All dogs need training, at least in basic manners. That’s why the Dog Star Daily’s Digital Dog Training Textbook is a handy reference:

Dogs will be dogs. They are guaranteed to pee, poop, chew, dig, bark and bite. So if you invite a dog to live in your home, it is up to you to teach them where, when and how.

Raising a puppy can be a wonderfully enjoyable, or horribly frustrating experience, depending on what you know. We believe that proper dog training information is so important that it should be freely available to all, with the hope that dogs (and their humans) will be happier and healthier because of it. This is why we have created the: The Dog Star Daily Online Digital Dog Training Textbook

What do you think of it?

In New Zealand it’s summer — a time when puppies and kittens proliferate, often only to end up in SPCA and other shelters.

Puppy. Photo by Miraz.

It’s also Christmas, and a puppy or kitten might seem a great idea as a gift:

Dogs and puppies are the most searched for item on TradeMe in the lead up to Christmas, and that’s brought a warning from the website’s spokesman.

Daniel Bridges says people should think carefully before giving a dog or cat as a gift – make sure the recipients really want one, and that they’re well equipped to look after it.

[Via : Dogs, puppies top pre Chirstmas TradeMe searches | ONE NEWS News.]

I’d go further than Bridges though and say: never give an animal as a gift. It’s not fair on the recipient or on the animal.

Even passionate dog-lovers may have their reasons not to get a dog and a puppy can quickly become an unwelcome and expensive burden.

If you think an animal would be a perfect gift for a friend or family member then certainly make the offer, but don’t be offended if they decline. If they do want to accept the offer then go with them and let them pick out the puppy or kitten they want — the one they ‘click’ with.

The costs of a new puppy or kitten

There are lots of costs with any new puppy or kitten, apart from the cost of the animal itself.

Costs may include:

• bedding
• food
• fencing a property
• a crate or barriers for inside a room
• routine vet checks
• neutering or spaying, vaccinations, flea control
• licensing fees
• accessories such as a collar and leash
• grooming costs (or time for grooming)
• car harness
• training

Adding a new animal to a home is a huge commitment. Please don’t just give a pet for Christmas.

In August 2009 an attack by a pack of pig dogs shocked New Zealand:

A Putaruru woman mauled by eight pig hunting dogs thought it was only a matter of time before they killed her. …

Mrs Christensen was left in a blood-covered heap on the road-side gravel; she was covered in dog bites and sustained injuries to her scalp, back, arms and legs. …

Mrs Christensen has a strong message for dog owners about the need to restrain their animals, and she wants the public to report roaming dogs: “I hope I can contribute something so it doesn’t happen again.

[Via : Living to tell her story - national | Stuff.co.nz.]

The dogs have since been destroyed and the owner prosecuted.

Boar hunting.

The nature of hunting dogs

You have to keep in mind that pig dogs are bred and trained to hunt wild pigs. They aren’t household pets that sit up and beg to earn a treat. These dogs have to be brave and fierce to do their job.

Keep dogs under control

Apparently these dogs were unrestrained at the time of the attack.

All dogs need to be kept under control at all times. This awful event is a good reminder to all of us: know where our dog is and what it’s doing.

As someone pointed out recently: dogs aren’t robots. They are living, breathing, unpredictable creatures (just like us humans).

It doesn’t really matter if the dog’s in another room, out in the yard or wandering loose, it can still act in ways that surprise us.

The pack intensity

We have to remember that pack instinct too. We have two small dogs. I’ve seen the two of them form a pack to gang up on our cats. They operate very well together.

At least with 2 you need only remove one to break up the pack. More than 2 is a whole other matter.

Image source Wikimedia Commons: Boar hunting, tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (14th century).

Dog poop seems to be one of the biggest issues that determine where dogs may and may not go in a city. In downtown Wellington, New Zealand, dogs are banned from the city centre during daytime. There are certain areas of Wellington where they are allowed off-leash though.

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In one area of Mumbai officials are considering banning dogs completely because owners are just not picking up after them:

Dog poop is spoiling the Marine Drive, says the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), proposing to ban pets on the 4-km stretch. …

The BMC’s cleanliness and sanitation bylaws of 2006 make a pet owner responsible for clearing poop on Mumbai’s pavements. … everyday at least two violators are fined by the clean-up marshals for not clearing their dog’s poop.

…The issue came into the spotlight some two years ago when columnist Tavleen Singh refused to remove the poop of her dog. … “poop is bio-degradable and the BMC wants us to clean it up with plastic, which is not.”

Churchgate resident Tunali Mukherjee, who regularly walks her German Shepherd-Labrador cross-breed, said, “There are no dustbins on the promenade. Even if I pick up the poop where do I throw it?” she asked. …

Cities like Paris, New York and London have come up with “poop-scoop and bagger”, a pickup device that has a scoop for picking up waste and has a plastic bag lining it which can be used to remove the waste.

[Via : Proposed fiat: clean up poop or take dogs off Marine Drive.]

What do you think about the issue of using plastic bags for picking up dog poop. As we try to take plastic out of the landfills it leaves us with a bit of a dilemma. What alternatives are there to plastic bags? And what about the problem of there being no rubbish bins around?

What are your thoughts on these matters? Add them to the comments.

It’s more than a year since the City of Sydney introduced dog-friendly policies and off-leash parks. Now they’re finding owners are being more responsible and fewer animals are ending up in the Pound:

… figures show huge increases in the number of dogs in all Sydney metropolitan council areas. …

But this apparent dog boom may simply be a boom in responsible pet ownership. Council campaigns encouraging owners to microchip and register their dogs are working, councils and veterinaries said.

… microchipping had reduced the number of animals in the council’s shelter.

…Dog-friendly strategies encourage residents to get dogs or people with dogs to move to the area.

The Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, who has championed the social benefits of dog ownership, said the majority of feedback she had received since the designation of new off-leash parks in April last year had been positive.

[Via : Chips on shoulder or barking mad? City gone to dogs.]

Bob Kerridge, executive director of the SPCA Auckland, New Zealand has some thoughts on dog licensing:

Imagine a city whose dog-owning residents are aware of their responsibilities, both to the dogs and their fellow humans, and are made accountable for the actions of their dogs.

This is achievable through the simple act of licensing the owner, not the dog. In providing a licence to individuals for the privilege of having a dog it would, in the first instance, be necessary for the person to be educated into the essential responsibilities that go with such an entitlement.

In this regard the Code of Welfare for Dogs is a document, soon to be updated by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, which contains the essential standards of canine care so necessary in the health and welfare of the animal, together with helpful guidelines into their care.

[Via : Bob Kerridge: License owners to solve dog's breakfast of canine control - Animals - NZ Herald News.]

The (New Zealand) National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee:

…is a ministerial advisory committee established under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

The Committee’s main function is to advise the Minister of Agriculture on animal welfare matters relating to farm, companion, wild and pest animals. It has a number of other functions, including providing advice on the content of codes of welfare specifying minimum standards for animal treatment and recommendations for best practice.

The Committee is progressively reviewing existing voluntary codes of recommendation and minimum standards which will be replaced by codes of welfare. The minimum standards in codes of welfare can be used to support a prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act, or conversely, can be used as a defence to prosecution.

The Code of Animal Welfare was published in May 1998, and includes these areas of concern:

1. Nutrition
2. Water
3. Housing
4. Exercise
5. Health and disease
6. Transport
7. Training
8. Breeding and reproduction
9. Surgical procedures
10. Injuries
11. Euthanasia
12. General

It’s an interesting read, especially (for us townies) the sections on exercise and transport.

What do you think: should we license dogs or their owners? Leave a Comment below.

When you and your dog are at the park, do you look sideways at certain breeds? Are you anxious that a dog from a particular breed may attack you or your dog?

A recent study in the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances shows it’s the owners rather than the breeds we need to worry about:

… contrary to popular belief, breed has little to do with a dog’s aggressive behaviour compared to all the owner-dependant factors.

… According to Joaquín Pérez-Guisado, the main author of the study and a researcher from the UCO, some of the factors that cause aggressiveness in dogs are: first-time dog ownership; failure to subject the dog to basic obedience training; spoiling or pampering the dog; not using physical punishment when it is required; buying a dog as a present, as a guard dog or on impulse; spaying female dogs; leaving the dog with a constant supply of food, or spending very little time with the dog in general and on its walks.

… approximately 40% of dominance aggression in dogs is associated with a lack of authority on the part of the owners who have never performed basic obedience training with their pets or who have only carried out the bare minimum of training.

[Via : Dogs Are Aggressive If They Are Trained Badly.]

That part about physical punishment had me concerned, but the article does talk about that a bit, and is not advocating beating dogs.

This website is a place where we can lobby on behalf of dogs. We can only hope to win support for our aims though if we dog owners take responsibility for our animals. We need to school them, socialise them, pick up after them and keep them away from endangered wildlife.

This kind of report doesn’t help our cause one little bit:

At least 14 endangered weka were killed last week by roaming dogs on Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Department of Conservation (DOC) biodiversity manager Rory Renwick said the dogs were found in the grounds of Mansion House on Tuesday morning, with the dead weka, a peacock and a wallaby nearby.

The owner of the two dogs lost track of them when out walking, he said.

[Via : Dogs kill endangered wekas - environment | Stuff.co.nz, May 2009.]

It’s wonderful to be able to walk with dogs off-leash, but as the Department of Conservation say:

When enjoying a day in the park with your dog, please follow these simple guidelines:

• Keep your dog under control at all times, a dog out of sight is a dog out of control.
• Carry a leash and use it where required.

[Via : Dog walking: Activity Finder.]

DoC even list places where dogs are allowed off-leash.

New Zealand’s native birds are too precious to allow roaming dogs to reduce their numbers even further.

If you’re taking your dogs into areas where there are endangered native birds and animals keep the dogs on the lead. It’s hugely annoying, I know, but if keeping the dog on the leash is too onerous then don’t take it into those areas; pick somewhere else to go for a walk.

Weka photo © Copyright Antoine Hubert, and used under a Creative Commons licence.