Dog Cart|Dog Carting|Dog Behavior

[Fwd: Fwd: ADULT LANGUAGE This is some really funny stuff.....]

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:13:00 +0000

Teaching Your Dog To Take The Dumb Bell

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Teaching Your Dog to Take The Dumb Bell

1st week Teach three commands 1.TAKE IT

2.HOLD IT

3.OUT

Use food treat to get dog to open his mouth so that the Dumb Bell can be inserted. Hold the Dumb bell in your right hand. As the Dumb Bell is inserted, give the cue TAKE IT. As the dog takes the Dumb Bell in his mouth, place your right hand under the dogs chin and press upwards giving the cue HOLD IT. Next, take the Dumb Bell in your right hand and give the cue OUT. REWARD.

2nd week Dog should open his mouth on his own. If it does not, work on presenting the

food treat and the cue TAKE IT until you can present the Dumb Bell to the

dog and the dog takes the Dumb Bell on CUE.

3rd week The dog should reach for the Dumb Bell. Hold the Dumb Bell a little further

from the dog each time you do the TAKE IT exercise.

4th week Increase the time the dog holds the Dumb Bell. Work on having the dog hold

it for at least 30 seconds to a minute. After the dog holds the Dumb Bell for

30 seconds, do some heeling. Have the dog take a few steps and then stop

and REWARD.

5th week Start to throw the Dumb Bell a few feet from you with the dog sitting at the

SIDE position. Run out to the Dumb Bell with the dog and pick it up for the

dog if the dog does not attempt to pick it up. Place it in the dogs mouth and

REWARD. Back up from the dog and do a RECALL with the dog holding the

Dumb Bell. REWARD.

6th week Throw the Dumb Bell farther, and run out to it and hold it on the ground until

the dog attempts to pick it up. REWARD. Do RECALL.

7th week Dog should do the whole retrieve routine by itself.

--
dogcartman
www.dogcartman.com
www.dogcartman.blogspot.com www.dogbehaviormodification.blogspot.com

Possiveness

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:48:00 +0000

                                                                   Possessiveness
     Most dog owners are somewhat amazed when their dog first shows possessiveness. This is because of the manner in which the pet expresses itself, usually verbally ( a growl or a snarl ) and orally ( a snap or a nip ). This is usually the first time the owner has ever had the animal do anything threatening against them.

     They find it hard to accept that the dog could feel that it has something that the owner has given to him and the dog does not want to have the owner touch or take it from them. After all, ownership means that the owner owns everything and the dog owns nothing. NOT SO MY FRIENDS! There are times that the animal will feel that what has been given to it or the animal has taken, is the sole right of possession by the animal . This could be as simple as a ball or toy or something to chew or eat.

     While the dog is basically a pack animal, there are times that because of the dogs perceived status in the pack, it feels that it can take an object as its own and no other member of the pack can have access to that object. The dog will fight to retain possession from a pack member it views as equal or subordinate.

      How do we prevent this situation from occurring in the first place. There are several methods suggested to condition the dog so as to prevent this from occurring. The first method is related to food. In order to be able to take food away from the dog, the owner should first practice the habit of going to the dogs food bowl and placing more food in the bowl as the dog is eating. This means that you first give the dog 1/3 of its normal amount in the bowl. As the dog is eating, you go to the bowl and pour another 1/3 into the bowl. The dog now knows that when you come to the bowl it can expect to get more food. You then put the final 1/3 of the amount in to the bowl. You do this each time you feed the dog for at least eight to ten days. This conditions the dog to the behavior of your coming to the bowl and putting more food in the bowl. Next you start with the 1/3 in the bowl and as the dog is almost finished with the food, you pick up the bowl and pour 1/3 into it and set it back down for the dog to eat. When the dog is almost finished, you again pick up the bowl and pour the last 1/3 into it and place it on the floor for the dog to finish. Do this for eight to ten days and you can now pick up the bowl and place it back on the floor without the dog objecting. Once or twice a week go back to the first method of putting more food in the bowl in order to reinforce the routine.

      The second method if generally called the trade-off method. You give the dog a ball or a toy and when you want to take it from the dog, you offer the dog another ball or toy. When the dog releases the first ball or toy, you throw the second so the dog can have that one. You do not try to get the item from the dog, but wait until the dog willingly gives up the first item. As soon as the dog releases the item. throw the replacement item. Dogs are willing to give up something if they get something in return. After five or six releases and trade-offs, you start to say "OUT" as the dog releases the item. The dog soon learns that out means that you will give something in replacement for the item the dog is willing to give up. OUT can be then transferred to anything you want the dog to give up. Don't get greedy and forget to treat the dog when it give up something. The dog will soon learn that you are taking and not giving.

Reinforcement is necessary for any behavior to be retained as part of the dogs behavioral repertoire.

Patience and perseverance are the keys to training, obtain them and the world is yours.

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The Flood of 96

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:52:00 +0000

The Evacuation Of 1996

With the flooding throughout the midwest, I thought this information might be helpful.

The phone rang just a few minutes after Eleven PM. My wife, Marie, answered it. She yelled "it's Bob, turn on Channel 28". I turned on the T V and tuned to WBRE-TV 28. A reporter was interviewing the EMA Director, Jim Siracuse who was stating they expected the river to reach 36 feet. The dikes are between 37 feet and 39 feet and he stated it was going to be too close to call. The Emergency Management Agency of Luzerne County was ordering a precautionary valley wide evacuation. By seven AM it was mandatory.

De Ja Vu. We live a few block from the Susquehanna River in Forty Fort Pennsylvania. On June 22, 1972 the river topped the dikes and flooded the entire valley to a level of almost 40.6 feet. At that time we had two Giant Schnauzers, Ch. Camoli's Gem of the East and Ch. von Russ Brinny Brite, a mother-daughter pair. We had very short notice that time. I had Marie drop me off at my office a few blocks away to move some files to the second floor and pick up the State Car that was parked there. I returned to my home and was putting the dogs things in my personal car when the sirens started to sound. Until you experience the sound of wailing sirens and know that it means that the river had topped the dike or that the dikes have broken and the river coming through you cannot realize what a terrifying sound it is. When I was leaving the house with Gemma, the water was coming down the street. Marie had left a few minutes earlier and had taken Pazazz with her in the other car. We were to meet at a friends house out of the flood plain. We had taken some clothes and enough food and water for the dogs for a few days. Little did we know that we would have almost fourteen feet of water in our home and that we would be out of our home for weeks.

This time, as soon as I heard the words "EVACUATION" I said to Marie "pack clothes and I'll take care of the dog's things". I immediately thought that the next thing they would announce was a water advisory, that would mean the water was not fit to drink. I got out my water containers for the one Giant Schnauzer we have, Ch. von Russ Follie Berger' and collected enough water to last her a week (15 gallons). I also put food for a week in a metal container along with her medications and feeding pan and water bowl.

The phone rang and this time it was our friend Anna Cervenak. She and Max Bartikowsky have a Beagle, Sparkle. She said that they were going to the Victoria Inn to stay and would meet us there. I called the Victoria Inn but found out that while I had been packing the clothes and dog supplies in my Maxi Van, others had been calling for reservations. No Rooms available. I next called the Knights Inn because I knew from traveling the dog show circuit that they accepted pets. No rooms available until noon on Saturday. I made reservations for two rooms. One for us and one for our friend Bob Adams who has a Cairn Terrier, Darcy. It was now close to midnight, Friday January 19,1996.

Because of our experience showing Giant Schnauzers for over twenty-five years, we are use to packing the necessities for our dogs and ourselves. We have left the house in the wee hours of the morning many times to go to dog shows. My wife, Marie, has a list of things to take for us and the dogs. The list came out that night, only there was no Best of Breed or Group Placements to be won, this was a life and death situation. We had everything to lose if the river came over the dikes. We had thrown everything we owned out into the street to be hauled away after the" 72" flood and it looked like we were going to be in the same situation again.

The phone rang again. It was Bob. Like many dog show people, he has two vehicles, a passenger car and a station wagon for the dog. Bob needed to move one of the vehicles to high ground. I said I would be right over with my car to follow him and give him a ride back. It was now about one-thirty A.M.

Marie had the TV playing during all this and when I returned from Bob's she said that they had informed the public that the location of evacuation centers was going to be announced and they were not going to accept pets at the centers. This meant that one hundred thousand people were going to have to leave their homes. What were they going to do with their pets? We have crates in our vehicles for our dogs, but most pet owners only have a collar and walking lead for their pet. What were they going to do?

People that live in a flood plane or near the ocean and are in the path of a hurricane need to have an evacuation plan that includes their pets. The first thing you should consider is a pet carrier or crate that will fit in your vehicle. Even if you end up in a motel, you can keep your dog in the crate, or carrier if it is a cat. You need something safe to keep the animal in when you are not able to be with it constantly. This also means training the pet to enjoy being in the crate!

The next thing is taking food for at least several days. A metal. or plastic container is best as it will keep the food dry and is easy to carry and store when you get someplace to stay. Water for your pet is easily carried in two liter plastic soda bottles. TAKE ENOUGH FOR AT LEAST FOUR DAYS. Label the containers "DOG'S FOOD"," DOG'S WATER". Water from a different source could cause a digestive upset and give you further problems with diarrhea. Make sure you take any medication necessary for your pet.

Heart worm medication should not be forgotten as it is necessary to administer daily unless you have your pet on the monthly medication. Another factor that is important is that your pet be accustom to riding in your vehicle. Many pets only get to ride in your vehicle when they have to be taken to the Veterinarians. This is somewhat of a traumatic experience for the animal and if the only time it gets to ride with you is to the Veterinarians, it is not going to make your evacuation trip any easier with a dog that is upset and possibly throwing up. Another safety factor that we practice is never let the collar on your pet when it is in the crate. The animal could become excited because of the situations you could be exposed to and the collar could become caught on the crate and the dog could choke. We always hook the collar and lead to the crate door in order that it is always accessible when we want to take the animal from the crate.

If it is absolutely impossible to take your pet with you, placing the animal in the highest room in the house is the next best thing. Do not tie the animal to anything, let it loose. Pick a room that has a secure door. Place papers in one corner of the room. Place at least two days ration in a large pan such as a roaster and make sure you provide lots of water in containers that cannot be easily dumpted. The animal can go a few days without food, but water is very necessary. If it is during winter, provide several blankets for the animal to lay on to keep warm because the electric power has to be shut off and there will be no heat in the house. Place something in front of any windows in the room to prevent the possibility that the animal may jump at the window and break through in an attempt to escape. You can clean up any mess when you return to your, hopefully in a few days.

Another factor to think about is in the case of fire. There are stickers available that you can paste on your doors that tell the fireman you have a pet inside and also state what kind and how many. Your fire escape plan must include your pets and what you can do with them once you are out of the house.

The people that had to evacuate were informed by WBRE-TV there was a lady in Clark Summit, a town about twenty-five miles away, that had a large heated horse barn and was making it available to pets, but they had to be in crates. Also, some of the boarding kennels out of the flood area still had vacancies.

We decided to leave our house about 2:30 AM and go across the river to the Knights Inn area before the bridges were closed. They had closed the bridges early during the "72" flood. Marie and Bob followed me and I headed for an all night restaurant at about 3:00 AM I have a small TV that plays off the battery of my van. I took this along so that we could keep informed about the developments concerning the river.

During the afternoon on Friday, the temperature had been as high as 60 degrees. At 3:00 AM the temperature was 17 degrees and the wind chill brought it down to 12 degrees. Bob and I had our dogs in our vehicles and that meant that we had to keep going out to the vehicles and run the engine to keep it warm for the dogs. I have a curtain in my van that hangs just behind the dog crate to help keep the heat up front in the maxi van. I was able to keep the temp about 68 degrees during the night. At dawn, we went to the Victoria Inns to stay with Max and Anna until we could check into the Knights Inn.

We sat there watching TV. Remember during the Gulf War how you could watch the war going on from your living room. Well because of the coverage by the local TV stations, we were able to watch flood scenes as they happened. Some of the scenes were very graphic and frightening. There was one scene of a fireman wading in water up to his waist to rescue a dog left tied to its doghouse right alongside the river. Another scene showed a National Guard Officer carrying a Golden Retriever from the flood waters. The dog was licking his face. There were other stories of pets left behind and drowned . Not everyone had prepared to take their pet with them.

The river crested at 34.38 feet at about 5 P.M. Saturday. We were able to return to our home the next day. Our dogs were safe and healthy because we had the experience of traveling with them and being ready to take the things they needed to keep them safe and healthy. They had acted as if they were going to a dog show, thanks to their dog show experience.

--
dogcartman
www.dogcartman.com
www.dogcartman.blogspot.com

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Gemma An Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:43:00 +0000

Gemma - An introduction to dog behavior modification

I purchased my first Giant Schnauzer in 1967. I had been raised in a home that had Beagles and Fox Terriers. The Beagles were raised by my father who hunted with them, and the Fox Terriers were the K-9 of choice by my mother. As you can well guess, the two breeds were never together. My father did some field trial work with the Beagles, but my mother was never interested in entering any of the Fox Terriers in a Dog Show, so they were basically house pets.

After marriage, my father gave my wife a Boxer as an anniversary gift and we got involved in both Obedience and Conformation Dog Shows. Years later, after the Boxer became ill and the veterinarian advised us she was not going to live much longer, we decided to obtain a Giant Schnauzer. We named her Gemma. This arrogant BITCH was the beginning of my serious education in animal behavior.

It was more like "learn or give in" to tell the truth. She is the subject of many, many of my dog stories. Gemma had what I was to learn is a typical Giant attitude. "Someone has to be the boss, so it might as well be me.” She also had the attitude that "no one could get away with hurting her.” I found this out when I took her to an obedience seminar and the well-known instructor conducting the seminar decided to use Gemma for a demonstration.

As we were heeling, Gemma started to lag and I was instructed to give her a “GOOD” correction. In those days that meant a sharp, quick jerk on the lead, causing the choke collar to quickly tighten around the dog’s neck and obviously cause pain! Well! Gemma was not going to take this abuse from me or anyone else. Her immediate response was to take my left leg in her mouth and give me the most severe pinch-bite I have ever experienced. She did so without ever breaking the skin. I had the largest black and blue mark on my thigh for weeks.

Needless to tell you, we were remanded to the rear of the class for the remainder of the seminar. In fact, we had a lot of room to work because other members of the class were giving us as much space as they possibly could.
This experience caused me to search for methods of training that did not involve any aversion techniques. I can't say at this time whether it was my concern for Gemma's well being or my sense of self preservation. But learn I did.

Gemma never competed in Obedience competition but instead became a Champion in the Breed Ring. I had a lot of fun teaching her protection work and she loved the training sessions because she could bite without getting into trouble with me. I always felt it was better to teach my Giants to bite on command. That way, I knew they were not going to bite unless I told them to do so.

When I became involved in Carting, she was my prize Cart Dog. Oh! Did I mention that I became aware in 1972 that Gemma was blind? This was shortly after she became a Champion. We had been in the 1972 Agnus flood and our home had fourteen feet of water in it. As we were repairing the damage, I noticed that Gemma was bumping into things. After all, everything had been changed and the newness of her environment did not permit her to move about from memory. She did not know where anything was and had to learn all over. Her blindness did not stop me from training her, in fact, it made my efforts to learn how to train more important.

Gemma won first place at the Carting Competition sponsored by the Giant Schnauzer Club of America at the Westchester KC show in the mid 70's. At the awards presentation, the judge commented that she should do very well in advanced Carting ( off lead). I told the judge that she couldn't work off lead because she was blind and needed the lead for security.

The judge exclaimed "you mean I gave a blind dog first place!”

Blindness was just an inconvenience for Gemma, not a disability. She responded to working with a flat collar and a lead to guide her and lots of treats to reward her. I even taught her to jump on the grooming table by slapping the table with my hand and she would jump to the sound. Of course she knew how to jump on the table prior to her blindness. She had complete trust in me and I in her. How could you put a choke collar on a blind dog and jerk it around? Not me!

Source: Modifying Dog's Behavior published by Harry Russ Jr.

Giant Schnauzer Dog Cart Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:12:00 +0000

When you have a Giant Schnauzer, you sort of get use to people stopping you and asking questions about the breed and where did you get the dog. In my case, the experience has gone one step further. I take my Giants for a walk hooked up to a dog cart. I rarely don't get too far before someone stops us and starts asking questions.

Here are some stories about what has happened to us while out for a cart walk.One day I was going down the street with Cinderella hooked up to her cart. I got about half way down the street when a woman came running out of her house yelling "I saw that dog on T V in Kansas City". Well, it turned out that my new neighbor had seen a program that had been done locally by an NBC affiliate and the program had been aired on a national scale.

Cinderella and a few dog friends of hers with dog carts ( a West Highland White Terrier and a Soft Coated Wheaten) had been interviewed by the local station and they put together a half-hour program on dogs and carting. The program was also about kids and what they can do as Jr. TV reporters. The girl doing the interview was about twelve or thirteen years old and did a great job.

The Westie had led the Memorial Day Parade and the whole parade had to move at the pace set by that little Westie. The Army Tankers were complaining about going so slow and what was holding up the parade. All of the ten Dog Carters in the parade had a great laugh at that one. By the way, we won first prize for the best unit in the parade. Gave the $150.00 to the local Kennel Club as a donation.

Another time, I had an incident with Pazazz one day coming back from the lumber yard. I had a load of 2x4's and some other lumber on the cart and Pazazz was walking along, tail up and happy to be working. We live about two blocks from the yard. A woman pulled up along side us and shouted " you should be whipped for making that poor dog pull that heavy load. I told her to look at the dog and you will notice that her tail is wagging an mile a minuet. She loves it and the load is less than fifty pounds.

She pulls 75lbs of sand bags for conditioning and thinks nothing of it. I received no answer as she raced away. Another day, Gemma and I were coming down Wyoming Avenue with about 50lbs of sand bags in the cart and a lady pulled over to the curb and ran over to us. She was very excited about seeing a dog pull a cart and wanted to know where I got the cart and what breed of dog Pazazz was. I said, lady your car is going down the street, you had better run and stop it. In her excitement, she had stopped, opened the door, got out, and never put the car in park!

Fortunately, she was able to catch it and stop it. It turned out that she was a reporter for one of the local papers and did a very nice story about carting and Giant Schnauzers! Even took pictures of both of us. We got the front page of the News Paper the next day.

Giant Regards,
Harry Russ
123 Yeager Ave
Forty Fort, PA 18704-4031

dogcartman@gmail.com

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How I Got Started In Dogcarting

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:03:00 +0000

The town in which I live, Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, was flooded in 1972 during hurricane Agnes. The water reached a height 6 inches from the second-floor. In order to live close to the house while it was being repaired, My wife, Marie, and I decided to purchase a motor home and park it in the driveway. At the time I was the Regional Director of the Governors Justice Commission and had to spend many hours on the road working with municipalities that had been inundated by the flood. This would enable Marie to stay close to the house with our two Giant Schnauzers while the house was being repair .
We were also involved in showing the two Giant Schnauzers in dog shows and spent many weekends going to the shows. We had the Winnebago set up so we could unhook it weekends and drive to the dog show. We had never been to the Florida dog show circuit, and since we now had the motor home and I had lots of vacation time coming, we decided to go.
We planed to spend the month of January on the road and since I knew Giant Schnauzer people in Florida, we were able to make all the arrangements as to where we could park the motor home between dog shows. We planed to visit all the vacation sites near the dog shows.
When the dog shows moved from the west coast to the east coast, we were invited by Cynthia and Vince Fiorino to park in the corral they had for their horses, next to their home in Davie.
While there, Vince showed me a riding cart he had purchased from the Dingus Company. He had used it very little because he didn’t have a harness that fit his Giants properly. I wasn’t too interested in being pulled around by my dogs and didn’t really look to closely at the construction of the cart.
On the way home from Florida, Marie mentioned that she thought it would be fun to have the dogs pull a utility type cart that we could walk along side. We talked about this idea for many a mile and when we got home set about looking to purchase a utility type cart. Needless to say, we were not able to find anyone that manufactured that type dogcart. Now this is where the repair of our flooded house comes into the story. Since all the tools I had were in the flood and I had to replace them, I had all types of woodworking tools available. Marie said I should build a dogcart. I had no idea of how to start and how it should look. I spend many hours in the library researching dogcarts and harnesses. There was much information on the history of carting in Europe and many of the books had pictures of milk carts and teams of dogs pulling the cans of milk to market. I even found and article written by a man in Wisconsin on how to make a harness. Marie tried to contact the author but not with success. Since I worked in the Criminal Justice system, Marie got the idea to contact the police department in the authors home town to enlist their aid in contacting the man. We were sorry to learn that he had passed away a few months earlier. Things were slow in developing and it wasn’t until later in the year when we were having a dinner party one evening that the subject came up about the pending gas crisis. One of the women at the dinner asked Marie if our Giants were related to cart dogs in Europe. She said we could use the dogs to go to the store and have them pull the groceries home. Well that was it for me! Marie said I had to get moving on my dog cart project and get a cart built. I had all the tools and information and there was no reason to delay any longer. Gas lines were long and at times you could not even get gas locally. The shopping center was less than a mile away and she said that it would be good exercise for me and the dogs.
The history of dog carting is not written in glory. Dogs in Europe were used by tradesmen and farmers to pull their wares to market. Things had deteriorated so badly that in 1824, the Prefect of Police in Paris issued an edict forbidding tradesmen to use dogs to pull their trade carts on the streets of Paris.
Dogs had been used to pull heavy loads and in many cases were not fed proper diets to enable them to continue working. Some died in the harness. Carting gradually declined in use in Europe.
Carting in the United States had never developed as a means of transportation for man and dog. Hence if carting were to have a chance as a sport, the carts and the harnesses had to be made so that they fitted properly.
Making the wooden box and the racks was not going to be a problem. But the design of the undercarriage and the wheels and shafts were going to require professional assistance. Fortunately I has a friend, Bob Prashker who manufactured baby car seats and was willing to spend time with me and his designer and make up the plans for those parts of the cart. Bob made the parts in his plant and when the people who worked for him saw the strange parts being built, the were interested in knowing what was going on. When they found out it was for a dog cart, everyone got into the act and came up with ideas for improving on the design. It was amazing how many people helped me with my first dog cart. Bob even had nylon what enabled me to make quality harnesses. Marie was able to sew the harness on her sewing machine. We knew we had to put padding on the chest plate and from research on European harnesses found out that sheepskin was not the thing to use because it generated to much heat and would cause skin irritation. Marie, being a nurse, came up with the idea of using pads that were used for hospital patients. We cut the pads to fit the width of the nylon and sewed it to the harness breast piece.
Bicycle wheels were readily available and without much work were able to be fitted to the axle. The only problem was when weight was placed in the cart the axle that came with the bicycle wheels would bend and the wheels would bind against the cart side. My Father came up with a simple design that provided a bracket that would fit the outside of the wheel and be bolted to the side of the cart thus solving the problem.
The Christian Science Monitor had an article published in 1942 in which the author stated all that was needed was a dog, an old box and a couple of wheels and you were ready to go. Not so! If the sport of dog carting was to succeed, the carts were going to have to be designed to fit the dog and enable the dog to pull the weight with little pressure pressing down on its back. My many helpers were able to solve that problem and when the final design was completed, there was less then three pounds of pressure on the dogs back with a fully loaded cart.
Now the only task before me was to put it all together and hook up my Giant Schnauzer and have her pull the cart!
But that is another story.

The Magic Button - Every Dog Has One.

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:03:00 +0000

There have been times that we all wish there was a magic button we could push to turn our beloved pet off when a situation arose that caused the dog to become very excited and noisy and almost uncontrollable! Well there is such a button!!! Not a physical button, but a word that when spoken by you causes the dog to become calm, quiet, still, controllable, paying attention, doing what you want it to do rather than acting crazy, and uncontrollable.
The magic word is YES! When spoken by you, your dog will listen to you and act in a calm, serene, tranquil, peaceful, placid manner! How do you get this to work on you dog? You just say the word YES as you give the dog a piece of food. I use small pieces of chicken hot dogs. My dogs love hot dogs, but you can use any piece of food your dog likes so long as you can give it in small pieces as you say the word - YES-! I just have the dog stand or sit in front of me and give it pieces of chicken hot dog as I say YES until I give it the whole hot dog. [Remember to do at least twenty repetitions.] Cut the hot dog lengthwise into quarters and each quarter into 12 or 13 pieces.
Why does this magic button word work so well on the dog. Well, what you are doing is establishing a conditioned reflex on the part of the dog to the word YES. You are causing the dog to think of food every time you say YES. It is a physical fact that the dogs body produces the least amount of Adrenaline when it is eating. When thinking of food, the dogs body goes into a set pattern where the blood goes to the stomach and other processes go into effect. Instead of producing Adrenaline, the dog's body produces Serotonin, natures equivalent to the drug, Prozac. The main thing is, the dog becomes calm when thinking of food! That enables YOU to control the dog, give it a CUE that will bring about desired behavior. YES gets the dog to pay attention to you, acts as a calming agent for the dog, is a method of telling the dog that all is well. YES is never a command, is never correctable! ES gives you instant control!
After you have taught the dog to respond correctly to YES, you are then ready to teach your dog any other behavior you desire!
An ancillary effect of the training to establish the Magic Button with your dog is the reduction of the strength of the dogs Visual - Oral Reflex. In the wild, the young dog has to have a very strong Visual - Oral Reflex in order to enable it to catch prey for food. The young dog sees an object move and grabs at it with its mouth. If successful, the dog gets to eat. If unsuccessful, the prey escapes and the dog does not eat. This sight - bite reflex is usually strong in puppies. The young animal grabs at every thing it sees moving, including hands, feet and clothing. When young children are part of the dogs pack, the quick movements of the children cause the pup to grab at them causing problems due to the needle-like teeth of the puppy.
The training of the dog with the piece of hot dog being placed in the dogs mouth, causes the dog a pleasurable experience each and every time it sees a hand moving towards it. The dog learns to open its mouth in expectation of the food being placed in its mouth, and this, coupled with the food being presented in an overhand method ( dominant ) as apposed to a an underhand (submissive ) presentation, teaches the dog to inhibit the bite reflex. As the training continues, the dog's learning to inhibit this reflex can lead to the eventual extinction of the Visual - Oral Reflex.
I always have my clients give the food with their left hand and work the dog on the left side. The reason for this method of presentation is that the dog is left brain dominant. That means that the right side of the dogs body is the dominant side. Hence, working with the left hand enables you to work in a mirroring fashion, using the right side [dominant] of the dog, thus making it easier for the dog to learn.
If you use your left hand and move it in a very slow fashion, the dog will be able to focus on your hand and hence better able to develop concentration. Using the dogs right side to instruct is the natural way for the dog to learn, enabling it to learn easier, retain it longer and execute the behavior with greater exactitude.

Introducing Your Dog To Strangers

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:03:00 +0000

Dogs sometimes show fear, extreme caution or aggression towards strangers. There are several reasons for this behavior, but the main thing is the behavior is reversible with one conditioning technique. It is important that the animal have a pleasurable experience each and every time it comes upon a stranger. It is therefore your responsibility as the pack leader to insure the dog gets the necessary experiences that will assure it that every one out there it meets is a friend and not a threat to the dog.
You start off by doing what we call setups. You have several people you know and who are willing to work with you do the following routine at least twice a day: With the dog on lead, have the stranger come into the dogs view at a distance that causes the dog discomfort. The moment the dog sees the stranger, you start the Magic Button Routine and continue until the stranger is about twenty feet from the dog. ( At least twenty repetitions doing YES.) Have the stranger turn and walk away, until out of sight. (Helps if you work near the corner of a street ) If aggression is demonstrated, you say WRONG and turn the dog away and start the Magic Button Routine again. Do twenty repetitions of this routine each session and do the sessions three times a day. Do this routine until the dog no longer gives any visible indications of discomfort at the approach of the stranger within twenty feet.
The next step is to have the stranger come close enough to throw two or three pieces of hot dog at the dogs feet. Remember, the dog has to be sitting or in the down position. Any tightness on the lead will signal the dog that something is wrong and that it needs to protect you with aggressive behavior. ( Positive Thigmatoxis). Keep a loose lead!!!! As the dog takes the hot dogs thrown at its feet( may take a while, but just stand there and wait for the dog to take the hot dogs) you say YES. Do this routine at least twenty times a session. As the dog shows comfort with the stranger approaching and is eagerly taking the hot dogs, have the stranger move closer to throw the hot dogs. Do not have the stranger give the dog the hot dogs by hand. I do not teach my dogs to take food from strangers! The stranger should be able to move close enough to place the hot dogs on the ground. Remember that each time the stranger throws the hot dogs, they should stand still until the dog takes the hot dogs and you say YES, then they turn and walk away. This teaches the dog that they are in control and can make the stranger go away by acting in an acceptable manner. As the dog becomes accustom to the approach of the stranger, the stranger does not have to walk out of sight, only about thirty or forty paces away, or until a distance is reached that the dog appears comfortable.
If possible, use as many strangers as you can for the training. Continue until the dog shows no concern for strangers approaching it, and the stranger can walk past you in a normal manner without the dog paying any attention to the person, or shows eagerness towards the approach of the stranger.
The problem is not solved overnight, but then therapy takes time and involves conditioning of the animal. All people and animals are different and learn at different rates.Next you can move into the house and perform the following routine.
This is the type situation that clicker training comes in handy! Have the individual feared by the dog sit on the couch with a bag of hot dogs cut up in pieces. You start playing around with the dog, with the dog on lead. When the dog is farthest away from the individual, ignore him. When he takes one single step towards the individual, even if he's accidentally moving closer, or if he glances at the individual, you click or say "HERE"( IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CLICKER), and have the person throw a treat on the floor in front of the dog. If it helps, you could use chalk, duct tape, string, whatever, to draw several lines on the floor with the individual in the center of the area. You can begin the session with the dog on a loose lead if it makes you and the stranger feel more comfortable. First you click the dog for moving forward towards the line. The person throws the treat OUT past the line so the dog can "safely" run and get it, and then has a chance to offer to go inside the line again, click and treat. Keep that up until the dog will willingly go across the line towards the stranger. (When the dog is able to accept the presence of the stranger in the house, work the dog off lead.) Then hold off until he accidentally puts a paw inside the next line closer to the person, click and treat. Keep working to shape the dog until it willingly approaches the stranger. The goal is to be able to get the dog to be able to approach the stranger and take a piece of hot dog placed between the strangers feet. It shouldn't take too long. At any time the dog shows aggression or concern towards the stranger, start the Magic Button routine to calm it down. Then go back to the last successful behavior and start the procedure all over again. Next session have the person sitting somewhere else. Have the person work in at least three different areas of your home. The next step in the conditioning process is to have the stranger stand up and work with the dog, until the dog is able to complete the behavior modification routine. The goal is to have the dog approach the stranger and take a piece of hot dog from between the feet of the stranger. The final step is having the stranger walk around the house with the dog on a down, stay. Start with the person at the furthest point and work toward the goal of having the stranger walk up to the dog and place a piece of hot dog between the dog's feet.
Do the same conditioning procedure with other strangers. Your ultimate goal is to have the dog permit the stranger to touch the dog without any overt action on the part of the dog. This goal can be accomplished by having the dog sit and while you do the Magic Button routine, the stranger comes up to the dog and at first offers a closed fist to the dog to smell. After the dog is able to accept this, you have the person offer an open hand to the dog to smell. The hand should be palm up, as this is a sign of subordination to the dog. (All subordinate animals approach the dominant animal from a lower position, thus indicating their submission to the higher animal.) Finally, after the dog has indicated acceptance of the stranger by at least taking a non threatening step toward the stranger, have the stranger touch the dog on the shoulder with the back of their hand.
This is a totally non-aversive way of getting the dog to voluntarily approach the people he's afraid of, and at the same time, helping him to calm down and adjust to his home and any circumstances that might arise in it. Notice that at no time is the animal given a correction for acting in an aggressive manner during the conditioning process. No correction is the correct response on your part.If you are not familiar with clicker training let me know and I will post the training pattern.

The Development Of The Cart Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Harry Russ .) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:13:00 +0000

Dogs have been pulling carts for their masters for centuries. Ever since Man and Dog learned that they could be more productive in getting food when they worked together, they formed a bond that has lasted thousands of years. As Man and Dog learned to work together, Man has found ways to lighten his burdens and increase the responsibilities of his companion. Dog has gone alone with these additional burdens because man had convinced Dog that Man would provide for Dogs every need. As time went on and Man had the need for more food for the tribe, he developed a way for Dog to carry home some of the kill. Dog had now advanced to being a pack dog and could carry more of the kill home to the tribe in this manner. As time progressed, Man found new ways to use his friend in his quest for more food for the tribe. Man had used a crude device of two poles lashed together and an animal skin tied across the middle to load his possessions and pull them when the tribe moved from place to place. Some industrious member of the tribe got the idea of using Dog to pull the rig, now known as a Trivois.
Man and Dog moved across the face of the earth using this device. Mans best friend worked alongside him as mankind advanced from cave dwellers to villager and town dweller. As Man developed in his abilities to provide food for his family, a crude form of commerce was begun. Man invented the wheel. This was to change Dogs life forever. It would now become easy for Man to use Dog to not only move larger amounts of his possessions, but to involve him in his commerce. Mans best friend became a Cart Dog.