Urban Dog Magazine Issue #38

Issue 38

RIN TIN TIN: The Life and Legend A new book by Susan Orlean

Strays Around the World Search Dog Foundation Jon Katz’s Inner Dog

Come. Sit. Stay. aaaah autumn. A time of reflection and taking stock…and, of course, recovery from the brutally hot dog days of summer that render us limp and exhausted by the time October rolls around. In this issue of Urban Dog Magazine, we are thrilled to feature a chunky excerpt from Susan Orleans’ new, highly anticipated book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. From her website, www.susanorlean.com: “When I was very young, my grandfather kept a Rin Tin Tin figurine sitting on his desk. I wanted desperately to play with it, and even more desperately I wanted to have a German shepherd dog of my own, a dog just like the star of “The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin”. I knew nothing about Rin Tin Tin other than that he was the perfect dog, and that he was a character on television. When by chance I learned that Rin Tin Tin was a real dog, not just a television character—a real dog with a real life that was extraordinary—I was drawn into the story and eventually to the idea of

writing this book. After digging through hundreds of pages of archives and files and photographs, I came to understand that this was not just a story about a dog, or even the many different dogs who make up the Rin Tin Tin legacy; this is a story about a beloved icon who has played a role in decades of American popular culture.” Our first Wags profile features Chase and Snap pet photographer Stephanie Madeline’s newest project, Strays around the World, features an ongoing collection of compelling photographs of stray dogs she encounters and photographs during her national and international travels. Our second Wags feature profiles the National Search Dog Foundation. Their mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters. They ensure lifetime care for every dog in their program: once rescued, these

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Urban Dog Magazine 5500 Prytania St. #419, New Orleans, LA 70115 Ph/F: 504-897-9577 www.urbandogmagazine.com EDITORIAL Managing Editor/Publisher:

DOGMA Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend

Lisa Robinson

Contributing Writers:

Susan Orlean, Lisa Blumenstein, Jana Claire Rifino, Monica Collins

Contributing Photographers:

Cami Johnson, Robyn Arouty, Maria Wulf

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DESIGN TCHOPSHOP MEDIA, LLC

dogs never need to be rescued again. There are currently 72 SDFtrained Search Teams located in California, Florida, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. We hope you reading enjoy this issue of Urban Dog Magazine. Come, Sit, Stay, Lisa Robinson, Publisher/Managing Editor

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Urban Dog Magazine is published quarterly. We cannot be responsible for the return of unsolicited materials even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Urban Dog Magazine is copyrighted: Copyright 2010, Urban Dog Magazine, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscriptions are available for $15/year or $25/two years payable by check or money order. All subscriptions begin with the issue published after payment is received. Mail payment to: Urban Dog Subscriptions, 5500 Prytania St. #419, New Orleans, LA 70115

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WAGS Strays Around the World Search Dog Foundation

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FETCH

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DOG-EARED

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TREATS

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TRICKS Balancing Love and Discipline with a new Puppy

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ASK DOG LADY

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BITES

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THE INNER DOG Jon Katz and Rose

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COVER IMAGE: DIEGO by Robyn Arouty

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RIN TIN TIN The Life and the Legend

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y the middle of the 1920s, the movie business had grown into one of the ten biggest industries in the United States. Almost 100 million movie tickets were sold each week, to a population of only 115 million. Warner Bros., thanks largely to Rin Tin Tin, was prospering. In 1928 the studio was worth $16 million; just two years later, $200 million. It still had the reputation of being a bit mingy and second-rate compared to Paramount or MGM, but it was expanding and innovating. It launched a chain of movie palaces, with orchestras and elaborate, thematic decor—Arabian nights in one theater, Egyptian days or Beaux Arts Paris in another—and, best of all, air-conditioning, which was rare in public buildings and even rarer in private homes.

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to Duncan that he considered Mrs. Duncan’s presence rather secondary.” Rinty was named as a co-respondent in the divorce, a role usually reserved for mistresses. The divorce came at what was otherwise a high point for Lee. That year, Rin Tin Tin was designated the most popular performer in the United States, and his four films—A Dog of the Regiment, Jaws of Steel, Tracked by the Police, and Hills of Kentucky—were box office hits as well as critical successes. The Academy Awards were presented for the first time, and Rinty received the most votes for Best Actor. But members of the Academy, anxious to establish the new awards as serious and important, decided that giving an Oscar to a dog did not serve that end, so the votes were recalculated, and the award was diverted to Emil Jannings, for his performances in both The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command. Even without winning the Oscar, Rinty was in the news all the time. He was variously referred to as Rin, Rinty, Rin Tin Tin, and, more often, the hyphenated RinTin-Tin. He was frequently given an honorific—the King of Pets, the Famous Police Dog of the Movies, the Dog Wonder, the Wonder Dog of the Screen, the Wonder Dog of All Creation, the Mastermind Dog, the Marvelous Dog of the Movies, and America’s Greatest Movie Dog. By 1927, he was clearly surpassing Strongheart. A review of Rin Tin Tin’s film A Race for Life even began with the haunting question, “Strongheart who?” The year 1927 was busy for Lee and Rinty: they shot four films, In his way, Rin Tin Tin had come to represent something back to back, and during any break in the production schedule, essentially American. He wasn’t born in the United States, and they were on the road doing stage appearances. Lee hardly had neither were his parents, but those facts only made him more a life at home. In the middle of that year, Charlotte Anderson quintessentially American: he was an immigrant in a country of filed for divorce. She said she didn’t like Rin Tin Tin and didn’t like immigrants. He was everything Americans wanted to think they competing with him. In the proceedings, Charlotte testified that Lee were—brave, enterprising, bold, and most of all, individual. In didn’t love her or her horses. “All he cared for was Rin Tin Tin,” she a dog, even more than in a human, individuality is exceptional; told the Los Angeles Times, in an article about the trial headlined after all, dogs are pack animals, and many of Rinty’s plots revolved “Dog Film Star May Be an Orphan.” The story continued, around him making choices between pack mentality and “Evidently, Rin Tin Tin’s company was so much pleasure individual judgment, an almost impossible feat for a dog. by Susan Orlean

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Rin Tin Tin, Continued from page 4

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people in the world never traveled beyond their hometown—were In the 1920s, this was still a new country, still something of distributed overseas. But they were. People all over the world were an experiment, trying out the notion that a society could reconcile getting a look—a filmy, imaginary look, but still a look—at life in private desires and ambitions with the demands of community. The the United States. It must have been electrifying. To people in the American identity was still pliable, still taking shape. Many crowded old cities in Europe and beyond, the spaciousness of those Americans had left ancient cultures of permanence and scenes in the American West in particular, with their endless horizon constraints and ethnic identities to join a society where identities line and infinite sky, must have seemed like a glimpse of eternity. were exploded and recombined—who can know how many My grandfather grew up in Hungary but came to the United different religions and back- grounds were represented in audiences States in his twenties, eventually settling in Ohio. His family was well at Rinty’s films in New York City or Chicago or Los established in Hungary, but something had spurred him to leave Angeles? People watching Clash of the Wolves and try to make his own way alone. It was a pivotal choice, might not have talked after the movie about He was one that ended up being a matter of life and death. The how Rinty played out the founding principles everything figurine of Rin Tin Tin that he kept on his desk was such of the nation, but his popularity came from a puzzle to me, but the one thing I took for granted the emotions he inspired, including pride Americans wanted was that he had it because he knew of and enjoyed in the dog’s stubborn, resilient, complex the Rin Tin Tin television show, since as a kid I had no character and an appreciation of his to think they were— idea that Rin Tin Tin existed in any form except for struggles—not just with the bad guys, brave, enterprising, his presence on television. I saw the figurine as some but with himself. evidence that my starchy, old-fashioned, European At the same time, he was bold, and most of grandfather had become American, going so far as absolutely universal. Rin Tin Tin’s movies all, individual. to embrace the popular culture of this new place. But went all over the world. Silent films as I unwound the story of Rin Tin Tin I began to see were easy to distribute internationally. In a dog, even more the dog on his desk in a different way. Although There was no dialogue to dub or need than in a the plastic figurine was definitely merchandise for subtitles—only the intertitle cards from the television show, I now think that human, had to be replaced. In 1927, Jack Warner my grandfather’s fascination with Rin Tin attended a dinner in Vienna and was seated next individuality is Tin began much earlier in his life. I believe to a countess. He introduced himself as a producer. The countess asked which actors he worked with. Warner exceptional; after the fascination took hold in some dark little theater in eastern Hungary when mentioned such luminaries as John Barrymore, but the countall, dogs are he first saw Rinty race across the screen ess seemed unimpressed. Warner was exasperated. Finally he said that he produced all of Rin Tin Tin’s films. From that pack animals, and in one of these 1920s melodramas—the huge western landscape stretching in moment on, Warner recalled, “the name ‘Jack Warner’ meant many of Rinty’s the background, the sky like an unfurling something in Vienna.” banner—and that the dog’s image, with its The fact that the films were distributed around the world plots great promise, even had something to do with had some unanticipated benefits. In 1975, nitrate projection prints his finding the courage to leave home. of Clash of the Wolves, Jaws of Steel, and The Night Cry were Throughout the 1920s, Rin Tin Tin was found in South Africa. Warner Bros. had distributed the revolved photographed constantly. Besides his studio headshot, films to South Africa in the 1920s, and these copies which catches Rinty’s moody gaze in three-quarters were apparently not sent back at the appointed time. around him profile, his most popular picture was one of him Until these films were found, it was believed that making choices posing with Nanette on a large rock by a lake. He was there were no copies of Clash of the Wolves left frequently photographed with celebrities—Ed Sullivan, in existence—like 80 percent of all silent films ever between pack Jackie Cooper, Myrna Loy, director Mervyn LeRoy, produced, it was thought to be just another one mentality and showgirl Evelyn Knapp—and with promnent citizens, that vanished, with not a single copy to be found such as members of the Beverly Hills police department anywhere, including the studio vaults. individual or mayors of various large cities. Lee appears in some of The National Film Preservation Foundation has these pictures, but more often he does not. restored the South African print of Clash of the Wolves, and In some photographs, Rin Tin Tin posed doing the new copy of the film is beautiful. The tones, in black and judgment, human things. He pretended to sign for a ticket white, are rich and deep; the black almost looks like velvet. You an almost at an airline counter, operate a movie camera, can also understand how Rin Tin Tin—with his dark eyes and receive a manicure, and work as a hotel clerk. He dark face—was hard to light properly for a black-and- white impossible was photographed playing golf, snowshoeing, film, and why, in the next generation of dogs, Lee looked for a feat for a waterskiing, and swinging in a hammock. In light-colored animal who would be easier to see. Still, this Rin one popular picture he sits in William McGann’s Tin Tin, the first, is a wonder. He’s not a particularly pretty dog, dog. director’s chair—it has WILLIAM MCGANN stenciled but he is magnetic and engaging. His performance always looks across the back; McGann is seated next to him in natural—a credit to Lee’s training. One advantage of silent films was a director’s chair that says Rin Tin Tin. Another photo, that Lee could direct the dog by voice command, but still, Rinty’s from a Ken-L-Ration ad, shows Rinty with Nanette and two of capacity for learning had to be exceptional. So many of the scenes their puppies. The two adult dogs are sitting upright in chairs at a involve long takes of the dog performing a complicated sequence of kitchen table, as if they are about to eat a meal, and the puppies are actions. Even with voice commands, it’s amazing that you could train sitting on their parents’ dinner plates; in the center of the table is a a dog to do all that. gigantic can of Ken-L-Ration. Before I looked through the Warner Bros. archives, which Much was made of the grand style in which Rin Tin Tin included ledgers recording the studio’s international sales, it had supposedly lived. He snacked on steak served to him in silver bowls never occurred to me that films of this era—a time when most

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he also became a character in books. One of the first, The Little Folks’ Story of Rin-Tin-Tin, was published in 1927. In contrast to his masculine movie persona, the book casts Rinty as a doting nanny left to care for four children while their parents are out of town. As the parents are preparing to leave, Mother instructs Rin Tin Tin to “be sure to feed Baby Carol, to see that she has her naps.” Rinty is also expected to cook for the kids; one of the chapters is titled “Rin Tin Tin Makes Sure That Lunch Is Satisfactory.” I often wonder what Rin Tin Tin was really like as a dog—not as a movie dog or a radio dog or a book dog or a television dog, but just as a dog. We know he liked to chase squirrels and skunks and foxes. He liked to run. He was muscular, not cuddly and soft. In his films, he looks so keyed up that he sometimes appears high-strung, but he was comfortable in crowds and in unfamiliar places. Maybe that intensity was just his attention to Lee and the anticipation of his next instructions. He wasn’t very friendly. The only person he was especially interested in was Lee. Von Stephanitz, who founded the breed, believed that German shepherds should bond only with their master; he considered excessive and promiscuous friendliness to be a weakness in a dog. Lee, taking this advice, raised Rin Tin Tin in the most cosseted fashion, rarely letting anyone else handle him. Actors who worked with Rin Tin Tin complained that he was mean and temperamental and that his only good quality was that he didn’t drink. He was rumored to have bitten Jack Warner as well as several of his costars. But cinematographers were impressed by his patience: because of his dark coat, he had to be lit carefully so he was visible in these black-and-white films, and often had to stand still for long stretches while the lights were set for scenes. His reputation for viciousness may have been nothing more than some contrarian Hollywood mythmaking. Maybe he played his fight scenes too enthusiastically (they do look realistic), and maybe he was not friendly, but a dog with a genuinely bad temper would be impossible to manage on a film set around a large crew or in the sorts of places that Rinty visited frequently, such as hospitals and orphanages. If Rin Tin Tin really was nasty, he was an even better actor than he was given credit for, since all of his movies included at least one scene in which he had to appear affectionate, toward either his master or his mate, or often with his puppies. Or was the dog who appeared affectionate a different dog? Was there more than one dog being presented as Rin Tin Tin? Lee stated many times over the years that Rin Tin Tin was the only dog to appear in his movies, and that no doubles were used. He was adamant about it. But in a 1965 interview with the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Jack Warner said, “I guess there is no harm now in revealing what was secret information for so many years around the lot. It had occurred to us, when we realized Rinty’s earning capacity, that our investment would be lost if anything happened to him. Therefore, with Duncan’s consent, we agreed to breed and train a kennel full of doubles that could be used if our hero were ill or injured or even killed in some of the dangerous stunts we planned. Eventually we had 18 Rin Tin Tins and we used them all. Each animal was a specialist. One was used for attack scenes, another was trained to jump twelve-foot walls, a third was a gentle house dog, and so on.” Was this true? It stands to reason that other dogs would have been used when Rin Tin Tin was tired, or had to do something dangerous—he was too valuable to risk injury—or to perform a

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while classical music played over his kennel’s sound system, or so the press releases from Warner Bros. claimed. His puppies had their own lavishly appointed kindergarten. The screens over the kennel windows were made of copper, or perhaps bronze. By some accounts, he wore a diamond collar. None of this is likely to be true; Lee loved the dog and made sure the kennel was comfortable, but he never lost the rancher’s view that a dog was a dog was a dog. At the same time, it is true that Rin Tin Tin’s name and phone number were listed in the Los Angeles phone book, and that he had an open invitation to the Warner Bros. commissary and was welcomed there like a star. He got his own salary, separate from Lee’s salary as his trainer, and he earned more than most of his costars; in Lighthouse by the Sea, for instance, he was paid $1,000 per week, while the lead human actor, William Collier Jr., was paid only $150. The press treated Rin Tin Tin like a celebrity, writing and gossiping about him, without irony, never acknowledging that he was, after all, just a dog. “Famous Movie Dog in City; Thrills Kiddies” was the headline in a Wisconsin newspaper during one of his publicity tours. The story went on: “Rin Tin Tin, wife, occupy a doggy suite at hotel but canine actors left babies in West because of heat.” A 1927 issue of Movie Magazine—which included a lineup of stories such as “When Will We Really Have Talking Movies?” “Are Actors People?” and “Is the World Tired of Children?”—ran a four-page feature called “The Rin- Tin-Tins,” about Rin Tin Tin and Nanette’s family life. “Nanette, like so many of the stars, is going to combine motherhood with a career,” the writer noted. “The puppies are coming along beautifully, so she will play with Rin-Tin-Tin again in ‘Trapped by the Police.’” Even Rin Tin Tin stand-ins were regarded as celebrities. The New York Times ran an obituary for Ginger, a German shepherd that performed under the name Lightning, with the headline, “Double for Rin Tin Tin Is Dead.” Lee enjoyed the fact that he could now live well, but he never seemed to want or welcome attention for himself. He was a true Hollywood spouse, happy for the access it gave him, and for the money he earned, but he was most comfortable in a somewhat secondary role as a helpmate to a star rather than a star himself. There was more for him to manage all the time, which is perhaps another reason why he seemed to have no social life. In fact, when he finally mentions in his memoir that he had “met” a girl, while shooting on location, it comes as almost a shock. Even after he and the girl, Eva Linden, got engaged, he was far more preoccupied with Rinty than with any other part of his life. They had what seemed to be endless publicity tours and movies and endorsement deals, and there was now even a Rin Tin Tin radio show, The Wonder Dog. Rinty did some of the barking on the show, but a human actor named Bob Barker did most of it. In truth, the dog’s connection to the show was more abstract than actual. He rarely even figured in the plots except at the very end; in that sense, he was already beginning his transformation from a real dog into an idea and a character. The radio plots were wild. One episode was “a thrilling story of a heroic dog and a milkman, who upset the carefully laid plans of a criminal breaking into the house of the manager of the milk company.” Another, called “A Trip to Mars,” was described as “a story in which an inventor and scientist and his party, who have been shot to Mars in a giant torpedo, are saved from death at the hands of giant men by the heroic action of the inventor’s faithful dog.” In 1926, Rin Tin Tin appeared on an experimental television station in New York City called W2XCR. Around that same time,

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Strays Around the World

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he tropical island of Puerto Rico is rich with miles of white sandy beaches, a rainforest with an abundance of life, and a never ending supply of warm and friendly people. San Juan, known as the heart of the island’s tourism, is a cultural hotspot known for its historic Spanish colonial architecture, streets lined with one restaurant after another, and sprinkles of casinos and night clubs to keep the party going well into the night. But the magnificence of the land and culture is juxtaposed by a worldwide problem.

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When Stephanie Madeline packed her bags and boarded the plane to San Juan, Puerto Rico she couldn’t have imagined that the vacation she and her boyfriend had planned as an escape from reality would have turned out to be a reality check. Devastated by the city’s overabundance of homeless animals, Madeline was inspired to bring awareness to the problem and she has some very big plans to help put an end to all of the needless suffering. It all began as Madeline and her boyfriend were on their way to El Morro, a national historic castle. Among the beauty of cobblestone walkways and cliff side views of crystal blue water lay dozens of stray animals fighting for their lives. Cats lurked in the alleyways and took shade under parked cars; dogs with protruding ribcages scoured for food, nursing their own wounds from what was most likely a fight with another dog

over a minimal scrap of food; on those streets for those animals, it was survival of the fittest. Madeline was heartbroken. Though she had recognized the overpopulation of strays at the age of seven on a family trip to the Dominican Republic, as an adult, her awareness of the severity of this problem was intensified; she was appalled to see so many abandoned animals roaming in such a concentrated fashion. Unbeknownst to her at the time, this would be just one of many experiences over the next few days that would open her eyes to the growing problem. The following day Madeline and her boyfriend drove to Piñones, a rustic area just outside of San Juan, to explore the local culture and chow down on authentic food; she was eager to experience Puerto Rico in its rawness and hoped to catch a glimpse of the area’s native traditions and, even more so, a bite of a crispy empanadilla. But for Madeline, the magnificence of the beautiful location was hindered by the overwhelming number of sick and vagrant animals that inhabited the streets. They passed a black dog lying on the grass in the beating sun. Madeline could only imagine how hot and thirsty the dog must have been and was at a loss because there was nothing she could do about it. On their way back, to their absolute horror, they had come to realize that the dog hadn’t just been sleeping; they watched in disbelief as a man threw its limp body over his shoulder and carried the remains to the trash. To make the feeling of helplessness worse, just seconds later, they passed a litter of puppies huddled on the side of the road, surrounding one of their siblings who had gotten hit by a car; the driver had never even bothered to stop to tend to the injured dog. Madeline was distraught and incredulous; she couldn’t By Jana Claire Rifino bear to think that this was a problem with no solution. It

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Strays Around the World, Continued from page 8

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was in that moment that she promised herself that she would come up with a way to contribute to finding a resolution and put an end to the suffering of innocent animals. At the time of this trip, Madeline was in the beginning stages of starting her own company. She had been at a turning point in her career and yearning for a job she was passionate about. After a little soul searching, it hit her like a brick in the head: she loved creating; photography had been the front running hobby in her life since she was 14. She also loved animals; she had been spending a lot of her free time volunteering at a local shelter. If she could somehow combine all of that together she would be well on her way to a career she loved. It didn’t take much longer for Madeline to realize she could and shortly after began forming Chase & Snap Pet Photography. As an animal photographer, Madeline knew a picture was worth a thousand words and that the best way to bring awareness to the problem of strays was to show people the horrible conditions these animals live and, barely, survive under. “I couldn’t even bare to look at first, let alone take photos, so my memory card remained empty that day,” said Madeline. “But then I got to thinking, the world needs to see this, we can’t just keep looking away and pretending that this problem doesn’t exist.” In 2010, Madeline started the long-term project Strays Around the World. Her goal is to photograph the dozens of homeless animals that she encounters every year as she travels to a different country. The Strays Around the World project will run over a 10 year period as Madeline, who admits that funding these trips herself is rather expensive and timely to save up for, is adamant about bringing awareness to as many countries as possible. The photographs will be available on the Chase & Snap website www.chaseandsnap.com/store. Additionally, portions of the proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit 600million.org, an organization that is dedicated to putting an end to the suffering of strays through the development and distribution

of a pill that painlessly and effectively sterilizes these animals. As millions of strays are brutally killed to reduce their population, the organization’s mission is to decrease reproduction rates of homeless animals and humanely control their population. “As a member of HeARTs Speak, an organization of artists who donate their talents to help improve the adoptability of shelter animals, I know the impact of what a great photo can have on people. But spreading awareness is only one step in putting an end to the problem. That’s why 600million.org’s mission is so important. If they can significantly reduce the rate at which strays reproduce it will be a huge stride towards a solution.” Another recipient of the funds earned from print and product sales will be Project Animal Worldwide, an organization that spays/neuters and rescues strays from Puerto Rico and eventually other countries. Since the inspiration for the Strays Around the World project began in Puerto Rico, to Madeline, it seemed only fitting to also donate to a cause with the same origin and goals. Next year Madeline will be heading off to southern Italy where stray dogs are a growing problem, an estimated 600,000 abandoned dogs roam the streets. While it is illegal in Italy to destroy any unwanted or stray dogs, as of March 2011 of the 600,000, only 200,000 of these strays have been picked up by local councils and brought to pounds where they are being held in hopes of adoption. This leaves an unfortunate number of canines to roam the streets under desperate conditions that no animal should ever have to endure. Madeline also plans to travel to Moscow, Russia, where stray dogs ride the subway from their place of living to the fat regions of Moscow center to search for food. These intelligent animals have various techniques to nab grub, from using a seemingly vicious bark to harmlessly scare a man eating a sandwich, so the dog can scoop it when the man ultimately drops it in a moment of fear, to lovingly approaching a young girl munching on a piece of bread, who

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YOU HAD ME A T WOOF is a “wise and moving account of being dragged into reluctant adulthood by a pack of Boston terriers.” —Ken Foster, author of The Dog Who Found Me

“[Klam’s] warm,

often funny

memoir…recalls the dogs she’s helped save—and how they saved her.” —O: The Oprah Magazine

Check out Julie and Timothy Hutton talking dogs and books! JulieKlam.com JulieKlamAuthor @JulieKlam

Riverhead Books A Penguin Group (USA) Company

penguin.com

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Search Dog Foundation In Honor Of An Extraordinary Dog… And A Tribute To Her Handler…

T

Debra & Abby during 9-11.

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he National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) consistently lives up to a singular and important mission to strengthen disaster response in America by partnering rescued dogs with firefighters to save lives.

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So, the amazing partnership began: Debra Tosh engaged with the SDF when she moved to Ojai and the Foundation was less than one year old. When she heard the SDF was looking for volunteers, she raised her hand. Debra said, “I believe in the SDF’s Mission with all of my heart and soul.” Abby, a female Black Lab, was born October 30, 1997– the only girl in a litter of seven. She was born in the bedroom of the Search Dog Foundation founder Wilma Melville. Abby lived with Wilma for the first seven weeks of her life. There have been and will continue to be She weighed just one pound at birth, but quickly amazing dogs and equally amazing trainers. grew to be a good-sized puppy. Sadly, one of the most exceptional SDF dogs, After leaving Wilma’s home, Abby went to Abby, passed away in September. This is the live with a woman named Kim in Ojai as part of story of a great partnership between Abby and her “Prep Home” training. She stayed with Kim her partner-handler, Debra Tosch, and all that for eight months, was given heaps of love and they’ve accomplished. affection, and learned good discipline. At 10 Debra & Abby in 2009. Photo by Silva months, Abby went off to Sundowners Kennel, our Abby: October 30, 1997 – September 23, 2011 Photography. professional training facility in Gilroy, CA. She learned Abby was the partner of Debra Tosch, Search Dog all the basic skills for becoming a Search Dog, and at the end of her Foundation Executive Director and Former Handler with Los Angeles training was partnered with Debra Tosch, then SDF’s Program Director. City Task Force. Debra believed that the handlers and search and Abby and Debra bonded very quickly. They loved being together rescue dogs were true partners and talked about them as equals. and practiced their search skills diligently. After only seven months, She was passionate about the importance of mutual respect, which they attained Basic Certification for disaster search from the Federal is different in this context from the more nurturing and emotional Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Three months later, they parent-baby language that people usually use to communicate with attained Advanced Certification and were considered one of the top pets. Debra said, “These dogs are truly amazing. An example would canine/handler search teams in the nation. “When it comes to Abby, be the dogs’ contribution during 9/11—the families, the firefighters, I love her dearly. The relationship is all about mutual respect, bonds the police officers all had total faith and trust in these dogs…and and partnership. She’s done everything that has ever been asked these dogs never tired or anything like that—they just did of her.” it. They did what needed to be done. Then, at the end On September 11th, 2001, their skills were put to by SDF Volunteer of the day, they were almost like therapy dogs for the ultimate test when they were called into action as one stein Blumen Lisa everyone.”

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Search Dog, Continued from page 12

14

TOP RIGHT: Search Dogs: Abby, Manny, Dawson, Duke, Ranger after Katrina in Gulfport. Photo by Howard Orr. BOTTOM RIGHT: Abby searching in the wreckage of the Chatsworth Train in 2008. Photo by Eric Parsons/Ventura County Star.

of 13 SDF Search Teams deployed to Ground Zero. On 9/11, Debra and Abby were training with other SDF teams in Washington State and missed going to New York immediately with the Los Angeles City Task Force. As all commercial flights were cancelled, they drove down to San Diego and made the second wave of the deployment by flying to New York on a military transport with the San Diego Task Force. The assignment was extremely dangerous and demanding, climbing over twisted metal and sharp, hot slabs of concrete, breathing in dust and smoke. But the SDF teams were completely prepared for the challenge. The dogs are always eager to search; they enjoy it and even thrive on it! Debra and Abby searched the rubble in 12-hour shifts. The rest of the time was spent caring for the dogs and sneaking in a few hours of sleep. At the end of the deployment, the teams were exhausted, but proud for having served their country and having met a profound physical and emotional challenge. Debra and Abby’s next major deployment was to the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. They were stationed a helicopter ride away from the games along with other search teams and emergency personnel. Abby was truly enjoying her work as a Search Dog. She was fearless in her approach to any new obstacle she had to tackle in training, and moved with confidence when searching over rubble. For two years Debra served as captain of the Ventura County Wilderness Canine Team. This gives Abby the distinction of being one of a few SDF dogs that have also trained for wilderness rescue. The team also served as part of the Los Angeles City Task Force and, when deployment outside of the U.S. was required, as part of the Los Angeles County Task Force. In January 2005, Debra and Abby were deployed with eight other SDF teams to assist with rescue efforts at a deadly mudslide in La Conchita, CA. Also in January 2005, Debra was selected to represent California and Washington on the FEMA Canine SubCommittee. This committee makes recommendations to FEMA on the disaster search program in the U.S. And in June of 2005, Debra was appointed as Executive Director of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, with Abby by her side! It wasn’t long before Debra and Abby added yet another deployment to their resume, responding to the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005. For several grueling weeks after the floodwaters subsided, Debra and Abby searched abandoned homes, insuring that no one was left behind.

Upon returning from the hurricane deployments, Debra found that she had to make an important decision---continue being Abby’s handler or pour all her energy and effort into leading SDF. Ultimately, Debra decided that she could do more good as Executive Director, leading more than 70 Search Teams, than as a single Search Team with Abby. The issue was that while Abby was nearing retirement age, she still had plenty of searching left in her! Debra asked fellow handler Ron Weckbacher, who had recently retired his Search Dog Manny, to take over as Abby’s handler. Ron had trained with Abby since she was a pup, had deployed with Debra and Abby several times and spent nearly as much time with her as Debra had—so there was no better match. After achieving FEMA Certification, Ron and Abby responded to their first deployment in December 2007, staging for a mudslide in Orange County, CA. By this time, Abby was 10 years old, the age at which Search Dogs typically retire. Ron knew that she would retire soon but felt she still had the desire and ability to search and continued to train with her. In September 2008, Ron and Abby responded to Abby’s last deployment, a Metrolink commuter train crash in Chatsworth, CA. Abby did very well, thoroughly searching the wreckage of the derailed train cars, making sure no survivors were left behind. When

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A BARK-OUT-LOUD COLLECTION

of brand-new essays about living with and loving dogs from some of today’s most popular writers including Jen Lancaster, Jane Green, Laurie Notaro, Rita Mae Brown, and many more!

ON SALE NOW WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD OR AT PENGUIN.COM

A Penguin Group (USA) Company

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The Freedom Leash

The sleek design of this fabulous new product allows dual-dog owners the freedom to walk two dogs at one time, with one hand -- on the same retractable leash. Designed to prevent those pesky tangles, each 10-foot retractable leash contains its own independent retracting mechanism. As dogs wander around each other, the retractors spin, completely eliminating leash tangles and tripping hazards. One-hand operation allows active and busy dog owners the freedom to do other things – take an important phone call, sip a cup of coffee, wave to the neighbor and one-touch locking mechanism allows pet parents to safely secure both pups instantly with the click of a button. www.thefreedomleash.com

Planet Dog

Their new On the Go Collection makes it easy for dog lovers to take their pups along with them wherever their adventures take them. The new line offers a portable Feedbag, Food and Water Bowl and Snack Sack. This extraordinarily light, collapsible, rollable, stuffable and very packable waterproof collection was designed with easy transport and storage in mind. The On the Go Feedbag is modeled after a paddling dry bag and keeps up to 30 cups of kibble fresh and handy. The On the Go Food and Water Bowl gives dogs a means to feed and quench their thirst no matter where they are. The On the Go Feedbag, Food and Water Bowl and Snack Sack are offered in four attractive and colorful striped patterns: Seaside Blue, Sunset Pink, Harvest Orange and Forest Green. Prices range from $10.95 - $16.95. www. planetdog.com

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Cedel — Pets & Style

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This unique specialty Argentine pet furniture designer custom designs furniture for every pet. Based in Buenos Aires, their exquisite line of pet furniture is made by master cabinetmakers using natural wood materials such as cedar, beech and bamboo. Each bed is custom made and exclusive to the pet it is created for. At Cedel, they believe that your dog’s bed should be as unique and special to him as he is to you. www.cedel.com.ar

iSqueek is the first virtual squeak-toy that reacts realistically to your touch. Each toy compresses and expands utilizing the iPhone’s unique touch screen and speaker capabilities. iSqueek includes 18 individual toys, each with its own unique action and sound. Press on a toy longer, or shorter, to create longer, or shorter, sound bursts and gain the attention of your dog. Choose from the many colorful squeak-toys to find the one your dog, or dogs, loves best. iSqueek will remember which toy you last selected, so that a favorite squeak will always be ready with one touch. A terrific, unique gift for the dog or dog lover in your life $1.99 http://itunes.apple.com

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Talk about a great Holiday gift idea for the dog or dog lover in your life. Bakers dog creates personalized bags of dog treats. Any photo can be uploaded and printed to either the One Pounder ($9.99) or Half Pounder ($5.99) bags in any of the 10 flavors which includes wheat and corn free options. The labels are printed in high resolution full color and the photo upload process is made very easy on the website. For gifts, The Baker’s Dog will drop ship to any U.S. address. You can share the custom photo labels via email address in case someone would like to re-order more treats for their dog. www. bakersdog.com

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Baker’s Dog

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obinson By Lisa R

dog-eared MARTHA SPEAKS - PBS

PBS’s Martha Speaks is partnering with the Humane Society of the United States to celebrate the great work done by animal shelters around the country, encourage people to support their local shelters, and to help people choose and care for pets responsibly. On Martha Speaks, Martha is a shelter dog who is adopted by Helen and her family, but the real Martha was a stray taken in by Susan Meddaugh, who went on to write the Martha Speaks book series. “What if we hadn’t adopted Martha? We would have missed so much” Susan says, “And it makes me sad to think of all the dogs in shelters, and all the love and surprises they could bring to a forever home of their own.” Many Martha Speaks episodes incorporate information on how to treat animals humanely and support animal shelters. Visit the Martha Speaks website at pbskids.org/martha to learn how you can help shelter animals and to find out what you need to know if you are thinking about adding a four-legged friend to your family. Already adopted a shelter animal? www.facebook.com/ PBSmarthaspeaks.

mission, and offers a revealing and historic look at the remarkable roles dogs have in the U.S. military. In The Dogs Of War, Rogak shows the amazing range of jobs that military working dogs perform in such areas as explosives detection, patrol, and the hunt for enemy combatants. She explains how the military acquires the puppies and dogs who enter its training program, what qualities the dog must possess to be considered for the military, and examines the training procedures and equipment issued for the dogs. She discusses how soldiers and airmen become handlers, and what it’s like to serve with the dogs on the front lines. She chronicles the dog’s place in the military over the years and how their importance and our treatment of them have evolved over time. Rogak presents surprising and little-known facts about these brave canine soldiers who have long protected our armed forces throughout the world; for instance, dogs are awarded a rank like any enlisted soldier, but their rank is always one level higher than the handler’s. The Dogs Of War also tells heart-warming stories of the deep connections that grow between dogs and their handlers and recounts adventures both heroic and tragic of the courage and devotion that both human and canine soldiers have shown together on the battlefield. An incredible story of the largely unseen but vital role that dogs play in our armed forces, The Dogs Of War is a must-read for animal-lovers everywhere.

Cherished: 21 Writers on Animals They Have Loved and Lost Edited by Barbara Abercrombie (April 19, 2010 / New World Library / Trade paper $14.95 / 224 pages / ISBN: 978-1-57731-957-3)

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The Dogs of War

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By Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books / October 2011 / ISBN: 978-1-250-00946-3) When people learned that a military dog named Cairo had accompanied SEAL Team Six on the mission that led to Osama bin Laden’s death, they were fascinated and wanted to know more about these extraordinary dogs who serve our country. Now, in The Dogs Of War, Lisa Rogak explores Cairo’s role in that elite SEAL Team’s

The idea for Cherished stemmed from Barbara Abercrombie losing her twenty-six-year-old horse, Robin. She shares, “I wrote about his death on my blog, saying how much I had loved him and how hard I was grieving for him. After a veterinarian friend suggested there should be an anthology of such pieces about the love and loss of an animal, I realized this was the kind of book I wanted to read — how other animal lovers got through their loss, how they made meaning out of it. Grieving for an animal can be a pretty lonely place.” Abercrombie wrote to writers whose work she admired, both friends and strangers, and asked if they’d

By Martin Kihm (Pantheon Books / April 2011 / ISBN: 978-0-307-37915-3) Can a dog improve your health? Research has been conflicting: In a recent New York Times OpEd, Hal Herzog says that “research has shown that stroking an animal lowers blood pressure,” but that “a 2006 survey of Americans by the Pew Research Center . . . reported that living with a pet did not make people any happier.” For USA Today, Janice Lloyd states that “having a dog DOES improve your health,” and that “research shows dog ownership can decrease a child’s chances of being obese by as much as 50%.” In Martin Kihn’s case, a dog kept him sober. Bad Dog (A Love Story), Kihn’s memoir, is NOT a typical, fuzzy dog book. The premise: Man gets drunk; man gets dog; man, because studiously inebriated, fails to impart an ounce of discipline on dog. Here is a story about a man’s struggle to stay sober and tame an unruly, but irresistible Bernese mountain dog named Hola. BAD DOG proves dogs’ salubrious effects on humans—both mentally and physically.

You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness By Julie Klam (Riverhead Trade Paperback; $15.00; October 4, 2011 / ISBN: 978-1-59448-541-1) Julie Klam was thirty, single, working as a parttime clerk, and had resorted to consulting tarot cards as to when she would finally meet that special someone. But when he finally showed up, he wasn’t exactly as she had pictured. Flat-faced, eyes askew, neutered, and irresistibly sweet: he was a Boston terrier named Otto. You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me The Secrets Of Happiness is the humorous and tender story of a woman who learned life’s most valuable lessons from her dogs. Otto would be the first in a long line of Boston terriers for Klam, and she was over the moon for him. She adored the way he burrowed under the covers and hated water for anything but drinking; she marveled at his good manners, even as he sat across from her at the dinner table. Julie had worried that she was too selfish to ever be able to live with a man, but caring for Otto taught her about the compromises and the giveand-take that love requires. Otto was only the first of many dogs that would enter her life over the years,

Part Wild: One Woman’s Journey with a Creature Caught Between the Worlds of Wolves and Dogs By Ceiridwen Terrill (Scribner, on-sale October 11, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-4156-3481-5) True stories about women’s encounters with the wild have lasting resonance—from Jane Goodall to Dian Fossey—and in her extraordinary memoir Part Wild: One Woman’s Journey With A Creature Caught Between The Worlds Of Wolves And Dogs Ceiridwen Terrill offers a stirring new take on this enduring theme. In and out of unhealthy relationships Terrill adopts Inyo, a canine estimated to be 12.5 percent Siberian husky and 87.5 percent gray wolf, to be a source of protection and a fellow traveler. The story that unfolds is about the alluring call of the wild, the danger and responsibility of heeding that call, and the extraordinary animal love that helps one woman carve out a place for herself in the world. Over the course of almost four years, Terrill and Inyo’s adventures veer between hilarious and heartbreaking. There are peaceful weekends spent hiking in the snowy foothills; joyful adoptions of dog companions; rambunctious romps through dirty laundry, garbage cans and kitchens; and a string of increasingly astonishing escapes out of the yard. There are also clashes brought on by the stress of caring for Inyo, who becomes insatiable without the stimulation of a life lived outdoors. Forced to move and accommodate the complaints of fearful neighbors, her husband’s financial mishaps, and the desires of her space-craving

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Bad dog (A Love Story)

and in You Had Me At Woof, Julie Klam chronicles the raucous adventures, humorous foibles, and surprising revelations of letting a dog (or four) into your heart. But Otto was only the beginning. Over the years, as Julie Klam’s family grew to include a husband and daughter, they would take in many beloved canine companions, each with their own set of challenges and revelations. And after Klam became an active volunteer with a local Boston terrier rescue organization, their home became a veritable revolving dog door—from the endlessly hyper Hank, to the solemnly devoted Moses, to the very old foster Dahlia, who surprised them all by giving birth to a pair of puppies. In a rollicking chronicle of her dog adventures, Klam tells the hilarious tale of her not-so-rigorous training as an animal communicator at the new age-y Omega Institute, of trying to manage both her newborn baby and a new puppy at the same time, and, later, of the exhilarating and exhausting chaos of squeezing four dogs and three humans into a Manhattan apartment. Through the triumphs and the losses and the many laughs along the way, Klam reveals how caring for her canine friends has opened her heart, and made her better in the process. Full of humor and warmth, You Had Me At Woof is the poignant tale of how one woman learned the secret to love, health, and happiness from an unexpected source: her dogs.

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contribute essays. Everybody responded, passionate about the stories of their animals and what it’s like to love an animal — in all its joy, frustration, craziness, humor, grief, and gratitude. Cherished includes essays by Anne Lamott, Jane Smiley, Jacqueline Winspear, Carolyn See, Mark Doty, and many others. If you are an animal lover, you have stories. Abercrombie hopes “these stories deepen and confirm your understanding and love of animals, entertain you and make you laugh, and also comfort you if you recently lost a pet.”

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treats

CALCULATING A DOG’S AGE

The old formula for obtaining the age of your dog was to multiply every year of a dog’s life by 7 human years. Dog facts: but this method is not accurate. A dog is fully grown at 12 months, which would be age 18 in human terms. From this point on, to calculate the true age of your dog, figure that every dog year is the equivalent of five human years. For a 10 year old dog: Total people years would be 63 years old.

BY DEFINITION

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Looking back, I can’t really pinpoint where it began, much less when, why or how. My love of dogs has been like a birth defect or, more properly, a gift. Perhaps, after all, it is genetic and there is no where or when. Anyway, it has always been there, this dog-love thing. When I was born, in rural Massachusetts in 1928, there was already a mature dog in the family. His name was Bozo and he was an outsize Boston Terrier. It seems as if everybody owned Boston Terriers in those days and a lot of them were large by today’s standards. Bozo was a pleasant enough dog, with a throaty bark I would later come to associate with pugs. I don’t recall much about the end of Bozo, but I do remember it was a conscious decision by my parents. I was six or seven and I remember trying to understand the whole life and death equation. I cried a lot but the answer to the equation escaped me. Bozo was followed by a collie. He was with us for so short a time that I don’t recall his name. I do remember him dying. He had gotten a chicken bone out of someone’s rubbish, and we found him dead on our front lawn. I remember staring down at him and then kneeling. I reached out and touched him but I still didn’t understand. Later there was an English cocker, named Peter, and he was a real companion. I was nine when we got him and my love affair with dogs blossomed. If I was not in school, Peter was glued to me like a limpet. From that day to this, I have never been comfortable without a dog nearby. I feel incomplete. Fortunately my wife, Jill, feels the same way. We have eleven dogs at the moment. Over our forty years together or so, I would guess we have had fifty, and although we make vague noises about allowing natural attrition without

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addition to occur it just never happens. Some people (generally nonpet owners) believe that those of us that are “into” pets indulge ourselves in a kind of replacement activity. We re said to have failed in our human relationships or something like that. Well, who am I to argue with that kind of profound insight? I will just have to trudge along loving and being loved, accepting and not being judged, either. Things will probably never change. In my study, where I come to write, lie three of my eleven dogs, Topi is a glorious golden whippet, Lizzie is a lovely Basset and Duncan is a border collie. Guy, a petite basset griffon Vendeen, is next door in a half-acre kennel run with Rose and Sweet William, our bloodhounds. Down at the main house, Sam the Yorkie lords it over the four rescued racing greyhounds. Lily, Sirius (also spelled Xyerius), Dickens and Reggie (or La Pomme du Terre du Lit, as he is also known). This is the first time in a long time that there haven’t been some random-breds. Well, our daughter who loves nearby has a lovely random-bred pooch among her five dogs. Oh, yes, I do believe it must be genetic. Our son’s family is into cats. That could also be genetic. Jill and I have nine of them, too. Why eleven dogs? Well, they make Jill and me feel comfortable. They round things out. (We have thirty-six pets in all.) When our grown kids come over with their kids (they practically live here) they often bring a dog or two or three. Rupert Rupert is a rescued chocolate Lab. Mollie is a Westie from the ASPCA shelter in New York City, and Chloe is a three-legged random-bred who was born with five legs. Two of them were useless, so off they came. Is this excessive? Is if overdoing it to have a couple of thousand books on dogs and other pets in my library (and thousands more on ecology and wildlife)? What about my collection of classic photographs of dogs and my collection of antique dog collars and down at the house, Jill’s superb collection of dogs in bronze and fine porcelain? No, we are, with pride, down from the cavemen who were the first to know what dogs can be in people’s lives. Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. —Roger Caras

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Judy and I drove to our new teaching jobs in upper central New York, about 200 miles north of New York City, in a dark blue Corvair convertible. We carried distilled water for the iron, since we thought we were leaving civilization, and we carried a cake Judy had baked for my birthday, which we would celebrate that night, August 1, on the bare floor of the apartment we had rented. With us in the car, ears flapping and teeth grinning into the wind that made the Corvair shudder, was Gus, our year-old first Labrador. Gus helped us celebrate my birthday that night. He also had helped to punctuate the unease that accompanies a big move by chasing the first car he saw in front of our house. He caught it and it stopped. He somehow sprained a paw and thereafter told the neighborhood of our arrival—it was very late at night--- by yelping in an ecstasy of fright and woundedness. That night, the three of us noted my twenty-fourth birthday on the floor of a rented half-house, the furniture for which would come, perhaps in the morning. Gus ate more icing than we did. He was a wonderful big black dog, with a little soft-fleeced golden retriever in his background. We thought him, as most parents do their first child or surrogate, quite brilliant. We decided at last that he was a writer, perhaps a poet. He was also vindictive, and when we left him once for half a day, alone in the living room, he removed each of three cushions from our sofa, then tore away the lining of the sofa bench and removed every white, woolly wad of stuffing. The living room floor looked like early snow. Taking advice from local people, we fetched home a female Labrador who, we were told, would calm our temperamental male. We named her Dinah, and she was as low to the ground, stumpy, whip-tailed, and fixed on attending to us---pure Lab, in other words--as Gus was leggy and contemplative. As they grew into dogdom together, Gus and Dinah acquired a routine. Most mornings, Judy went off to her teaching job at Madison Central School and I left to teach my eight o’clock class of conscripted freshmen. Gus had no sense of direction that we could discern. He wandered as if lost, often, and we assumed he was either perceiving hard or composing about his perceptions. With Dinah on the scene, though, in all her raw bird-dogness, Gus’s problems were solved. She headed down Lebanon Street to make a right on Broad and stroll the village green to the campus, and Gus let her lead. He tucked his head along her flank, and they went directly to wherever it was that Dinah knew they ought to be. She was the creature of obligations and proprieties and Gus was, well, he was thinking. They went, usually, to Taylor Lake, an artificial lake on the edge of the green, hilly campus. We sneaked along on weekend mornings to learn their routine. Dinah made it known to students or faculty that it was her job and Gus’s to return to the thrower any tossed object, preferably a stick that would float in Taylor Lake. She brought u p the subject by delivering a good-sized piece of wood at the feet of the potential thrower. She stood rigidly, muscles quivering, as if on the verge of explosion. When the stick was thrown, she followed it, Gus followed her. At dinnertime, they arrived at the house. Dinah, of course in the lead, ready for a meal. She was also the more nervous about protecting us. We moved to a larger rental house in Hamilton, and we had a backyard. Judy, who loves to garden, knew that we would need a double-length of garden hose. We were conscious of what a luxury we had somehow

managed to afford, and Judy spent considerable time selecting two lengths of black, heavy hose. We returned with it one Saturday morning, from either Sears or Agway, and we laid it the length of the side driveway thinking to connect it to the spigot later in the day. In our living room, sitting on the repaired but always lumpy little sofa we’d brought from New York, Judy heard a strange sound---a growling, a kind of tugging, a sound of combat. She asked Gus what he thought it was. He regarded her, checked with me, yawned in dismissal and returned to his nap. That afternoon, Judy called me from the house. She had no words. She pointed at the driveway. Dinah stood there, wagging hard: See? I did it for you! Dinah had noted the long black serpent lying in a dangerous wait, and she had dispatched it. We were saved. The long black menace had been cut apart, sawed by the clean white teeth of a healthy Lab. It lay there, vanquished, in remarkably neat two-foot lengths. There were generations of their puppies in yards and in dormitories. There were photographs in the student newspaper of Gus and Dinah plunging after sticks in Taylor Lake. Our son, Ben came along, and we bought a house in the country where Gus, who lasted longer, was guardian and retriever for Ben and then Nick. He was the resident poet of the house in Poolville. Our next dog was suburban. We adopted him while visiting a friend in Putnam County. We were talking about our current state of doglessness, and she urged upon us the local newspaper, We saw and ad for Labradors, and we—Judy and I and Ben and Nick---fell into instant motion, and were in the car and aiming for a certain downstate kennel. That was where we found Taxi. I named him that because I’m from Brooklyn and because we’d just returned from several months in London, and I thought I’d enjoy, each night, calling his name over the cornfield near the Poolville house and evoking a fact of both cities. It was a bellow some of our neighbours never learned to appreciate, and the local dog inspectors were never even approximately charmed. Taxi became a rural dog promptly enough, and his mission consisted of allowing children to play with and on him, and of killing snakes in Judy’s garden with a fervor one associates with a mongoose. In nearby Poolville Lake, where Judy and the boys were picnicking one afternoon, taxi saw a deer in the brush. He made sounds of confusion and pursuit, and the deer leaped into the lake to swim for its life. Taxi followed and he became part of our own wonderful version of Keats’s urn: the deer forever in frantic retreat—doing, it would have to be said, a version of the dog paddle and Taxi forever in pursuit to the tune of his panting and wet groans. We are required, by fondness and perversity, to once in a while wonder what he might have done had he caught the deer. Now there are Junior and Jake. Taxi lived long enough to show the precincts to Jake, a small purebred male who is the loyalest of friends. And Jake has in turn shown Junior, a year younger than he and a good deal larger, how to patrol the acres around the house where we now live on a wild ridge above Shelburne, New York. Jake is quite reminiscent of Dinah, and Junior is shaggy and not unlike Gus. It is Junior who eyes the hoses with Dinah’s slightly

treats

GUS AND DINAH

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wags

Treats, Continued from page 21

Strays Around the World, Continued from page 10

mad glare and it is Junior who has retrieved small rabbits and baby birds. Jake is awash in being dutiful. He delivers hurled sticks or balls with solemn urgency, while Junior, once he has retrieved them, is content to chew them into neat segments. Each is a handsome, funny companion and each is our friend. And neither’s the poet Gus was. —Fredrick Busch

innocently cannot help but share. However, while the dogs smarts of never missing their stop on the subway is endearing to many, the large issue at hand is that these dogs sadly have no home, regular food, or veterinarians to tend to them. Over the course of the next ten years, Madeline hopes to visit Ireland, where an unwanted dog is destroyed every five minutes, every day except Sunday, South England, Costa Rica, South America, Thailand, where there is an estimated 150,000 homeless dogs, and India, where in 2009 it was ruled by Bombay’s High Court that strays that are considered a “public nuisance” can be killed. “While I understand all cultures are different, it upsets me that there are parts of the world that have no concern for the welfare of domestic animals,” said Madeline. Madeline’s ultimate goals when the project is completed are to publish a book of the collection of photographs called Strays Around the World and to see both 600million.org’s and Project Animal Worldwide’s missions succeed. In the meantime, while Madeline anxiously awaits her trip to Italy, she is focused on expanding Chase & Snap, which was officially established in January 2011. For animal owners who consider their pet as part of the family, Chase & Snap is the perfect avenue to head down if looking for a keepsake that will capture their pet in their own element— be it a beach, park, or their favorite oversized chair.

HE’S MY SOUL MATE.

One of the remarkable surprises of doing rescue work – whether it’s fostering dogs or volunteering in a shelter – is that each dog stays with you long after they’ve found their home. These are dogs who may have issues, but their issues, and our growing understanding of what they are about, are part of what bonds us to them. When Brando was a puppy, he went through a phase of smelling like Christmas cookies. To me, anyway. “It’s so amazing,” I announced to anyone who would listen. ”He smells just like freshbaked Christmas cookies! —From “Dogs I Have Met and the People They Found” by Ken Foster

A DOGS SOUL

Every dog must have a soul, somewhere deep inside Where all his hurts and grievances are buried with his pride. Where he decides the good and bad, the wrong way from the right, And where his judgment carefully is hidden from our sight. A dog must have a secret place, where every thought abides, A sort of close acquaintance that he trusts in and confides. And when accused unjustly for himself, He cannot speak, Rebuked, He finds within his soul, the comfort he must seek. He’ll love, tho’he is unloved, and he’ll serve tho’badly used, And one kind word will wipe away the times when he’s abused. Altho’ his heart may break in two, his love will still be whole, Because God gave to every dog an understanding Soul! —Unknown

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Dog Eared, Continued from page 19

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wolfdog, Ceiridwen must confront the reality of what she has done by trying to tame a part-wild animal. Obsessed with trying to understand Inyo and her behavior and why it was so different from her dogs’ Terrill spent five years researching and interviewing scientists, wolf biologists, and dog trainers in the United States, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, and Russia. The result is a powerful memoir that is as informative as it is moving. Part Wild captures the beauty and grace of the natural world, the complexity of scientific research about wolves and dogs, and the pulse of the human experience. Ultimately, it is the story of a woman learning to stand on her own, and the magnificent animal who helped teach her how.

Additional information for Chase & Snap, including rates, a portfolio, and current projects can be found at www. chaseandsnap.com. Like the Facebook pages at www.facebook. com/chaseandsnappetphotography and www.facebook.com/ straysaroundtheworld to see how the project develops. To learn more about 600million.org and follow the organization’s progress, log onto www.600million.org. For more information about Project Animal Worldwide (PAW), go to www.projectanimal.org. To learn more about HeARTs Speak visit www.heartsspeak.org.

Search Dogs, Continued from page 14 they returned home, Ron called Debra and shared with her that while Abby did a great job at the Metrolink deployment, it was clear that it was becoming harder for her to traverse the piles of metal, wood and concrete; it would soon be time for her to retire. Abby continued to train with Ron, and on her 12th birthday – October 30, 2009 – Abby completed her final search during training. Ron walked her to the rubble pile, released her with a “Search!” command, and when Abby found her “victim,” she found Debra buried deep beneath the concrete. Handlers are never “victim” for their own dogs but with Ron as her handler, Abby was surprised and excited to give her final tugs on that fire hose toy with one of her favorite people in the world. After that last training session, all the handlers that had trained with Ron, Debra and Abby throughout the years, SDF staff and friends gathered in SDF Founder Wilma Melville’s airplane hangar for a retirement party for Abby. With plenty of luxurious presents like doggie beds, toys and food treats (which she was never allowed during her career), Abby entered her golden years with plenty of swag. Abby has always and will continue to serve as a shining example of an exemplary working dog for generations of Search Dogs to come! And Debra continues to head up an exceptional organization of people and dogs who will continue to honor Abby through their commitment to Search and Rescue!

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Balancing Love and Discipline with a

tricks

New Puppy W

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hen adopting a new puppy, many people have questions about how to bond with and discipline their puppies. Over the years we have gathered a great deal of experience in this matter. The one recurring theme we have noticed is that you cannot have one (love or discipline) without the other. You spoil your pet and wonder why he/she won’t obey even simple commands, or you only yell at your pup anytime you see him/her and wonder why it won’t come when you call. Both of these environments are unhealthy for a pet.

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a word we’ve used with our puppies to signify things that are off limits to them. Even animate things like our cats, are ours, not theirs. As they get closer to adulthood they will better understand this principle and respect it. The concept of “No” is the same. Although we typically don’t use the word “no” with our dogs. We instead use a sound, like “ah!” with a strict tone of voice. And in some cases I will growl at my dogs if I adamantly want them to stop a behavior. But you should do what is most comfortable for you. Discipline is important to maintain your position as the alpha in your pack. Not only will this make you safer with any dog you have, but it will also make your dog feel safer. When there is a noise out in the darkness, my dogs hide behind me. When your puppy is still small, after he/she has bonded to you, you should put them on their back on the ground. This will let them know absolutely that you are the alpha. It will also ensure that when they are too large to easily be physically dominated, they will still be This will not be a guide to training your pet to roll over and submissive to you. Another sign of submission is their ears pulled play dead. This is a guide for new pet owners to inform them back against their head. The importance of being the alpha in your on what we have discovered, and what they can discover from household is that this will give your pup a sense of security and their relationship with their new puppy. We are honored to stability. That is why this balance is so important, on both sides... share our insights from years of breeding and training at http:// Last and certainly not least, Love. This is even more important than californiawolves.com/resources discipline. Many dogs around the country and the world each year are When you first bring your puppy home, the balance will favor treated with no love. That is a tragedy. Before you consider buying any love. This is the time when you’re forming your bond with your new pet, you should search inward and consider if you have the time and puppy. This puppy will be your best friend for better or worse. This energy to give them the love they need. I’m happy to see my dogs time is fundamental to your puppy. Typically I tell a new owner that every time I see them, whether it’s been five days or five minutes since an average of a week of constant attention and love is important I last saw them. They return this love to me equally, just as they will for for their new puppy. Depending on their socialization from birth, it you. Love also extends to how you care for your animal. Make sure they could be more or less than a week. We very intensively socialize our have fresh, clean drinking water everyday. Make sure you give them puppies from birth, and typically they form new bonds in just a few the proper diet. Your dog’s looks and attitude will be reflected by the days. For those first few days, I recommend that people refrain from quality of their diet. Also, make sure you always nestle away money for chastising their puppy. You want to build a trust first. surprise veterinary needs, this is important, you never know what The puppy will have to reach a certain age before it tomorrow will bring. By Seth Marin understands the concept of “mine” anyway. “Mine” is

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dogma

Rin Tin Tin, Continued from page 7

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stunt he wasn’t able to do, especially as he got older, just as there are almost always stunt doubles for human stars in films. Rin Tin Tin starred in twenty-two silents and seven talkies in just eight years, a breakneck pace, and he was not a young dog during most of that time. It would have been easy to use another dog to fill in for him in scenes that weren’t close-ups, especially any in which he was doing something any well-trained German shepherd could do, like running or jumping. The fact is that dogs of the same breed do look a lot alike. Only nine of those early films still exist, so we are able to assess just a small sample of his work. The dog starring in those nine silent films appears to be the same dog in the close-ups. In the long shots, the dog really could be any dog, since all you see is a German shepherd–shaped blur. In a few fight scenes, it looks as if a stuffed model is used. Jack Warner didn’t have any cause to say there were eighteen Rin Tin Tins if there was only one. Lee had more reason to deny that other dogs were used in the movies: maintaining that Rinty never had a double was a point of pride for him. It was a question of both the dog’s identity and his own. He had one star, his war orphan pup, and that is what he wanted the world to see. Over time, the story of Rin Tin Tin did end up forming a continuous multiple-strand loop of identity both bona fide and assumed—real individuals playing invented characters, and invented characters meant to represent real individuals played by other individuals chosen because they suited the role. Rin Tin Tin grew from being one dog to being a sort of franchise. And as his fame grew, Rin Tin Tin became, in a way, less particular—less specifically this one single dog—and more conceptual, the archetypal dog hero. I think that’s why the first question I was asked whenever I told someone I was writing about Rin Tin Tin was always, “Was there really just one?” At Warner Bros., it was Sam Warner who thought it would be a good idea to have people talk in a movie. At his urging, the studio bought the rights to Vitagraph, a system for adding music to film, and he believed that it could be developed to add spoken dialogue to film, too. His hunch, which was shared by a number of other Hollywood executives, was correct. In October 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, and actor Al Jolson’s ad-libbing was such a sensation that it changed the movie business forever. Unfortunately, Sam Warner, who had been so certain that the future of film included sound, died of a cerebral hemorrhage the day before the film premiered. As he predicted, talkies took over from silents quickly and completely, wiping them away, altering the entire industry, eliminating whole categories of jobs and an entire generation of actors who couldn’t or wouldn’t make the transition. Only ten years after The Jazz Singer was released, no more silent films were being made. Did Lee see the changes on the horizon? On one hand, he and Rinty had never been busier. In 1927 Rinty made Tracked by the Police, Dog of the Regiment, Jaws of Steel, and Hills of Kentucky (which featured one of his puppies, Rin Tin Tin Jr., in a small role). In 1928, he starred in A Race for Life, Rinty of the Desert, and Land of the Silver Fox, and, in 1929, The Million Dollar Collar. Lee’s contract

with Warner Bros. was up for renewal the following year, but it must have seemed like a sure thing. After all, thirteen different films starring Rinty were playing at theaters across the country. And yet, there were warnings. In May 1929, recognizing the new standard set by The Jazz Singer, the studio cast Rinty in a movie that was billed as “five percent dialog”—in other words, an awkward hybrid of a silent and a talkie. The Variety reviewer sniffed that the film, Frozen River, featured “a lot of badly synchronized barking.” In an interesting bit of backtracking, the movie was then re-released as a silent, with the sound track removed. Later that year, Rin Tin Tin’s twenty-second film, Tiger Rose, premiered in a vast, 2,600-seat movie palace, but at least one review treated it as if it was an artifact of a former time, calling it “strongly suggestive of the old Warner programmers,” but pointing out that Rinty seemed like a “much less prominent doggie than in the days when mutts were glorified by Hollywood.” The review was eerily prescient. “Rinty . . . has been scissored almost out of the picture,” the reviewer added. “He now merely peeps through his paws and gets patted a couple of times. No more saving the express train or racing miles for the United States Marines.” That December, a Warner Bros. executive instructed a lawyer to draft a letter to Lee. Its purpose was to inform him that his contract was being canceled: the studio did not plan to make any more movies with Rin Tin Tin. “It has been decided that since the talking pictures have come into their own, particularly with this organization,” the letter stated, “that the making of any animal pictures, such as we have in the past with Rin Tin Tin, is not in keeping with the policy that has been adopted by us for talking pictures, very obviously, of course, because dogs don’t talk.” Lee was on Sound Stage One of the Warner Bros. studio lot when he was handed the envelope containing the letter and his termination papers. A studio executive standing nearby overheard Lee tell the messenger delivering the envelope that he had been expecting bad news. He walked to a spot where he thought he was out of sight, and read the letter. Then without any fanfare, he packed up his Warner Bros. office, retrieved his dog, and went home. He left behind an oil portrait of Rin Tin Tin that hung in the Warner Bros. Hall of Fame—the first dog portrait to have enjoyed that honor at the studio. But he took all the other mementos that had accumulated in his office over the years: the drawings of Rin Tin Tin that had been sent to him by fans; the bas-relief plaques they had made for him; the carvings in redwood and gumwood; and the statuettes of ebony, ivory, clay, paste, soapstone, chalk, and Plasticine—all the awkward, handmade, heartfelt representations of the dog who had once been his personal war trophy and pet but had been shape-shifted and amplified and projected on the boundless scope of a public dream. Rin Tin Tin had always been Lee’s private story about the possibility that love could be constant. This setback was real, but the dog was now something communal, a shared story about courage and endurance. He flickered past on a screen but he was fixed in immortality. From RIN TIN TIN by Susan Orlean. Copyright © 2011 by Susan Orlean. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

wags ask dog lady

g o d ask y d a l Visit askdoglady.com to ask a question or make a comment. Follow “Ask Dog Lady” on facebook and @askdoglady on Twitter. Dear Dog Lady, I recently did some work in a Central American country and while I was there I befriended a street dog. She had an unhealed femur fracture that clearly limited her mobility and likely caused her pain. While many street dogs are underweight, she appeared to be an extreme case. She was very friendly and soon learned when and where to expect me with food. (I also fed her many friends.) After I left, I did arrange with some people to continue to feed her. I wonder about bringing her home. I did check with the U.S. Customs Web site and am aware that she would need vaccinations and that there would need to be a waiting period for the vaccinations to work and also treatment for parasites. Is this a crazy idea? I have thought that I am spending money and resources on a dog when many disadvantaged children need help. I went above and beyond with the children but I cannot really bring a child home. You might say there are many dogs to be rescued in the U.S. so why bring one back? My response would be that I know this dog and have developed a bond with her. I repeat: Is this a crazy idea? —Steve

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A: Crazy but good crazy. Sounds as if you have figured everything out and want Dog Lady’s benediction. Not going to happen easily because starving children trump starving dogs. You know it. Dog Lady knows it. And every human with a conscience knows it. People always come first. Still. There is something about a dog’s soulful mug that gets under the skin. The gimpy street mutt has done a number on you. Oh, heck, go for it. You won’t be saving the planet but you will be saving a forgotten animal with no hope in a place where abandoned dogs do not enjoy the same redemptive status as those in the U.S. You will be saving a life. No small feat

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Dear Dog Lady. We have a nine-year-old bichon frise named Daisy. She is a very healthy dog that has shown some strange behavior within the last year. Every so often, she will start to scratch at windows or a corner of an outside wall. She has a very strange almost scared look. We let her out at the door and she sits for hours in heat, rain, snow or cold just staring. We have to pull her in or she would stay out all night. I am thinking this may be age related. Maybe she’s becoming senile? Most other times, she is a normal happy dog. What are your ideas? —Rosemary

A: Important to remember dogs stare. They can stare so hard and so long, it can be creepy — as if they’re possessed by an unknown dog-god force. You literally have to snap them out of it by clapping your hands, trilling their name, and giving them a command to sit or lie down just so they can be diverted. Daisy’s scratching and staring by the window and at the corner of the outside wall might be because she hears something alluring or scary — the pitter-patter of rodent feet, whatever. Remember, dog hearing is much, much better than humans. Dogs hear frequencies far above and beyond human range. And, yes, Daisy could have a touch of dementia, which really presents no cause for alarm if she is a normal, happy dog most of the time. Your veterinarian can certainly talk to you about the vagaries of the canine aging process. In the meantime, exercise Daisy enough to focus her mind on healthy pursuits such as sniffing like mad and reading all the latest pee-mail. Dear Dog Lady, I’m a new dog owner. My Havanese puppy, Boing-Boing, is great, but I hope you understand my disgust with other dog owners. At the park and in the local dog shop, it seems all they want to talk about is dog bathroom behavior. Diarrhea is debated like it’s a pressing world issue. Scolding owners who don’t pick up poop seems like a blood sport. What have I stepped into? —Chelsey A: For dog guardians, keeping track of the animals’ daily output is the most readily available barometer of a pet’s health. Hoping to understand the inner-workings of their mysterious creatures, people swap information and seek support about pet gastrointestinal matters. Dog Lady would not have discovered the holistic benefits of Greek yogurt (a couple of spoonfuls a day eases darling’s squeaky stomach) if she hadn’t heard the tip at the local dog store. Also, the issue of dog waste is a political hot button as cities and towns have laws requiring owners to pick up after their pets. The responsible dog people police themselves and carry extra bags to give anyone caught walking away from the scene of the grime. If you scoop up enough times after Boing-Boing, you will become very aware of your pet’s bowel habits and will want to share the latest poop eagerly with others.

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semi human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. —Edward Hoagland

A cat, after being scolded, goes about its business. A dog slinks off into a corner and pretends to be doing a serious self-reappraisal. —Robert Brault

A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk. —O.A. Battista

An old dog, even more than an old spouse, always feels like doing what you feel like doing. —Robert Brault

In the presence of a smashed vase, it’s amazing the way a dog, a cat and a small child can agree on the same story. —Unknown

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If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people. —Karel Capek

bites

As friend and confidante, my dog is no less silent than my shadow, but he shows up on cloudy days.” —Unknown

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Photo: Maria Wulf

the inner dog

Jon Katz and Rose

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A

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uthor and photographer Jon Katz has written twenty books—seven novels and thirteen works of nonfiction—including Soul of a Dog, Izzy & Lenore, Dog Days, A Good Dog, and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Rolling Stone, Wired, and the AKC Gazette. He has worked for CBS News, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Katz is also the author of a children’s book, Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm. He lives on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York with his wife, the artist Maria Wulf; his dogs, Rose, Izzy, Lenore, and Frieda; and his barn cats, Mother and Minnie; his donkey’s Lulu, Fanny, and Simon; hens; a rooster; and a flock of sheep.

She would run faster than a chipmunk, so fast she could run alongside the deer and fly through the woods.

We thank Jon and Rose for taking the time to answer our Inner Dog Questionnaire.

What is her greatest accomplishment? Finding the skunk, cornering it underneath the car, getting everyone to shout and scream.

What is her idea of perfect happiness Lying in front of the wood stove, after supper, dreaming of rabbits and chipmunks in their burrows. What is her favorite treat? The things sheep and donkeys leave behind; nothing tastier, nothing sweeter. If she could change one thing about herself, what would it be?

What is her most treasured possession? An old leather shoe, which she keeps hidden beneath the bed, off in a corner where it will get dirty, smelly, never be found, and can be forever chewed and nuzzled with. What is her most endearing quality? Looking into people’s eyes, very wide and connecting. Getting fed. Assuming there is such a thing as reincarnation, what or who might she have been in a former life? Oh, for sure, a wolf. The King. The Mother and Father. Is there anything that embarrasses her? People speaking in those high voices. Calling her a “furbaby.” What is it that she dislikes most? Noise she can’t see or smell. What is her greatest fear? Light in the sky, noise in the air.

What is her favorite place? That wood stove I mentioned. What does she really like in other dogs? Smells on their butts. Does she have a motto? Food is good. More food is better.

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even watchdogs need watchdogs

Animals enrich our lives in so many ways. They give us joy, protection, companionship, and unconditional love. But they need our help too. Join us in confronting animal cruelty in all its forms. Visit humanesociety.org to find out what you can do.