Author Archives: RogerGafke

These Border Collie puppies demonstrate they are beginning to understand what ‘down’ and ‘stay’ mean.  They take a break during wagon practice.  Compliance with the ‘remain in place’ exercises builds a dog’s time-on-task behavior — one of the major goals of training in the context of having fun and learning by doing work.

Here is an interesting short article on detecting old from very old dog sculptures from the Palm Beach Post. Seems the technique of creating the pottery has changed and the process differences produce clues to the age of the piece. http://goo.gl/SzrBDD

We know about police dogs and the kinds of things they do. What does a fire dog do? The Norristown, Pennsylvania, has added a yellow lab to its department staff. The dog’s primary duty is to find evidence of arson as first scenes. This article describes the training the dog had and how her handlers rewards her when she finds a suspicious smell of accelerant that a fire scene.

Here is an impressive story of the evolution of this puppy and the effort her trainer has put in for the dog to be recognized as ‘Top Dog’ in rally competition. The August issue of Front and Finish announced the award for 9-year-old Stella. Her owner says Stella also shines in agility.

The staff at a Mississippi State University lab is developing a robot dog to provide emotional support when a real dog is not appropriate and a stuffed one doesn’t provide engagement with the person who needs the support. Here is a short article that describes what the researchers hope to create with their high tech canine.

Philadelphia service dog may have saved its owner’s life in from house fire by calling — with the phone –911 and then helping the dog’s blind owner, Maria Colon, to safety. Here are the details from the NBC TV station in Philly — http://goo.gl/Nc4Wq9

This is not the first time Yolanda is said to have taken heroic action. In May 2013, she was credited with chasing a burglar from Ms Colon’s home and calling 911. However, after an investigation, the district attorney dropped burglary charges in the case saying the he believed the incident was fabricated. Here is that story from a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter: http://goo.gl/IraKQ2

See George’s new wagon and how he is hitched to it for a first walk.  If you would like to experiment with the carting sport, join our group. We have carting lessons Saturday afternoons. Here is the schedule.

Geese police: Why they work and how they got started in this specialty. A week or so ago, the National Park Service announced that it has enlisted Border Collies to rid the National Mall in Washington of Canada Geese that have taken up home there.  The chief problem is the droppings the geese leave. It’s the Border Collie’s ‘eye’ and stealth that works. The creator of the K9 Geese Police describes his methods in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-qFinGErfM

The father of our Border Collies demonstrated his ‘eye’ and stealth for us in rounding up sheep and bringing them to us in a corner of the field. https://youtu.be/yay2IY29VVs

Our dog care Drill Team was one of the activities of the ‘Safe Kids Day‘ at the University of Missouri Children’s Hospital, May 9. Besides the dogs to music performance the program included dog safety tips. The Drill Team was among the local health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, volunteers, dedicated to serving childhood protection.

They find snails. Another job that perhaps only dogs can do — sniff out plant-destroying snails that threaten agriculture. Here is a short story about the task for two Labradors in the Galapagos. http://ow.ly/M8llT