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