Sleepless in Midland

Pushinka -- the fox that became a dog

The first book about pets ever to appear on my reading list was "How To Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog)" by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut. It was about the grand experiment engineered by Dmitri Belyaev as he supervised fox farming in Siberia. Fox pelts were very profitable for the communist government of the Soviet Union back during the Stalin era.

And while Stalin opposed intellectualism and genetic studies, he supported any efforts to improve the production of the pelts. So Dmitri Belyaev had a way to conduct clandestine experimentation at a fox farm. The foxes there were predominately wild and aggressive. But occasionally some of them didn't show as much hostility to their human minders as others. Mr. Belyaev's experiment began with breeding the tamest males with the tamest females. Then with the help of Lyudmila Trut, one of Mr. Belyaev's loyal assistant and the book's co-author, he continued breeding the tamest offspring of the experiment's progeny.

The first "pet" to result was a loving and lovable fox they named Pushinka. It was touching to read about Pushinka and how much she was like the domesticated dogs we know.

The book was very enjoyable, except for the part describing how thugs looking for valuable fox pelts broke into the house where Pushinka and her pups lived. Skip that part.

In any event, the book brings to light the personalities of the people and animals involved in that novel experiment. And any pet lover will appreciate the efforts those people put into the project. For a sneak peak see How To Tame a Fox—and Build a Dog at moderndogmagazine.com.

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2:44 PM 2/3/2020

Cute robot therapy dog

There's a news report floating around about a adorable little robot dog. (See it at CBSMiami: Robot Therapy Dogs Designed To Help Patients Who Can’t Care For Real Pets).

The robot dog doesn't walk, but it reacts the way we expect good pets to react when petted. Very cute. The market will be nursing home patients and others who can't physically care for a pet. And it certainly seems like a good idea. This one is currently not on the market, and the projected price of $450 seems a bit high, especially since Amazon already has a similar one for $119.99.

Meanwhile, as therapy pets, robots might be useful for nursing home residents. However, Hal Herzog summarized research results comparing real dogs and robots as of 2016 in Therapy Dogs or Robots for Nursing Home Residents? The conclusion was that any benefit from the therapy animal or the robot only lasted a few weeks. Maybe the trick is to use them intermittently, not as constant companions.

In any event, the concept of a pet that doesn't eat, crap, get sick, or die is very appealing.

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2:52 PM 4/28/2019

Pit bull grabs baby -- when was the last time you saw a headline starting like this which had a happy ending?

Well, hold on to your hats. Here's one: Pit bull grabs baby by diaper, saves her from fire. To wit:

Monday, June 11, 2018
STOCKTON, California --
Man's best friend is being hailed as a hero by one family in Stockton, California.

Sasha, the family's pit bull, started barking and alerted the family to the fire spreading from their neighbor's home.

As soon as Latana Chai opened the door, Sasha sprang into action to make sure the smallest member of the family was safe.

"I ran into the room and I see Sasha, she has my baby like by the diaper, just dragging her off the bed trying to get her to safety," said Chai.

Pit Bulls have a terrible reputation, but here's at least one that made a damn good pet.

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2:38 PM 11/17/2018

Dog shaming pics reveal as much about owner as about dog

Ran across this link somewhere, and the photos there are a delight. (If you have a soft spot for dogs, click the link at the end of this post.)

The dogs in the photos each have signs on them or nearby in which the dog allegedly confesses to eating or destroying some of the Thanksgiving dinner.

Although it's in Dailymail.co.uk, it's very American. I don't think Brits celebrate Thanksgiving. Or if they do, it must be for a different reason.

Anyway, as adorable the guilty pooches appear to be, the thing I found striking was the number of the dogs' notes that described the pet owner as "mom." Is that weird, or is it just me?

Enjoy the photos at Mutt shaming! Dog owners post photos of their shame-faced animals after they ruin Thanksgiving dinner.

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12:36 PM 11/24/2017

Compare pet handling in hurricane Katrina with Irma

Not long ago we noted that aside from the politic opportunities for the opposition party, the lesson learned from hurricane Katrina was that people loved their pets very much. When responders came to rescue stranded individuals, they refused to take along the person's pet. And the pet owners loved them so much they would rather stay behind and risk their own safety than leave the animals behind.

Compare that with the Irma rescue squads. Now special accommodations are made for the lovable little creatures.

In fact, look at this remarkable indication of how far down this path we've gone. Dozens of dogs abandoned, left unable to escape as Irma bears down. Now they're talking about filing charges against pet owners who leave a pet behind. They seem to isolate those situations in which the pet is chained or fenced. But still, what a contrast.

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12:09 PM 9/12/2017

The six gun may have won the West but the air conditioner won the South

Here in the middle of the desert -- Midland, Texas -- it gets hot in the summer. Although, lately the mid afternoon temps have been a bit lower than the 106°F temps we saw last month, the mid 90s can still heat up a house to unlivable conditions without an air conditioner.

Now, it's true that there was a time when no house had air conditioning. And part of the reason for the migration of people from the North to the South is the prevalence of air conditioning. But there's a price to pay. Electricity isn't cheap.

So leads like this one don't exactly drop our jaws: Air conditioning and other appliances increase residential electricity use in the summer. Although, that same outfit tells us in How is electricity used in U.S. homes that only 18% of our electricity usage is for air conditioning, that's probably for the full year. During the summer it has to be much higher.

But those days when houses didn't have air conditioning are long gone, and I shudder to think about life in the South should the electric grid go out. There are still people around who grew up in Texas in a house without an air conditioner. (I'm one of them.) But few would want to go back to that.

But the silver lining to a dead grid is that the electricity bill would be zero. In fact, the system that actually gets the bill delivered will have probably collapsed, too. So we've got that going for us.

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2:13 PM 8/23/2017

Cat cafes are OK, but what we need are dog cafes

Having only recently discovered how entertaining "Shark Tank" reruns are, it's nice to be able to see them so many times during the normal week.

One recent show featured a lady with the idea of opening a "Cat Cafe." That would be a cafe stocked with live cats where a patron could go for a cup of coffee, a snack, and an opportunity to watch and interact with playful kittens and friendly cats. Nice concept. But it was a concept only at that stage, and the sharks gave her the boot because she didn't already have an establishment in place.

So anyway, I was watching a recent episode of "Elementary," and there was Sherlock going to a cat cafe to quiz someone about a suspect. Wow, they stole her idea! Turns out cat cafes were already operating in Asia, so it wasn't exactly a new idea, just new to the U.S.

But what we really need are dog cafes. Cats are OK, but you have to earn their love. Dogs give it away freely. They're so much fun, too.

Furthermore, there are probably a lot of people out there like me who love dogs but who don't want to own another one. Burying them is an emotionally draining experience one doesn't want to repeat too often. On the other hand, visiting dogs at something like a petting zoo sounds very appealing, especially if the entry fee covered the cup of coffee.

Dealing with dogs -- new cops now required to get training

We've probably all seen a video or two of a law enforcement officer shooting some family's pet. One can almost understand if an officer genuinely feels threatened. However, most dogs want to protect their family, and a confrontational law enforcement officer might trigger that reaction. But most dogs don't go beyond making noise and don't represent a real threat.

It has happened enough times that animal advocacy groups lobbied for and got a law on the books in Texas requiring new law enforcement officers and those seeking a promotion to get training on the topic. Here's the way the Texas Humane Legislation Network describes it:

CANINE ENCOUNTER TRAINING FOR POLICE OFFICERS PASSED!
THLN had a huge victory with HB 593 - The Mandatory Canine Encounter Training Bill. This bill, which requires canine encounter training for all new police recruits and some of those seeking advancement, will train thousands of Texas peace officers to better handle encounters with our beloved canines. THLN began working on this bill in 2013 and created key partnerships with law enforcement and victim's families. Last year, over 200 dogs were shot by law enforcement in Texas; hopefully, HB 593 will drastically reduce these incidents. A special Thank You to Rep. Nicole Collier and her staff who passionately advocated for this bill.

(Bold added for emphasis.)

Over 200 dogs -- that sure seems like a lot. Maybe some dogs' lives will be saved by this measure. In any event, the bill went into effect on 9/1/2015.

Bloodhounds could have done a better job of tracking escapees than Malinois

There have been two high profile man-hunts in the news in the past few years. One was the hunt for the Boston Bomber. Recall that he was wounded in a gun fight but escaped in an SUV. He got out, ran away, and hide in a boat. One might think that a good tracking dog could have followed the scent and found him. After all, he was bleeding. But no. It was the boat owner who found him.

Of all the photos of police officers with dogs at that scene, none showed a Bloodhound.

Fast forward to last week when law enforcement officers were canvasing, grid searching, and tracking David Sweat and Matt David. Again, no Bloodhounds in sight. In fact, David Sweat is supposed to have said he was "hiding in a hunting tree stand when an officer walked past him."

A Bloodhound wouldn't have walked past him.

Law enforcement these days like Belgian Malinois for their canine squads. Malinois are smart dogs, and according to dogs.petbreeds.com, they can track. But judging from those two high profile cases, they aren't that good at it.

Malinois are very aggressive, and as an animal control expert told an audience recently, "they can tear your arm off." Anyone who has seen a police dog demonstration probably watched a guy covered in protective clothing take off running, and when the dog is released, he grabs the guy and won't let go. They put on a good show. But when it comes down to actually finding the suspect, it's up to the humans.

Lost pet locating service makes the leap from phone pole sign to phone call

We've all seen those poignant posters on utility poles asking for help locating a lost dog. And most of us have probably cruised the streets at one time or another trying to help someone find a lost dog.

There's an online company that has figured out a way to jump the gap from the sign on the pole to an actual phone call. It's findtoto.com. I learned about this first hand around Christmastime last year when a robocall came into my landline asking me to be on the lookout for an orange and white Brittany. I drove around for a while looking, but the dog was not to be seen.

A few days later I phoned the number of the dog owner to ask how it went. She said she began receiving calls immediately after the robocalls went out. And the dog was back home within four hours. Not bad.

At the time I went through the online questionnaire for a hypothetical lost pet, and the service quoted a fee of around $300 for a robocall to each landline in my zip code. However, anyone wondering about current pricing should contact the company.

Steaks every day, grassy lawns, no cats -- just imagining what dog heaven must be like

Oh wait. Never mind.

Marijuana has gone to the dogs in Seattle

It's medical marijuana for pets to treat arthritis. Breitbart.com has the news at Seattle Vet Offers Medical Pot For Pets.

Anti-inflammatory drugs have their drawbacks, but marijuana doesn't, say the vets trying to sell the product.

But there's a downside there, too. They stripped out the THC, so the animals don't get high. But that's probably for the best. A dog with the munchies could be a real nuisance.

Meanwhile, here on the home front, my own new dog seems to have a fondness for cardboard. She had rather chew up a cardboard box than eat dry dog food. I haven't tried it myself, but that certainly isn't a ringing endorsement for the dog food.

Via.

Fox Friday 11-29-13 (Black Friday)

Apologies to urban wildlife lovers, but Fox Friday may be coming to an end. They've stopped coming to visit. The chief reason is the new dog who not only eats the food left for the foxes but also scents up the place with the smell of domestic canine.

So these photos you see below are the only decent ones of a fox the camera caught all week.

Hey, the food is on the third rung up!

There's your problem.

I'm still experimenting with ways to lure the foxes, so there's a glimmer of hope.

Fox Friday 11-22-13

Not many fox photos this week. They haven't been coming around as frequently as they did recently.

There's one lonely hunter.

Here's the reason why the foxes have been avoiding the place. Although she is mostly an indoor dog, her scent is probably all over the place by now. And she steals the fox food every chance she gets. Maybe some sort of elevated feeding station for the foxes might work.

Cats and dogs escaping together

A great escape. The dog knows what to expect. Watch him hop around in anticipation as the cat wrestles with the door knob, finally using two paws to open it. Youtube link.

It wasn't exactly the ideal spot to put a cat tree.

Via Arbroath.

Now this really is a rescue dog

The word "rescue" is so overused these days when it comes to dogs. Usually people mean that they got the dog at the pound. And yes, most of the dogs in the pound end up getting the needle. But "rescue" seems overly flattering for the person who took on a new pet. After all, the pet's job is to make the human happy.

But this dog really did get rescued. According to the story -- found at Nothing to Do with Arbroath -- the dog was used to teach Mexican junior cartel members how to torture. And they chopped off poor Lemon Pie's front paws. Grrrrr.

But the story has a happy ending. Excerpt:

He was found dying in a rubbish bin with his front legs cut off, and was subsequently rescued by the Canine Miracles Centre near Mexico City.

The charity raised more than $6,000 for a Californian company to make Lemon Pie a pair of state-of-the-art prosthetic limbs, using X-rays and measurements to make sure the legs were the perfect fit.

Watch him try out his new limbs in this Youtube video. Caution, get out your handkerchiefs.

a car bomb explodes, house ablaze, dog saves her pups -- get out your handkerchiefs

From the DailyMail.co.uk:

The blaze broke out at a home in Santa Rosa de Temuco, Chile, on Thursday after a car bomb went off.

The mother dog - a German Shepherd mix called Amanda - risked her life to pick up the puppies in her mouth and carried them from the burning house to the safety of the fire truck.

She put them in a bin in a fire truck!  Good dog!

Click DailyMail.co.uk for photos. And get more of the story at Soychile.cl.

Dog TV

This is why the terrorists hate us. We are so opulent that we can have a tv channel exclusively for our canine companions.

It's DogTV.com.

Wouldn't want the little four leggers to get bored.

Update 2/19/12: Tony Billmeyer of Newsy.com emails this link to New Cable Channel Caters to Canines, an informative news video about the channel.

Court: Our animals can't sue us for freedom

Critics are quick to pounce on judges that try to take away our rights. So we should compliment the ones who rule to maintain our rights.

In this case it's the right of humans to not be sued by animals. The story is in USAToday.com which tells us that PETA attempted to use a technicality to get a ruling that the whales at Seaworld were being held in violation of the 13th Amendment which says:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The authors and everyone who voted for ratification of the amendment in 1865 thought it was supposed to apply to human slavery. That was so well understood at the time that they didn't think it necessary to spell it out in any more detail. Can you imagine the reaction back then if someone suggested it might someday be applied to animals?

That didn't stop PETA which went to court to try to squeeze whales through the loophole. Fortunately, the court ruled against them, and the unintended consequences of a bad ruling were avoided.

Otherwise, courthouses would be full of household pets suing their owners for freedom, or maybe just for better conditions. Dogs probably wouldn't sue. But cats? I'm not so sure.

Plaintiff, Fluffy, hereby sues Owner due to the fact that Owner, in a cruel and inhuman manner, forced Fluffy to choose between dried cat food and starvation when in fact Owner could very easily afford fresh salmon.

Humans are still top dog. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.

A good laugh for dog lovers

Anyone who either likes dogs, dislikes busybodies, or enjoys a good retort should appreciate this. It's a letter from novelist E.B. White dated 4/12/51 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in response to an alleged complaint from the said ASPCA that Mr. White was harboring a dog without a proper license.

Mr. White's letter implies that Minnie is a very coddled canine. Here's an excerpt:

Dear Sirs:

I have your letter, undated, saying that I am harboring an unlicensed dog in violation of the law. If by "harboring" you mean getting up two or three times every night to pull Minnie's blanket up over her, I am harboring a dog all right. The blanket keeps slipping off. I suppose you are wondering by now why I don't get her a sweater instead. That's a joke on you. She has a knitted sweater, but she doesn't like to wear it ...

Read the whole thing at Lettersofnote.com. You'll be glad you did.

Photo source: Wikipedia.org.

Goodbye Good Dog

Dogs have provided such great comfort to people for so long. It makes one wonder how it started. Did feral canines follow the cavemen for food scraps? And how long did it take those canines to figure out that the caveman was a sucker for an affectionate pet?

In any event, a pet dog has become a fixture in many households, and in some cases, the equivalent of a family member.

Their love is unconditional, their loyalty is unmatched, and their ability to comfort is priceless. A dog is here to say, "Hey, someone loves you. Whatever happens to you, I'm here for you. I'll try to make it better just by being here. All I ask from you is a square meal, a place to sleep, and a little return affection. You can skip those vaccinations, though."

So when a beloved pet dies it leaves a gaping wound.

My own dog died exactly one week ago. He was 14 years old and had lived a long and happy life. And yes, he did all the things a good dog does.

He stopped eating a couple of weeks before his departure, and none of the veterinary recommendations solved the problem. On the Friday before he died my vet told me he would be unavailable over the weekend but could perform euthanasia the following Monday if necessary. I was naive and thought that since the dog slept most of the time he would die in his sleep. Wrong. His last day on earth was not a pleasant experience for him. His systems were shutting down, and he breathing was very labored -- not the happy pant but hard, heavy breathing. There were occasional cries of pain, and sleep was out of the question. He was immobile except for the heavy breathing.

So that Sunday I could not comfort him, and his cries were heartbreaking. I did an internet search for do-it-yourself dog euthanasia, but the best I could find was a plan for a plastic tent with a concoction of vinegar and baking soda to produce CO2 to fill the tent. Well, if it worked, it would cause asphyxiation, and while I have never experienced that, I'm pretty sure it would not be a peaceful departure.

The little guy bit down on his pad and wouldn't let go. He was holding on for dear life, to anything. And I was no help whatsoever. I toyed with the idea of putting a plastic bag over his head, securing it with a cord, and suffocating him. But looking into his sad eyes, I just couldn't do it. I woke up around 2:30am Monday and checked on him. He was dead. It was not a good death.

But here's the thing. The dog's vet was unavailable until that Monday morning, but Sunday is when he needed relief from his suffering. There really should be a way for a dog owner to administer a peaceful euthanasia to a beloved pet, not to be cruel, but to end the pain.

Regardless, there he rests, in the ground under a freshly painted grave marker. Goodbye good dog. You won't be forgotten.

Puppies under a Christmas tree -- what could be cuter

A slow scan of presents under a Christmas tree, a tall sack falls over, and out tumble a bunch of cute puppies that romp and play amongst the presents. (Blame *Robo-ed for this one.)

It's too cute for words. Click to watch Puppy Christmas.

*Robot-editor thought this blog needed some Christmas cheer. So how's that for starters? [It'll do. But would it kill ya to show a little humanity every once in a while? Robo-ed.]

What if Lassie had been a cat

What about little Timmy? Well, it isn't very pretty, but see for yourself.

Via WeRuleTheInternet.com.

Pit bulls make more work for medical staff

There's an interesting report in the San Antonio Express News about bit bull attacks, and it says a study put together by some staff members at a hospital shows that attacks by pit bulls were more likely to kill people, and the injuries were more severe than those inflicted by other breeds.

The study is titled "Mortality, Mauling, and Maiming by Vicious Dogs" in the April, 2011, issue of "Annals of Surgery." Here's a link to the abstract with the following conclusion:

Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs. Strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the US mortality rates related to dog bites.

Scary stuff. Pit bulls have a big fan base, though, and for every report about how dangerous they are there's someone ready to explain it away and say it's not the breed, it's a bad owner. But one has to wonder why the pit bull always seems to be the breed that's involved in illegal dog fights. Those bad owners use pit bulls for a reason.

Riverside, CA -- Dog trapped between two walls, rescued

Don't you just hate it when you get stuck between two walls? Wally, the Shar-Pei mix, sure did. Just look at that forlorn expression on his face.

It happened in Riverside, California, and somehow Wally wedged himself between two cinder block walls and couldn't get out. Rescuers from Riverside County Animal Services knocked a hole in one of the walls and rescued him.

A Coachella Valley Water District employee gave the dog a bean and cheese burrito, which Wally gobbled up.

Good doggie, good doggie.

BTW, the folks who rescued him must have really felt good about this outcome.  They probably euthanize a lot of animals every year, and it must have been very rewarding to rescue an adoptable animal like Wally and get a little bit of good publicity to boot.

Via Newslite.tv .

Funniest dog picture on the internet

I laughed so hard at this photo I just had to download it. That was before Christmas, and looking at it again today it still makes me laugh. I hope you can get a chuckle out of it, too.

It came from an article at omg-facts.com about a smart Border Collie named Chaser who is supposed to be able to recognize the names of over 1,000 items. The genius in the above photo isn't Chaser, and I don't know where this chess playing canine came from originally. Dog Mensa, maybe.

Speaking of smart dogs, watch Tucker the Schnoodle sing and accompany himself on the piano in this cute video.  Carnegie Hall beckons, Tucker.

Listening to dog talk

Mitochondrial D.N.A. sequences show that the family dog descended from a grey wolf somewhere between 12,000 and 100,000 years ago, depending on which scientist happens to be doing the counting.

A recent Nova TV show was all about our favorite four legged friends, dogs, and it relayed some fascinating information. For example, no other animal seems to have the ability to get information from humans by simply watching their faces -- the human turns his/her head to look at something, and the dog looks in the same direction to see what the human is looking at. Many dog owners are probably so accustomed to these things that they don't realize how unique that feature is in the animal kingdom.

Dogs try to communicate with humans with their barks, but the range of information exchanged is quite limited. But, maybe that's because humans haven't learned dog talk.

How good are you at interpreting dog barks? Take this quiz. After you hear the dog bark, select the choice that seems to be the message the dog is trying to convey. Here are the selections from which you can choose:

"Don't leave me alone."
"Let's play."
"I see a stranger."
"I'm on the attack."
"I want the ball."
"Let's go for a walk."

Good dog. Good dog.

Dog de-snaking clinic coming up

Seems late in the summer to be doing this, but it's the hunting season that guides the schedule.

The next annual Llano Estacado Bird Hunting Association dog de-snaking clinic is set to take place on August 14, 2010, at the Permian Basis Shotgun Range. Here's the announcement PDF.

It's supposed to be very good. But don't take my word for it, Janie tells the whole story in a way that only she can do.

Dogs for adoption -- get them while you can

This afternoon, as with every Saturday afternoon for the past three years, Laura Hollifield and some other Animal Outreach volunteers had some of the pets under their care up for adoption at the PetSmart here in Midland, Texas.  Here are a few photos from today's adoption showcase.

 

That's Ms. Hollifield in the first picture above left, and these are some of the dogs that were available today.

Regina Louise Carmichael, a heeler/corgi mix, shows off her one blue eye and one brown eye as she poses for the photo, above left. Those three pups in the next shot demonstrated how relaxed they could be in a crowd.

 

What fine pets these dogs would make.



That's Cowgirl above left in the bandana, showing off one of her tricks.  And on the right we see a curious canine investigating that big eye of the camera.  Maybe she'll be on TV.

They were such lovely dogs. And they are sure to make great pets for someone caring enough to adopt them. The animals have already been vaccinated, spayed or neutered, so the new owners won't have to worry about that.

Animal Outreach doesn't have a facility for the dogs, so volunteers provide foster homes for them until permanent homes can be found. It must be sad for the foster families to part with them, but one volunteer said it means they've helped one more animal and can go on to help another one.  Keep up the good work, y'all.

Three new therapy dogs ready to go to work

Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows full well how beneficial they are to people. They have so much love to give, and some dog owners want to share that love with others who may need it.

They are therapy dogs -- dogs that have been trained and tested and that have shown they can be good, calm dogs eager to show affection to a child or patient in need of a friend.

Therapy Dog International is a program that provides a structure for animal owners who want to use their pets to help others. Once trained and tested, they go to work. It seems like easy work, but it can be exhausting. A new dog can only work for about a half hour at at time, although experienced dogs may be able to work for a couple of hours.

 

Today J.P. Yousha and Leanne Howell conducted final exams for three dogs testing to become therapy dogs. And it was a tough test. Two of the dogs had flunked once before and had to go back to school before they could try again. And this afternoon they all passed.

To demonstrate that they can function well as a canine therapist the dogs had to be under control of the owner at all times.  That included being able to walk on a leash beside the owner, turn in both directions, and make a U-turn. The dog had to sit and lie down on command as well as stay with a stranger when the owner walks away.

The dogs were tested around wheel chairs and crutches to prove that they wouldn't be anxious around items common in nursing facilities but not necessarily found in every home. And to prove their tolerance, a pair of crutches was dropped near them on the hard floor. It was OK to be startled, but they had to recover quickly. They had to tolerate improper petting -- we've all seen how children will pat a dog's head a little too hard, and the dogs have to put up with it without complaining. Also, kids like to stick their fingers into every hole. (Yuck.)

Temperament is the most important quality of a therapy dog. J.P. says the "Bubba dogs" are the best. Those are the dogs that Bubba, two ranches down the road, could borrow to help herd livestock, and you wouldn't expect any problems.

Friendliness is a big one. Think of Wal-Mart greeters, friendly to everyone they meet.

 

Welcome three new therapy dogs to the dog therapy community. All passed with flying colors, and they are sure to be great therapy dogs: Ann Ward's Great Pyrenees*, Frosty; Michaela Turner's Golden Retriever, Murphy; and Catherine Clifton's Collie, Brinkley. They will bring a lot of happiness to their owners and the patients they visit.

Dogs without the right temperament can be trained to do the therapy work, but there is a greater likelihood of problems. See a complete list of the test requirements on the Therapy Dog Test PDF. It's not for everyone. But the right dog with the right owner can perform miracles.

*Paw note:  The Great Pyrenees is one of only two breeds with double dew claws.