A time for ACTION.
My daily dose of inspiration just in time for the weekend. 
Open invitation to share photos, videos and stories of any experiments and ideas. 

OR should you actually want tips on what to do if your dog is digging up your garden click here for the RSPCA's information sheet.

With the assistance of my friend and colleague, Jo Ragen see below for my first infographic on the often unspoken stage that we all experience when we love and share our life with a dog ...that is not just a dog.

What to do when death causes a physical break in the connection between a human and a dog?

This infographic was created on behalf of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Australia (www.APDT.com.au) and Blackdog Wear (www.blackdog.net.au) to help raise the awareness of the use of positive reinforcement training and the use of humane training equipment and methods. 

Dr Paul Weiss, (a paediatric dentist) has a dog called Brooke that aids in calming his clients. It's been reported that the dog only attends the clinic one day per week and except for this photo usually sits on the floor to be patted by specific children.
Visiting only one day per week is good news as far as the dog is concerned as research shows cortsiol levels remain heightened in dogs when they are involved in therapy work on consecutive or multiple days per week putting their welfare at risk. Besides needing to have a dog that is very touch oriented and loves it's head being patted very much, it would be interesting to know how long it stays with each patient and if this is forced or if it can go away of its own accord and how long the days are.
....Love one of the comments from someone that said the dog's name should be 'Fang'.

Dr Sophia Yin (a veterinarian/animal behaviorist from the USA) presented at the 2012 Association of Pet Dog Trainers conference in Australia. Below are some examples of her great Kids and Dogs resources.  

" We all know the power of animals. But how about combining children's natural fascination with animals with the power of animal sounds?

Becca Jarzynski, a pediatric speech-language pathologist explains animal sound such as moooo, baaa, neigh  can help kids learn to associate a simple sound with an actual object or picture.

Click here to read more about speech sound development in children.
 
Jarzynski explains,
"...certain speech sounds are easier for young children to say (such as vowels, p, m, h, n, w, b, t, d) and that certain syllable shapes tend to come first in speech development (CV = consonant-vowel).  Combine the two and you get...animal sounds! Moo. Baa. Neigh. Meow.  All easy, all fun, and all powerful ways to help a young child start talking".

Here at Competent K9 we are interested in hearing from all animal loving speech therapists who would be interested in becoming a part of the Competent K9 crew. Should this be you please forward your resume to dayna@dogcamp.com.au

Cue music: "Old Macdonald had a farm.......
or a new bedtime story Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton

The official Movember motto is "grow, show and connect".
A fantastic behaviour for any dog involved with pet therapy is the 'take it" or also known as the "hold" cue (when a dog will willingly take and hold something in their mouth - Eg Easter basket, car keys etc). Come to one of our seminars or keep an eye out for our training videos and in the interim a short term solution is the 'Humunga stache'. A moustache on a ball that most dogs will willingly take in their mouth for the fun of it.
This particular toy is also good for the days when you may be feeling a little peer pressure to dress up your dog. How much cooler (and less stressful on your dog) to have your dog parade around with this in it's mouth we all know how happy so many dogs are when they are carrying around a loved toy.

For more info on the official  Movember event go to http://au.movember.com/

NSW Health updated guideline. Effective 4th September 2012
http://www0.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/gl/2012/pdf/GL2012_007.pdf