The End is in the Beginning and Yet You Go On

Maybe it's my largely Irish gene pool that stirs me to write when death has come. On Friday August 29th the end came for my dear father who at 77 had been fighting the effects of Alzheimer's Disease for several years. My father is the reason we nearly always had a dog in the house growing up. There were spots of time in my youth when there wasn't a dog but they seem brief as I think back on it. The nuts and bolts of my childhood seemed always accompanied by a family dog. There was Buddy, a shepherd/hound mix who I remember only in flashes as being goofy and fun loving. Sadie, a flat coated retriever mix who probably suffered the most for my ignorance. A spectacularly cute puppy, she lived with us until she bit the paperboy. A vicious dog hearing followed, then she was sent off to live at a no-kill shelter in Sutton, MA, or so my sisters and I were told at the time. Finally, Meisha, a spirited Lhasa Apso came into the picture near the end of my parent's marriage. That year saw a new house and a new car as well. While my understanding of the more noteworthy events from that year have grown more nuanced with time, these acquisitions would form the basis for a vague sense of dread and foreboding. I'd said to a friend at the time, "This will all be over in a year." It wouldn't take that long. These various offerings would be for naught. My family as I'd understood to be, would come to a dramatic end one summer evening in August 1984. Meisha would be sent off to live with a retired former drill sergeant. A good call for his well being at the time but I remember resenting that he'd been cast off like old luggage. He was not treated like family as he should have been.

Many years have passed since then and while my Father would really only have one other dog, a sweet black lab who passed too soon, my sisters and I seemed to always have them. What's interesting in retrospect is also one of the personality traits I see so frequently in dogs, a gentle outpouring of affection towards people who are struggling with something. Of course this is not universally true but it does seem to dominate my anecdotal landscape and it most certainly held true when it came to how the family's dogs behaved around my Dad. All of our dogs were drawn to him these last few years, each of them exercising what in some cases (Miles) was uncharacteristic gentleness, unbridled kindness. I'd like to say I could ruin this entry with the sound scientific principles that explain this phenomenon, however I am blissfully ignorant of them and content to admire what I've seen at face value.

Young Addie with my Dad for a ride in the car.

The family closed ranks to be at my father's bedside every day of what would be the last week of his life. My sisters Meghan and Sheila took charge of his comfort measures. The rest of us did what we were told and tried not to screw things up. Sheila's dog Katy clung very close to my Dad, often on his bed lying next to him, getting off to check in with everyone, get a scratch, lick your face. It was good, it was very good. Katy was something of a life raft with her agenda-less routine of checking in to see if everyone was alright. When he passed that Friday evening she appeared to share in our grief, going from person to person as if unsure of what exactly had happened.

Katy at my father's bedside

I'd wondered for a time whether to write about this here. The big question, "Is this relevant to dog owners?". I don't know if I'm being honest. I may come back to this and wonder if this wasn't something best left in a personal journal. There was one dominant theme that came up frequently in that last week however. Something my sister Meghan would whisper into my father's ear as he lay, seemingly unconscious. "We're all here for you Dad. You always talked about family being the most important thing and now we're here for you." In my father's version of Maslow's Hierarchy he would finally emphasize that above all else. And while getting there left many missed opportunities and not a few questionable decisions, he was not wrong. In the end he was not wrong. This man, whose self-effacing nature and gift of gab have been a model for me in my adult life, would come to the end of his with a vocabulary so diminished by the effects of Alzheimer's he would hit his head as if to jar the words loose. What will never leave me is that the words he clung most desperately to, the ones he would not relinquish to this pile of shit disease were the ones needed to express unconditional love. "You're Great!" "I Love You" "You're Beautiful" and the last words he said to me as I walked down a hall with him at Jordan Hospital. Smiling at me he said, "You've got me".

Dad, his wife Marcia and my sister's dog Lila

I am agnostic, I think it's my nature to be but I cannot deny the need to look for meaning in all of this, to try to make some sense of it following the obligatory Kubler Ross 5 Stages of Grief. Then, this past Friday another gut punch came as Louie, my beautiful 18 year old Min Pin made it clear he too was at the end. Applying the common sense approach Sam Simon takes with his rescue dogs, he knows each of their three favorite things. When they can no longer enjoy two of them, it's time to say goodbye and so he too, Louie, my Big Lou would let loose this mortal coil. It's hard to extract some greater meaning from the pain of loss. Hamlet, pondering suicide asks, "To sleep, perchance to dream. What dreams may come?" Is there peace in death? I don't know, I hope so. If I've found some meaning in the last several weeks it is a renewed appreciation for the value of kindness. My father's passing brought us together for a common cause that's left me changed. I've never been so proud of my sisters. Louie, who throughout his long life was kindness in canine form. His life spanned nearly two decades, nearly all of the years Sue and I have been together. Over the last three weeks I've been reminded how lucky I was to have them both in my life for so long. I will miss them both for the rest of my years. And of course my friends are right, I have been lucky.

Louie at his most content wrapped up in warm blankets out of the dryer.

These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For

QUESTION: How many Zen Masters does it take to screw in a light bulb?
ANSWER: There is no light bulb.

This is the joke that comes up so frequently in my lessons. It's probably a mistake to include it in this post, it will never have that chin rubbing "hmmmm..." quality again (assuming you've read this of course) This joke helps set the stage for what I'm ultimately, really asking my dog owners to do and that's to think differently about the problems they're having with their dogs. I'm also trying to establish a dynamic where you the dog owner are expecting your dog to think and problem solve, to understand why their behavior results in one consequence versus another. One is compelling, rewarding, the other is not. 

I'm working with a couple with two beautiful little dogs. Levi, a miniature dachshund and Stanley, a beagle/dachshund mix. They are also expecting a baby and have concerns about how their dogs will adjust to the addition of the new family member. Levi doesn't like when John touches Felicia's belly to feel the baby kicking. Perhaps he views it as an aggressive overture, a preamble to conflict of some sort. He jumps, barks and nips at John's hand. Our goal was for Levi to reevaluate what this gesture meant to him. We wanted Levi to tell us that he wanted John to feel the baby kicking because ultimately, Levi's objections to this gesture could be symptomatic of broader misinterpretations which in turn can have a negative, even devastating impact on the human/animal bond. Conversely, it can lead to outright denial, which can lead to escalating aggression. There are ways to work through these problems with our dogs that often deepen the bond we have with them. Here's how we approached Levi's "What are you doing to Mom?" problem.

Stanley & Levi practice stay after hearing the doorbell.

The first step was to teach Levi and Stanley how great being on the floor is. This is not a semantic argument, this is Real Estate 101. Your dogs want the couch, they want the bed. but these coveted locals are off limits when there's a baby in the house, so our job is to convince them that these spots are not prime real estate as they believe, the floor is, their beds on the floor are. Resentment can fester into dangerous behaviors so removing conflict from the proceedings is a high priority, as it happens, it's also considerably more fun. I have another favorite way to frame this arguement, "These aren't the droids you're looking for." instantly relevant to fans of Star Wars Episode IV, Obi Wan doesn't massacre the inquisitive storm troopers, he changes the nature of the encounter in a way that is devoid of conflict. "I want to be up there on the couch!" , "Nah, you don't want the couch, what you want is the floor. The floor is awesome." "You're right, the floor is awesome, I love this floor. This is the best floor in the history of floors. Thanks for showing me." This may seem overly simplistic but that's it in a nutshell. The details of getting there with your dog may differ depending on their attachment to elevated perches and what they're compelled by but it's still about rewarding the floor while managing the couch and your bed. The elevated places are never bad which means they're not punished for being there, merely redirected to the floor where they're once again met with praise. Using things like Kong Wobblers or my personal favorite the IQ Ball is another way to use the food they'd otherwise be eating from their bowls (boring) into a game that unfolds on the floor (fun) adding further value to the lower elevations of your dog's living space. "But aren't some dogs fine on furniture? My dog's never acted aggressively on furniture" There's no question that some dogs are sweet as pumpkin pie in these situations, still, safety first. There's no down side to this exercise, quite the contrary. The dog owners I've worked with report that their dogs thrive in this modified dynamic because it's fun and they're getting more attention then they ever did before.  

Now that the two pups are very keen on being on the floor, we take to the couch where John, equipped with treats, presents Levi with an opportunity. Levi can have the treat, but only after John rubs Felicia's belly. Is this getting weird? No? Good, let's move on then. A quick rub, feed, another rub, feed, repeat. Now, ask Levi to sit. When he sits, John rubs Felicia's belly and feeds Levi a treat. "Levi Sit", Levi sits, John rubs Felicia's belly, feeds Levi, repeat. Here's where something interesting happens. We stop everything. If Levi understands his role in the proceedings, that one thing (sitting) triggers another thing (belly rub) to happen and that it ends with him getting a treat then,...wait for it,....Yes! Exactly! Levi will get things going again by sitting. He knows John's going to rub Felicia's belly when he sits, but now that's less important than the reciprocal effect of getting a compelling treat and now Levi is sitting on the floor to prompt a belly rub and a treat. 

This sets the stage for the sorts of things that happen once the baby is born. Feeding, changing diapers, playing etc. They can be predictive of a compelling consequence. No conflict, no yelling, no whaling and gnashing of teeth. Understood in these proceedings is that while troublesome, neither dog has a serious history of aggressive behavior. This approach is reasonable only when there is no such history. 

 Consequence changes behavior (Thank you Dr. Dunbar) 

Goodbye to an Old Friend

I've just hung up with the veterinarian, having scheduled Archie to be put to sleep later this evening.

Archie's lived his life with a heart murmur, survived what we think is Evan's Syndrome and still saw his sixteenth birthday this past July 9th. But this past weekend, his health took a dramatic turn downwards as he all but lost his ability to walk and could no longer hold his bladder. This morning, at about 3:30AM, Sue and I made the decision. Somehow, I thought this would not be as hard as when we faced this same grim reality with Reno. It's been every bit as hard. Sue broke the news to Keir earlier and while his initial response was pragmatic. That changed when he said goodbye before going to school this morning. The stark reality had struck hard. Archie is one of us, he is family and soon he'll be gone forever. That he lived a good life to an advanced age will provide some comfort in time but not now. Right now it just hurts.

Keir walking Archie at the Beach

Bringing Archie into our family so many years ago, we had all the hopes and enthusiasm most dog owners have with a new dog. It has never been easy. Jack Russell Terriers are not for everyone and yet despite the fair amount of angst, frustration, frayed nerves and sleepless nights. Archie is the reason I'm a fan, first and foremost his fan but in a larger sense, a fan of every pain in the butt dog that ever challenged me to think and work harder. Thinking about it, he's the reason Miles is part of our family. My good friend Ann knew very well that we had a feisty (is there any other kind?) Jack Russell living among us. For that reason she made the call that would ultimately lead to Miles being part of the family as well.

While a genuine antagonist to all of our other dogs throughout the years, he always loved us unconditionally and for that alone, he deserved nothing less than that from us. Through clenched teeth at times, I won't resort to hyperbole even now as I begin this most awful countdown to his final moments. Thinking about it, there's no need to. I know very well why I'm a mess, why writing this is helping me externalize and deal with it. Because I loved the joyous howl he'd make when he was at his happiest. It was unique, it sounded like he was trying to say something and it never failed to make all of us laugh. Because of his once impressive physical prowess. A level of natural athleticism I've only ever seen rivaled by Pit Bulls, American Bull Dogs and the like. Rippling muscles flexing as he left the floor remaining in an upward trajectory for several feet until, at the end of a perfectly engineered parabola, he'd land on the bed some seven feet from where he'd started. Because when we were in the obedience ring, it was never Archie screwing up, it was always me. Because he forgave me for all of my errors and shortcomings as a trainer and a friend. Because of the way he'd spin in a frantic, ebullient spiral every time he was about to be fed. For all of these reasons and the many more I'll think about for the rest of my days, Archie's eminent passing is weighing so heavily.

"...I saw the danger, yet I walked
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day."

- James McNally

This past Saturday I joined two trainer friends at a day long seminar with the amazing Emma Parsons. It struck me at one point how many narratives were driven at least in part by that person's personal experience with their dog. Emma had Ben, Julie Shaw had Macintosh, the list goes on. Archie will forever be a part of my narrative. As he leaves us later today for whatever may be next, he leaves behind that all important gift. For our part, while I remain open to the endless possibilities, I hope he takes with him that his family loved him. Goodbye old friend.

Closer to the Heart

 

Dr. Dunbar wins the attention of a very cute, very distracted puppy.

This weekend, K9 Connection in Warwick, RI hosted a two day workshop with Dr. Ian Dunbar. Over the years Dr. Dunbar has been an important influence on me. What got my attention first was the example he set. Trainers and behaviorists  can debate who they relate to most but there’s little debate over his relevance. If you do what I do for a living you know who Ian Dunbar is and yet despite having few peers, he is approachable, intellectually curious and disarmingly funny. He’s quick to turn the spotlight on the trainers and dogs in attendance. He’s slightly compulsive, not allowing the one brown chair amongst the other identical black chairs in a game of dog training/musical chairs. Dog slobber was a problem, yup, one of the very best vet/behaviorists in the world doesn’t do dog drool. Go figure. Above all though, Ian Dunbar is an extraordinary and energetic teacher who wears his love for what he does like a superhero's cape. This weekend I watched a master at work. Two days of one incredibly clever idea after another went by in a relative flash. So much information had been communicated, it felt like a great movie I’d watch over and over again, collecting new bits of nuanced goodness with each viewing. A day after it was over it started to register with me that there was a wonderful subtext that had unfolded right in front of me. Everyone there had gotten more than we'd expected. At 5:30PM on Sunday, as the workshop drew to an inspired close, there was one final message that summed the experience we’d all had in a very sweet way. I won’t spoil it by elaborating on it because it’s something you deserve to experience for yourself. If you have an opportunity to see Dr. Dunbar lecture or workshop do it, don’t think twice about it. Do it if you’re an accountant, systems analyst, roofer or mechanic and you’ve never had a dog before. I say this because the subtext of the workshop transcends the otherwise obvious attraction for people who work with dogs. It was about being kind to one another as well as to our dogs. It was about the importance of doing the right thing. It was science vs. nonsense. Amidst all the wonderfully clever games and insightful techniques, I found myself rooting as an observer for the dog owners in the ring. Clapping and cheering for people and dogs I’d never met until this past weekend. It wasn’t just me, everyone was in on it and it happened with the seemingly effortless guidance of the brilliant and self described shameless teacher. If playing the fool drove home the point that everything he was sharing with us were things we could do ourselves, he was not above it. “Yes, by all means photograph, video tape, post it on YouTube, I’d like to think I’ll still be around after I’m gone.” Think about that for a minute. 

It's satisfying to learn that someone you admire a great deal would approve of how you do things. I appreciate the value of clicker training but am not a clicker trainer. I prefer to use by voice for audible cues, a personal decision I've doubted from time to time. However I was also compelled to reevaluate a number of ideas I've both relied on and thrust upon my clients with a great deal of earnest over the years. They include:

Don't Repeat Yourself: Unless you want your dog to think the instruction for "sit" is "sit, sit, sit"

only say it once. "Absolutely ridiculous!" was Dr. Dunbar's response to that question asked by a fellow attendee.  I could have looked at this as simply a difference of opinion but as a hypothesis, Keir and I tested it with Miles Saturday night. It works. To this I say to every dog owner I've beat that drum relentlessly with, I apologize.

The Verbal Cue Follows the Instruction: Lure for sit then respond with "Good Sit". Wrong again! The connection is not clear as I had thought. As a form of praise it's fine but the connection between the word and the lure (hand signal) is cloudy or non-existent. Again, Keir and I worked on this with Miles giving only hand signals first followed by only verbal commands, measuring response ratios. They were all over the place and changed as the venue changed. Lots of practice and proofing to be done there.

Always Use Food Rewards: This applies to other forms of reward (toys) that may not be on your person when a response is required. My argument stemmed from the use of choke, pinch and electronic collars. Response ratios can be maintained (reliable) so long as they're around, therefore treat rewards should always be around. Much to my shame and humiliation, wrong again. While for dog owners who are hyper-vigilant about having treat bags within arm's reach, get reliable responses from their dogs, there are situations that will trump the most compelling treats you can imagine. Higher value treats for more challenging environments, done that lots of times and while I'm not ready to toss out everything I've read, seen and done related to counter conditioning for proximity with primary and secondary reinforcers,  I did witness a game of follow the leader with roughly 30 dog/handler pairs. No treats used and lots juicy, behavioral goodness on display. The prolific use of treats are under review.

In this exercise, participants are asked to lie down next to their dogs the way their dogs are lying down.

I've written before that training is a science and as such is evolving. Remember Bertrand Russell, "Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas..."  That’s an extremely important idea and segues nicely into my favorite hypothetical question, "Are you interested in the truth?" assuming the answer is "Yes." it follows, "Then you won't be upset if you're wrong." Still, I am a little upset. There are lessons that would have yielded more specific, more desirable long term results. I suppose that will always be the case. Engineers design bridges knowing all too well that more sophisticated, safer and longer lasting bridges will be possible in the future. So too will the science of training continue to advance thanks to people like Dr. Dunbar. 

Leaving K9 Connection this past Sunday evening, I wanted to thank Dr. Dunbar, tell him how much he'd inspired me but he's British and I'm shy when it comes to things like this so I'll say it here. I started the weekend feeling drained and down, I left reinvigorated and grateful for the experience. Thank you Ian Dunbar and thank you Jamie Dunbar for the invitation. Thanks also to Teri and Cassandra at K9 Connection for hosting the workshop. Great, great, great.

Quite Logical

It's been my experience that dogs are logical creatures. But as another Vulcan proverb concedes, “Logic is only the beginning of wisdom” and that means that dogs make mistakes based on otherwise logical assumptions. Without question, the most common one is jumping on people. While not a mistake necessarily it is a misunderstanding between we humans and our dogs. Here's why. When dogs are puppies they're amongst the cutest things in all creation. Small, furry, helpless and given the opportunity, jumping all over us. Most puppies are encouraged to do this by us. It's harmless enthusiasm at this stage in their lives and very few dog owners discourage it, quite the contrary in fact. When I was a kid, Pepsi ran it's famously effective ad featuring grandparents unleashing a litter of Labrador Retriever puppies on their grandkids. It's the perfect illustration of the information that's changing hands quietly beneath the adorable bedlam. I'm not implying anything sinister is being sewn into this exchange, not even that it should not be allowed to happen. It's beautiful if you ask me, if only all of us were this unabashedly enthusiastic about one another. There is a very big “BUT” however. Little 2lb puppies are fuzzy and delightful but some of them grow exponentially in their first year becoming adult dogs 50-150lbs and more. Now jumping is a problem and we don't want them doing it anymore. Imagine those Lab pups jumping on those little kids one year later,...YIKES! The kids aren't laughing hysterically, they're traumatized. Things have changed for us but for our dogs, well, they haven't got the memo and if they're unaware of your sudden distaste for them leaping into your grill for sloppy, wet smooches, then it's not fair to assume they'll understand why you're sticking your knee in their chest when they do.

 

To assume dogs know they're doing something wrong is to both ignore the messages we've unconsciously etched in their brains when they were puppies and assume they'll grasp an abstract concept like right and wrong. What's this? No right and wrong? It's anarchy, ahhhhh!!!! Relax, it's not the apocalypse. Consider this. If I were to shake hands using my left hand you might think it's odd but you wouldn't think it's offensive. Yet in some parts of the world it's a cultural norm to wipe with the left hand only, so offering it is not advised unless you intend to offend, in other words it's “wrong”. It's right to tip your waiter but wrong to tip the person at the drive thru window (Thanks to Mr. Pink for that revelation.) Dogs are not confronted by a jury of their peers, they don't editorialize, they don't pontificate, postulate or castigate. In other words, the concept of right and wrong is a societal construct, to assume our dogs are privy to them is not,...logical. 

So now we agree it's not wrong so to speak but we still don't like it. It's potentially dangerous and we want to bring an end to it. What can we do? If our dogs learned that we liked them jumping on us they can learn that we like it even better when they greet in a sit. I had this discussion with a local family I'm working less than a week ago. They're expecting a baby in the fall and with their 18mos old Golden Murphy jumping impulsively on his mom Kelley, this problem took on a real sense of urgency. It was with great satisfaction that as I got off my soap box, Murphy's dad Ryan produced a photo of his daughter Tori welcoming Murphy, then about 12 weeks old, as he jumped on her. I knew at that moment they got what I'd been droning on about. As Murphy began showing a marked preference for greeting in a sit (praise and treats) Kelley was able to sit down with a baby doll standing in for the real thing as Murphy greeted politely in a sit. Just as he'd been encouraged to jump as a puppy, he'd been encouraged to sit as an adult dog, it was a Vulcan mind meld! Fascinating...

Sammy

“Dreary”,  a combination of “depressing” and “weary”. It’s how today feels, starting with a text from my sister letting me know that she and her family had come to the conclusion it was time to let their dear dog “Sammy” go. A sweet Yellow Lab that I first met as a playful puppy and who’d been around to occupy the earliest memories of my nieces and nephew. Old age had taken the usual toll, ocular clouding, loss of hearing and in the last few weeks a steady decline in mobility brought on by cancer. The family has had to wrestle with the big questions. Is my dog still happy? What's her quality of life? Answers to those questions led them to the most difficult and painful of conclusions. 

    In an interview with Sam Simon, a writer on the TV series “TAXI” a creator of the TV series “The Simpsons” and of late, creator of The Sam Simon Foundation, said that when it came to his dogs, he’d loved each one of them, he’d also had to put each of them to sleep. His criteria for knowing when that time had come involved writing down each dog’s three favorite things. When they were no longer able to enjoy any of them, it was time to let them go. That might be the best way I've heard of knowing the absolute worst thing you can know about your dog. With two geriatric dogs at home, it's something I think about every day. Of course having a criteria for such a thing isn’t like having criteria for when it’s time to clean the storm drains. Assuming your dogs are family, it’s as awful a conclusion you can arrive at and yet our relative lifespans mean we will be confronted with it at some point.

    None of this will make going to sleep tonight any easier for my sister and her family. Memories of my final moments with Reno, my ear against his chest as he slipped away, are nearly as crisp and poignant as when I first experienced them. That was three years ago and I recall there was little sleep to be had knowing we’d wake up without him in our lives. Despite the empty feeling that comes when we lose someone we love, there is also profound beauty. We emerge from nothingness  to make our entry on the corporeal plane and eventually we return to it; so too do our dogs. The details I’ll leave to your individual beliefs, what I take from it however is the complete apparent randomness with which our paths cross with one another. It defies the possibility for love and yet many of us love our dogs unconditionally as they appear to love us. Of course without this there would be no pain. That’s the bargain we make when allow ourselves to feel so deeply for them.

    Greg Proops, a comedian hewn from the same stone as George Carlin and Richard Pryor draws from ancient customs, paying homage to those who have passed as iridescent lights swirling magnificently in the night sky. Tonight, Sammy ascends to the night sky to join legions of other great dogs and while for my sister and her family, the world will be a less for her absence, the sky will be brighter for her being there. I suggested to my sister that she make Sammy a cheeseburger and have some wine on hand to toast their departed friend and family member. Tomorrow they'll wake with her alive in a lifetime of great memories and the healing will begin. Goodby Sweet Sammy.

What Do You Want?

Training is fundamentally about communication. It forms the nucleus of any such dynamic, branching out in often unexpected sometimes elegant ways like fractal geometric structures spiraling off to form into something beautiful. It can also deteriorate into a terrible mess. Like all trainers I'm working not just on inter-species communication, I'm also channeling ideas vicariously through a dog's human counterpart(s) . At it's best it's what I imagine fusion jazz must be like. A free floating exchange of information back and forth between multiple individuals each communicating in their own way, saxophone, standing bass, piano and drums. Everyone bringing an innate understanding of each other that transcends language in the traditional sense. What and how we communicate determines direction, comprehension and can have a big impact on whether the ideas that come out of training are going to take hold over the long term. 

"Tis nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so" - William Shakespeare

            So what do I want to communicate with this entry? As the title of this entry asks, "What do you want?" Answer, to shift the focus of training to addressing what we want and away from what we don't want. This could easily be brushed aside as a semantic argument but it's much more than that. Proof lies in how difficult it can sometimes be. A common scenario, "My dog loses her mind when the doorbell rings. She scratches the hell out of the door and jumps all over whoever walks in." Traditional, pack leader, dominance training punishes the bad behavior (P+) with the punishment subsiding only when the behavior itself subsides. If the net result is that the dog does not bark or jump the next time someone rings the doorbell and comes in, no punishment is inflicted  and the behavior is reinforced by it's absence (R-) This approach has been used for a very long time, it sometimes works and often creates collateral damage in the process. To make the shift away from "How do I stop this?" to what you want, "I want her to be quiet and greet calmly with her paws on the ground or better still in a sit." requires a change in the way you think about conflict and how to address it. Well framed questions can do this. Veterinarian/Behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar, speaking at a TED convention, CLICK HERE, asks how dominance training would work if you were training a bear. Answer: Not well at all. I like to pose the hypothetical question: Can a 5'-2" tall female dog owner weighing 110lbs have and train a French Mastiff weighing 150lbs? Answer: Yes, but you'd be well advised not to make it a battle of wills. To expect a dog to have an innate understanding of good and bad is to invite conflict. An understanding of good and bad is crucial in societal terms but strictly speaking, an abstract assumption in a human/animal relationship. Conversely, to communicate to a dog how great it is to do the things you want them to is responsible for amazing feats both familiar like Canine Agility CLICK HERE and less familiar, like Freestyle Dog Dancing CLICK HERE.

Screen Capture of Joyce and Kaia in the Agility Ring

           
             Now if dancing with your dog strikes you as silly, that's fine, it is a little silly but it would be unfair not to concede that there's a breathtaking amount of inter species communication going on and that neither dog dancing or my friend and colleague Joyce Gauthier (That's her with her dog Kaia in the agility ring) could every achieve that level of cooperation without first communicating to their dogs how much fun they're going to have and how rewarding the whole thing is going to be. What I want is for you to come over here and weave in between these upright poles. Huh? Try just one, click, treat, now two, click, treat etc.

Louie, Archie & Miles: No dogs in the kitchen rule.

            Only a fraction of dog owners will every venture into the worlds of agility or freestyle but the information that's extracted from these sports trickles down in meaningful and profound ways for far more common scenarios that unfold between regular dog owners and their canine family members. They should also prove as examples of what's possible. That's a big deal if you're feeling helpless to resolve a conflict with your dog and you're in desperate need of some perspective. The next time you're agonizing about bringing home a new couch (Ernie's going to lie down on it when we're watching Game of Thrones and get Labradoodle fur all over it.) try convincing  Ernie how great the dog bed on the floor is instead of yelling at him for being on the couch. Now if George R.R. Martin would just stop killing off all the best characters, how great would that be?

New Year's Resolution

We're an inpatient culture. At the very least we've developed into one. If you're old enough to remember Dana Carvey's grumpy old man eschewing the virtues of the old days, "Why, if we wanted to go to the bathroom we had to walk a mile in the rain and mud to a wooden shack in the middle of the night,...and we liked it that way." then you're old enough to know how much things have changed. Each generation views their respective realities through they're own period lens. The lens Du jour expects instant gratification, consider on demand movies (on your cell phone no less) books, music, etc. Home delivery is available, overnight if you like, for just about anything.

Inevitably this sensibility has spilled over into my world as well with the occasional dog owner assuming little more effort than that needed to call or e-mail should be required for a miraculous transformation in their dog. It comes across in different ways but I've gotten pretty good at ferreting these dog owners out and that's important because there's no better opportunity to set things straight than at that moment. Serious behavioral problems take time to address, in some cases so much time that it tests the will of even the most steadfast of the dog owners I work with. It's critical dog owners struggling with behavioral problems in their dogs understand this before they dig into the business at hand. For my part this idea cannot be understated.

As behaviorist Katenna Jones suggests in her book "Fetching the Perfect Dog Trainer" dog owners should expect to see a tangible response to training and conditioning very quickly. Some indication that the trainer's  hypothesis has merit and that the predicted outcome will come to fruition. The hard work comes in the day to day business of working and living with these dogs; fast food and  instant downloads this isn't, not by any stretch. It's also not for every dog owner and communicating that from the outset is critical. Julie K. Shaw, RVT, KPA-CTP, VTS (Behavior) at a recent seminar emphasized how important it is to assess the strength of the human animal bond. In other words, "How do you feel about your dog?" That's an enormously important question that plays very neatly into questions of expediency. If the bond you have with your dog is fractured, then the notion of pouring time, energy and financial resources (training, veterinary care etc. all have costs associated with them) into that relationship is pointless, it's also a disservice however expedient the draw of a new client may be. 

For dog owners who are informed and ready to put in the time, work begins. There are so many smart, creative thinkers working on ways to make training, counter conditioning, desensitizing and management more effective and often times more fun. It's an embarrassment of riches and yet it remains an imperfect science. A favorite Facebook page (Swipe to read) I Fucking Love Science posted a quote by 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell, "Science does not aim to establish immutable truths and eternal dogmas; it's aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that at any stage final and complete accuracy has been achieved." For me that means I can sleep at night so long as I've been honest about my role in helping dog owners make their own successive approximations. It's also my responsibility to know when I've done as much as I can and whenever possible appreciate that the problems a dog owner is dealing with are outside my skill set. On that front I intend to do a better job. That's my New Year's Resolution. To listen more closely to what dog owners are telling me, to ask better questions and be a better part of that process of successive approximations. Oh, and eat more vegetables, can't forget that.

Pinch Me

Last night the local NBC affiliate, channel 10 news, attempted to do what television news is poorly suited to do. That is, to try to encapsulate an important subject in a piece lasting a couple of minutes. The subject was the use of prong collars, focusing it's vitriol on Rhode Island based dog trainer Jeff Gelman. I've referenced a well known quote by Eleanor Roosevelt before in this blog and I'll do it again, "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." The piece focused on an individual, vilifying him in the process. Did he have it coming? Maybe; this is an outspoken person with a Saturday morning AM talk show, a podcast, perhaps there's even a sandwich named after him but when it all shakes out it really doesn't matter. The impact of the story will be short term and while the message board, CLICK HERE, was lively with discussion afterwards (I chimed in as well) most everyone who's seen it has or soon will forget it as our attentions will turn to other things. That's too bad. Not because I would've indulged in some schadenfreude watching this trainer thrust into the spotlight for public ridicule or for that matter watching my friend Katenna provide some insight into effective alternatives. What disappointed me was the missed opportunity to focus on the debate. There's more than one trainer in our little state using pinch, choke and e-collars. For the record, I used to be one of them so it's not my first impulse to wag my finger at Jeff Gelman. What I do find maddening is the steadfast adherence to old ideas that no longer hold up to scientific scrutiny. I think trainers in the not too distant future will look back on traditional training methods the same way we look at phrenology and spontaneous generation, with a collective "Huh?". For all the horn blowing any of us do, there will be a time when we won't be here anymore and only the ideas will survive. Katenna stayed on point never talking about Jeff but instead on methodology, again, on the IDEA.

Lively debate is good, discourse is good, ("Fire Bad" - Frankenstein,...sorry, couldn't resist) particularly if we learn something along the way. In contrast, trotting out one guy to be the poster child for pinch collars is silly but I suppose that coliseum mentality lies just beneath our skins. It reminds of the George Carlin bit where he pulls up to a car accident and asks the police to drag the body closer to the car so his wife can get a better look. If that's why you tuned in, and thought to yourself, "Holy cow, that guy's a jerk" then you're missing the point. Not that Turn to 10 didn't do their part to take your eyes off the shell with the marble under it.

Traditional training is fading, I've done my little part to help that along and would encourage my peers in the training world still employing those methods to do the same. It's a scary prospect, if you've got a family, a mortgage, bills to pay and a successful business model predicated on aging ideas it can be downright terrifying but it's the smart move because it's where the training world is headed, undeniably, like a slow moving juggernaut. It's also evolving as emerging ideas and peer reviewed research adds to the knowledge base. 

Finally, since we're on the subject of pinch collars. If you've moved on to No-pull harnesses or head halters and have some old choke chains and pinch collars lying around, please consider donating them to FoF-RI. Katenna, in her "spare time" transforms them into beautiful bracelets and key chains then sells them, (See them at Dog In Harmony) all proceeds going to Friends of Fido Rhode Island, a grass-roots group of Rhode Island dog lovers who are volunteering to improve the lives of outdoor dogs in Rhode Island. Hey, that's an idea.

An Ode to Bo

Several weeks ago I got a call from my son's art teacher. She'd adopted a 4 year old Wheaten terrier from the Warren Animal Shelter and needed some help. While all had started well enough he'd given her two superficial bites when she'd tried to get him out of her car and now she wasn't sure she could trust him. I told her to keep a leash on him at all times, the only exceptions were when he was alone in the house or at night when they were sleeping. It's significantly safer to handle a dog who resorts to aggression to address conflict. Dogs on leash are less likely to have aggressive outbursts at all, particularly once they know you can handle them without getting close enough to their teeth that they can deliver a bite. Grab a collar and there's a high probability of a bite, grab a leash and the probability is relatively low. Nothing punitive, as I tell my dog owners, the message is, I'm not going to hurt you but you're not going to hurt me either. Things improved immediately and we scheduled a series of lessons that involved both her son and boyfriend. The first two lessons went nicely and everyone was getting to know each. By any measure, Bo had made a successful transition to life with his new family. Fear had given way to confidence and it is at this critical juncture where, in my opinion, things can either settle into a good routine, or things can go horribly wrong. When confidence gives way to letting your guard down, to assuming your dog is  "cured", mistakes are made. Behavior can be modified by multiple means but for new, more desirable behaviors to be sustained, a certain amount of hyper-vigilance in required. It's not for everybody and while I'm careful to advise dog owners that behavior modification is like exercise, keep it up and things should go well, stop and things will deteriorate, lapses in judgement are still made, myself included.

Shortly after our second session I got a message that Bo had aggravated his ACL and was limping, we'd have to get the all clear from the vet before resuming training. There was the possibility of surgery, so his next lesson was "wait and see". A couple of weeks went by and I received the good news that it was nothing serious and we could resume working with him. The next lesson was scheduled, then, the worst most rattling thing you can hear from a dog owner you're working with, an e-mail from Bo's Mom that he had attacked her son. There were red flags throughout the message, "...he was sitting with a bone at my feet..." , "My son was sitting on the floor near him..." It would be extremely easy assign blame, to dump this squarely on the shoulders of Bo's new family. "Shouldn't they have known better?" Or on me, "Didn't you warn them about this sort of thing?" So let's get this out of the way quickly since this isn't about either of these things. Bo's new family were kind, compassionate people. Though it was a kind of resource guarding that had led to his initial aggressive overtures, they hadn't seen that behavior from him in several weeks, and even his initial overtures were mild by comparison, her son had been hurt badly.

We had addressed resource guarding and while Bo was on the floor as opposed to furniture, they were comfortable enough to let him have his bone out of a crate. A mistake to be sure and something Bo's entire family ached over both literally (the attending police officer who took Bo from the home described the living room as looking like a crime scene) and figuratively. The attack started from a distance of roughly eight feet as the owner's son recognized some emerging resentment with respect to his proximity to Bo and had begun to back away. The gesture was too little too late to stave off Bo's response however. He bridged the gap and delivered several bites before the son grabbed him and threw him into the next room. He returned for more but was stopped by Mom, who managed to separate him from her son.

There are more details to be sure and I haven't pressed for any of them. It's important to note here that the son is an able bodied 20 year old, but what if he hadn't been? What if he were only 20 months old? What if he were 12 years old and alone in the house? Was this the first time Bo had done this? He was four years old. He was turned in by a family in Warren who reported no aggression from him. With the benefit of hindsight, I simply don't believe that's true. In four years it's not reasonable or plausible to think this was the first time he'd guarded a resource with such ferocity. It makes far more sense to assume he had. Why hadn't it been reported? Why would a dog owner be so irresponsible as to risk putting someone in harms way? To let someone fall in love with this dog unaware of what it's capable of? The gravity of what could have happened makes this roll of the dice so reckless that it rattled my otherwise libertarian sensibilities. Amidst talk of Bo's future, I wondered with his Mom if there was a legal course here. 

Coming to the realization that a dog is dangerous is painful beyond measure. It's a horrible truth that not everyone has the resources to address properly. As I write this entry I can't help but think again of Katenna and Dave (See "I Am Spartacus") or my own attempts to ferret out this proclivity for aggression in temperament tests.

In light of the ferocity of the attack, we agreed that as painful as this episode had been, there was more pain in store for everyone involved. Bo was taken to the Warwick Shelter the night of the attack where he was held for observation pending euthanasia. I visited with him, sitting on the floor outside his kennel feeding him bits of string cheese with the door between us. He was calm, no signs of resentment, he stayed as close to the kennel door as he could manage, at one point stretchin his for-paw through the kennel door towards me eliciting some physical contact. I'm not sentimental nor do I indulge in the fanciful notion that he knew what was coming, I'm certain in fact that he did not. In a way that was more upsetting to me than for me to think he could appreciate the gravity of his actions, again, I'm sure he did not. Tears followed and I left knowing I would not see Bo again, not for a lesson, not at the park or out for a walk.

I've written that the shelter keeps me grounded, it does, so much so that Sunday that I wondered if this was even for me anymore. Is anyone listening? Are we learning anything as a culture of dog owners? About responsible breeding, about puppy mills, pet stores and hobby breeders, about the responsibility of dog ownership? There's been time to think about these questions, I do think we're learning but not fast enough. Bo's owner knew what had to be done and made the most difficult of decisions a new dog owner can expect to have to make. This past Friday Bo drew his last breath. To the pretenders out there who "guarantee" they can rehabilitate these dogs with shock collars and the like, you know who you are, I hold you with the utmost contempt. You lack the depth, the intelligence, the integrity and the fortitude to ever hope of making good on such claims. To the pet stores, puppy mills and hobby breeders, please stop. Who can profit from misery without losing themselves in this Faustian bargain? To Bo's family, in particular his adoptive Mom who mustered the courage to take him on one more walk before the end, who had the strength of character to let him go peacefully,  you are in my thoughts and my heart is broken with yours.

Tuning In

A few months ago Sue and Harry Parker of Dynamic Dog Training hosted a seminar with noted trainer/behaviorist Grisha Stewart, the mind behind Behavioral Adjustment Training (BAT) it was a great opportunity to see her at a local venue and I jumped at it. I always bring a pad and paper to these things to scribble down notes, details etc. but what I really hope will happen is for one really strong idea to emerge and stick with me once the lecture or seminar is over. For that one it was a question that precedes every exchange with a animal, "How is this for you?" It's such a simple idea but what really struck me about it was how easy it is to forget to ask that basic and so important question. That question is empathy distilled down to it's simplest form. "How are you doing?" "Is this alright?" "Are you enjoying this?" In earlier posts I've framed my move from traditional to science based positive reinforcement training as identifying problems and making them stop to understanding why those problems occur and addressing the underlying cause and effect. In other words traditional training doesn't ask or care necessarily (beyond vaguely arrived at notions) why something bad might be happening, it just wants it to stop. Behaviorists like Grisha Stewart are asking these profoundly simple, relevant questions and blazing a trail for trainers like me who are keen on distancing ourselves from the dark ages of traditional training. In a recent interview with Allen St. John of Forbes Magazine, Dr. Ian Dunbar described his training methodology like this, “When I’m training a dog I develop a relationship with that dog. He’s my buddy and I want to make training fun,” - “Training a dog to me is on a par with learning to dance with my wife or teaching my son to ski. These are fun things we do together. If anyone even talks about dominating the dog or hurting him or fighting him or punishing him, don’t go there.” That's about as good a way of capturing the spirit of modern dog training as I've ever read. It's absent any pretentious notions, any narcissism. It's someone relating the process to something they do with a loved one, with someone they care about. 

Of course trainers are going to be called on to intervene in situations where the human and dog are no longer buddies and they're no longer having fun. Does Dr. Dunbar's model apply here?

Yesterday, I started the day with with Jean, a dog owner in Cranston who'd lost her husband two years ago. This was our 3rd schedule lesson together. Her dogs, Samantha and Rudy, a 10 year old Chihuahua/JRT and 4 year old Lhasa mix respectively, had helped her through a difficult time. Recently however, Samantha had begun to behave aggressively, biting her several times with little warning. Resource guarding the bed and food appeared to be the antecedent. We took a multifaceted approach. With a clean bill of health from her veterinarian, Sam was prescribed fluoxetine (antidepressant), we changed their food and set about training them. Even at 10yrs, Sam's energy level is relatively low. Jean had become fearful of handling her and their relationship had deteriorated. How were we going to right this failing ship? Our ace was Rudy, a lively, happy go lucky little guy who bounced around the house not a care in the world. He was the polar opposite of Sam who was serious and appeared to have little joy left in her. More specifically, Rudy, who Jean trusted completely, was the dog we wanted Sam to be more like and Samantha, we agreed, was not about to let Rudy get all the attention. At our first session, we headed out to the yard with Samantha on a 6ft leash and Rudy on a 30ft leash. Jean would walk around the yard with Rudy at the end of his 30ft leash practicing his recalls. I picked a prime stationary spot with Samantha where she could see Rudy having all the fun, getting all the treats. It didn't take long until Sam's interest in participating peaked and she was straining at the leash to get in on the action. We swapped leashes and dogs and just like that Sam was doing recalls for treats. Jean was on the right track and it all started with a simple hypothesis, "How do we think she'll react to Rudy getting all the attention?" or "How will this be for her?" It even managed to be fun. The exercise represented a dramatic shift in momentum for Jean, it was an eye opener since we were able to draw a behavior from Samantha without force, by putting our heads together and without putting anyone in a situation where they could get hurt. When we were done, Sam was exhausted, (a tired dog is a good dog). Jean would leave a leash on Samantha whenever she was home and awake. This provided her with a way to move Sam out of situations (e.g. chicken bone falls on the floor) without exposing herself to a potential bite. She now knew that she could draw Sam out of her malaise by turning her attention to Rudy. We found ourselves resorting to this approach again yesterday morning when Sam's aggression resurfaced momentarily during the 'down' lesson. No one was bit, though Sam could easily have done so if she wanted to. She'd shown restraint. Was this the fluoxetine? The training? Was it the change of food? It could be any one or the combination of the three. No way to know for sure but there's little doubt that this constituted an improvement in her behavior. Nevertheless it remained inappropriate so, Rudy to the rescue! Sam had to sit out the next several minutes (five for fighting) as Rudy did 'down' after 'down' with Sam initially sulking then perking up again with earnest, as if to say, "Can I try again?" We were looking for that indication so when we brought her closer for another try, plunk! Down she went again and again. That lesson could easily have been derailed by her initial outburst but with Rudy there to help shape the situation and Jean ever mindful of the question, "How is this for Samantha" it was productive on several fronts. In a sense she had managed to teach someone to dance who initially wanted to bite her. Not bad Jean, Tango on.

Archie at Fifteen

Fifteen years ago, Sue and I were reeling from the loss of Louie’s younger brother Floyd. The pain of his loss was extreme both because we loved him and because it had been preventable. Floyd was a wonderful little dog and remarkably close to his big brother Lou. It stings to this day, right now in fact as I think back on it. Louie had softened measurably since we’d brought Floyd home. Fearing a return to his earlier ways we began in earnest to look for a similarly sized companion dog to fill the terrible void left by Floyd’s loss. Our search eventually brought us to a farmhouse in Exeter, RI where a litter of Jack Russell Terriers were up for adoption. Only one was left, a chubby little white and brown fellow that had escaped attention while his litter mates had found homes. Even in the big workman’s hands of Eugene, the breeder, it was apparent that Archie was, like Lou before him, big for his breed. “He’s a fat little guy.” said his son Eugene Jr. We were smitten, Lou was somewhat indifferent, perhaps understanding on some level what we were up to and perhaps not altogether approving of it.

We had just moved into the house we’d purchased in Warwick. Situated near City Park, we were looking forward to walks in the woods with Louie and Floyd. Those days would not come as we’d imagined but with this helpless pup who for weeks I could not help but call “Chet” for my friends Jon and Maria’s JRT who I saw when I looked down at him. His name came to us after quite a lot of brainstorming. The comic strip "Andy Capp" came to mind, the little British guy with his newsboy cap and a ciggy hanging off his lip, but he didn’t strike us as an “Andy” for some reason, so I began to think of other comic strip characters, there had to be a gem there somewhere. “Jughead” came up and was quickly dispensed with but of course you can't consider “Jughead” without some thought of “Archie”. We looked at each other, Sue and I. We knew we’d hit upon it. He was Archie and that’s all there was to it. Over the years, he's picked up the nicknames, "Bear" and "Scrapper", depending on the mood.

It wouldn’t take long to realize what we’d gotten ourselves into. Though we hadn’t been influenced by Jack Russell Terriers in the media, eg. Skip, Wishbone, Eddie etc. we had not done our homework. Chet was the only real point of reference. Chet was funny, smart, enormously entertaining and friendly as can be. He’d clearly seeped into my consciousness. Archie was different though. Not as bouncy, there was a nervous quality to him. He’d been born in the summer and while the impact of thunder, lightning and fireworks are well known to me now I understood next to nothing about early canine development at that point. Nutricalm for dogs and later Thundershirts were both heaven sent but there would be years of intense panic whenever those terrifying sounds were present. An early encounter, in hindsight, during a fear impact period, with an off leash dog triggered a panicked race around my leg. On a leash he’d unwittingly tangled himself around my leg, aggravating the situation. I tore into the dog's owner, “Is that a leash in your hand?”, “Uhhh,...yes”, “Then maybe you should put it on your goddamn dog huh?” He leashed his dog, a goofy, harmless Golden Retriever but the damage was done, Archie was never completely at ease around other dogs from that point forward. Archie was a handful in ways we'd never encountered with Louie or Floyd. A preference for TV remotes, sneakers and wallets would develop. I wasn’t a trainer then, but between Floyd’s loss and our new bundle of joy I had all the reasons I would ever need to get some help. First, and with no sense whatsoever of the impact it would have on my life, I worked with my friend and fellow trainer Ron (who’d also introduced me to Sue. Do you think I might owe him one or two?) Archie and Lou would be the first two dogs I’d ever train. I was a traditional trainer in those days. Choke chains, pinch and e-collars were in my toolbox and regrettably on my dogs. Miles is the beneficiary of the mistakes I made working with Louie, Archie and later Reno. They were an integral part of my learning process. I think (hope) they’ve forgiven my shortcomings. I’ve tried to make it up to them.

I love Archie intensely. He’s been a gigantic pain in the butt throughout his life but I think I’m finally old enough to appreciate how much I’ve learned because of who he is. There was never a conscious decision on Archie’s part to engage in some twisted, life long, altruistic endeavor to shape me into an empathetic dog trainer. “Archie you asshole.” was likely the first use of an obscenity my son Keir ever heard. No dog’s made me angrier, more frustrated and no dog, not even Reno, has given me more to think about when it comes to the bifurcated  approach of behavior modification coupled with management. I’ll come clean. Archie is the reason that while I love dogs in general, I’m a big fan of terriers. Man do I love that defiant quality. That, “Who’s gonna make me?” bravado that seems imbued in so many of them.I can remember not caring for them much as a kid, terriers seemed,...grouchy but Archie and other dogs like him have grown on me in no small way. The attitude is infectious and rarely fails to make me smile. Over the years I've tried to relate that to every client with a Cairn, Scottie, Westie, etc. Oh, and Jack Russells of course. You've got to love them if you're ever going to put up with them.


Fifteen years ago I was a different person. Less wise, less fat, less grey and by no means a dog trainer. I wasn’t a father yet either. Keir’s entry on the scene brought to light one of Archie’s most endearing qualities, his lifelong fondness for Keir. At his most frustrating, I was always impressed with Archie's intelligence, taking to anything I spent the time to teach him. At his physical peak he was something to behold, a natural athlete, but when it all shakes out, it was his obvious and enduring affection for Keir both Sue and I appreciate the most. Tomorrow Archie turns fifteen years old. His hearing has started to fade as has his eyesight. He’s not the marvelous physical specimen he once was. What he remains in spite of these losses is content and that sustains me as I wrestle with being Dad to two geriatric dogs (Louie will be seventeen in October). Always assessing their quality of life, asking the question, “Are they still happy?” As I type this, Archie is asleep, stretching from time to time on the rug by my feet. He is happy, and I am too. Thank you brother, and happy birthday. 

I Am Spartacus

There's a well known scene from the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film Spartacus where, following defeat at the hands of a Roman legion, a general asks the surviving members of the slave army, "Who among you is Spartacus?" Kirk Douglas, playing the titular role, stands and says, "I am Spartacus". Then, out of loyalty to their friend and leader, his comrades rise, one by one identifying themselves, "I am Spartacus", "I am Spartacus" and so on. As a kid most of Kubrick's work went over my head but that movie meant something to me and in particular that scene. To say those words meant certain death but each man stood together side by side no matter the cost. It's a strong message that speaks to what's best in all of us and how difficult it can be to be that kind of person, it's a decision very few people will ever make, not with those consequences. That's been on my mind the last few days since first seeing an invitation to a fund raising breakfast for Defenders of Animals. I've been aware of the D.O.A. for several years and while individuals within the group no doubt have feelings that may not hold in lock step with the group's mission, the organization is not held in universally high regard in private conversations. "Exploitative", "Sensationalist" have been used to describe a group who's name suggests the most altruistic of intentions. For myself, these conversations have tinted my view but I avoid drawing conclusions from anything but primary sources. That invitation was my first primary source. It described two people I consider friends as mindless, blood thirsty hooligans (Hey, one hyperbolic rant deserves another, no?) Recklessly presiding over the future of two pit bull terriers. Katenna Jones and Dave Holden were the targets dujour in this D.O.A's latest effort to whip the rank and file into a furious lather. No one who knows know either Katenna or Dave would see that invitation without a resounding, "What the...?"

                      I'm going to backtrack a little because to understand where I'm going with this I have to tell you what I think the real problem is. Where the attention of Defenders and the like should be focused. Poorly bred dogs, many of them bully breeds, from puppy mills, hobby breeders etc. Individuals and groups with little or no regard for the future of the dogs they're breeding and the unpredictable consequences that often occur because of what they do. The toll is difficult to quantify because it expands beyond the actual monetary impact to real pain and suffering and sometimes death. That's the problem and anyone who's spent any time in a private or municipal shelter sees it every single day. I've been shown the door at evaluations more times than I can remember for explaining to dog owners that their pet store dogs likely came from puppy mills. "But if I didn't buy him, somebody else would have" and the cycle continues and the dogs are unwitting, innocent participants in this most existential of quandaries, "To be or not to be?"

                       The mess is left for others to deal with and that brings me back to the central theme of this entry. Katenna and Dave, both former founding members of the Rhode Island Animal Welfare Coalition, co-workers at the RISPCA and current members of Friends of Fido. Katenna, a graduate of Brown University, published author and shelter worker, was among the first on the scene to help in Joplin, MO following the tornado that destroyed that town. She's a certified behaviorist, worked with American Humane and spear headed an effort to improve the lives of all the animals at the Providence Animal Rescue League, a project I'm proud to say I helped her with. At the RISPCA Dave and Katenna worked together investigating animal cruelty cases doing real, meaningful things to improve the lives of the animals and sometimes the humans they lived with as well. It's not something anyone can do. It requires brains, compassion, and skill. It requires a degree of focus unhindered by the desire to judge. I've known both of these people for years and I ask you, do they sound like the source of the problem to you? They clearly are not and yet the invitations treats them as if they've been commanding a death camp. This in the wake of evaluations that lead to two dogs being euthanized at a local shelter. This is not about kill vs. no kill shelters. That's a book not a dopey blog entry and I'm not the person to write it. I know where I stand on this issue however and while I bring only a fraction of the expertise either of these two do to their jobs, I have logged hundreds of evaluations on dogs at my local shelter over the years. Some of those evaluations were mitigating factors in whether a dog was going to be made available for adoption or considered dangerous and euthanized. Temperament tests are far from perfect and there are different ways to do them, some considered more scientific/accurate predictors than others however, the ones I've seen share a common theme which is fundamentally how a dog responds to different stimuli including play, handling, food and loud noises. It is a snapshot of a dog, in a moment, responding to you (large, heavy male with glasses and a beard) in a small room in a strange, scarey place. Of course these tests aren't perfect, they also are not the source of the problem. Temperament test are typically done with big picture sensibilities in mind. The more information you have on any particular dog the more effectively you can screen applicants for adoption. The more effectively you can screen potential applicants the greater the chance of a successful adoption. Less information, lower likelihood. That's the corollary. Successful adoptions can and often do have secondary effects. Chief among them are that families that adopt one shelter dog will adopt other shelter dogs, I've adopted two, nearly all of my training/behavior friends, including Katenna, have shelter dogs at home as well. Friends, family and co-workers aware of your satisfaction with a shelter adoption may choose the same route rather than go to a hobby breeder or pet store who gets their puppies from puppy mills. Don't be fooled by semantics, puppies in pet stores come from mills, period. No thoughtful breeder leaves the all too important vetting process to a part time employee at a pet store. In the starkest of contrasts, an adoption that goes poorly has the opposite effect and because the connection that dogs in shelters often come from hobby breeders and pet stores (mills) is rarely made, the next dog often comes from one of those two sources and the cycle continues. Awareness and education are good starting points in stifling the flow of unfortunate animals into shelters. Temperament tests like MYM Safer and Assess-A-Pet are another and that means having smart, experienced and compassionate people to carry the tests out, people who understand the big picture. No one who knows either Dave or Katenna could reasonably dispute their intentions or their qualifications. They personify all of these qualities and where they should be the object of our collective admiration, they've been offered up as hapless fodder to otherwise caring individuals who, if they did a little homework, would know as I do that these are good human beings, the best among us in fact.

                      Everyone in the shelter/rescue world can have a discourse about the best way to address the issues associated with dogs in shelters, kill/no-kill etc. There's not a reasonable person I know who would expect anything less. To demonize these two people however, neither with a cruel bone in their bodies, is absurd, dumb and a waste of perfectly well intentioned angst. My message to Defenders of Animals and it's membership is simple, focus your energy on the real problem. We all know what it is so stop with the nonsense already, stop and think. There's not a soul alive who knows Dave and Katenna who'd believe for moment that they're not the good guys. If they aren't then I'm not either, I am Spartacus.