TLC Dog Training and Critter Care

What Does the Word STAY Mean to You?

2009-07-03T18:59:00.008-04:00

For my students, who know that pointing your finger at your dog to make him stay as you back away repeating the command only proves that your dog doesn't know how to stay ...

Stay

I pulled into the crowded parking lot at the local shopping center and rolled down the car windows to make sure my Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air. She was stretched full-out on the back seat, and I wanted to impress upon her that she must remain there.

I walked to the curb backward, pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,

Now you stay. Do you hear me?

Stay! Stay!

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty blonde young lady, gave me a strange look and said,

Why don't you just put it in PARK?

Disclaimer: Don't leave your dog in alone in a car on a hot day! Don't leave the windows open with a large enough opening that your dog could escape from the car if he broke his stay.

Boarding or Pet Sitting? - That IS the Question

2009-02-12T17:25:00.008-05:00

When you travel or work long hours, should you choose a quality pet boarding facility for your pet, or should you consider pet sitting for your pet? Here are a few questions to ask yourself and you make your decision.

Pet sitting offers advantages to boarding in that your pet remains in his or her familiar environment; therefore your pet experiences less stress. Some boarding facilities will allow you to bring your own food, others charge extra for you to bring your own food, and still others charge extra if you don't bring your own food! Usually, your dog remains less stressed if you provide the food that s/he is accustomed to.

Some advantages to boarding are the opportunity for day care or interactive play at your discretion and close supervision during regular business hours.

First consider the number of pets or animals that you have. If you have more than one or two pets to board, then even with two or more visits to your home daily, pet sitting will be no more expensive than most boarding facilities that you would choose to care for your pet.

Another question we ask our callers is what species of pet(s) do you have? Very often cats, cage animals and livestock with access to pasture will do just fine with a once per day visit. A once per day visit usually costs only slightly more than a pet boarding fee. Some pets or animals are not candidates for boarding ... farm livestock, some reptiles, aquarium fish, and the like must have a visit to the farm or home.

Another question to consider is whether your pets have all of the vaccinations that might be required by a quality boarding facility. All cats and dogs are required by North Carolina law to be vaccinated for rabies after 16 weeks of age, but other vaccinations are generally a decision for you and your veterinarian to make. If you have to fully vaccinate one or two pets in order to take them to a boarding facility, your 2-night trip might end up costing $200 or more in vaccination charges and veterinary visits.

Clearly, the distance of your home or farm from the business center of the pet sitting service that you have contacted may affect the cost of the service. At TLC Dog Training and Critter Care, we absorb mileage charges up to 15 miles from our primary business location, but for mileage to a job site greater than 15 miles, we must charge a mileage fee of $.50 per mile.

Another issue to consider is the age of your pet. Generally speaking, dogs younger than 18 - 24 months are not good candidates for in home pet sitting, as they are more likely to go exploring and get themselves into trouble in the home. If you normally house your dog outside in a safe enclosure, then age becomes less of an issue. Pet sitting is usually a better option for a mature, thoroughly housetrained pet.

Other things to consider are your dog's reactions to loud noises, thunderstorms, and other unpredictable things that may happen near your home. If your dog is fearful of strange noises, then you could return to a damaged home! In a boarding situation, your dog is safely confined, and should s/he become frightened, s/he can't really get into a lot of trouble.

Finally, is your dog or cat fearful of strangers entering your home? Might your pet hurt a stranger that enters your home? If your pet will be stressed every time that someone appears to care for him or her, then perhaps boarding is a better option.

Consider your options carefully. Should you decide to board your pet, make sure that you choose a boarding facility that is licensed by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. Should you decide to hire a pet sitting service, ask for references. Your pet sitter should minimally belong to one of the nationwide professional pet sitter organizations, like the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS). Make sure that anyone coming into your home to provide a service has their own workers' compensation insurance and professional liability insurance.

Peanut Product Recall Affects Dog Owners

2009-01-30T13:45:00.002-05:00

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled potentially tainted peanut butter pet treats. This includes dog biscuits manufactured by Grreat Choice, Healthy-hide and Carolina Prime Pet.

Please visit the United States Food & Drug Administration at http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html to learn more about pet products that have been recalled.

Nutritional Deficiencies May Affect Your Dog's Behavior

2009-01-09T09:17:00.003-05:00

Dog aggression can be caused by many things, but researchers in Italy have recently published a study that links deficiencies in Omega 3 fatty acids to aggression in otherwise healthy appearing dogs.

In trying to resolve aggression in your dog, it is critical to rule out the possibility that your dog is unhealthy in any way. Ear infections, impacted or infected anal glands, an abscessed tooth, joint pains, or hidden systemic illness ... all of these can cause pain to your dog, and alter his or her normal behavior.

Make sure that you feed your dog a high quality diet, that s/he is current on required immunizations, and that s/he is free of internal and external parasites. Regular veterinary checkups will help you keep your dog in great condition.

Before embarking on any training regimen to correct aggression, visit with your veterinarian first!

Ten Training Truisms

2008-07-10T08:57:00.008-04:00

Dogs are genetically wired to engage in certain behaviors that extend individual longevity and assure continuation of the species. These behaviors include socializing, playing, predation and feeding, guarding resources, defending territory and personal space, vocalizing, digging, chewing, eliminating and reproducing. The goal of training is not to eliminate these behaviors, but to modify their expression so that the dog can fit into our society.
There is a narrow window of opportunity when the dog is between 7 weeks and 18 weeks of age that desensitizing a dog to novel situations and teaching them to accept even unusual situations in their daily lives with humans is relatively easy. This process is called socialization. Older dogs can be reprogrammed, but the process is time intensive and takes a great deal of patience on the part of the owner. A problem behavior or behaviors that have been reinforced for 2 or 3 years or more will not be unlearned in 8 weeks.
Dogs don't know right vs. wrong. They know pleasant vs. unpleasant. Dogs have no moral compass, as much as we would like to believe in the Hollywood version of dogs like Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.
Dogs are very context sensitive in their learning. This means that although they may appear to know a behavior in one location and with one person, they will not generalize the training to a new location or group of people without additional training. A large part of training is teaching the dog, from the ground up, in many different locations.
Dogs do not have an agenda (See #3 and #4 above), although they do express emotions like fear and joy. They live in the moment. Dogs do not seek revenge upon their owners by peeing on the carpet, digging in the garden, or chewing up a prize piece of furniture (see #1 above).
All dogs bite (see #1 above). They just have different triggers and thresholds for biting.
Dogs are social animals. To isolate them from meaningful human and/or animal contact is to create or exacerbate problem behaviors.
A minor punishment, such as verbal discouragement, usually serves as an attention reinforcement to all but the most sensitive dogs.
Non-lethal punishment is usually a temporary "fix" for problem behaviors. If the underlying reinforcement for the undesired behavior is not changed, and the dog is not trained into a new, desirable behavior, then the dog will return to engage in the previously learned undesirable behavior.
There is no such thing as "permanent" behavior change or "cure", even in the best trained dogs. Desired behaviors must be variably reinforced and undesired behaviors must be ignored to maintain a given level of training. Training and maintaining good manners must be a lifelong commitment on the part of the owner.

Coping with the Sudden Loss of a Pet

2008-01-10T08:52:00.001-05:00

Two of my clients and friends recently lost their beloved pet dog to a sudden illness. The loss was totally unexpected as the dog was only four years old, and was in apparently good health. While it's always difficult to say goodbye to our companions, such a sudden loss can be extremely difficult to face.

When a pet dies suddenly, even if we are not at fault, we may blame ourselves. "I should have been more careful, more tolerant, more aware, more ... ". When we may have some responsibility in our pet's death, it is even more difficult to face the guilt.

I have owned many dogs during my lifetime. Some have died relatively young, some have died accidental deaths, and some have lived full lives before their deaths. In some cases, I had to make the decision to euthanize my companion because he or she was in pain, or even worse, because I did not have the financial ability to pay for extended treatment. After these many years, I know for sure that I will eventually lose my pet, but it never stops me from engaging in the joy that I know a relationship with a pet can bring.

Grief is a personal journey. When I am faced with the loss of a pet, I recall the good things that my pet and I did together. I recall the time that I spent with my pet, as well as the money that I did not spend on clothes or cars so that I could spend that money on my pet.

Especially if I feel implicated in some way in my pet's death, either by action or inaction, I try to remember that no one is perfect in their ability to care for their pet. We all make mistakes from time to time. And our pets may not be able to tell us that they are hurting. From personal experience I know that making the choice to euthanize can be devastating.

I take time to grieve. For people who do not hold pets dear to their hearts, it is hard to understand the depth of the grief that we pet lovers can experience upon the loss of a pet. Be kind to yourself during this period. One of the most therapeutic ways that I grieve is to make a detailed photo album/scrapbook of my pet. This helps me to remember the fun times that we had together, from infancy to death.

I try to memorialize my pet by purchasing something permanent to remember him or her by. One of my favorites is a beautiful plant or tree, planted in memory of my pet. Others may give a gift to an animal charity or veterinary medical research to remember a pet.

I wait for a while before purchasing or obtaining another pet. If you get another pet too soon after the death of a beloved companion, especially a tragic death, it is likely that for the first 2 or 3 years of the new pet's life you may unintentionally compare your new pet to the old pet. The period of grieving that you need is individual.

Some people believe that they can never get another pet because it is too painful to lose them. My philosophy is that choosing another pet to fill a void is an honor to your previous pet. You are not replacing your beloved pet, and you will always have his or her memory, but you remember the fun and know that you can provide a good home to a new pet.

The words of the Garth Brooks song "Last Dance" perfectly describe my feelings about the circle of life that we experience with our pets.

http://www.planetgarth.com/lyrics/the_dance.shtml

Medical Alert - Raisin & Grape Toxicity

2007-11-01T12:39:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows that chocoloate is poisonous to dogs, but did you know that grapes and raisins can be also? As few as 5 grapes or raisins can induce fatal renal failure in dogs.

Competition Training - Managing Handler Nerves in Dog Sport Competition

2007-05-31T11:00:00.005-04:00

Handler nerves can destroy a performance, even when the handler and dog have engaged in adequate pre-trial training. Some dogs are very sensitive to the handler, and they can quickly lose confidence and focus if the handler becomes nervous during competition. Although handler nerves can affect performance in any venue, I compete in both AKC events and in schutzhund, and my nerves have NEVER been as bad there as they are in schutzhund style events. I have gotten so that I almost hate to compete in schutzhund because of the nerves both before and during the performance.

Some exhibitors may take a light drink prior to competition to calm nerves. I keep threatening to drink before a performance, but strangely enough I haven't done it yet. I'm too afraid that my already garbled brain will become even more garbled. Some alternate suggestions for reducing handler nervousness can be found below.

PRIOR TO COMPETITION

1. Train beyond adequate. Your dog should be able to perform each exercise at 90-95% correct in practice before you consider competition. That is nine successive times out of ten that your dog performs correctly.

2. Build procedural and muscle memory for yourself. Leave your dog out of it and ask a dog savvy friend to be your dog to go through the pattern ad nauseum. At first your friend should be an obedient dog ... attentive, always stopping properly and responding properly, but after you are sure you know the pattern, ask your friend to misbehave, and then practice how you will handle the OOPS factor. Also, your friend should be quick to let you know that you have not praised when you can.

One of the problems with schutzhund trialing is that we may only trial once at each level ... not enough to become familiar with the patterns and all of the rules, unlike AKC obedience where you MUST compete at least three times to earn a title. Not to mention the fact that the rules have changed quite a bit over the last few years! It's hard to be confident on the field if you don't REALLY know the procedure or the rules. Get out there and trial! Work with others who are serious about competition to set up mock trials. Use mock trials to identify problem areas, not to try to conduct full-blown training sessions.

Also, in my opinion, schutzhund scoring is a LOT more subjective than AKC judging, and schutzhund judges have an unusual propensity for changing the performance parameters to their liking ... hence the "ask the judge" session at the draw party. This adds to the stress on the handler, even when the handler knows the rules. There's not much you can do about this, but be aware of it and understand that this may be a source of stress for you.

2. Vary reinforcement patterns. For every 5 times that you practice heeling in a non-pattern on the schutzhund field or anywhere else, work the pattern once. For every 5 times you work the pattern, praise and treat only at the end of each exercise once, as if in a trial. For every 5 times that you praise and treat only between exercises, withhold praise and treat until completing several exercises.

Sometimes we get in the habit of reinforcing too often, and we don't build the dog's tolerance for continued performance without immediate reinforcement. When you move toward more variable reinforcement for extended behavior, the paypoff should be bigger.

3. Take your training on the road. Remember to practice in MANY locations, not just on a a field. Work in a parking lot, a park (with lots of squirrels), at a pet store beside the hamster cages. Generalizing training is not about perfectly replicating the trial field ... it's about teaching the dog FOCUS regardless of where you are. Once a dog knows a behavior in his home environment, it's time to train it in multiple locations. Be prepared to reinforce heavily for correct behavior in a new context, until the dog acclimates to the new environment.

DURING COMPETITION

Before you begin, congratulate yourself on participating in competition. United Doberman Club member Laura Baugh offers this inspiring advice,

" It's an achievement being here. No matter what happens today, I have worked with my dog to the point at which I felt comfortable taking him into an enormous multi-acre unfenced field, surrounded by wildlife in woods and more unfenced fields, removing the leash and asking him to work with me in the presence of unlimited freedom and distractions. We have developed a relationship advanced enough that I and others had good reason to think this was possible. Even if today is the day that something goes wrong, I can look back at why I'm even here and know that, well, today was something going wrong, a deviation from the norm, because look how far we've come together."

1. Defrock the judge. If you are intimidated by the judge, like I often am, go on the field and imagine the judge with no clothes on, or with a funny hat, or with a booger hanging from his or her nose. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you'll know what I mean when I say consider the judge a bogart. If you can laugh at him, he suddenly becomes much less intimidating! I often find some judges to be very rigid and intimidating, and boy it has traveled right down the leash!

2. Meditate between each exercise. Practice taking a deep breath and meditating for 3 seconds before starting an exercise. Tell yourself this is the "running stand" or this is the "sit in motion". You can practice this without a dog or dog friend. The point is to build the procedural memory so that when you hear the exercise description in your head, you have an automatic visualization of the entire exercise. For example: This is the "SIT IN MOTION". I'm going to walk 12 paces, command sit, continue 30 paces, turn to face dog, wait 3 seconds, return to dog. You are NOT thinking about what your dog is going to do ... only what YOU are going to do. If your training has been beyond adequate, then as long as you do your job, your dog will do his job!

3. Let each exercise stand alone. Just because you or your dog have blown one exercise doesn't mean that you won't nail the next. Smile, let your dog know that you are pleased with him, and focus for the next exercise.

4. Make it fun. Focus on making this performance FUN for the dog. After all, this is not about world peace ... it is a dog sport competition. Your dog's long-term enjoyment of the work is much more important than a single competition or score.

5. Pray. I pray to God to help me do the best I can do and support my dog to the best of my ability. Sometimes turning it over to a higher authority can help ease the nerves and allow "what will be will be".

AFTER COMPETITION

Analyze your performance. Every time that I compete I learn something new about my dog and about trialing. Mistakes I have made: wearing sunglasses that I don't normally wear in training(dog couldn't see my eyes!), mixing up the pattern, not training my dog for a right arm sleeve presentation, inadequate proofing of stays prior to competition, giving a command in a totally unfamiliar voice, pulling my dog off the track ... I could go on and on. But the important thing is to build your experience so that you hopefully avoid those mistakes in the future.

Puppy Training 2 - Housetraining

2007-01-05T15:13:00.003-05:00

So ... you don't want your puppy to soil in the house. In order to be successful, you should be able to describe the EXACT behaviors that you want your puppy to display with regard to elimination, and then TEACH your puppy how to perform those behaviors. What are the desired behaviors?

My puppy should eliminate only in the outside area that I have designated for him/her.

My puppy should ask to go out when s/he needs to eliminate.

How do we teach these behaviors? There are five basic guidelines for successful housetraining:

Restrict the puppy to a crate or cage when you cannot watch him or her closely. "CLOSELY" is defined as "with your eyes on him".

Feed the puppy at discrete times that fit your schedule. Do not leave food out all of the time. If you control what goes in and when it goes in, you have a better chance of controlling when it comes out!

While the puppy is very young, remove water after about 8:00 p.m. at night, but otherwise allow the puppy free access to water. Unnecessary restriction of water can contribute to obsessive water drinking in some dogs.

Take the puppy to the elimination area on a leash. Do not just dump the puppy out the back door to hopefully take care of business. You need to KNOW for certain whether your puppy has eliminated.

Reward the puppy with a small food treat as he completes each "job" and while the two of you are still in the elimination area. You must associate the positive reward with the behavior and the location.

Fortunately dogs have an instinctive desire to keep their nesting area clean. As any good breeder can tell you, young puppies that have an opportunity to freely move outside of the whelping box to eliminate will begin to do so as early as four weeks of age. To take advantage of your puppy's natural desire to stay clean, purchase a cage or crate for your puppy that is just large enough for him or her to walk into, turn around, stand up and lie down. The crate should not be so large that the puppy can soil in one end of the crate and sleep in the other end of the crate. Many modern crates have adjustable dividers that you can use to adjust the size of the crate as the puppy grows. If you have an older crate without the divider, just find a cardboard box to place in the back of the crate to take up the excess room until your puppy grows a little bigger.

The crate should always be a "happy" place, so each time you place the puppy into the crate, give him a food toy to work on. Some good suggestions are beef shank bones filled with kibble moistened to a formable consistency or peanut butter, a rawhide chew, a nylabone, a kong stuffed treats and peanut butter or can squirt cheese, and other treat dispensing toys. For safety reasons, don't leave fabric or fabric stuffed toys in the crate when your puppy is unsupervised. While a crate may be used to temporarily remove an overstimulated puppy from a bad situation when you do not have time or energy to otherwise train the puppy, it should not be used for "time out", as that is an ineffective method for dealing with unwanted behaviors.

Put your puppy on his feeding schedule. Feed your puppy in the crate. About 15 - 30 minutes after his meal, put your puppy on a leash and take him directly to the elimination area you have chosen. Stay in the elimination area. Do not allow the puppy to pull you all over the yard. Each time the puppy eliminates, reward the puppy with a "Good Puppy!" and a bit of treat. Give your puppy about 5 -10 minutes to produce something. If he doesn't produce, take him BACK TO THE CRATE. Do NOT allow the puppy to wander loose in the house. Even if the puppy produced, it is not unusual for a puppy to have two bowel movements in quick succession following a meal. Don't hurry the process.

When your puppy has urinated at least once and has defecated at least once, you may bring the puppy into the house, but keep a leash or houseline on him and keep him in your sight. If you see signs that he is sniffing for a place to go, immediately gather him and take him outside to the elimination area. After 30 minutes - 1 hour, depending upon the age of the dog, return him to his crate for an hour or two, then repeat the process.

If you are housetraining your dog, then presumbably at some point in time you would like to allow your dog to move freely within the house. While that is a long-term goal, while your puppy is young, it is critical that you restrict the size of the area in the house in which he is allowed to wander. One of the most common mistakes in housetraining a puppy or dog is to allow the dog more freedom than s/he can handle during the early stages of his/her training.

Puppy Training 1 - How Soon Can I Begin?

2007-01-05T15:12:00.002-05:00

How early can you begin to train a puppy? Even though you may not deliberately set out to train your puppy as early as seven or eight weeks, you can be guaranteed that he is learning how to best interact in your world as soon as you bring him home. He is learning from every interaction with you, and as your dog's owner, it's your job to make sure that he is learning the right things!

As a dog trainer, the most common training questions that I hear from puppy owners are about house training, jumping up on people, and puppy biting. Usually the question is framed in this way: "How can I teach my puppy NOT to jump on people, bite me, or soil in the house?" These problems can definitely be solved, but we must first learn to rephrase our question: "What can I teach my puppy to do INSTEAD of jumping up, biting me, or soiling in the house?"

As you begin to identify positive behaviors that the puppy can perform that PREVENT the unwanted behaviors, you have taken the first step toward teaching your puppy to be the best family companion that he can be.

Puppy Training 3 - Management Routines as a Training Tool

2007-01-01T20:42:00.002-05:00

Dogs thrive on routine. Sometimes unwanted behaviors can be prevented by adopting regular routines that dogs become accustomed to. While training specific behaviors is important in molding a young dog into a great companion, management also plays a major role.

Roscoe, a 17-week old chocolate Labrador Retriever, arrives at TLC Dog Training Puppy Boot Camp for an intensive two-week training adventure. Roscoe is a sweet puppy, but he is very rowdy, and he must touch everyone that he meets with his BIG paws. Roscoe lives with a family with two boys, ages 7 and 10. The adults in Roscoe's family have had Labradors before, and they are committed to teaching Roscoe how to be great family companion, but sometimes lack the time and the expertise to deal with rowdy Roscoe's less than stellar behavior.

At TLC Dog Training, Roscoe lives in a crate in the house. When he comes into the main living area, he is on leash and closely supervised so that he doesn't have an opportunity to have a potty accident. He also has a large 10' x 10' outdoor pen, complete with a cot for sunning. Mornings begin around 7:00 a.m., when Roscoe and as many as two other dogs also in for training are turned outside for their morning bathroom break.

While the dogs are outside, trainer Leslie Carpenter prepares the dogs' training treats for the morning training sessions. Leslie returns the dogs to their crates after 20 minutes, and she then takes each dog from his or her crate and works each dog. Puppies like Roscoe train for about 10 - 15 minutes, while dogs older than 6 months may train for 20-30 minutes.

Morning training sessions include walks along a country lane with many distractions such as horses, other dogs, slow moving cars, and scents of wildlife. Roscoe will learn to sit quietly before he may leave his crate or pen, to sit quietly for greeting, and to sit quietly before proceeding through a gate. At first he doesn't know enough to wait in a doorway while Leslie walks through first, but over the two-week training period, he will gradually learn that "SIT" means sit and stay until he is told to do something else like "LET'S GO" through the gate, and "DOWN" means down and stay until he is released or asked to do something else. Roscoe will also learn to come when called and to walk on a loose leash.

After the training sessions, Roscoe and the other dogs return to their crates to cogitate on what they have learned while Leslie prepares their breakfast. Fifteen to twenty minutes after the dogs return to their crates following training, Leslie feeds them in their crates and gives them about 20 minutes to eat. Then she picks up their bowls and takes them to their outside runs to enjoy the remainder of the morning.

Young puppies like Roscoe need to be fed three times per day, so about 12:00 p.m., Leslie returns the puppies to their crates and feeds them their noon meal. Older dogs receive a biscuit and remain outdoors to enjoy the Carolina sun. About twenty minutes after eating, the puppies return to their outdoor runs.

Around 4:00 p.m. Leslie prepares the afternoon training treats. Roscoe and the other dogs return to their crates and are then worked one-by-one in their afternoon training sessions. As each dog completes his afternoong training session, he returns to his crate to reflect on his training session. About 20-30 minutes after training, Leslie feeds each dog his evening ration.

The dogs then go outside for an individual romp in the paddock, followed by lounging time on the cot in their individual pens. Since Roscoe's owners have indicated that they would like for him to have interactive playtime with other dogs, he and a compatible canine companion are given about 30 minutes for interactive playtime in the paddock.

Roscoe and his friend come into the house around 9:00 p.m. for final biscuits and bedtime.