Linda P. Case's Blog, page 21

What’s in YOUR Food?

What I��mean of course, is “What’s in your dog’s food?” When asked this question, most��owners��read the list of ingredients found on their food’s��label. By law, pet food ingredients must be reported��in descending order of��preponderance by weight at the time��of processing. This��means that ingredients that are found first in the list are present in greatest abundance […]

The Nature of Natural

Over the last few years, the sale of dog foods that carry a claim of natural, either embedded into their brand name or proclaimed on their front label, has exploded. According to the marketing research firm Packaged Facts, natural foods are currently the fastest growing segment of the U.S. pet food market. The sale of foods that are […]

New Book! “Beware the Straw Man: The Science Dog Explores Dog Training Fact & Fiction”

“Beware the Straw Man: The Science Dog Explores Dog Training Fact & Fiction” is now available! Click on the image below for more information and to order. Book summary:   The Science Dog (aka Linda Case) takes a skeptic’s look at many commonly held beliefs about dog behavior and training. Each of the book’s 32 essays explores a […]

Not Your Grandmother’s Kibble

When I was in graduate school, a fellow student recommended a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. Published in 1962, it was already considered a classic in the philosophy of science by the 1980’s. Kuhn is responsible for defining and popularizing the concept of “paradigm shifts.” He explains that historically, scientific […]

Talking Turkey

I grew up with a story-book grandmother. She was my mother’s mom, “Nana” to my sister and me. As required of all perfect grandmothers, Nana was a great cook and regularly expressed her love through sumptuous meals and comfort foods. Although she did not actually reside “over the valley and through the woods”, her home […]

You Barkin’ At Me?

I have a ring tone on my mobile phone that I really like. It barks. Five barks (bark-bark-bark-bark-bark) for each ring. It is a real dog’s voice, not a person fake-barking in that annoying way that certain people feel compelled to do when they see a dog. (Really, what is that about anyway?). Earlier this week, my phone started barking while I was […]

Lend a Helping Paw

Dogs are highly social beings who express their social nature in a variety of ways. They desire companionship with others and readily integrate into our human families and lives. Most of our dogs love to play and to learn new things and enjoy spending time together going for walks, a ride in the car or simply hanging out for a cuddle on the couch. Given the choice, most dogs […]

I Yawn for Your Love

Vinny, my Brittany, yawns a lot. He yawns first thing in the morning when he rises, in the evening when he is tired, and many times in between. We notice this because Vinny emits an adorable little squeaky sound whenever he launches a particularly wide and emotive yawn. We also know that Vinny seems to be highly susceptible […]

Hey, Teacher! Leave Those Dogs Alone!

It is a fairly common practice among dog trainers who teach group classes to “borrow” one of their student’s dogs to demonstrate a training technique or learning concept. Opinions of this practice vary. Proponents say that it helps owners to observe their own dog being handled by an instructor or responding to someone else, while opponents argue […]

Its All Rock-and-Roll to Me

When training my dogs, I always have music playing. And, truth-be-told, my personal tastes gravitate neither to easy-listening nor to high-brow classical music. Rather, I am a rock n’ roll gal, all the way home. On a given day, my dogs and I may be training agility to The Who, retrieving to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and practicing tricks to Ray Lamontagne. On days that my feminist freak […]