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Video of the Week
The second part of a three-part
series
on dog training
Pit bulls rip dog apart
Canoe.ca, Canada -
55 minutes ago
"A dog from a home comes to you and
kills your dog," White said. "John has a broken wrist. That's
nothing to his broken heart for wee Dusty." ...
Increase proposed for dog licenses
Youngstown
Vindicator, OH - 2 hours ago
The dog that was apparently dumped at
Angels for Animals in southern Mahoning County earlier this
year is recovering, according to Brenda Austin, ...
Senate to mull dog bill
Amarillo.com
(subscription), TX - 2 hours ago
The Texas Senate will weigh the merits
of a House bill seeking to charge pet owners with felonies
when their dog seriously injures or kills someone. ...
Cat and dog food recalled
British Columbia
North Island Gazette, Canada - 8 minutes ago
PORT HARDY - Western Family’s cat and
dog foods that have been recalled by their supplier have been
removed from the shelves of the local Overwaitea Foods, ...
Dangerous dog bylaw on way
The
Suburban, Canada - 7 hours ago
“The new bylaw will have a provision to
allow a dog to be removed if the dog is seen unmuzzled after
it has been declared to be a dangerous dog, ...
Island dog to the rescue
Martha's Vineyard
Times, MA - 6 hours ago
Nolan is in training for certification
as a search and rescue (SAR) dog. His owner, Karen Ogden,
serves as the SAR team leader for the Dukes County ...
Now for this
week's tips and advice
Problem Behavior – Choose the right Breed
Problem Behavior – But whose fault is it –
Your’s or the Dog’s?
I fear I am about to be become unloved by some but hey, that’s
life and I can take it. The reason being is that I
wholeheartedly abide by a saying I saw years ago ‘there are no
such things as bad dogs, only bad owners’. I know loads of you
will agree with this but there are still a great many who
don’t. And it’s an epitaph that many a good dog would love to
have on his tombstone when he has lead a miserable existence
simply because he was owned by the wrong person – an owner who
thought that everything that the dog did wrong was because he
was a bad dog.
The reason for mentioning it here is that a pitiful case here
in the UK, has just demonstrated how unjust life can be for
dogs. A Pitbull Terrier savaged and killed a lovely little
girl of five because they were left alone together by the
sitter, who happened to also be her Grandma. That dog was
owned by her son (who lived with Grandma) and had been trained
to be aggressive to strangers (no doubt exposed to dog
fighting too but that hasn’t been proved). Why oh why did that
Grandma, knowing the dog as she did, leave the child alone
with it? The resulting outcry demanded that all Pitbulls,
already branded as vicious dogs and on the UK’s Dangerous Dogs
register, be destroyed, as this one was. But where’s the
justice in that? Perhaps I am too insensitive, but today I was
delighted to hear that the Grandma is being charged with
manslaughter – she’s responsible for that child’s death, not
the dog.
Even the dogs with the bad reps don’t deserve them because 9
times out of 10, it’s the owner who has encouraged that bad
behavior in one way or another, just as her son did. It’s true
that some breeds can exhibit character traits that can become
a problem if encouraged or left unchecked, but basically no
dog is born vicious, aggressive or uncontrollable – we make
them that way. But, it’s equally true that some dogs that
should have quite gentle temperaments can, under certain
circumstances, become quite aggressive. You simply need to
know what the breed was bred for and then you’ll know what
kind of character traits you can expect – this will give you a
huge insight into their behavior. If you don’t understand
this, then your relationship with the dog may well be very
rocky. Its your duty to understand such things about him – you
are supposed to be the clever one – the one in charge of the
relationship…..
So when someone says that Pitbull Terriers are always
aggressive and dangerous dogs, I think of Mr Dog…… generally
laying on his back, snoring, in the sun, just waiting for his
next cuddle – seems to have completely forgotten that he has a
reputation to live up to as a fearsome Pitbull. He’s as soft
as it’s possible to be, despite the fact that his neighbor’s
Yorkie, Rambo, is permanently attached to his dewlap whenever
they meet because Yorkie’s sweetheart and cohabitee, Miss Dog
another Yorkie, seems to find Mr Dog so much more attractive.
That Yorkie draws blood sometimes, and all Mr Dog can do is
walk up to his owner – Yorkie attached – and look at him as if
to say – can you please remove Rambo here.
So, that brings me to the point here. When choosing a dog you
must understand your dog’s genetic heritage in order to
understand its suitability for your home and family
circumstances.
Whether you own a Doberman or a Beagle, a Samoyed or a Westie,
it is important to understand what your dog was bred to do.
Owners often forget that the behavior that prompts a dog to
run or stay close, hunt or guard, chase and kill or herd, work
with people or work independently are all the result of
generations of carefully selected traits. Research your
breed's history, and talk to people who understand your
breed's characteristics. You may find that Rover's tendencies,
while annoying or amusing, are precisely what makes him what
he is. You can then decide how best to work with your dog's
instincts and where you need to concentrate training efforts.
This also means that you will understand more about how to
train your dog – and train them you must, especially if you
want to keep it in a harmonious family environment.
Every dog should have basic manners, but dogs are not born
knowing how to behave. Take the time to train your dog on a
consistent basis using kind, positive methods. Find a class
near you whose methods and philosophies you like. If faced
with a behavior problem you can't solve, ask people you trust
for a recommendation of an experienced trainer and get
professional help fast. The sooner you begin working on a
problem the sooner you will have it solved.
Also, when a reasonably well behaved dog does something that
you consider to be out of character, take the time to
understand what motivated it. My neighbor has the softest,
cuddliest (laziest) Springer Spaniel I have ever seen – Ruby
is a rescue dog, and boy does she love a cuddle. But for all
her softness she is still a Springer and bred to retrieve
hunting game. So, it came as no surprise to me that one day,
the gate having been left open by the kids, Ruby went
walkabout. The next thing I hear is a shriek from further down
the road as another neighbor who keeps Guinea Pigs (they were
loose on the lawn enjoying the grass for the afternoon) spys
Ruby in her garden with her favorite Guinea in its mouth. Ruby
had done what comes naturally and retrieved – she didn’t know
that this wasn’t game. The Guinea died, but from shock not
because Ruby has really hurt her – all Ruby did was pick her
up around the neck – she never even pierced the skin with here
teeth. Heather the Guinea was given a proper funeral, and her
owner, all credit to her, realized that Ruby had just done
what came naturally and that it was her owner who was at
fault. The same could not be said of Ruby’s owner, with whom I
had to have several, rather stern words after she really
started screaming at the poor dog. Needless to say, Ruby has
never escaped again.
So, if you want to be in charge of the relationship you have
with your dog, then find out all you can about them and make
your training fit their needs. If certain training doesn’t
appear to work, find a different way to do it and persevere –
especially if it’s a rescue dog and you don’t know what it was
trained for before you got it. If your dog is trained to
always obey your commands then the type of tragedy that
happened with that child, or Ruby come to that, will never
happen to you.
You wouldn’t expect to live harmoniously with a human you knew
little or nothing about, so don’t expect it to work with a
dog.
for future "