Chronicles of a Dog Trainer

You're a winner!

2012-01-06T14:21:00.003-06:00

You're a winner! -- Words that will always sound good to us, right? Well let's make everyone a winner. To celebrate National Train Your Dog month (January, in case you didn't catch that) we are going to offer up some fun stuff (that means prizes and cool stuff!) to get you off the couch and training your dogs!

Please check out www.trainyourdogmonth.com for some excellent resources, free webinars by top trainers in the country and more! National Train Your Dog month is brought to you by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).

Here is the gist of it, but please be sure to read the specific details at the bottom of this post.

GET YOUR VIDEO CAMERA OUT.

You will need to video each phase of this little shindig. We want to see the "how" of this, but more importantly this will enable you to see how you are doing or what you need to improve. Trust me, after videoing any of my training and then watching it I often (like really often!) think, Really? Did I just do that? Am I that bad in front of my clients? Eeesh! So, don't feel bad. We are human, all of us but this will be a learning experience for us all as well as a way to get you training your dog!

PICK YOUR POISON.

What do you want to accomplish with your dog? Set a goal for the month of January. Loose leash walking? Coming when called? Sit in all environments? (See the Sit Challenge here) Wave? Roll-over? --Whatever you want to make your goal make it your goal. But try to make it one goal for the sake of this particular contest.

READY, SET, GO!

Now get your training gear, thinking caps and yummy treats and start training!

ITTY BITTY DETAILS ABOUT ALL THIS.

1) Set your goal and then email it to Stacy with the following details.

- Your full name

- Your dog's name

- Dog's breed/mix

- Dog's age

- Goal & explanation (if you desire) & why you chose this goal in particular

2) Video your training from the beginning to the end.

3) Send the video(s) to Stacy by Monday, January 30, 2102 at 12:00am CST.

4) Three winners will be chosen for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Prizes will be given to all winners which will be announced on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by 12:00pm CST. Winners will be notified via email and will be announced on our Facebook page as well. Prizes will be a surprise but will be a generous prize made up of dog-related items and services.

MORE SPECIFIC STUFF.

You cannot use any forceful type of training to accomplish your goals. We will not allow anyone to participate using choke chains, prong/pinch collars, shock/electric collars, leash jerks or harsh physical means to manipulate your dog. We encourage the use of clickers and lots of rewards! And please don't forget to tell your dog when she's right, lots of praise, lots of it!

You must complete an entire video series showing your dog's progress from start to finish. You may take as much video as you like or as little as long as it includes the before (show that your goal behavior is not reliable with the dog), in-progress (practicing/training to reach the goal) and after (goal is accomplished or very close to being accomplished). You do not have to have your goal 110%. If you can show that you have trained the dog toward your goal and there is progress being made, that is perfect too! It will be really great to see any challenges you encounter and how you were able to overcome them in order to reach your end goal. Please use language that is appropriate for G-rated audiences in your videos!

All video should be submitted to Stacy via email (stacy@aictdfw.com) and you must give permission for the video to be used online via Facebook, Twitter and/or this blog! If you will not allow the video to be seen/published online you will not be able to take part.

brought to you from Stacy Greer of Adventures in Canine Training, Inc.

Diamond in the ruff.

2012-01-01T20:21:00.001-06:00

Grief is a funny thing. There are so many things that it does to you. Aside from the normal sadness there is guilt, anger, regret . . . It saddens me to know that it often takes grief, or tragedy, to make one realize how much you truly love someone.

Once they are gone a flood of emotions rushes through you. Sometimes you can stop your brain and distract yourself, at other times you just can't stop the thoughts from coming.

Many of you know that in May of 2010 I lost my mentor and friend, Lee Mannix, a dog trainer in Austin, Texas. His death was a hard blow as it was quite unexpected. {Funny thing I made a blog post about Lee and titled it "Diamond in the Ruff" too, fitting.} I never realized how much pain came with grief until I lost him. I had lost before but something about his death really hit me harder than ever before. You can't stop but think of the things you should have said, shared, apologized for, explained . . . and most of all the fact that you should have told them how much you valued and loved that person.

While many may not understand the comparison of losing a valued human to the loss of a dog, many of you can. To me my dogs are as valuable as many humans that are in my life. There were so many things I wanted to do before Jake was gone. So many things I wanted to be sure he knew and understood. And then the regrets I had-- I regret not walking him more, not training him more, the times when I was frustrated and told him to "leave me alone" when he'd beg me for dinner,. I regret not loving on him more, not taking him more places . . . You just don't realize how much we take for granted until it's too late.

I took for granted how absolutely perfect he was. He didn't need more training, I thought to myself--he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't need to go many places, I thought to myself--he was happy where he was.

Jake was calm, laid back and never stole anything, ate anything he shouldn't nor did he jump or get on anything. I never taught him not to jump. He just never did. He never put one paw on our furniture or a counter-top. He never stole food that was lying around. He never ate any toys that he shouldn't, he'd just sweetly chew his own bones or toys. He was perfectly gentle with all other dogs no matter how old, how big or small, or whether they were boy or girl. He was the most gentle soul.

He loved Sophie, my 3 year old, more than any of my other dogs do. Sophie also was attached to him. She likes the other dogs but doesn't really have much to do with them. She would always sweetly and calmly pet Jake, and lie next to him. She would talk to him and he would lie his head down and just listen to her.

It's funny I never wanted Jake when he came into my life in October of 2003. He wasn't the perfect dog I mentioned above when I got him. He was a typical un-ruly adolescent Labrador Retriever {1 year}. He ran circles around my living room for 20 minutes, on a tear, after I had agreed to take him from his previous owners and "find him the best home". I sat down and sighed. {What have I gotten myself into?!} He disappeared into my kitchen and then came out, happily trotting around in a catch-me-if-you-can fashion, with a knife in his mouth. I did what you should never do and chased him, then tackled him to grab the knife from his grasp. I was frustrated and shoved him into his crate. He whined and barked for an hour. I was ready to find that perfect home for him . . .ASAP!

A few days later I had to go to a dog camp that I had planed and paid for months earlier. I became a bit frazzled realizing that I hadn't thought this through after agreeing to take Jake in. I was taking my Jack Russell, Trevor, with me but didn't have a clue what to do with Jake. I didn't want to leave my two roommates with him as he was a mess to deal with. I just decided to pack him up and take him with me as well. It was after that weekend that I decided to keep Jake. After that I began working on his "annoying habits" and in no time he was a very good canine citizen! In 2004 we went through the Delta Society's Pet Partners program and he passed his therapy dog test with flying colors.

My husband and I always laughed at an incident that laid out Jakey in the best light. He truly was one of the calmest dogs I've ever known. I was at an event that included some dogs for adoption and I recall DFW Lab Rescue had a booth right next to my table. Jake was lying sweetly and quietly under my table and a friend was sitting at my booth with me. A woman came up and leaned down to pet Jake. He stayed there, sweetly wagging his tail but not getting up or moving. She looked up over the table, "Hey is this dog for adoption?" "No, he's my dog, we just happen to be next to the lab rescue." She continued to pet him. "Hey, is he okay?" I quickly looked under the table thinking something was wrong. Then she says, "Is he slow?" I said, "Slow? You mean like Forrest Gump?" The girl had a completely straight face. "Yeah he's just lying here." My friend retorted sharply, "Um, yeah, he's trained!" I just laughed. From then on we always had the joke of sweet Jakey being 'slow'. But we knew better, he was just, well -- Just Jake!

Over the past few years I used him many times with dog aggression cases as he had zero reaction to dogs no matter what they were doing. Dogs could lunge and bark and act nuts, he would just offer a calming signal, turn his head or sniff the ground and be as cool as a cucumber. He helped me evaluate dogs during their Canine Good Citizen tests over the years. He would sit at Starbucks by my chair and be the sweet coffee-shop-dog many people desire. I recall one day just last year when he accompanied me to a dog training class and afterwards I had lunch with a friend. We ate at Cafe Brazil as they have a dog-friendly patio. He laid next to our table, sweetly and politely all during our lunch. A man even commented, "Wow, I'd love to have my dog lie here while I ate lunch!"

Jake was a true diamond in the ruff. He went from a crazy, wild Lab whom I wanted to re-home ASAP to the absolute most wonderful dog on the planet. He just needed some polishing. {I suppose this is the story of most dogs' lives, i.e., they just need some polishing and the right home!} And we all know he was a fighter. Most of you know what medical complications we have endured over the past two years. Just last year {2010} he wasn't expected to make it and we were able to have him here a little more than a year after that. He survived four surgeries, recovering well from each. His last surgery was on December 1st, just four weeks ago. He recovered well, and quite unexpectedly. {The vets were fairly sure he wouldn't survive the surgery.} And just last week he was bouncing around, tossing his favorite Nylabone in the air and then lying down to chew on it. However we think his very scarred intestines just couldn't handle anything, including food of any kind and it all just caught up to him one final time. He formed yet another obstruction, just like the previous two, made up of hardened fecal matter. His body could not evacuate it and this time we couldn't do anything to help him. It would most likely keep reoccurring. And with this, we had to make the decision to humanely end his pain and suffering.

I'm not sure if he knew how loved he was. I often wonder if he knew, and I hope he did. I told him often, in a question format, "Bubba, you know you're the best Bubba, right?" And it was that exact statement that I made to him this past Saturday morning . . . I kissed him on the head while rubbing his ever-so-soft ears and let him go . . .

Here is a video montage of my sweet Jakey boy. {For those who get this via their inbox click this link to see the video: http://youtu.be/se2Mj28tKzw}

Jake: August 31, 2002-December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T12:08:00.000-06:00

Our sweet Jake crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. He became ill again 2 days ago and we could no longer allow him to suffer. Thank you to all those who have followed his long journey, been so incredibly supportive of me and Jake, and take time out of your day and pocketbooks to help us in so many ways. Once I'm able to function more I will write a memorial for him . . .

The A-List!

2011-12-29T20:28:00.000-06:00

If you recall last year at this time we were entered into the A-List (then WFAA, now Dallas A-List) and we finished off in 2nd place as the BEST TRAINING in Dallas! Not shabby. However as of right now we are in 3rd place! We need more votes! You can only vote one time period. So we need more votes, many more votes! If you could help us by voting and spreading the word I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you and stay tuned for new blog posts for 2012! Vote here: http://ctvr.us/aictdfw?r=fb . . . Oh and did I mention that for everyone who votes you are given the option to purchase a single in home lesson for $79 ($109 value!) So what are you waiting for?!

Fa la la la!

2011-12-13T17:24:00.003-06:00

Well I'll put a lot of goodies in this post. First, for many of you wonderfully super followers you have been a reason for my sweet Jake still being on this planet today! Again, more thanks to everyone who has been supportive in every way, I am truly grateful forever. He continues to do well. He's being a sweet, jolly ole Jakey as we knew him before! He is still sporting his "cone of shame" but alas he doesn't care at all. It's pretty funny that thing is so obtrusive that when he goes behind the laundry room door and attempts to then go back around the door to leave, his cone catches the door and he ends up shutting himself in there! I discovered the other night that Jake was nowhere to be found. I was baffled. I went in the yard thinking I left him out there, "Jake! Jakey!" Nothing. I went in each room of the house. Nothing. Then I hear the clanking in my laundry room. Ah there he is! Silly boy.

Now for some business. I need votes... well Adventures in Canine Training needs votes! If you recall last year at this time I was in the running for the CityVoter's A-List for Dallas amongst 27 other nominees! In the end I came in 2nd place for BEST TRAINER in Dallas! Whoa, great accomplishment! I want to reach #1 and I have enough supporters to do this. I need your votes! People can only vote once, period the end. So this truly means that the number of votes are critical! Recruit friends to vote, knock on doors, campaign for me here at Adventures in Canine Training in any way you see necessary. Ok. You can vote here. And by the way, thanks for your vote. Your vote is what keeps us going strong all year long!

And lastly, did you get or read my latest newsletter? Loads of great stuff in there--loads of it! Take a look at that here if you haven't already!

And don't forget to buy Gift Certificates for that special dog person you know! Contact Stacy for purchasing. On sale through this Friday, December 16th.

Sweet Survivor: Part V

2011-12-07T19:21:00.000-06:00

Jake came home on Monday. He's doing well! I know that all the prayers, support, good vibes and healing thoughts got us through this . . . once again! This time it was much more critical so all the above is the only reason we still have our sweet Jake.

He doesn't seem to be in much pain and he's actually now acting like the ole Jakey we know. His big soulful eyes beam at me gently as I sit on my bed and he stands on the floor politely to beg for his dinner. Monday he was pretty sore but he was really happy to be at his comfy home after a very long week. He was pretty much in the hospital for 6 days. Poor guy.

His eyes are already back to their full, big brown self. On Monday he looked pretty awful. His eyes were really sunken in and looked "beady". He's putting his weight back on and sleeping well too. Today he started playing and I was ecstatic! He isn't especially playful as a dog anyway, so not only did this mean he feels well but also that he's really happy!

Thank you, once again, to all those who have been generous monetarily to us since all of this started. We definitely couldn't have done it without you all. Thank you to the group of ladies who encouraged me to reach out and ask for help, as I was too reluctant to do so . . . again. I cannot find words to express my gratitude to each and every one of you! Thank you!

Sweet Survivor: Part IV

2011-12-05T00:08:00.000-06:00

Well it's late Sunday night as I type this. Hubby went with me today to visit Jake, our toddler was with my in-laws so we went over there together. He was much, much brighter and tail was wagging today. He seemed pretty depressed and sad the other day. I didn't really want to say that the other day but he wasn't all that happy on Friday.

He has lost a lot of weight and his face looks incredibly awful, major muscle atrophy. However, he's eating and seemingly doing okay. They said at this point he hasn't vomited but he also hasn't had a bowel movement so they are hoping for that. They said they had cleaned out his plumbing so well during surgery they thought it'd be a bit before he actually did have to poop!

Anyway, I'm hoping to take him home tomorrow (Monday). First, I have no idea what this bill is going to be at this point. And second I think he'll be more comfortable here and feel better being home.

Anyway, since we are coming up on day 5 in the hospital I'm still hoping and praying for some more donations. By the Grace of God we have had the remarkable donations pour in so far and the contributions have been incredible. I mean I cannot find words to thank all of these dog-loving people! We could still use some help and we'd love it if you shared this on Facebook or Twitter, email or whatever other social media you use! Yes, now I'm kind of begging. A bit sad and desperate, but that's the reality at this point!

Thank you, thank you and thank you to all of those who have kept up with him, prayed, paid, supported, spread the word and much more. You have no idea how much it truly does mean to me and my family! Truly some acts of paying it forward! God Bless you all! (Link to the Chip In! donations here for those who cannot see the widget to the right.)

{{Note to those who get this via their email inbox: You can always visit the blog online to see all pictures, widgets and videos by clicking here.}}

Sweet Survivor: Part III

2011-12-02T17:09:00.002-06:00

Today is a new day! First, Dr. Franks is awesome. I woke up this morning to a text that had a picture of sweet Jakey and a text that said -- He has done well overnight :) Great thing for me to wake up to!

So I went to visit him around 3pm. He was pretty sad looking (Labs are good at this!), I think in pain, but he was happy to see me. They told me that he had nibbled a small piece of chicken earlier but not really eaten. I mixed some food for him at home and put his enzymes (he has to have due to his EPI) on it and blended it in the blender since he's going to have to have basically a liquid diet from now on. I tried to give him some when we were in the room but he just licked a bit and then just laid down.

I told him he had to eat (it's coming up on 5 days since he's eaten) and stay strong and that I'd be back to get him. I hate visiting dogs in hospitals because I always wonder what they think as you walk out the door and leave them there. Anyway, he needed to go back in his little area and get back on his pain meds and fluids. So they came and took him.

I talked to Dr. Franks and she asked if he ate anything for me. I told her about the food I made and that he licked a tiny bit. She said it was good he was willing and trying. She also said, "...he has got to have the worst bellyache ever!" Poor guy. So she feels that he really needs to stay through the weekend, which I am not arguing with as he needs more constant care to ensure he's going to pull through all of this. She also said he was one heck of a fighter! And we knew that. I said that before. I told my husband perhaps we should call him "Rudy" since he never gives up! (That's in reference to the 1993 movie, "Rudy")

So on my way home Dr. Franks texts me -- He just ate 1/2 c of shredded chicken. Wofled it down. Right before I was writing orders to only feed his own food with enzymes in it! I text her back -- I must have inspired him! So we are excited he's seeming to want to eat now. The prayer is that food stays down and hopefully he has a bowel movement. Ugh, that's gonna hurt that poor guy! But this is the difficult part for him, the reason he's here now anyway. So this will be another big hurdle if he can do those things.

With all this said, I'm having a much better day today. Not blowing my nose and trying to ice my swollen eyes down. I know I owe it all to the Big Guy Upstairs and all the support, prayers and love he's received from all my (and Jake's!) adoring clients, trainer-friends (near and far!), veterinarians, friends and family. Thank you so much to all of you. I could not have made it without you and Jake surely couldn't have!

I am still in awe at the donations. This is incredible. We are still taking those, of course. Now that he's staying longer we know the bill will be higher than was originally posted. But I would not have been able to do this at all without the donations I have! Thank you again and again and again... Here is his ChipIn page again, and please feel free to share.

{{ Note to those who get this via their inbox: You can always visit the blog online to see all pictures, widgets and videos by clicking here. }}

Sweet Survivor: Part II

2011-12-01T22:22:00.003-06:00

Well, where do I start? First, the out-pour of generosity is amazing. I don't have words, I don't have enough arms to hug everyone. But I have many tears of joy as the dog-loving community always pulls through for me! For those of you who have donated your hard earned dollars -- thank you really isn't enough, but thank you!

Now for an update. Jake was able to go into surgery late today. After the donations came rolling in we knew this would be feasible, and with the help of my wonderful surgeon (rather Jake's surgeon), Dr. Franks at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center in Grapevine we saw a light at the end of what was a very dark tunnel. I always say that "she knows Jake inside and out, literally" since she's now seen the guy's insides 3 times, or is it 4. Wow, I lose count for that poor guy. Anyway, she's amazing, truly amazing and she is fighting for him as much as we are. She's also been more than generous to me and my family, human and canine. So I have to give her some major thanks, hugs and hallelujahs!

I also want to thank the wonderful veterinary staff at Katy Trail Animal Hospital in Dallas. They saw him first on Tuesday (Dr. Naugler saw us that day, she was amazing!) and then sent us back over to Dr. Franks. But their staff is always so kind, caring and there to fight for your pets' care and quality of life. If it weren't for them Jake wouldn't be where he is today as Dr. Murray over there is the one that finally helped us discover he had developed secondary EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) after we thought last year at this time that we would be saying good-bye to him. If it weren't for her we wouldn't have him here at all. And since all this Dr. Naugler has called me twice to check on him and get updates despite the fact that she's getting reports from Dr. Franks. I figure she could just get the reports and go from there without calling but instead she's being incredibly caring and encouraging.

Anyway, he came out of surgery stable. He is comfortable now. Apparently while we've gotten past one hurdle that very well could have been a wall instead of a hurdle, we still have several others to contend with. Without going into all the specifics that Dr. Franks went over with me, I'll just say that we do still have to keep praying. With all of his major issues in his GI tract he's got a long road ahead and he'll have to be a real fighter to keep going. But we are sure he is, we know he is, and we feel confident that he'll get through it. Dr. Franks is cautiously optimistic but she's honest and real and that's why we love her. So we do have to keep praying for the big ole sweetie.

Again, the donations have poured in like Christmas came early and that is marvelous. Absolutely marvelous! I'm really emotional today, and with all this kindness and giving I've now got tears of joy. Thank you to all of you and we know that we can now begin to look ahead!

Sweet Survivor

2011-12-01T14:39:00.000-06:00

Well here we are again with my sweet, tough boy Jake the Lab. Many of you know him, many of you have contributed to his ordeals in the past but we've sadly come to a really bad place. I'll type up the story for those who haven't been in the loop [this time around].

Monday evening Jake refused dinner. Red flag for any of my dogs (side note: one very good reason to never free-feed your dogs!) He vomited about 6 times from dinner time until the morning, all in the manner that it was hardly anything which meant probably a blockage. He also hadn't had a bowel movement--huge red flag and another possible sign of a blockage.

X-rays showed his bowel is dialated and that there is something in there. The interesting part about Jake is that since all of his crazy stuff from the past he's a "horse of a different" color. His intestines are a mangled, scarred mess. And it seems that they are always filled with gas--not normal. Actually I think even the vets are all surprised the boy is still around with all the plumbing issues he's lived with! So with this our wonderful, dear surgeon, Dr. Joanne Franks at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center in Grapevine (she's done 2 of his surgeries) has said that the reality is that she could open him up but may not be able to swim through all his insides due to all the scarring. She already warned me last year that if something just like this happened again the odds were highly stacked against us.

Anyway, I took him in Tuesday so they could at least give him fluids, try everything possible to see if by some miracle he'd pass whatever it is in there. Wednesday she calls and says they could do this and that but asked me about cost as she knows I am not financially stable (seems like a forever thing!). The costs for the other things were too high so I elected to bring him home yesterday.

He vomited 4 more times at home and is very obviously uncomfortable. I can't imagine what he feels like, poor guy. Still hasn't eaten a meal since Monday or had a bowel movement. Not good, not good at all. All I can do is think what if she can go in there and find something, remove it and we can just move on to recovery? What if he does in fact survive this surgery by some miracle? I mean he's been so strong this whole time. What if? But of course the problem is that we definitely haven't the funds for surgery.

So the sad truth has come to this, we have to elect humane euthanasia if we cannot do the surgery. Even with the surgery it is definitely possible that he still doesn't make it. But I can't help but think that I'm a horrible person for not at least trying the surgery.

We would immeasurably appreciate any donations. A dog training forum I'm on convinced me to do another ChipIn. I was reluctant, after doing so in the past, as I know that this time of year and this economy is not kind to anyone. So I removed the chip off my shoulder and did it--again. And I'm actually going to apologize for doing so. It's not easy to admit to failure and it's not easy to ask for money, especially since I've done so in the past. Humility has gotten to me. So thank you, thank you and thank you to all contributors. I cannot express the gratitude enough.

Here is the ChipIn I've created. If you can't see the image below, just click here to go to his donation page.

Do you know when . . . ?

2011-11-14T11:13:00.000-06:00

Do you know when to say when to Fido? I 'm not talking about feeding him too much, I'm talking about stress levels. I try to discuss this with all my clients but I am not sure if I do as good a job as I should. You must realize that a dog under even the slightest bit of stress can make a lot of things look like something else.

During a training class I watched as one of my clients asked her dog to lie down. The dog lifted her paw and stood looking at her owner, "Ma, did I do it right?!" The owner was becoming slightly irritated, "Fifi, down!" She offered the paw again and then sat, still looking longingly at her owner. The dog was not being defiant, she was simply conflicted, confused and now stressed out. At this point she wasn't going to lie down no matter how much the owner kept stressing "Down!". Once a dog hits a level of stress and we don't step back to find out what to do better or change the situation we set our dogs up for many things: 1) failure 2) lack of compliance 3) distrust in us.

It is critical to learn how to read your dog, and use that to your advantage. Doing this will help so many situations. During training you will go further if you are actually "in tune" with your dog. But even forget dog training, life in general will be better for the both of you if you learn to read your dog! By this I mean learn to read his stress signals and help him learn and go the right direction, using appropriate training, tools, and communication. (This is a huge reason I do not like a certain TV Dog Trainer, he doesn't read dog's stress levels worth a poop!)

I saw this blog post titled, "A Different Form of Abuse?" on Facebook today and shared it on my Facebook page, but I wanted to write a little more about the subject too. I also wanted to share that this is one of the many topics that will be discussed in my Speak DOG! Workshop I'm having on Sunday, November 20th. Details on that here--please enroll and find out some things you may have thought you knew but didn't!

Speak DOG! Can you? Do you?

2011-11-06T15:25:00.000-06:00

Event management for Speak DOG! Workshop powered by Eventbrite

BOO! Halloween Safety Reminders for Pets.

2011-10-28T16:56:00.000-05:00

Halloween festivities are already under way. However, I always want to give out these tips for pet owners. It is imperative that you advocate for your pets; know these things to keep your pets happy and safe! Have a safe and happy Halloween!
---
brought to you by Courteous Canines, LLC

Don't leave your dog unattended outside, even briefly, on Halloween. Even dogs contained in fenced yards are not necessarily safe. Eggs, candy, and other materials may be thrown at the dog and consumed. Less benign items may be thrown at him which may cause serious damage. Sadly, many animals - especially black cats and dogs - may be the objects of serious, malicious abuse on this holiday. Mischievous youths may leave fence gates ajar or enter fenced areas, even if "beware of dog" signs are posted. Especially on Halloween, where visitors may be numerous and very disarming to the resident dog, make sure your dog does not have unsupervised access to visitors, nor they to him.

Keep your dog on a leash during Halloween. Even normally obedient dogs may be sufficiently aroused or frightened to behave unexpectedly on this holiday. Walk your dog at times when you are unlikely to encounter mobs of trick-or-treaters. Keep the dog restrained by a leash - even if you ordinarily use some sort of "invisible," electronic fence system - to prevent the dog from either charging towards trick-or-treaters or bolting away from them. You do not want to lose your dog at any time, but certainly not on Halloween where pranksters often cross the line and become cruel to animals.

Keep your dog away from the front door when you answer it for trick-or-treaters. It is actually best to keep the dog in another room in a crate or safe area, away from the door and ruckus.

Give the dog something to chew on. Just because your dog is locked away from the front door, doesn't mean he can't have a good time. Give him a rawhide bone, Kong or marrow bone stuffed with something tasty--peanut butter, cream cheese, liverwurst, etc. to keep him occupied. Not only will this give him something to do, but chewing helps reduce stress.

Be careful about what your dog eats on Halloween. Candy can make any of us nauseous in sufficient amounts, and dogs generally eat wrapper and all. Chocolate, in particular, is toxic to dogs if they consume enough of it. Some dogs will find Halloween make-up, candles, and other small-sized items appealing and try to eat them. The day after Halloween, you may find broken eggs strewn on lawns and streets. All of these temptations are items that your dog should not be allowed to eat. For a complete list of hazards to avoid and how, visit the ASPCA's website.

Try to foresee potential hazards on Halloween and prepare for them. As indicated, particular areas of concern are things that dogs might eat, interactions between dogs and children, and the general level of excitement or fear, which might create opportunities for escape or promote irritable behavior. Remember that dogs don't grasp that Halloween is a holiday, and they may find throngs of loud, raucous, peculiarly-costumed children genuinely frightening and traumatic. Be sensitive to your dog's stress level and safety, and have a Happy Halloween!

Yay, Fall Classes!!

2011-10-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

Have you joined one of our fall classes? We have a great one for someone who has never been in a group class before, our "Courteous Canines" class and then for someone who has had a group class and/or several private lessons our "Beyond the Leash" class is a great one! Check out a full list of our classes here. Here is a feature for our Courteous Canines class . . . All highlighted dates have schedule classes.

Event management powered by Eventbrite

Wubba & Premack.

2011-09-28T14:42:00.001-05:00

Two powerful things: Kong Wubba & The Premack Principal. Ok, so the first one may not be powerful at your house but it is at mine. However, the second, Premack's Principal, is powerful for many dog training successes!

For the past 2 weeks I've been a little at a loss. Not sure why I didn't feel this way before but Jazz gave me a real inspiration to get out and work my own dogs harder than I have in a long time. Poor fellas need it, especially my Aussie/Border Collie, "Noah" and my Jack Russell, "Trevor". They need stimulation and they haven't gotten it in the way they have needed it since my daughter was born almost 3 years ago (November of 2008).

So this week I drop my daughter off at school, go home, feed the other dogs and then load up Noah and Trevor in my car. We live 60 seconds from the River Legacy Parks in Arlington. It's quite handy and it's a gorgeous park. You may recall numerous photos of Jazz that I had as I trained her there a lot.

Today I decided to take just Noah to the park as he needed my one on one attention. I'll alternate days for the dogs so they get the undivided training attention they need. Take note of this if you have a multiple dog household. Dogs should be separated for training, it will boost your success rates and your relationship with each dog.

Today I decided to practice Noah's off-leash skills. I've not actually focused on doing this before. He's been good off-leash but I've never taken him and trained him solely on this. Naughty dog owner that I am! Trevor used to compete in Flyball so his off-leash skills are great and have been for many years. Truthfully all I need is a tennis ball and he's not going to leave my side! Crazy little terrier.

So if you follow my Facebook page (You don't? Well get on it!) you've seen me mention and show a few videos regarding Premack's Principal. Only discovered it not too terribly long ago. Love it. It's magical when utilized consistenly and it's quick! We all want quick don't we?!

Basically Premack's Principal is best described in a blog I found--

Desirable – or high probability – behaviors are those behaviors which the animal wishes to do when given the choice. Undesirable – or low probability – behaviors are those behaviors which, given the choice, the animal seldom, if ever, does.

Premack’s Principle states an animal will perform an undesired behavior in order to engage in a desirable behavior. When a high probability behavior is contingent upon the performance of a low probability behavior, the outcome is the increased frequency of the low probability behavior.

Here is a video I did of Noah and I at the park this morning. I have not edited it at all, you'll notice as you watch it's very raw. I was videoing and training at the same time, not super easy!

And another video using Premack by my favorite clicker trainer, Emily Larlham of Dogmantics Dog Training in California.

Class Time!

2011-09-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

I wanted you all to know that I'm using Eventbrite for scheduling and enrollments for my group classes. I'm currently adding classes now. Two classes are already scheduled for October--enroll today! Go here for the current schedule: http://aict.eventbrite.com/

And the winner is . . .

2011-09-14T21:24:00.001-05:00

Extreme Mutt Makeover is finally here! Wanted to let you know that for those who want to know if we make the finals for Saturday please stay in tune with this page & my Twitter @dfwdogtrainer. If I make the finals you ALL better be there! Finals are 5:30pm Saturday, September 17th at Will Rogers Memorial Center Coliseum in Ft Worth.

If you want to come watch the prelims they are free to the public on Friday and Saturday. Noon on Friday, 10am on Saturday.

Wonderful Walking: Is it attainable?

2011-09-11T12:05:00.001-05:00

Have you tried all kinds of methods, tools and other things to try to get your dog to walk nicely on the leash? Well look no further! This isn't magic but it sure works like it when you actually see how simple this new method is! It's easy to do, and it's quick. It also involves no special collars, harnesses or other tools.

I just recently learned of this method and found it incredibly interesting so I've tried it out and found that it does work really well, really fast. Your dog will actually look at you and walk at your side with a loose leash, where the leash has a "J" shape in it as you walk.

I'm hosting a LOOSE LEASH WORKSHOP on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at 6:30PM in the CRADDOCK PARK in Dallas. If you would like to attend it is $40/dog and you should email Stacy for specifics and to get on the enrollment list!

We've tried everything . . .

2011-08-28T14:44:00.001-05:00

I hear this phrase from clients usually followed by the laundry list of things they have tried to do with their dogs (or kids!) and then it's followed-up with . . ."but nothing works."

Let's take a look at the "I've-Tried-Everything Theory". First, this can apply to humans not just dogs so whether you are a pet parent or otherwise, this could help you out. . . . Now, my first thought isn't that of, oh dear this dog must be difficult, but rather that the person has failed somewhere along the way. Dogs don't fail us, we fail them. It may be a big fail or small one, but it's us who fails. So when our dogs are not "getting it" or they keep repeating some unwanted behavior over and over it's time for us to take a step back and re-evaluate what we are doing.

First, I don't know how to get this across to some people because a lot don't get it but--dogs aren't little humans. While they are intelligent, fascinating creatures capable of some amazing things they still lack many things that the human mind doesn't. Like reasoning and complex understanding. Until you can actually wrap your brilliant human mind around this you won't be able to move very far with successful results with your dog. Dogs are dogs, whether superheroes or not they are still dogs.

So now that you realize your dog is a dog we can now move forward. First comes the part any and all dog owners know they need to do but fail to--be consistent. This doesn't mean for 24 hours, it means always, everyday. Consistency will yield reliability, stability and trust--here is where this applies to humans too! I'm a parent of an almost 3-year-old and so I'm around a lot of toddler parents. I often hear this statement from parents--"Oh we tried that, it didn't work for us . . ." and again my brain goes back to--Really? So does that mean you attempted it 4 or 5 times and it didn't seem to work so you gave up? Probably. And this is what I run into with dog training.

But know this too. There is a fine line. You need to know what is going to work with a dog on his level of understanding, as well as with a toddler. As with kids we assume that this little thing is so brilliant (afterall they understand so many things we say!) that we put way too much expectation into what they actually understand and comprehend. Everything has to be appropriate for what you are working with.

If you have tried something that is punishment-based (tugging at your dog's collar for a "stop-it" for an unwanted behavior) but the actual behavior isn't going away after repeatedly doing this then you are probably not doing something correctly. However, on the flip-side if you are using positive-based methods and you think it's "not working" then you are probably not utilizing it appropriately either.

I don't condone punishment-based methods for dogs or kids. In the long-term it doesn't work. What happens with punishment is that if and when it does work you will suppress a behavior but you haven't actually taught the lesson you were hoping for. You cannot teach any living thing what is wrong if you havent' taught it what is right first. A great example: If you dont' want your dog to jump instead of kneeing it in the chest or jerking it's leash to get it off of you why don't you tell it what you do want it to do? The kneeing will usually only work on the people that consistently knee the dog. What does that mean? It means the dog hasnt' learn not to jump it's learned that jumping on you (or whomever does this method) is bad and receives a punishment. However the dog's desire to get what it wants (usually attention is what a dog jumps for) is so strong that it needs to know that it can get what it wants by offering a more desirable behavior (sit instead of jump and then you can get the attention you want). With punishment you don't give options. You just attempt to teach it to stop jumping but you don't teach it what it is that you would prefer.

As humans we also want instant results. We don't want to mess with training and taking time to practice, having to proof behaviors by going in different places, etc. That's too time consuming for us busy Americans these days. Who has time for that?

A well-trained dog or a well-behaved kid doesn't happen with militant rules or punishment. While appearances may show what looks like instant results you can be rest assured that other behaviors that are unwanted will result when you leave out the actual act of teaching a dog what is right and then when you do tell him he's wrong it will actually count . . . and make sense. Also, when you do this the punishment doesn't have to be physical or harsh. I can actually say "Hey!" to my own dogs with an instant whip of their head and they stop doing what they were doing.

Some dogs, like some kids, can "tolerate" being yelled at or given ludicrous rules, or even physical punishment. However, those that are taught with positive discipline, over time, will be much more relaxed, comfortable with others and have better self-esteem. They also learn better and retain knowledge better. So, if you are finding yourself in a quandary then take a step back and re-evaluate. Does your dog understand what you want? Does your dog know a better behavior than what you are trying to say "no" to? Do you find your dog doing the right thing (that could be just lying calmly on the rug!) and you acknowledge this with even just a simple, "Good boy!"? Have you taken the time to teach your dog basic things (sit, lie down, come when called, walk nicely on leash) so that communication is easier for the both of you?

Do you just feel like maybe you need a coach to show you how to accomplish some things or even get rid of some behaviors? Then give me a shout! I'd be more than happy to show you the way! www.adventuresincaninetraining.com

Late Night Jazz . . .

2011-08-25T13:55:00.002-05:00

Are you following Jazz on her Facebook page? If so then you've seen all her videos. She's doing videos every night with great music . . . we are calling them "Late Night Jazz". Here is a look at one of the videos. To see all of them either go to my YouTube channel or see her Facebook page & scroll down to follow all of them. There are Volumes I-VII so far, more to come! (If you cannot view the video below visit this link: http://youtu.be/RhvPr381cDg)

GO TEAM JAZZ!

2011-08-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

Well I had to ask the program peeps but I've now gotten permission to advertise that . . . Jazz is accepting sponsors! Oh yes! A couple of the other Extreme Mutt Makeover dogs in the competition have sponsors and it's been great. Their "donations" range from t-shirts to coupons to other fun things from dog-related businesses to individuals.

Jazz would love anyone to sponsor her and donate whatever the person, company or organization feels they can or want to do! Nothing is too small and all monies or donations go toward the on-going care and costs of shelter dogs.

If you would like to be a sponsor and have a banner, brochures or any other promotional materials we'd be happy to advertise them for you on the weekend of the double-event, The Extreme Mustang Makeover and the Extreme Mutt Makeover. Which will take place September 16-18 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Ft Worth. The crowds expected range between 1000-2500 people. It's a huge event and draws a big crowd. Not to mention it's all for the animals, in this case horses and dogs!

And don't forget to follow these great Facebook pages too!

Jazz's Extreme Mutt Makeover

Extreme Mutt Makeover

Extreme Mustang Makeover

Wanna sponsor Jazz? Let me know. Send me an email.

Funny what a challenging dog can teach you . . .

2011-08-06T16:48:00.002-05:00

Jazz with her Nylabone

All my training clients are going to love me after this event. Not because I think I'm going to win and take home the title of winner. I'm fairly certain that isn't going to happen for me and Jazz after our experience today. However, Jazzie-girl is teaching me a lot about myself and the challenges dogs endure. Which in turn are challenges my clients endure when they have a challenging dog themselves. Not that I never knew that many of my clients have some challenges, but this particular dog is showing me just what a challenge can do to you, the caretaker of the dog.

My own dogs are pretty great dogs. I don't have any horrible challenges that I face. I've also never owned a dog that came with baggage. And I recall my beloved, late mentor, Lee Mannix saying to me--"Stacy get a dog that's hard, that's a challenge. Don't go get a puppy that's a clean slate. Once you successfully train a challenging dog you'll be the best dog trainer in world . . . " And although I always knew he was right, I couldn't ever bring myself to go get a challenging dog and do that. Too comfortable with my lovely pooches at home. . . .

And so this is the story of Jazz, my new guiding star . . .

I took Jazz out today for the first time outside of our house. Things went horrible. She's terrified of the outside, even more terrified of the car and forget Petsmart. She completely shut down. For a trainer, you know what this means. For anyone else wondering it's basically where the dog is so over-stressed that it does nothing for anything. As a trainer well-versed in doggie behavior I also know this means a long road ahead. Fear is very difficult to overcome, and usually time is your only friend. It's just a real tricky thing to deal with in training and it has many factors that come into play . . . .

Jazz playing tug

I had chopped up ham in my pouch and although, because I could read her like a book, I knew she wasn't going to take any food I did offer her some to "see if". Upon offering the yummy ham she did this: sniff, head turn, heavy panting--that's a dog saying, help, I'm freaked out. I knew this was going to happen after watching her body language. Sigh. We bought the dog food I came in for and left.

Poor girl was basically in the shelter her whole life, all (about) 10 months of it. Damaged dogs can teach you a lot. A lot about people. A lot about how to be patient. A lot about what to do when time isn't on your side. . . .

However, today I really was able to stop and go through a lot of things in my head. I have 6 weeks now to get this dog to where she'll go into a huge arena (at this point that is out of the question!) and perform. I was going through all these thoughts in my head and then I realized I wasn't too incredibly worried. Not this time . . .

When I joined the Extreme Mutt Makeover in 2009 my thoughts were to get my dog trained to be the best dog out there. Win! Of course we did nothing of the sort. "Harry" was entertaining as he darted away to a member of the crowd and completely ignored me during our huge performance. The crowed laughed and roared. While I laughed and smiled, inside I was horrified. What a terrible trainer I am, how embarrassing . . . and on and on my head went spinning.

"Harry" the mutt

However, I learned that I wasn't having fun and I didn't allow Harry to just have fun. If I hadn't had so much competition fever in me then my training would have showed it. Harry was rather intelligent and he was very easy to teach new things to. He also really wasn't fearful of anything, at least not enough to make any difference. So I could have very easily won that competition last year.

This year I questioned doing this event because I didn't have time or I recall all the stress I put myself through with Harry. My husband even said, "No, you're not doing it again. Do you not remember all the stress you endured and the many days of tears?" But this time I thought more about it.

Jazz in the shelter

I don't care if I win. Heck, I don't even care if we can't get out there to perform! I just want this remarkable dog to be given a chance, show the world that any dog can be trained and brought a long way from where they started. I just want to show myself that a challenge doesn't have to endure so much stress that you lose sight of what you're doing. Take a challenge and go with it. Just break it down. Take it one step at a time. Let Jazz tell you when she's ready and move forward. Rushing things never works. Nothing ever good comes of it and it only leads to thoughts in your head, "I should'a. . . If only . . . . . ."

I'm learning and hoping that Lee Mannix can see me. I hope he is able to be proud as I've finally been able to take his advice and see what a joy it is to have this giant learning journey ahead of me . . . because I can see that at the end I'm going to be better for it.

Extreme Mutt Makeover . . . again!

2011-07-30T23:01:00.003-05:00

For all you loyal followers of this blog . . . first, you know it's been way too long since I've posted! You also know that I participated in this wonderful and sadly under-advertised event in 2009--the Extreme Mutt Makeover. My blog started from the beginning of my journey that year and took you to the end. In 2009 it was a 6 week project, now it's an 8-week project. Here is where it started in 2009.

It's evolved from that year, as that was the event's "pilot" year. What is this event anyway? Well . . .this year there are 16 dogs competing. The event is paired with The Extreme Mustang Makeover over the course of a weekend, this year being September 16-18. The dog part of the competition, The Extreme Mutt Makeover takes 16 dogs from various shelters across the country that are sitting, waiting for a home. Each dog is carefully temperament tested and evaluated and then chosen to take part. Trainers apply, have to be accepted and then they draw a number and are paired with a dog based on their number.

Each trainer has 8 weeks to train their dogs and then will compete in 3 preliminaries and the top 3 competitors (based on 3 judges scores) will then be sent to a final round when all the mustangs compete for a major cash purse on Saturday, September 17th. After the competition is said and done the point of this whole thing is that these dogs are showcased, trained and up for adoption. They also want to show that shelter dogs from all walks of life can be trained to be perfectly wonderful companions -- and even to do some really spectacular things, you'll see if you come watch the competition!

This year I came in one week late in the game. I went back and forth with myself asking if I had the time for this, the mental and physical stamina, blah, blah. Each dog selected has their own Facebook page (all of them are listed on the left column under "Likes") and so I've been following them since they were selected and before any trainer had been chosen for the dogs. There are a ton of darling dogs in this year's competition! I am even ecstatic to say that a Pitbull made it into the competition and came all the way from California (his name is Hitch, you can follow his page here)!!

Anyway, one of the dogs really caught my eye ("Jazz") with her darling face and single white paw. She also reminded me a great deal of the darling dog I had the first time I did this 2 years ago, "Harry". She's fuzzy, medium sized, young and sweet. The day the trainers all went to draw their dogs they had a live video feed of the drawings. I was doing work on the computer that day (Saturday, July 23rd) and so I watched some of it while working. I thought I never saw anyone get paired with Jazz. So I went to her Facebook page and made some comments. One of the ladies who volunteers for the Humane Society of North Texas (who basically invented this event for the dogs) ended up taking her home with her as a trainer dropped out last minute. She planned on teaching her some stuff but wasn't going to officially compete with her. She emailed me and said, "Stacy if you want to compete still we had a trainer drop and we could pair you with Jazz." I thought, thought, thought. I really wanted to do it!

So today, Saturday, July 30th I met with Vickie and picked up Jazz around 5pm. The competitors have 8 weeks to train their dogs. I lost a week since I came in a week late. But Jazz and I plan to jazz things up and get the ball rolling! (Pun intended!)

Watch my blog for updates on Jazz, her training and life in my busy and hectic household for the next 7 weeks! Also Jazz needs as many "Likes" on her Facebook page as possible. The dog who gets the most Likes receives $500 to donate to the shelter they came from! Send her page to everyone you know! I'll also update her page very often too. And most of all . . . come watch us on Saturday, September 17th showcase our great stuff . . . not to mention all the other wonderful trainers and their dogs! It's a fun family event!

Here is the amazing professionally done video they had made for the year we did it. The black Lab in the video won that year. Each dog that is horribly sad in the shelter scenes in the beginning are the actual dogs that were in the competition that year! (Um, be ready for a couple of tears from this!)

2009 EXTREME MUTT MAKEOVER from BBAERO on Vimeo.

Old Man.

2011-04-03T22:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to do a little birthday slide show of my sweetheart of a dog, Amos, my Great Dane. Amos is 10 years old today. An old age for a Dane and he's doing well. I love this guy. He's a big lug, sweet, lazy and just an amazing dog all around. He's been around. He started out as my demo dog for dog training back in 2001 when I got him and hauled him to Petsmart everyday when I worked there.

Here's to you sweet boy, hope you have a good one! Here are some great pics of him through his years. . .

Jake the Lab: Going strong!

2011-03-15T23:45:00.005-05:00

I thought many of you would like an update on Jake, my Lab. Many of you who are devoted followers have read in the past 15 months our horrible struggles with Jake's health, with horrible news just this past December that he would not be with us much longer . . . until I didn't give up and neither did my wonderful vet as well as one of Jake's surgeon's.

He's been diagnosed with Secondary EPI--Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. Basically his pancreas doesn't break down proteins, fats or carbohydrates which was why he lost 15-lbs in a span of 3 months. When the disease goes untreated/diagnosed the dog literally begins to starve to death all while eating normally, sometimes even more food than normal! It's incredibly heartbreaking to watch your dog eat yet still starve to death!

However, Jake has gained a nice 9-lbs back and still has about 4 more to gain. His ribs aren't showing any longer and he doesn't look like a neglected, abused pet any longer! He's bouncing, having fun and back to the Jakey we all know and love!

I didn't take any pictures of him at his lowest weight--51-lbs--and I should have just so I could see a before and after. Here is one I took of him tonight. He was being sweet, just sleeping and I went in to take his picture.

For those who are behind here is the last post I did on Jake, click here.

TV "Magic" Dog Training.

2011-01-30T13:52:00.001-06:00

First I must say a few words. This is going to be a long post. It is also going to be a blunt post. I hope you take the time to read it in it's entirety, as I'm writing this because I feel it needs to be said. This is the reason for this blog. It is a personal blog from my dog training points of view, which leaves it open for me to say things in a manner I may not say on other sites or in other places. I'm not looking for people to debate what I'm about to say, so please refrain from debating this. It's not written for open discussion for people to give me reasons to like or follow a certain famous, male TV dog trainer, I’ll refer to as “TVDT” from here on. I don't like his training, period and I have very valid and good reasons not to. My thoughts aren't going to change about it. Ok. That's said now here we go. . .

If you read this and still do not agree with me that is completely fine but we may not be a match for each other regarding dog training and owner training. I don't and won't use his methods or suggest that someone else should.

Okay . . . Now that I got that all out I'm going to tell you folks why I do not like TVDT and why I don't think anyone should follow his methods or try to do anything he does. If you would like a dog that is well-trained, i.e., properly trained, with the science of dog training that deals with how to communicate and train dogs with what works from studies and science, then please read on.

The sad truth is that dogs are still viewed as property by law. Many laws are currently changing and evolving to include pets as more than just objects and property, but this is a slow process. With this, the dog training industry is not regulated by any governing body or organization. Anyone can call themselves a dog trainer, a "dog whisperer" or even a behaviorist if they really want to. However, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist is actually a veterinarian that has gone on to study animal behavior (more than 8 years of education). So while anyone can call themselves anything pertaining to dog training/behavior a true Animal Behaviorist has an extensive education background (currently there are fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists in the US). These sad facts put a real kink in things for good trainers and helps those that are poor trainers.

The TVDT fans like to accuse all non-TVDT fans of being jealous and just wishing they were as rich and good as he is. Of course I’m jealous, he’s rich. I’m also jealous of Angelina Jolie, Oprah and a few other famous peeps. I’d love to be rich and not be worried about finances. However, I don’t talk badly of them because they don’t do things that directly impact someone or something I care about deeply in a negative way. The facts are that dog trainers that dislike TVDT aren’t mumbling at his TV show because they are jealous, they truly see the problems he’s causing and misguided information he’s touting to dog owners that don’t know any better. The truth is that, at least for this non-TVDT fan, I wish he would become more educated and understand dogs and their language better. There are bits and pieces of what he says that I do in fact agree with. However, many things I don't and his methods I definitely don't agree with.

Let me talk about an episode I just saw last week, followed by a phone call from a client who has been following his methods (with disastrous results), which brought me to write this whole post.

The episode had two German Shepherds who fought with each other when taken to daycare. They apparently didn't fight at home. When the woman got the dogs to the daycare and tried to get out of the car one dog would lay into the other. They showed one of their fights on the show. The dogs actually ripped into each other and one had massive puncture wounds on her face and had to have her muzzle shaved so they could clean the wounds. There is red flag #1. Why ask the client to put the dogs in a situation that you know would very likely cause them to fight? That gives fighting dogs one more practice toward the whole "practice makes perfect" theory. Both dogs had prong/pinch collars on them (whatever you want to call them). The owner had one dog and TVDT had the other, the offender. They were in the lobby of the daycare during the parts that I saw. The lady had the dog on leash just standing there and TVDT came around and as soon as the dog looked at the other dog he'd jerk the leash, give it a collar correction and do his little "shhht" sound and snap his fingers. He did that a few times. Then he had the woman put her dog into a down position (dog lying down). Then he took the other dog over and had him lie down about 2 feet from the other dog. So they were then lying side by side. One of the dogs clearly became incredibly stressed out. He started whining and tried to move slowly away from the other dog. He didn't try to get up and run, he just simply scooted slightly to move away. TVDT grabbed the leash and corrected the dog and said some spiel about how the dog has to learn to stay where he put him and he's boss and all that junk. The dog became increasingly stressed, whined even louder and began panting and trying again to scoot out of the way. More corrections, more of TVDT giving why he thinks this is good, etc.

So what's wrong with that, some of you may be wondering? Well, a lot. First if a dog is stressed and you keep pushing and forcing it (especially with leash jerks!) to do something that it clearly is uncomfortable and stressed about; you are not going to solve any issue at all. Sure, for the TV show it will appear that the dogs are just peachy. They can lie there together and not maim one another. Let's fast forward to a week, or even the next day. It won't last. You cannot fight aggression with aggression and that dog was showing that he didn't want anything to do with the other dog. He wanted to move away. He wanted to retract. Good boy, good dog! What should have happened was that he should have been praised and rewarded for moving away from the dog and not causing a confrontation. He needed to be praised for choosing to remove himself. If he chooses flight he's not choosing fight. Also they didn't solve a thing. I would bet money on the fact that if you went there today the only way they can do anything is if they have those prong collars on and they still administer leash corrections. It's punishment without teaching, there was no discipline. Discipline teaches, punishment suppresses. Suppressing means it's not gone just dormant . . . until it's not dormant. And with punishment, when that sleeping giant becomes non-dormant (here being aggression) it's going to be nasty I can assure you! That dog is going to do as much damage as possible because all it can think is--it didn't work last time and I may never get to do this again . . . so by golly this time I've got to make it count!

Punishment has the appearance of immediate results because of suppression. While we as a society want everything to be immediate, some things are better off taking time. Working through good dog training and long term results is one of those things that's better off done right, taking time, dedication and good discipline.

Those who have worked with me know I administer discipline. But I do not advocate punishment. There is a huge difference. Often with punishment you will teach a dog to just avoid doing something in front of you, or rather that it’s just unsafe to do XYZ when you are around. So you don’t actually teach the dog anything. What should the dog do instead of XYZ? The dog doesn’t know because you have only used punishment to try to extinguish a behavior without replacing it with a behavior that is desirable. When you replace an undesirable behavior with a desirable one and also administering consequences for undesired behavior(s), you are using discipline.

I have never seen TVDT tell a dog "good boy!". Of course you'll never see him give a reward of any kind--no food, no toys, no petting for doing something right. He misses stress signals like an amateur (or a child!) would. It's scary, really scary . . . and sad. What's bad is that utilizing stress signals, reading them properly and responding to them properly can make a world of difference in a dog's training. Ignoring these signals can mean escalated aggression or even a new behavior that comes up because another was being punished and no praise or rewards were given.

By nature dogs use stress/calming signals to avoid confrontation. They are such social creatures that they do not purposely put themselves in a conflicting situation.

I also find it odd and baffling that no one that is a fan of his finds it disturbing that he's working with hard cases of aggression but doesn't seem to know how to train a dog to sit or lie down on command. That doesn't bother anyone? Oh, right the normal response is, "he doesn't train dogs he rehabilitates them . . . " Ok. Let me make something very clear to those who aren't aware . . . It's going to be quite hard to impossible to successfully train a dog (or rehabilitate, whatever buzz word makes one feel better) if you can't teach commands to the dog and get owners to teach commands to their dog. Saw an episode where he took some clients (the guy who wrote the book "Marley & Me") with their new Lab to a trainer so she could teach it to come when called. I'm not kidding. This was one of the episodes. Not to mention I've never really seen him utilize commands with dogs. I bet he has but he sure doesn't do it often. How can a dog ever know what his owner wants if he never tells him? It’s ludicrous to just assume a dog should “just know” or “do it because”. Nothing in life works like that with any measurable success.

You have to have a dog that responds to you and (at least) basic commands and foundation skills before you can truly change behavior of any kind at any level--if you want to have it last.

You can train a dog with a leash correction, or yelling, or intimidating but it won't get you too terribly far. If you have the right dog, i.e., a dog that puts up with that kind of "training" the dog will either work out of fear or turn on you one day after coming to a breaking point. And don't get too ahead of yourself, that could be 7 years down the road of a dog submissively doing as you request (or else!) and then one day --BAM! You're gonna get it, or someone in the dog's path at that moment is gonna get it. And if you have the wrong dog, TVDT would label as "dominant" (he uses this label for absolutely everything of which 99% of it he's wrong), a dog that had a stronger personality and didn't take to punishment, you'd get bit faster than you could blink. But sadly, that would lead to more punishment and so the vicious cycle would continue and no behavior would ever be changed; and these are the dogs that are often put down due to their escalated aggression (caused most often by poor training/handling). Yes, there are dogs out there that are too aggressive to be helped (not often but there are.) However, I'm only using the reference to what happens when you use punishment to try to "fix" aggression because it rarely, if ever, works.

You can read a study done by the University of Pennsylvania. “In a new, year-long University of Pennsylvania survey of dog owners who use confrontational or aversive methods to train aggressive pets, veterinary researchers have found that most of these animals will continue to be aggressive unless training techniques are modified. . . .” Entire article found here.

I can also bash this type of training because I used to do it and I see why it doesn't work for long. I started with my psychotic Beagle and felt magical. He learned to sit, lie down and walk well on a leash with a choke chain. I could give a slight little jerk and he'd do just as he was told. But then there was the time when he bit my hand. Puncture wound from front to back, that tooth went all the way in. That dog had no trust for me. He had no respect for me . . . unless he had a leash and collar on. Oh yeah ,and he'd eat dogs up if given the chance too. So I learned a better way and a way that I've now trained hundreds and hundreds of dogs with. I've done this now for 12 years and not once have I administered a leash correction, or physical punishment, or even verbal punishment. I've successfully trained my four dogs (the dogs I have the joy of living with now) without a single leash correction. This includes a 120-lb Great Dane. I throw that in there because some folks think if you own a big dog you need some special tools or to be a little more "stern" and that you definitely can't train it on leash without a prong collar--wrong!

A good dog trainer can train any dog with the proper skill set. They don't need crazy collars and manhandling techniques to do it.

Not one of my dogs has been intimidated by me in order to do something. All of my dogs do as I ask when I ask about 90% of the time. The other 10% they are allowed to be dogs, as dogs should be. Oh yeah and they sleep with me. They also get kisses all day and love and pats and hugs from me. All trained with food and toys. I don't have to give them food for them to respond now, at least not every time. They get it at random times or when they do a perfect recall off of a squirrel--they sure as heck get a good food treat for that!

Oh please . . . Don't think for one minute I'm trying to pass my dogs off as perfect. Absolutely not. They are dogs for goodness sake, and I'm human. They are compliant to the degree that I enjoy them immensely, and so can others. I do not have little robot dogs. I do not want robot dogs. I want dogs that respond to me but enjoy it, that aren't a nuisance to others at anytime and that can be taken anywhere in public and act politely (read: that's not perfectly, it's politely). I think more people need to aim for that goal. It would be less stressful for both dog and owner. And there would sure be a heck of a lot of well-trained dogs out there too!

One of my dogs gives off stress/appeasement/calming signals (there are many terms for the same thing) like a champ. I can read him like a book. I use these signals quite a lot with aggression cases, as well with all of my dog training. You've got to catch your dog doing something right . . . and tell him. Don't get a big chip on your shoulder and say, "Oh he should do it because he knows he should. Why do I have to tell him good boy at this point?" Because you do. No you don't have to have a baggie of treats on you forever but you better well tell your dog until the day he dies that he's a good boy when he lies quietly on the rug, politely greets a guest, turns his head the other way when he sees another dog, choose to sit instead of jump . . . . You have to tell a dog what he's doing right if you want him to make those decisions forever. If you don't, if you only tell a dog when he's doing it wrong all you'll have is a dog making his own decisions, a dog that has no trust in you.

Oh yeah . . . Remember the client I spoke about at the beginning of this article? The one that called stating she was using TVDT’s methods with disastrous results? Well I spoke with her today. After using methods I told her to use and not using anymore of the forceful and aggressive techniques she was using her dog has stopped his aggressive behavior 100%. She has not seen one shred of nastiness. She said, “He’s actually been enjoyable and I’m not frustrated anymore! . . . Thank you so much for all that you did for me . . ."

So, don't think that there is anything magic about TV dog trainers or anything you see that seems to happen right away. There is no such thing. The truth is dogs have to be trained. Training takes time and dedication. Proper training takes a dog's lifetime. I know I said it before, but my mentor always said--When do you know you can stop training your dog? The answer is never. You never stop training your dog.

And I say . . . If you can't do it right then don't do it at all . . . it's better than doing it all wrong. And if you feel the need to use punishment or TV trainer's methods/advice I strongly urge you to find a trainer and hire them. Nothing takes the place of a professional in-person. Even the TV shows tell you this . . .

Got a problem or concern with your dog? Let me know, we can work on it if you’re willing, able and ready to change your behavior as well . . . and learn a few things along the way!

Jake the Lab: Still here!

2011-01-23T23:20:00.000-06:00

Well, my last post about Jakey tore at many heart strings, of course mine the most as I was under the impression at the time that I only had days or weeks with him. That was at the beginning of December and here we are almost 2 months into 2011. I took the photo of Trevor, Jake and Noah today (Sunday, January 23rd) as they so politely lined up for me in my bedroom doorway and posed for a photo (thanks boys!)

Jake is still around. Don't get me wrong, he's 15 pounds underweight and looks just awful but we have some hopeful things going on right now. . .

At the time I had left the vet's office that day, Friday, December 3rd, (which was an internal medicine doctor whom I was referred to by my regular vet) I was a total wreck. I cried all the way home and for about 2 days after that. I just accepted that he was on his way out even though I didn't want him to go. I would sit on the end of our bed, sobbing, and just think -- I'm not ready, what am I going to do without this dog? He's been so great, he's helped me with a lot of my training, he's helped a lot of aggressive dogs and most of all he's been the best pet anyone could ask for.

But one day after Christmas I was looking at him and it dawned on me that this guy really had beat some odds already and there had to be someone out there that could find out why he's dropping weight like crazy and not showing any classic symptoms to anything that we have been treating him for. So, first I turned to my now friend and very trusted surgeon that had done 2 of his 3 surgeries and asked her if there something someone could do? She suggested that I contact my regular vet and discuss and we could put our heads together. I also thought to myself -- Maybe I can get a babysitter for a few days and drive down to Texas A&M and see what the vet school could do for us. I even got my calendar out and tried to see where and when I could do that. I would make it work if I had to but my calendar wasn't cooperating with me. So I waited to hear from my vet. She called and we decided on a few new things to try and she also said she was going to try to get a hold of a remarkable GI specialist, one of the best in the country, at Texas A&M. I was so excited about that and realized I was in fact on the right track there!

I had been doing online searches and of course all I could find were diseases that fit him except for one thing--they all had the symptoms of chronic diarrhea. He never has had that. Vets have been a little confused by it too because he has had so many GI problems they are amazed that he's got normal bowel movements. But nonetheless I wanted to try to treat him for a disease known as EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency). Basically the dogs pancreas doesn't produce enough enzymes to properly digest and breakdown food so they are starving all the time and eating normally (so is Jake!), losing weight dramatically despite a healthy appetite (so is Jake!) and have horrible diarrhea (hmm, not Jake). I asked my vet if it would hurt at this point to try to treat him for it. She said no and said she'd order the pancreatic enzymes to add to his food and see what we could do.

Then I got an email about 10 days ago from Jake's wonderful surgeon that she had received an email from the vet down in Aggieland and he suggested we try him on some aggressive antibiotics and see if he has some bacterial overgrowth in his intestines. This could mean he has yet another disease I also stumbled upon in my research known as SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth). There have been no diagnoses, we are just treating things as last resorts to try and get this guy figured out!

We just started him on these antibiotics last week and he's been on the pancreatic enzymes for 10 days.

Today I weighed him and for the first time he's either the same weight or has gained a pound. I can't be certain as I weighed him on a human scale by weighing myself and then holding him and weighing us together and then doing the math. My calculations showed he gained a pound. I had my husband do it and his calculations showed him as the same weight he was last week, a sad 51-lbs. But either way it's the first time he hasn't dropped weight in 2 weeks! I took this as promising and I'm looking on the bright side right now.

Jake acts completely normal aside from how he looks. So I'm hopeful that he'll gain weight back and live on with us until it's truly time for him to go . . .

I took these pics and video of Jake tonight chewing on a bone. You can see how happy he is., so happy in fact he is completely ignoring me because he loves that bone so much! It's a little startling to see how skinny he is for anyone who saw Jake before.

Tricks Contest!

2011-01-18T21:32:00.003-06:00

Hope you all read my newsletter . . . I haven't' received any entries for my contest so I'm hoping you all are working so hard that you haven't' sent them in yet! Here are the details for anyone who forgot or maybe didn't get them. Better hurry, only 12 days left!

To get you going on our Train Your Dog Month we want to offer a contest! Train your dog to do 2 new & fun tricks & show us how you did it to be entered to win a nice prize (it's a surprise)!

Rules & Details

1) You must only submit 2 different tricks your dog doesn't know already. Video you starting & finishing the training successfully. We need to see how you trained each trick & your dog completing each of them successfully.

2) Tricks can be anything that is outside of normal obedience. Normal obedience is defined (by us anyway) sit, lie down, stay, walk on a loose leash, leave it, wait, come when called. Do not show us any obedience as a trick, we will not use them in our judging.

3) Your dog can be any age, any breed.

4) Submit your video by email or upload to YouTube & send us the link no later than 5pm, Monday, January 31, 2011. Give us your full name, address, email, dog's name & breed. All of these things must be included in each submission.

5) Submit all entries to: stacy@aictdfw.com

Examples of Tricks

Here is a list of tricks that you can teach your dog, of course you can be creative & think of another. This list is just for suggestions. Tricks can be endless. Tricks can also be simple or complex. Use your imagination!

Shake
High-Five
Rollover
Play Dead
Back up
Spin
Left Paw, Right Paw
Bow
Crawl
Put toys away (drop toys in a bucket)
Jump thru hoop
Jump over hurdle
Get on an object (folding chair, bucket, etc.)

Whoo-hoo & Other News . . .

2011-01-16T21:08:00.001-06:00

For those of you who aren't aware . . . I won 2nd place out of 28 nominees in the WFAA's A-list BEST Training category for 2010--thanks to all who voted and supported me! I'm really are proud, can't complain at 2nd place!

Also, I'm excited to share that I'm giving Adventures in Canine Training a major make-over--new logo and soon new website (done professionally instead of a "this'll do" by me). These things are a bit pricey so one step at a time but the logo has been in the works for months, probably since September. I just got the completed logo (that I truly loved) after going through 2 graphic designers and 2 illustrators. I ended up using the illustrator who did my current logo.

I have been asked why I'm changing the logo because the current one is very liked by many. I just want to make something new as I'm trying a lot of new things this year for my business and I'm back to being all alone in my ventures, as Misty has moved to Austin and has a full-time job there. Michelle was one of my other independent contractors but she has several jobs and is a busy lady, so training has taken a back seat for her as she pursues ventures that she loves more dearly.

The new logo portrays one of my own dogs, Noah, my Border Collie/Australian Shepherd. He's a handsome guy and the illustrator felt he'd be great for a logo dog with his coat of many colors and his glowing personality. I also wanted to stay along the lines of my business name, and really utilize the "adventures" part. This is why we came up with an all new adventurous logo . . . Noah in a cape! Let the adventures begin! I'm playing with slogans but came up with . . . "Every dog is a superhero . . . you just have to find what makes his cape fly!" We'll see . . .
Here is a picture of Noah that looks a lot like the logo.

So, stay tuned for new adventures, fun things & great dog training from Adventures in Canine Training . . .

Canine New Year's Resolutions.

2010-12-31T11:51:00.000-06:00

We all know that we make new year's resolutions for ourselves, but do you ever include your dog in those resolutions? I included my dogs in 2 of my 5 resolutions--more exercise and more training for them. See, even a dog trainer needs to do more with their dogs! Which brings me to those that aren't dog trainers . . . .

Many people assume that if they have trained their dog to respond to a cue (sit, down, stay, etc.) then they are done. Dog is trained. Check that off the list. Don't be too hasty. As my mentor trainer always said, usually in a group of dog owners, "Can someone tell me when you know you can stop training your dog?" Everyone would be silent, trying to think hard for the right answer. The answer was always, "Never. You are never finished training your dog." Training is an on-going process even with those seemingly simple cues. Why do you think dog trainers dogs respond (or so I hope they do) so reliably to these simple cues? It's because they use them daily. I know in my dog's daily routine they have to sit for food, wait to go out the back door and sit for greetings. Those are a few of the common rituals we have.

Pick up a new skill. If your dog is pretty good at basic obedience and you want to expand his vocabulary and skill set then join a tricks class or start agility with your dog. These types of things are great for mental stimulation and maintaining great skills and the human-canine bond. You can also try our "About Town" group class that takes the basics out to the streets and trains humans and their dogs to work through real-life situations politely.

Exercise your dog appropriately. While one certain TV dog trainer brought more dog owners to the realization that they weren't exercising their dogs enough, he didn't mention that exercise alone wouldn't solve your dog's problems. This is why I recommend exercise that is both physically and mentally stimulating. If you are walking your dog for hours on end but he's still "everywhere" then you haven't been balancing mental exercise and physical exercise enough. You can cause your dog to run off of adrenaline if you just exercise, exercise, exercise and do not provide productive and appropriate forms of mental stimulation. I have several programs that address this issue and we can easily help you with this! Our all new Outdoor Adventures is particularly great for this!

Feed your dog a well-balanced and healthy diet, it makes a difference. For those of you who have worked with me you know how big I am on diet. Diet can be the cause of many problems both physically and mentally, just like humans. However, dogs aren't humans so there are many things that they shouldn't have. For example, dogs have no need for carbohydrates and grains. They should have a diet very high in protein, namely good sources of meats and fish. A great resource for diet and specific diets for ailments, such as constant allergies and even kidney issues, is "Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs" by Lew Olson, PhD in Animal Nutrition.

Having a dog isn't for someone who doesn't want to put work and effort into it. In order to maintain your dog's health both mentally and physically you have to put some elbow grease into it. It can be tiring at times and even frustrating, but when you train and raise a dog properly the rewards are tremendous for us humans! I couldn't imagine life without a dog!

Happy New Year . . . and keep your dog's busy. Let me know how I can help. We will start offering group classes again in late February/early March.

National Train Your Dog Month: January

2010-12-30T22:25:00.001-06:00

Alright here it is! The APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), of which I am a member of, is hosting the 2nd National Train Your Dog Month for January. They are offering several contests for anyone who owns a dog. If you need a reason to get off your butt and train your dog, use this one! Great contests for everyone. Check out their website: trainyourdogmonth.com to get all the details!

Do you need help achieving your goal for one of these contests? Well, looks like you may know the right person! Give me a shout.

Stay tuned with our newsletter for upcoming details and more on the great month of January!

Oops-a-daisy!

2010-12-28T14:08:00.001-06:00

I find it very interesting what child rearing books I read that relate so much to my dog training. I've been training dogs much longer than I have been raising a kid, so it all comes full circle at times. It also inspires me to write my blog posts for my lovely followers.

I think potty training is one of the issues with dogs that I find to be so incredibly simple yet so many people have unreliably trained dogs in this area. My daughter is 2 years old and I sat down and read a whole potty book yesterday to find out how to potty train a human being. Interesting, sounds just like a puppy!

As I read the short booklet I sat it down and thought to myself--the fact is that people are lazy. A dog that potties on the floor after 6 months of age without telling you he has to go out is not potty trained. He also should be completely potty trained. Please keep in mind this entire article is only referring to dogs that are healthy and have no medical reasons to have poor potty habits. If your dog has been cleared of medical reasons for not potty training there should be no reason that your dog isn't fully trained at 6 months of age. (I highly recommend a full urinalysis or urine culture done by a veterinarian if your dog is older than 6 months and is not potty trained.)

To be quite honest, the majority of dogs can be fully potty trained by 16-20 weeks of age. There are a few breeds that potty train quickly and others that take some real dedication. Great Danes and other giant breeds tend to potty train in about a week. I thought this was just ludicrous until I got my Great Dane. He was sitting by the door reliably at 10 weeks of age. He took me a week, it was crazy. I had read that on all of the Great Dane websites but really didn't believe it until it happened to me. On the other hand, some giant dogs such as the Bernese Mountain dogs and Greater Swiss Mountain dogs take a lot of time and patience to potty train. Also, some terriers take longer. Jack Russell Terriers can take quite some time and patience. But hey, if you own a Jack Russell you should be chock full of time and patience for everything, not just potty training, or forget having that breed altogether! But, still, if you are really consistent and follow all the right steps even those harder breeds should be potty trained reliably rather quickly.

The bottom line for successful potty training is dedication, time and patience. The ideal way is to get a puppy during a stay-cation (vacation but you are at home) or if you can take about one week off of work to dedicate your days to potty training your puppy. I know this isn't possible for everyone, and you can obviously still get it done properly without doing that. However, this is a great way to jump start great potty habits with a new puppy.

Just like my toddler's potty book says, you have to also do this with a puppy to ensure success--don't let them out of your sight until it's safe. Take them to the potty often to prevent accidents and be sure that each elimination is done in the appropriate location. Praise heavily, but appropriately, for each elimination in the appropriate location. Verbal praises work out great. I don't even recommend using food for this for a reward, just a sincere obvious verbal joy and praise. If you use rewards such as food, use the lowest value that your puppy will accept and still pair it with verbal praise and petting.

If you can't watch your puppy put him in his crate where he is quite unlikely to eliminate. If he's eliminating in the crate first ask yourself if you are taking him out often enough? Was he able to empty out before going into the crate? Was in there too long? Was there soft substrate (blankets, towels, bed or even a stuffed toy) that could absorb elimination so that puppy doesn't have to lie directly in it?

When your puppy is having accidents in the house the most common problem is that he wasn't supervised properly. You cannot let your puppy out of your sight. Young puppies should go out every 30-60 minutes, increasing the time by 15-20 minutes per week until he's more reliable for longer periods.

Potty training a dog is easy, it just takes you being able to put down your iPhone and pay attention. Be consistent. Don't let too much time lapse between breaks. And don't feel bad about placing the puppy in a crate if you cannot watch him constantly while he's got free-run of the room (I say room because no puppy should ever have free-run of the house!)

If you have a puppy that needs help with potty training let me know. If you have an adult dog that is having potty issues first go for a full blood panel and urine culture at your veterinarian's office, then call me and we can discuss ways to start teaching your dog the proper elimination areas.

New Year's Resolution #17: Potty train the dog--Check
www.aictdfw.com

And a partridge in a pear tree . . .

2010-12-21T16:25:00.000-06:00

Well our 12 Days of Doggie Christmas contest is over. Here are all the answers! Thank you to everyone who participated! Hope you learned some things.

(Photo to the left is of my four dogs from 2007--Amos, Jake, Trevor & Noah)

Our last winner for the 15% off coupon was Kelly Bohn with Whiskey the Heeler mix. She got all of the answers for days 7-12 correct! Way to go, Kelly!

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?
Answer: The "quick". It is the artery that runs through a dog's nail & when snipped with a nail trimmer can bleed. Bleeding is not normally profuse & can easily be stopped by dabbing a bit of corn starch or baking flour on the end of your dog's snipped nail.
Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango
Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive Toy

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?
Answer: The first thing that should be noticed is the dog's body language, not the leash. The dog is completely stressed out. Ears back, head turned away, not sitting down completely & he's at the end of the leash as much as possible (attempt to get away). The man is trying to convince the dog to listen but it's not going to work, he's too stressed. The owner needs to learn to "listen" to his dog. How? By learning more about canine body language. A good start is this article. You can also Google "calming signals" to learn more.
Winner: None.
Prize: None.

3rd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?
Answer: This is a Dogue de Bordeuax puppy, also known as a French Mastiff. This was the same breed as "Hooch" from the movie "Turner & Hooch" starring Tom Hanks in 1989.
Winner: Ashley Prince & Josey
Prize: $5 off any training service

4th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . .a dog that climbed a tree. What rare breed of dog climbs trees?
Answer: The New Guinea Singing Dog climbs trees and has to be kept in a yard that is completely enclosed. It was thought that there were only 150 in captivity until about a month ago 85 were discovered in a hoarder's home in Pennsylvania. Read the story here.
Winner: None.
Prize: None.

5th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that had heartworms--oh no! How does a dog get heartworms?
Answer: Heartworms are most commonly transmitted via mosquitoes. So we know that here in Texas they can be very common. You should give your dog a monthly heartworm preventative such as Heartgard or Interceptor.
Winner: Lisa Young & her crew
Prize: $10 off a group class

6th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that didn't bark. What breed of dog doesn't bark?
Answer: The Basenji. They make a yodeling sound but do not actually bark.
Winner: None.
Prize: None.

On the 7th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a bottle of empty Tylenol. Uh oh, did he have a headache? Answer the following: If your dog is in pain you can give him/her aspirin if dosed correctly according to weight. True or false? Please explain your answer.
Answer: Tylenol and other pain relievers for humans are not good for dogs. In fact they can cause much damage. They often cause bleeding in the stomach and your dog can actually die from it. One study showed that 100% of dogs given ibuprofen developed ulcers in the stomach. I just received an email from a client the other day where they were unaware of this and gave their dog some pain reliever from their cabinet. Fortunately the dog is ok but it was a blood transfusion and very stressful and expensive emergency room vet bill later before he was released. If you suspect your dog is in pain you need to call your veterinarian for an appointment.

On the 8th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . his friend who isn't very nice. He doesn't like other dogs too well. If a dog is aggressive to other dogs will he likely be aggressive to humans as well? Please explain your answer.
Answer: While dogs can be both human and dog aggressive if your dog is one and not the other it doesn't mean that your dog will one day become aggressive to the other. It can happen but they do not go hand in hand and if it does happen there is another reason for it. Dogs are aggressive for a number of reasons. Sadly the most common reason I find dogs are aggressive is poor handling, training and genetics.

On the 9th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a tapeworm--ewww! How do dogs most commonly get tapeworms?
Answer: Fleas most commonly are the reason for dogs having tapeworm. In Texas it is best to use a monthly flea preventative all year.

On the 10th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . some serum. What famous dog in the 1920s brought serum to a town to help a diptheria outbreak? What was his name & breed?
Answer: Balto was a Siberian Husky who led a sled dog team from Anchorage to Nome Alaska in 1925 to deliver serum to children with diptheria. Full story here.

On the 11th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a Great Dane with gastric torsion. What is that more commonly known as & what is it?
Answer: The technical name for bloat is "Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus" ("GDV"). Bloating of the stomach is often related to swallowed air (although food and fluid can also be present). It usually happens when there's an abnormal accumulation of air, fluid, and/or foam in the stomach ("gastric dilatation"). Stress can be a significant contributing factor also. Bloat can occur with or without "volvulus" (twisting). As the stomach swells, it may rotate 90° to 360°, twisting between its fixed attachments at the esophagus (food tube) and at the duodenum (the upper intestine). The twisting stomach traps air, food, and water in the stomach. The bloated stomach obstructs veins in the abdomen, leading to low blood pressure, shock, and damage to internal organs. The combined effect can quickly kill a dog. For more info on bloat read here.

On the 12th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a little dog that was bred to chase badgers out of holes, what breed of dog is it?
Answer: Dachshunds were bred for this. This is why they are so long & short!

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas to you all! I'll post another post about dogs during the holidays so stay tuned for that . . .

On the ___ day of Christmas . . .

2010-12-15T19:19:00.002-06:00

Well, I must apologize! I just fell flat off the Earth last week & never did finish up the 12 Days of Doggie Christmas Holiday contest that I had started! So, we are going to finish this up now. It will now be to your advantage as I'm going to bunch up all the other 5 days (7-12) into this one post & you can win the great prize of 15% off any dog training service through Adventures in Canine Training if used by February 1, 2010.

You must answer every single answer correct to win and you cannot win if you have already submitted a correct answer to any of the others last week. Good luck! Remember to comment on the post with your answers or send your answers via email to me: stacy@aictdfw.com by Monday, December 20th at 5:00 pm.

On the 7th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a bottle of empty Tylenol. Uh oh, did he have a headache? Answer the following: If your dog is in pain you can give him/her aspirin if dosed correctly according to weight. True or false? Please explain your answer.

On the 9th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a tapeworm--ewww! How do dogs most commonly get tapeworms?

On the 10th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . some serum. What famous dog in the 1920s brought serum to a town to help a diptheria outbreak? What was his name & breed?

On the 11th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a Great Dane with gastric torsion. What is that more commonly known as & what is it?

On the 12th day of Christmas my doggie brought to me . . . a little dog that was bred to chase badgers out of holes, what breed of dog is it?

----- previous days -----

6th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that didn't bark. What breed of dog doesn't bark?
Answer: The Basenji. They make a yodeling sound but do not actually bark.
Winner: None.
Prize: None.

5th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that had heartworms--oh no! How does a dog get heartworms?
Answer: Heartworms are most commonly transmitted via mosquitoes. So we know that here in Texas they can be very common. You should give your dog a monthly heartworm preventative such as Heartgard or Interceptor.
Winner: Lisa Young & her crew
Prize: $10 off a group class

4th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . .a dog that climbed a tree. What rare breed of dog climbs trees?

Answer: The New Guinea Singing Dog climbs trees and has to be kept in a yard that is completely enclosed. It was thought that there were only 150 in captivity until about a month ago 85 were discovered in a hoarder's home in Pennsylvania. Read the story here.

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

3rd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?

Answer: This is a Dogue de Bordeuax puppy, also known as a French Mastiff. This was the same breed as "Hooch" from the movie "Turner & Hooch" starring Tom Hanks in 1989.

Winner: Ashley Prince & Josey

Prize: $5 off any training service

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

Answer: The first thing that should be noticed is the dog's body language, not the leash. The dog is completely stressed out. Ears back, head turned away, not sitting down completely & he's at the end of the leash as much as possible (attempt to get away). The man is trying to convince the dog to listen but it's not going to work, he's too stressed. The owner needs to learn to "listen" to his dog. How? By learning more about canine body language. A good start is this article. You can also Google "calming signals" to learn more.

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

Answer: The "quick". It is the artery that runs through a dog's nail & when snipped with a nail trimmer can bleed. Bleeding is not normally profuse & can easily be stopped by dabbing a bit of corn starch or baking flour on the end of your dog's snipped nail.

Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango

Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive toy

On the 6th Day of Christmas . . .

2010-12-07T00:00:00.005-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that didn't bark. What breed of dog doesn't bark?

Remember this is our 12 Days of Christmas Contest. Random doggie questions, random doggie prizes. First person to answer correctly will win the prize. Prizes will vary from toys to training coupons! To answer our 12 Days of Christmas Contest Questions please click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com

Previous days with the questions, answers & winners are posted on the following day's new post.

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5th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that had heartworms--oh no! How does a dog get heartworms?
Answer: Heartworms are most commonly transmitted via mosquitoes. So we know that here in Texas they can be very common. You should give your dog a monthly heartworm preventative such as Heartgard or Interceptor.
Winner: Lisa Young & her crew
Prize: $10 off a group class

4th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . .a dog that climbed a tree. What rare breed of dog climbs trees?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

3rd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?

Answer: This is a Dogue de Bordeuax puppy, also known as a French Mastiff. This was the same breed as "Hooch" from the movie "Turner & Hooch" starring Tom Hanks in 1989.

Winner: Ashley Prince & Josey

Prize: $5 off any training service

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango

Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive toy

On the 5th Day of Christmas . . .

2010-12-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . . a dog that had heartworms--oh no! How does a dog get heartworms?

Remember this is our 12 Days of Christmas Contest. Random doggie questions, random doggie prizes. First person to answer correctly will win the prize. Prizes will vary from toys to training coupons! To answer our 12 Days of Christmas Contest Questions please click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com
Previous days with the questions, answers & winners are posted on the following day's new post.

---------

4th Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . .a dog that climbed a tree. What rare breed of dog climbs trees?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

3rd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?

Answer: This is a Dogue de Bordeuax puppy, also known as a French Mastiff. This was the same breed as "Hooch" from the movie "Turner & Hooch" starring Tom Hanks in 1989.

Winner: Ashley Prince & Josey

Prize: $5 off any training service

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango

Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive toy

Jake: the best dog in the world. . . .

2010-12-05T15:32:00.000-06:00

Many of you follow my blog often & probably recall all the problems we've had with Jake, my yellow Lab this past year. He's been through quite a lot with medical procedures and unknown problems that have caused everyone much stress in my household.

From January to March he endured 3 surgeries and the end result was an intestinal tract that is less than normal. He has had to eat soft, wet or canned food only as his intestines just won't take anything else. A bit over 6 weeks ago he began to lose weight pretty dramatically and as of today has lost a total of 12 pounds. He eats the same, probably more, he has no diarrhea or vomiting and seemingly acts "normal". However he's far from it. If anyone were to see him they would fear I was an abusive and neglectful doggie mama. Every bone in his body shows. He's lost muscle and he looks horrible.

We've been to our regular vet for tests which came up inconclusive as his blood work seems very normal. He was somewhat diagnosed with a malabsorption issue where he very obviously isn't absorbing any nutrients no matter what we feed him or add to his diet. He's wasting away.

This past Friday we went to see a diagnostic specialist to get an ultrasound on his abdomen to see if we could get some better answers. We didn't. Sadly, Jake is not going to be with us much longer. We are enjoying his last few days, maybe weeks if we are lucky. There is nothing we can do for him. He has developed scar tissue in his intestines again and there is nothing we can do for him. No one can explain why he's lost so much weight and continues to do so. We've had a great bunch of vets trying to help us but we are just having to face the facts that there is nothing anyone can do.

This has been a horrible weekend for me. I don't know how much longer I'll have him and I cannot bear to think of that horrible day that is soon to come for us. I know I'll have to make that decision no one ever wants to make with their ever so loved companions.

Anyone who has met Jake can tell you he is one remarkable boy. He just turned 8 this past August. He's the sweetest thing on the planet. He lets my 2 year old daughter pet his ears and back while he lays sweetly by my feet. I've never heard him utter a growl at anyone or anything. I rescued him from some past clients of mine that couldn't handle his annoying Lab antics at the young age of one year. I took him in with the hopes of re-homing him because I didn't want to train this unruly dog at the time. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and as time went on I trained him. He turned out to be the best dog in the world. He'd never put a paw on anyone, he's never tried to jump on any furniture and he was used in many of my doggie cases for training. He helped me with many of my aggression cases because he was so mild mannered and other dogs never phased him. He's a true gem. A diamond in the ruff and I'll miss him more than I care to think about.

Keep your doggies safe and give them all the love they deserve. You never know when you won't be able to rub their ears any more . . .

On the 4th Day of Christmas . . .

2010-12-05T15:06:00.002-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . .a dog that climbed a tree. What rare breed of dog climbs trees?

Remember this is our 12 Days of Christmas Contest. Random doggie questions, random doggie prizes. First person to answer correctly will win the prize. Prizes will vary from toys to training coupons! To answer our 12 Days of Christmas Contest Questions please click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com
Previous days with the questions, answers & winners are posted on the following day's new post.

---------

3rd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?

Answer: This is a Dogue de Bordeuax puppy, also known as a French Mastiff. This was the same breed as "Hooch" from the movie "Turner & Hooch" starring Tom Hanks in 1989.

Winner: Ashley Prince & Josey

Prize: $5 off any training service

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango

Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive toy

On the 3rd Day of Christmas . . . .

2010-12-04T07:48:00.000-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . . a sweet little puppy that drooled all over me. What kind of puppy is this? What movie did this breed have a main role in?

Remember this is our 12 Days of Christmas Contest. Random doggie questions, random doggie prizes. First person to answer correctly will win the prize. Prizes will vary from toys to training coupons! To answer our 12 Days of Christmas Contest Questions please click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com
Previous days with the questions, answers & winners are posted on the following day's new post.

---------

2nd Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

Winner: None.

Prize: None.

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango

Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude Interactive toy

On the 2nd Day of Christmas . . . .

2010-12-03T11:03:00.003-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . . a picture of his friend on a leash. What does this photo tell us about his friend? What would be best to do in this situation?

1st Day of Christmas: . . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?
Answer: The "quick". It is the artery that runs through a dog's nail & when snipped with a nail trimmer can bleed. Bleeding is not normally profuse & can easily be stopped by dabbing a bit of corn starch or baking flour on the end of your dog's snipped nail.
Winner: Kim Bonfadini & Tango
Prize: Premier Squirrel Dude

To answer our 12 Days of Christmas Contest Questions please click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com

On the 1st Day of Christmas . . . .

2010-12-01T23:25:00.003-06:00

. . . my doggie brought to me . . . a puppy who was whining because his nail was cut too short and bled a bit. What was snipped accidentally that caused this to happen?

To answer click comments below and leave your answer with your name & email. If you are receiving this thru your inbox you will have to click the title of the post to go to the blog online to leave a comment. If you have problems please email your answer to me: stacy@aictdfw.com

And a partridge in a pear tree . . .

2010-12-01T16:01:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd be delightful this holiday and celebrate dogs and their owners for the 12 days of Christmas. Each day I'll post something that whomever gets the first correct answer gets a special gift . . .

The gifts will be random. Maybe a gift for you or your dog--great dog toy, a bag of treats, a box of candy canes, a coupon for training, or even a free group class . . . whichever it is will be mailed to you via email (when applicable) or snail mail. All will be fun and you never know if you'll be the lucky one to get the great gift of discounted or free dog training!

So, check our blog everyday until the 12th of December, which will be our last day. I'm starting this today, December 1st instead of the normal historic Christmas Day . . . . we want this to be a fun month!

Also don't forget to sign up for our newsletter if you aren't subscribed already! Our December issue is going to be full of great goodies . . . and it will feature my famous "Favorite Things". Sorry I'm not Oprah, so there won't be any giveaways for that just a great list! You can subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/bSZT

I am second.

2010-11-18T11:18:00.000-06:00

No, really, we are 2nd . . . on WFAA's A-List! Please vote for us daily to get us back to #1! It seems to work best if you click the link: http://ctvr.us/adventuresin then hit the big yellow vote button, then log in either via facebook or your email account info. You can then log out, type the name of the business and repeat. Thanks loyal fans!

Think outside the box . . .

2010-11-10T15:53:00.003-06:00

Dog training is just about one of the most frustrating industries to be in due to the fact that one trainer could be polar opposite of another. At least in most lines of work there are more facts that you can't refute so one may be slightly different but comes back to one basic fact. Dog training is filled with a lot of bad advice, good advice and "who told you that?" advice. Because dogs are animals and we can't actually talk to them and find out what they are thinking, it makes it very difficult to know what is actually right and what is actually wrong.

Many trainers use the "well it works for me" approach and others are completely science-based. But what is science-based dog training? That's also a revolving door of this and that. It has been scientifically proven that the old "Alpha dogs rule" theory is wrong and using this thinking for raising and training a dog can often be disastrous. But it was so drilled in folks heads in the 60s and 70s that it's hard to think that now the scientists say, "Oops, we were wrong, forget what we said . . ."

Many trainers still use the techniques used many moons ago on dogs and see results, so they keep doing it. Sure, this type of training yields what looks like instant results, but the truth is that it doesn't fix anything long term and more often that not it causes either more behavior problems than you started with or escalates the issue you started with.

I've found that over the years dog training isn't always, teach the dog this, make him stop doing that. Often it's much more thinking than that and you have to use your noggin to think outside the box. There is no black and white for dog training if you want a dog that is really good, really willing and really ready to be your friend.

I must admit that I was prompted to write this particular post after lying in bed at night thinking about a particular client I have been working with. This particular dog has shown some aggression toward his owners as well as others. After going in and meeting with the owners, the dog and getting a history I realized that this dog is only aggressive because of the way it has been handled, raised and supposedly "trained". It's all wrong, so wrong that now the dog is becoming quite nasty. This dog is the true example for why you can't use physical punishment or "alpha rolls" on dogs. They don't work and often you create a real problem. Did I mention this dog isn't even a year old yet?

I also had an epiphany when I asked my Jack Russell, Trevor to sit and stay as I opened the back door to let my Great Dane outside. I didn't want Trevor to go out so I wanted him to stay back. Trevor gladly sits and stays but he scoots and trembles, and he's almost nervous about it if asked to do it in certain areas. He is great at it when I put him in a visual tool. If I tell him to stay in his doggie bed, he'll stay like a champ. He's funny like that. Out in the middle of the floor--not so good, sitting in his dog bed--great! I had to think outside the box. What would have been most people's first reaction to their dog not staying?-- Most would correct him for not staying in the middle of the floor. My reaction--just put him in a dog bed where I know he'll do a great sit-stay. All I say is, "Trevor can you get in your bed?" He goes to his bed, sits and stays there until I say, "okay!" Problem solved, dog receives praise and avoids any "punishment". Perfect-o! (I just took this photo literally for this paragraph--isn't he cute?!)

I also remember when I took my BC/Aussie, Noah, to a farm with goats to test his herding abilities. He loved it! He was put in a round pen with 4 goats. He was afraid of them at first and then suddenly they shifted and he immediately started to herd them. While he wasn't graceful about it or great at it, he was herding them and having the best time of his life. He barked and barked and barked at those goats. The lady that owns the farm was out there with him and she turns to me and says, "He's too vocal," then turns to Noah and says, "Shut up!" It drove her mad that he wouldn't stop barking at those goats. I just laughed. I thought she was an idiot.

Noah barks all the time in play. He's not a vocal dog otherwise. But play and fun he barks. He has the best time when he's doing it too. I never try to stop him. I don't care if he barks when playing or expelling energy. Have you ever been to an agility trial? Many dogs bark as they go from one obstacle to another--they are having the time of their lives out there! Why try to shut them up? Who cares. When we got in the car to head home from Noah's exhausting, yet fun, goat herding my husband says, "I guess we need to teach Noah to be a little quieter?" I said, "Nope. She needs to learn how to let a dog be a dog in the right situations!" That may have quite possibly been the best day of his doggie life so far, but would he have felt that way if I had corrected him the whole time and told him to keep quiet? I doubt it. . . . . Noah slept for 2 full days after that night.

Let the adventure begin!

2010-11-09T20:21:00.002-06:00

If you follow me on Facebook you've seen my "advertisement" for our new program--The Outdoor Adventures Program, which has been inspired by Kimberly Burgan Dog Training's program by the same name in Austin. I want to elaborate on the program as we've had some questions from several doggie parents.

First, yes you are correct, we do encourage dog owners to be part of their dog's training program. So we have had the question--well then why are you offering this program where you come to the home and train the dog while the owner is out, gone to work, busy, etc.? The answer is this: dogs need training and mental stimulation on a daily basis. If the owner isn't home to give it then we will be there to do that. After years of dog training we find that many dog owners just don't know where to start or what to do. We also see people working longer hours and utilizing doggie daycares more often--something we really don't recommend. This program is designed to keep your dog on the right track and get their physical and mental demands met in the best way possible--through training, games, fun and physical activities!

We also want to be very clear that this isn't a fix-it-all program (no program is). We don't just come in, fix the issues and you're good to go. You will be part of your dog's training, we'll just be there to give your dog the boost and you will keep up what we do when we aren't there!

Other questions we've been asked--is this really for my dog? The truth is that this program would benefit any dog or puppy. If you can give your dog the gift of a training professional to come in, take them out, work their little legs and brain, then don't hesitate for any reason!

If you have a puppy (under 6 months) then socialization and spot-on, good training is critical! This program can help with 1) helping your pup's potty training stay on track, 2) teaching good habits and basic commands and 3) taking your puppy to socialize him properly to places, people and other things.

If you already have a dog walker this program will be more beneficial because we will make your dog use his noggin too, not just his legs! -- This program is truly beneficial for any and all dogs! We personalize the program to meet each dog and his owner's needs.

Have other questions or feel like starting this program? Fill out our online questionnaire and we'll be in touch!

15 Minutes.

2010-10-26T10:18:00.000-05:00

My brain is currently on over-load from the long week I just came away from. I attended a 5-day dog training conference from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) that consisted of all-day seminars from wonderful dog trainers from all over the world. We heard Victoria Stilwell of "It's Me or the Dog", John Rogerson from the UK, Ian Dunbar (the inventor of puppy classes and found of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers) and we even heard Temple Grandin speak about canines and emotions. So I have a lot of blog posts coming, I just have to sort through the material!

Until then I wanted to get this out there . . . Did you know that in under 15 minutes a day you can train your dog, or any dog? Yeah, more time would be better, but if 15 is all you've got per day then use it! You don't need hours and hours to get a dog to know the who and what of things.

I also like to show people how to make everyday situations a training session. For example, if my dog is in the other room I'll call him excitedly from across the house--"Noah! Come!" He'll come bounding in to me and sit. I happily pet him and say, "Gooood boy!!", then trot myself to the dog food bin and give him about 15 pieces of kibble, one by one. That was a training session for a recall (come when called). 30 seconds. I'm done. I can do it again later too, and again and again. After a while all these little sessions add up and my dog realizes that coming when called is the best thing ever. While this isn't going to proof my dog for real-life situations, it is still a way for me to train throughout the day to solidify basics.

It's best to break up your sessions and implement them in daily life so the dog doesn't respond only "during a session" but at all times. If you only train your dog when you train your dog then you aren't doing something right in between. What I mean by this is: you should take advantage of making everything you do part of your dog's training. This means you practice leadership rules all the time--don't leave toys laying around the house, don't leave food out for free access, don't let them receive attention, food or play by initiating it first, don't talk to a dog that is doing attention seeking behaviors . . . there is a long list of things you can do all day every day that will ensure that your dog not only respects you but listens to you--willingly and happily.

Training is, and should always be, fun. Intimidation and "alpha" rules are ancient history and have been proven wrong and untrue in wolf and dog packs. This means that if you think you are doing "alpha" behaviors to teach your dog who is boss then you are probably going to end up screwing something up. You have to lead with direction and an earn-to-learn philosophy.

Canine Costumes!

2010-10-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

So if you aren't on my Adventures Facebook page you need to be! I can't tell you how much stuff I post on there! Ask anyone who frequents the site! Anyway . . . we are having a great Halloween costume contest via Facebook. Here are all the details . . .

Get creative with your pooches! We want to see your dogs in their best Halloween costume ever. Please post a picture of your pooch in his/her best costume ever! Details are as follows:

ENTRY DETAILS

Entries will be accepted via email (stacy@aictdfw.com) or posted on our Facebook page wall. If you only send via email we will post it on our Facebook wall. If you do not want your dog's picture on Facebook please do not enter! Be sure to include a description such as the following example: "Scooter is a 2 year old Dachshund dressed as a mummy for Halloween this year. I made this costume myself. Owner Jane Smith, janesmith@mail.com."
You may enter no more than 3 pictures of the same dog in the same costume. You may only enter up to 2 costumers per dog.
All entries must be sent or posted no later than Friday, October 29th at midnight CST.
All pictures will be posted on Facebook.

PRIZES
Judging will take place from Monday, October 25th-Sunday, October 31st. All winners will be notified via email and announced on Facebook no later than Monday, November 1, 2010.

1ST PLACE: There will be one 1st place winner, who will receive a $20 coupon towards any training service provided by Adventures in Canine Training, Inc. Aggression cases may not use coupons.
2ND PLACE: There will be one 2nd place winner, who will receive a $10 dollar coupon towards any training service provided by Adventures in Canine Training, Inc. Aggression cases may not use coupons.
3RD PLACE: There will be one 3rd place winner, who will receive a $5 dollar coupon towards any training service provided by Adventures in Canine Training, Inc. Aggression cases may not use coupons.

All winners will be notified via email and announced on Facebook no later than Monday, November 1, 2010. Do not forget to include your email address with your photo. Happy tails to you!

We need your vote!

2010-10-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

We are competing in the WFAA's A-List of BEST local businesses. We are in the dog training category and need your votes to keep us on top! Voting lasts until December so we could fluctuate but hope to stay on top . . . We are currently ranked #2! Go vote here.

Sunday Chronicles.

2010-09-19T11:10:00.009-05:00

It's Sunday morning. Hubby and I already took a trip to Starbucks, played a game of "Words with Friends" on our iphones and took 2 dogs to the park for some play . . . which has lead me to my post for the day . . . which is a long one, but I do hope you take the time read it all.

I find daily things I could post about in order to educate dog owners about responsible dog ownership and training, but I don't know that it would 1) get read and 2) be as important to others as it is to me, and 3) I don't have time to post daily! However, I'll ramble about a few important things in this post, my "Sunday Chronicles".

After returning home from Starbucks I looked at my poor dogs, namely my BC/Aussie mix and Jack Russell, as they are my most active dogs. My poor canine buddies have been on the back burner quite a bit since the birth of my daughter, Sophie, in 2008. I looked at Noah, the BC mix, he wore his big happy smile he always has and I said, "You guys want to go to the park?" Trevor, the Jack, knows that word he got the Jack happiness and began to bounce like a jumping bean. If you have a Jack you know the jumping-bean-bounce I'm referring to.

I keep a JanSport backpack full of doggie items for special occasions only; it hangs on a hook in my laundry room. The toys that reside in there are extremely high-value rewards because they only come out every now and again. When they do come out, they are used for training rewards which makes them extremely fun and exciting. My "doggie bag", as I call it, has the following: a Chuckit! ball launcher that holds an orange rubber Chuckit! Ultra ball, a Kong Wubba, a cheap small, green, rubber squeaky ball and K9 Superfuel powder (aka Doggie Gatorade) that I add to water. On the days that I use the bag I toss in a ziploc baggie of Natural Balance treat roll, cut up into tiny pieces, and my camera (of course!).

Hubby and I loaded Trevor and Noah up in my Honda Element and headed to the R iver Legacy Park, which is about a 10-minute walk from my house, 1-minute drive! This is an amazing park--huge, huge, loads of grassy area for doggie play, pavilions, picnic areas, hiking trails, biking trails . . . It's remarkable. Great for dog training and proofing.

I noticed on the way to the park, the LOST DOG signs that still hung on the posts on each street corner in my neighborhood. They have been there for about 2 weeks now. They have a picture of a cute German Shepherd puppy, looks to be about 5-6 months old. I remember seeing a dog owner walking a young GSD puppy a while back. I wonder if it's the same puppy. My husband remarks, "Guess that puppy is still missing . . . " This confirms how important it is to do several things as a dog owner. . . .

Many dogs that go missing primarily stay in a backyard when someone is away--while they are at work all day or even if they leave to go eat dinner. This is where the dog lives, except maybe at night or even for a bit in the evenings when someone is home. This is a common scenario, albeit a sad one. This is also the reason why the dog is gone--they are under-stimulated, bored, lonely, and/or possibly unaltered (not spayed or neutered) which dramatically increases the risk of escape.

Dogs are designed to be a human's companion. Dogs, except in some uncommon cases, prefer a human to a dog even if they do enjoy the company of a dog. So if a dog has a buddy in their yard most likely they will just devise a plan together for escape. Now you have two bored, under-stimulated and sad dogs.

There are several things you can do to prevent your dog from becoming lost, or to help him be found. 1) Crate your dogs inside your home when you are away. 2) Microchip your dogs . . . and register the chip! Many dogs are microchipped (we love 24PetWatch) with an unregistered chip, causing the chip to be pointless--so register the chip! 3) Train your dog to have a perfectly proofed recall, i.e., teach your dog to come to you no matter what!

I think that even a lost dog with a solid, proofed recall would be found soon even if some of the other factors were not in play (if the dog was not already miles away, of course.) There is a woman who has started a group on Facebook (Find Kingston) for her lost dog. This poor woman is very obviously a responsible dog owner. However, every time I read her story all I can think is--if only that dog had an incredible recall I bet she'd already have him home. Her dog became afraid when she picked him up from a doggie daycare, slipped out of his collar and took off running. That was in May. She's still looking for him. I give her Kudos as she's hired Doggone Detectives--which utilize Search & Rescue dogs to find missing pets, made her Facebook group, posted signs; she's working hard to find her buddy. The dog has even been spotted several times, but he's still not home. So, I cant' help but go back to thinking if that dog had an incredible recall he would have come back to his owner within a few hours of her searching.

Trevor, my toot of a Jack Russell, is a mere 13-lbs and so he has escaped under our fence, and this was when he was outside for 10 minutes on a potty break! My dogs are never in my yard, unsupervised, for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Never. So, I discover Trevor is missing, usually because Jake, my Lab, gives off this distinguished bark as soon as Trevor is under the fence. It drives Jake insane and he goes nuts. A few times,within minutes, he's already several streets away. Twice I can remember having to get in my car and drive around. Of course I panic--which way do I go first? Do I take this neighborhood or this one? I drive about 2 mph and yell out of my window, "Trevor! Come! Trevor! Come!" Every time, once I get close enough for him to hear me, I see a little white fuzzy dog, panting heavily, bolting toward my car. He would come straight to the car and jump in as soon as I opened the door. I would give him a ball as a reward. Yes. Reward. Reward him for coming. His actual escape was long ago, the last thing he did was come to me, so a huge reward it is! I was always so relieved that I'd hug and kiss on him then give him his favorite ball, that I grabbed before I left the house. The times I've caught him seconds after slipping thru the hole in the fence, I called him and his little head would poke back thru the fence--Yes? You rang? I called him back thru the hole and rewarded him for coming back into the yard. Little twerp. I love that twerp. . . . We finally got a new fence a while back and haven't had any issues since then. We had a heck of a ratty fence with many opportunities for escape for a little dog!

Here is a little video of our park adventure today, along with some tips on recalls. It was a short one. I had to allow my dogs to not get overheated, don't forget to read my post on that from a week ago: Heat & Dogs.

Fall into Fall with a Doggie Class!

2010-09-15T13:53:00.002-05:00

Get back into the swing of things with one of our classes now that the hot weather is starting to subside. Classes are the next step in dog training if you've already done some private lessons, or if you want to do something new and different with your dog. You can find all of our classes online here: http://www.aictdfw.com/class-schedule.html

What are your classes all about? Here is a description of each of our classes. If you need help deciding which is best for you, let us know, we can help you decide!

About Town Class In this class we show you how to have your dog out-n-about on the town acting like a polite, well-mannered pooch! We will conduct class 1 with low distractions in a park & then move to busy places such as West Village in Dallas or Sundance Square in Fort Worth (depending upon enrollments). You will be training your dog while in a busy setting with people approaching & possibly other dogs. Learn how to get your dog ready for the public in this new, innovative class!
More details . . .

FUNgility Class In this class we are doing our fun style of the popular dog sport of Agility! This is a super fun class & benefits all dogs. In the class you will learn how to lead your dog through obstacles while building a bond & teaching your dog reliable off-leash skills! Don’t miss this class, it’s a must for all dog owners!
More details . . .

Beyond Basics Class In this class we show you how to keep going with your dog's training; basic commands, distraction work (listening & obeying around other dogs/people), strengthen your dog's skills in a setting closer to real life—polite leash manners, walking with you, sit, lie down, stay, come & perform in close proximity of other dogs/distractions. Learn to get a well-mannered dog in public in this class!
More details . . .

Loose Leash Skills Workshop Unlike group classes, workshops are only a one, or two-time meeting. In this workshop we will work on foundation leash skills & show you how to get a dog that walks on a loose-leash for life! This class is great for all puppy & dog owners & will help build a foundation for all other behaviors to fall into place when out, about & on leash. We recommend every dog owner join this workshop!
More details . . .

Heat & Dogs.

2010-09-11T21:39:00.003-05:00

I write this post due to an incident that happened today, Saturday, September 11th. There was a large outdoor dog event, Dog Day Afternoon, in Dallas. Loads of people and their dogs flocked to the event and for one family, in the car on the way to the event, what happened once they got there was not in their plans.

The family had two English Bulldogs, excited to be going somewhere. Although Brachycephalic (short-nosed) dogs are much more at risk, all dogs are at a high risk of heat exhaustion and/or stroke if the factors are right. Obviously the family had the A/C on in the car but the dogs must have been so excited, paired with the day's humidity and heat, and once they arrived the male Bulldog was breathing very oddly and then stopped. A wonderful friend, Beth Bowers, who is highly educated in Canine CPR and First Aid (she teaches classes on a regular basis) was luckily at the event. She was rushed to the car to attempt CPR on the dog. It was too late. They did rush him to a near-by vet clinic but his body temperature rose to a deadly 110 degrees. The male Bulldog didn't make it. The younger female is still being monitored, as she suffered heat exhaustion but they feel they may have saved her in time.

Beth will be conducting a special seminar for canine owners to learn Pet First Aid and CPR. I highly encourage you to attend this. If you would like to know when she'll hold this please email her to get on her email list.

We must watch our dogs and never let them stay outdoors or get too excited. It only takes the correct equation to make a disaster, as this story sadly demonstrates. The dogs were simply over-excited, a little hot and those factors caused their body temperature to rise too quickly.

From PetEducation.com:

Heatstroke occurs when normal body mechanisms cannot keep the body's temperature in a safe range. Animals do not have efficient cooling systems (like humans who sweat) and get overheated easily. A dog with moderate heatstroke (body temperature from 104º to 106ºF) can recover within an hour if given prompt first aid and veterinary care (normal body temperature is 100-102.5°F). Severe heatstroke (body temperature over 106ºF) can be deadly and immediate veterinary assistance is needed.

Signs
A dog suffering from heatstroke will display several signs:

Rapid panting
Bright red tongue
Red or pale gums
Thick, sticky saliva
Depression
Weakness
Dizziness
Vomiting - sometimes with blood
Diarrhea
Shock
Coma

What you should do
Remove the dog from the hot area immediately. Prior to taking him to your veterinarian, lower his temperature by wetting him thoroughly with cool water (for very small dogs, use lukewarm water), then increase air movement around him with a fan. CAUTION: Using very cold water can actually be counterproductive. Cooling too quickly and especially allowing his body temperature to become too low can cause other life-threatening medical conditions. The rectal temperature should be checked every 5 minutes. Once the body temperature is 103ºF, the cooling measures should be stopped and the dog should be dried thoroughly and covered so he does not continue to lose heat. Even if the dog appears to be recovering, take him to your veterinarian as soon as possible. He should still be examined since he may be dehydrated or have other complications.

Allow free access to water or a children's rehydrating solution if the dog can drink on his own. Do not try to force-feed cold water; the dog may inhale it or choke.

What your veterinarian will do
Your veterinarian will lower your dog's body temperature to a safe range (if you have not already) and continually monitor his temperature. Your dog will be given fluids, and possibly oxygen. He will be monitored for shock, respiratory distress, kidney failure, heart abnormalities, and other complications, and treated accordingly. Blood samples may be taken before and during the treatment. The clotting time of the blood will be monitored, since clotting problems are a common complication.

Aftercare
Dogs with moderate heatstroke often recover without complicating health problems. Severe heatstroke can cause organ damage that might need ongoing care such as a special diet prescribed by your veterinarian. Dogs who suffer from heatstroke once increase their risk for getting it again and steps must be taken to prevent it on hot, humid days.

Prevention
Any pet that cannot cool himself off is at risk for heatstroke. Following these guidelines can help prevent serious problems.

Keep pets with predisposing conditions like heart disease, obesity, older age, or breathing problems cool and in the shade. Even normal activity for these pets can be harmful.
Provide access to water at all times.
Do not leave your pet in a hot parked car even if you're in the shade or will only be gone a short time. The temperature inside a parked car can quickly reach up to140 degrees.
Make sure outside dogs have access to shade.
On a hot day, restrict exercise and don't take your dog jogging with you. Too much exercise when the weather is very hot can be dangerous.
Do not muzzle your dog.
Avoid places like the beach and especially concrete or asphalt areas where heat is reflected and there is no access to shade.
Wetting down your dog with cool water or allowing him to swim can help maintain a normal body temperature.
Move your dog to a cool area of the house. Air conditioning is one of the best ways to keep a dog cool, but is not always dependable. To provide a cooler environment, freeze water in soda bottles, or place ice and a small amount of water in several resealable food storage bags, then wrap them in a towel or tube sock. Place them on the floor for the dog to lay on.

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2010-08-31T22:03:00.001-05:00

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About Town: Finally, a class for real-life!

2010-08-24T18:28:00.005-05:00

You've probably been to a dog training class or two . . . or three, but did any of them actually put you in a real-life scenario where you get to see how your dog does when greeted by strangers, other dogs, as well as other outside forces--cars, trucks, screaming kids, skateboards, bikes, etc.?

We are starting a brand new class so that we can focus on these exact things. Most dog owners are easily given tips and tricks and homework to help them when this type of thing comes up but we thought--what if we just did the class in that specific situation? Why not train while we are in the middle of it all?

So we invented the "About Town" group class! This class will be geared toward the dog that has some basic skills but needs polishing for real-life situations.We will cover skills such as greeting manners when approached by a stranger, how to properly handle another dog coming toward them or getting in their face, how to help others (strangers) help you to keep your dog’s training in check while still being able to say hi politely and dealing with outdoor distractions in a crowded place.

Our first class will take place in the West Village in Dallas on the busy streets outside all the restaurants, shops, parking garages, streets and movie theater. To join in all the fun visit our class schedule online. If you can't make it this time around there will be other classes!

Why I do what I do . . .

2010-08-18T15:16:00.011-05:00

I have been training dogs for 11 years now. I've run my own dog training business for 7 of those years. I find myself well-versed in dogs--mentally, physically, emotionally and even medically (I'm not saying take medical advice from me but I am educated in symptoms and signs of medical problems then I will recommend clients to see a vet.)

Most people are very receptive to what some call "treat training" but there is a whole other side to what I do. Yes, there are some trainers who will not allow you to do a single thing from the negative reinforcement quadrant of operant conditioning and rely heavily on negative punishment and positive reinforcement only. However, the truth is that a balanced, real-life trainer (like myself, I must say) will use, at some point, most of the four quadrants of operant conditioning. . . .

Let's dive in. Yes, I use tons of positive reinforcement. It works, and it works well. I also use most of the other quadrants with the more rare use of Positive Punishment (P+)--adding an [aversive] stimulus which will reduce the frequency of behavior. Spanking, shouting, or cutting off air supply through a choke chain can be examples of positive punishment. Obviously it can get ugly. I don't obviously do most of those, some never. Anyone who says they haven't yelled at their dog at some point is lying. While it's not a way to train and I don't use it, I'll admit that I have yelled at my dogs! When you just got a baby down for a nap and then four dogs start barking at the UPS man at the door your first reaction is to yell "Quiet!" in quite a frantic way. Do I do it all the time? No, but I've done it. Do I recommend it to get your dog's attention? No. I shouldn't even do it to "quiet" barking dogs. I'm simply stating that I've done it. As far as training goes I pretty much don't use P+.

Let's get to why I do like how I train and why P+ doesn't work well. If you train properly it (training, that is, not P+) works. There is no need for harsh punishment, none whatsoever. You also don't have to carry treats around to get your dog to comply if you can do it properly. However, if you use too much P+ or misuse the other quadrants then you will quickly see things deteriorate or a dog that "only does it when I have treats". This simply indicates a lack of good communication and something that has caused conflict in your dog. It could be something very trivial but to the dog it's enough to prevent it from wanting to comply, or quite possibly it's conflicted and worried it will receive punishment for non-compliance.

I saw this video on someone's Facebook page and it inspired me to write this post. While some may watch this and simply see a well-trained horse there is so much more to it than that. This girl, who is 20 years old here and lost her dad 24 days before this performance, is only using verbal cues and her body to make this horse move and perform. She has no saddle, no bit, no reigns (no tack). This is proof that with a good relationship, proper training and understanding you can train [almost] any animal to happily and easily do what you want when you want it.

Sure, you can use harsh methods (or positive punishment) to get an animal to do something . . . and yes, it can often work but the long-term results are not usually good. Also, if you do happen to have an animal that complies they often do it out of fear of the punishment. I don't care what tricks or bragging I can do if it's the outcome of me having to use punishment to get the result I want.

Learn to communicate properly with your dog. Don't expect overnight miracles, they just don't happen. A well-trained, happy and compliant dog is a work of art!

Here is this amazing video of the girl and her incredible horse. You have to watch the entire video, it's truly amazing!

Misty is back & better than ever!

2010-08-06T20:57:00.005-05:00

It is with great joy that I announce that my wonderful friend and dog trainer, Misty Roachelle, will be back several times during the week to teach classes for Adventures in Canine Training. While she still resides and is finishing her internship with Shari at the Lee Mannix Center for Canine Behavior, she will be coming back to the DFW area at the end of the week and teach through Saturdays.

Some of you may not recognize her, that's because she's new all the way around! She's learned a ton and she's lost about 65 pounds since January of this year! She's doing great and I can't wait to have her bring her polished skills back to DFW!

She's a versatile gal and wants to maintain her talents up here so that when she returns [for good] she'll still be fresh on everyone's mind! Everyone check out our class schedule and take a class with Misty--she's got a lot of great stuff up her sleeve for our upcoming classes with things she's learned from her time in Austin! You don't want to miss this! Check out our class schedule here.

Leash!

2010-08-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

I made a couple of videos with a 5-month old Standard Poodle puppy, "Mattie", I had at my house last week. She was terrible on the leash! I started her on some training and tried to document it. I'm not great on camera or teaching while on camera but here are the videos I did. Hopefully someone can take some tips from this!

Mission K9 Possible.

2010-07-28T13:30:00.006-05:00

I want to add some zip to the lives of you dog owners out there . . . so I'm designing the Monthly: Canine Mission Impossible . . . Here are the logistics:

I'll give out a mission for you to do with your dog that will involve training of some kind. Your dog cannot already know or be versed in whatever is presented in the challenge. You have to video your dog just before you start the challenge and then once during the training and then upon completion.

This is your mission, should you choose to accept it: Train your dog to do something polite instead of jumping. The dog must either sit when greeted, go to a requested place (mat, bed, stair, etc.) or something else that shows manners and good choices instead of jumping up or on a person.

In this mission you have 4 weeks to teach and train your dog. You must document, with video, how you accomplish this and the end results. Email all videos to Stacy at stacy@aictdfw.com. Mission begins Friday, July 30th and ends Monday, August 30th.

Winners will be selected based on technique, timing, creativity and the apparent relationship with you and your dog.

Prizes are as follows:
1st: Free group class & video showed off on blog & Facebook
2nd: $10 off group class
3rd: $5 off group class

"My dog doesn't listen . . ."

2010-07-25T13:58:00.018-05:00

This is a common phrase I hear, alongside a few others, however this one plagues many dog owners of all breeds and ages -- "My dog doesn't listen to me."

From my own perspective, isn't that what all of these blog posts are , I have to elaborate on the why and the how of this common "complaint". First, dogs are just that, dogs. They do not know English or Spanish or German or . . . We teach our dogs to understand what we want from them through training with respect and understanding. Without that exact thing -- training with respect and understanding -- our dogs will most likely appear to "not listen".

The main thing would be understanding. When a dog seemingly defies us humans, we say -- "He knows he's just being stubborn . . ." Humans immediately slap the human aspect of it to our dogs, as if he was acting like a rebellious teenager. The truth is that the dog is confused and conflicted in the situation. Perhaps he's unclear what you want. Our body language most likely is the culprit.

We are so, well human, that we have a difficult time using anything but our verbal skills and expect our dogs to understand all of our language and vocabulary as well. Perhaps we haven't taught the "sit" command in enough situations or made it abundantly clear what a sit actually is [in our eyes] and so the dog is not reliably offering a sit when asked to. Perhaps the dog does know sit but in a particular situation when asked to sit he is confused/conflicted and does not respond due to other factors.

We owe it to our dogs to understand them and learn more about their body language and communication. A good example of a dog that would appear to most people to be purposely "not listening" would be in a group class setting. Most dogs who attend group classes are a bit uneasy at first due to the fact that they are in a very different and possibly stressful (to the dog anyway) situation. They come across as not being "good" or "not paying attention". The fact is that the child riding his tricycle across the way or the people tossing a ball back and forth 200 yards to the left are causing the dog some stress and therefore he is not going to "perform" for you in that environment right away. This doesn't make your dog defiant or even flat out dumb (many people will use this adjective as well!), it simply makes your dog a dog. However, commonly the owner is upset I mean how on earth could Fido be ignoring me? He knows this! So poor Fido gets a jerk on the leash or a verbal reprimand. Because, most likely, Fido was already stressed, hence the reason for not responding, we have now added even more stress as well as the notion that Fido's very own person is a ball of emotion and cause for more frustration. What will happen next? Yup. Nothing. Fido will surely shut down now.

So how do we remedy that? Well, once again the magic way -- through training with good communication on both ends of the leash. You must learn to teach your dog that you are there to guide and protect him in all situations. You must learn to read your dog, know when and how to diffuse a possible stressful situation and most importantly you must build a very, very strong relationship with your dog.

You can start this program now, no matter how young or old your dog is. Make a chart, like the sample to the right (click picture to enlarge). Your dog, being a dog, enjoys working for things and getting feedback from you. This builds the dog's confidence and training skills. I recommend (no matter what age your dog, but all puppies should start this way in the home) you tether your dog to you with a leash. You can simply hook the leash around your waist, belt loop or even get one of the handy hands-free leashes that I love! (I love The Alpha Pac leash. I've said so many times on this blog and my Facebook page. But I truly love this item!)

Set your dog up to learn and succeed. Ask for commands everywhere as your dog follows you around. At the sink, at the door, before he eats, before he goes outside, etc. Remember to say, "Okay!" (or whatever your release command is) to free your dog from each command when it's over.

After you do that for 7 days in the house then take your dog to the next level of low distractions, usually your backyard. Still tethered to you, take a few steps and ask your dog to sit and reward. Practice all your commands this way. Increase the value of the rewards as you move to different and more distracting environments. After 7 days in your backyard then move to the front yard, then to the park, etc. Give each environment 7 days of training before moving to the next.

Set yourself up to learn and succeed. Get a book on canine calming signals. Attend a workshop on doggie body language. Get Turid Ruugas's DVD "Calming Signals: What Your Dog Tells You". Read Brenda Aloff's books, "Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide" and "Get Connected with Your Dog". These resources are great for learning what your dog is telling you and how to communicate so you both understand each other.

With all of these things in play and you maintaining clear, consistent rules and expectations you and your dog will go as far as you want to go . . .

(There are many more parts to this program, but this is the beginning and a way to get started. To set up a complete training program or for questions, please contact me!)

Challenge your dog trainer. . .

2010-07-22T14:26:00.003-05:00

I must apologize for not posting as much as I'd like to on here as I often just post so many things on my Facebook page. I know not everyone is into Facebook so I'll post here what I did there . . . . I put a challenge on the line: List something (put it as a comment to this post) you'd like to see Stacy the trainer teach a dog (her own dog or one in her care at her home) and then she will capture the process on video. Then a challenge will take place with prizes for grabs where clients can participate too!

So far someone asked me to teach a dog to go through a hula hoop and also have a dog open the 'fridge and bring me a drink of some kind (that's still in the works). So here are the videos of me teaching first, my Lab Jake, and then my Aussie/BC Noah.

Leash-Free Dog!

2010-07-19T21:17:00.008-05:00

Do you ever wonder if you'll ever be able to have a dog that can be trusted off-leash? . . . First let me cover a few points here . . .

I am not a huge advocate of dogs being off-leash due to safety issues and other dogs, i.e., dogs I don't trust or that are nasty. Not only that, there are leash laws in just about all cities now so it's usually against the law no matter how well trained your dog is or how well he may listen to you. A leash law is a leash law.

Ok, however I do believe that a dog should be able to be trusted off-leash if need be or if you are in a safe place and they are allowed to be off-leash. I often get the question right off the bat--"Will my dog ever be able to be off-leash and trusted?" The answer is "Yes." The solution is training, lots of it.

If you have a good relationship with your dog, you've done lots of training, classes and your dog listens to you then you will very easily be able to have your dog trained off-leash. Of course dogs will be dogs and a squirrel, cat or tennis ball may be much more fun than you but with the right training and consequences when they do run off during a recall, your dog will be easy to manage off-leash.

You can read many "breed books", of which I put in quotes because I hate breed books, that state that Jack Russell Terriers are not good off-leash and often can't be trusted off-leash. Well my Jack Russell is amazing off-leash and I can call him away from just about anything. He's been mostly off-leash during flyball training and practices but some of that was in a wide open park. It can be done, no matter what you may read or hear . . . it's all about the training and relationship you have with your dog, not the breed.

Extreme Mutt Makeover 2010

2010-07-18T12:32:00.006-05:00

Many of you have followed my blog for a while but for those that have not you may not know this . . . last summer I participated in a new event called "The Extreme Mutt Makeover" where they took 10 shelter dogs and paired them with trainers for 6 weeks. During that period the dog lived with us in our home and endured our care and training for the event that took place over a weekend. You can go back to the archives and see all the blog posts I did on Harry and his adventure with me from August-September of 2009. It starts with this post.

I never thought I'd be so nervous about something that really had no bearing on anything . . . except the life of the dog I had, "Harry". Harry was absolutely a doll. He looked just like a dog on TV and he was goofy, smart and fun to be around. He was also a bit of a challenge in that he was very active, needed lots of mental stimulation and exercise. He was probably only about 7 months old when I got him, making him the youngest of the dogs in the event which did pose a little more of a challenge for me. However, he was truly a great dog and full of fun. Everyone who met him loved him and he loved everyone. Harry now has a home with a wonderful couple that is active and takes him everywhere. They were a perfect fit for him.

No one could quite understand the emotion the trainers felt during this whole process, and even we didn't see it until the final days of that competition. All the trainers actually became very close during the entire event. I had put a Yahoo! message board together just for the trainers and we all talked almost every day on that board with triumphs, tears and anything else our dogs threw at us. A couple of the trainers lived in Austin and so it was great to see the diverse group we had.

I would have instantly qualified to be a trainer in this year's event but with a toddler at home and my own dogs I felt I wouldn't be able to put what I needed to in it, as it was a bit challenging just for me last year. So, I've kept up on Facebook with their page and also this year each dog in the competition has their very own Facebook page! The event is going to be amazing and I can't wait to go watch. We have all sent emails to Oprah to see if see what we can do, yeah it's a stretch but you never know until you try!

Here is a video that Patti Colbert, the woman behind this wonderful event, had done professionally from last year's competition. Of course it really does bring back a flood of memories for me and I cry every time I watch it. . . . enjoy, and come out to see the event this year! August 13, 2010: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

Click here to view this video

Good Dog!

2010-07-07T10:08:00.003-05:00

Need a dog that comes when called and walks nicely on the leash . . . or maybe just one of those things? Well I just set up a couple of short workshops to tackle these issues specifically. Workshops are great because they are just a one-time or two-time meeting with your dog. They last an hour and are cost efficient! Get details on my schedule by clicking here.

Fido, Come!

2010-06-09T23:10:00.004-05:00

I found this article in my newsletter archives from 2007. I thought it was a good piece of info to share . . .

I think the single most important command you can teach your dog is a recall, i.e., the "come here" command. This can be used for many things, not just getting your dog to come to you from outside or when he runs off. For those with puppies, this command can be used to call a dog away from something rather than yelling & telling the puppy what he has done wrong (and causing him to learn to run from you). You must teach your dog to come to you on command for safety reaons, if nothing else! There are a few things you can do to ensure that you get a really good recall from your dog.

1. Practice, practice, practice . . . using really high-value rewards.
2. Call your dog for no reason & praise him profusely.
3. Never ask the dog to come to you unless you are prepared to reward profusely & the end result will be something Fido sees as rewarding.
4. Never walk towards the dog when trying to get the dog to come to you. Walk away and call the dog, happily, joyfully & prepared to reward.
5. Once you call the dog's name wait to say the word "Come". Only say this word once the dog is actually doing it.
6. If you have a dog that runs from you, keep a 15-foot line on the dog at all times. Never allow the dog to run from you.
7. Stop & think before you call your dog.

Follow these steps when calling your dog.

- Calmly stop, think & say the dog's name in a happy tone.
- Over-praise, don't over-call. Don't repeat "come, come, come". Say it once.
- Make it mandatory. Don't allow your dog to run away. Keep a long line on him.
- Evaluate your actions. Make sure you are asking for the recall only when the results will be approved by Fido.

If you have any questions or problems with your dog coming to you when you call him, we encourage that you let us know so that we may help you get a reliable recall with your dog!

Whew, it's hot!

2010-06-01T15:18:00.007-05:00

Looks like we have a taste of what summer is about to bring -- icky heat just like Texas is so good at doing! This means we need to be safe with our dogs and keep them cool.

Remember dogs do not sweat through their skin like we do, so they take much longer to cool off and shaving them can be more hazardous than helpful. The best thing is to provide them with lots a/c, cool water and prevent them from overheating.

I do not recommend anyone keep a dog outdoors, no matter the weather, but especially during a Texas summer. The shade or a dog house will not often help much and heat stroke could definitely be a risk. Crate your dog indoors while you are away, where it is cool.

If your dog likes ice cubes you can give them ice cubes if you'd like. If your dog has been running, playing, training or anything that causes them to pant heavily you want to cool them off properly.

Also remember dogs can sunburn. A shaved dog or a hairless dog is at much higher risk, so watch out for this. Also, light and white skinned dogs are obviously at a higher risk. You can use sunscreen on your dog if you are out long enough that he needs it. A good sunscreen is Veterinarian's Best Sunscreen spray.

Signs to watch and things to do to keep your dog's body heat down:

1) Don't let them get too hot in the first place.

2) Watch that tongue! If it gets wider and wider, your dog is getting too hot. Stop what you're doing and take him inside to cool off.

3) Let them drink cool water but don't let them drink too much. They can get sick if they inhale a lot of water, or some dogs who are prone to bloat could be at risk for this.

4) It's best to let the dog just lie down and relax calmly for 30-45 minutes before letting them drink too much. If your dog will not settle on his own then crate him for 30-45 minutes with no bedding or blankets in the crate. After this time then you can let them drink until the cows come home.

5) If you are active with your dog--sports, training, hiking, running, etc.--then I recommend a doggie water supplement to maintain electrolytes and prevent dehydration. This is also great for dogs that are so worked up and/or stressed that they will not drink. These water supplements taste good and often make a dog want to drink! I love K9 Super Fuel by Animal Naturals.

Have a safe, happy and cool-as-possible summer!

Diamond in the Ruff.

2010-05-12T21:12:00.019-05:00

Well it's taken me a while to write this, but I wanted to share. My dear friend Lee Mannix, who was also the greatest dog trainer and my mentor, was tragically killed in a car accident on Sunday, May 2nd. I suppose I never realized how much I cared for that man as, of course, it never crossed my mind that I would lose him. But his death really has been hard on me. Driving home from Austin that week I think I drove through a sea of tears most of the way back to Dallas . . .

For those who had never met him you can read all about him. You can read how great he was, what a true gem he was, but no one can explain what a remarkable guy Lee was unless they had met him.

I suppose he reminded me of all the guys I knew back home. He grew up in Midland/Odessa and I grew up in San Angelo. So we both are from West Texas. He was as Texas as they come. He had red hair, a dirty well-loved cowboy hat and a pair of boots that you'd never see him without. His lip would be filled with chew 99% of the time and if he wasn't training dogs he'd be having a cold beer at his place on the Blanco River. He just clicked with me on so many levels -- dogs, West Texas and humor. You could never get by that guy without some joke, or story or something that you would never forget.

I met Lee for the first time in 2004 at a dog camp down in the hill country near Kerville Texas. It was a place where people brought their dogs and joined daily activities, sports, training classes, hiking, etc. All you did was have fun all weekend with your dog while teaching and learning something. That year I was asked to be the instructor for the obedience classes. It's held at an old, old girls camp where there are buildings with no AC and full of about 6-8 bunk beds. You grab a bunk and a cabin on a first-come-first-serve basis. I found a cabin that was occupied by Lee and his trainer, Kimberly Burgan. That weekend changed my life forever.

When teaching one of my classes at camp I noticed this big, red-headed cowboy sitting in the back of one of my classes and he made me a little uneasy. Later I realized he was one of my bunk-mates. I heard him talking dog talk to another person and immediately thought he sounded incredibly knowledgeable in dog behavior. Later that day a camper's dog got attacked by another dog and Lee became frustrated at the lack of organization of the camp and dogs that were there. At dinner one night he stood up and said, "If anyone wants to listen I'm going to do a behavior talk after dinner outside at the picnic tables . . ." Every single person in camp showed up and he talked for 4 hours about aggression issues he saw with some dogs among other things. The woman who owned the dog that attacked the other dog was being addressed and Lee was telling her what she needed to start doing at home with the dog. I remember he had me after this . . . he says, "Where does your dog sleep?" Dog owner: "In the bed with us" Lee: "Not anymore, he's going to sleep in a crate." Dog owner: "At night?" Lee: "That's when you sleep ain't it?!"

At the end of the weekend Lee said to me, "I think you have a lot of potential and I'd love for you to come to Austin and follow me around sometime . . . " And I did just that and continued to follow him and learn from him ever since then.

I've been training dogs now for 11 years. I've seen a lot, I've learned a lot and there are many, many qualified and well-known dog trainers out there. I could list many that have published many books and who speak all over the country at seminars. These are very good trainers and anyone that is a dog trainer on a professional level would know these people by name. I could easily try to learn more under them and label them as my all new "mentor" but there was just something about Lee.

I can't put my finger on it. I can't put it in words or explain it. If you ever had a dog that went to him for any training you know exactly what I'm talking about. He was just truly magical. He was truly one-of-a-kind. He only wanted to help the dog, and moreover, help the dog owner learn how to properly do that. He would go out of his way to do many things.

At his memorial there was a slideshow of many of his friends, clients, dogs, etc. I think the one picture of the hundreds that were on there that touched me was this one where he's burying one of his clients' dogs for her in her backyard. The woman said that her dog had died and Lee was the first person she thought of. She called him up and ". . . he was there in minutes." He went to her house and buried her dog in her yard, as she wanted. I don't know why but this picture really made me realize what a marvelous man he was, or rather, reminded me . . .

The way he understood and trained dogs was non-traditional. He would never use any scientific terms and if you spouted one to him he'd most likely say, "I don't know what that sh#@ means, but this is what I'd do . . ." He always thought the science part of dog training was too complicated, more so than it needed to be, and he always said, "I can train a dog without all that . . ." And he could, and he'd do it right too. (Don't tell him he did in fact use science in dog training, he doesn't know that . . .)

One thing you would hear him say was, "Praise your dog, G.D.! Praise your dog!", always adding a few expletives if you weren't praising or talking to your dog enough. He'd say, "You gotta tell your dog when he does it right . . ." I can't tell you how right he was. We so often tell our dogs when they are wrong but when do we say "Good boy!" Not often enough. He trained using rewards and praise and teaching you how to truly build a bond with your dog.

This man trained aggression out of a dog like no one I've seen. Most of the trainers these days use some sort of crazy corrections or slap an electronic collar on your dog, or take years to work through aggression. This man did none of those things. He used the relationship you had with your dog, calming signals, body language and a good read on the dog and he'd have an aggression case mastered in a matter of weeks. Of course this also depended on the dog owner's and their part, but assuming the dog owners were doing their part and coming to training as Lee suggested, then you could see a completely new, confident and happy dog in weeks.

I use his methods all the time in what I do and because of this I have grown my business to earn me a reputation in the Dallas area. I never knew how much this man taught me and how much I learned about dogs. I still have so much to learn and it hurts me to know I can't have him around to teach it to me. Sure, I could call on a number of very qualified and good dog trainers but there is simply no other Lee Mannix, and never will be.

He was simply a fun, goofy, sometimes-pain-in-the-you-know-what, redneck who always had fun and never missed a beat. He did not only what he loved but what he was remarkable at in life, and that is very rare to find . . . in his work he showed how much he loved his job and how good he truly was at it. He was a genuine diamond in the "ruff" . . .

Dog Dander Blues.

2010-04-28T12:40:00.009-05:00

If you suffer from dog allergies you should know that shaving your dog isn't the answer, neither is going the route of paying tons for a "hypoallergenic dog" just because you have allergies to dogs. Allergies are caused by dander, which is basically the dead skin that falls off of the dog. It's not the dog's hair that is the problem.

Dog dander exacerbates allergies and asthma due to the proteins, also called allergens, that are found in the dander. While less hair usually means less dander, don't be fooled that a dog can be completely hypoallergenic. Also, dander differs between breeds and animal species due to different mixes of proteins and cells found in the dander. People who suffer from dog allergies may be allergic to specific breeds of dogs, or they may be allergic to all dogs.

There are a few things you can do to reduce the dander in your home and on your dog . . .

1) Bathe your dog once a week or every other week. Use a soap-free, shampoo so you don't dry out skin and cause irritation. I like Earthbath Eucalyptus & Peppermint. It's all natural and safe for daily use and it doesn't wash off flea treatments!

2) Add Fish Oil to their diet, and feed a quality diet. Be sure you are feeding your dog a high quality diet as it can effect skin and coat conditions. Also add fish oil to your dog's diet. You add 1000mg per 10lbs/per meal. You can get fish oil capsules almost anywhere. My favorite is the liquid in the pump, called Grizzly Salmon Oil. (I've found it at City Pet Supply in Dallas.)

3) Vacuum your floors often. Vacuuming will remove any dander, dust, hair and any other things that can easily cause allergies or irritate them. It is recommended to vacuum daily if you can. Also get baseboards, under all furniture (dust bunnies love it there!) and in corners.

4) Filter the air. A portable high efficiency particle arresting air purifier will continuously filter dander from the air, and many are designed to run economically 24 hours a day. These air purifiers will not only remove dander, but odor, hair, dust, and many other household pollutants that may be present in your home. An excellent resource for a HEPA air purifier to remove dog dander is offered by Purer Air.

Nothing will completely rid your home or dog of dander but doing these things will reduce it such that you may possibly not have an issue at all. For those with more severe allergies using a daily Zyrtec or other daily OTC allergy medication may help as well (consult your physician first).

You shouldn't have to sacrifice the family pet due to allergies, just learn how to manage it!

Hello World.

2010-04-25T17:23:00.005-05:00

I wanted to invite those who read the blog but are not a participant in the newest, biggest thing -- Facebook -- to consider joining our facebook page. I post a lot, a lot, a lot on there! If you want to join just get a free account and bookmark the page. You can go directly there by this address: www.facebook.com/adventuresincaninetraining. Click the button at the top of the page that says "Like".

Dog Friendly Landscaping

2010-04-19T14:42:00.006-05:00

I thought this would be a great subject. It's gorgeous outside and it's time to start some spring planting for those with yards! However, when you have a dog (or more than one) it can be frustrating to keep a nice yard and a dog happy at the same time.

I know right now my backyard is a disaster. It's all dirt, poop and then my nice trees. The trees are the nicest part of my yard at this point. While my dogs are only outdoors sporadically throughout the day they are out long enough to demolish any resemblance of a nice landscaped yard. I like nice yards, it's one of my things. But I feel like it's not going to happen at my house. I'm sure I'm not alone.

I have lately become more aware that I need to do something because my daughter doesn't even have a nice yard to play in that is safe (from nasty stuff) and clean. I'm a fan of this great site [on Facebook] I found (I think just through a Google search for pet friendly landscape) called Paw Friendly Landscapes. I was sad to see they are located in Colorado. Then I did some browsing on their site to find that they do custom landscape design plans for your yard--no matter where you are! Whoa! So I'm going to submit some photos and fill out a design form. I'll see what they come up with for my yard and when we get the funds hubby and I will start doing it ourselves!

A few tips for you on dogs and landscaping:

Think realistically first and foremost. If you want a gorgeous yard with no appearance of a dog, well then you may have to start walking your dog on leash and not allowing much time in the yard!
Less grass is best. Find designs that utilize more paths, mulch, bark, gravel, etc. This gives your dog more substrate to walk on that isn't ugly or easily destroyed.
Keep plants that are hardy and/or potted. Low lying flower beds are just asking for a waste of money and time. Most dogs will trample these in a matter of days. If you must raise the beds high, or plant in planters and pots.
Use hardy ground cover, such Asian jasmine. Asian jasmine is attractive and hardy against just about all things dog--pee, poo and stomping! You can plant this anywhere and it spreads nicely too. You can also use Mondograss (monkeygrass). This is a nice and popular ground cover. It does spread like wildfire so be sure to contain it in beds if you don't want it to mix with your actual grass yard.
Offer shade so that your dog can cool and doesn't dig or find his own shade.
Put grass in but not a whole yard full. Put areas of grass and other different substrates for eye appeal and for saving your grass against dog paws, pee and other matter!

Fungility!

2010-04-06T17:30:00.002-05:00

Fungility classes are now posted to our website! Here is a little snippet of Trevor, my Jack Russell testing out one of the jumps I got for class.

Jake the Wonder Dog!

2010-04-05T13:13:00.003-05:00

I've had some folks ask for an update on Jake and thought it would be easier to put some info here instead of writing numerous emails over and over again. . . .

Jake is doing remarkably well. He's gaining weight, he still has about 6 pounds to go, and he is loving his new canned-food-only diet! Today he picked up one of Trevor's (my Jack Russell) balls and tossed it around. He's not a ball dog. Lots of Labs are, he's not. So it was funny to see him playing period but even funnier that he had a ball!

He also felt good enough to dig a hole under the fence to chase after Trevor. Trevor has taken to digging into the neighbor's yard. Thank goodness it's into another yard and not onto the busy, busy street that our back fence backs up to. However, digging is not good no matter where it is! Arrgh, the pain of fixing my yard! Funny thing is that when Trevor digs out Jake goes bonkers. Jake is a quiet dog and if he barks in the yard I know for sure that Trevor has escaped. Then Jake frantically digs after Trevor and even eats the bottom of the fence boards. It really drives him nuts.

I had a refrigerator repair guy out and had shoved the dogs outside while he was there. As I'm talking with the man I hear Jake's desperate bark and I say, "Excuse me one of my dogs just dug out . . ." He looked at me, "Oh. How do you know that?" As we couldn't see the fence from where we were standing. I said, "My Lab tattles on my Jack Russell!" and whisked out the door to find Jake digging after him. Trevor is back and Jake is now resting to settle himself and cool off.

Bottom line: he seems to be back to his old self again!

Dinner with Fido.

2010-03-31T16:35:00.005-05:00

I thought of this last night as I ate dinner on my couch. That's the norm at my house. Hubby and I place our plates on our cocktail ottoman (yeah that sounds fancy, doesn't it?!) and watch our favorite show. With four dogs you'd think it may be chaotic or impossible to eat in peace, but with the right tools and training (and a little elbow grease) you can eat with Fido staying away from your food and letting you eat without having to hold your plate up over your head.

Two of my dogs actually seem to not care much [when we eat], the other two are quite interested in our dining experiences. So how does one do it?

First, if you ever feed your dog while you are eating or sitting down in the location where you normally eat your meals, then this may take extra care and dedication. I don't recommend you feed your dog "from the table". Feed your dogs when you feed them their meals and when you are training, that's it. It's more of a respect thing than anything else. You also can't realistically expect your dog to stay away from your meal if you've been feeding him some pieces every now and again.

If your dog only eats when you feed him/her then this will be much easier for you. I suggest teaching your dog to "Leave it", and enforce that they know this means "leave it alone permanently!". If you find yourself saying "Leave it" over and over again then they may need a little brushing up on this command!

Give a "Leave it" and then ask your dog to go lie down away from you at least 3 feet or more. If your dog can lie at your feet and not beg, and you don't mind this, then you can do that too.

It's best to teach your dog that "sit" and "down" mean that they each have an implied "stay" along with that. So, if you say "Fluffy, sit" then she should do that until you tell her otherwise. Remember to use a release command and always release your dog from every command once you are finished. For example, when you ask your dog to sit at any point, e.g, before you toss a ball for her to catch, then say "okay!" to release her from the sit and she can be allowed to go get the ball. Always release your dog. They will soon learn that they cannot do anything until they hear the "okay" [release command].

Another great thing to add in is a specific spot or location for the dog to go to while you are eating, or for any other time. At my house I use this to keep the dogs out from under the highchair since my 16-month-old feeds the dogs from there and they are easier to train that she is!

You can use a rug, mat or bed or even just an area. My area is the carpet in the bedroom that divides the kitchen and the bedroom. This way they are out of the kitchen and away from the highchair altogether. Teach your dog a command for this, e.g., "get on your bed", and have him go there while you eat and stay until you tell him he is released.

Here is a video of a puppy I was babysitting at my house and I taught her to do this with a bath mat. The video doesn't show me teaching her but the results. So, how did I do it? Watch the video and then see the how-to below.

Find the location where you want the dog to go on command. Let's use the mat to explain this as I did with Strudel in the video.

1) Get a bunch of yummy treats.
2) Lure the dog to the mat with a treat. You can do this by having them literally follow you to the mat because they follow the hand with the treat or by tossing the treat onto the mat.
3) The critical point is this: the very second a paw touches the mat you praise and treat --"Good girl!" [give treat].
4) Repeat.
5) Start to phase out luring to the mat and only stand next to the mat and wait for the dog to go to it. Praise with good timing.
6) When the dog begins to go to the mat in anticipation of a reward then add in your phrase command. Here it was "Get on your mat."
7) Slowly get further and further from the mat.

The key is timing. You have to reward just right and right on time. Don't add the phrase in too soon and don't stop luring or get to far from the mat too soon. It may take longer for each dog.

Need more help or a personal coaching session? Let me know!

Jake is home.

2010-03-24T14:26:00.003-05:00

Just got Jake home and he acts like he's happy to be here. I think it helped that he was in the hospital a few extra days. He looks awful. He's so skinny, his face is sunken in. He doesn't look like the Jakey I'm used to. All we do now is hope he recovers and has no more adhesions form in his abdomen. He'll have to eat wet/canned food from now on, but that's ok with me. He's resting now and his doggie "brothers" were all happy to greet him.

I want to give another round of applause to Dr. Joanne Franks, at the Dallas Surgical Center in Grapevine (seems more like Southlake but address is Grapevine). She is amazing --kind, sincere, helpful and talented with her skills -- thank you Dr. Franks we ♥ you!

Jake: Post Surgery News.

2010-03-22T14:55:00.006-05:00

Jake went into surgery this morning around 9am. Dr. Franks called me around 11am. She says whatever is going with him is rare and she can't really explain it. His intestines have scar tissue and adhesions built up in them. It caused them to be gnarled and doing weird things. She removed the scar tissue but doesn't know if it will happen again. She also worked out his intestines to the best of her ability so that food can pass thru better. With all the scar tissue the intestines just couldn't push food thru properly, this is why he was vomiting and losing weight.. He will have to be on an all canned food diet from here on out, watered down to be sure it passes. We can only wait & hope this doesn't happen again, if it does the outcome won't be but one option only . . .

Prayers are needed. He'll be in the hospital for 2 days.

The picture on this post is a professional photo taken by my brother in law, who was at the time, a professional photographer. It looks like a postcard. It's him exactly -- happy, goofy, sweet Jakey.

We have received some wonderful donations already, and we are eternally grateful beyond words. You can click on the ChipIn! button below to donate or you can visit the website here.

The Story of Jake.

2010-03-19T15:48:00.007-05:00

I know the last 2 posts have been about Jake, but I felt like writing a post that gave his story as a whole. . . .

Jake, is our 8-year old yellow Labrador Retriever. I got Jake in 2002, when he was just over a year old, from some clients that couldn't handle him. He was too much dog for them. I got him with the intention of re-homing him to the perfect home. He was a disaster. He stole things, ate my sister's 1st Generation iPod, barked madly in his crate and was an all around pain in the neck. I began training him just because he was going to live with me for a while and why not pedal a well-trained Lab rather than the Lab he was at the time?

After interviewing several prospects I decided he was too sweet and I was getting attached. The following year I had him certified through the Delta Society as a therapy dog. He was absolutely a dream. . . . he still is. He's so calm and laid back that he was accused of being "slow" at an event I him at. He was sweetly lying at my feet under my booth and a girl came up, petted him for quite a while and then looked up at my friend sitting with me, "Excuse me. Is this dog yours?" "No, he's my friend's, why?" "Is he slow or something?" I looked up and said, "Slow? Like Forrest Gump?" She wasn't smiling or laughing, she was quite serious. "Yeah, he just lies here." My friend retorted, "He's just well trained!"

Since then Jake has been a demo dog of mine and used in almost all of my aggression cases as he doesn't flinch at anything and is just an all-around perfect guy. If he was any sweeter he'd be pure sugar.

He's been a very healthy dog and has never been to the vet for any medical reason until last October when I decided to have a bulge on his side looked at. It was determined to be a mast cell tumor, the most common kind of tumor in dogs. The surgery was going to cost more than we had and so I held a fundraiser [online] for him and raised $1000 of the money. It was spectacular to get such a great response and the surgery took place on January 6, 2010. It was successful as was his recovery.

Then the last week in February he began acting funny one day and threw up his breakfast -- all of it -- and then his dinner. Then he began breathing rather heavily and I took him to a veterinary ER that evening. They took x-rays and discovered that his intestines were 3 x their normal size. The vet said it was some sort of obstruction and he'd try to see if he could pass it. With a night of fluids and some meds he still didn't pass it. The next day, February 25, 2010, they had to go in to remove it from his intestines. It was determined to be hardened fecal matter. Odd, but taken care of nonetheless.

He seemed okay but his recovery didn't seem as smooth as his previous one in January. He whined quite a lot and seemed to be in quite a bit more pain. He ate ok as I fed him some homemade boiled hamburger and rice for a couple of days. Then I fed him canned food with some dry food mixed in. I then added more dry and about 6 days after the surgery he threw up his breakfast again. I was really concerned but just kept an eye on him. He threw up dinner that night. I decided he couldn't handle the kibble and proceeded to just feed him canned food only. He seemed fine after that.

Then a few days later he threw up again and I called the vet, Dr. Franks at Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center, who performed his first surgery in January. She was so marvelous then and I felt more comfortable with her. She said to watch him and keep her posted. He was acting normally, and eating normally so I wasn't super concerned yet. A few days later, Tuesday, March 16th he threw up a huge amount of food throughout the day. I called Dr. Franks and she said she should look at him. I dropped him off on Wednesday morning and she said an x-ray showed that something was definitely going on. She wanted an ultrasound to get a better view and had another veterinarian that did sonograms do this. She called me later to tell me that the best way she could describe it is that his intestines are bunched up on one side of his body and that she's not sure what is going on but surgery was really the only way to see what is going on and to fix it.

So here we are, surgery #3 for Jake within a 90 day period. It can't be good for his 8-year old body. Moreover we don't have the money to take care of this surgery. We didn't [don't] have the funds to pay for his second surgery and we still are working out a payment plan with the vet for that. I didn't want to ask for help on his second surgery because I was too embarrassed and so many people were so incredibly gracious about helping with his first surgery, but I have to do another fundraiser now as we have no choice. So for anyone who is willing, able or maybe has ties with Oprah Whinfrey . . . please pass this along! We have received several donations already and we are eternally grateful beyond words. You can click on the ChipIn! button below to donate or you can visit the website here.

Jake, the Pincushion Dog . . .

2010-03-17T22:58:00.004-05:00

Update on Jake. We got the results of the ultra sound and he has to have surgery again. His intestines are bunched up in his abdomen, pushed up to the right side. She says whatever is going on is not common and she's not exactly sure why or how this happened. She said she'd have more answers once she can go inside and take a look. Supposedly if she can fix this he should be good to go (and no more surgeries!) Of course nothing like this can be guaranteed but hopefully we'll have a better perspective once she can see inside Jake and tell us more. He is supposed to go in for surgery on Monday.

I get an estimate tomorrow but I'm certain it will be around the same as the first surgery, which was $1500. We do think that kudos should be given to Dr. Franks at the Dallas Surgical Center in Grapevine. She's been so wonderful. She's caring and considerate and does a great job. (This is not where his 2nd surgery was done, she did his tumor removal in January, his 1st surgery.)

So, we are here, begging and grovelling for help. I cannot fathom any other alternative so I am doing all I can to get him what he needs so he can come home with us. If you'd like to help, "Thank you" wouldn't be enough . . .

Click the "ChipIn!" button below.

Jake Needs Your Help . . . Again.

2010-03-17T13:51:00.007-05:00

Well I was against doing this (i.e.,asking for help) for his second surgery as I have some wonderful people in this world that so graciously helped us pay for his first surgery, which removed his tumor. He had that surgery on January 6th of this year. Then on February 25th he had to have a 2nd, unrelated surgery to remove an obstruction. That cost 2 x the amount of the 1st surgery. We still aren't sure how we are going to pay for that.

However to make matters worse he is having complications from the 2nd surgery and he may have to have a 3rd surgery. His colon is being viewed by an ultra sound today. But the likelihood of him having to be re-opened up is quite high. The stress on us financially is more than I can explain. Our options are to get help or find a home that can afford his care. The latter is not an option I care to even somewhat think about. But I can't keep paying for his care, and we pray that if he does have a 3rd surgery it is his last.

I cannot begin to explain the gratitude I have for those who helped us with his 1st surgery and I was too embarrassed to ask once again but now I'm sincerely desperate beyond words. So I'm here asking again for anyone who can graciously donate to help us . . . before I have to do what brings tears rolling fiercely down my cheeks as I type this . . .

Here is a way to help us. Click the "ChipIn!" button below.

Approaching Cujo.

2010-03-12T23:34:00.005-06:00

I had this in one of my newsletters back in 2008 and I thought I had posted it on this blog but I couldn't seem to find it in the archives. So . . . it's definitely worth posting again.

Remember when you thought that you should put your hand out and let a dog sniff it before you pet the dog? Oh, I'm sorry were you still thinking that was how you greet a dog? Read on . . .

I see person after person reach out to pet dogs on the head. And even when a dog pulls away and avoids the person, they continue to try and pet him, or worse they try to coddle them and make friends, "It's ok. I'm a dog lover . . . come here . . ." Dogs are social animals and domestication has made them very dependent on us, but that doesn't mean that every dog loves to be patted and pet by strangers any more than we want every stranger on the street to give us a hug and a kiss.

If you really want to impress a new dog and convince him that you are a really great human, follow these basic rules:

RULE #1 - Never approach a dog first. Always let the dog approach you, no matter how friendly it looks. Why? Because this allows the dog to interact with you on his terms, which is going to put you high on his list of cool humans. Many dog owners are amazed at how quickly their shy dog takes to me. The only trick is that I sit back and let the dog decide when and how to interact with me.

RULE #2 - Don't crowd his space. We love dogs so much that we have a tendency to want to get really close when we're petting...as close as possible. But imagine meeting a new person and they immediately bent over the top of you, put their hand on your head and brought their face right up to yours. Would you feel at ease with that person?

No reaching over the head. Reaching over their head is intimidating. Dogs much prefer when pets come from underneath, such as a soft rub under the chin or on their cheek.

Stay out of their face. What is it that makes us think that dogs love having a stranger get really close to their face? Do we like it? No! A simple rhyme for children holds just as true for adults: Two feet of space can save your face.

Don't bend over the dog or approach head-on. It is much better to kneel down and turn your body slightly sideways to a dog. You would be amazed at how many dogs turn to mush when you offer them this polite greeting.

Do not offer your hand. The dog will come to you if they want. A hand can be seen as threatening. It is an old myth that letting a dog sniff you is a way to make fast friends.

Letting the dog decide how and when to approach you can make all the difference.

RULE #3 - Don't stick your hand in their face. I know that somewhere along the line the advice was given to present your hand to a dog so they can sniff it. Considering dogs have 250 million scent receptors compared to our 5 million, they can smell your hand just as easily if it remains at your side. Dogs much prefer to sniff our pant legs and, yes, even our groin area much more than our hands, and they certainly can be put off by a hand thrust into their face. This is the equivalent of your friend shoving a carton of milk under your nose and saying, "Does this smell bad?"

RULE #4 - Don't try to convince a shy dog that you are friendly. How many times have you seen a human pursue a shy dog, while repeating "It's okay, don't be shy"? Well-meaning dog lovers have a hard time with this one. Our fragile human egos just can't seem to take it when man's best friend doesn't immediately fall in love with us. The truth is, the more you pursue a shy dog, the more it convinces them that you are scary...and quite rude. Back off and give him a chance to get to know you on his terms.

RULE #5 - Just because he's sniffing you, doesn't mean he wants to be pet. And for that matter, just because a dog doesn't bite you doesn't mean he likes you! Again, let the dog sniff you and then see where he goes from there. Does he sniff you and then back away or does he sniff you and then start with the whole body wiggle?

Dogs who really love to be pet by strange humans don't keep it a secret. They come in very close, lean into you, wiggling their whole body with their tail. Their eyes look "soft" and even a little squinty, and you may just see that sweet little grin.

Finally, if you are the owner of a dog who is shy or just a little reserved with strangers, it is up to you to help him by running interference from over-zealous dog lovers. Don't be afraid to stop people from accosting your dog. The more negative interactions your dog has with people, the closer you get to having a real behavior problem on your hands, shy dogs can turn to fear-aggressive dogs fast. And if they think you are rude for not letting them pet their dog, who cares? You and your dog are just fine without them!

Misty the Dog Trainer.

2010-03-04T15:59:00.004-06:00

Misty Roachelle started training under me in 2007 just before I got married. She went through a program that is called Animal Behavior College (ABC) and they pair you with a mentor trainer in the last part of their program to observe classes and get hands-on training.

When she called to tell me I was chosen as her mentor trainer she also said, "I never realized my dog was aggressive to other dogs but I think he is, can you help me with that too?" Lucky is a black Pitbull/Lab/Border Collie/who-knows-what dog that was a bit chunky when I first met him and jumped on me as I entered her home. I did some work with her and Lucky but one day I said to her, "Would you be willing to go down to Austin with me and visit my mentor trainer Lee Mannix and have him evaluate Lucky?" Lee deals with about 5-8 aggression cases per day and is, what I like to believe, is the best aggression guy in the country. He got Misty started on a program and she came back and did her homework like her life depended on it . . . and it did. So did Lucky's.

Not too long after that visit to Austin Lee had his annual Dog Camp and I told Misty she'd be incredibly wise to take Lucky there. She did. Lucky was a mess. He was reactive to all the dogs, he put Misty in tears and he wasn't doing well. She was almost to the point that she wanted to pack up and leave. One of Lee's trainers told her she'll never help her dog if she leaves and she kept on with his training through the weekend-long camp. That was the Fall of 2007.

In the Spring of 2008 Misty and Lucky were at camp again and this time the staff couldn't stop commenting on Lucky. "Oh my gosh, he's like 20-lbs lighter and look, he's not reacting to any of the dogs!" She had visited Austin one more time before camp and continued her homework at home. Lucky was a changed dog, and Misty was on her way to be a great dog trainer!

Misty followed me around to clients and did above and beyond what she had to in order to learn about dog training. She wants to be a full-time dog trainer one day but still feels like she needs more under her belt. She has been doing some in home lessons and group classes as an independent contractor for me since 2008 after she finished her ABC program but has had to keep her full-time job Mon-Fri to make ends meet.

Misty has not only become a dog trainer for me but also a very good friend. We've had a few margaritas together and can sit and talk dogs for hours. She's great. She came to me a few months ago and said, "Well I've decided I think I want to move down to Austin and intern under Lee to really learn hands-on about dog behavior." Misty's single, no kids and just has her one furkid. This is perfect for her. She is moving this weekend to stay for, what she says, one year as an intern and then return back here to help Adventures in Canine Training blossom! We are so excited for her but I will miss her dearly. She's a wonderful person and Lucky couldn't have gotten a better doggie mom.

. . . And last weekend Lucky went to Austin with her while she was wrapping up stuff and he was used with an aggression case as the "Jello Dog", as Lee's staff calls it. The Jello Dog is a dog that is reliable and can be used to evaluate another aggressive dog but should not react and should be sound and well-adjusted. It's a great victory to go from nasty to jello! Way to go Lucky and Misty!

For those who want to keep in touch or send her luck and happy wishes you may email her here.

Chronicles of a Dog Trainer

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Diamond in the ruff.

Jake: August 31, 2002-December 31, 2011

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Sweet Survivor: Part V

Sweet Survivor: Part IV

Sweet Survivor: Part III

Sweet Survivor: Part II

Sweet Survivor

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BOO! Halloween Safety Reminders for Pets.

Yay, Fall Classes!!

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If you want to come watch the prelims they are free to the public on Friday and Saturday. Noon on Friday, 10am on Saturday.

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Jake the Lab: Going strong!

TV "Magic" Dog Training.

Jake the Lab: Still here!

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National Train Your Dog Month: January

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And a partridge in a pear tree . . .

On the ___ day of Christmas . . .

On the 6th Day of Christmas . . .

On the 5th Day of Christmas . . .

Jake: the best dog in the world. . . .

On the 4th Day of Christmas . . .

On the 3rd Day of Christmas . . . .

On the 2nd Day of Christmas . . . .

On the 1st Day of Christmas . . . .

And a partridge in a pear tree . . .

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Let the adventure begin!

15 Minutes.

Canine Costumes!

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Fall into Fall with a Doggie Class!

Heat & Dogs.

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About Town: Finally, a class for real-life!

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Misty is back & better than ever!

Leash!

Mission K9 Possible.

"My dog doesn't listen . . ."

Challenge your dog trainer. . .

Leash-Free Dog!

Extreme Mutt Makeover 2010

Good Dog!

Fido, Come!

Whew, it's hot!

Diamond in the Ruff.

Dog Dander Blues.

Hello World.

Dog Friendly Landscaping

Fungility!

Jake the Wonder Dog!

Dinner with Fido.

Jake is home.

Jake: Post Surgery News.

The Story of Jake.

Jake, the Pincushion Dog . . .

Jake Needs Your Help . . . Again.

Approaching Cujo.

Misty the Dog Trainer.

We've tried everything . . .