Like many passionate dog owners, I’m a big fan of Cesar Millan, aka the Dog Whisperer. An old co-worker of mine was actually on his show and she said the transformation her dog went through was astounding. Now after actually seeing how she trained and treated her dog before she was on the show, I can say that I think it was more a problem in ownership than Cesar’s miracle working. But nonetheless, the man has a great and very effective philosophy when it comes to training dogs.

In his book, Cesar’s Way, he imparts his high philosophy for us starving peon dog owners. It’s very practical and definitely a holistic, owner-centered approach. Cesar firmly believes that there’s no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners. He espouses his theory that dogs need three fundamental elements in their lives; exercise, discipline and affection. He says that despite what frazzled owners may feel, dogs are not complicated and need simplicity in training. This is so true; so often you see owners pleading and almost negotiating with their dogs thinking that they are “disciplining” them. Then they become frustrated when the dogs don’t respond to their “proposition” for obedience.

I would highly recommend this book for new dog owners. Its not the basic how-to obedience book that some people expect– it goes much deeper than that and will holistically make you a better dog owner, which will result in a better dog and a better life relationship.

If your dog has a strong prey drive, you can actually use this to your advantage in training. Some breeds with low prey drive will find nothing more rewarding and enjoyable than a doggie treat. Some dogs can’t get enough of pats, hugs and rubs of affection from their owners. Not so with high prey drive dogs. They love to chase! Balls, ropes, frisbees are the apple of their eye. This can work to your advantage; treats and pats may be part of every day interaction with you, but using a game of fetch or a tug-of-war rope session to reward and reinforce good behavior can be very effective when training these breeds.

There are several commands you will want your high prey drive dog to know and obey. Above all you want it to know that your commands are more important than the desire to chase. One example that I use is within the game of fetch or tug-of-war. My dog goes absolutely bonkers for tug of war and fetch. But through training, it is able to discipline itself because it knows that I am in control of the game.

With tug of war, I will place the rope on the ground. The dog’s impulse will be to snatch the prey and get the game going! But I say “NO!” and will not participate in the game until she drops it. After you succeed in getting her to wait for you, you can start making moves toward the rope. This will usually result in the dog immediately snatching it up, thinking the game has started. Again, firmly reprimand your dog and refuse to play until she drops it. Gradually continue until you get your dog to the point where it will sit completely still as the rope is placed on the ground and you pick it up in your hand. At that point graciously praise your dog and reward it with a good game of tug-of-war! This is just one way you can use your dog’s high prey drive to actually discipline that very drive!

An important concept to understand as a new dog owner is prey drive. This is a little-known concept that is important to how you decide to train, socialize and discipline your dog.

There are a lot of misconceptions about prey drive. Prey drive is basically an element of your dog’s temperment that influences how they interact and perceive other dogs, small animals, birds, and people. Like most traits of your dog, prey drive is determined by breed and heredity. However, like all things, natural prey drive is not the 100% determinant of your dog’s behavior. It’s very easy to villify or blame certain breeds– pit bulls and rotts come to mind– for having relatively higher prey drives than other dogs. But like all things when it comes to your dog, it comes down to the owner. Proper training and socialization overcomes inherited traits.

So how does prey drive manifest itself? One way is the intensity with which your dog will focus in on an object that it is chasing. For example, some dogs will chase an object with a powerful drive to catch it. This is fine when it’s chasing a ball, but this will also manifest itself in chasing birds, rodents, and– here’s where we have to be careful– other pets and children. See the importance of training prey drive now? We’ll cover training tips next time.

The thing to remember when socializing your dog with people: quality and quantity go together!

You want your dog to have as many positive experiences with people as possible in its formative months. You want your dog to experience going to people’s homes, people coming to your house, going to the park, walking on the street, going to the store, meeting the mailman. As many diverse experiences as possible.

Here’s how quantity ties into quality. Let’s say you’re taking your dog Moochie out for a walk and a man scares him and steps on his tail! If Moochie has met 50 men on past walks and 40 of them ignored him and 10 of them either gave him or a treat or gave him a pat on the head, then Moochie’s opinion of this particular man will be “hey this guy is weird and strange! he’s nothing like most of the men I’ve met before.”

I am a firm believer that socialization trumps inherited temperment. Some breeds are inclined to be more people-aggressive, some are inclined to have a high prey drive and need to be watched more around other animals. However, I think it is a cop-out when owners blame the dog’s temperment completely or disproportionately. Some breeds may need more attention or focus in certain areas than others, but with a diligent owner making socialization a top priority in a dog’s early life, you can have confidence that your dog is stable and shouldn’t have any incidents.

Hand in hand with training your dog to obey you, socialization is one of the most important aspects in raising a dog. With improper or lacking socialization in a dog’s early life, it can be very difficult and even impossible to alter the resulting behavior when it is an adult. That’s not to say that socialization isn’t a continuing process– it is, and needs to be done for a dog at all stages of his life. But for this article we are going to focus on puppy socialization, which is the single biggest factor for determining how your dog will behave around people, other pets, and different social environments.

Generally, the goal of socialization is to give your dog a view of life and the world around him as safe and friendly and not hostile, unpredictable and scary. A wary dog is unpredictable and can turn aggressive when it feels threatened.

The first step to socialization is exposure. You want to guide your pup through as many different environments and encounters with different kinds of people and animals as possible. Be careful where you choose to take them though, and always reassure your pup. Don’t take a young pup to a busy street with all kinds of trauma waiting around the corner like careless bicyclers and loud cars. Traumatizing your dog is only going to make things harder for you.

Next time: specifics of people socialization!

I’ve been trying to look for a second job and it’s been hard.. running around in circles!
Anyway, so let me tell you some stuff that I know from experience with dogs that have anxiety.

YES, dogs can have anxiety too just like us humans! =P
They have feelings just like us too, a heart like us.. and you get the flow.

So, I’ve noticed… a couple of dogs that I have played with and been around from my neighbors homes and so on.. Some dogs seem to stick their tongues out and start to pant even when it’s a neutral temperature. You may think that your dog is panting due to the temperature or running around. Actually, if it’s either of those above, your dog may have anxiety. Anxiety can be caused literately by anything.

1. Home – his/her surroundings of furniture(too cluttered and messy), noise(children if they are not good with them and some dogs are just not ment to be around children), bedding(they might not have a comfortable bed), owners!(the owners may be abusive or even just lack in attention).

2. Food – not enough nutrition(lacking a ton of vitamins and such), water(may not be cleaned everyday or just dirty unfiltered water), and treats(either too many or none at all).

3. Just themself – they may just be born with a chemical imbalance(please check with their vet).

You know, honestly it can be anything but those are 3 top reasons why a dog may be distressed and anxious. Honestly, if you try all the things above that I have stated, I really do not know what to tell you. I’m not an EXPERT but I just like to suggest things that may work. Usually 95% of the people who read my posts tell me that I’ve been helpful and the rest of the 5% tell me nothing.

So I appreciate all of you stopping by! Next post will be about EASY GROOMING AGAIN! I FOUND TECHNIQUES AND SUPPLIES!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

See you all back soon! =)