Tag: dog trainer

How To Cool Dogs Down in Summer?

Elite K9 - How To Cool Dogs Down in Summer

How To Cool Dogs Down in Summer? Did you know that dogs overheat so easily in summer, some dogs quicker than other due to coating, nose lengths, etc. this can become fatal. Couple of things you can prevent your dog from overheating this summer:

Grooming, Why is it Important?

Elite K9 - Puppy & Dog Article - Grooming why is it important

Grooming, Why is it important? Grooming is important, some dogs more important than others, depending on the breed. From a young age, it is important to get your pup used to having his/her ears checked and clean, cleaning of eyes, nail clipping, brushing, etc.

WHY DOES MY STERILIZED DOG HUMP?

Elite K9 - Puppy & Dog Safety Tips Article - Why does my sterilised dog hump

I’ve recently encountered a few incidents where a neutered male WHY DOES MY STERILIZED DOG HUMP? Jack Russel wanted to hump my arm, and in the same househould, the other neutered male humped a blanket. One would ask why would they do that even if they are neutered.

What to look for in dog day care centres?

Elite-K9-Happy-New-Year-Positive-Puppy-Training-Centre-Cape-Town-Choosing-a-Puppy-Day-Care What to look for in dog day care centres? Don’t we all love to come home to an exhausted dog who has spent the day in the day care after a long day at work? We think that the dog/s are having a ball there and it is all about the fun, socialization and play. The reality often is this is also very stressful for dogs as well as they are basically forced to spend long periods of time together, conflict personalities can cause tension between dogs (and this can lead to fights). Often, day cares pop up, with staff that has no knowledge or qualifications about animal behaviour, and when or how to separate the dogs if necessary. Another factor is spreading of contagious diseases such as Parvo, and Distemper is problematic. If you want to enrol your dog in a day care, I suggest you do in only once or twice a week. The reason is that if the dog is more than 2 – 3days a week in a day care, he or she can become potentially dog obsessed, in other words, he or she will be more interested in other dogs, instead having a relationship with you as the owner. Check out the property first, to see how it is run, if staff have the knowledge and qualifications. How do they separate fighting dogs, do they put compactable dogs together, shy ones separate? What are their training methods, positive or negative training? Insist on what protocols are in place if a disease like Parvo or Distemper breaks out in the facility. Also make sure that it is a reputable company as well. Important to remember that not all dogs love the company of other dogs. As in humans, we find introverts and extroverts. If your dog is introverted, keep him or her at home, and make sure someone comes in to give him her attention, etc. during the day if you do work long hours. Feel free to contact me if you need more information.

What to look for in dog day care centres?

Don’t we all love to come home to an exhausted dog who has spent the day in the day care after a long day at work? We think that the dog/s are having a ball there and it is all about the fun, socialization and play.

The reality often is this is also very stressful for dogs as well as they are basically forced to spend long periods of time together, conflict personalities can cause tension between dogs (and this can lead to fights). Often, day cares pop up, with staff that has no knowledge or qualifications about animal behaviour, and when or how to separate the dogs if necessary. Another factor is spreading of contagious diseases such as Parvo, and Distemper is problematic.

If you want to enrol your dog in a day care, I suggest you do in only once or twice a week. The reason is that if the dog is more than 2 – 3days a week in a day care, he or she can become potentially dog obsessed, in other words, he or she will be more interested in other dogs, instead having a relationship with you as the owner. Check out the property first, to see how it is run, if staff have the knowledge and qualifications. How do they separate fighting dogs, do they put compactable dogs together, shy ones separate? What are their training methods, positive or negative training? Insist on what protocols are in place if a disease like Parvo or Distemper breaks out in the facility. Also make sure that it is a reputable company as well.

Important to remember that not all dogs love the company of other dogs. As in humans, we find introverts and extroverts. If your dog is introverted, keep him or her at home, and make sure someone comes in to give him her attention, etc. during the day if you do work long hours.

Feel free to contact me if you need more information.

Repeating of Cues/Commands

Repeating of cues/commands. Are we not often guilty of repeating certain cues, commands or words with our dogs? For example, we ask our pup for a sit and we often say: “sit, sit, sit, sit, sit” until he or she gives us a sit. While this is such a common issue, and a very hard habit to break, this behaviour can often cause confusion in dogs or pups and frustration in both dog and owner. Often we see, as a result, that the dog won’t give the behaviour, i.e. sit, on a repeated cue, as they now has learned to ignore the cue. Always remember, dogs can often confuse with verbal cues, i.e. if your pup is in a sit, and you repeating the word “down” a number of times, the dog may think he needs to sit, not to down, as this confuse him. The cue then becomes unreliable, and you get unreliable results. So, how do we get reliable results? We start off, for example, we use the cue or word “sit” once his or her bum hits the ground, and built on that. Once the cue is settled in his/her mind, if the dog does not give you a sit immediately after you asked for a sit, wait a bit, and ask him or her later again, instead of repeating the word. If your dog is already ignoring you on your repeated word, change the word. For example, if the dog is ignoring you on the cue ‘down’, change the word, and stick with it. Remember, dogs usually understands bodily cues, i.e. showing the cue of sit, better than verbal cues. Often hand signals are more reliant than verbal cues. Hope you enjoyed this article.

Repeating of cues/commands.

Are we not often guilty of repeating certain cues, commands or words with our dogs? For example, we ask our pup for a sit and we often say: “sit, sit, sit, sit, sit” until he or she gives us a sit. While this is such a common issue, and a very hard habit to break, this behaviour can often cause confusion in dogs or pups and frustration in both dog and owner.
Often we see, as a result, that the dog won’t give the behaviour, i.e. sit, on a repeated cue, as they now has learned to ignore the cue. Always remember, dogs can often confuse with verbal cues, i.e. if your pup is in a sit, and you repeating the word “down” a number of times, the dog may think he needs to sit, not to down, as this confuse him. The cue then becomes unreliable, and you get unreliable results.
So, how do we get reliable results?
We start off, for example, we use the cue or word “sit” once his or her bum hits the ground, and built on that. Once the cue is settled in his/her mind, if the dog does not give you a sit immediately after you asked for a sit, wait a bit, and ask him or her later again, instead of repeating the word.
If your dog is already ignoring you on your repeated word, change the word. For example, if the dog is ignoring you on the cue ‘down’, change the word, and stick with it.
Remember, dogs usually understands bodily cues, i.e. showing the cue of sit, better than verbal cues. Often hand signals are more reliant than verbal cues.
Hope you enjoyed this article.

Let’s chat this week about resource guarding in dogs

Elite K9 Training Centre Bellville Parow Loevenstein Cape Town - Dog Behaviour Safety Article Let’s chat this week about resource guarding in dogs. What is resource guarding: resource guarding is when a dog exhibit aggression behaviours over food or a toy by growling, lunging or biting. This occur in any breed of dog and this can be preventative or discouraged if trained properly as a young pup. Certain things to consider when you feed your dog or pup, never bother him/her while he/she is eating food, i.e. put your hand in the food bowl, or just take the food bowl away while eating. This is actually rude, and I am sure that while you busy eating, you don’t want to be disrupted while eating, right! If you do this, you are encouraging resource guarding, as the dog thinks: ‘oh, my food is been taken away, I have to do something to prevent this.” In certain situations, like a walk, the streets and parks are usually lots of bones lying around for the dog to eat while he or she is on a walk. In this circumstance, teach your dog to drop the bone or whatever he or she got hold of, and if she or he drops it, always reward with something equally good like a piece of biltong, or his/her favourite treats. If you have issues with resource guarding, feel free to contact me. www.elitek9.co.za

Elite K9 Training Centre Bellville Parow Loevenstein Cape Town – Dog Behaviour Safety Article

Let’s chat this week about resource guarding in dogs.

What is resource guarding: resource guarding is when a dog exhibit aggression behaviours over food or a toy by growling, lunging or biting. This occur in any breed of dog and this can be preventative or discouraged if trained properly as a young pup.
Certain things to consider when you feed your dog or pup, never bother him/her while he/she is eating food, i.e. put your hand in the food bowl, or just take the food bowl away while eating. This is actually rude, and I am sure that while you busy eating, you don’t want to be disrupted while eating, right! If you do this, you are encouraging resource guarding, as the dog thinks: ‘oh, my food is been taken away, I have to do something to prevent this.”

In certain situations, like a walk, the streets and parks are usually lots of bones lying around for the dog to eat while he or she is on a walk. In this circumstance, teach your dog to drop the bone or whatever he or she got hold of, and if she or he drops it, always reward with something equally good like a piece of biltong, or his/her favourite treats.

If you have issues with resource guarding, feel free to contact me.
www.elitek9.co.za