Oh, Behave
B&Tea — Our Training Blog
Dipping your toe in the water or already deeply immersed? If you can’t get enough, check out the Behavior & Training blog for fun stories on training triumphs and foibles, cat and dog foster challenges and happy endings along with general musings on living life well with animals.
Cat Whispering
This blog post is authored by Candace Key Jax and Zev needed some time to settle in. Here they are curious and confident! When I’m sitting in room 3 of Cat Adoptions, curled up like a pretzel in the smallest cat kennel, facing the window, talking to myself and slowly blinking my eyes, I must look a bit daft. From the hall, passersby can’t see the young cats that are tucked deep into their safe-place cubbies as I try [...]
Old Dog Syndrome
Chloe comforts her friend, Sally After a lifetime of living with dogs, my wife and I thought we knew nearly everything that could turn into serious issues as they grew old. We thought we could recognize all the signs that the end was near - that awful moment that all pet guardians must face. But we were wrong. A recent episode involving one of our dogs – a 13-year-old senior named Sally – introduced us to a condition we [...]
EXTREME POTTY
Watching the sheeting rain from the comfort of the front porch. I live in Northern California where currently we are being deluged by what is known as an atmospheric river. That is a poetic way to say it’s raining cats and dogs, which is an old school way to say there is a brick ton of water, hail and snow falling out of the sky. Those of you with dogs will know where this is going. Those with cats [...]
Judging (not judging) the Pampered Pedigreed Pooches
Beautiful Malinois, Baloo We all have sleepless moments in the wee hours staring at the bedroom ceiling while pondering unanswerable questions. Like – how do bald people list hair color on their driver’s license? Another troubling uncertainty – how do farmers grow seedless fruit? Here’s a puzzle that makes me re-examine the imperfections on my ceiling: How do judges pick Best in Show at the glitzy dog competitions? How can a judge look at a row of dogs sitting expectantly [...]
Scenting Part 2: Putting Your Big Human Brain on Hold
The most eager student I currently have a flock of eager students who are anticipating their first ORT (Odor Recognition Test) this fall. All of them have been with me since foundation classes, tossing meaty treats in boxes, and now they are fine tuning the look of a Trained Formal Response on birch, anise and clove. They have learned the hard way not to crowd their dogs. They can analyze the flow of odor based on wind direction, moisture [...]
Scenting and Shelter Dogs; Doing What Comes Naturally
Fun and games at MH What do the following titles “Little and Proud,” “The Girls Have It,” “Four Queens and a King,” and “Handler, Who Needs a Handler?” have in common? If you guessed it, then you clearly follow the antics of the Shelter Scents Team as headed and documented by Burt Greenspan. Burt, Donna Kalal and Peter Ornstein run the most extraordinary canine enrichment program at Marin Humane. The rest of you might be wondering, “What the heck [...]
