• 05Mar

  Hip Dysplastic Agility?

  Dog Training (General) No Comments

  According to EN-US Karen Machin, DVM PhD, hip dysplasia doesn’t mean you can’t partake in agility, if your vet says its’ all right for your dog.  It does mean you need to keep your dog in the best shape possible, and it certainly means you need to be careful, but that does not mean you can’t get out there and run a course! Given that so many of the agility ‘breeds’ (Border Collies, Shelties, Labs) have a predisposition to the malady, it’s probably a good thing they can!

  Some things to keep in mind if your agility buddy has hip problems:

  • Take it a little bit easy.  Compete in preferred classes when available, so your dog can have all the fun and none of the strain that can come with jumping too high (or scrabbling high a-frames).
  • Keep your training sessions short.  All dogs learn best with short training sessions, but dogs with dysplasia should especially not have very long practice times!  Have several short sessions instead of one long one.
  • Talk to your vet.  See if a glucosamine or chondotrin supplement can help your dog!
  • Exercise.  Get a lot of non-agility exercise, too, to help strengthen your dogs’ overall health as well as the affected joint.  Consider water training, since water work takes the strain off the joints and puts it in the muscles!
  • Contact Obstacles   It may be worth your while to consider rubber coating your obstacles to make it easier for your dog to grip the surface, thus making the climb and descent easier on all their joints, not just their hips. 

  

  Tags: dog safety & health

• 04Mar

  Lovin’ the Loose Leash

  Dog Training (General) No Comments
  

  Come oooooon!!!

  Agility dogs are often high drive and high energy and rarin’ to go! They want their leashes off and they want to be running over that course. But often, you want them on their leash and walking beside you, not at the end of their leash (end of your rope!) and hauling you along.

  While the micro-millimeter heel isn’t necessary, loose leash walking is. Every dog should be able to walk on a loose leash.  You don’t want to risk your dog injuring their windpipe, or straining your shoulder or back from walking a hauling dog. Train your dog to walk with you, not walk for you by setting your heels in. As he’s at the end of the rope, leaning into it, spin around with no warning and go the other way. Yes, this will pull him with you quite hard. That is the point. Chances are, he’ll run to the end of the leash in that direction. That’s okay. Turn around again and walk the other way. This might take a few repetitions, but your dog doesn’t like being hauled, so he’ll stick a little bit closer to you to avoid it, and keep a closer eye on you. Praise him effusively when he walks beside you, or loose-leashed. Tell her she’s the greatest dog ever and isn’t it nice to have your collar not pulling? And look! treats! Pretty soon the dog will clue in and offer the behavior of their own accord, and you’ll have a much better time walking.

  Some dogs have conditioned themselves to not care about the pull of their collar.  These dogs may benefit from a head halter or harness for retraining.  Remember to reward the behavior you want! Make it worth their while to walk beside you in a mannerly fashion with a loose leash.  Dogs will do what rewards them, and pulling rewards them with sights and smells and other dogs and sometimes food!  Walking beside you has to be worth it to them. Once it is, it’ll be worth it to you to walk them more often!  a dog on a loose leash is a pleasure to walk.

  

  Tags: dog training

• 03Mar

  Getting it Right

  Dog Agility Training, Dog Training (General) 2 Comments

  Q. How should I correct my Labrador Retriever, Blaze? When he gets something right I give him a treat or throw his toy, but what do I do if he gets it wrong? If he breaks a wait, jumps off a contact or misses a weave entry, I don’t want to yell at him or hit him.

  A. I’m so glad to hear that! You should never use physical punishment. Mistakes are inevitable and an important part of the learning process. They’ll happen even though you try to make it easy for Blaze to get things right. Mistakes also occur because our performance criteria change in different environments. A paw-perfect dog in training will Continue reading »

  

  Tags: agility training, dog training

• 07Jan

  Couch Potato Dog

  Dog Agility Training, Dog Training (General) 2 Comments
  

  Wishful thinking....

  It’s winter. We’re bored. Our dogs are bored, too. (Don’t ask me what my bored dog just did at home. It was really, really bad. Anyone want a Newfoundland mutt?) So, train your dog something new! “Distance Work”, or getting your dog to move ahead of you to an obstacle, is one of the more advanced exercises of agility. You can start training your dog to do this at any level now, by incorporating little games into your everyday training. Another good thing to do is teaching your dog to focus! My favorite exercises are done indoors and not out in the evil negative 3 wind chill!

  Prepare ahead by setting up a single obstacle in the living room- lets’ say a jump. Position it up so your dog has to go over it, not around it (like in a hall or between two things the don’t can’t go over, under, or around). Put the bars down really low to start. With your dog in a stay (or not looking), place a plastic lidded container (like an old butter container) with a snack inside behind the jump. Poke a hole in the top so your dog can smell the treat. Then go sit down or lay on your couch for a bit. Now, don’t wake your dog up from a sound sleep, but if he is just sitting there, or doing nothing in particular (like you), you can then point to the jump. Say ‘jump’ (or whatever word you use). The first time this happens, unless your dog has been patiently waiting for you to release him from the stay to investigate that mysterious container, your dog might not know what you are saying at first. So you’ll have to get up and point closer to the jump, and the container, to encourage him to come over. When he goes over the jump, reward him by opening the container. Try it again over the course of your tv time (during commercials!), each time taking your dog over to the jump until he gets the idea. Keep playing this game, and eventually you should be able to just say “jump”, and your dog is going to immediately find the jump, wherever you placed it. (Future games will move the jump around). This may take a few days, but its a fun way to teach an important skill, and you can even watch TV while doing it!

  Another idea is focus training during commercial breaks- have a pocket full of treats and reward your dog for looking at you or touching you with his nose or paw on command. Ask him to go over the jump (which you’ve already trained him to do, right? ) and then recall him, getting him to focus on you. It helps to teach your dog to focus on you in a relaxed setting, and come spring, you can move it outdoors to a more challenging setting with birds and bees and trees and…

  I want it to be spring.

  

  Tags: agility training, dog training

• 19Nov

  The Dog Crazy Dog

  Dog Training (General) No Comments

  The dog is man’s best friend. But we are not always our dog’s best friend. Sometimes our dogs go absolutely nuts when they see other dogs. He may be the best behaved, nicest dog when he is around you and your friends. But let another canine come into the picture and he doesn’t even remember who you are! You feel like you are nothing but a food dispenser to him anymore!

  The heart of this problem is your dog’s socialization. He simply hasn’t been around enough other dogs in various situations to choose you over a canine companion. If you aren’t a dog breeder, you should spay or neuter your pet. Keeping your dog reproductively intact will keep him wanting to seek out other dogs, either for mating or for showing who is dominant. Spaying/neutering will help your dog be more interested in you than in other canines.

  You’ll need to exposure your dog to other dogs in a variety of situations so that he may be accustomed to being around other dogs. A great place to start is with obedience training classes. Look in your local yellow pages, ask your veterinarian or talk to employees at your local pet food supermarket to get information about classes near you. Teaching your dog obedience in a group setting will not only get him accustomed to other dogs but will strengthen the bond between the two of you. And he’ll learn to be better behaved as well!

  Once you and your dog have some basic obedience under your belts and you know your dog is friendly with other people and animals, you can take him to other locations for socialization. You may want to go to the local dog park. Or talk to some friends from your dog class about arranging a “play date”. There are even some businesses that offer “doggie day care” that will give your dog an opportunity to interact with other dogs.

  Once your dog has been socialized with other dogs, he won’t be so frantic when he sees another one of his own kind. He will be much more willing to focus on you when you are doing fun and interesting things like learning obedience or playing at agility.

  Good luck and have fun!

  To read more problem dog help tips, go here.

  ~Thank you to Amy Sugars

  

  Tags: dog safety & health, dog training

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