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March 30th, 2010

Cindy

Dakin

Dakin Coat of Arms Mug / Family Crest 11 ounce cup

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Dakin Family Crest Stein / Coat of Arms beer mug

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Oscar V. Ozzie – the Unwanted Fight at the Park

Pent up energy was likely to lead to frustration and aggression at the dog park and it did earlier today when Oscar bit Ozzie. Oscar, a 3 year old Brittany Spaniel, bit Ozzie on the cheek, opening up a single puncture wound that was successfully treated at the local veterinary clinic.

The other dog owners at the park are discussing a ban on Oscar and his owner Mike. The dog park is a place where pets should be safe. They argue that Oscar is clearly aggressive and should not be allowed back. Ozzie’s owner Sarah is a loud supporter of this idea. She is upset that her 4 year old Chihuahua was hurt.

Sam, owner of a gregarious chocolate Lab, is part of the group. While he’s opposed to allowing aggressive dogs at the park, he also wonders what caused the fight and questions whether Oscar is to blame.

It rained for the last three days. Sam asked both dog owners if they had taken their dogs for walks the last three days or before visiting the park. Both indicated that they had not. In addition to not preparing their dogs for the excitement of the dog park, Sam figured they’d also neglected other items on the doggy do list. Here’s what he found out.

Oscar is 3 years old. He is a purebred Brittany Spaniel. He attended a dog obedience class when he was 6 months old, but he didn’t learn much because the class was crowded and two other dogs – one a German Shepherd and the other an Akita – were constantly at each other’s throats, compelling the trainer to spend a lot of time working one on one with them while the rest of the class puttered along. Oscar has an older brother, a 5 year old Irish Setter whom he gets along well with. Mike takes the two dogs out for a walk in the morning and another in the evening.

Ozzie is a 4 year old Chihuahua. He is an only child. Sarah has lots of friends that visit her. Since she got Ozzie at 8 weeks of age her friends have loved Ozzie. They fussed over him back then and still do. He is the King of all the gatherings at her house. He knows a handful of tricks, though he’s stuck to an “if I feel like it” approach to heeding obedience commands. He loves people but has developed an issue with excessive barking at the fence.

Oscar and Ozzie were on a collision course. After 3 days of rain and no exercise, both dogs were ramped up for the dog park. Oscar is used to playing with his tolerant older brother. Irish Setters are playful and affectionate dogs that get along well with other dogs. Oscar is used to having fun with other dogs, but had never been snarled at or bitten.

Ozzie doesn’t play with other dogs much. He’s used to setting the rules and watching the humans fall in line. Oscar, accustomed to his brother’s friendliness, approached Ozzie too enthusiastically and jumped on him. This rude behavior is acceptable in Oscar’s house, but Ozzie took offense and snapped at him. Oscar reacted instinctively, snapping back and biting Ozzie on the cheek. Oscar didn’t tear, pull or strike again; he was scared by Ozzie’s response and defended himself.

Sam argued for both dogs to be allowed at the park. He spoke with Oscar’s owner and stressed the importance of taking the dog for a walk before going to the park. Eliminating pent-up energy enables the dog to behave more sensibly. He also explained the basics of proper dog greetings, letting Oscar and his owner know that running straight at another dog and jumping on him is a bad idea. He provided tips and suggestions for training proper greetings and suggested teaching a reliable “leave it” command to call Oscar off.

He also spoke with Ozzie’s owner. He explained that Ozzie has no tolerance for other dogs getting on his nerves. While it’s okay to be irritated, his me-first attitude contributed directly to getting bitten. Sam advised her that she should restructure Ozzie’s environment so that he has to follow a No Free Lunch policy that required him to do something before being rewarded with treats and affection. He also advised her to introduce him to more dogs. Although Ozzie is well socialized to humans, he is not comfortable or familiar with other dogs. Changing that will make future trips to the park more enjoyable for him.

In this story we met two dogs that were involved in a predictable dog fight. Both dog owners are committed to taking care of their dogs, but they made training errors along the way that led to the fight. Once they got the information they needed to train their dogs correctly, they were back on track.

Many people have dogs that are like Oscar and Ozzie. They are good dogs with a few quirks. Fixing these quirks is easy and relatively painless. If you have an Oscar or Ozzie – a dog that’s rough around the edges or claiming your house as his kingdom – check out Dog Academy. Offering a free assessment test and personalized program, http://students.dogacademy.com/assessment.aspx, Dog Academy can help you improve your dog’s obedience, behavior and attitude.

Would you like to stop political robo calls?

Did you know that according to the PEW Internet Life project 64% of voters in the USA received robo calls from politicians in the 2006 election?

Citizens for Civil Discourse, a new non profit, is working to stop this with a national political do not call registry modeled on the national do not call registry.

What do you think?

Shaun Dakin
Founder and CEO

http://www.StopPoliticalRobocalls.org/

absolutely, though thankfully there’s always that long pause I get in order to hang up before hearing their stupid political rants.

I only wish my answering machine was smart enough to recognize that pause as well.