Marathon Walks - And Why You Don't Need 'Em!

So physical exercise like walks and hiking are AWESOME for your dog!  But let's be honest.  We don't have 2-3 hours every day to march around the neighborhood with our dogs.  No one enjoys taking a revved up dog for a 1-2 hour walk (or drag in most cases. Which is why you should always play or train your dog BEFORE a walk.)  So learn to use your time wisely!  

Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise for a balanced dog.  If you took 15 minutes in the morning, 15 at lunch, 15 when you get home, and 15 in the evening you would give your dog a full hour of mental exercise.  If you were to combine this with ever other day walks you would have one happy dog. 

So what the heck is mental exercise for a dog anyways?  Well this can run a gamut of things from tricks, treibball, rally, rally free, musical freestyle (heelwork to music), and agility.  All of these things help your dog learn new things and save you from marathon walks every day.  If you aren't sure where to start when it comes to these sports, take a class!  Or challenge yourself to teach a new trick to your dog every week.  YouTube is always a great source of inspiration!  Take the music video below, there are a ton of different tricks to teach.

Some food for thought about the video above...it took them SEVENTY TWO takes to get this one.  So when you start looking for perfection and instant success, just remember that it all takes time, ok?  Patience, persistence, and partying are the keys to fun trick sessions!

A great book to start with is 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance.  She also has a Trick Dog Title Program.  Another great trick title option is offered by Paws and People.  Check out both of these great programs to teach your dog something new!  You'll be amazed at how quickly 15 minutes of trick work tires out an active mind.

Movie Myths: Jurassic World

The raptors of Jurassic World were portrayed as clicker trained.  However, the clicker training wasn't shown in an accurate light.  Did you know that the click should happen once and then be followed by the reward?

Picture by Universal Studios

Just remember, a marker word or clicker should be timed when an animal is doing something right.  A true clicker trainer clicks minute changes in behavior and always rewards the click.  Multiple clicks without a reward, devalues the click.  So don't use Jurassic world as your clicker training example and make sure you pay attention in class ;) 

Puppies and Waiting

Constantly I hear about how a person has to wait with their puppy.  Wait to socialize, wait to train, wait to work with their puppy.  My response is always why? (I'm very good at asking this question, it's inbred in the inner workings of my core.) The answers I get are:

• "I don't have time
• I just have to be the boss
• My puppy is biting and aggressive
• "My puppy hasn't had all their shots, they will drop dead upon entering your door."

So now let's take a look at these common myths:

"I don't have time"

You have a puppy, a four legged young creature that relies on you for all his experience, social capabilities, and exercise.  You get out what you put in.  You can take a couple hours a week to prevent problems now.  OR, you can take 6-10 hours and a lifetime of management later.  A dog that may not enjoy other dogs, new environments, and people. Is that the dog you want? 

"I just have to be the boss."

Dominance Theory has actually been disproven by several world renown animal behaviorists. At best it shuts dogs down.  At worst it turns them into a very dangerous animal.

Patricia McConnell, PHD, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist states in her book Other End Of The Leash that "The irony is that dominance is actually a social construct designed to decrease aggression, not to facilitate it...Any individual who truly has a lot of social status has enough power that he or she doesn't need to use force."

Just chew on that for a bit, and if you still aren't convinced hop over to Patricia McConnell's website.  It is chalk full of information about dominance theory and why dominance techniques do far more harm than good.

"My Puppy is Biting and Aggressive"

Actually, your puppy is learning about this world and how they fit in.  They navigate with their mouths! They don't have primate hands to touch everything.  That's why the mouth comes in.  Puppies biting/munching/chewing is totally normal and puppies biting each other is normal too.  It's how they learn to regulate their bites and not do damage (otherwise known as bite inhibition.)

If you want to save your sofa, shoes, and children get them appropriate toys and chews. Monitor them when they are out and crate them when you can't monitor.

"My puppy hasn't had all their shots, they will drop dead upon entering your door."

Well, we've all heard this one.  Whether from veterinarians, family, friends, clubs, breeders, etc.  I'm here to tell you that the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior put together a position statement on socialization (socialization is letting your dog experience kind people, dogs, and environments.)  They state outright that behavioral issues like fear, avoidance, and aggression are more likely to kill your dog.  Let's be honest, very few people want to have a dog that barks and lunges at people and dogs, redirects to their owner with bites when people pass, cowers in fear out in public.  This is the aftermath of missing this window.

Get your young puppies out and about.  The Critical Socialization period (10-16 weeks) cannot be made up later.  After this period you can try to socialize, but puppies that were lacking during this time don't have the same bounce back other puppies do.  They may carry bad experiences with them for life, where as the well socialized puppy can handle a negative experience and rise above it.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Don't wait!  Work with your puppy, meet other puppies and socially appropriate dogs, go places together. 

Picking a Dog Food

So you just added a puppy or dog to the family.  What the heck do you feed them?! 

Typically people choose based on whether a vet recommended it, a friend recommended it, or what they've always fed.  The problem is, when did you last turn over the bag and look at the ingredients?  They change constantly and dog food regulations don't hold up when it comes to quality food.  So ask yourself the following when you finally do flip that bag over:

• What are the first 3-4 ingredients? 
• Are they quality sources of protein?
• What is the protein content (%)? 
• Is the source of protein a meal, by-product, fat, or ...?  
• Does this food have a corn, soy, wheat, brewers rice, beet pulp filler?

Good foods have 3 sources of protein in the first three ingredients, a high percentage of protein, and no corn soy, wheat or other fillers.  Fillers are deceptive because you'd think whole grains would be beneficial for dogs.  Trouble is, they're predators and fillers in food turn to sugar then fat.  Give a toddler cotton candy and vitamins for a month, then try to manage them....how would that go?

I like to read dog food reviews at this website.  It is non-partial and they tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly of your food choice. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

The Truth About Pet Food also keeps a great log of current regulations, recalls, and facts about pet food production: http://truthaboutpetfood.com/

The best food currently available at the Helena, MT area health food stores:

• Petcurean - Go!
• Honest Kitchen
• Nature's Logic
• Northwest Naturals
• Stella and Chewy's
• Open Farm

If you are feeling adventurous you can also start feeding raw, or supplementing your dogs food!  We'll talk about this in the future, so stay tuned!