Gun Dogs

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brittany

I handed the receptionist at my doctor’s office a business card as I was paying my bill, and we chatted about the “Your Pet Space” website for a moment.  As I was heading out the door a man in the waiting room asked, “What is it you are doing with hunting dogs?”

I chuckled. Our dogs are traditional hunting dogs, but we never hunt, so I replied, “I am teaching them to be house pets.”  We chatted about the website and how we are putting together pet care information in one place.

I haven’t hunted in years, but when I adopted my Brittany I thought I might want to get involved in field trials, so I started Castle’s training using tips in the book  Shortcuts in Gun Dog Training** by Ronald Mohn. Whether you intend to hunt or not, this book offers exercises that will help you bond with your dog.  It includes things all dogs need to learn such as coming when called, sit, wait, and stay.  My favorite exercise is retrieving.  The book explains how to teach your dog to retrieve game using a “soft” mouth as to not damage the game. It makes for a fun game of fetch.

What do you do with your dog? Dogs need to work out daily to keep their minds sharp and to expend their energy.  If they don’t spend their energy in a productive way they will use it in a destructive way. You have probably heard the sales pitch claiming you can train your dog in ten minutes, and that is true. Ten minutes a day every day. So choose a path with your dog that will be personal and meaningful for you, and work with your dog daily.

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Dave Jones is an insurance sales desk supervisor by day and a professional magician by night.  He lives with his wife Joy in Anderson, Ohio, but grew up on a farm with pigs, chickens and cows as well as dogs and cats.  You can e-mail Dave at mrjones@usa.com as well as follow him on Facebook.

**Shortcuts in Gun Dog Training is now out of print, so we suggest you reserve it at your local library.

FEATURE: Ask The Trainer

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Tina C

Hi!  My name is Tina Caldwell. I have been training dogs and their families for about twenty years. I like to work with all kinds of dogs and people.  I have shown and competed in many different events over the years.   Some of my specialties are conformation, obedience and agility trials.  My favorite breed of dog is the cane corso.

          One of the questions I get asked a lot is:

Why should I take my puppy to obedience school?  

All pups should attend at least twelve weeks of school to have a good social foundation. All pups need to develop good social skill by being in a group class with other folks and pups.   I have found over the years, that folks tend to wait until problems develop with the pup, then decide to bring the pup to school.  It is easier to bring the pup to school and teach all the basic things a pup should know.  Simple  tasks such as sit, down, stay, come, leave it and loose leash walking.  It is nice to have a trainer on hand to help with things as the pup grows and changes. What I like best about puppy class is the pups coming and having a good play time with their puppy friends.              

Have a great day!

Do you have a question for Trainer Tina?  Send it to joy@yourpetspace.info

BOOK REVIEW: Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin

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20100121TempleGrandinFrom Wikipedia:

Temple Grandin is an American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, autistic activist, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She also created the “hug box”, a device to calm autistic children. The subject of an award-winning biographical film, Temple Grandin, in 2010 she was listed in the Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world in the “Heroes” category.

I downloaded this book one day because I was looking for anything about understanding the behavior of my three dogs better.  I’d never heard of Dr. Temple Grandin.  To my surprise, the book was not just about dogs and cats, but also horses, cattle, pigs, chickens and zoo animals.

I’ve now listened to the book twice and every time I do I come to admire this woman more.  She writes in a common sense style that’s easy to follow.  And the book is full of interesting facts.  For instance, do you know why cats get stuck in trees?

Grandin writes a lot about the science behind proving that animals have feelings, just like we do.  She talks about the Fear, Rage, Seeking and Play systems of animals’ brains–what stimulates and upsets them as well as what seems to make them truly happy.

After reading this book, I wanted more than ever to buy only humanely produced meats, as well.  Dr. Grandin was instrumental in the audits at meat processing plants conducted several years ago by McDonald’s, Wendy’s and others.  She designed systems to keep animals calm instead of fearful when awaiting slaughter.

In short, I highly recommend this book, both for pet owners and animal lovers in general.  And especially if you have an autistic child, it is inspiring to see what someone with autism is capable of in her life’s work.

Here’s a video of her speaking:

You can get a copy of Dr. Grandin’s book at this link:

 

joy 300Joy Jones is a syndicated columnist living with her husband Dave in Anderson, Ohio.  When not working on Your Pet Space, she writes a metaphyscial column called The Midwestern Buddhist as well as urban fantasy and humor.  You can e-mail her at joy@yourpetspace.info as well as follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Petition: OUTLAW GAS CHAMBERS NATIONWIDE

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capitolThere is an issue at hand that needs immediate attention, it is concerning the way in which we discard animals who are left homeless from irresponsible owners, and end up in rabies control or animal shelters and killed by the use of a gas chamber. Most of you know that animals bring so much to our lives~there are police dogs who serve, seeing eye dogs who give the blind their independence, therapy dogs who give hope to those who have none, and company to those who are homebound or elderly~and what do we do when they are homeless? We toss them into a gas chamber, turn it on and then 20-30 minutes later we discard their bodies in a landfill.  Read more…

The Sunday News Post

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Voting-Dog

The biggest news this week is that the Howlloween Costume Photo Contest has ended.  Now, the entrants need your votes!  Go here and vote through November 9th!

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Next, we wanted to let you know that due to the fabulous offer Barnes & Noble just made us, we will be offering links to sales on their Nook e-reader!  For this reason, we are moving book and e-reader recommendations to their own tab at the top of our page.  Enjoy this new special area called “Bookstore”, and don’t forget we always welcome your book reviews.  Please send them to joy@yourpetspace.info.

How Cheetah Cheated Fate

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Cheetah the cat
Calicoes are spirited and inquisitive creatures. When they want something, they want it now. It takes a lot to stop a headstrong Calico from getting her way, and as someone who has owned two, I speak from experience. Currently I have a luscious, plump, orange, brown, black and white, proud purring machine named Cheetah, who sometimes is too curious for her own good. It’s gotten her into trouble enough to use a few of those nine lives.
Cheetah is very social, playful and interested in everything.  She’s unstoppable.  To this day, we keep baby latches on kitchen cabinets and covers over plug outlets because she wants to open doors and lick random objects.
One Saturday, (Caturday?) morning in December, I noticed her by the water dish being less active than usual.  In fact, she was a downright sloth.  When she sipped the water, she immediately yacked it back up!
My first thought was she might have an upset stomach.  Not a big deal.  I let it go.  As the day progressed, my husband and kids noticed the same things: Cheetah was not too energetic and not wanting to eat.
On Sunday morning I took her to the local emergency vet.  I explained her symptoms and how un-Cheetah-like her behavior was.  The vet, who of course didn’t really know our cat, felt around her body, commented on what an impressive size the cat was and decided to do an x-ray. Cheetah had not consumed food or substantial water to our knowledge for at least a day.  She hadn’t pooped either.
The x-ray was unclear but showed something in her belly that should not be there.  With the Cheetah-Who-Likes-to-Eat-a, you can never tell.   They injected fluid into her body to tide her over and told us to get her to our regular vet early the next morning.  I called in late to work and did just that on Monday.  Cheetah was only 18 months old at the time.
We were willing to do whatever it took to save her life.  In the meantime, at home, we discovered chewed and hacked-out bits of something dark-colored on the kitchen floor.  Downstairs, by the door to the holiday decorations closet, (which was opened and shouldn’t have been), I found nibbled bits of plastic Easter basket grass.
I knew I had an adventurous kitty but had no idea just how into everything she could potentially be until that moment.
The vet’s office called.  They had to do exploratory surgery to remove the unidentifiable blockage.  Of course, I gave them the OK.  After surgery, in her fat kitty colon they discovered a metallic piece to a pony tail stretch band and green plastic stuff.
Long story short, the doc removed the foreign objects from Cheetah’s gut, repaired her intestine, hydrated her and saved her life.  48 hours and $1500.00 dollars later and two days before Christmas, we had our big baby girl back.
What we learned after that was to keep the house more baby-proofed than we’d done even for our human children.  We had a furry toddler who could climb everywhere, fearlessly seeking out new territories.  Like a little kid, she was inclined to explore everything with her mouth.  She opened doors and drawers all over the house.  As careful as we were, we couldn’t control everything, and hoped she would one day out grow her urges to climb and maneuver into everything.
After the surgery one night I heard scurrying and scampering on the bare floor in the hallway. Cheetah had dislodged a push-pin from a bulletin board and was now swatting it across the wood flooring!
She is 11 now, very affectionate and settled down.  Do I trust her completely?  No way! Is she still playful and curious?  As much as ever. We are extremely thankful to the vets and techs who helped us with our large and loving Sweet-a Cheetah, and boy have we ever learned to be watchful and aware!
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Paige Adams Strickland is the author of, Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity. She is a Spanish teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio and is married with two daughters and a son-in-law.  She has owned both cats and dogs but currently has four cats.  Her book blog is www.akintothetruth.squarespace.com, and she welcomes visits and comments there. Her book is available on iPad, Kindle and as a print version at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/akin-to-the-truth/id711164304?ls=1     or:

http://www.amazon.com/Akin-Truth-Memoir-Adoption-Identity/dp/0989948811/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380459942&sr=1-1&keywords=akin+to+the+truth

PRODUCT REVIEW: Hagen Cat It Senses Motion Activated Illuminated Ball

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Hagen Inc. is a German family owned pet supply company founded in 1955.  They started in Canada with the exportation of bird seed, and are now part of the international market including the US, UK, France, Germany and Malaysia.  They sell to both Petsmart and Pet Food Direct, as well as other stores and feature the Nutrience line of premium dog food, as well as the Habitrail  line of tubular hamster housing.

cat it

So the other day I went shopping at Pet Food Direct for dog food and thought I would pick up something for the cats as well.  I saw these cute play balls where the flashing light (similar to what you see with laser pointers) was motion activated–neat!  I thought Little Dingle would love them!

(For those just tuning in, our two spoiled cats live on the lower level of our house, the space that’s complete with the big TV, wall to wall carpeting and the reclining furniture.  We call it Cat Town, as opposed to Dogville, upstairs).  The cats don’t get as much playtime recently as I’d like, so I thought this might stimulate them a bit.

But as it turns out, not so much.  Both Dings and Cash would obligingly pat the nice little ball and it would flash at them.  Then they’d give a catty little shrug and walk away.

So–final assessment:  this toy works–the thing rolls and the lights flash without fail.  But you might want it for a younger kitty.  Dingle and Cash are 8 and 10 years old, respectively.  Although Dingle will still play with any string–moving or not–it’s pretty hard to get Cash interested in toys.

Update 4/30/15:  We did offer these toys to a reader with younger cats–still no interest.  Just FYI.  😉

In the meantime, to buy your own, go here.

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