FOURTH OF JULY:Tips to keep pets safe

The Fourth of July is around the corner and I just wanted to share some tips to keep your pets safe.

1. If you know your dog is afraid of fireworks take the dog to the basement or a room that is the farthest from the action. Diffuse Frankencense if possible and put on a noise machine or if you have "Alexa" have her play Soundscapes (sound skills) then say Zen and Healing and it plays really nice calming music. ***Do Not Talk to your dog at all. Words will only add to the dogs anxiety and make the dog stay stuck in that fear driven mind set.*** If you want to watch tv make sure it isn't a show that mimics any sounds similar to the sounds of fireworks.

2. If your dog stays outside in a pen or the backyard when you leave the house BRING THE DOG INSIDE. Place the dog in a garage, basement, or room, if it is Crate Trained then place in its crate. Make sure the place you choose is secure, cool and the dog has fresh water. Play calming music and don't leave for more than 2 hours.

3.  NEVER EVER TAKE YOUR DOG TO A FIREWORKS SHOW.  Even if they are rock solid and have never reacted to fireworks there is so much more going on at the actual show. They experience the vibration in the ground, the sounds and smell of the fireworks and can absolutely experience a headache type of pain because of their sensitive hearing. This can then trigger a fear reaction with any loud sounds.

4.  Always take dogs outside to potty ON LEASH even in your backyard. Use a long line if you want to give them more freedom but make sure to keep ahold of the leash at all times. My sister's dog is deathly afraid of fireworks and has run away on several occasions, one time ending up in the middle of a very busy dangerous roadway luckily he was Not hit by a car and was kept safe by a guy on a motorcycle until we got there. . It is not worth the upset and stress of having a dog run away. Even if they are always fine off leash don't do it.

Socializartion: From Puppies to Adult Dogs

  

   

 Socialization means mixing well with others and learning to behave in a way that is 

acceptable by society.

By allowing or strongly encouraging a puppy or adult dog to "Say Hi" to everyone and every dog ON LEASH you are going to make that puppy reactive as an adolescent or adult dog. A dog cannot properly greet on leash or play so when the dog is allowed to or asked to meet and greet everyone, when they get older and see a person or dog they will get over excited and begin to vocalize out of frustration and pull to that person or animal. This LOOKS like aggression so the handler INAPPROPRIATELY corrects it now making it worse. Instead of pulling the dog away further building frustration, simply have the dog sit and allow the other people to walk by. 

Socialization starts as soon as you bring your puppy home:

At the age of 2-4 months this is the time in which you will expose your pup to new situations where They choose to engage. Have friends and family over and ask everyone to sit on the floor in a big circle. This exercise is done in complete silence. Place the puppy in the middle of the circle and allow them to choose to mingle. The puppy will learn to read the energy of the group and may choose to say hi to everyone or only a few people and this is perfectly ok. For the people who the puppy chooses to go say hi to have them pet the puppy while next to them and if the puppy wants to get on their laps let that happen.  Keep this exercise short 10-15 mins and then just have everyone slowly get up and go about entertaining your guests as you normally would. 
Have the puppy around different sounds, smells, and in different environments. If introducing to other dogs make sure they are neutral and appropriate with puppies. Most adult dogs do not like puppies because of their smell and unsteady movement. Play groups with size and age appropriate puppies would be good at this time just be sure to keep the play sessions short so you are not building up frustration in the puppy. Start introducing basic obedience commands such as sit, down, come, potty on command and name recognition! 
If you have children (see my previous blog "Mind your manners: Children with Dogs) teach your children to be calm around the new puppy. Any type of screaming or squealing will excite the puppy and could cause them to chase and nip at the children. Teaching your children proper manners now will build a nice strong bond and everyone will enjoy each other.

At the age of 3-6 months is when the  puppy will be going through a couple fear periods and are now learning Dog Language. Dog Parks and Doggy Daycare are NOT the place for your puppy right now. Those places are full of dogs with their own issues and levels of energy. These dogs are Not interrupted appropriately or enough so puppies will get overwhelmed. These environments for puppies are actually very STRESSFUL and should be avoided until your puppy learns skills that would help them to choose to be calm or walk away in those environments.

It would be better to spend your money on a DOG WALKER who knows the dogs in their care and can set up group walks/ mini play dates with age or adult appropriate dogs.

This is the age to really begin to teach Calm on demand, Impulse control, and confidence building techniques. These can all be taught with the place command. Begin to build a solid basic obedience foundation and now is when to follow through with a clear line of communication and a solid Yes and No. Puppies should be exposed to as many new environments as possible. Group classes would work as long as the other puppies are size and age appropriate. Always sit in on a class without your puppy to watch how well it is organized and to be sure you agree with the methods being used. Hiring a private trainer to come to your home is another option especially if your puppy is a little shy or group classes aren’t your thing. 

At the age of 6-9 months the  puppy will have now been doing well with obedience and things are going great when " All of a sudden" the puppy will not listen. 

This is true adolescence ( the teen stage) when the puppy wants more freedom and wants to make its own decisions. It will test boundaries, disobey commands, begin to explore with their mouths and could be destructive. This is the time to get that puppy doing Mental challenges. Such as food puzzles, search games, small obstacles, nature trails with puppy on a long line so they can explore. Structured walks should be sprinkled with basic obedience commands along the way. Take new routes and drive to new areas as often as possible. This is a good age to have a professional trainer come into your home to help tighten up all obedience commands and to help teach an introduction to nose work games. 

Really teach impulse control and have the puppy hold its commands longer. Teach puppy to be calm on demand which means if you are done playing and  want the puppy to just relax say all done and have the puppy calmly lay down. This is the age to really introduce the dog to what it was bred to do. If you hunt seek a club that can walk you through the proper training process.

If you don't hunt your Dog still needs to do begin basic classes for Nose work, search and rescue, tracking, or other Nose based Classes. 

At the age of 9-18 months the dog needs a job this is when you take any classes to the next level! If you hunt well your dog has already been out and is really coming into their own! If you don't hunt this is when you take your dog to the next level with Nose work, barn hunt, join a search and rescue club, engage in Nose based games. Bump up all training to the advanced level and keep all Pictures the same. No off leash work should be done unless IN a secured enclosure. Sexual Maturity is going to happen at this stage and you don't want your dog to wander. Neutered Dogs will begin to try to Dominate your Intact male. NO dog parks at this time they will just cause your Now well behaved dog to lash out and become frustrated by all the unwanted attention.

When socialized properly and provided with all their needs dogs of all ages and sizes can now play and engage together. They will be well balanced and able to adapt to any environment and any situation. 

PUPPIES: The importance of training at a young age

TRAINING IS AN INVESTMENT INTO YOUR PUPPY'S FUTURE

Puppy's are purely positive energy. They have not had the chance to form any bad habits and are a completely clean slate.  I want to drive home the importance of getting them in training at 3 months of age when they haven't had a chance to form lasting bad habits.  The majority of puppies I have come into my programs are around 6-8 months old. Most pet owners want to wait till the pups have had all their shots and many don't realize that they can start working with a private trainer in their home well before the 6 month mark.

By the time I see these puppies they have already gone through their 2nd fear period and have already begun to develop some behavioral issues. Most range from excessive barking to digging to jumping and a combo of those unwanted behaviors. Some have graduated to counter surfing or leash reactivity. Many of these unwanted behaviors stem from over excitement while others have developed real fear in some situations.

By having some formal training with a private trainer who comes to your home you can build a solid basic obedience foundation and this sets the tone for the puppy's development.

When the  puppy first comes home immediately take for a neighborhood walk keep it short and just allow pup to explore and sniff. I walk about 100 feet then back. Do this every day. Take to new neighborhoods and new areas. Never dog parks or areas that are frequented by lots of dog traffic. Take to nature walks to get puppy out as often as possible. These excursions are to build confidence and allow puppy to just take in all that surrounds them. Sights, Sounds, and Smells every new experience builds the puppy’s memory rolodex and helps that puppy begin the process of making good choices and learning how to handle many different situations.

When Blaze was a puppy (pictured above) I was in dog training school (this is where I got him from and that story will be another post). He spent half his time in a large indoor/outdoor kennel the other half was split between training and class time.  Every single morning before classes started I took him to the nature trail which had random agility obstacles on it. Each day I let him try one out if he was concerned about a certain one  we moved to another until he wanted to try it. Then we would go back to the one he was concerned about until he had the confidence to try it out. By the age of just 5 months (he was just 3 months when he was brought into the program) he was a very confident puppy. He was confident enough to try all the obstacles and even ones that had an unsteady surface. This is because I made sure to allow him to make the decisions to try these obstacles out. We always ended
the training with him doing an obstacle even if it was one he had been on before this way we ended
on a positive note and he always had fun!!

It’s important to know what your puppy was bred for and provide those needs. They go beyond just physical exercise and this is where a lot of disconnect happens. Border collies are highly intellengent and need to herd, beagles are extreme trackers and need to use their nose and track, wirehaired pointing griffons are versatile hunting dogs and need to track and point, labradors are retrievers and need to mark and retrieve. By providing your puppy’s needs you will have a well balanced dog. All too often these needs are not met and behavioral issues begun to creep up. Sometimes it is hyperness, sometimes it is destructive behavior done out of boredom, sometimes it is frustration which causes reactivity. So by getting out ahead of these issues you can provide that much needed mental challenge alongside the physical ones!

My top commands that should be taught to every puppy: 

POTTY ON COMMAND:  Teaching a puppy to relieve themselves On Command helps the puppy learn to fully relieve themselves and helps the puppy learn to go on any surface and in any situation. This should be started as soon as you get your puppy home. Immediately set up a specific area in your yard or in front of your home. Have puppy on leash and either carry or leash walk to this designated potty spot. Do NOT bring any treats with you, you can reward once puppy is finished and inside the house. Once at the designated potty spot just stand like a statue and allow the puppy to have the full leash to walk around in a circle so they can catch the same scents and be triggered to go potty. Once they go into position to relieve themselves that is when you say whatever words you want the puppy to learn.  I choose Hurry Up when off leash and Go Potty when on leash. You will say this every time the puppy relieves themselves. After a few times saying it when they are in the process of igoing they will associate the words with their actions and you will be able to start saying  the words as soon as you get to their potty spot. The reason I do Not give a treat when the puppy is going potty is because they will learn to watch your movements and as soon as you go for the treat they will stop going to get it and then finish going in the house.

LEAVE IT:  This command is important to teach right away as it will be used if you see the puppy begin to go after something. I do Not teach leave it and drop it at the same time. These are two very different commands and I don’t want the puppy to get confused.
With a few high value treats in hand you will hold your hand open and out to the puppy as the puppy goes for the treats say Leave it and at the same time quickly close your hand. Open your hand as often as you can with the pupppy close so the puppy learns the second it stops trying to get the treat it will get one. I always hand the puppy a treat from the opposite hand, then the next time he gets a treat I toss it so he can come back and try the game again. I do this exercise for about 5-10 mins. After the puppy is consistently leaving the treats in your hand you place the treats on the floor and cup your hand over them. As the puppy tries to get them say Leave it and quickly cover with your hand. The puppy will try to paw, lick, nibble, and maybe even bark t the hand to try to uncover the treats but you ignore all those behaviors and say Leave it until the puppy moves away, then you give them a treat!

PLACE COMMAND: This is a command where you want to build a solid Reward History!! Get high value treats that you ONLY use for this command. 

All dogs start out ON leash. With treats in your hand you will walk to the place bed ( must be 

a raised cot type you can get it at either of these places. www.chewy.com or www.kuranda.com) the raised COT type is important because it has defined edges and works as a boundary. Dogs don’t know they have a rear end so this prevents them from creeping off the bed.

As you walk to the bed you will say PLACE ( or whatever word you want ) and Guide them with the treat onto the bed. Once they are all the way on you will say Down ( only this one time) and reward the DOWN. Once laying down you will say a RELEASE word of your choice and Toss a treat and let them get it. Guide them Off with the leash if they stay on the bed. 

After they go get the treat immediately say Place and guide back on this time WAIT FOR THEM TO GO INTO A DOWN and then reward them! Wait a couple seconds and then use release word and toss a treat.

You will initially have the leash in your hand then lay it on the ground and finally take it off. Don’t rush through moving too far from the place bed at first.

You will have the dog on place and SAY Place and take a step to one side then the other. Then say Place and take a step back. If at any time the dog gets up or off the bed no problem just guide back on with the leash and say Place and repeat the above.

You’ll want to say Place and sit on a chair or at a table ( close at first) when you go to sit down say Place to remind the dog what they are doing. 

You are building pictures in the dogs mind so each movement you make ( sitting, walking to door, in kitchen, living room, these all are pictures and the dog learns when they see this they know they still need to stay.

With the Place command The word you use MEANS down and is an implied STAY.

Practice when you are cooking, watching tv, eating. When watching tv have the dog on place for 10 mins then with you for 10 mins. Build Duration then Distance!!

Mind your Manners: Children with Dogs

It is extremely important to set rules and boundaries with children at a young age. I want to talk about  a recent video I watched on a FB group where I am a member.  In this video which was just over a minute long a young 1 ish yr old boy was being allowed to sit on a 7 month old puppy, bounce on the pups back, grab its face and attempt to bite her nose, pulled her ears so hard the child fell backwards and this all went on while the mother videoed it. In the post the mother mentions how usually she doesn’t let her son play that rough and she hoped no one would take offense. Some comments Loved the video and thought how cute it was and mentioned how if the pup was hurt it would move away. But that was not possible with the way this child was all wrapped around her. 

The pup had NO escape and based on how the child was acting with this pup it was obvious that this has always been allowed to happen without much scolding.

If that pup growled or did an air snap which all would have been completely appropriate that pup would have been reprimanded NOT the boy. Puppies and dogs use their voices and mouth to stop things that hurt or to warn when they have had enough. 

In the above described interaction if rules and boundaries  are not taught to the child and the child continues to treat the dog in this manner it will most likely result in a bite and this pup will either be rehoused or worse euthanized. 

In the 20 years I have been training dogs I have seen too many incidents like the one mentioned below where the dog was just giving the appropriate warnings and they were ignored and the dog bit the child. In every single one it could have been prevented if the parents set real rules and boundaries for their children. And intervened when they saw their dog was uncomfortable and trying to move away from the child.

About a year and a half ago I was sent a pm at 10:30 at night. It was from a woman whose 8 month old Griff bit their 2 year old girl on her hand and face. From what she explained it was all the parents fault the video she sent from a nest cam( which I don’t have permission to share) showed the toddler come into the room where the pup was sleeping on the couch and basically do a running dive bomb and jumped directly on the dog. The dog jumped up and got off the couch and went to its bed and laid there. The child went over and sat on the dog then laid on him. The dog air snapped and NO ONE MADE THE CHILD GET OFF.

Then the dog moved again 3 rd time and laid in between the living room and dinning room the child went over and grabbed his face and pulled the dog hard enough that the child fell into a sitting position. 

This is when the bite to the hand happened. NO ONE STOPPED THE CHILD.

Then the child got up and I thought that was it. But no she goes behind the dog and Pinched him and that is when he spun his head around and did a AIR SNAP but caught her in her face with his canine tooth and basically scratched her under her jaw and on her cheek.

The husband beat the dog and threw it in its crate and demanded the dog be taken away that night. This was done out of rage and should Never have happened. All this could have been prevented if they just advocated for their dog when he made every attempt to move away from their child.

The wife drove from VA to MD and I met her in MD and picked up the dog. He was a mess and had peed and pooped all over the place. She handed me $3,000 to take the dog to the vet because she thought he might have broken bones from the beating She heard but did not witness.

I took him to my vet immediately and they did xrays, an ultrasound, blood work and gave meds and thankfully he had no broken bones he was very  badly bruised and very sore. 

I bathed him and he spent 3 weeks with me and Blaze while I rehabbed him. I found him a great local home where I spent the next 4 months helping him over come his fear of men and children. He is healthy and very happy and a nice well blanched dog now. 

I’m sharing these two incidents with you to drive home how wrong it is to allow a child to treat a dog in this manner and under the guise that they are "best friends".

The bond between a child and dog can be a beautiful one and must be built on mutual respect. The following rules should be established to prevent anything from happening:

1. Teach your dog the Place command and make this their safe zone. Teach the child not to bother the dog when it is on its bed. If it is a baby crawling never allow the baby to crawl on the bed or near it. Have the dog on its place bed when you are feeding the baby or changing the baby’s diaper.
2. Teach your dog to leave the baby toys alone and always give the dog a toy it is allowed to have. Never allow a child to take anything out of the dogs mouth. Always give bones or long lasting chews in an area away from the child and when the dog is done remove the chew and put it away.
3. Never allow your child to sit or lay on the dogs back, this can cause harm and prevents the dog from moving away. The dog views this as a very vulnerable position to be put in and can become defensive and cause harm to the child even though all the warnings it would be giving would be appropriate.
4. Teach the child to use open hands when petting and always have the child pet the dog under supervision and along its back or under chin. Toddlers are at eye level and some dogs may feel uncomfortable so it is best to have the child stand sideways when petting the dog and have the parent with the child to steady them. Never allow the child to pull ears, hair, face, or tail.
5.  If the baby is crawling move the water and food bowls to an area where the baby cannot get to it. Never allow the child to play in or near the water or food bowl.  
6. When the baby is mobile always have the dog on its place bed or up on a couch and do not let the dog follow the baby around while they are crawling. Once the child is walking teach the dog to give distance or have the dog on its place bed or in an area behind a gate. 

Please understand I love children as much as I love dogs and want both to be happy and safe.