Puppy Developement

Dog Development graphic created by Pet365 - a UK stockist of dog beds and brands like Hamish McBeth. Click below to see the full size version.

Cyper Rally-O

Cyber Rally-O offers the opportunity for you and your dog to participate in this fun sport by video entry. Fearful and reactive dogs can have fun and earn titles in an environment that is comfortable for them. All dogs (and their people) are welcome! ~ Cyber Rally-O Yahoogroup

First time I entered a ring at an AKC event with any of my dogs was in March 2005 with Rylie. We did good and she earned her Rally Novice tile the following trial. I was so proud of her. She was nervous, I was nervous, but we did it. Raygen earned his RA and Ryker earned his RAE. At this time I am not able to enter any trials with Ryddick due to his unpredictabilty towards humans. Cyber Rally-O gives me the oppurtunity to enter via video. No people around (or only close friends) anywhere, anytime :)
www.adogsjourney.com
Or join the CyberRally-O Yahoogroup

WW Treibball

Rydge, a Toy Poodle, pushing the ball with his nose.

Bailey

On July 22nd I offered to foster a tiny Chihuahua/Dachshund mix thinking she would get adopted in a few weeks. She had some fear issues with people, places and large dogs, although anything was larger then her tiny 5lb body. I took her to Agility trials and socialized her with the help of my friends. She has been attending ever puppy playtime during my puppy classes and sat on the sidelines during the other classes. She has become a bubbly fun little dog. She is operant and has shown some great athleticism doing flips and jump-flip-twist-push-of-your-leg-bounces. She sits, downs, rolls over, has an amazing recall and does some funky break dance routine when she feels she is waiting to long to hear the clicker sound.
After she got spayed and her her excess teeth pulled she amazed me with her tugging abilities.

Well, it is October 25th and she is still with me. So, I enrolled her in a basic manners class to get her Resume looking better. She is a very special dog and her future home will absolutely adore her.

Clicker Expo 2011

 Julie Vargas-Skinner

Emma Parsons

I signed up for the January 2011 Clicker Expo in Newport Beach, CA. This will be my fourth time attending. This year I will visit labs and lectures with Eva and Emily, Cecilie Køste and some lectures with Emma Parson and Ken Ramirez. I will visit with my daughter who is living nearby and hopefully get a ride to the Ocean. For me there is nothing more breathtaking then the Ocean. I miss it every day.
I am going to see some friends form SoCal and look forward in meeting new ones.

Doors & Tug & Eating

Play or dominance? 5 week old ACD on 7 week old Rottweiler

And the answer is:
What are three things that are often falsely thought of dominance behaviors?

Going through Doors first:
Some trainers say that going through doors first establishes dominance. No it won't.

Playing Tug:
Some trainers say that playing tug will make your dog dominant. No it won't.

Eating First:
Some trainers say that eating first established dominance. No it won't.

All of these mentioned have nothing to do with dominance.
Take the test.

Doors: Have your dog pack by the door and open it to release all dogs at the same time to an outside area that is save to run out to. Don't ask for a sit of down. The alpha may or may not go first. The fasted, most boisterous dog usually does. If you mix big and large the biggest usually go, since the little ones stay back to avoid being trampled.

Tug: If you are physically able, playing tug with your dog is a great way to exercise your dog and yourself. It is also a great way to reward your dog during training. Establish rules. No biting hand, not even by accident. Teach releasing the tug when you ask the dog to. Sometimes you can let the dog win, sometimes you ask for a release.
It is not a game that should be played with dogs who have toy guarding issues.

Eating: Without saying anything to your dogs, throw a handful of kibble on the ground in front of the pack. Unless you have some resource guarders there is not going to be any growling. All dogs eat as fast as they can until all the kibble is gone. Alpha does not eat first while all the other sit quietly on the sideline. The ones that may squabble are the ones that guard their resources which is a behavioral problem not an alpha behavior.

Don't confuse dominance, with reactivity, with aggressive behaviors. Dominant dogs don't bully, fight or demand anything.

Effect of the Poisoned Cue

I recently met with a young man to test his dog for the CGC. On previous email correspondence he said that his dog was ready to take the test. When we met I was not very impressed with the dogs behavior. Testing has to be done without a prong. Once he removed the prong collar he had no control of his dog. He lunged at me and my dog Raygen. The sit and down where painful to watch. When the owner asked the dog to sit, he winced and slowly, very slowly sat down. He did the same when asked to lie down. This leaves me to believe that the cues were poisoned. When I asked him how he trained the sit he told me that he commanded the dog to "sitz" and he then pulled up on the dogs leash, while wearing a prong collar, until the dog sat down. For the down he would command the dog to "platz" and pull the leash down.

Clearly this dog was anticipating the pain of the prong. Very sad.