I love watching people and their dogs. It can be touching, joyful, sad and hilarious. Some of my favorite things are when people yell at their dogs to stop barking. I swear dogs take this to mean “Hey cool! She’s barking too, let’s all bark”.
Or when people rub their dogs noses in their poop or pee as a means to get them to stop using floors as a toilet. Now I don’t think dogs like to have their noses physically forced to sniff anything but if you’ve ever taken a dog for a walk you’ll know that sniffing pee and poop is a joy, not a punishment to a dog.
Secret Santas
Kos Katalogue
I have been working with dogs and cats professionally for over 20 years. I work at a different level now then I did back then. (I mean jeez we have seat belts and sliced bread now)
What I specialize in now is helping owners to form deeper and truer relationships with their pets and to help troubled pets - pets with behavior problems.
What I am definelty not is a dog whisperer. I find that title to be a lot like the term "to make a long story short". People who say that never do. People who do make long stories short just do so without any preamble.
Most dog trainers who call themselves "dog whisperers" tend to yell at dogs and be excessively physical. My method is to watch and listen to dogs (and cats). The only time I touch an animal during training is to pet, hug or scritch.
Back in the day I did teach dog training 101 - the basics. You can find all kinds of articles on everything from sit, down and stay to picking a good dog food and treating an ear infection here. I did a radio show for 5 years called The Politics of Dogs and it may be still archived here.
One of the best ways to get to know your dog is to take a training class with a positive trainer in your area. You can read books about dogs but really, unless your dog has written one you probably won't learn much about YOUR dog.
I do phone consultations so feel free to email me at www.zenpaws.com.
That's not really what this diary is about though. This is a diary to supoort the craftpeople at DKos. The folks that have joined the Kos Katalogue. Our version of innertoobz local shopping.
Secret Santas
Kos Katalogue
And while I have my favorites (I have spent hours window shopping here), I'm just going to put it all up here and let you shop on your own.
Kos Katalogue
What I especially like this year is the Secret Santa's. Much like last year when we did the huge subscription drive, made a boatload of money for Kos and gave a whole lot of people lifetime memberships all in a mad frenzy of giving, that's the idea of Secret Santa's.
Secret Santa's
A bunch of us getting together to pitch in small (or large) bits to fulfill someones wishes or surprise someone with a trinket of goodwill.
Kos Katalogue
Or just make a bunch of Kossacks, friends, or relatives happy with incredible gifts from the Kos Katalogue and help a bunch of shopkeepers pay the bills.
Secret Santa's kos katalogue
Yes, I can train your dog to get along with turtles or your turtle to get along with dogs.