I’ve been a little curious in the past what breeds make up my spunky, personable long bodied chihuahua like dog. The chihuahua part seems pretty obvious, look at the ears. The shelter where I adopted her suggested maybe terrier, as well. I’ve guessed everything from a Greyhound to a Jack Russell, but I don’t think I’ve hit the mark. To be honest, I don’t really care. She’s love-able, sweet as can be, and all mine. I don’t really need to know much else. What sparks my curiosity more is where she came from. What did the first year of her life consist of that brought her into the shelter the days before I wandered in and picked her out? I like to think that she ran with a crew of feral cats. She has a habit of licking her paw, then using it to clean her face.  She also tends to crawl up on my lap in a very cat like manner. Even though I don’t need to know exactly what mix she is, every now and then I get a little curious. Turns out, most owners can be way off when guessing the breeds of their mutts.  One of my favorite sites Petside, lets you test your skills by guessing the breeds of several mutts, the results are revealed on the next page. Unfortunately, none of the mutts resembled Maisey. Maybe I will just have to shell out the $200 find out her ancestry.  Anyone want to place bets?

Obviously, I love dogs. Those who know me personally, know I also have a thing for ducks. So, of course I needed to share this video with you. Don’t you just love the simplicity of friendship in the animal world?

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As you may have read, I’m leaving Arizona for a tremendous job opportunity in Portland, OR. Moving to a new state is a challenge in itself, but moving and trying to find a truely pet friendly apartment is even more of a challenge. Portland is an incredibly pet friendly city, but finding an apartment that accepts all breeds of dogs is surprisingly difficult, which leads me to the topic of my post: Doggie racism.

Is banning a breed of dog based on the assumption that an entire breed poses a greater risk of danger to the community just another form of racism? Many factors play a role in determining whether a dog will exhibit aggressive behavior such as genetics sex, health, environment, abuse, neglect, and most importantly training and socialization. Most dogs are capable of aggressive behavior, regardless of the breed. If any dog is abused, neglected, or trained to be aggressive it can pose a danger to society. So why do dogs such as Pit Bulls, and German Shepherds get such a bad rap?

Efforts to ban specific dog breeds from a community or breed specific legislation should instead be focused on public education about dog safety. Ignorance of proper care and training for specific breeds will only further increase the problem and  by labeling an entire breed as ‘agressive’ or ‘dangerous’ is only perpetuating the problem.

The ASPCA recommends using a breed-neutral scheme to deal with the problems that ALL dangerous dogs present to the community:

• Enhanced enforcement of dog license laws, with adequate fees to augment animal control budgets and surcharges on ownership of unaltered dogs to help fund low-cost pet sterilization programs in the communities in which the fees are collected. To ensure a high licensing rate, Calgary, Canada—its animal control program funded entirely by license fees and fines—imposes a $250 penalty for failure to license a dog over three months old.
• Enhanced enforcement of leash/dog-at-large laws, with adequate penalties to ensure that the laws are taken seriously and to augment animal control funding.
• Dangerous dog laws that are breed-neutral and focus on the behavior of the individual dog, with mandated sterilization and microchipping (or another permanent identification) of dogs deemed dangerous, and options for mandating muzzling, confinement, adult supervision, training, owner education and, in aggravating circumstances—such as when the owners cannot adequately control the dog or where the dog causes unjustified injury—euthanasia. In Multnomah County, Oregon, a breed-neutral ordinance imposing graduated penalties on dogs and owners according to the seriousness of the dogs’ behavior has reduced repeat injurious bites from 25 percent to 7 percent.
• Laws that hold dog owners financially accountable for failure to adhere to animal control laws, as well as civilly and criminally liable for unjustified injuries or damage caused by their dogs. Calgary has reduced reported incidents of aggression by 56 percent, and its bite incidents by 21 percent, by requiring owners of dogs who have displayed dog aggression or human aggression to pay fines ranging from $250 to $1500.
• Laws that prohibit chaining or tethering, coupled with enhanced enforcement of animal cruelty and animal fighting laws. Lawrence, Kansas, has significantly reduced dog fighting and cruelty complaints by enacting an ordinance prohibiting tethering a dog for over one hour.
• Laws that mandate the sterilization of shelter animals and make low-cost sterilization services widely available.

In my opinion, breed specific restrictions are no different than banning children or banning a specific race from a community. Meet the dog, observe the dog in a public situation, or require a certain level of training. Base your restrictions on the animal itself, it’s no different than basing a tenants eligibility on credit score, proper references or income.

A property owner has every right to enforce rules as it choses, but please don’t call yourself “Pet-Friendly” when restrictions on specific breeds is so clearly not.

I love my dog, and she knows it. I cuddle with her every morning before I get up. I talk to her. I hug her when I get home.  But what do you do if your partner isn’t a pet person, or is jealous of the affection you bestow upon your pet?

Fortunately, I haven’t had this problem. But msnbc.com explains that it can be difficult for people who don’t have a pet to understand the human-animal bond. This can lead to tension and jealousy in the relationship.  However, the tension doesn’t always come from your partner. You dog can get jealous, too. Dogs will nudge, jump, paw and even growl if they are feeling you are giving too much attention to your partner, and not enough to them.  It’s possible they’ll even show aggression toward your partner.

This can be a difficult transition if your pet is used to having your undivided attention or being the one who sleeps next to you in the bed. So what’s a dog mom in this situation to do?

Just as a single mom should take caution when introducing a new boyfriend to their child, take similar caution when introducing your pet to your new partner.  Introduce them on neutral ground. Give your dog a chance to get to know your new beau before letting him into the house. Animal behaviorist Sophia Yin recommends tethering your dog to your new partner, forcing them to be attached at the hip for some time (I don’t think I’d recommend this technique to single moms, though). Your partner should pet, talk to, and reward your dog throughout the day. Your dog will learn that this new person can be a giver of good things too (just like mom), but they have to spend time with that person to get those rewards.

Personally, I’d suggest easing both your partner and your pet into each others lives. Schedule dates with the three of you on neutral territory. Let your partner prepare a meal for your dog or take your dog for a walk. If your partner is feeling jealous that your pup is getting all the cuddle action in the morning, explain why your pet is such an important part of your life and allow your partner to participate in the activities you enjoy with your pet. If your partner can’t understand or at least respect that bond, maybe he’s not the right guy for you or your dog.

Recently, a Florida couple spent $155,000 to clone Lancelot, their Labrador Retriever after he passed away. Six years prior, the couple froze Lancelot’s DNA, which they used to have Lancelot reborn. 

Loss is apart of life. Loss breeds courage, creativity and growth. There are dogs in need of a good home, dogs are being put down everyday because they aren’t adopted. A wealthy couple with 12 acres of land in Florida should consider adopting another companion or even donating some of that money to an animal shelter. And while I’m sure the clone looked like Lancelot and maybe he did instintively recognize his owners, could this new dog really be what his owners missed about the original Lancelot?

I like to think that Maisey’s charm comes from her experiences. I believe she is such a loving and appreciative dog because she was rescued from a shelter. Those characteristics aren’t hard wired into her DNA, they are the result of her life experiences. A clone of Maisey would look like her, maybe smell like her, and probably share some of her characteristics, but it wouldn’t be the Maisey I know.

One of the joys of getting a new dog is watching their personality traits develop and discovering the strange quirks they have. Some of these characteristics are based in their DNA (hence the differences in behavior bewteen breeds), but just like a person, personalities are largely the result of our experiences.

I realize I’m on the edge of the highly debatable nature vs. nuture argument here, but I think that proves my point. A human being cannot be fully duplicated. The nature and nurture cocktail is simply too complex to reproduce – and the same thing goes for our dogs.