Kennel Club Photography Contest Winners

The UK’s Guardian published photos by top winners in the Kennel Club’s 2009 Photographer of the Year contest.

The winner was this photo of a Leonberger towing a boat.  Leonbergers and Newfoundlands are the only dogs allowed to compete in Newfoundland Club of America water rescue trials.  Towing a boat  is a  requirements for the Water Rescue Dog (WRD) title.

Disaster Averted

OK it was more  potentially time-consuming and annoying nuisance than true disaster but still, I’m glad we averted it.

This afternoon husband fired up the Big Green Egg to smoke up a little football night chicken.  Cooking meat at a low temperature on The Egg requires frequent baby-sitting trips to adjust dampers and vents, so he was spending a lot of time on the deck which overlooks Fort Peepage.

I had just returned from doing some work with Zip and Charlie when Mark came in with a concerned look on his face.  “We’ve got a chicken in the woods,” he said.  “Whose chicken?” I asked.  “Ours,” he replied.  Of course I should have known that it was our chicken but we had just clipped everybody’s wings a few days ago and I thought it would be enough to keep them in.  Apparently I was mistaken, so I told husband to take Audie and head down to the yard while I went to go get some grain.

I met husband and dog in the backyard where we hatched our plan.  I spread some grain by the back gate so the rest of the flock would gather there. Then I took the bucket and headed out toward the woods where Pansy* was running along the outside of the fence. 

Complicating matters, the area outside our fence is not only steeper than a horse’s face, it’s also covered in a thick mass of brush, bramble and poison ivy.  As I was wondering how I’d lure the batty pullet out of the brush Audie took the initiative and ran over to the fence. With minimal direction from Mark, Audie used gaze pressure to drive Pansy along the fence toward me.  Once she got close I showed her the bucket of grain – but, of course this had to be Pansy - the wildest, flightiest bird in the flock – and grain be damned, this girl had no intention to approach me whatsoever.  Fortunately Audie saw her balk and he put the pressure back on.  I backed away so she’d move past me, then moved in to drive her toward the gate – which my vigilant husband opened just as she approached.  Audie backed up, I moved in and Pansy darted through the gate, keening in excitement as she re-joined the flock.

Total time elapsed – approximately ten minutes.  A quick, and relatively painless job.  But… if we had had to do this without Audie I might have given up and just let Pansy find her own damn way back.

I *heart* my dog.  And my husband.
___________________________________________________________________________
* Pansy – Named not for the flower but for her fearful, flighty, sissy ways.  She’s not my favorite chicken.  Neither is Serena, who in an amusing twist of fate, has turned out to be the mean one.

Dorsey the Mail Dog

We *heart* working dogs

Quirky travel site Legends of America brings us the story of the most famous resident of Calico, California - Dorsey the Mail Dog:

Dorsey was found in 1883 by Postmaster Jim Stacy, when the hungry and footsore black and white shepherd was lying on his porch. Stacy quickly adopted him and Dorsey became his faithful friend. In addition to his postmaster duties, Stacy also had an interest in a mine in nearby Bismarck. On one occasion, when Stacy needed to get an urgent message to his partner at the mine, he tied a note to Dorsey’s neck and sent him up there. Before long, Dorsey returned with a reply. Dorsey was soon carrying messages back and forth to the mine frequently, when Stacy had the idea to make the dog a regular mail carrier. Soon, the dog was carrying all the mail from Calico to Bismarck, bearing his load in little pouches strapped to his back. For three years, Dorsey covered the mail route between the two camps and became so valuable that Stacy was offered $500 for the dog, to which Stacy replied: “I’d rather sell a grandson.”

Dorsey’s legend was revived in a 1972 album entitled “The Ballad of Calico” by Kenny Rogers. The song was called “Dorsey, the Mail Carrying Dog.” And, of course, in haunted Calico, he has been revived in another way – the “spectral dog.” On several occasions, Dorsey has been seen as a shadow-like apparition at the cemetery and near the Print Shop that stands near the original location of the post office.

 

Some say Dorsey was a Scotch Collie.  He looks like he could also have been an English Shepherd or a Border Collie.  Since he was a stray and most dogs of the time were bred for purpose rather than pedigree – he could have been just about anything.  Regardless of his pedigree (or lack thereof) Dorsey was a fit, bright, hard-working dog.  The trek from Calico to Bismarck consisted of a very steep, rugged mile-long trail that the miners prefered to avoid.  Dorsey faithfully carried the mail three times a week for two years and only retired when the mine closed and his services were no longer needed.  And he performed his duties nearly flawlessly:

There is only one instance of possible misuse of his office on record. One Christmas Herman Mellen was living in a cave near Bismarck and his mother sent him a box of candy and sweets. Stacy had tied this box under Dorsey’s neck, and when he arrived at Bismarck the bottom was out and the contents missing. Whether temptation had proven too strong, the goodies had been hijacked or whether the package had broken open, allowing the contents to spill out was never determined.

When the Stacys left Calico they gave Dorsey to San Francisco financier John S. Doe, who owned interest in the mine. I hope Dorsey enjoyed a long, happy and – most of all - interesting retirement.

Because Sometimes…

A dog’s just gotta do what he’s gotta do

From British Pathe. Click for video.

Note that this farm collie, filmed in 1946, looks (and works) more like an English Shepherd than a modern show collie.

Right Hand Man

When I found out a couple of months ago that I needed to have both of my rotator cuffs repaired I decided it was time to teach young Audie some skills to make several months of maddening frustration healing and rehabilitation more tolerable. Being a bright and biddable pup he’s enjoyed going along for the ride.

I had hoped to post video clips showing the many ways he helps me out — but the main things he does for me are help me get dressed and undressed – and, trust me,  you don’t want to see that!  Also, even when I have use of two hands my video taping and editing skills are marginal at best.  Since I haven’t managed to teach Audie videography skills yet, I’ll have to paste this post together with one hand.

Most of the tasks Audie does for me are built from just two basic skill sets; directional cues and fetch/hold skills.  Once I had taught him left, right, forward, backward, stay, fetch, hold, carry and tug I had the building blocks for a wide range of tasks.  Here are a few examples of what we’re doing:

• To help me take my shirt off he takes hold of my left sleeve, stands still and pulls gently away from me while I let it come off my left arm then slowly pivot around to unwrap it from my body and useless right arm.  After the shirt falls off he picks it up and hands it to me. He’ll also tug off my socks and slippers if I ask him to.
• When I put my sweatshirt on (I’m pretty much limited to zip front shirts and pull-on pants for now) he holds the bottom so I can zip it up.  Same with coats and jackets.
• I got a new bath mat in the mail.  It was sealed in a plastic bag.  To open it I held one end of the bag in my left hand and had him grab it and tug hard away from me.  Together we easily tore the bag open and got the rug out.
• The rug came in a box that was too big for me to pick up in one hand.  I took a piece of duct tape, made it into a loop, stuck it to the box and had Audie carry one side of the box by the loop while I held on to the other.  He’s also learned to carry a laundry basket with me this way.
• A box with 6 bags of dog treats arrived today.  It was also too big to carry in one hand.  I cut it open on the porch, put the bags of treats in a tub-trug and had him carry one handle in his mouth while I carried the other in my left hand.
• He’s learned to find and fetch the phone on command.  Zip will do this with the TV remote.  They’ll both carry items back and forth between Mark and I on command.
• He’s a mobile doorstop.  I can open a door, park him in front of it, put him in a stay and he’ll hold it while I do what I need to in the doorway.
• Basic thing, very handy – when I accidentally drop something I say ‘oops’ and either dog will pick it up.  They’ll either carry or hand me the item as needed.
• Babysitting.  Walking back from the mailbox today I dropped a letter and didn’t realize it.  Audie saw it lying there, ran back and returned it to me before I realized that I’d dropped it. 

Audie’s not even two years old yet; and remember — all he needed to learn to do these things were a few basic skills.  The key is that he had to learn to do them very reliably and he had to be able to put several small pieces of a task together in a series.  These came, IMO from a balanced, sequential, four-quadrant approach to training that encourages a young or inexperienced dog to explore behaviors during the learning process but requires him to obey during the proofing process.  I use both positive and negative markers when I shape a new behavior and allow the dog to find the thing I want in a game of hot and cold.  Once he shows a basic grasp of the skill, we practice it in short training games and I watch him to see when he starts to practice or rehearse the skill on his own. 

In practicing he repeats an action I’ve taught him on his own volition.  Audie will often practice an action a few times in a row, then go lie down to process what he’s taught himself.  The calm, mindful demeanor he expresses as he practices is utterly different from the bounding exuberance he is prone to much of the rest of the time.  Once Audie starts to practice a task, he’s ready for me to start proofing him on that task.  He’s got the basic idea and is demonstrating that he’s ready to generalize the skill.

The first week he *officially* helped me with these tasks he was sometimes silly or distracted and sometimes tentative.  This week (week 2) he’s calm and confident.  He understands that this is a job and he’s proud that he can do it.

Help Support Iditarod Sled Dogs!

The nutjobs at peta are making their usual fuss about the Iditarod again this year.  It is, after all, unspeakably horrible to expect sled dogs to run.  While we’re at it, shouldn’t we lobby to keep labradors out of the water and border collies away from sheep?

Proving once again that they don’t know anything about real animals, peta’s pitching a fit about some of the happiest, best cared for and most psychologically fulfilled dogs in the world.

Peta is promoting a website where they ask people to contact race sponsor to express their outrage at the ‘mistreatment’ of the dogs. With the start of the race just a few short weeks away I think that it would be a nice gesture for those of us who really understand and appreciate working dogs to take a minute to express our appreciation them.  Sponsors are the backbone of the race.  Without them, it’s not going to happen.

So, below the fold you’ll find a list of the 2009 Iditarod sponsors.  Please don’t spam them with a bunch of email.  Take a few minutes and write a letter. A real ink and paper letter. And send by postal mail.  It’s kindof old-fashioned I know, but a single well-written letter is worth more than a thousand tossed off at a whim email messages.  You can still cheat by using your computer. I hope that these letters and cards of appreciation help convince them to maintain their sponsorship.

Breakfast of Champions

The English Shepherd is an all-purpose farm dog.  Unlike more specialized breeds such as Border Collies and terriers, English Shepherds are bred to herd, act as watchdogs and kill vermin.  It’s a breed characterized by substance rather than style. 

The English Shepherd Club doesn’t hold conformation events or award championships.  In fact, they don’t award titles of any kind.  The ESC’s sister group, the American Working Farm Collie Association will, however, award a  Certificate of Merit to dogs who qualify in each of the three working categories (herding, hunting and guarding). To qualify, the owner of the dog must provide verifiable evidence of the dog’s working ability in each category. This evidence can consist of a video tape or a live observation by a qualified AWFA representative.

Both of Audie’s parents have been awarded the PRGN Certificate of Merit.

Breakfast of Champions

This morning  young Audie took the intiative to work on that “hunting vermin” leg on his own.  Here’s a picture of my Minnesota Feist – holding his freshly caught breakfast.

The Dogs of Cat Island

Cat Island is an unusual T-shaped barrier island created by currents at the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico. Remains of a unique WWII training camp can still be seen on the island, which is now part of a national wildlife refuge.

In October 1942, a group of 25 soldiers from Company B of the 100th Infantry Battalion Separate (“separate” because its members were of Japanese descent) were selected for a secret training mission on Cat Island, Mississippi.   Transported to adjacent Ship Island under cover of darkness, they were told nothing about their mission.

After spending two weeks on barren, brackish Ship Island the men were finally informed that they’d be taking part in top secret dog training operations.  What they weren’t told was that their role in the operation was to act as… bait.

Today the Biloxi-Gulfport SunHerald reported:

Cat Island was turned over to the dogs in World War II. A year after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor the barrier island 10 miles off the Mississippi Coast was occupied by about 25 dog trainers and an equal number of dogs, many of them giant breeds such as Irish Wolf Hounds and Great Danes.

The war dogs and the military trainers were on a top secret mission. The temperate, sandy, sometimes marshy Gulf of Mexico island was picked because of its similarity to Pacific islands, and that’s a hint at the secrecy. The dogs were to become weapons against the Japanese.

According to the SunHerald:

The new four-legged residents moving onto Cat Island were pets patriotically donated for the war cause. Unknown to their previous owners, they were to be trained to recognize Japanese by sight and smell and to viciously attack them in packs.

The failed experiment lasted less than four months and resulted in government investigations, unforgettable stories and misinformation that continue today.

The Hawai’i Nisei Story website has a detailed interview with Roy Nosaka of Company B including graphic descriptions of the training activities.  The men were first told to encourage the dogs to track and chase them.  Then, if the dogs approached them in friendly way, to beat them until they attacked.  Nosaka confesses the guilt he felt about being forced to do this work.  He speaks about having to deal with alligators and swarms of mosquitos in the island’s swamps, and about the loneliness of the place.  He mentions the numerous dog bites he sustained in a matter of fact way that makes it clear he held no grudge for the dogs who, much like him, were forced to do difficult and unpleasant work. 

Philly.com reports:

The Nisei were picked because they were loyal U.S. soldiers but Japanese in appearance and, so the theory went, in smell. After the experiment failed and was closed down in five months, an intelligence investigation followed.

The 400 island dogs continued to be trained as sentries, scouts, suicide dogs and to locate wounded soldiers. Americans had donated 18,000 pets to be trained in the country’s four war canine centers.

Amazingly, the vicious attacks did not change Nosaka’s lifelong love of dogs.

After just a few months the project was deemed too controversial to continue. And… it wasn’t the idea that training packs of dogs to attack men solely based on their race that incited the controversy.  It was the military’s concern that the pet owners who had donated their dogs to the war effort would be infuriated when they found out that their pets had been trained to attack men and to act as — suicide bombers. 

Though these more controversial operations were halted, the island continued to be used as a training base for some time.  According to the SunHerald:

Although the Japanese experiment had disbanded, Cat Island continued to be used for secret dog training operations, but now they focused on more sensible tasks. One of the experiments was with the 828th Signal Pigeon Replacement Company, which teamed messenger pigeons with dogs for communication. As historian Lemish put it, “They found the dogs’ true calling, to be able to silently alert when enemy is near, for communication, sentry and to detect explosives.”

The story of Cat Island will be featured in an upcoming episode of PBS’s History Detectives due to air in June of 2009.

Robots Taking Dangerous Work From Dogs — and Men

Mover over Big Dog the little ‘dogs’ may be taking over — from CNET:

Release the fleas! SWAT and other urban assault teams could soon be deploying packs of all-seeing, hopping robots armed with mini missiles to ferret out the bad guys.

The EyeDrive unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)uses remote-controlled 360-degree panoramic video technology and a patented Point & Go sensor guidance mode to run down and “instinctively eliminate” human targets at ranges of up to 90 feet, according to ODF Optronics.

Built-in navigation allows multiple units to work in robotic unison, thus doubling, and even tripling, indoor reconnaissance capacity, according to the Israel-based company. In fact, the standard kit comes with two complete units. It could replace K-9s in attack mode and other dangerous duties

This 5-pound all-terrain mini mite can be tossed–or dropped–from up to about 10 feet and is dual-side operable, which means it’s self-righting. The “hopper” feature is optional. It allows the EyeDrive to hop over 3-foot obstacles, enhancing its observational capabilities, according to the developer.

Packs of five-pound robots who can survive being dropped, hop over over obstacles, travel right-side-up or upside-down, have 360 degree vision and work  in packs… what will they think of next? Well…

Defense Update reports that explosive-sniffing robots are also in the works:

The PackBot is equipped with a highly dexterous, 7-foot arm carrying the Fido sensor head and a communications interface sending explosive detection results to the Packbot Operator Control Unit (OCU). This integration model allows the Fido detector to be removed and utilized for general handheld operations in addition to the remote applications made possible by the Packbot. The manipulator arm allows the robot to place the explosive sensor close to suspicious packages and other objects, reach through car windows and under vehicles. When an explosive is detected, PackBot can use its on-board capabilities to destroy IEDs, while warfighters remain out of harm’s way.

“The sensitivity of the Fido explosives ’sniffer’ is comparable to that of highly trained bomb dogs, and integrating this advanced detection capability with the versatile iRobot PackBot robots will help keep soldiers out of harm’s way,” said Colin Cumming, chief technology officer of ICx Technologies.

Inspired by the ability of bomb sniffing dogs to detect explosives, the ICx Fido Explosives Detector has the advantage of being both ultra-sensitive and capable of quickly screening packages, facilities, people and vehicles for traces of explosives. The breakthrough sensing technology behind the Fido detector supports both particle and vapor detection and allows operators the versatility and portability necessary for diverse detection and screening scenarios.

While we love working dogs, we’re glad to see that robots are taking this dangerous work away from dogs — and men. It sounds like (if the government doesn’t go dead broke) we’ll be seeing more of them. Homeland Security Today reports:

Technologies that iRobot developed for military applications under contract with the Pentagon are applicable to hostage situations, explosives detection and destruction, and border patrol, Joe Dyer, executive vice president and general manager of the government and industrial division of iRobot, told HSToday.

The homeland security market for robots could soar over the next several years with a government requirement that all certified bomb squads must have robots for explosives ordnance detection and disposal by the end of the decade.

There are domestic applications as well.  Locally, in the City of Bloomington, MN a robotic detection and surveillance device works alongside its human and canine counterparts.

US War Dogs Association – Helping our Four-Legged Veterans

We *heart* working dogs, especially those that serve in our armed forces. And today TheExaminer reports on our four-legged veterans:

U.S. military dogs have served our country since World War I. The program began with a handful of dogs and peaked during the Viet Nam War. The official list contains the names of 3,747 military K-9s but, there are estimates that 4,900 dogs actually served. The statistics breakdown as follows: 65% of the K-9s served in the Army, 26% Air Force, 7% Marines and 2% Navy. The majority of these dogs were not allowed to return home to the United States.

 

Today, war dogs are being used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan and although the military has made concessions about allowing them to return home, most of their futures are uncertain. To honor their dedication and sacrifice, the men who served as handlers for these four-legged soldiers established the U.S. War Dog Association.  

From WCSH Portland, ME:

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Eight to 10 years is a full military career for dogs used by the Armed Services, but what happens when those dogs are retired?

Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association, said about 2,500 canines are active war dogs, with about 700 of those serving in the Middle East. Aiello said upon retirement, some dogs are adopted by law enforcement agencies and others are distributed to former handlers.

It is sometimes possible for civilians to adopt dogs that are considered not too aggressive by contacting the military, and Aiello’s organization is trying tie up loose ends that could leave some dogs euthanized.

The US War Dogs Assocation is a nonprofit organization of Former and Current US Military Dog Handlers and supporting members committed to promoting the long history of the Military Service Dogs, establishing permanent War Dog Memorials, and educating the public about the invaluable service of these canines to our country. They run several programs to inform the public about the important sacrifices made by war dogs; to provide financial support to service dog organizations like military units, police canines and search and rescue dogs; and help find homes for retired military and police canines.

Sadly, many of these brave dogs don’t get the kind safe retirement they deserve.  Again from WCSH:

“They are considered disposable material by the higher-up people that don’t know what these dogs do,” Antoinette Bishop said.

[...]  The Bishops care for 18 dogs, including 10 they’ve adopted through NERO, named for a K9 who died from cancer in March 2005. They placed a former Spartanburg Public Safety Department K9 with a home in Texas.

Aiello said that many of the war dogs used in Vietnam were too aggressive for civilian adoption, but strides have been made with agencies that retrain the dogs. He said adoption of military dogs was established in November 2000, and the government routes most war dogs in America to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Antoinette Bishop said the more aged the dog, the less likely it is to be adopted by a law enforcement agency. She said 281 were adopted, 74 were waiting to be adopted and 116 were euthanized in 2006.

Some former handlers are interested in adopting a dog but are still on tours of duty. NERO is able to help that process by caring for the dog until the owner returns.

Interested in helping?

To donate to the US War Dogs Association War Dog Memorial CLICK HERE

To buy US War Dogs merchandise CLICK HERE

For an application to adopt a retired military dog CLICK HERE 
(this is NOT a decision to take lightly and I am sure that USWDA screens applicants very carefully)