Blog | Page 15 of 49 | Canines In Action, Inc.

Yellow Journalism & Breed Bias — Again

A friend told me about a dog attack story just released by the Indianapolis Star. “Four pit bulls attacked a fifth dog,” he said. “But, you know, it’s the Star, so they could have been anything at all and if they bit something, they’re pit bulls.” He doesn’t even own dogs, but he’s aware of the paper’s bias.

When I first read the published news story, I was irritated, ranted on Facebook, and wrote a rational-but-angry letter to the editor. Alena has written up our complaints in her own blog, and I am copying her post here. — Laura…

TAG! I’m It! (self TAGteach for skiing)

Skier carving a turn off piste — This is not me. Not quite. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I mentioned in a recent post that I would share again the story of my learning to ski. It’s a great example of contrasting traditional instruction versus TAGteach and the resulting… results. It’s also kinda humorous, because it features me tumbling tail over teakettle down a snowy slope more than a few times, and that’s never not funny. Enjoy!

Professional Teamwork – Trainers & Vets Together! And more pet professionals

There are a lot of professionals who might come into your dog’s life — your veterinarian, certainly, and possibly a trainer, and perhaps a groomer, a pet-sitter, a dog-walker, and others.

That’s a lot of professional advice which could come your way. And some of it might — in fact, probably will — conflict. How is a pet owner to sort and filter the many pieces of information and misinformation coming her way?

And, most importantly for us professionals, how do we work together to give our clients the best information and therefore the best combined care?

(I don’t mean this to be controversial or insulting to any profession or professional — it’s really, honestly about playing to everyone’s individual strengths!)

TAGteach for Firearm Safety and Shooting

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series CT for Shooting

Stock image. (My target’s at the bottom of the post.)

It took me a long, long time of deciding first to actually buy a handgun and then to choose a model. The entire year and a half was filled with behavioral self-assessment and training plans — this was one area where my professional skills have been put to good use!

Advertisement Photoshoot — or, Faking a Naughty Dog

I had a great idea for a training advertisement, all seasonal and humorous. And I had a great photographer to hand. To shoot it, however, we’d need to take a crazy, fractious dog who had been trained to polite house manners and make her look again like a stereotypical “bad dog.”

It was a ton of fun.

Sound OC for Firearm Safety

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series CT for Shooting

In mid-October, I embarked upon a new learning experience — handling and shooting a firearm. I spent nearly a year and a half researching this prospect, deciding if it were a path I wanted to start down, and I’d decided firmly that if I were to have a gun, I would train to a high level of fluency and competency.

Imagine my delight, then, when among the usual trash advice dispensed to newbies in any sport or hobby, I encountered some truly fantastic, behaviorally-sound recommendations for learning to shoot and handle safely.