1. Helen Cariotis, Re. Dog Training

Tom wrote to www.caninecounselors.org/ Re. I have this dog...

<His father was a Samoyed. When I walk him, he sets the leash between his shoulders and plunges ahead as if to pull me across the frozen tundra. He is 23 pounds of pure muscle. Reasoning with him - pointing out that he looks ridiculous scrabbling at the pavement in an attempt to haul a 200-pound geezer to Ultima Thule - does little good if any. His mother was a German Shepherd. Is there any to get him to herd me instead of haul me?>

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Hi Tom--

Thanks for contacting me!

However, it really doesn't matter. Training and putting into practice what you have learned in your daily routine is the answer. We'd love to have you join a class. In fact, I love teachers because they aleady understand how things learn, they appreciate the hard work put into lesson plans, and they have terrible excuses for not doing their homework. : )

BTW, be careful if you want to trade a puller for a herder. Herding dogs are compelled (some of them are real fanatics) to micro-manage every aspect of your day. The attention is nice for your ego, but in the end it drives you nuts! In the meantime, you might want to try a different type of collar. I have an article up on the site now that would give you some good suggestions.

Best,

Helen

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Helen - I'll take as much free advice as I can get. But, okay, how much does a class cost? Is it a Dog & His Boy clinic available? In dog years, Blanco is in his early 30's.

Speaking of evidence for Mr. McNevins' thesis, that the world's Civilization Quotient is going to the dogs:

I have a chow/Australian shepherd mix that is a sweet, large dog (50 lbs plus) with one flaw; She pulls the leash like you describe. I took her to one of those $10 training classes at Petsmart and got a wonderful bit of advice; The "spiked" choker collar. Yeah, it looks like a tool of interrogation. But the "spikes' are actually blunt. And a dog's neck -- particularly one with lots of fur like mine and I assume yours, is a lot less sensitive to such than you or I.

It just gets their attention, she told me. And it surely did. From the first minute I used it. The dog clearly doesn't mind it. She sits wagging her tail, waiting for me to clip it on. And walking her is no longer an ordeal. She'll still start to dash after a cat or squirrel, but she stops a lot quicker and with a lot less wear and tear to my arm.
AND it was just a coupla bucks at said Petsmart.

jweiss@dallasnews.com
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4. Rebecca Thompson, Re. Dog Collars

Tom, on dog collars. I've used the pinch collar described by Jeffrey Weiss for BJ all of her life (12 years in January.) Those blunt spikes pointing down into the neck do look vicious, but I actually put the thing on my own neck and pulled it quite hard to see what it felt like... didn't hurt at all. I added a retractable leash to the walking paraphernalia, and she gets to actually run a bit and explore in a pretty wide radius. She seems content with this system and has pretty good muscle tone. I developed what I call the "Will Rogers" leash technique... as she circumambulates the radius, I follow with circular arm movements over my head. On the handle of the leash there is a thumb "stop" button. The leash (I guess via some kind of spring loaded device) automatically retracts thus allowing one to also "real-in" the dog when necessary.

... definitely worth the investment.

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5. Helen Cariotis, Re. Hauling-Dog Restraint

Since some of your readers seem well-versed on dog training equipment (Jeffrey Weiss and Rebecca Thompson), y'all might be interested to know a little more about the prong collar. Also called the pinch collar or German collar, it has been around for at least 80 years, probably more. It is NOT a spike collar (that is not training equipment). It was always the collar of choice until the advent of the choke, or slip chain collar. It is not real expensive and can be sized easily for any dog's neck, is simple for novices to use, can be used on pretty much any size or breed of dog, is very safe for the dog, and most of all it is effective in stopping pulling on the lead. It works pretty much instantly, and that encourages new trainers.

The prong collar is very much maligned these days by the so-called "new age" or pure-positive dog trainers, people in San Francisco and some trendy Colorado towns, the prestigious Delta Society and American Humane Society, and of course PETA, which wants us to ban the companion dog along with the collar. I have also heard that the collar has been outlawed in Australia (did they force dog people to turn their prong collars in at the same time they collected their guns)? You can use them in England, but if you do and are caught, you can be expelled from the British Association of Pet Dog Trainers. I guess dog obedience instructors there gather their classes in remote woods and pass info along by secret code or something.

PetsMart prohibits their obedience instructors from promoting them or telling students how to use them (Jeff, you got a renegade instructor), but doesn't mind selling them on the next aisle, next to the shock collars (ooops, I mean electronic collars).

Helen Cariotis

National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors # 372

6. Rebecca Thompson, Re. Dog Training

OK. Well, I'm not a Dog Obedience Instructor, but I do have some thoughts on the choke/slip chain collar vs. pinch/prong collar. Our family had pointers, trained them to perfection... and a mutt that was unbelievable. We seldom used leashes at all, because the dogs would always do pretty much what they were told. (We could call any neighbor and tell them "If you see Sam" (our mutt), "tell her it's time to come home." She would come home. I've always always preferred slip collars (if leashes are required) for every reason Ms. Cariotis mentioned.... BUT:

1) If a choke chain is not used properly they certainly CAN do damage to the dog. (The pinch collar just does not hurt them. I am positive of that.) People MUST have training to use those slip chains. And, I agree, are truly effective for civilized "walkies."

2) Even Guru Woodhouse had more problems with chows than with other breeds. I think Mr. Weiss mentioned he had a chow... I knew exactly why he opted for the pinch collar. These puppies are just different than other breeds when it comes to training. It isn't that they do not understand what they are being told to do... they just don't care.... at least the feisty alpha types. (I'm convinced the milder chows are the only dogs of the breed that make it to the show rings.)

"Perpetually puppy" is the operative phrase for describing many chows. BJ's commands work something like this:

"NO!" ..... wags tail vigorously and says "Let's PLAY!!!!"

"Come!".... wags tail more vigorously and says "Chase ME!!!! and "Let's play SOMEMORE!"

"Heel!" .... starts sniffing the ground and says "Say, whut?"

"Enough" ....she knows that means that what she is doing is ok, but to stop.... which she doesn't.

Then.

I start counting, "ONE"...She knows "That's serious, I'll sort of pause... maybe."

"TWO." ... she definitely pauses, wags tail a little more slowly and says, "whut you want?"

(The last time I had to "THREE" her was years ago.)

In her defense, BJ will:

"Be quick" (poop) and "Pee on the grass" on command.

The rest of life is on her terms: If I leave her a treat when I leave the house, she will "Wait" and not "chase me to the door" And will not tear anything up. If I forget to leave that treat... she will NOT "Wait," WILL chase me to the door and WILL tear something up while I'm gone. Something favorite...something favorite of mine.

Anyway, I digress.

3) Unless one is running with a dog (not me.... ever), a pinch collar is more suitable for allowing a dog to run somewhat free... and I guess I like that better for BJ and for me, too.

So, with apologies to Pure-Positive Dog Trainers, San Franciscans, Colorado, the Delta Society, the American Humane Society, PETA, The British Association of Pet Dog Trainers, The National Association of Dog Obedience Trainers, and all of Australia; with this dog .... the pinch collar is the best solution I've found.

Finally, my unaccredited philosophy about training and caring for a dog is to be educated, gain experience and use some common sense. I also believe what I call the Three Golden Rules for Owning Dogs:

1) This dog was made by God, belongs to God and a gift from God.

2) Never hit, intentionally hurt, or allow this dog to suffer.

3) If this dog ever bites or attacks a human being, put him down.

And BJ sez,".... uh, remember that time you were trying to get that piece of chicken...? from MY mouth? from ME?, I bit you, so..... hmm... That pruves it: I'm in charge."

OK. Well...

Thanks, Rebecca! I am glad there is someone else out there who thinks the prong collar is the most humane and effective collar available. But I guess I didn't make my point very well.. any slip collar (choke chain, nylon, even a limited slip like a martingale) can be dangerous to the dog if not used properly. Why? Because the "slip" or "choke" action can cut off the dog's breathing and actually damage the trachea or even cause death from suffocation if the owner is not attending to the dog. Owners can have good success with slip collars if they are instructed in their proper use. I use them with my trained dogs, and they are the only collars allowed in AKC obedience competitions, other than plain buckle collars.

And please don't lump NADOI (Nat. Assoc. of Dog Obedience Instructors) into that other group (AHA, Delta, APDT, British APDT, San Franciscans, etc). Do you want me ridden out on a rail? LOL !!! NADOI does NOT dictate methods or equipment to its members. The "training police" resides elsewhere.....

Tom, your readers might be interested to know that a danger far more sinister than what kind of collar you use is growing in cities and states everywhere. Breed specific legislation, or BSL, is a threat to dog owners in almost all areas of the country. Many popular and much-loved breeds of dogs are now banned in some cities. Once legislation is in place, at any level, it is difficult to remove. Dog owners should be aware of what their local governments are up to. The American Kennel Club (www.akc.org) has a great legislative watchdog (sorry, couldn't help it) department.

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Dog Speak

Recently, I received as a gift a book called Dog Speak, by Bash Dibra. The book covers several topics, including how to select the right dog for you, how to train your dog, and how Mr. Dibra learned more about Dog Speak while raising and training a wolf to work in Hollywood. The sections that discussed the language of dogs (Dog Speak) particularly interested me, and I summarize the information in this article.

Dogs can understand our moods, facial expressions and body language. If we can't do the same for them, they might wonder what is wrong because the communication link that they would establish with another dog is not made with us. When we don't understand our dog's communications, we miss out not only on vital information about our dog's state of mind, but also on a chance to establish a deeper bond with our canine family member.

The language of dogs came from the language of wolves, which revolves around the social interaction of the pack and the actions necessary to survive. Dog speak consists of genetically encoded "pack behaviors" handed down from the dog's wolf ancestors. These behaviors are used to communicate the dog's moods, thoughts, and feelings. We need to understand these pack behaviors and work within them to discover what our dogs are "saying" and to train our dogs properly.

Dogs use their bodies as well as their vocalizations to communicate. The body language consists of several primary elements: eyes, ears, muzzle, tail, and stance. The combination of these elements (along with vocalization, when the dog uses it) will allow a dog to communicate a precise message.

Mr. Dibra describes a number of combinations; here are a few:

The ears are pricked up, and turned outward. (If your dog has droopy or floppy ears, look at the part of the ear next to the head. That part will be raised and the earflap will be held slightly outward.) The eyes are wide and alert looking. The mouth is closed to allow sniffing (and possibly the dog is sniffing). This combination tells you that your dog has heard something and is trying to identify who or what is there.

The ears are rotated back and close to the head. The eyes are narrowed. This could mean either fear or an advanced stage of aggression. Which is it? If the eyes are staring, it is aggression. If the eyes are looking away, it is fear. In both cases the muzzle might also be showing a snarl (fear often imitates aggression), but the eyes and the posture will tell you which it is.

If a dog approaches and you see that he holds his head and tail high, with his ears erect, body up to full height, walking perhaps a little stiffly, you are watching an alpha dog head your way. If you also are walking your alpha-wanna be, be careful, and keep your dog well under control. You may see that both dogs' tails are wagging and think everything will be OK. But some tail wagging is actually a sign of aggression, not friendliness. If the tail is carried high and the wags are quick and abrupt, that's aggression.

Submissive dogs communicate that fact by having a lower tail and head, and by not walking so proudly. They may also nuzzle or lick a more dominant dog in the muzzle. Very submissive dogs and puppies might wag their tail with it between their legs.

Dogs can also say they are in a relaxed, happy mood with their bodies. If their ears (or the part next to their head) is pricked up and forward, the eyes open and eager, the mouth open and relaxed (perhaps with a little panting), and the tail carried in a moderate-to-low (depending on the breed) angle (a relaxed position), the dog is saying "Hey, how are you? I'm glad to see you. What do you want to do today?"

In addition to body language, dogs will use their range of growls, whines, barks, yips, etc., to communicate their message. Again, use the vocalization in combination with the dog's body language to determine what he or she is thinking. For example, if your dog is growling a low growl is that an expression of dominance or play? If your dog has other aggressive signs (eyes staring, for example), it is aggression. If your dog has been giving you play bows, the growl is all in fun.

As Mr. Dibra says, "In my life, dogs have been the greatest gift I ever could have received." Therefore, it is worth it to us to take the time to learn their language and to improve our communication with these wonderful animals.

(As for that deceptively wagging tail, I recall Blanco's cheerfully wagging his tail while he lunged and bit into a rat.)

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1. Dog Has 200 Word Vocabulary

www.HealthNewsDigest.com/

Scientists studying the word-learning abilities of a German family's Border collie suggest that some aspects of speech comprehension evolved earlier than, and independent from, human speech. Rico, a dog with an approximately 200-word "vocabulary," can learn the names of unfamiliar toys after just one exposure to the new word-toy combination. The scientists equate the dog's apparent learning to a process seen in human language acquisition called "fast mapping." The fast-mapping abilities of children allow them to form quick and rough hypotheses about the meaning of a new word after a single exposure.

Fischer's team set up experiments where a new toy was placed among seven familiar toys. When the owner asked Rico to fetch the new item, using a name the Border collie had never heard before, Rico correctly retrieved the new item in seven of ten sessions. He apparently appreciates, as young children do, that new words tend to refer to objects that do not already have names. After a month without access to these target toys, Rico retrieved them, upon request, from groups of four familiar and four completely novel toys in three out of six sessions.

His retrieval rate is comparable to the performance of three-year-old toddlers, according to the authors. "For psychologists, dogs may be the new chimpanzees," writes Paul Bloom in an accompanying "Perspective."

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http://www.sciencenews.org/

Anybody who's ever moved a muscle toward a leash will agree that dogs understand human body language. The animals' capacity to do this, suggests new research, was evolutionarily engrained since they became people's canine companion about 15,000 years ago.

Previous studies have shown that dogs can use human cues to find hidden food. For example, dogs that watch experimenters look or point at a sealed bowl enclosing a meal then choose correctly between that container and an empty one. "Conventional wisdom would say that [people] train dogs to do this," explains Michael Tomasello, a comparative psychologist at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany. But his team's findings support another view.

Tomasello and his colleagues compared various animals taking the food-container challenge. Dogs were always better than human-reared wolves at finding the food. And they even outwitted chimpanzees. The research team was surprised to find that 9-to-26-week-old puppies, including some rarely exposed to people, could use the researchers' cues to find food.

In the Nov. 22 Science, the researchers conclude that dogs don't learn social and communication skills from people nor do they inherit them from wolves, their closest relatives. They acquired the skills as they evolved in domestication.

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1. Smart Dog

We had a whole string of dogs before. But none of those dogs ever came up to Skip. You could talk to him as well as you could to many human beings, and much better than you could to some.

Before going to sleep at night, with him sitting next to my face on the bed as he always did at such hours, I would say, "First thing tomorrow I want you to get your leash and then come get me up, because we're gonna get in the car and go out to the woods and get some squirrels." And the next morning sure enough he would get his leash, wake up both my father and me, walk nervously around the house with the leash in his mouth while we ate breakfast, and then lead us out to the car.

Or I could say, "Bubba's comin' over here today, and we're gonna play some football." And he would listen closely to this, then go out and wait around in front of the house and pick up Bubba's scent a block down the street and come and tell me he was on his way. Or, "Skip, how about some catch?" And he would get up and walk into the front room, open a door in the antique cabinet with his improbable nose, and bring me his tennis ball.

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2. Properly Fed Dog

Finally, the Vetrenarian asked me, "Do you feed Skip a good diet?" "Yessir, I sure do." "How many times a day do you feed him?" "Oh, I guess seven or eight." "Seven or eight!" the doctor said. "Don't you know you're only supposed to feed a dog once a day." Then, shaking his head, he signed my certificate, making me the first Boy Scout in the county to get the Dog Care merit badge.

As for Skip's diet, I have never seen a dog with such a haughty distaste for dog food and high regard for raisin bran. His preferences were highly eclectic and included the mayonnaise-and-ketchup sandwiches we ate after school, fried chicken livers, squirrel dumplings, parched peanuts, potato chips, Moonpies, ham hocks, chicken gizzards, cotton candy, and rice and gravy. His favorite food of all, however, was sliced bologna.

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3. Free Dog

As vivid as yesterday I remember the springtime Friday nights of school, my friends and Skip and I strolling along along the broad boulevard in our blue-and-yellow Cub Scout caps on the way to a war movie downtown: First Yank into Tokyo, perhaps, or The Fighting Seabees, or The Purple Heart. The radios from the houses along the way blared the war news from London or the Pacific, or the words of Roosevelt or Churchill echoing out into the supple darkness. There was something in this I sensed, just a shred of boyhood emotion and memory: that in the echoes of the radios in the boulevard domiciles lay the fragile, beleaguered fate of us.

How to know this then? It was there somehow in the trees and lawns, the birds and the wind chimes, the clouds and stars, and even in Old Skip's roamings in the dew-touched shadows. It was all along this boulevard on another night, D-Day 1944, that Hejie and Muttonhead and I tied tin cans to the end of a long string and pulled them down the street in a noisy commemorative parade, with Skip moving along right behind the cans.

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I especially enjoyed Willie Morris' sketch of the veternarian's notion of how a dog ought to be fed, as opposed to what Skip actually ate, mayonnaise-and-ketchup sandwiches included.  The vet tells you not to feed dogs human food, it's bad for their teeth and too salty for them.  Waitaminute - dogs have been eating our table scraps for 15,000 years and they're not dead yet.  They've had at least 6000 years to get used to food cooked in pots & pans, and about 2500 years to get used to salt-cured meat.  Why do you think they showed up in the first place?  The odor of roasting meat.  It puzzles me that I'm supposed to worry about what a scrap of chocolate or boiled onion might do to the digestion of an animal that can turn a pork-chop bone to powder in three snaps and who chows down on cat poop when he's a mind to.