Tag Archives: pet/human relationship

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Today’s Woof is a bit of a dog-appreciation-post…as if we would post anything different!

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and regardless of your romantic leanings, your dog is still awesome:

dogs-better-than-boyfriends

Despite dogs coming in all shapes and sizes (more so than any other species), they can still recognise other dogs as dogs, visually only – that’s pretty amazing!
Dogs recognise other dogs in a crowd and Do dogs know other dogs are dogs?

Dogs with grey muzzles are wise and proud, but why do dogs go grey early?

Always ask: Does my dog want to be petted or hugged?
So how do you know? Try the pet-pause-respect test with your dog and remember some dogs don’t want belly-rubs!

How much exercise does it take to keep your breed happy & healthy?

Physical exercise is great, but don’t forget you need to match it with mental exercise too. Here are a couple of really puzzling challenges for your dog to get his brain working hard:
Problem Solving Game and Fun with a shape sorter box!

Training is not just about teaching cute behaviours, like this amazing Irish dancing sequence, (even though that has lots of benefits too) but also preparing your dog for more difficult times – like maintaining open channels of communications – Choice & Control

I know you know our relationship with dogs is pretty deep, but did you know it’s this deep? Dogs’ hormones adjust to match those of their owners

A socialised person, like you, doesn’t need to approach, greet or touch other people while out and about; indeed to do so would be weird and a little creepy. Well, socialised dogs are the same – that’s what being socialised is, it means you can ignore stuff because it’s not a big deal. Most adult dogs are DINOS and the rest probably need to develop a little more self-control in learning about polite greetings, even if their people think they are just being friendly: “My dog is friendly!” A public service announcement and a funny spin on this here.

Here’s a tug of war that will make you smile 🙂

Snoopy has something to say about more traditional notions of dog training! A visit to the library

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

A busy week so a packed round-up for you:

Older dogs with grey muzzles are heart-melters and we of course want to make sure that their twilight years are the best.
Some great advice on keeping the senior canine family member happy and healthy, especially when there is a young upstart under the same roof from Smart Dog University.

On the subject of seniors, making decisions about their treatment Vs their quality of life is always difficult; here Marc Bekoff examines What’s a good life for an old dog?

Helping bonded dogs cope with the loss of a canine companion can be very tough; here’s one take.
And not just difficult for canine companions, but also the other end of the leash too. Has grief for a dog who died every overwhelmed you? Don’t worry, you are not alone.

Training your dog is vital, not a luxury. You really need ten reasons? 10 Reasons to train your dog and 10 Top Tips from Dr Yin!

Trick training is not only fun but behaviours taught can be useful in sports, conditioning and working with your dog plus you develop an excellent relationship with them, all the while having a great time. Lexus and Jesse provide lots of inspiration!

Even when you might enjoy the scents of aromatherapy, there can be harmful effects for our pets: Aromatherapy: Relaxation or Torment for Pets?

Finding a good dentist can be tricky, and so can finding a good dog trainer – don’t worry always ask us for help in choosing a pet care professional!

Animals are naturally stoic and don’t want to be too obvious about showing serious pain. Pain is a major stressor leading to often misunderstood, subtle and even surprising behavioural changes – that’s why if there’s a change in behaviour or behaviour issues present, the first port of call is the vet!
Your dog can’t be in pain as he runs & plays? Think again!

Veterinary medicine really has come such a long way but important considerations are always required when it comes to pet anaesthesia: Canine Anesthesia
Being an informed pet owner also means knowing what questions to ask too: Questions to ask before anesthesia

I know we all love a hug, and love cuddling a cute canine even more, but for some dogs in some situations, this might not be as much of a joy for them: Why dogs don’t like to be hugged and Does your dog like cuddles?
Just as we would prefer to be asked before being touched, ask does your dog really want to be petted?

Philip Tedeschi delivers an insightful TEDx talk on the human-animal bond.

Be more dog: How to be a dog

Did you know that we can teach all manner of animals to be willing participants in their healthcare, even for invasive procedures? This originates in work with large, exotic animals in zoos and collections – it’s pretty tricky to restrain a large cat or hyena and sedation is stressful and dangerous. So, why do we continue to restrain dogs and other pet animals, causing untold levels of distress (to all) and presenting potential health and safety nightmares; instead try husbandry training like this fantastic example.

A streaker!

Squishy and stretchy; dogs squeeeeeeezing through cat-doors!

And my favourite clip this week; it’s always the little ones!

So many great bits and pieces, we might even have enough for another WWW this week!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

2 Comments

We were so busy all last month with Train Your Dog Month that we are just now resuming normal service.

This WWW is covering some of the best pieces doing the rounds last month; a bit of a catch up!

  • Not only are dogs great companions, but they are very much ‘in‘ in scientific research right now. This brings lots of benefits in our understanding of canine health and behaviour, but also in terms of human health too.
    Research into the DNA markers related to certain cancers in Golden Retrievers and canine compulsive disorders (like OCD in humans) has great implications in their treatment in humans too. This means that we will generate lots of important information that can help dogs and people – win-win!
  • If you want to improve your training, one key is to develop your shaping skills. You already know how to shape behaviour in yourself and others – at its simplest, it’s just breaking up a big task into smaller components.
    When you were learning to drive you first learnt the controls and pedals, then how to get started, how to stop, how to turn, how to combine these skills and so on until you became a fully-fledged motorist! You (hopefully) weren’t brought out to a dangerous, fast motorway and expected to cope 🙂
    Any time you want to teach your dog (or learner of any species) a behaviour, start working with them at home where it’s easy to concentrate and gradually increase the challenge as they improve – that’s shaping!
    We can use freeshaping to teach any animal a behaviour that is complex and doesn’t quite occur naturally – check out this fantastic in-depth guide to all things shaping!
  • Fear can strike any dog, but it can be tough to help a fearful or shy dog. Check out these great tips.
    No matter if your dog is confident or shy, it’s important that you act as a good advocate for your pet. This means not putting him or her in any situation that may cause them to practice unwanted, problem or even dangerous behaviour – the buck stops with the human end of the leash!
    Sometimes, this might even mean offending someone or causing discomfort: No, you will not be meeting my dog!
  • Of course, being a good advocate for your dog means keeping them safe and being a responsible pet owner – unless you have trained a reliable recall it’s best to have your dog on leash; here’s why!
  • One such situation in which our dogs will often benefit from a little extra support is during vet visits. Luckily a whole movement has really begun to pick up steam in fear-free veterinary care.
    Lots of coverage of Dr Marty Becker + team’s campaign so let’s help promote this movement all over – vet visits don’t have to be scary!!
  • Cancer is a scary word and disease for both dogs and humans and of course we want to do anything we can to ensure that our pets don’t suffer and that we choose the best care and treatments for them. It’s extra important that we consult evidence-based remedies, because in our desperation it’s easy to reach for less effective options.
    This wonderful piece looks at the relationship between nutrition and cancer and evidence based interventions that may be available.
  • And while we’re talking about health, would you know what to do in an emergency? Check out this pet CPR infographic
    If you really want to learn what to do, why not become a Canine First Responder – we will have a new course running soon, just send us an email to info@anied.ie and we will add you to the list!
  • And considering it’s probably pretty good for you (and your dog), go ahead, love your dog: Gimme Some Lovin’
  • We know that dogs are pretty sensitive to their olfactory world, but what about their visual perception – How do dogs see the world?
  • And just how do dogs use that visual information – one way is for them to attempt to understand the perceptible abilities of others. Some work shows that dogs appear to understand when a human’s senses may be limited, giving the dog the opportunity to get away with behaviour they may not if their human is watching them – Do you know what I can see?
    Remember, dogs do what works – but this doesn’t mean that they are being sly, conniving or spiteful!
  • Showing further evidence for dogs’ ingrained relationship with humans, recent work adds further to the growing evidence that dogs apparently can recognise human emotions via more complex processes.
    Always be tentative about interpretations that appear to show that dogs have greater and greater cognitive abilities. Although important, it’s just as important to view the field as a whole and consider a range of findings.
    Dogs are wonderful, whether we find them to have greater cognitive abilities or not 😉
  • Enrichment is one of our favourite topics! Contrafreeloading is a term that describes the way in which many animals appear to prefer to work for access to food, rather than just have the same food for free.
    Research has shown that contrafreeloading, even though it doesn’t seem to, may actually be adaptive and beneficial for animals because developing problem solving skills is helpful when sourcing food in an ever-changing environment.
    On top of that, dogs have also been shown to not only experience reinforcement when earning the goal of their puzzling (the food or reward) but also apparent pleasure in doing the puzzle and solving it successfully!
    This is why we HATE food bowls – dogs NEED puzzles!
    Check out this amazing puzzle and super-smart dog working out how to get his ball 🙂
  • Last but not least, take four minutes out of your day to watch this beautiful animation (*WARNING* you may need tissues because it’s really lovely): The Present