Critter Geek

I’ve seen them on the trails at Ragle before…sometimes a woman is with the dog, sometimes a man. If they see another dog coming, they pull off the trail and hold the dogs head, bent over, telling the dog to be quiet as it growls because of us. I wondered about this training [...]

Do you have a dog who will try every opportunity to get you to play? This cute ball-throwing device might alleviate some of your pressure to perform:

Mark Pascua has some more information about the device and its maker:
lamgngo, the creator of the machine says it took 2 years of “on and off work.” He [...]

Aren’t they fun? The signals for the dog’s tricks seem to be very subtle!

In keeping with other recent memorials to Laika, the Soviet space dog (and namesake of Critter Geek’s mascot), here’s a sweet movie imaging a slightly different voyage:

Pass the kleenex! <sniff> Thanks, Nat! (and Lulu!)

Here’s a great one from Instructables: How to make a RFID pet food access control system (this has been blogged in numerous places, including the MAKE:Blog).

I wish it were easier to play with RFID technology. I recently purchased an infrared dog door so Laika can go outside on her own without letting out the [...]

Here’s a cheap an easy dog bed you can make using parts from the hardware store and remnant fabric!

You’ll need these materials:

3/4″ and/or 1/2″ PVC pipe PVC pipe, enough to make the frame of your dog bed (size depends on the size of your dog and of the fittings you can find for the corners…see [...]

Our local newspaper has an article about one of my favoritie critter geeks, Mariah Moutanos, Dog rescuer:

In her hometown of Ukiah, 15-year-old Mariah Mountanos has built a reputation as an animal-loving girl on a mission. And it’s a reputation growing far beyond the borders of Northern California.
A volunteer at the Mendocino County animal shelter since [...]

I’m sucked into the maw of work known as Maker Faire, but here’s some serious questions that may be familiar to many of you who live with canines….

via Bark Blog

Here’s a really fun article about a scientific study about dog tail wagging: If You Want to Know if Spot Loves You So, It’s in His Tail.
But there is another, newly discovered, feature of dog body language that may surprise attentive pet owners and experts in canine behavior. When dogs feel fundamentally positive about something [...]

I had a chance to participate in PBS’s Remotely Connnected for a show that airs this Sunday, Dogs That Changed the World. (Check local air times here.)
Part 1, “The Rise of the Dog”, presented current thinking about the earliest dogs. The story most of us heard was that humans captured wild wolf puppies and [...]