I made an interesting discovery while looking through Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (a must have for serious students of the dog). Found this explanation of why clients may choose to cook for their pet. Made me laugh --

"Other people choose to cook simply because they feel guilty, as if they don't care enough. This is a minor concern in the United States but is more important in countries such as France."

(Reference: Pibot P. Aliment Industriel: Aliment menager Vers un compromis; Recueil de Medecine Veterinarire 1989; 165: 525-526)

Ah, those French! I suppose given the French culture, a French pet owner would not only fret about the right ingredients, but what wine would go well with, say, raw lamb shanks, braised turnips in a light cream sauce and pureed carrots? And goodness, what to serve for the cheese & fruit course!

I'll stop now before I get into my mental images of a snotty French waiter who has retired from the Michelin 5 star restaurant where he worked for 20 years and is now the snotty owner of a pet food store...

Puts the news item re: Jacque Chirac's dog biting him in a new light. The news piece I saw reported that the dog, a Maltese named Sumo, "has been agitated for some time despite receiving treatment with anti-depressants." I wonder if any reporters are investigating whether or not Sumo's agitation is related to an unsatisfactory menu?

Throughout my career, I've tried hard to make freely available many of my articles. Trainers, clubs, vets, breeders, rescue groups and individuals have gratefully used my articles as free handouts and in non-profit magazines & newsletters. Many of these articles have been passed around to a surprising degree. At last count, He Just Wants to Say HI! has been translated into 15 languages!

Over the years I've seen my work copied word for word and presented as a professional trainer's "newsletter" to his clients each month. I've seen my work posted in entirety on discussion groups & bulletin boards. I've seen my work used to nicely fill out the offerings of countless clubs, groups, breeders and trainers.

I've put a lot of time and effort in writing these articles, trying to share my understanding of dogs, training, behavior, our relationships with dogs, etc. While it's nice to know that the work is appreciated, and apparently is valuable enough for folks to want it as content on their site, I am more and more dismayed and puzzled by this illegal use of my work. It is simply ignorant at best -- sometimes the website owners are just novices in copyright matters. Notified that as per my reprint conditions they can link to my articles but not post them, they are quick to apologize and make the change, so that the visitors to their website still benefit but my copyright is also respected.

But there's another group who when asked to switch to using a link and not the completed article, get angry. Here's a sweet note from a breeder who had been using my article on her website: 

"Deleted. Just thought that more people would Google you and your articles. Sorry I'll not recommend your site or articles to anyone else. No offence meant." (Spelling hers.)

In a household that already contains 11 dogs, a kitten, 3 tortoises, 2 parrots, a pair of parakeets and a tank of fish, you'd think adding just one more living creature couldn't make that much of a difference.

And then came Storm.

Storm is a Scottish Highland calf. His mother is an aging lady, and the years have taken their toll on her 16 year old udder. The milk bar sagged too much, and being a large! calf, Storm was born with slightly contracted tendons. The combo proved to make nursing impossible, so reluctantly, the little fellow was scooped up into a life of bottle feeding.

One problem when a calf can't nurse promptly is that they do not receive the all-critical colostrum which provides much needed antibodies to give their immune system a kick start. Lacking this, Storm was treated with colostrum replacer, but towards the end of the brief window where his intestinal lining was permeable and would allow the antibodies to pass through. So we crossed our fingers and said a lot of prayers, knowing that chances were good he'd end up sick, unable to battle germs & disease as he might have been normally.

As all parents (and animal people!) know, babies crash fast, and babies crash hard. In one afternoon, Storm went from a bright, playful creature to a dull, feverish animal in a lot of trouble. Winter crept closer, or so it seemed to me, snaking icy fingers towards the stall where he lay cold and shaking despite a high fever. He looked shockingly small, laying with his head in my friend Wendy's lap. Blankets, TTouch , acupressure and Reiki were all brought to bear while we waited for the vet to call. She confirmed our worst fears -- he was proably septic, an infection raging through his body. Good old fashioned penicillin, warmth, hydration & nursing care was about all we could offer.

Which is how Storm came to live in the house. He's not the first calf to live in the house, nor even the first farm animal. For 5 months many years ago, my donkey Freaky Deaky lived in the basement while he recovered from a near fatal illness. And over the years, Sally Jo the goat, Cooper the duck, Jose the rooster, Amelia the hen, Little Bear the piglet, ZuZu the calf, and others. We can do a lot with some tarps, blankets, duct tape, boards, ex-pens and crates, and a heat lamp or fan as needed.

It was just before Christmas that Storm needed help. I had some dim notion of installing a Christmas tree in the living room, right where the calf pen needed to be. On Christmas morning, we toyed with the idea of decorating the calf, but he wasn't feeling up to such folly. (But St Patrick's Day is coming!)

Here' s a chance to provide some positive reinforcement to a reporter who dared to question whether the Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan is really the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Joel Moreno at KOMO in Seattle did a Problem Solvers piece that asked, respectfully and with intelligence, whether these training methods really get the results or maybe are creating ticking time bombs.

Apparently, CM's fans didn't take kindly to any questioning of their hero, and the emails flooded in.

But there was also response from positive trainers who cringe every time they hear, "I did what I saw the Dog Whisperer do..." They sent emails of support & thanks to Mr. Moreno. The effort of a few minutes can and has made a difference - take the time to speak up. After all, as the saying goes, all that's necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. Yelling at the TV or refusing to watching Mr. Millan is not productive. Speaking up is!

Take a moment to view Joel Moreno's piece here:

Then send a brief message of thanks & perhaps something about positive dog training to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . It's not easy to stand up against the tide of popular opinion, and those who do should receive clear messages of gratitude from us.

As if Dr. Ian Dunbar hasn't given enough to dog lovers & dogs everywhere, January brings a wonderful offer of his book, "After You Get Your Puppy" as a FREE download! This 156 page book contains a wealth of information to help anyone raise a well adjusted & well mannered pup. Limited time offer - available here.

You can download your FREE copy at DogSTARDaily. This wonderful website is worth checking out. There's a little bit for everyone, with a wild assortment of bloggers, videos, photos, training information and more. Kelly Gorman Dunbar (Ian's lovely wife), has done a great job at DogSTARDaily .

Maybe Kelly & Ian should send a copy along to the Obamas. Along with the other great little book, "BEFORE You Get Your Puppy."

For all the arguments that abound re: training equipment, it all boils down to one very simple point: equipment helps us to either train or restrain the dog, and sometimes both. In order to be fair to the dog and honest with ourselves, we need to be clear what we are doing and why.

At a farm show many years ago, I came across Nok Out, an odor eliminator which is better than anything I've ever seen (and believe me, with this many animals, we've tried plenty!). It has no real odor of its own, and the demo lady had me dip my fingertip in pure ammonia and then smell it (like I needed to, but I went along with the show). Then, with some fanfare, she spritzed this stuff on my finger and - bam - ammonia totally gone.

Every season brings new adventures. One fine winter not too long ago, I found myself developing a new technique for dealing with a pee accident. At my age, you'd think I'd pretty much know a lot about what dogs can do and where they can do it and how to clean it up, but apparently, the Dog Gods still have some jokes to play.

At 50, I've put in 30 years now as a professional, and in every one of those years, I've managed to make unique mistakes that I hadn't made before. I'm working hard on natural horsemanship trainer Pat Parelli's theory that to be a real trainer, you have to make at least 3000 mistakes. Each one of them different. And then, maybe, just maybe, you know enough to call yourself a trainer.

A woman showed up at one of my seminars and literally spent most of the first day arguing with me on nearly every point. Or, more accurately, she argued her points. I stated my case and repeatedly let the dogs do the arguing for the validity of my points. She was so dreadful to have in the audience that I actually prayed on Saturday night that she would not return on Sunday. But she did.