food. I knew I could get Shaker to wait, so I fed Cassie first introducing her to her spot to be fed.

What the hell did she care; Cassie ran over to Shaker’s dish. Shaker’s reaction was shock and growl. Quickly I had the girl back where she belonged. The remainder of our first night went without incident.

Can Aggressive an Dog Rehabbed in Dog Language?

2010-12-11T19:57:00.000-04:00

A scared traumatized dog watches other dogs for signs of threat. He analyzes every move. Soon the scared dog figures out which dogs he should be cautious with or respectful of.

Along with this observation comes the realization that other dogs are scared. Recognizing the vulnerability of others gives the scared dog an opportunity to be the strong by becoming the bully. It’s classic.

Current thought on rehabbing this problem consists of building the dog’s confidence that it is safe when with their person and to look to the person when stressed. With our repeated re-direction the dog figures out we don’t want him to do that.

Yes, that is all good. I am not going to turn this dog out with others hoping that he will look at me or I’m going to have time to redirect.

The dog may live in high stress mode waiting for the next attacker. That has nothing to do with why he’ll attack. The other dog’s vulnerability becomes the trigger.

I’ve done growl classes in which we controlled the dogs’ interactions while they were muzzled. That worked out well enough that at the end of the course the dogs were together without muzzles. This was a huge improvement, but these dogs were always going to be watched cautiously.

My experience with Stormy, a street dog in Puerto Rico has taught me that even after a life threatening attack a dog can get along with all other dogs.

It’s a matter of putting Shaker in a position where he must become better in dog language. If he is the top dog, he’ll abuse. My handsome baby boy is going to be good with other dogs again.

Shaker is being rehabbed by the dogs I am selecting to teach him what he needs to learn in the canine language.

I love this guy. I’m putting everything I know on the table to so he can get back to his life.

Understanding Dog Aggression Comments

2010-12-09T16:29:00.001-04:00

In a previous post I said:
Watching Shaker go from happy well met to hyper-reactive was painful. Soon I noticed him having bad dreams. His eyeballs popped and darted during REM sleep. Low whimpering became pathetic sobs. His feet paddled the air.

It’s interesting to note that the first forty-five minutes of day care Shaker is joyously running with his buds like old times. When the edge of needing the exercise is softened, he begins to look around to as if to see who could do him harm.

Cheryl said: I did find a number of things on canine PTSD, but we’re talking about war, abused or Katrina victims, not a well adjusted puppy who was attacked. Now most of the dogs are spooky, but some articles talked about the aggressive aspect.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/9_5/features/Canine_Aggression_Socialization_15805-1.html?zkPrintable=true

http://canineaggression.blogspot.com/2008/01/canine-ptsd-in-disaster-and-war.html (Katrina and war dogs PTSD)

In a book Tao of Equus, the author talks about PTSD as a result of how our neurological system protects us from right before that moment of sudden death. She believes what happens in a near death or we think we are situation, but live, that device doesn’t reset to “normal” and the switch is always on. Unconsciously the brain is on guard for the final blow and we’re ready to react. Epona Equestrian Services, founded by author Linda Kohanov, has become an internationally-recognized innovator in the field of Equine Experiential Learning www.taoofequus.com. She uses abused horses in her work with dysfunctional non-horse clients.

I was confused going from PTSD to bullying. You are saying it’s part of the PTSD issue, right? (see the whole-dog journal). Is he really doubting his language skills or is the switch “on?” Is this learned response that feels comfortable and he’s afraid to loose? Normal to him could be scary?

“Language skills” was throwing me for a loop. I think it goes deeper. From the above Tao reference, I think he saw death.

Regarding issues of not socializing animals:

Blazing Prairie Stars, provider of equine assisted therapy, newsletter.
Snickers is a new herd member at BPS. She is trying very hard to make new horse friends as she assimilates into the herd, but she has some social skills challenges. Because Snickers did not have much opportunity to play with other horses in a herd, she has very little experience. This is upsetting to Snickers. She has been learning how to read nonverbal cues from her herd mates. She has been learning how to fit in the social order and how to respond to the leader. She has been learning how to approach the other horses appropriately. She has been learning about horse personal space.

Cheryl

I think your treatment plan is brilliant. I think the problem lies in his own insecurity. If he can gain enough confidence back in his own language he should overcome the fear that drives his bullying. I do also think the bullying behavior must be stopped or better yet prevented from happening as described in the first article. Once a behavior gets patterned it is definitely harder to change. You are in a very unique position with your access to other dogs for play groups and your extensive knowledge of their personalities. Definitely not something you could work through at the neighborhood dog park. I am putting a lot more focus on my baby's (Pystol) canine education. I am lucky to have 3 puppies about her age that she plays with frequently, my own girls, and a group of older dogs that are safe for her to interact with (two male huskies, a lab, and a gaggle of border collies) My girls are pretty good at "dog" but Pystol is becoming even better. Although she really knows how to be a pest and seems to know which dogs she can get away with her favorite pesky behavior and which she better just not try it with. She thoroughly enjoys attaching herself to the big dogs chest hair and just holding on. Anyway, I was inspired to invest more effort into this part of her education and am looking forward to seeing how it influences her throughout our journey.

Melissa

Understanding Dog Aggression

2010-12-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

Not every dog who gets attacked by another will end up being an abuser. Why do some dogs get past the incident and others become abusers?

Last year Stormy, one of the street dogs living in my neighborhood in Puerto Rico, was attacked and almost killed. The most obvious change in his behavior is a perpetually low tail carriage. His relationship with other dogs in the neighborhood is pretty much the same as before.

Last year Shaker, the shining star of my day care, was attacked. He became an abuser; why?

Shaker was less than a year old at the time of the attack. He gave his attacker signals that he didn’t want a fight, he was sorry. The attack continued. In the aftermath the young dog doubted his language skills. If I go belly up licking my lips to say I’m sorry, the other dog is supposed to forgive me and not hurt me.

When we are young and naïve, we think that everybody plays by the rules. Youngsters are just learning the rules. Shaker’s attacker violated the rules as Shaker thought he knew them. Think that our behavior controls the behavior of others more than it does is like little kids thinking.

This causes the reactive or acute phase of dysfunction. The dog is scared, doesn’t know what the rules are any more. This is when the dog will lash out unpredictably.

If this makes sense so far, we’ll discuss the chronic phase in which the abused becomes the abuser. Thanks, Cheryl, for telling me you didn’t understand. Any questions?

How Does A Dog Become a Bully?

2010-12-06T22:25:00.000-04:00

The worse thing about what happened to Shaker wasn’t that he got beat up, but that it happened before he was old enough to be certain about what he knew. It caused him to doubt what he knew about his language.

Let’s say you get mad at me, I say that I’m sorry. If I am just learning the language, I think that I have not said the right thing to appease you. I doubt my language skills.

This is different from I know what I said; you were a jerk and didn’t accept my apology.

Shaker was scared and angry. We never knew what was going to set him off in the early reactive phase.

Because Shaker did have a lot of experience with other dogs it didn’t take he long to progress beyond the reactive phase to becoming comfortable in his dysfunction.

A dog is comfortable in his dysfunction when he knows which dogs are not to be messed with. He no longer gets ticked at dogs which can and will kick his rear, only a dog in the reactive phase does that.

In true bully fashion the weak, insecure or inexperienced are sniffed out. Zeroing in to terrorize is just a matter of personal style.

So Shaker is now confident in his dysfunction and his language. He is no longer my innocent pet; he knows the law of the wild. Okay, so life is hard time to get over it.

The two distinct post incident phases require different treatment plans. Does this make sense? Any questions?

The Human Experts

2010-12-05T13:53:00.001-04:00

If aliens were to come to earth and want to know about humans, they would ask our companion animals. They know our body language. The dog knows your mood usually better than your spouse. Turns out they know when we have a seizure or our blood sugar drops. They are the experts on humans.

If aliens were to come to earth and want to know about humans, they would ask our companion animals. They know our body language. The dog knows your mood usually better than your spouse. Turns out they know when we have a seizure or our blood sugar drops. They are experts on all things human.

This year with Shaker has not been all bad by any means. I watched him get his PHD in humanity.

Since puppyhood, Shaker has gone everywhere with us. He carries a little sign that says, “Will sit for strangers.” Very few people can resist him. He wants to be acknowledged by all who pass. He would prefer petting, but an “Oh, what a beautiful dog” seems to suffice.

Kids sometimes pat dogs on the head too hard. Shaker has learned how to lean into them just enough that they rest their hands on him instead of the head hit.

Some kids want to pet him, but they are afraid of dogs. Shaker ends up by them with his muzzle pointing away from them. Next thing you know that golden is being pet.

When we’re on the veranda at Starved Rock, he is like a hooker at a hotel bar. He sends out the vibe, soon somebody standing there can’t keep their hands off him.

What would a doctorate in humans be without the time honored skill of knowing which humans you really don’t have to obey? Yes, he’s learned the dark skills.

No dog’s humanity education is complete until they have stepped into the aura of a dark or sinister human being. Shaker has always believed that all humans are good. He adores humans.

Recently he stepped up to a man seated nearby. The man was talking sweet nothings to him. The happy blonde boy got close for some petting. Suddenly Shaker crouched and took a quick step backwards. His ears went back. This was a first. The man became more solicitous of Shaker. The good boys became sweeter. Shaker allowed himself to be seduced, but I saw the reluctance.

I watched this play out there was no dominant posturing on the part of the man. He was sitting on the floor. His head was lower than the dog’s. Vibe, aura I don’t know what, but that boy sensed something.

One thing I learned from my dogs long ago is if the dog likes everybody and suddenly there is one person the dog is leery about, you should pay attention. Well, that’s another story.

This year I watched Shaker get his PHD in humanity.

Since puppyhood, Shaker has gone everywhere with us. He carries a little sign that says, “Will sit for strangers.” Very few people can resist him. He wants to be acknowledged by all who pass. He would prefer petting, but an “Oh, what a beautiful dog” seems to suffice.

Kids sometimes pat dogs on the head too hard. Shaker has learned how to lean into them just enough that they rest their hands on him instead of the head hit.

Some kids want to pet him, but they are afraid of dogs. Shaker ends up by them with his muzzle pointing away from them. Next thing you know that golden is being pet.

When we’re on the veranda at Starved Rock, he is like a hooker at a hotel bar. He sends out the vibe, soon somebody standing there can’t keep their hands off him.

What would a doctorate in humans be without the time honored skill of knowing which humans you really don’t have to obey? Yes, he’s learned the dark skills.

No dog’s humanity education is complete until they have stepped into the aura of a dark or sinister human being. Shaker has always believed that all humans are good. He adores humans.

Recently he stepped up to a man seated nearby. The man was talking sweet nothings to him. The happy blonde boy got close for some petting. Suddenly Shaker crouched and took a quick step backwards. His ears went back. This was a first. The man became more solicitous of Shaker. The good boys became sweeter. Shaker allowed himself to be seduced, but I saw the reluctance.

I watched this play out there was no dominant posturing on the part of the man. He was sitting on the floor. His head was lower than the dog’s. Vibe, aura I don’t know what, but that boy sensed something.

One thing I learned from my dogs long ago is if the dog likes everybody and suddenly there is one person the dog is leery about, you should pay attention. Well, that’s another story.

Canine Post Traumatic Stress

2010-12-04T15:18:00.000-04:00

Watching Shaker go from happy well met to hyper-reactive was painful. Soon I noticed him having bad dreams. His eyeballs popped and darted during REM sleep. Low whimpering became pathetic sobs. His feet paddled the air.

I couldn’t take it. I’d wake him, then thump him and play with him. We’d end up snuggling on the sofa together.

My way of seeing this is that a dog who is attacked by another has had his innocence taken. It comes as a big shock when some surly presence crosses the line beating the snot out of you. Could it be possible to hurt more than this? In that moment the world becomes a monstrously scary place.

Shaker has been well socialized from birth on, when he started acting out, I hoped that his social experience would out weight the effects of the trauma. We put him with select dogs he knew since he first began day care. I worked with my staff to get better at recognizing body language and redirecting. Paula is getting exceptionally good.

My staff is good, but they are not behaviorists, so Shaker was removed from day care, except for certain groups and only with Paula.

It’s interesting to note that the first forty-five minutes Shaker is joyously running with his buds like old times. When the edge of needing the exercise is softened, he begins to look around to as if to see who could do him harm. It is at that point that we are bringing him back in.

The safety of the day care dogs trumps Shaker’s rehab so we’re pursuing other options.

Blonde Boy Comes Home

2010-12-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

Shaker’s physical wounds were mostly healed, when he came back home with us. He raced around the yard at top speed doing his dare devil routine. The long graceful strides, the happy faces; it was worth the trip to Michigan on our second day back from Puerto Rico.

The first week home Shaker went everywhere with us. It was good to have the sweet boy back. Each morning the day care dogs get loud before the first run in our three acre dog park. Shaker wanted to run with the day care dogs. He did some meet & greets with old friends from here. All seemed normal. His first few days back at day care were like old tmes or so it seemed.

Shaker was in the office with Lily, a five month old sassy aussie. It was early in the day. She was full of in your face energy. Shaker corrected her lack of manners swiftly with a fierce growl. He pinned her. It scared Lily.

When an older dog corrects a youngster by pinning and growling without biting; it’s a good thing. Lily had been a little wild, so she had been told. I didn’t like the ferocity of the growl.

A couple of weeks later Shaker got into it with a recently neutered Portuguese Water Dog. The other boy ended up with a puncture wound. The attendant didn’t see it start. Neither dog had a history of fighting in day care.

Shaker got into a couple of spats with dogs, the canine equivalent of bad words spoken. It was like he was angry. Staff began to watch him carefully.

I worked with my staff to teach them to read the body language signals better and to redirect faster. Shaker was such a good dog. I couldn’t believe that the one bad incident could re-write his behavior.

The Saga of Blonde Boy

2010-11-28T14:06:00.000-04:00

Blonde Boy is the Golden Retriever’s answer to a young Robert Redford. When we take him out people can’t keep their eyes off him. The beautiful boy knows it. He sits. He gives a canine happy face and wags his tail as people approach. He gives a “Waah” look of surprise when someone walks past without a hello or a pet.

Too cute to ignore sweetly demanding attention from all, he is well reinforced for this behavior.

The little darling grew up going almost everywhere with us. He is welcome at alfresco dining establishments. His manners are impeccable.

I’ve worked with a wide variety of breeds, but this is the first golden to live with me. He has a much softer temperament than the rotts and bullies. Soft and compliant, but I won’t say he lived to please.

He grew up in day care. His canine language skills were a sight to behold. He could bring out even the shyest of dogs. If ever a dog had a good life, this guy was in competition.

And then he was attacked. The wounds have healed, but he is not the same dog. His name is Shaker. I am going to tell you the story of this golden’s road to recovery.

Body Language Tells The Tail Discussion

2010-11-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

Notice how her head position minimizes neck exposure.
Cheryl said: No. From the camera angle, it's hard to tell, but her neck is not held high or low. The front of her body is all about how she feels about Snow White. Could you explain more fully? I find it interesting how close her front paws are together. I've seen that in horses when they're not quite sure; may have been corrected about something, etc. It's not a balanced position.

Good observation. What you say about the narrow stance makes perfect sense. I wasn't sure what to make about it. Thanks.

Other photos I have of Bonita in stalk mode she has a wide front stance, so that probably is about Blondie. The head position shows intent. A post I'm working on has Bonita and Stormy warning off Toby with a similiar head position. They look like football players lining up to kick butt. God, I miss these guys.

Remember that Blondie had Bonita so terrorized that she wouldn’t move towards food when she was starving.
I'm assuming that Blondie might not have had a nurturing mother or is her relationship with her daughter based more on "the strong will survive?" The female will survive and raise more puppies insuring that the animals will not die out.

My Jan/Feb posts talk about Blondie's mothering style. I think breeding and nurturing style of parent are the key players in how a mom treats her kids. For a while I thought scarcity of resources was the key, then I met a couple of moms who could rival any pampered pet as far as being sweet and concerned. So I don't know is my best answer. I do agree that Blondie and Stormy were not allowing Bonita to eat to insure their own survival.

By the way, when Blondie looked at me before she invited Snow to eat; I said, "Good girl". It was an extraordinary moment for us. I didn't think I needed to share that.

I differ. I realize animal body language is a whole new subject for some as well as your reporting the interactions, the life they live, etc. The photos are a moment in time. The body is, let's say, the last word on the subject or situation. It's the end result of a thought process, EMOTION (feelings), whatever that comes through the neurological system. Previous to what we're seeing, change could have been a little as a whisker twitch-- tighter lips. What we couldn't see, hear or visualize(?) is the nonverbal aspect at the beginning.

Now getting back to your sentence, you experienced or felt that non-verbal conversation. You were one with the dog - LOL. Now maybe this isn't what your blog is about, but as an animal owner it's a cool feeling to experience. One one hand it's like saying "let's go for some ice cream" and Kurt, say "you took the words right out of my mouth." Blondie made a decision and looked for guidance from the leader of the dance.

There are people who can't read or see human body language; there are people who only hear words in black and white; they don't pick up on intonation, etc. all parts of a spoken language. The other part that I've heard is, the telepathy part - words, emotions, pictures are sent before the words get out of our mouths. That's the deeper part we'd like to have to become a better partner with our pets.

At the first clinic I did with Steve, he had us start out with a partner, hands on the hips sort of thing with the person behind guiding the other. It was mass confusion. Besides trying to to not run into or bump into someone, you had a herky-jerky issue between partners. We did little floor stuff and who knows what. At the end, we did the same thing. Everyone was in sync - partners and the group as large. Neurologically, partners were connected and so was the group. You and I had the same thing with Sarge.

I remember my first Feldenkrais workshop with Steve, what brilliant work. I always wanted to study Feldenkrais movement more, but had all I could handle with the modalities of soft tissue I was studying.

Those moments of “being one with the dog” are so amazing. Being in communication with the satos is addicting for me because they are not trained or conditioned the way our dogs are. When we raise a dog it is with the dog fitting into our house, our lives. These dogs have independent lives. Their primary relationships are with each other. I’m fitting into their lives.
It's studying the essential dog. Our dogs soak up our energy, they become so similiar to their people in the same way people who have been married a long time become similiar. Knowing a dog tells you so much about their human.
A dog without a human tells his own story. I hope that's not too far out.

The Art of Reading Canine Body Language

2010-11-24T10:02:00.001-04:00

Melissa said...

I am thinking Bonita is going to make a move towards Snow. Probably while keeping her eyes on her mother. I am also thinking Blonde is not going to allow it.

jen said...

I think that Bonita is going to try and maybe push her luck with getting some kibble. To me she's thinking that "if Snow can have some, then I should too."

The little red girl is in stalk position. Her ears are forward in concentration. Notice how her head position minimizes neck exposure. The front of her body is all about how she feels about Snow White. Wouldn’t she just like to like to kick Snow’s butt. Snow White has not only been invited to eat, but has received kindness from Blondie that Bonita has not. Don’t tell me that dogs don’t notice unfair treatment.

Her tail position tells us that Bonita will not risk the wrath of mommy. She is a picture of conflict. That tail tells us quite a bit. If she were solidly into retaliation or taking kibble, the tail would be straight or up. Her tail or good sense holds her back from what she would clearly like to do. Remember that Blondie had Bonita so terrorized that she wouldn’t move towards food when she was starving. Blondie’s authority is almost absolute. I’ve had to work hard to install the almost in the absolute.

Your reading of Bonita’s posture is great. We will get into reading conflicting signals. Good work, Melissa and Jen!

Snow White has been invited to dinner; what else matters?

Blondie is watching Snow’s latest leading man amble up the driveway.

Now that you know what Blondie is looking at, does Blondie’s body language give a clue what she’s thinking about Toby, the big rugged looking male heading her way?

Body Language Tells The Tail

2010-11-21T13:27:00.000-04:00

Snow White may have won over Blondie with her sweet ways, but what does Bonita’s body language say to you?

Bonita has just finished the scattered kibble away from Blondie’s kibble pile behind her. Faithful, obedient Bonita has never been invited to dine like this interloping bitch. Do you see a not happy camper here?

What do you make of Blondie’s tail position relative to the way she holds it in other photos?

Doesn’t sweet Snow White look like she is enjoying her meal?

Let’s have some fun; anybody care to guess what happens next?