Dogged in December wait December !!

Hi Julie,

Photo by Mel Travis | What About Charlie?

goodness me, what happened? I was at the amazing Working Dog Conference 2013, then launching the Global Poo Power! Challenge, I blinked and suddenly its mid-December already? Huh?! Gosh!

Sorry for being absent for a few weeks, Ive been focussed on getting as much content from the #workdogs13 event up on the Working Dog Alliance website as possible, so that everyone can access the fantastic content that was shared by a wide range of speakers. From the conference proceedings, to PDF of presentation slides, audio and even You-Tube clips combining them all, you can now share in everything from Dr Nicola Rooneys keynote presentations, to fresh new research on working dogs; unique stories about dogs used in conservation programs and rescue groups working to provide positive endpoint outcomes; practitioners views on breeding and rearing working dogs and insightful facts and figures about areas like greyhound racing and thoughts on why there is such high wastage. 

The half-dog selfie movement took off at #workdogs13

Check. It. Out: http://www.workingdogalliance.com.au/conference2013/

The Poo Power! Global Challenge went off with a bang... 

(or is that a fart? LOVED your Scientific American Dog Spies pieces on why dog farts stink, Part 1: What are dog farts made of? here, Part 2: How to make dog farts less stinky here - captivating area of research and I do not envy the odour judge who to had to decide if dog farts were scentless or unbearable, or somewhere in between!) and we enjoyed watching the photos get logged on the Global Poo Map. 

Science For Life 365

The student competition part of the Challenge is now over, but dont worry - its not too late to download the free App and start to map the crap! Its super quick and easy to do and I know the Poo Power! team would really love to see some international contributions, so to speak. All details about how to participate as a citizen scientist can be found here.

SciEngage

As for me, well, Im looking forward to closing out 2013 with the fun times in the sun with family, friends and reviewing results from the meta-analysis - as you do. 

Whats on your list, Julie?

Mia

p.s. In case you were wondering, that gorgeous photo at the top of this post (its my legs with my darling old dog Caleb, and my mothers dog, retired Guide Dog Haidee) - taken as part of a shoot done for this Dumbo Feather article 

© Mia Cobb | Do You Believe in Dog? 2013

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Dog training How to practice your timing

Hi Mia!

I don’t even know where to begin. You sent another round of Tim Tams, and I am in chocolate heaven (the only trouble is that they bring out the hoarder in me, and I easily tell little white lies like, “They’re not open yet.” Typically I share my bounty, but this, not so much).

I adore Champagne Cartel! Great voices and a wide variety of topics. I’m very pleased you are part of that gaggle of women. You had a great Q&A with Amy McDonald on Everyday Yoga, and now because of you, I will keep worms.

Go Go Go!
It seems like you and I are in parallel lands of, “Go - Go - Go!” Julie Dog Updates:

• CHASER: Got to spend time with Chaser (Facebook/Twitter), the wordy dog, and I’ll report more on that soon. She and I see eye to eye (or maybe, I should say, she wants the ball behind my back).

Read this book

• CONFERENCES: Just came back from ISAZ and IAHAIO in Chicago. It was a check plus time with Anthrozoology and human-animal interaction researchers. Hal Herzog (Twitter), author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals is Professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University. He received the 2013 Distinguished Scholars Award. His talk explored the ultimate reasons behind pet keeping -- more on that another time (but in the meantime, his book should be read by all). Over at #SciAmBlogs, I took a moment to explore what Anthrozoology is all about (not the study of Ants, apparently). I got a little pronunciation assistance from your PhD supervisor. ;)

• MORE CONFERENCE!!: This weekend, I’m back on a plane to Boulder, CO for the 50th Annual Animal Behavior Society conference. On Sunday, July 28 I’m speaking at the Companion Animal Day at UC-Boulder. The topic: Creating Quality Lives for Dogs and Cats Through the Science of Animal Behavior. The event is free and open to the public! Here’s the lineup (who wins for longest title?):

- Patricia McConnell, Bring Out Your Inner Dr. Doolittle: Communication and Quality of Life
 
- Suzanne Hetts and Dan Estep, Can We Still Be Friends?: Helping Dogs and Cats Get Along
 
- Marc Bekoff, Animals at Play: What We’ve Learned From Dogs and Their Wild Relatives
 
- Julie Hecht, Get Into the Head of The Dog in Your Bed, and You’ll Both Be Happier: Updates on Canine Cognition Research
 
- Pamela Reid, When Dogs and Cats Have it Bad and It Ain’t Good: Behavior Rehabilitation of Abused Pets
 

Do you get the timing right?
Speaking of excitement, people were incredibly interested in Clare’s research on dog training!! The feedback on the DYBID Facebook was tremendous. Her main finding was, “To teach a new behavior, be fast on your feedback!” 
 
Masters research conducted by Lindsay Wood, now at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, had similar findings. In her research, when a dog was acquiring complex behaviors, a click was a better marker than a verbal stimulus such as, “Good.” 

Wood suggests, “The facilitation of learning provided by the clicker bridging stimulus has important implications for animal training, especially when professionals are confronted with time constraints. The potential of the clicker stimulus to improve animal learning throughout the entire process of a behavior may not only increase the rate of behavior acquisition, but also reduce animal frustration and further enhance the relationship between trainer and animal.”

MANY PEOPLE working with non-human (and human!) animals get their click on! The Shedd Aquarium, yes aqua-rium, recently added a dog show with shelter dogs trained via positive reinforcement, and I assume clicker training. 

Ken Ramirez, VP of animal collections and training, explains why they added a dog show: "We also want people to see that the techniques used to care for our dolphins, our wales and our sharks -- those training techniques can be useful tools in having a better behaved pet at home." 



How to work on YOUR training
The techniques of learning and training dont just apply to dogs. People can practice their training techniques with loads of other species like chickens and guinea pigs.

Chicken Camp, Terry Ryan



Guinea Pig Camp, Roger Abrantes



Well, thats all she wrote! Lets hear whats on your plate!!

Julie

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