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Leash walking without
your dog pulling

So many suggestions that I had to put it on another page!

Does your dog pull you when you walk?
The halti collar or a gentle leader.  These head harnesses give you a lot more control over your dog's movements and significantly reduce pulling on lead. However, If they are not fitted properly, they can slip off.  PLEASE -- ALWAYS USE A SECOND COLLAR AS A BACKUP.

Food Aggression
Food Aggressive, not!

Here are a variety of ways to handle dogs who are food aggressive towards other dogs, depending on their age, breed and background.

One method that works with nearly all dogs is to hold one bowl of food with the dogs on either side of you. Have one dog take a few bites, then the other. Go back and forth, forcing them to share the bowl of food. If both dogs are food aggressive, or if one is extremely possessive of his/ her food then this could be dangerous. In that case, you should consult a behaviorist. Another tip HERE



Spread your dogs food over a wide space on the kitchen floor and sit in the middle of it playfully.

Roll the food about, talk to your dog, and generally play with the food and the dog, in a non-aggressive manner. Do this for weeks, even months, gradually decreasing the circle of food on the floor until it is back in the bowl and you are able to play with it and the dog while it is in the bowl.

This teaches the dog that food is here, there is plenty of it and that there is no need to fight for it anymore. If this technique is successful, your dog probably experienced food scarcity and had learned to fight for food. by Bob Minchella, Dog Obedience Trainer

Debarking

DEBARKING (Bark Softening) - Myths and Facts Animal rights groups attack life-saving debarking procedure. There is a move around the country by animal rights interests to outlaw the practice of debarking dogs. So much misinformation about this procedure abounds that it is truly time to set the record straight.

The Fearful Dog

 

Fearful dog

Fear can be seen in rapid head/eye movements, increased panting, and a definite sense that if the leash were to evaporate, the dog would be moving quickly away from whatever has him aroused. Tail, ears, head usually held down, entire body may be lowered/compressed, withdrawn from the object of concern.

" Dogs may display a variety of behaviors when they’re afraid. A fearful dog will display certain body postures, including lowering his head, flattening his ears back against his head, and tucking his tail between his legs. He may also pant, salivate, tremble and/ or pace."

How can you help your dog?

Fearful Dogs -- help for scared or shy dogs

Desensitization & Counter Conditioning Using Gradual Departures

Desensitization & Counterconditioning to Noises and Activities That Occur by the Door

doggies paradise
information and help for dogs and their humans about problem behavior, health issues, skin disease and more
GOOD help for fearful dogs.

Treating Fearful Behavior in Cats and Dogs

Working with the Fearful Dog

Fear of thunderstorms
I made an anxiety wrap ( or find on on the Net at Anxiety Wrap) with a medium boys t-shirt and some ace bandages. I sewed the bandages on so that they wrap around and attach with velcro on the top, so it's easy to put on. I even put velcro on different spots so I can adjust how much "squeeze" it gives.

For a "Half Wrap" Start with the middle of the wrap at the point of the chest, take it straight backcross behind the point of shoulder, go under thorax, and tie or pin at top when the ends re-cross. A whole wrap is 2 bandages (unless it is a small dog) and does NOT cross between the hind legs.

 

Temple Grandin's, an autistic woman with a Ph.D. in Animal Science and author of "Thinking in Pictures"? discovered that pressure helped her function better and she built a "squeeze box." This works with a few kids with autism, as well as ADD/ADHD and weighted vests, lap pads, blankets, etc. seem to work to keep them focused and functioning.

OR you can use melatonin to help your dog

The Aggressive Dog

Aggression research "It is well known that dopamine is produced in response to rewarding stimuli such as food, sex and drugs of abuse," Maria Couppis, who conducted the study as her doctoral thesis at Vanderbilt, said. "What we have now found is that it also serves as positive reinforcement for aggression."

Resource Guarding & the Food Bowl Game

Do You Think YOUR Dog Has an Aggression Problem? Here are a few tips that you can do now until you find a qualified dog behaviourist.

Problem Solving: a Check List

Canine Aggression: Development and Correction

Growl, Snarl, Bite: Canine Aggression to People

Triangle for Helping Aggressive Dogs It's just a three-sided slide listing some key factors -- environmental causes of aggression, training fundamentals, and keys for observing a dog.

Dealing with aggression
A good read about how we train our dogs to be aggressive.

 
 
Problem Barking
pet cartoon

Some hints:
*Lessen the distractions like close the curtains, or put a blanket over the crate

*Perhaps the dog is hungry, thirsty, needs to go the toilet, etc... are his basic needs met?

*Find out what is setting the dog off: postie, loud TV, neighbours car, etc. Try and reduce whatever is setting her off.
*Put the dog inside the house, if possible.

* Reward the dog when he is quiet (very important). Put a command to being quiet.

*Provide toys for entertainment while you're out and about.

*From Trainer/behaviourist Stanley Coren: "With your dog sitting at your left side, slip the fingers of your left hand under the collar at the back of the dog's neck.

Pull up on the collar with your left hand, while your right hand folds over the top fo the dog's muzzle and presses down.

In a quiet, businesslike, and unemotional tome, you simply say "Quiet". You repeat this silencing maneuver wherever it is nesscary." From the book How to Speak Dog

When a dog barks at the moon, then it is religion; but when he barks at strangers, it is patriotism! -David Starr Jordan

A person's solution to stop a dog barking, growling and and tugging when passing other dogs...
"What I did was use some neighborhood yard dogs (dogs left out in yards by themselves whose sole occupation is barking at everything
that walks by) as decoys. I figured out how close we could get before my dog would begin to be interested in the yard dogs, and I
would start clicking and treating him (LOTS of clicks and treats, about one every 2 seconds) just before that point. At any point where he stopped paying attention to me and started paying attention to the YDs, we turned back.

Each day I could get closer and closer.

Finally we could go by on the opposite side of the street. Eventually we could walk right by the barking dogs. It was great training and now we can walk by any barking or lunging dog (not tomention quiet dogs!), either in a yard or on a leash. " Suggestion written by Susan Shipley, Boston, MA (with permission)

The Bark: What is Your Dog Saying?
On hearing a bark, the receiver of this audible message knows: The presence of another dog out there, his approximate direction, his approximate distance, the sender's level of the excitement /energy /commitment

A nice write up about problem barking can be found at Stacy's Wag'N'Train. It goes through the bored dog, the scared barking dog, the request barking, the alarm barking, the fence barking, and barking in class. Solutions are at hand too!

Your dog goes to a dog class and all he does is growl and bark. How do you stop him?

Remember:
A dog barks to communicate something that it feels is relevant to the pack.

What to do when your dog barks at the postman?

Leave a box of dog cookies outside the mailbox and ask the mailman to slip one to the dog while delivering the mail.

Make that the only one the dog gets each day until the behavior changes. The dog may begin to perceive the arrival of the mailman as a good thing for him and stop barking.


A dog owner's personal experience with barking. Deb gives some very good advice.

Mounting
90% of mounting is dominance-seeking,
pure and simple.

Often times the humping behavior, which we tend to interpret as being sexual, is more of a dominance display.... Most times one dog is above or hovering

What does Barry say?

Jumping up

You need to log into Flying Dog Press (free) in order to view the articles above. Definitely worth registering!
Read all in this series: 

Why Fluffy Can't Go Hup
Can or Can't?
I Think I Can!
Just Right Jumping

Jumping up when greeting?

Don't reinforce the dog by greeting him in an excited fashion. Ignore him for five minutes or so and when he calms down, quietly pet and praise him.

It's important to note that greeting a dog should be done at it's level, bending your knees rather than bowing. A bow can imitate a play posture which can cause the dog to release from sit/ stay prematurely.

Digging

Digging Dog

 

Anxiety in dogs

CalmsForte (by Hyland) has shown to be effective in reducing the anxiety levels of noise-phobic dogs although by itself, it has not been seen to cure a dog's fear of loud noises.

A thorough behavior-modification program used in conjunction with a homeopathic approach can be helpful -- especially if it takes into account all the components (variables) of the feared noise (volume, nature of the sound, frequency of occurrance, duration, etc.) along with all the other stimuli relative to the noise, itself. For example, with thunder there can be a need to address barometric pressure changes, static electricity, and so on. /by Stephen Rafe

 
Google Sniff & Fetch
** PLEASE DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE **
 
Natalie's Corner

Natalie's Corner - click and it will open your email programme.

Natalie is a NZ qualified dog trainer for The School of the Naked Dog- Less Leash, More Control.

Barry's Corner

Barry's Corner

Barry is a self taught dog behaviorist. He has responded to hundreds of request over the Net, and here are some samples of his wisdom.

Charlie Chaplin and his dog

General Dog
Problem Issues

How to break up a dog fight

Treat dogs like kids when it comes to 
baths
- "I read somewhere that dogs have the intelligence of a 4-year-old child," Crystal Stout, pet stylist at Donna's Grooming Salon in Prescott, said. "So there's your answer. If you let them get away with it once, they'll do it every time."

Problem-Solving Techniques A 5 part article- No matter what field of endeavor you and your dog enter into, I believe that you can learn problem-solving techniques and use them in all areas of dog training and exhibiting.

Thunderphobia Distraction may be a good technique for preventing thunderphobia from developing in the first place.

Eating feces is a dog behavior referred to as coprophagia. Have you ever actually seen your dog eating feces? A very unpleasant part of dog behavior, wasn’t it? It's amazing how a simple name substitution can tidy up such a graphically foul concept.

"Inheritance of Temperament" by Barbara Nibling

Retraining Marking Behavior in Dogs (pdf)

Teaching Good Behavior: Nice set of sane, helpful hints from WI Border Collie Rescue

Tail Chasing in Dogs Tail chasing, at first glance, may appear to be a normal component of play behaviour in dogs. Problems arise when such behaviour becomes excessive and the dog injures itself during the activity and when the dog cannot be distracted for other activities.

Are you a more than 3 dog household? And do all your dogs get on fine? If not, check out:
Interdog aggression can strike with deadly consequences

Separation Anxiety

AYE! where'd she go? said the anxious dog...

Eiks! And that's separation anxiety in the dog. But after he figures out you're not there, he goes bezerk... ripes the single mattress into shred, barks, can have a smelly accident on your carpet, or worst, in your bed! What to do? Stacy Braslau-Schneck has great answers.

Social Isolation: A Technique for Treating Dominance Confusion in Dogs

Separation Anxiety--What It Isn't
If your dog begins to look terrified when you get ready to go out, if she won't eat a piece of steak that you leave by the door, if she howls, digs and chews all day while you're gone, if she's made desparate attempts to get out through the door or window, and is found at night in a puddle of saliva.....Your dog probably has Separation Anxiety.

Anxious dogs

Submissive Urination in Dogs
It can be a frustrating and embarrassing problem, but fortunately is usually quite easily corrected. Puppies, especially shy, timid and oversensitive ones are the likely candidates for submissive urination, but it is not uncommon to see this problem persist into adulthood.

 

The Great Escape Artist

Escape Behaviors
* Running away, whether to a car, crate, or house, are all examples of escape behavior.
* A dog that tries to change the subject is exhibiting escape behavior.
* Doing nothing can be an attempt to avoid or escape the lesson.

Why not build a fence? Find out about how the different types of fencing and what would best suit your dog.

What to do when saying 'off' is a waste of time

What to do when saying *OFF* is a waste of time, as the dog comes flying through the air and bombards them with his paws to their chest?

It's normal Spaniel behaviour of a young pup. Try standing still with arms folded across your chest, smaller target, non vocal, non welcoming, this body language ill make him take notice. Calmly ask for a sit, and wait till he does before any recognition of his presence.

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