Balanced Dog

Kessel Update

noreply@blogger.com (Nick ) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:34:00 +0000

We spent the summer months of August and September working with Kessel and trying to figure out what his trigger for aggression was. We experimented with many different things and as I wrote in my July post one of my suspicions was food aggression. Dogs like Kessel are called Scent Hounds for a reason and these dogs make fabulous hunters because of their sense of smell and can track anything within a two mile radius.

Once Kessel arrived in Colorado I watched to see what his personality was and I was pleased that he was a very friendly boy and was very responsive to calm assertive leadership. I have seen some hounds that are very stubborn and when you try to push them they want nothing to do with that and resist your attempts to establish leadership when you push them and this can sometimes result in aggressive behavior.

We watched Kessel for a couple of weeks and ran him through the paces, seeing how he fit in with our other rehabilitation dogs and everyone who worked with him. Kessel loves to play with other dogs and would run around the agility yard and leap over a group of dogs causing the other dogs to startle and then chase him, this was always great fun for Kessel because no one could ever catch him! He would run over to the swimming pools we had set up for the dogs and get in the water and the game was over!

A week after he arrived I started working with him around food to see what would happen. We started with his regular meals and I would feed him after his morning walk and play time. Kessel would let me touch his body while he ate and did not growl or try to defend his food. I worked on this for several days and then we moved to wet food.

We took Kessel out to one of the Doggy Day Care areas at Indian Tree Pet Lodge and kept him inside the building. Ann brought out a bowl of wet food mixed with dry food and he went crazy. His focus was totally on the food bowl. I put it down on the ground and he started to eat. I had a long mop handle for my own protection and started to put the stick in the bowl and try to move it away from him. At first he didn't mind and then I tried to move the bowl behind me and he came around the back of me and tried to get to the bowl. I tried moving it away again and then he eventually started to growl and then bit the stick! He went into possession mode and was guarding the food in a hunched over way and anytime the stick came near he would bite it.

I had Ann get another bowl of food and I put the food in the introduction portion of the play area with me guarding the food this time. Kessel would not break his focus off of the food bowl and I started to put the food behind me and challenge him with a chain link fence between us. Kessel barked and growled at me everytime I did this and he eventually made eye to eye contact and we stared each other down. Kessel kept trying to get higher than I was so we eventually played the game of totem-pole. He would try to elevate and then I would get higher until after several minutes of growling and barking he finally broke eye contact and retreated a bit. I then started to utilize the mop handle. I lowered myself back down in a kneeling position and did the same thing with the food putting it in front of me and then moving it between my legs and eventually behind me. Kessel challenged me for the food again but this time was met with the mop handle in his chest. I gently kept pushing the mop handle forward to back him away from the fence and the food. Kessel would bite the mop handle but I never retreated and kept going forward finally making him retreat!

It was as if the light bulb sort of went off for Kessel. I put the mop handle away and told Kessel to sit which he did. I then fed him some of the wet food under the fence.  I continued doing this with Kessel where he would get food for every act of submission. We ended our day on a fantastic note and I felt I had made a real breakthough!

We tried wet food again the next week and I was pleasantly suprised to see Kessel give me space and distance when I was behind the fence. I used the mop handle again and only had to push him away one time. After that I made him sit and actually hand fed him throught the fence with him taking the food from me with great respect! We had made a huge break through so I wanted to minimize his association with the indoor play yards as a negative place.

My next idea was to take him out to the agility yard and hide Kongs filled with food. I had seen this on an episode of the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. I hid some really odiforrous food treats in the Kongs and hid them on, under and in the agility equipment and tunnels. It was fun to watch Kessel's nose at work as he "hunted" for the treats! I would stop him during the game and make him come over and sit and take a treat from me. We played this game several times over the next couple of months and Kessel became more aware that I was a better source of the food reward then it was to hunt on his own. I felt that this was progress as he saw me as the provider of resources.

Over the next month we enjoyed Kessel's free spirit and saw no other aggression issues. We upped his food intake to three cups of food three times a day and this seemed to help his disposition a great deal.  Kessel began to put on some weight and was a happy camper when he was with other dogs. We moved from Indian Tree in mid October and housed him at another facility.  The yard at this facility was real grass and Kessel loved to run around and roll in the grass every chance he could!

Just this week we moved him to Camp Bow Wow in Northglenn in the hopes of trying to get him more exposure and get him adopted!  Kessel is a very special dog and I enjoyed working with him and his behavior challenges! If you are interested in adopting Kessel call me or the Northglenn Camp Bow Wow!

Kessel The Plott Hound From Maine

noreply@blogger.com (Nick ) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Kessel is our second rehabilitation case. Kessel comes to us all the way from the state of Maine. Kessel is a young male Plott Hound which is a hunting dog that has been used in Germany for hundreds of years. Kessel was given up by his owners because he bit their twelve year old son on the head. They were told by trainers back east that the dog was going to be difficult to rehabilitate and that they should probably euthanize the dog. As parents, of course their concern was for the safety of their son so they made the very difficult decision to give him up although they loved Kessel very much. As a parent I know how hard the decision had to be but they made the difficult choice not to endanger their son again. Through the Camp Bow Wow Network I became aware of Kessel's plight and offered to donate my services and give him a second chance!

Kessel's bite incident happened relative to food. All hounds have very powerful noses and if you get to watch a hound dog like a Bassett Hound or a Beagle, their noses are almost always on the ground sniffing those great smells. Food to a dog with as sensitive a nose as a hound dog becomes a huge motivator and without setting rules and boundries can become a huge obsession! These breeds of dogs more than any other type of dog are ruled by their nose! We will work very hard on setting boundries around food and exerting discipline and control to make sure we establish a relationship of respect around food with Kessel. Plott Hounds like Kessel are large in stature and look like a Coon Hound. Hopefully we will be ale to get some pictures in the next couple of days to post on the Blog!

Kessel had a great trip from Maine to Colorado and his previous owners paid out of their own pocket to get him out here via an animal transport service out of the state of Tennessee. We are excited to get to start working with Kessel. Our goal is to rehabilitate Kessel within 2-3 weeks and get him into a rescue situation or a forever home! Keep checking the Blog for more details about Kessel and our adventures with Kessel's rehabilitation in teaching him respect for discipline and leadership and setting rules and boundries for him about food and learning how to control those urges driven by his nose!

The Journey For Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Nick ) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Balanced Dog is taking on two rehabilitation cases. I will update the Blog frequently so that our readers can get a glimpse of what rehabilitating a dog is all about.

Our first case is Journey. Journey is a one year old male Pit Bull. Journey was found by Arvada Managment Officer Kara Pardikes along Ralston Creek at 52nd and Garrison in Arvada. The people who called about Journey, told the officers that Journey had been laying in the weeds by the bank for a couple of days. When officers approached Journey he tried to jump in the creek, thought better of it and decided he would try to play dead hoping they wouldn't see him. Kind of hard to do for a white dog in green weeds! The officers approached Journey and according to Kara his back leg started to quiver. The dog was so scared that officers had to catch pole him because he wouldn't move to get him to the truck. Once Journey was put in to the back of the truck he became very friendly and started licking and "kissing" the officers. Maybe he knew his life was about to change. Kara and Becky Robison the Animal Management Supervisor decided to keep Journey at their office for a couple of days to see if they could get him to come out of his fearful state of mind. Becky and Kara became concerned that impounding him at the shelter would result in his ultimate destruction because of the overcrowded conditions and their inability to take on a case of this magnitude. Becky and Kara thought of Balanced Dog!

Becky called me and asked if I would come look at Journey. I drove over to the Animal Management Office and they introduced me to this sometimes scared but sometimes friendly Pit Bull. I told Becky that I would see what I could work out and call her in the morning. As I thought about it overnight I thought what a great story this would be for all of us if we could rehabilitate this guy and get him adopted!

So Journey's journey began. Now you can probably start to understand why we named him Journey:)! Mitch Kramer and Tom Adducci the owner's at Indian Tree Animal Hospital and Pet Lodge supported my request to donate Journey's medical care which included treating him for both eye and ear infections, coccidia and doing his neuter surgery. Everyone at Indian Tree Animal Hospital fell in love with Journey through his two week stay at the hospital to recover from his infections and his surgery. Journey became even more friendly with the doctors, techs and staff and started to come out of his shell.

This last week I brought Journey over to the Indian Tree Pet Lodge. So starts Journey's journey on the path to ultimate rehabilitation and his potential adoption. I have donated our rehabilitation and training time and hope to get him in a Foster home situation in two to three weeks. I will keep the Blog posted on his progress and check out his story coming soon to Arvada's Channel 8!

What Exactly Is Dog Psychology?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick ) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:45:00 +0000

I have been asked to explain what Dog Psychology is many times. Psychology is defined as the science of the mind or of mental states and processes and the science of human and animal behavior. Dog Psychology is basically the study of dog mental states and processes and dog behavior.

It amazes me how many people subscribe to the "positive only all the time" philosophy of dog training and call any other training method that is not positive reinforcement training unscientific! Many of these people are well intentioned but they just plain miss the boat! How can Dog Psychology, the actual study of dog behavior and how a dog thinks and processes information be unscientific?

The most rewarding gift that Ann and I get out of using Dog Psychology methods and techniques in training and rehabilitation is that it works! The number of clients who describe their frustration with other training methods from "positive reinforcement" to "e-collar" training are numerous and many tell us they didn't get the results they were looking for.

I can tell you there is no better feeling in the world than having someone truly "get" what Dog Psychology is all about. The gift I receive from teaching you about dog behavior is seeing the relationship with you and your dog transformed right in front of your eyes to one of trust and respect! Seeing someone realize that the impossible is possible truly brings me great joy!

Any behavior issue can be addressed using Dog Psychology methods. Ann and I both love working with the dogs that everyone else has written off! Check out our website the link is on the menu to the right, call and ask us questions about our classes, programs and training and rehabilitation methods. We would love to hear from you!

Check Out Our New Pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick ) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:47:00 +0000

On the top right you'll notice a small slideshow running. These are pictures of our Advanced Dog Psychology Course that is currently underway. To view larger copies, simply click the slideshow itself.

Pictures are courtesy of John Cowie Photography.