Catching a Particular Dog – In a Nutshell

My colleague, Sujatha, from New Delhi, sends me  wonderful questions about dog capture and handling.  He has been working tirelessly over the past few months to care for a fragile street dog in particular, though he works with a strong ABC (animal birth control) program and works with many dogs.  He writes: “There are so [...]

Spay Neuter Project in Samoa

Preface: I have had the honor of consulting for Emma Clifford and the Animal Balance team.   Emma is our first visiting blog author to write about their experiences, especially relating to dog capture and handling.  Many times, spay neuter organizations, with sincere intentions to reduce suffering, cause pain and injury for both dogs and people [...]

Work Dogs The Way We Work Horses

I have just returned from working “in the field” with horses in South Dakota.  Actually I was working around horses and was helping Dave Pauli of Humane Society of the United States dart captive wild mustangs with an immunocontraceptive called PZP.  It is always a pleasure working with Dave and I love being around horses. [...]

Dog Handling is Not Just Physical (Part 2 Dogs)

In my previous blog entry I described having a connection with the wild animals I work with and how I saw zoo caretakers asking their animal to cooperate with procedures such as blood collection and nail trims.  This is not  physically forcing an animal to do anything.   There is give and take between the animal [...]

Dog Handling is Not Just Physical (Part 1 Wildlife)

In my wildlife chemical immobilization courses (see my Seminar Schedule) I teach about connecting with the animals.  Even when I approach a black or grizzly bear in a Culvert trap, administer immobilizing drugs, radio-collar them and release them, I still create and feel a connection with the animal which improves how well I can care [...]

Physical Restraint for Dogs. Part 1 The Scruff

Around the world, feral or street dogs are often handled strictly with equipment such as snare poles or nets.  In India, I once trained some great young men who were dog catchers for a spay/neuter program who had never touched a dog!  They had only caught and transported street dogs with nets. They were great [...]