Nov 16, 2011 Issue #25 Published by Sue Skiff

A NOTE FROM SUE

Good evening!

I'm a little late this week, aren't I? I have been working hard on my business, and I am happy to say that the result of this is that I have finally got my e-book, How to Have a Well Behaved Dog, up for instant download for anyone who wants to buy it. Now, comes the hard part; letting the world know that it is there, and getting them interested.

I invite you to check it out. As I said, once a Paypal payment(you can also pay by credit card) is made, the book can be instantly downloaded. Even if you are not interested in getting the book, please check out the sales page. I would appreciate any feedback on the sales page that you can give me. Let me know if it needs more or less content? Is it too salesy? Not salesy enough? Let me know.

Here is the link to the sales page for the book, from which the book can be purchased:

Please send me your questions, complaints, opinions, articles, comments, and stories.

Oh yeah, I also wanted to mention that, if you ever want to view a back issue of this e-zine, the link for that can always be found at the bottom of any issue.

See you next week!.

Enjoy!

Sue

Four Tips For Dealing With a Barking Dog

TIP 1: TEACH YOUR DOG TO “SPEAK” ON COMMAND

Yes, you read that right. Teach your dog to speak on command. By doing this, you can reinforce your dog when it barks on command. Then, when your dog barks without a command, the lack of reinforcement will make barking just for the sake of barking less appealing. I a couple who successfully used this technique on their beagle. Nothing that they had tried previously had worked, but once they taught him "speak," he totally stopped barking inappropriately.

TIP2: TEACH YOUR DOG “QUIET”

Teach your dog to stop barking when you say “quiet.” That way you can allow your dog to bark a little in warning, then tell it to stop, and reinforce it. Teaching “quiet” is effective for getting a dog to stop barking, but generally is not enough to keep your dog from barking excessively. So, use “quiet” in combination with other tips you find here.

TIP 3: USE A SPRAY BOTTLE WHEN YOUR DOG REFUSES TO STOP BARKING

Generally, I try to stay away from using negative measures to train dogs. However, one has to acknowledge that, sometimes, positive reinforcement just isn’t enough. The problem with barking is that it is self-reinforcing. The more a dog barks, the more it enjoys barking, and the harder it is to get it to stop. Many dogs react to spray bottles. When using a spray bottle, first tell your dog “quiet,” then if it keeps barking, spray it a few times in the face. If plain water has no effect on your dog, you can try mixing it 50/50 with vinegar, which is generally unpleasant enough to a dog to get it to interrupt a behavior.

TIP 4: IF ALL ELSE FAILS, TRY A CITRONELLA COLLAR

If you have a dog that just won’t stop barking inappropriately, no matter what you try, you may have to resort to the use of a stronger negative reinforce. I strongly urge you to avoid using one of the electronic shock bark collars. These are designed to train through pain, and I therefore consider them to be inhumane. However, there is an alternative. It’s a collar that sprays citronella towards a dog’s face when the dog barks. This is generally unpleasant enough to get dogs to stop barking, and has the advantage that it gives the dog negative reinforcement whether a human is present, or not.

Teaching your dog not to bark inappropriately will not only give you more peace, it will also help your dog to learn to be calmer. So, keep working on it. It will be worth it. Good luck!

IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD, TRY BEING A MALE GREAT GRAY OWL

First, a little background; great gray owls are generally an arctic species. They can be found in arctic areas all over the world. In the US, they are found in the more northern states, usually. However, we have a little population in California that hangs out in and around Yosemite. Being an arctic species, they are mostly feathers. A female great gray owl (female birds of prey are larger than their male counterparts) can stand 3 feet high, while weighing less than 4 pounds. Since they are so light weight, they eat small prey; mainly voles (rodents similar to mice, but with short tails). The Yosemite owls also like to eat gophers.

Since their food is covered by snow during a significant portion of the year, great grays are capable of locating prey by sound alone. They actually dive through snow to catch their food. In Manitoba, Canada, great grays have been observed diving through one meter-deep snow that is firm enough to support a full-grown man, and come out with prey in their talons.

So, now that you know a little bit about the species, let’s talk about how stressful it is to be a male great gray owl. Great grays generally mate for life. However, they don’t necessarily stay with their mates during the winter. As winter is coming to a close, they will meet up on their breeding grounds, and go through a renewed courtship; preening each other’s faces, and billing (a bird version of kissing). As part of the courtship, the male also brings the female presents of food.

It’s the male’s job to find a nest site. Now, owls don’t make nests. Some owls will use old nests made by other large birds, or will nest in holes in trees. Great gray owls prefer to lay their eggs on a flat top of a broken tree trunk, or on top of a high stump. For the Yosemite owls, having good shade over the nest site is critical, because of all those warm feathers.

AS I said, it’s the male’s job to find a nest site. The male will tour the territory, looking for a suitable broken off tree trunk. When he finds one, he leads his mate to it for inspection. The female then sits on the trunk, trying it out. If she likes it, she gets herself prepared to lay her eggs there. If not, she lets the male know, and off he has to go to find another site.

The above must be stressful enough for the male, but it is nothing compared to what he has to go through once the eggs come (generally, they lay 2-4 eggs). Female great gray owls do all of the incubating of the eggs. This is not true for all bird species. The males of many species share incubation duties with their mates. Since the female great gray owl has to stay with the eggs pretty much 24/7, the male has to feed her.

Now, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but predators have a hard time obtaining food. Prey animals have all kinds of ways of avoiding getting eaten, so predators have many failed hunting attempts for every successful one. With the female sitting on the nest, the male great gray has to double his hunting efforts. And, as if that wasn’t enough, his mate will call frequently to let him know that she’s hungry. And, she’s bigger than him. And, she needs more food than usual, because of the energy required to produce and lay eggs. I clearly remember camping near a great gray owl nest where the female called to the male all night long. And, that little male would just keep plugging away, trying to catch some little animal to satisfy his mate.

But, of course, this is nothing compared to what happens when the eggs hatch. Once that happens, that little male has to catch food for his whole family. And, the babies grow quickly, requiring more and more food. After 2-3 weeks, the babies leave the nest. Owls leave the nest before they can fly, so at first the babies stay close to the nest site; with Mom staying close by to protect them. And, Dad is still feeding everybody. And, in addition to Mom calling to Dad to tell him that she’s hungry, the babies chime right in , and let him know that they’re hungry too.

Once the babies are flying well enough, they fly down closer to where the male hunts; still expecting to be fed, but also learning how hunting is done. At this point, the female leaves. Yeah, that’s right, she goes off, and leaves her mate to finish the job of child rearing. The male hangs around until his kids are hunting on their own, then he takes off, as well, no doubt for a well-deserved rest.

Whew! Just thinking about all the work those little guys go through makes me tired. How about you?

DAY TRAINING

I Need Your Testimonials

Silver Linings is a publication of Silver Linings Pet Services, and is published for the purpose of marketing services. The current address of Silver Linings Pet Services is: 5555 Merritt Drive Concord, Ca 94521