All posts by The Dog Lady

Dog News

Canine Corner

Canine Corner

From The Dog Lady’s mailbag: The American Kennel Club (AKC®) Education Department is proud to introduce The Canine Corner, a free online newsletter packed with content and resources for teachers in grades K-12.

“We are excited to offer even more resources to help teachers engage students in and out of the classroom,” said Ashley Jacot, Director of Education. “We are committed to helping educators teach responsible dog ownership and the importance of the human-canine bond.”

The Canine Corner is a free subscription service that is delivered monthly. Each online newsletter contains lesson plans, read alouds, and many more activities for teachers, such as a science lesson teaching about force and change in mass using AKC Agility, reading comprehension task cards, and creating line graphs using puppy growth data, among others.

Learn more about the AKC Education Department and its mission.

Sounds like this would be a great resource for home-schoolers, as well.

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!

Animals

Coat Carving

Coat Carving

I’m trying to decide how I feel about this. I guess shaving a pattern in the coat is not too much different than regular grooming, but how is the bedazzling done? Are they glued on or what?

This is from a Facebook group called Coat Carving, which has nearly 9,000 members. It’s a private group, and I didn’t join so I have no details. Does anyone know how it’s done?

Opinions on the practice of coat carving in general?

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!

Behavior and Psychology, Dog Advocacy

How Uncomfortable Is Your Dog?

From the Twitter feed of the League for Animal Welfare:

League for Animal Welfare
League for Animal Welfare

Dogs are typically excellent communicators – and it’s our job to pay attention to what they are saying!

They will give you lots of signs that they’re feeling uncomfortable. If you ignore their first signs, dogs may have to increase their level of communication until you hear them.

It is incredibly rare that a dog bites before giving you about 10 other signs that they’re in a situation that makes them scared or frustrated.

For your safety and theirs – learn those signs, and pay attention when they communicate them to you!

#dogbehavior #learntocommunicate

Good advice and a great graphic to help you remember.

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!

Dog Activities

2021 AKC National Agility Champions

rp_agility-2-350x233.jpg

If you missed the big show last night, the AKC has issued a press release publishing the results:

The top Agility dogs in the nation were crowned from an overall combined entry of more than 1,100 dogs this past weekend at the AKC National Agility Championship. Competitions were held March 26-28, 2021 at the Built Ford Tough Livestock Complex and Central Park Hall at Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “After the cancellation of last year’s championship, it was even more exciting to see all the competitors come out this year and show off their honed skills,” said Doug Ljungren, AKC Executive Vice President of Sports and Events. Continue reading 2021 AKC National Agility Champions →

Health, Nutrition

Midwestern Pet Food Recall

Example of lot code
Example of lot code

Midwestern Pet Foods, Evansville, Indiana is issuing a voluntary recall of specific expiration dates of certain dog and cat food brands including CanineX, Earthborn Holistic, Venture, Unrefined, Sportmix Wholesomes, Pro Pac, Pro Pac Ultimates, Sportstrail, Sportmix and Meridian brands produced at its Monmouth, Illinois Production Facility because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. See full list of recalled products.

Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products. Continue reading Midwestern Pet Food Recall →

Breed Specific, Dog Activities, K-9

Beagle Brigade

Meet the Beagles who search for smuggled goods at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport.

Customs and Border Protection uses Beagles for a couple of reasons: they are not as intimidating as other K-9s like German Shepherds, and they eat less than the larger dogs. Each Beagle goes through a training period of 10-weeks with the paired handler. During the training, handlers become familiar with the dog before they are put to work at their respective port of entry. Each pup can find various plants, meats, fruits and vegetables, and the training doesn’t stop once they are certified. These canines and their handlers have to recertify every year.

Retirement age is about 9 years old, although because they use exclusively rescues, they really don’t know how old the dogs are. The biggest criterion is whether or not they retain their motivation to work for food rewards. (I could still be working at age 58!)

Gotta love those little noses on four legs.

Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!