Whole Dog Journal ~ August 2008

Volume 11
Number 8
August 2008

Features
Editorial
Letters

August 2008

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Teaching Your Dog to "Leave It" On Cue
There’s nothing like a steaming-fresh pile of moist, warm horse manure to convince a dog owner of the vast difference between canine and human sensibilities - or of the great value of a reliable “Leave it!” cue. Since my husband and I share our lives with four dogs and 15-some equines, you can imagine that “Leave it!” is an important entry in our dogs’ lexicon. You don’t have to live on a horse farm to appreciate the value of “Leave it.” A kitty-litter box can be just as tempting as a stall full of horse “apples.”

How to Solve Canine Digging Problems
The perfect storm, canine edition: Combine one dog who is accustomed to and prefers spending time outdoors; a spate of hot, dry weather; a lush, productive garden full of herbs and tomato plants growing in raised boxes full of expensive, loamy soil and moistened three times daily by an automatic drip system. What do you get? Holes dug in the garden and an irate husband! Our new dog, Otto, nearly made himself quite unwelcome on his second day in our home. Every time I turned around, I’d find him digging in any place we’d recently watered, including the lawn, a flowerbed in front of the house, underneath a gorgeous hydrangea bush that’s already hard-pressed to survive our hot summers, and, most seriously, the vegetable beds in back. “Can’t you train this dog not to dig?” my husband implored. But this wasn’t a training issue; I’ve been trained enough by Pat Miller and our other contributing trainer/writers to recognize a management situation when I see it!

Dog Vaccination Information
Vaccines are something that every dog owner should be educated about, and yet few seem to think about them at all, except to wonder about the need for them after they get a new dog. However, many people base this concern on the vet bill, rather than worries about the potential for side effects in their dogs! Immunology expert Ronald Schultz, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine), has spent much of his career studying animal vaccines. Dr. Schultz is professor and chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, and has more than 40 years’ experience in the field of immunology. His long-time university employment - as opposed to a career in industry - has provided him with a unique position of neutrality from which to observe the vaccine industry.

Socializing a Shy Dog
Somewhere at this very moment, perhaps at a shelter near you, a frightened dog huddles in the back of her kennel, trembling, terrified by a chaotic overload of sensory stimuli: sights, smells, and sounds that are far beyond her ability to cope. Somewhere, today, a warmhearted, caring person is going to feel sorry for this dog - or one similar - believing that love will be enough to rehabilitate the frightened canine. Sometimes, it is. More often, though, the compassionate adopter finds herself with a much larger project than she bargained for. While shelters can a prime source for frightened and shy dogs, they are certainly not the only source. Pet stores, puppy mills, rescue groups, and irresponsible breeders (even some who breed top quality show dogs) can all be guilty of foisting off temperamentally unsound (due to genetics/nature) or under-socialized (due to environment/nurture) puppies and adult dogs on unprepared adopters.

Acquiring a New Dog or Puppy
So, we have a new dog! I’m soooo happy! And while it’s been really time-consuming to properly integrate a new dog into our household, it’s also been incredibly rewarding, interesting . . . and inspiring! Inspiring to have a fresh opportunity to experience many of the things we talk about in WDJ – with a sense of urgency and immediacy I haven’t had for quite some time! Just in our first few days I was thinking hard about things like potty training, how to deal with dogs who are not food-motivated, finding a good vet, vaccination, parasite control (fleas, ticks, heartworm), introducing dogs to cats, barking, leash manners, the best food, itchy skin, digging (as you’ll see on page 18), no-slip collars, dogs who are uncomfortable indoors, quiet clickers, and much more.

Keeping Dog Training Fun and Playful
Dogs are one of the rare species of animals who play throughout their lifetimes; perhaps it’s one of the reasons we have such strong bonds with dogs, because we too play as grown ups. Humans and canines appear to be what scientists call “neotenous”: as adults, we retain many of the behavioral traits of juveniles. In most species, play is for the young. Think about it: calves and lambs frisk about and chase each other; but how often do you see adult cows and sheep playing with one another?! Dogs and humans, though, maintain high levels of play even into adulthood.

Training Your Dog with Rewarding Treats and Praise
Why should training be fun for the dog? Briefest possible answer? “It’s the law.” How animals learn is the most-studied phenomenon in the history of psychology and is up there with gravity in terms of its lawfulness. One of the big ticket principles is that anything one tries to teach a new learner (such as a beginner dog) will get stronger in direct proportion to how many times it is rewarded. And (of perhaps even greater interest) every time the new learner does the behavior and is not rewarded (as in, say, “drilling” the same behavior over and over again) the behavior gets weaker. (Not just “doesn’t get stronger” – gets weaker.) In other words, it’s better to do nothing at all than to drill without rewards.