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    • Emotional Support Dog, Therapy Dogs and Service Dogs

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    This past week, a flight attendant was bitten by an Emotional Support Dog (ESA) and required 5 stitches.  This is a travesty for all dogs, service dogs, the flight attendant, as well as the general public. Being exposed to - with nowhere to escape inside a plane – an aggressive dog is a horrible experience.  Yet, consistently, people claim their pet dog to be an ESA by buying a doctor’s prescription online, and a vest. Anyone who does this is not only being fraudulent, but they are endangering themselves to legal liabilities from anyone bitten as well as the airlines. Yes, just because you call your dog an ESA does not relieve you from responsibility for damage your dog does.

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       Puppyhood EMERGENY!

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    When we have children, we are quick to start reading to babies, providing them with educational experiences, socializing them, even taking them to an educational pre-school.  We would not lock them in a dark closet and expect them to come out when they are 2 years old as a well adjusted child. In the past 2 to 3 years, I have seen this phenomenon happening more and more with our puppies.

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    Teaching “Come”, the Elusive Dog Behavior

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    “Come” is the most difficult of all behaviors to teach dogs. From my experience, that is primarily because we humans use this word/command in a non-specific manner. We use “come” to mean, get in the car, heel, turn around, get out of the car and a plethora of other things.  While we may understand the “concept”, dogs don’t. They must have a specific meaning to each command.  We must have a clear picture in our head of what “come” should mean in order to teach it and have reliability in performance.

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    Eliminating Instinctual Dog Behaviors

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    I am approached daily about dog owners wanting to eliminate behaviors in their dogs that are “instinctual”.  An instinctual behavior is one that comes hard wired in the dog when they are born.  The behavior is hereditary from the parents and ancestors.  All dogs possess what is called “prey drive.” This is instinctual behavior passed along from the wolves for survival.  In a very basic description, prey drive occurs when the wolf smells or sees game, then follows either the scent or vision, attacks the game, shakes it, kills it, and eats it with the pack.

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    The Cutting “Edge”!

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    We hear of so many world famous competitors come from Sun Valley.  They were born here, raised here and rocketed down the slopes of Bald Mountain, or skated the Sun Valley rinks to hone their skills to perfection.  We wait breathless to cheer for them in the Olympics and World events and throw glorious community events to salute their victories!  Few other communities can boast such remarkable champions!

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    Double the Fun or Double the Trouble?

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    If you have ever visited my website, you will find a page called “No Bones About It” which is my two bits of free advice and how I arrived at this newspaper column title.  This is where I tell it like it is without any sugar coating. I talk about having two puppies, especially from the same litter: “Two puppies (especially siblings) are not better than one, unless you don't want to have any relationship at all with your dogs.

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    Double Bubble or Double Trouble?

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    If you have ever visited my website, you will find a page called “No Bones About It” which is my two bits of free advice and how I arrived at this newspaper column title.  This is where I tell it like it is without any sugar coating. I talk about having two puppies, especially from the same litter: “Two puppies (especially siblings) are not better than one, unless you don't want to have any relationship at all with your dogs.  They will love each other, bond with each other, and leave you out of the loop. The only one that really benefits from you taking two puppies is the breeder or the shelter.”

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    Is the Domestic Dog Anything Like The Wolf?

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    So much talk today that the domestic dog is no longer anything like his ancestor, the wolf. Many believe that because of domestication, the dog no longer shares any wolf behaviors.  On some level, behaviors have changed so the domestic dog can live with humans. Dogs have become much more biddable meaning they want to learn, work with, and be trained to live in our society.   It is highly unlikely that wolf will accept training to live in our society.

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    Doing What Dogs Love

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    My first German Shepherd was a rescue named Hattie.   She had been abandoned in a backyard when her owners moved to California.  Many locals remember her from different activities we did.  She was a certified pet therapy dog that visited nursing homes for nearly 10 years. She was ARDA certified in air scent Search and Rescue, and held competitive titles in obedience and agility.  Hattie was featured in Elise Lufkin’s book, SECOND CHANCES.  It seemed there was no end to what Hattie could do. She was indeed, what the German Shepherd should be – a Jack of all Trades.

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    Dogs with Fear Aggression

    Fran Jewell
    Weekly Sun A-Ε

    Fear is one of the most common reasons for aggression in dogs.  Fear can be genetic or it can be acquired because of a traumatic incident.  These days, there are many ways to treat fear aggression in dogs.  Sometimes the prognosis is better than others.  When fear is genetic, meaning it is a personality trait passed down to the dog from its dam and sire, it is much more difficult to remediate.

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