This is our (almost) weekly segment where we review the content posted on our Twitter over the course of the week. It’s a long post! So make sure you grab a coffee and prepare yourself for some serious reading.

A recent photo of Douglas (was Jakkalberry) from our 2012 litter.

Tweet of the Week

From “The Truth About Pit Bulls”: It’s Not Just How They Were Raised. Really great analysis of the problems associated with blaming dog behaviour solely on their nurturing. As always, the tweet of the week is what you should read if you don’t have time to read everything else!

Dog Behaviour

From Crystal at Reactive Champion: Shedd Animal training Seminar: General Rules About Aggression and The 100 Treat Philosophy.

Stop Free-Feeding: How to Feed Your Dog Regular Meals.

Take the hint: How to use the 5-second rule for petting dogs.

The vet’s office: waiting room or dog park?

Do dogs try to hide theft of food?

Stress and Learning.

Are You Bribing Your Dog?

Hey, Old School Dominance Theory: School’s Out!

Top Ten Dog Behavior Myths.

Dog Training

From Denise Fenzi: Cisu – hand to side of head for crowding finishes and control.

Loose lead walking – 300 peck method.

Are puppy potty pads a good idea? by Lyndsay at ThatMutt.com.

Guest post: Eileen’s story on Cricket.

Rescue and Sheltering

Our current foster dog, Deez on PetRescue.

Homing and re-homing Fido: How many newly-adopted pets are still kept six months later?

Jutice4Max posts a comparison between kill rates at Kurri Pound and the RSPCA contract.

The Perils of Placing Marginal Dogs.

The Revolving Door: A Poverty Problem, Not a Pet Problem.

Very good sentences — and thoughts on poverty, and animals from the KC Dog Blog.

Dog Breeds and Breeding

Revisiting back to back breeding.

Purebred breeders under fire – Deb Harbin.

Working dog breeders in bid to change code.

A book that should be written.

Labrador colour inheritance.

RSPCA, dog breeders at odds over proposed code changes.

Really Important Things to Remember About Your Mastiff Puppy.

Pedigree Dogs Exposed – The Blog: Jilly’s Jolly Jaunt.

Canine DNA Test Results.

The great bulldog race.

Dogtired – The Ultimate Dog Bed.

Other Dog Stuff

Emotional sounds – how do you interpret these sounds…

Your dog needs to be spayed or neutered – right?

Does it have four legs? It might be a restricted breed dog.

Keep calm and stop reacting.

Your Life As A Dog.

Dog takes on admin role at Cumbrian quarry.

Kermie Worm And Mr. Marbles Toys! (100% Safe For Dogs!).

Other Stuff

Rescue Road Turtles!

Goodall, Fossey & Galdikas: Great Minds.

Darryl Cunningham’s comic on homeopathy.

Sexing Domestic Chicken Before Hatch: A New Method for in Ovo Gender Identification.

CreatureCast – Individuality.

TAGteach Swimming Lesson #1.

Instagram

View from Hummock Hill, Whyalla.

Tired or tired of being in the car?

This is our (almost) weekly segment where we review the content posted on our Twitter over the course of the week. It’s a long post! So make sure you grab a coffee and prepare yourself for some serious reading.

But before we start, a quick video on Bandit (our current foster dog) and how he is going with his loose lead walking.

Tweet of the Week

This is an oldie, but a goodie: “Should you share that cute dog and baby photo?“.  On my daily internet travels I see a lot of dog-child photos that make me cringe, as I can see the dog is uncomfortable and the child is at risk. Dogs and Babies have this great post that I think should be distributed far and wide.

Dog Training & Behaviour

From Eileen at Eileen and Dogs: But It’s Unhealthy to Protect Your Dog from All Stress!

The Scoop on Dog-Friendly Dog Training.

Calming Signals.

Crating: A Life Skill.

Is attachment to pet dogs linked to their behaviour?

A workshop with Ian Dunbar: Solving “impossible” off leash, real life behaviour problems, real time.

New Illustrations – Dog Training from Doggie Drawings.

Dogs and Kids

Doggie Drawings illustrations on Dog & Baby Safety – For FamilyPaws.com.

I think my dog might bite my kids… And I’m glad.

Dog Food & Health 

A History of Commercial Dog Food.

Your Dog’s a Fat-ass. Feed it less. A Rant by Fang.

How often do dogs need Frontline or other flea-and-tick prevention?

Another from the mailbag.

Puppy classes and canine parvovirus.

Breeds, Breeders, and Breeding

Helen King on Structure Evaluation.

What exactly is a responsible breeder?

TAZI – A journey with the Afghan Hounds.

Changing Minds: Has selective breeding restructured some dog brains?

Shelters and Animal Welfare

Understanding Cause & Effect when it comes to Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws.

How can shelters get more cats adopted?

From Maddie’s Institute: Saving animal lives: How data gets you there and Parenting blog has tough love for adoption groups.

Channel 7 Today Tonight – Moorook Animal Shelter v RSPCA.

Guilty ‘Til Proven Innocent.

No one wants to kill pets – regional NSW edition.

Special Investigation: Five suicides, one common thread: They all fell foul of the RSPCA.

Other Dog Stuff

Craft ACT: Amanda Stuart’s artwork.

Labrador Puppy Designer Umbrella.

Puppies And Kittens Vs. Mirrors.

Other Stuff

Why Ferns Have More Chromosomes Than You.

Showdown: Fox defends the den against a badger.

Sad Cat Diary.

Instagram

Myrtle relaxing after a track.

Bandi’ looks sad, but he put himself here for cuddles!

Myrtle still really pretty sleeper.

Why does Myrtle have two nipples so close together?

Our Breaker (Pickwick Ready Break) was awarded ‘Baby Puppy in Group’ at Colomeke Kennel Club under Mr Les Greenall (from Victoria).

Tweet of the Week

Our favourite tweet of the week is a bit of a different one: It’s a Canine Lameness Learning Module. It’s a really thorough selection of videos to help diagnosis of lameness. At the very least, book mark it for the future.

Do Something!

I’m a big one for advocating others ‘do something’ to make change.

Here’s some things you can DO this week: Make a submission to the Victorian Code of Practice on Breeding and Rearing, like the one suggested by Maggie’s Farm.

Participate in the Childhood Dog Bite Survey.

Attend the CAWS fundraiser: Movie Night – Red 2.

Rescue and Sheltering

Prada the cat is available for adoption in SA.

Jolly Jacques the poodle was, but is now on trial.

Boltraiser – restoring Bolt’s vision.

An irresponsible public alert: Elderly man walks 186 miles to find his lost dog.

Two from Border-Wars: “The Myth of Christmas Puppies” and “Only 2 % of dogs die in shelters yearly“.

Study on length of stay in two NY shelters.

From the ever-wondering SavingPets blog: “If veterinarians were kill shelters“, “Lost Dogs Home lost pet reclaims like winning the lottery” and “Giving the people what they want“.

YesBiscuit CAA sends owner of lost pets to ATM, oops-killing dog while owner is gone.

Shelter Killing Benefits Puppy Mills.

CommonSense for Cats.

Dog Training and Behaviour

Let your weakness be your strength.

Does punishing a dog after a transgression really work?

The Team Unruly Review of Puppybooks, Part I: Leslie McDevitt, Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program.

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Other Advanced Concepts.

From Eileen and Dogs: The Humane Hierarchy, Pat 1 of 2: Overview, Operant Learning Illustrated by Examples and But what if your dog runs out into traffic?.

Shake, Rattle and Roll: How to introduce the bottle pool.

Myth of Reinforcing Fear.

Dog Breeds and Breeding

So you want a dog?

DCM in Doberman Pinschers – a video on YouTube that is really worth reading in subtitles.

The Afghan Hound as Symbol of Conspicuous Consumption.

“Health Testing” in Dogs is Limited.

A new study discussing the reliability of visual breed identification.

Other Dog Stuff

Dog attack in Liverpool.

Consumer watch: Tests on Dog Harnesses Show 100 Percent Failure Rate.

Modern Pet Doors www.modernpetdoors.com.au Compassion for People.

Police Shootings of Dogs or Stuff You Should Not Let Your Dogs Do.

Other Stuff

Food Inc – Full Length Film – This is not an animal rights video! It’s a video questioning our whole process of growing and consuming food.

Angelina Jolie, Evolution and Pleiotropy – Talking about genes in people and dogs.

Depression Part Two – A really worthwhile comment on depression.

Animals that you didn’t know existed.

Comparative Cognition Society – society for studying the cognition of people and animals.

Funniest Horse Act Ever! Tommie Turvey and PokerJoe! – I’m waiting for dancing with horses to be the in thing.

The Most Venomous Animals in the World.

Decapitated Worms Regrow Heads with Memories Still Inside.

Instagram

Breaker in ‘in show’ line up.

Breaker, baby in group.

This is our (almost) weekly segment where we review the content posted on our Twitter over the course of the week. It’s a long post! So make sure you grab a coffee and prepare yourself for some serious reading.

Before we get started, though, here is our current foster dog “Bandit”. More details on his adoption are available on his listing on PetRescue.

Bandit the crossbreed is 3 years old. He is looking for a new home and is located in South Australia.

Tweet of the Week

Joanna starts with the premise that puppies should be able $20,000 each, to cover the costs of many overheads associated with their rearing.  However, the dog breeding world looks disdainfully on people who charge a high price for their puppies.  Indeed, Joanna describes a competition-like scenario where getting less for puppies is in some way admirable. Here’s a quote;

In dog breeding… self-abnegation becomes the real pride. I lost more money than you did; I neutered more show prospects than you did; I charge $1000, well I charge $800, well I charge $600, well I give them away and also donated my kidney to a puppy buyer. I breed twice a year, I breed once a year, I breed once every five years, I’ve owned this breed for fifteen years and never once have I even LOOKED at a dog’s genitals with intent to use them.

I had no hesitation in calling this piece the Tweet of the Week. It’s well written, humorous  and covering legitimate subject matter, too. If you read nothing else this week, please read: “How much do puppies cost? How the “breeders wars” hurt our community“.

Breeds and Breeding

Fast action ratting with terriers (video).

And then, in direct conflict: Swedish study found no link between modern breeds and their traditional work.

Soundness – understanding correct pit bull conformation and why it is correct.

Bitch line is the key.

Hybrid vigour – fact or fiction?

A commentary on the COA Crossbreeding Programme from a Chinook Owner.

Breeding Dogs for Intentional Defect.

What is a samoyed?

Dog Training and Behaviour

BAT Empowers Choice.

Operant Learning Illustrated by Examples.

Is it really disobedience?

Why does my house trained dog pee-poo indoors?

Why is training recall so difficult for dog owners?

Criteria in training.

Dogs’ Sexual Behaviour (video).

Sheltering, Rescue and Associated Links

Happy Endings: Cyclone.

‘It’s not us, it’s you’ – The Lost Dogs Home discusses high kill rates.

National Desexing Network – List of participating vets in Australia.

Carter Wants a Home.

SC Shelter attempted to cover up killing of family dog.

RSPCA and the Moorook Debacle 2013.

Bandit, 3yo crossbreed, for adoption in SA.

Dog Health

How the veterinary vaccine model is broken.

Spayed or neuter dogs live longer.

Win a 150g bottle of Rose Hip Vital.

Dog gets around with four bionic paws.

Other Dog Stuff

Upcoming Canine Science Conferences.

Working dogs, working together.

EB White and the Crime of Harboing an Unlicensed Dog.

What drives the evolution of brachycephalic dogs? – this one was almost the tweet of the week just because it articulated something I’ve been thinking about for along time.

Is pet ownership sustainable?

Dogs are cool like that.

Hero dog saves girl from icy river.

The dingo woman.

Other Animal Stuff

True Facts About Sloths.

Why the mantis shrimp is my new favourite animal.

You have to watch this one – Suki the cat at 8 months.

Why ferns have more chromosones than you.

Instagram

Myrtle kept jumping on the grooming table to be groomed!

Myrtle constantly on top of me!

Chloe all set to go to her new home