The Dog Blog

Pages

Dog Training Is As Easy As 1-2-3-4 (And 1-2-3)

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Wed, 05/05/2010 - 20:37

Well, the party’s over! After spending a most relaxing five weeks at home (with some mega sunny gardening days), I shall now pretty much be on the road until the 8th July, with seminars in Washington DC, Seattle, Tarrytown NY, Phoenix and England. I’ll have one week at home and then off to Japan for the opening of Hotel WOOF and then 10 days at home and then off to the South of France for a K9 GAMES Workshop. And then, two whole months at home! Whooooo Hoo! A bit of a busy schedule but I am so excited about my upcoming lectures. It feels so good to be back on the seminar circuit and with lots of ultra new information.

 

Humping is Normal, Yet Rude and Lewd

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Tue, 05/04/2010 - 19:02

Recently, I received a question from a dog owner who was concerned that her neutered male was a dog park predator — hooked on humping. She was worried whether there was any harm in letting him mount, or whether she should be discouraging the behavior.

 

Unlike most other mammals, neutered male and to a lesser extent, neutered female dogs will continue to mount other dogs. Quite common and quite normal. In fact, neutered male dogs tend to mount more than intact males, presumably due to a lack of discriminatory experience.

 

 

Advocacy Overdrive: Why BSL & the humane treatment of dogs are linked

Drayton Michaels  |  Fri, 04/30/2010 - 14:17

As both of these topics draw heated and emotional opinions, feelings and an overall sense of tension, please refrain from flaming this post with responses that are not conducive to furthering the discussion in productive manner.

 My sole intention is to help dogs and help people better understand them, especially Pit Bull dogs. Please let’s stay on topic.

If we had Breed Specific Legislation eradicated tomorrow, and all the dogs that looked a certain way were no longer banned or discriminated against, we’d still have the issues of training and understanding them in a way that will help them all lead happy, healthy, safe and productive lives. Or at least have the dogs evaluated in a way that would be just and fair. This works well for the people that are fearful of the dogs as well. When done correctly this will save time, money, dogs, lower injuries to humans and dogs and reduce anguish among many shelter and rescue workers.

 

I Love My Job!

Dr. Nicholas H....  |  Mon, 04/26/2010 - 17:58

It was 10.30am on a recent Monday morning. My plane climbed steeply out of Chicago Midway airport heading for Boston into clear, pale blue skies. Still low, we passed Chicago on the left of the plane and I had a long look at the towering sky scrapers of windy city sitting proudly of the shores of massive Lake Michigan. The almost Caribbean blue waters of the lake stretched to a horizon describing the Earth’s curvature. It was a magnificent and memorable sight.

 

Training with Distractions

Eric Goebelbecker  |  Sun, 04/25/2010 - 14:45

I made a mistake last week. This isn't really news. As a matter of fact I probably made a mistake every day last week, so I should probably say "I made a mistake last Sunday" or maybe even "I made several mistakes last Sunday night around 11:00PM and I'm thinking of the third or fourth one right now."

Anyway, I was asked to answer an e-mail interview (man I hate that picture) and one of the questions struck me funny. Funny enough that I outsmarted myself. Again, not news — I'm an engineer and experienced in outsmarting myself. (Ask me about the SSL redirector and CPU utilization sometime over beers.)

The question was : What are your views on negative reinforcement? What do you think about dog owners using spray collars and even shock collars?

 

BlogPaws 2010 - Being the Change

Eric Goebelbecker  |  Sun, 04/11/2010 - 20:51

BlogPaws 2010

I attended the very first BlogPaws conference this weekend. I had a fantastic time and learned quite a lot. The conference was very well organized. The panel discussions were very informative and there were three great keynotes from Andrea Arden, Dr. Larry McDaniel and Elisa Camehort Page.

 

The Chaos Chronicles: A Winter Puppy's Adolescence

Jeff Silverman  |  Thu, 04/08/2010 - 08:59

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve provided an update on my puppy Chaos.  He coasted through January and February without offering much to write about.  Now that he has reached 6 months of age, however, adolescence has reared its ugly head just in time for me to realize that I overlooked some of the challenges of raising a winter puppy.   We had a long snowy winter here in Ohio.  I never thought of it as a disadvantage for raising Chaos because I did so much with him.  He went to classes, visited vet clinics, played with boarding dogs, and went to lots of people’s homes.  I failed to do enough of 2 very important things:  leash work and building Chaos’ frustration tolerance.

 

Animal Models of Human Psychiatric Disorders

Dr. Nicholas H....  |  Wed, 04/07/2010 - 17:39

For twenty years I have realized that the behavior problems I see in pet animals, especially dogs, are for the most part facsimiles of conditions psychologists and psychiatrists see in people. Human psychiatric conditions are diagnosed with reference to a manual known as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

 

Many of the conditions referred to in there are also seen in a veterinary behaviorist’s caseload. Dogs are presented with mood disorders, anxiety-related conditions, phobias, sleep disorders, impulse control disorders and compulsive disorders. There are some differences, of course. Dogs don’t get substance- related disorders and, as far as we know, do not get bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome or depression. That said, similarities abound and some remind us of our human foibles.

 

 

"Purely Positive?" "Balanced?" Another Perspective

Nicole Wilde  |  Wed, 04/07/2010 - 09:37

It keeps cropping up on training discussion boards. I’ve heard the term used proudly, and I’ve also heard it slung at other trainers as a slur. I’ve even seen it associated with my own name on blogs—and not ones that were written by me. Who knew I was a “purely positive” trainer? I sure didn’t. Besides, what exactly does “purely positive” mean in the real world?

 

Engage Your Dog's Natural Instincts

Nicole Wilde  |  Tue, 04/06/2010 - 09:32

As dog owners, most of us are aware of how important it is to give our dogs plenty of exercise. Despite our busy schedules, we make an effort to take them for walks, let them chase balls or Frisbees at the park, and perhaps play with other dogs. Some of us take part in dog sports, or participate in other competitions or fun events. What many of us never consider, though, is what our dogs were actually bred to do. Engaging in activities that allow their natural instincts to come into play is bliss for dogs; their eyes shine, their tails wag, and they appear to be in a zen-like state of happiness.

 

Pages

Subscribe to The Dog Blog
The Guide to Getting a Dog – Free on Dunbar Academy