Pet Photo Contest

Well first off, I hope your Holidays were spectacular. I hope your guests were polite and gentle with your four legged roommates. There were some two legged guests who came over to our house that we had to speak with - sometimes they can be so pushy and rude! The two legged ones often forget that the four legged ones live here and thus should be accorded the same sort of deference as my husband

Featured Rescue Followup!

Well, I've been posting for a few months now and thought I'd put a follow up post about the Featured Rescues that I've blogged about. I'll try to remember to do this periodically.

Pepper the Border CollieStatus: ADOPTEDFeatured on October 14, 2008Follow blog link here to read.

Edwin the Labrador RetrieverStatus: ADOPTEDFeatured on October 17, 2008Follow blog link here to readEdwin had 10

Lazy Owner Rant? Or Concerned Parent? Re: Allergies

I like to keep an eye on Craigslist to see what's going on in my local area. I also check out other major cities just in case I find something of interest. I found this posting and it made me think a lot about allergies and how it has become a big problem but also a convenient excuse.

Before I go further, here's the post from CraigsList. For your ease, I have made a screen-cap of the posting.

Training Rant - Further to the Dog Walkers Rant ...

So, further to my rant a few days ago, I found this post on CraigsList after putting together my previous training post. I thought I'd follow up with it. An interesting look at Dog Walkers.

Here's the link to the CraigsList posting. It's too long to Screen-Cap, so I copied and pasted instead. I have not edited this posting, nor have I removed the name of the Dog Walking company mentioned.

Featured Rescue - Dharma the Dachshund

When I went looking for a Dachshund in rescue to post as the Featured Rescue for today, I hadn't prepared myself for the alarming numbers of this breed to be listed as "No Kids, No Cats"! Does anyone have experience with these dogs who can tell me why this is found more often with this breed than others? My initial reaction is the "Small Dog Syndrome". I have never owned one myself so therefore

News Reel - Shelter Fire Kills 150

150 Cats Killed in Animal Shelter Fire

Here's the link. An Ontario Shelter in the Durham region caught fire yesterday in the wee hours of the morning. News articles have only given us estimates on the numbers affected ... 150 cats. 5 dogs.

Training Rant - Dog Walkers?

I have read many things about dog walkers, and I often see many advertisements for them. I view them with mixed emotions.

On the one hand, they can be a valuable resource for the busy person. They will take your dogs and walk them daily for a fee. This may offer an outlet for extra energy as well as bathroom breaks to your dog. They will also likely have other dogs with them which may offer your

New Search Feature

Just a quick sidebar note - I have created a Google Search Feature. This allows you to search my blog for keywords. (It uses the Google Search Engine, but will not search Google - only dogsdeservefreedom.blogspot.com)

From my testing, it seems that it will NOT pick up keywords in the titles - only the body of the posts. Hopefully this will allow for easier navigation through older posts.

Rescue Numbers - Curiousity Killed the ...?

Sorry for not posting for a few days - busy times around the holidays! Also, I was asked to start working another dog (there are 5 actually, but I am starting with 1 - they learn in stages and I can only have 1 dog in stage 1 at a time otherwise I couldn't work my full-time paying job!). BYBer GSDs ... nice dogs, but scaredy cats right now - if they're not developed properly, they'll turn into

Featured Rescue - Tahne the Cocker Spaniel

This is going to be a short and sweet post today. Went searching through the adoptables and came up with this little gal.

Today there are 2,279 Cocker Spaniels available for adoption. The one I chose to feature is located in OH.

She is a 4-5 year old red and white Cocker. She was a puppy mill dog and as such is still very shy. Her foster home is working to bring her out of her shell.

http://

Asshat Rant - Think we could spay/neuter the asshats?

I received this ad from a concerned reader. It was inspiring ... it inspired me to roll my eyes, call out obscene words to my computer monitor (much to the amusement of my coworkers), and generally think terrible things about the world's asshat population. I just wanted to bang my head to my ... oh what the he11 ... *headdesk, headdesk*

Here's the link:http://reddeer.kijiji.ca/

News Reel - Strategies when you're attacked

Sorry for posting two news reels in a row, but I found this one and thought it builds somewhat off the discussion we were having earlier this week. Here's the link to the news article:

Strategies When You're Attacked
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/547299
(What to do when you're out with your dog and are attacked by an agressive dog)

It is sound advice. Doesn't touch on what

News Reel - Why anthropomorphize dogs?

One of my pet peeves is when people anthropomorphize dogs. They are dogs. They are not humans. Sure, they think, but they don't think like humans - they think like dogs. I don't know why it irritates me, but it does. Probably bothers me because those people who anthropomorphize dogs are also the ones that have dogs that are 'uncontrollable'.

A dog was caught on video surveillance in Chile. They

Holiday Cheer - I Rescued a Human Today

It's been over a week since I posted the last bit of mushy stuff for the Holiday Season. I thought I would post another. This one circulated around an email list that I receive. I didn't write this, but figured I'd post it for something good to read while I'm working on my next rant. :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source unknown.

I rescued a human

Training Rant - Alpha Roll or Omega Roll?

In one of the comment threads I mentioned that I'd post a blog entry about why I don't think that Cesar using the "Alpha Roll" is good - regardless of what "Zone" they are in. Cesar is not the only trainer that uses the "Alpha Roll", but he is probably the most popular one. This blog is not about Cesar, but about the Alpha Roll (or as I call it, the Omega Roll). Because Cesar has become such an

Training Tools - Prong Collar

I know I've already posted about the choke chain and this is a variant of that, but I REALLY want to put up a posting about this. For those of you who are not familiar with it, this picture is a prong collar.

The way it fits is it goes around the dog's neck like a choke chain. The martingale will tighten as the dog pulls and the prongs push on the dogs neck. In theory, it is supposed to teach a

Featured Rescue - Kobe Swims ... GSD or Kelpie?!

Ok, so I couldn't resist. I thought I'd find and list a nice looking GSD (German Shepherd Dog) today, but when I was looking, I stumbled over this guy. I thought "why not?"


He's listed as a rottweiler GSD mix ... Now, I don't know about you guys, but I really think he looks like an Australian Kelpie!

Here's the link for his petfinder profile:

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?

Training Rant - Snapping rewarded with a hit?

I have a poll to the right of the page asking everyone what they would like to see more 0f. The first two answers I received were Training Rants, so I thought I'd oblige (please vote to add your opinion so I can work with what you want). This one is one I've been stewing over since I ran into it in the summer while working with a dog that was housed at a boarding facility.

A comment was made

Another Puppy Mill Seizure and Closed Down

Ok, so I've been trying not to post more than once per day, but I couldn't pass this one up. I flew through the roof this morning when I saw it on the news. Here's the link to the news article about yet another puppy mill being shut down in my area. The basics are:

- 100 dogs seized from puppy mill in deplorable condition
- The breeds seized included Bichons, Pekingese, Papillons and Lhasa Apso

Movie Day! Today's Special? Dog Fighting

So have you ever taken a few days off and deemed one day as "Movie Day"?? We do on occasion (like twice in the winter...) provided the weather is too rough to be out. On those -40C days here, we don't go outside for long. Just long enough for a quick run for the dogs, feed the animals in the barns, and do any other quick chores there are to do.

So, in honour of "Movie Days", this is my first

May as well call the collectors ...

The following ad was sent to me by a reader who thought it was somewhat odd. It is a bit OT, but I thought I'd post it anyway since it is an interesting topic that I'd like to comment on. First, here's the ad:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free Kittens
Price: Free
Location: Red Deer Date Listed: 01-Dec-08
We have three 9 week old kittens to give away,

Something mushy for the Holiday Season

Ok, so it's December. Therefore it's time to spread a little good cheer. I will, for my part, try my best not to mention anyone specific Holiday because I don't believe this is the right place for that discussion. However, at this time of year, I'm always looking for something nice and mushy to warm my heart. Especially when I see the animals start piling into the pound!!

Besides, I really

Featured Rescue - Noah the Labrador Retriever

So I thought I'd post a Labrador Retriever as the Featured Rescue for today. There are still 20,302 Labs listed on Petfinder.com.

This is Noah. He's a lab mix. He was found in a trap ... doesn't say what kind? He's located in Rochester, NY. If you can offer him a home, he would be eternally grateful.

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12391116

Training Rant - Bean Bags and Chains

Ok, so I know this lovely Golden Retriever. He's almost a senior, has been owned by the same people from the day he left his mama's side. Lovely story, eh? Well, here's something to think about ... This dog has some agression issues. Mainly it was in and around the food bowl. It started innocently enough, as a puppy, he would growl at his food while eating it as fast as he could. The owners

Police Dog Not Dead.

So get this one ... Dog not dead: Fake K-9 Claim

Two police officers and a police chief have been charged with filing a false police report and filing a false insurance claim. Turns out they lied and said one of their dogs died in a training accident. They then claimed a $5,000 insurance claim. Money ... what some people will do for it, eh?

Here's another article that has a bit more detail.

I

MA Votes to Ban Greyhound Racing

Forgive me if you were already aware of this, but I thought since I've been talking about such negative things, that I would change the subject! The voters of Massachusetts have spoken and they have approved a state-wide ban on Greyhound Racing.

Read an article that details here. Reports say that dog racing will be slowly phased out by 2010.

For a long time, there has been controversy regarding

Puppy Mill vs. Euthanasia

Ok, so I have a question for everyone. This thought started swirling around in my head after my last post about mills being shut down. I have considered it before and tend to waffle back and forth. I know what my ultimate answer is, though it isn't a pretty one. Maybe some of you would like to give your opinion??

Here it is.

Do you think it is better to pull dogs out of a mill only to euthanize

How much is that Doggie in the Window??

So, I'm sure by now we've all read articles asking us not to buy puppies from Puppy Mills, right? But what, by definition is a "puppy mill"?? Well, Wikipedia defines a "Puppy Mill" as such:

- sometimes known as puppy farms[1],
- are large-scale dog breeding facilities that operate under substandard breeding conditions,[2][3]
- causing the development of chronic health problems, temperament

Training Tools - The Walk

Wanted to put in a word about walking your dog. Walking is important, but PLEASE use your common sense! We wouldn't want you to get tasered ... read this article to learn what not to do and how to prevent being tasered while walking your dog. Here is another article about the same guy that is a little more ... well, you'll see.

Please look into the laws of the area you live in. If you are not

Featured Rescue - Riggs the Shih Tzu Puppy

An interesting comment was made this week about certain dog breeds and their high demand. Now, please keep in mind it was a simple comment and likely wasn't made to suggest that these dogs should be bred because they are in demand, but I am going to comment on this topic in general. Don't take offense and don't think that I am making this post in reply to the comment. I am simply grabbing the

Sweet Justice - Man who cut off dog's ears

Well, whoever says there is no justice in the legal system of Ontario is only somewhat correct. Turns out that there remains a certain amount of "jailhouse justice". One of yesterday's headlines is:

Man jailed for cutting off dog's ears gets taste of own medicine

Check out the article ... it is an interesting read. I always have to smile when an animal abuser gets something of his/her own

Asshat Rant - Retire your old dogs, don't dump them!

Every day I could find fodder for an Asshat Rant. That's unfortunate and I wish it weren't so. Today's 'fodder' is only one of many. There are so many out there who do this, that comm-925163014@craigslist.org is only one of many. Here's the ad on craigslist. I have screencapped it and jpg so if the ad is removed, you can still view it.

How sad is this? 12 year old beagle needs a new home ...

The Good, The Bad and the Fugly ... Design-A-Puppy

While surfing this week I came across an ... interesting breeder. Company's name is Design-A-Puppy ... Good grief. What will we think of next?? I'm thinking ... beware ... BYBer ... possibly of the worst kind (if there IS such a thing ... 'worst kind' ... perhaps all BYBers belong in this category)!

Taking a parusal around their website, you may note that the only pages that have any info are

Training Tools - A Tired Dog

I'm going to touch briefly on my mantra of a Tired Dog is a Good Dog. I know that some people know this - but I wonder some days at how many people know it but don't fully understand it.

I'm sure that we can all agree that your dog is a blank slate waiting for you to teach it. Each and every behaviour is a learned one - whether you meant to teach it, it came with your dog, or it was a behaviour

Go to Jail ... Do not pass GO

I was moseying around the internet and found this tidbit about a self-proclaimed "rescue" turned convicted animal abuser.

In the first week of October 2008, Sandra I. Cortes, 44, of Annandale was found guilty by Judge Peter W. Steketee in General District Court of 27 counts of animal cruelty. See the news report on the Washington Post site here. Brenda E. Dodson, 30, a caretaker with the

Featured Rescue - Calli the Cocker Spaniel

For those interested in a Cocker Spaniel, why not consider adopting one from a shelter? This is Calli. She was a mother at a puppy mill. She is living with a foster home who has reported that she is coming along well.
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12091895

There are currently 2,365 Cocker Spaniels available for adoption from shelters and rescues across North America.

Training Tools - Choke Chain

So, how many people out there have been told that their dog should be trained on a choke chain? I was told I should use one for my reactive dog.

I know they work and I know that some people swear by them. Personally, I don't like using them. We are required to use them at the Pound for all the dogs that come in (with no history on the dog, it is difficult to work with anything else), but on my

Breeding - ACA and Puppy Mills

I did a little research in the last week or so about an organization called American Canine Association (ACA). Why did I do this research? Well, I had contacted a breeder and asked if their dogs are registered. When I received their response, it said that their dogs were all registered with ACA, I decided to do a google search and see what I could come up with.

ACA is a dog registry, yes. After

Training Rant - Couches

Well, life is a bit crazy at home right now. We're dog sitting, so we have 5 dogs at home. Now, normally 5 dogs is not a problem - provided they are all trained properly and are able to live together. Don't forget we live in a 900 sq ft loft. Yes, we have acreage outside, but the indoors are somewhat lacking for space. We have had to do some retraining with the 2 extra dogs and I thought I'd drop

Featured Rescue - Sebastian the Boxer

Boxers are beautiful, often misunderstood dogs. They can be high energy or can be quite calm and cool. Today, there are 5,844 boxers available through petfinder.com that are looking for new homes through rescue.

Sebatian is one of those many dogs. He is about 1 year old and is currently located in NY State. If you can offer a place in your home for Sebastian, contact Best Friends Boxer Rescue

Send these guys to Jail!

This has been a bad week for animals, as is often the case in the week coming on Hallowe'en (aka Samhain, Third Harvest, Samana, Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest, All Hallows Eve). October is the month that you should keep your dogs and cats inside and hidden away from the nasty ghouls out there ...

Dog found hanged from tree East Finley, PA (US) Oct 26, 2008
Dog shot with shotgun Omemee, ON (CA) Oct

Training Rant - Chewing

How many of you out there have a dog that chews your belongings?? How many of you think this is a bad behaviour that can be removed with training? Here's my opinion ... you don't train your dog not to chew - you teach your dog what is and is not appropriate chew toys! Most of the time, destructive chewing is caused by boredom. The big, bad, "B" word.

95% of the time, chewing is something that

Breeder Update - Miniature Australian Shepherd - Buyer Beware

Ok, so I thought I'd post my findings on that bad breeder that I mentioned in my previous blog post (see post here), O'Neill Horse Farms (who not only breed horses, they also breed Miniature Australian Shepherds ... Um ... woo hoo??).

Now, I have found that the AKC does not recognize the Miniature Australian Shepherd (hereby referred to as MAS). From what I have found, neither does the CKC. Both

Featured Rescue - Jake the Australian Shepherd

Spurred by my post about Australian Shepherd breeders, I would like to post a featured rescue for one. There are currently 3,391 Australian Shepherds looking for homes listed on petfinder. There are many more that are listed elsewhere and are not on petfinder.

Jake is an older dog (7-8 years) who really needs to find the right home. He is reportedly blind due to cataracts in his eyes. This guy

Training Tools - NILIF

So, what is NILIF and why have I listed it as a Training Tool? Well, because I believe it is something that trainers should use (or at least try) and also that it is just as much a Training Tool as a Clicker (follow up post on this later). With NILIF, you may be using food, toys or attention as your rewards, but they are still tools to be used at your (the trainer's) discretion.


NILIF is an

Breeding ... The Good the Bad and the Fugly

The Australian Shepherd has been gaining status as one of the top sports dogs of our time. This breed is known for its versatility and ability to excel at most dog sports that focus on agility and speed. What many people forget is their need to be busy. These dogs require mental and physical stimulation and, being a herding breed, have a lot of prey drive. Some people aren't ready for the special

Featured Rescue - Ginger the Airedale Terrier

Today's rescue is Ginger the Airedale Terrier. She's 4 years old and has lived with children. Ginger was surrendered by her owner due to economic problems. I wonder how many other dogs will meet the same fate?


http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12106166

So here's my big question to those of you out there who are reading this ... Do you find that keeping your dog is getting

Training Rant - Running Away

Have you ever known a dog that runs away at the first chance it gets? Doesn't come back when called? Bolts out the front door and is off down the street before you even get your shoes on?? Have you ever wondered why?


Did you know that not all dogs do that? It has nothing to do with the dog being a bad dog. So, why does the dog do that? Because something down the road or way off in the distance

Training Tools - Gentle Leader

Ok, so let's look at the Gentle Leader. This device is often used by people trying to teach their dogs to walk beside them. Honestly, I don't think this device is necessary to use while training your dog.

Usually it is used by people who are so busy trying to get to the destination, they are forgetting about the journey. Here's the thing. Big or Small, you can teach your dog to walk beside you.

Featured Rescue - Edwin the Labrador Retriever

Building off my comment on the last post regarding Breeding, I thought I would feature one of the 20,075 Labrador Retriever dogs looking for homes that are listed on petfinder.com!

This is Edwin, an 8 week old Chocolate Lab mix pup who is up for adoption from a shelter in New York. Edwin came in with 10 brothers and sisters (he's the 11th) when their owner decided that they weren't wanted

Breeding - Good or Bad?

The question of breeding was posed to me this week when someone I know came up to me and asked why I seem to go back and forth on breeding. Why sometimes I think breeding is bad, and sometimes I think breeding is good?

That's a pretty big (and vague!) question. Breeding in and of itself is neither good or bad. It is the application or execution of such an action that dictates its intent and

Training Rant - Jumping Up

Personally, I hate it when a dog jumps up on me uninvited. I have a certain expectation of dogs, and jumping up is not it. Nothing irritates me more when dogs jump up as soon as you walk in the door. Or when you are working outside and the dog takes a running leap at you. I have had to change my clothing more times than I would like to think of because dogs have jumped up and muddied my clothes!

Training Tools - Electronic Collars

One of the many training tools out there are electronic collars (commonly referred to as the "shock collar"). I have seen trainers recommend them for dogs thinking that it will resolve the issues. In my opinion, it may resolve that specific problem, but in using such a device, you are actually creating more problems that you will just have to fix later. It does provide the "quick fix" that some

Featured Rescue - Pepper the Border Collie

I would like to include featured rescue regularly in this blog. I think if you are looking for a dog, the first place you should look is rescue. You can often find great dogs there. Many St. John's Ambulance dogs I know come from rescue.

This featured rescue is for the Border Collie. These dogs are highly intellegent, active dogs that often end up in rescue because their owners just don't have

DogsDeserveFreedom

Welcome to my new blog, DogsDeserveFreedom! In this blog, I will discuss my thoughts on dogs, dog ownership, dog breeding and dog training. I'm sure other things will come up as we go along, but I will try to keep to the topic. I truly believe that all Dogs Deserve Freedom. So, what does that mean? That means that every dog has the right to be free and in order to make this happen, all dog owners