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ARTICLES Please note that these articles are copyright and and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author/s. DOG BREEDERS – why not give a copy of this DVD to your puppy buyers? It could give them some really useful ideas on how to enrich their relationship with their puppy. It will also help them understand basic training techniques. It also contains exercises that will help the puppy become better integrated into its new home. A must for all puppy owners!! Cost is currently R150,00 per DVD. This amount
excludes postage and packaging.
HOW TO RAISE A DOG YOU CAN LIVE WITH Responsible dog ownership comprises three main categories: management (including nutrition and care), relationship (interaction between owner and dog) and training. These three aspects hold equal importance, and to neglect any one of them could result in health and/or behavioural problems in your pet.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) There are many important facets of responsible dog ownership
such as correct nutrition, regular veterinary checks, innoculations
and de-worming, attention to your dog’s needs, and lots
of love. In addition, teaching your dog correct and acceptable
behaviour allows you and your dog to live in the same environment
and enjoy each other’s company.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The easiest way to modify any dog’s behaviour is with positive reinforcement. Here are some useful pointers to bear in mind when introducing a new dog into your home, and adapting it to your life style:
Above all, enjoy the time you spend with your
dog. Give him all the love and attention you can, and he will
reciprocate by becoming a willing, biddable companion. Never force,
intimidate or physically control your pet – rather use your
mind than your muscle to get him to bend to your will.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) This document is copyright and may not be reproduced in any
form without the permission of the author. STERILIZATION OF DOGS It is generally agreed amongst the doggy fraternity that the main reason to breed a dog is to improve the species, either in looks, health, working ability and/or temperament. Breed dogs are therefore carefully selected and matched, and required to meet certain standards e.g. be clear of hip dysplasia, be a breed champion, have a certain working qualification, etc. To breed dogs indiscriminately is unfair not only to the dog, but to its offspring. Every month thousands of dogs in this country are euthanased because the welfare organisations can no longer keep them. Similarly, dogs that are bred with physiological problems results in puppies having a painful and restricted life. E.g. poor temperaments result in biting incidents causing the dog to have to be euthanized; bad hips result in poor movement and veterinarians being forced to recommend that the dog be put out of its misery. So by all means breed your dog if it meets the following criteria:
You also need to ensure that:
The wrong reasons for having a litter would be:
Before you decide to breed with your dog, it would be a good idea to visit the local SPCA and see how many dogs are looking for homes. Recent statistics shows that a dog is euthanized about every 3.2 seconds because nobody wants to take care of it! It would be even better if you could help hold a perfectly healthy dog whilst it is put to sleep, its only crime having been that it was born in the first place.
Statistics prove that dogs that are more likely to bite meet one or more of the following criteria:
Disadvantages to neutering:
Advantages to neutering:
Bitches may be sterilized at any age, but to have the greatest effect, the procedure should be performed before the dog reaches an age where hormones start to take effect. Ideally a bitch should be spayed before 6 months of age, which is the average time that the hormonal level starts to increase. Disadvantages to spaying:
Advantages to spaying:
In conclusion, breeding is not something that can be done with any success without quite a large amount of forethought and planning. It is not cheap and often involves heartbreak and pain. Sure, anyone can put two dogs together and come out with a litter of puppies – that is not difficult at all. But can you ensure that the resultant litter is an improvement on the parents? Can you be certain that they will all live an active and fulfilled life? Are you sure that you have contributed to the gene pool of your chosen breed? (NB the breeding of crossbred or mongrel dogs is considered immoral and is not dealt with in this article).
Assume each of those 6 is responsible for 6 puppies (i.e. has co-created ONE litter). Second generation 6 x 6 puppies = 36 Same assumption. Third generation 6 x 6 x 6 puppies = 6^3 (6 cubed or 6 to the power of three) = 216 puppies. If you went to 10 generations, then, it would be 6^10 puppies = roughly 60.5 million puppies. And that's assuming each dog has produce only ONE litter! This document is copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. Corpulent Canines?* Our dogs depend on us to put food in their bowls. And, more often than not, we are putting in too much! I have assessed the weight on hundreds of dogs of a variety of breeds over the past year at seminars all over the country and a conservative estimate is that about 50% of the dogs that I see are overweight; approximately 25% are actually obese. These are not couch potato dogs. These are dogs whose owners expect them to jump in obedience, to run over rough ground in retrieving tests, and to perform in agility. And we are seeing the sad results: ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments (often both legs), severe degenerative arthritis in dogs in their prime, degenerative disk disease, and many more conditions that are caused by, or exacerbated by, excess weight. Why are so many working dogs overweight? The following are some possible answers to this difficult question: Keeping a dog at working weight is incompatible with showing in conformation. I have never understood why dogs whose breed standard states that they should be shown in "hard working condition" don't win in the conformation ring unless they are FAT. The only thing that I can think of is that we are mistaking fat for muscle. For breeds such as Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, assume that if your dog is winning in the conformation ring, it is probably about 8 to 15 lb. overweight. When you are finished showing your dog in conformation, take the weight off, for his own good. People are feeding their dogs the same amount of food they were fed as adolescents. This is a common mistake. But just as most of us eat less now than we did as teenagers, your dog needs less too. A dog's metabolism slows down with age and adult dogs need less food to maintain their weight. People believe the suggested feeding regimens that are printed on dog food bags. Even the most active dog doesn't need as much food as most dog food companies recommend. The best way to determine how much food a dog needs is to feed it the amount that maintains its weight. This is a matter of trial and error. The dog has been less active, but he is being fed the same amount of food. Adjust your dog's intake to his activity level. Remember that in the winter your dog may not get as much exercise and decrease his intake accordingly. People don't know how to determine the correct weight for their dogs. Dogs vary in height, bone structure, and muscularity, so there is no one correct weight for a dog of any given breed. The best way to determine whether a dog is overweight is to test 3 different parts of the body: the neck, the ribs, and the hips. To check the neck, press your thumb and index finger deep into the side of the neck just ahead of the shoulder, and pinch them together. If your fingers are more than 1/2" apart, the dog is overweight. (Note: this is where old dogs tend to carry most of their excess fat, and they may actually be thin in other locations.) To check the ribs, stand with your dog beside you, facing his butt. Place your thumb on the middle of his spine half way down the back and spread your fingers out over his last few ribs. Then run your fingers up and down along his skin. You should be able to feel the bumps of his ribs without pressing in. To check the hips, run your hand over your dog's
croup. You should be able to feel the bumps of his two pelvic
bones without pressing down. People worry that their dogs will not get enough nutrition if they feed them less. Premium dog foods are packed with nutrients. If your dog is overweight, unless he has a hormonal problem (e.g. hypothyroidism), he is getting too much nutrition, and cutting back will not put him in jeopardy. Remember: just like humans, individual dogs vary in their metabolic rate and some dogs just need less food. People don't know how to get their dogs to lose weight without all the side effects —begging, that sad-eyed look that says "I'm hungry", etc. Try the pumpkin diet. Reduce your dog's regular food by 33% and replace it with a 67% volume of canned pumpkin (not the kind with sugar and spices, ready-made for pies). For example, if you are currently feeding your dog 3 cups of food, you would instead feed him 2 cups of food and a whole cup of canned pumpkin. Dogs love the pumpkin—it has the texture of canned dog food, it provides vitamins and roughage, it makes them feel full (so they don't forage in the yard for leftovers), and they lose weight! The vet said that the dog was a good weight (or even underweight). I have asked many vets why they don't tell their clients that their dogs are overweight, and I always get the same answer: "I have lost so many clients because they were offended when I told them their dogs were overweight that I just don't tell them anymore". So please, don't be offended—it doesn't reflect on you personally. The following is a 'real life' example. Julie Daniels, a well-known agility competitor, was showing her female Rottweiler, Jessy, in conformation. After she got her first major (5 points), Julie decided that she would rather compete with Jessy in agility. Now Rottweilers are not ideally structured for agility. So she took 21 lb (yes 21 lb.—this is not a typo) off the dog. The dog looked lovely, and in the process lost 1 1/2" in height at the withers. (For many medium-sized dogs this could mean the difference between having to jump 26" and 22" in agility.) Jessy is the all-time top winning Rottweiler in agility (USDAA National Finalist 5 years in a row) and is healthy and injury-free at the age of 10 (and still competing in Veterans). So why not do this for your best friend? * Please note that Chris Zink is quoting USA statistics in this article. THE CLICKER LITTER When we planned to breed our bitch, I was very enthusiastic about starting to train the puppies from a very early age. Having been a clicker trainer for (at that stage) past fifteen years, I firmly believe in the mantra “any animal can be taught anything it is mentally and physically capable of doing”. Clicker training is a very elegant method of teaching animals all sorts of behaviours with the use of an event marker, usually the sound of a plastic clicker. This sound is paired with something the animal likes, so that the animal (be it a bear or a mouse, a dog or a chicken) learns that when it hears the sound, something good will follow. This puts the animal in control of the learning situation – it offers and appropriate behaviour, which is marked with the click, and knows that a treat will follow. Pretty soon the animal will become very inventive, trying to work out what it is that will earn it a treat.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The reason I prefer a clicker to e.g. a sound (like the words “good dog”) is because the sound of the clicker is unique – the puppies will never hear that particular sound during the course of the day. The sound of the event marker needs to be distinct, it needs to be exactly the same every time, and quite different from normal environmental sounds. As soon as my puppies ears opened, I started clicking whenever they woke and started feeding from their dam. So the puppies became conditioned that the sound of the click meant something they wanted was going to follow – and this before they could even walk!! So the puppies learnt that their own actions sometimes caused the clicks that lead to treats. And puppies that make this discovery have a big head start on a happy future. Weaning Now it was time to do a little bit of one-on-one interaction. I took one puppy at a time and clicked it for sitting, looking in my eyes, staying four-feet-on-the-floor (as opposed to jumping up for attention). I used bits of minced meat, liver treats, raw chicken etc. as treats for them. I knew which puppy I would be keeping, and taught her to lift her paw (beginning of a wave). This was easy – every time she shifted her weight onto one side, I would click and treat. Pretty soon she was shifting her weight more and more obviously, until her foot came off the ground. It took about 10 clicks, and my puppy could wave!! Amazing muscular control for a 6 week old pup. And you should have seen her face – “WOW: I just made this huge human give me food just by lifting my little paw!!” Now that each of the puppies could sit, I worked them all together. I’d take them for a walk together at the back of the property (we live on a 2 acre stand so there’s plenty of space). When I stopped walking, seven little bottoms would hit the ground. The ones that sat the fastest got a click and treat. In a very short space of time it became a race to see who could catch me out – before I actually halted, little puppies would be sitting solidly in my path demanding a click and treat!! What a pleasure. And of course my little bitch puppy would add in a wave in for good measure …..
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) It is important that the animal is not coaxed or lured into the required position. Let them work it out for themselves – it’s their action that earns a click and treat: not following a food treat until their position is changed. This teaches them a major life lesson – they learn to want to find out what people want them to do. In other words, interaction, the desire to please, to experiment, to try and try and try again to give the human what they are looking for becomes self-rewarding to the puppy. What a super relationship to have with your dog. If you assist all the time, the dog will not learn that it is its own actions that elicit the click and treat. The other beauty of clicker training is that it’s so fast. Just a couple of clicker lessons, no more than five or so minutes each, and your pup will have learnt another cute behaviour. No need to keep going over the same thing again and again – once the dog has worked out for itself what behaviour earns a reward, it will retain that knowledge for the rest of its life. Sure, if you don’t reinforce it for some time, you might need to go back and polish it up a bit, but the dog will never forget. And those initial fun clicking session at five or six weeks of age convert a puppy from a floppy blob into an eager, observant learner.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Carrying it Further I also enforced a strong recall (come when called) in these little puppies. I would let them all play together, and then call them (not individual names at this time, just a sound that I used to get their attention). The first ones to arrive (sitting!) at my feet earned a click and treat. So the puppies went to their new homes with some basic manners already instilled in them. A couple of the new owners phoned to check whether their puppy was not sick – whoever heard of a pup that walked on a loose lead and sat when you stopped walking? One that didn’t jump up, but rather waved at you to get your attention?
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Of course the fun that I had with the puppies was only the very beginning of the learning they needed for future life. But at least they started their lives learning how to learn, and were all very ready and eager to learn more. This article is copyright, and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author The Importance of Puppy
Socialization
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The importance of puppy training or socialization was recognized in the early 1970’s. Various veterinarians and animal behaviourists have stressed the importance of exposing young puppies to different stimuli in order to prepare them for later life. Behaviourists such as Dr Roger Mugford, Dr Peter Neville and Dr Ian Fisher have produced books and videos on the topic. And Dr Dunbar produced a video in 1987 entitled “Sirius Puppy Training”, which has been widely acclaimed throughout the world. At the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress held in Durban in 1994, Dr Ian Dunbar made the following comments: “ill mannered (uneducated) and unsocialised pets generally have very short life expectancies …”. He suggested that veterinarians hold “Puppy Parties”, at which owners and puppies could meet and learn from one another. He goes on to state that “over 60% of puppies grow up in homes without children and are highly likely to become wary of children unless given adequate opportunity for friendly encounters at an early age. Similarly, between 4-5 months of age, puppies tend to become shy of strangers, especially men. Puppy parties provide a wonderful forum for pups to receive numerous treats from a variety of strangers”. (It should be noted that Dr Dunbar is a veterinarian living in America, and the statistics mentioned above are therefore related to his own country).
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Most clubs take puppies from 8 weeks of age, provided that they have had at least one inoculation. It really depends on the nature of the puppy and its inherent characteristics as to when it is time to move the puppy on to a more demanding environment, such as a more formal obedience class. Certain breeds are more susceptible to viruses such as Parvo than other breeds. For these (which include the Rottweiler, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Dobermann, etc.) I would strongly recommend that rather than wait until the puppy is 6 months old before introducing it to the world at large for the first time, you ask your veterinarian for an extra Parvo inoculation. (I do this routinely with my own puppies, as I like to start taking them to shows and friends houses from 9 weeks onwards). Puppy classes teach the pups basic manners and make them more acceptable living companions. They learn that other breeds of dogs exist (providing, of course, that you don’t take the pup to a so-called “specialist” breed club, which only allows one breed), which in turn helps them to cope with their first show where they are suddenly surrounded by all sorts of smells and different looking dogs. If your puppy is not destined to enter the show ring, the classes will also benefit it. And who knows – you might develop an interest in one of the working disciplines.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Most dog schools try to expose the puppies to a wide variety of situations such that they might come across in later years. For example, a visit to the veterinarian. Puppies learn to keep still whilst their ears and teeth are examined, whilst their temperatures are taken and their nails cut. They learn to walk on different surfaces and are exposed to different sounds and smells. Children and old folk are generally encouraged to participate so that the puppies get used to seeing people who walk in different ways. Umbrellas and suitcases etc. are “explained” to them. They learn to hold and carry a variety of different obstacles in preparation for later competitions. They learn about bite inhibition, and when it is acceptable to romp and play, and when it is necessary to lie quietly.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Puppy classes benefit the handler as much as the dog. I can’t tell you how many people who have said they wished they’d trained a dog before having had children! Both puppy and handler learn mutual respect. They learn to read each other’s body language and can therefore anticipate problems before they occur. As all teachers know, positive reinforcement is far, far more effective than negativity. So if you can pre-empt a problem and redirect the behaviour before it becomes unacceptable, you do away with the necessity (and in fact the desire) to punish the puppy. This in turn leads to a more harmonious environment, and a more relaxed puppy and handler. So if you want to live at ease with your family and puppy, make sure that it gets properly socialized from an early age. Believe me, you won’t regret it!!
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) This article is copyright, and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author PLASCON ADVERTISEMENT:
“INCREDIBLE JOURNEY” For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in animals and “what makes them tick”. In 1986 I bought a puppy, and began to get really interested in the different training methodologies. My involvement with clicker training began in 1988 when I started exploring and teaching clicker training. This in turn led to giving workshops on clicker training, both around South Africa and in Namibia. As the clicker trainers mantra is “any animal can be taught anything it is physically and mentally capable of doing”, I started working with non-traditional animals to prove how successful the method is. A friends’ pot-bellied pig got taught to back up, spin, heel, target, kneel and come when called. I then trained a chicken to discriminate between colours, to do a mini agility course, go in to a dog crate etc. I have appeared in such programmes as 50/50, Carte Blanche and Pasela, to demonstrate and explain the use of operant conditioning, and have been involved in training animals for television since 2001. When the opportunity arose to train the cats for the Plascon advertisement, I jumped at the chance. This was the first time I’d trained cats professionally. After interviewing several Burmese, I selected two for the Plascon ad. (it is usual for a “hero” and “back up” animal to be used, just in case one becomes ill on the day). With so much to teach them, we decided to allocate certain behaviours to each cat, so that one cat need not do all the work on the day.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) There are various methodologies and training technologies available today, one of which is operant condition (colloquially known as clicker training). In a nutshell, clicker training puts the animal in control, thereby greatly lowering stress levels and increasing the rate of learning. Operant conditioning was documented as far back as the early 1950s by BF Skinner, and is a well recognised science used in both behavioural training and modification. The cats used in the Plascon advertisement were clicker trained for many weeks before the filming days to ensure that they understood what was required of them, and that the new situations they were to be faced with would not be frightening in any way. (these were show cats well used to travelling and participating in cat shows). For instance, we had to familiarise them with walking down the middle of a tarred road, to run across grass and go through a cat flap in a door. Grateful thanks are due to Lucy Wagner, who kindly offered to let us use her house as neutral ground on which to train Zara and Zhannah. The cats had to get used to having a camera within inches of their face, as well has learn to concentrate when the room is crammed full of people (cameramen, gaffers, grips, pullers, director, producer, etc.). One of the shots required the cat to run across a railway line – so after teaching the cat to jump over low obstacles and run up and down stairs (which neither cat had encountered before), we went down to the main railway station in Newtown, Johannesburg to practise. In a fairly short time, the cats were both happy to run across the railway lines to where I crouched with their cat crate. The producers were extremely accommodating and not only gained permission for us to spend time practising on the railway line and the adjoining vacant lot, but also managed to get us permission to practise in the two houses where the various shots were to be filmed.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) As the trainer I was present throughout the shoot, which ran over three days. Operant conditioning requires the use of an event marker (a plastic clicker in this case) immediately followed by a reward. In film work I always choose to use a food reward, as no animal will eat if it is stressed. During the entire shoot, the cats were offered food and never once refused it, indicating that their stress levels never rose to an unacceptable level. The cats were kept on a harness and lead throughout the shoot (these were painted out in post production, leaving just a collar visible), so no harm could come to them. I was always within a short distance of them and could have recalled them at any time should they appear stressed or confused about what was required of them.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) It goes without saying that an Animal Anti-Cruelty member was present throughout the entire filming process, and Roelof and I conferred regularly as to when to call a break and let the cats rest. We had a large cat cage which we carried to each set, in which the cats were placed between shoots. Here they could use the litter box, or have a drink or bite to eat. During lunch break they usually had a well earned nap!! Many people have commented to me how impressed they are with the final product, their main question being “how did the cats respond during training to being bathed?”. I have to admit that this was initially a concern for me as well, but they actually did not need training for this, as both cats are show animals and are quite used to regular bathing. In fact I was amazed at how quickly they groom themselves dry!! Certainly being wetted down on set with warm water was not stressful for them in the least. (only one cat was used during this sequence – Zara, who attends cat shows more regularly and therefore was more accustomed to being bathed). The shot of the cat being splashed by the car was of course filmed separately and put together in post production (i.e. the cat was filmed walking down the pavement and then the car was filmed splashing through a puddle sans cat - the two shots being married at a later stage). There is no way I would have agreed to have the cat that close to a moving car, even though the cat was on a harness and lead. And of course this was not requested by the film makers.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) In conclusion, I believe that Frieze Films (the people involved in the directing and producing of this advertisement) should be commended on having been concerned enough to request that a trainer come in (at greater cost to themselves) to train these cats before the commercial was shot in order to ensure that the stress caused to the animals was minimal. Furthermore, the final Chroma sequence that was scheduled to be a 3 hour concluding session was cancelled by the Director, Tony Baggott (although this expensive studio had already been booked and therefore had to be paid for in full), as he felt that sufficient footage had already been obtained and he didn't feel it necessary to subject the cats to any further filming. The cats were a pleasure to work with, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with them and their owner, Dina Freitas. Burmese have always been one of my favourite cat breeds, and the interaction that I had with them during this time has gone a long way to reinforce this belief. They are a charming, intelligent, willing and friendly cat. Live Interview on SABC3Maxine Quinton On Wednesday 21st January 2009, I appeared on the programme "Lunchbox" on SABC 3. Pictured here getting ready for the cameras to start rolling are myself, Dasko (the Malinois) and Dennis Tau (SABC interviewer and TV host). We were given 30 seconds to rush from the seating area across and on to the stage and sit down before the cameras started rolling. Poor Dasko (who is nearly 10 years old) couldn't handle the rush, and as you can see is somewhat anxious about the hollow stage and props.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The programme was all about clicker training. It was a tremendous experience, made that much easier by the staff of Red Pepper Productions who were all so incredibly calm and kind. Clicking Puppies into AgilityMaxine Quinton The rule of thumb for introducing puppies to
agility is that As anyone who has competed can tell you, there
is a lot more to agility than just getting the dog to go over
a jump. Puppies can certainly learn some of the techniques involved
in accurate jumping from a fairly young age, bearing in mind that
obviously their understanding and ability to perform will depend
on their musculature and co-ordination. Always remember the clicker
trainers mantra – “any animal can be taught anything
it is physically and mentally capable of doing”. So watch
your puppy and make sure that you are not asking him to do something
that is outside of his capabilities. I like to teach stays fairly
early on (most 8 week old puppies can do a 30 second down stay
within about 5 minutes of clicker training during their first
class). This not only teaches the puppy self control, but also
helps with the wait at the start once the dog is old enough to
enter a show.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Why is clicker training preferable to other more traditional types of training? The basic difference between clicker training and other reward-based training is that the animal is told exactly which behaviour earns it a reward. This information is communicated with a distinct sound, a click, which occurs at exactly the same time as the desired behaviour. The reward follows. There is a huge difference between an animal that behaves with purpose, rather than by habit. Clicker trained animals will always try to learn new behaviours. They remember behaviours years later because they were aware of them as they learned them rather than acquiring them without awareness. They develop confidence because they have control over the consequences of their actions. This engenders not only confidence in themselves, but also trust in their handler and great enthusiasm to achieve. Once the puppy is conditioned to the clicker (i.e. startles on hearing the sound and looks around for its treat), one is ready to begin. I like to start with basic ground work, including:
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image)
Here I feel it should be re-iterated that in
clicker training no collar or lead is used. The puppy is free to
interact (which earns it a click and treat if it performs correctly),
and it is free to wander off if it needs a tea break. This freedom
engenders trust in the handler, and encourages the puppy to think
and problem solve for itself. Often during “tea break time”
I’ve found that a dog will solve a problem by itself, and
then come back and offer a perfect performance.
Certain of the obstacles can also be introduced to puppies. A fairly regular item in my puppy classes is the tunnel – both collapsed and rigid. Once the puppies have been clicked and treated for going through, it is a battle to keep them out of it! They love it and frequently you see the tunnel bulging whilst 3 or 4 puppies try to race through and get to the other end first. Of course if the pup is a bit nervous, one could squash (or foreshorten) the tunnel up so there isn’t such a great distance to go through. Within a 15 minute session the vast majority of puppies will not only be most willing to rush through the tunnel, but will also go through the rigid tunnel when it is curved into a “U” or an “S” shape. Other ground work exercises include getting the pup to volunteer
to walk the plank. I.e. place a flat plank on the ground and shape
the puppy to walk along it. Once again, you can teach it to walk
alongside you, go ahead of you (here we generally use a send away
to the puppy’s blanket: a very easy exercise for a 10 week
old pup), as well as recall along the plank. You could then put
a very small branch or pole underneath the plank so that it teeters
as the pup walks over. Voila! The beginning of the see-saw.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The A-frame may be taught in a similar way – place it as flat as it will go (mine only lowers to about a metre in height) and click and treat the puppies for going over. If the pup is a tiny breed (pug, min pin etc.) it is often easier to teach them to go over at an angle, rather than attack it straight on. I.e. teach the pup to start at the bottom right hand corner and move to the top left hand corner, and then go down the other side towards the bottom right corner. Just gives the little chap a bit more traction. Does it need to be mentioned that the puppy should never be allowed to lift its head when going over the A-frame or dog walk? Obviously the musculature of a little puppy is not developed and if you, for instance, try and lure your puppy over the obstacle with food held in your hand above the pups head, you are risking serious injury to the puppy’s cervical spine. Keep the head down at all times. Put food on the A-frame if you must, but never feed from your hand. This has a two-fold benefit – not only does the puppy keep its head down (which leads to a faster and more accurate obstacle, as well as lessening the risk of injury), but it also gets the pup thinking that the A-frame is rewarding it, rather than the handler. That way the handler can move well away from the A-frame quite soon, and just ask the pup to run over the obstacle.A lot of emphasis should also be put on teaching warming up exercises. Be cautious about a lot of repetition of these if you pup is very young. But there is no reason why and 8 week old puppy can’t learn to bow-wow, spin, figure of 8 through your legs, roll over, etc. As the puppy gets a bit older, one could introduce concepts like back crosses, front pivots etc. And of course the names of the various pieces of equipment. You can quite easily clicker train a puppy to recognise that “over” refers to running between two uprights, rather than zooming through the tunnel; or that “walk on” means totter over the plank instead of trying out the A-frame. Bending poles are a potential danger zone for dogs whose growth plates have not yet fused. Much better to click and treat your puppy for entering with the first pole on his left hand side rather than getting him to twist his body in and out in an (what is for dog) unnatural manner. You could put up two rows of poles slightly apart from each other, and click your puppy for running down the channel, thus getting him used to have poles on either side. But teaching poles a la clicker is so easy, I tend to leave this obstacle until the dog is a lot older. It is also fun to make jumps out of strange things e.g. two crates on their sides with a pole on the ground between them; or a couple of unfurled umbrellas on their sides, etc. Not many dogs get to compete with the jumps they have learned on at home, and the sooner they learn to cope with all sorts of visual stimuli the better. Click and treat for confident approaches to whatever strange articles you manage to think up. In closing, a word of caution. Remember that what you click is what you get. So if your timing is bad and you click the puppy at the wrong moment, that is what the pup is likely to repeat. And never forget the golden rule – every click is followed by a treat, even if you made a mistake and clicked at the wrong time. Agility is a wonderful sport for both handlers and dogs. Have fun with your puppy, but never forget that at his tender age it is better to err on the side of caution. Rather do too little strenuous exercise than risk an injury that might impair his chances of success in later life. How to have a Polite
Puppy the Clicker Way A puppy that sits is generally far more socially acceptable than one that jumps up against folk, muddying their clothes and scratching their legs. A puppy that sits rather than growling and tearing at ones pants is much more likely to get positive attention from friends and family. A puppy that has learnt to sit when greeting strangers is likely to earn you an admiring look – after all, aren’t puppies untrainable? Don’t they always behave like hooligans when they’re only a few months old? So how does one go about teaching a puppy manners?
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Get out your trusty clicker and some treats that your puppy particularly likes. Ensure that your puppy is clicker conditioned by clicking and treating him a few times, and watching for the startle response when he hears the click sound. Then watch for your puppy to glance your way. The moment you have eye contact, cross your arms. Do not say “sit”. Do not say anything. Do not move. Just stand there and look at your puppy. If he sits, click and treat. If he remains sitting, keep clicking and treating him. After a short while, click and throw his treat to one side, thereby making the puppy stand up to go and get it. Fold your arms again, and your puppy should offer another sit. Click and treat.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) If your puppy doesn’t sit, move closer to him so that he has to bend his head right up to maintain eye contact. This will probably cause his bottom to lower towards a sitting position – click and treat. If he jumps up on you, just turn and walk away. As soon as he stops jumping (or chewing at your pants, or investigating an ant), move towards him again and try and elicit eye contact. As soon as you have it, fold your arms and wait for the sit. Click and treat when it is offered. In a short space of time, your puppy will start sitting every
time he sees you fold your arms. Now you need to take this on
the road. Get your friends and family to look at the puppy and
then fold their arms. If the puppy sits – click and treat.
Repeat this with different people, in different environments,
with more distractions. ON ALPHA ROLLING The original alpha/dominance model was born out of short-term studies of wolf packs done in the 1940’s. These were the first studies of their kind. These studies were a good start, but later research has essentially disproved most of the findings. There were three major flaws in these studies: These were short-term studies, so the researchers concentrated on the most obvious, over parts of wolf life, such as hunting, the studies are therefore unrepresentative drawing conclusions about “wolf behaviour: based on about 1% of wolf life. The studies observed what are now known to be ritualistic displays and misinterpreted them. Unfortunately, this is where the bulk of the “dominance model” comes from, and though the information has been soundly disproved, it still thrives in the dog training myths. For example, alpha rolls. The early researchers saw this behaviour
and concluded that the higher-ranking wolf was forcibly rolling
the subordinate to exert his dominance. Well, not exactly. This
is actually an “appeasement ritual” instigated by
the SUBORDINATE wolf. The subordinate offers his muzzle, and when
the higher-ranking wolf “pins” it, the lower-ranking
wolf voluntarily rolls and present his belly. There is NO force.
It is all entirely voluntary.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) A wolf would flip another wolf against his will ONLY if he were planning to kill it. Can you imagine what a forced alpha roll does to the psyche of our dogs? Finally, after the studies, the researchers made cavalier extrapolations from wolf-dog, dog-dog and dog-human based on their “findings”. Unfortunately, this nonsense still abounds. So what’s the truth? The truth is dogs aren’t wolves.
Honestly, when you take into account the number of generations
past, saying “I want to learn how to interact with my dog
so I’ll learn from the wolves” makes about as much
sense as saying, “I want to improve my parenting –
let’s see how the chimps do it!” So what does this mean for the dog-human relationship? Using physical force of any kind reduces your “rank”. Only middle ranked animals insecure in their place squabble. To be “alpha”, control the resources. I don’t mean hokey stuff like not allowing dogs on beds or preceding them through doorways. I mean making resources contingent on behaviour. Does the dog want to be fed? Great – ask him to sit first. Does the dog want to go outside? Sit first. Dog want to greet people? Sit first. Want to play a game? Sit first. Or whatever. If you are proactive enough to control the things your dogs want *you* are alpha be definition. Train your dog. This is teh dog-human equivalent of “revoking of puppy license” phase in dog development. Children, women, elderly people, handicapped people – all are capable of training a dog. Very few people are capable of physical domination. Reward deferential behaviour, rather than pushy behaviour. I have two dogs. If one pushes in front of the other, the other gets the attention, the food, whatever the first dog wanted. The first dog to sit gets treated. Pulling on the lead goes nowhere. Doors don’t open until dogs are seated and I say they may go out. Reward pushy, and you get pushy. Your job is to be a leader, not a boss, not a dictator. Leadership is a huge responsibility. Your job is to provide for all of your dog’s needs – food, water, vet care, social needs, security, etc. If you fail to provide what your dog needs, your dog will try to satisfy those needs on his own. In a recent article in the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)
newsletter, Dr Ray Coppinger – a biology professor at Hampshire
College, co-founder of the Livestock Guarding Dog Project, author
of several books including Dogs: A Startling New Understanding
of Canine Origin, Behaviour, and Evaluation; and an extremely
well-respected member of the dog training community – says
in regards to the dominance model (and alpha rolling) –
“I cannot think of many learning situations where I want
my learning dogs responding with fear and lack of motion. I never
want my animals to be thinking social hierarchy. Once they do,
they will be spending their time trying to figure out how to move
up in the hierarchy”. PET FRIENDLY
GARDENS Students often ask me how they can help make
their garden more stimulating and user friendly for their pet.
Irrespective of the size of your garden, or the species of pet
you prefer, you can design elements in your garden to accommodate
and stimulate your pet. You can even make separate areas within
your garden so that there is an area for adults, an area for children
as well as an area for your pet.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) For example, all animals can benefit from shade plants. Dogs and cats enjoy shade in summer. It also provides protection from predators. If you have both a cat and a dog, the cat can move into the tree if it has had enough of the dogs’ attentions. (this providing you don’t have a terrier that can scurry up a tree just as fast as the cat!) Birds also enjoy a tree with good foliage, not just for sanctuary, but also for roosting. Insects and reptiles such as lizards and chameleons are attracted by certain types of trees, so if you’re fond of reptiles, select a suitable indigenous plant.Many trees also provide a necessary food source of animals. Parrots love the foliage from rhus trees, cats greatly enjoy a good roll in catnip, and willow trees provide a natural source of paracetamol. My willow tree has been almost ring-barked by the dogs. Presumably they were suffering from a bad headache at the time. On observation, it appeared that two of the dogs were chewing at a specific part of the trunk. They ate away at it for about two months, and none of the dogs have ever paid any interest to it since. Scented plants also provide wonderful environmental enrichment for pets. Plants such as Rosemary, Lavender and Rue can give your pet endless pleasure. I’ve watched dogs pushing themselves through salvia plants over and over again. Initially I thought they were scratching their backs, but on closer observation, I believe they were also trying to impregnate their fur with the smell of the plant. Maybe this helped warding off flies and other pesky insects? Whatever, it was obviously an enjoyable pastime for the dog.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The various sounds made by plants are also stimulating. Some grasses make a wonderful rustling sound (cats seem to particularly enjoy this). Most animals enjoy the feeling of pushing through a shrub or long grass. If you keep and area for just indigenous grass, you’ll be amazed at the amount of wildlife that makes use of it. Little shrews will have tunnels running through it, wild birds will flock down to feed off the seeds. Small insects such as ladybirds will start to appear.There are also plants for playing with. Cats enjoy grasses such as the fishermans’ grass, which they can pat with their paws. A couple of old logs strategically placed can afford rewarding scratching posts for cats, or a pleasant looking natural jump for dogs. Drooping foliage will be appreciated by e.g. chickens and guinea pigs. There are some other general things to note irrespective of what pet you have. Contrary to popular belief, dogs don’t necessarily need a lot of space to exercise in. As long as they are adequately stimulated by their surroundings, and taken off the property for ever-rewarding sniffs, you can keep an active dog in a relatively small area.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) It is often a good idea to divide the garden up into separate distinct areas, this so that everyone gets a place to play in. Children could have a jungle gym, adults a braai area, and animals a shallow splash pool or sand pit. Sand pits can be a great source of entertainment for dogs, especially those that like digging. Get a small plastic shell (kiddies stores sell them – they often look like a scallop sea shell), fill the shell with sand and bury some interesting articles – a ball, cow heel, rawhide chew, etc. The dogs learn that it is acceptable and rewarding to dig in that area, and will tend to leave the rest of the garden unexcavated.All gardens should be checked for safety. A good security fence is essential, with electric strands being closer together should you wish to contain your cats. Perimeter fences should regularly be checked for holes or tunnels under them. Dogs (and some cats) love fence fighting with their neighbours – if your fence is not secure, you could land yourself with some hefty veterinary bills, not to mention an irate visit from your next door neighbour. It is important that dogs are able to see out of their property, whether through the driveway gate, or a fence. If your property is surrounded by a solid brick or precast wall, it is often a good idea to make a small eye hole at the dogs’ eye height for him to look out. By allowing your pet to see what’s going on in the outside world, he should become more exposed to cars, pedestrians and other passers-by. This prevents fear on seeing a previously unknown subject for the first time. Imagine how frustrating it must be to be able to smell and hear the outside world, but to never be able to see it. Ensure that pets do not have access to refuse bins and that the driveway is clear so that pets don’t get bumped or run in to when you leave home or arrive back. It is also a good idea to have a specific area for your cat or dog to use for soiling. It is much easier to clean up after your pet if it also defecates in the same area. Not a huge issue to teach, and a much more hygienic solution, especially if you have children. Be aware that some plants are toxic to animals and pets, Oleander being a prime example. Thorny plants can tear the flesh of a running dog, or jab it in the eye. Thorns and burrs can get stuck or impale themselves between dogs toes or in their pads. Fruits like that avocado are toxic to parrots and dogs. Certain types of algae and fungi can also cause severe gastro-intestinal problems in animals, and sometimes lead to death. Some folk are not able or not interested in owning a cat or a dog. If you have a small water feature, you can derive hours of pleasure watching fish swim around. I have a friend who has a pond just to observe the indigenous frogs that use it. The species seem to vary according to the seasons, but there is always some sort of frog or toad nearby the water. Another friend of mine rescued a border collie that was 8 years old. This poor girl must have led quite a stressful life, and spent a large portion of her day barking at all and sundry. On getting a small windfall, Laura decided to re-vamp her garden, and included in her plans a water feature, complete with fountain and fish. This proved to be an instant success with the dog, which now spends hours running from side to side of the pond trying to herd the fish from under the lily pads!! So intent is Pippa on getting the fish to “obey” her, that she completely forgets to bark. An all-round success story.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Fresh water should always be available. Sometimes it is better to elevate this so that your dog doesn’t use it to wash his feet in, or as a container for his dirty toys. Activity balls and items hung from trees also present problem solving puzzles for active dogs, cats and birds. I once had a problem with bored chickens that started to peck at each others’ eggs, depriving us of our breakfast. A simple solution was to hang some leafy branches across the entrance to their laying boxes, so that the birds had to push through a screen to get into the box. This was stimulating to them, and also prevented the chickens on the outside from seeing the eggs as easily. I also hung a rag on a string further down their enclosure, so that they could peck on that and (hopefully) alleviate the desire to destroy the newly laid eggs. It worked, and within days we were back to our full quota of eggs.Remember to remove your dogs food about 10 minutes after offering it too them. Food left around all day encourages rats and other scavengers, which often carry disease which they could pass on to your pets. Of course food left exposed to the elements all day could also become rancid and give rise to digestive problems. Allowing your dog to scavenge is also a good solution for bored pets. Dogs are natural scavengers, and generally enjoy using their noses. Perhaps you could toss their kibble on the grass occasionally and leave them to make use of their wonderful sense of smell to find their breakfast. Bird feeders are also tremendously rewarding for both birds and cats. Hang them where the cats can’t get to them, and fill them with an assortment of seed and fruit. The birds will enjoy the free meal, and the cats will sit there for hours with their tails twitching, dreaming of a feathered feast.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Hopefully you will now have many new ideas on how to better enjoy your garden with your pet. Wishing you a peaceful yet stimulating time together. INTRODUCING
A NEW DOG TO THE EXISTING PACK I frequently get asked the best way to introduce a new dog into an existing pack. Obviously a lot depends on the breed, age and sexual status of the animals involved. If you have a geriatric dog and want to bring in a new puppy, is it really fair to allow the old dog to have a puppy bouncing all over it when it wants to live out its life in peace? And if you have an adult dog and want to introduce another adult, what is the best approach to adopt?
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) In my opinion, there are a few basic rules that need to be applied. Should you wish to bring a new adult dog into an existing doggy household, the first criteria should be to be aware of the sexual status of the dogs (i.e. it would be really silly to expect two intact adult dogs to get along with each other, whether they be males or females). Sterilize the dogs concerned, and that will lower the likelihood of there being a fight. If the existing dog has not been regularly socialised throughout its life (i.e. taken off the property to training, taken for regular walks in different environments, been allowed to meet a variety of different animals and people of all ages, etc.), then there will probably be a problem when the new dog is brought home. Think of it from the existing dogs’ point of view. It has had thi s house all to itself for the duration of its life. It has never been off the property except for occasional veterinary visits. It has no clue about “life on the outside”. And you go and get a new dog and expect your dog to just accept it. If is extremely unlikely that this will happen. If, on the other hand, your dog has been regularly and well socialised, it will make the introduction of a new dog much easier. If the new dog is a puppy, it is important that the adult dog has been exposed to puppies in the few months prior to the puppy’s arrival. I had one person ‘phone me, who was most upset that her 8 year old Labrador attacked her new puppy. When questioned, this lady admitted that Labrador had not been off the property for 8 years and last saw a puppy when it left its dam and litter mates 8 long years ago!! How can any dog with this background even know what a puppy is, let alone want to welcome it into its home? Probably the best approach to both of these scenarios would be to:
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If you are in any doubt about how the introduction of another dog might affect your family, speak to your veterinarian and your trainer. You could also consult the breeders of the dogs to find out if they have a suggestion that could make the transition of the new dog in to your house easier. It is far better to prevent an unpleasant reaction from the dogs than to try and fix it afterwards. The bottom line is socialise, socialise, socialise your dog.
The more confident your dog is with strange things and different
situations, the more relaxed and happy it will be.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Spirocercosis
in dogs Spirocercosis is a parasitic disease mainly of domestic dogs, caused by the nematode (worm) Spirocerca lupi. Spirocercosis occurs mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. It is a debilitating disease and can lead to acute death. There has been a marked increase of clinical spirocercosis among dogs in South Africa, in both urban and rural areas. The adult spirurid nematode is a relatively large worm, pink-red in colour with males and females reaching 3-4cm and 6-7cm respectively. Life cycle The life cycle within the dog takes approximately six months. After ingestion, the larvae penetrate the stomach wall, enter the arterial system and migrate to the aorta in the chest. They then migrate through wall of the aorta to the esophagus. A nodule (granuloma) forms in the esophagus. Aberrant migrations have been described in the thoracic cavity organs as well as migration to the spinal cord. Large breed dogs appear to be predisposed and, due to the lengthy life cycle, it is uncommon in dogs under a year of age. As can be seen from the life cycle, spirocercosis is not contagious between dogs. Clinical signs Aberrant migrations cause atypical clinical signs of spirocercosis. Aberrant S lupi can be present without the characteristic signs, rendering the ante mortem diagnosis of aberrant migration difficult. Diagnosis Normal overview or contrast radiographs (using barium) are helpful in diagnosing large nodules and extensive disease. This is relatively easy to perform, safe and does not require sedation or anesthesia. Small nodules in the early stages of the disease could be missed however. Endoscopy is a sensitive method, earlier lesions (small nodules) can be detected and the extent of the disease can be evaluated. Biopsies of the nodule(s) can be done using an endoscope. This method however requires general anesthesia and is more expensive. Faecal flotation tests can be helpful, but are not very reliable. The eggs are difficult to detect and infection will be missed if the worm is not shedding eggs at the time of the faecal examination. Treatment The drug is safe in all dog breeds, except in collie dogs and herding dogs. This includes border collies, rough collie, smooth collie, bearded collie, old English sheepdogs as well as Australian shepherd, cattle dogs and possibly less common herding breeds. These dogs may carry a mutation of the multiple drug resistance – 1 (MDR-1) gene. Should they carry the MDR-1 gene, it results in Doramectin causing neurological symptoms and possible coma. There is however a laboratory test available to detect the MDR-1 gene mutation and it is advised that all collie, collie crosses and herding breeds are tested before the drug is used. Should the dog test positive a special low dose protocol is used. All confirmed cases, as well as other dogs in the same household are treated with Doramectin. One of the protocols is to inject the dogs with Doramectin subcutaneously every two weeks for six treatments. The drug may also be given orally. Affected dogs should be re-evaluated for the success of the treatment. A nodule that shows no regression in size after four to six treatments of therapy should be biopsied to test for cancer formation. Side effects of treatment Prevention Due to the increase in prevalence in South Africa, it has become an acceptable approach to treat all dogs as a preventative measure with a Doramectin course twice a year. Bear in mind that routine deworming does not affect Spirocerca lupi. The dog should be weighed to establish the correct drug dosage. The treatment and prevention of spirocercosis is an area which requires further research. References
A few months ago I was invited to join the ranks of the Super Pup trainers. What does this mean? Here are a few excerpts from the Super Pup web site (www.superpup.co.za) to help explain what Super Pup is all about.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Your new pup has the potential to be an excellent companion, but he can't teach himself. With the expert guidance of a certified Super Pup trainer, you can be shown how to teach your pup to be the best he can be. The Super Pup programme was initially contracted by Royal Canin as a benefit for their trainers. After a 12 month development period, it was realised that Super Pup had the ability to improve the industry as a whole. However, by it being restricted to a specific sponsor, this would reduce the beneficial effects to a large extent. The decision was thus made to remove the sponsor restriction. We salute Royal Canin on this unselfish and generous contribution to the wellbeing of our beloved puppies! Super Pup trainers represent the top echelon of trainers in SA - just what your pup and you deserve! Get ready to meet a whole bunch of experienced, qualified and just plain awesome dogfolk! If your pup could talk he'd be asking you to get clicking straight away... The Importance of Puppy Classes
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Puppy school provides the perfect opportunity for puppies to
polish their canine communication skills, which are interrupted
when they leave their mother and littermates. Puppies also get
socialised to children and different types of people. This is
one of the most valuable lessons you can teach your new puppy. As a good owner you ensure that your puppy receives his vaccinations
to prevent disease - puppy school could be likened to a behavioural
vaccination. A lot of potential problems can be averted by undergoing
the Super Pup course.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) In July 2009 I was asked to give a talk to the flight attendants at SAA on how to handle a dog on a plane. This came about due to recent changes to the Air Carriers Access Act, which impacts on all foreign carriers travelling to and from the United States. This includes SAA, which means that they could at any given time have to accommodate several dogs. These dogs include not only guide dogs but also assistance dogs (e.g. seizure dogs) required by passengers which would need to travel onboard in the cabin with their handlers. As the cabin crew had no knowledge of how to deal with dogs in an emergency situation during a flight, I was asked to go through some of the basics of dog handling with them. The workshop took place in one of SAA’s flight simulators.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) One of the first things that was stressed, was safety – both for the dog and for the humans involved. Dogs should be muzzled so that in the event of a catastrophe and the dog or handler is injured, they can be evacuated without anyone getting bitten. A lot of the attendees had never seen a dog with a muzzle on, and were quite intimidated by the sight of this “ferocious” dog moving up and down the aisles. For this workshop, I used one of my own dogs, a neutered Malinois named Dasko who was 10 years old.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) I then went on to demonstrate how to muzzle a dog with a lead. This in case the muzzle somehow got torn off the dogs face during a forced landing. One brave participant volunteered to try this procedure with Dasko. It appeared that because many of these people were not used to handling dogs, they were very timid in their approach, which in turn made the dog unsure and much more difficult to control.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Of course, Dasko got lots of treats during this whole performance, and so thoroughly enjoyed himself. I’m a firm believer that unless you’re having fun, there’s not much point in trying to teach, as people learn much faster if they can relate to the topic at hand and enjoy themselves a bit. So there was quite a lot of laughter during the training session. We then went on to talk about emergency evacuations – how to get the dog off the plane in the event of a crash. First Dasko and I had to take our seats as we would have done on a normal flight. This presented a problem. The dog has to sit in front of its handler, and the area between my knees and the seat in front was too small for Dasko to squash in to. He is not a large dog, weighing only 34 kgs with a height of 61cms at the shoulder. A lot of Labradors, for instance, would have greater bulk, and therefore more difficulty in fitting in to the space available. And of course, because the dogs’ handler is compromised, they are not allowed to sit in front of the emergency exit, which has much more leg room. Anyway – once we were seated, the cabin crew began a mock emergency landing. They stood in their positions and repeatedly shouted out commands to move to the back and evacuate the plane. The rest of the participants pushed and shoved and shouted at each other as they rushed to the exits. During this time, the simulator started shaking and rocking about, whilst making an unpleasantly dangerous noise. This of course upset the dog, demonstrating to the participants that a nervous dog could become unmanageable if not correctly handled.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) People have to be evacuated first, which means that the dog needed to be secured in some way to the seat so that he can’t move around and impede progress off the plane. Once all the human passengers are off, the cabin crew have to go back and collect the dog/s and move them to the chute. I suggested that the quickest and most effective way of getting the dog down the chute would be to hog tie it, (i.e. tie the dogs’ front and back feet together) and if possible hold it on your lap whilst sliding down the ramp. Although very unpleasant, hog tying the dog would prevent it from thrashing about and causing injury to itself and others whilst falling down the chute. As all cabin crew have access to scarves, it was suggested that that would be the kindest and easiest equipment to use to restrict the dogs’ movements. All in all I believe the attendees gained some
insight in how best to handle a dog under very difficult circumstances.
Dasko appeared to enjoy his day out, apart from the actual simulated
disaster, which he found a bit nerve wracking! But as soon as the
simulator stopped bumping about he settled down again. And when
we got home, he enjoyed a good long afternoon nap after a hard days’
work. Puppy Fun
Day The last class of the year is always a fun day at Clicker Training Concepts. Here are some photos of one of the puppy classes competing in their teams. Handlers and their puppies are asked to perform exercises that they have been taught during the year, the difference being that now they have to perform them at speed. The competition has both a practical and a theoretical aspect, as handlers are also quizzed on the subjects that have been discussed in previous classes e.g. name 5 worms that dogs could contract, give three symptoms of biliary, what is the normal temperature of a dog?, how many teeth should a puppy have?, etc.
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(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Puppy Puzzle On 28th January 2010, a litter of six Malinois puppies were born. The litter comprised 3 dogs and 3 bitches. My firm belief is that the only reason for breeding a litter is to try to improve the quality of that particular breed of dog (in this case Malinois). Because of this, I will only consider breeding with dogs that have working qualifications, are clear of hip dysplasia, and are breed champions. Temperament is paramount – if a dog is not of a sound disposition, how can it possibly enjoy participating in the gamut of events that we have available to us in South Africa? And if it doesn’t enjoy its work, how can it achieve? Placing the puppies in the correct homes is quite a trial. I try to match puppies to their new homes as closely as possible, sometimes even refusing a puppy to someone who has paid a deposit because I don’t believe the puppy has the necessary characteristics for that home. Being highly active dogs, Malinois also need to go to homes that will work them and stimulate them daily on both a physical and mental level. With this litter I decided to have the puppies evaluated by a puppy
puzzle. This because one particular puppy looked like having really
good breed showing/breeding potential, as well as having excellent
drive which would make it a good working dog. I needed to make sure
my evaluation was correct, and that this puppy was placed in a home
where both aspects of its breeding could be utilised. All our puppies
are sold with breeding restrictions, and the person who took this
puppy needed to know that if the pup turned out to be as good as
her form promised, we might wish to breed with her at a later stage.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Pat Hastings designed the “Puppy Puzzle” in order to
determine whether each puppy in the litter is structurally sound
enough to do what we will be asked of it in its lifetime, whether
the hope is for the show ring or obedience, agility, working trials,
flyball, etc. On the basis of this, I booked my puppies in to have a Puppy Puzzle. On arrival at the evaluators’ house, the puppies were placed in a puppy pen. They were taken out individually to be tested. Besides a simple temperament test, each puppy was given a thorough conformation evaluation according to the breed standard. I chose to use the FCI standard as it is far more comprehensive and is the standard that is internationally recognised. The test is most interesting, as most of it is done by reflection
i.e. a mirror image.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The test is ideally performed at 8 weeks of age, but can be stretched to two days on either side. Problems in topline are considered in relation to front and rear structural weaknesses, and movement as a function of front and rear assemblies; skull growth helps to predict whether the head will meet the breed standard; the neck is checked to see if it is too short or too long. Basically one wants to make sure the puppy is balanced in bone and muscle.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The evaluation has three purposes: to determine whether there are structural problems in the litter so they can be avoided in future breedings; to decide which puppy to keep as a potential addition to the breeding program; and to determine the best type of home for each puppy in the litter. The idea is not (according to Hastings), to determine which puppies will grow into future champions, but which will enhance a breeding program that will produce puppies that are genetically, temperamentally, and structurally sound. The results of the test were most interesting – the little
bitch that I particularly liked scored the highest. She was placed
in a working home nearby so that her progress can be monitored.
It will take a few years to see whether she meets the standard awarded
her by the puppy puzzle, and we are all excited by her prospects.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Placing Littermates
in the Same Home The following are some thoughts which will hopefully be of some use to two different groups of people: breeders wishing to place their puppies in the best possible homes, and also for helping puppy buyers when selecting their new pet. In general, it is never advisable to home two puppies from the same litter into the same home. This for several reasons:
Same sex puppies Even worse than getting two puppies from the same litter, is getting two puppies of the same sex from the same litter. Puppies of either sex will generally gain sexual maturity before they are a year old. When the hormones kick in, the pups have no choice but to sort out dominance issues. So even if they have got along like a house on fire initially, when they become sexually active, they could well start fighting. Male dogs fight for dominance, and although you will probably need to take the combatants to the vet for medical attention, it is unlikely that there will be any dreadful injuries. On the other hand, bitches have been known to fight to the death. The belief is that bitches do not want any other bitch to bear puppies, so they maim or kill adversaries to stop this happening. Bites to the head, neck and shoulders can be severe, but are rarely an indication of true intent to kill. On the other hand, if a dog tries to bite the front legs of their opponent, you have a big problem. Breeds bred to fight other dogs tend to do this – they break their adversary’s front legs so that they cannot fight back, and then kill them at leisure.
Should you want to get two puppies, then it is best to space them out a bit. i.e. wait until you have the first puppy fully integrated into your household and well trained and socialised. Wait until the hormones have been sorted. This either by waiting until after the dog is fully sexually mature, or by sterilization. (see “Sterilization of Dogs: Should one spay/neuter?” under “Articles” on this web site.) This usually takes about a year. Only then should you consider getting your second puppy. By doing this you will alleviate (and hopefully eliminate) a lot
of potential heartache and problems along the way.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Eliminating
Doggy Odours At some stage or other, most dogs will urinate in an inappropriate place. This often happens inside the house. The reason for this can be varied, but the result is always an unpleasant odour. Removing the smell from your curtains, furniture, carpet or clothing can become quite a trial. You pet might also enjoy urinating on a favourite plant or garden feature, thereby making it wilt or look unsightly. And unfortunately, once a dog has urinated on something, it encourages other dogs to do the same. So quite quickly your e.g. lounge can become offensive to the humans living there. When cleaning up mistakes in the house, avoid any product that contains ammonia. Using an ammonia-based detergent will encourage your dog to use that spot for elimination again, because the odour of ammonia is similar to the smell of urine. (the acid/alkaline story). There are several ways of dealing with the problem:
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) How to stop
Bitches in Season from Driving Dogs Mad You can help prevent having all your intact male dogs from whining and crying over the smell that bitches in season give off by giving the bitch some chlorophyll. Dosage obviously is dependent upon a number of things (e.g. size of dog, hormonal level, whether she’s been bred before, etc.), so try a low dose at first and then increase if there is no reduction in the males’ noise level. Most pharmacies stock a range of natural products and chlorophyll is not normally difficult to get.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Your neighbours and others in the area will bless you, as it is said that dogs can smell a bitch in season up to three kilometres away. So give your bitch this cheap effective treatment whilst she is in season and everyone will be happier. The only drawback is the bitches’ stool becomes dark green. Which on the positive side could be seen as an advantage as it makes it much easier to spot the poop!! Be aware that the use of chlorophyll in no way decreases your bitches’ desire to mate or her ability to bear young. So even though the males calm down in her presence, they should still be kept separate for the 21 days that her season will run.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Back to topShowing
in the Breed Ring Some years ago I imported a dog from Belgium, and was encouraged by the local club to enter him in breed shows. Having never been a great fan of beauty contests, I was somewhat hesitant to do this. However, I was assured that my puppy had the makings of a breed champion and that it would be a pity not to at least have him assessed under various judges. So I started showing in the breed arena. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this sport, it entails acquiring a dog which is registered with the country’s Kennel Union. One then enters a show (either open or championship) and arrives bright and early at the show grounds. After finding a suitable parking spot and setting up a chair to sit on as well as shade and water for the dog, you settle down in front of your ring for a long day. Rings are allocated according to the different sports dogs are bred for, so there is a ring for e.g. toys, working, herding, terriers, hounds, utility, etc. I have a Malinois (one of the four varieties of Belgian Shepherd Dog), and so had to wait outside the Herding ring. The dogs are shown in alphabetical order, so Belgian Shepherds are preceded by other breeds like Australian Shepherds, Australian Cattle Dogs, Beauceron, etc. Dogs are shown separately from bitches, and for some reason the males go in to the ring first. Once your class is called, you enter the ring and the dog is checked for any disqualifying faults, such as an incorrect bite, missing teeth, eyes that are too light, incorrect coat colour, etc. Disqualifying faults vary between breeds. Once that has been ascertained, the dogs are run in a circle, triangle and straight line so that the judge can check to see whether the gait of the dog is correct for its particular breed. As instructed by the regular attendees to these shows, I entered and my dog often won his class and sometimes the coveted Challenge Certificate and Best of Breed awards. I became more courageous and started travelling a little further to attend shows, as you need to win 5 Challenge Certificates under different judges for your dog to earn the title of Champion (Breed). I had already qualified dogs in various working disciplines, and thought it might be quite nice to have a breed champion as well. So I began to show my Malinois (his name was Danjo) more seriously. As often happens, some of us handlers gravitated together and began to try and make the tedious waiting day a little more bearable. (it is not uncommon to arrive at the grounds at 07h00 and only leave again at 17h00, having only had two spells in the ring of about 2 minutes each). On one occasion, a friend and I agreed to meet at a show in Pietermaritzburg and spend the day together. My friend was even more of a rookie at this game than I was, and asked for some pointers on how best to show her dog, which was a Standard Schnauzer. Only too willing to show off my newly acquired knowledge, I told her that the most important part of showing was your grand entry into the ring. (a judge had told me a couple of weeks prior to this that most judges are influenced by their first impression, and a good entry into the ring is a good way to get the judge to take note of your dog from the outset).
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) This is quite difficult to explain, so I told my friend not to worry, just to watch how I (the Undisputed Expert of Grand Entry into The Ring) did it. So she stood there with bated breath and watched my class being called up. The three dogs in front of me trotted into the ring with tails pluming and handlers preening. Then it was my turn……. Determined to put my new-found knowledge to good use, I gathered up the lead, called to my dog and charged into the ring. Unfortunately I forgot to check where the entrance gate was, and so instead ran straight into the boundary tape, tripped up and promptly fell flat on my face. My beautiful dog (no doubt horribly confused by this new mode of locomotion), leapt on to my back and sat on me. Gasps of horror from the onlookers! The judge ran forward to help me back on to my feet. Now thoroughly confused, Danjo decided that this man was the cause of all the disruption and tried his best to fend him off. Being a breed that is used to guard and defend his property (which includes owner), Danjo did this by lunging forward and trying to bite the judge, who very wisely leapt out of the way. As I still have a firm grip of the lead, the dogs’ charge was short lived. Once I’d regained my breath, I struggled to my feet (covered in mud as it had rained heavily the night before) and staggered back in to my place. The judge very kindly allowed by to compete (he could have excused me due to the dogs aggression). Needless to say, my dog was placed last. Eventually the class ended and I was allowed to scurry out of the ring with my poor non-champion dog. My friend was still in her spot at the side of ring – her eyes were big and bright. “My word”, she said – “I see what you mean about making the judge take note of you! But I think I’ll just stick to the conventional way of competing, if you don’t mind.”
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Back to topSome
suggestions for breeders on helping puppies to get a good, confident
start in life As soon as your puppies ears open you can start conditioning them to the sound of the clicker. Click every time they are allowed to feed off their dam. Click when you’re weaning them on to solids. They soon learn to associate the sound of the clicker with food, which is after all, a necessity to survival. This article deals mainly with sensory perception in young puppies. Every day you try to introduce your puppies to different sensations in the categories of touch, smell, sound, warm/cold, vibration, sight, taste, etc. Once they are clicker conditioned (i.e. have learned that the sound of the clicker means something good is about to follow), you will find that the pups become very keen to explore new things in their environment. Start with just one or two new things, and then work up to half a dozen or so if you can. If you can keep records on how they respond, you might find some very interesting patterns developing. Try and manipulate their nails every other day (not necessarily cutting them every time, but always holding the clippers near and extending the toes and paws), and handle all body parts and mouth every day. If you click and treat whilst doing this, the puppies will soon look forward to the interaction, and often start to initiate it. Touch - give them different surfaces to walk on - carpet, sandpaper, bubble wrap, cardboard, linoleum, cement, loose paper, different fabrics, grass, etc. Once again, click and treat them for having the courage to experiment with these strange feeling surfaces.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Smell - introduce them to different scents. Aromatherapy
scents are useful for this. You will find they respond differently
to some. Anise tends to be very calming and if introduced repeatedly
in calm situations during their youth could be used in a stressful
situation (on a cottonball) to be reassuring on a subliminal level.
Carry puppies around from about four days onwards for five or ten
minutes at a time. Some people believe this makes the puppies do
some scent imprinting on the human smell and makes them more people
social.
Sound - introduce them to different sounds they will experience in everyday life - radio, alarm, telephone, television, vacuum at a distance and then closer, toilet flushing, different voices.... Remember to always click and treat if the puppy is confident enough to voluntarily approach the sound to investigate it. Warm/Cold - introduce them to differences in temperature. Try putting the pups in a cold glass pie plate and time how long it takes them to get out of it. Give them ice cubes and warm baked potato to play with. Vibration - let them sit on the toilet lid while you flush, hold them to your throat while you sing, wrap carefully in a towel and sit them on a running vacuum (don’t be surprised if they drop off to sleep). Several short and longer car rides a week, starting with their first trip to the vet. Keep it positive by clicking and treating for confident behaviour. Sight - make sure their environment is well lit once their eyes open. Make a puppy mobile a few inches off the ground. Cut out bright colored shapes and tape to walls around their play area. Tie plastic bags to the fencing so that it flutters in the wind (like bunting will do at shows). Make sure that the puppies can but not reach these items – you don’t want them swallowing plastic or other inappropriate things.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Taste - let them try biting/chewing raw fruits and veggies. You could let them chew on large hunks of raw meat too, thought they won't be able to swallow any yet. Obviously mom needs to be elsewhere. This should be enough to get you started and thinking. Be inventive – enjoy your puppies and their early development. Birman Blues I once got called in to help a lady with her Birman cat. This was a magnificent neutered male cat of almost 8 years old, called Blu. She had had the cat since it was 10 weeks old, and had had it neutered when he was about 5 months. When Blu joined the family, they already had another cat of unknown ancestry. This queen was getting on for 10 years, and had been spayed as a kitten. The family had also rescued a kitten that had been badly treated, which was about 5 years old when I was called in to help. The problem as it was told to me, was that about a year ago Blu started spraying in the house. This sounded very strange, as the cat had lived a perfect life for 7 years prior to this. I asked the owners to keep a log book for a week, in which they would note when and where the cat sprayed. I was hoping that a pattern would emerge from this that would make diagnosis of the problem easy. No such luck!! I went around to visit Claire and her cats, managing to take only one wrong turn on the way, thereby arriving a half-hour early for my appointment. Claire was very sweet and obliging, and didn’t make me sit in the car until the correct appointment time. The first thing we did was go through the log they had kept for the past week. There was no pattern here at all – Blu had sprayed on the piano, on the guitar case in her sons’ bedroom, on the computer tower and on the curtains. He had sprayed in the lounge on the chair and in the master bedroom on the curtains. These markings occurred both north and south of the house, so it wasn’t a problem that was isolated to one area. Claire very kindly took me through the house and showed me the spots. Literally!! There were lovely pile carpets, which were spotted with urine stains, which stubbornly refused to come out. She also showed me the litter tray, which was kept in the kitchen. The cats had free access to a large and rather lovely garden, which they generally preferred to use. The tray had been placed in a cardboard box with quite high sides to prevent the cats from scratching the litter all over the floor. I asked whether Blu used the tray. Yes, he did, but he would balance all four feet in one corner, and then scratch the cardboard when he was finished. This didn’t surprise me, as Blu is a good sized cat and the litter tray was more suitable for the smaller queens. Only one of the queens used the litter tray and she was unwell. I asked to see her and was rather appalled at her condition. Buffy was skin and bone, and her fur was dull and lifeless. This was the abused kitten that they had rescued, now about 5 years old. She had mouth ulcers and could only eat soft food. She had stopped grooming herself, but from time to time would pull her fur out in chunks. I actually saw her doing this – it was almost as if she wanted to rid herself of this unsightly mess covering her meagre frame. We then went in to the garden so I could see if anything out there could be a contributor to Blu’s spraying in the house. It appeared that a number of neighbourhood cats visited the garden periodically. This generally was not a problem, but there was one cat that had moved in to the area about a year ago (!) that Claire’s cats did not like. They would growl and fluff up their hair on occasion, and Claire would have a look out of the window and see the interloper in the garden. She would chase it off, and her cats would calm down. This visiting cat would always jump on the wall alongside the driveway gate in order to gain access to the property.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) So as I saw it, there were a number of possible
reasons for Blu’s inappropriate spraying:
Cats are very sensitive and interesting creatures, and they often try and tell us when they are distressed or unhappy with their environment. For instance, a cat with cystitis (a bladder condition that causing a burning sensation when passing urine) will often urinate in the bath or on the stove instead of in its litter box. This in the hope that the owner will notice the presence of blood (much more visible on the white surface that in the litter tray) and take the cat for treatment. I left Claire to implement my suggestions as best she could. A couple of weeks later, I spoke to Claire, and learnt that Blu’s spraying had decreased significantly, as he was choosing to use the larger litter box which had been placed underneath the window where he usually moved in and out of the house. The sick old queen, had been taken to the feline veterinarian, who had diagnosed kidney failure along with a bacterial infection. Although still battling to eat, the cat was visibly better after just 10 days. Claire was due to take her back for a check up to see what else could be done to make her life more fulfilling. Seeing the improvement in the cats’ well-being and behaviour, Claire decided to take the big step of trying to trap the stray cat that had been terrorising her pets. Often this is a humane option, as the stray can then be put up for adoption (once sterilized), and be placed in a caring, loving home. Not only were all the cats happy after these simple changes, but Clair’s family were able to focus on enjoying their pets instead of worrying about them. Dangerous
Dobermann OR Takkies Talk! Children are truly wonderful at getting to the root of the matter. They seem to have a gift for hitting just the right note. Let me tell you a story regarding a friend of mine and her two small grandchildren. Toni and her family were very keen horse riders, and spent lots of time at the nearby stables, where the ones that could would ride, and those that couldn’t, would wander around happily patting the horses and feeding them titbits. On this particular occasion, Toni had driven over to the stables to check on one of her own horses, and had taken her grandchildren along for the ride. The girls were twins of four years old, and are fairly precocious, being the youngest of a bunch of cousins. On getting out of the car, an old Dobermann wandered
out of the stables and came up to sniff the newcomers. This dog
lived on the property and often used to accompany the out rides
or sit on the sidelines watching various classes being taught. Now
the twins were quite relaxed around animals the size of horses,
but a Dobermann!!! No, that was just not on. They simply wouldn’t
get out of the car whilst this “huge” animal was wandering
around outside. So Toni got one of the grooms to temporarily shut
the dog into one of the empty loose boxes. They were only going
to walk over to one of the exercising rings, have a look at the
horse and then go back to the car and leave, so it was no big deal
to leave the dog in the stable for the half-an-hour or so that it
would take.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Once the dog was safely out of the way, Toni and the twins started out to visit their horse. Now out of the car and relaxed, the twins immediately shot off like bullets in opposite directions, both screaming for the other to follow them. Quite used to all this racket, Toni proceeded on her way undeterred. Suddenly there was a commotion behind her, and Tessa turned to find the old Dobermann had somehow got out of the stable and was ambling up behind them. The twins were stricken! Knowing the dog was completely harmless, Tessa continued on her way, interested to see how the little girls would handle the situation. A little hand slipped in to hers, and looking up anxiously into her granny’s face, the smaller twin said “my takkies are feeling a bit lonely and would like to walk next to your takkies for a bit. Is that OK?” Smothering a laugh, Toni asked the child if she was nervous of the dog. “Oh no!” she said. “It’s just that my shoes get lonely sometimes and need to walk next to bigger shoes”. So that is the story of how a simple pair of children’s
takkies can help a child save face when frightened. My First
TV Shoot This is the advert that started me off in the TV training business. I got a call one evening asking whether a) I could train a Shar Pei to sit in the back of a car and b) how long would it take. I told them I could, and that it would take me 5 minutes. They wanted me to show them, so I drove over there, grabbed the nearest dog (there were 32 to choose from) and clicked him in to the car, then clicked him to sit and put his head out of the window. They were gobsmacked, as apparently the trainer they had employed had had that same dog (coincidence that I picked him) for 2 weeks and had not even managed to get him in to the car!!
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Because the time frame was now very tight, they asked me to train 3 dogs, in case one fell sick on the day. I insisted on a car to practise with, which was a problem as the car was only being flown in from Germany the day before the shoot. So they leant us another car, which was gutted (all the seats pulled out) and we practised with that. The footage was shot on top of Sanlam Centre in Randburg. We were on set for 9 hours on the 3 May 2001. In the end they only filmed one dog, Bent-Lee (the others, Fugley and Dix-E spent the day in crates). They were so impressed with the footage they got that they scheduled another shoot out at Haartebeespoort Dam on 11 May. At that shoot we had to lie down on a flat bed car (no superstructure and we were only about 6 inches off the ground) and zoom up and down the road to see if the dogs ears would flap back. Which if course they wouldn’t because of the way they sit on the dogs head. The police were there and closed the roads each time we barrelled down the road on the back of this low slung vehicle (apparently this is the same vehicle that is used to film planes taking off – the owner of the car has 3 of them which he hires out exclusively for film companies). Anyway it was a lot of fun, and the last few shots of the dog and car zooming off in to the sunset were shot there. This ad won an Orchid award for being “entertaining,
nice and short, and making a point without belabouring the whole
exercise”. Calming Signals One of the topics I like to introduce handlers to when they attend puppy socialisation classes, is Calming Signals. In 1997 Turid Rugaas and Terry Ryan published a book entitled “On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals”. This book describes how dogs are able to offer certain behaviours in order to calm those around them down. Turid Rugaas, who hails from Norway, first noticed these behaviours when her little Elkhound, Vesla, appeared able to prevent aggression in other dogs by behaving in a certain manner. Here is a direct quote from her book: “Dogs, being flock animals, have a language for communicaton with each other. Canine language in general consists of a large variety of signals using body, face, ears, tail, sounds, movement, and expression. The dog’s innate ability to signal is easily lost or reinforced through life’s experience. If we study the signals dogs use with each other anduse them ourselves, we increase our ability to communicate with our dogs. Most noteworthy of all canine signals re the calming signals, which are used to maintain a healthy social hierarchy and resolution of conflict within the flock. These are skill which, when carried over to our own interactions with dogs, can be highly beneficial to our relationship. Dogs have the ability to calm themselves in the face of a shock (fearful or stressful situation) and to calm each other as well. As an exale let’s consider the manner in which dogs meet each other. Dogs which are worried in a social situation can communicate concepts such as, “I know you are the boss around here and I won’t make trouble”. Furthermore, the boss dog is very apt to want the worried dog to realize that no trouble is intetnded. “Don’t worry, I’m in charge around here and I mean you no harm”. Dogs that do not signal properly can be the cause of problems.” Some of the commonest calming signals used by dogs, taken from Turid’s book, are as follows: Sniffing the ground Walking slowly Freezing Sitting down/lifting one paw Walking in curve Other calming signals Meeting situations Never force dogs into meeting others Entire Article to be found at www.canis.no/rugaas/ Classic Working
Trials This is a wonderful sport for handlers and dogs alike. Most of the competitions are held out in the bush, as we need a lot of acreage for the tracking stakes. There are levels through which the teams must progress. Entry level is Companion Dog, then Tracker Dog 1, then Tracker Dog 2. After a team has qualified Tracker Dog 2, they may decide whether to go on to Tracker Dog 3 or Police Dog. Once a dog has three qualifying certificates under three different judges in either Police Dog or Tracker Dog 3, it earns the title of “Police Dog Champion” or “Tracker Dog Champion”. Full details regarding this sport are available on the KUSA web site: www.kusa.co.za Here are a few pictures of some of my students competing in the Companion Dog stakes. These pictures were taken at an open show in Birch Acres, Gauteng. There are three sections to Companion Dog, and the dog has to gain a qualifying mark in each group in order to obtain a Qualifying Certificate. GROUP 1: CONTROL
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(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) GROUP 2: AGILITY
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(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) GROUP 3: NOSE WORK
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Of course, the dogs don’t always perform as you expect them to. It can be quite stressful for the dog to suddenly be asked to perform all these different exercises in a strange environment on the same day. So sometimes nature takes its toll. (dogs are not allowed to eliminate in the training area, and lose marks for doing so). These are pictures of one of my dogs who just couldn’t hold it any more. She is supposed to be doing an area search ........ This show was held at a grass farm in Heidelberg.
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(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Clicker Workshops Clicker workshops are designed to be interactive
and fun for both you and your pet. Animals such as dogs, cat, horse,
meerkat, parrot, rat, chicken etc. have participated in these workshops,
so that attendees can see for themselves how this training method
works for all animals. If you’re interested in participating in
one of these workshops, e-mail me on Maxine@clickersa.co.za , and
I will notify you of forthcoming events. Maretha teaching her Pug to jump on cue
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Sharon Jordan shown here enjoying interacting with her pet rat, Jay. Clicker training is fun!
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Concentration at its best! Quiz time at a Module 1 workshop.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Wendy and Lionel teaching Mort, a Groenendael, to put his paw over his nose.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) A group of people concentrating hard.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) The animals enjoy it as much as the people. Here Lindy and her Border Collie, Dreamer, interact with Lionel, Mariano and Melissa.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Clicker Workshop
Module 2 : 7 July 2011 Attendees and their dogs demonstration “101 things to do with a Box” – each handler was tasked to get 10 or more behaviours within 5 minutes. Sharon and Ashley (a dog she rescued and had only had for 4 months) demonstrate how easy this is.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Here the dogs had to perform a behavioural chain – in this case they needed to weave through the poles, go around the bucket and then return straight to the handler. The handler was not allowed to move forward. They had 10 minutes to get this behaviour on cue. Here Charles shows how he and Gaudy mastered it.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Some dogs were nervous of the equipment. Here Mariano rewards Ashley for moving towards the scary bucket. This is not his dog, and it was the first time dog and handler had met and worked together.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Clicker Workshop
Module 1 : 4 December 2011 Lacey has the habit of “killing” her scent cloth in the scent discrimination exercise in “C” test obedience. Here Sue, her handler, clicks and treats her for carrying it calmly.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Carla teaching her Groenendael, Maya, for targeting a disk with her right front paw.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Maxine getting her volunteer, Retha Kruger, to demonstrate different ways of getting behaviours. Here Retha is being compelled to sit on a chair. You can see by her face that she is not enjoying the experience, which is one of the reasons why we do not use compulsion in clicker training.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) A group of students enjoying the gorgeous South African weather during one of the practical sessions.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Robocop, a 4 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy offering a down stay.
(Hover mouse over thumbnail to view larger image) Timing is
Critical In my workshops I always make a point of emphasising how important timing is. One of the ways of improving your timing skills is to study music in any form. E.g. learn to play a musical instrument, join a choir, or take up dancing. Of course, one should always “put your money where your mouth is”, so here I am doing my Gold Bar Medal Test: Latin American. I am partnered by my instructor, Sandy Smuts-Steyn.
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