Boring but necessary! Its on all my blogs today just so that it gets through!

OK, you are interested in dogs I know [otherwise you wouldnt be here] but can you spare a few moments for all the other animals?

Do animals MATTER to you?

If so just take a moment to sign this... Campaign petition.

It is extremely simple and quick to fill out, and applies to YOU, no matter where in the world you live.

Make your government take notice. Its about time governments took at least SOME notice of the indigenous peoples who they claim to represent in their respective countries. Politicians worldwide should, in theory, do what the majority want them to do... isnt that what democracy claims to support?

Save Wolves after all they are just BIG dogs!

How to help save wolves... after all they are just big dogs!

I am not going to post any Secrets of Dog Training today... Im going to give this blog over to an e-mail I received today from the Defenders org... please read the quote from their e-mail below and then click over, with the link at the bottom, to their website...

"We have just one week left to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of wolves in the Northern Rockies. Unless we stop them, federal officials could eliminate vital protections for these magnificent animals and spark the biggest wolf massacre in the lower 48 state to occur in decades.

Wolves were eliminated from this area in the last century -- trapped, poisoned, hunted and harassed. Their re-introduction to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho in the mid-1990s was a major conservation accomplishment.

Now that achievement is at risk as officials in Idaho and Wyoming gear up to kill hundreds of wolves.

In February, officials in the Bush/Cheney Administration proposed removing gray wolves in the Northern Rockies from the Endangered Species List… and turning over management of wolves to Idaho and Wyoming -- two states more concerned with eliminating wolves than managing them.

Lawmakers and anti-wolf extremists in Idaho and Wyoming have already announced plans to kill hundreds of wolves, putting the gray wolf’s future in the American West at risk.

More than 111,000 Defenders supporters have already taken action. Please help us reach our 200,000 signature goal by May 9th.

Help save wolves.

There are just 8 days remaining in the public comment period on this awful proposal. Please take action now!

PLEASE visit The Defenders Org NOW!

All my doggy blogs are getting the same post today! WHY

Because I believe this is vitally important!

If you are interested and/or concerned about animal issues, such as the one which I have quoted below [from an email I had via the Defenders Organisation], then please click on the link to them and check out their informative website.

Check out the current issues, sign petitions, do what you can to help various animals... keep informed! You could even sign up for their newsletter.

The following quote is in regard to our dogs big brothers... their forebears!

"Now, as Alaska’s voters are less than a year away from a vote to restrict deadly aerial gunning, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is using state funds for a misinformation campaign to continue the slaughter.

It’s simply outrageous. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has signed off on a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to justify the state’s barbaric wolf slaughter from the skies.

Why? Because Governor Palin and her political cronies in the state legislature are afraid that Alaskans will vote to end the brutal, unfair and unnecessary aerial gunning program."

Handler Consistency Makes All the Difference

The Coachs Corner:  Training Tips for Fans of the K9 Coach

Be Consistent!  Handler Consistency Makes All the Difference

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As your dog is learning fundamental life skills and basic obedience, you must have consistency in yourexpectations, discipline, and communications.   Your consistency is the key to unlocking success in your dog’s training.   Yes, that means you may have more to learn than your dog!

Your goal should be 100% consistency by all members of the family.   Will you achieve 100%?  No.  But with 100% as your goal, you’ll do a much better job of getting it right and preventing confusion for your dog.

What does this mean?  Ultimately, you make the determination of what your dog is expected to do and what you’ll find permissible.  You may have some decisions to make to prevent family behaviors that may be confusing your dog:

·     Is your dog allowed on the sofa – ever?  Or only when invited?  Or only when Dad’s not    home?

·     If it’s Ok for Dad to feed him a taste of dinner from the table but not for the kids to do so?  Does someone sneak food under the table, and you’re later embarrassed when Fido begs your guests for food?

·     Does Dad make him sit and wait for his food to be delivered but mom doesn’t?

·     Do the kids allow him to bolt out the door while you’re trying to train him to wait at the door?

·     Does Dad invite Fido to jump up on him, but then tries to prevent him jumping on Grandma?

·     Does Dad rough-house with the dog, but then get angry when he tries the same with the kids?

Some things should be non-negotiable though.  Examples:

·     Your dog should never be allowed to jump on people.

·     Your dog should be expected to comply with a command (Sit, Down, Come) every time it’s issued, the 1^st time.  It will never be effective if they don’t have to do it at home, but are then expected to do it 100% of the time in public or when guests come over.

·     Aggressive behavior is never to be tolerated without discipline.  This includes growling in the drive-thru window or as your neighbor’s dog walks down the street.

What does consistency in training mean, really?  Have very clear expectations of what you expect from your dog and the consequence for not meeting that expectation.  Be disciplined in your practice and follow-through.  Whatever you choose as your training technique, you need to demonstrate the same response (praise/reward and/or correction) every single time the behavior is demonstrated while the dog is learning.   You need to use the same word(s), same hand-signals, and the same body language (or lack thereof) every time.   

Over time you can vary or even eliminate treat based rewards if you’re using them, but you can never vary your expectation for the dog to comply with your command.  If corrections are effective during learning, and you have associated the word “no” with the correction  -- the word “no” will be eventually be enough of a correction to let the dog know that he has not met your expectations and allow you to repeat the command.

Your words and body-language communicate a message to your dog.  If not used consistently you can actually create confusion for your dog or perhaps even coax them into the wrong behavior – leaving you wondering why your dog didn’t do the command you expected.  You dog will without question pick up on your patterns or sequence of events and your body language.   It may be so subtle you don’t notice it; but your dog will.   They are far more in tune with body language than we will ever be. 

Your dog is learning something in every single interaction you have with him.  And because dogs learn by association, behaviors they practice generally become habits.  Therefore, if your dog gets to practice bad behavior sometimes, it’s going to be much harder to gain reliability when you really need it.  A classic example of this is your dog has free reign of the house while you’re gone, and barks like crazy every time the neighbors pass by.  You come home and tell him to stop – and it doesn’t work well.  During the learning phase you need to prevent your dog from practicing bad behaviors.  If you can’t be there to correct it, close the blinds, put him in a crate or block access to the front of the house.   And then use controlled training opportunities to teach a new behavior to replace the old (bad) behavior.

Be consistent.  Your dog will thank you for it, and you will find your dog is much better at doing things right, and has a lot more fun doing it.

Have questions or need help with more advanced training or behavioral issues.   Call us today.   We can help.

Dana Brigman
The K9 Coach
Dog Training - Matthews, NC
980-339-8064
www.thek9-coach.com
info@thek9-coach.com

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My mission is a better life for dogs as members of a forever family.

My goal is create training solutions for the home owner, to rehabilitate dogs from shelters and rescues, and to prevent dogs from dying alone as strays or owner surrenders in shelters due to unnecessary aggression or behavioral issues.

Begin training with a consult with a professional trainer to be sure youre solving the right problem. Misdiagnosis can make the matters worse. Be sure that there are no medical issues at play and that your dog is not in pain, as pain can be a contributor to a new display of aggression. If you have any fear or uncertainty -- do not attempt the techniques without professional supervision.

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Dog training is all about building relationships