pet connection

“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.” – Groucho Marx

Looks as if Brian the neighborly contractor will be figuring out the poultry netting after all, but not until I give it one more try.

Yes, the poultry netting is easy. Yes, the instructions are clear. No, I shouldn’t be having any problems. But … I’m about as handy as a duck-billed platypus.  And maybe not even that much.

The good news is: I overcame my fear of wiring, electricity and shock. I ran a grounding wire. I zip-tied all the wires neatly out of the way. I spliced. I wire-nutted.  Frankly, I have this damn poultry net totally wired.

The bad news is: It doesn’t work. I know it’s arcing somewhere, because I can hear the clicking when I walk down the fence line. I just can’t figure out where the problem is.

I ended yesterday with a desire to kill myself by throwing my body into the poultry netting. Except: 1) It wasn’t working; and 2) Even if it were, it wouldn’t kill me, since it’s just not that powerful.

Instead, I made a gin and tonic and called it a night.

This morning I skipped the fence dilemma and worked on the chicken area. I spread fresh corn, dried corn and crushed oyster shells around the yard, and then split a bale of hay over the area so they’d have to dig for the goodies. Cleaned out the laying boxes and put fresh hay in them. Reorganized some of the roosting poles because the babies aren’t so little anymore and everyone needs some room.

Then I clipped the feathers on the right wings of all the chickens so they can’t get any lift to get over the two layers of fencing — chain link and netting — that stand between them and the dogs.

That netting will by electrified someday soon — as God is my witness — but having a chicken fly over it into the dog area will negate all the effort I’ve put into getting it to work.

The chickens didn’t much like the wing-clipping, but they seemed to like the re-organized yard: By noon I had five fresh eggs.  Seems like they’re rewarding me for all my efforts on their behalf.

I asked Woody to carry one of the eggs into the house. I wanted to see if he’d do it without breaking it or trying to eat it. He is such a good boy! He carried it gently, sat next to me in the kitchen and pushed the egg into my hand with his tongue when I said, “Give.”

He’s getting that egg for dinner. It’s completely undamaged, but I’m not that keen on the dog-spit, so I figure he deserves it.

Image: Woody will hold anything you ask him to. He is such a sweet, sweet boy.

Many years ago I thought I knew a lot about dogs. But now, the more time I spend with dogs and the more I work with them and write about them, the less I seem to know. Funny, huh? Or maybe it’s just that  I’m more open to letting the dogs teach me.

Archer, our youngest dog, is still in the throes of adolescence. He’s not being too obnoxious with my husband and me,  just an occasional, “Sit? I’ve never heard that word before!” But Archer is pushing Bashir, our 5-year-old, who is the big dog on campus.

This morning when I let the dogs outside, Archer made a rush for Bashir. No aggression but more “mobbing” as if to push Bashir around a little.  Bashir handled it very well, and I’m so happy I saw it. As Archer charged towards him, Bashir got very tall and very still. Bashir’s mouth got tight and I saw just the least little flicker of a lip lifting over a canine tooth.

Archer immediately slowed and lowered himself, still moving towards Bashir.  But instead of mobbing him, he began licking Bashir’s muzzle. After a few seconds, Bashir began to relax and Archer took off in another direction.

The body language of both dogs was so wonderful; their messages were conveyed so easily and so simply. The incident was over, with no growling, snarling or muttering afterwards. It was over. Wow! If only people could handle things so easily.

Our oldest dog, Riker, is ten. Although he gladly allowed Bashir to step into the leadership role among our three dogs, Riker likes to pretend he’s still in charge. He won’t show any outward signs of giving way to Bashir –  no muzzle licking from him!  –  but he does show it in other ways. He will never ever try to take a toy or chewie away from Bashir, although he will take one away from the puppy. He always allows Bashir to go in or out doors first and will never try to push past him. In response, Bashir is a kind, benevolent leader.

I admit, I try to copy Bashir when I can in situations where it’s warranted. When handling difficult dogs in training situations, I try to be calm and still so as not to create a more difficult situation. Although it’s tough to lift a lip over a canine tooth (snicker…) I found that some canine body language can be duplicated.

One of my favorite books on canine body language is by Brenda Aloff, “Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide” (Dogwise; 2005). The photos show dogs in a variety of situtions demonstrating a wide variety of emotions. Aloff also provides a discription of what is being shown in each of the photos. Although I don’t agree with all of her assessments, I wasn’t there when the photos were taken eithor and so many canine emotions — like ours — often can’t be accurately portrayed in one still photo. But overall, her book is wonderful, and it’s required reading for all of my trainers at Kindred Spirits.

Image: The puppy, Archer, is doing a submissive muzzle lick even as he tries to continue to steal a toy as the older dog, in this case Riker, shows some teeth.

Cats are aliens who have enslaved us. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. And it’s backed up by science.

Well, sort of. Conducted by researchers at the University of Sussex and published in the July 14 issue of Current Biology, it showed how successful cats are at enlisting people to perform tasks for them, in particular, providing food. Turns out that cats motivate people to fill their food dishes by combining an urgent cry or meowing sound with the comforting sound of a purr. The noise is annoying, endearing, and difficult to ignore. Cats tell us a lot of other things, too, and not always in the nicest language.

I wrote my column this month about the many ways cats manipulate us or tell us what they want–as well as why we obey them–and got lots of great stories. I also talked to Marty about feline body language and vocal skills, and he gives great advice on how to listen to and interpret what your cat is telling you.

What do your cats tell you, how do they do it, and what do you do for them that you might not do for anyone else?

What I really, really love about Sprinty and T-Rod? I get to be related to the fastest agility dog in the world (Sprint is my McKenzie’s littermate), and I don’t have to  spend hardly any time training my own dog to bask in the reflected glory.

This morning, the West Coast regionals of the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge were aired on ESPN (check listings for repeats). I can’t find the ESPN video, but I did find this amateur vid of their winning run.

T-Rod and Sprinty are all set for the nationals. Run, Sprinty, Run!

Bridget Pilloud is an “animal communicator,” and in her case, that seems to be code for “dog trainer.” Maybe you can make more money as an “animal communicator” ?

My late gram used to say if you have a good vocabulary, you don’t need to have a potty mouth. I say, call a shitty little dog a shitty little dog, and Bridget does. Now that’s communicating!

Bridget knows how to stop them from being that way, and she does a nice job of sharing. I’d embed the video, but it blows apart our page. So go check it out.

Picking up on some things we dropped …

Thanks to Omidog! for noting that the Ohio firefighter who shot his dogs rather than pay to board them while he was on vacation got 90 days and lost his job.  Thanks to the fire chief for recommending his termination.  … Shirley at YesBiscuit! righteously rips into a shelter that takes a nice found dog in the front door and takes him out the back soon after in a body bag – and then tells the grieving owner of the lost dog that the animal was vicious. The owner is suing. … For the Love of Dog posts about an Indiana police chief who shot a charging dog, except, well, the witnesses tell a different tale about the dog’s demeanor.

Notable posts: …

Nathan Winograd on raising the bar for fight-bust dogs. … Terrierman writes on dwarfism in dogs … Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly (who orders yummy pizzas when you’re talking to her on the phone 3,000 miles away, not fair!) on, well, just everything. She’s having a rough stretch, but it makes for some very thoughtful reading. Dolittler, go.  … SmartDogs on fighting puppy-mills by targeting the buyers of their OTHER products, such as organic milk. … BADRAP has put all its Greatest Hits and handouts in one place. … Got more? Kick a link into the comments.