Dog Behavior Instructions

Hi everyone!  As part of my Master's Degree program I am currently conducting a study on dogs and how they cue owners into their wants. So if you have a dog, can follow SIX simple steps, and you are willing to spend ten minutes having fun, read on for all of the instructions!!
Aries has tested and approved this study.

The Language of the Dog

The purpose of this research is to assess how different breeds/categories of dogs give behavioral cues to their owners to communicate their wants. It is being conducted as part of Hilary Blair’s work in a graduate program at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. The task should take about five minutes to complete. Your participation is completely voluntary, and you may stop at any time. Confidentiality and anonymity of responses will be maintained to the highest degree possible. If you have any questions, you can contact Hilary Blair at blairhl2@miamioh.edu or my graduate advisor Ruth Allard at allardr@miamioh.edu . If you have questions or concerns about the rights of research subjects, you may contact the Research Compliance Office at Miami University at (513) 529-3600 or humansubjects@miamioh.edu.

Materials Needed: a dog, the dog’s owner (you!), an adult assistant, a treat/toy known to be appealing to your dog, a small closed-off room of your house with limited distractions, stopwatch, means to record the test.

There are two ways you can participate in this study. You can “Be the Scientist!” or “I want Hilary to do it!” If you choose to “Be the Scientist!” you will use the attached ethogram to record your dog’s behavior.  If you “want Hilary to do it!” you will use a video recorder (preferably on a cellphone) and send that video electronically to Hilary along with your “Introduction” section.  Either way, it is short—should take no more than five minutes to complete—and you get to bond with your dog(s), have fun, and maybe even learn something about how people and dogs can communicate!

**Note: If you have more than one dog that you would like to use in this study, please fill out an Introduction sheet and ethogram (or recorded video) for each dog and be sure to complete the exercise individually.

Introduction

Let’s answer some simple questions to get started –

Name of the subject (your dog): _____________________________________

Breed of subject (Mixes are great, but please choose what you think is the dog’s most dominate trait. (I.e. lab mix, beagle mix, etc.) Also, please indicate if dog is mixed: _______________________________

Age of subject:___________________

If you used a treat or toy: __________________________

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Get your dog’s favorite treat/toy. Something you know they love.

Step 2: Hand that treat/toy over to the assistant and have them take the dog into the small room – without you!

Step 3: Have Assistant show the dog the treat/toy, ensuring that the dog is engaged in the process, then place it somewhere out of the dog’s reach. (On a shelf, piece of furniture, etc.) Assistant then leaves room.

Step 4: You enter the room as the Assistant exits. (S)he starts stopwatch and will tell you when thirty seconds has passed.

A)  If you “want Hilary to do it!” enter the room with your video recorder already on and focused on your dog for the full thirty seconds. Please do not speak to, touch, or in any way manipulate your dog or the treat/toy until the thirty seconds has passed and your observations have ended.

B)  If you want to “Be the Scientist!” Enter room with the ethogram (see attached) and pen or pencil. Carefully observe your dog’s behavior. You will be conducting a continuous scan, so each time your dog’s behavior changes you will make a mark on the chart.  Please do not speak to, touch, or in any way manipulate your dog or the treat/toy until the thirty seconds has passed and your observations have ended.

Example of possible test behavior: You walk into the room. Your dog looks at you, looks at the object, barks, looks at you, looks at object, and nudges you with its nose. You are then notified thirty seconds is up. You should have four marks on your ethogram: two marks for Gaze Alternation (GA), one for Vocalization (V), and one for Contact (C).  If your dog looks at you the whole time with no other behavior change you would have just one mark on your ethogram for Gaze Owner (GO).

Step 5:  Reward your dog for doing a great job by giving them the treat or toy.

Step 6:  As soon as you are able after the observation, please send in your results to Hilary at blairhl2@miamioh.edu or simply reply to this blog posting with your results.   You can send the video, take a digital picture of the ethogram and introduction and send that, type out your results in an email, or return the sheets in an attachment along with your responses and observation as well as any questions or comments you may have had.  All results must be received by October 19.

**Don’t forget, you will want to include: the “Introduction” questions, your ethogram/video, and optional, but much appreciated, a picture of your dog(s). 

Ethogram

Species: Domestic Dog (Canis familiaris)

Method: Continuous Sampling

Behavior:                                          Description:                                                                                                                        

Gaze Owner (GO):                         The dog’s face (head and nose) were oriented towards the owner

Gaze Alternation (GA):                 The dog’s face (head and nose) alternated between looking at the           owner and the object

Vocalization (V):                            The dog whined and/or barked

Contact (C):                                    The dog made physical contact with the owner either by                        nudging, pawing, or by placing its nose or head upon the owner,            or came into any other form of physical contact with owner 

Contact with Object (CO):            The dog made physical contact with the object the treat/toy was             placed upon either by nudging with nose or head, or by placing               paws directly on object

Not Interested (NI):                       The dog showed no interest in the treat/toy

Other:                                             Any other behavior that is not classified on this chart

Five Simple Steps to Yard Sale Prep with Lyra Aries

This is the very first installment of what may soon be a bi-weekly occurrence of tips, tricks, and helpful hints with Lyra Aries! 

Summer is coming to an end (we hope!) so Aries has decided to start cleaning out the house to make room for those decorations we will all be putting up soon. We're going to have a yard sale to make a little extra cash while making new spots for new stuff!  So follow along for some great yard sale tips.




Step One: Look around your whooooooole house. Nothing and nowhere is off limits (unless it belongs to someone else...)

Don't forget these key places:

The Garage (Look high!)

The Kitchen (Who knows what treasures await in the back of the cabinets!)

Under the Bed (Look low!)

Step Two:  Assemble your potential findings in one location. 

Luckily Lyra Aries doesn't have a lot of stuff so she is able to organize all of her possessions in one place. 

(Pro Tip: A nice box might help to keep things organized.)

Step Three: Categorize. (It can get a little messy at this stage.)

Now Lyra Aries is not starving to death (I promise) nor will she be kicked to the street if she doesn't sell anything at the yard sale but she would love to make a little side cash for her emergency treat fund! So she's going to organize her findings into three piles:

Keep. Yard Sale! Throw Away.

Step Four: Be honest with yourself. This is a very important step!

Lyra Aries has a lot of toys that she no longer uses or enjoys anymore. So these will go in her Yard Sale/Throw Away pile depending on condition. It may be embarrassing that she kept it this long but no one else is going to want her three-legged, face-missing polar bear so that will go in the trash pile. 

Throw Away

But look at this shirt! It's still in great shape but just a little small for Aries so that's a great item for the yard sale! 

(She's still a little embarrassed about eating all the cookies)

Then in her pile I found this old freezer toy and I was ready to toss it in the yard sale pile. I haven't seen Aries play with it in forever and it's still in good shape for someone else to enjoy. But Aries then reminds me it is one of her very first puppy toys and we can't get rid of it.  And that's okay! Don't get rid of items that have sentimental value!

But then we found this penguin. Still in great shape, especially if we take the extra minute to brush off the lint. We even found that it's still a lot of fun to play with. Buuuuuut Aries hasn't used it in awhile and even though she still likes it and it's fun right now... it's time for it to find a new home. Remember, we're trying to sell good stuff to buy even better stuff (like treats)! 

Bye, bye penguin

Step Five: Stay Organized.

Throw away the trash.

Put away the stuff you're keeping.

Put a fair price on your yard sale items.

Store your yard sale items in a safe, clean location until the big day. 

Ready with the yard sale pile!

Well guys we hope Lyra Aries has given you some great yard sale tips. Please feel free to share your best yard sale tips too! 

Yard Sale prep is a lot of work!

SO Much!!!

I have SO much to post on!!!

This week:

We had the Oscars!

I took the LEAP and didn't SLEEP and spent 24 hours non-stop at Disneyland! For the first time EVER Disneyland was open for 24 hours, Opened 6 AM Wednesday through 6 AM Thursday, for leap year.  The idea was to spend your ENTIRE extra day at Disneyland - which I did!

Going to see Wicked for the first time!

So I need to blog on all three of these. And I have a couple new recipes/interesting things I tried that I would also like to post up. 

I also still need to make my dog treats! But that will be after these other blogs.

So I'm going to let this whirlwind week just continue along around me and then I'll post everything starting on Sunday.

It was a very boring week to be my dalmatian, but an amazing week to be me!

Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss!

Chocolate Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

As promised yesterday, here is my modification of this recipe that I found off of Pinterest (where else?).

Chocolate Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

So I had been wanting an oatmeal cookie for awhile but I didnt want the typical oatmeal cookie and since my wonderful mother had given me a big jar of Nutella, I knew that these would be the perfect combo of ingredients (and so did a lot of other people who have recipes for this).  Since this was the first time I had tried this recipe and I had no idea how the cookies would actually turn out, I cut the recipe in half and ended up with 15 cookies.  The following ingredients is for a full batch, but it's super easy to cut in half, if you just want to try it.  This recipe follows the guidelines of the link above but I have added my own ingredients and made modifications to make it my own delicious recipe.

Makes about 30 large cookies

The Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (more or less for your personal preference)

1/2 c. (one stick) of room temperature butter

1/2 c. Nutella

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg (if you're cutting the recipe in half, just add the whole egg anyway)

1 1/4 cup oats

3/4 c. chocolate chips (I used mini and they melted into the cookie and made the whole cookie very chocolatey. Regular chips wont melt as much and will stand up for individual bites of chocolate goodness)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

(The original recipe says to use an electric mixer to mix this all together. I do not have an electric stand mixer.  I do not even have an electric hand mixer.  So I used a good ole fashion spatula and my arm and it all mixed together just fine.)

In a bowl mix together your dry ingredients - flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a larger bowl, cream together your butter, Nutella, and sugars.

Once creamed, add the vanilla and egg. Keep mixing until it's creamy just like melted chocolate, or cake batter.

While continuing to stir, add in the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

Then add the oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Stir gently until well combined.

Drop spoonfuls two-three inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden.

Eat them hot out of the oven - that's when they're best.

My Review:  They turned out a little flat, and very, very chocolatey.  If you're a chocolate lover you would absolutely adore these.  They are delicious hot out of the oven.  Once they cool they lose a little taste and become hard but just pop them in the microwave for about 8 seconds and they're back to delicious. The only thing I think the Nutella added to them was the chocolate flavor - the hazelnut was lost in the oats.  Overall, for me, (not a big chocolate all at once fan) I would give them a 3.5 out of 5.

Happy Baking!!

***Remember these would be cookies NOT to share with your spotted (or otherwise furry) friend.  The chocolate is a no-no. But stay tuned for the Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars that both you and your dog can enjoy***

101 Dalmatians

So we decided to have a movie afternoon and it was Aries turn to choose.  She (of course) chose 101 Dalmatians. Her most favorite part is the Twilight Bark and she often barks along. Here she is watching :) Enjoy your week!

Pinterest

I don't have time to blog anymore because now I am spending all of my time here:

Pinterest - A Dalmatian Spot

So please come follow me there.

But now I will start using, making, being inspired by, these awesome things on pinterest and start posting the before, after, and during here!

I <3 Pinterest.

And you should too!

"My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot."

Crayon Art

Well I decided to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon and have been non-stop wanting to craft ever since. So a very popular form of art that's trending over there is something called Crayon Art.  Once I saw this, and even saw a personal friend craft one, I knew I had to try it too.

I got the best of the best insider tips from my friends, scoured through different blogs and pictures for ideas of crayon art and was finally ready to try my own, and this is it:

First: You need an idea.  I had just recently organized my room (finally!) and I have an area where Aries, my Dalmatian, has her water dish and I have an Arizona Diamondback picture higher up above her bowl but I thought it would be adorable for her to have her own artwork to look at. That's when I thought of the crayon art.  I honestly chose to do crayon art for her because I wasn't sure how well it would turn out and she doesn't usually tend to be a harsh critic, so I decided to give it a go.

Second: You need a canvas.  I bought a 9 x 12 at Michaels and they were all 50% off the week I went, so I ended up spending $3.57 (You can buy any size you want, just remember bigger canvas, means more crayons needed)

Third: You need crayons.  I bought four boxes of eight count crayons also at Michaels for .99 each. (You could have gotten these cheaper and in a bigger box elsewhere, but I wanted some one stop shopping and decided to spend the extra.)

So you then organize your supplies.

You need to decide what colors and in what order you want your final product to look like.  I decided I wanted rainbow so that it would be nice and fun.  I've seen just blues (representing rain), reds and oranges (for fire), greens (flower stems), etc. however you want it to look. 



Sorry this is sideways I couldn't get it to turn and was becoming frustrated!

Once you have your order of crayons it's time to start gluing them down.  I used a hot glue gun, made a thin strip, glued down the crayon.  I made it so all the Crayola symbols faced out, you can do it however you want, or even take off the wrappers. Instead of a hot glue gun, I've seen blogs where people used E6000, etc Pretty much you can use anything that will stick your crayon down. (Notice in the picture you can see Aries helping me with this step... or maybe she was begging me to put some food in the upside down bowl...)

Now, once all of your crayons are glued down you can just start blow-drying if you want to and you'll have a nice piece of crayon art.  I, however, decided to go with the idea of adding a silhouette.

If you're awesome, you can just free hand this.  If you're like me, you can trace it.  So I traced a tree, and since it's for my dog....

I added a dog and her name.  Now my hand really started to hurt after this hard tracing and then filling in.  Total time, this took me about two hours, but since it was my first time, I don't consider that too bad.

Okay so this is my finished product. You now need to prepare for the blow drying, you can also use a heating gun if you have one readily available.  From reading the other blogs, I read that this part was VERY messy.  So I prepared by putting towels underneath my canvas and against the wall.  I used everyday scotch tape to cover my silhouette in hopes that the crayon wouldn't drip all over my hard work.  And then I was ready to go. I started out with my blow dryer on hot and low speed... nothing happened.  I kicked it up to high and hot and the crayons started to melt.  I worked in small sections, starting from the right first.  If the drips started getting too close to my silhouette I stopped blow drying and the drip stopped pretty quickly.  For the areas where I wanted it to drip down farther I applied the most heat.  One thing I did discover: Yellow is so, so, hard to melt and really never showed up.  I actually ended up scraping off a chunk of the yellow with my fingernail then scraping it further down the canvas and melting it. 

And here is my final product. I do like the way it turned out.  It did splatter a bit but I pointed my blow dryer straight on at the crayons and then focused the air flow downward and didn't seem to get the huge splatter mess that was mentioned elsewhere.  Overall, it really was a fun craft and I would consider doing it again, especially because no two are ever going to look alike.

And of course, every piece of art work needs to be signed.

My Silhouette Crayon Art













Mixed Berry, Cream Cheese Muffins

About a week ago I had some cream cheese that was about to expire and I was in a baking mood so I decided to go online and find a recipe I could use with my cream cheese. 

I originally wanted to do something chocolate - brownies, cupcakes, etc.  But then I started thinking about what if I could find a recipe I could use and modify so that it would taste good to me but also be okay for Aries to have a small portion too as a treat.

I found this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Cream-Muffins-2/Detail.aspx  recipe and modified it a bit because of the ingredients I had readily available to me.

So here is my ingredient list:

Ingredients

• 4 cups wheat or cake flour (making it a little more dog friendly but still delicious)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg (I used one egg because I only had 2 eggs total but I would suggest using TWO eggs here)
• 2 cups milk (non-fat)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
•  2 cups mixed berries - fresh or frozen (do not thaw if frozen, just add them right in. I used strawberry pieces, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries - use whatever you like!)
• FILLING:
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Dash salt

This recipe made about 24 muffins for me - so cutting in half would probably be a good idea if you're just baking for yourself.

Okay first step:

In large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.

Then, combine and beat together the eggs, milk, and butter. (As mentioned, I only used one egg, but I would suggest using two because my batter and finished product did turn out a little dry)

Then stir your liquid batter into your dry batter until moist. Don't forget to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so you get all the dry ingredients mixed thoroughly. 

Then, as mentioned previously, I used mixed berries because it's what I had in my freezer.  Fold in your berries - do not over mix these.

Aries is a very good helper in the kitchen - always cleaning up any spills on the floor.

Then spoon about 2 Tablespoons of batter into greased or lined muffin tins

It's now time to make your filling - In a small bowl mix together all of your filling ingredients until you get a nice creamy texture.

 

Then put about a tablespoon into each muffin cup on top of the batter you all ready put into the cups.





Finally, add about another tablespoon on top of the cream cheese filling. These will be full, tall muffins.

Lastly, put them in the oven.  Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes - if you like them a little more well done and brown, like I do, bake for 23 minutes. And you will soon have beautiful, delicious muffins that everyone (including your spotted/furry friend) will love.

Overall, they turned out to be good muffins.  The cream cheese filling in the middle soaked a little into the surrounding batter to incorporate itself into all of the muffin. I prefer light, airy muffins and these were not that kind.  These are a heavy, dense muffin that reminded me a bit of cobbler.  However, they were very delicious and I loved the fruit.  I liked the variety but you could obviously make it with just one type of fruit as the original recipe calls for.  Aries also really enjoyed the half muffin she got while practicing her training tricks! I meant to take a picture of the inside of the muffin but forgot before my friends and I had gobbled them all up.

Happy Baking!


Disclaimer: Do NOT ever feed your dog too many sweets etc. but since these were a dense muffin a small portion was suitable for her.  Know your own dog and what they can and cannot tolerate.

Bruno's Blog

Without this turning into a novel, I’m going to share my experiences with a dog that would change me –

This is Bruno’s Blog.

 This sweet, big, young, male, unaltered pit mix followed me home on Friday morning while I was out walking Aries and my brother’s dog.

He is a seriously good looking dog, and absolutely fell in love with Aries.  He was wearing a black collar (no tags) and appeared to be very healthy.  It was obvious he was just a young, slightly scared, big goof ball, that wanted nothing more than to play with Aries.

I thought that once he followed me home and we went inside and closed all the doors and ignored him, he would leave.  Two hours later, I step outside my front door and he’s there, and not only is he there, but he growls at me.  I quickly closed the door and thought “Crap, I have an aggressive pitbull (Begin Rant: Who I DO NOT discriminate against – my moms dog is a pitbull and I lived with her for ten+ years and you could not ask for a better dog. Discriminate against owners NOT breeds, end Rant.) right outside my door.”  However, he seemed to love me when I had my dog, so I got her on a leash, and confidently walked outside.  I knew he was just afraid and unsure of people but when I had Aries he turned into a totally different dog.  I wasn’t sure what to do with this guy that showed up outside my door and refused to leave, I tried rescue groups which were all full, I couldn’t and was reluctant to take him to a shelter.  With the opinions of others I decided to let this semi-aggressive dog stay outside the front of my house because I knew that once night fell and I turned off all the lights he would get bored and leave.

I went outside Saturday morning to find that big pit bull grin staring at me.  I was reluctant to approach but suddenly he bounded towards me, jumped up to my face, and started licking me all over like we were long lost friends. That day I let him into my backyard to play with Aries – and boy what a good time they had.  I searched neighborhoods, posted ads, and continued relentlessly to look for his owner to no avail.

 Then that thought started to creep into my mind: I want to keep this dog.  I want to keep this dog. He’s perfect. A nice big dog – his head reached my waist.  A good protector.  The perfect energy level for Aries. Gorgeous.

But then I had to face reality – I’m a substitute teacher, I have a very jealous possessive dog, I take care of a 7 month old unneutered Bulldog rather frequently, I barely have the money for my rent and groceries, I just couldn’t do it.  I knew that I could not provide the financial needs of this dog. 

But it didn’t stop me from falling in love with him and naming him.  I thought of him as my guard dog, he would growl (and even lunged at) anyone, besides myself, that would pass by, reach to pet him, or get too close to me.  So I wanted to give him a tough, traditional name.  I started with Fido but that was too cliché.  I then thought of Bruno because that’s a good strong name, and the name of the dog in Cinderella.  My friend also pointed out it was like Bruno Mars – the dog and Bruno Mars being both very handsome individuals. 

Sunday, I was in contact with a couple more rescues and started asking friends to ask around if they knew of anyone that could home this dog. 

But then I started to get the feeling something was wrong.

Bruno suddenly became a very picky eater for a young, big dog. By afternoon, he didn’t want to run and jump and play anymore. 

This morning I went outside and he greeted me with his happy tail and a gentle lick to my hand, but he immediately went back to the bed of blankets I had made for him.  I noticed he had gotten very sick in my yard during the night/morning.  I covered him with more blankets and sat next to him while he shivered.

I knew at that point, I had to let Bruno go. 

It was not fair for Bruno to suffer and for me to keep him, thinking that I could heal him, I could help him, without the care of a vet. 

Once again, I knew I didn’t have the means to take care of Bruno.

I contacted the proper authorities and they’re coming to pick him up.  

(**Update: The officer said she would report him as lost, instead of a stray, so he would receive medical attention immediately) 

Quick Reality Check:

Hundreds of dogs are lost, stolen, or just turned out each and every day for a variety of reasons. Opened/unlocked gates, insecure fencing, financial hardship.  Thousands of dogs are placed in shelters every month.  There isn’t space or means to care for all of these precious dogs.  Shelters are often labeled as the ‘bad guy’ because of what they are forced to do every day.  The dogs are often afraid, they’re stressed, they’re confused, yet they’re expected to act happy, calm, and cute in hopes of that one special person coming along to take them home, I knew this dog wouldn’t pass the test.   I know the realities and I know you do too… and please, I don’t want to hear your opinion on them.

So today, as I sit on my front lawn next to Bruno and write this, he’ll be taken out of my life forever.  I don’t know what will happen to him but I do know what will most likely happen.  I think the worst, but still hope for the best.  I tell Bruno, even though he doesn’t understand, if it does happen, he’ll feel better. He’ll soon run, jump, and play again.  He won’t ever have to worry about being cold or hungry, heartbroken or unwanted.  He will have his place.

And me?

Once he leaves I’ve downloaded 68 minutes of Bruno Mars songs to my ipod.  I’m going to take my dog and walk with her for the entire 68 minutes while listening to his songs. We’re going to walk for the too many ‘Brunos’ out there and reflect on how lucky we are.

Then, I’m going to contact a rescue, or the humane society, and see how I can help. I don’t have money or the space/means to foster a dog at this point in my life, or to open my own adoption agency – but I will someday.

Right now? I can volunteer me. I can go to adoption events on Saturdays and volunteer my time and effort to getting other dogs, that were once Brunos, permanent homes.

I keep asking why, why, why?! Why was this dog brought into my life at this time?  But maybe, in only 72 hours, it was so Bruno could show me the way.  So I would finally stop thinking about helping, but to actually start trying.

PS I fully support RESPONSIBLE breeding – dogs that are bred to better their breed line, to uphold the breed name and bring healthy, happy, loved dogs into this world.  I do NOT support ‘backyard’ breeders or irresponsible pet owners who DO NOT spay or neuter their pets because of laziness, selfishness, or being just plain irresponsible pet owners.  Please, please, please spay or neuter your dog (or cat) there are low cost and even no cost programs out there. I’m located in Arizona and if you need help I know of some resources and would be happy to help you get help. You can also contact your local ASPCA, shelter, or Petco/Petsmart who often have ideas and flyers readily available. 

Further, dogs are a HUGE and EXPENSIVE responsibility.  That puppy looks cute now but it is a LIFETIME commitment and costs money for its care and upkeep. Please think before adopting because that puppy/dog doesn’t deserve to go to, or even back to, a shelter because you didn’t think things through before getting it.  I understand job loss (going through it now), sickness (been through it with family members) and even death (dealt with that too unfortunately), please have a plan in place if any of these issues were to arise.  They deserve it.

For Bruno.

“My mission is to rescue. In hope, that one day, I won’t have to.”  ~Tia Torres, Animal Planet Pitbulls and Parolees