Westminster Dog Show 2010

The 2010 Best In Show Trophy was awarded to "Ch Roundtown Mercedes Of Maryscot," a.k.a. "Sadie," a Scottish Terrier

Tuesday, February 16th was final night of the 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. There were 2,500 dogs representing 173 breeds entered Madison Square Garden in pursuit of Best In Show honors. The Irish Red and White Setter, Norwegian Buhund and Pyrenean Shepherd were the new breeds in the show.

At the Westminster dog show 2010, Scottish Terrier 'Sadie' took best in show. She's the eighth Scottie to win at Westminster.

Ebony and the UPS Truck

My dog Ebony was first introduced to the UPS Truck by our neighbor's border collie, Emma, who thought the truck was an object to be chased. Ebony is part border collie and part black lab, so the two of them were seized with excitement to have the job of chasing the UPS Truck down the driveway. Unless I was home, they fulfilled their job.

Moving away, I was glad this job no longer fell to Ebony. She now resides behind an in-ground fence and does not have access to the driveway. Recently, the UPS Truck arrived and I found my dog sitting patiently, tail swishing the ground, next to the garage in anticipation of the truck. When the gentleman handed me my package, he also tossed Ebony a treat. He told me that she use to bark at the truck. Now, she eats out of his hand.



This morning as Ebony and I walked the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington, the UPS Truck was traveling alongside the trail to an adjacent house. Ebony noticed! She went to the fence that separated the trail from the neighboring property and did her patient sit, tail wagging. As the UPS driver passed by Ebony on his way out, he stopped to give Ebony a treat!

Now I ask you, who is trained?

Dogs As Football Players

Here is the doggy football line-up:

DEFENSE:

Safety – These guys are hard hitters, but they can also run very fast. - Dalmatian, Samoyed

Linebacker – Linebackers are big and fast, like a Mastiff, Bullmastif, Bull Dog, German Shepherd, Doberman, Rottweiler, St. Bernard, Newfoundland, Akita, Alaskan Malamutes, Airdeale Terriers, Weimaraners, Borzois and Giant Schnauzers.

Cornerback – These guys are fast, very athletic and can really jump. (It's their job to try to swat the ball away or intercept it when it's thrown.) – Australian Shepherd, Australian Cattle Dog, Siberian Husky, Rodesian Ridgeback,

Defensive End – These tough guys are big and fast because their job is "containment". Their job is to attack the passer or stop the runner. - Pit Bull, Labrador retriever, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Gordon Setter, Dogo Argentino

Tackle – Players at this position have to get by the players that are blocking them and rush the passer. They're big and strong. - Saint Bernard, Bernese Mountain Dog

OFFENSE:

Quarterback – This guy calls all the shots. He's fast. He can scramble. He's smart. He has to read what's going on and react quickly to pass, hand off the ball or run it himself. – Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever (some of them), German Shepherd, Collie,

Wide Receiver – These dogs are speedy and they specialize in catching passes. They need to outrun the guys that are blocking them and get open for a pass. - Greyhound, Standard Poodle, Boxer, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Whippet

Tackle – These big guys block both running and passing plays. - Saint Bernard, Bernese Mountain Dog,

Guard – These big tough guys are also blockers who really get the job done. - Pit Bull, Akita, Shar Pei, Chow-chow

Center – This guy snaps the ball to the quarterback, then blocks. -Komondorok , Old English Sheepdog

Tight End – These guys are a "hybrid" of sorts, kind of a mix between a blocker and a pass receiver. A good tight end has to be big and fast. - Pit Bull, Labrador retriever,

Running Back – fast and sneaky – Border Collie, Jack Russell, Greyhound,

Fullback – This guy does it all. He's a power runner, a blocker and a short receiver. This is the guy that who creates a path for the running back to break through and really run the ball. – Boxer, Belgian Sheepdog and Chesapeake Bay Retriever

Kicker / Punter – Kicker – This guy is a specialist with a very specific talent. He is the guy with the "leg". He's not as big, but he knows how to kick the ball accurately and for a great distance. - Jack Russell Terrier, Shetland Sheepdog, and bull terrier

Gunner – This guy is also very fast. He only plays during kick-offs and punts. It's his job to run down the field very fast to tackle the guy who catches the punt or the kick. That means he has to be very quick, but also strong. – American Staffordshire Terrier

OTHER:

Coach – He is a strategist who knows everything there is to know about the sport. He has played the game himself in the past, but now he runs the show. - Bulldog, Boston Terrier ,Irish Setter, Pointer

Cheerleader – All glitz and glam, these "babes" put on a show of their own while promoting team spirit. - Poodle, Bichon, Rat Terrier, Pomeranian, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, Maltese, Pekingese, Lhasa Apso, Chinese Crested

Mutt-i-grees Curriculum

The Mutt-i-grees Curriculum, made possible by the Millan Foundation, is a collaboration with North Shore Animal League and Yale University's "School of the 21st Century."

The curriculum is an innovative approach to humane education, and embraces learning within the context of the emerging area of emotional intelligence and social skills.

The Millan Foundation wishes to generate public and media attention on the plight of dogs and cats awaiting adoption in shelters and enhance the status and desirability of these animals, most of which are mixed breed "Mutt-i-grees."

Students will learn essential skills - such as caring for others, showing empathy and respect, building relationships and acting ethically and responsibly - and how those apply in their interactions with peers, adults and animals.

The first of the curriculum's four phases focuses on preschool and the primary grades and started in September, 2009. The largest gift to date by the Foundation is a $250,000 grant to North Shore Animal League America and Yale University's "School of the 21st Century" to launch the Mutt-i-grees® humane education curriculum.

Animal Groups Join Together To Save Lives

What do you do when you need to get 47 small rescue dogs from the west coast to the east coast in a single day? You call in the air support! The Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation joined forces with the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, Last Chance for Animals, Animal Advocates Alliance, and North Shore Animal League America to fly the animals from overcrowded shelters in Southern California where euthanasia is eminent to the North Shore Animal League's facilities in Port Washington, NY.


The trip began on Sunday, January 31st and took thirteen hours in a private plane provided by Cloud Nine Rescue from San Bernadino to New York, where they landed in the early hours of February 1st. The move is expected to yield positive adoption results on the east coast, where small dogs are enjoying increasing popularity. Once safely checked in at the NSAL's facility, each dog received complete professional medical care and screenings, behavior evaluations, spay/neuter procedures, and grooming. Once this process is completed, the dogs will be adopted into carefully screened homes.


Congratulations to the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, Last Chance for Animals, Animal Advocates Alliance, and North Shore Animal League America on a job well done!

Dogs Predict Storms?

A few clouds begin to gather overhead on what otherwise is a sunny day. You wonder whether that thunderstorm they had been predicting will actually arrive. Your dog already knows the answer, and he's getting frantic about it.

Dogs seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to predicting storms. Long before the skies darken and the rain falls, thunderstorm phobic dogs become agitated, fearful, and clingy. Before we know that a storm is on its way, our dogs may have felt it, heard it, or even smelled it.

How can they do this? And why aren't they doing the weather on the news?

Canines are more sensitive to drops in barometric pressure than humans. Barometric pressure is the pressure of the atmosphere. A drop in pressure means that conditions may be ripe for a storm to develop. A dog may learn to associate this pressure drop with the arrival of a storm.

Changes in the static electric field may trigger the same anticipation. Dogs may also pick up the subtle vibrations that precede a storm. A small rumble may be almost imperceptible to us, but not to a dog.

It is also possible for a dog to hear a storm. Dogs can hear at much higher and lower frequencies than we do. A dog can hear a low rumble that a person would miss. Another possibility is that dogs may smell storms coming. Dogs' noses are so sensitive that they can detect concentrations of chemicals in the low parts-per-million range. In fact, dogs' noses are said to be more sensitive than a mass spectrometer. Lightning ionizes air with the formation of ozone – which has a characteristic metallic smell. Perhaps dogs detect this odor, or some other odor associated with the storm.

Finally, a dog may learn to interpret darkened skies and cloud patterns with a storm. You may only learn of the storms imminent arrival through observation of your dog's behavior. For some dogs, thunderstorms are cataclysmic events. They are so frightened by the storm that they may bark, hide, urinate, or defecate, and some dogs become destructive, particularly when forced to endure a storm alone. Others may react to the sound, but may remain relatively calm. The more anxious the dog in thunderstorms, the more he may react before the storm actually arrives.

The Science of Canine Emotions

Learn the science behind your dog's feelings.

Laughter

Have you ever heard your dog's panting during play and thought it sounded like a chuckle? Turns out, you might be right! Researcher Patricia Simonet from Sierra Nevada College discovered that certain breathy, excited exhalations could be the canine version of laughter. Her team brought a parabolic microphone to a park and, from a distance, recorded the sounds that dogs made while playing. They discovered a special exhalation that was different from normal panting. Later, the team played the sound for other dogs who started to play after hearing the "laugh." They also discovered that it helped to calm shelter dogs who were under stress.

Shame

When you come home and find out your dog got into the trash again, you may find comfort in the fact that your dog "knows he is wrong" because he hides from you in shame. Unfortunately, canines don't make these kinds of rational connections. Instead, your dog is picking up on the change in your chemistry and body language and reacting to that. He knows you're upset, but he doesn't know why.

Jealousy

A researcher at the University of Vienna in Austria named Friederike Range discovered that dogs do have a sense of "fair play." Her team began with a group of dogs who already knew the command to "shake" and would give their paw whether they received a treat or not. However, if they saw that another dog received a piece of food for the behavior while they did not, they stopped! Dogs are not the only ones who are insulted when they aren't treated fairly. A similar experiment found that monkeys also become jealous if their peers were rewarded and they weren't. It is likely these behaviors resulted because both animals live in cooperative societies.

Grief

Dogs don't grieve in the same way that humans do, but they do experience sadness when a pack member passes away. If your family experiences a loss, your dog may react by displaying signs of distress: loss of appetite, fear, depression, sleeping too much or too little, and anxiety. In 1996, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals conducted a Companion Animal Mourning Project which found that 66% of dogs exhibited four or more behavioral changes after losing a pet companion. Give your pet time to cope with the loss. The study found that most dogs returned to normal after two weeks but some took as long as six months. You can help by maintaining their routine and going through your own grief. Your dog will have trouble moving on if you are unable to. If you are afraid these symptoms may be the result of illness, take your dog to the vet to make sure.

Joy

Anyone who has watched a dog play knows that our canine companions experience joy! The famous naturalist Charles Darwin noted that "under the expectation of any great pleasure, dogs bound and jump about in an extravagant manner, and bark for joy." Play helps animals to build social bonds, build trust, and learn to cooperate which can better their chances of survival. It also hones cognitive skills and helps in hunting and mating.