KENNEL CLUB USA

Some Puppy Preschoolers

When first attaining a puppy, we often seek advice about when should start training a dog for obedience. The biggest mistake, is perhaps, the way we word this question. “Obedience” refers to a point in a dog’s learning where it is not only taught motions that are associated with words like “sit,” but they are also taught that these motions must be done when the word is said. Obedience is usually encouraged to be taken seriously after four months of age. This age is an important age in development. This is when a puppy is expected to follow the basic rules of the pack. Before four months, the rest of the pack views the puppy as a puppy, thus many of its “unacceptable” behaviors are written off as “just being a puppy.” They get what we may call a “free puppy pass” allowing them to commit to certain behaviors that are forbidden to older dogs. At four months, this ultimately forgiving attitude about puppy behavior begins to change, and older dogs in the pack raise the bar of expectation.
From 7 -16 weeks puppies go through the “socialization period” of their life. This is the age in which a puppy forms its general perception of the world. This includes what is considered “normal” in their environment. It is important that during the socialization period, we expose puppies to as much as possible in a positive manner. This includes sounds, people (various looks, ethnicity, gender, ages, etc…,) textures, light, dark, obstacles, other friendly dogs, different environments, etc. This is also the time we spend on housebreaking, leash and collar introduction, confidence building, crate training, and teaching appropriate playing.
So when do we just start training? During the 7-16 week old period there are many things we can do to put our dogs a step ahead of the rest. While corrections for obedience functions are not recommended at this age, we can begin teaching the motions as a fun thing. Generally, at this age, obedience motions are rewarded and lured by treats. This should be “just for fun.” We can save ourselves a lot of hard work by having our puppies familiar with the basic motions. We also should focus on discouraging jumping altogether at this age. This will be one behavior I do not encourage sparing corrections. We can do this by refusing to pick up our puppies when then paw at our legs whether they are seeking attention, comfort, or play. We should give an appropriate correction when they jump. Appropriate corrections may include a squirt in the nose with a water bottle, a snap of the leash away from us or others, ignoring for short periods, or a bump away with the leg. It is important that before or after a correction we encourage a correct behavior, like sitting, standing on all four paws, and/or lying down to be greeted. Unfortunately jumping can be extremely hard to break or change later in life. We must think of our puppies as the giants they may be later in life and thus not carry them around or foster them being on us. At this age avoid “softies” that say “OH, its okay, they just want love,” because these will be the ones you will thank for grandmas dislocated vertebrae when she is knocked over at the door.
Other helpful exercises may include things like “puppy races.” This is where we may set up a line of puppies, and have them follow a trail of treats. This doesn’t have to be a straight line. We may also just lure them with treats instead of making a trail. This gets our puppies use to passing other dogs without trouble, and getting rewarded for doing so. While this wont make the perfect leash trained dog, it will start to build a foundation of good habits. In all our puppies’ early development we must remember, that the good habits we create now will be the bad habits we don’t break later, and breaking habits is exponentially harder.
If you need some additional help with puppy advice, please join us for our puppy preschool.

Jonathan Brinkley

As of late, I have found myself quite disconcerted by the rising popularity in walking tools like the gentle leader. At first sight, we may say, “Oh, that works well, and it looks much nicer than pops on a slip chain or prong collar.” We read articles telling us that it is the “All-Positive” or “Humane” way of walking our dogs. I even think back to a time before I started training, when I lived life skiing behind a nearly 100 pound coonhound mix. I remember marveling, one day, when I saw another coonhound walking nicely with their owner on a gentle leader, and asked about this amazing device. However, after close examination I was incredibly uncomfortable with the concept of this collar.
While I would never claim to be a martial artist, I did dabble a little in self defense and different styles of martial arts. I learned that if I wanted to snap almost any animal’s neck, I would twist the head on the axis of the neck, not twist the neck. In fact, the neck could take a fair amount of torque, while twisting the head on the neck’s axis could break a neck with very little force. With this knowledge in mind, I could re-examine concept of the gentle leader. It worried me that one quick scurry to the end of the leash in excitement, would not put force in an area on the neck protected by thick muscles, but twist the head on the spinal column causing whiplash to the dog. It also worried me to see dogs coming in with eye infections, due to irritation of the tear duct, where the muzzle portion of the collar rests. From this perspective, the gentle leader appeared to be more about force than choice, motivation, or learning, than collars that carry gruesome reputations like the training collars (slip, prong, and e-collar/remote collar).
What amazed me even more, was the “lasting” results with the head halter. I found that very few dogs were ever going to behave well without the head halter, while they may be perfect angels with it on. Now, I have had people say the same thing about training collars, however this is usually caused by owners lacking consistency with their dog’s obedience and more common in dogs that were trained later in life.
As a disclaimer, I want to also leave certain notes about training and management. I am always for humane training that works. If the other techniques have failed you, than perhaps the gentle leader is a last resort management tool, and may be appropriate. The gentle leader, in my opinion, is a tool to help manage, not teach; to force, not to build cooperation or communication. In some cases, I have seen the gentle leader used in such a way that it can be a teaching tool, but it seems to be less humane because the application of force to even more vulnerable parts of the dog’s body than the other collars.
I have attached links to articles written by canine professionals I respect, and their opinions on the gentle leader or head halters in general. I also attached an article discussing different types of collars. I hope these are helpful and allow us to truly examine a concept before believing the hype caused by political agendas in the dog service world.

Jon Brinkley

Roger Hild- Not So Gentle Leader
http://www3.sympatico.ca/tsuro/_articles/gentle_leader.html
Suzanne Clothier – The Problems With Head Halters
http://flyingdogpress.com/content/view/54/70
Marc Goldberg- Choosing A Dog Collar
http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com/index.php/chicago-dog-training-articles/57-choosing-a-dog-training-collar

There are many things to do in between grooms to keep your dog healthy. Teeth brushing and cleaning your dog’s ears are great ways to watch and beware of early signs of infection or problems that may be beginning. Signs of ear disease to watch for are:
-odor
-scratching or rubbing ears or head
-discharge from the ears
-redness or swelling of the ear flap
-shaking and tilting of head to one side
-pain around ears
-changes in behavior such as depression and irritability
If you notice any of these also be aware of the causes of most ear infections. Common causes are allergies, parasites, foreign bodies, trauma, hormonal abnormalities, hereditary causes, and the ear environment. Keeping the ears clean and checking them weekly will help prevent some of these infections from occurring as well as enable you to catch early signs of infection. Using an ear cleaner that is slightly acidic but does not sting the dog’s ear is suggested. Lightly wet a cotton ball and wipe around the ear from inside the canal and out towards the ear flap. With regular ear cleaning and grooming any infections should be prevented or caught at an early stage.

With summer comes those hot days that make us appreciate the invention of air conditioning technology. Our dogs appreciate it too. This doesn’t mean we can’t exercise our dogs, but it does mean we should take some precautions by educating ourselves on heat exhaustion and heat stroke in dogs. First, it is wise to condition our dogs to exercising in hot weather by starting in small increments. This allows their bodies to slowly adjust to high temperature performance. We must also be sure to bring plenty of cool water along on walks and other activities. Just because your dog swims in a pond does not mean they have cooled off, especially if they were swimming hard. Dogs expel heat by panting, not by sweating like we do. This means that restrictive head gear like overly snug gentle leaders, or typical mesh muzzles (for aggressive dogs) will inhibit a dog’s ability to cool itself down. For dogs that must wear a muzzle, I suggest basket muzzles that do not restrict the dogs ability to open its mouth.
Signs of heat exhaustion may include:
1. Heavy (labourious) panting
2. Hyperventilation
3. Increased salivation later turning into dry gums
4.Weakness
5.Confusion
6. Vomitting
7. Diarrhea
Unless monitored and attended to, heat exhaustion can progress to heat stroke, which include more serious threats to our dogs like death, and brain damage. Some dogs are more susceptible to heat problems including short nosed breeds like boxers. Other large breeds like mastiffs and Great Danes have a higher risk also. Be smart, attentive, and safe this summer with your pets, and most of all, have fun

Jonathan Brinkley

There are many reasons to maintain your dog’s nails on a monthly basis. Starting your dog as a puppy with regular nail trimming is a great way to prevent anxiety with the different tools used on nails as well as keeping them pain free. Many things can be affected by a dog’s nails. A dog walks and runs on its toes unlike a human that walks on the bottom of their feet. Long toenails can interfere with a dogs gait. Walking can become painful and awkward when the nail becomes too long. Nails can also split and bleed or cut into the pad of the foot. Dewclaws also need attention to be trimmed. These are located on the side of the foot. These will also curl up and can pierce the footpad causing pain and infection. Nail trimming should be done once or twice a month depending on how fast your dog’s nails grow. Most people have this done when getting their dog groomed. There are two different methods of trimming a dog’s nails. The standard toe nail clipper that is sold in stores can be used, using caution to not cut the quick. The quick is a vein that runs through the toenail. Here at Kennel Club USA we dremel the nails with a battery operated dremel. This is a favorable method due to the efficiency of rounding the nail and getting close to the quick without causing any bleeding. This leaves the nails short and round with no sharp edges. So remember to have your dog’s nails trimmed on a regular basis. We offer this service a la carte with walk-ins always welcome.

One of the most common misunderstandings in the dog-human relationship is the difference between love and respect. We often hear someone say, “I feed him, I pet him, I love him, I buy him toys, yet he still does not come,” or “I’ve never been cruel to my dog, I give him love, so why would he bite me.” The human concept of love seems to be an all encompassing word with many meanings. Often we attribute and project human emotions and emotional values on to the behavior of animals. While I refuse to argue whether a dog understands or exhibits “love,” it is important that we look at a very apparent factor in dog relationships and the effect on their behavior. We will define respect by these two relevant definitions:
1. esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability
2. deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment
Dog packs exhibit a strong sense of social hierarchy. Each dog has a place in the pack, and either respects or challenges the dog above it. Some dogs have more dominant tendencies than others, meaning that they will be more likely to challenge dogs higher in the pack. So how does this relate to us? Does a dog challenge other dogs because of a lack of love? No, it challenges because a lack of respect of leadership. Programmed in the dog psyche is an understanding that each dog has a place, a job, and or function. When a dog sees a lack of this leadership in its pack, it will choose to become the leader itself. Sometimes this is seen with a physical challenge, often resulting in aggression. Sometimes this is exhibited by plain disobedience. It becomes the job of the dog above it in the pack to maintain its position and respect from the other dog. That means, when your dog chooses not to come, and you do not consistently enforce commands/jobs/functions, your dog will lose respect for your leadership. Respect is not only gained through enforcement (although a common misconception) nor is it gained through only rewards. It is gained through consistently balanced reward and correction. For example: someone may treat train a dog to sit, using only positive motivation. Unfortunately the dog is likely to only listen when the value of the reward is high enough leaving the boundaries of expectation unenforced, and the pack hierarchy unmaintained. The dog only sees the sit as a novelty, completely leaving respect unaddressed. Love is not conditioned upon expectations of behavior. We love the dog despite its disobedience. Love rewards because it wants to, respect rewards because the expectations were kept. We may pet our dog because we love him, and he approaches us for it. We maintain our respect by calling to the dog, and petting when he meets our expectations (within reason and understanding) by coming. We are actually better to only recognize and pet our dog when we create the expectation; otherwise they set their expectation (petting) in regards to their demand (approach.) This is one simple way of maintaining respect.
Not only is it important for our dog’s obedience to maintain respect from our dogs, but there is a major danger with some dog personalities if we fail to maintain it. It may place us at risk to not only be disobeyed, but physically challenged. While this is not as common as challenge through disobedience, it is common enough to be thoughtfully considered.

This week is dog bite prevention week. Even though dogs are called Man’s Best Friend there are a reported 4.7 million dog bites recorded annually.

Tips for a pet owner:
1. Spay/Neuter your dog (no fatal dog attacks have ever occured from an altered dog)
2. Early socialization (puppy kindergarten when the puppy is 8-16weeks)
3. Obedience training
4. Always be prepared for your dog to react and know how to handle situations when they do

Tips for Parents:
1. If a strange dog approaches your child tell them to stand like a tree
2. Always ask the owners permission before letting you child pet a dog
3. Never let your child run around a dog this will send a lot of dogs into prey drive and cause nipping
4. Children need to know when to leave a dog alone (when they are eating, chewing on a bone, sleeping)
5. Always supervise children when they are playing with dogs

Some breeds of dogs tear more than others. Dogs with white coats being the most noticeable. This staining sometimes will get better after one year of age. Many things cause this problem. Teething, foods with dyes, and grooming negligence. It can also be hereditary. This is sometimes referred to as “poodle eye” although it is definitely not breed specific. Debris collected underneath the eye mixes with the tears and results in the brown staining. Pulling long hair up and away from the eyes or trimming long hair from between the eyes is a great way to keep the area clean and prevent further irritation of the tear duct. To clean the area you should use a warm washcloth and wipe the eyes gently. If left unattended the excess tearing can cause bacteria to grow and an infection can result. There are many home remedies and products on the market to lighten or whiten the area. Opinions vary on whether these are effective. No matter what methods you try to reduce or eliminate the stains it is surely an ongoing battle for both owner and pet.

At Kennel Club USA we are pleased to see an increase in young dogs and puppies attending daycamp, puppy kindergartens, and training. As you sit at home with your puppies, you might notice that when a book gets knocked off the shelf, or a broom falls your dog goes running for the hills. Maybe instead of crashing items, its thunderstorms, or neighbors setting off firecrackers that frighten your dog. IT is important that we consider two things when we see this behavior beginning: DESENSITIZING AND NOT COMFORTING.
The best thing we can do for our dog in regards to its reactions to sounds is to introduce them early on in a positive manner. We may get CD’s of thunderstorms and play them at a barely audible level while feeding our dogs or playing with them. When the dog seems to no longer notice the sounds, it is time to turn the volume up. The smaller the increments the better, and the less chance we take of scaring our puppy. We may also choose to go to a large field or park. Play with or feed your puppy (on-leash, or within a fence suggested) while a friend begins using pots and pans or other noise makers at the other end of the park. Only have your friend get as close as the dog can handle without showing signs of stress and fear. If your dog reacts with fear, pay it no mind, and continue the positive and fun activity (with the friend beginning at the other end of the field again.) By showing concern over fear, or by comforting, we really are telling the dog, “Yes, it is good to be afraid of such things.” By acting confidently and moving on, we show them that as a pack leader, such sounds don’t worry us. This is true with any fearful reaction whether it be sounds or not.
The sounds you may want to consider desensitizing your dogs may include stomping, clapping, popping noises (like those that children throw during July 4th), doorbells, knocks at the door or on the window, construction equipment noises, dog’s barking, motorcycles, vacuums, lawn equipment, hunting equipment (like starter pistols and increasing to actual guns) etc. We can save ourselves a lot of problems by introducing our dogs to things in this fun manner. While most dogs aren’t frightened by the doorbell, they often do become very nervous, anxious, or excited. By desensitizing to such noises we may reduce unwanted excited greetings at the door, territorial barking, or guarding. We wish you the best of luck in your puppy ownership and hope to help in providing helpful information to promote happy, healthy dogs.And remember, if you have any questions, please pull us aside and ask away…

Jonathan Brinkley

Happy Spring to everyone! Spring has officially arrived and so has our exciting new service of pet nail polishing. We are now offering nail polishing for your pampered pooch. Prices are posted at the front desk and we have many colors to choose from. This is a great add-on service or a way to celebrate holidays and special occasions. This is also a great time to have your pet’s nails trimmed. We offer nail trims on a walk-in basis and appointments. I do suggest calling ahead to make sure we can accommodate you upon your arriving here. Grooming appointments are also available Monday thru Friday and fill fast so be sure to call now! I look forward to seeing you and your pampered pooch!