Recent content by ron

Here's a pic that is from 2006. You can see my ponytail hanging down next to Shadow's neck.

Shadow's name was given on his purchase papers. He was originally bought by friends at a pet store. Anyway, his name seemed to fit and I never saw a need to change it. However, my nickname for him, that I whisper in his ear when he is on my lap is Pretty Boy.

When given treats, what are they for? Are they given in an effort to quiet him down? If so, then the timing is wrong, he's being reinforced for growling. Or, he had a bad experience with strangers before. Or missed some socialization. These can all be addressed by reinforcing him in calm states...

And you must have seen something different than I have. But that's okay. In your description, even the wolves in this incident don't care for the strong domination, correct, hence the wolf civil war, so to speak? I'm not sure wolves hold elections, either. But it's obvious that they don't...

Well, we're actually approaching another ice age. But, more locally, a shift in the trade winds allows cold air further south.

What's scary is that a person who can't tell a GSD from a Rottie is allowed to vote. And probably did. That's what scary about democracy. People like you all have described can vote.

Down here in Texas, we get ice more than snow. Black ice. And 4WD means you can lose traction on all four wheels or that you can get all 4 wheels stuck in the mud. It's not what you drive, it's how you drive. Tuesday morning og last week, my town and another town I go through were solid ice. I...

We must be talking about different documentaries. I caught the bit where you're trying to say that one can make a lot of hay out of one straw. But is it not the same thing to simply quote this one incident in Yellowstone and use it to dismiss Mech's work and that of others? IMO, the...

18 F ( approx -8 C). Windchill in the singles. Shadow likes to eat outside, so I was bundled up this morning.

I don't recall if I posted in this thread way back when and 170 pages is a lot and I can't seem to navigate the search engine as I would like to. Anyway, this is a newer pic. Shadow and me on Labor Day 2008 at Petco in Sherman, Texas. I had a groomer take this pic. I've cut my hair (it was...

Something not yet mentioned in this thread is the special metabolism of a Siberian Husky. It comes from millenia of breeding by the chukchi. Formerly known as the chukchi dog, the Sibe has developed a metabolism that gets every erg of energy out of a little food. It was part of the life. Run...

According to L. David Mech, alpha male and female were the breeding pair in a pack. A beta, often a brother of the alpha, will not breed with the alpha female. I saw one pack where a beta female tried to present to the alpha male and the pack ran her off. Alpha means breeding rights. Unless, of...

One of the sales associates at the local Petco told me of a young woman with two sons, a daughter on her hip and quite obviously expecting another came in to look at the ferrets and wondered if they sell pets "you can swang around." (You have to pronounce it as I spelled it to get the accent...

Shadow is a mix of Siberian Husky and Lab. And was mouthy. It's a breed trait of Sibes. They greet each other with jumping and mouthing. I used two things, -P and +R. -P. When he would mouth, I would pull my hand inward and away from him and withdraw attention. When I could see that he backed...

There are many ways in which dogs differ from wolves, even socially. Wolves do not meet a lot of stranger wolves and they are able, space permitting to stay out of each other's territory. Dogs may form social units with stranger dogs many times in their lives. In the company of humans, it is...