Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Well I am always scouring the news on TV, in newspapers and on the net for stories relating to dogs. I’ve come up with a mixed bag this week and unfortunately 3 out of the 4 are not overly cheerful.

My favorite without a doubt is the story of the little girl in Arizona who was missing for 15 hours from her family home when she was rescued she said that she had been kept warm by the family dog.

Keighley solicitor rescues girl in Bradford dog terror

3-Year-Old Kept Alive In Frigid Temps By Family Dog

Moulting is every dog-owner’s problem. Could Lycra be the solution?

Nottinghamshire force ‘learned lessons’ over dog deaths

Another great dog related quote this week is attributed to the singer Cheryl Cole who has allegedly now left her allegedly very cheating husband Ashley Cole. She has apparently stated that all that she wants to take with her from the marriage are the two dogs. She has previously been quoted as saying that the dogs are her only trusted companions. Apologies for all the “alegedlys” but to be honest who knows what is what.

Next week I am going to start writing a little more about how the family unit has got on integrating Fig into the family over the past year. Looking back the journey has been quite bumpy with lots of help needed on the way from various sources, friends, blogs, dog training manuals and from acquaintances that I have made on Twitter.

If you have a barking dog it can become very stressful for you, your neighbours and for your dog. That is why it is so important for you to get to know your dog thoroughly right from the start. A barking dog is merely sending us communications that we need to understand.

In my opinion we can minimize our dogs barking episodes by meeting their needs consistently as set out at the start of the relationship. The way that you interact with your dog initially sets his expectations For instance if you start out with a schedule of feeding your dog 4 times a day at specific times then you need to stick to it. You need to exercise your dog for at least an hour and a half a day. You also need to make sure that you play w ith your dog and provide him with interesting things to do by himself (toys, bones, hidden treats and so on)

A lot of dog barking issues arise from attention seeking but if you keep to a routine this is less likely to arise. I work from home now and I have noticed that Fig does not appreciate this as although he likes the company, he sees the time that I am at home as walking, feeding, playing and just being time, which is exactly what it was when I worked outside the home environment. This can obviously happen in reverse if you take time off initially to settle your dog and then go back to work! There is a period of readjustment for both of you during these times of change and you have to find ways to settle into a new routine. With Fig I have noticed that if I have the radio/TV/music on in the background then he doesn’t bark at me whilst I am trying to work.

Once your dog gets into the habit of barking then you really need to address it early on and break the habit/routine/cycle that he has gotten into. The only way to do this is by treating the root cause not by stopping him from barking because he may well start to act out in an even worse way.

Why not add some comments sharing your experiences as to how you have overcome these stressfull issues with your dog……

It seems like forever since I last wrote a post for this blog, you start out with such good intentions and then you get distracted by other things. Life is of course ever changing but I think that I can now hold up my hands and say that I was badly prepared to become a home schooler, move house and change career all in a period of 4 months. With all of that going on it was quite a whirlwind end to 2009 for our entire household including Fig.

I have so much material to share with everyone about the continuing work that we are doing with Fig, he has become an intrinsic part of the family however we are still working on some of the traits that he gained as a stray. He is a great source of fun and love around the house but can often be overly anxious and neurotic if some external stimuli sets him off.

His socialization with other animals is an ongoing struggle, we are well on the way to winning the war but there have been plenty of set backs on the way.

On a sad note the poor hamster died in December of natural causes. My youngest daughter now has her eyes on some goldfish lets hope that they don’t have the same effect on Fig that the Hamster did!

It’s going to take a few days to get the material into some kind of order but I hope that by mid February I will be well on the way to posting regular updates.

I have found that the training of a rescue dog can be very challenging. I have met some great people along the way that have shared their stories with me and ensured that this has not been a long and lonely road. I have also happened across many techniques/tools/books some good and some really not so good that I will also be sharing with you.

Oh and at last we think we know what breed he is….he seems to be at least part Patterdale Terrier…this is still of course open to vigorous debate everyone has a different opinion but part Patterdale seems to be the most likely yet.

Summer is of course upon us and we are venturing to the countryside in a few weeks so I am currently researching about ticks and will post an article on this issue early next week.

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No matter how bad of a day it was, one thing is for certain – your dog is going to be glad to see you when you come home.  Play time with your canine friend is both rewarding and mentally healthy – for both of you.

How can you make your time more enjoyable?  Most of us play ball with our dogs, or teach them simple tricks so we can impress our friends and neighbors who visit. These simple ideas can become boring over time.  Here are some more creative ideas for enjoying time with your pet:

1) Tug-of-War:  Most dogs love playing tug-of-war with an old blanket, sheet, or towel.  Simply roll it up, let your dog bite into it, and then pull on the other end.  Wave it back and forth and up and down for more action.  Just be sure to keep it from getting too rough so no one gets hurt!  If your dog gets too aggressive, simply command him or her to “leave it”, then put away the toy.

2) Find –a-Treat: Command your dog into a “down” position, then hide a treat for him or her.  Your dog will enjoy sniffing all around the area to find the treat.  After you master this game, hide the treat along with a small child and command the dog to find the child.  The child then can hand the dog the treat, building a bond between your dog and your child.  This trick can be quite useful in the event of an emergency, where your child needs to be found!

3) Hide-and-Go-Seek: Command your dog into a “down” position while you hide.  Call your dog, and let him or her find you.  Have a treat ready to reward your faithful canine when you are found.

4) Clean Up Your Toys: Place a small box or bucket on the floor, and then scatter dog toys on the floor surrounding it.  Gently coax or tease your dog to bring them to you.  Reward him or her each time she brings you a “gift” with a little treat.  Drop each item in the box as the dog gives it to you.  Many dogs get the hint and start dropping the items in the bucket themselves; others need a little more coaxing.  Be sure to praise your dog well once the toys are placed in the bucket.

5) Digging for Buried Treasure: Some dogs simply live to dig.  Since letting them tear up our yard is rarely an option, another idea is to get a sandbox for your dog or set aside a small section of your yard for digging.  Bury a few treats or favorite toys in this designated space, and let your puppy dig them out.

Dogs, just like people, are happier when they are not bored.  Playing games with your dog will keep him or her happy, youthful, and sharp – not to mention excited to see you come home.

This article is provided by PetGadgets.com

Innovative, unique and high-tech products that make life more enjoyable for you and your pet.

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I have always wondered over the necessary of dog training classes.

I have come to the conclusion that it depends entirely on the dog and your routine with him:

If you have a puppy that does not get much socialization during walks then you should probably attend a class alongside your use of a dog training manual. On the other hand if training is going well and your dog is getting to learn through play with other dogs at the park or whilst walking then they are probably not necessary.

If you have an older dog that is causing you concern over his behavior, aggression or otherwise then you should seek the advice of a qualified trainer after you have tried to resolve the issue yourself through training.

I cannot believe the amount of people who do not do this. You have to train your dog to stop barking for your sanity and for your neighbors sanity.

There is no need for your dog to be barking excessively if you are taking care of him properly, seeing to his needs routinely and providing him with the companionship and stimulation that he needs.

Dogs will always bark a little, it’s there way of communicating but the only reason that they bark excessively is if you are not providing them with something they need.

If you have a puppy you can train it to bark and stop barking on demand using positive training methods at that age it is easier to do but you can achieve the same results with an older dog it just takes longer.

All you need to do is get yourself a reliable dog training manual, set a little time aside and start, go on you can do it!

I have to say that however good Fig is and however much his aggressive behavior towards other animals have improved I am worried about our up and coming vacation, I am not sure that I can cope with a barking dog farm experience.

You see I am having a wobbly day, Figs lapse last week during the heatwave has slightly dented my confidence. It brought home to me the fact that we have trained him for the things that occur in his daily life but that events outside your control can upset routine and undo a lot of your hard work.

Anyway we have about 8 weeks to go before we go away so I think that it is time for a to start a routine to start to desensitize him to a new environment i.e. the sea, farms, farm animals and so on. Research, preparation and training is going to be key to having a nice relaxing family vaccation.

I’ll let you know how it goes! Needless to say the dog training manual is being dusted off as we speak lol

During my research into how to prepare Fig for our vacation I came across an absolutely gorgeous dog.

I have never been overly interested in working dogs as in my opinion they really are not suitable to city life and unless you have the time to exercise and keep the dog mentally stimulated for several hours a day then it is very unfair to them to take them out of their environment.

Anyway I may have totally lost my mind but what a beautiful breed of dog the Australian Cattle Dog is, I love Border Collies but there is just something a little more rugged about these.

Image by schoonman via Flickr

Handling dog aggression in the right way is very important! A stupid and obvious statement you might think but many people do not handle themselves in the right way when their dogs display aggressive behavior.

So take a step back and have a look at your reaction to your dogs behavior.

• Are you nervous?
• Are you angry?
• Are you fearful?
• Are you anxious?
• Are you avoiding the situation?

If you are dealing with your dogs aggressiona and diplaying any of the above traits or any other negative traits for that matter then you could be making matters worse and escalating your dogs aggressive behavior.

You have to take control of the situation, own it and address it in a cool, calm and efficient manner. You also need to take advice from a dog training manual or from a trainer alongside a dog training manual to ensure that you are using the right positive reinforcement methods.

You think you have evrything nicely under control and then you start to suffer with dog barking in the night!

Sometimes things go awry and it is usually because your dog is trying to deal with a new situation a dog starting to bark in the night is a prime example.

Fig is usually quiet after his last walk of the night, we have recently had a heatwave so the routines of our neighbors have changed significantly over the last week or so. There are people out and about at 2am or 3am trying to catch some breeze and chatting in the street. Our street is normally silent after about 11pm!

This change in routine caused Fig a few problems in the first couple of days as he did not understand what was going on and perceived the unexpected noise as a threat of some kind which caused him to bark at the slightest noise. It was fairly easily resolved by reassurance and him becoming accustomed to the change in environment.

Sudden changes in routine can cause stress in dogs (and humans too) this can set them on edge which sometimes manifests itself as them forgetting some of their training or not being able to apply it to the new situation.

If you find yourself in this situation just dig out your dog training manual and go over the steps you need to take to resolve the issue. A little reapplication of your dog training techniques in this new situation will soon have the unsettled behavior under control. A little reinforcement goes a long way!

Image via Wikipedia

One of the most worrying things that can happen when you are exercising your new dog is if  he displays dog aggression towards other dogs. Your natural reaction is one of panic and then denial.

We were assured by the rescue center that Fig was fine around other dogs. Haha how naive were we. When walking through a rescue center you tend to be excited about the prospect of actually taking the new member of your family home. He is in an unreal environment surrounded by other very vocal dogs.In our case Fig was in a side spur in a run that was partially obscured by cardboard. We were informed that this was because he had a mild case of Kennel Cough and we did not inquire any further other than about the treatment needed for the Kennel Cough.

Lol well now we know better he couldn’t bark at the time either due to the Kennel Cough or due to the fact that he had barked so much that he had lost his voice! We had a bark free week whilst Fig was on his course of antibiotics, he was very docile throughout this time. Fig didn’t ever start off aggressive with dogs but he tended to get over excited after a short while with them and then try his luck! After a further couple of days this turned into barking at dogs on sight and of course trying to rech them even if they were half a mile down the road.

So it was back to my trusty dog training manual to try and work out how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. It was apparent that Fig lacked very many social skills and that he had not been socilised. For this type of issue you really do need a good dog obedience book and if you cannot start to make changes with the behaviour yourself then you must seek professional help. The things that I took away from this whole process were:

• To remain calm throughout, don’t lose your temper and do not get uptight.

• Keep walking your dog to parks where you know there are going to be other dogs.

• Praise your dog even for the smallest sight of good behavior to reinforce that this is how he should be behaving.

• Slowly and naturally let him interact with other dogs do not avoid them.

• Remove him from the situation before it escalates so that you can praise him by watching your dog you will be able to tell when the right moment to remove him is.

We were lucky with Fig that he was just unsocialised, he never attacked he was just vocal, playful and exciteable. I really can stress it enough that if you have a puppy make sure you follow a dog training programme and socialise him from as early as it is safe to do so, it will cause you a lot less hedaches and stress in the long run. If you have an older dog all is not lost you just have to be patient and help your dog unlearn his behavior by teaching him social skills.

If you do not start to see an improvement with your dog in the short term then you must seek advice from your vet or from a dog trainer that you should find either through your vet or through recommendations. Speak to other dog owners in your area most people are more than willing to give you a recommendation.

It is very common for dogs to display dog aggression over food it is an instinctive reaction in wild dogs to something that they feel is going to threaten their food resource.

In your dog it simply means that he has not been trained to be accustomed to people being near him or his food whilst he eats.

It is something that is easily resolved over a short period of time with a little time, care, attention and a good dog training manual to help you with the steps that you need to take.

I’ve found that making mealtimes a family time really helps for instance if you have your dog eating in the kitchen why not have his food down whilst you are preparing a meal so that there are people coming in and out of the kitchen and making noise around him whilst he eats.

June 25, 2009

June 27, 2009

June 28, 2009 ]]> http://www.dogtrainingmanual.co.uk/dog-training-manual/top-dog-training-manual-news-july-4-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.dogtrainingmanual.co.uk/dog-training-advice/types-aggression-dogs/ http://www.dogtrainingmanual.co.uk/dog-training-advice/types-aggression-dogs/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:39:00 +0000 Dog Training Manual http://www.dogtrainingmanual.co.uk/?p=148

Image via Wikipedia

There are many types of aggression in dogs and in order to be able to deal with the behavioral issue you need to identify the cause of the aggression.

For example there are three main categories that the displays of agression can be classed into:

• Hunting instinct – all dogs have a natural instinct to hunt to provide themselves with food. It is a trait that was obviously very useful in the wild and was also used create hunting dogs as human companions so today this instinct is much more prevalent in some breeds of dogs than others.

• Defending themselves – dogs are naturally inclined to defend themselves against other creatures that they perceive as a threat.

• Defending their resources – they will defend their food, their territory and other pack/family members if they believe that there is danger or a threat to  that item or person.

Fig is a rescue dog that was a stray, he is also a cross breed of more than one type of terrier. The hunting instinct in him is very strong and it has been quite a challenge to get this undesirable behavior under control. Our dog training manual has been invaluable in helping us to resolve this issue (once we identified where the behavior was coming from) and I will talk about it further in future posts.

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It isn’t the best route though, your dog can be helped and things will get better but you have to arm yourself with the right knowledge and take action. This is a stand alone book but I would suggest that if your dog has severe behavioral issues that you get this book to gain some insights which will help you work with your dog alongside a behavioral consultant.

Along with my other recommendations this book is based around training via positive reinforcement, you do not need to use force in order to be in charge!

You can obtain a copy of The Dog Aggression Workbook here.

Some tips to get your dog to stop barking follow but you have to realise that your dog barking is one of the main ways that he communicates with you, so it is unreasonable to require your dog to be silent. You can however minimise these incidents, the first place to start is by implementing a consistent routine for the following areas of your dogs daily life!

You have to be consistent have a routine for feeding your dog this will stop him having to remind you to feed him.

Make sure that your dog is getting enough exercise, if he is restless and barking at what appears to be nothing to you it may be that he is bored. You have to exercise your dog for a minimum of 90 minutes a day. Be consistent with this.

Make sure that during the exercising or outside it if at all possible that quality play is built into your daily routine consistently.

Once these three tips have been implemented you should see a huge reduction in your dogs barking.

There are of course other occasions that your dog barks when you really don’t want them to and I will cover a method for dealing with these incidents in another post.

It’s amazing what you come across when you are doing research into a subject!

Barking dogs is a subject that plenty of people want to know about both because they have a dog that barks a lot and they want to solve the behavioral issues and/or because there is a dog in the neighborhood that barks a lot and they want to know what they can do about it.

From Google I found myself on barkingdogs org which wasn’t what I was looking for at all but fascinating none the less. I am always fascinated by what is going on in other places and in other cultures and this particular website charts the daily crime report of Lower Greenville!

They are running a really interesting sidebar at the moment charting the closures of local bars which I am sure resonates with a lot of communities at the moment. I know our local High Street (Main Street) looks nothing like it did a year ago.

Talk about sidetracked I had better get back to the research at hand!

So you might ask yourself why on earth am I talking about it, well it’s to head off questions about it really. I am often asked about it so I thought I would share my opinion, feel free to post some comments and agree or disagree.

In summary I would have to say that it’s a good secondary book to have as a dog training manual especially if you have kids or grandkids who want to get involved with the training as the instructions are fairly easy to read and follow.

Dog Training For Dummies (For Dummies (Pets))

How to stop dog from barking? – well before that question can be answered you have work out what situation is actually causing the barking.

In general the reason is likely to be one of those listed below:

The dog is defending his territory against someone or something.

The dog is over excited about something.

The dog needs something from you and has not managed to attract your attention in any other way.

The dog is feeling insecure.

The dog is suffering from separation anxiety.

Once you have identified which of the above is causing the barking then you can step in and take appropriate action.

The first few weeks of having a new dog in the house are generally a little surreal, everyone is on their best behavior and you tend to accomodate your new pet.

This is the wrong way to go about things, you need to stay in your usual daily routine so as to not confuse the new member of your household. If you do change your routine to stay with the dog full time this can cause major issues down the line when you are not present all the time. He may have become dependent upon your company even in such a short period of time and this could lead to dog separation anxiety.

Here are some ideas for that initial adjustments:

Try to give attention and affection to your dog at regular intervals but on your terms do not give it on his terms when he demands it.

Practice leaving him alone, get him occupied with something he enjoys a toy or something chewy in or near the vicinity of his bed and then leave the room. This is a case of rinse and repeat throughout the day in orde r to get him used to your absence.

Do not let him follow you from room to room, if necessary close doors behind you for short periods of time.

When you leave the house make sure that you leave him with enough to occupy him, interesting toys, something that he loves to chew on, access to where he likes to sleep, fresh water and some food (preferable in something that he has to work to get it out of).

This type of routine worked a treat with the all the spaniels that I have had, I cannot comment on this routine with Fig as there is nearly always someone in the house with him.

No it’s not impossible to stop my dog from barking! Although a times you might think that it is.

Having you pace shattered by constant barking can be a total nightmare; can lead to a lot of stress and frustration. This makes it very important to get a handle on it immediately.

The most common reasons for dogs barking are:

• Dog Separation Anxiety
• Excitement
• defense

Once you have identified why your dog is barking you can then work on the ways to prevent this behavioral problem.

We had quite a few problems when we first brought Fig home with barking. He would bark at people approaching the front door (poor post woman); bark at strange sounds during the night; bark when he got excited ; bark if he spotted anything strange when we were out walking (like carrier bags blowing in the wind); and of course he barked at any other animals that we encountered.

The only things that he barks at now are other animals, he doesn’t always do this and he is quite easily distracted away from this behavior so we are almost there!

I used to be very unsure about crate training a dog but my opinions have changed. I think that it is perfectly possible to crate train a dog as part of a positive reenforcement training programme.

The reason that I have changed my mind is fairly simple. If you step back and think about it is your dogs natural instinct to find and live in a den. This provides him with a safe haven and a place to call his own.

We don’t have any space in our house for a dog crate, Fig has a basket instead which is under a table. This provides the same type of environement.

Dog crates can be very useful as long as they are used in the right way, here are some guidelines on how the dog crate should be used:

• Your dog should not be shut in there for long periods of time.
• The crate should not be used as punishment.
• There must be enough space in the crate for your dog to stand up, turn around and stretch in.
• The crate must not be in a segregated area it must be somewhere where the dog can take part in normal family life.
• There must be a supply of soft bedding and fresh water to ensure your dogs comfort.
• If your dog is distressed by this training method you should stop its use immediately.

Ian Dunbar Dog Training Products

Effective Dog Training – Ian Dunbar – The funniest bloopers are right here

Ian Dunbar Dog Training Products

photo credit: Goran Necin

When we collected Fig from the dog shelter he was suffering from kennel cough. It isn’t unusual for dogs that has been in an animal shelter for a while to be suffering from this condition.

The condition itself is a respiratory infection caused either by a virus or bacteria. I causes a hacking cough and sometimes a runny nose. Your dog may not have any symptoms of this when you pick him up but it may develop over the coming days when you get him home. If your new dog does present with these conditions then you need to take him to the vets.

When we saw the vet at the shelter he considered Figs condition bad enough to warrant antibiotics. These came in tablet form which we fed to fig hidden in a small lump of cheese. The course lasted for 5 days and cleared up the infection in no time at all.

The cough and runny nose can last for a couple of weeks and during this time it is important to keep your dog away from other dogs as kennel cough is extremely infectious.

There are quite a few reasons for dog aggression but firstly you have to understand that aggression for a dog is just a natural instinct which helped them survive in the wild.

With a dog like Fig, who was a stray before he was at the shelter, these instincts come to the fore to enable them to survive and you have to work hard to get them to return to the place that we want these instincts to be (at the back of your dogs mind).

The same can be said for puppies they are new to the world and everything around them is new and strange. Their natural reaction to this is fear and the defense is aggression.

The most common reasons that your dog will display aggressive behavior are:

• If he is being possessive of you.
• If he is in a strange environment.
• If he is encountering new experiences.
• If he is guarding his food
• If he is guarding his toys.
• If he is receiving unwanted physical contact.
• If he sees something as a threat.

All of these behaviors can be worked on and resolved with some effort and a bit of patience.

Part of the training process as a dog training manual will tell you is to introduce your pet to new experiences in a controlled manner. Of course life does not always go as you plan!

My daughter has a small furry creature otherwise know as a Syrian Hamster. All went well for the first few days at home the dog completely ignored the hamster even though it was in plain sight and made quite a noise. We were fully prepared to make an introduction once the dog seemed settled enough in his new environment.

The plan was to have the dog on his lead in the sitting room with the hamster already in there. Once he noticed and started to make a fuss we were going to ignore him but as soon as he stopped making a fuss we would praise him and/or give him a treat. the reason for doing it this way was so that everyone was calm and prepared for what was going to happen.

Unfortunately my youngest daughter brought a friend home from school to meet our new dog. He was quite excited at meeting a new person when she decided it would be fun to pick up the dog (he is a small/medium sized terrier) and show him the hamster. Well, all hell broke loose, the dog started barking and twisting in her arms as he desperately tried to get to the hamster. Of course the girls reaction to this was not calm there was a lot of screeching and uproar which just fueled his behavior even further.

This impacted really negatively on the dogs training because he was very unsettled. It took a lot of effort to repair the situation and get back on track. There was constant whining and attempts by the dog to try and find the hamster. He would build himself up into a frenzy which would make him anxious and at times distressed.

I took it upon myself to try and start the introduction process all over again, day by day I would sit with the dog on his lead with the hamster in the room ignoring his bad behavior and rewarding his good behavior. This process was extremely long and drawn out, as you should only make the introductions short and end them as soon as the dog has been rewarded for his good behavior, we are at the stage where he can be in the room with the hamster without making a fuss, sometimes he slips up but is easily distracted by a diversion into forgetting the hamsters presence. He can be left alone for short periods of time in the same room as the hamster without chaos ensuing but we don’t make a habit of leaving them alone together.

Things are slowly getting better, we are taking baby steps with this one as he seems to have a terriers natural aversion to small furry creatures.

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Well it is very likely that you are all exhausted after your first day together. In our case we didn’t actually get Fig home until it was about 6pm.

After his initial potty training we let him roam around the house and explore. We have a pet hamster which we decided not to introduce the dog to on his first evening (I’ll tell you how that went in another post).

Whilst he explored the house being shadowed at a distance by my daughters I prepared his and our food. I gave him the same brand of food that he had been fed at the dog shelter, that night, so as not to cause any stomach upsets and then we all settled down into our usual routine of work, homework, watching tv liberally sprinkled with episodes of walking the dog every hour or whenever he showed signs of wanting to go to the toilet.

We all went to bed at our usual times, with a little trouble I find it’s not easy to get kids to bed with a new pet in the house even if they are teenagers, I settled the dog down in his basket just before I went to bed and we all settled in for the night.

Fig roamed around a little after we had gone to be, I could hear him, but he settled down soon enough. There were a couple of accidents awaiting me by the morning but that was to be expected as we were not in a routine as yet.

photo credit: tibbygirl

Training a nervous anxious dog can be fairly challenging. When you undertake training it has to be using a positive reinforcement method. If the dog is very nervous and anxious then you are going to have to spend a lot of quality time with the dog, praising him for his achievements and showing him a vast amount of patience.

Do not get frustrated or angry with your dog if he does not do what you want him to do. This is counterproductive. The likelihood is that he is not being naughty but just does not understand what you are asking of him.

There is a good dog training manual that has had success with over 67,000 dogs that is available over the internet called Secrets to Dog Training it used to be called SitFetchStay. There is a short ebook available about the top 5 dog training myths, they also do a short course as well as a longer more in depth course. You can check out the details here

Now that is a wild dog!

Here are some cool links to some current posts about dogs on the internet, take a little time out from learning about training your dog to read some interesting posts that I have found about dogs in general, you never know you might find something that makes you smile. I have never done clicker training but it seems to me that if used properly it is akin to Positive Reinforcement training which is the method that any good dog training manual teaches:

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photo credit: ChicagoGeek

It’s very easy as a family to be over excited by the fact that you have got a new addition to the family. There are somethings that you must do as soon as you get home to start you dog training off from the very start. The most important thing to do is to show him where he has to go to the toilet.

As soon as you get into the house take the dog to where you will want them to go to the toilet not only will this give him the opportunity to relieve himself but it will also allow him to check out his new environment by sniffing around. Once he has finished going to the toilet you should make a fuss of him by giving him lots of praise, this will positively reinforce to him that this is the place to go to the toilet. If he didn’t go to the toilet then keep taking him out to the same place at regular intervals until he does go to the toilet only praise him there once he has actually been to the toilet.

Potty training or house training your dog is very important. It is the thing that causes most friction and stress when you get a new dog. You want to avoid as much stress as you can so it is important that you take the lead nd guide your dog in this way right fro the off.

photo credit: BL1961

The journey home from the dog shelter was a very anxious one, I don’t drive out of personal preference so this meant taking Fig home on public transport.

Looking back on it the journey was fairly uneventful although it would be fair to say that Fig was frightened. His tail is curly and sits above his body but on this journey it remained under his body. He also cowered quite a bit by slinking low to the ground.

He had been in the dog shelter for a few months so I guess it is not surprising that all that strange noise and commotion made him very anxious. I thought that it was extremely important to start the relationship off right so on the way home we allowed Fig explore, experience all the new sensations and provide him with positive reinforcement/encouragement as we went along to help guide him with what was acceptable behavior and what was not.

We were fortunate in that there were no incidents of Fig making a mess on on any of the vehicles which knowing what I know about him now was a blessing and a miracle. Although were all nervous on the journey come it seemed that our relationships were getting off to a good start.

The advice in our trusty dog training manual seemed to be bearing fruits from the off but would it continue?

photo credit: jeckman

We started going to animal shelters in July 2008 to start getting familiar with rescue dogs, their temprement and surroundings/background. We had never had a rescue dog before only pedigree Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and knew that it was likely to be a huge learning curve.

Don’t what ever you do be rushed into making a decision especially if you have children who make puppy eyes at you every time they see a dog. It is very important to consider carefully what type of dog you can rehouse based on your own lifestyle. You need to consider things like:

• The amount of space that you have for the dog at home.
• What access the dog will have to outside space.
• How much you can afford for buying the dog.
• How much you can afford for upkeep and care of the dog.
• How much you can set aside for insurance and/vets bills.
• Most important of all how much time you have to actually spend with the dog, quality time, playing; walking; training and so on.

Once you have some idea of the above you will be able to narrow your choice of breeds down and then your search can start in earnest. We finally met our match and brought him home in January 2009.

photo credit: ben pollard

Continued…

5. Spending quality time supervising your dog is a must. Your dog will be bored and unhappy if you if kept penned up in a crate, run, or the yard. You need to interact with your dog. They cannot learn from you if you are not present or if they are not released to spend time outside of their dog-proofed zone. By interacting with your dog you are giving them the opportunity to explore the boundaries, this is how they will learn what’s appropriate and what’s not.

6. When you catch your dog participating in destructive chewing, make sure you interrupt with a loud noise. You could clap your hands, make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise or my personal favorite shout oi! As soon as you have made the noise pass your dog a dog-appropriate alternative, it is best to make it a tasty alternative like a  rawhide bone or other chew toy. Once the dog has taken the item from you and starts to chew it give them lots of praise and attention.  There is no better way to train your dog than through positive dog training. the dog will come to understand that chewing a toy equals praise from you, but everything else means a telling off.

I hope that this little series has been informative and helps you break the destructive chewing cycle.

photo credit: Matt McGee

Continued…

3. You need to clearly set the boundaries between what is acceptable and what is not. Your dog cannot tell the difference between a new pair of shoes and an old pair of shoes. Blurring the lines by offering your dog old clothes, shoes or other household items to play with is setting them up for a fall. Don’t do it!

4. Your dog needs to chew, so you need to provide them with something to chew on. If you don’t they will chew on whatever is available. To keep them interested in their chews as opposed to your stuff you need to keep them interested by providing variety. Make sure that there is always a choice of 2 or 3 things for your dog to chew on and make sure that you rotate these out regularly so that boredom doesn’t set in.

Remember also that puppy chewing and adolescent chewing will be even more pronounced.

To be continued…

photo credit: RyanCarr

Always remember that when you first bring your dog home, they are still learning the ropes. It will take time for before they become completely reliable. Once they become more reliable there may still be issues if they are left by themselves for too long or feel neglected, they may choose to occupy themselves with destructive chewing out of pure boredom.

Give your dog plenty of time to learn the rules. Spend lots of quality time with them to help them learn faster. Keep everything you can out of reach until they have the hang of the rules, this will save a lot of stress in the long run.

Your dog can learn not to chew your possessions – you just have to put in a little effort initially, that’s all.

1. You have to take control of the situation. Manage your possessions. Firstly you really need to dog-proof your home. It doesn’t matter how well behaved your dog is, there’s still no reason to test their self-control. Dogs explore with their mouths and noses so it is natural for them to chew.

Make everything that you don’t want to end up in your dog’s mouth. Make sure everything really is out of reach taking into account their acrobatic abilities when faced with a challenge.

2. It is much easier to train your dog from the outset before they learn about the joys of illegal chewing. The more times that they can actually get to a forbidden item such as a chair, a pillow, a running shoe the more enthused they will be to try it again. This means you need to keep them in a dog-proofed area until you’re confident that they understand the house rules.

To be continued…

photo credit: Don Nunn

Dogs will chew just about anything but some really common targets that should always be kept out of harms way are:

• books
• eye glasses, sunglasses, ski masks, snorkeling gear
• clothes
• shoes
• garbage, yes they will turn the gargage bin over to get at it.
• appliances like cameras, cell phones, and remote controls.

Their natural scavenging will make them target food wherever it is left hanging around so all food needs to be put securely away: don’t leave snacks on tables or counter tops when you leave the room because they will attempt to get at them. Their acrobatic abilities would surprise you when it comes to food at stake, put all food into containers or the pantry. Always wash up your dirty plates and remove all food scraps to a secure place!

photo credit: Rutger Blom

There are  three main reasons why dogs chew:

• Firstly it is a natural process. It’s fun for them, helps them pass the time, and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity especially if they are chewing something that tastes good.

• If a dog is bored, nervous, lonely or suffering from separation anxiety then they may chew as an outlet for their emotions. It’s a bit like humans hitting the chocolate or whatever your comfort food of choice is!

• If your dog hasn’t had enough exercise then they will often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.

Over the next few days we are going to look ove some things that we can do to minimise destructive chewing.

photo credit: salsaboy

Not all dogs chew but when they do it can cause a lot of stress in the household. You can stop dogs chewing but first we have to understand the act of chewing. Destructive chewing seems to be a weakness among some dogs; there seem to be a couple of reasons for this:

•    They find it a pleasurable activity

•    They turn to it out of desperation when they are very bored

The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound a little odd because, of course by its very nature, all chewing is destructive. Dogs have strong jaws full of razor-sharp teeth: just about anything they start to chew on is in all probability going to show the effects of it inside of it almost immediately. When using the term “destructive chewing” we are referring to chewing of an inappropriate nature. This usually means: the kind of chewing that is focused on your possessions rather than your dogs designated toys and chews.

Any way this is Fig who is the inspiration for this journey to the ultimately trained family pet!

Getting a new dog and settling it into family life can be a little challenging so it is important to get the right support from the start to resolve any complications.

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