How to make fireworks less upsetting for dogs

(Source)

Hi Mia,

Well #SPARC2013 is over for this year. Great summary and explanation of the value of scientific discourse! Now onto the next big thing!

In just a few hours, the banging, crashing and booming of fireworks will start here in the States. In NYC, R&B Star Usher is "curating" this year’s Fourth of July fireworks (I just like saying the words "curating" and "Usher" in the same sentence). As we discussed last December, a lot of dogs are not fans of loud noises, whether from the crashing of something that unexpectedly falls, to thunderstorms and of course, fireworks. Here are our posts on fireworks:

• Fireworks: Not fun for everyone, or every dog (click here to view)
• What kinds of dogs are troubled by fireworks, and what to do about it (click here to view)
  

One of the main points is: There are ways owners can help their dogs:

• In one study, nearly half of the owners surveyed reported that their dogs were frightened of loud noises. Noise phobia can show itself through both freezing (catatonic) as well as panic (excessive movement) behaviors.  

• Most owners of dogs showing fear behaviors in relation to loud noises reported that they were unaware that professional help (from animal behaviorists or veterinarians) was available to help. And owners had not not pursued such help.

• Classical counter conditioning can help dogs change their emotional state, and thereby, change their outward behavior. Here is a video, by veterinarian Sophia Yin, showing a dog learning that nail clipping is not so bad. The same thing can be used for loud noises like fireworks and thunderstorms. 

• Our earlier posts provide even more suggestions for changing dog emotional states and help dogs be calm and less anxious when exposed to loud noises.

I hope that by talking about this topic often, people realize that they can help dogs decrease their displeasure with loud noises. Or, possibly even work preventatively and help dogs from developing negative associations with loud noises in the first place!

Bye for now!

Julie

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Working dogs working together

Hey Julie!

Its the weekend and Im racing about catching up after an amazing past fortnight! Its been a whirlwind and by gee, do I have some super fun things to tell you about!


Working dogs, working together

My first news is what has been keeping me flat out busy over the first half of this year, and ESPECIALLY for the past fortnight. 

Im excited to introduce to you, the Australian Working Dog Alliance!

You know all about my work with the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) working group and working dog research projects over the past six years, but I might not have mentioned that this year, the project team were given seed funding by AAWS to actually implement the first year of activities outlined in the Australian Working Dog Industry Action Plan. 

To do this, we realised that we needed to have an administrative home - an organisation that could drive the initiatives and partner with other groups and sponsor companies to maximise our reach - and so, the Working Dog Alliance has been founded. It is a registered not-for-profit organisation, that works with a diverse industry stakeholder network to improve the welfare of Australias working and sporting dogs. 

The organisation will publicly launch in August, after the next national AAWS workshop. The Alliances industry hub (and resource-filled!) website will launch then too, but if you want to keep in the loop, you can register on the webpage for email updates here or keep track of our progress on the Facebook page.

For the past two weeks, Ive been travelling interstate with my colleague, Dr Nick Branson, visiting many groups to talk about the Working Dog Alliance, the Australian Working Dog Industry Action Plan and inviting them to be part of it all. Im so happy to report that weve had the most positive and enthusiastic welcome we could have hoped for! Weve met with over ten representative groups and bodies from various government, assistance and sporting dog, animal advocacy and rescue group industry sectors so far, and all have been keen to talk about their work and how the Alliance can help in sharing the best bits around the industry. 

Well continue these meetings with many more working and sporting dog groups in the coming months.

G2Z

In other exciting news, Im really looking forward to speaking at the annual Getting 2 Zero Summit in September.

If you havent heard of it, G2Z is a model that

"details the principles, structures and strategies for achieving zero killing of healthy and treatable cats and dogs (more than 90% of all incoming stray and surrendered cats and dogs) in whole communities"

Ill be there to share some of the things (science things, personal things, silly things, etc.) Ive learned about social media in the year that weve been blogging together here on Do You Believe in Dog? - it will be great fun to join this group of highly committed and resourceful attendees. Im sure Ill be learning lots of things!


Dog bearding

Now, it IS the weekend here, and I have to admit that my fancy has been somewhat tickled by the recent trend of dog beard photos. 

Id love to invite you, and anyone else, to take a crack (but only if with a relaxed and willing canine conspirator - of course!) at creating one of these magical illusions!

Ill post my efforts on the DYBID Facebook page.

Your last post about measuring dogs and pro-actively preparing dogs to maximise their comfort in life, was fantastic (and not just because it started with "May I have your urine, please?"). 

caninescience.info

Dont forget - SPARCS!

Dont forget the SPARCS international conference next weekend! Only 1 week away! Streaming direct into your lounge room, world wide!

Exciting! 

Set your alarm/s - Ive got mine ready to go,


Mia

Further reading:

N. Branson, M. Cobb, P. McGreevy (2012). Australian Working Dog Industry Action Plan 2013-15. Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

N. Branson, M. Cobb, P. McGreevy (2010). Australian Working Dog Survey Report 2009. Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Bik H.M. & Goldstein M.C. (2013). An introduction to social media for scientists., PLoS biology, PMID: 23630451

© 2013 Mia Cobb

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Scientific American gets a dog

Paper and pen VS THE COMPUTER

Hi Mia,

So I’m going to postpone the conversation I alluded to on Facebook. I wanted to ask you whether you opt for pen and paper when youre writing out blogs and work, or if you’re a computer gal, typing directly on a computer. I am quite attached to the pen and paper method myself, and it’s driving me a bit bonkers to keep track of ALL THAT PAPER. But, it can also be challenging to write directly on a computer. My thoughts come out a bit more jumbled when I type. Well, I think I just covered most of my pen vs computer diatribe! There! Done!

TODAY has been a big day!! My other blog, Dog Spies, left its old spot on Blogger and just joined the Scientific American Blog Network, so it looks like Sci Am got a dog ;)

My other blog, Dog Spies, takes a walk over to Scientific American.

Scientific American blog editor Bora Zivkovic (who named Do You Believe in Dog? blog of the week last year) gave both Dog Spies and Do You Believe in Dog? a shout out today.

I’m going to hold off on my thoughts about manuscript writing, but actually, that is probably Step 1 of scientific manuscript draft writing: PROCRASTINATE! ;) All jokes aside, a while back I read an inspirational piece on writing by Clive Wynne, head of the University of Florida Canine Cognition and Behavior Lab. The piece is called Thoughts on Writing and Getting Published, and I refer back to every now and again.

Now I know you are doing some hardcore science over there with a meta-analysis, so do tell us what thats all aboot!

Here’s to the dogs!! 

Julie

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