Service Puppies Stolen In Highland Park!

The last place you expect your dogs or puppies to be in danger is at the vets office.  But in Highland Park this past week, that was where the crime was committed.  I am sure the thieves were counting on the fact that people are more relaxed at the vets office and do things like put their pups in the car then return to the office to pay.  Especially when there are 6 rambunctious puppies!  Though this story has a somewhat happy ending, I hope it makes us all a little more vigilant and cautious, no where is safe, especially from puppy thieves!  The full story from Dogster is below as well as how you can help find the last two puppies.

Last week, a hearing-impaired woman breeding service dogs for the disabled was in the parking lot Highland Park animal hospital. She had just put her six American Bulldog puppies in the car -- the offspring of her own service dog Kyliee -- and she ran back in to pay her bill. That's when two men snuck up to the car and made off with the dogs. 

"All kinds of horrible thoughts kept coming to my mind," Ryan Fingerle told ABCNews.com. "They are innocent and helpless little beings." A security cam caught the men stealing the dogs in the parking lot, but they are still at large. 

(Security footage of the men stealing the pups.)

Fingerle contacted the authorities and tried to comfort her service dog Kyliee, who "moped" around the house looking for her pups.

"Of course, grief was the first thing I felt, overwhelming grief," Fingerle said. "Without their mother's milk, they have very little immunity and cannot fight off any illness or injuries."

Fortunately, Kyliee was back on mothering duty soon enough. On Aug. 10, Fingerle got a call that three of the six pups had been found -- someone had seen an unidentified person throwing them over a fence. They turned out to be Zorro, Xena, and Red Shadow.

 

 

"When I first got the call, I was terrified that the puppies would not be the right ones. I was so afraid of getting my hopes up," she said. "But when I saw them, I just ran forward crying and blubbering, and just wanted to hold them and never let go."

Then, a few days later, a skinny Hercules, with his ribs showing, turned up in a cardboard box in Huntington Park.

“I’m so happy to have them back,” Fingerle told KTLA. “I just want to say thank you, thank you, everyone, for your help.”

The last two dogs, Trident and Davy Jones, are still missing. Police ask that anyone with information to contact the Los Angeles Police Department at 323-344-5757. Those who wished to remain anonymous were asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

"Thank you to the community for their help in recovering the four puppies," Fingerle said.

"Kyliee, the mother of the puppies, is very happy and is now in a calm state of mind."

Please, Please, if you have any idea about this, come forward and give the information.  For all of you living in the Highland Park/ Huntington Park area, keep your eyes peeled for two pups that look like the ones above.  They are young and need to be returned to their mom.

San Diego Airport Gives Fido A Bathroom!

As an increasing number of people fly with their pets, it is important that they have a place to relieve themselves.  Now, many airports have pet relief areas, but so far they are outside and most require you to go back through security.  San Diego has come up with a solution for that, they now have a doggie potty indoors with the Men, Women and Family bathrooms.  The full story from Dogster is below.

San Diego might have trouble electing an appropriate person to be mayor, but the city scores high marks in giving traveling dogs a nice place to conduct business. San Diego airport has the nation's first fully enclosed indoor dog bathroom, according to U-T San Diego

Located in Terminal 2 West between Gates 46 and 47, the 75-square-foot "Pet Relief" airport comfort station is a wonder. It includes fake grass, two deodorizers, a hand-washing station, and complimentary baggies. It also has a fire hydrant, giving dogs a place to aim. Just as important: Maintenance workers clean it twice a day. 

 

"It's with our other restrooms, men's, women's, family, and animals," airport spokeswoman Katie Jones told the Los Angeles Times. 

The facility opened in April as part of the of the airport's $1 billion expansion of Terminal 2 and has flown under the radar until the story took hold last week. 

"I've received calls from NPR, Reddit, Huffington Post," said Jones. "A national game show made it a question. We've really gotten a lot of attention, and it's been very positive." 

Interestingly, the airport already has four other pet relief areas, but these are all outdoors, outside of the security areas. The new one is notable for being inside security, so you don't have to deal with the line again. It's also notable because the fire hydrant is just too much. 

 

Jones told the Times that the pet restroom fulfills a Department of Transportation requirement for airports to provide an area for service animals to relieve themselves. The San Diego airport opened it to all dogs, however. 

 

Other airports do have indoor pet relief areas, but this one appears to be the only one that's fully enclosed, just like a regular bathroom.

Sweet Purple Haze Pooch Parade Fun!

First and foremost, thank you to all the participants, vendors and helpers that made the Sweet Purple Haze Pooch Parade a huge success!  I really had a blast on Monday night leading this pooch parade.

 

We had a great turnout with a wonderful variety of dogs.  All the dogs were at a little different level in training as far as what commands they knew or were generalized with.  Also, we had a few with fear or aggression issues in different stages of management.  But all that being said, the dogs did wonderfully and had SO many distractions to deal with.  Not just the distractions I planned, but all the ones DTLA threw at us too.

The night started with a visit to Pussy & Pooch for a little treat/meal for the dogs.  Pussy & Pooch hit the ball out of the park once again.  Our meals had little splashes of purple and all the dogs thought they were yummy!  For the dogs that were a little too stimulated to eat, the fantastic staff treated us like royalty by feverishly packing up all of our meals in to-go boxes and allowing to get in and out on time.  Thank you Pussy & Pooch!!

From there we moved through the streets of DTLA.  We went up Spring Street and down Main.  Along the way we encountered many people, dogs and even had a fire truck pass by.   But those were just the distractions of the city.  I made the dogs practice their stays through bubbles being blown at them, pom-pom's being shook around them and their owners being crazy!  And they all did great. 
 

At the end, every dog got to show their purple strut as they walked the line in front of all the participants.  This was a favored moment for me.  As each dog and owner strutted down the middle of our line, every other participant cheers and rooted for the dog and shook their pom-pom's.  The feeling of community and pure enjoyment was certainly in the air.

After all that work, we sat down on the beautiful and dog friendly patio of Artisan House for some fantastic pizza, salad and wine!  The dogs relaxed and the humans chatted.  What a great night!

 

If you would like to join in on the next pooch parade, give us a bark!

The Power of Working Your Dog

With each training I do, I try to impress one major point of my training philosophy on my clients and that is the power of working your dog.  Having a life where they work for everything and nothing is free.  I see it time and time again how this one little tweak in how you interact with your dog can allow you to have a leg up on many other bad or annoying behaviors.

The issues I deal with range from very simple puppy training to complex aggression or fear cases.  No matter what the real issue is, the first thing that has to happen is to get the control out of your dog's paws!  When you control every aspect of your dogs life, they will stop trying to control everything.

Most of the time when I go into a home where the dog is "out of control", it is really a matter of the owner having no control rather than the dog being out of control.  Simple things like making your dog work for their food.  That could be bite by bite or a simple routine they do before the bowl goes in front of them.  Either way, they work for it, the food is not offered for free or just left on the floor for them to graze whenever they like.

Walking is another hot point.  You as the owner should decide where to turn, where to walk, when to stop and sniff and how fast or slow the pace.  Allowing your dog to stop and sniff every tree, post and trash can and set the pace and go where ever they like is not a structured walk.  Also, allowing your dog to rush up and meet every dog is a bad habit to set.  Every walk should be controlled by you, the only thing your dog should decide is when to go to the bathroom, but even then, you will decide where.

Greeting dogs is a privilege, not a right for a dog.  Also, not every dog needs or wants to meet every other dog.  Be careful!  If a dog is barking and lunging and they are a stranger to your dog, move on it will not be a good meeting.  If your dog is a very friendly, maybe overly friendly dog, teach them how to say hello politely, don't just allow them to rush into the face of another dog or jump all over them.  Remember, part of being an owner to a dog is teaching them right from wrong, including manners.

By applying the simple principle of working for everything, you will see a difference in how your dog reacts to you and their environment.  But this has to be a life choice, you cannot do this for a few weeks or months and expect the changes you would if this is your dog's life.  They want to work, so let them and get ready for a happier dog and a happier home.

Are You and Your Dog Being Rude?

I was so happy this morning when I found a blog forwarded to me by a friend that expressed exactly how I feel about dogs not having social manners.  This is what I preach!  I believe fully (as you readers know) that dogs rushing into another dogs face is absolutely rude, not just on the dog's behalf, but the owner's too.  I see rude behavior on the streets of DTLA all day and night long between dogs and dog owners.  The puppies that haven't learned manners yet, I give a pass to, but otherwise it drives me mad!  This is the sort of thing is why I created the Pooch Parade, to teach manners to dogs... and hopefully the owners.  As my clients well know, this is a strong point in any of my trainings.

Below is the blog post from Dog Snobs.  Enjoy!

Your dog isn’t being friendly. He’s an asshole. And so are you.

“He was just being friendly!”

Those five words may seem benign, but they actually constitute one of  most rage-inducing phrases a dog owner can hear.

We’ve all been there.  A dog charges up to your dog, gets right in their face, invades their personal bubble, and pesters them until your own dog gets sick of the shenanigans and either avoids the offending dog or snaps at them to tell them to back off.  Both behaviors result in the other dog’s owner proclaiming that your dog is a jerk for not allowing their “friendly” dog to molest yours.  Actually asshats, it’s your dog that needs a lesson in manners, or more precisely, you do.

That’s right, your dog isn’t just being friendly, he’s being an asshole.  Here are just a few signs that your dog is a jerk.

1.  Your dog routinely lifts other dogs feet off the ground when trying to sniff their derrieres.

2.  Your dog starts all greetings by jumping on the head of strange dogs.

3.  Your dog goes right to another dog’s face and proceeds to either incessantly lick them or tries to lean over the other dog.

4. Your dog humps strange dogs within seconds of greeting.

Mind you, we understand that dogs are being dogs.   That Lab who rushes your dog is just being a Lab (sweet, but socially inept and completely unaware of the rules and regulations as dictated by the herder overlords), but as a dog owner it is YOUR responsibility to manage these interactions and understand what is “rude” in dog language and not allow your dog to be a repeat canine offender.   It’s not a coincidence that many dogs take issue with the bouncier, “in your face” breed of dogs. Imagine if you were on a walk and a stranger came running up to you full speed and took a flying leap into your arms and proceeded to lick and nuzzle you as you tried to get away (For the record, BusyBee, who seems to be a freak magnet has not yet had this happen…knock on wood).  Not cool, right?  So why would you let your dog do the same?

Fang:

My Cattle Dog probably hates your dog.  It’s nothing personal (It probably is) but while she doesn’t want to kill your dog, she would rather your dog not be …alive anymore.

Exactly!

I have spent literally years dealing with her gangbanger tendencies. She’s not perfect (Despite what she thinks), but she is so much better than what she was that I am basically on a minimal management plan. That being said, if pressed I will explain that she is in fact dog aggressive (It’s more like pissily selective with unfamiliar dogs, but the shades of gray are hard to explain) and please don’t let your dog get in her face. I am not however above admitting that I can and will use those tendencies to teach object lessons to idiots. My bad owner confessional being, I’ve let her go cobra on dogs we know, because their owners are being dicks. Out and about however, I do my best to minimize her potential for mayhem. I’m not being ‘rude’ when I physically block your dog. I’m sure your dog is lovely but our experiences say otherwise so if I’m putting myself between my dogs and you, that’s not an invitation to get closer. Really, back the hell up. I’m trying to get away from you and your dog in questionable control. I’m protecting your dogs as much as my own.

Also as a note, dog aggressive dogs under control and with responsible management have just as much right to be out and about as the friendly neighborhood pal. Muzzles are frequently a responsible compromise, and proceeding to lecture on why the ‘vicious’ dog shouldn’t be out is frankly ridiculous and narrow minded. I don’t like being accosted by strangers and neither do my dogs. Respect the bubble.

…and the Bubbles

BusyBee:  

Mr. T is exceedingly patient as a general rule.  He’s one of the best puppy-raisers around.  He tends to be ok with excessive sniffing, face-licking, and general tomfoolery from most dogs. But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his limits. If a large dog persists on bouncing all up in his business like Tigger on crack, he’s not going to be happy.  And nor am I.

But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is… calm the fuck down.

People who understand dog body language have often commented on how appropriately and judiciously Mr. T doles out corrections.  Generally I try not to let dogs act inappropriately toward him and will step in if I think a dog is going too far and the owner is obtuse.  People with “friendly” dogs**, however, tend to think that anything less than complete tolerance on his behalf  is a sign of aggressiveness and that I’m being rude by not allowing their dog to torment mine.  Heaven forbid someone correct their sweet snookums who was only trying to show affection by clinging on to Mr. T’s  head like those tacky Garfield car suction plushes.

Except the window is Mr. T’s head

**Pro Tip–if your “friendly” dog is routinely in the middle of melees and draws the ire of most dogs it encounters, it’s probably (past) time to rethink how you are letting your dog interact with others.

Potnoodle:

I was raised by a border collie, and my first dog that was really mine to train was an Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix, so even though my current Poodles aren’t easily offended by rude dogs- I am.

My dogs are also kept in this bubble.

So even though my poodles are going to tolerate your ass-y dog flinging himself into their face… I won’t. I’m going to step in and move your dog away. I don’t really appreciate being called a bitch for doing this, so I would appreciate if you could keep your comments about me under your breath, just like I keep my comments about you under mine.

This is a straight forward point of view that I absolutely agree with.  If it evokes the same sort of passion from you, I would love to hear about it, give me a bark!

Are Dogs Really Black and White Color Blind?

For quite some time the belief has been that dogs only see Black, White and shades of grey.  As a trainer I see many dogs and through working with toys, containers with treats and even the bag I carry with the treats in it, it would appear that dogs do see colors.  But who am I to argue with science?  At least that is what I thought until now.  Dogster posted last week a new study saying dogs do see color!  The full story is below.

Are you part of the rather large segment of the population who once heard and have steadfastly maintained the belief that dogs see only in black and white and shades of boring gray? 

You shouldn't have done that. Of course dogs see color.

At least that's what a new study is showing us, according to Smithsonian.com. Dogs, like most mammals, have only two color receptors (or "cones") to humans' three, but that doesn't mean they can see only gray. The article states that dogs' sight is limited on the level of humans with what's known as red-green color-blindness. 

"Whereas a human with full color vision sees red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet along the spectrum of visible light, a dog sees grayish brown, dark yellow, light yellow, grayish yellow, light blue and dark blue, respectively," reads the article. 

In visual form, that looks like this: 

The way a human sees color. 

The way a dog sees color.

 

Researchers have long suspected that dogs rely more on brightness than color to discriminate between objects, but Russian researchers, in a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, dispute that. 

In the study, the team used light and dark colored paper in a variety of colors, along with boxes containing raw meat. The dogs began to associate the boxes of raw meat with specific colors rather than just the lightness or the darkness of the color. 

The bolster the findings, the researchers put the dogs through 10 trials a day for nine days. 

To the dog, this is not just a horrible jacket, but a horrible YELLOW jacket. Dog in jacket by Shutterstock. 

"After 10 tests, all the dogs went for the color-based choice more than 70 percent of the time, and six out of the eight dogs went for it 90 or 100 percent of the time. Clearly, they’d memorized the color associated with the raw meat, not whether it was dark or light," reads the story. 

The only drawbacks to the study are the small sample size -- just eight dogs -- and the fact that all the dogs were mixed breeds. But the findings seem pretty solid. If they hold up, it could change some aspects of dog training, as some trainers often avoid color and rely on brightness as a cue. 

And it could change the way you dress your dog. It might not be the rain slicker he hates, but rather its horrid yellow-green color.

I look forward to see how this will shape the dog training world and the dog community in general.  I certainly plan on playing with colors with my own dog, perhaps some of my clients too.

Ft. Bragg California

Last week I was actually able to slip away for a little vacation with one of my sister's, her husband and little 6 year old for a relaxing 4 day stay in Ft. Bragg, CA.  It was truly beautiful and the most surprising part, very dog friendly!  I was little bummed with every dog I passed that my Neville wasn't with me.  But next time, that will be different.

If you are looking for a relaxing get away with your dog, this is the place to go.  Both Ft. Bragg and Mendocino (the neighboring town) are dog friendly.  They are sleepy little beach towns with cute stores selling everything from fine leather to gems to toy stores.  The restaurants are just as cute and have some diversity.

The main attraction are of course the beaches!  The place to go to relax, play and just enjoy the view.  Each beach offers something a little different, but the one thing they all had in common was the amazing scenery.

Northern California coast is absolutely breath-taking, but I did want the sun to peak out from behind the clouds just a little more.  But the break from the heat was very nice!

Next time I go, my dog will be with me.  The beaches were welcoming to our four-legged friends, as were the towns, but the restaurants not so much.  We rented a house that was open to dogs, but I don't know about the hotels.

If you are looking for one last place to vacation before the summer is up, I highly recommend Ft. Bragg for some relaxation!  Bring your dog or not, either way you will see beautiful sites, be refreshed by the ocean air and be relaxed by the laid back attitude.