iPhone 3Gs Video ** Do it or Suffer: Your Weimaraner Needs Exercise!

WeimaranerToday I went with my clients, Derrick and Megan, to Shelby Farms to exercise Bimmer, their 1 year old Weimaraner dog. Scroll to the bottom of this post to watch 2 iPhone 3Gs videos of Bimmer playing fetch.

I first met the clients January 2009, when Bimmer was a puppy. Derrick and Megan were model students, and it shows. Bimmer was an excellent guest at the dog park. Derrick and Meagan have a wonderful Weimaraner dog who is well mannered and loads of fun! That’s not the case with owners who do not obedience train or exercise their dogs.

If you do NOT teach your puppy basic obedience and provide enough stimulation for your dog, problems will emerge. Excessive digging, escaping, jumping, barking, chewing, and destruction are common signs that an untrained dog’s needs are not being met.

At 4.500 acres and 20 bodies of water, Shelby Farms is one of the largest municipal park in the USA.

In the lower picture, Bimmer has a fire hose fetch toy. I could throw this toy much farther than the plastic retrieving dummy. Dogs seem to really like fire hose material. Although it’s not a chew toy, the texture is a bit different and the fire hose is very durable. Amazon has a great selection. Here’s the best one I’ve found at the best price.

Weimaraner Fetch

Click below to see 2 videos taken with iPhone 3Gs. The Splash is my favorite!

Fetch

Splash

Happy Training!
Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – 21st Century Canine Relationship Solutions
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Signs your Dog is Not Getting Enough Exercise

Bull TerrierAll dogs need exercise. The amount and type of exercise needed varies with each individual. The perfect amount of exercise is just enough for your dog to be tired enough to be a relaxed calm member of your household.

If your dog has lots of unused energy, it will emerge as annoyances. Tired pups and dogs don’t jump up excessively, bark and whine excessively, destroy everything, run away, dig for hours, or pace the floor!

Mental and physical exercise should be part of your dog’s daily routine. Long walks are a great exercise tool. It’s best to take at least two long walks each day. Your dog will be mentally and physically stimulated. Short teaching sessions are great for exercising your dog’s mind. Scatter feeding and scent games are wonderful methods to burn energy.

Children should play hide-n-seek, fetch or spend time teaching dogs. Everyone should avoid wrestling with young dogs. Wrestling with pups increases the pups’ urges to play bite and teaches them that biting humans is ok. Many people with dogs that nip at their hands and clothes at every opportunity or play bite excessively have taught their dogs these behaviors by playing rough with the dog. Playing in the back yard for 10 to 15 minutes a day is not enough exercise for many young dogs. If the following sentences describe your dog, it is very likely that he or she is not getting enough exercise.

  • He paces from room to room.
  • She rarely lies down, even when others are relaxed.
  • He barks for attention.
  • She constantly steals objects.
  • He whines for attention.
  • She never stops jumping when people are visiting.
  • He digs, chews and destroys everything in sight.
  • She races along the fence barking at every other dog or person that passes by.
  • He runs away every chance he gets.
  • She digs under the fence, escapes and roams the neighborhood.

Here are two of my favorite foraging toys that can help exercise and stimulate your dog! You can get them at various stores, Amazon has good prices and I trust them.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – Reactive Dog Specialist in Memphis TN – How’s Bentley

Part 1: Teach your Dog to Walk on Human, Motorized Treadmill

DuchessWith the popularity of Caesar Milan’s TV show, The Dog Whisperer, occasionally a client will ask me to teach their dogs to walk on a treadmill.

Caesar promotes treadmill workouts as a good way to exercise dogs, and they are!

You can buy a non motorized, or motorized treadmill, made for dogs. Or you could use your human motorized treadmill.

Many of us already have a motorized treadmill, but our treadmills don’t have sides to act as guides to keep the dog facing forward.

How do you get a dog to walk on a motorized, human treadmill that does not have solid sides?

If you are reading this, I’m guessing you’ve already tried to “get” the dog walk on the treadmill via a harness, leash, food treats, cetera.

If your dog is new to the treadmill, like Duchess (pictured in this post), you may need a bit more instructions than, “place your dog on the treadmill and turn it on”.

My client already introduced Duchess to the idle treadmill by tossing a few treats on it. He reported that Duchess was comfortable walking onto the treadmill to eat the food. And she was.

The flaw I noticed was; she would step on the treadmill belt with one, two, three, or all four feet, but she wasn’t necessarily “lined up” and facing the front of the treadmill, as she would if it were powered up and moving. And Duchess was cautious to step up onto the treadmill.

So, I formed a plan.

With the treadmill turned off, I decided I would teach Duchess:

  • to walk along side of the handler, on leash
  • approach the equipment from the end, as a person would do
  • to step onto the belt, and continue to walk very slowly (about the speed of the treadmill will be on slow),
  • walk to the front end of the belt and exit from the end

So it began. I attached a short leash and walked around the room with Duchess at my side. She did well. I praised her for turning with me and we did several laps around the room. Duchess was perfect, until my path made it so that she would have to step onto the treadmill to continue walking at my side. She balked, and the treadmill was not even turned on! Yikes!

So I switched gears and decided to shape the behaviors. Shaping is when you reinforce actions that are closer and closer to the final goal. You teach the dog in small steps, each step is closer to your final goal.

My first step was to get her to place one foot onto the treadmill (from the entrance end), then two feet, three, four feet, until she was comfortable stepping onto the treadmill. I spent a few minutes shaping Duchess to step on the treadmill, until she would step up on the treadmill, with all four feet. At the end of the session, Duchess would step on the treadmill, without hesitation. I asked the client to repeat the exercise, in preparation for our next session.

There you have it. You are up to date!

Any good animal training plan is flexible, and constantly adjusted for the animal’s success. I’m not quite sure how I will proceed, or if I adjust my plan. For our next session, I expect that Duchess will very happy to step onto the powered off, treadmill.

Here’s my plan. The treadmill will still be in the off position. I’ll ask her to keep walking, until she reaches the end, where she can step off the treadmill.

Once Duchess is happy with that, I’ll teach her about the motor and the moving belt. Then I’ll ask her to step on it and walk towards the end.

Curious about the outcome. So am I.

I’ll post details about the next session, as soon as I have them.

CLICK HERE Video PART 2.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – Memphis TN

Reactive Dog Seminars

Meet Your Dog’s Physical Needs for Balance – Commercial, BARF, Frozen & Organic Diet, Food Choices

ReddogPhysical needs are related to the physical well-being of the dog. Routine vaccinations are one example of physical health requirements.

Grooming and bathing, quality food and clean water are other obvious needs. Shelter from environmental extremes and refuge from everyday household commotion are important for the physical health of your puppy.

The ability to move about, sufficient bathroom access, and daily exercise are components of physical needs.

Health Care

Routine Home, Health Inspections

Some health problems can be easily recognized by routine home, health inspections.

Ear infections are common, especially in dogs with floppy ears. If your dog is constantly shaking his or her head or scratching his or her ears, there’s likely to be an infection.

Ear infections are stinky. To determine if your pup’s ears are infected, place your nose directly into your pup’s ear and take a whiff. Do this a couple of times every week so you’ll notice any changes in the odor, before the infection develops into a serious problem. Contact your veterinarian if your dog’s ears are smelly!

Skin irritations are another common problem. Visually inspect your dog’s skin for signs of redness. In addition, you can sniff your dog’s skin. Any changes in the odor of your dog’s skin could be signs of a problem.

The consistency of your pup’s stools is another indicator of overall health. Generally speaking, you should be able to pick up your dog’s stools with a napkin. If your puppy has loose or runny stools, contact your vet.

Veterinarian Wellness Checkups

Wellness checkups are much more than disease protection and a quick once-over. Extensive blood work and a thorough examination are helpful for identifying potential health problems before they affect the life of your animal. Blood chemistry results are compared and contrasted from year to year.

Comprehensive wellness exams provide veterinary professionals with a baseline for measuring the pet’s medical health.

Disease Prevention

Check with your veterinarian if you have any questions related to the prevention of global or regional health threats to your dog. I live in Memphis, TN. In the southeast, we have a saying.

There are two types of dogs, dogs that are always on heart worm and parasite prevention and dogs that are on the path to contracting parasites and heart worm disease.

Grooming

To all social mammals, grooming is a form of social interaction, a sort of bonding exercise.

Routine grooming has benefits beyond a neat coat. Brushing stimulates healthy skin. Grooming teaches your dog to accept handling, a most helpful coping skill.

Some puppies accept grooming and others view handling as an opportunity to bite. Please read subsequent chapters about socialization and play biting for tips on how to teach your pup to accept routine grooming.

Bathing

Bathing requirements vary greatly from breed to breed, as do ear and dental examinations. Check with your veterinarian and groomer about a schedule best suited to your dog.

Dental Care

Dental problems can develop into dangerous, life threatening conditions. Dogs with squashed faces (brachycephalic breeds) are at a higher risk for developing dental problems than breeds with a wolf-like muzzle.  This is because the same number of teeth is condensed into a smaller area.

Dirty teeth can affect the health of the heart. Talk to your vet about starting a dental care program suitable for your breed.

There are many consumable products advertised to improve your dog’s dental health and breath. Chewing bones and other, hard, abrasive chew items can help to reduce tarter.

I’m not sure if eating a mint flavored chew item actually improves long-term breath or not. I have fed Bentley some of these and never noticed a long term change in the odor of his dog breath. Try some and see for yourself.

Diet Choices

Pet food is a multi-billion dollar industry. Choosing a food can be very frustrating because you will hear different advice from everyone.

If your dog is healthy and happy on his or her current diet, then my advice is to stick with that diet.

If your dog has chronic medical or behavioral health issues, then perhaps a diet change is warranted.

One of the first questions I hear from clients is, “What do you feed Bentley?”.

I feed Bentley a prescription diet purchased from my veterinarian because of his heath condition, chronic pancreatitis. A portion of his meal is canned food placed in a bowl. The remaining portion of his meals is dry food, delivered as treats when training.

Even though the ingredients are not what I consider to be of the highest quality, the balance of nutrition, fat, and protein is well suited for his medical condition.

Dry versus Wet Food

From a nutritional point of view, it stands to reason that wet or canned foods may contain more nutrients than their dry counterparts. Quality of ingredients, storage, and processing affect the nutritional value of all foods.

Many people claim that dry dog foods are better for dogs because dry foods help maintain clean teeth.

I’ll accept that dogs who actually chew dry food may receive some teeth-cleaning benefits from dry foods. But, I’ve met many dogs who only ate dry food and their teeth were very dirty. Maybe this is because they didn’t really chew the food or maybe it’s an individual trait of that dog.

For whatever reasons, some dogs need annual teeth cleaning by a veterinarian and other do not. Ask your vet for a teeth cleaning schedule that’s best for your dog.

Diet and Behavior

I am not a nutritional expert. I have absorbed information from those who I consider to be well educated in the field. I do know there is a link between diet and behavior.

Diet affects physical health. Physical health affects behavioral health.

Studies with children indicate that children who eat a balanced diet have a learning advantage over those who consume a less balanced diet.

Any parent will tell you that their child’s behavior is influenced by the amount of junk food the child consumes.

I always address diet when discussing problem behaviors.

There have been small studies about diet content and abnormal behaviors in animals. These studies claim that protein and carbohydrate levels can affect behavioral health.

My success with diet changes and behavioral improvements is unclear. Since I always present a multi-point behavior modification program which includes diet change, it’s difficult to measure the effects of the diet change.

In 1% of my behavior cases, changing the diet did cause dramatic improvements. I know this because the clients admittedly did nothing but change the dogs’ diets.

More apparent is the relationship between defecation and diet. Dogs who eat foods with more “junk” produce more, larger stools. Sometimes this can be a factor to consider while house training.

Commercial Foods

There are commercial foods marketed for toy dogs, working dogs, large breeds, puppies, adults, seniors, et cetera.

Some foods are advertised to be breed- specific, such as food especially for Yorkshire terriers.

I’m not sold on the necessity of selecting breed-specific foods, but I’m no expert. I avoid food marketed as suitable for all life stages.

Life-stage and weight control foods make sense to me.

Puppies require different levels of nutrients than seniors. Seniors need different levels of fiber, fat, protein, etc., than younger dogs. Overweight dogs should consume fewer calories.

Contact your veterinarian with any questions regarding the best food for your individual dog at his or her current life stage.

Rendered Foods

Dog foods contain ingredients that originate from the same sources as our people food. Lamb, rice, chicken and vegetables are common ingredients. The quality is usually of a lower grade than served to people.

Most commercial dry dog foods are rendered so that we can easily store and serve the product. Rendering is a type of heated reduction or extraction process in which fat soluble and water soluble products are separated from solid products.

Homemade Diets

There are some who profess that a B.A.R.F. diet is the best for our canine companions. Bones And Raw Food make up the B.A.R.F. diet. I haven’t been exposed to studies about the effectiveness of the diet, but I believe  the B.A.R.F. diet has merits.

Many people prefer to make their dogs’ food. There’s no question that fresh foods are more nutritious than processed foods.   I have no doubt that some people research and learn how to meet the nutritional requirements of their pets. Their dogs may indeed live longer, healthier lives than dogs on commercial diets of lesser quality.

Some of my concerns with homemade diets are related to balance and life stages.

Unless the people follow a well researched recipe, the animal may not receive necessary nutrients in the ideal quantities. In addition, life stage nutritional requirements may be overlooked in home made diets.

Another concern when discussing home made diets, especially the B.A.R.F. diet, is a group of bacteria known as salmonella.

Improper handling of raw foods places humans and pets at risk for illness.

Common symptoms of salmonella infection are diarrhea, fever, or abdominal cramps.

Frozen & Organic Diets

There are alternatives for those who do not want to prepare home made foods nor feed a traditional dog food. Frozen and freeze dried raw diets as well as organic dog foods are other choices.

I question some claims posted by some niche-food manufacturers.

I wonder how a very small company can purchase organic ingredients, process, package, (sometimes freeze), and ship the finished product for a fraction of the cost I would incur by only purchasing the same ingredients.

Add in the cost of business and payroll taxes, insurance, various other business expenses plus a small profit and the math simply does not support their claims.

These and other non-traditional dog food selections might be good choices for those who want to purchase a higher quality diet, assuming the maker follows sanitary guidelines, has a nutritionist on staff,  and uses the stated ingredients in quantity.

Table Scraps

Some people feed their dogs table scraps. Others pride themselves on never feeding people food. Some randomly toss food to their dogs when eating at the table.

Feeding dogs from the table can create a begging, obnoxious dog or can create a wonderfully polite dog!  It depends on the timing of the delivery. If you toss a bite immediately after your dog whines or barks, then obnoxious behaviors will increase. If you toss a piece when your dog is waiting quietly, then polite behaviors will increase.

Feeding table scraps might temporarily upset your dog’s digestive system.

In some instances, ingesting large quantities of high fat table scraps can permanently affect a dog’s digestive system.

I never feed Bentley substantial quantities of table scraps, but he does get people food.

Feeding table scraps will aggravate Bentley’s chronic pancreatitis.

I often let Bentley lick my empty plate. If he waits quietly and patiently, I rinse the plate and place it on the floor. Bentley doesn’t really get any food or food juices from the rinsed plate.

People Food Treats

Some people food can be used as training treats.

I often use carefully selected people food for training treats.

Many of my clients use boiled chicken, turkey, other low-fat meats, organic cereals, and bits of fruits and vegetables. All these are great training treats. Unsalted, plain popcorn is another favorite.

I do not feed high fat, high salt treats like corn and potato chips as well as any candy, cakes, ice cream or sweets.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner

Canine Behavior Counselor – Memphis TN

Aggression, Fear, Puppy Manners, Obedience – Private and Group Animal Training and Behavior Services

Frozen Kong for Dogs and Puppies Provides Stimulation, Exercise, and can Aid in Crate Training

BentleyFanFrozen Kong®

Sometimes the weather or my schedule prohibit outside adventures. Sometimes I’m too lazy or tired to exercise. I’ve found ways to entertain Bentley without walking or playing fetch.

Here’s how you can exercise your dog when you are busy.

Get a Kong®. Amazon has excellent prices on these famous Kong toys. You an get a large kong for under $8. Order two or three and keep them loaded in your freezer. The frozen kong provides excellent foraging and entertainment value. If your dog is an aggressive chewer, order the ultimate black kong!

Place a bit of wide, silver duct tape over the small opening to seal it off. Place some dog food and a few treats inside. Pour some water and a bit of low sodium chicken broth inside the Kong®. Don’t fill it all the way to the top with broth, leave some space so you can add wet dog food or peanut butter after it’s frozen. Stand it upright in a cup or glass in the freezer and let it freeze.

Now you are prepared to exercise your dog without leaving your chair! Remove the frozen Kong® from the freezer, remove the duct tape, add a bit of peanut butter or wet dog food in the large opening and give it to your pup. He’ll spend 15-25 minutes stimulating his mind and his body while he is foraging.

You can use the frozen delight to teach your puppy to relax in the crate, laundry room, or in the back yard, alone.  To change your puppy’s perception of being isolated from people, give the frozen kong only when the puppy is alone. After several pairings. the  puppy will begin to enjoy the alone time!

If your dog won’t eat the kong when you leave, try this. Place the dog in the kennel with you sitting in front of the open door. Extend your hand holding the frozen kong into the kennel. Just hold it in your hand as he eats the wet food or peanut butter. If he gets into it, release the kong, stay seated, talk softly while he is eating it. Tell him, “lock up” or whatever phrase you like and close the door. Remain seated in front of the kennel. Talk softly as he eats the goodies inside the kong.

Wait 2- 3 minutes (assuming he’s still involved with the kong. If he stops eating., this won’t work. You’ll need a more detailed plan.) and then tell him, “Free” or whatever word you like. Open the door and immediately take the kong away. (this won’t work if he is aggressive with food items, you’ll need a more detailed plan.) Walk a few steps from the kennel, if he’s hungry and wants the kong, he will come out and follow you, Perfect! Walk back to the kennel and extend your hand with the kong inside. When he grabs the kong and starts eating again, tell him, “lock up” and close the door. Stand next to the kennel and talk to him softly as he eats the goodies in the kong.

Wait 2-3 minutes and then tell him “free”, open the door and take the kong away from him. Walk a few steps away and then return to the kennel. Tell him “kennel up” and toss the kong inside. Tell him “lock up” and close the door. Repeat the sequence but instead of standing nearby and talking softly, walk a few steps away.   Wait 2-3 minutes, repeat the steps of coming back, opening door, and taking the kong. Repeat but walk a bit farther away, until you are out of sight. Once he will still eat the kong when you are out of sight start increasing the time you stay away. Once this exercise is complete, always give him a frozen kong when you leave.

The idea is for him to think, “yay I get a great treat when you leave, and “boo” I lose the treat when you return. Over time he will gladly go in the kennel and will not bark when you leave. Happy training!!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Training!