Top United Kingdom Casino Sites: This will allow you to get the most out of your games and maximize your chances of winning.
Suffolk Slingshots Review - Interestingly, this choice of gameplay wasnt made at the expense of the graphics and the overall atmosphere of the game set.
Does your dog have a certain behavior that occurs on a regular basis? Does it go “crazy” when the gardeners show up? Does it get overly excited at fast moving cars or do they get car sick? When guests arrive do you brace yourself for the certain to happen someone’s-at-the-door-I-need-to-get-excited response?
Not to worry. Dogs get into behavioral patterns much like we do. It has been tested and proven that in order to change a human behavior, we must consistently do the desired behavior for 30 days. If we slip up one day, we’re told that we need to start the count over.
Fortunately, behavior modification in dogs can occur as quickly as one session; however, don’t be disappointed if you have to take things slowly and progressively desensitize your dog to the trigger of the undesirable behavior.
For example: If your dog always run nervously from window to window barking while the gardeners are working and your standard response is to get nervous, run after them as you yell, “NO, STOP!” – it’s time for a different approach. Assuming that your dog has been through some training, put the leash on the dog and prior to the gardeners arriving, go over the basic commands and get the dog more focused on you. It’s difficult for a dog to run franticly when they are lying down.
Be prepared. Reward for the desired behavior (verbal praise works wonders). When the gardeners arrive, the dog will be in a different frame of mind. The leash can remain on as a training tool until the behavior changes.
It’s also good to remember that if your dog is lacking in exercise and they have not been given an opportunity to use that energy it WILL be inappropriately directed toward something else.
Exercise and training combined will help immeasurably with desensitizing your dog and changing their behavior.
My name is Olive. I’m a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. You can see how nice I look. I’m even smiling in this picture. It wasn’t always this way. I was part of a Pit Bull fighting ring. Here’s how my life started. . .
They took me from my Mom too young. I was scared. Then, I got pregnant. I can still hear the men’s voices and they are yelling. The other dogs around me are filled with fear that turns to rage. They are fighting again. I’m glad that this time they “used” another dog to get them stirred up.
On a good day, I’m left in this tiny pen listening to dogs fighting and men yelling. I let the fear fill me and I sit and shake. Why me?
On a bad day? I hear someone say, get her. She’ll get the other dogs to fight. They toss me into the pen. The first dog seems to really hate me. I have to defend myself, and as much as it makes me uncomfortable, it’s instinct. I need to protect my unborn pups. I don’t know if I’m relieved or scared even more when the other dog held to the side is released. It means that now I’ll get removed until next time.
Finally, I was able to escape, and I ran away. I wanted to run and to keep running to get away from how I felt. On one paw, I wanted to keep running so that I could feel safe, and yet I was too scared to be alone. I didn’t know what to do. I met some nice people who took me into their home. I was beat up and covered in sores from mange. I listen for the yelling and the other dogs fighting, but so far that hasn’t happened. Yet. I will always wonder if it’ll happen again.
That was seven years ago. Since then, I’ve been living in a love-filled home with other nice dogs. Without words, I can only show what I’m feeling. Even after all these years, I have moments where I panic. I want to run and run just to get away from the feeling that is buried deep inside me. It’s buried in the place that makes my tail wag – or in this case, not wag.
There are a lot of moments where I forget what happened. I’m joyful and my tail can’t stop from moving. Other days, I sit and stare and want to hide. I hear my “Mom” talking with people about me. She has loved me and kept me safe but she knows. She knows and can see that some times I’m lost.
The abuse I experienced from the dog fights will not leave me. I have new memories to put in their place, but some days that’s not so easy. I remember. It’s not a memory in my mind. It’s a memory in my soul. It’s consuming.
I hope that there are big people who can stop dog fighting. Perhaps Oprah can do a show to bring more awareness to how horrible it is for us. Maybe some day the people who think that this is a sport, will be able to feel in their hearts what I feel. If they do, they will never forget it. Nor will I.
I find dog names interesting. Some fit the dogs perfectly and some – not so much. Some are named after their appearance as in Scruffy. Some are named after their coloring as in Taffy or after their markings as in Spot.
Some have names that are always followed by an inquisitive “oh, that’s an interesting name. What does it mean?” It could mean “I needed something clever so that my dog would know it’s greatness.” Or, sometimes it is something of interest but certainly not to the dog. =)
Some are named based on their stature or physical size like Goliath. Some for the personality that their people hope they have as in Zorro or Zena. Some are given human names like Mikey or Sam. You’ll have to ask them about that.
I don’t think the name is all that important because let’s face it, we could call them anything and given enough repetition they’d respond. It often seems that the name isn’t as significant as the tone used when saying it. It’s important to remember that. (Tone will be a topic for another post.)
The truth is, I think we pick names for our dogs because we don’t think we can consistently spell or say mujulickylululoveypuppy. That’s their “real” name.
PUPPY MILLS ARE A TRAGEDY! It’s beyond horrible that these places exist at all. Thanks to Oprah and Lisa Ling for the investigative report exposing these farms, thousands are aware. Now, we can’t act like we don’t know that they exist. TODAY.
The ONLY way for this to stop is for us to NEVER buy a puppy from a store or a pet shop. Reputable breeders would not let their dogs be sold by someone else. They care about their dogs and the homes that they go to.
When buying a dog, don’t be embarrassed to ask a lot of questions. If the seller loves their dog, they will welcome your inquiries. You owe it to the dog and yourself.
It’s challenging not to justify buying this adorable, sweet, innocent puppy from the store because we know that it’s most likely from a puppy mill and we are going to “save” it. We may save one, but there are hundreds of other dogs that will suffer and die needlessly so we can “save” one.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that not only may their new $1500 “rescued” puppy be ill and traumatized, chances are housebreaking may be more than a challenge. These dogs pee and poop where they stand. It’s like putting them in jail without a bathroom. They have no choice. We have a choice. . .
The stores need to suffer the financial consequence of no one buying their pups and then the breeders will be put out of business.
And, if by some magical six degrees of separation this note gets to Lisa Ling, there are a couple of stores where I live that are almost guaranteed to be selling LOTS of puppy mill pups. Thanks to everyone who works to shut down the mills.
Animals, like us, are beings of energy. There is kinetic energy. This is energy in motion. I am not referring to that, but rather the energy that is the basis of everything — the stuff that we’re all made of.
You’ve probably heard that what you feel travels down the leash to the dog. More importantly, as dogs they convert whatever energy we are experiencing through our thoughts and actions into an “appropriate” dog thought and action. In other words, they respond in the “dog equivalent” to our human emotion, thought, and posturing.
It is through awareness and observation that we can make subtle shifts in what we are feeling and in how we are using our bodies. This transfers to a different and what we humans would call a more desirable reaction from our dog. Let’s just say, we are more likely to get the response we want and have a much more attentive and content dog.
Dogs are never intentionally responding inappropriately nor are they ever bad in the way that we may interpret the word. They are just acting in a way that is natural for them at that particular moment in time. We spend a lot of wasted energy trying to get the dog to understand human thought rather than it being the other way around.
I’m not saying that we should just accept whatever the behavior is. It is difficult not to transfer our emotional expression to our dog. We assume that they are thinking as we are. By humanizing our dogs, we miss the opportunity to see what’s really going on.
Chances are, your dog is responding appropriately given their history, genetics, training (or lack of), and maybe most importantly, their instincts.
As a side note, I think it’s fair to say that we humans tend to forget that we also live a lot of our life based on instinct – human instinct. We should remember to understand and work with our dogs based on their instincts and not ours.
For a related article on humanizing your dog, check out: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/humandog.htm
I am often asked what I think that dogs do when people are away from the home. That’s usually based on their sense of guilt in leaving their dog. I assure them that dogs do what dogs do. They run and play and rest. They don’t have the same awareness of time as we do.
I decided that in order to better answer this question, I would install a videocam to catch the dogs in action while I was away. I installed the camera in the living room and went to work.
I returned in the afternoon and the dogs greeted me outside as usual. I didn’t anticipate that the video would contain any new revelations into dog behavior.
If only. If only there was a leash or collar that I could bless or maybe have Cesar Milan bless that would train your dog effortlessly. I would then offer it to the public as the answer to their dog training problems.
This is it! Now, my career as a dog trainer and behaviorist will be over and the livelihood of all other trainers will be threatened. Read on. . .
I’m referring to the soon-to-be-released Magic Dog Training Leash. It is UNBELIEVABLE. I mean that literally in that it is not to be believed. Seriously, don’t believe any of this. . .
Imagine! With this leash, your dog will instantly heel, sit, stay, lie down, eat all his food, have no aggression issues and be completely housebroken. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! If you buy now, I’ll throw in the unadvertised special Subliminal Dog Training CD that is guaranteed to keep your dog off any and all furniture. It will also end the need for your dog to chew on expensive shoes! You just play the CD while your pup sleeps, and wait for the miracle of your dog’s behavior modification.
If only. . .
I guess you know that the only way to have a well-behaved dog is to consistently train them. If I can some day perfect the ideas above, you’ll be the first to know!
CONFINEMENT. Confine the dog in a small space – either a crate, play pen, or a very small area of a room. If your dog is not in this space, then the ONLY other option is that they are with you and in your sight (preferably on a leash). In most cases, dogs do not want to soil their living space. The size of the space will grow as they mature. It can also be helpful to feed them in this space.
CONSISTENCY. Consistency with water and feeding on a schedule and taking the dog outside on a regular basis. When you take the dog out, use a word that you will use every time they go outside. They are outside for a purpose. Stay with them until they “go” and reward with a treat and verbal praise. Come back inside and follow Step 1. If they didn’t “go,” it’s still back to Step 1 until you take them out again.
CARING. Caring that your dog will have every opportunity to succeed. That means that you will feel successful! Understand that you are not being cruel by providing either of the first two steps. It could mean the difference of housebreaking taking two weeks versus two months (or longer).
Look for additional housebreaking tips in future posts!
Some of the best rehabilitation for a dog happens in the presence of other dogs. They learn from each other and to us mere humans it appears to be in very subtle ways. This could be not-so-good if it’s like how some teenagers “help” other teenagers learn new behaviors! But, good behaviors can also be shared.
I live in the high desert on a fenced acre of property that is like an off-leash park. It is, however, dirt, gravel, and natural desert terrain and is slightly terraced. I recently had a Great Dane here that had lived in a neighborhood and was accustomed to walking on sand or grass. Walking up or down hills had not been his experience.
Here is this 120-pound dog afraid of stepping off of the patio because of his tender feet. He was like a little girl trying to gain stability while walking around in her mother’s high heels! As we’d walk around and climb the gentle slopes of the yard, it was apparent that what Schlappie lacked was more than toughened paw pads. He lacked confidence in his body and ability to control it as he maintained his balance.
I couldn’t help him with that but the other dogs could. He would do his best to keep up with them. It was obvious that he wanted to be like the other kids on the playground. I think I heard them call him Chief Tenderfoot. What was I to do? “Kids” can be cruel.
He would step from patio to dog bed to dirt to patio and then contemplate the best next step to get inside without ever leaving a cushion or the flat consistent surface.
I’d take all the dogs on a walk around the property every morning and evening and watch as Schlappie began to walk a little quicker but more than that, he was gaining confidence. THEN, one evening, it happened! Confidence shift for Schlappie! He took off galloping like a horse – around and around he went. It was a thing of beauty to watch his awareness of freedom and trust in his long legs to get him where he wanted to go.
Schlappie is now ready to help other dogs and to tell his story of how in just two weeks of rehab he lost his nickname and gained self-confidence.
Obedience training and positive structure will help to build confidence in your dog. The more confident and clear you are with your expectations – the more confidence you’ll bring to them. Watch how the dogs do it. . .it’s a beautiful thing!
