Stacy's Wag'N'Train

09/26/2025

Happy birthday, Ivan Pavlov!

“Pavlov is always on your shoulder!”

We say this to remind ourselves that our dogs are always making associations between events that occur in their environment. If they have a bad experience in the presence of another dog, for example, they may associate the appearance of other dogs with negative feelings.

Today is the birthday of Ivan Pavlov, who first described how organisms can create associations between things that are important to them and things that previously had been meaningless - like the serving of food with a buzzer or bell sound.

Pavlov was born September 26, 1849.

09/25/2025

Note: this is about anyone who walks their dog, not about professional dog walkers!

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DISTRACTED DOG WALKERS

The distracted dog walker is commonly seen chatting on their cell phone, wearing headphones or socializing with other people while oblivious to what their dog is doing, how their dog is feeling or what is going on in the environment.

This may not sound like a problem, but it is something that many of us have a problem with, even more so if we have a reactive, sensitive dog.

I always compare walking a dog to driving a car. It’s not so much about our driving skills, but having to constantly be aware of the driving skills of others – trying to predict what they will do, which rules of the road they will ignore and how distracted they are. This is especially true in the country I live in, where driving can be a really stressful experience.

I understand that we often need to multi task – there simply doesn’t seem to be enough time in our day to accomplish everything we need to, but walking our dogs should not be one of these times.

Some may say – “but my dog is really friendly, well socialized, gets on well with everyone, is well trained, knows this environment well etc. and I hear that. But another dog might not be – maybe they need space, are reactive, sensitive, selectively social, have health issues, might be terrified of another dog racing straight towards them chasing a ball thrown from a ball launcher etc.

If distracted dog walkers have no regard for other dogs or other people, they should at least have regard for their own dogs.

Walking your dog should be a time of bonding, of connecting, of seeing the environment through the eyes of your dog, of reinforcing and rewarding wanted behaviours, of keeping them safe and protected.

Our dogs need us to be focused, to pay attention, to be aware and attentive. Our dogs depend on us to advocate for them.

09/25/2025

Apparently, decorated/colored-in dogs were the rage at Bark in the Park. Assuming that the dyes or markers are actually safe for pets (because they will probably try to lick them), and the dogs don’t mind application process or the extra attention, I think they can be pretty fun!

(Then again, I’m writing this dye setting in my own hair, so perhaps I’m a little biased!)

You can get these marker pens here: https://amzn.to/3VvBXeC

09/24/2025

Here's a video from University of California (my alma mater!) about research being done on dogs' use of "talking buttons".

Now some of you may know that my background is in animal intelligence and communication. Specifically, I worked in a dolphin research lab studying how dolphins understand language. I have a pretty good understanding of the pitfalls of demonstrating language in non-human animals (some of which are mentioned in this video). So while I think that dogs have the capability to understand and even produce language that is far greater than we give them credit for, I look at some of these "talking dog" videos with great dubiousness - I see a LOT of over-interpretation of button-presses (even in the video, there's an assumption that the dog was referring to something outside when that dog pushed a two-button combination, but there's no way, within that circumstance, to prove that's what the dog "meant").

So I'm dubious about a lot of claims for button-use in dogs, but I also feel that if it's studied properly, we can indeed get some great insights.

Don't forget my colleague and friend Dr Heidi Lyn of Comparative Cognition and Communication Laboratory will be on a panel discussing this next week.

Thanks to Lisa Hettler-Smith for the link!

Want to know whether “talking” dogs like Bunny are for real?When UC San Diego Professor Federico Rossano first saw Bunny’s videos, he was a skeptic. After al...

09/24/2025

Do you have a hard time dealing with people who really want to meet your dog, and a dog who really doesn't want to meet strangers? I love this little video from 4Paws University with Lisa Mullinax CDBC.

"Impolite is better than a bite"

I often say (AS we're moving out of reach) "Sorry this is a 'look but don't touch' dog!"

This video was made with Clipchamp

09/24/2025

Elliot is a friendly little terrier who gets over excited when he sees other dogs! He’s quickly learned better leash manners but we need to have a lot more encounters with dogs for him to practice new skills!

09/24/2025

Happy Dogs In Politics Day!

National Checkers Day, which is also known as Dogs in Politics Day, is observed annually on September 23rd. On September 23, 1952, Vice President candidate, Richard Nixon, gave a speech that was called the “Checkers Speech”. He had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses. Wanting to defend himself as his place on the Republican ticket was in doubt, he flew to Los Angeles and delivered a half-hour television address. It was in this speech that Nixon stated that regardless of what anyone said, he intended to keep one gift; a black-and-white dog that had been name Checkers by the Nixon children, thus giving the speech its popular name. The 'Checkers Speech' was seen, or heard, by about 60 million Americans, making it the largest television audience to that time and it led to an outpouring of public support. With Checkers the dog in the speech, the day also became known as Dogs in Politics Day.

09/23/2025

Some dogs can learn categories of toys, such as "fetch toys" and "tug toys", in addition to learning individual toy names (such as "tennis ball" and "braided rope").

"Humans learn as toddlers how to extend labels to new items based on their functions, such as applying the word “cup” to both a teacup and a sippy cup even though they look different. Some language-trained chimpanzees and bonobos can categorize by function, too. But finding this skill in dogs—a species much more evolutionarily distant from humans—suggests “the roots of these capacities are widespread in the evolutionary tree,” says Heidi Lyn, a comparative psychologist at the University of South Alabama who was not involved with the work."

In games with toys, “gifted” dogs can extend names to new objects with the same purpose as known ones

09/20/2025

Scenes from Bark in the Park

09/20/2025

Cecilia of Canine Higher Learning and Humane Society Silicon Valley and I, ready to demonstrate agility and answer dog training questions at Bark in the Park San Jose at William Street Park!

09/20/2025

Today’s the day! See you at the Agility Field at Bark in the Park!

William Street Park in San Jose, at 16th!