Ottawa K9 School

One of my dreams is to work with dogs and autistic children. I’m not sure yet what form that is going to take. I’m one course away from having my specialist in Special Needs, but I have a lot to learn about autism before I start working on any sort of program.

I’ve been collecting books on autism and, naturally,Dr.  Temple Grandin’s books are part of this collection. If you don’t know who she is, she is well worth discovering!

If you’re interested, why not watch Temple Grandin the movie,  starring Claire Danes ?  I’m not surprised this movie has been nominated for 15 Emmys! You can see it on HBO, or wait until mid August for it to come out on DVD.

http://www.templegrandin.com/

Judith and her dog Boris would love to come to Puppy Kindergarten class, but they don’t have transportation. They are looking for someone who would be willing to drive them to class, and are willing to pay, of course.

If you live near Parkdale/Wellington and are willing to give Judith and her dog Boris a ride to puppy kindergarten classes on Sunday mornings, please contact Judith at (613) 686- 6135.

Puppy Kindergarten classes at the Ottawa Canine School are now at 425 St-Laurent, just North of Montreal Road.

***** UPDATE  JULY 22nd 2010  ******

BALU IS STILL LOST! KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR THIS GORGEOUS GUY

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I met Vanessa yesterday while out walking the dogs. She was in my neighbourhood, putting signs up and talking to dog owners about her lost dog, Balu.

Balu got scared during the earthquake and ran out of their house, crashing through the screen door.

Balu is a 9 month old, intact, White Golden Retriever. He weighed 55lbs two weeks ago. Balu is a friendly guy, and loves treats. His owners, Vanessa and Neal can’t imagine that he is hiding somewhere, because he is so social and loves people.  He is microchipped.

Perhaps someone has found him but doesn’t know how to get him back to his owners. There aren’t many White Retrievers around, so he may have found a temporary home and needs help getting back to Vanessa and Neal. They are desperately trying to find him.

Take a good look at the picture and keep your eyes peeled when you are out and about town.

I received a phone call from a local rescue, telling me about this wonderful dog Lacey. She sounds like a great dog, and deserves the right home for her. Below is from the Petfinder Page:

LACEY is much smaller than she looks in the pics. She is an active Spaniel mix who is about 1 1/2 years old and weighs some 30 lbs. Based on her behaviour, we think she is Cocker mixed mixed with a herding breed, either Aussie or Australian Cattle Dog. Lacey is up to date on her vetting and is already micro-chipped.

Lacey is timid at first but warms up quickly and is very sweet.. She is an active athletic girl who will need exercise, training and mental stimulation. Her suspected breed mix loves dog sports like agility or games like fetch, and teaching her tricks should be a snap.

Lacey gets along with dogs but does not need to live with one… neighbourhood buddies would be fine She is too prone to chase cats to be a good companion to them. We will not be placing her with very young children because of her herding dog tendencies.

Lacey is an amazing girl. With an active family who likes to be outdoors she will make an awesome companion for almost any activity…. and a sweet cuddling partner when the fun is over and it’s time to rest. Please consider offering her a warm spot in your home.

Lacey is fostered in the Ottawa-Cornwall area. If you are interested in adopting her, please email us for information and an adoption application. catahoula@sympatico.ca

For more information and pictures: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16289516

Did your dog react strangely to today’s earthquake? What about before the earthquake? Sense any strange and erratic behavior in your dog?

Hemingway, our Great Dane, was “barking mad” yesterday. He is not a quiet dog, but he’s not one to bark incessantly. Experts have apparently proven that cats and dogs can predict earthquakes. In Japan, some scientists are studying this ability closely, as it can potentially save lives.

Read more about the experts’ findings here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html

http://www.mindpowernews.com/DogsPredictEarthquakes.htm

When I came home today, Hemi was quite agitated. Even Everest was more excited than usual. I wish I had been here to see how they were behaving before the earthquake and how they reacted to it.

Anyone have any stories to share, about how their dog “survived” the quake?

There is still time left!
Check out the online auction for Hopeful Hearts Rescue.

http://www.hopefulhearts.ca/

The Ottawa Canine School has donate a spot in any of the classes we offer.
Hemi, my Great Dane, is a Hopeful Hearts rescue. That’s one of the many good reasons to help out Hopeful Hearts and allow them to rescue more wonderful dogs.

Subject: Caution to all Pet Owners – Especially Dogs & Cats

It is VERY important information for pet owners (and pet lovers) as we start the spring spruce-up season!!
Caution to all Pet owners: Please share this with all the pet owners you know and ask them to do the same – the information you take a few minutes to share might prevent the senseless loss of other pets.

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Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don’t have a pet, please pass this to those who do.

Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn’t acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly. Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company’s web site, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey’s, and they claim that “It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won’t eat it.”

*Snopes site gives the following information: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp*

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman’s Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores contains a lethal ingredient called ‘Theobromine.’ It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks.

Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker’s chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of Theobromine, a Xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and Theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of Theobromine.

Interesting article on how the pressure of urban living has changed how dogs live, forcing them to solve problems and even increasing their intelligence. Some have even learned to navigate the subway, wait for green lights at street crossings (which is quite a feat since dogs are colour blind…) Does Russia have the smartest dogs? Oh how I would love to go back there just to study them!
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http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/EK-AD554_Sky_ST_20080519154957.jpg For every 300 Muscovites, there’s a stray dog wandering the streets of Russia’s capital. And according to Andrei Poyarkov, a researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the fierce pressure of urban living has driven the dogs to evolve wolf-like traits, increased intelligence, and even the ability to navigate the subway. Poyarkov has studied the dogs, which number about 35,000, for the last 30 years. Over that time, he observed the stray dog population lose the spotted coats, wagging tails, and friendliness that separate dogs from wolves, while at the same time evolving social structures and behaviors optimized to four ecological niches occupied by what Poyarkov calls guard dogs, scavengers, wild dogs, and beggars. The guard dogs follow around, and receive food from, the security personnel at Moscow’s many fenced in sites. They think the guards are their masters, and serve as semi-feral assistants. The scavengers roam the city eating garbage. The wild dogs are the most wolf-like, hunting mice, rats, and cats under the cover of night. But beggar dogs have evolved the most specialized behavior. Relying on scraps of food from commuters, the beggar dogs can not only recognize which humans are most likely to give them something to eat, but have evolved to ride the subway. Using scents, and the ability to recognize the train conductor’s names for different stops, they incorporate many stations into their territories. Additionally, Poyarkov says the pack structure of the beggars reflects a reliance on brain over brawn for survival. In the beggar packs, the smartest dog, not the most physically dominant, occupies the alpha male position. The evolution of Moscow’s stray dogs has been going on since at least the mid-1800s, when Russian writers first mentioned the stray dog problem in the city. And that evolution has been propelled by deadly selective pressure. Most of the strays arrive on the streets as rejected house pets. Of those dogs kicked out of their homes, Poyarkov estimates fewer than 3 percent live long enough to breed. To survive those odds, a dog really does have to be the fittest. [Financial Times, via Futurismic] Links to articles on the same subject: http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2009/04/07/smartest-dogs-moscow-stray-dogs/ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121123197068805001.html