Take It Easy

So often I see people trying to teach their pets certain things that require some restraint in the excitement department. Your dog will feed off of your energy and each dog will respond differently. In addition, using a command over and over again without success will result in that command becoming a "dead" word. A dead word is one that begs to be changed and the desired behavior taught fresh...all over. You have surely seen people yelling over and over again for their dog to "come" and they have done it for years. Consider the following for a couple of starters:

If your dog gets excited easily then it is even more important to stay calm and work slowly on basic obedience commands. Be patient and try not to over use the command. Teaching a puppy to sit or lay or stay can sometimes be frustrating until you slow down. When your dog is looking at you, use the command and/or gesture once and wait for the reaction you desire. Wait 10-30 seconds before repeating it. However, look for the spit second to use it again. For instance when teaching sit, use the command and in that spit second when you see the butt going down, say "sit" again. Immediately reward.

You can teach a behavior by choosing a new command even if the dog is on in years and never did well with the old command. Just slow down, think it through and teach a new word for the same wanted behavior. Get rid of "dead" words.

Learn Alternative and Complimentary Healthcare for Canines

Stay posted here as we will be offering a course in alternative/complimentary healthcare for canines. The sessions include:

Nutritional Therapy
Herbal Therapy
Canine Massage and Acupressure Therapy
Color/Light Therapy
Flower Essence Therapy
Canine Homeopathic Therapy

In addition, the course includes a very exciting session in The Nine Systems of the Body.

Your Dog Smells

I don't mean your dog stinks,I mean your dog smells. In fact he or she smells anywhere from 50-250 times better than you do.

Imagine your nose is a tunnel. A short tunnel with nothing inside of it would allow water or air to flow through quickly. But, imagine putting obstacles in the tunnel to slow down the flow of water or air.

Your pup's nose is filled with tiny obstacles called turbinades. These structures vary in size and together they slow down the flow of air. This allows for plenty of time for the air to swirl, move and stagnate in the nose. Other features like long ears, wrinkled skins or fold, big jowls etc also help in the process of slowing down the flow of air.

Your Pug as a result can smell 50 times better than you can and your German Shepherd, 250 times better. In fact German Shepherds were successful at detecting a gas leak far under ground at a place in Canada years ago, that professional equipment could not detect.

So kiss that canine nose and tell your dog he smells wonderful.

Brent

Recess and Classroom

The best part of elementary school for me was RECESS! Football, basketball, dodge-ball and...girls! Recess for us was a reward but, for your dog, it is the avenue to classroom success.

Start the day with recess and make it long and fun. Then, it is time for classroom training. Make this part short and sweet. (Even 5 minutes is good).

After some good ol' fun your canine companion will be ready to focus long enough to learn some important behavior and tricks. (Save the treats and rewards for classroom).

Keep the important things in the classroom and overlook the crazy, unruly recess behavior. Pretty soon, those few minutes in class will be noticed in their behavior on the playground. Well, maybe not the girls thing so much. )

Brent

My Dog Mat or, Mats

So, your dog has mats in his hair. You're a terribly negligent pet owner, aren't you? No. But, hopefully it is because your dog is always outside playing, swimming, snooping and spending time with you.

So, do mats need to be avoided or combed out? Yes, but not because of the reason most of us think. Usually people will say that the dog's skin needs to breathe. This is not the reason. Dog's skin does not function like a human's skin. We have pores fed by capillaries that goes to the surface of the skin where waste is exchanged for oxygen. We sweat and breathe through our skin even more than we do through our mouth.

A dog, on the other hand, sweats through it's mouth, paws, and ears and any orfice. Their skin does not breath like ours and this is also the reason a dog can swim in cold water and lay on the snow. It's part of the reason they don't need wetsuits or sleeping bags. They have a natural covering that is largely unaffected by the elements because it does not breathe. Having this type of vapor barrier along with a warm insulation, like dense hair, and you have nature's best outdoor gear.

However, this vapor barrier needs an opportunity to dry out and get some air and sun so that at the surface bacteria that is not good, is not allowed to grow in wets mats of hair and fur. Keeping a dog's coat well groomed is hence, an important part of dog care. If you let it go too long you may need the help of a professional to comb or cut them out. Regular grooming by a professional is also a good option.

Happy Trails

A Dog Is Not A Plant. Or, Maybe It Is.

You have heard of people who talk to their plants. In fact you may be one of them. Perhaps there is some wisdom in the idea that talking to your plants creates an energy that is conducive to health, even that of a plant. To be sure, we all know how a persons negative energy can change the entire atmosphere of a party or a meeting room.

This is true of pets and canines in particular. Very seldom is a dog that is well integrated into a family a "problem dog". Even less frequently is a dog a "problem dog" when the environment it lives in is filled with peace, calm behavior, gentleness and organization. Negative energy in the home will produce similar results in a family pet as it does in children and even, parents.

I have been to many homes where the problem that was facing the family pet was not actually the pet but rather, the environment and the family itself.

It is critical that a dog is socialized with people, animals and different environments, but a home that is calm, orderly and at peace is the absolute starting point for modifying unwanted behavior in a canine companion.

Stand back and look at the relationships and the dynamics of those relationships in your family and consider the things that you may, as a family, change or modify for the sake of your dog. You will be pleased and rewarded with new and improved behavior.

Woof. Woof. Be Happy, Content and Young!

My dog, Barney, worked professionally with a few dozen aggressive and/or poorly socialized canines as my "assistant" in my dog business in Nashville. His unmatched calm and confident energy did wonders at communicating things like "chill", "mellow out" and "relax dude", to animals that were predictably aggressive.

Aggressive dogs are sometimes described by their owners as "protective", however, that is a poor choice of words. Protective dogs that are truly protective, know how to identify a real threat. Most dogs that are "protective" are simply fearful (fear aggressive), worried about their own dominance (dominant aggressive), or unsure about their control over something that they see as "theirs" (territory aggressive).

Dogs that are happy and confident will typically stand sideways to an aggressive dog when confronted, look out of the corner of their eyes and adopt a particular tail/mouth/ear posture. This communicates that they are friendly and not interested in harming the other dog or trying to be the boss.

Yesterday a pair of German Shepherds entered the soccer field with their owner, one of which was on a leash and whose mouth was partially restrained from opening wide enough to bite. I encouraged the owner to do a  few things and soon the two dogs (his and mine) were both free, smelling and snooping. Barney simply told the other dog "Hey, I'm sure you're cool, but to be quite honest I don't need any power or possessions. You can have whatever you want, I am happy just hanging out and enjoying life. Don't take it personally, I am totally open to a new friendship but right now, you are basically irrelevant to me."

To be driven by want and desire is self-destructive. Self-esteem is really a mixture of confidence and humility. This is what we should work towards and, be aware of daily, in a world of struggle, stress and the need for things and status.

The man at the field said "that is remarkable. He has such a great disposition. What a cool dog."

Barney's greatest desire in the course of a day is to spend quality time outside in natural places, run, lay in the sun, snoop around (question things), and enjoy whole and healthy foods.

Who would have guessed my dog could have been such an excellent teacher. I only hope I can be an equally good student.

Here's to young, healthy and happy! "Woof, Woof!"