Holiday reading

If you'll have time this holiday season to enjoy a book or two, the Wall Street Journal lists five books about dogs that cover heartwarming, practical, educational, historical, and fun. A very short synopsis is below, the full article gives a more detailed description of each book.

• For the Love of a Dog by Patricia B. McConnell - a book about the emotions of dogs and people, from a behaviorist point of view. Includes personal stories and antidotes to make it an easy read.
• If Only They Could Speak by Nicholas H. Dodman - Deemed the best of the books he's written to date, this one covers case studies of dogs (and cats) that were treated at his behavior clinic at Tufts University.
• If Dogs Could Talk by Vilmos Csanyi - a more scientific, but interesting, look at how dogs communicate with humans.
  
• Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier - a hands-on, practical guide as to the differences in how dogs and humans communicate. The premise is that if we learn our dog's language, we will have an easier time in all other aspects of our lives with them, including training.
• Always Faithful by William Putney - A fascinating story of how pet Doberman pinschers were trained as wartime partners when liberating Guam in 1944, and then what needed to be done to successfully repatriate them with their families at the end of the war.
  

They are our best friends too...

Today's post honors the unwitting victims behind the 23-month sentencing of Michael Vick. Note that the biggest threat these chicks have growing up with Sharky is the possibility of his eating all their food.

Friends helping friends

A wonderful feature story describes the partnership between Rose's Rescue and the Trumbull Correction Institute in Ohio which, in the aim of providing pet rehabilitation by the inmates, also provides inmate rehabilitation by the pets.

Rose Sachs saw an opportunity to give local pound dogs a second chance by providing socialization training via the inmates at Trumbull. Before this program was in place, most dogs that qualify as Rose's adoptees would be euthanized as they were ones no one else would take home.

Sharon Chilson, a prison program facilitator, observed that the program works miracles for both inmates and dogs. Quoting from the article:

Men and women who used to hang their heads will straighten up after a few sessions of unconditional adoration from their charges, who give them something to care for. The experience lasts a lifetime, as their newfound skills are marketable on the outside, a tool for re-entry into society.

"The program has taught me how to love again," said inmate Jeff Rowman, who trained Maude, a hound/husky mix who is now available for adoption at Pet Finder.

More great quotes:

I grew up on the streets and didn't have that," Rowman said, eyes fixed on his dog. "The program has brought me closer to other people."

"It's a really good program," said Robby Ware, assistant to the warden. "It helps offenders in their rehabilitation process and gives back to the community at the same time. It's win-win.

This is amazing stuff. Treat yourself to reading the full article and consider contributing to Rose's Rescue as a year-end gift.

New Years resolutions for all

Doodah - ready for
the New Year

I've always hated the smug diet and health advice that states, "Eat less, exercise more." How can something so simple be so hard? Well, now our cats need to live by this paradox too.

The Chicago Tribune reports disturbing news that our cats are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at increasing rates. The largest suspect for cause is overfeeding, with a focus on dry cat foods that are higher in carbohydrate and lower in protein content. An important point made is that while humans and dogs are omnivores (eating both plants and animals), cats are pure carnivores. The more protein in their diet, the better.

In addition to diet, exercise is important too. In nature, these nocturnal predators roam and hunt during the night. It's estimated that for every 30 to 40 attempts at catching prey, they succeed only four or five times. That's significant exercise they don't get now as they stay in the house with us.

If your cat is overweight, check out your cat food labels for protein content. As an example, the article talks about Catkins, a food that is 3 percent carbohydrate, 55 to 60 percent protein and the rest fat. It's based on the nutritional value cats would get from eating mice. Yum.

There's also value in wiggling strings and other games that will get them to move around, even when you don't.

And if you'd like to learn more about cat diabetes, check out http://yourdiabeticcat.com, a site run by Elizabeth Hodgkins, a veterinarian practicing in Yorba Linda, California.

I'll take what he's having

Picture this: on a cold winter's day, you walk into your favorite neighborhood cafe, order a hot drink, sit down, and a warm, cuddly kitty joins you in a lazy morning or afternoon respite.

That's the scene at Cat Cafe Calico in western Tokyo, one of several cafes that have opened up in the city that include cats as part of the ambiance.

Maybe this isn't your cup of tea, but for this cat lover, I'd love to see one open up in my neighborhood!

Happy Hanukkah

Chaia is all ready for the first night of Hanukkah. If you are celebrating, I hope yours is very happy...

Dogs see pictures like we do

In the science corner, a very interesting study by the University of Vienna in Austria shows that dogs can categorize complex color pictures as we humans do.



The experiment is summarized in three phases:

1. During a training session, dogs were shown pictures of landscapes and pictures of dogs. Using an automated touch-screen (to eliminate human intervention), the dogs received a treat each time they chose a dog picture.
   
2. Once training was complete, the dogs were shown completely different dog and landscape pictures. They continued to choose the dog pictures, showing that the knowledge gained in the training session was transferable to new images.
3. In the second experiment, the landscape pictures shown in the training session were altered to include pictures of dogs. This added significant complexity since it combined an image that received no treat (landscape) with an image that did receive a treat (dog). The new composite images were shown alongside new landscape pictures without dogs. The dogs were able to figure it out and stay consistent with choosing the pictures with the dogs.

I think this could be modified to become a very cool dog trick at home. Chocolate is food-motivated enough to be trained to at least step on a dog picture fairly consistently (avoiding the very expensive touch screen option)... could be a fun addition to his "dead dog" pose...