ohmidog!

Before Ashlee Simpson had her baby, Bronx Mowgli, she and husband Pete Wentz turned to Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan — not for child-rearing (or naming) advice but for help with their two bulldogs.

The pop star and her rocker husband were concerned about how their sometimes obsessive, sometimes aggresive bulldog, Hemingway, might react to a baby in the house. When they got him a second bulldog, Rigby, as a companion — in hopes of calming him down — it only made Hemingway’s aggression escalate.

So, in the months before Bronx Mowgli was born, Simpson and Wentz brought their worries, and their bulldogs, to Millan — well, actually he went to them. The experience is recounted on tomorrow night’s episode of “The Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic Channel.

Millan works with the couple to help Hemingway overcome his aggression toward other dogs, his habit of attacking his own shadow, or any other shadow, and his tendency to assault the couple’s silver exercise ball. By episode’s end, those matters seemed well on their way to being resolved.

We can only assume the dogs are getting along fine with Bronx Mowgli (born Nov. 20) and not teasing him too much about his name — the first half of which comes from the borough, the second half of which comes from the Rudyard Kipling character, who, by the way, was raised by a pack of wolves.

Dogs know when they’re not getting a fair shake, and react accordingly, according to a new study out of the University of Vienna.

In a series of “reward” experiments reported in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dogs that understood the command “paw” sat side-by-side with an experimenter in front of them.

In front of the experimenter was a divided food bowl with pieces of sausage on one side and brown bread on the other. The dogs were asked to shake hands and each could see what reward the other received.

When one dog got a reward and the other didn’t, the unrewarded animal stopped playing, showing that dogs, like people and monkeys, seem to have a sense of fairness, the Associated Press reports.

“Animals react to inequity,” said Friederike Range of the University of Vienna in Austria, who led a team of researchers testing animals at the school’s Clever Dog Lab. “To avoid stress, we should try to avoid treating them differently.”

The results won’t surprise any dog owner — or anyone who knows anything about wolves, who are known to cooperate with one another and appear to be sensitive to each other.

One thing that did surprise the researchers was that — unlike primates (and unlike my dog) — the dogs didn’t seem to care whether the reward was sausage or bread.

(Photo from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

The breed of dog you own speaks volumes about what kind of human you are, according to Forbes magazine, which in its November issue says people tend to choose a breed whose personalities most resemble their own.

Some examples:

If you’ve got a beagle, you are highly inquisitive and fiercely loyal to friends. On the downside, you’re stubborn.

Cocker spaniel owners are nurturing souls, gentle, affectionate, sweet and playful.

Got a golden retriever? You’re a social butterfly who likes to be in group settings.

Chihuahua owner? You’ve got high energy, and often devote it to mischief-making.

And you’re a detail person — one who enjoys the finer things in life – if you’ve got a poodle.

People who read Forbes Magazine, meanwhile, are all about the buck, overly into appearances, and too self-involved to even notice their poodle has a personality. OK, I’m kidding on that last one, but you get my point, maybe.

I have trouble with breed generalizations. For one things, us mutt owners can’t play. For another, they are kind of like astrology — some people, seeing a little bit of truth in it, go on to accept it wholesale. Scarier yet is when politicians pick up on them and write laws. But most bothersome of all is they tend to negate the dog as an individual.

I’d argue that, though some breeds are prone to certain behaviors, every dog has its own personality. While humans may tend to pick a dog whose personality is a reflection of their own, I also think that — sharing a life — both dog and owner tend to take on a bit of each others aura.

Which may explain why I’ve started shedding.

Other than humans, who aren’t always real good at it, dogs are the only animals that can read emotion in human faces, scientists at England’s University of Lincoln claim.

Their research findings suggest (as most any dog owner knows) that dogs can see at a glance if we are happy, sad, pleased or angry.

According to the study, dogs, like humans, have developed something called “left gaze bias,” wherein, when we’re looking at a person’s face, our eyes wander left and examine the right hand side of that face.

Scientists believe the right side of the human face expresses emotions more accurately and more intensely, and that humans, stupid as we otherwise are, have figured that out, if only on a subconscious level.

Helfpul tip: If you’re having trouble figuring out which side of the face you’re looking at is which, think of the right hand side as the passenger side, the left hand side as the driver side. If you’re still confused, remember that the right side of the person’s face you’re looking at would be on your left, unless of course a mirror is involved. If you’re even more confused now, and getting angry about it, have your dog look at the right (passenger, unless you’re in Europe) side of your face. If he sulks and walks away with his tail between his legs, you are indeed angry.

But back to the study, which showed that dogs exhibit ”left gaze bias,” but only when looking at human faces. No other animal has been known to display this behavior before.

In the research, a team led by Dr. Kun Guo showed 17 dogs images of human, dog and monkey faces as well as inanimate objects.

Film of the dogs’ eye and head movement exhibited a strong left gaze bias (not to be confused with left wing bias) when the animals were presented with human faces. But this did not occur when they were shown other images, including those of dogs.

Guo believes that, over the centuries they’ve been associated with humans, dogs have evolved the left gaze bias as a way to gauge our emotions.

Harvey Mackay, a columnist for the Star-Tribune in Minneapolis-St. Paul, had a nice column yesterday on what humans could learn from their dogs, if they only tried.

It was prompted by an email about a 6-year-old boy whose family dog was put to sleep.

As the dog drifted away, Mackay wrote, the little boy seemed to accept the dog’s transition — even when the rest of the family was struggling with why animal lives are shorter than human lives.

“I know why,” the young son announced. “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

The family’s veterinarian, Mackay said, offered a list if other lessons dogs can teach — similar to others I have read, but worth repeating just the same:

•When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. Dogs treat us like celebrities when we come home. There’s nothing wrong with showing people we care.

•Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride. On warm days, there’s nothing wrong with stopping to lie on your back on the grass.

•Take naps. If you can’t take a nap, at least take a break. It’ll improve your disposition.

•Run, romp and play daily. If you have a chance to have fun, go for it … Work hard and play hard.

•Let people touch you. Don’t be aloof. Allow people to get close to you.

•Avoid biting when a simple growl will do … It’s OK to warn people that you’re upset or even angry, but keep your temper in check.

•When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body. We have a right to be happy!

One last doggie costume, and some final words of advice and — in a couple more nights, anyway — we can put Halloween behind us.

To find this one, I had to venture into the unfamiliar yet very tidy confines of marthastewart.com, where I came across this elaborate headless horsemen outfit that requires PVC pipe, children’s clothing, plenty of stuffing and lots of work.

Modeling it is Bob, who, according to his owner and the costume’s creator, is a Rottweiler-Lab mix that loves to get dressed up.

Keep in mind that not all dogs do. Some dogs enjoy the extra attention, and if the costume presents no hazards, go for it. If you dog resists efforts to put him in costume, don’t push it. On top of the other stress the night brings, putting him into something uncomfortable is asking too much.

Give him time to gradually get used to his costume — and your’s. Your dog may not immediately recognize family members when they’re disguised. Allow your dog to see and scent the costumes beforehand, and let him know who’s behind the mask.

And be wary of the other dangers the holiday poses for canines.

“We hear about more dogs dying or straying during Halloween than any other holiday,” said Liam Crowe, CEO and master dog behavioral therapist of Bark Busters USA. “…By being more sensitive to dogs’ fear-driven ‘fight or flight’ instincts, we can help keep our furry friends safe this Halloween.”

Bark Busters offers these tips: 

– Don’t leave your dog outside. Even if you have a fenced yard, bring your dog inside where it is safe. If your dog is usually kept outside, bring him in a few times before the big night to get him used to being indoors. Your dog may be used to strangers, but remember that it is a natural instinct for dogs to protect the family from strangers, and on Halloween there are likely to be some pretty strange strangers.

– If your dog is timid or scared, or if he tends to love people a little too much, it is best to put him in a separate room away from the front door to limit his excitability, aggression, and chance of running outside and becoming lost.

– Reassure your dog. The best thing you can do for your dog when he is feeling unsettled by Halloween activities is to act as you normally would, and giving him a little extra reassurance and attention.

– Check your dog’s ID tag. Be sure identification tags are secure on your dog’s collar.– Keep candy away from your dog. Many candies — especially chocolate–are toxic to dogs.

– Protect dogs from candles and pumpkins. Excited or agitated dogs can easily knock over a lit candle or pumpkin. Be sure those items are away from your dog’s reach, or consider a battery-powered candle that does not burn.

– Be prepared. If you take your dog with you while trick-or-treating, be prepared at all times. Dogs do not understand that the person jumping out at you will not hurt you; they often think they can only help you by acting aggressively. Neither children nor adults in costumes should approach a dog without the owner’s consent.

A new study has found that young male dogs playing with female pups will often let the females win, even if the males have a physical advantage.

Researchers suspect that, for dogs, the opportunity to play may be more important to them than winning.

The gentlemanly dog behavior is even accompanied with a bow, authors of the study told Discovery News.

“A play bow is a signal that dogs use when they want to communicate playful intentions to a potential play partner,” said Camille Ward, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan and author of the soon-to-be-released book, Relationship-Based Dog Training.

Ward and her colleagues studied puppy litters from four breeds – a shepherd mix, Labrador retriever, Doberman pincher and malamute, collecting data from the time the pups were between three and 40 weeks old.

The scientists examined how the puppies played with members of their own sex as well as with the opposite sex.

Females were more likely than males to initiate play with their own sex; males, meanwhile, seemed eager to play with females, and would go to all sorts of lengths to keep the play going.

The male puppies, for example, would sometimes lick the muzzles of their opponents, giving the female a chance to bite them in a vulnerable position. They would also even completely drop to the ground from a moving, standing or sitting position.

“We know that in feral dog populations, female mate choice plays a role in male mating success,” said Ward. “Perhaps males use self-handicapping with females in order to learn more about them and to form close relationships with them — relationships that might later help males to secure future mating opportunities.”

In other words, it seems, they are acting vulnerable in hopes of scoring. Those dogs!

Linda Deris took her dog Daisy May to the PetSmart in Abingdon earlier this month to buy her a leash.

And something terrible happened.

Daisy May, a beagle-collie mix, approached another customer’s dog — described in an ABC2 report as a bulldog – and before anybody could stop it, the bulldog bit Daisy May on her back.

“He just chomped down on her back and started throwing her around like she was a rag doll,” Deris told the TV station.

Five people tried to stop the attack, but not soon enough. Daisy May died on the way to the veterinarians office. Deris said the bulldog’s owner was given a citation and allowed to take the dog home.

Jennifer Simmons, a spokeswoman for PetSmart, said in a statement, “This was an extremely unfortunate incident and came as a complete surprise to us and the pet parents of both dogs. To our knowledge … the dog did not show any signs of aggressive behavior during interactions with other people and pets.”

Commenters on the TV station’s website include one self-proclaimed witness who said the two dogs met and wagged their tails. “Then the two owners ceased to watch their dogs. Store associates observed the bulldog staring at the beagle, tail wagging, as if he was looking at a toy, which was when he grabbed the beagle around the scruff area, as if he had a toy.”

“While this was a tragic accident, and something I hope I never see again, the fact of the matter is that when you combine two unfamiliar dogs, and a lack of supervision, you’ve got a recipe for disaster,” the witness added.

Deris told the television station she’s been having nightmares about the attack and is on medication. She adopted a new dog last week. “She was an angel, she was my world,” she said of her dog. ”She just was the sweetest disposition you’d ever want.”

All too often at my park, and maybe your’s, conflicts develop between those who go there to let their dogs get some needed off-leash romping and those who go there to experience something other than big, slobbery, barking, dirty-pawed creatures careening around like a pinballs.

The law, as most of us know, is on the side of the latter. Dogs are required to be on leashes at all times in all of the city parks in Baltimore, and violation of that law can result in a $100 fine.

Nevertheless at my park, Riverside, as at Patterson, Federal Hill, Carroll, Latrobe, Druid Hill, Wyman and others, dog owners regularly take that risk to allow their dogs some exercise. Dogs gotta run and, in the city, the parks are the only game in town.

Having only one official dog park — though more appear to be on the way — means all the rest of the parks must be shared by dogs and humans, which, with a little common sense and respect, is not all that hard to accomplish. In other words, we can all just get along. Read more »

Last week, while going through fan email, I came across a note from a dogless mother of two in Locust Point — unusual because (A) she doesn’t have a dog, (B) she was reading my blog anyway, and (C) she managed to complain about off-leash dogs with a sincerity and civility that rarely accompanies such concerns.

She was seeking an answer, as opposed to grinding an axe, and I thought her concerns were valid, reasonable and so well-stated that I’m reprinting — with her permission —  the whole thing.

I offered her a couple of pointers (not the dogs), and suggested that — If it’s solutions she wants — why not throw it open to the readers, a couple of whom I know for a fact are smarter than me. She was game.

On top of that, her letter serves as a reminder for those of us who sometimes put our dogs needs above everyone else’s. I’ll give you my opinions tomorrow, but for now, here’s Jen:

The family and I are sorta new to the area (about 1.5 yrs coming up). I’m currently a stay-at-home-lose-my-mind-some-days Mom to two girls 2.5 yrs and 15 months respectively.  I’ve had a few troubling incidents with unleashed dogs in Latrobe Park (our ‘hood)  and have been browsing around looking for tips on how to approach the situation. 

Now, before you get all bentoutashape, asking yourself “why are you emailing the author of a dog-centric blog?…let me first say that I am most definitely one of those people who are middle of the road on everything and I try to see everyone’s point of view before taking a stance on something.  I say this before soliciting your opinion/response/advice regarding my predicament:

Read more »