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Jumat, 31 Oktober 2014

Making a bad behavior good

Often, there’s something we humans enjoy doing that just drives our dog nuts.
Maybe it’s a game of basketball or baseball, tennis, horseshoes or badmitton.
We’re focused on the activity, and the dog wants in on the fun too. But we give him no role in our sport. We expect him to watch from the sidelines, like a fan.
But he doesn’t. He barks and jumps around, he bolts into the playing area and chases after the ball. He disrupts the entire game, angering his humans. Maybe he even barrels into someone and knocks him or her to the ground.
At this point, we humans try to settle him down, but we’re angry. We yell at him to get, to go lay down. Maybe we grab his collar and drag him inside, while he tries in vain to struggle and get back in the game.
In time, the activity becomes a sort of trigger for the dog. He sees a basketball and instantly he is fixed on it, obsessed with it. As soon as we start bouncing it around, the dog starts behaving wildly and can’t think of anything but the basketball.
“Gotta get that ball. Gonna get that ball,” our dogs would say if they could talk. “Ball ball ball. Gotta get that ball. Get the ball. There’s the ball. Gotta get that ball. Ball ball ball."
We learn that we simply can’t allow him to be around anymore when we’re playing these games.
So we leave him inside, and from the window, he watches and whines. Perhaps he scratches up window ledge.
But do we have to keep him inside and away from our fun?
I say that in almost all circumstances, no, we don’t.
These types of activities create great opportunities for incorporating our dog into our fun. And if we can’t find a role for him in our sport, there is still a fantastic training opportunity presented by these situations.
The mental challenge of training him to behave in a particular way — perhaps sitting nicely on the sidelines for ten minutes and then getting a bone to chew on — will be a strenuous mental exercise for him and will likely do a great job of wearing him out.
Brent and I have always looked at Sensi as part of our family, and we like to include him in as much of what we do as possible.
For that reason, we’ve given Sensi a designated role in most of our favorite past times.
Read tomorrow to find out how to train your dog to play a game of pool.
It might not be the best thing for a precious table that can’t be scratched by dog nails, but if it’s OK with the table, it’s a pretty cool trick to show your friends.
Especially when your dog becomes a better pool player than you.

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Sabtu, 25 Oktober 2014

IS YOUR DOG BAD BECAUSE IT FAILED A DOG TRAINING CLASS

I have had many clients whose dogs where kicked out of dog training classes by dog trainers. The trainer told them that their dog was hopeless and bad. Some of them where even told that the dog should be put on drugs or euthanized.

So is it true, is the dog bad?

The answer is no, the dog is not bad!

How can I say this with such assurance?

Because I have had no problem working and assisting the dog and its people. The difference is that I understood the dog - I did not try to communicate with the dog by only using my voice and I did not try to use dominance and / or treats in place of proper communication. I also do not think of myself as a ‘Trainer of Dogs’. I think of myself as one who coaches and mentors dogs, trains the dog’s humans and in exchange I learn from every dog I work with. I see working with a dog as a position where I must give and engender respect and understanding, not arrogance and conceit.

Ask the trainer how they learned their trade. If the answer is I learned from ‘so and so’ or I took this course, and that is the end of their explanation, I think you have your first indication of a problem. To understand a dogs you must also learn from dogs - not just learn from people.

I understand that I must work from my heart and soul, and rely on my instinct, intuition and common sense, just like a dog does.

To affectively understand and work with a dog you must first have done the hard work of understanding and being aware of yourself, your emotions and how you communicate.

How can you work with a dog...

A - If you do not understand all the ways in which a human communicates and how a dog communicates?

B - If you do not understand anything of the real psychology of a dog?

C - If you have never taken the time to see and listen to what a dog is teaching you?

How can you work with the dog’s human...

If you do not consider and respect the psychology of the individual person?

Most trainers employ obedience training’…teaching a dog to repetitively respond to basic commands such as "sit", "down", "come", and "stay" and so on. Teaching a dog to be a well adjusted social member of society is no different than teaching a child - when one fails to teach in a holistic, empathetic and understanding manner much can be lost and much can go wrong.

A trainer who has not learned to understand themselves first cannot hope to train another person let alone a dog. They can however cause great havoc and trauma. If the trainer fears large dogs, does not know how to properly communicate to an overly energetic dog, a nervous or fearful reactive dog they will make the dogs state of being worse. Instead of having the capability to identify the issue the exacerbate it and then say the dog is bad.

For example most aggression in dogs occurs due to lack of leadership in the dog’s life - in the absence of proper direction a dog may become anxious, insecure and fearful. If dogs were pre-wired to be aggressive rather than social there would be very few dogs left standing. A dog in its natural state is a social being, a pack animal with the potential inherent to get along with others. There are very few dogs born with bad wiring’. When a dog goes bad it is almost always a human who is responsible for the bad behaviour.

When puppies are young they learn their social skills from the adult dogs in their dog family. Now, as long as the adult dogs’ natural social state has not been negatively disrupted by human influence the adult dogs will teach their young how to get along without being aggressive.

Teaching a dog is really about taking over that socialization role - teaching, coaching mentoring - not training. I use the term ‘coaching and mentoring’ as it speaks more of commitment to imparting learning and understanding rather than habit, working towards creating a relationship/partnership, a foundation of knowledge based on learning, sharing and mutual respect.

Obedience implies compliance with the direction or command given by the ‘handler’. But a dog can easily learn to do all of these things and still not be ‘obedient’. A dog can go through Obedience training and not be obedient. Why? Because the dog has simply been taught a repetitive action and little more. Just as you can teach a child to sit, every time you tell the child to do so, does not mean that the child will be a well adjusted, social being.

And I am sorry, but if the trainer sought to teach you to train your dog using only treats - the trainer has set you and your dog up for ultimate failure. Dogs do not teach other social skills using treats. Dogs teach each other social skills using calm assertive communication - body language and state-of-being. Why would you try to teach a dog using only treats? Why would you not seek to teach a dog using the same methods dogs use to teach each other? Would you teach your child to be a well rounded human being by only using treats?

If the right communication method is used, even a very young puppy will learn when it is being requested (without-voice) to sit. The early you start the earlier the positive gain begins an exponential build-up of understanding. The more you time you invest in mentoring using a complete kit-of-tools the more aware, the more attentive & sensitive your dog becomes to paying attention to you. This when coupled with your own ability to read & understand your puppy becomes a powerful tool to build an amazing partnership.

Dogs are intelligent, sensitive beings and need to be treated as such. Trainers who fail to recognize this, trainers who fail to train themselves to communicate properly set dogs and their people up for failure. They traumatize the human and the dog and can cause real psychological trauma. Yet I have no trouble working with the same dog and its human. So who has failed? The trainer who has not done the due diligence of training themselves - not the dog, not its human.

As a professional I personally believe that when you are engaged by a client you have an ethical and moral responsibility to take real ownership for what you are doing and understanding you capabilities. If you do not have the skills to help the dog and its human you should not accept the commission to do so. Working with dogs and their people should never be just about making money and it should never be about your own ego.

So, if a trainer has kicked your dog out of a training class, told you your dog is bad - don’t take what they said to heart, don’t believe that what they have said is true.

A trainer is only as good as their own limitations. Remember, if they did not explain to you the psychology of the situation, theirs, yours, your dog’s, if they just said your dog is vicious or your dog is hyper, your dog does not listen those are your first keys to understanding that the trainer does not know what they are doing. They are looking for excuses to cover up their lack of knowledge. There is no room for arrogance when teaching a dog or it’s human. They are a part of the problem. Your dog did not create the behaviour and your dog is not hopeless.

A client that I worked with in the fall was told by two different ‘reputable’ trainers, one dog behaviourist and one dog care facility to put the dog on drugs and/or euthanize their dog. They called me in to help - absolutely nothing wrong with the dog other then the fact that not one of the professionals they had gone to bothered to really observe and understand the dog. The dog just needed some simple understandable direction to understand how to relax.

Additional Assistance

If you require additional support and guidance I would be pleased to assist you via my In-Person or On-Line Services…

Dog Obedience Training and Behaviour Modification Services:

In-Person sessions are available via this service
On-Line consultation and sessions are available via this service

Diet, Nutrition Wellness Services:

Unbiased Diet, Nutrition, Product Advice is available via this service
Diet, Nutrition Wellness Plans are available via this service

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Rabu, 01 Oktober 2014

Corn Corn Derivatives Very Bad for Your Dog and Cat – A Real Threat to Health and Life Span

In this article:

Serious Health Issues Caused by Corn and Corn Derivatives
Examples of Pet food That Contain Corn and Corn Derivatives
A List of Corn, Corn Derivatives and Other Ingredients That May Contain Corn

Pet food products (dry food, wet food, treats, dental care products, toothpaste, etc.) that include corn and corn derivatives definitely compromise health and shorten your dog’s and cat’s life-span.

At the end of this article you will find an extensive list of ingredients that do and may contain corn.

I recommend that you check the ingredients list on your dogs and cats pet store food and health care products – if a product contains any of these items replace it with a healthy alternative...

Serious Health Issues Caused by Corn and Corn Derivatives

Corn – Not a Species Appropriate Food

Not only is corn a filler and a nutrient poor food, it is also not a species appropriate food for dogs and cats.

Aflatoxins – Toxic, Carcinogenic

The majority of the corn (soy, rice and other grains) used in animal-grade food in North America is not screened for aflatoxins. Aflatoxins grow mainly on grains but they also grow on legumes - like peanuts, walnuts and pecans.

Aflatoxins can also be found in cottonseed oil, fish meal and peanut oil.
Foods (in this case corn - grains) that test positive for aflatoxins cannot be used for human grade food production. There are no such regulations for animal grade foods so aflatoxin-positive crops can and are used in animal feed including commercial grade dog, cat and bird food;
A dogs or cats body can usually detoxify small amounts of aflatoxins, however;
When aflatoxins are constantly present in the diet the liver and kidney cannot keep-up and as a result toxic loading on the dogs/cats system increases.
The toxic load increases exponentially when the body is already struggling to process a host of other toxins.
Aflatoxins cause liver cancer.

Life Threatening Glyphosate, Toxic, Carcinogenic

The corn (and soy) used in most North American pet food is the fact that corn and soy crops are grown from Genetically Engineered (GE), round-up ready seed. Round-up is Monsanto’s most widely used and most aggressively marketed herbicide. The active ingredient used in Round-up is a glyphosate – a health and life threatening substance. Glyphosate residues get into ours’ and our companion animals’ bodies via:

The food chain (large factory farm fed animals);
Processed foods that include corn and soy and derivatives, etc.

Round-up is also destroying the health and viability of soil. Round-up was specifically designed to be used in partnership with Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered ‘Round-up Ready’ seeds that – seeds that are engineered to tolerate glyphosate. Plants adapt, including the ‘weeds’ that glyphosate was originally designed to kill. The weeds have become ever more resistant to glyphosate. As a result farmers are using more and more of the powerful toxic, carcinogenic herbicide. Genetically engineered crops are literally drenched with glyphosate.

When the food crop is harvested toxic glyphosate residue remains on the grain and subsequently remains in the resulting food product.

Glyphosate is also an endocrine disruptor – the terrible toll resulting from this is discussed further below.

Immune System Suppressor and Allergen

Grains are a major cause of food sensitivities and allergies in dogs and cats. Both species digestive systems are not evolved to consume sugar or a diet that is heavily laden with carbohydrates – especially not refined carbohydrates. As such a dog’s and a cat’s immune system may recognize grains as a foreign substance, in which case the animal’s immune system can become overly active in its quest to battle the foreign substance. The over-active immune system can result in the creation of an allergy to the substance.

When an allergy occurs allopathic veterinarians will usually prescribe steroids. Unfortunately steroids turn the immune system off.

With the immune system shut down the the body cannot perform its normal self-regulatory function to keep the balance between good and bad flora in the gut.

Yeast feeds on sugar. Sugar is also an inflammatory and a contributing factor to cancer. When too much sugar is present the natural balance of good bacteria vs. bad bacteria can become disrupted leading to an overgrowth of bad bacteria which results in an overgrowth of yeast – a ‘yeast bloom’.

A dog’s and cat’s digestive system quickly converts refined carbohydrates such as grains - i.e. corn, wheat, rice into sugar. In addition, some dog food and treats contain sugar. As the yeast grows it spreads through the blood stream and can end-up in the ears creating an ear infections, in the paws there by creating a yeast infection in the paws and in more extreme cases the entire surface of the body’s skin may be inflamed with the yeast infection.

Once again allopathic medicine can and often does make the situation worse. Allopathic veterinarians prescribe antibiotics to treat yeast infections. Antibiotics kill all bacteria – good and bad. This may then result in a further blooming of yeast, and if the root cause of the allergy is not resolved, the yeast infection can become a reoccurring and chronic condition. In severe cases of yeast infection, carbohydrates such as potatoes and sweat potatoes may also need to be eliminated from the diet. Even honey which does have immune system boosting properties may have to be eliminated. By adding to the daily diet, immune system boosting foods such as organic unpasteurized, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, garlic, turmeric and probiotics you can help eliminate the infection and prevent re-occurrence.

Brain Function Disruptor

A diet that has a high content of processed grains can be a major contributing factor to impaired brain function. While no dry dog food provides the correct balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids, the balance gets further exacerbated when that food includes high levels of processed grains such as corn. Remember that upon ingestion, grains get converted to sugar very quickly. This spikes the body’s insulin levels which in return creates a spike in Omega-6 fatty acids. High-levels of Omega-6 fatty acids cause cellular inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids are the brain’s anti-inflammatory. If you are feeding your dog a commercially manufactured dog food, and nothing else - your dog’s Omega-3 fatty acid levels are much to low and Omega-6 too high. Your dog’s brain is not getting what it needs to function optimally. You can read more about that here.

As noted further above, grains - particularly genetically engineered corn disrupt the health of the gut. Disruption of the gut effects physical health and mental health. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood control, depression and aggression. The greatest concentration of serotonin is found in the gut, not in the brain, as many people assume. So, if the gut is not healthy serotonin levels can end-up being seriously impacted, and so too psychological health.

Endocrine Disruptor with Multiple Severe and Lethal Consequences
Glyphosate is an endocrine disrupter. Gluphosate is a known source of the following (in people and companion animals): Autisim; Alzheimer’s disease; cancer (various types) and is now being recognized as a definitive contributing factor to the development of breast cancer; depression; digestive issues; liver disease; Parkinson’s disease; and miscarriages and birth defects in humans and companion animals.

This article provides a good overview of health impacts of glyphosate. You can find multiple articles on the many very negative health impacts of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round-up here.

Of all the crops grown in North America - corn ranks as #1 for chemical-intensive agri-growth - responsible for:

Almost half of all nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer use the impacts of which are highly destructive;
40% of pesticide use in North America, and;
80% of the weed-killer atrazine which has been proven to cause changes in gender in animals - remember humans are animals too;
You can read more about the very harmful effects of growing GMO corn here.

In addition glyphosate kills beneficial insects such as bees – without bees there will be no food crops. You can read about that here and here.

Examples of Pet food That Contain Corn and Corn Derivatives

Many of the Prescription dog and cat foods sold in Veterinarian’s offices are corn-based – you can see some examples and read about them here.

Five Mega Multi-National Companies - Five Common Household Names - So Much Deception…The Big Five listed above produce multiple brands of some of the most popular dog and cat food and treats available in North America. What you might not know is that their products are a serious threat to your dog’s, cat’s health and longevity...you can see some examples and read about them here.

To see some examples of common corn and corn derivative included foods sold at pet stores you can take a look here.

The threat posed to our companion animals by corn and soy – especially genetically engineered corn and soy is anything but benign!

Ingredients to Avoid...

A List of Corn, Corn Derivatives and Other Ingredients That May Contain Corn

Ingredients That Definitely Contain Corn

Corn

Corn extract

Corn flour

Corn gluten

Corn oil

Corn meal

Corn starch

Corn sweetener

Corn sugar

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Cornstarch

High fructose corn syrup

Hydrolyzed corn

Hydrolyzed corn protein

Maize

Modified corn starch

Ingredients That May Contain Corn…

Alpha tocopherol

Artificial flavorings

Ascorbates

Ascorbic acid

Barley malt

Bleached flour (also look for look for ‘cereal findings,’ ‘end mill run’)

Brown sugar (light brown)

Calcium citrate

Calcium fumarate

Calcium gluconate

Calcium lactate

Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)

Calcium stearate

Calcium stearoyl lactylate

Caramel and caramel color

Carbonmethylcellulose sodium

Cellulose microcrystalline

Cellulose, methyl

Cellulose, powdered

Citric acid

Flavorings

Food starch

Fumaric acid

Germ/germ meal

Gluconate

Glucosamine

Glucose

Glucose syrup

Glutamate

Gluten

Gluten feed and Gluten meal

Glycerides

Glycerin

Glycerol

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)

Lactate

Lactic acid

Lauryl glucoside

Lecithin

Linoleic acid

Lysine

Magnesium fumarate

Malic acid

Malonic acid

Malt syrup from corn

Malt, malt extract

Maltitol

Maltodextrin

Maltol

Maltose

Methyl gluceth

Methyl glucose

Methyl glucoside

Methylcellulose

Microcrystaline cellulose

Modified cellulose gum

Modified food starch

Molasses (corn syrup may be present)

Mono and di glycerides

MSG

Potassium citrate

Potassium fumarate

Potassium gluconate

Propionic acid

Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol monostearate

Salt (iodized salt)

Semolina (unless from wheat)

Simethicone

Sodium carboxymethylcellulose

Sodium citrate

Sodium erythorbate

Sodium fumarate

Sodium lactate

Sodium starch glycolate

Sodium stearoyl fumarate

Sorbate

Sorbic acid

Sorbitan

Sorbitol

Sorghum (the syrup and/or the grain may be mixed with corn)

Starch

Stearic acid

Stearoyls

Tocopherol (vitamin E)

Unmodified starch

Xanthan gum

The ASPCA says “…corn is not considered to be poisonous to pets. Certain animals can, however, have food allergies just like humans can, which could make them intolerant to corn or other ingredients…”

In my opinion the ASPCA’s stance on corn is very, very far off the mark.

Holistic Support

If you require additional support and guidance I would be pleased to assist you via my Holistic Diet, Nutrition Wellness Services:

Unbiased Diet, Nutrition, Product Advice is available via this service
Diet, Nutrition Wellness Plans are available via this service

ReadFull Article ..