Dog Puppy Behavior Training Help
How's Bentley Dog and Puppy and Behavior and Training and Help
Bentley is much like summer in Memphis TN. He’s hot and produces funnels of energy. He is a turbo Australian Terrier. If your dog is a tornado, contact me. I have first hand experience with turbo tornado puppies!
Thanks for visiting Dog and Puppy and Behavior and Training and Help
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner – Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer, Canine Specialization
How’s Bentley – Private and Group Dog Obedience
Memphis, Collierville, Bartlett, Cordova, Germantown TN
Raising a puppy and training a dog is a process, not an event. It’s not much different than raising a child (except in 3 years your puppy will be an adult dog). Suppose you hire me to come to your house and teach your child to be polite. I can tell the kid which words to use ,what they mean, and when to use them. That teaching session is an event. But later, I will not be with your child to praise her for polite gestures, or to remind her to be polite. That is a continual process.
I have potential clients who would pay me whatever to come to their homes and train their dogs. I would gladly accept these lucrative offers if I believed the dogs would be responsive to them afterwards. Some dogs will obey without a lot of practice. But these are rarely the dogs that prompt people to seek out a trainer.
Don’t get me wrong, I can teach your chocolate labrador retriever commands for sit, down,come, stay, go-to-place, leave-it, et cetera much quicker than their owners. Initially teaching dogs to obey without distractions is the easy part. Those initial lessons are events.
Your dog is always learning, even when you are not holding practice sessions. Every interaction throughout the day teaches your puppy or dog something. If you are unaware of how your responses throughout the day shape your dog’s behavior, no amount of event training by me will override your daily mistakes.
Dogs learn by repetition. Practicing while adding distractions, in very controlled training sessions, and working with the dogs, every day, in real life situations, is a time consuming process.
If you want to begin a training program for your dog, please visit the START HERE category.
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner – Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer, Canine Specialization
How’s Bentley – Private and Group Dog Obedience
Memphis, Collierville, Bartlett, Cordova, Germantown TN
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On How’s Bentley Private Services Enrollment Form, the box labeled “For Protection” is often selected as one of the reasons my clients acquire their pet dogs. I understand why people select a pet dog for a protection role.
I have worked with more German Shepherd Dogs in the past year than the previous 3 years. I believe the current political and social cultures are responsible for people choosing dogs like German Shepherd Dogs, Doberman Pinchers, and other guarding dogs with “vicious” labeling. We are more fearful as a country than we were 15 years ago. That is reflected by the breeds of dogs that we choose. OOPs, this is off topic. I’ll talk about dog breed selection trends in the suburbs of Tennessee at another time.
Many people expect their dogs to be natural protectors and body guards. Too bad it’s not that simple.
It’s not that dogs won’t protect. Some dogs will naturally growl, snarl, bark, snap and bite when anyone approaches.
That’s the problem. Some dogs protect us from everyone. Dogs growl, snarl, snap and bite family members, house mates, friends, children, neighbors, cable guys, even pizza delivery couriers. That’s just rude. I need my pizza. Please Killer, spare the Domino Pizza guy.
Our pet dogs are not any better at determining who is a threat than the average Joe. We have these opposable thumbs and large brains, yet very few of us can determine which people in a busy suburban mall parking lot are about to attack us. Our untrained dogs have a solution. Bite them all and let the alpha dog sort them out!?
YIKES! The point is, you must take time to obedience train your dog before you can have a dependable protection dog. The last thing you want is a dog that decides every stranger is a threat and acts without your input!
True personal protection dogs are very well trained in all aspects of basic and advanced obedience and many participate in Schutzhund, a dog sport that originated in Germany. True protection dogs will stop attacking when their handlers command them to disengage.
Before you select a breed of dog genetically bred for natural, protective tendencies, talk with a trainer who can help you teach the dog basic obedience. For if you have a pet dog that is aggressive towards everyone, and will not stop when you call, you do not have a protection dog. You have a liability.
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner
Companion Animal Behavior Counselor and Trainer
Private Sessions to Help Aggressive and Fearful Dogs
How’s Bentley- Memphis, Collierville, Germantown, TN
Canny Collar Supplier
USA Customers PURCHASE CANNY COLLARS CLICK HERE – $32.90 USD includes shipping.
In the picture, Java is one cool Papillon! So, you may wonder, how do dogs stay cool? Dogs do not cool off by sweating, they regulate their body temperature by panting.
Panting is your dog’s cooling system. Dogs breathe around 35 times per minute. A panting dog may breathe in and out 400 times a minute! When dogs become overheated, their personal air conditioner kicks in and they start to pant. In order for panting to be effective, the dog must be hydrated (have sufficient water in his or her system).
While panting, the dog only uses the upper portion of the respiratory tract, causing air to move very quickly over the moist mouth. This air flowing over moist cells is what provides the cooling effect. Just like wind moving over sweaty skin lowers your body temperature, air moving over moist mouth and respiratory cells, cools your dog!
Many believe that dogs sweat through their paws. This is correct. Heat will cause a dog to release fluids through the eccrine glands in their paws. However, the eccrine glands do not release enough perspiration to facilitate cooling or thermoregulation.
In comparision to cows sheep and horses, the amount of cooling via sweat glands in dogs is negligible.
Dogs also sweat through their paws when stressed or anxious. This is why your dog may leave behind damp paw prints when he or she is not overheated.
The normal temperature for a dog’s body is around 101.5 -102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If the body temperature rises, dogs start to pant. If the dog’s temperature rises to 106 degrees Fahrenheit, there is a true emergency.
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner
Companion Animal Behavior Counselor and Trainer
Private Sessions for Aggression, Fearful Dogs
How’s Bentley- Memphis, Collierville, Germantown, TN
I just added two new feature to this dog and puppy and behavior and training and help informational web site. I added two free WordPress plugins to enhance the built in “search this site” feature. Search Hilite and Search Everything are available at the WordPress Plugin page.
The “Search This Site . . . ” input box is located on the upper right of your screen. Type a few words and then press “go”.
When you get your search results, now the search words are highlighted in the search results. And every single word on the site will be included in your search. If you use enclose your phrase in quotes, you’ll get results with that specific phrase. For example, search house training and then search “house training”.
Try it!
Type one of these specific phrases with the quotes: “dog bump target”, “barking at cars”, “shake cans”, “house training”, or “newspaper swats” .
Alan J Turner – Private and Group Dog Obedience and Behavior Training
How’s Bentley – Memphis, Collierville, Arlington, Cordova, Bartlett, Germantown, TN
Forget About Alpha and Forget About Dog – Human Packs!
For years, some dog trainers have suggested that you establish yourself as the alpha, as pack leader, and your dog will listen to you, respect you, and all will be well! These trainers believe that dog behavior is all about alpha, but what does that mean? How does a human occupy any position in another species’ hierarchy, much less first place? Do dogs really form packs with humans?
I say forget about human-dog packs and alpha! Humans and dogs don’t form interspecies packs. Domesticated dogs evolved because of man and don’t need to form packs in order to promote reproduction. Dogs and humans are different species. Dogs know this! Recognizing one’s own species is the single most important skill necessary for reproduction.
If you like to view your human-dog group as a pack, that’s ok by me, but I will point out that true pack dynamics are unnecessary and absent from the human-dog family. We don’t compete with dogs for food, territory or reproduction rights, so we really don’t compete with dogs for an imaginary alpha position in an imaginary dog-human pack!
Rank reduction programs, suggestions to mimic dog-dog behaviors, and leadership programs like “Nothing in Life is Free” (NILIF) or “No Free Lunch” are often explained with terms such as alpha, dominance, submission, deference and leadership. Among other suggestions, variations of programs instruct people to eat first, go through doorways first, ask the dog to sit before feeding, before throwing the ball, before petting, et cetera.
Some go as far as to instruct people to physically roll the dogs on their backs or sides, a procedure commonly referred to as the alpha roll. I believe the latter is poor advice for the general public, dangerous for aggressive cases and has multiple flaws, but nonetheless is a solution that some trainers sincerely recommend.
In many cases, some of these programs are very effective but the good results have nothing to do with establishing yourself as alpha, being dominant, mimicking dog behavior or acting as a dog leader.
Success has everything to do with the intelligent management of rewards and punishers, which are the immediate consequences of behaviors. If you want to learn how to teach or control behaviors you must identify and manage the immediate consequences of behaviors. All voluntary behaviors can be summed up in one scientific truth that has been known for over 100 years. Edward Lee Thorndike, a pioneer in the field of behaviorism in the late 1890s, studied cats and puzzle boxes at Columbia University and stated this Law of Effect.
In so many words, Thorndike’s Law of Effect states: Behaviors that have immediate appealing consequences will increase in frequency and behaviors that have immediate unappealing consequences will diminish in frequency.
Thorndike did not, nor has any other behavioral scientist in the past 100+ years, foot-note his Law of Effect with the words “except for dogs – and then you must become the alpha.” So I say, forget about alpha, forget about dominance and pack behavior. Focus on the basic, underlying, scientific principles of behavior and you will succeed!
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner – Pet Dude Memphis TN
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Say, which one of these dogs would you keep? Kojack is a well mannered AKC Rotweiler and Memphis is a cute Pit Bull Terrier. Although some cities have enacted “dangerous dog” bans that include Pit Bull Terriers,thankfully, USA city of Memphis TN does not have a breed specific ban nor a one dog limit. Hooray! Memphis and Kojack will remain with their owners in Memphis TN.
I work with all breeds in Memphis TN, Pit Bulls and Rotweilers in Memphis as well as Labrador Retrievers and Shorkies. If some of those small breed dogs were as large as Rotties and Pit Bulls, their owners would have huge problems! I find that responsible owners of large powerful breeds often take the time to learn how to train their dogs, while small dog owners are less likely to be concerned about barking and jumping up on people.
According to aol news sources, beginning July 1, 2009 residents of Guangzhou China will have a one dog limit. Beijing, China enacted a one dog limit for 9 provinces in 2006.
Does your Rotweiler, Pit Bull Terrier, or Shorkie pull on walks? Visit my other site, My Dog Pulls for quick and kind solutions!
Alan J Turner
Private and Group Dog Training Services in Memphis TN
Well, here it is. The post you all have been waiting for. Within the murky shadows of dog training, there must be a secret. . .
Secrets? you kidding me, right? Does anyone really believe there is a SECRET of dog training?Genuine secrets are revealed everyday; don’t we imagine that any dog training secrets would have been exposed?
Okay, I’ll play along. I train dogs, therefore, I know all the secrets. Only they are not secrets. Anyone can learn to train their dog or puppy. It’s not that hard, really.
If dog trainers were adorned with”secrets, I would have Cesar Milan’s wealth! I don’t.
Forget about short cuts and secrets. The real truths about dog training can be found in hundreds of publications and web sites. But within this vast sea of information is contradicting information. That’s why I have put together this web site. It is for anyone who wants to learn how to teach their puppy or dog to be the canine companion of their dreams.
If you want to learn these secrets about dog training begin with the “START HERE” category of posts. Here’s a popular one about Dog and Puppy Training Plan.
Oh, by the way, thanks to the 13, 378 unique visitors in the past 120 days to https://dogand.com.
Alan J Turner
Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer, Canine Specialization
Alan
Many of us know that several pet foods were recalled by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2007. As the investigation unfolded, additional brands and/or products were added to the recall. Most of the major brands were affected. How could so many different brands contain the same source of contamination?
Throughout many short and incomplete news reports, I noticed conflicting stories about the regulation of pet foods and the source of the contamination. Here are some facts about the regulation of pet foods and the pet food recall of March 2007.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring that human and pet foods are safe and properly labeled. This leads us to believe the FDA is regulating ingredients, but this is not necessarily so. Many ingredients such as the meats, poultry, grains and by-products are considered “safe” and do not require routine inspection or approval by the FDA.
The FDA does not inspect or regulate the source or quality of ingredients that make up the protein and fat in pet foods.
The FDA does regulate the production and distribution of food additives, chemicals and drugs that are included in pet foods. In addition, the FDA regulates the proper labeling of pet foods. The order by which ingredients are listed on the label and any health claims on the label fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA. Health claims on labels relate to claims that a particular food is helpful in the treatment or prevention of diseases.
The FDA labeling requirements are in concert with AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). AAFCO is a self-regulating organization whose members primarily consist of representatives of the pet food manufacturers.
AAFCO is not a government organization and does not have any enforcement capabilities; however AAFCO is considered an authority on which ingredients and nutrients should go into pet foods.
The Pet Food Institute (PFI) is another organization involved in pet food manufacturing. PFI is the “voice of pet food manufacturers”. The primary function of the 50 year old organization is media relations. PFI represents 97% of all pet food manufacturers.
Pet Food Recalls
In March 2007, FDA learned that some pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods were causing illness and death among cats and dogs.
The USA company, Menu Foods, manufactures and packages pet foods for many of the major pet food companies. The companies give Menu Foods their recipes and Menu Foods manufactures and packages the finished products.
The source of the contaminant was an additive used in many pet foods, wheat gluten. The FDA does regulate the production and distribution of food additives. The contaminant in the wheat gluten was melamine.
“Wheat gluten is a natural protein derived from wheat or wheat flour, which is extracted to yield a powder with high protein content. Pet food manufacturers often use wheat gluten as a thickener or binding agent in the manufacture of certain types of pet food. Melamine can be used to create products such as plastics, cleaning products, glues, inks, and fertilizers. Melamine has no approved use as an ingredient in human or animal food in the United States.” US Food and Drug Administration. (2008, February 19). Charges Filed in Contaminated Pet Food Scheme. Retrieved March 6, 2008 from http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/pet_food021908.html
The FDA recall included numerous Menu Foods products manufactured for many popular brands of pet foods. Other food manufacturers were affected by the recall too. Several companies voluntarily recalled some of their manufactured products.
The wheat gluten originated in China and was purchased by Chem Nutra, Inc., located in Las Vegas Nevada. Chem Nutra imported the wheat gluten for resale to various pet food manufacturers. Menu Foods was one of the larger animal feed manufacturers that purchased contaminated wheat gluten from Chem Nutra.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was also involved in the investigation because some farm animal feed and fish feed contained the tainted pet foods. The animals and fish consumed the feed and were processed for human consumption. Scientists determined the risk to humans who consumed meat from the farm animals was very low.
On February 6, 2008, a federal grand jury returned indictments against several key individuals and companies. Two Chinese nationals and their businesses along with Chem Nutra, Inc and key officers were included in the indictments. Menu Foods was not named in the indictments.
Happy Training!
Alan J Turner, Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer
Private and Group Dog Obedience Training, Memphis TN
Mary Jane and her brother, Mark Anthony are miniature dauschunds in Memphis Tn.
There are some people foods that can be very harmful to dogs. These include chocolate, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, tea, coffee, and sugar free candy.
The toxic ingredient in chocolate is theobromine, which is very similar to caffeine. Dogs that ingest as little as 50 milligrams of theobromine per pound of body weight may exhibit signs of toxicity.
Milk chocolate contains about 44 milligrams of theobromine per ounce (mg/oz). Semi-sweet chocolate contains about 150 mg/oz. The most toxic is baking chocolate which contains about 390 mg/oz.
Do not feed your dog grapes or raisins. These have been linked to kidney failures.
Do not feed your dog sugar-free snacks that contain xylitol. According to the AVMA, even small amounts of this sweetener can cause a life threatening or fatal drop in blood sugar.
Do not feed your dog macadamia nuts, tea, or coffee. These can be harmful to your dog.
For more information about food choices, including the B.A.R.F. diet, organic foods, quality of dog food ingredients, and selecting a better food, please visit the Products Page and select Puppy Owner’s Manual, a complete guide to all you’ll need to know to start off right!
Alan J Turner
Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer, Canine Specialization
Private and Group Dog Training, Memphis TN
Member: APDT
Koma is a hero to Canadian troops in the Arghandab valley, Afghanistan. The explosives detective dog found a land mine that was buried right in the path of the troops.
According to of THE CANADIAN PRESS and reported on Star.com, the German Shepherd explosive scent detection Dog, Koma, was attracted to a particular spot which contained a buried improvised explosive device (I.E.D).
The dog was trained in the United States and in Afghanistan.
Alan J Turner
Free Training and Behavior Information
May 17 -23 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week.
According to the AVMA, 4.7 million Americans will be bitten by a dog this year. 500,000 to 800,000 of those people will require medical attention. About 12 people a year die from dog bites.
At the top of the victim list is children, followed by U.S. postal workers.
More dog bites occur to children in the summer months, presumably because children spend more time with their puppies and dogs in the summer.
There are several things we can do to prevent dog bites to children.
Tips for Children:
Adults: