When dog training students enter into my classroom they quickly find out that there is nothing basic about their first course in basic training 101.  As they enter the room they might find that I greet them at the door in a wheelchair.   I am not physically disabled but there are millions of people who are.  Every dog needs to know how to act and react when approached by a wheel chair or power chair, whether your intentions are therapy dog work or not, it’s simply an important part of a dog’s socialization skills.  Working with disabled individuals for many years, I know firsthand how frightening it can be to an individual if they are approached by a barking, lunging dog.

On a recent visit to an animal shelter, I overheard an interesting conversation that a trainer was having with a dog owner who was having a problem with their barking dog.  The trainer listened to the owner’s concern for just a few seconds and then she smiled and walked across the room to her file cabinet where she handed the dog owner a paper handout on “Barking Dogs”.   That was it!

It occurred to me at that very moment how quickly some individuals rely on basic handouts to address an individual dog’s issues.  Barking can become a nuisance but until the owner and trainer get to the root cause of *why* the dog is barking, the barking will not stop.  The wrong training or behavioral intervention or advice, in most instances, will only prove to increase the barking instead of decreasing it. 

We see it everywhere in the United States, obesity, it has become an ever growing problem within our society.  It’s true, America has a weight problem!  Studies tell us that our children are overweight and under exercised.  When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to get home from school and go outside to play with my friends.  We played tag, hide and seek, rode our bicycles, roller skated and played many other games until the sun went down.  While we were outdoors getting exercise and fresh air, our dogs were always at our side, romping and playing in the fresh air.    Today however, most children come home from school and sit in front of computers and play games, text message each other or watch television for hours on end.  The family dog is generally sitting or lying by their side, if not in a crate, for hours on end!  Some dogs only receive short strolls around the block before dinner and dog owner’s call that exercise?! &

It was a beautiful summer day as Dr. Katz traveled down Bellevue Avenue on his way to a house call.  As he passed by the park, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a young girl playing fetch with her Dalmatian.  Suddenly as the dog was on his way back to the girl, he dropped lifelessly to the ground.  Without hesitation, Dr. Katz pulled his vehicle off the road and ran to the dog’s side.  He immediately proceeded to administer the Heimlich maneuver and the dog expelled a racket ball!  Thanks to Dr. Katz, the dog survived his ordeal.

Unfortunately this gal learned a lesson the hard way.  Racket balls are not dog toys.  Racket balls are made of a smooth rubber product and once the dog’s saliva makes contact with a Racket ball, it can become a slimy choking hazard, depending on the size of the dog’s throat.

It's Tuesday night, the beginner dog training class is in their second week of training.  Owners and dogs arrive at the field. As they walk up to the training area,  most are carrying backpacks and chukka sticks in hand.  Everyone makes their way to the large open grassy field, they immediately remove their dog’s leashes and urge their dogs to “go!” As their dogs run ahead, at what appears to be the speed of light, they quickly turn and hold an attentive eye on their owner, not their dog friends!  They know that if they keep their eyes on their owners, something really great will happen.  Suddenly tennis balls are screaming across the field, to the left, to the right, out in front, they are everywhere!  Dogs are trying their best to avoid each other in their attempt to retrieve a ball and get it back to their owner as quickly as possible.

Paying It Forward…………..

I guess you could say that my actual career in understanding dogs and their behaviors began when I was only five years old and not actually by choice.  My mother was an animal shelter volunteer at our local shelter and every day, religiously, after breakfast, we walked out our front door, past the neighbor’s house and into the animal shelter to volunteer our time.  The shelter was located just two doors away from our home.  Two very determined women transformed the city’s pound and animal gas chamber into a loving, caring, animal shelter back in the early 60’s.

On a recent visit to a new client’s home, I was amazed with the information that she shared with me, regarding her previous dog training experiences with her small dog.  She sat and explained that she had opted to take her small dog to a local trainers play group in hopes to address her dog's reactivity around other dogs and strangers.   The trainer knew her concerns and had no problem enrolling her into the group of small dogs. 

People need it and so do animals, environmental enrichment, that is!  Imagine if your life revolved around getting up in the morning, showering, brushing your teeth, combing your hair and getting dressed only then to be told that you needed to sit in a chair for 8 hours with nothing to do!  What if you were told that this was going to be your life, day after day?  Now what if I also limited your outdoor enrichment to the backyard only, no car rides, no stores, no movies, and no excitement.  I only allow you to access your backyard and only to get a little bit of fresh air.  I will not allow you to garden or have any other outdoor enrichment activities.  I have also decided that you are not to have any friends, no company other than me, how boring!  Eventually, your life becomes quite boring and with no enrichment, you may begin to get depressed or perhaps develop physical and emotional issues.  Now let’s put your dog in that s