Good Stuff from around the blogosphere

There's a lot of great stuff out there in the blog realm, and since I got the weekly roundup out yesterday, I'll highlight some other things going on today.

My friend, and KCDA president Shannon has started a blog.  Shannon is taking off the next 5 months to go to a top-notch dog training school in the St. Louis area. She is chronicalling what she's doing and learning there and it's been really quite interesting stuff.  So check outOld Dog, New Tricks.

There's another blog that I got introduced to that I really am growing to like -- the Pet Lover's Blog. Here site is a little cluttered, but she does a great job of covering different abuse cases from around the country.

The folks over at The No Kill Nation have declared August to be "bully month -- so they've had a lot of great stuff going up over there.  Check out a couple of my favorites here, here and here.

Pet Defense has an update on the trial in Aurora as constituents protest their breed specific legislation.

Dolittler has a very interesting post on whether or not kibble can lead to aggression in dogs.

The Pet Connection folks have an excellent post detailing the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association's view on mandatory spay/neuter ordinances.  Very compelling stuff.  Meanwhile, the city of Chicago seems more interested in what a retired game show host has to say on the matter.  Sigh.

Meanwhile, Caveat has a great find as it looks like a group of citizens are are asking for Toledo mob boss  head ofanimal control Tom Skeldon to be fired.  The group's various complaints include paying really high registration rates, Skeldon's draconian push to punish dog owners vs educating them, Skeldon's lack of cooperation with the public at large, and his insistence that scanning for microchips on dogs that come into the shelter is a waste of time. Keep in mind that this is the animal control officer that a certain dogs bite website wants to name animal control officer of the year. Um, yeah. In other news in Toledo this week, animal control officers shot an American Bulldog in Toledo this week that was attacking its owner and a four year old girl was attacked by her family pit bull.  Arguably no one has spent more time trying to justify their pit bull ban than Tom Skeldon -- and yet, the city continues to have dog bites by a variety of different types of dogs.

Caveat has also been the lone bandit in her coverage of the trial for the animal welfare act in Ontario. No media is covering it, but she's been doing a stellar job. Here's part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

With so much great stuff out there, I barely have time to read it all, let alone post my own stuff, which always seems inferior by comparison.  It's great to see so many smart people spending time trying to educate the public on canine laws and ownership.  Hopefully people are listening.

Comments

[EmilyS]

wow, your friend's "top notch" school sure has some old fashioned notions. Who ever heard of using e-corrections to teach a down, for goodness sake! And I'm not sure it's fair to a dog to correct it for warning another dog away from a bone. She's just teaching it NOT to give a warning but to attack the other dog first. (of course she or any human should be able to take the bone away from the dog)

[Brent]

I honestly don't know a ton about the school, or the program. I do know a couple of trainers who have been through the program that are excellent trainers -- so their results are good. Keep in mind that part of the program is to teach them a variety of different techniques to deal with certain situations....from purely positive training to positive and corrective training. Obviously the e-collar would be on the corrective end.

I think you're absolutely irresponsible if you don't teach a dog to "give up" the bone...you can't encourage possession aggression, even if it is with another dog.

[Becky]

Shannon's blog is as fabulous as she is!

[EmilyS]

Brent, you didn't read me. I clearly said that a dog must give up a bone to a person. But it's a common understanding among most people who understand and train dogs that if you don't allow them to give warnings (a growl for example) you force them to escalate. THAT'S irresponsible.. In fact, it's one of the reasons people get bitten... because people ignore warnings AND punish a dog for growling (rather than training to prevent the behavior).. they produce a dog that will attack "without warning".

But between dogs? DIFFERENT, as I clearly wrote.

Do you really think all dogs have to behave like some kind of pacifists? What if that other dog tried to take her dog's bone? Is her dog allowed to object? Or does it have to just accept that kind of theft? What's wrong with a dog wanting to possess something and wanting to keep other dogs away?

And I don't read Shannon's blog as using ecollars to "correct".. but to train a behavior. That's antedeluvian. Of course it can work.. zillions have dogs have been trained the "old fashioned Koehler way" (which the current Koehlers don't use).

I would never treat or train my dogs that way, though. Use a correction to teach a behavior? NEVER, Under any circumstance.

Corrections are for bad behavior, not for training new or alternate behaviors.

I've trained 2 "pit bulls" to multiple and advanced agility and obedience titles, as well as household behavior, so I know just a little bit about this subject.

Anyone who doesn't understand that shouldn't be training dogs.

[Brent]

Hey, I'm not involved with the program. The people I know that have gone through the program are very good trainers...which is more than I can say for the majority of the 'trainers' I meet. I'm quite certain a LOT more goes on in her training that what she puts in the blog. There would have to be. If you have problems with their training methods, ask her about it. Post a comment on her blog. Email the school she's at. Heck, maybe she mis-typed. I type a blog every day and lord knows I've made more than my fair share of mis-types when in a hurry. Maybe that's not what happened at all.

But then again, no matter what the answer is, I'm sure it won't be adequate for you...

[s kennedy]

Interesting training sessions. I am not a dog trainer so not qualified to know or say if it's workable. The dog (subject of the blog)seems to be sort of dominant, but many dogs would guard their food/treat when there are other dogs, esp if they think they might lose it. At least that's my experience. However if a dog is put into obedience competition, they are in very close proximity to each other, even w/a 4ft lead. And when they have to walk away from the dogs, I would imagine that's where the problems might arise, if they do.

[Caveat]

Hey, thanks for the shout-out(s), Brent!

O/T but it looks as though the Dead Pets Act, AB1634, goes to Third Reading today.

http://caveat.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/8/11/3833665.html