The game of Tug has an undeserved bad rap in some training circles, while others, most notably the Agility world, have fully embraced it as an excellent activity to create focus and high arousal. Those two extremes aside, it’s a great game just because it’s fun, many dogs adore it, it’s the perfect play activity for human family members who might otherwise want to get in appropriately physical with the dog and it’s a terrific energy-burner.
One of the most commonly-heard myths about playing Tug is that it makes the dog “dominant.” There’s so much misinformation passed around about hierarchy in dogs – this is just another log on the fire. If you are concerned about what Tug might do to your relationship with your dog, just remember that the definition of leader is “the one who controls the good stuff,” and orchestrate your Tug-play accordingly.
I’m solidly in the pro-Tug camp. I strongly recommend setting rules for canine and human players of the game to protect against the possibility of reinforcing unwanted behaviors, but with those in place, you and your dog can Tug to your hearts’ content. The rules are general guidelines for making Tug a positive training/relationship experience. The calmer and better-behaved your dog is, the less necessary it is to follow them strictly. The more rowdy and out of control your dog, the more closely you will want to adhere to them. By the way, don’t be alarmed by your dog’s growls during tug – it’s all part of the game. As long as his other behaviors are appropriate, let him growl his heart out!
For more ideas and advice on the best ways to play with your dog and the benefits to both you and your dog, purchase Pat Miller’s book, Play With Your Dog.
Otto has to coexist peacefully with chickens, foster dogs, and even adolescent CATS. You can tell from his expression he’s not always thrilled about the terms, but he honors the contract nonetheless.
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Back in May, I wrote a blog post on Whole Dog Journal’s website (wholedogjournal.com/blog) about a little dog named Mickey. He was surrendered to the shelter where I volunteer in June 2011; his age was estimated at 5 months. He’s a strange-looking, high-energy mixed breed dog with a docked tail and floppy ears; at admission, the shelter staff guessed he was a Pug/Chihuahua-mix, but as Mickey matured, his legs grew and grew. Today my guess would be a Chihuahua/Fox Terrier-mix. He’s so unusual-looking, and so bouncy, that it took a full six months to find someone to adopt the little guy – and the adoption lasted just three months. To the dismay of the shelter staff, he was returned to the shelter at the end of March; the stated reason was that the owner’s original dog was picking on Mickey unmercifully.
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In early May, my shelter participated in an Adopt-a-Thon, with extended hours and lowered adoption fees. I decided to make a mission out of getting Mickey adopted that weekend. I went to the shelter every day for a week, and worked with Mickey on one thing: sit. He’s so frenetic that it puts people off. Few people are willing to look past that bouncy desperation in the shelter kennels and take him outdoors to the exercise yards, where they can get a better idea of what he’s really like. I thought that if I could teach him to offer a sit behind the kennel gate instead, maybe someone would give him a second look.
It didn’t work. I mean, I succeeded in teaching him to offer a sit when you looked at him – which impressed the shelter staff, who regarded him as a short-attention-span-nutjob – but nobody took the bait.
May and June were busy for me, and I wasn’t able to get to the shelter much. In late June, however, I organized an orientation for prospective shelter volunteers, and made several visits to the shelter to prepare. As it happened, I walked through the adoption kennels and chanced to see Mickey. I hadn’t seen him since the Adopt-a-Thon two months prior, and was saddened to see him still in the shelter. But he wasn’t sad to see me! He leaped about barking for a moment, as he always has, but suddenly he recognized me – and he sat. And held that sit, wiggling but solid.
I practically burst into tears. What a good dog! What a smart boy! What self-control! I had to make finding a home for Mickey my mission again.
A couple days later, I was making a planned trip to the Bay Area, and spontaneously decided to bring Mickey with me. I figured I would to introduce him to anyone and everyone I knew in my former home town, in hopes of finding someone who might be looking for an odd-looking, high-energy, but whip-smart little dog. Happily, one of my friends and her family fell in love with Mickey. They needed some time to prepare their home for the arrival of a second dog, so I brought Mickey home with me for a week or so, until I could deliver him to them again.
It’s hard to imagine why this dog has been up for adoption for almost a year when he’s so sweet, smart, and quick to learn. He’s been a good guest, and has learned all sorts of good manners behaviors (waiting at doors, not jumping on laps unless invited, no barking at passers-by). He’s added “down” to his repertoire of offered behaviors. But I’m overjoyed to see him go to a great home – and determined not to (somehow) let any other shelter ward languish in those kennels so long. Best of luck, Mickey!
I used to live with a Frisbee-addicted dog (a Border Collie named Rupert), and a disc-addicted son, who is now off at college (and still addicted). So how is it that Whole Dog Journal has never before reviewed flying disc toys for dogs?
There is a wide variety of flying toys made for dogs, with different key features for different applications. The overarching concept is to create a disc that flies well enough to inspire a dog to chase it, catch it, and return with it uninjured. Most of us owners want a toy that won’t be ruined within three catches between a dog’s teeth, but you don’t want it to be so tough that it can hurt a dog’s teeth or mouth if he doesn’t catch it perfectly.
We enlisted three types of product testing “dogs” to help with the review. The first are disc-throwing experts, including my son; he’s co-captain of a college Ultimate team called (get this) the (University of California) Davis Dogs. He enlisted some of his teammates to test-throw a number of dog discs and report on the products’ flying abilities. The second set of reviewers are professional disc dog competitors (canine/human teams). Our third set of reviewers are backyard dogs who love fetching flying things.
Frisbee Throwability vs. Safety
Engaging the services of an Ultimate team to test flying discs for dogs is not as bizarre as it sounds. This spring, the Davis Dogs were one of 20 teams nationally that qualified for and competed in the USA Ultimate (USAU) College National Championships (for the first time in the Dogs’ 31-year history!).
A special disc is used in the game of Ultimate – and even though the sport is often informally called “Ultimate Frisbee,” discs made by Frisbee haven’t been used in the game for more than 20 years. Discraft is maker of the official disc of USAU, the sport’s governing body in this country, and its 175-gram “Ultrastar” is the only disc used in official tournaments of all levels. It’s far heavier than grocery-store Frisbees, with a thick, weighty rim that helps it fly farther than a lighter disc – and that can bruise your knuckles and crush your fingernails if you don’t catch it just so.
Discs made for playing with dogs are usually much lighter than the discs made for Ultimate. It’s one thing when an Ultimate player hurts his or her hand (or accidentally takes a disc in the face when trying to block a competitor’s throw) in their favorite game, but it’s unconscionable to ask your dog to play a game that can hurt him (even if it’s his favorite, too). If a disc gets blown by the wind or a dog slips as he is leaping for the disc, or he simply miss-times his jump, a heavy or too-rigid disc can break a tooth, or knock him in the gums, jaw, or head hard enough to really hurt. So, most discs for dogs are either very light or made out of a soft material.
That’s great for safety, but discs made of light weight or soft materials don’t fly nearly as far as harder, heavier discs – and gummy discs are really difficult to throw accurately. This isn’t a problem if you’re playing in the middle of a great big field, but if you are trying to throw the disc in competition so that your dog catches it in a certain spot, accuracy is important. And if you use fetch games as a primary method for tiring (or conditioning) your dog, you want a disc that can be thrown as far as possible. Also, if you’re like me, with a compromised shoulder that limits how far I can throw anything, you appreciate a disc that can be flung a long distance with a minimum of effort.
In the Davis Dogs’ throwing tests, they found that the ability to fly far was almost always paired with an increased potential to hurt dogs. And, in general, the discs that flew poorly are the soft or floppy ones made with safety for dogs foremost in mind. Fortunately, we found a happy medium.
What Are the Best Frisbee Disc for Dogs?
I was lucky in having the Davis Dogs nearby to test-throw discs; I was even luckier in having disc dog expert Steve Teer nearby, to offer his feedback on various discs. Steve and his wife, Jill, live in Vacaville, California. Steve has been a disc dog fanatic ever since he first saw a disc dog competition on TV in 1998. “I was hooked,” says Steve. “I had an Australian Shepherd, Guinness, who was about 18 months at the time. I decided to see if I could teach him some of the tricks I saw on TV.” Steve found a disc dog club in his area and entered his first competition with Guinness the following month.
Since then, Steve has won numerous championships in every type of disc dog competition with his dogs, starting with Guinness (who passed away in 2011), continuing through Irish (born in 2004 and recently retired from competition), and including Steve’s newest Aussie superstar, Whiskey. His youngest dog, Whiskey recently qualified for the 2012 Ashley Whippet Invitational World Championships at the tender age of 22 months old (the competition will be held in September in St. Louis). Whisky also won the Freestyle Flying Disc competition at the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge in Del Mar, California, in June.
Further, Steve is just a hell of a nice guy, welcoming to newcomers and longtime disc dog enthusiasts alike, and generous with his time and expertise. He seems to get a special enjoyment from introducing newbies to the sport; it’s a good way to share some of his dog-friendly training tips and philosophy, and his passion for keeping his dogs safe and happy. “These dogs sleep with me and my wife every night; they are our family members,” he told me. “I would never do anything to hurt or scare my dogs, and if they ever show me that they are not having fun, we stop what we’re doing.”
Teer starts his disc dogs as puppies on floppy fabric flying discs, which can be thrown for short distances and safely used as tug toys. Short sessions of tug-of-war increase a dog’s interest in and enthusiasm for discs, so he keeps some of the floppy discs around for tug and for novelty, but graduates a pup to very lightweight plastic flying discs. Like the Davis Dogs, Teer is not a big fan of the floppy rubberized discs often sold in chain pet supply stores; while they have a low potential for hurting a dog, they don’t fly far or accurately. Once a pup or young dog shows enthusiasm for flying discs, Teer introduces them to very lightweight but rigid discs, which are easy to throw accurately and have a low potential for hitting a dog hard enough to hurt him or make him lose interest in the game.
These lightweight, rigid discs are particularly susceptible to being punctured by enthusiastic dog teeth, however – and once a disc has been punctured, it has great potential for cutting a dog’s mouth and a thrower’s hand. You definitely don’t want your dog to catch rigid plastic discs that have been badly chewed – and they are not much fun to throw, either. When a dog bites a rigid disc – especially one of the lightweight discs – it punches raised, sharp cones of plastic on one side of the disc. Catching a spinning disc covered with these sharp projections is like trying to clasp a thorn-covered rose stem; it’s almost impossible to make a secure catch without getting hurt.
When a disc gets too chewed or pierced to work with safely, Teer discards it. That’s why, like many disc dog devotees, Teer buys the lightweight (105 or 110 grams) discs in bulk; he goes through about 500 a year! (Plus, the companies that make discs for disc-dogs events offer custom imprinting, so when Teer places those orders, the discs arrive with his “team” logo, “Flyin’ Irish.”)
There are alternatives in the form of slightly softer (though still rigid), bite-resistant discs. Companies that specialize in products especially for dog sports have developed some discs that are, in our opinion, juuuust right for the average dog owner with a moderately disc-obsessed dog. The rubberized discs resist punctures, but are rigid enough to fly well and light enough to reduce hard knocks.
Of course, dog owners can be fussy and opinionated about gear for their preferred sports, and disc dog people are no different. Some competitors prefer the rigid discs, even if they have to go through a lot of them. Some want to use only the discs used in competition, so both they (the thrower) and their dogs have a consistent experience with the discs. For his part, Teer worries that it’s harder on the dogs’ jaws to repeatedly bite a resistant material. “This is my own theory, and it’s not at all scientific: I just worry where all that biting and chewing energy goes. I’m concerned that the dog’s jaws end up absorbing a lot of the energy of the bite, potentially harming the dog’s teeth and the muscles in the jaw,” he explains. He also hastens to explain that he has no data to support his concerns; it’s pure speculation on his part.
Then again, his dogs chomp on discs every single day. For the average backyard disc chaser, the more durable discs are a blessing, since they last a long time without sprouting the sharp plastic “thorns” caused by canine punctures.
Whole Dog Journal‘s Favorite Frisbee
So, while we recognize that some of these discs excel in certain applications (noted in the individual disc reviews, below), our top pick in flying discs for a puncture-resistant, excellent-flying disc that will best serve to thoroughly exercise a dog without knocking out his teeth or consciousness, is the 145-gram, bite-resistant Jawz disc made by Hyperflite, a company that specializes in equipment for disc dog sports. You won’t find them in grocery stores or even pet supply discount chains, but they can be found in select independent pet supply stores and online retailers of disc dog equipment, such as skyhoundz.com.
The Jawz disc is heavier than the most popular disc dog discs, but lighter by far and more rigid than most of the discs meant for casual dog play and designed to prevent injuries to the dog. Of course – surprise! – it costs a lot more than the lightweight (practically disposable) discs made by the same company. We paid $16.95 for a Jawz disc, whereas the Hyperflite “Competition Standard” model was just $3.58 from skyhoundz.com. But then, we expect to be able to use it for a long, long time.
Prices for the “amateur” flying toys varied quite a bit, too. We paid from $9 to $25 for the various toys and discs we found in retail pet supply stores, but didn’t find any that really suited either our dogs or the Davis Dogs.
One final note: None of these flying fetch toys are meant to resist a serious chewing session; do not leave your dog unsupervised with any of them.
According to trainer M. Shirley Chong, the easiest way to trim a dog’s nails is to have dogs trim their own nails. Chong says, “It’s easy! Find a board about 8-12 inches wide (the wider the dog, the wider the nail file needs to be) and about 24-36 inches long. At a hardware store, get some of the stick-on tape that is used on wooden steps to make them slip-proof. It’s rough, like extremely coarse sandpaper, and the adhesive lasts through anything. Cover the board with the slip-proof tape. You could also use sandpaper. The most important thing is to make sure the edges of the sandpaper are firmly glued down because otherwise the dog will peel it up. The adhesive used on the slip-proof tape won’t budge for anything. You now have a giant nail file for dogs!
Gina Burger is attempting to teach Bonnie to scrape her hind feet on the canine emery boards through “shaping.”
“Teach the dog to paw the board with his front feet. If you can get a paw touch and then deliberately delay the click, you’re almost certain to get a raking motion. Once the dog starts pawing, he usually gets enthusiastic about it! Some dogs alternate feet as if they were digging, but it’s not difficult to get a dog who uses only one foot to alternate.
“Some dogs prefer the board propped at an angle, other dogs prefer it flat on the floor. You can put a foot on one end of the board to keep it from slipping around.
“So far, it’s been a cinch for everyone who has tried it to get a dog to paw the board with his front feet. Capturing the hind leg kick that many dogs perform after pooping and then transferring it to the board is reportedly not difficult either. The only caution I have is to put the board away where the dog can’t reach it when not in use; some dogs who are left alone with the board quick their own nails and then get blood everywhere. And oddly enough, dogs do not seem to mind quicking their own nails on the board! My theory is that the sensation builds up slowly and so is not surprising the way it is when we do it. Keep a sharp eye out and stop proceedings when the dog is getting close to quicking his nails.
“If the dog started out with really long nails, the first few times he uses the board he is likely to file the nails unevenly and at funny angles. When the nails are shorter they will even out.
“I’ve been teaching people how to do this for more than 10 years and so far it’s been very easy to train, even with handlers who had terrible timing. Plus, dogs seem to enjoy it a whole lot more than they enjoy nail trimming.” – M. Shirley Chong www.shirleychong.com
1. Determine the location of touch your dog can tolerate without reacting fearfully or aggressively. Perhaps it’s her shoulder, perhaps her elbow, or maybe her knee. She should be a little worried, but not growl or try to move away. This is called the threshold.
2. With your dog on-leash, touch her briefly and gently at threshold. The instant your dog notices the touch, start feeding bits of chicken, non-stop.
3. After a second or two, remove the touch and stop feeding chicken.
4. Keep repeating steps 1-3 until touching at that location for 1-2 seconds consistently causes your dog to look at you with a happy smile and a “Yay! Where’s my chicken?” expression. This is a conditioned emotional response (CER) – your dog’s association with the brief touch at that location is now positive instead of negative.
5. Now increase the intensity of the stimulus by increasing the length of time you touch her at that same location, a few seconds at a time, obtaining a new CER at each new time period before increasing the time again. For example, several repetitions at 2-4 seconds, until you get consistent “Yay!” looks, then several repetitions at 4-8 seconds, then several at 8-12 seconds, etc., working for that consistent CER at each new duration of your touch.
6. When you can touch her at that spot for any length of time with her in “Yay” mode, begin to increase the intensity of stimulus again, this time by moving your hand to a new location, 1-2 inches lower than your initial threshold. I suggest starting at your initial touch location and sliding your hand to the new spot, rather than just touching the new spot. Continue with repetitions until you get consistent CERs at the new location.
7. Continue gradually working your way down to your dog’s paw, an inch or two at a time, getting solid CERs at each spot before you move closer to the paw.
8. When you get below the knee, also add a gentle grasp and a little pressure; each is a separate step in the CC&D procedure. Continue working down the leg, all the way to the paw.
9. When you can touch grasp, and put pressure on the paw, add lifting the paw.
10. If your goal is happy nail trimming, start the process over, this time with the nail clipper or grinder in hand. Show the clipper to your dog and feed a treat, again and again, until the appearance of the clipper or grinder elicits a “Yay!” response. Then counter-condition the clipper action (squeezing the clippers) or the sound of the grinder. Go through the whole touch sequence again, this time with the clipper in your hand, also touching her with the clipper, then again while you squeeze the clipper. Remember that you are still feeding yummy treats and obtaining CERs throughout the whole process. When you can hold her paw and make the clipper action right next to her nail with a happy response, clip one nail, feed lots of treats, and stop. Do a nail a day until she’s happy with that, then advance to two nails at a time, then three, until you can clip all her nails in one session.
The more complex the stimulus, the more successful the dog’s avoidance or aggressive strategies have been, and the more intense the emotional response, the more challenging the behavior is to modify. Take your time. Be patient. A few more weeks – or months – of long nails isn’t going to hurt anyone, and the result – a canine family member who willingly participates in the nail trimming procedure – is well worth the effort.
Nail-trimming used to be so simple. You found a stalwart friend or family member to restrain your dog tightly while you quickly clipped his nails in spite of his struggles, trying not to “quick” him (by cutting a nail too short and making it bleed), which made him struggle harder each time. If you ran out of stalwart friends, you started dropping your dog off at your vet’s office for nail clipping – out of sight, out of mind! He came back seemingly none the worse for wear – until your vet told you that they would need to start sedating him to trim his nails, after he tried to bite one of the techs. Hmm . . . maybe not so simple after all.
Valerie Balwanz uses counter-conditioning to change her dog’s response to the stimuli of nail clippers, having her paw held, and finally, having her nails clipped.
For owners and trainers who have come to value relationships with dogs that are based on cooperation rather than coercion, forcible-restraint nail-trims are a thing of the past. Muscle-power has given way to brain-power as the primary tool for clipping canine nails. Our job, as humans who choose to live our lives in peaceful partnership with our dogs, is to make creative use of our grey matter to figure out how to get our canine companions to enjoy nail trimming – or at least to be relaxed and cooperative about it.
When positive reinforcement was new to the dog training world, we hadn’t yet gotten creative with the nail-trimming challenge; we almost always used counter-conditioning to convince the dog that nail trimming was a good thing. Since then, smart trainers have come up with new ideas; these days there’s even less justification for manhandling your dog into submission for his pedicure. At my spring 2012 Peaceable Paws Behavior Modification Academy, trainers implemented three distinctly different methods to help their dogs overcome an aversion to nail trimming. Check them out!
1. Counter-Conditioning for Conventional Nail-Trimming
There is nothing wrong with using this old standby to help your dog love a pedicure. It’s the method selected by Academy trainer Valerie Balwanz of the Dogg House, Charlottesville, Virginia, for her Beagle-mix, Trixie.
Classical conditioning, also called Pavlovian conditioning, is a long-established principle of behavior science: creating an association between two stimuli in order to affect behavior. Many dogs are classically conditioned to dislike nail trimming, thanks to the scary restraint and accidental nail-quicking.
Counter-conditioning pairs nail trimming with one or more things your dog loves, so he comes to associate the procedure with good things instead of bad. A counter-conditioning protocol might start with simply picking up the clippers (or grinder) in one hand and feeding the dog a very high value treat from the other – and this is repeated until the act of picking up the clipper makes your dog’s tail wag and eyes light up as he searches for the expected goodie. You gradually move the clipper toward the dog, eventually touching him with it, all the while working to maintain the positive association: nail clipper/grinder makes really good stuff happen!
A separate, equally important procedure includes conditioning the dog to love having you touch (and eventually hold) his paw. Finally, you put the two together – the now-beloved clippers touch the now-comfortably-held paw – and eventually, a nail is clipped. See “A Counter-Conditioning Protocol for Trimming Your Dog’s Nails” for more details.
Valerie used counter-conditioning with Trixie, who had long been sensitive to having her paws touched. By Day 5 of the Academy, Trixie was offering her paw to be held, and gaining a positive association with the clippers. Valerie continued with her training, and reports that she is now trimming Trixie’s nails with ease.
2. Counter-Conditioning for Non-Traditional Trimming
Somewhere along the line, dog people decided it was necessary to hold a dog’s paw securely (tightly) in order to trim the nails. But it really isn’t so. You can teach your dog to voluntarily offer a paw and hold it still for trimming – and avoid having to counter-condition the restraint part of the procedure. (Of course, you still have to condition your dog to love the nail trimmer or grinder).
Steve Buckman used “shaping” to teach his dog, Apple, to lie down with her paws on his leg, and then to accept the touch of clippers on her nails, and then to accept restraint-free nail clipping in this position.
This was the method selected by Academy trainer Steve Buckmann of Bloomington, Indiana, with his foster dog Apple, a lovely young hound. Steve sat on the floor next to Apple, and used “shaping” (reinforcing small pieces of the behavior to build the complete behavior) to teach her to place her paws on his leg. In that position her nails were easy to clip. By Day 5 of the Academy, Steve was happily and carefully clipping his cooperative dog’s nails.
This is also the method I use with my Corgi, Lucy, who used to hate the sight of the clippers. I used counter-conditioning to help Lucy overcome her strong dislike of being touched on her legs and body. After we had completed her paw/nail clipper-touch protocol, I did the following:
– Told Lucy to “Down” and “Wait.” (When she lies down her nails are more accessible than when she sits.)
–Placed a yummy treat 12 inches in front of her nose.
–Clipped one nail.
–Told her “Take it!” so she could jump up and eat the treat.
–Repeated the previous steps for the next nail.
She now adores the nail clipping procedure, and I clip multiple nails in between “Take it!” cues, always keeping it random so she never knows which nail clip will result in the “Take it!” cue.
3. Operant Conditioning for Nail Trimming
Perhaps your dog truly hates the nail clippers, a grinder sends him trembling under the bed, and he’d prefer you leave his paws alone, thank you. You may want to select a nail-trimming procedure that requires neither restraint nor clippers by teaching him to file his own nails.
Positive trainer M. Shirley Chong of Grinnell, Iowa, suggests this method: Teach your dog to paw at a sandpaper-covered board to file his own nails. Shaping a dog to file his own front paws is pretty simple. I had already done this procedure with my Scorgidoodle, Bonnie, who loves shaping games and hated nail trimming, despite lots of counter-conditioning work.
Bonnie quickly became quite adept at filing her own front nails, but I had never pursued shaping a scraping behavior with her hind paws. Academy student Gina Burger, of Carthage, Missouri, elected to try this with Bonnie.
It proved to be a challenge. If your dog scrapes his hind paws on the ground after eliminating, you can capture the behavior with a click and treat as he scrapes. Bonnie doesn’t scrape.
She was, however, happily willing to move her hind feet in all sorts of ways. Gina tried putting emery boards flat on the floor, and then at various angles to try to elicit even a tiny scraping motion. The scrape proved to be elusive. Gina tried getting Bonnie to back up and then move forward. She tried clicking Bonnie for moving sideways, and reinforcing her for moving straight. The week ended without success for the hind-foot nail-filing project. (Gina did, however, pass the course!)
I have since reconsidered the exercise. In my own shaping sessions with Bonnie, I’ve determined that an actual “scrape” isn’t necessary – just movement that occurs while the nail is in contact with the abrasive paper. Bonnie moves side-to-side, wagging her tail and filing her nails in the process. Success!
Cooperation rather than coercion. Partnership rather than conflict. Voluntary participation rather than submission to force. Wagging, happy dogs rather than fearful, shut-down ones. What more could a dog – or a human – want?
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog training classes and courses for trainers. Pat is also author of many books on positive training.
Special considerations should be taken when boating with your dog. The importance of life jackets for pets recently made headlines when a 5-year-old Pomeranian fell from his family’s boat on the Chicago River near Lake Michigan, and was missing for nearly 24 hours before turning up safe on land.
Photo By Practical-Sailor.com
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For owners with dogs who love to swim, getting the dog safely back aboard the boat can be a challenge. Many owners underestimate the height difference between the surface of the water and the edge of the boat, and struggle to haul their water-logged dogs in from the water. That experience was exactly what motivated Jim Perkins of Waterdog Adventure Gear to invent his patented Wag Boarding Steps.
“We looked at other products to help our dog board the boat, and as an engineer, I was disappointed with the design and function,” he says, noting that some products attach to the boat’s swim ladder or swim step with straps that allow the dog ramp to move and sway with the movement of the water, which can frighten some dogs.
There are a number of water ramps and steps on the market. Perkins says the proprietary attachment design of his product provides more stability than its competitors, and describes his stairs (which are 14 inches wide with a 4-inch rise between each step) as a “more natural, pet-friendly approach” to water ladders for pets. His product debuted in January at the Chicago Boat Show and based on customer feedback, he’s already working on a pool version, a version customized to meet the needs of fisherman and duck hunters, and a set of automobile stairs.
No matter how strong your dog’s recall may be (and we recommend it be quite strong if you’re considering letting your dog off-leash at the beach, lake, or river), it’s important to remember that the excitement of being in the water, coupled with the potential desire to swim out for a toy or chase a flock of ducks, could result in his recall falling on deaf ears. Prior to fun water play, consider brushing up on your dog’s recall with the following:
–Remember that coming when called is a skill that requires maintenance for the life of your dog. It’s easy to find yourself feeling “too busy” to train, but designating just 10 minutes a day to recall training can go a long way toward bolstering the skill.
–Make sure your training includes teaching your dog to purposefully turn away from distractions in favor of coming to you. Avoid static recalls where the dog sits and waits as you leave, then call him to you. A “real life” recall rarely looks like that.
–Reward generously every time your dog comes to you. Really invest quality time in the process of rewarding your dog. Combine genuine praise with the types of petting, play, and treats your dog loves best. Imagine that the process of rewarding your dog is the like making a deposit in the bank. You want to make hefty deposits because challenging recalls (especially away from distractions) are expensive. Make sure you can afford it!
–Consider working your dog on a long line when you first get to the water and aren’t sure how your land training will carry over. Long lines are also a good alternative when local laws prohibit off-leash dogs.
–If you’re struggling with teaching a reliable recall, consult a qualified trainer who can help you use positive reinforcement methods to strengthen your dog’s ability to come when called.
Life jackets for dogs are available at most pet supply and sporting good shops, but one size definitely does not fit all. A proper fit is critical to helping ensure the safety of your pet.
“When you put a life jacket on your dog, it should fit snug around the belly and chest so that when he’s floating, his head is above water,” explains Cynthia Jones, DVM. “If it’s too big, you’ll see the jacket come up and be floating with the dog resting in the bottom. When that happens, the dog has to really paddle to keep her head up. It’s important that it fit snug across the chest and around the belly.”
A well-fitted life jacket can also be used to pull a dog out of the water, if need be. This can be a huge help, whether rescuing a dog who fell over the side of a boat or who is simply exhausted from swimming.
A good fit, reiterates Jones, trumps brand name. “I haven’t come across any brands that I think are bad; just ones that are a bad fit on the dog.”
Did Your Dog Have a Scary, Sinking Moment in the Water?
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“If the dog comes out and he’s fine, he’ll shake it off,” says Jules Benson, DVM. “You need to watch him for the next 24 to 48 hours, because that’s when aspiration pneumonia (caused by water going down into the main-stem bronchi) can occur. Especially if it’s water other than a pool, where there could be bacteria or protozoa in the water. If they aspirate any of that and it goes into the lungs, the bacteria spreads and multiplies. This begins an infectious process and the dog becomes notably depressed, lethargic, might be feverish and exhibits a loss of appetite. The history of, ‘He fell into the pool,’ or ‘He fell into the river’ can be really useful to a veterinarian.”
“If the dog ingests enough water where he’s nauseated or doesn’t want to eat afterwards, he needs to go to the vet,” adds Cynthia Jones, DVM. “Most of the chlorinated pool water isn’t an issue, but the exertion of trying to stay afloat, plus the stress and the shock of a near-drowning experience, can be a problem.”
