Archive for February, 2011
Tips for Hiking with Small Dogs | The Bark
“Another thing to remember about small dogs is that they won’t self-limit the way larger ones will,” says Michelle Fredette, owner of Portland’s dog-trekking service Wag Masters. Your little one might run herself into trouble, exhausting herself or overheating if you don’t help her take it easy. If your dog is new to hiking, it’s best to check with your vet and then start small, with short hikes on easy trails. Watch to see that she’s not excessively panting, wobbly on her legs or plain pooped out. If there’s a difficult stretch of trail or if she gets too tired, be ready to lead her an easier way, or carry her. You might find a small pouch or backpack to use as a carrier if you’ll be hiking farther than, say, one mile per pound your dog weighs
Barrio Dogs addresses the causes of neglect
The nonprofit organization sends volunteers to schools to talk about pet care and responsibility and assists low-income residents who want to improve their animals quality of life, which can include providing free fences. Zenteno envisions a resource center to help people find low-cost spay and neuter programs and regular veterinarians.”One of our really important programs is called the Barrio Watch Dog program where we try to really encourage the residents to report animal abuse and neglect — chained-up dogs, animals that are left in cages and pens,” she said. “People in our area just think thats the norm. And they dont really take responsibility in reporting. I think its vital that we get law enforcement involved, because if we dont, then people are going to continue to do this.”
via Barrio Dogs founders is a neighbor on a mission | Life | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.
Follow the link below for adorable picture of pit bull and bunnies
“She was initially quite shy, but soon came around with the help of my other dogs,” Wolf says. “She is a young girl, no more than 18 months old. She will have no handicaps really. She does have a severe neck wound with a lot of scar tissue there, and will never be able to wear a collar. Her voice is a little funny because of it too. If I can figure a way to get the funds, I am going to see about having the vet reduce and modify the excess scar tissue to make a smoother and less restricted skin area there. Otherwise a healthy, smart girl that will be up for adoption.” For now, Parfait is keeping company with a menagerie. She met the bunnies a few days before Wolf took the photo she sent to us. She has also cuddled with lambs and chicks. Check out more of the multi-species healing at Rocky Ridge in our slideshow.
Visit to a Japanese cat cafe: lots of pictures and video
At the request of a regular reader here, I have betaken myself and the kids intrepid reporter that I am to the Neko Cafe Leon in Yokohama. Yes, there really is such a thing–a coffee shop with a separate room filled with kitties to play with…for a sizable chunk of change $6 each for 30 minutes, and an additional $2/10min each after that–and you have to buy at least a drink.
Scientists have good evidence that handler’s beliefs cause ‘false positive’ performance by ‘sniffer’ dogs
Drug- and explosives-sniffing dog/handler teams’ performance is affected by human handlers’ beliefs, possibly in response to subtle, unintentional handler cues, a study by researchers at UC Davis has found.
The study, published in the January issue of the journal Animal Cognition, found that detection-dog/handler teams erroneously “alerted,” or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times — particularly when the handler believed that there was scent present.
“It isn’t just about how sensitive a dog’s nose is or how well-trained a dog is. There are cognitive factors affecting the interaction between a dog and a handler that can impact the dog’s performance,” said Lisa Lit, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology and the study’s lead author.
via Explosive- and drug-sniffing dog performance is affected by their handlers’ beliefs.
