DogBoston

Lucky Dog can help your dog get the exercise they need to be healthy and happy while you’re busy working for their kibble. We offer a variety of services to work around both you and your pup’s schedule.

* DAILY WALKS FROM 20 - 40 MINUTES

*Trail Hikes and Gated Park Plays for the active ones
*Vacation and overnight care for the busy ones
*Puppy program for the little ones

Certified,Bonded, Insured

Mila Vaskov
Lucky Dog Pet Services
info@luckydogboston.com
617.308.9307
Charlestown, Cambridge, Somerville
http://www.luckydogboston.com

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Provides daily playgroups, individual walks and comfortable overnight care for dogs in Newton & surrounding towns.

Corbin Kohn
Newton Dog Walking Inc.
ckohn@newtondogwalking.com
617 965 3553
Newton
http://www.newtondogwalking.com

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Sunday June 7th 2009 (free admission)
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Walk at NOON

Whisker Walk is the ONLY pet related event of its kind…NATIONALLY.

An Annual event…Whisker Walk is an educational (and fundraising) opportunity for New England based pet related rescue groups and shelters. Additionally, the Whisker Walk will unite companies and organizations from all areas of the companion animal world, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, hobbyists, pet clubs, veterinarians, animal care professionals, and agility / training organizations in order to provide the pet loving public consumers with the most comprehensive and exciting event possible.

Whisker Walk visitors come to see exhibits, demonstrations, educational programs, special attractions, product giveaways, entertainment, food, fun and things for adults and kids to see, do and buy – both human and pet related!

Leigh Grady
Whisker Walk
leigh13@ix.netcom.com
978 422 8585
Lancaster
http://www.whiskerwalk.org

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The Beagle is a breed of medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game. They have a keen sense of smell and tracking instinct that often sees them employed as detection dogs for prohibited agricultural imports and foodstuffs in quarantine around the world. They are popular as pets because of their size, even temper, and lack of inherited health problems. These characteristics also make them the dog of choice for animal testing…

Although beagle-type dogs have existed for over 2,000 years, the modern breed was developed in Britain around the 1830s from several breeds, including the Talbot Hound, the North Country Beagle, the Southern Hound, and possibly the Harrier.

Beagles have been depicted in popular culture since Elizabethan times in literature and paintings, and latterly in film, television and comic books. Snoopy of the comic strip Peanuts has been promoted as “the world’s most famous beagle”.

(more…)

Invisible Fences – Good or Bad? | Jo Jacques

We have several small dogs, they are used to fencing in our large, great yard. We will soon be moving to a new place, same town, but will want to be investigating Invisible Fencing.

Our dog is not with a puppy but 4 years old, so we are curious how older dogs can adapt to this. How long does it take for the dogs to become familiar, and how trustworthy is it.
Any info you have is useful as we do our research to consider this. Our dogs have had free run of their large fenced yard.

thanks,
Invisible Reader of DogBoston

Hi Invisible,
You have hit on a subject I’ve done a LOT of research on, as I’ve had many clients who’ve used these.

It is very popular right now, especially with the large subdivisions that have gone up — mostly because it’s relatively inexpensive. While it does have its good points — it doesn’t detract from your property, it’s inexpensive for large areas, and you don’t need to take your dog out on a leash.

But, the bad points FAR outweigh the good with these devices, I’m afraid.

Let’s look at the physical aspects first:

1) they don’t stop anything from coming INTO your yard to take or hurt your dogs.
2) they are susceptible to damage from electrical storms.
3) the collar units have a very high rate of malfunction, especially in this area of the country — malfunctions that can (and have) caused the collars to shock (yes, shock — these are SHOCK devices, remember) their dog repeatedly, causing physical (and emotional) damage to the dog.

That leads us into the behavioral problems with Invisible Fencing (IF) — an area that I see a LOT. Small dogs, especially, seem to have more issues, due to the fragile nature of their neurological systems — sometimes, the neurological damage is lasting to these little guys.

1) Since dogs take the entire environment into consideration when learning, they really don’t know where the pain is coming from so they see what’s around them. If joggers run past, or you have children in the yard, or if YOU’RE in the yard when they receive a shock, they are very likely to redirect to that stimulus and develop deep-seated fear responses that are incredibly difficult to remove. Even if no one is outside, I’ve worked with dogs that refuse to go out in their back yards to eliminate after receiving a shock.

2) You never know just how much shock the dog is getting at any given time. Not to mention, dogs — like people — are all different, and have different pain thresholds. The more sensitive a dog is to the shock, the more likely the dog is to develop redirected pain aggression — there are quite a few lawsuits (the IF folks don’t like to tell you about those) regarding previously wonderful family pets (like goldens) attacking the family’s kids when outdoors with the fencing. And, you can’t tell how sensitive your dog is before you use the collar, or even while you are using it in most cases — dogs, as a species, do not show pain as we think they would. In the wild, an animal showing pain is usually attacked as being weak.

3) When it comes to training with the fence, most dogs very first experience being leash-walked by a stranger is when the installer puts the leash on and takes your dog out for training. Research has shown that this training can have a serious lasting effect on a dog — a huge percentage of these dogs develop an intense fear of strangers while on leash, culminating in aggression issues, requiring hours upon hours of remediation and in a lot of cases, medication to keep the dog from attacking others while on walks. You end up with a HUGE emotional and legal liability.

There is plenty of scientific and legal research out there showing the dangers of these fences. As well, many well-known veterinary behaviorists, such as Dr. Karen Overall and Dr. Ian Dunbar, have come out against their use. These devices are banned in many countries as being inhumane; many feel they will be banned here, too. I, for one, won’t be upset if they are.