Spay Day

I wrote to you a few weeks ago about how many mouths there are — six hundred million unwanted dogs worldwide. That’s one dog for every twelve people, and that’s only counting dogs that do not already have loving homes. Unchecked, that’s only two canine generations away from homeless dogs outnumbering people two to one.

It may seem like an impossible, daunting problem, but there is something you can do about it this year, this month, this week — right now. February is Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, and this Tuesday, the 26th, is World Spay Day. An annual campaign by the Humane Society U.S. and Humane Society International, this day is intended to raises awareness of the importance of spaying and neutering in saving the lives of pets as wells as strays that might otherwise wind up killed in shelters or abandoned on the streets.

Last summer, while I was in Europe filming “Leader of the Pack”, I had the chance to visit Germany and see how they handle the stray dog problem. There, spaying and neutering is mandatory and subsidized by the government. Killing animals in shelters is not funded by the government — because they don’t need to. In fact, their program was so successful that they ran out of unwanted dogs, and their shelters had to start taking them in from neighboring countries.

In the U.S., we have yet to move to the mandatory solution, but some places are attempting to do the same by raising the price. In the city of Los Angeles, for example, it’s a lot more expensive and complicated to license an un-fixed dog — $ 335 per year versus only $ 20 — and it’s a lot cheaper to get a dog or cat fixed. In fact, in a lot of places, you can have the procedure done at little or no cost, especially during this month.

-- Cesar Millan

goats yelling like humans

what more do you need?

the connection

It is a video clip that has touched the hearts of millions of people across the world. Veteran scuba instructor Keller Laros cuts free a 10-foot-long bottlenose dolphin that is entangled in 14 feet of fishing line.

Photographer Martina Wing captured on video the heart-warming rescue off Keahole Point near Kona International Airport. The clip lasts about eight minutes, but the obvious connection between diver and dolphin is instant.

The video clip already has more than 2 million views on YouTube. Laros is humbled by all the attention and hopes those who watch it see more than just a rescue at sea.

“I think this encounter has reinforced my belief that we can all make a difference in the world by being good and simply doing the right things every day,” says Laros. “Be it holding a door for someone, recycling cans, bottles and paper, being polite and patient with others, or helping an injured animal, do your best and do what’s right and every day the world can get better.”

-- Ron Mizutani, MidWeek, February 6, 2013

the favorite omelette

The other morning I decided to concoct my famous omelet. I ransacked our fridge, and anything that looked savory went into it.

I insisted that my wife and daughter partake in the glorious meal. They did reluctantly, and ended up rejecting my cooking by spitting it out. Insulted, I started shoveling spoonfuls into my mouth. It was terrible, but I couldn’t give in, so I finished eating the entire omelet myself, remarking on how great it tasted.

That’s when my mom wandered into the kitchen and, when looking into the refrigerator, said, “I want to feed Buddy. What happened to his leftover dog food that I had in the cereal bowl covered with Saran Wrap?”

-- Ron Nagasawa, Midweek, January 16, 2016

Whole Dog Journal

This was from article link in dwf.  The site/publication has been around for a while.  The article was from the December 2001 edition.

The article is Teaching an Aggressive Dog How to Be Social Around Other Dogs.  Notable names mentioned in the article are Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, William Campbell, Trish King.

There is a general feeling that Cesar Millan is an old-school, punishment type trainer.  I don't completely agree.  Or even agree in general.

Punishment is a tricky word.  In common usage punishment is thought of hurting or causing pain.  In dog training/behavior using, punishment is an action which leads to a decreased frequency of (unwanted) behavior.  They're not necessarily the same thing.  There can be punishment without pain.

That latter is how I generally view Cesar's punishment.  He patterns his correction like how a dog corrects another dog.  They usually would nip somewhere at the dog's side (neck or flank) to get the other dog to stop.  Causing pain is not the objective.  The objective is to stop the behavior.

So I do agree one should not pair pain to unwanted behavior.  But I do not believe that it follows that corrections should never be made.

At the beginning of the later shows, Cesar is shown lightly pushing a man's shoulder's.  That was to illustrate that he is not hurting the dog but more getting his attention to him and away from whatever he was thinking of.

I'm sure I can write this better.  And maybe I'll revise this.  But I wanted to get some of my thoughts down as they streamed in.