All Pet Airline? Stay Tuned...

Binder and Wiesel used their consulting backgrounds and business savvy to start Pet Airways in 2005. The last four years have been spent designing their fleet of five planes according to new four-legged requirements, dealing with FAA regulations and setting up airport schedules. The two say they're overwhelmed with the response. Flights on Pet Airways are already booked up for the next two months. Pet Airways will fly a pet between five major cities—New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. The $250 one-way fare is comparable to pet fees at the largest U.S. airlines.

Keep an eye on this one. Airlines are typically meant to fly people not pets, and that's why I avoid flying dogs if at all possible. This new airline might just fit the bill. Do you have any experience with Pet Airways and what is your opinion of them (please be polite and factual).

Criminal Charges? That's Criminal!

Corky and Koo-Boosh are the convicted law breakers, but it's northeast Phoenix homeowner Renee Maurer who was criminally charged for her two vocal dogs. Maurer's predicament mirrors similar barking-dog conflicts across the Valley: Anxious or lonely dogs bark incessantly, causing tempers to flare and neighbors to use city noise ordinances.

This is another example of a silly, overkill dog law. Dog barking violations shouldn't be prosecuted criminally. Sorry. That's a miscarriage of justice and abuse of police powers. There are huge issues here, including Constitutional problems with this kind of thing. Someday, Phoenix will be the one sued... and they will lose... a LOT of money. In the meantime, control your barking dog and move out to the suburbs.

Ozzy Osbourne's Dog Eaten By Coyote

ROCKER Ozzy Osbourne's favourite pet dog has been eaten by a coyote inside the grounds of his mansion in Los Angeles. The Osbournes now have 18 dogs at their sprawling home. Mrs Osbourne is a regular at the Los Angeles stray dog home and often gives homeless dogs a new home.

Really too bad. Many people underestimate the cunning and ferocity of wild animals. They think their pets can escape, or fight back... and they can't. I've always figured Ozzy's a good guy. Really sorry this happened.

Aggressive Puggle

I keep hearing from people who have aggressive Puggles (Pug / Beagle mix bred dog). This confirms what I predicted a couple of years ago regarding this new breed. People are buying this designer dog not considering the training needs of the dog, and making tons of mistakes. It's not the dog's fault! If you are having problems, or better yet want to prevent problems, then you need to hire a professional trainer. Simple as that.

I've met a number of very nice Puggles. It's not the breed, it's the unrealistic expectations of new dog owners, and them not hiring a professional to help them as problems arise.

The Kids Should Go To Jail... But, What About The Dog?

Four children between the ages of 11 and 15 used a pit bull to attack two women in SeaTac on Sunday evening after one of the victims questioned the group's treatment of the dog.

There's something seriously wrong with a bunch of kids that would command a dog to attack an innocent woman. These aren't "children", they are thugs! These fools, if convicted, should go to jail of some sort, and be forced to do counseling and community service. But, what of the dog? It is now being held by Animal Control. The dog was being abused, was taunted by the kids to the point it was ready to attack, and then it bit an innocent person. The dog is innocent, and unless the dog has been wrecked by abuse and is now vicious, it should be given to a good home. We'll see what the courts do with this dog.

Dog & Cat Bites

Dog and cat bites make up about 1 percent of emergency room visits in the United States.

Some facts presented in the journal:

* Women and the elderly are most at risk of being bitten by a cat.
* Men in general and those aged under 20 of both sexes are most likely to be injured.
* Most bite exposures occur in young children, involve unrestrained dogs on the owner's property, and about 20 percent involve a non-neutered dog.
* Risk is highest in young boys aged 5 to 9 years, due to their small size and lack of understanding of provocative behavior.

Severe infections can occur in about 20 percent of all cases, the researchers state, and are caused by Pasteurella, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium, and Capnocytophaga bacteria from the animal's mouth, plus possibly other pathogens from the human's skin.

In other words... don't do things that will cause an animal to bite you. or someone else Too often we blame the animal, when instead, we should look at what we are doing to the animal.

Three Dog Rule At Off Leash Parks?

Six months after the city passed a law limiting each person to three dogs at its nine off-leash dog parks, scores of dog walkers far exceed their legal mutt max.

How many dogs should you be allowed to take to an off leash park at any one time? I think this is an interesting question. I think this is a question that must balance freedom, reasonableness and legal liability. The freedom argument would say that you'd be able to do whatever you wanted to, wherever you wanted to. For the most part, I'm a live and let live kind of guy: be responsible and take care of your own business so it doesn't affect others, and leave me alone so I can do my life. Then again, I'm an experience dog trainer and behaviorist. I have worked as head trainer at a doggie daycare, and at a certain point, you get to the point where you need a reasonable dog handler-to-dogs ratio in order to ensure the safety of the dogs. In daycare for kids, you need a certain number of supervising adults per child. There isn't any similar kind of regulation for doggie daycares or kennels, but common sense tells you that at some point, one individual can't supervise an unlimited amount of dogs. I have seen a number of homes with 5 or more dogs, and the management of the dogs gets pretty difficult at that point. I can't imagine taking 32 dogs, from different homes, to an off leash park. Lastly, there is the issue of liability. The more dogs you have to supervise, the more potential that something could go wrong in an unregulated environment. I think that the 3 dog per handler rule is a good balance. I am of the opinion that these dog walkers are using the off leash parks as a kind of doggie daycare, where they get use of the premises for free, and are transfering most of the cost and risk to the public. It is therefore unreasonable and isn't what these parks were created for.

BEING A DOG’S PACK LEADER

I’ve seen, heard and read a lot written about being the pack leader of your dog. Most of it is wrong. I’ve seen on one extreme where people say there‘s no such thing as dominance or pack leadership. These folks are so into either feel good, politically correct training approaches, or into operant conditioning, that they miss the part that dogs can have a relationship with, and feelings towards, a person. On the other hand, I’ve seen people who so thoroughly dominate dogs that the dogs are treated as abused slaves. They are always warning about the dominant dog, and not realizing they are just bullying the dogs they train. Then, there’s a third way, which I’m going to describe here.

A Couple Of Quotes

“The dependence of a dog on his master has two quite distinct origins; it is largely due to a lifelong maintenance of those ties which bind the young wild dog to its mother, but which in the domestic dog remains part of a lifelong preservation of youthful characters. The other root of fidelity arises from the pack loyalty which binds the wild dog to the pack leader or respectively from the affection which the individual members of the pack feel for each other.” – Konrad Lorenz

“I like to sum it up for handlers by telling them they have to make it clear to their dog that they know the secret to success… The dog needs to learn to accept guidance from the handler. The key word here is guidance… I take the approach that the dog does not know what we want from him. I know, thousands of dogs have been trained with heavy corrections working just fine. But let’s not forget the thousands that have been ruined by the same methods. I am not against corrections, but I feel that a correction has to be warranted. And the only things that warrant a correction are defiance and disobedience. But, I have to be sure that that is what I am dealing with. The days of jerking a dog around by his neck until he figures out how to heel are in the past.” – Armin Winkler

No Such Thing As Pack Leadership?

I remember receiving some emails from “Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst” a couple of years ago. It was quite an interesting conversation… and basically not very productive. They don’t much care for the concept of “pack”. Instead, it’s all about operant conditioning. So much is left out of the training. So much is left out of the understanding of behavior when you box yourself into a sterile and limited theory. This kind of training is very limited, because it takes the dog and handler relationship out of the equation and substitutes techniques and tools. It isn’t that effective. Or you get these do-gooders that know nothing about a dog having to obey when in the midst of an emergency. They abhor teaching dogs that there are times when they need to listen and follow the commands of their handlers.

Too Much Focus On Pack Leadership?

Then, you read about these guys that seem to only talk about dominance and the pack. Once again, they miss so much in the training process. They say they are doing leadership, dominance and pack exercises, yet they don’t know much about those concepts if you read what they have to say, or talk to their past customers. Sometimes, the training goes into the realm of being abusive. Even if the training isn’t abusive, it isn’t all that effective, either.

What Is Proper Leadership?

Proper leadership involves two elements. The first element is proper bonding with a dog. That bond is what is going to make the relationship a cooperative one; it causes the dog to be affectionate and seek affection from you; it contributes greatly towards proper attentiveness; it gets the dog to look to you to see what you’re up to and what you want; it builds trust; and sometimes it gets the dog to protect you. The second element is learning how to provide guidance to your dog. A guide is someone who leads and directs his dog to obtain objectives; it is someone who regulates the dog’s behaviors; it is someone who “explains” and helps the dog to understand; and one who gives direction to the dog’s day to day lifestyle and behavior, including giving commands.

Training that goes outside these boundaries isn’t going to be very effective, and will either harm the dog or cause the dog to harm someone else or another animal.

By Sam Basso
Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved