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There will be a public hearing concerning House Bill 4753, An Act Prohibiting the Renting of Pets, Thursday, June 5, 11 to 1, in Room A-1, at the State House.

Hello Canine Companions and Compadres!

Don't sit on the sidelines.
Don't be an armchair quarterback.
Don't be a backseat driver.

We've worked hard--now it's our time to be heard (and seen) on behalf of dogs and cats. Please make every effort to attend and bring other animal lovers: Those opposing our bill will be there! You can help ban pet rentals.

Thursday, June 5, 11 to 1
Room A-1
State House

FlexPetz is a business that rents dogs--by the hour or day--to people who want the fun of a pet without commitment. FlexPetz calls it "flexible ownership." But callousness by any name still hurts. If we open the door in Massachusetts, other dog and cat rental businesses will follow.

Why It's Bad for Pets
- Dogs and cats need stability and consistency. Rental pets are handed off to a succession of people, spending a few hours with one, a day or two with another--subjected to renters' different personalities, environments, routines and rules, which is confusing and stressful. They spend the rest of their time in animal day care.
- "I see a lot of dogs who have severe behavioral issues resulting from inconsistency. It is nearly impossible for people to be consistent with rented pets," according to Certified Dog Behavior Consultant Jo Jacques, CDBC, CPDT, CPCT.
- Constantly breaking a dog's bonds with humans is cruel, says Ray McSoley, who founded the Animal Behavior Clinic at Boston's acclaimed Angell Memorial Veterinary Hospital.
- And it could ruin their chance for a "forever home" when the business is done with them. "These animals will become distrustful of humans. They will withdraw," says Jo Jacques. If they're not adopted or it fails as a result? Off to a shelter, but older, more confused--and more likely to be euthanized or spend the rest of their lives in cages.
- Even well-mannered pets are more apt to bite when stressed. And constant change is very stressful, the experts say. What happens to the pet who bites after being passed from renter to renter?
- What about the rental pet who becomes chronically ill? No business can hold inventory
that costs instead of pays. And who will adopt a sick or unbalanced animal?
- Pet rental PR suggests this business model is beneficial for shelter animals. Not so. Obviously, the most rentable pets are the most adoptable. Do you think a rental business will take timid, old or scruffy pets who won't command its hefty fee? Or friendly, adorable young animals it can readily rent--who otherwise would have had the best chance for adoption? Instead of getting a "forever home," they become profit centers.
- Renting encourages us to think of all pets--rented, adopted or purchased--as "things" we enjoy till they're no longer cute, fun or convenient, then return, like DVDs or cars.
- "Disposable pet syndrome" encourages animal abandonment and abuse.
- Pet rentals and dog fighting are on the same continuum: They trade on desensitization of humans, commoditization of animals. One business conditions us to tolerate the other.

Why It's Bad for Humans
Consumers may not appreciate the risk of injury and litigation to which renting a pet exposes them. If your stressed rental pet sends just you to the ER, you're lucky. If it's your child, not so much. And if he bites or otherwise injures a stranger, consider this: Personal injury lawyers cast a wide net. While the rental business may be insured, what homeowner's policy covers "rental pet attacks"?

Why It's Bad for Massachusetts
The "disposable pet" mindset pet rental businesses promote may ultimately strain public and private resources. It is akin to the dumbing down of America--except it's our perception of and responsibility to companion animals that will erode. That can only lead to increased pet abandonment, adoption returns and abuse. And that hurts all of us, including taxpayers who don't have an affinity for animals.

Brian Henderson
Editor, DogBoston

See also:
Dog Boston's dog blog
MSPCA-Angell

Posted by Michèle at 10:46 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Massachusetts
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Strummer is the only excuse I need to take a walk, but in order to get the inertial member of our pack moving, sometimes we need to dangle a proverbial carrot in front of his nose. On Sunday the carrot was Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square (378 Highland Avenue).

I asked the friendly young man at the counter to recommend their most kickass cupcake. With only a momentary concession to individual tastes, he recommended the limited-edition Green Monster, which had already attracted my attention with its dark-green frosting and "Made with Sam Adams Cream Stout" label.

Another kickass thing about Kickass Cupcakes: they're dog-friendly: They make Carob Peanut Butter Pupcakes, and they put out fresh water for dogs.

Putting a bowl of fresh water out for dogs is such a neighborly thing for a local business to do. It's not surprising that the owner of Kickass Cupcakes, Sara Ross, is a dog owner. She and her husband own two rottweilers.

Welcome to Somerville, Kickass Cupcakes, and thank you for helping to make Somerville more dog-friendly!

Posted by Michèle at 5:08 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Somerville, Somerville Dogs
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On a recent Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to attend an in-home behavior training with Marjie Alonso of Somerville-based City Dog Training and Vera Wilkinson of The Pet Needs Company.

A young couple had recently adopted a young female Jack Russell Terrier and had contacted City Dog Training, because they were concerned that their dog's barking was disturbing their neighbors in their building.

"Bianca" (not her real name) barked at us and was in constant motion from the moment we entered the condo. She kept her distance from the three strangers (Alonso, Wilkinson, and me) and she kept her eye on all five of the humans in her space.

Alonso gave me a handful of bits of Redbarn Premium Food Food for dogs, and instructed me to toss bits of food, one by one, on the floor for Bianca. She and Wilkinson did the same so that, immediately after we arrived, all three strangers were tossing bits of food on the floor, while Alonso spoke with the couple about their daily routine with Bianca. Alonso was seated, Wilkinson and I and Bianca's owners were all standing.

After about five minutes there was a noticable difference in Bianca's barking behavior. She was no longer barking only to express the stress of having strangers in her home; she was also barking sometimes when there was a lull in the rain of treats hitting the floor.

The purpose of the rain of treats was not to get Bianca to stop barking, it was rather to communicate to Bianca that the strangers in her home were not (entirely) a bad thing. In that first five minutes, Alonso had already learned a couple of things about Bianca:

Bianca's discomfort with strangers in her home is not debilitating (a dog can be so frightened or stressed that it cannot eat; this was not the case with Bianca)
Bianca is food-motivated

Bianca had also offered a training opportunity: She was sometimes barking not because there were strangers in her home but because we weren't treating her fast enough; That meant that sometimes she wasn't barking. Alonso, Wilkinson and I took advantage of those moments when Bianca was not barking to toss treats on the floor, and we were less likely to toss a treat when she was barking.

At one moment, I shifted my weight, and my movement caused Bianca to startle and back away. Since the dog had already demonstrated that she could learn to face her fears in the presence of food, Alonso instructed us to move one foot slightly while tossing treats on the floor. Soon Bianca was comfortable with our moving--slowly and deliberately--in the room.

This whole process of making the dog comfortable with our presence is called "desensitization." Bianca was overly sensitive to the presence of strangers in her home, we had to desensitize her, first to our presence, then to our movements.

At this point Alonso introduced the first training exercise. She gave Bianca's owners handfuls of treats and instructed them to call her name and feed her a treat from their hands when she came to them.

It was fascinating for many reasons to watch her new owners interact with Bianca. At first, Bianca was more interested in the strangers in her home than her owners. Alonso explained that we had built up an expectation of treats, and that it was understandable that Bianca would not want to turn her back to strangers as well as to people who had been giving away free food for the past ten minutes.

Also, it was really hard for her owners to follow Alonso's instruction say her name only once. This is common training advice: In many cases, it's best to give the command only once. The reason is that you want to train the dog, in this case, that her name is "Bianca", not "Bianca. Bianca! Bi-aahhhn-ka! Here girl! Come here, Bianca!"

Once Bianca was convinced that her owners were (almost) as reliable a source of treats as her new (relatively safe) friends, Alonso had us stand around the room and alternate calling her and rewarding her with a treat when she came to us. We were coached so that we would not distress Bianca inadvertently with our body language. We turned our bodies slightly away from her, so that she could approach us from the side (not head on); We were crouching so that we didn't seem to loom over her; we delivered the treats from below her nose-level so that she did not see hands coming down at her head. We were also instructed to simply say her name and give her a treat. No petting or even saying "good dog" yet.

Bianca's owners were encouraged to invite friends over to play this game with them and the dog. This is a good way to help make a dog comfortable with different people, and, if you want your friends and family to visit you, it really helps to have a dog who is comfortable around a lot of different people!

Sounds like a lot of food, doesn't it? Alonso explained that during her training (which would probably take several weeks) Bianca would get most of her nutrition from "treats"--the rewards she gets during training sessions. She suggested that they reduce the amount of food they give her at meal time to about 1/4 of her regular serving size depending upon how much training the owners were doing.

You can also use your regular dog food for training treats (Wilkinson spoke to the owners about the importance of dog-food with high nutritional quality. In particular, she advised them to avoid foods in which the primary ingredient--the first ingredient on the ingredients list--is corn.)

Most dogs, however, will not work for kibble. Treats should be of high value to the dog, but also healthy. (Trying to train a dog with pupperoni, is like trying to train for a marathon and eating only McDonalds.)

I've heard some trainers say that during periods of rigorous training the dog should not get a single bite of food for "free". Meal-time is training time. Alonso demonstrated a nice training exercise for Bianca's mealtimes:

Alonso let Bianca sniff the contents of the food bowl, which for the purpose of the demonstration, was stocked with assortment of high-value treats. She then positioned Bianca on her left side while holding the food bowl in the air above her own head in her right hand (on the side opposite from the dog). She slowly lowered the bowl toward the floor until Bianca--who's only canine, after all--moved toward the bowl. The instant that Bianca moved, Alonso quietly said "eh-eh" and raised the bowl above her head again. When Bianca, by not moving, allowed Alonso place the bowl on the floor, Alonso praised her and let her eat the entire contents of the bowl.

It took only about forty seconds for Bianca to allow Alonso to place the bowl the the floor without moving toward it. Alonso explained that, at least at first, it would take longer for her owners to be able to place the bowl on the floor, especially if the bowl were filled only with kibble, because the dog already has expectations about what happens at mealtime and it would take some time to break her of those expectations.

The benefit of this training with the food bowl is that it starts to establish some self-control in the dog as well as developing a gentle command, "eh-eh," that her owners can use when they need Bianca to stop doing whatever she's doing and look at them. This training is will come in handy, if say, your dog is pursuing a skunk and you want her to stop RIGHT NOW.

So, what about Bianca's barking, which is the reason her owners called City Dog Training in the first place? By helping Bianca to be more comfortable in her new home and more comfortable around different people, by helping her learn to pay attention to her owners, these training techniques will help Bianca be less nervous and less stressed and more calm and relaxed. When she is calm and relaxed, as we saw, Bianca doesn't bark!

Posted by Michèle at 6:47 AM
Categories: Canine Good Citizenship, Dogs and Business, Friends of somerville dog, Training
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Addressing the problem of dog waste in the streets of New York, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, authors of the Freakonomics column in The New York Times Magazine want to know: "How do we deal with the occasional miscreant who fails to scoop?" ("Dog-Waste Management," October 2, 2005)

In San Fransisco, irresponsible dog owners may soon create a niche for entrepreneurial collectors: the city is interested in a program that would recycle pet waste into methane "to power a turbine to make electricity or to heat homes," according to Reuters ("Dog poop--the next alternative energy source?" February 22, 2006,").

Back in New York the sociopaths are inspiring a local art movement: Sprinkle Brigade. One of my favorite installations is the recent (August 6, 2006) "Law and Order," in the West Village.

Posted by Michèle at 6:14 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Dogs and Culture, Shooting the S--t
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Last year Philip Greenspun asked readers of his weblog for suggestions for a dog-friendly bank:

My bank has been purchased, for about the fifth time. Currently it is called “Bank of America.” None of the previous changes of ownership or name bothered me but this time the new color scheme came with “no dogs allowed” signs in the front of every branch office . . . . Anyone have a suggestion for a dog-friendly bank in the Boston area?

Bostonians today have several pet-friendly options in the banking community, according to an article in the Boston Globe ("Competing banks find pets are in their interest" by Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff, July 27, 2006):

When Bank of America merged with FleetBoston two years ago, smaller banks saw it as an opportunity to bring in new customers. . . . With more banks competing for dollars—Citigroup is the latest to enter the market—every move counts, especially being nice to man's best friend. . . .

Citizens Bank recently created a dog section in its South End branch in Boston, where pooches can eat biscuits, lap up water, and hang out while their owners do their banking business. An Eastern Bank in Lynn hands out homemade dog biscuits—along with recipes so owners can make the goodies themselves. Hingham Institution for Savings offers dog treats at all of its branches.

``It's not really the dog we're attempting to please. The deposits dogs are capable of making we generally prefer not to have," said Robert H. Gaughen Jr. , the president of Hingham Institution for Savings. ``Owners' deposits are the ones we're really pleased with."

Strummer comes with me when I bank at the Harvard Square branch of the Cambridge Trust Company, and when I bank at both the Davis Square and the Harvard Square branches of Sovereign Bank.

Posted by Michèle at 1:01 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business
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Realtors have begun telling property owners they must make their buildings and apartment rentals more hospitable to the growing number of dog owners,

according to an article about the South End by Cristina Silva in the Boston Globe yesterday ("Lapping up luxuries").

Boston.com also has a slideshow featuring some of the dogs and the dog-friendly amenities of the South End, including the dog park at Peters Park, Tremont 647, which offers a doggie lunch on the patio every Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m., and Polka Dog Bakery.

via Bostondogs

Posted by Michèle at 3:06 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Massachusetts, Off-Leash Recreational Areas—i.e. "Dog Parks"
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My intent was always to have a place to work that was the right mix of corporate and artistic—part of creating that environment is to wear suits and have dogs.

The dog-friendly corporate philosophy of Roger Sametz, president and founder of Boston branding firm Sametz Blackstone Associates, is not just about dogs: it's about a better workplace for people. Sametz Blackstone Associates was featured in an article on December 12, 2004 in the Boston Globe, "Some companies help to lick stress by allowing dogs at work" (via Boston Pooch*). According to the article

a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in 2001 found that having pets in the office created a more productive work environment among 73 percent of the participating companies. The association's survey, which included workplaces with dogs, cats, fish, small animals, reptiles, and birds, showed a reduction in absenteeism of 27 percent among employees.

Another study conducted at the State University of New York at Buffalo and published in 2001 found that "control of borderline hypertension [high blood pressure] can be assisted by a behavioral intervention involving a pet dog."

Now, if having a pet dog in your home can help to lower your blood pressure, and if allowing pets in the workplace can improve employee morale, reduce absenteeism and help to make employees more willing to stay late, it stands to reason that allowing residents to enjoy municipal parks with their pets will also reduce tension, for example the tension in neighborhoods between people who want to enjoy parks with our dogs and people who want to enjoy dog-free parks.

It just so happens that it was precisely the dog-friendly Sametz Blackstone Associates who researched and installed the multi-colored educational signs at Somerville's "story park," Conway Park. As a Globe article put it last year, the City hired the corporate branding firm "to boost its self-respect and attract outsiders." An article in the Somerville Journal emphasized that

the park and story signs were created to be accessible to kids. It has been tailored so that children can take field trips to the park and learn about the history. However, there is something there for everyone, from sports, to industry and gardening.

Correction: there is something at Conway Park for everyone except families with dogs.

Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy playing sports—both in organized leagues and in casual games among family and friends, but not residents who enjoy playing with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy bicycling, walking, in-line skating and running, but not residents who enjoy walking with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate residents who enjoy simply spending time outdoors—gardening, reading, socializing, etc., but not residents who enjoy spending time outdoors with our dogs. Somerville parks accommodate families with young children, but families must leave our dogs home while we enjoy Somerville's parks.

A dog-friendly policy for Somerville's open spaces is not about dedicating parks to dogs, it's about creatively managing the City's open spaces in a way that accomodates the diverse needs of Somerville families. "The right mix" of recreational opportunities is exactly what Somerville needs.

*UPDATE 22 February 2006: The BostonPooch site is, alas, defunct.

Posted by Michèle at 12:36 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Somerville, Your Health
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