Beagles, Beagles, Halloweiners!

Okay, fess up! How many of you dress your dogs up for Halloween? I did for the first time last year, when Gabe was 4 and Archie was 3. I was ordering a bunch of dog toys online for Christmas, for all the dogs in my life (there are many besides my two - Emma and Patsy, Lennox, Farley, Kavanna, Lucky, Kona, Kody, and now Luca and Rowan too). The store I was shopping at had $5 "costumes" - a two-dimensional hat, a bandana, and a collar decoration. Gabe was a tough and very serious sheriff (cowboy hat, red and black bandana, and sheriff's badge) and Archie was a Mexican, complete with sombraro and fringed purple bandana (appropriate costume for my jumping bean).

This year, we got more creative. Gabe's swim instructor suggested he go as Michael Phelps, and together we brainstormed how to make a costume that would work. And Archie was finally my hot dog - I've coveted that costume for years!

How about your canines?

Book Review ~ Call of the Wild

I'm into Month Five of the Great Canadian Book Challenge. Participants are to read and review 13 Canadian books over the course of a year, and since this is a dog blog, all 13 of my books will be about dogs. John Mutford, organizer of the Challenge, suggested I give Jack London's The Call of the Wild a go. I remember having this book as a child. I never did read it, though, and it's probably good that I didn't. I would have been scarred for life. I have no idea why it is marketed as a children's book.

The Call of the Wild lays claim to its Canadian-ness through its geography. London himself, of course, was American, and the book's main character, a Shepherd/St. Bernard cross named Buck, is also American. However, except for the opening pages, the book is set in the Canadian Yukon, during the Klondike Gold Rush. Although I have my master's degree in history, most of my knowledge of the gold rush comes from a history reality program, called "Klondike: Quest for the Gold" which aired on History TV and PBS in 2003. Having some background knowledge is helpful as London doesn't spend a lot time describing the the gold rush itself. Buck's journey is absolutely heartbreaking, but without the background, it seems as though this story is being told because it is exceptional - "a remarkable journey of courage" or some such hackneyed Disneyfied expression. But the sad truth is that most sled dogs probably experienced the same hardships as Buck during this era.

The book opens with Buck being dognapped from his comfortable home in California. He is sold to work as a sled dog in the far north. Buck is a quick learner, and adapts quickly to life on the trail. However, he experiences much hardship, including the frigid northern cold, vicious dog fights, brutal beatings from humans, starvation, overwork, and the loss of his comrades. It is above all an adventure story, a tale of adapting in order to survive harsh experiences.

Although the narration is in the omniscient third person, the bulk of the story is about Buck and his relationships with other dogs and a few humans. Because of this, there is very little dialogue. I appreciated reading a "dog book" that actually focussed on dogs for once!

My final analysis: I can understand why this is considered London's masterpiece. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'll probably keep my copy because it is a classic, but I won't be reading it again. It's just too harsh.

I've googled without success to find out how many copies of this book have been sold over the past century. The best I can do is assure you that it is in the "millions." The full text is also available online, if you are comfortable reading at your computer screen. I read the TOR edition pictured above (4 Canadian dollars, new).

Book Review ~ Brad Pattison's Synergy

Yay! I'm in Month 4 of my quest to read and review 13 Canadian dog books, and for the first time I'm doing two reviews in one month (a good thing since the one book/month thing ain't gonna cut it in terms of the ultimate "13" goal). This time I've read Brad Pattison's Synergy in Training between Man and Dog. Pattison is well known from his television show At the End of My Leash, which airs on Slice in Canada (apparently my favourite network). According to Wikipedia, Brad was born in Calgary, so he is, yes, a bona fide Canadian author.

Let me just say that I have a love/hate relationship with the Brad I see on At the End of My Leash. He is extremely opinionated and comes across as confrontational. But, he's easy on the eyes and (most of) his advice makes sense, so I remain a loyal viewer of his program. However, Brad the writer is different from Brad the tv personality. His no-nonsense, in-your-face attitude is still very apparent, but the book has quite a bit of humour. And, surprisingly enough, Brad the writer anthropomorphizes. Who wudda thunk it?

I have a few quality issues with the physical book. Some of the black and white photos that were intended to be diagrams, I frankly couldn't make noses nor tails of. Also, I'm not sure if this was just my copy or if it is a prevalent problem, but the text was clearly formatted beyond the acceptable borders of the finalized printed version, and alphabets are missing along those edges. Some short words were missing entirely as a result of this, making it necessary to puzzle out the sentences.

But those are just quibbles. This is a great book about dog training; supplementing what you may have already learned from Brad the tv guy, or introducing you to his unique training methods and his thoughts on our canine companions. Two particular points of interest for me: Brad argues that changing dog food frequently is a good thing (which I've always believed) and that dogs do have memories. Dog trainers often subscribe to the belief that dogs have very short memory spans, and that it's pointless to incorporate mistakes (such as chewing your shoe while you are at work) into training, as the dog's memory of the shoe will only last for about 2 minutes after the last bite is taken out of it. I pretty much accepted that as gospel, but Brad feels differently and after reading his examples, Brad's theory makes total sense. My own two clearly remember where certain things are on our walks as well as where things stay in the house. They can gauge where I am off to (walk time, play time, Jacki time) based on which jacket I put on at the door. I would also argue that they do remember routes on our drives, as they become increasingly excited the nearer we get to our destinations.

I visit Brad's website on occasion, and I was also suprised to see that he advocates for clothing and booties for dogs in extreme weather, which I thought were a big Brad no-no. On one episode of his program, he berated a woman for putting clothes on her dog, telling her that if her dog is cold, she shouldn't get his coat cut so short. As Archie is always cold - and has never had his coat cut - I was a little peeved. It was a relief to find out that Brad the tv guy might be amping things up a bit for the sake of ratings.

My love/hate relationship with Brad may have a little more love in it these days.

I reviewed this book for John Mutford's Third Canadian Book Challenge.

Book Review ~ The Dog who Wouldn't Be

Month Four of my quest to read and review 13 "Canadian" dog books brings me to a classic - Farley Mowat's The Dog who Wouldn't Be. Mowat is, of course, one of Canada's most beloved authors, who penned forty-two books. The Dog who Wouldn't Be was his fourth, first published in 1957. The book takes place in the gritty 1930s, when Mowat was a child. It chronicles the adventures Mowat and his dog, Mutt. Let me just say that I have no idea how I avoided reading this book up until this point. It's a great story; it's about dogs; and not only is it Canadian, but it's primarily set in Saskatoon and surrounding areas, where I've lived my whole life.

According to Mowat, Mutt decided that he didn't want to be a dog. Mutt was definitely a character and definitely whippersnapper smart. I think he was also definitely a dog. Some of his feats were amazing but believable - such as scaling a ladder. Others feats would be considered neat conversational starters, but actually pretty commonplace - such as eating cherries and spitting out the pits. Some of the tales are most likely yarns, or at least embellished (a lot). I'm not a fan of tall tales, but I kept reading because the writing style is familiar and engaging; the stories are fun to read; and there's a fair share of history too - although secondary to the story of a boy and his dog, you certainly do get glimpses of the Depression years on the Canadian prairies.

I read the Emblem edition (pictured above) which was published in 2009.

First snow ~ Dogs on Thursday

Book Review ~ The Intelligence of Dogs

I am in Month 3 of my quest to read and review 13 Canadian books about dogs over the course of a year. This month's offering is Stanley's Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Livers of Our Canine Companions (and just for the record, I read the "Revised and with a New Preface by the Author" edition, published in 2006). Born in the US, Coren moved to Vancouver in 1973 to take a position with the Psychology Department at UBC. Coren is now a professor emeritus at UBC, and continues to teach, research, and publish.

I have long been a fan of Coren's, ever since discovering his program Good Dog!, which used to be on the Life Network (now Slice) in Canada. I've previously read Coren's How Your Dog Thinks; How to Speak Dog; and Why Does my Dog Act that Way? I've consciously put off reading The Intelligence of Dogs because it contains a list of dog breeds, ranked by how intelligent they are, and I am well aware that most people do not consider beagles to be very intelligent. Which I would argue about, but it is too soon in my review to digress.

I believe The Intelligence of Dogs is the first book that Coren wrote about dogs, and it is still the most controversial. Coren argues that dog intelligence is largely predetermined by breed; and that certain breeds are more intelligent than others. Coren is careful to thoroughly explain what he means by "intelligence," and that the intelligence he measures and ranks in the book are based on "working or obedience intelligence" or how quickly and easily dogs can learn the commands we use to train them.

For the record, beagles are ranked at #72 in a list that goes to #79. What does this mean for me, and other beagle guardians? Coren states that dogs with a ranking of 70-79 are the most difficult to train, and any skills they do learn may "evaporate" without practice. That said, Coren, who is active in obedience training, trials, and competition, owns - and, yes, trains - a beagle named Darby. As Coren points out, sometimes intelligence is overrated. Very smart dogs may turn out to be a handful, as they may get bored very quickly or figure out behaviours to get away with things we don't want them doing. I would argue that beagles are most adept at figuring out such behaviours . Gabe can turn a doorknob and scurry backwards to allow the door to swing towards him. Archie is a master faker, and will do things like bark up a storm as he runs towards the gate, prompting Gabe to leave a prized toy or chewie behind in his rush to find out what the ruckus is about. My foster girlie, Annie, was quite adept at hoarding prizes on her bed, and she gained her prized possessions by opening cupboard doors and laundry basket lids.

There are sections in this book that show you how to measure your dog's IQ, how to test your dog's obedience personality, and how to stretch and improve your four-legged friend's intelligence. In my rush to get at least one review posted this month, I did not have an opportunity to do the testing, but I definitely will at some point (likely in the winter when it is too cold to go outside and I am looking for some way to amuse both the boys and myself).

Overall, this is a very interesting read and I continue - four books in - to be astounded by how well Coren "translates" boring scientific detail and terminology into lay(wo)man terms. Discussion on how dogs evolved from wolves/jackals/dingoes and a look at how Descartes's opinions shaped our view of dogs for centuries could be dry reading indeed, but Coren somehow manages to make it interesting and accessible. One quibble I do have with Coren's work is that he reuses some material from book to book, so that if you've already read one book, you'll likely be able to skip part of the next book you read.

Hi there cutiepie!