THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH

Here’s an authentic question for you all, and I would love to hear your answers. The question in the title is based on a phenomenon that seems to be consistent across many years and in many contexts. The ‘word’ in the publishing industry is that, compared to dog lovers, cat lovers buy very few cat related books. I remember when Dogwise (Direct Books) started out they sold both cat and dog books, until they dropped the cat-related items because they didn’t sell well and weren’t worth the trouble. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s smash best seller The Hidden Life of Dogs was followed by a book, Tribe of the Tiger, that didn’t sell particularly well.  I get 100 (1,000?) requests to do dog behavior-related seminars for every one cat behavior seminar I’m asked to do (I LOVE doing cat behavior seminars by the way).

But why is that? Cat lovers adore their cats, no question about it. No doubt one explanation is that cat owners have fewer expectations of have a “well-trained” cat, whereas dog owners are always buying training and behavior modification books. That might be the primary explanation, and it fits the fact that the cat books that first pop up on Amazon are usually stories about cats (and look at the recent best selling book, Dewey, about a cat and a small library in Iowa). But on my former radio show, I was swamped with questions about cat behavior. Today on Larry Meiller’s on WPR show we got lots of questions of people who were desperate to get help for the cat’s behavioral problem.

People do need to train their cats, and to solve the behavioral problems they have with them… but they still don’t buy cat behavior books that often. I was thinking about this issue last week when Denise, Andrea and I discussed selling a book we really like,  Starting from Scratch. We did put it up for sale on the site, and we’ll see how it does. But I don’t bring this up as a marketing promotion, it’s a sincere question about why it is almost universal that dog lovers can’t get enough books about dog behavior, while cat lovers may read a lot (and with a cat in their lap!), but not about cats… You’d think cat lovers would buy cat books, because, well, why not? Any thoughts?

Meanwhile, back at the farm, it’s a swamp outside, hot and muggy. My least favorite weather in the world. I’m moving the sheep to a small pasture every day now, and luckily they need to be moved early in the morning and late in the evening. That gives us all a break because we can avoid the hot times of the day, but even then both Willie and I are relieved to get back inside in the air conditioning. The AC hasn’t been on all year until last Friday, but what a luxury it is to have it. I’ve so much gardening to do though… I’m so far behind after being gone and so busy for a few weeks. Oh well, a weed is just a plant in a place you don’t want it, so I get to say, hey?

The bird life continues at at break neck pace… all the songbirds trying to fit in as many nesting attempts as they can before the light changes and the leaves fall. This weekend I was sorry to watch a male Cardinal feeding a round, pushy Brown-Headed Cowbird baby begging successfully from him at the feeder. Cowbirds are nest parasites, who lay their eggs in the nests of song birds. Their young are large and precocious, and are able to trigger a feeding response from a parent of a different species by using “sign stimuli” that elicit feeding from birds like Cardinals and Vireos. A bit like us getting all warm and gooey over a cartoon character that looks infantile with big eyes, a big forehead and disproportionately large hands and feet. Cowbirds are native, so I guess I shouldn’t be too concerned, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the Cardinal, whose own young may well have starved to death given the aggressive nature of the cowbirds begging (and the fact that their large size can result in the ‘real’ nestlings being pushed out of the nest and dying on the ground.)

Life is tough out there, no doubt about it. But not so rough in the house, where Sushi sleeps on the couch as I write. Here are my favorite photos of Sushi, no doubt she’s pondering the heavy issues I’ve raised . . .

I almost forgot to mention that I get to see Larry Meiller (my co-host on the public radio show, now cancelled, Calling All Pets, for those of you who don’t know him) this coming Monday. I’ll be on his show from 11 to 11:45 and it’ll be lovely to work with him again and talk to folks in Wisconsin about their animals.

Meanwhile, back at the farm: Last night we had two house-shaking thunderstorms, no sleep for me and the dogs and hard work for the surge protector which was crying pitiously when I went downstairs at 3 am. Man it can be interesting to live in the midwest!  We got about 3 inches at the farm, no damage that I can see, except the poor flowers took a beating.

Last night I took the dogs for a walk about a mile from the farm. I’d say a good time was had by all, but Willie is horrifically affected by heat and humidity (like many BC’s) and although it was only 80 it was very humid. By the time I got back to the car I was seriously worried about him, he overheats so easily and it was our first hot and humid day of the year here. Poor Willie, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. He seems fine now, but our work on sheep is restricted now to early early mornings or especially cool and dry days. You can even see in the photo below that he looks hotter than Lassie, and we had just started out. Classic early summer midwest scenery, hey?

So much to say, so little time! First off, I thought I’d let the folks who get WPR daytime know that I’ll be a guest on Larry Meiller’s show tomorrow at 11:45. It’ll be a hoot to see him. I’m feeling sort of smiley-silly about it, so watch out what you ask me if you call in!

Second, here’s a photo of Lassie with her canine chiropractor, Dr. Mark McCaan (spelling?). We go in every month (Willie every other), and there is simply no question that it helps her 15 year old body (almost, she’ll be 15 in 3 weeks!). The effects are immediate and obvious. If I skip them she develops a significant limp originating in her right shoulder. If I stay on schedule she still clearly has some arthritis (treated in many ways, not just chiropractic). [Did I mention, that in spite of Dr. Mark’s kindness and care with her old body, Lassie is never thrilled about going to the vet clinic? Look at the faces below… talk about absolute opposites of emotional expressions! Lest you are worried about my Lassie girl, she looks exactly like that in the car too… no one does ‘disdain’ better than Princess Lassie!

I was talking to a dear brother-in-law on my way there, and had the conversation you well might have had too…”Yes, really, there really are canine chiropractors and yes, really they can do amazingly wonderful things for a dog’s body, just as is true in human medicine.” (And what wasn’t said was “Yes, really, I know she’s a dog but she’s my dog and I love her like family and I am lucky enough to be able to afford it and look at all the money that people spend on golf clubs and fancy shoes so why the heck shouldn’t I spend the money on my dog!) My brother-in-law is a dear, understanding man, so I don’t think he was being judgmental as much as he was being surprised.) But it seems so common to hear from journalists whose editors want them to write a “CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW MUCH PEOPLE SPEND ON THEIR DOG!” story. Well, yes, some of us do, because we are lucky and can afford it. Is that really so strange or terrible? I wrote in For the Love of a Dog that one interviewer wore $400 shoes while asking me, incredulously, if people really paid money to have acupuncture done on their dogs. I was very polite when I answered, honest.

It’s winter at the farm.. we just got the barn shoveled and scrapped and brushed and bleached in time. Snowed a little last night, 14 degrees on the kitchen thermometer this morning. I am NOT ready. Apparently, Willie is:

Next post will be about great research that’s piling up on my desk… all done on species other than dogs, all relates to us and our dogs directly!

Well, this is a hard one to write.  Wisconsin Public Radio has cancelled production of Calling All Pets.  They will still play repeats for several months in Wisconsin, and stations around the country have the option of offering the show until next summer.  I’ve been doing the show with Larry Meiller for fourteen years, and it’s hard to imagine not doing it anymore. It’s tough  timing too in that the show had taken off last year, thanks to a lot of work from Larry, me and a new producer and executive producer. The show was even picked up in Washington DC, Dallas and Seattle. However, I have to admit that I won’t miss getting up early in the morning to do the show, and working seven weekends a year on pledge drives and fund raising events.  But here’s what I will miss:

Working with Larry Meiller. He is a truly wonderful man, and he makes it look easy to be on the radio.  It isn’t, not if you’re good at it, but you’d never know that listening to him. He taught me so much, and I will forever be indebted to him. I think of him as a close friend, and will come on his daily show as a guest on occasion.

Connecting with people who believe that animals are important. This is the toughest part by far.  I have realized since I heard the news about the cancellation that what I have valued most about the show is the connection it has given me to a group of people who believe that our love, interest and concern for animals–both wild and domestic–is important.  It’s as important as music or art or literature or news about sports events. It seems that the world sorts into two groups in a way: those who get it, and those who don’t. It feels like I’ve worked all my life to  convince people that our connection to animals is important, that “pets” aren’t trivial and that knowledge and concern about the natural world is vital to our individual and social health.

The great thing about Calling All Pets is that I had fourteen years to make that argument, along with advocacy for using positive reinforcement, instead of punishment and “dominance” as a training technique.  Fourteen years is a long time in the media, and I’m truly grateful to WPR for creating that opportunity. I expect that the decision to cancel the show didn’t come easily, and that the decision was made by folks doing their best to make the best decisions they could for WPR. I wish they hadn’t made the decision they did, but it will give me an entire day a week to do other things. Who knows what doors will open as another one shuts.

Speaking of opportunity, how very glad I am that I have this blog. I have already enjoyed your comments immensely, and am grateful that I have another opportunity to communicate to others who believe that animals are important.

On a lighter note: On Sunday, ironically, I had a party for donors to Calling All Pets and WPR. It was delightful to meet such generous people, and we had a great time.  I didn’t think to get any photos during the party (geeeez), but thought you might enjoy what my rug looked like right before everyone came and what it looked like a few hours after they left.

Pre party rug:

Post party rug (it’s usual condition)

Of course, the newspapers, dog magazines and journal articles are still hidden in the study, the mangy wool cover over the couch isn’t as mangled and messed up as it usually is, and there are no clouds of dog hair wafting around.  Otherwise, it looks pretty much like normal…