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EU Bans Cat and Dog Fur Trade
6abc.com, PA -
17 hours ago
STRASBOURG, France (AP) - June 20, 2007
- The European Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a
ban on trade in products containing cat or dog fur ...
EU Bans Dog Cat Fur TradeDog Flu Diet and Diseases
2 are ticketed for leaving dog in pickup in
87-degree heat ...
Indianapolis
Star, United States - 1 hour ago
Metropolitan police ticketed two people
they say left a dog in a hot vehicle on the Far Northside.
Officer Brian Schemenaur issued a court summons for
Dog assists in drug seizures
British Columbia
North Island Gazette, Canada - 41 minutes ago
RCMP drug detection dog Whiskey
searches the trunk of a car at the ferry terminal while Cpl.
Mark Whitworth questions a passenger. ...
2007 Greater Venice Florida Dog Show
PR Web (press
release), WA - 1 hour ago
Venice, Florida (PRWEB) June 21, 2007
-- Bulldogs, Cocker Spaniels, Labradors and more at the 2007
Venice Florida Dog show. Come out and support your ...
Dog owners confused as councils tighten leash
Gulf
Times, Qatar - 2 hours ago
LONDON: Dog owners in London are facing
a “confusing maze” of legislation as councils introduce strict
controls on walking their pets. ...
An excuse to bring your dog to work PETS
Kansas City
Star, MO - 5 hours ago
Here’s your chance to persuade your
workplace to allow pets, at least for one day: Friday is the
ninth annual Take Your Dog to Work Day, as declared by the ...
Who's the world's smallest dog? Ducky or Dancer
Orlando
Sentinel, FL - 6 hours ago
A Massachusetts woman says her
shorthaired 4.9-inch Chihuahua, Ducky, has been officially
named by Guinness World Records as the world's smallest living
dog ...
Artist Who Saved Dog From Fire Succumbs To
Injuries
WMTW, ME -
14 hours ago
... once rescued a drowning woman in
San Francisco Bay has died of injuries he sustained four
months ago while saving a friend's dog from a burning house.
...
Spare a dog's life by driving cautiously
Colfax Record,
USA - 7 hours ago
The first image to upset me involved an
average-sized black dog running across Interstate 80 near
Applegate last Tuesday. After arriving at the other side, ...
Dog who soothed 9/11 workers dies
Newsday, NY -
1 hour ago
Today, a foundation he established in
the dog's name will contribute $1000 toward buying medical
equipment for neutering feral cats in the organization's ...
Now for this
week's tips and advice
Adult Dog Socialization – Does your dog hate humans
or dogs?
This one is very close to my heart because as you know I have
a beautiful rescue dog, a Briard called Arnie, and he had big
problems when I first got him. I had him from one year old and
he had already been thru quite a lot but I didn’t have all the
details. To start with he was very timid and quiet, but this
only lasted for 2 weeks and then he turned into a monster!
He became as possessive as hell and lashed out at all around
him, including me if I got in the way or spent too much time
with another human or dog. Although I have trained him out of
this, I must say that I could have done better, and even now
he still doesn’t really like other dogs (although he adores
all humans!). So the message I want you to take from this is
that perseverance is the key. They will not grow out of it on
their own – you need to train them out of it.
I think we all know by now how important it is to socialize a
puppy. Dogs have a sensitive period for socialization between
the ages of 3 and 12 weeks. This means that pleasant exposures
to people, other dogs and other animals during this time will
have long-lasting influences on the sociability of your dog.
Well socialized dogs tend to be friendlier and less fearful of
the kinds of individuals they were socialized to.
But what is you either never did this when your dog was young,
or you have a rescue dog and its clear that the dog hasn’t had
much socialization at all?
Veterinarians, dog trainers and other dog professionals urge
new puppy owners to take their dogs to puppy classes and to
provide other socializing experiences. Although this is
excellent advice, a puppy class by 4 months of age or a basic
training class at 6 months shouldn't be the end of a dog's
social training.
Don't underestimate how important it is to continue to
socialize your dog well into adulthood. We all probably know
owners with stories of dogs that seem to have been well
socialized early in life, were friendly and accepting of
people and other dogs and then began to react with threats or
aggression during social encounters. These dogs had no
traumatic or frightening experiences but became fearful and/or
aggressive later, usually beginning around 8 months to 2 years
of age.
There can be many reasons for this and some may not be obvious
to us. Just the fact that the dog now has a new owner can be
enough, just as moving house can be – its their home too and
you just uprooted them from a place that they loved, so they
may react to it badly. Similarly the birth of children into a
house where the dog has been kingpin can cause all sorts of
reactions as the dog feels displaced in your affections.
Socializing Your Adult Dog
If you're bringing a new adult dog into your home, your major
concern is to check out how well socialized the dog is and to
strengthen any weak spots. For example, if you find that this
dog is a bit uncomfortable with men in hats, then you must
make a concerted effort to help your new dog to learn to love
men wearing hats.
Invite over one or two friends at a time to meet your new dog.
Ask them to bring hats, but not wear them. Have your dog on a
leash and have everyone take a seat. Have one friend (without
his hat on) hand-feed the dog his dinner. When your dog is
comfortable, have your friend show the hat and feed the dog.
Then ask him to casually put on the hat and feed the dog.
Make an effort to invite over as many as possible of your male
friends, one or two at a time, to follow this procedure.
Pretty soon your dog will be searching out men wearing hats
because he has learned they are a pretty generous bunch.
Maintaining Socialization
Socialization is ongoing for the rest of your dog's life. Your
dog may have gone to a puppy class, and a lucky dog is walked
to the park each day. But, while this dog has met a number of
people and a number of dogs, it is also likely that he will
meet those same familiar faces each and every day. To keep
your dog socialized, he must continue to meet new dogs and new
people. The two best ways to do is by varying the route you
walk and by introducing him to other dogs and people whenever
you get the opportunity.
Canine Squabbles
If your dog is unfriendly with lots of other dogs, it means he
is not adequately socialized to dogs. (But don't expect your
dog to be best friends with every dog; after all, we aren't
with every person!)
A well-socialized dog may still chase and possibly argue with
other dogs. However, socialization ensures your dog has the
requisite social savvy to enjoyably and confidently interact
with unfamiliar dogs that he may meet and to resolve arguments
with other dogs without doing damage. It is easiest to
socialize your dog when he is young, but it is never too late
to make him more dog friendly.
Don't Make Matters Worse
Dog to dog aggression is most often inadvertently trained in
by owners. When an owner sees another dog and tightens the
leash, the owner's tension is often relayed to their dog. I
definitely did this to start with and I didn’t realize I was
doing it. The dog growls, the owner tightens the leash more
and maybe yells at the dog. Over time, the dog becomes
conditioned to get tense, as he makes the association between
other dogs approaching and his owner's anxiety. So now the dog
wants the other dog to stay away, and one of the ways he tries
to accomplish this is by growling and barking.
Furthermore, if your dog is uncomfortable with another dog,
tightening the leash excludes flight from his possible options
and leaves him with fight as the major option. Tightening the
leash also distorts your dog's body language and all but
forces him to lean forward on his front feet - a posture that
the other dog may perceive as somewhat threatening.
Obviously, keep your dog on leash for safety, but you've got
to learn to control your dog without tightening the leash. By
keeping the leash lose and acting calm, you may convince your
dog to do the same! Think about using a head halter - this is
one time when it could be very handy.
Don't punish your dog for barking or growling at other dogs.
The punishment may teach your dog "I don't like being around
other dogs because I am punished whenever they show up, so
I'll bark to keep them away."
Instead, try to focus on making your dog enjoy the presence of
other dogs by associating them with things he likes. For
dog-to-dog aggression, the method of choice is reward
training, and the best feedback is kibble and praise. Start by
hand-feeding your dog and getting him fixated on an object
(like a Kong toy or white sterilized bone). This way, you can
expose him to one dog (or person) at a time, at a safe
distance and give him something to do, such as chewing a toy
or eating his kibble. It will give him something to focus on
and associate the presence of dogs with things he likes.
The secret is not to give up and your dog will get over this
dislikes!
