Shop Dogs/Cats

[Michelle Rich]

There is a good article in this month's Woodsmith about having pets in our shops. Dust is as bad for them as it is for you & they have much better hearing than we do, and machinery can damage their ears.

[Dick Mahany]

I have always had the same concern. Fortunately my shop cat exits at the mere sound of power tools or the dust collector. However, if I leave a pile of turnings from the lathe on the floor, he dives into them, rolls around and then proudly walks back into the house with all those shavings as if sporting a new coat :)

[Andrew Hughes]

My dog doesn’t mind the noise at all and she has big ears like a donkey.
But she hates the corn broom and the hissing sound it makes.
I also have a turtle and a cat that pass thru when they want to.

[Matt Day]

My dog doesn’t mind the noise at all and she has big ears like a donkey.

I didn't mind blasting heavy metal music when I was a kid, but my hearing has likely suffered from it.

[Jacob Mac]

I’m not a huge fan of pets being in my shop. But to each their own

[Bruce Wrenn]

Dog sleeps outside the door, when I'm in the shop. During cold weather she sleeps in shop, which is heated to 57 degrees. It's already warm in there so why not let her sleep in the warmth. FYI, she is a 14 year old Brindle pit. Some kind of mean. Knock you down and lick every feature off your face.

[Martin Wasner]

My Vizsla comes to work with me four to six days a week. I'm sure the environment isn't the best for her, but she's far happier being with me at work than she would be being locked in a cage all day. Pointer pups are a little more clingy than your average though.

[Bill Dufour]

I think Dalmation dogs are often totally deaf or hard of hearing. For some reason this is considered a defect at dog shows and they get lower points for bad hearing. The bad hearing is actually an advantage for them and the reason they are often used as firehouse dogs. They are not bothered by the sirens or loud truck engines.
Bil lD.
PS: I understand many clueless owners get mad and hit their Dalmations when they are unable to train them to respond to voice commands. They will respond to voice commands but only if trained carefully and so they can see the owners lips moving and hands waving.

[Van Huskey]

I think Dalmation dogs are often totally deaf or hard of hearing. For some reason this is considered a defect at dog shows and they get lower points for bad hearing. The bad hearing is actually an advantage for them and the reason they are often used as firehouse dogs. They are not bothered by the sirens or loud truck engines.


I wouldn't call deafness an advantage to the dogs, merely an advantage in some working uses, but even then it is training more than anything, people don't seek out deaf dogs for use as gun dogs, they just don't use the ones that aren't comfortable with the noise. The problem is not limited to Dalmations, the genetic defect is found in many albino dogs. Normally breeders do not breed Dalmatians unless they have good bilateral hearing. This is more important than many other breed standard faults as especially Dalmatians with bilateral deafness are prone to aggression, a ridgeless Rhodesian Ridgeback has a "fatal" breed standard flaw but makes a fine pet, deaf Dalmatians require a special home willing to cater to the issue. The 101 Dalmation movies spiked the demand for Dalmations and saw a commensurate increase in deaf shelter Dalmatians when people realized their children's favorite pet was a danger around young kids.



My dogs generally go where I go, they also leave the shop (on their own) when it gets even close to noisy enough for me to use muffs. As for the dust, I don't really worry about it because the vast majority of the time my shop air is demonstratively cleaner than the outside air. If I am using or spraying anything that causes me to feel the need to wear a vapor filter then I send the dogs out of the shop.

[Bradley Gray]

My dog has an "office" under my loading dock with a sign "complaint dept"

Takes off when I drag out an air hose - hates the sound of an air nozzle or sprayer- but she doesn't seem bothered by machine noise.

[Rod Sheridan]

Sir Ellington Snodgrass, Shop Snoopervisor, still going strong.393110

He likes being in the shop, and dust isn't an issue in my shop............Rod.

[Curt Harms]

We have a Maine Coon who has adopted me. If I spend any amount of time in the basement shop she has to come down and see what I'm doing. She's not bothered by machine noise but if I don't really screw up she gets bored and goes back upstairs.

[Izzy Camire]

If I go to the cellar for anything I have a couple of cats that follow me down. They give me that look of ya I have something to do down here too.

[John TenEyck]

My first cat used to follow me into the shop and would watch me / sleep for hours w/o moving then get up and follow me back upstairs. Machine noises didn't seem to bother him at all and he never got in my way or caused me any concern for my safety or his. But that was long ago and all the subsequent cats have been banned from the shop due to total ignorance. Their ignorance, just to be clear.

John

[Pete Staehling]

My dog used to lay just outside the shop before it was air conditioned and the roll up door was always up. Now she visits but usually doesn't stay too long unless I am sitting at the computer.

[George Bokros]

The new issue of WoodSmith has an article that discusses this. They even have a link for ear muffs for dogs and cats to protect their hearing.

[Bill McNiel]

My avatar pretty much says it all.

[Nick Decker]

Cats wearing ear muffs? I'd have to see that to believe it.

[Tim Bueler]

All our dogs and cats flee once I turn on a machine. My cat Earl, Da-Man, is a different story. I've turned around to find he's been watching, fascinated as little curls fly off a spiral flush trim bit. He doesn't flinch in the slightest when I use a nail gun. Dust collector, table saw, 20" planer running full tilt...no bother for Earl. Still, I don't want him to end up with the same hearing issues I have so when I see him I escort him out.

[Mike Henderson]

Skipper joins me in the shop. It would be almost impossible to keep him out. If I leave him in the house, he whines and barks. He's 14 and is showing signs of poor hearing but I think that's age related.

Mike

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