|
blog
Dog's Life: Work of Dogs
An abused Beagle finds his niche in airport customs.
Last year an abused Beagle was found abandoned outside of the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter. The pup, who they later named Murray, had half of one of his ears missing and a band on his tail, as if someone had been trying to shorten it. Understandably, Murray was scared and nervous. Shelter workers said he probably hadn't been socialized much.
After receiving medical care, Murray was placed in a foster home through Alcovy Pet Rescue. His foster family gave him the love and attention he deserved, coaxing him out of his shell. It was here that they discovered he had a knack for sniffing out food.
"He was constantly smelling everything and getting into cabinets," said Yvonne Petty, director of Alcovy Pet Rescue. He was just very interested in that kind of thing."
While many people might find Murray's habit annoying, Alcovy Pet Rescue knew that Murray's propensity and activity level made him a good candidate for airport customs work. They had several rescue pups go down this path before.
That's how Murray ended up training with the United States Department of Agriculture where he excelled at his new job.
"He's a great dog," Yvonne said about Murray. Even when they're done training, he still wants to work."
Murray graduated from training earlier this month and was assigned to work at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where he will be scanning luggage for prohibited plants and food.
"He's done so well and we're just so amazed at what a transformation he made from being abused," she Yvonne. "You can really find great dogs in animal control instead of going out and buying them."
Tammie Jourdanais, the director of the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter, says that she's thankful Murray was left at shelter where he wasn't automatically euthanized due to his injuries.
"It's one of those stories that makes what I do rewarding," explained Tammie. "They always say 'poor shelter dogs,' but these poor shelter dogs can really do great things in the world.
I love that Murray's foster family believed in him and was able to uncover his true talents. Do you think your pup has what it takes to be an airport customs dog?
News: Guest Posts
Dog's name and age: Saphira, 4 years
Adoption Story:
Saphira was rescued from an unfortunate situation. She lived with drug addicts, was severely malnourished, and not cared for. Thankfully she was taken in by her new family and forever home! They have helped Saphira grow and enjoy life.
Saphira's Interests:
Saphira named after a character from the movie Eragon loves to swim, go for walks, and chase squirrels. She's known as a referee in her household, keeping an eye on her two pitbull fur-siblings when they play. When her person was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had the surgery, Saphira was there, like a good friend. Her family loves and appreciates her.
News: Guest Posts
The 4-month-old Rott mix pup huddled at the back of the shelter kennel, alone and terrified. She had recently been surrendered by her owner, who had loved her in his own way, but he was elderly and when his dog delivered an unexpected litter, he wasn’t able to place all the puppies. The shelter had already signed him up for a free spay for mama, but this puppy had never been off the property, never been on a leash and had never been away from mama and littermates. She had no coping skills for anything new. The other pups had adapted fairly quickly and were soon wagging their tails but sensitive Daisy was shaking and growling. She refused to come anywhere near people and although the shelter staff was kind to her, it was obvious that she wasn’t going to respond in that environment.
Daisy was transferred to our rescue group, Dogwood Animal Rescue Project, and when shelter staff tried to put her in a crate for transport she panicked. She was frantic and trying to bite and staff got The Big Five of ickyness. Pee, poop, vomit, drool and anal glands. Truly a sad case. Our rescue does not choose to take in or place truly aggressive dogs, but in many cases they just need time to trust and feel safe. Not every dog comes around, but we felt that Daisy deserved a chance.
When Daisy arrived in her foster home, she glared at us from her crate, a growl rumbling from her chest every few seconds. Carsick drool hung in ropey strings from her lips, and vomit and stool covered the bottom of the crate. We sat quietly nearby, avoiding eye contact and speaking softly to her. Eventually she softened up enough to sniff a yummy treat held her way before retreating into her crate again. Over the next half hour we watched her finally choose to take a treat, then crawl a little closer and even allow a scratch behind the ear.
As the minutes ticked by, Daisy gradually began to feel safe and she wormed her way closer and closer to myself and two other volunteers who waited on the floor with treats and gentle caresses. She started making eye contact and leaning toward our touch. She took a few more treats, easing closer with each offering. One of our volunteers is a wonderful girl of 11 years of age, with a calm demeaner, endless patience and lots of experience with rescue dogs. I closely supervised the interaction to keep everyone safe but it was obvious that the child was a natural and Daisy felt comfortable. It was so rewarding to watch Daisy’s confidence grow, and when she finally climbed into the waiting lap and flopped over in complete surrender, she let out a sigh of relief.
Watching a terrified dog realize they are safe is one of the most beautiful feelings in rescue. I’ve been working in shelters and doing rescue for 30 years and it never grows old. It’s what makes up for all the sad terrible things we see and keeps us going through the hard times.
Daisy has since been crate trained, learned to walk on a leash and has become a delight in her foster home. Her foster mom says that after that first rough day, she’s been the easiest foster she’s had. She’s available through dogwoodanimalrescue.org
News: Guest Posts
Guardian objects to its unauthorized use
The last time Luke picked his dog Mya up from day care in Chicago, he found a collar he did not recognize underneath her regular collar. It was a black collar with a box on it, and the number “6” written on it in pen. He photographed the collar and did a little research, discovering that the collar is marketed to control barking with increasing intensities of tones and of shock.
Luke had been taking his dog Mya to this day care a couple of times a week for six months. He hoped the social time with other dogs and people would help her deal with her anxiety. Sadly, the experience may have done her far more harm than good. She vocalizes when she is distressed, and the day care’s response to that distress was to punish her with a shock collar. Luke was upset to realize that if this collar is the “number 6” collar, there are probably at least five more of them. (Another guardian responded to a post on a neighborhood Facebook page about what happened to Mya by posting a picture he had taken of the “number 7” collar his dog had on one day at pick up time.)
The response by the day care did nothing to alleviate Luke’s concerns about what was happening to his dog while at day care. He found it disturbing that when he walked into the day care and held it up, the initial response of the employee was to say, “Uh oh.” Employees, along with the day care’s ownership, have variously claimed that the collar is only designed to vibrate in response to a dog barking, that they don’t use the collar at all and that there was a mix-up during which Mya was accidentally given a collar belonging to another dog. When Luke asked why his dog was wearing the collar, he was originally told that it was obviously because his dog was barking too much. He never authorized, nor would he ever authorize, the use of such a collar. He is currently looking for a new place for his dog to spend time.
Mya and Luke’s story is another cautionary tale about the importance knowing what goes on when your dog is in someone else’s care, which is especially challenging if a business is not forthcoming about their methods.
News: Editors
SPONSORED
All of us have had that sinking feeling when we are out walking our leashless dogs—they go around a bend, up a hill and in a blink of an eye, they are gone! Even an adventure-loving dog with “spot on” recall can quickly become a lost dog. Now wearable technology can bring a huge dose of peace of mind with the new LINK AKC collar.
Not only can this collar track your dog’s location with its fast and reliable, built-in GPS but you can even set up a virtual fence that you define so if your dog wanders off (or digs under a fence or jumps one) the system will alert you with a notification.
Like the popular wearable technology for humans, this collar can also be used as an activity tracker (a good way to check up on how much activity your stay-at-home dog gets from your dog walker). It will even send you a personalized recommendation for scaling up (or down) the activity level based on your dog’s age, weight, breed type. Plus, it has a temperature sensor to alert you if the environment your dog is in gets too hot or cold.
This collar can also provide you with a handy positive reinforcement tool, similar to a clicker, just by a tap on the phone; and it even has a light to help you and your dog navigate in the dark (or to help locate your dog).
You can then use the “Adventure” feature to turn your backwoods jaunt into a virtual scrapbook, that will generate maps and timestamps for your photos so you can share it on social media.
Plus, not only does this LINK AKC collar pack a load of high tech features—tracking, health stats, sensors, training aid—it’s smart looking too with a sleek, stylish and comfy look. The LINK AKC collar isn’t the first in the market but it is the first in the number of smart features it offers and its ease of use and good design.
Good Dog: Studies & Research
Empathy affects how we read canine facial expressions.
Empathy is our ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others. But does this extend to how we interact with our pets? Researchers at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University set out to explore how empathy and other psychological factors affect the way we perceive both dogs and other humans.
Based on previous research, the scientists knew that people with higher emotional empathy evaluated other people's expressions more quickly, accurately, and often more intensely. Their study was the first to show that human empathy affects how we perceive our pups.
In their experiment, participants were shown images of human and canine faces, and as a control, inanimate objects and abstract pixel images. They were instructed to estimate how the target in each image was feeling.
The study found that empathy speeds up and intensifies the assessment of canine facial expressions, though the accuracy of those assessments is unreliable.
Miiamaaria Kujala, one of the postdoctoral researchers, said it's possible that empathetic people actually over-interpret the expressions of dogs.
The researchers also looked at another characteristic--experience with dog training. While empathy affected assessments of canine facial expressions more than previous dog experience, earlier studies showed that past training experience increased in importance when interpreting the dog's body language as a whole.
That makes sense given how much time dog trainers spend on learning to understand canine body language.
Expression type also made a difference. The researchers found that people assessed happy human faces more intensely than happy canine faces--and the opposite was true when looking at threatening faces. The team believes this may be due to the tendency to perceive faces of your own species as generally more pleasant. They also found that people experienced in dog training estimated the happy expressions of dogs as happier than others did.
So it seems that our empathy does extend to how we perceive our pups, and our experience with training deepens how we understand them.
Dog's Life: Lifestyle
A boy and dog bond over a rare ailment.
Three years ago kindergartener Carter Blanchard was diagnosed with a rare skin condition that developed white patches around his eyes. As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy to come to terms with his transforming face under the scrutiny of his classmates.
“The first thing he’d tell me when he got in the car,” remembers Carter’s mom, Stephanie Adock, “is that he hated his face and the way he looked.”
Now eight years old, Carter is comfortable in his own skin, thanks in part to a dog from Oregon.
Soon after Carter’s diagnosis, Stephanie was browsing Facebook when she saw a photo of a dog named Rowdy who also had white patches around his eyes. The 13-year old pup gained a worldwide social media following because of the unique look.
It turns out Rowdy had vitiligo, the same skin condition as Carter. The disorder is a result of destroyed pigment cells in the skin, but the cause isn’t known.
Carter started watching videos of Rowdy online, which totally changed his outlook.
“Carter used to be very upset but now he is proud that he was chosen to have vitiligo and wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Stephanie. “He thinks that everyone else’s skin is boring.”
Stephanie reached out to Rowdy’s owner, Niki Umbenhower, and they kept in touch for the last few years. Since they lived so far away, Stephanie didn’t think Carter would ever see Rowdy in person. But when a local television station featured their friendship, an anonymous viewer donated $5,000 to fly Carter and his mom from Arkansas to Oregon so they could finally meet Rowdy.
The bond was instantaneous.
“When we walked in I didn’t feel like we were walking in for the very first time, they were family already,” said Stephanie. “You could tell Rowdy knew something was going on and felt the energy of the room.”
Carter spent the first two hours petting Rowdy, and then Rowdy settled down next to Carter as he played with Legos.
Dogs teach us so much and one of those lessons is the power of being nonjudgemental. There’s so much we can learn from Rowdy and Carter’s friendship. Sometimes our pups just know exactly what we need!
News: Guest Posts
Dog's name and age: David, 9 years
Adoption Story:
David's pregnant mother was abandoned when her humans moved away from their home in Talking Rock, GA. Thankfully, the nextdoor neighbor noticed and was able to foster mother and all her pups (including David) until ready for adoption. After a successful foster, David was put up for adoption and found his forever home.
David's Interests:
He loves to bask in the sun at Altoon Pass after a good hike and swim. He enjoys being outside with his humans on hikes and visiting grandma at a nearby retirement community.
Good Dog: Behavior & Training
It’s extremely contagious behavior
Dogs frequently join in when they hear other dogs howl, and even in response to wolves doing it. In this clip from the movie Zootopia, the filmmakers nailed the contagious nature of this canine behavior for comic effect.
In the next video, a dog in front of a television that is playing this movie clip begins to vocalize in response to the realistic howling. The additional howling by the German Shepherd enhances the movie soundtrack considerably. Please note another amusing feature in the video. I refer to the large number of toys on the chair and the massive collection of bones and chews that are piled in the corner. I’m sure this décor is familiar to many of us!
All around the world, dogs are howling, and we know that this behavior is contagious. Please let me know if your dog responds to the howling in Zootopia!
News: Guest Posts
Playing in a Brooklyn park turned to heartbreak when Laura Stephen’s dog Ziggy was shot twice, and killed by NYPD officers. Ziggy a rescued mixed breed was playing off leash in the Saratoga Park in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn on Sunday as they did every evening. Two officers entered the park, Stephen explained to news outlets that one asked her to leash her dog, and when she called Ziggy he turned towards her and an NYPD officer pulled out his gun and fired two shots. The officer claims that Ziggy lunged at him, and so feeling threatened, he shot the dog. Stephen says Ziggy never lunged, and was more than 10 feet away from the officer on his way back to her when shot. Neighbors told news outlets that Ziggy was very friendly and never aggressive.
Stephen didn’t have her wallet or phone so borrowed another parkgoers phone to call her son. When her son arrived with her belongings he rushed to his mother and her dog but was thrown against a tree, and arrested by NYPD officers for disorderly conduct. Meanwhile Ziggy was bleeding surrounded by 30-40 police officers who arrived on the scene. Stephen used snow and her coat to try and stop the bleeding from the gunshot wounds.
Police on the scene Sunday night (via gothamist.com)
An hour after being shot NYPD transported Stephen and Ziggy to an emergency veterinary hospital. Despite receiving a blood transfusion Ziggy died. NYPD officials arrived at the veterinary clinic and issued a criminal summons to Stephen for having her dog off leash.
Read more at the Observer, a group of neighbors also started a GoFundMe to help Stephen cover Ziggy’s funeral expenses.
Pages
For gift subscriptions,
Copyright © 1997-2017 The Bark, Inc. Dog Is My Co-Pilot® is a registered trademark of The Bark, Inc