Heat & Dogs.

I write this post due to an incident that happened today, Saturday, September 11th. There was a large outdoor dog event, Dog Day Afternoon, in Dallas. Loads of people and their dogs flocked to the event and for one family, in the car on the way to the event, what happened once they got there was not in their plans.

The family had two English Bulldogs, excited to be going somewhere. Although Brachycephalic (short-nosed) dogs are much more at risk, all dogs are at a high risk of heat exhaustion and/or stroke if the factors are right. Obviously the family had the A/C on in the car but the dogs must have been so excited, paired with the day's humidity and heat, and once they arrived the male Bulldog was breathing very oddly and then stopped. A wonderful friend, Beth Bowers, who is highly educated in Canine CPR and First Aid (she teaches classes on a regular basis) was luckily at the event. She was rushed to the car to attempt CPR on the dog. It was too late. They did rush him to a near-by vet clinic but his body temperature rose to a deadly 110 degrees. The male Bulldog didn't make it. The younger female is still being monitored, as she suffered heat exhaustion but they feel they may have saved her in time.

Beth will be conducting a special seminar for canine owners to learn Pet First Aid and CPR. I highly encourage you to attend this. If you would like to know when she'll hold this please email her to get on her email list.

We must watch our dogs and never let them stay outdoors or get too excited. It only takes the correct equation to make a disaster, as this story sadly demonstrates. The dogs were simply over-excited, a little hot and those factors caused their body temperature to rise too quickly.

From PetEducation.com:

Heatstroke occurs when normal body mechanisms cannot keep the body's temperature in a safe range. Animals do not have efficient cooling systems (like humans who sweat) and get overheated easily. A dog with moderate heatstroke (body temperature from 104º to 106ºF) can recover within an hour if given prompt first aid and veterinary care (normal body temperature is 100-102.5°F). Severe heatstroke (body temperature over 106ºF) can be deadly and immediate veterinary assistance is needed.

Signs
A dog suffering from heatstroke will display several signs:

• Rapid panting
• Bright red tongue
• Red or pale gums
• Thick, sticky saliva
• Depression
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Vomiting - sometimes with blood
• Diarrhea
• Shock
• Coma

What you should do
Remove the dog from the hot area immediately. Prior to taking him to your veterinarian, lower his temperature by wetting him thoroughly with cool water (for very small dogs, use lukewarm water), then increase air movement around him with a fan. CAUTION: Using very cold water can actually be counterproductive. Cooling too quickly and especially allowing his body temperature to become too low can cause other life-threatening medical conditions. The rectal temperature should be checked every 5 minutes. Once the body temperature is 103ºF, the cooling measures should be stopped and the dog should be dried thoroughly and covered so he does not continue to lose heat. Even if the dog appears to be recovering, take him to your veterinarian as soon as possible. He should still be examined since he may be dehydrated or have other complications.

Allow free access to water or a children's rehydrating solution if the dog can drink on his own. Do not try to force-feed cold water; the dog may inhale it or choke.

What your veterinarian will do
Your veterinarian will lower your dog's body temperature to a safe range (if you have not already) and continually monitor his temperature. Your dog will be given fluids, and possibly oxygen. He will be monitored for shock, respiratory distress, kidney failure, heart abnormalities, and other complications, and treated accordingly. Blood samples may be taken before and during the treatment. The clotting time of the blood will be monitored, since clotting problems are a common complication.

Aftercare
Dogs with moderate heatstroke often recover without complicating health problems. Severe heatstroke can cause organ damage that might need ongoing care such as a special diet prescribed by your veterinarian. Dogs who suffer from heatstroke once increase their risk for getting it again and steps must be taken to prevent it on hot, humid days.

Prevention
Any pet that cannot cool himself off is at risk for heatstroke. Following these guidelines can help prevent serious problems.

• Keep pets with predisposing conditions like heart disease, obesity, older age, or breathing problems cool and in the shade. Even normal activity for these pets can be harmful.
• Provide access to water at all times.
• Do not leave your pet in a hot parked car even if you're in the shade or will only be gone a short time. The temperature inside a parked car can quickly reach up to140 degrees.
• Make sure outside dogs have access to shade.
• On a hot day, restrict exercise and don't take your dog jogging with you. Too much exercise when the weather is very hot can be dangerous.
• Do not muzzle your dog.
• Avoid places like the beach and especially concrete or asphalt areas where heat is reflected and there is no access to shade.
• Wetting down your dog with cool water or allowing him to swim can help maintain a normal body temperature.
• Move your dog to a cool area of the house. Air conditioning is one of the best ways to keep a dog cool, but is not always dependable. To provide a cooler environment, freeze water in soda bottles, or place ice and a small amount of water in several resealable food storage bags, then wrap them in a towel or tube sock. Place them on the floor for the dog to lay on.

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Why I do what I do . . .

I have been training dogs for 11 years now. I've run my own dog training business for 7 of those years. I find myself well-versed in dogs--mentally, physically, emotionally and even medically (I'm not saying take medical advice from me but I am educated in symptoms and signs of medical problems then I will recommend clients to see a vet.)

Most people are very receptive to what some call "treat training" but there is a whole other side to what I do. Yes, there are some trainers who will not allow you to do a single thing from the negative reinforcement quadrant of operant conditioning and rely heavily on negative punishment and positive reinforcement only. However, the truth is that a balanced, real-life trainer (like myself, I must say) will use, at some point, most of the four quadrants of operant conditioning. . . .

Let's dive in. Yes, I use tons of positive reinforcement. It works, and it works well. I also use most of the other quadrants with the more rare use of Positive Punishment (P+)--adding an [aversive] stimulus which will reduce the frequency of behavior. Spanking, shouting, or cutting off air supply through a choke chain can be examples of positive punishment. Obviously it can get ugly. I don't obviously do most of those, some never. Anyone who says they haven't yelled at their dog at some point is lying. While it's not a way to train and I don't use it, I'll admit that I have yelled at my dogs! When you just got a baby down for a nap and then four dogs start barking at the UPS man at the door your first reaction is to yell "Quiet!" in quite a frantic way. Do I do it all the time? No, but I've done it. Do I recommend it to get your dog's attention? No. I shouldn't even do it to "quiet" barking dogs. I'm simply stating that I've done it. As far as training goes I pretty much don't use P+.

Let's get to why I do like how I train and why P+ doesn't work well. If you train properly it (training, that is, not P+) works. There is no need for harsh punishment, none whatsoever. You also don't have to carry treats around to get your dog to comply if you can do it properly. However, if you use too much P+ or misuse the other quadrants then you will quickly see things deteriorate or a dog that "only does it when I have treats". This simply indicates a lack of good communication and something that has caused conflict in your dog. It could be something very trivial but to the dog it's enough to prevent it from wanting to comply, or quite possibly it's conflicted and worried it will receive punishment for non-compliance.

I saw this video on someone's Facebook page and it inspired me to write this post. While some may watch this and simply see a well-trained horse there is so much more to it than that. This girl, who is 20 years old here and lost her dad 24 days before this performance, is only using verbal cues and her body to make this horse move and perform. She has no saddle, no bit, no reigns (no tack). This is proof that with a good relationship, proper training and understanding you can train [almost] any animal to happily and easily do what you want when you want it.

Sure, you can use harsh methods (or positive punishment) to get an animal to do something . . . and yes, it can often work but the long-term results are not usually good. Also, if you do happen to have an animal that complies they often do it out of fear of the punishment. I don't care what tricks or bragging I can do if it's the outcome of me having to use punishment to get the result I want.

Learn to communicate properly with your dog. Don't expect overnight miracles, they just don't happen. A well-trained, happy and compliant dog is a work of art!

Here is this amazing video of the girl and her incredible horse. You have to watch the entire video, it's truly amazing!

Leash!

I made a couple of videos with a 5-month old Standard Poodle puppy, "Mattie", I had at my house last week. She was terrible on the leash! I started her on some training and tried to document it. I'm not great on camera or teaching while on camera but here are the videos I did. Hopefully someone can take some tips from this!

Mission K9 Possible.

I want to add some zip to the lives of you dog owners out there . . . so I'm designing the Monthly: Canine Mission Impossible . . . Here are the logistics:

I'll give out a mission for you to do with your dog that will involve training of some kind. Your dog cannot already know or be versed in whatever is presented in the challenge. You have to video your dog just before you start the challenge and then once during the training and then upon completion.

This is your mission, should you choose to accept it: Train your dog to do something polite instead of jumping. The dog must either sit when greeted, go to a requested place (mat, bed, stair, etc.) or something else that shows manners and good choices instead of jumping up or on a person.

In this mission you have 4 weeks to teach and train your dog. You must document, with video, how you accomplish this and the end results. Email all videos to Stacy at stacy@aictdfw.com. Mission begins Friday, July 30th and ends Monday, August 30th.

Winners will be selected based on technique, timing, creativity and the apparent relationship with you and your dog.

Prizes are as follows:
1st: Free group class & video showed off on blog & Facebook
2nd: $10 off group class
3rd: $5 off group class

"My dog doesn't listen . . ."

This is a common phrase I hear, alongside a few others, however this one plagues many dog owners of all breeds and ages -- "My dog doesn't listen to me."

From my own perspective, isn't that what all of these blog posts are , I have to elaborate on the why and the how of this common "complaint". First, dogs are just that, dogs. They do not know English or Spanish or German or . . . We teach our dogs to understand what we want from them through training with respect and understanding. Without that exact thing -- training with respect and understanding -- our dogs will most likely appear to "not listen".

The main thing would be understanding. When a dog seemingly defies us humans, we say -- "He knows he's just being stubborn . . ." Humans immediately slap the human aspect of it to our dogs, as if he was acting like a rebellious teenager. The truth is that the dog is confused and conflicted in the situation. Perhaps he's unclear what you want. Our body language most likely is the culprit.

We are so, well human, that we have a difficult time using anything but our verbal skills and expect our dogs to understand all of our language and vocabulary as well. Perhaps we haven't taught the "sit" command in enough situations or made it abundantly clear what a sit actually is [in our eyes] and so the dog is not reliably offering a sit when asked to. Perhaps the dog does know sit but in a particular situation when asked to sit he is confused/conflicted and does not respond due to other factors.

We owe it to our dogs to understand them and learn more about their body language and communication. A good example of a dog that would appear to most people to be purposely "not listening" would be in a group class setting. Most dogs who attend group classes are a bit uneasy at first due to the fact that they are in a very different and possibly stressful (to the dog anyway) situation. They come across as not being "good" or "not paying attention". The fact is that the child riding his tricycle across the way or the people tossing a ball back and forth 200 yards to the left are causing the dog some stress and therefore he is not going to "perform" for you in that environment right away. This doesn't make your dog defiant or even flat out dumb (many people will use this adjective as well!), it simply makes your dog a dog. However, commonly the owner is upset I mean how on earth could Fido be ignoring me? He knows this! So poor Fido gets a jerk on the leash or a verbal reprimand. Because, most likely, Fido was already stressed, hence the reason for not responding, we have now added even more stress as well as the notion that Fido's very own person is a ball of emotion and cause for more frustration. What will happen next? Yup. Nothing. Fido will surely shut down now.

So how do we remedy that? Well, once again the magic way -- through training with good communication on both ends of the leash. You must learn to teach your dog that you are there to guide and protect him in all situations. You must learn to read your dog, know when and how to diffuse a possible stressful situation and most importantly you must build a very, very strong relationship with your dog.

You can start this program now, no matter how young or old your dog is. Make a chart, like the sample to the right (click picture to enlarge). Your dog, being a dog, enjoys working for things and getting feedback from you. This builds the dog's confidence and training skills. I recommend (no matter what age your dog, but all puppies should start this way in the home) you tether your dog to you with a leash. You can simply hook the leash around your waist, belt loop or even get one of the handy hands-free leashes that I love! (I love The Alpha Pac leash. I've said so many times on this blog and my Facebook page. But I truly love this item!)

Set your dog up to learn and succeed. Ask for commands everywhere as your dog follows you around. At the sink, at the door, before he eats, before he goes outside, etc. Remember to say, "Okay!" (or whatever your release command is) to free your dog from each command when it's over.

After you do that for 7 days in the house then take your dog to the next level of low distractions, usually your backyard. Still tethered to you, take a few steps and ask your dog to sit and reward. Practice all your commands this way. Increase the value of the rewards as you move to different and more distracting environments. After 7 days in your backyard then move to the front yard, then to the park, etc. Give each environment 7 days of training before moving to the next.

Set yourself up to learn and succeed. Get a book on canine calming signals. Attend a workshop on doggie body language. Get Turid Ruugas's DVD "Calming Signals: What Your Dog Tells You". Read Brenda Aloff's books, "Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide" and "Get Connected with Your Dog". These resources are great for learning what your dog is telling you and how to communicate so you both understand each other.

With all of these things in play and you maintaining clear, consistent rules and expectations you and your dog will go as far as you want to go . . .

(There are many more parts to this program, but this is the beginning and a way to get started. To set up a complete training program or for questions, please contact me!)