Oh Behave!

In an old Destiny’s Child song a woman singer, suspicious that her boyfriend is cheating on her, asks him on the telephone to say her name. If he says it, it will mean one thing – no other woman’s with him to give him grief about talking to the singer/girlfriend. If he won’t say the singer’s name, it means something else. Without much thought we understand implicitly the context of the singer’s request and that the boyfriend’s utterance of her name (or not) is loaded with meaning. As members of a verbal species, such is the power of language among us.

All of this nuance, context and meaning is lost on dogs. Continue Reading

Some flea and tick control products may do serious harm to pets and possibly to humans. On March 17, 2010, the EPA issued a report on flea and tick treatments and urged consumers to be extra careful when using them. The agency announced plans to develop stricter testing and evaluation standards for these products, new restrictions on product use, and better warning and labeling requirements.

The EPA’s report follows an alarming increase in adverse pet reactions to flea and tick treatments. Continue Reading

A new client dog who I’ll call Misty is very fearful girl with multiple fear triggers. Misty has growled, snarled and lunged at people in certain situations but hasn’t bitten anyone. Misty’s human definitely has her hands full. “I don’t want her to be the type of dog that bites,” she said when we first met.

I know what the woman meant but I explained to her that actually, all dogs are “the type of dog that bites.” Given the right circumstances any dog can bite. Continue Reading