mp3rude

October�s dappled light likes teasing us into reflecting on life’s lessons and mysteries. In the spirit of celebrating our bond with dogs, our supporters have been sharing some truly remarkable stories of the power of dogs to change, and in many cases, to save the lives of their people. (When you can, please visit this amazing facebook thread for  reflections on profound personal change .) 2014 has been an especially good year  for activating lessons learned from living with dogs. At no time in our eons long history with canines have humans had access to so much  credible information  regarding dog behavior, bite prevention and the all-important human element in creating and maintaining safe, humane communities. That swell of knowledge is changing us for the better. As a result of dog owner education for example, the number of reported dog bites has been plummeting in many major cities. ( Link ) This year, we�re happy to see Aurora, Colorado put its toe ...

I recently received an email which made me feel nauseous. In it, a concerned dog owner explained how his dog isn�t great with children because when they put their arms around the dog�s neck and hug it, or get up close to the dog�s face, the dog responds by snapping or growling. The email goes on to explain that the dog has never bitten or made contact but the behaviour is a concern because their toddler loves to interact with the dog and other children just want to hug it because of how cute it looks. This isn�t the first email I�ve received about dogs that behave aggressively when people (especially children or strangers) get too close, hug or grab a dog and it won�t be the last. In fact, in my work as an animal behaviourist and consultant, human-directed aggression is a common issue I�m called in to assist with. Image 1: Do you think this dog is enjoying being hugged?  What�s wrong with hugging dogs? So why do some dogs respond aggressively to being hugged? What�s wrong ...