With Joyce’s permission…

..I share this great blog entry brought to my attention by Kathy.

Yes, I Learned It in Kindergarten

by Joyce Johanson

At the shopping mall the other day, I happened to see a poster with Robert Fulghum’s* list of things he learned in kindergarten. For some reason, seeing that list again really “hit home.” Therefore, with apologies to Mr. Fulghum, I have to say that all I needed to know about breeding and exhibiting Lhasas I too “learned in kindergarten.” Fulghum’s kindergarten-garnered knowledge is appropriate to many situations in life, even to dog breeding/showing.

Read the entire article.


Wow…just wow

Faye shared this…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38054015#38054015


Living with Kids and Dogs

I stumbled across a great resource and had to share!  Colleen Pelar, CPDT. I haven’t yet been able to get a copy of Kids and Dogs: A Professional’s Guide to Helping Families, but after perusing Living With Kids and Dogs…Without Losing Your Mind, it’s surely great too. Colleen even has a Living with Kids and Dogs website!

Hoisting the reviews from Amazon:

Kids and Dogs Reviews

This book is both fantastic and unique. Every dog trainer, groomer, dog walker, shelter worker and general dog aficionado who would like to help parents improve the life of a dog living with children should read this book. It’s filled with first-hand experience and stories that illustrate the points in memorable way. <P>As both a parent and a person who counsels dog owners, Colleen Pelar is able to take us into the mind of the parent so that we understand the misconceptions that they have that drive them to make the dangerous mistakes they make with regarding how their child and dog interact. More importantly she offers many useful tips and suggestions as to how anyone can help educate parents about the relationship between their kids and pets. –Dr. Sophia Yin, author of Low-Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification of Dogs and Cats and How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves

Reading Kids and Dogs is like drinking cool, clean water in the middle of a hot, barren dessert! This clear and helpful book fills a gaping hole in the dog literature–how professionals in the field can help people trying to raise kids and dogs at the same time. I give it all paws up and a body wag from the shoulders back. –Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB, author of The Other End of the Leash, For the Love of a Dog, and Tales of Two Species

As a dog training and behavior professional without human children, I plead guilty to many of the inappropriate assumptions and unrealistic expectations that trainer/author Colleen Pelar describes in her latest work. This book is an invaluable resource for dog aficionados, professional or not, who seek to make relationships between families and their canine companions more successful. –Pat Miller, author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and training editor for The Whole Dog Journal

Living with Kids and Dogs Reviews

At last! A kids-and-dogs book for parents written by someone who “gets it.”This is a wonderful book. Useful, useful, useful information—all the main points in an extremely easy-to-read style. As a trainer and a mom, Colleen sees the full picture.” — Dr. Ian Dunbar

Living with Kids and Dogs . . . Without Losing Your Mind by Colleen Pelar, CPDT, covers more than introducing a baby to the family dog. It has chapters devoted to each stage of a child’s life with parental pointers for setting their family up for success while raising kids and dogs together.

~ Parenting books say control your dog; dog-training books say control your kids. The reality is far more complex and goes way beyond placing blame on either children or dogs for being who they are. ~

Living with Kids & Dogs . . . Without Losing Your Mind provides busy parents with simple, realistic advice to help ensure that the relationship between their kids and their dog is safe and enjoyable for all.

You will learn how to • Help your child and dog develop a strong relationship, built on trust and cooperation • Set your family up for success with a minimum of effort • Recognize canine stress signals and know when your dog is getting worried about normal kid activity • Identify serious behavior problems before someone gets hurt • Provide specific help for managing the interactions with dogs through each stage of your kids’ lives from infancy through the teen years • Prevent your child from becoming part of a growing statistic—children who have been bitten by a dog.


Dog Shopping

watch?v=qXYAV_Agbms


Scientists Cite Fastest Case of Human Evolution

Interesting link from Susan: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/science/02tibet.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fscience%2Findex.jsonp

The gist of the article is that Tibetans have evolved to compensate for
the lack of oxygen at their high altitude.   It occurred to me that
perhaps dogs who developed in Tibet might actually be at a disadvantage
when brought to our lower altitudes.  Okay, I'm no scientist, but I
can't help but wonder if maybe these dogs whose attributes seem to
indicate such strength, agility, etc., are perhaps weakened when we
remove them from their natural habitat.  
Susan