A Perfect Storm Follow Up

12.39 in a, Dog Training, follow, perfect, storm, up

In the aftermath of what happened last week, I wanted to write a bit of a follow-up to A Perfect Storm. Had I known the blog would be Twittered, shared, posted by Whole Dog Journal and Victoria Stilwell, I would have spent a little more time on it. As it was written, it was only my early morning reaction with a complete lack of sleep and not enough coffee.  But, I think (I hope) I got my point across that we must learn from this incident, and I think people will. 

I have been playing phone/email tag with Victoria this weekend as she is in NYC reporting from Westminster.  I asked her to join forces with me to figure out a way to make good come of this, and help the people of Colorado understand their dogs better.  She is on board, so stay tuned for what we come up with.  I am extremely lucky to have her support!

Late last night,  I learned that Kyle’s injury is much more severe than was reported. She lost half her upper lip, had a 4-hour surgery, has 70 stitches, and has to have her mouth sewn shut to graft the skin of her lips and get the blood circulating again. Learning this made me gasp, and I shuttered at the thought of Kyle going through all this pain. I really feel for her. Her recovery will be long and painful, but I’m sure her smile will radiate as much as it did before,

Max is still in quarantine, and not much has been reported about him. 9News interviewed the head of Animal Control, and he said Max will likely be released back to his owner once his 10-day quarantine is over. The quarantine is standard procedure for any serious dog bite, as they need to make sure Max doesn’t have rabies. As I said in my previous post, I highly doubt Max will be euthanized, and I know a lot of people are concerned about that. However, given the severity and level of his bite, I imagine the judge will order strict rules for him, and Max’s life will never be the same.

I know my anger towards Mr. Robinson really came through in the blog. Those who know me, know I don’t mince words or beat around the bush, especially when a dogs welfare is at stake. While some may think I rushed to judgment, I know that the anger is because of my experience and knowledge of how dog bites happen, and that they are highly preventable. Humans put dogs in situations that set them up to fail, and that is what happened to Max from the start. I have worked with thousands of dog owners who don’t know any better and consistently have much higher expectations for their dog than their dog can attain.   I struggle with this daily in my private practice, and am constantly explaining to people how their actions allowed the dog to bite...  yet many of them blame the dog.

My frustration is out of sadness for the dogs who have to suffer from humans’ mistakes. Mistakes that can be prevented if dog owners make better choices regarding their dogs and stop anthropomorphizing. Dogs will be dogs, and it is up to us to protect and advocate for them.

For the foreseeable future, my blogs will begin focusing on different dog body language characteristics and how to interpret them. You can also start watching your dogs when they are in your living room… What do their faces tell you? What are their bodies doing that could let you know what is going on in their mind?

• When you go to pet her over the head, does she shy away and yawn?
• When you hug your dog, does he lick his lips?
• When you go to put the leash on, does she slink over to you like she’s in trouble and lift her paw?
• When he has a bone, and you walk by, does he turn his eyes but not his head?

Stay tuned for explanations of these behaviors, and more.   To begin, Click Here for Turid Rugaas descriptions of several calming signals.  Familiarize yourself and practice interpreting them with your dogs whenever you can. 

Kari Bastyr, MS, VSPDT
Denver, Co.
http://www.wagandtrain.com/

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Weimaraner Training Tips You Must Follow For The Best Results

18.37 in best, Dog Training, follow, for, must, results, the, tips, training, weimaraner, you

Training Weimaraners - Weimaraner Training requires hard work. In the end, though, its well worth your dog training efforts. A Weimaraner is a working breed.

Weimaraners were originally bred to hunt wild animals such as wild boars and bear. That makes this dog extremely energetic, high strung, intelligent, and needy. Below are 5 tips to training a Weimaraner.

1. Training Weimaraners Requires Lots of Exercise

The Weimaraner breed has not been watered down since domestication. Hunting and digging for Weimaraners is deeply engrained and will never go away. Weimaraners love to play all day long and seldom get tired!

During Weimaraner training, you must tire your Weimaraner out by taking him to a dog run at least 2-3 times a day for an hour each time. Let your Weimaraner puppy play around with the other dogs in the dog run. This activity alone will wear them out. The perfect exercise for Weimaraner training is agility training.

2. Engage The Weimaraners Intellect

Engage the Weimaraners intellect. Mental stimulation for the Weimaraner dog is essential.
Dog agility training will help stimulate your dog mentally. In agility training, the dog is trained to go through an obstacle course. This makes the dog have to think on its feet.

3. Reduce Anxiety Separation

Weimaraners tend to be very clingy to their masters. They become very upset when separated from their masters for very long periods of time. When training a Weimaraner, its important to introduce the concept of being left alone for short periods of time.

First, let him see you put on your shoes and coat. But then dont go anywhere. Then, on another occasion, let him see you pick up your keys as if you are getting ready to leave. Dogs know when their masters are going out.

Again, youre not going to actually leave. The concept that you want your Weimaraner to get used to is that you are going to leave without him freaking out.

Finally, after doing those two exercises a few times, actually leave him and come back in 5 minutes. The next time you leave him, come back in 10 minutes. This will slowly build his tolerance for his anxiety attacks. Weimaraner training takes building up slowly.

4. Let Him Sleep On His Own Bed

If you want to train a Weimaraner, you must not let him sleep in your bed - at least for the first several months! Many dog owners, myself included, allow their dogs to sleep in the same bed.

The problem with allowing your Weimaraner to sleep with you while training your Weimaraner is that he is already clingy and needy. If you allow your Weimaraner to sleep in your bed, you will have difficulty crate training him. Crate training is a crucial aspect of Weimaraner training.

5. Crate Train Your Weimaraner Early

If you want your Weimaraner training to go well, crate training will be an important aspect of his daily regimen. Crate training allows your dog to view his crate as a safe haven. Feeling safe emotionally is what Weimaraners crave.

Training your Weimaraner early with a crate will help ease separation anxiety when done properly. How? Dogs are den animals. Having a cave-like place to go to is comforting for a dog.

What better way for your Weimaraner to feel safe in his natural habitat than by putting him in a crate, which replicates a den for him?

Learning the 5 key rules to training a Weimaraner will help you go along way in establishing confidence in your dog. It will also help you in obedience training your dog as well as develop a loving bond between you and your best friend.

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