Category Archives: Behavior and Psychology

Dog Bite Prevention Week

May 18 – 23 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 4.7 million people are bitten each year. In about half of the cases serious enough to warrant medical attention, the victim is a child.

What can you do to prevent dog bites?

  • Never approach an unfamiliar dog.
  • Don’t pet a dog without permission.
  • Report loose dogs to the proper authorities.
  • Stand still if an unfamiliar dog approaches you. If you run, the dog will chase you and may knock you down. If the dog does knock you down, roll into a tight ball & put your hands over your ears.
  • Avoid direct eye contact with dogs – they see it as an attempt to dominate them.
  • If a dog tries to attack you, “feed” it something else – a book, an umbrella, or your jacket.
  • Don’t disturb a dog who is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.

If you are bitten, wash the wound with soap and water immediately. If the bite breaks the skin, seek medical attention. Report all dog bites to the health department or animal control office so the dog can be quarantined until the danger of your catching rabies has passed.

If you own a dog, have him/her neutered or spayed – hard to believe, but this actually reduces aggression. Take your dog to obedience classes and make sure he obeys your basic commands. Don’t chain your dog, if possible – this increases aggression.  If your dog has bitten before or is aggressive, don’t let him be around people without a muzzle!

Working together, we can all reduce the risk of another child having to face life permanently scarred.

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!

More Life with Jake

  My friend Wendy’s dog, Jake, has a habit of taking something outside with him.  At first, it was just dog toys.  Then, he started grabbing shoes on his way out the door.

Soon, he began grabbing things from the living room – the TV remote control, throw pillows from the couch, and blankets.  The last straw was when he laid claim to Wendy’s bra out of the laundry basket.  The neighborhood really got a free show that time!

Doggie Profiling

Looking for a new member for your family, but not sure what breed to choose? A controversial study from the American Veterinary Association shows that breeds can be placed in seven groups based on three general traits:

  •   Reactivity (described as showing a need for affection, excessive barking, snapping at children, being excitable, or having a high activity level)
  •   Aggressiveness (showing dominance or being territorial)
  •   Trainability (easy to train)

You can use this these groups to narrow down your search, based on what you are looking for in a dog.

Continue reading Doggie Profiling

Dog trumps dad in some families, study reveals

Shannon Proudfoot of Canwest News Service reports that while plenty of people describe their pets as members of the family, a new study shows that for the most devoted dog owners, Fido outranks some two-legged loved ones.

Dog lovers report being as attached to their pooches on a series of standard relationship measures as they are to their mothers, siblings, best friends and significant others, and even closer to them than they are to their fathers. The most striking results came from those most attached to their pets, but even among a general sample of 111 college students living with dogs, people say they crave their dog’s company as much as some human family members. Continue reading Dog trumps dad in some families, study reveals

That’s just gross!

What is it with dogs eating inappropriate things?  I’m not just talking about their love of your favorite slippers or the fact that, given the chance, they would clean out the entire refrigerator.  I can even understand them chasing down a rodent or bird and making a feast of it.  But why do they feel the need to eat the waste products of other dogs?

YUCK!!!!!

The clinical term is coprophagia, and there are pills you can give your dog that are supposed to make him stop, but in my experience they do not work.  (No, I am not taking the pills, nor do I suffer from coprophagia, but my golden does.)

According to the Douglas Island Veterinary Service in Juneau, dogs may eat feces for a variety of reasons, including medical problems or attention-seeking.  They also state that the dog may have learned this behavior from other dogs.  Maybe that’s why I saw my beagle and my golden fighting yesterday to get a VERY fresh specimen (i.e. it hadn’t yet hit the ground).  Hey – I warned you in the title this was not going to be pleasant!

Anyways, the whole article from Juneau can be found here:  http://home.gci.net/~divs/behavior/coprophagia.html

Write and let me know if you’ve found a way to cure your dog of this!  My e-mail is [email protected].  I’d love to hear from you anytime about this topic or things you’d like to see covered.  Even if you just want to tell me about your pampered pooch, I always love to get mail!

Until next time,

Good day, and good dog!

Dog Nurses Tiger Triplets in China!

The Associated Press reports that newborn tiger triplets in eastern China are being nursed by a dog after their mother rejected them.

Officials at the Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World in Shandong province are calling the cubs “One,” “Two” and “Three.”

They have been nursed by a dog since they were rejected by their mother shortly after birth 10 days ago, said Paomaling manager Chen Yucai.
Continue reading Dog Nurses Tiger Triplets in China!