somerville dog: a weblog

Yesterday evening, after dark, at about 6:45, Nunziato Field was abandoned except for two women and their two dogs. The women watched as a young man deposited, through the equipment-access gate on Putnam Street, a clattering bundle of metal curtain rods and returned to a house on Summer Street. He and another young man were moving items from the house to the driveway. The women, with their dogs, confronted the young men on the sidewalk, in front of their driveway and asked if they were moving. They were not moving, it turned out; they were just throwing out some trash. The women explained that they had just watched the boys toss a bunch of curtain rods into the park across the street: "That's your neighborhood park. You can look out your windows and enjoy that park! Wouldn't it be a nicer place if you didn't throw your trash on the ground there?" To the women's pleasant surprise, one of the young men returned to the park and removed the curtain rods. They thanked him.

People who care about their neighborhood parks can have a great influence on the respect that a park gets from the community at large. People who both care about their neighborhood parks and visit their neighborhood parks after dark are often people with dogs. It is a shame for Somerville's parks that the community has succeeded in banning people from visiting our neighborhood parks with our dogs.

Posted by Michèle at 8:16 PM
Categories: Somerville
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The City of Cambridge website has an announcement from the Animal Commission about two separate incidents in which dogs were attacked by rabid wild animals--in one case, by a rabid raccoon and, in the other, by a rabid skunk. One attack occurred at the Fresh Pond Recreation Area, a popular off-leash destination, and the other in the Lake View Avenue area nearby.

Oct 25, 2004

Animal Commission Advises Caution Regarding Area Wildlife Following Two Attacks on Dogs

The Cambridge Animal Commission report [sic] two separate incidents in the past few weeks in which a rabid raccoon and a rabid skunk attacked two dogs, one occurring at Fresh Pond and the other in the Lakeview Avenue area.

The Commission urges residents to exercise caution and offers the following tips to minimize the risk of encounters with area wildlife, including raccoons, skunks and opossums.

• Make sure your pets are current on their rabies vaccination. All dogs and cats over the age of 6 months are required to be vaccinated against rabies. The recommendation for an unvaccinated animal that encounters a confirmed rabid animal would be humane euthanasia.
• Keep garbage cans securely closed and clean up trash spills quickly. To further discourage animals from entering your trash can, add a rag soaked with ammonia to the garbage with each new load of trash; tie old stockings filled with mothballs or flakes to the handles of the garbage can; or sprinkle the contents of the can with cayenne pepper.
• Secure your home or apartment by capping chimneys, checking vents, gables and eaves and pruning tree branches that overhang your roof.
• Never feed your pet outdoors. Never feed wildlife.
• Do not allow pets to wander loose. There is a citywide leash law for dogs, and the Animal Control office also recommends that all cats be kept indoors.
• Teach your children not to approach stray or wild animals, including baby animals.
• If you see a normally nocturnal animal, such as a raccoon, out during the day and behaving abnormally by moving slowly or exhibiting obvious signs of illness, call the Animal Control office at 617-349-4376.

If you suspect rabies in Somerville, please call the Animal Control Department, Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., at 617-625-6600, ext.2190. After hours please dial 9-1-1.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires that dogs, cats, and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies. Dogs and cats must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian against rabies by the age of six months or, if the owner acquires the animal when it is over six months of age, within 30 days of acquisition, unless proof of previous vaccination is available. Furthermore, all dogs and cats shall receive booster vaccinations at the intervals recommended by the manufacturer of the vaccine. Detailed Rabies Information for residents of the Commonwealth is available from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

via craigslist

Posted by Michèle at 5:57 PM
Categories: Massachusetts, Your Dog's Health
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The 24th Annual MSPCA-Angell Walk for Animals turned out to be a great oppoutunity for a field trip. On Sunday, October 17, som|dog, the Somerville Dog Owners Group (represented here by the human companions of King, a greyhound, and Cinder, a lab/pointer mix), took a moment to research the City of Boston's off-leash pilot program in Boston Common.

The Pilot Program extends off-leash privileges in Boston Common from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m and establishes the following rules for off-leash recreation:

• All Dogs Must Be Licensed
• Owners Must Pick Up After Their Dogs
• Discourage Digging of Lawn Areas
• Dogs Must Be Under Control At All Times
• Only One Dog Off Leash Per Owner
• Only Adult Owners May Use the Prescribed Area

Across Charles Street, in the Public Garden, dogs are allowed on leash, as they are in Boston Common. And, as in Boston Common, in the Public Garden, the City of Boston provides doggie-bags.

Posted by Michèle at 9:45 AM
Categories: Destinations, Massachusetts, Off-Leash Recreational Areas—i.e. "Dog Parks"
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Somerville is now safe from one aggressive dog. David Renna, Somerville's one-man Animal Control Department, confirmed this morning that Diamond, the unlicensed dog that mauled three people in an apartment in Homer Square (near Union Square) on the Columbus Day holiday, has been humanely euthanized at the North Shore Animal Hospital in Lynn. The Somerville Journal is running the story about Diamond, who "viciously attacked two kids and their mother" on Monday, October 11. The mother "was dog-sitting . . . for her downstairs neighbor . . . , who went out of town on business."

Renna said that when he arrived at the scene last week, he was able to calm the dog down so that he could transport her to the North Shore Animal Hospital, the facility that kenneled the dog for the ten days that the City is required to hold a dog that has not been claimed by its owner. But he said that, in his opinion, the dog was mentally instable, "crazy," due to inbreeding. He said that staff that worked in the kennel where Diamond was quarantined also reported that the dog was confrontational. A female, Diamond was fine with men, but she challenged women, almost as if she didn't distinguish between people and dogs. Although Animal Control had received no previous complaints about Diamond, Renna said that neighbors at the scene of the attack told him that they have had many problems with the dog, including the report that was printed in the Journal, that Diamond had bitten one of the children before.

Human-directed aggression in dogs is never acceptable. Diamond was a menace to society. Now that the problem of the aggressive dog has been taken care of, however, what concerns me is that the Journal article, rather than addressing the problem of an aggressive dog, insinuates that aggression was only to be expected because of the dog's breed. A San Francisco based organization of pit bull owners, rescuers, and supporters, Bad Rap--Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls--agrees with me on how to deal with aggressive dogs: "Pit bulls that do show aggressive behavior towards humans are not typical of the breed and should be humanely euthanized." A dog that is aggressive toward humans is not a typical dog. Dogs and humans have co-evolved over thousands of years to live together to our mutual benefit.

Rather than demonizing pit bulls, our community will be more safe from dog attacks when we understand aggression in dogs and prevent it from ever being directed toward humans. According to Jean Donaldson, in her book The Culture Clash, "the usual reason dogs bite 'without provocation' or 'for no reason' when they had never behaved aggressively before" is that "some novel combination of elements [specifically, 'risk factors'] pushes the dog higher than the elements on their own have ever pushed him previously." "Risk factors," are what Donaldson calls things that "bug" a specific dog. "Typical risk factors include: categories of people to which the dog is not socialized, hands and/or being touched, approach, presence of food bowl or other guarded resources and any discriminative stimulus for positive punishment (such as a choke collar or a strap used to beat the dog)." Donaldson gives the following example:

Hypothetical dog Zaphod has always been uncomfortable around strange men. His other major risk factor is that he freezes up on approaches to his food bowl. The owner has also noticed that he seems just a little bit more sensitive at night than during the day and not perfectly relaxed with hands or when approached. These last two, by the way, are in the profiles, to some extent, of most dogs. One day, Zaphod bites a man who approaches to pat him. The owner is completely floored as Zaphod has never bitten or even growled at anyone before, and there was no provocation on this occasion, from the owner's perspective. As you can see from his profile, however, Zaphod was a time-bomb which, unfortunately, went off (91-92).

Diamond's owner failed to understand his dog's risk factors and thus failed to prevent her from attacking and injuring people. Given that Diamond allegedly bit the ten-year-old girl last year, it was irresponsible of Diamond's owner to leave her in the custody of that child's family.

UPDATE January 23, 2005: Check out Jean Donaldson's new book about dog-dog aggression!

Posted by Michèle at 10:25 PM
Categories: Dogs in the News, Literature, Somerville
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Eight Somerville Dogs walked with twenty-two human companions comprising team somervilledog.com in the twenty-fourth annual MSPCA-Angell Walk for Animals on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning, October 17, in Boston Common. Somervilledog.com thanks the people and dogs that walked on our team, everyone who bought team T-shirts, our top (and only) corporate sponsor, Pet Spa, and our co-workers, friends and families for their generous contributions to support MSPCA-Angell!

As Yukon's human companion explained, when I apologized for the team's getting separated when the Walk began at 10:00, "once the walk started, we just started walking. That's what he likes to do and it was his day!"

Team somervilledog.com (from left to right) Shannon with Cinder (a Lab/Pointer mix), Peter (from Blue Hill, ME), Genevieve, Stuart with King (a Greyhound), Adrienne, and Michele with Strummer (a Standard Poodle). Not pictured are Deborah and Rob and their two children with their dog Anna (a Husky/Shepherd mix); David and Nora with Austin (a Pomeranian); Janice with her dog Patsy (a Shepherd mix) and her nieces with their Corgi, Winnie (from Lexington); and Michael with Yukon. The following Somerville dogs had to stay home but were with us in spirit: three-legged Dash, Stu's second Greyhound, who is recovering from chemotherapy; Rosie, Genevieve's Pit Bull, whom she adopted last month from a shelter in Rhode Island and who is still getting used to being a beloved pet; and Willy, a Miniature Poodle whom Adrienne adopted last year and who was recently treated at Angell for heart problems.

Yukon (Siberian Husky) and teammates meet and greet.

Strummer: "I thought this was supposed to be a Walk for Animals."

A team member checks out some early Halloween costumes.

UPDATE 31 October 2004: Added the Team somervilledog.com picture.

Posted by Michèle at 9:51 PM
Categories: Events, Friends of somerville dog, Massachusetts, Somerville Dogs
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A public "thanks!" to the Foss Park Neighborhood Association for recognizing dog owners among the many neighborhood groups who enjoy the park!

The Foss Park Neighborhood Association is organizing an Autumn Clean-Up in Foss Park, Saturday, October 23, from noon to 3:00 pm. Foss Park is one of five parks in Somerville maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation [DCR]. It alone accounts for twelve percent of the open space in Somerville.

To promote good will between dog owners and other park users, I am asking dog owners who enjoy Foss Park to join me and Strummer in the Autumn Clean-up at Foss Park! The participation of dog owners in the Park Clean-up will also have the benefit of demonstrating to State and City officials that we care about the park and the Foss Park community at large. I think it would be great if dog owners would make a special effort to locate and clean up dog waste in the park: so bring a shovel and extra plastic bags!

In Foss Park, dogs must be kept on leash, and dog owners must clean up after their dogs. If you plan to bring your dog with you to the Autumn Clean-up, please make sure that you can provide adequate supervision for your dog while you participate in cleaning up the park. A two-person-per-dog ratio might be advisable for the Foss Park Autumn Clean-Up.

Posted by Michèle at 10:18 PM
Categories: Friends of somerville dog, Somerville
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via a Letter to the Editor in the October 4, 2004 Bostson Globe.

The National Rifle Association is running an ad portraying, among other things, a Standard Poodle as a dog that "don't hunt," which is funny, because around the world the Standard Poodle has been recognized as--and bred to be--a gun dog. Unlike the American Kennel Club, which classifies dogs according to morphology and includes the Standard Poodle in the Non-Sporting Group, the United Kennel Club, which "supports the idea of the 'total dog', meaning a dog that looks and performs equally well," judges the Standard Poodle in the Gun Dog Group.

In the late 1980's, Standard Poodles, the original duck-dogs, were fully eligible to participate in C[anadian] K[ennel] C[lub]'s WC/I/X tests (rules adopted in 1981 for implementation in 1982; approval to allow SPs to run probably given in late 1985, since first SP title was awarded in June 1986); the United Kennel Club's Hunting Retriever Club's tests (UKC categorization enabled SPs to participate from the tests' inception); and to a limited degree in N[orth] A[merican] H[unting] R[etriever] A[ssociation] tests (Poodles became fully eligible in the early 1990s). In June, 1993, the Poodle Club of America initiated a retriever Working Certificate programme, the required pre-requisite for eligibility to participate in the AKC's retriever Hunting Tests. In 1996, the CKC initiated retriever Hunt Tests (AKC Hunting Tests lookalikes) for which Standard Poodles were eligible from their inception. As of 1 September 1998, Poodles are eligible to participate in AKC Hunting Tests (The Poodle History Project).

Historically, poodles were groomed for practicality for field-training, hunt tests, and so on. According to the Poodle History Project, the benefits of the "historically-correct working-Continental" clip are as follows:

the dog's legs don't cake with heavy mud, yet the hair is long enough in the short parts to protect against brambles (but doesn't pick them up as hitch-hikers), the dog can swim easily, yet has enough hair in the moderate jacket to keep dry and warm at the skin in cold water and brisk wet windy weather. By contrast, the modern Sporting Clip leaves longer hair on the legs where it gathers heavy mud, and, when wet, the shorter hair on the body curls tightly, leaving skin exposed to cold wind.

Posted by Michèle at 9:29 AM
Categories: Dogs and Culture
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Have you visited the Animal Control Department of the City of Somerville on the web lately? The website has been updated to include the responsibilities of the Department as well as information about the enforcement of city ordinances regarding animals.

Thank you, David Renna, Head of Animal Control!

Posted by Michèle at 11:10 AM
Categories: Friends of somerville dog, Somerville
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