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ON THE COVERON THE COVERON THE COVER

African village dog (similar to greyhound)

Hello friends. We are the staff of Cinofili Stanchi, the Italian magazine of canine information. As many of you read us from abroad, and it is difficult to translate the Italian language even if you use a dedi-cated software, we are here with the English version of our magazine. His name will be '(no silliest things) ABOUT DOGS'because it is our intention to continue with the same accuracy we use with the original version of CINOFILI STANCHI. Our hope is to find interlocutors eager to find it in our magazine what they do not find elsewhere: advi-ces, scientific notions, and some funny anecdote that you can use to improve your life with your dog. And if life with your dog it's OK, we hope our magazine will serve, however, to increase your knowledge a-bout ethology, psychology, the behavior of your (and our) 4-legged friend. A very big Thank you to our two translators, Mr. Russell Luchsinger and Mr. Fabrizio Gianmatteo. The magazine is free as the Italian version, for con-sultation and downloading. Happy reading.

T H E S T A F F O F A B O U T D O G S

2

Editorial 2 For our dogs: ethics, first 4 The origin of social behavior 6 The history of the Rottweiler 9 Stress in the dog 11 Genes, environment, breeding 14 Primates, Canidae and co-evolution 18 At dawn (Remembrance of Civil Protection) 19 How to feed dogs 22 Homeopathy in the treatment of behavioral disorders 25 Early Neurological Stimulation 27 Dogs in Poetry: Cerberus (The Divine Comedy) 30 Canine Jokes 31

INDEXINDEX

3

Inaworldwheretheonlyimportantthingsaremarketingandatotalmisinforma‐tion,wewanttostandout,however,fortwoqualities:

1‐Provideassistancewithcorrectinformation,inordertoestablishahealthyrela‐tionshipbetweenownerandhisdog.

2‐Donotmakemoneywithproblemsofpeople,andgivetherightmeanstosolvetheproblemsofeveryday.

For this reason , comes this onlinemagazine , where you can find ideas , sugge‐stions,directions,andanythingelsethatmaybeusefultoimprovetherelationshipwithyourdog.(asunderstandhislanguage,problemsandNeeds).

Weareagroupofprofessionals(teachers,trainers,breeders,veterinarians)drivenbyprinciplesofethicsandmorality,becausewetoohavedogs,withwhomweliveandwithwhichweareconfrontedeverydaytounderstandthesocialdynamics,therelationalsystem,theethologyandcognitiveabilities,thebasisofthebehaviorofourfurryfriends.

Weallworkinthebehavioralfield.TheideaofAbout Dogs ,cameafterwethinkaboutwebsitesorblogs,oftenfamous,giveinformationbackward,inaccurateandsometimesevenfalse.Ourgoalistoinstillinthetimeacultureoftherelationship.Weshouldbeconside‐red important for thecontentsof thismagazine ,andnotsomething tomockourcountry.

TheSTAFFof

A B O U T D O G S

4 A B O U T D O G S ( N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

MOB. 348-8029763

EDUCATION OF YOUR DOG

COMFORTABLY TO YOUR HOUSE

TRY A LESSON:

IS FREE!!!

EXPERT OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

PUPPY COURSES

www.marcellomessina.com

by Giovanni Padrone - Ever since the first forms of life appeared on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago, various species used different strategies to survive. For example, initially created colonies of unicellular microorga-nisms (stromatolites) survived in high num-bers, when compared to unicellular predators. From these colonies, we-re probably born the first multicellular life forms around 2 billion years ago. Then, approximatly 750 m.y.a. appeared the first real animal species. With more complex forms of life, there were always two competing strategies: aggregation (many subjects leave to-gether) and single ani-mals, were loners who had to find food. When plants appeared to the surface around 400 million years ago during the Devonian era, wit-nessed the arrival of in-sects and, after them, the first terrestrial vertebra-tes. With increasely complex organisms, ani-mals had to find other new strategies to survi-ve, such as gigantism. Sometimes, we find the combination of multiple

strategies: in large herbi-vorous dinosaurs, for e-xample, there is the aggre-gation in large groups and gigantism, still other times, the gigantic and heavy ar-mor, so a carnivore could never exceed (Ankylosau-rus magniventris). During he Permian (280/260 million years a-go) we have two evolutio-nary branches, which stand apart from the common reptiles and take two diffe-rent directions: first, Pel-ycosaurs reptiles (Dimetro-don grandis and Edapho-saurus cruciger) began to change their metabolism from exothermic to endo-thermic, and arrived in the evolution to paramammals reptiles (Cynognathus cra-teronotus), and then to mammals (Hadrocodium wui). The second group, reptiles thecodonts, evol-ved over time in crocodi-les, pterosaurs and dino-saurs, and subsequently by the latter (rather from the group of dinosaurs 'celurosaurs'), originated the birds (Protoavis texen-sis, Archaeopterix litogra-phica) by developing an endothermic condition. The ancestors of birds, ce-lurosaurs, and then the Dromeosaurs, were among carnivores. These groups

formed the first family groups (as pack) and enga-ged in cooperative hunting. We consider that the small Compsognathus longipes 170 maf, was perhaps less than a meter long and with a size similar to a big chi-cken. Do to their small si-ze, it is easy to understand, why the Comsognatus de-veloped skills to elude pre-dators that were much lar-ger (as Metriacanthosau-rus parkeri or Megalosau-rus bucklandii). The best strategy was to speed in larger social groups. Later, the Dromeosaurs develo-ped a winning strategy to aggregate in groups to hunt large prey and often com-pete with the big predators of the time. Scientists be-lieve that with a larger brains of these reptiles, they were able to huntu-sing strategies similar to modern wolves and wild dogs. The Velociraptor, Deinonychus and the other members of this group 'wolves of the Cretaceous' apparently hunted in packs. These fast and voracious predators (raptors) had highly developed cognitive abilities and were able to reason much the same way as modern social mam-mals. This hypothesis is based on a very important prehistoric discovery. A ca-

6 A B O U T D O G S ( N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

ve drawing depicts a scene in which these reptiles hun-ted as a unit and the drawing was carbon dated to 110 mil-lion years ago.

Fig. 1 - Deinonychus antirrhopus

Near Oklahoma City in 1931, paleontologist Barnum Brown found the remains of a herbivorous dinosaur, Te-nontosaurus tilletti, along with the remain of five Dei-nonichus, Dr. Brown did not consider the Deynonichus remains in close proximity as important because dino-saurs were considered slow and clumsy animals. It was not until 30 years later that a colleague of Brown, John Ostrom, understood the im-portance of that finding. The evidence suggested that at least some of the dinosaurs was not so slow and clumsy and that perhaps, as a group, they were able to take down larger prey. The Deino-nychus, although indivi-dually could only hunt small prey (the reptile was 3 me-ters long and just over a me-ter tall), had learned to ag-gregate to hunt prey much larger, such as Tenontosau-rus t., It is thought that the same tactics are used today when wolves hunt bison or caribou and wild dogs hunt

wildebeest, buffalo or war-thog. There is also evidence of lar-ge carnivorous dinosaurs, such as Utahraptor ostrom-maysorum (also belonging to Dromeosaurs) or Daspleto-saurus torosus (probable an-cestor of Tyrannosaurus rex), that used various forms o of cooperative hunting in packs. These big carnivorous are very heavy animals (between 500 kg and 4/5 tons), and there is evidence they hunted large herbivo-rous dinosaurs like ceratop-sians (Styracosaurus alber-tensis). In South America the Giganotosaurus carolinii, hunted in packs when atta-cking the giant Argentino-saurus huinculensis, a sauro-pod up to 40 meters long and weighing over 80 tons. When these large reptiles di-sappeared along with many other species, mammals and birds gradually came to oc-cupy the same ecological ni-che and evolved over time, developing too often size e-norm. Starting from very small animals (except for a few species, the majority of mammals of the first Tertiary period did not exceed the si-ze of a mouse), in some hun-dreds of thousands of years would increase the measure-ments and the weight of so-me hundreds or thousands of times (think of animals with a weight of a few tens of

grams, which arrived to tens of kilos or tons). In this case, the evolution brought by in-sectivorous species, to herbi-vores, carnivores and omni-vores animals. What, howe-ver, increased cohesion in mammals was that puppies were conceived within the womb (and not inside an egg, isolated from ever-ything and everyone) and, after birth, were suckled by the mother for a period of time (in species of small size for a few weeks, in the larger ones for months). Of course, this change is reached through a long process of which we still witness in mammals monotremes (Echidna and Platypus still lay eggs) and marsupials (kangaroos and opossums grow premature puppies inside a bag placed on their belly). But everyone, howe-ver, suckle their young. Li-kely a direct transition from paramammal reptiles more advanced to the first true mammals was a small detail but it has caused great diffe-rences. Today we can see these dif-ferences, only through the skeleton of those ancient ani-mals, because the internal organs and soft tissues of the body have never been pre-served (in a few cases with various animal species has been preserved the mark of the skin, as in some Cretace-ous hadrosaurs, or the mark

7

of feathers, as in Archaeop-terix, and only in some mammoths died at the end of the last ice age, they are the full remains of these ani-mals, in a sort of glacial mummification).

Fig. 2 - Echidna e Wallabi,

marsupial mammals

A new thought among biolo-gists and ethologists is that this bond between mothers and puppies developed over time, an affective - emotio-nal state, which has the hi-ghest expression in humans, as is argued already in the nineteenth century, the foun-der of the theory of evolu-tion, Charles Darwin. Over the past few decades has be-en re-evaluated the in many animal species, of which it was thought that 'instinctive' and now they are able to per-form complex thoughts, and feelings and emotions. (to be continued)

8 A B O U T D O G S ( N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

GIOVANNI PADRONE Dog/human trainer

Author of the books ‘Whisper to your dog’

‘...And the dog chose to meet Humans’

(in italian language) Facebook profile:

https://www.facebook.com/giovanni.padrone?

hc_location=stream

9

by Roberto Mannu - Until a few years ago, most of the lovers of the breed, believed that all Molossians, descen-ded from the Tibetan Ma-stiff, considered the ancestor. This argument in the light of new archaeological findings and methods of investiga-tion, is losing to be credit because in that region have not been found remains and images documenting the existence of a similar dog. After this preface, I come to describe a little history of the breed I breed, the Rot-tweiler. Its name derives from Rot-tweil, a German city in Wur-temberg, with intense trade relations with Aargau (a Swiss canton) since the time of the Roman occupa-tion, because in that city pla-yed an important cattle market. For centuries cattle ranchers accompanied the herds to be sold and they u-sed dogs of large size, po-werful and brave, who hel-ped the herders-merchants to guide and to check out the herds. Sold livestock to market, protecting the reve-nue (money) on the return journey along the roads infe-sted with brigands. The mer-chants trusted so much these dogs, to put on their hips the bags containing the money to keep it safe.

Those dogs were descended from Molossian dogs intro-duced in Central Europe, by the Celts, Alans, Huns and Romans, and they were the ancestors of Swiss cattle dogs, in their Once the ance-stors of the Rottweiler. The German cynologist Stre-bel believes the breed is di-scende from the Bavarian cattledog, in its turn related to the Bullenbeisser, but of the latter there is no trace or news. Today you can find common points between the Rottweiler, and other breeds of Switzerland, such as the Bernese Mountain Dog, the Great Swiss Mountain Dog and the Appenzell Cattle Dog. Physically they are simi-lar, and also the colors of the coat are similar, except for the white, which is required in Swiss Cattle Dogs, but not in the Rottweiler (it was until a few decades ago, as confir-med by documents publi-shed from 1949 to 1965). A time ago, the Rottweiler was known in antiquity as "Packer" (biter), to emphasi-ze the strength of the grip jaw, and as "Metzger-hunde" (butcher's dog) to indicate its use. The Rottweiler was also used as a dog to pull carts (for its remarkable strength), loads of milk or other goods of street vendors. Brought in

the South Germany, the bre-ed arrived intact until the end of the nineteenth cen-tury, when it became com-pulsory to transport cattle no more on the streets, but by rail. This rendered useless the service of these dogs, and brought the Rottweiler al-most to extinction. It was for their ability to guardians and defenders, who were rescued from extinction. At the end of the nineteenth century, some cynophilists began the selection that led to today's breed. Today, the Rottweiler is a dog for guarding, defense, companionship, and thanks to its qualities is used in a va-riety of activities (agility, o-bedience, IPO, civil defense, police, etc..). The Rottweiler is not a dog for everyone, but it must be manage by people who have past experiences with dogs and able to put rules, without sudden methods. Today, the Rottweiler is one of the most balanced dogs. Roberto Mannu - Breeder acknowledged by ENCI - F.C.I. with Affix 'DI ALBA-SCURA' - Member of the Register of dog trainers, Section 1 - Utility Dogs.

10

ByMarcelloMessina ‐ Tal‐kingwithfriends,Iwasaskedtowriteanarticleaboutstressin dogs. I read the notes of adog‐loverfriend,Itriedtofindmyown ,butduetoamoveIcould not find them, so I gotthe dictionary and I searchedfor theword 'stress', to be a‐bletohelpmyselfassourceofinspiration.

The word stress (pressure,oppression,tension)isastateof theorganismcharacterizedfrom a specific syndrome(increase the activity of thesympathetic nervous system ,high production of catechola‐mines,hypertension,etc..)andcan be triggered by variousfactors (infection, wounds,joy,anger,overwork,etc..).

Therefore, stress is concep‐tuallya"barometerofoursta‐te"thatthebodyusestoreact

to internal and external sti‐muli, helping us to overcomethat particular situation.Stressisconsideredthedisea‐seofthenewmillennium,thisstatementisnotquitecorrect,because,sinceweexist,stress

hasallowedustosurvive,hel‐pinghumanbeingstoadapttothedifferntchangesoftheen‐vironment.

Lead researcher Dr. H. Seyleintroduced thedistinctionbe‐tween the various types ofstress, denominated Eustress,andDistress.Manyofyouwillask, "what kind of stress arewe talking about?", "I know,onlytheonecausedbymywi‐feorbymymother‐in‐law,"or"why do we have differenttypes of stress?" Studies con‐ducted byH.Seyle led todivi‐destressin2groups:

‐Positivestress(eustress,lite‐rallymeans"therightstress").It comes from the greek eu‐crasìa, that is "right mix ofmoods", commonly known ashomeostasis. The Eustress isnothing more than a neces‐sary activation of the orga‐nism that leads every singleindividual (be it man, dog,cat, etc..) to activate thebestenergies, bringing us to o‐btainan improvementofourabilities. The Eustress is cal‐ledpositivestress,becauseitis a physiological stress, andnotapathologicalcondition.

Negative stress (distress):ThetermDistressrepresentsthenegativeaspectof stress.We intend Distress as an‐ything thatproducesanover‐load of internal and externalstimulianditisharmfultothebody.

Inrecentyearstheconceptofstress has been considered

responsiblefortheabsenceorreduction of physical andmentalwellbeing, thus dama‐ging ourhealth andproducti‐vitywhen it comes to perfor‐mancemeasurement.Inother

words, when we talk aboutstress, we genearally talk ofDistress.

Stressandhowtodealwithitareentirelysubjective,sothe‐remaybeindividualswhogetoveraparticularstimuluswi‐thout any change, withoutgoing into distress and thereare people that, even with avery small stimulus, have re‐actionsofnegativestress.Inaclass of students or trainingcamp with several dogs, youwill notice that not all indivi‐duals respond to a given sti‐mulus in the same way, andit’smore likely that they finddifferent strategies tooverco‐mestress.

The word 'person' I alwaysuse, is properly used becausewe are talking about persons(individuals), and not groups.Forexample,evenifallboxersare able to overcome thestressofabandon,Ican’ttake

11

for granted thatminewill beabletodoit.Everydog,regar‐dlessof thebreedorsex,hasa different stress thresholdanddifferent strategies tobecopewithit.

The driving forces of stress(technically called stressors)canbeofvariouskinds:

‐Physical stressors: Electricshock, exposure to heavytemperatures such as coldandhot

‐Environmental stressors: E‐xposuretoloudnoise,intensephysicalactivity

‐Metabolic stressors: Reduc‐tionofbloodglucoselevels

‐Psychological stressors: Atestofexamination

‐Stressor‐affective:Mourning

‐Stressor‐food:Allsubstancesthatcontaincaffeine.

Stress reactions are dividedintothreephases:

‐Alarm:Where the nerve im‐pulse and the production ofhormones (cortisol) help thebody to overcome that parti‐cularstimulus.

‐ Resistance: The oppositionto the 'main event is intensi‐fiedbyreducingothersecon‐darystimuli.

‐ Exhaustion: occurs whenthe stress lasts too long andthebodyisunabletostandit,causing risk factors, such asdiseaseanddeathinextremecases.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMSOFSTRESS?

Symptoms that suggest thatthe individual (dog) is stres‐sedare:

‐Damagetoobjects

‐Intestinal Disorders: Diar‐rhea and vomiting are stressalarmbells

‐Excessivehairloss

‐Exaggeratedbodycare

‐Excessivevocalizations

‐Dandruffinthebody

‐Restlessness: The dogwalksnon‐stopbackandforth,una‐bletorelax.

‐Lossofappetite

‐Hypersexuality/hypo‐sexuality

‐Irregularity of the sexualcycle(females)

‐Mounting: If the subjectmounts, not in the presenceoffemalesinestrus,itmaybethe result of a stress source(We should exclude hierar‐chicalreasonsfirst)

Coat‐poorstaining

‐ Biting the leash duringtrainingandwalk

‐Nervousness: thedog showsnervous fear and poor con‐centration

‐Nosedripping

‐Unpleasant smell and badbreath

‐Excessive reactions: The dogreacts to the stimulus sho‐winganxiety,fear,aggression.

‐Urinating and defecating: in

situations of great fear or asuddenfrightthedogstartstodefecatedue to theactivationof the sympathetic nervoussystem that signals the colontoreleasefecesand/orurineduetothemodificationofthehydro‐saline.

‐Gluttony

‐Lackofabilitytoconcentrate.

‐Stereotypes:tailchasing,bar‐kingconstantly.

MARCELLO MESSINA Dog trainer, expert in behavioral problems

and social skills www.marcellomessina.com

12 (A B O U T D O G S N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

BOXER AND CANE CORSO BREEDER

MOB. 348-8029763

www.allevamentoscudoditalos.com

Foreword

Some time ago I had the great honor to meet the famous ethologist Ro-

ger Abrantes during my Dog Trainer course. I was really amazed by this in-

credibly talented man, passionated about his work and a real source of inspi-

ration for all the animal lovers.

I contacted him a few weeks ago to talk about the Canadian Inuit Dogs websi-

te and I dared to ask if he could write an article for us. I couldn’t believe that

he could say yes, but he actually did and after just a few days he sent me this

article. This is a really precious contribution to our website and the proof that

if you keep asking sometimes your dreams can become a little truer.

Debora Segna

by Roger Abrantes, PhD

Genes code for the traits an organism will show, physical as well as behavioral,

but genes are not all. The environment of that organism also plays a crucial role in

the way some of its genes will express themselves.

Genes play a large role in the appearance and behavior of orga-

nisms. Phenotypes (the appearance of the organism) are determined, in various

degrees, by the genotype program (the sum of all genes) and the interaction of the

organism with the environment. Some traits are more

modifiable by environmental factors, others less. For

example, while eye color is solely determined by the

genetic coding, genes determine how tall an indivi-

dual may grow, but nutritional, as well as other he-

alth factors experienced by that organism, determine

the outcome. In short: the environment by itself can-

not create a trait and only a few traits are solely the

product of a strict gene coding.

The same applies for behavior. Behavior is the result

of the genetic coding and the effects of the environ-

14 (A B O U T D O G S N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

15

ment on a particular organism. Learning is a particular adaptation to the environ-

ment that some species show.

In small populations, like breeds with a limited number of individuals, the genetic

contribution tends to

be magnified because

there is not e-

nough variation. The-

refore, it is very im-

portant that breeders

pay special importance

to lineages, keep im-

peccable records, test

the individuals, and

choose carefully,

which mating system

they will use. Failure

to be strict may result

in highly undesirable

results in a few gene-

rations with the average population showing undesired traits, physical as well as

behavioral.

We breed animals for many different purposes. Breeding means combining 50% of

the genes of one animal (a male) to 50% of the genes of another animal (a female)

and see what happens. We can never choose single genes as we wish and combine

them so we get the perfect animal, but knowing which traits are dominant, which

are recessive, and being able to read pedigrees helps us.

Here are some guidelines for breeding (inspired by ‘20 Principles of Breeding

Better Dogs’ by Raymond H. Oppenheimer).

1. The animals you select for breeding today will have an impact on the future

population (unless you do not use any of their offspring to continue breeding).

2. Chose carefully the two animals you want to breed. If you only have a limited

number of animals at your disposition, you will have to wait for another generation

to make any improvement. As a rule of thumb, you should expect the progeny to

16 (A B O U T D O G S N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

be better than the parents.

3. Statistical predictions may not hold true in a small number of animals (as in one

litter of puppies). Statistical predictions show accuracy when applied to large po-

pulations.

4. A pedigree is a tool to help you learn the desirable and undesirable attributes

that an animal is likely to exhibit or reproduce.

5. If you have a well-defined purpose for your breeding program, which you

should, you will want to enhance specific attributes, but don’t forget that an ani-

mal is a whole. To emphasize one or two features of the animal, you may compro-

mise the soundness and function of the whole organism.

6. Even though, in general, large litters indicate good health and breeding condi-

tions,quantity does not mean quality. Quality is produced by careful study, patien-

ce to wait until the right breeding stock is available, evaluating what you have al-

ready produced, and above all, having a breeding plan that is at least three gene-

rations ahead of the breeding you do today.

7. Skeletal defects are the most difficult to change.

8. Don’t bother with a good animal that cannot reproduce well. The fittest are

those who survive and are able to pass their survival genes to the next

generation.

9. Once you have approximately the animal you want, use out-crosses spa-ringly.

For each desirable characteristic you acquire, you will get many undesirable traits

that you will have to eliminate in succeeding generations.

10. Inbreeding is the fastest method to achieve desirable characteristics. It brings

forward hidden traits that may be undesirable and you want to eliminate. However,

repeated inbreeding can increase the chances of offspring being affected by re-

cessive or deleterious traits.

11. Once you have achieved the characteristics you want, line-breeding with spo-

radic outcrossing seems to be the most prudent approach.

12. Breeding does not create anything new unless you run into favorable mutations

(seldom). What you get is what was there to begin with. It may have been hidden

for many generations, but it was there.

13. Litter mates share on average 50% common genes, but only on average. Each

litter mate got at random 50% of its genes from the male (father) and 50% from

the female (mother), but not necessarily the same 50% from each.

14. Hereditary traits are inherited equally from both parents. Do not expect to sol-

ve all of your problems in one generation.

15. If the worst animal in your last litter is no better than the worst animal in your

first litter, you are not making progress.

16. If the best animal in your last litter is no better than the

best animal in your first litter, you are not making progress.

17. Do not choose a breeding animal by either the best or the worst that it has

produced. Evaluate the total breeding value of an animal by means of averages of

as many offspring as possible.

18. Keep in mind that quality is a combination of soundness and function. It is not

merely the lack of undesirable traits, but also the presence of desirable traits. It is

the whole animal that counts.

19. Be objective. Don’t allow personal feelings to influence your choice of bree-

ding stock.

20. Be realistic, but strive for excellence. Always try to get the best you can. Be

careful: when we breed animals for special characteristics, we are playing with fi-

re, changing the genome that natural selection created and tested throughout cen-

turies.

For further reading:

http://rogerabrantes.wordpress.com

http://www.ethology.eu

by Giovanni Padrone ‐Drivenbycuriosityandathirstfor knowledge, especially afterseeing some videoswhere thebaboons live together peace‐fully with wild dogs, even a‐doptingtheirpuppies,(AndI’mnot talking about pariah dogs,but just those 'terrible' feraldogs assaulting people inAfri‐caandAsia),I'mdoingastudyfor possible discoveries of acertain interconnectionbetwe‐enourancestorsandtheance‐storsofourbestfriend.

Well,Ialreadyknewthedisco‐very of Sahelanthropus tcha‐densis inChadalongwithVul‐pes riffautae dated around 6millionyearsago,asIknewthefindings of Tautavel (southernFrance,500,000yearsago)andBoxgrove (Kent UK, 400.000years ago)whereHomo hidel‐bergensis was found in thecompany ofmanywolves, andZhoukoudjian (near Beijing300,000yearsago),withHomopekinensis in the company ofotherwolves.Inparticular,the‐se findings demonstrate thatthe various subspecies of Ho‐moatsomepointof theirevo‐lutionhad a certain affinitywithcoevalwolves,intheare‐aswheretheyhadsettled.

This tradition was later main‐tainedevenbytheHomonean‐derthalis.Wehaveevidence inthe cave of Lazaret (France,near Nice, about130.000/140.000 years ago),in which were found severalskeletonsofthisspeciesofHo‐moalongwithnumerousskele‐tonsofprehistoricwolves,whohad the unique feature of ha‐ving structures and skulls, li‐ghterthanthecoevalwildwol‐ves. Even though that doesn’t

provenotsomuchtheirdome‐stication, but rather a processofadaptationtoanewlifeandnew diet (the one of scaven‐gersofhumandumps)alreadystartedsometimeago.

My curiosity prompted me tosearch among the countlessscientific studies available tome(morethan2,000)tosee ifotherhumanancestorshadso‐mesortofconnectionwiththeCanidae. In doing so, I foundthree other interesting disco‐veriesthatstillleadstothinkofa coexistence between humanancestorsandancientCanidae.Inparticular, in2006thepale‐oanthropologists working inEthiopia have found the well‐preserved remains of a youngAustralopithecus afarensis, ni‐cknamed "Lucy's child" becau‐se its date corresponds to 3.4millionyears,moreor less thesame period in which datesbackto'Lucy',theoldestfema‐le of Australopithecus. Manyother animal fossils have beenfound along the banks of theAwash, a local river. Amongthese,paleontologistshavede‐scribed a previously unknownspecies of canid thatwas sup‐posedtolivenexttotheaustra‐lopithecines.

The new canid, an ancestor of'raccoon dog' (Nyctereutes lo‐ckwoodi), is represented by acomplete skull andotherbonefragments. As far as is cur‐rently known, it was a smallcanid,aboutthesizeofajackal,but it is theonlycanidspeciesfound on the site. Nyctereuteslockwoodi was not an apexpredator,but it couldhavebe‐enascavengeroranecologicalopportunist, consuming a va‐rietyoffoodsratherthanfocu‐

singexclusivelyonmeat.

However, habits and relation‐shipsof this canid aredifficulttoestablishwithcertainty.De‐spite the researchers assum‐ptionstheNyctereuteslockwo‐odi could have been a genera‐list carnivore, and the resear‐chers acknowledge thatwe donot know the paleoecology ofthesitewellenoughtobesure.In addition, they are sure thatthis canid belongs to a newgenre.

Giovanni Padrone Dog/human trainer

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/

giovanni.padrone?hc_location=stream

Above, the ancestor of the

raccoon dog, Nyctereutes

lockwoodi, and below two

representatives of this li-

ving species spread across

Eurasia

18 (A B O U T D O G S N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

19

by Gianluca Gherghi - Atdawn they usually startsearching for missingpeople. It’s a long timethatmeandmydogareacanine operational unit.We got there after a twoyearcourse, longwalksinthe mountains and rea‐ding technicalmanuals a‐bout communications,cartography, technicalrescue,etc.. Thegoodthing,istogettoknow people who comefromallpartsof Italyandthey share with you thepassion for dogs and thewill to sacrifice some ofyourtimetohelpthoseinneed. In fact, the typicalactionsare lookingup forlost people in the moun‐tainsorpeoplewhoaban‐don their home. Unfortu‐nately, in this field, themajority of the cases arepeople who decided tocommit suicide and theymove away from their lo‐ved ones, so the scenesthatyouhappentoseearenot idyllic. I know peoplewho have abandoned thisactivityafter foundingde‐adbodies. But there are also somebeautiful life experiences,which repays you for allthehoursspentwalkinginthe rain or a few hours

sleep in the car with thethermometer just abovezero.Ihaveattendedseve‐ralmissions, but theonesI alwayskeep inmymindare mainly four: my firstexperience, the search foran elder the search for aboyandoneofababy‐girl. The first research goesback a few months aftermy qualification, and wasreferred to amiddle‐agedladywhohadmovedawayfrom home with theexpress purpose of com‐mittingsuicide. I remember that I was o‐vercome by the excite‐mentof thecallandI for‐got half of the equipmentat home including thefluorescent harness forthedogandsearchhadto

take place at nightwith acompletely black coateddog(giantschnauzer), I was torn between hidemyselforbuyaradar.Ho‐wever, we found some i‐temsbelongingtotheladythat guided our researchtowards the resolution ofthe case. Since then, I al‐ways keep a backpackwith all the equipment attheendofthebed.There‐search of the elderly is agoodmemory,becausethepersonwasnota"dotard",aswehadbeen led tobe‐lieve by his family. Heknew exactly where hewas and where he wasgoing. After eight hoursplaying hide and seekwithus,heletusfindhimand it all ended with a

Gianluca and Scuzz work among the rubble

The last experience referstothesearchofalittlegirl.The baby had been mis‐sing for fourdays andherhouse was in a mountainarea.Toleavenostoneun‐turned, for the umpteenthtime we passed the areawhere other canine unitshad already checked. Butagain nothing! Aftermeeting with the coordi‐nators,we decided toma‐ke the final round in theare around the house, be‐causenowhopeswere re‐ducedtoaflicker. With my dog, I had thetask of beating the entirearea upstream of thehousewhilemycolleagueswerebeatingleftandright.Atonepoint,mydogfounda pile of corn cobs in halfwithacloth,andimmedia‐tely many ideas came tomy mind, including that

the girl could have diedandbethereunder. I've seen many, but I didnotwanttoseethebodyofathreeyearsoldlittlegirl.Fortunately, after a littledigging, the sighting wasnegativeandso I resumedmysearch.Tenminutesla‐tercamearadiocommuni‐cation: one of my collea‐gueshadfoundthegirlali‐ve and well. The hill wasshaken by a shout of libe‐rationoftheovertwohun‐dred rescuers seemed al‐most tobeat thestadium.But the most wonderfulfeeling it was to see theshineintheeyesofhismo‐therwhen she thankedusfor returning her. Thatlook has paid me for ele‐venyearsofsacrificeandIwillneverforgetit.

GIANLUCA GHERGHI

Consultant for improvement in the dog performance

Friends with tail Center

OSIMO -AN- Italy

lunch,offeredbyhim. Thesearchforaboy,itwasthe most touching expe‐rience. One Sunday mor‐ning at three o'clock wewere alerted that a guyhad not come home, andhiscarhadbeenfoundne‐ar a cliff. With my collea‐gues we sifted the area,very rough andwemana‐ged to get the body onlyaroundnoon. EventodayIcannotunder‐stand why a 18 year oldguy,witha job,asport fu‐ture, surrounded bymanyfriends and a wonderfulgirlfriend, decides to com‐mit suicide. I think theonly answer is the loneli‐ness that one feels evenwhile in the midst of o‐thers,andIwillnever for‐get the image of the heli‐copter that carried off thestretcherwithhisbody.

20 (A B O U T D O G S N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

Gianluca Gherghi and students at the inauguration of the

"Friends with tail" Center, in Osimo (An) - Italy

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22 A B O U T D O G S ( N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

byDavideBressi‐Howtofeed dogs is one of themost discussed topics a‐mong breeders and be‐yond. Some people feedtheir dogs with moist fo‐ods, fresh foods or cannedfoods, others use dry feed(kibble). Feeding your 4‐legged friends with themoist, personally prepa‐ring the meal, it is defini‐tely the best solution.Fresh foods do not losetheir nutritional characte‐risticsandthequalityisde‐finitelyguaranteed.

It’sveryimportanttoknowthedailyneedsofyourdogin order to design a targe‐ted and balanced diet, butthistypeofdietcanbedif‐ficult and challenging, aswell as economically bur‐densome, especially for

thosewhohavelargebree‐dings.

The manufacturers of dryfood are trying to helptheir customers offering

targeted products depen‐ding on size, physical acti‐vity and breed of the dog.Atthispointyoucouldask:what is thebestanimal fe‐edonthemarket?

Idonotwanttomakealistof the best / worst pro‐ductsonthemarket.Thereare several companies anddon’t want to risk dama‐ging some, just not talkingabout them. My goal is tohelpyoutomakeacorrectchoicebasedonthecharac‐teristics of the feed. Wi‐thout going into too manydetails and technical con‐cepts,let'sseehow.It'sim‐portanttoconsiderthenu‐tritional table of the pro‐duct, understand the mea‐ning and pay attention tothe ingredients. Let’sbriefly see the main itemson thebackof yourbagofdogkibble:

·Humidity: water presentinthefeed.

·Protein: organic com‐pounds useful forbuildingmuscle.

·Fat: also called lipids,compounds useful forenergyneeds.

·Ash: inorganic materialsderived from the inci‐neration of organicsubstances.

Then we have other itemssuchasvitamins,minerals,

etc..ofconsiderableimpor‐tance, but unfortunately indry food they lose a lot ofquality.

Personally, I consider sim‐plistic and wrong to eva‐luateaproductonlyfortheamount of proteins. Pro‐teins are divided into twobroad categories: animalandvegetable.Animalpro‐teins are present in milk,fish, eggs and meat. Theyare composed of complexamino acids and they areessentialformusclehyper‐trophy and maintenance,but also to perform othervital functions. They are

therefore considered to beof high nutritional valuebecause they contain allthe amino acids essentialtothebodyoftheanimal.

Thevegetableproteins arein grains, legumes, driedfruit.Theseareconsideredtobe incompleteandcom‐posed of simple amino a‐cids. Vegetable proteinstherefore do not offer thesame quality and quantity

Kibble these unknown. What to Look for a product

of good quality?

ofaminoacidsanimalpro‐tein. Personally I considerthem superfluous in bothdogs and humans, espe‐cially in the diet aimed atmusclebuilding.

Thereforeitisimportanttounderstand the real a‐mount of animal proteinsinthefeedtofigureouttheproteinicquality.Anexcessof cereals in the feed willresult inahighquantityofpoor quality proteins. I of‐ten read labels like “with30% proteins”, but only20% are animal proteins.What is it the other 80%?How is it possible to getthat percentage of protein,with so little meat ? Thetrickistoaddaddgrain,toraisetheproteinsquantity.Currently in the marketthere are products madewith meat and fish, theycost more than conventio‐nal feed, but of course thequalityisveryhigh.

Keep in mind that the theamountofproteins,shouldbe adjusted according tothe lifestyleof thedogandthe weather of the placewherehelives.

Fatsaremoleculesusedbythe body to produce e‐nergy.Theirquantityisim‐portant, because alongwith the proteins are usedduring muscular efforts.Whereas innature thedogdoes not eat carbohydra‐tes, fatsarean indispensa‐

ble resource. Dogs unlikemanproducegoodfatsandhardly suffer of hyperlipi‐demia. The quantity of fat,like the quantity of pro‐

teins, should be adjustedaccording to the dog life‐style. A sporting dog cer‐tainlyneeds tohave adietrich in proteins and fats,while a lap dog, thatdoens’thaveabusylife,ne‐eds a diet with low pro‐teinsandfats.

As for the ashes, in myopinion, the level must beaslimitedaspossible.Theyareinorganicsubstancesasmentioned above. Highquantitiesofashcanmeanthatthefeedismadeusingslaughter product or, poormaterials such as bones,feathers,etc..

Finally a good dry foodmust have excellent dige‐stibility, with short‐termexpirationdate,whichme‐ans few preservatives and

fresh ingredients.With thehope that this article willhelpful, I wish your dogfriendswillenjoytheirme‐als!

Davide Bressi

Brs Passion Rottweiler Kennel San Marco in Lamis (FG)

http://www.brspassion.it/it/home-page

Feed your dog a balanced way to avoid health problems

such as obesity

23

ROTTWEILER KENNEL

OF BRS PASSION

Amateur Breeder acknowle

dged by ENCI/FCI

San Marco in Lamis (FG) -

Italy

Site: www.brspassion.it

E-mail: info@brspassion.it

Mob. 328-5972631

by Cristina Pederzani VMD - In recent years we haveseen a gradual increase inthecommoninterestforani‐malwell‐beingandagreaterattention to the mental andphysical health of our fourleggedfriends.Eventhepro‐fessionals involved in theirwell‐beingandspecializedintreating behavioral pro‐blems are considerably in‐creasedandpeoplearemorewilling to gethelp from thisfieldexperts.

Most of the people workingforthementalhealthofdogsand cat are behaviorists,whileIhavemadeadifferentchoice and I chose to workonbehavioralproblemswithalternativemedicine,suchashomeopathy, herbal medici‐ne,Bachflowers.

The results are wonderful,and,despitethecommonbe‐lief, it doesn’t take a reallylong time to re‐enstablish acorrectemotionalbalance, ifwe choose the correct re‐medy. Many people are a‐

fraid of the idea of usingdrugs,whiletheuseofana‐tural remedy, that often of‐fersbetterresultscompared

totheusual"prozac",isdefi‐nitivelyacceptedeasily.

HomeopathywasfoundedinGermanyin19.thcenturybyacertainDr.Hannemann,heused vegetable,mineral andanimalremedies.

He found out that withhighly diluted doses couldcure various diseases. Now,the interesting thing is thatin homeopathy we don’tconsideronly the symptoms

for which customers areknockingatourdoor,butthewhole animal, in all its a‐spects. If, for example, yourdog has an aggression pro‐blem, we do not consideronly his aggressiveness butthe whole being: character,emotions,fears,whatmakeshimangryorhappy,ifheisacold orwarm dog, if he hasspecial food taste, if he hasphysicaldiseases,etc..

Onlyaftercarefulconsidera‐tion of the totality of thesymptoms of that subject,youcanprescribearemedy.That'swhyinbehavioralme‐dicine at the end the choiceislimitedtotheusualtwoorthree drugs, while those in‐

volvedinhomeopathyhastodeal with more than 3000remedies and prescribe therightone.

Animals, like every livingbeingarealldifferent,sothespecificremedyhastobeas‐sessed to that particular su‐bject.Buthowdoesahome‐opathicremedywork?Ever‐ything is based on the ideathat“similar thingscancuresimilar problems”. More indetail, if a drug is able toproduce certain symptomsonahealtyperson,thesamemedicinecancureasickper‐son with the samesymptoms. This topic is ra‐ther difficult to understand,but the way it works is notbiochemical,isenergeticandrelated to the quantumphysics, restablishing theenergetic balance of the or‐ganism, can put all the pie‐ces of the puzzle back toge‐ther.Homeopathic remediesaredilutedwithwateroral‐cohol and we generally usehigh diluted doses to treatbehavioral problems. Con‐trarytowhatyoumaythinkthe more diluted the sub‐stanceis,themoreableistoget deep into the body andactonamentalandemotio‐nallevel.

In addition to thehomeopa‐thic treatment is generallyrequired a rehabilitationtherapy with a dog trainer,who can follow the dogthrough all the steps of the

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healing process. There aremany examples I could tellyou, but a recent case of adachshund comes to mymind.

BILLO is dachshund a oneyearandahalfoldmalenotneutered. He doesn’t allowyoutogetintothehouse,hebarks all the time, trying tobite and then stepping back(worse with men), he doesnot accept treats, he vocali‐zes all the timeof the coun‐selingandeverylittlemove‐mentsetsoffnewattacksonbicycles , dogs, people. Pullsontheleash.

The homeopathic symptomsthat Ihave foundare:Terri‐torial,jealousandconstantlylookingforattention,notto‐lerantofharnessesor coats,suspicious, always trying togobacktoitsden

Basically in his mind ever‐ythingisperceivedasathre‐at.Now, considering thatheisadachsundandnotagol‐den retriever, some of the“symptoms”arenormalcha‐racteristicsof thebreed,butwe also have to take intoaccount that the extremeway he expresses himself isa severe obstacle to his lifeandthelifeofhisowners,soI prescribed Lachesis, a re‐medy made out of a snake

poison.

Bear in mind that this re‐medy should cure all hissymptoms through the“similar” law. Snakes donotget parental care while thisdogstrugglestobe lovedbyevery possible means, e‐xpressing his feeling withthe exaggeration, using hisvoice, attacking with nocontrol and being intolerantto any kind of constraint, li‐keharnesses,collars,etc...

The dosage is 5 drops perday inaratherdiluteddose,its duration varies depen‐dingonthesubject'srespon‐se. After 20 days of therapyBillo is more calm he letspeoplegetintothehousewi‐thoutattackingthem,andhebarks less frequently thanbefore. Now you can takehim out for a walk, eventhough he still can’t standbyclicles coming frombehind.

Byassociatingthehomeopa‐thic with a rehabilitationthat gives him new skills li‐ke: a greater self‐confidence, self‐esteemand

self‐efficacy, in a fewmonthsBillo becomes again a da‐chshundlikeanyother. CRISTINA PEDERZANI Veterinary doctor homeopath

Teacher of alternative medicine in instructors courses

And SIUA Dog trainer

26

by Angelo Romanò - There have been many studies on animal be-havior, and many experiments have been made on them, someti-mes with gentle methods, someti-mes using animals as guinea pigs. Surely the methods used led to understand certain behaviors and were, in the light of the facts and despite of everything, a good step for their improvement.

Today, animal behavior is subjec-ted to substantial and continous changes, sometimes raising the stress level. Nonetheless the mo-dern techniques allows us to take actions with appropriate methods and with the full respect of the individual, especially because in an anthropocentric society most of the interactions happen between dogs and humans rather then just between dogs.

But what differentiates indivi-duals? What is that "something more" that some of them have?

Many people think that dog per-formances have an hereditary ori-gin. Studies carried out on horses, say that speed performance has hereditary origin only for 35% and the remaining 65% is related to nutrition, management and training. These studies deal mainly with physical characteristics like: performances and speed, but not intellectual abilities, neglecting what is most important in indivi-duality and intellectual abilities.

The qualities of certain individuals are often linked to experiences, and their ability to connect them. There have been many improve-ment programs on animals, and many selections, but there are few breeders (amateur and professio-

nal) who use consolidated techni-ques and methods of selection. Many observed differences betwe-en individuals can be explained by having used early stimulation me-thods.

Studies by Scott and Fuller show that puppies with poor stimula-tion, when they have the chance, choose to remain inside the ken-nel. Other brothers from the sa-me litter, with a little amount of external stimulation between the fifth and eighth week of life, were more curious and active. When kennel doors were left open, the latter came first, and the others remained behind with a fearful attitude and distrust of everything that was not familiar.

A luck of stimulation may produ-ce puppies with a lots of pro-blems, which will probably beha-ve the opposite of puppies expo-sed to an appropriate amount of stimulus.

But what is the "Bio Sensor" or "Super dog"?

It's a program born in the United States with to improve dogs used for military and strategic purpo-ses. The program highlighted the best periods of the puppy's life, where the early neurological sti-mulation provided excellent re-sults.

The method consists of five sim-ple exercises:

Tactile stimulation on the finger-tips

Puppy in the upright position

Puppy upside down

Puppy in the supine position

Thermal stimulation.

None of them is normally present during the first stage of a dog's life, and submit this to new stimu-li. Experience shows that someti-mes pups react abnormally to the-se exercises, while others endure them without any worries. In both cases, if you want to use this me-thod, it is absolutely necessary to be cautious and have experience, never improvise because excessive stimulation can have adverse ef-fects.

From the study of the puppies who participated to the original program "Biosensor", there were five major benefits:

Improving the performance car-dio-vascular

Heart beats stronger

Adrenals stronger

Increased stress tolerance

Greater resistance to disease.

Obviously this is only a small part of the complex world of our fai-thful friends, but it can help to give them something more that will allow them to succed life tests easily and with less stress, espe-cially at an early stage where the world to explore is more complex than the natural one.

I like to imagine the potential ac-quired through stimulation as an aid to their growth, without den-ying the curiosity and the beauty of the period. Angelo Romanò - http://www.cuccioliprodigio.it

27

At the return of consciousness, that closed

Before the pity of those two relations,

Which utterly with sadness had confused me,

New torments I behold, and new tormented

Around me, whichsoever way I move,

And whichsoever way I turn, and gaze.

In the third circle am I of the rain

Eternal, maledict, and cold, and heavy;

Its law and quality are never new.

Huge hail, and water sombre-hued, and snow,

Athwart the tenebrous air pour down amain;

Noisome the earth is, that receiveth this.

Cerberus, monster cruel and uncouth,

With his three gullets like a dog is barking

Over the people that are there submerged.

Red eyes he has, and unctuous beard and black,

And belly large, and armed with claws his hands.

He rends the spirits, flays, and quarters them.

CERBERUS - The Divine Commedy - Dante Alighieri

Inferno (Hell) - Canto Sesto

Howl the rain maketh them like unto dogs;

One side they make a shelter for the other;

Oft turn themselves the wretched reprobates.

When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm!

His mouths he opened, and displayed his tusks;

Not a limb had he that was motionless.

And my Conductor, with his spans extended,

Took of the earth, and with his fists well filled,

He threw it into those rapacious gullets.

Such as that dog is, who by barking craves,

And quiet grows soon as his food he gnaws,

For to devour it he but thinks and struggles,

The like became those muzzles filth-begrimed

Of Cerberus the demon, who so thunders

Over the souls that they would fain be deaf...

Cerberus in a representation of

Gustave Doré (19.th century)

Cerberus in a representation of

Guglielmo Giraldi (15.th century)

30 A B O U T D O G S ( N O S I L L I E S T T H I N G S )

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Our staff (educators, trainers, and professional dog breeders) are present in Ovada (AL), Sermide (MN), Castellazzo Novara (NO), Parma, Ravenna, Ancona, Velletri and San Marco in Lamis (FG).

Piemonte: OVADA -AL- cell. 347-5760185

Castellazzo Nov.se -NO- cell. 339-7397499

Lombardia cell. 348-8029763

Emilia Romagna PARMA 346-6964342

RAVENNA cell. 338-1841201

Marche: cell. 338-3787447

Lazio: cell. 338-6523430

Puglia: cell. 328-5972631

Email: cinofilistanchi@yahoo.it

About dogs, is the brainchild of four cynolo-gists (Marcello Messina, Roberto Mannu, Gianluca Gherghi and Giovanni Padrone), they have combined their minds and expe-riences to create a point of reference for an-yone who lives with his dog and requires cor-rect informations to improve their living ar-rangements. 'About dogs (no silliest things)', because we are tired of the total disinformation, tired of anyone does marketing on the ignorance of the people, tired of the urban legends.

THE FOUNDERS

An information magazine created by C I N O F I L I S T A N C H I

We are our dogs...

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Try to be a good person as your dog think you are. For this and many other reasons do not mistreat or abandon your best friend. Anyone who abuses or abandons a dog

is not a good person.