A-Z of #Dog Rescue: Universality (The Price of Compassion) — #AtoZChallenge

Dog rescuing comes with lots of consequences. A houseful of dogs, for instance. An ever-growing dent in the balance of your bank account. A fast-track education in veterinary medicine—and the basics of Zen philosophy. Some of these consequences you might expect; many you probably don't. Like how you'll start judging others by their attitude toward dogs. Or how your priorities will shift... All of a sudden those when I win the lottery dreams become less about yachts and round-the-world trips and more about buying a piece of land and turning it into a dog sanctuary.

Most of all, though, you’ll begin to notice a broadening of your perception. A certain universality. 

Rescue, at its core, isn’t about a love of dogs. That might well be what brought you to it, but, once you’re in it, you’ll realize there’s a weird alchemy at work in your soul. Rescue, you see, is about compassion. And compassion is universal. 

Prince said it best. (Bon voyage, Your Majesty.)

Compassion doesn’t restrict itself to a certain breed or a certain size or even a certain species. Compassion for one is compassion for all. It will happen before you know it; maybe your vet will raise an eyebrow the first time you show up with a pigeon or lizard or hamster, but by the time you start coming in (or calling them out to the middle of nowhere) with a horse, a goat, a deer, a… well, whatever form of life needs your help (and theirs), they’ll know to expect you with the broad-spectrum vet kit. 

The thing is, not every vet can deal with any animal, or any emergency. And your local dog shelter will probably balk at housing a raccoon with a broken leg. So here’s my advice to you, dear Rescue Padawan. Do some research on the wildlife in your area. Are there any species that, like raccoons or possums, might be considered pests? Those are the most likely to cross your path in need of rescue. There might even be organizations devoted to their protection and welfare; many offer brief trainings or information sessions, even online.

Your focus might well remain on dogs (or cats, or whatever started you rescuing), but consider this your fair warning: even if it does, it won’t be only there. Prepare yourself.

P.S. — The rescue yesterday went... well, okay. The plan was to get two females to bring them in for sterilization, but we only managed to get one. Like I said before, though, one really does need to celebrate every little thing, so I'm looking at this as a 50% success rate :D I'll write more about it, and share more photos, later. For the time being, here's the little one we did catch...

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A-Z of #Dog Rescue: The Trust Quadre — #AtoZChallenge

Throughout this series, we’ve been throwing around the word trust like a pinball. Getting the dog to trust you is, after all, the cornerstone of rescue. So maybe it’s time to talk about what trust means to a dog—and how you go about getting into their good, trusting, graces.

Dogs are, by nature (and by human domestication) not leaders but followers. They don’t want the Alpha role—and they’ll take it on only when they have no choice. Which is often the case on the street: through abandonment or abuse, a street dog’s covenant with humanity has been broken, and so they’ve had to rely on themselves to survive. But, at the core of every dog, is a nugget of instinct and desire to find safety—in the form of a pack, and a strong leader. 

That means you.

Humans, being the clueless idiots we are, tend to equate leadership with loudness, strong personality, even violence. Dogs, being so much more intelligent than us, see this for the bullying it is—and the weakness it exhibits. For a dog to sense you as a leader, you’ll need to show four things:

Balance

You can’t be nervous. You can’t be excited. You can’t be angry, or sad, or frustrated. Okay, let me rephrase: you can be any of these things, but you can’t let them control you. If you’re not in control of your emotions, how could you ever be in control of the pack? Get in touch with your Zen. Breathe.

Assertiveness

Assertiveness isn’t dominance. It’s not a “my way or the highway” thing; your way is the highway—to safety, to a happy ending for the dog. Believe it, and the dog will believe it, too. 

Respect

Don’t just look at the dog; see him/her. Observe their attitude, their body language. Seek to understand them, and—more importantly—their needs. Establish a line of communication, but not of the here boy kind; your body speaks volumes, much louder, and more effective than any words. Avoid looking them straight in the eye; dogs read eye contact as aggression. Don’t move so fast; give them time to get used to you, to read you, to understand what you want. Bring your hands in from below, never from above. Always keep whatever you’re offering—food, your hand, a leash—under their nose. (Remember the Botched post?)

Use your body language to make it clear you understand what they’re saying to you (I’m afraid, I don’t know what you want), that you respect that, and that you have something important of your own to say (I’m here to help, You don’t have to be alone anymore).

Honesty

Dogs can read you better than a gypsy palm reader at a state fair. (I mentioned that in the Food post—oh, by the way, remember that awesome video of the two-dog rescue on that post? it’s gone now, sadly…) Dogs sense ulterior motives, so honesty really is your best policy. Keep your bag of tricks, such as traps, for the very last of recourses—and prepare yourself: you’ll have a hell of a time gaining that dog’s trust afterwards.

Balance, assertiveness, respect, and honesty. The Trust Quadre.

Thank you so much for the visit! Tomorrow, Sunday, some of us are getting together to try to bring in a group of dogs wandering around Curaçao's World Trade Center. Wish us luck, please... I don't know these dogs, and I'm hoping they're not too skittish, but... well. Luck always comes in handy :)

Have a wonderful day off, A2Z-ers! See you Monday—for the last week of the Challenge! (Phew. Like Jeffrey Scott said at the beginning of this week, when it's over I think I'll sleep for a whole week :D )

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A-Z of #Dog Rescue: Sterilization — #AtoZChallenge

We dog people often say sterilization when we mean spaying and/or neutering. But, actually, sterilization encompasses an entire gamut of procedures—and a pretty broad gamut it is, from surgical to non-surgical, and from permanent to temporary.

A quick overview:

 NON-SURGICAL STERILIZATION (or CONTRACEPTION) 

Chemical castration

Calcium chloride injected directly into the testes kills the tissue and causes sterility. If done properly, may be permanent—but it's impossible to know for sure. 

Hormones

Females receive a hormonal implant that regulates fertility. Risks are serious, though, and require careful monitoring. Few vets will recommend this.

Immunocontraception

Females are injected with a vaccine that produces antibodies, which attach to her eggs (ovum, if you want to get all technical) and prevent sperm from fertilizing them. Effects are only temporary.

Image Source

 SURGICAL STERILIZATION 

Fallopian tube ligation / Vasectomy

Very rare; only a few vets will (can?) perform it. Just like in humans, this procedure involves tying off the conduits of eggs (fine, ovum then) and sperm to avoid reproduction—but, because no organs are removed, it is, at least in theory, reversible. (And, in more than just theory, also pretty unreliable. Just like in humans.) 

Spay / Neuter

The big guns. (The ones that get the job done.) In females, the removal of the ovaries (and sometimes the uterus); in males, the removal of the testes. Surgery is simple and fast, pain is minimal, speedy recovery. And sterilization is permanent. (What's not to like?)

Oh, I know. It's such a harsh word, isn’t it? Sterilization. Sterile. Makes one think of moonscapes, cold and barren. Of merciless sun on endless dunes. Desolation. Despair.

And yet, when it comes to dogs (and many animals), permanent sterilization is how we spell hope.

An estimated three-quarters of the world’s dogs are unwanted. Homeless, surrendered to shelters, abandoned, living in the streets. An overwhelming majority won’t get a happy ending; there simply aren’t enough homes. 

And most of these dogs are fertile. They’re reproducing. Non-surgical options for population control aren't practical; they're either too expensive or not reliable enough. Which leaves us with—yes, spaying and neutering. 

But why should you, a responsible owner, have to spay or neuter your dog? (I mean, puppies!) Plus, you would never abandon your dog. Your dog will never know a homeless life.  

Think about this for a second. Can you really—absolutely, without any question at all—guarantee that your dog will never end up in the street? What if s/he gets lost? What if s/he’s stolen? Oh, and don’t forget Mother Nature. Hurricanes, earthquakes, fires—they shatter more than just human lives. Katrina left over 250,000 animals homeless. That’s a quarter of a million. And I bet none of their owners were prepared for that. (If they had been, they would’ve chipped them. And they would have spayed or neutered them.)

And then there are the marvelous side benefits:

• A non-spayed female has seven times the risk of getting breast cancer than a spayed one. And, in spayed females, the risk of ovarian cancer is zero.
• A neutered male’s risk of testicular cancer is also zero, and his chances of developing prostatic cancer go significantly down.
• Intact (non-neutered) males often escape to follow a female in heat. Neutering your male dog keeps him safe from getting lost, fighting, getting hit by a car…
• Intact males will mark their territory (read piss all over your house) much more than neutered ones.
• In a multi-dog household, hormones are the original apple of discord. If all your dogs are spayed and/or neutered, conflicts defuse much faster.

RESOURCES:

Spaying or Neutering — The Risks & Benefits (Whole Dog Journal)

Non-Surgical Methods of Contraception in Dogs and Cats

Thanks for the visit! 

P.S. — Happy Earth Day! Here's an excellent post on Sustainability and Soil, by superstar bio-wizard Ann Bennett of Science Ladybug, to start the day right. As for me, I'm taking three of the dogs for a celebratory walk in the Kabouterbos (literally, dwarf forest), a wooded area close to the house. (So I might be late with replies and visiting back... To make it up to you, I'll share the photos on tomorrow's post.) And you? Any special plans? 

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A-Z of #Dog Rescue: Right (or Wrong?) — #AtoZChallenge

In rescue, there’s no right or wrong—as long as it’s About The Dog. Every situation is different, every dog is different. What worked yesterday won’t work tomorrow; what’s never worked before just might work today. And every rescuer is different; what works for you might end in a bloody arm for me. I’m not trying to scare you off; my point is that rescue requires keeping an open mind. And lots of outside-the-box thinking.

So how do you know what’s right—or wrong? With thousands of rescue videos out there—zillions of websites on dog behavior—hundreds of books on animal health—how do you tell the wheat from the chaff? You’ll find different, even opposing, views from people with impeccable credentials. 

Do your own research. 

Nothing beats finding out stuff for yourself. Check every fact. Even when you agree with someone’s point of view, make a point of reading up on the opposite side. This isn’t about being right (or wrong). It’s About The Dog.

Consensus breeds confidence. 

Remember that pack we talked about, the group of people you’re supposed to collect to help in your rescuing endeavors? Consult them. Get their ideas, mine their experience, pick their brains. If you can get agreement from those trustworthy few, you know you’ve got a winner plan.

Go with your gut. 

There’s no overestimating the power of your own instinct. What feels right to you? What are your other, not-so-obvious senses telling you? These will be the things that are hardest to communicate to a non-observer—but they’ll often be the ones that make the biggest difference.

Keeping it short today, folks. Pffff… just another week of A2Z-ing to go. We can do it. Yes, we can!

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Train This Dog -

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Dogs and Children                 

Exercises for dog owners and parents to keeps greeting safe and fun for everyone.

Children and dogs go together as naturally as peanut butter and jelly.  But a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich, like a great child-dog friendship, takes a little preparation. New friendships between children and dogs are more likely when both parties are having a good day, and have learned good manners and respectful greeting behaviors.  I hope these words help you prepare your dogs, and your children, for great times together.

To Parents

Parents have the ultimate responsibility for their child’s safety.

Here are some rules to follow that can help your child have safe and happy dog experiences:

a.       Ask the dog owner if the dog has experience with children your child’s age before allowing a greeting

b.      Hold your young child’s hand. If the child is likely to squeal, run, pull the dog or hit you must be ready to intercede before the child acts.

c.       If either the dog or the child seems hesitant stop the greeting in a happy, cheerful way.

d.      Always supervise interactions between your child and any dog, even your own.

Children who have good dog greeting skills don’t happen by accident.  As a parent it is important to teach your child appropriate dog greeting skills that will stay with them their whole lives.  

Rehearse the following with your child on well known, friendly dogs before (cautiously) venturing into the world of greeting strange dogs.

1.  Children should always ask permission of the dog’s owner before approaching a dog, even a dog they know.  No matter what the owner says, parents have to also assess the situation.  If you are unsure the situation is safe don’t feel badly about walking on.

2.  Children should stop several feet from the dog and let the dog approach the last few steps.  If the dog does not seek contact the child must accept that the dog wants to ‘say hello’ from a distance.

3.  Children need to learn not to grab dogs by the collar, reach over their heads or try to hug them.  Petting should be gentle, and soft.  Avoid the eyes and ears, some dogs are sensitive in these areas.

4.  Children should not approach a dog while either the dog or the child is in possession of food.

5. Children should never take anything from a dog, food, toy, or stolen object.  Children should never sit on any dog or yank on a dog.  If the dog has taken a child’s possession the child needs to inform an adult not remedy the situation themselves.

5. Children should stay calm and speak softly.  Do not squeal and run. 

6. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie is a more than a proverb; it is a great rule for greeting dogs.  Make sure the dog is awake, alert and aware of your approach before your child touches them.

Dog owner responsibility when greeting children

As the dog’s owner you have twofold responsibility.  The parents will be taking your word that your dog is reliable with children.  But, you are also the guardian of your dog.  If things go badly it is always the dog who is blamed, no matter how inappropriate the child may have been.  Be very clear with the child’s parents about your rules for greeting your dog and if it seems that the rules will not be followed politely decline their advances and walk on.

The following guidelines will help keep everyone safe and happy.

1.       Don’t Test or Practice on other people’s children.  If you are not sure your dog is going to be friendly and respectful just politely decline the greeting.   If you have treats the child can stand at a distance and gently toss them toward your leashed dog.  This is a great first step in teaching your dog to appreciate children.

2.      Be aware of how your dog is feeling every day.  Are they hot, tired, or stressed by the surroundings?  Are they on a new medication or not feeling well?  Have they had a recent scare?  All of these can make a normally happy dog cranky or distrustful.  If your dog is having a bad day, think twice before they greet children.

3.       Be aware that small children can be knocked over.  If you have a large dog, teach them to SIT or DOWN when children approach or have the children in a place where they cannot be toppled.  A park bench is a great place for a child to sit when petting a large, friendly dog.

4.       For a dog babies are different from toddlers.  Grade school children are different from teen agers.  Just because your dog likes your 13 year old daughter and her friends it does not mean they will like a 4 year old.  A dog who likes a 4 year old may be terrified by a 15 year old boy.

5.       Be aware of stress signs and watch for them when your dog encounters children.

       
Stress signs include, but are not limited to:

 Yawning - as if suddenly tired

 Hackles Raised- This involuntary response means your dog is upset

  Scratching while looking away

   Lip licking like they just ate or smelled food

    Eyes averted from the child or you can see the white of the eye

    Head and/or ears lowered

   Attempting to stand behind you

   Excessive drooling, sudden stiffening, hard stare, or low growl * (Don’t scold, punish or insist the dog greet. Remove the dog immediately and ask a professional for help)

 If you see any of the above halt the greeting for that day.  If it is important that your dog likes

children please consult a professional for a safe and slow desensitization program.

6.       Don’t use a retractable (flexi) leash around children.  They can catch children around the legs, torso, or even neck and cause rope burns and nore serious injury.

*Never punish or scold a growl.  The dog was uncomfortable and chose to give a verbal warning rather than bite.  This is a good thing.  Remove the dog from the situation immediately, stop and think about why your dog was uncomfortable and consider asking a professional for help.

We hope this little pamphlet keeps you safe and happy and sets everyone up for a lifetime of great dog-human friendships.

Train This Dog offers Group Classes and Private Training for the Family Pet
Day training for older dogs and Puppy Not-a-boot-camp is also available for busy owners

Behavioral clients for issues such as fear, aggression, separation anxiety, food and object guarding accepted on a case by case basis.  Please enquire.


Train This Dog                      Savannah Georgia
 www.trainthisdog.com                    
Phone: 677-2861  
Claudia Black-Kalinsky, CPDT-Ka

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Into Every Life a Little Rain Must Fall 

The +P and -P of Raising Puppies and Children

A few thoughts inspired by a post on Reisner Veterinary 

Behavior & Consulting Service's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/ReisnerVetBehavior?fref=nf



I am going out on a limb here to quote my very unscientific 
mother.

"Into each life a little rain must fall." How does that work for dog training? 

Aversives are something the dog or child would rather avoid. 

Sometimes the dog does not want to sit, sometimes the child does not want to pick up her room. If the parent or trainer insists the child or dog perform the task anyway this would be seen as an unpleasant situation to the young one.

When the task is accomplished the unpleasant stimulus goes away. (Mom backs off and allows the now compliant kid or puppy to engage in alternate, more pleasant behavior)

Why is it important to ask a dog (or child) to choose one behavior over another?

To me, SIT as an alternative to cat chasing is a form of IMPULSE CONTROL, and impluse control, is key to raising dogs and children who make good decisions.

 As a mom and a dog trainer I don't hit and I don't yell. I don't use harsh correction collars on my dogs.  There are however times that nothing happens until my canine or human subject makes the appropriate choice.  

My Focus is to help the dog develop the internal control necessary to choose appropriate behaviors, even in challenging circumstances.

Appropriate behaviors for dogs include Sit, Down, Stay, Wait, Come, and walking calmly on leash without pulling or barking.

Am I a 100% positive trainer? Probably not. My goal is to be a firm, fair, consistant trainer who rewards good behavior often enough that I rarely have to stop everything in order to halt poor decisions.

7 month old Puppy Wilkes making good choices
Trained, in this instance, by Twiz the Cat.

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