For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

How prepared are you and your dogs for a natural disaster?

This came up big time for us a few months ago, when torrential rains did some serious damage to our town.  Here are some tips.

1. Depending on where you live, you might have to deal with earthquakes, floods, tornados, lots of rain, blizzards, lengthy power outages, etc., so how to prepare will be somewhat different. House fires can happen anywhere, as can some other reason to evacuate. Think about what possible scenarios you might encounter and what you would do.

2. Know how you would evacuate with your animals if you had to. This includes where their leashes are, if they would all fit in your vehicle or vehicles along with family members, how you could grab some dry food and drinking water quickly, etc. (Of course, there are all the other things you’d want to take anyway, like money or credit cards, some clothes, etc.)

3. Keep enough supplies on hand at home that if you couldn’t easily get to a store for a few days or more, you’d have all the food and other things you need.

4. The basics of dog training become even more important in a situation where unexpected events are happening and you need your dogs to do what you ask. Especially coming when called!

5.Likewise, the basics of socialization are essential if other people might be at your place, or you might be going out into the world.

So how did we score on the above checklist? Not as well as we should have! Kelly had the carburetor out of our little motor home, and I lay awake trying to picture two good-sized dogs, two cats, two people, plus some belongings in our VW Jetta, but it wasn’t going to happen. We were almost out of cat food and I walked into downtown to get it, after the streets were cleared enough that we could at least walk out. For #4 and #5, we were good.

[tags]disaster preparedness, dogs disasters[/tags]

Eating poop has lately been the most common question I’ve received from readers. Sometimes the dog has been eating its own poop; other times it’s been the poop of other dogs or cats. People are grossed out (hey, I procrastinated on writing this!) and they want their dogs to stop.

Coprophagia is the scientific name for this habit. There are reasons to do your best to deter it. Dogs can pick up worms from eating other dog’s wastes. You don’t want to be kissed by your dog after it has done this. 

What works to stop a dog from eating feces?

• The most important step is to use physical control: Clean up the poop your dogs produce at home, and if there is a poopy area where you walk your dogs, either go a different way or keep your dog very close to you on leash.
• There are products on the market that are said to make the poop taste bad to dogs… Dis-Taste, Forbid, and Deter are some I have heard of. Someone said that they hadn’t worked for her dog, but no one remedy will work for everyone. Alternatively, a little pineapple or pumpkin added to your dog’s meal may have the same effect.
• Another approach can be to put some hot sauce on some poop in your yard. The idea is that if a dog has an unpleasant experience , he will avoid eating poop in the future. I have my doubts about this because the baited poop will smell very different from normal ones.
• It is possible that your dog is hungry. Try feeding roughly the same amount of food but more frequently. It’s also possible that the dog food you are offering is lacking in something; try feeding a higher quality diet.
• Sometimes dogs who eat feces are deficient in biotin. Try giving them a little brewer’s yeast, or other good sources are egg yolk, liver, lentils or other beans.

They say that most dogs outgrow the habit, so be patient! And if you have any solutions that have worked for you, please let me know!

Ending Access to a Cat Litterbox

As for eating cat poop, physical controls seem to be the solution. For example, we currently have two indoor cats, and their covered litterbox is under the bathroom sink, with the entrance facing the back wall. That was good enough to stop our older dog from checking it out, but when we added a Rottweiler puppy to the family, she soon found the litterbox and had a great time. More than once. Yuck. Kelly fashioned a long hook and eye for the bathroom door — the hook is about 6 inches long and since it is made of heavy gauge wire, when it’s latched the cats can go through but nobody else can. We quickly formed the habit of keeping that door latched all the time, except of course when we want to shut the door completely. Here  is the latch on the bathroom door… a hardware store may have something like this:

And this photo, taken from inside the bathroom with the latch in place, shows just how far our pup can put her nose… not far enough to get into trouble:

[tags] dogs eating poop, coprophagia [/tags]

Chances are that your dog or dogs are already trained to sit, but are you taking advantage of the many ways this versatile word can be used? Today I’ll give some tips on training the sit with a clicker. These are hot from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, as I’ve been doing this a lot with Lola, the Rottie we adopted a few months ago.

CLICKER TIPS:

If your dog sits but you’d like him to do it more reliably or eagerly, consider the power of cheddar cheese and a clicker.

Cut a few slices of cheddar off the block, then dice till you have dozens of really tiny pieces, but large enough that you can still pick each one up! Put them in a small jar or a small zipper type plastic bag, and put them out of reach of the dog but where you can easily get them. Do this at a time when your dog is likely to be interested in cheese, not immediately after feeding. Of course, if your dog won’t work for cheese or is allergic to dairy, use something else.

Ask the dog to sit via hand signal or word. If your dog isn’t trained to sit, show him some him the cheese in your hand and slowly move your hand up over his head, and likely he will sit to watch. At the VERY INSTANT that your dog’s rear touches the floor, click. That tells him what you want. Then give him a tiny bit of cheese, from an open palm.

Lola thinks this game can go on for 10 or 12 treats easily.

If you’re not clicker training, you can use essentially the same method.

For more on clickertraining, see my favorite site: Karen Pryor’s Clickertraining, which is a huge site with lots of fascinating articles and videos.

SOME USES FOR THE SIT:

* To go in and out of doors without your dog charging through.
* To handle jealousy between dogs… I’ve been doing this to help with our older LarryDog’s acceptance of our pup Lola (who already towers over him). Say “Doggies, sit!” and give them each a tiny bit of cheese. It doesn’t take very may repetitions for both dogs to feel that being together has some distinct benefits!
* For your dog to stay beside the car till you’re ready to load, and to stay in the car till you’re ready for him to come out. (Naturally, be extra cautious if around traffic.)

[tags]clicker training dogs, train dog sit, dog training[/tags]

Do you massage your dog? Here are some tips for dog massage and your dog training:

[1] Use a bit of firm massage around your dog’s neck as a reward after clicking sometimes, combined with praise.

[2] To promote overall well-being, give your dog a good massage every week. This will help with his general level of relaxation, and we learn better when relaxed.

[3] When you are watching TV with your dog, go down on the floor with him (or invite him up onto the sofa with you, if that’s your preference) and casually rub him, in the direction his fur grows for the most part.

[4] Teach your dog to accept toenail clipping more gracefully by massaging his paws.

Naturally, do be alert to your dog’s signals to you that he isn’t comfortable with something you are doing. In that case, back off to something he does like for the time being.

I recently watched a lovely DVD called Bodywork for Dogs, which I reviewed here:
http://training-dogs.com/dogtrainingdvds/bodyworkfordogsdvd.html

I liked it enough to think it’s worth watching multiple times, one of my criteria for a DVD I’ll buy.

[tags]dog massage, dogmassage[/tags]