Studying the Dog

When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always."
~Rudyard Kipling

We're beginning a study of the dog, as outlined in The Handbook of Nature Study and from Barb's Outdoor Hour challenges. We began by watching PBS Nature video of In the Valley of the Wolves.
The full episodes are available online. By having some background of wolf behavior we can compare the similarities and differences between wolves and dogs. After watching the video, we began learning about dogs. We're using How Smart is Your Dog? 30 Fun Science Activities with your Pet, as our main text. This book is full of information about the dogs, and has plenty of safe, fun activities to do with your dog.

It isn't necessary to have a dog, but lucky us, we have one. Meet Dingo.


Dingo the Shetland Sheepdog, is almost 5 years old. He came to live with us when he was 9 weeks old, and was my son's 7th birthday present. We call him our Hurricane Puppy. We brought Dingo home on Wednesday, my son turned 7 on Friday, and Hurricane Frances came on Saturday. I got my first dog when I was 7, and have had dogs throughout my life. I have to say Dingo ranks as one of the best, if not the best dog I've ever had. I know he'll let us poke and prod and inspect him as we study the dog.

I do want to get this blog going again, blogging our dog study is just the push I need.