Houston, We Have a Problem!

When you get your new dog home, you may ask yourself, do I need dog training for myself and my new companion? In Many cases we have a vision about the role our new dog or puppy will play in our lives. This vision typically involves an enjoyable Houston afternoon walking our dog, throwing him the ball or one of many other enjoyable experiences. Too often we start to accept behavior from our dogs that we don't like....because they are dogs. Doesn't owning a dog mean you expect these behaviors, like chasing the cat, chewing inappropriate items, jumping and leash pulling? You are selling your dog short. Dogs, like people, can be expected to display appropriate behavior and manners but you have to teach them how to achieve these expectations.What are good dog manners? We offer a few different ways to teach you and your dog or new puppy these life skills. Through this process you too learn the skills needed to be a successful leader and a happy dog owner. A happy dog is a trained dog.

Making Nice with Baby

Making Nice with Baby

I am often asked about the mix of kids and dogs along with the age old question, "How do we introduce our dog to our new baby?" The answer I give, "Depends on your relationship". "Does your dog consider you the leader?" "Dogs and people are about RELATIONSHIPS in which the human is the leader and the dog starts as an unskilled follower", I say. Once you have demonstrated that with clarity, you then grow this into a Sr/Jr. partnership with more freedoms and privileges being earned by the dog along the way as he develops the needed skills. At this point, getting dogs to be successful in and around babies or children or any other new, unfamiliar or stressful situation becomes the benefit.

This statement always leaves most people with a puzzled look as most are expecting an anecdotal list of things they should and should not be doing. The most common of these is playing audio of babies crying; with the idea that the dog will get used to (become conditioned) the sound and his behavior won’t become erratic. Or, never let your dog get his face near the baby (avoidance), for fear he might bite the baby. While you can apply micro-management, avoidance and desensitization techniques, this alone rarely creates a dependable dog. A systematic training and skill building program combined with a temporary application of some precautionary measures as you achieve a certain level of skill in the dog,is far more effective and dependable.

I like to relate this to individuals who want to lose weight. These days, most people have learned to stay away from yo-yo dieting. They have learned this slogan of balanced diet and exercise is the right way to get healthy. While I would agree with this statement in part, it's far too general for most people to understand the specific components inside those pieces. You can still over eat on healthy food just like you can love your dog to DEATH. Diet is 80% of the answer to losing weight and being healthy but eating healthy requires practice. The other 20% is exercise. But what kind of exercise? How much? How often? Random exercise, like random obedience exercises and random lifestyle protocol without specifics is going to provide people with inconsistent results. And let's not forget the importance of coaching. Having a system makes success much easier to achieve goals as opposed to random or spot training, regardless of the subject. All training is not created equal, so buyer beware.

The difference between diet and exercise and people and dogs is that you have chosen to live with an animal. The dog is a living, breathing, thinking, reasoning and emotional entity. Poor training or no training doesn't just effect the owner, like cheating on your diet or spot training with no results, it effects the emotional, physical and psychological state of the dog too. While some of these conventional conditioning and counter conditioning dog training measures can have some success, many are hit and miss and most are addressing the symptom, not the problem. This typically produces mediocre benefits and little reliability in the dog’s ability to self control and make good choices in real situations. I would think that most people wouldn't want to entertain training measures that may or may not work regarding the safety of their baby or children. So instead of providing you this spot training list of anecdotal advice that addresses the symptoms, bringing to light the understanding of the root of the true problem is needed if we are to properly and reliably prevent or correct anything.

We need a dog that possesses skills for properly THINKING and reasoning his way through whatever the situation, in order to make a good choice, and an owner who possesses the leadership skills needed for that particular dog. Implementing a day to day protocol in which to live by combined with a properly coached obedience exercise curriculum is what does the skill building for both. It also teaches the dog to be responsible to something greater than himself and promotes a healthy team mentality. Thorough instruction and execution in leash handling is the key for this and becomes the dogs’ life line. It's this initial leash training that begins to connect the owner and dog as a team and aids in building a trustworthy, cooperative and safe relationship. When done correctly, it creates a stable, controlled and trustworthy animal who's capable of following direction and who learns how to make good choices under stress. This works perfectly for dogs being around babies and children of all ages and scenarios. So whether you're dealing with infants and crawlers, tail pullers, eye pokers and ear biters, all the way to young teens who feel they know it all, there is hope. Eventually, the child is going to do something to the dog that is uncomfortable or that the dog doesn't like in a setting that is beyond your control. The dog that has been taught to think before he acts and has skills for self control, turns and goes the other direction instead of correcting the child himself. While teaching kids about safety and proper interaction around dogs is optimal, we as parents know for sure, we can never supervise the dogs and kids 100% of the time. By teaching both kids and dogs, we increase our chances of success by almost eliminating all risk. Keep in mind, all training is NOT created equal.

As a parent to a five year old who has been raised around and by two American Pit Bull Terriers and a Boxer, people are shocked at first to find that I would not only trust a dog around a baby and young children, but THAT breed, I must be insane. But when I tell them the roles they played, they are amazed. Krom fetched diapers and put them up on the changing table whenever the boy cried and I carried him to the room to change him. Quinn helped teach my son to walk, as he constantly placed himself in just the right position to be used as a stabilizer for balance and a pillow for a fall, then a helper to hold onto as the boy pulled his way back to his feet and started all over again. All this never being formerly taught, just dogs understanding their roles and participating in something greater than themselves. All rooted in a clear leader/follower relationship that had been fostered through proper training and life style protocol in which to live by.

It is the dog who has lacked true human leadership in his life that becomes unstable, fearful, uncontrollable and reactive to unfamiliar and/or stressful situations. He has never truly learned to be part of something bigger than himself and to trust a human as being a fit leader. He has lost faith and trust, therefore his own confidence is diminished. His behavior becomes erratic and unpredictable by interpretation. This interpretation in fact is NOT true, he is totally predictable. You can always count on never knowing what he's going to do under stress. Thereby, quality of life becomes restrictive and begins to diminish for all parties in the relationship. The number one reason dogs fail out of homes is for behavior issues that were all preventable if owners had access to proper training.

When I speak to prospective clients on the phone, most conversations begin with "here are the PROBLEMS I'm having with my dog." I educate them as quickly as possible into understanding that those are not the problems, they're the symptoms. They are describing the end result that is no longer tolerable. If you try to spot train, you could very well end up dealing with an endless amount of behaviors from your dog that don't ever really get corrected and don’t align with your lifestyle.

The dog has a brain in his head and is quite capable of being so much more than a mindless conditioned robot through patterning type training. That brain needs to be stimulated and exercised, not bribed and coerced. True dog training does just this. Don't lower the standards, raise the dog. Give your dog what it deserves, a fair chance at being successful by meeting his needs and he will meet yours. Spend your time addressing the symptoms and you could end up doing that forever. Correct the true problems and most symptoms will begin to disappear all by themselves, as they weren’t the problem at all.

By building that house on a solid foundation, not sand, it will stand the test of time under all conditions. Short cuts and anecdotal fixes will come back to bite you when you least expect it.

thethinkingdog

Dogs and Houston Summer Heat

Whether your training your dog in the Houston summer heat or just enjoying a play session with your new puppy, overheating can happen quick. Our dogs eliminate heat through panting and through the bottoms of their feet. While drinking water can satisfy the dogs need for thirst, it does little to truly cool them down like most owners think.

Controlling your dogs level activity is first and foremost in preventing this. Letting your young, adolescent dog run wild continuously with out care, is a big mistake. While dogs do require physical exercise, it is the mental drive for work that pushes the dog physically. When dogs are not stimulated enough mentally, they explode with physical output when given the opportunity. Proper dog training addresses this through obedience exercises which stimulate and teach self control. Exhaust the dog mentally, you will slow them down to a normal level of activity physically. Once the dog has been trained, they are almost completely able to slow them selves down and rest before this happens. If your dog has not developed any self control or is not demonstrating any, a trained dog can be instructed to settle down and rest, get a drink and cool off before resuming play or being finished with physical activity all together.



Heat stroke happens when heat gain exceeds the body's ability to dissipate heat. High temperatures cause chemical reactions that break down body cells which lead to dehydration and blood thickening. This puts extreme strain on the heart and causes blood clotting and subsequent death to tissue. Liver, brain and intestinal cells are usually the first to be affected and this can occur quickly. Normal body temperature for a dog is about 101 F to 102 F. If his temperature reaches 106 F, he is in danger of brain damage, vital organ failure and death. Reducing body temp quickly is imperative. A dog who recovers can still have organ damage and lifelong health problems. Temperatures above 106 F are extremely dangerous.

All dogs handle heat differently, you are supposed to be the one who knows what's in your dogs best interest, not always them. An hour outside running around is more than plenty for most dogs. Many dogs, especially puppies and senior dogs, will overheat much quicker so pay attention to some key signs.

Symptoms

Rapid, frantic panting
Wide eyes
Thick saliva
Bright red tongue
Vomiting
Staggering

Plenty of cool drinking water and even a way to get the feet wet while outside adds additional cooling benefits. Never try to ice a dog down, it's too extreme and can cause further issues. And when in doubt, stop the physical activity and get the dog into the AC. This will allow you and your dog to play another day and stay mentally and physically healthy along the way.

Remember, proper obedience training helps keep your dog healthy, safe and alive by creating dependable responsiveness under distraction. If your obedience course didn't provide this, they didn't do their job. Your family dog needs to be just as reliable if not more than any working dog for the simple fact that they are required to be dependable in a variety of circumstances all the time, not just some.

It's not more than what you need, it's just more than your used to.
The Thinking Dog Training System



Read more at Suite101: Dogs and Heat Stroke: Understanding the Risks of Overheating http://dogs.suite101.com/article.cfm/dogs_and_heat_stroke#ixzz0rt0i2QBi

Mary and Cooper earn their CD

Proper dog training can save the life of your dog when it's done correctly. And great accomplishments can follow. Mary and Cooper earning their Companion Dog title under a very tough judge in Houston, Texas. Mary and Coop have since earned their CD Excellent title. Congrats!

Welcome to our new Houston dog training blog spot

Blogger: Dashboard

Welcome to our Houston, Texas dog training blog spot. We hope you will continue to come back and keep up with whats new with Dogs California and The Thinking Dog training system transition to its newest venture, Club Canine. Club Canine will will host a variety of canine services and activities which are all rooted in The Thinking Dog Training System. Please check back soon for further description of our new location and services and opportunities.