Usually in May there is an agility trial every weekend. Sometimes the agility competitors will travel to surrounding states such as Idaho, Nevada and Colorado as well to get in as many agility trials as possible. Here in Utah there are usually three trials in May, around Salt Lake City and in Logan, and a couple in June. Traveling to Idaho for agility is usually a short hop, just a couple of hours of driving time.

If you are interested in agility, May and June is the best time to find a trial and come watch!

If you are on Facebook, or even if you are not, you can visit the Salty Dogz Facebook Page:

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Salty Dogz hopes to throw all it’s AKC allotted 8 trials a year in the Salt Lake City area. If you’d like to know more about the agility schedule, please visit our Calendar Page.

What is your opinion why there is such an overpopulation issue? What would you recommend to change it, alter it, stop it? We’d love to hear from you.

Regardless of the causes, one of the best ways to bring a dog into your home is through rescue. Either adopting from a rescue organization or shelter. If you can, please open your home to a rescue dog. There are many mix breeds and pure breeds in rescue that are in desperate needs of homes.

We have some links of various rescues and shelters in our Links Directory. Please look there, or find other resources online.

We have Millcreek Canyon which, on odd-numbered days, would also let groups of hikers get together with their dogs and go for a nice hike in the mountains. There’s also Parley’s Nature Preserve which is an excellent place for a group to get together and bring their dogs.

The various parks around Salt Lake that we can take our well mannered and leashed dogs include Sugarhouse Park and Liberty Park. And since it’s going to be warming up soon, there are probably a lot of dogs and people out there who are ready to get out into the nice weather!

If you have more ideas for walking locations please comment or post in the forums!

Utah Dog Poo

In order for dogs and their people to continue to enjoy frequenting areas where the dogs can run free, we need to pick up after our dogs. Even if you have to climb that hill because the dog chose the most awful place to poop. Even if it’s freezing cold and you have to dig through some snow. Even if it’s super hot out and you are sweating and you don’t want to hunt down the dog poop. Dog people MUST clean up after their dogs.

Even one pile of poop can sour the entire experience for hundreds of people. Especially in your neighborhood where we walk our dogs casually on leash after work. Please always keep poop bags on you. There are many easy poop bag dispensers and carriers now that are easy to keep on you. If you are a woman and carry a purse, there’s every reason in the world to have a stash of small poop bags in there. Jacket pockets are great places to find extra poop bags.

So if you are out walking your dog, please pick up the poop! And if you see someone else who is walking their dog and not picking up poop, offer them a bag! It’s a good subtle way to encourage people to pick up the dog poop.

If we continue to pick up the poop, in Utah and everywhere else we go, we will continue to enjoy the great off-leash, and on-leash, areas with our dogs. It’s easy, it takes only a moment (usually lol) and it will guarantee our dog privileges!

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The more information we can have for the parks the better. Thanks!

Growling

Dogs have more limited forms of communication. Both with each other, and with us, their human caretakers. If a dog is uncomfortable, needs more space, or wants to keep something, sometimes they will use a growl to communicate these things to us.

In times past it was believed a dog should never growl at a person. Growls were interpreted as only being a sign of aggression or dominance, and should be something to be stopped immediately. Fortunately dog training and behavior understanding has come a long way in only a short time.

When a dog growls, something is happening with the dog. Perhaps the dog is playing tug and it’s a fun play growl. In much of the dog sport community tug-growls are encouraged. It tells us that the dog is having fun, may be in fight drive, and is getting a really good game out of the tug.

Sometimes a dog will growl when he feels trapped or uncomfortable in a situation, and he’s telling whomever is near to back off. In such a situation the growl may precede an action on the dogs part, but it may not. In a situation such as this we have to understand why the dog is uncomfortable and change the dog’s environment. Punishing a growl when something like this happens can end up in a very bad way. If the dog growls before a bite, then punishing the growl and making the dog stop growling will only do one thing. It will cause the dog to lash out and bite without warning. Many dogs who have had the growl punished out of them will be thought to attack without warning, when in fact they used to give warning but learned it was too dangerous to do so.

Sometimes a dog will growl because it has food, toys or a chew that it wants to keep. This type of growling is also giving a warning to someone else, be it a person or another dog. If this is the case, the dog should learn, in a kind way, that the people should always be able to take away what the dog has. This is for the dog’s safety too. If a dog has something dangerous that could hurt or kill him if swallowed, he should be able to give it up freely. Usually when a dog is young or a puppy, a valued toy or bone can be traded for something else equally valued by the dog. This way the dog learns that giving something up means getting something great in return.

There are many great books and resources out there now about listening to a dog’s growl and understanding what it means. If your dog growls at you, please don’t immediately punish that form of communication so the dog no longer has that outlet. Understanding the cause behind the growl will improve your relationship with your dog in a rainbow of ways.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE – RECORD DOG DROWNINGS THIS SPRING

PLEASE BE VERY CERTAIN TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AND DOGS UNDER CONTROL AND WATCH THEM CLOSELY ALONG ANY LOCAL STREAMS. THE WATER IS RUNNING EXTREMELY HIGH AND SWIFTLY. IT IS ALSO VERY COLD.
IF YOUR DOG IS A WATER DOG, PLEASE STAY COMPLETELY AWAY FROM THE STREAMS OR KEEP THEM LEASHED!! EVEN SHALLOW WADING IN EDDIES FOR A DRINK IS UNSAFE!!!
DON’T EVEN TRY GOING INTO THE WATER TO SAVE YOUR DOG IF IT DOES FALL IN. THE CURRENTS ARE SIMPLY TOO STRONG AND THE STRONGEST PERSON IS SIMPLY NO MATCH. GO DOWNSTREAM AND TRY TO FIND SPOTS WHERE HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN OUT, AND ASK OTHER PEOPLE IN THE AREA FOR HELP. BUT STAY AWAY FROM THE WATER.

PLEASE PASS THE WORD, THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN WAY, WAY TOO MANY DOGS PUT IN PERIL AND WAY, WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE MOURNING THE LOSS OF THEIR CANINE FAMILY MEMBER!!

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May 5-8, 2011: AKC Conformation, Agility, Obedience. South Jordan Equestrian Center.

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May 14-15, 2011: ASCA Agility, Lure Coursing.

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May 20-22, 2011: AKC Agility, Logan, Utah.
May 21-11, 2011: ASCA Obedience, Murray Park.
May 21, 2011: Strut your Mutt, Veterans Memorial Park, 1985 W 7800 S in West Jordan.
May 21, 2011: UKI Agility. Wasatch Agility Field, Draper, Utah.

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May 28-30, 2011: DOCNA Agility, Farmington Utah.
May 28, 2011: Lure Coursing Ability Test (All AKC breeds and mixed breeds can enter!)

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May is never boring in Utah!