Our very own Dog Blog for training and the State of the Trade in The Age of Wingnuts and Zealots.
A collection of articles written by Linda Kaim on the State of Dog.
All comments are moderated, but open, intelligent discourse is welcome. Posts MUST be signed with a real name. Anonymous, unsigned comments will not be published. Inflammatory, troll-like behavior will not be rewarded by inclusion, nor will profanity, threats to my person or other nonsense. Spam is welcome in some parts of the world, I guess, but not here.
If you are still with me, read on…
Nutritionally inappropriate foods for dogs
In lieu of the recent recall of a 'premier' food I was curious as to who and or what was so special about this new contender, FreshPet Selects. Their corporate website is suspiciously devoid of information about officers, locations, science even. It is filled...
An Evolution of Dog Training Collars
The world of the internet abounds with information regarding the selection and use of dog training equipment, specifically collars and other devices of more recent design ostensibly to facilitate the training of dogs. This article was constructed to provide...
Electronic dog training collars; facts and fanciful fiction
Wales moves to ban electronic dog training collars in a swift albeit short-sighted move last week; making their use punishable by fine of up to 20 thousand pounds or 6 months in prison. I would make the 'pound' symbol, but I am a computer dolt and I can't. But...
The failure of Operant Conditioning
Yesterday marks the death of the 5th Killer Whale trainer and the 6th death of a human by a captive killer whale. Comparatively, as there are only roughly 42 Orcas in captivity; the risk of injury or death to a human is far greater with far more risk of fatality...
The odyssey of a simple task
I received a call in March of this last spring from a man who lived in Tennessee. He was a War Vet who had sustained an injury while being deployed during the first Gulf War which left him without the use of his legs. He had had two previous service dogs, each...
More Poo Chronicles… What poop tells us
It's not that I am overly fascinated by poo. As a matter of course, I am pretty repulsed by it. I have become a wizard of the poop scoop 'flick' that can get even the most difficult or sticky poo off the ground and into the scoop shovel. Long grass and putty poo? No...
Selecting a Puppy
Here goes a tongue-in-cheek look at definitions created by the culture of dogs: There is a Great Divide in dogs today. The interpretations below are based on the context of their use through the ages, dating back many decades wherever dogs and humans found themselves...
Retractable Leashes in the news
Retractable Leashes are in the news, again…”Dogs love them,” Wuebker (President of Flexi USA) said. Trainers hate them.
Service dog or pet? What’s the difference?
As with all stories, there are two sides to everything: Service-Assistance dogs enable their disabled owners to function productively in society, helping them with tasks that are outside the physical scope of many; opening doors, turning on lights, assisting them with...
The Poo Chronicles; Foreign Bodies and Colorful Poop
I have been getting a rash of desperate calls lately. I recently fielded a call from a potential client with two neutered male dogs aged 2 and 4. She had previously lost a middle-aged dog to an emergency bowel resection that turned septic and had already experienced a...