Bud is evolving, his very strong personality is emerging day by day, he is not the dog we got two weeks ago. His true personality – strong, curious, willful – seems to emerge day by day.
He is not a submissive dog in any way now, he’s a little cautious about being picked up, but that’s about it. He is not in any way afraid of people, men or women, or large crowds.
But is intensely curious, exploring every floor and room and nook and cranny in the house.
He is playful. He loves to be outside, in all kinds of weather.
He is a hoarder, gathering everything that is soft – shoes, sneakers, boots, doorstops, stuffed animals, socks – into a pile under the dining room table. All of a sudden, he is fascinated by shoes – mine and Maria’s and is collecting them. He hasn’t chewed or hurt any of them, but he wants them all.
Obviously, he doesn’t know the difference between a shoe and a stuffed toy, there is no point at correcting him unless we see him doing it, and we never have. He is sly.
I think his latent puppy period is emerging. He doesn’t seem to be teething, just collecting and my shoes are almost never where I left them. I never see him do this, he is fast and efficient.
Bud is very (and surprisingly) interested in the sheep, and he has no qualms about trying to tell them what to do. This morning, he challenged Liam, our big wether who battles with Red, to stay close to the flock, and Liam did.
He doesn’t bite or nip, he keeps a distance. Bud is a dominant male, he has a lot of instinct and prey drive.
In the pasture, Bud has all the behaviors of a young and untrained border collie who needs to be calmed and directly. He is easily called off sheep or distracted, and that is good. I am working on his recall every day, it is getting very strong. He sits on command 9 out of 10 times.
I’m surprised about his interest in the sheep. He does keep the sheep together and stops anyone from drifting too far.
Like Fate he runs around the flock enthusiastically but unlike Fate, he will get close and try to direct the sheep.
I’m doing a lot of calming work out there with treats and voice commands, keeping him from getting too close and calling him off with voice commands and treats to keep him from getting too excited.
The important work is lengthening the reliable recall, getting him to sit 100 per cent of the time on command. The good news is that he responds well to his name, trusts me and Maria and loves food.
I haven’t figured out yet what to do about the shoes. And oh yes, the marking has pretty much stopped.
Our President and the media often like to pretend they are enemies, each accusing the other of dishonesty, corruption and the erosion of our values.
The journalists (I was one for a long time) like to see themselves as unfair targets, as righteous warriors fighting to protect freedom and decency.
But yesterday, my heart sank to see how far much of the media has sunk from a high moral ground. As hundreds of thousands of Americans woke up stunned and frightened to survey the awful damage from a hurricane named Michael, the press corps gathered in mass in the Oval Office to hear the sad and incoherent ramblings of Kayne West, one of my favorite musicians, and a disturbed man suffering from serious and acknowledged mental illness.
He was all over the news, much more than any homeless trailer survivor in a town called Panacea Florida.
This is a person I would never have interviewed a serious policy expert out of an ethical concern it would be irresponsible, even cruel to present him that way. We never interviewed or quoted from people known to be mentally ill.
While the news channels were filled with commentary and bizarre, rambling and profane imagery about West and his meeting with an obviously uncomfortable President to talk about “black” issues, many thousands of people awoke to find their homes and lives and work destroyed after the brutal storm in the Florida Panhandle.
The photos from Florida were wrenching and urgent, the photos from the White House were pathetic and disturbing in a completely different way. The scientists all tell us yet another time, that the ferocity of the storms are tied to climate change, and this is the future for us and our children.
One might think that would be a much bigger story than Kanye West, but it isn’t. It is gone already, the people in Florida already left behind and forgotten.
Why was the room flooded with cameras and reporters, why was anybody in there while so many of our fellow citizens were bearing the brunt of one of the worst storms in American history.
Why wasn’t everyone in that room in Florida talking to the people there, figuring out how to help them, so many numbed and in shock?
There was no discussion of climate change, of how to protect our Mother the Earth, or are children or grandchildren from storms like Michael. They are their future, our time to protect them is running out. My heart was broken to see those poor people staggering around numb in the literal wreckage of their lives.
I kept thinking all day of Nero, fiddling while his city burned. I can’t blame this on any one man, we are all Nero, sitting in our hands. I hope my granddaughter can forgive me down the road.
What moral journalist would rather be in the White House recording Kanye West’s humiliation, what media executive would pair this creepy promotional White House political meeting with a genuine disaster and tragedy?
Platoons of commentators rushed to condemn West and ridicule his painful ranting. I felt badly for him, everyone around him failed him.
I have never bought into the notion that President Trump and the media are enemies, the opposite is quite true. The people jeering at CNN during those campaign rallies have no idea how much Trump and the cable channels do for one another – The President gets all of the air space any politician could ever dream of and the media gets new viewers, subscribers and money.
They are not at odds, each makes the other possible, they dance together every day. Enemies don’t do that. Yesterday gave the wood to that myth.
The media loves to posit itself as a moral entity, yesterday it bared its corrupt and amoral soul. Makes me sad. I loved being a journalist, I was proud of that every day.
Talking About Dogs. Bud trying to herd the sheep. Doing pretty well.
(I’m launching a new Friday weekly column today called “Talking About Dogs,” I got so many interesting questions sent me for my new radio show I realized I could never get to all of them on the air, and I want to write more about dogs than I have been doing. I am not quitting on my acts of kindness, but I also need to take care of me as well. E-mail me your questions – [email protected]) and I will take one at a time each week, and others on the radio broadcast.)
Of all the questions mailed to me this week for my radio show, the greatest number were about dogs that were untrained, out of control, aggressive, or handled thoughtlessly by their owners.
I see this in my own life all the time, but the letters reinforced my feeling that this is a growing crisis for dog lovers in our country. I am sorry to say I often avoid other dogs and dog owners, there is too often too much trouble.
There was message after message about aggressive dogs running loose and couldn’t be recalled, who were permitted to charge into dogs they didn’t know, who bit people taking walks or walking their dogs, or who barked loudly and uncontrollably.
Messages like this one from Mark:
“Local ordinances require leashes in my down. Some do not use them and these dogs will get away from owner and menace others. What would you suggest a reasonable owner do? I don’t want to use deadly force, not do I want to be bitten again, either me or my dog who I held in the air to protect.”
Another, Sue, wrote of walking her big new rescue contentedly in a park when a women with her smaller dog on a retractable leash let her dog charge into the new dog and bite her on the leg. Oh, said the dog owner, “she’s usually very friendly.” There was no apology.
The new dog responded in kind, of course, and lunged at her dog; the owner of the biter was outraged, and threatened to sue. Sue did not know what to do.
Dog walkers talk often of “ankle-biters,” dogs low to the ground who nip at people’s legs. Apparently, it happens all the time, and the dog owners are simply shocked at the idea their furbabies could do any harm.
And lots of bites are worse than those.
A majority of states hold pet owners liable if a dog causes injury, according to the Insurance Institute of America. It doesn’t have to be a bite.
For example, if your dog scratches or trips someone, you may be held responsible for any injury or property damage the dog causes. The average amount paid for these claims in 2017 was $37,051 according to the Insurance Information Institute.
This issue – controlling our dogs and training them properly – isn’t a matter of annoyance of sensitivity. It is now a big deal.
Incidents like the one that happened to Sue are unfortunately epidemic in America now, as so many people get dogs they shouldn’t have, know nothing about, and are unwilling or unable to train.
I am a strong believer in stewardship when it comes to dogs, I am responsible for keeping them safe, and for keeping them from harming other dogs or people. That is what being a steward is all about, being responsible.
According to the Center for Disease Control, (CDC), approximately 4.7 million dog bites occur in the United States each year, and 800,000 of those bites result in medical care. The U.S. population is approximately 325.7 million people as of 2017.
That means a dog bites 1 out of every 69 people every year.
The CDC says dog bites are rising 47 per cent a year, as the number of people acquiring dogs they know absolutely nothing about soars.
People tell me all the time the only moral way to get a dog is to rescue one, and there is much truth to that. But I would also add the only moral way to get a dog is with some thought and care, it is not a moral exercise, it is a very practical one. There are all kinds of ways to get a dog: the best way is to do it with some thought.
There are many reasons who dogs are coming into increasing conflict with their environments.
The number of dogs in America has skyrocketed – 75 million owned dogs now – and dogs are being so intensely emotionalized and anthropomorphized that almost everyone in America wants or needs to have one, even though animals like dogs are not for everybody.
We can also fault backyard breeders, desperate shelters crammed with mostly unadoptable dogs, and some elements in the rescue movement who advance the idea that wanting to save a dog is enough of a reason for a getting dogs whose genetics, behaviors and experiences are often unknown, and can’t be predicted.
The issue has never been rescue-versus-breeder, that is a silly and self-serving invention, the real issue is that people don’t want to do the work of choosing their dogs thoughtfully and carefully rather than impulsively and emotionally. Too often, the dogs pay for that..
Instead of asking people how tall their fences are, or how old they are, perhaps rescue groups and breeders should ask people what their idea is of owner responsibility and stewardship, and what concern do they have for other dogs owners and people.
In 1960, there were only 15 million owned dogs in the United States, there was plenty of room for them. There are many more people in America now, and our cities and towns are much more crowded. There is very little room for all of these dogs, which puts untrained dogs in direct and close conflict with people in their communities.
Dogs run into people and dogs whenever they go outside, and many dog owners are so eager to let their dogs run, play and run free that they put people like Mark and Sue and their dogs in danger, and often blame them for being angry or afraid.
Dog lovers are not, by nature, a litigious group, they don’t wish to be in conflict with other dog owners or to harm other dogs. So what is Sue to do?
The first step in my mind would be to warn the dog owners that their behavior is illegal and dangerous. To urge them to control their dogs, and not to assume assume their dogs are friendly in all situations. It is also wrong to assume other dog people want their dogs to “play” with other dogs or help socialize them.
The odds are sadly, long against the dog owner responding rationally. Just like the Boomers with their kids, we want our dogs to be our friends, so we often fail as stewards.
The next step is to bring a camera or smartphone, take some photos if possible, contact a lawyer and have him or her sent a letter to the offending dog owner if you know where they live. The letter should threaten legal action and damages if the dog is not controlled.
If you don’t know where they live, and the behavior continues, it may be time to call the police or animal control, if there is one. It is illegal for dogs to threaten or harm people or dogs in almost every city and town in the country.
Most police departments issue a citation for the first one or two violations. If they continue, the dog can be taken away. That is a big deterrent for many people with dogs, a warning sign that they need to get a trainer or do some work with the dog.
You can also carry repellents like mace and spray a dog if it threatens you or your dog. In my experience, that works quickly, and it sends a strong message to the dog owner and the dog.
I am sorry to recommend these confrontational and difficult steps, but fears of untrained and out of control dogs are not neurotic or unreasonable. Many dog owners seem to be getting ruder, angrier and lazier about issues relating to responsibility and animals.
A woman down the street fro me tells everyone she meets that her dog was “abused,” but the dog won’t sit, stay or come when called.
That is just another kind of abuse.
Don’t feel like you’re being cruel and evil by calling out this behavior, you are protecting yourself, your dog and perhaps sparing the offending creature from a hard fate.
Many of these bites end in legal action, many cost the dogs that bite their lives. There are good and human reason to speak out against irresponsible dog owners, it can save many canine lives.
There are no precise counts of how many dogs are bitten and killed by other dogs, but almost every veterinary association in America says these incidents are skyrocketing as more and more people get dogs they know nothing about from people who should not be selling them or offering them for adoption.
I don’t know how to protect a dog from that.
One University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School study said hundreds of thousands of dogs are inured each year by other dogs, hundreds, if not thousands, are killed.
No matter what anyone says, there are breeds prone to aggression, there are emotional issues of people to consider, there are studies about why dogs bite in the first place. There are things that can be learned before we bring a dog into our homes and the lives of our neighbors.
Dogs that bite are not evil or mean, dogs have no conscience.
There are a thousand reasons why a dog bites, from litter problems to poor socialization to food deprivation and abuse, from genetic breeding. I never get a dog I know nothing about, as I am responsible for his or her behavior, and I don’t want to look a terrified and injured child in the eye and say, “oh, he never did that before.”
I’ve been down that road, I’m not going back.
Since I can’t control the behavior of irresponsible dog owners, I try to focus on myself and on what I can do to keep my dogs safe and myself safe.
I’m not into paranoia, warning or alarm, I don’t wish to like that. I don’t care for dog play groups, they are rarely necessary for dogs, the “play” is often arousal, not entertainment, and these groups are sometimes a mecca for lazy dog owners who wish to exercise their dogs quickly and cheaply.
Walking alone with my dogs or Maria is enough. For them, for me.
In the wild, dogs didn’t need play groups. I am not persuaded they need them here either.
I discourage other people from assuming my dogs want to play with them, and I look for remote areas to walk my dogs. This is easy for me, I live in the country. In the city, it’s a different story.
I hope this is helpful, I will continue to talk and write about it. If you have questions for me relating to dogs, gate or other animals, send it along to me: [email protected]. I’ll write about it or talk about it on my radio shows.
My partner in crime at WGBN is a battle-scared, New York City-hardened conductor and composer named Thomas Lawrence Toscano. He is the one who decides on who gets what show and when.
I asked him what he would like to be called, and he said, “at the station, I like to be called Thomas, anywhere else, I don’t really give a shit.”
They called the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini “Maestro,” and I’ve noticed that Toscannini and Toscano have very similar faces, and especially, similar eyes. See for yourself.
You can see the Creative Spark glowing brightly in each of them, there is a mad and joyous look there, the look of a man who glows with spirit and who will take on an impossible task and sling to it, even if it’s a leaky boat always taking water.
He is also a man who has devoted his life to creativity, in his case, music, and like me, he fled to the country because corporations haven’t yet figured out how to take over the country and ruin it for profit, as they are doing for the rest of our world, and for our planet.
To me, such men are heroes, and we work quite well together. On some mysterious level not visible to me, we are the same. He is in awe of the fact that readers of the blog sent his station money, he could barely get over it.
Thomas Toscano is, of course, a conductor, a composer, a maestro. He used to run a Brooklyn Opera Company, now he is running a feisty and bleeding and tiny community radio station.
For a creative person. it’s almost the same thing – a creative and often impossible task, filled with roadblocks and challenges.
They decided to close the radio station down last year, there was no money and few listeners, Thomas just decided to ignore the decision and came in to run it. He has been running it every since.
I wouldn’t bet against him.
This morning, we were both excited to take the first caller to my new radio show. Thomas knows how to work the electronic boards, I don’t. He is essential, and there are no engineers in WBTN land.
As you can see, I am drawn to taking his portrait.
The first caller introduced herself to me and asked me a thoughtful question and before I could answer, Thomas jumped right in and said “let me interject something here,” and he told a story about his white German Shepherd.
I was surprised, my mouth was open to take my first question on my new show, and in another context, I might have stabbed him through the heart.
But I wasn’t upset at all, it felt just right. His enthusiasm and passion just bubbled up for a moment, and it didn’t happen again. He just got excited, I could see it. It is what conductors naturally do, they conduct. I love having him in the studio, we play well off of one another, and he knows every inch of it, what works and what doesn’t.
Thomas saved us about a dozen times from one technical snafu or another, he told me most of the station equipment dates back to the Korean War. I believe it, and I can’t imagine doing it myself.
So I call Thomas “The Maestro” now, and that’s how I think of him.
You have only to look into his eyes to see the Creative Spark, and that is a sacred thing to me. He is a prophet. You can check out Toscannini’s photo here.
The radio show “Talking About Animals” will launch next Wednesday at 1 p.m. on Community Radio Station WBTNAm.org.
You can e-mail me your questions about dogs and animals – [email protected] -r call me at 866 406 9286.
I’ve fantasized for years about hosting a thoughtful radio show about dogs and other animals – I’ve done it once or twice for brief periods – and it looks I might actually have one, however long it lasts. I thank you for your support.
This is even sweeter for me since the station – WBTN based in Bennington, Vt. – is part of the embattled community radio network, something I deeply believe in as we struggle to live freely in the Corporate Nation, where ordinary humans are never given voice and our culture is being subsumed by greedy corporatists.
Our trial show was a big hit, lots of calls with good questions, and I never even got to the big stack of e-mail questions I was sent last night and this morning. I loved every minute of it, it was just what I hoped for.
I believe there is a chance to create a conversation with animal lovers that is thoughtful and intelligent, not confrontational or political. We started on that road today.
We were so pleased with today’s broadcast, we just expanded the show to two hours every Wednesday afternoon: And thanks for the hundreds of dollars in donations you all sent to the station yesterday, they are stunned and delighted. You can’t even imagine how much of a difference that will make to them.
For the first time, it went as smoothly as could possibly be expected, and I loved the calls and the subject matter and the energy in the studio and from the callers.
The station – Thomas Toscano is the station – was pleased also. Members of the Army Of Good sent donations and called me from all over the country with intelligent and interesting questions about dogs, training, irresponsible owners, leashes.
One call came from California, which shocked Thomas Mancuso, WBTN’s Executive Director. He said that had never happened before. God bless streaming.
Thomas and I agreed that the show would air on Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m. EDT. I’ll read and discuss e-mail questions for the first half-hour, then take calls if we get them, for the next 90 minutes.
I’ll have trouble using that time wisely.
If today was any indicator, we will get calls, they came in a steady stream, from everywhere.
The shows will all be lived streamed on WBTN, just click on the Live button at the top of the blog. Things vary person to person, but almost everyone I heard from got the signal instantly and clearly. The WBTN staff also send these instructions for listening to a podcast of the show: “Podcast page: http://www.wbtnam.us. You pick a feed, use the drop down list for Bennington Today. And select the date. Then to the right is either play or download to listen to past shows.”
You can call the show toll-free with your questions by dialing 866 406-9286.
I’m very pleased to be part of the community radio movement, it fits my values perfectly, I’m in talks with the station about helping them to get a new FM Radio Transmitter/Translater so they can broadcast on the FM as well as AM frequency.
We might even have gotten a sponsor for my radio show.
As you may sense, I’m flirting with how we can help them survive, and it seems to me the odds are long, but not impossible. An FM transmitter could spell the difference.
The equipment they need to do this costs $10,000, I suggested they put up a gofundme page so the Army Of Good and others can support them in this desperately needed project if they wish.
An FM transmitter would bring all kinds of new listeners and potential sponsors and supporters..
It was an affirming and satisfying day for me, I feel I may have opened a new chapter in my life. I want to be cautious. The station is a wreck, with little money and extremely outdated equipment. It has been hanging on by a thread for sometime. I hope it will grow and survive, and that I can help it to do that.
When I got home, this e-mail was waiting for me:
“Well, well, well. Jon, there I was sitting in my kitchen in Islip, Oxfordshsire, England and I thought I’ll just see what happens if I click on the link on your blog and suddenly there you were in my kitchen!..I know you won’t remember but eight years ago you made me your “person of the week” because I was angry and upset when my friends told me I was too old to have a 10-month-old dog and I told you I was going to ignore them. Well, here I am listening to you with Daisy curled up at my feet. I am now 73 years old and she is nine and the love of my life! Yours, Clare Manners.”
I do remember you, Clare, and quite vividly. You got me to break my rule against giving advice to strangers. You are what it is all about for me.
You can hardly come home to get a better message than that. We shape our own destinies. We follow our heart, not the beliefs of others. The reviews online and off for this show were lovely, thank you, I was, in fact, completely at home doing this, it also felt completely natural to me.
I enjoy working with Thomas, he is an opera singer conductor and composer, we just click. On the radio, chemistry matters. We have it.
So there it is. You are invited to this show.
Please e-mail your questions about dogs and other animals and I will get to them. I am also planning to start a Friday column on my blog called “Talking About Dogs,” in the column I will answer and talk about a different question each week. So keep them coming, and stay tuned. And thanks.
