If you haven’t seen the news about this, there is a product called Neuticles. Yep, you guessed it, Neuticles are prosthetic testicles some people use after neutering their dogs to make it look like the dog has not undergone the procedure. What are your thoughts about the procedure? Continue reading Survey Saturday: Neuticles for your dog
Category Archives: Behavior and Psychology
Would you let your dog pick your date?
Wendy Diamond, author of “How to Understand Men Through their Dogs”, says that by looking at the kind of dog your man has, you can learn a great deal about him. For example, mutt owners tend to be happy-go-lucky, secure with himself, and a child-lover. Diamond has thoughts on some of the purebreds as well.
Relocating with your dog
We all know how stressful it is to move to a new home. Whether you’re moving across town or across the country, you have to locate a new home, check out school districts, and find a new coffee shop. The list goes on and on. But what about your dog? He has to figure out whether the new neighbors are friend or foe, learn his new boundaries, and learn the culture at the new dog park. Here’s what you can do to make the move less stressful for your pet.
Dog Bite Prevention Program
At its annual convention in New Orleans this month, the American Veterinary Medical Association announced a new program aimed at reducing dog bites among children aged 3 – 6. Children younger than three should never be left alone with any dog, the group is quick to point out.
According to Dr. Ilana Reisner of the University of Pennsylvania, dog bites happen when people don’t understand dog behavior. “Children are more likely to get bitten by dogs because of the way they interact with dogs.” Continue reading Dog Bite Prevention Program
Least Aggressive Dogs
As promised yesterday, here are the dogs that scored very low on the aggression scale in the study recently reported in the Applied Animal Behavior Science journal. This study, compiled by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, involved asking 6,000 dog owners about their dog’s behavior. Thirty-three different breeds were catalogued and rated according to how aggressive they are.
The dogs that were least aggressive were:
Basset Hound
Golden Retriever
Labradors
Siberian Huskies
Greyhounds
The Rottweiler, often assumed to be very aggressive, ranked average in its hostility towards strangers.
The researchers did note, however, that even though small dogs headed the most aggressive list and big dogs headed the least aggressive list, the bites from the larger dogs were more likely to have required medical attention than those from the smaller dogs.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Top Ten Most Aggressive Dogs
I think most of us would agree that dogs are not born aggressive, they are made that way by the environment in which they are raised. However, there are some breeds that are more prone to aggresion than others. The Daily Telegraph in Great Britain reports on a study published by Applied Animal Behavior Science, ranking 33 breeds of dogs according to their owners’ answers to behavioral questions.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Having trouble keeping your landscaping nice because Fido doesn’t understand you just paid someone $1000 to spruce up the yard? Even if you’re just growing a few vegetables, you’d probably rather the dog didn’t eat them all before you got a chance to harvest them.
Two of my dogs have figured out a way to get over the chicken wire into the garden, but only one has figured out a way to get back out. More often than not, I have to rescue Penny (the beagle) or she just sits there and howls. So, I appreciated this article in the Detroit Free Press a few days ago.
The Stairmaster
Is your dog afraid to go down the steps? This is a fairly common thing among dogs, who we all know are just big chickens most of the time, anyways. Sometimes its due to a medical problem, but more often than not, it’s just fear that keeps your dog out of the basement.
What Kind of Sleeper is Your Dog?
I saw an ad in a catalog recently about the different kinds of dog beds. Never realized that dogs had individualized sleep preferences, so I’m taking a very informal poll. Please leave a comment below as your answer.
Does your dog like to sleep:
a. securely enclosed in a bed, with a raised edge on all sides
b. leaning against a back support, similar to a couch
c. sprawled out in all directions
d. burrowed under a cover
To get you started, here’s the skinny on my dogs:
First of all, you should know that my dogs don’t believe in dog beds, or rather they think my bed is theirs.
Kayla likes the support. She generally leans against the footboard of my sleigh bed, often resting her head on the top of it.
Cooper is a sprawler. He seems to think he needs to take up as much surface area as possible.
Penny is a burrower. She’s either under the covers or under the bed entirely.
Maggie can sleep anywhere. I can’t say she has an actual preference.
So, what about your dogs?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Good day, and good dog!
Hey, Mister, Can I Pet Your Dog?
How many times have kids come up to you when you are walking your dog, and asked if they can pet him? You may have no problem with it, but what if your dog does? Would you know whether or not your dog was feeling stressed about it?