#33: What Ever Happened to Wally the Yacht Hopping Walrus?
Dogs are family. Wally is a vibe. This week’s edition made us laugh and tear up.
📝 Editor’s Note
Editor’s Note: Wishing you and your dogs a safe and restful Fourth of July. We know this can be a tough holiday for many dogs (and their humans), so we’re thinking of all of you navigating fireworks and stress. BTW, if you’ve been loving what we’re building here at TOC, consider becoming a paid substack subscriber! It’s just $8/month (less than your fancy coffee order) and helps keep this newsletter running. Plus, yes, we absolutely do a little happy dance every time someone new joins. 💃
🐾 Training Tip of the Week: Your Dog Might Just Need a Nap
This week, @jessdogtraining shared a post on how sleep—or the lack of it—can affect your dog’s behavior. It includes a helpful chart outlining how much sleep puppies, adolescents, and adult dogs need (there is likely nuance and individualization that cannot be represented in a global recommendation chart but still cool to see). One stat we found fascinating: only 10% of a dog’s total sleep is REM, which means they need more total hours (relative to humans) to truly “recharge.”
Overtiredness in dogs may be a contributing factor for behaviors such as reactivity, hyper activity, mouthing, or just constantly being on the move. Sound familiar? My behavior certainly changes when I am well rested vs. not. While there’s some parts of the post I might have phrased differently (a matter of different lenses and ways of speaking), the big takeaway for me is not to overlook some of the most basic antecedent conditions – one of those being sleep – in our dogs’ lives when we think about their behavior and their wellbeing. Here’s to more rest for us all!
📹 TOC’s Take: Viral Video of the Week
We were hooked by this story of Wally, a wandering walrus who journeyed from the Arctic down the coast of Europe. At one point, he caused thousands in damages after climbing onto yachts and fishing boats in St. Mary’s harbor. (Relatable chaos energy.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, NOAA considered everything from polar bear scent to dominant male walrus recordings (seriously) to scare Wally away. What worked in the end? Building him his own floating couch! A British rescue coordinator smeared an inflatable pontoon with Wally’s own “fur, excrement, and sweaty goodness” from a boat he had previously lounged on. It worked! He lounged on the pontoon instead of the boats. Other folks farther north even had a floating pontoon waiting for him to nap on as he journeyed back towards the arctic.
This is a really fun example of antecedent arrangements! They changed the conditions that preceded the behavior, and Wally’s behavior changed–without causing him a bunch of extra stress.
💬 Community Corner: Pets Recognized as Family in Landmark Ruling
We often push back against the term “dog owner”—and a recent ruling in New York gave us hope. A judge allowed a lawsuit for emotional distress to proceed after a woman witnessed her family dog, Duke, get hit by a car. Until now, pets were treated as property under the law. But in this case, the judge ruled that Duke qualified as family under New York’s “zone of danger” doctrine.
It’s a huge step forward—though still limited. The decision only applies to people walking their leashed dog when the accident happens. Duke’s primary guardian, Trevor, wasn’t present and is still only eligible for property-based compensation. But progress is progress.
❄️ DIY This for Your Dog: Frozen Berry Water Bowl
With heat waves sweeping through the Northeast and Europe, we had to share this frozen berry water bowl idea. It’s part hydration, part enrichment, and 100% cool looking (lol). We’ve honestly never seen anything like it.
If you try this, please tag us—we want to see your dogs staying cool in style.
🐕 One More Thing: Barks Around the World
We’re a global community, and we loved this graphic from @brilliantmaps showing how different languages represent dog barks. “Woof, woof” is only the most common in 13 countries!
It reminded us of Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book by Sandra Boynton*, a classic in Jess’s home. Do you think your dog’s bark sounds more like wan wan? Gav gav? Ouah ouah? I can definitely hear “voov” and “oaf” in my dogs. Let us know!
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— TOC