dig by dog

Minggu, 26 Oktober 2014

Danno Graduates

Danno graduated from K-9 Corrections and went home with his new person today. She fell in love with his photo from the website because he looks like a dog she grew up with. Upon meeting him she knew he was the dog destined for her. I hope they have a wonderful life together. We will miss him.

He was a very quick study and knew how to relax during break time.

A very handsome dog. Would you believe he was left tied to the shelter doorstep one morning?

Here are a couple of videos of him during training. (excuse the poor quality) The first is him heeling. He was lagging a bit more than I would like. Not to bad for new off leash work though. Just needs more practice and polish. The second is him doing a sit, down, sit recall routine. (some call that push ups, sit, down, sit, down) I was trying to show how happily he works. My handler was new and is doing a fantastic job learning everything I am throwing at him. He cant wait to start the next dog.

Have a great life Danno!!

ReadFull Article ..

SO MAD!!!!

Today She and He do goed in we van to we Peterborough house and She and He do taked Aswell in hes crate but She and He do leaved me at home!

Alone!!

All by my own self!!

That do NOT be fair!!

I do not liked to be leaved home all by my own self!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Aswell do not liked it too!!

ReadFull Article ..

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

ReadFull Article ..

Mini Data

Today Paddingtons Francyne camed to visit we but she do not bringed we friend Paddington!!

But she do bringed shes camera and she do taked more pictures of we babydogs so you can see how big and curly they do be getting!

We do liked this picture cuz it do looked like Data do be telling Mini secrets!

ReadFull Article ..

Wet!!!

Today me and Aswell was playing outside and all of a sudden there was a big rain! And it were thunderbooming too and we runned under we deck to stay dryer but then there was more thunders and we getted worried about She and He. Maybe they might get skerred so we thinked we should go in the house and make sure She and He do not getted skerred.

But we were under the deck and we could not getted up ON the deck where the door is cept we run out through the rain and up the stairs!!!

We runned very VERY fast but we getted wetted anyway!!!

But Aswell getted MUCH wetter than me cause he runned SO fast he missed the stairs the first time and had to turn around and tried again! Silly Aswell!!

ReadFull Article ..

Jumat, 24 Oktober 2014

SuperDoggie!

Today I shows She that I is a very smart doggie!!

We drived home from the nother house and I did not puked in the van too much but that do not be why I is smart.

I is smart cuz I figures out that I can still goed over the fence but as long as I do not go to the beeps I does not get zzzzztttd! AND I can maked Kali go CRAZY because Kali can NOT climbed over that fence!!

So then Kali is trapped inside the fence and I is free - well, only sorta free - on the nother side. Kali barked and barked at me!

And when She comed to see why Kali is so mad, She sayed ASWELL!!!! You get you back in this yard!! And you knowed what? I is so smart I DO! I climbs right back over the gate and I goed to She and She gived me a liver treat!

Ha! That is REALLY why I is smart! I can make Kali get mad. AND I can make She give me livers even when I is doing bad stuff!

Pretty cool, huh?

ReadFull Article ..

Snow day!!

The photo is misleading. We got at least 18 inches of snow. Lots of huge drifting as well. We shall be digging out for awhile. The joy of winter in Maine.

ReadFull Article ..