Duke Canine Cognition Center

Last week I got to participate in a real scientific experiment at the Duke University Canine Cognition Center. Dr. Brian Hare studies cognition and evolution. While he mostly studies chimpanzees and bonobos, he is also very interested in us. He wants to know how dogs solve problems and how our social intelligence evolved. You can read more about his fascinating work here. Unfortunately I did not get to meet him while I was at Duke. I think anyone who walks around with a bonobo puppy on his head must be a nice guy.



Barbara had signed me and Ambrose up for the research studies and I got picked to be in one of their experiments (who knows what results they will get if they ever test Ambrose?). We arrived at the center and the students all made a big fuss over me. They let me sniff all around and get used to the room.



These students conducted the study. First they had me practice getting treats on the floor (I hardly needed to practice that!). Then one of them put a treat under one of two plastic cups and I had to find it. Sometimes Barbara would point to a cup and sometimes one of the students would point.



I thought it was a very easy test. I mean I get cookies out of treat dispensing toys all the time. It was not hard to find a treat under a plastic cup! Sometimes they would trick me though and only pretend to put a treat under a cup!



Now I will say that the treats that the students used were pretty boring. They had obviously not read my ground breaking treat palatability research study that I posted last week. If they had, I am sure that they wouldn't have used 1 paw and 2 paw level treats. Maybe I should try to get my work published in Science or Nature.

I was very pleased to be included in this important problem solving research. I hope it helps them learn more about how dogs' minds work. And of course I am always up for any opportunity to get more treats.



It has been raining a lot here lately so we haven't been able to do to many fun things to blog about. Tomorrow we are going to see some of Ambrose's brothers and sisters. I hope that they are not as goofy as he is. I won't be able to stand it.

Dog Park Fiasco

I was all set to post about my experiences at the Duke Canine Cognition Center but I am so mad that I will have to postpone that for another day. On Monday mornings we like to go to the dog park in Chapel Hill to meet our pit bull friend Cherie. She is a sweet girl but sensitive so we don't go to the park at times when there are lots of dogs and people. Unfortunately when we got to the park today it was packed. Cherie's person decided not to bring her in but Barbara let us go in to run around for a bit. The park is quite large and Ambrose and I mostly played with each other since Barbara did not like the play style of some of the other dogs and was rather annoyed with the casual attitude and general cluelessness of some of the people there.

We weren't there long when Barbara decided to take us out. All of a sudden a big dog fight broke out. She called us over to her and put on our leashes and took us straight out of the park as she didn't want us involved. The dogs were picking on a young Bernese Mountain Dog but the worst thing was the idiot owners! Barbara said many HBO words about their lack of intelligence. One idiot person grabbed his dogs and did an alpha roll on him. Like that is going to teach the dog not to fight! None of the people whose dogs were involved in the fight took their dogs out of the park even though the dogs were still very aroused. They let their dogs go after the Bernese again and pin her.

We did not hang around, even outside the fence, to see what happened but I have a few things to say. First of all the alpha roll is a ridiculous way to train a dog and it is a good way for a person to get bitten. No matter what some famous TV trainers do, it is still not right. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers has come out with a position statement on "dominance" in dog training. You can read it here along with lots of good information about proper training, dog park play and safety tips.



Just say no to the dominance model of dog training!!!

2nd Annual Treat Palatability Research Study

I know that you have been anxiously awaiting the results of my treat research study. You wouldn't want your people to waste their money on treats that don't taste good and of course you don't want to have to eat them. In the name of science and for the good of my fellow canines I have undertaken this arduous but important experiment.

Barbara brought a huge bagful of treats for me to investigate. You can see what a difficult task I had in front of me. I tested some of these treats last year but wanted to see if they stood up against the new treats.



The first step in the experiment was for me to sniff a treat in her hand.



Then she would put it on a plate, let me sniff another treat and put that one on different plate.



I had to do a sit stay and look at the plates.



When she said OK I went to the most delicious treat first and she wrote it down for me.



We did many repetitions of the experiment. She would switch the treats to different plates, switch the order etc. to account for any right/left bias. We compared dry treats and then soft treats. The winner in each set of trials was compared to the winner from another set of trials until we reached the best treat of all.

Last year I did a four paw rating system. I've done it again so you can see which ones you should get your people to buy for you.

4 PAWS: Scrumptious - will eat them even when I see squirrels
Buddy Biscuit Roast Chicken Madness, Grilled Beef Madness

3 PAWS Delicious - will eat them most of the time
Buddy Biscuit Peanut Butter Madness, Bacon & Cheese Madness

2 PAWS Tasty - will eat them when there are no distractions
Cloud Star Tricky Trainers, Train-me, Pet Botanics Reward

1 PAW slightly better than cardboard
Bennies Bullies, Charlee Bear Cheese and egg

However the very best, most delicious treats were so yummy that I did not have enough paws to rate them!

They are the Merrick Gourmet Sausage Treats and they are the best treat I have ever had! There are several flavors. I liked them all but the best (according to my research) was the French Country Cafe flavor.



Tell your people to get this treat for you!!! I have no idea how much it costs but whatever it costs, it is worth it.

You may ask where Ambrose was through all this experimentation. In his crate! Barbara thought that he should get to try the test. I knew it would be a disaster. Ambrose does not have a discriminating palate and has even been known to eat glass.

Barbara tried really hard to get him to work with her. Even when she would point to the plate, he couldn't seem to figure out that the treat was on the plate and not in her hand.



Look at his goofy expression. I fear that he has no future as a scientific researcher.



Finally he figured out that the treats were on the plates and ate them.



I hope this helps you and your people when selecting treats.

Tomorrow I am going to be in a real scientific experiment at the Duke University Canine Cognition Center. I am not sure what I will have to do in the experiment but I understand that involves foraging. I am sure that I can do that. I will let you know how it goes.

The APDT Conference

I've been away from the blogosphere for over a week but Barbara has a good excuse this time. She was at the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Annual Conference in Oakland, CA and Ambrose and I were at K9 Kindercare. This is a 5 day educational conference for dog trainers so it is very important. There were 1121 trainers there listening to the top behaviorists and trainers such as Dr. Brian Hare, Sue Sternberg, Steve White, Nicole Wilde and many others.

Since Barbara is the president of the APDT, she had lots of jobs to do while there. I feel that as First Dog, I should have been there too. Especially when I saw that she got to stay in the Presidential Suite. Look at the size of that place-I could have had a good time playing there.



Unfortunately I would have had to fly in the belly of a plane to get there, and of course I will not do that. The conference is mostly lectures and demonstrations so I think I would not have enjoyed it that much. I'd much rather be playing or doing tracking. And if we brought Ambrose, he would have wrecked the place for sure.

Barbara did get to go to San Francisco by ferry which I would have enjoyed. The sunset looked lovely.



The best part of the conference, as far as I am concerned, is the trade show. Vendors sell all sorts of cool dog products and Barbara always buys us lots of toys and treats. I was very excited to see that her training bag was crammed full of good stuff.



I inspected the bag very carefully. There were Wubbas, Kongs, chew toys and this great giraffe with a braided fleece body and a good squeaker in his head.



Of course I had to check out all the treats. Last year, you may remember, I did a very scientific palatability test on the various treats so that I could let you know which ones were delicious and which ones were icky. I am very willing to put my efforts into doing this again for you so that you don't have to suffer eating boring tasting treats. We will try to post about it this weekend.



Of course goofy Ambrose had to try to get in on the act. Barbara says that I have to share. Boo! Hiss!



I have the giraffe. It is mine.



If Ambrose thinks he can have it, he is goofier than I ever thought. I am going to take this giraffe onto my bed and keep Ambrose away so he doesn't get his puppy cooties all over it. He can have the Wubba!



As much as I enjoy going to K9 Kindercare and I know that it is important for Barbara to be at the conference, I am glad to be home with all my new treats and toys.

My New Bed

I have always liked my round bed. It used to be nice and puffy but lately it has gone sadly flat. I blame it on Ambrose of course. He is always jumping on it and smashing it down. He tore up his own bed and so has to sleep on a bath mat. He tries to get on my bed when ever he can.



Barbara decided I needed a new comfy bed. Look what she brought home from the dog show last month! It is the most comfy, puffy bed that I have ever had. I know that those bed afficianados, Agatha and Archie, would approve.



I love it and am doing my best to keep Ambrose off of it. I don't want his adolescent puppy cooties on my lovely bed. My old bed has been demoted to his bed! Ha!

Goat Patrol

I had a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, before she had lessons, Barbara took me over to the Durham Kennel Club to practice my freestyle. We are working on a new routine and I am practicing ignoring the people on the sidelines (I love to visit people). This is hard. Here I am checking out my training bag to see if I can snag a few extra goodies.



I sent Ambrose over to Scout's house to play in her yard.



The two of them play really rough. They like to run and bash and play bitey face. Since they are both adolescents they really need to run off their excess energy. I am so glad that they like to play like this because after Ambrose has played with Scout, he behaves better at home.



We went to the dog park first thing this morning. When we pulled into the parking lot I was astounded to see a herd of goats in the woods next to the parking lot!



They are The Goat Patrol. Their person drives them around to places that need the weeds eaten up and they graze on the vegetation! I love goats and once I saw them I didn't even care if I went into the dog park.



I could see that this goat really wanted to play with me. I wish I could have joined her but there was an electric fence around the goats to keep them in the woods (and to keep the dogs out).

Show Dogs

My sister Tori is a show dog. Barbara tried to get me to be a show dog but I thought standing still and looking pretty was boring. I am a go-girl and like to do freestyle and tracking. I also can not stand dog grooming torture and if you are entered in conformation shows you have to do a lot of it.

In July Tori went to a big show in Salem, VA. It is the same show where Fenway had a big win. I wish I had known Fenway was going to be there because I would have told Tori to go and play with him. I am sure that it would have been more fun than standing around in a show ring.

Anyway Tori did great. She got a 4 point major at the Friday show and a 5 point major on Sunday. This means that she had to beat lots of other Gordon Setters to get that many points. The judge who gave her the 5 points is very famous and knowledgeable so that was a big win.



I think she looks quite beautiful and regal and she will be a champion soon.

Now Barbara thinks that Ambrose should enter the show ring. This must be a joke! What judge in his right mind would give any kind of ribbons to this goofy boy?



Me? I'll stick with tracking.

Royal's 2nd Birthday Party

My Drill Team buddy, Royal, turned 2 and invited us to his party. Last year's event was a social success so I didn't want to miss it even though Ambrose was invited too. I was a little worried that Ambrose would act crazy and embarrass us.

Doesn't Royal look handsome? He is wearing a decorative collar from Jing-a-ling Dog Bandanas. We all got these nice reversible collars as party favors. Check out the site for the ruffled collars and bandanas.



I think that I look pretty spiffy in mine.



We had a great time running around with all the other dogs (and we were very well behaved, even Ambrose) but we really wanted to get up on the deck for the refreshments.



Royal's person, Jenn, made us dogs a terrific carrot/peanut butter cake with cream cheese frosting and dog biscuit decorations!



Everyone got a slice. I was drooling in anticipation.



Barbara put the plates down for us and by the time she reached around to grab her camera, we had inhaled the cake and licked the plates clean!!! Very yummy!



Thanks for inviting us Royal. We had a great time. And I'm glad that goofy Ambrose didn't ruin your party.

We Are Trying This Again

She has promised me that this time we will get back to regular blogging. I have heard the excuses and they all lame. Unfortunately, Barbara is the one with the opposable thumbs and I am dependent on her to type my dictation. Just think what I could do with thumbs!

I've had lots of adventures since I last posted. I've been to a birthday party, went to Virginia to visit my siblings, gave some freestyle demos, helped Barbara with her students and gotten back to tracking now that the weather is a bit cooler. All Ambrose is doing is growing and being bad. If I listed all the bad things he has done in the last two months you would be reading for a week!



We've had some good times in the dog park. I will give Ambrose credit for being a good player. Here he is making friends with a little Boston Terrier.





Even though Ambrose is now as big as I am, he still is really goofy. Look at all the dirt on face and on his tongue. What a mess!



I'll try to post photos of some of my adventures in the next few days. I can't wait to catch up on all your blogs. I've missed you guys.

Ambrose Does It Again

You may be wondering why there are no photos with this post. It is all Ambrose's fault. To be fair, it really is Barbara's fault. She was the one who fell asleep on the couch one evening while Ambrose was loose in the house and not in his crate. This was a serious mistake!

While she was sleeping Ambrose stole the little cable that goes from the camera to the computer and chewed it into 5 pieces! Then he fell asleep. When Barbara woke up and saw the destruction she said many HBO words. She knew Ambrose was the culprit because I have never been that interested in wires or cables and all the pieces were lying next to him on his bed!!

So now we can't show any of our nice pictures until the mini usb comes. She tried a card reader (whatever that it) but it didn't seem to work. I have some good photos to show you about a special package that I got from Scotland but they are trapped in the camera for now.

The big excitement today was that Barbara and I got attacked by yellow jackets! We were walking in the woods and Barbara wanted to go down a certain path. I did not but she said to anyway. There was a reason I didn't want to go there. Yellow jackets swarmed around us and stung us. Barbara tried to get the horrible things off me and they stung her hands. I got stung on the face several times but my fur is thick so the ones on my back and legs didn't get me. We ran back home to escape them. We each had to take an antihistamine and the swelling and the hurt went away. I am never walking on that path again.

Bad Ambrose

Ambrose is almost 7 months old now and he is huge! Almost as big as me. His paws are enormous and he still has a lot of loose skin so he is not nearly finished growing.

The first picture is us today. The second picture was taken in March when he was only 2 1/2 months old.





You can see the difference.

He has grown in spurts. Sometimes his front legs grow and sometimes his back legs grow. One day Barbara was horrified to see that his hips were higher than his shoulders! I think that we should lock him in a closet so that no one can see him and think that is what Gordon Setters are supposed to look like.

He is also growing goofier by the day. Look at that face!. This week he forgot what sit means. Barbara gave him the cue and he just stood there and stared at her like he never heard the word before. She has only been practicing that with him since he was 8 weeks old!



Completely clueless.

Barbara says that he is the most destructive puppy that she has ever had. Even though we have lots of appropriate chew toys, stuffed kongs and other treat dispensing toys, he still likes to chew up things that shouldn't even be in his mouth in the first place. If Barbara leaves the closet door open for a second or leaves something out on the table, it is in his mouth in a flash. I have done a few bad things in my day but nothing like this and I was never destructive.

THE GALLERY OF DESTRUCTION

Ambose's registered name is Albannach Almost Famous. His breeders sent Barbara a baseball cap with their kennel name embroidered on it. She had it in the dog-crate-on-wheels on the console between the front seats. Ambrose's crate is right up next to the console. While she was driving he pulled the hat into his crate, chewed it and got his puppy slime all over it.




He stole her sandal from the closet and chewed off the end before she got it back.



I took my head off my dragon for just a few minutes and this is what he did to it.




He stole the camera off the table. Fortunately he only messed up the case and not the camera.




He is also a counter surfer. We used to have four of these Canine Freestyle Federation mugs. Now we have one. Barbara gets really upset when Ambrose knocks over anything glass or ceramic. Many HBO words are said while Ambrose gets shoved in his crate and I get told to "leave it" so she can clean up the mess. I think she is worried that we might eat the glass or cut our pads on it.




I really don't know how I am going to survive his adolescence. It was so nice to go to the competition in TN and leave him at the kennel. I had Barbara all to myself and didn't have to put up with his goofiness. But Barbara missed him. Why, I do not know. She is always kissing him and playing with him and trying to train him (a lost cause, I am afraid). So I am stuck with him.