If She had a Man

A Snake in the Grass

It was actually the biggest snake I have seen living in Wisconsin.  That's not saying much, but by local standards, it was big.

The dogs are not accustomed to interacting with snakes, either as something to be avoided or as prey.  It doesn't smell like a rodent.  More importantly, it doesn't move like a rodent.  It does not have a neck, at least not in the same fashion that a rodent has a neck.  In the video below you can see how perplexed the dogs are, well, except for Stoic.

I rescued it from the dogs on two occasions but it kept on moving toward the house, and Stoic kept on finding it.  I am sorry to report that he did eventually kill it, still, little snake, I did all I could.

Tick Season Begins

Tick season begins and we are ready to meet it.

Warmth is Relative

It was a nice sunny morning with temps in the twenties.  It would have felt heavenly just a few weeks ago but feels harsh only because we experienced highs in the fifties last week.

Not the most flattering picture of me but the dog looks good.

Prescott, Wisconsin

The children had a Saturday event in Prescott, Wisconsin.  It was one of those events that eats up the whole day but you only get to see ten minutes of your kids in action.  In other words, the savvy father finds himself with time to kill.

The oldest man-pup and Sparta joined me on an explore of the town and then the nearby Carpenter Nature Center.

The art gallery has a protector.  Unfortunately the gallery is closed until April.

Groupies.  

He kept up, mostly.

Art on a lawn.

There was an eagle on the nest and the people who traveled from the Cities seemed impressed, but, well, we see eagles everyday.  For the record, I can tell them where to find a nest in Minneapolis.

We opened the patio at the local Dairy Queen.

Sculpture made from river trash.

 I am a big fan of the student sculpture in the high school library.

We jumped a red fox while touring the North Loop trail at the Carpenter Nature Center.  Sparta didn't see it, but as when we crossed its path, she was begged for an opportunity to give pursuit.

A Canine's Burden

Not a Terrier

From the Instagram feed of Camping with Dogs

Sunday Stroll

Merwyn: protector of the Seward neighborhood's land and water.

American Swedish Institute

Purity Bakery Building, now used for work spaces and storage.

The Minnehaha Bunny: a large bronze on the south side of Minnehaha Creek.

As humans and our dogs have conquered the whole globe, we've had to adapt to many different environments and ways of living.  Consequently humans and our dogs are the two species with the greatest amount of intra-species genetic diversity.

It was a good day.

DARPA Maps the Brains of Working Dogs

The Defense Department is interested in identifying what in the brain makes a good working dog.  What makes a good bomb sniffing dog?  What do the brains of good service dogs have in common?

The Military Times carries the story.

The military funding — provided through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — is designed to identify markers in canine brain activity to determine which dogs are better suited to act as service companions or perform specialized military tasks.

For troops on the battlefield, that includes dogs detecting explosives, sniffing out drugs and assisting on security patrols. A Belgian Malinois named Cairo was honored at the White House in 2011 for his role in Seal Team 6's raid of Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

For veterans, the service dogs include guide dogs for the blind, assistance dogs for wounded warriors who lost limbs, and therapy animals for individuals struggling with post-traumatic stress.

Currently, about a third of the dogs that go into training programs for that kind of work work end up becoming functional service animals. But putting each through the training programs costs upward of $50,000.

“If we can improve that success rate from one in three to even one in two, we’re talking about the potential of dramatic savings,” Berns said.

Recent work on the project has included baseline brain scans of 50 golden retrievers and Labradors, all scheduled for service dog training. Researchers are matching key markers in the medical data to the dogs’ performance, with the hope of finding patterns.

Berns said the results so far have been promising.

“A lot of what a dog does is hard-wired in the genes,” he said. “Bad training can screw a dog up, sure, but you need the right raw materials in the dog to do the task at hand. If it works out, I would hope these biological markers get incorporated into the selection process as early as possible.” 

 

Color me a bit skeptical but not skeptical enough to not think it isn't an idea worth testing.

If the cost is truly kept at one million dollars, even if it was a million dollars a year for five years, this could be a great investment.  You only need to avoid training 20 washout dogs to recoup each year of expenditure.

I am a small government guy.  I do believe there is a lot of waste in the system but this is an example of the punch line driving the narrative.  "Pentagon Puppy Study" makes a rationale investment with large potential savings sound ridiculous.  People being what they are, rarely take time to question a headline that confirms their preconceived notion.

Warmer Days

Looking ahead to warmer days.

Grace Adopts a Terrier

It was my original intention to rehab Stoic and then try to find him an appropriate home, but my daughter intervened.  Her brothers have had the experience of being raised, in part, by Maybelle "the Nanny dog."

After Gracie was born, they were slow to give up "their" dog.  To this day she sleeps in their room even if she needs help jumping into the bed of whoever is sleeping in the bottom bunk.  So Gracie has lived with dogs but never really had a dog.

She chooses Stoic, and he's pretty chill with that.

Fortunate for me she will still let me take him on some therapy dog gigs when the time arrives.

Fortunate for us all, she wants to help when we go out hunting rats or other vermin.

My Sparta and the She-Child's Stoic

If the Dog's Home

It's five o'clock somewhere.

Bed

I woke up this morning to my house mate complaining that there was "a b*#ch" sleeping in her bed.

I corrected her, "No, there is a hot b*#ch sleeping in your bed."

Joys of Outcrossing

Pat Burns over at Terrierman's Daily Dose shares this great cover from The New Yorker, 1938.

Dog snobs seeking the reflected glory (AKA the Association fallacy) of the term "purebred" will seek out a pup which conforms to physical characteristics.

While there is a place for dog conformation (physical and temperament) when you intend the dog for a particular kind of work, the conformation pet owners should be seeking is health, size and temperament/energy level appropriate to social setting and owner lifestyle.

Just one outcross every few generations will allow the informed and responsible breeder to keep a dog looking like a purebred but with the health benefits of increased genetic diversity.  This assumes that keeping a dog looking like a purebred is compatible with improved health.  Some breeds have been bred to perpetuate deformities that create health problems.  Think the short snout of bull dogs and pugs or the hips of some German Shepherds.

Much conformity, however, is type A humans run amok.   Sparta is a non-AKC breed but the dog snobs wouldn't care for her, she has some white hair out of place.  You know what, I'll take a half dozen white hairs on her back when it comes with improved health and vigor.

Stoic is, at best guess, a Boston Terrier cross and he is perfect terrier-type for an apartment, city life, or, as in his case, for little girl to dress up on Saturday morning and for her dad to take into the field on Sunday..

Musket is a Parson Terrier/Mountain Cur cross: best overall hunting dog I have ever owned.  If I'd discovered tracking earlier, he'd have blown the competition away and we'd have been legends in the blood tracking community.

Maybelle, she is all ditch hound, and never have children had such a calm and protective companion.

Out-crossing not only improves health, it need not impact the other qualities of a good pet.  It will also give you a unique "first friend."

Sunday Track

Sunday was a great day to lay and run a track.  There was a thin layer of snow on the ground and with temps in the upper 30's, it was wonderful vest weather.

This was only the second track we've run since early November.  If you watch the video below you'll see how tightly that wet snow holds scent.  It was a man track only (no blood or other scent).  Aged about 3 1/2 hours.

I also hope that it shows Sparta slowing down as she matures a little bit.  It could just be that she was tired.  I've worked her hard over the weekend, going out on numerous scouting trips in the heavy snow.  If I walk one mile, she goes three, and the snow is up to her chin.

This track  also contains the first back track I've given Sparta to figure out.  It is also a good idea that I see how she behaves in such a situation.  Thinking about last year's blood tracking, some of our mistakes (or most) were based upon Sap error more than canine error.

The app used for the map to the right, Dog Tracks, is a good help but it does not replace a thorough job marking your trail.  We ran a tighter track than the picture lets on.  The map you get is only as good as your GPS signal and I think the tree cover throws it off a bit.

Watching videos of someone else's dog track might be as interesting as Uncle Melvin's slide presentation of his Jamaican vacation.  But I think these illustrate how well scent stays put in the snow.

The videos below show different legs of the track but in each one she's moving from footstep to footstep in a slower and more deliberate manner than I would expect.

She acted like we'd never crossed a road before.

I was pretty pleased how she worked through her first "backtrack."

The last corner,

Go Dog Go!

I was rabbit hunting once with my grandfather, a cousin or two, and an uncle.  Call it 1988.

Amidst our beagles came the sound of a dog no one recognized.  A few minutes later a geriatric, obese, Basset Hound could be seen moving through the woods, lagging way behind the pack of hounds.

When the genetic code "explodes" there is no holding it back.  Tell that to "Ludivine" who just knew there were was a whole lot of running in a general direction, joined in, and won a medal for seventh place.

An Alabama dog who found her way into the middle of a half-marathon ended up finishing the race in seventh place and earning herself a medal.

Ludivine, a two-and-a-half-year-old bloodhound, was the star of this year’s Elkmont Half Marathon on Jan. 16, in Elkmont, Alabama, after she found herself at the race’s starting line, unbeknownst to her owner.

She-Pup

The she-pup has been asking to take a walk with me ever since the temps dropped below zero.  Today her schedule and the weather cooperated.

"Dad, if I'd known you were going to take my picture, I wouldn't have worn my chore coat!"

It's dead but let's make sure it can't be made "deader."

Driving Home

Taking Advantage of a Warm Day

Today is normally a therapy dog visit day but we all had cabin fever, I was emotionally spent, and wisdom being the better part of valour, we took a five mile walk and called it a day.

Detour on the daily commute.

Rich kid privlidge: the local park provides you with poop bags.  These are not found in neighborhood parks where normal people live.

A "safe place" for the local homeless. 

Artsy

Decorated trees.

Military surplus snowshoes on the car.

Flowers

From the Stone Arch Bridge: a lock soon to be decommissioned.

Can we go again?

OMG!