Animal Welfare League of Alexandria: Our Blog Posts

The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (AWLA) invites community members to participate in the Second Annual Alexandria Shelter Walk for Homeless Animals on October 20, 2013.

Written by Karen Baragona and originally published at http://dogdoggerel.blogspot.com/

I've been trying to begin this post with a sentence like, "I love to watch dogs play," but I keep thinking of exceptions. I'm an anxious wreck at a dog park. I'm a nervous nelly supervising play groups when I'm teaching puppy class. And I'm on pins and needles watching play between shelter dogs that we've paired up for the first time. Am I a neurotic, smothering, mother hen? Well, I prefer to think of all this as well-informed vigilance. I know just enough about the complex dynamics of dog play to know that a) dogs are exchanging subtle signals constantly, which we don't always catch and often don't understand, and b) dogs' enthusiasm can escalate to hyper-arousal, which can then tip into aggression, seemingly without warning. So here are some thoughts on safe play.

Have you been seeing foxes in your neighborhood lately? For the first time? Or more than usual? Do you hear them screaming and shrieking like they’re possessed? Does all this make you a little jittery, or even a little panicky?

Relax. You’re almost certainly not surrounded by a marauding legion of rabid beasts. There’s a reassuring reason for the heightened activity, visibility, and general rabble-rousing of your friendly neighborhood foxes: it’s mating season. The blooming of crocuses, the return of robins, longer daylight hours . . . these signs all herald the coming of spring—finally! And spring is baby season for our local wildlife, and foxes are no exception.