The
ProgressiveMagazine Pet Because there is a BETTER way...
Not Everything is at it seems
Finding homes for the Standard Poodle
Newfoundlanders
Harold McPherson and his contribution to saving the breed that bears the Canadian Province's name
Dog Shows of Newfoundland We have them here too!
Arnica Montana
Herb of the Month
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Oct-Nov 2014 - Volume 1- Issue 3 www.controversialcanine.com
Part Two of the Continuing saga on Herding
2 | The Progressive Pet - October-November 2014 Volume 1 - Issue 3
Would you like to make a difference? We do... The People for the Alternative Care of K-9s (THE PACK) is a non-profit organization that consists of a large community of concerned dog owners and cat owners. The society will help underprivileged families care for their animals during times of financial hardship. This assistance is will also be available to rescue groups and other animal focused organizations. That’s only one of our mandates, we will also advocate and help raise funds for all things pet related such as: ӹӹ Fighting BSL ӹӹ Housing ӹӹ Improving our right to affordable animal health care ӹӹ Holistic alternatives
ӹӹ ӹӹ ӹӹ ӹӹ ӹӹ
Scholarships and education Quality services Promoting responsible breeders Rescue Gentle and humane training practices
Whether it's to protect your rights as a pet owner or guardian, or you are a family in need or assistance or a concerned citizen, we need your voice. Join today ~ You'll be glad you did!
www.controversialcanine.com/thepacksociety
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Erika Pardy Editor-in-Chief
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Advertising We invite you to e-mail us at sales@ controversialcanine.com for information on advertisement rates, deadlines and requirements. The Progressive Pet Magazine reserves the right to reject any advertisement submitted. Submissions The Progressive Pet Magazine is always looking to provide opportunities for submissions, artwork or photography. By submitting these, The Progressive Pet Magazine is granted permission to use the submitted material, in whole or in part, at its sole discretion, without compensation to the submitter. Please e-mail us at submissions@controversialcanine.com for information on format and requirements Permissions This publication is copyrighted. No contents of The Progressive Pet Magazine may be reproduced or reprinted in whole or in part without the prior written consent.
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4 | The Progressive Pet - October-November 2014 Volume 1 - Issue 3
White Living Room Syndrome Page 10 Newfoundalands... a little history Page 12
Notes from the Field... Page 14
Dog Shows of Newfoundland Page 20
A dedication to BIJOU
Page 19
Are you an aspiring writer? October-November 2014 Volume 1- Issue 3 - The Progressive Pet | 5 Do you have a good story to tell? Would you like to see your name on the pages of a renowned magazine?
The
The Progressive Pet Magazine is always looking for submissions. Be it a personal story or you want to showcase your dog breed, or know of a great business that can use the publicity - we would like to read it! Of course, bear in mind we need to read the work and if we determine it to fit our theme for the magazine, it has a good chance of being used. Please refer to page 3 for further details.
Progressive Pet
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10 White Living Room Syndrome
Sometimes I love doing in home training sessions and sometimes they depress the hell out of me. The one I have scheduled in a few days I strongly suspect will be the latter
12 Newfoundlands... A little history 14 Notes from the Field... Not Everything is at is Seems It was the e-mail every rescue dreads. Standard Poodles In Need, Rescue & Rehome (SPIN) received an e-mail that a woman in Montreal needed to find a new home for her standard poodle, Amir
19 A Dedication to Bijou
We lost a part of our family earlier this year in a freak accident at home. Since you are already reading a magazine dedicated to pets and our relationships with them, I don’t need to tell you what a light they can bring into our lives
Page 30
20 Dog Shows of Newfoundland. Yes we have them here too
How many times over the last 6 years have I said to a client in my grooming salon, “I am getting ready for a dog show.” Their reply: “We have dogs shows here?” Yes we do.
23 Life and Death on the Farm Ducks aren’t the only livestock with acting ability.
Life and Death on the Farm Page 23
At one point we had a few sheep that were visiting us (on loan from a friend) and one of them was great at playing dead.
30 WHINETURKEY
As we approach the holiday season, I reflect on the problems turkeys have caused us. On not the plastic wrapped Butterball, injected with yummy salty chemicals, guaranteed to cook up juicy with the nifty popup timer, turkey
34 HERB OF THE MONTH: ARNICA MONTANA
Arnica Montana Page 34
Arnica Montana – Leopards bane or wolf ’s bane is a Daisy type plant with a yellow flower, originally originating from Europe. It now grows wild throughout North America and is related to the common garden variety.
On the Cover: A tribute to Newfoundland and the dog that has made the name famous, the Newfoundland
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Notes from the Editor
ERIKA PARDY Good Autumn everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your shorter days and cooler weather. I am happy to say that the month of September certainly turned the tide from the miserable rainy August that we had here in NL. I arrived home the day before Regatta day and apparently brought with me the Newfoundland Monsoon that didn't let up until the beginning of the first week of September and so far we have had some pretty wicked sunny days. I am happy to say that regular hiking on the East Coast Trail has resumed and I have some happy dogs not to mention a happy me. The trip back to the rock was as smooth as any long distance cross country trip could be. Not a single eventful thing to report, which is kind of strange coming from me, I usually have a story or two to tell about traveling across this big land of ours but nothing comes to mind for this one. I do want to give a shout out to the gentleman from Marine Atlantic that noticed I had dogs in the van just as he was about to send me cruising down to park in the underbelly of the Newfoundland Ferry. He was kind enough to realize that it would be way too hot down there for the dogs and so made sure I got a premium spot to park where the dogs had lots of ventilation! Thank you kind sir! Well here we are on our third issue of The progressive Pet magazine and with a busy summer and the start of a new school year our pages between the covers are a little less than the previous couple of issues but we promise to bring it back up to par in our next issue.
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You'll notice that this issue has a particular smell of sat fish and scrunchions with a faint sound of sea gulls in the background. This is because we want to showcase the Island of NL which is where I reside. We will still have our international writers and will be tackling topics that affect us worldwide. As with tradition I would like to thank some people that without their kindness and generosity the world would be less beautiful. To my friend Robin Grant for tolerating my zaniness. My cousin Sherry Welsh for her unconditional love and support. My kids for their amazing character and personalities. The ladies at the St.John's Board of Trade for being so awesome and of course our contributors as well as our readers without whom we wouldn't have a magazine. My new co-workers and boss at my new job ( yes I have a real job) Modern Business Equipment Ltd, You guys rock! I look forward to everyone's feedback and I wish you and your families, whether 2 legged or 4 legged, a very safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Erika Pardy
The
Progressive Pet
Magazine
8 | The Progressive Pet - October-November 2014 Volume 1 - Issue 3
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10 | The Progressive Pet - October-November 2014 Volume 1 - Issue 3
White Living Room Syndrome
Sometimes I love doing in home training sessions and sometimes they depress the hell out of me. The one I have scheduled in a few days I strongly suspect will be the latter. I can tell by the questions they asked and their response to my answers that the goal is to dump this Boxer pup while being able to say “Well we tried Every Thing and it just didn’t work out”. I strongly suspect a case of, what I call, White Living Room Syndrome. Several years ago I did an in home for a professional couple with an eighteen week old corgi pup. The complaints were typical, difficulty with house breaking and destructiveness. I packed up my gear and headed out with in high spirits. It sounded like they were doing most things right. They had gotten the pup from a reputable breeder, were using a crate etc., and what is more fun than a Corgi baby! But when I arrived at the very swanky home in a VERY exclusive neighborhood, I was greeted with frowns and scowls by Mr. Dentist and Mrs. Attorney and a litany of complaints. They let me into a grand marble foyer with a huge staircase and off to the right a room roped off with (I’m not kidding!) a red velvet rope like those used in theaters and museums. Curious I looked in and saw an expanse of white carpet and furniture.
Mrs. Attorney looked in with me and smiled for the first time. “This is my pride and joy and I just cannot keep the puppy out of here!” When I pointed out that a velvet rope hung 3 feet up wasn’t as effective as a baby gate, she started frowning again. They led me back to a still expensively furnished but more lived in family room and I met their two teenagers, their 6 year old, and Corky the pup. The teens were frowning, the 6 year old was crying and adorable Corky flopped over for puppy belly rubs. After an hour of listening to their complaints, making suggestions and playing with Corky, it became apparent that only the 6 year old was interested in training and keeping the puppy and my job was to make disposing of her easier. I was met with blank stares when I asked if they had a contract with the breeder and an hour later they escorted me out with the pup, her crate, paper work, toys, food etc. I did insist they pay me for my hour. Corky’s tale has a very happy ending. In her paper work I found the breeders contract ( HA!) and contacted her. She in turn called Mr. and Mrs. Professional and ripped them a new one. Corky went to live with a friend whose elderly GSD had just passed and she wanted a smaller dog. Corky became a therapy dog and visited nursing homes and a children’s hospital well
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into her old age and went to the rainbow bridge at the ripe age of 18 held in loving arms. Her first owners really missed out on an amazing dog. More and more I am getting calls for “quick fixes”. Owners wanting instant good behavior and a dog that enhances their décor. I dread the day when people start getting “designer” mixes to match the drapes. So many dogs are dumped because of behavior issues and many do not have a happy ending. TV shows that “fix” problem behaviors in an hour and the instant gratification of the digital age often raise expectations to unrealistic heights. Terms like “pet parent” give owners the mistaken idea they have adopted a furry child. When I explain that they have a DOG, a creature of impulse, of joy, that being a DOG is OK, wonderful in fact, but trying to make the DOG into a furry, decorative little subhuman is not, I am often met with confusion and sometimes hostility. My heart breaks for owners that can’t embrace the wonder of sharing their lives with their messy, impulsive, joyful canines. We decorate in what I call “early good will” with accents of dog hair and dog show art. As I sit on my shabby, well-loved sofa, made of some sort of Naugahyde / leatherette, I think how lucky I am not to have or want a white living room. I could, and may do so, write a book on the things that the dogs in my life have desecrated. They were just things and really who doesn’t need some crotch less underpants in their life?
I look at the well chewed rung on our kitchen chair and oh the memories! I bought the set made of inexpensive pale ash, thinking that if it got chewed on or dinged I could easily sand it down and paint it fun colors. It Has become well chewed on and I will never sand it or paint it. Because when I look at it I see 9 week old Pixel, eyes closed, blissfully gnawing away the varnish. Pixel, with the ever wagging tail that all longhair dachshunds seem to possess. Pixel who trained and competed with me in a variety of sports, who knew a hundred tricks and helped teach them to a thousand students. Pixel, who taught me so much. I miss her and others that have traveled on to the bridge. Others have chewed that rung and messed the floor and stolen my heart. More dogs will bless me and teach me. I embrace the mess and shabby furniture that comes with having too many dogs. I feel great pity for those who would rather have things than share life with others. I pray that I can convince my new clients to keep and cherish their puppy. To enjoy all the silly, bouncy, messy moments. To understand how painfully short our time with our dogs is and how amazing it is to share that time with them. I may cuss as I mop and yell when some sneaky pup has just turned my new high tops into no tops but every day spent with my dogs is a blessed day! So I head out to preach the word of dog, the joy of muddy paw prints and the silliness of expecting love from a white living room.
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Newfoundlands... A little history. Harold Macpherson is credited with saving the Newfoundland dog from extinction. He bred both the dogs, as well as Ayrshire cattle at his large country estate, Westerland, on the northern outskirts of St. John’s. He gained an international reputation for his work with breeding Newfoundland dogs and was for a time vice president of Newfoundland Club of America (Newfoundland Dogs). Macpherson did a lot of work to save the Newfoundland dog breed, make them the working dogs that were an integral part of daily life and fight petitions to ban all dogs from the island. Before the province of Newfoundland became part of the Dominion of Canada, the province issued postal stamps commemorating their home grown breed.
Source: http://www.therooms.ca/archives/archived_exhibits_desc.asp
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Notes from the Field...
It was the e-mail every rescue dreads. Standard Poodles In Need, Rescue & Rehome (SPIN) received an e-mail that a woman in Montreal needed to find a new home for her standard poodle, Amir. He had become unmanageable, barking and lunging at dogs passing by his home and had even redirected towards the owner when she had tried to hold him back. The dog had lost one of his hind legs when he was one year old and he was now four. He had been coddled and pampered all of his life – but more than this the owner herself had become ill and had not been able to walk him properly for the last two years. He had not been outside the house and their small back yard in this time. Would SPIN be able to bring Amir into the programme and find a new home for him? Oh dear. All sorts of red flags were
waving wildly. Amir is barking and lunging and this indicated a high guarding instinct and prey drive that is not uncommon in standard poodles. If left unchecked, this instinctual behaviour can lead to aggression and biting. He had already redirected to the owner and while we didn’t know if he had made contact, this wasn’t a good sign. He had lost a hind leg in a critical period of socialization in a dog’s life and had been laid up to rest at one year of age. After that, he had not been socialized beyond the animals that shared his home and the people that came to visit. And while the owner assured us that he was welcoming and friendly once in the home, what would Amir be like outside of his comfort zone? Would he be fearful and aggressive? As well, Amir had lost a leg and hadn’t been walked for most of his life. What would his
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physical condition be? What sort of specialized care would he need and how much will a foster family have to do on a day to day basis for him? And why exactly was his leg amputated? Proceed with caution After discussion with the SPIN Executive, it was decided to proceed with caution. After all, it’s not as if we hadn’t been told that a standard poodle was aggressive and it turned out that the dog is just a poodle. It’s kind of a breed thing. People think that a standard poodle is a frou frou family dog that will look pretty and only want to be pampered. But the truth is rather startling. High prey drive, athletic, intelligent, pack oriented and protective – a standard poodle is not the dog for everyone. But back to Amir. A volunteer and friend, Laura Shaughnessy, was sent to investigate and comment on whether Amir would be a good fit in the SPIN programme. To everyone’s surprise what she found was a soft, gentle woman that only had Amir’s best interest at heart. Amir was going crazy being shut up in house and while her other animals were okay, Amir was not adjusting. She had done as much as she could for him and it was now time to let him find his own place in the world. Can you imagine how hard this decision was for her? When she first saw Amir he was an unwanted puppy. Small. Deformed. Nobody wanted him. He was likely going to be euthanized. She took him home and loved him. Nursed him through his first year of life, but when his deformed paw was continually getting infected and had affected his entire leg, the decision was made to amputate. She nursed him through the amputation. Loved him. Made him well. Made sure he knew
he was special and wanted. Did the best she could do, but now, well now four years later, it was obvious he had outgrown his little home. He wanted to see the world. To run. And so it was because of love she had reached out for Amir. Our hearts went out to her. Of course we will bring Amir into SPIN. We will find him the very best home. Preparing for Amir SPIN’s first task was to find an appropriate foster home. We needed a foster home that would be able to physically handle a wild poodle that barked and lunged at the window, at dogs on the street, and that was likely out of control on a walk. We needed someone that could assess and work with Amir’s disability. In short, SPIN needed a special someone that could teach Amir, using positive methods, the behaviours that would help ease him into his new life in the big, wide world. Enter Renee McCant Shanto. Renee is one of those people that in truth all of us that love dogs could be. The only difference between Renee and many of us is that she has stepped up and opened her home to dogs in need. I’m not discounting how special Renee is. She is wonderful. It’s just that fostering a dog in need is something many of us can do, but find excuses not to. To prepare for Amir’s arrival, Renee papered the windows facing the street. She put baby gates in doorways leading to stairs. Not sure what to expect, she prepared her family for the new arrival. On the designated day, Laura picked Amir up and drove him to her house where he would stay for two nights. Laura shares her home with four standard
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poodles. Heaven if you ask me, but what would Amir think? Laura’s plan was to slowly introduce Amir to her pack starting with one and then building up. To Laura’s utmost surprise, Amir liked all of her dogs immediately. He was not afraid. He was not aggressive. He wanted to play and to run. Especially to run. He ran and ran – not well, a little awkwardly, but he ran with joy. Laura fell hopelessly in love. When Amir finally arrived at Renee’s house, he was a little tired but very much aware that his situation had changed. He checked out the entire house, greeted everyone and then fell asleep. He probably wondered why all the papers were on the windows… In the morning as everyone rose he nicely greeted everyone and calmly proceeded to fit right in. By the afternoon the papers were taken off the windows. Huh... Renee soon learned that instead of
being wild and uncontrollable, Amir was in fact quite well mannered and loved other dogs and other people. He wanted to sit on your lap. He charmed everyone he met. The more she got to know him, the less she noticed that he had only three legs. It didn’t seem to slow him down. At the dog park he played like a standard poodle, a bit rough, a good poodle poke and loved a good game of chase. If he fell down, he just picked himself back up. He came home happy and tired. This is not to say that Renee didn’t have to work with Amir. Amir peed in the house and she had to teach him that this was unacceptable. He had a few mistakes, but learned the new rules quickly. Still, having a big dog pee in your house is not pleasant. Another habit that required more work was Amir’s need to greet every dog he saw on the street. He would pull on the leash and bark and lunge, not in anger but in absolute joy of the chance to meet a new dog.
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When allowed to greet, he was gentle and well mannered. It was just getting there that took a bit of strength. Renee worked with him to curb his pulling and barking. Sometimes it’s not easy to tell the difference between high energy joy and aggression. But once recognized and understood, Renee fashioned exercises that were able to communicate the required behaviour. And what about that bite history? Poof. Gone. Throughout the time with Renee, Amir did not once redirect onto her. Not everything was as it seemed…. All of our preconceptions formed from that first e-mail about what Amir would be like were destroyed one by one over time. We thought we would be getting a sickly, unhappy standard poodle with no social skills and quick temper. What we got was a joyful, kind, benevolent dog that loved everything and everybody. Sure he had three legs, but after awhile, to be honest, you kind of forgot and Amir was just another quirky standard poodle. After four weeks, we put Amir up for adoption. He was ready to find his new family. Admittedly we were unwilling to let Amir go to a less than ideal home. We took our time, three months to be exact. SPIN had several very different families that were willing to bring Amir into their home. What were we looking for? Joyfulness. Experience with exuberance. Intention to find a safe space so that Amir could run and run and run. To feel the wind in his hair. The dirt under his paws. To experience the world. Each family offered Amir a wonderful life. In the end it wasn’t what we were looking for, it’s what we heard – that barely audible click
that sounds in your gut when the placement is right. Here is the first note from Amir’s adoptive family:
Amir is so awesome! He acts as though he has been part of the family forever! Right now he is in the yard romping with our 11lb pup and ignoring the fact our pet chickens, Dottie and Roxanne are walking past him in the driveway...He was great last night on the long car ride home..He has hiked in the woods today and loved the attention at Petco getting his new collar, toys and name tag! We did have to let him sleep in our room last night as his whimpering outside the door broke our hearts! He has loved every creature and person he has met thus far! Feeling so fortunate thanks to SPIN! You guys are all amazing...we just love him! Paula Bund is a photographer and writer in Clarington, Ontario. She is one of the co-founders of Standard Poodles In Need, Rescue & Rehome (SPIN). Please visit SPIN at www.standardpoodlesinneed.com or join the lively discussion on our group Facebook page.
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A Dedication to BIJOU by Tony Roberts
We lost a part of our family earlier this year in a freak accident at home. Since you are already reading a magazine dedicated to pets and our relationships with them, I don’t need to tell you what a light they can bring into our lives. This was especially true of our little “Bijou”. He was a two and a half year old, 5 lb, male Yorkshire Terrier and what he lacked in size he made up for with a heart the size of a Newfoundlander. This is my tribute to him. We always had a dog or a cat around the house when I was growing up and I found myself wanting another dog as my two daughters got older. Our house seemed to become a lonely place at times as my wife and I grew further apart as she fought her own demons from her past. It did not take much prompting from my marriage counsellor to encourage me to get a dog and with that my two girls and I travelled about an hour and a half away to Carbonear to meet a little Yorkie and his parents. It would suffice to say that I knew there was no way I was leaving that place without the little pup and he was a real joy to have from day one. We brought him home in early December and it was not long before he was hiking the East Coast Trails and sleeping in our beds at night. Bijou was a source of comfort for all of us no matter what we were going through. He was a happy dog that loved a game of tug and to cuddle on your lap. A dog doesn’t seem to care too much about the variable Newfoundland weather since he was content to lie in a sunbeam or romp in freshly fallen snow in the yard… truly a creature living in the present moment. He was a light in our house when times got tough. He licked away the tears on my daughters’ face when my wife and I decided to separate. He was there for all of us when we moved into our new house. Bijou was a constant in our lives as things around us changed and it was so very difficult to lose him abruptly and unexpectedly at such a young age. I value the connections and lessons I have learned from my pets as much as the people I have met in my life. Our household was enhanced for having a dog in it and it was without hesitation that we sought to get another dog to share our house again (it took two to fill the void left by our little Bijou). No matter what stage you are at in life, if you have the time to dedicate to owning a dog then I would encourage you to do it. There are so many extraordinary breeds out there to complement your lifestyle and I can guarantee your life will be richer for having adopted an animal. We miss you Bijou!
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DOG SHOWS OF e v a h .. We
Yes.
! e r e h them
How many times over the last 6 years have I said to a client in my grooming salon, “I am getting ready for a dog show.” Their reply: “We have dogs shows here?” Yes we do. A nice few of them every year might I add. We actually have three kennel clubs in our beautiful province; The Avalon Kennel Club, The Newfoundland Kennel Club and the kennel club that hosted our most recent show, The Conception Bay Kennel Club. The Conception Bay Kennel Club just celebrated 55 years at their August 9th and 10th show in Bay Roberts, NL. A new venue for them and a huge improvement from the past venue. I, along with many of the other exhibitors simply love this show, held once a year in Conception Bay North. The short 45 minute drive from St. John’s to Bay Roberts makes for a fun “road trip” with friends and you reach your destination before anyone needs to stop and pee or kill each other. The atmosphere this kennel club creates is always welcoming and fun. On Saturday, they always feed us quite well and every one looks forward to it. There is always a fun time had by all. This particular show was special to me as I earned Marilyn Monroe’s Canadian Championship. No Marilyn is not a movie star she is a Standard Poodle with all the attitude and flare that the real Marilyn Monroe exhibited on the silver screen. Previously Marilyn had been in the U.S. competing for her American Championship. She is my first dog to have both a U.S. and Canadian championship and I couldn’t be more thrilled. A dog show is a sport just like any other, except you get to do it WITH YOUR DOG! How cool is that!? You have levels of achievement like any sport and the first goal a lot of people go in with is the goal of obtaining a championship title on their dog. Dog shows are done on a point system and you need 10 points to complete a championship. The number of points you earn depends on how many dogs are competing against yours.
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NEWFOUNDLAND
Dog Shows are often looked at as stuffy, fru-fru events but let me tell you, they are so much more then what they appear to be. For example there are usually multiple events happening during the weekend. Conformation events and Performance events. In Conformation events dogs are judge on their movement and structure compared to the breed standard. Each of the 175 breeds the Canadian Kennel Club recognizes has a written breed standard. (This can be found at www.ckc.ca) The breed standard is how each breed is suppose to look, move and gives a history about the breed and their original job or purpose. It will tell you things like what colours the breed comes in and even what sizes. For example my breed is the Poodle, they come in Toy, Miniature and Standard. Basically if you are looking to learn about a particular breed, the breed standard is a great starting point. In conformation some people will show their own dogs, while others may choose to hire a professional handler. Either is allowed but I can tell you there is something to be said about showing your own dog. The practice, the shows themselves, the grooming and prepping of your dog, it all builds a bond between dog and owner. It gives you something to do that you both enjoy and look forward to. One of my Poodles in particular, Izzy Mae, absolutely loves the show ring. She acts as if it is her job and her purpose to run around with her head held high, performing a perfect dance. Anyone who sees her showing will see how visible her enjoyment is. It is very important to me that my dogs have fun and enjoy the dog show, they always get lots of praise and lots of treats. It quickly becomes an awesome bonding experience for human and canine.
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The performance events available in the province right now are obedience trials and rally trials. Obedience is very structured and exhibits your dogs ability to listen to obedience commands. Rally is a little more laid back. Your dog still must perform their tasks but you are allowed to encourage and repeat commands if necessary. Recently the Canadian Kennel Club has opened their performance events to mixed breeds and unregistered dogs. These dogs can perform and earn titles along side their purebred friends. Junior Handling is also available here at our local shows. It allows children as young as four to show their own dogs. This is an amazing lesson in confidence and responsibility for a young person, especially those with a love of dogs. I have to be honest, I really didn’t think I would ever show a dog, let alone enjoy it. Not only do I show my dogs but I now do so along side my 70 year old Grandfather who this past March stepped into the dog show ring for the first time. It was amazing to see how quickly the bond between his puppy and himself grew into something much bigger than before. The judges were so incredibly helpful to my grandfather and gave him lots of direction and had patience with him being a novice owner handler. I can tell you he definitely never expected to be showing a dog, especially a Standard Poodle, but he really does enjoy it and looks forward to the shows. So you see, whether you are 4 or 70 years old, there is no limit to the fun and enjoyment you can have in developing a closer relationship with your dog. Okay, so now your are thinking, “how do I get started?” The local kennel clubs offer classes in conformation called handling classes. Also Junior handling classes for children, obedience classes and rally obedience classes. If they are not offering classes at the time you contact them they may be able to point you in the right direction for classes offered privately outside the clubs. If participating in the shows aren’t your thing I encourage you to please come and be a spectator. It is a great place to view and learn about lots of different breeds, talk to breeders and spend some family time at a fun event. If you would like to obtain information on any of the kennel clubs or would like info on upcoming events, please visit www.facebook.com/dogshowsofnewfoundland
October-November 2014 Volume 1- Issue 3 - The Progressive Pet | 23
Life and D e at h on the Farm by Diana Cagney
Part two of the continuing saga from the August/September issue.
Fainting Sheep? Ducks aren’t the only livestock with acting ability. At one point we had a few sheep that were visiting us (on loan from a friend) and one of them was great at playing dead. These sheep had been exposed to dogs, but hadn’t been “worked” by dog, especially in any kind of consistent training situations. This particular ewe made it very clear that she did not like playing the herding game. She was convinced that there had to be a way to escape. But Shooter kept picking her up and bringing her back to the flock. We were using the whole flock, to try to reduce the stress on the newcomers. But, even with that, she didn’t want to be part of the flock and thought that leaving the county might be a better idea. But Shooter wasn’t about to let that happen. One of the times that she ran off and he went to pick her back up, she just decided that instead of coming back to the
flock she would just fling herself to the ground and play dead. Shooter was stunned. Well, in all honesty, I don’t know who was more stunned, Shooter or me. He was standing there looking at this crumpled sheep at his feet, with a look on his face that clearly said “I didn’t do it Mom, I swear I didn’t do it.” And all I could think of was “Oh my God, how am I going to tell Bill and Mary that I killed one of their sheep?” I went over and looked at her and figured out pretty quickly that she wasn’t dead. She had just decided that she really WAS NOT going to play this herding game and this was her very own personal rebellion – a sit in (or lay in) as it were. Well, I nudged her and had Shooter poke at her and she popped up and went back to the flock. We worked another couple of minutes, she decided to go off on her own again, Shooter told her “no,” and she flung herself to the ground again. We tried nudging her again. This time, no luck, she wasn’t budg-
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ing. And I kind of felt sorry for her. Maybe there was really something wrong with her. Yes, she was choosing to act stupid (when the other newcomers weren’t). But maybe she had really worked herself into some stress-induced physical problems. So I left her there to rest and sent Shooter around to pick up the flock. Well, my sympathy for Miss Independent Thinker didn’t last. Because as soon as the rest of the flock got to her, she LEAPED to her feet and was hunky dory fine. Needless to say, she was never too terribly useful for herding practice. My only comforting thought while she was with us was that she was only visiting!! Sheep Doctoring as an Exercise Program You know, I’ve gotten quite a few comments from people telling me how much they enjoy the stories I’ve written with the theme of “what we’ve learned” since we bought our farm a couple of years ago. I don’t know if it’s because they actually find the stories entertaining or if they’re simply learning what NOT to do in case they ever get their own place in the country. Along those same lines, let me tell you some of our antics related to sheep doctoring, probably full of lots of useful advice about how you should NOT doctor sheep. We’ve been fighting feet problems with our sheep because it has decided to rain for essentially the entire 2.5 years since we bought our farm. And, in case you didn’t know, constant rain and mud cause feet problems in sheep. So we’ve had to do lots of feet trimming and medicating. Every once in a while, we also make things even more fun by throwing in worming, vaccinating, etc. One particularly memorable
day, we had lots of stuff to do. It was just a few weeks before the CA National Specialty and I had finally gotten my hands on some vaccine for foot rot. The plan was to hit them with the vaccine and a does of penicillin (recommended as part of the vaccine regimen). They were also due for their annual CD&T vaccine and a round of wormer. Plus they needed foot trimming and doctoring. At that time, we had bout 25-30 to do. It was going to be a full day, but do-able. My friend Julie came out to help. Luckily her husband, Garry, is very supportive of our sheep adventures. He has been awesome about helping put up fences and holding pens for clinics. And he doesn’t even seem to complain when she comes out and spends entire days doctoring sheep with me. Our theory is that he’s happy as long as the sheep stay at MY house!!! Anyway, Julie came out early that morning and we started doctoring. This is when the big exercise program of sheep doctoring began. If you’ve never doctored sheep, you might wonder what I mean about it being an exercise program, so let me explain. Theoretically, if you catch a sheep under its front legs and pop it up in the air and sit it down on its butt, you can do whatever you want to it and it won’t move. There’s a problem with this, though (besides the obviously problem of having to catch it in the first place). It’s a bit of a challenge when the sheep are bigger and taller than you are. Julie and I have tried this repeatedly and we can’t get it to work. We know it works, because we’ve seen other people do it. In fact, Julie’s husband does it and then gives us this “See girls, I told you so” look. But we can’t seem to do it ourselves. So we flip them over on their sides,
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instead, and lay across their chest in some kind of warped, smelly wrestling hold. The only thing missing is somebody counting and smacking the floor. What often winds up happening, especially on the bigger ones, is that one of us will be in charge of the wrestling hold, while the other one works on the feet. Then, at some point, we have to switch from front feet to back feet, so the exact positioning of the wrestling hold has to be modified. This results in a conversation that goes something like “I’m ready, are you? Okay, go ahead and move your left foot. Now I’m going to move my right foot. Okay, now move your right foot. I’m going to move my hands now. Have you got the legs? Okay, go ahead and move your other leg. Oops, that’s alright, you only kicked me in the head, it didn’t hurt
too bad. Now, ready, okay, switch quick.” My Mom says it’s hilarious to watch. She says she’s going to get a Twister Mat and put underneath us sometime when we’re doing this because that’s what it looks like. We’ve wondered if we could make money off of a new game called Sheep Twister for weird herding people. Who knows…. Anyway, we figure the whole sheep wrestling thing is actually pretty good strength training and flexibility training. And it’s all made even more entertaining by a woolie named “Freckles” who keeps trying to steal the trimmers, syringes, medicine, etc. and/or nibble on your hair, or stick his nose in your pockets. What makes our sheep doctoring projects really bad, though, is that we’re often pretty stu-
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pid about our strategy. You see, we made the mistake that one day, in particular, of starting with the easier and smaller sheep. Not a good move….. We worked through morning and got the woolies and little St. Croix girls done, took a brief lunch break, and then we started up again. Things started going downhill for us when we got to a ewe we called “Goat Girl.” We flipped her and Julie was holding her while I worked on her feet. We hadn’t done any medications yet, thankfully, only foot trimming. The next thing we knew, she started thrashing, peed, and went rigid. Julie said “I think we killed her.” Well I thought Julie was just joking. We joke a lot about murdering sheep when we’re having these really fun days like that. Then Julie said “I’m serious, I think she just died.” We started listening for breathing, checking her eyes, listening for a heartbeat, etc. We dragged her out of the holding
pen and out into the alley. By this time my Mom has gotten in on the action and is trying to help determine whether a murder has truly taken place. I remembered the sheep that played dead so well, so I was kind of skeptical about whether she was really dead or just trying to get out of having her feet trimmed. I wasn’t too terribly about her being dead, if she really was. I just wanted to know for sure one way or another. Julie, on the other hand, was NOT taking it well. At one point, Mom and I were seriously concerned that Julie was going to start giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to this sheep. Julie had this dazed, deer in the headlights look and I could not for the life of me figure out why she was coming unglued over this sheep. I kept trying to reassure her that it was okay. I reminded her that Goat Girl hadn’t been completely healthy for a while, that I’d been giving her vitamins,
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antibiotics, extra feed, etc. And that it was actually better for her to die before we left for CA than for her to die while we were gone and stress out the “sheep-sitter.” But nothing I said seemed to help. Finally Julie, still with a tragic and panicked look, said “But now I can’t say that I never killed one of your sheep.” I cracked up laughing. Then said “Yeah, but you can still say that your dogs haven’t.” She thought about that for a second, said “Oh, yeah, okay, good point.” So then all was well and Julie was fine. Then I looked at her and said “You know, I was trimming dog toenails last night and I told them to knock it off and settle down, that nobody had ever died from having their toenails trimmed. But I guess I can’t say that anymore, huh?” Mom and Julie laughed and agreed. Then I said “Hey, I know, now I can tell them – You’d better knock it off, I’ve already killed one and you can be number two.” We laughed some more, then looked down at the poor sheep, determined that she was definitely still dead, and then got ready to go back to work. My Mom said “You can’t just leave her out here in the alley.” We agreed that was a good point, so we dragged her into an empty holding pen, told her we were sorry, and then went back to work. But, as I said, that was when the day started really getting rough. We had gotten the easy sheep over with. But then, towards the end of the day, what we had left were the problem children. These were the BIG WETHERS that didn’t like to be caught, didn’t like to be handled, and were royal pains all the way around. There were two ways to catch these guys. Option #1
was for one person to slow them down from the front while the other person grabbed a rear leg. Then the person in front would grab them around the neck and you’d work on maneuvering yourself for the infamous sheep flip. The problem with this option was that when you grabbed that rear leg, the wether would start kicking as hard as he could. He might get you in the chest or face, or he might just jackhammer your arm back and forth repeatedly. I can’t even tell you how many times my right arm has been weak for days or even weeks following one of these big sheep doctoring sessions. And since I work at the University of Louisville Medical Center (home of the orthopedic surgeons who did the famous hand transplant surgery), it’s not uncommon for one of the doctors to walk up and ask “What’s wrong, tennis elbow?” and I reply “Nope, sheep elbow.” Talk about some funny looks ☺ !! Anyway, option #2 is for the person at the rear to try to slow the sheep down by hedging him up against the fence, while the person in front grabs him around the neck. Then, the person in the rear grabs for one or both back legs, and the infamous sheep-flip maneuver begins. And I’m telling you, Julie and I can flip a sheep!! The problem with Option #2 (and Option #1, for that matter) is that sometimes the sheep doesn’t want to stay still long enough to be flipped. That’s when the rodeo part of the sheep doctoring begins. Now remember, on this particular day, this was near the end of the day, we’d been doing this for HOURS. We were running out of muscles and out of energy, plus we were getting kind of slap happy. And, to make matters worse, there was this one
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particular wether who decided he was NOT going to hit the ground. We’d been trying to catch him and flip him for a while and so far he was winning. He was sneaky, for one thing, because he would press himself in behind the other sheep so we couldn’t get to him. Then he fought like the devil every time we laid hands on him. Basically, he was winning. But finally we thought we had him. Boy were we wrong!! I had him by the hock and Julie had him by the neck, that is until he kicked me straight in the chest and launched me backwards. But Julie, trooper that she is, was by golly not going to let go of that darn wether. So that’s when the rodeo action started. This wether took off running in circles around the holding pen, with Julie bouncing around off the side of his neck, hanging on, trying to dig her feet in the ground (Flintstone style) hoping to bring him to a stop. My mom, always supportive, hollered out “Ride ‘em Sheep Girl.” All I could do was back up against the fence, clutching my chest in pain and laughing hysterically. Julie got tickled then too and wound up having to let go. Then we were both doubled over, laughing and crying. And of course we couldn’t even wipe the tears away, because you don’t even want to know what all was on our hands!! Then my mother wisely announced “You girls worry me when you get silly like this, because I’m afraid you’re going to wind up getting really hurt.” Julie and I looked at each other, mouths open, and then looked at my mom in complete disbelief. We both realized that her “Ride ‘em Sheep Girl” comment was what took us from just plain silly all the way over the edge into hysterics. But she was obviously clueless. Oh well… We looked at each other again, went off on
another round of laughter, and then just collapsed to the ground for a while. Then we got up, caught that darn wether, and gave him the doctoring of his life. A couple more wethers and we were finally done. Hallelujah!!!! We released all the sheep out in the field, gathered up all our tools, medicine, whatever, and we hobbled our way to the barn. Just as we thought the end was in sight and we could REST, my Mom piped up with “Don’t you need to do something with Goat Girl. If you leave the body down here it might draw coyotes.” It took everything I had not to suggest that she stay down there and guard it for the night, because I was going to the house, taking some Tylenol, and crashing. But I didn’t. I was proud of myself. Luckily for us, the truck was already down at the barn, so all we had to do was haul the body the 200 miles from the holding pen to the truck. Okay, so it wasn’t 200 miles. But at that point it might as well have been. Julie and I sighed heavily and we trudged off to the holding pen to get the dead ewe. By this point in the day, my back hurt terribly, so the only way we could carry her was up high, clutched against our chests. I had the front end and Julie had the back end. We were really proud of ourselves for realiz-
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ing that it would be WAY shorter if we went through the barn, through the workroom, instead of going around the barn, through the side field. And Mom was kind enough to be there, holding the workroom door open. The problem was that we were all too tired to take into account the fact that rigor mortis had already set in. So there we were, with sheep legs sticking out every direction, wider than the door. We all looked at each other, thinking about having to back up and go about 450 extra feet with this dead, heavy sheep body. So we started trying to reposition the sheep and her legs so we could get through the door. In complete disgust with the situation, but also kind of amused by the stupidity of it, I turned to Julie and said “So, what is this, Weekend at Bernie’s Sheep Farm?” That was all it took. All three of us lost it then – another laughing fit that resulted in us getting so weak that we dropped the poor dead sheep and then wound up standing there apologizing to the corpse. Reflection I guess there wound up being a theme to this article - death keeps cropping up. Fake death
and real death both. I didn’t intend for that to happen. But you know, one of the things that I realized after we bought our farm is that death really is a part of life – especially life on a farm. At one point I remember telling someone that I had buried more things in the short time since I bought that farm than I ever had before in my entire life. Not to mention the sheep who have been sent off on the lamb chop truck or the cows who have been sent off on the hamburger truck. But, on the other hand, I’ve also seen more LIFE than I ever had before either. Not only is there all the life and nature that surrounds us (the trees, the creek, the neighbor’s horses who poke their heads over the fence to say hi). But also, there’s the birth. This Spring is our first year of lambing. Wow!!! Talk about an interesting way to start off your morning before you go to work - to go out to the barn and find out you have new twin lambs. And CUTE!!! Lambs are way too cute!! And there’s nothing much cuter than a field full of lambs romping. Did you know they have rubber bands in their legs? They’ll just suddenly spring up in the air for no particular reason. And sometimes the whole group will start doing it, randomly – one here, two there, another one over there. It’s hysterical to watch. No wonder we can’t get anything done. We stand around and watch lambs jump ☺ !! Anyway, to quote The Lion King, I guess it’s just the “Circle of Life” and it is quite an amazing thing. Even with all the sheep doctoring, foot problems, and burials, I wouldn’t dream of going back to city life.
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WHINETURKEY By Lucinda Shultz
As we approach the holiday season, I reflect on the problems turkeys have caused us. On not the plastic wrapped Butterball, injected with yummy salty chemicals, guaranteed to cook up juicy with the nifty popup timer, turkey. No I refer to the wild roaming sort. When we first moved out our little country double wide paradise we were thrilled to see the flocks of turkeys in the local fields and even on our own property. We have become less enchanted and now “encourage� them to forage elsewhere.
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My first up close encounter happened less than 24 hours after we purchased a “new” used car. Looking forward to getting far better gas mileage than our insatiable F250 truck we had found a low mileage standard transmission, stripped down to the basics Ford Focus. We brought it home on a Sunday afternoon and I hopped in to it on a rainy Monday morning looking forward to taking it on its maiden voyage to work. I had not driven a stick in a few years so was adjusting when a large flock of turkeys decided to meander across the road. When I braked for them I promptly stalled. By the time I got it started and shifted into first, all turkeys appeared to have crossed. As I eased off the clutch a tardy turkey, that apparently thought it could fly without a runway, came squawking up from the ditch and landed on the windshield. Windshield wipers beating the stuffing out of it, crack appearing in the glass and I stall out again. I get the wipers turned off and in a flurry of feathers, poop and cussing (I wasn’t too happy either) the turkey stalks off in a bedraggled huff. I was late to work. A year or so later sweet little hen turkey shows up on our door step. Literally, she was perched on our front porch bench. An interesting piebald girl with great splotches of snowy white and chocolate brown. She batted her eyelashes at my husband and made gentle chortling sounds. He named her Priscilla and proceeded to start building a roost for her. Alas the love affair between them came to an abrupt halt when a week later her boyfriend, Godzilla, showed up. Also splotched, but not nearly as pretty. I suspected an incestuous relationship. No sweet chortles from Godzilla. He hissed, spat, and pecked. Refusing to use the new roost/coop they took to roosting on top of the cars. Covering them with feathers, poop, and indescribable turkey leavin’s. Actually they shed turkey leavin’s everywhere. We spent days with our shoes covered in sticky feathers that refused to scrape, rub or wash off. They also guarded the front door throwing curses and feathers at us every time we passed. We were being terrorized by turkeys. One rainy
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Monday (of course) morning my attempts to prod them off my car were met with stubborn and rather violent refusals to leave. In desperation I turned the hose on them. With much squawking, hissing and threats (the turkeys didn’t like it either) they sped off sending a wake of wet feathers, poop and leavin’s all over me. Turns out turkey poo etc. has the consistency of rubber cement, spackle and snot blended together. I had to shower and shampoo (it took several rinse and repeats) and change clothes. I was late to work. They were starting to question my excuses. The day got worse. My husband, home recovering from foot surgery, called in a panic. “Merry has climbed the fence and is chasing a turkey!” Merry is a tiny dachshund that apparently inherited a mutant monkey gene. She climbs fences, trees and kitchen counters. Figuring my bosses were not going to go for me leaving early with a turkey crisis excuse, I called a close friend who lived close. Not thinking that she would not recognize my work number I failed to identify myself and simply screeched into the phone. “ Richard has had foot surgery and Merry climbed the fence and is chasing Godzilla!” I have the best friends! She heard the words Richard and Merry, extrapolated that I was the caller and bravely headed off hoping that tiny Merry, was not in fact, chasing a gigantic Japanese lizard monster. She arrived to find my exhausted husband down the hill at the far reaches of our property, Merry tied to the shoelace of the foot not in a cast. I mumbled excuses and headed home. By the time I got there dog and husband were rescued but a neighbor was in a panic as his dog had taken up the turkey chase. “It’s ok”, I told him they run in a big circle”. As the Benny Hill theme song played in my head I watched the chase. Squawking turkey barking dog, Looney Tunes come to life. Enough was enough. I put a hit out on the turkeys. I trudged over to survivor guy’s house to plead my case. Survivor guy has guns, lots of guns, no front teeth, and I suspect a willingness to eat anything. He patted my head and told me “I’ll take care of it you go tend your doggies and husband.”
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I blanched thinking of their fate but resolutely put it out of my mind. The turkeys were gone by the next day, somehow spirited away in the night. A bit later I spied some spotted birds in survivor guy’s compound. “You didn’t eat them?” I asked. “Nope little gal, thems some pretty birds. Gots friends that like em too.” We are celebrating our holiday with a nice roast. I am serving a dryer red, my husband’s preferred choice. It is an Alamos Malbec. My husband claims it has notes of cherry and blackberry, nice leg and a long finish. He knows grown up wine words. I know that we are drinking out of the fancy glasses. Giving Thanks for all the furry, feathery, messy critters in our lives. Cheers!
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Arnica Montana by Erika Pardy Bt
Arnica Montana – Leopards bane or wolf ’s bane is a Daisy type plant with a yellow flower, originally originating from Europe. It now grows wild throughout North America and is related to the common garden variety. This plant contains a toxin known as helenalin and should never be used internally except as in homeopathy. Externally the herbal form has great healing properties for contusions with bruising. It should never be applied to open wounds or broken skin. The roots contain thymol which is a fungicide and preservative and has an anti-inflammatory agent. When used in a gel or cream it can have the same effects as an NSAID for osteoarthritis.
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Homeopathically, Arnica Montana is considered a polycrest. Polycrests are known to have many uses. While it is important to have close symptom pictures for remedies, Polycrests can be used successfully to treat acute cases without the need for constitutional prescribing. Generalities - It is a trauma remedy par excellence. Traumas in all its varieties – Mental or physical, and their effects, recent or remote, are met within this remedy. It affects the blood, causing putrid and septic conditions. Blood vessels are relaxed, causing ecchymosis, blue black spots with a tendency to hemorrhage, epistaxis (nosebleed), etc. It acts upon nerves causing neuralgia. Muscles feel very sore, painful, bruised all over. Part becomes sore after the pain, or after bleeding. It is a prophylactic for pus formation. Burrowing pus. Has absorbent action. Progressive emaciation. Extreme exhaustion. Discharges are foul; breath, taste, flatus, stool, etc. Crushing pain. Bed feels hard or full of lumps. Involuntary evacuation. Abscesses that do not mature. Pains are paralytic; sudden shifting pain from joint to joint. It acts best in plethoric (full and robust), dark haired persons of ridged muscles; nervous, sanguine nature. It acts but feebly on persons who are positively debilitated, with impoverished blood and soft flesh. Compound fracture. Twitching in tendons, muscles. Osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone marrow). Ill - effects of fright, financial loss, anger, repentance; excessive use of any organ, vaginitis in females and impotence in males from excessive use of excessive sexual indulgence, exertion of any kind. Mind and uterine symptoms alternate. Complaints when over hurried. Apoplexy (stroke). Typhoid, septic fever, recurring boils. Surgical operations, Insect stings, splinters, Thrombosis. Aversion to tobacco. Unfortunately most Materia Medicas are written for human prescribing, those that have been modified for animals are feeble at best, so careful translation is necessary to get the correct canine symptom picture. Dosage- most common and safest potency is 30C. This is still generally in the physical realm. With 30C potency you can effectively treat pain and discomfort up to three times daily for several days without worry of aggravation. For very acute symptoms lower doses such as 6c or 12c can be administered every 1/2 an hour until pain subsides. For accidents which affect the emotional state of an animal (fright or fear) then a single dose of 200C is recommended. For chronic states caused from trauma in the past then higher potencies are very useful. Please seek professional help when selecting appropriate remedies and herbs for your pets.
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What is the Controversial Canine? Let Erika Pardy explain it, in her own words....
"Well it is, as the name implies, controversial. It probably sounds like a bit of an oxymoron to be positive trainers but yet still be considered controversial. Our goal is to expose controversy so that we may help bring about change. Since the inception of this philosophy nearly 25 years ago I fought long and hard to make training a force free, intimidation free and a hands free learning environment for dogs. I banned choke chains from my classrooms and used clickers to teach the shaping of behaviours, being the first to offer group clicker classes when people were saying it couldn't be done. I was one of the first to title dogs in obedience, conformation, field, and agility using a clicker. Even now, so many years later we are still light years away from having the dog training world free from fear based and cruel training methods. Along with our progressive training methods we also offer something unique in our program and that is nutrition and holistic assessments and consultations. I have been treating behaviour and training issues with the help of proper nutrition, homeopathy and herbs in Canada, Europe and the United States for over 20 years." Visit our website to learn more and to get further information...
www.controversialcanine.com
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Thank you to our contributors The Progressive Pet Magazine is committed to brining you quality articles to provide you with insight, information and tools for you to enjoy your pet. We are so thankful to all our contributors and we hope to learn more from them. If you want to join us and become a contributor, contact us at www.controversialcanine.com. We would love to receive your story or article and share it with the world! Please read and support our contributors and provide us with feedback on all our content - after all, we are in a learning path together to progressively improve our pets and each other! Alisha Morrisey
Alisha Morrissey is a high-performing, web-savvy former journalist, news hound, and all around policy wonk. She's worked in newspapers for more than a decade, followed by a stint with a not-for-profit business organization. She now owns her own business, which caters to the promotional needs of small businesses. She resides in St. John's Newfoundland with her dog Bessie Mae and Ziggy Stardust, the wonder cat. Get in touch with Alisha at alisha.morrissey@gmail.com or check out her website writewordsnl. weebly.com Lucinda is 51 years young. She shares her slice of double-wide heaven in southern Indiana with her long suffering, hardworking husband Richard and far too many dogs. She has trained and competed in dog sports for close to 30 years. Lucinda teaches obedience, agility, tracking and earth dog classes and has somehow accumulated an appalling 400 titles on dogs. She tries not to think about all the wine and doublewides she could have bought with those dog show bucks. She has degrees in biology and anthropology and spent 25 years as an electron microscopist /medical research tech but left the torturing of small furry critters to pursue her greatest love‌.scooping poop
Lucinda Shultz Tony Roberts No bio provided for the release of this issue. However we thank him for the submission and will post a bio in a future issue.
Paula Bund
Paula Bund is a photographer and writer in Clarington, Ontario. She is one of the co-founders of Standard Poodles In Need, Rescue & Rehome (SPIN). Please visit SPIN at www.standardpoodlesinneed.com or join the lively discussion on our group Facebook page.
Diana Cagney No bio provided for the release of this issue. However we thank her for the submission and will post a bio in a future issue.
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