Dr Jo's blog

So you think you have pet problems…

Now’s your chance to come along and discuss them. For now, it’s only for those of you in Sydney or willing to come here (everyone else will get a chance in time I hope, if this one goes well). I have just organised (well my friend Cameron from Family Activities) has organised a new event.

I will be talking at Bankstown Sports Centre on April 20th from 6-9pm. Everything you have ever wanted to know about your pet’s behaviour – come and ask me. When you register you will get a chance to tell me exactly what you’d like to know. It should be fun. I will get to meet lots of you and we can all talk pets together.

More here

You can also let me know here is there is any particular topics you are keen to find out more about.

Look forward to seeing you soon. Please pass on to any mates you think might enjoy it.

Jo

Other events here

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OK so this blog post is not really about pets or animals, other than the human variety but thought i might find common ground with some of you…

Four-play
Is anyone using Foursquare? In case you are not, it’s a program that you enter your location, via your mobile phone, when you attend (venues, shops, cafes etc). Then your friends can see where you are. Other people may have left recommendations (eg. latte a must, forget the bagels) and you can too. If you have checked in at that location more than anyone else, you become the mayor. You unlock badges as you progress with check ins (4 night out in a row unlocks the bender badge!)

Squaredance
Seems like a fun game. Only it hasn’t become fun yet! Or am I missing something? I get it, that further down the track, the mayor may get privledge such as free coffees for bringing people to their location. It may be fun to compete with friends to see how many points or badges you unlock. But none of that has happened to me yet.

Square peg in a round hole aka my Mayordom
So far I’m the mayor of a couple of places. One is my local dog off leash park. Can’t see any bonuses coming my way there, except perhaps for feeling responsible if someone fails to pick up their dog poo! This weekend I became the mayor of Caulfield racecourse in Melbourne. Hey I’m from Sydney and I don’t go to the races. Something doesn’t feel right! Just because I attended the pet expo 3 days in a row. I’m sure Caulfield already has a Mayor, a real one and he is welcome to take over my Mayordom

Back to square one
OK this is my fault but I am a terrible user of foursquare. I forget to use it. I return home, having visited 6 different places and forgotten to check in at each one. But I’ll continue to attempt to remember to check in, add friends and wait for enlightenment. If the alternative is to ‘be square’ then I’m there.
Anyone else using foursquare? What are your experiences?
Jo’s foursquare

Ok – one more thing – check this out. Should I be worried? Not in my household of men and dogs!

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Valentine’s Day starts the year of the Tiger. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the tiger is a sign of bravery, supposedly valued as they keep away the 3 main tragedies of a household – fire, thieves and ghosts. Well they would, wouldn’t they – who wants to burgle a house with a tiger?!

Chinese have also valued tigers for their body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Tigers are endangered animals, however, their population reduced by poaching and habitat reduction.

The Indonesian Government has come up with a plan to save tigers – adopt them out as pets.
They suggest that the animals need a block of land around the size of 3 football pitches. A pair would cost around US$100,000. Criticism from wildlife groups is forthcoming, saying this is a money-making exercise and will be taken up by people in position of power.

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Valentine’s Day. Does it fill you with dread? What will you buy? Will you receive a card? Does anyone want to be your Valentine?

If you are like one fifth of the people around the world, you would rather share your Valentine’s Day with your pet than with a human partner. Aussies even more so, with one quarter of us opting for furry fun on Feb 14th.

Truly the first in furry lovers must be Turkey where one half of Turkish people intend to spend time with their pets this Sunday. India and Japan are not far behind.

And where should you go if you really would like some attention from that special HUMAN in your life? Answer = France. Only one in ten French people opted for the pet. A nation of Romantics.

Well I’m spending my Valentine’s Day at the Melbourne Pet & Animal Expo… how romantic is that (say hello if you’re there). Where will you be on Valentine’s Day and who will you be with?

Valentine Puppy Chilli

More about Valentine’s Day & pets

More about pets ‘n’ people

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Why.. oh why do some animals love to roll in mud?

Yes biologically it’s great. Deals with parasites, disguises smells, cools you down. This does not explain why one dog loves it and will find a puddle of mud in the middle of a desert and another will avoid a water-logged field.

My previous dog Cherry was a princess who would tread gracefully through field of grass, avoiding puddles, avoiding dipping her toes in anything wet, messy and especially avoiding anything muddy. Oh yes, i would return form the park on a rainy day with a dry dog and secretly gloat over owners who had to towel-dry their pooch prior to re-entry to car or home. Doggy paw wipes were made for those unfortunate owners.

Along came dog no.2, Chilli (sadly after the passing of Cherry). Along with Chilli, came mud. And lots of it. Payback time for all those secret smiles and self-congratulations on rearing such delicate dog souls.

Chilli loves mud. Chilli has mud radar. No distractions can possible compete with a muddy puddle. And believe me I have tried all that she loves – her ball, other dogs, yummy treats. Mud wins!

Chilli in mud

...and muddiest

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I’m starting to create a video channel… would be interested to know if:
(i) you are interested in watching videos (or would blog readers rather stick to reading?)
(ii) what you would like to see on it (a) pets? (b) me? (c) what topics?

Video is daunting. For someone who is used to doing radio, I’m thinking maybe I have a face for radio! And we all know what video killed!!

Sneak pic of Jo's video

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I do a lot of work on radio, generally answering pet behaviour questions from the listeners. I also present at lots of pet events, taking questions from the public. Typically the same questions are asked, with a different breed, situation or severity- toileting issues, noise and aggression feature heavily for both cats and dogs.

Occasionally there is a question that stumps me.

Friends and colleagues always ask about the curly questions, the ones I can’t answer. How do I cope? Do I feel embarrassed? Does it make me feel like I know nothing? (As an aside, I believe the “imposter” feeling is common in professionals, people who have qualifications and experience but still feel like they are about to be found out knowing absolutely nothing!)

I genuinely don’t mind not knowing the answer to a question. Of course I would hate this to happen with every question that was asked of me in a Q&A session (then I really would feel like an imposter). The occasional question and its unknown response, however, doesn’t make me flinch. Nobody can know everything.

I use this experience as a learning curve. I go away, do my research and answer them later or I empower the questioner to do the same by referring them on to a different expert or source of information. Instead of being the imposter, I am the continual learner.

So go on… ask me anything!

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