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Hi everyone !

 Several weeks ago, I saw Dr. Nicholas Dodman present on separation anxiety at the Nine-Zero Hotel in Boston. It was such a lovely presentation (and I applied some of what was learned on Captain Love's separation sadness at departures). After the talk, my dear friend and colleague, Vivian, introduced me to the organizers of the event - Cold Noses Foundation. They seemed excited to hear about "Considerations for the City Dog" and invited me to present on the book!

 Suffice it to say, I'm really excited.

 I'm also a bit nervous.

But still totally, 100% excited.

 The presentation is on 6/21, downtown Boston. The tickets (like the tickets for Dr. Dodman) are $15.00 and all the money goes back to help Cold Noses Foundation set up spay/neuter programs & educational programs around the globe to prevent homeless pets - a huge part of what #HandsOnFirst is all about. Not only am I flattered to be given the privilege to speak, but I'm proud to be given the opportunity to have my talk give back to something I wholeheartedly support and have been publicly speaking about for the better part of the year:

 Here on DogCast Radio.
 Here with Don Hanson & Kate Dutra (part 1 & part 2 ).
 At Tufts Cummings School (for the veterinarian behavior club)
 At Massachusetts Vet Tech Association.
 Here is the webinar for the Pet Professional Guild.
And here for Raising Canine coming this October.

But this one - to get a platform in my home city to have the ticket sales go back to fixing the biggest issue I see in the training industry over the last decade? It's really, really incredible and I'm really looking forward to it.

If you are near Boston on 6/21, I'd love your support - come down to NineZero to see this presentation (which covers many of the topics in the book, including #HandsOnFirst). If you can't come, you can still make a huge difference. I'd really appreciate you'd tell your city-dog owning friends and pet professionals about this talk. It's really not about listening to me blab on about dogs. It's about starting to look at  environment as an impact on urban pups and what we can do to be better stewards for our city-dwelling canines. That, and you're supporting a pretty sweet cause: a group putting a dent in pet overpopulation problems in underfunded areas around the world. I think that's something we can all support.

And just in case you are curious: Yes, the hotel has a bar. It's on the second floor.

~M3

Ho, Ho, No!

We've all heard that pets don't make the best gifts for the holidays. Slate has a fantastic article on the matter.

Veterinarians, dog trainers, behaviorists, shelter employees and rescue groups never advise dogs as Christmas gifts because many of them end up in the shelters 3-6 months later when they are adolescent dogs. Many of them also come from breeders-of-ill-repute (puppy mills). Good breeders never produce puppies for Christmas Morning.

Shelters and reputable breeders are our biggest word-of-mouth against Christmas puppies and educating against the practice, and providing alternatives.

So why on EARTH is a Maine shelter delivering puppies to homes on Christmas morning?!?

I'm really sad to see the Coastal Humane Society of Maine get on the Christmas Puppy bandwagon - they will even deliver the puppies to the door on Christmas morning. They are looking for drivers to deliver the dogs (many of which just had a traumatic transport from the South to Maine) to people's homes on Christmas morning. Some of which might end up back in the shelter in June. 

Yes, it looks good on paper: kids wake up and see a new dog, and it's really exciting for everyone, until the puppy needs training classes, or eats all the new toys the kids just opened. 

After the excitement of the holidays are over, many Christmas pets go back to the shelter. 

If someone is committing to bringing a dog home, keeping it in a shelter for an extra week so a family can be surprised by the dog seems really unfair to the dog frown emoticon

I see what they are trying to do - but I think this is a huge miss. 

Alternatives?

• Instead, the shelter should put a program together to prevent dogs coming back to their shelter
• Encourage families to come and volunteer their time socializing the puppies (or go down to the shelter as a family unit later in the day)
• Have a local artist paint holiday ornaments of the dogs in the shelter, and the money for the ornaments can go back to support the shelter. 
• Related: The ornament could be a "we will get a dog in the new year, but we are all going to meet the dog" placeholder present.
• Buy a round of dog training classes and give that as a gift - then in the weeks after the holidays, the family can go meet dogs from reputable sources. 
• Can't have a dog but want one? Donate to your local shelter. 
• Not sure if your kids would be responsible enough for a dog? Go as a family to walk dogs at the shelter once a week. If they aren't into it after a month, then you've dodged a bullet (and helped some dogs get some exercise!) If they continue to look forward to dog walking day, you can consider foster-to-adopt through the shelter. 

Regardless, if you are considering getting a pet, don't use Christmas as an excuse. You can prep the family on Christmas and build excitement by buying classes or a promissory note for your dog-to-be, but from dog trainers, shelter employees and rescue advocates everywhere - please:

 Exnay on the Ristmas Cay Uppy Pay.

 Lastly, you can always do this, instead:

Remember #HandsOnFirst. 

Happy holidays,

 -M3

"Considerations" on DogCastRadio!

I'd have to say in all seriousness, my interview with Julie Hill of DogCastRadio (one of my favorite podcasts about life with dogs) is the highlight of writing this book, and my profession. We had a lovely conversation where I think we both learned interesting things that both the UK and the US are facing in terms of acquiring pet dogs.

In the UK, they have a program called #WheresMum - an attempt to educate potential owners about puppy mill scams where less-reputable breeding operations will sell puppies under the guise of "the mom died at birth. It's so sad. She needs you to save her." As you might guess, this poses many ethical problems of feeding into the puppy mill industry to well-intentioned dog owners who are trying to save dogs.

Over here, I'm trying to get #HandsOnFirst to take off - my attempt to educate potential dog owners to meet dogs (rescues or pure-bred puppies) and know what a reputable facility looks like. Trucking dogs outside of state lines is a huge problem here in MA (for more about this issue, see my presentation for the Massachusetts Veterinary Technicians Association). 

And then, at the very end, my 3-year-old figured out how to turn on the keyboard and amplifier to play her version of "outro music" which had all three of us in stitches.

Julie is a professional through-and-through, and I really wish we could have met in person to enjoy an appropriate beverage. She's lovely, funny, and really takes an interest in all things "dog," .... and cheeky-toddler!

So thank you, Julie, for the conversation and the opportunity! When you come Stateside, I owe you a beverage of your choice :)

Enjoy the interview (and the conversation about dogs and fireworks) right here.