All breeds were artificially selected by humans to do a job, be it assisting with hunting, killing vermin, retrieving food for the table, guarding property and livestock etc. Today almost most dogs are living in homes without doing what they were originally bred for. So I guess it is now the human’s responsibility to provide our dogs with the correct type of activities to sufficiently stimulate our dog physically & mentally, otherwise they find activities to do by themselves and it is usually these behaviours that we find irritating or unacceptable . They type of breed your dog is, will by and large determine what type of activities are best suited to keep his body and mind happy & healthy, but most dogs will benefit from some form of training, be it a competitive obedience, sport or just informal fun.

Teaching tricks are often scoffed at, but it has so many benefits. It provides your dog with mental stimulation without having the pressure to perform. It helps to develop mental stamina, attentiveness, vitality, concentration, puzzle solving skills, creativity, memory skills and protects against cognitive decline. Using the clicker training technique, shaping – which is rewarding successive approximations of your end behaviour – enhances your dog’s ability to adapt and work through frustration. A dog’s inner confidence develops through experimental learning successes, as they do not ‘fear failure’. If your dog associates spending time with you as having fun, then it can only improve your more ‘formal’ training sessions for obedience or sport.

When teaching tricks, decide on something that your dog is physically capable of. Have short sessions as learning in short bursts has proven to more effective than longer sessions. So who really cares if your dog can’t do the perfect roll-over, teaching tricks should be about the actual learning, not the performance of as many tricks as possible. The biggest advantage of having fun together is the positive effect it has on the relationship between you and your dog.

At Canine Concepts we are big on tricks and have three levels of classes, with more in development. Exercise is good, mental stimulation is good, but balance is the key to a happy and well behaved companion.

Copyright 2012 Claire Grobbelaar

Got a Persian with a problem? Or a terrier who needs training? On 1 July, the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE) in the UK launched the COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers (CAPBT) in South Africa.

Already the largest specifically qualified association for pet behaviourists and trainers in the UK, this new branch will offer South African pet owners a guarantee of quality when seeking help with the treatment of behaviour problems, or in training their pets.

Membership of the CAPBT is solely by qualification – all behaviourists and trainers have to pass COAPE’s independently accredited Diploma in Practical Animal Behaviour and Training – so a high standard of quality is maintained across the board. Members are also kept up-to-date on the latest research and techniques, attending continuing professional development seminars on relevant animal matters.

“Our focus lies wholly on providing exceptional service to each and every pet owner who needs help with a behaviour related problem for their companion animals,” says CAPBT SA Chairperson, Karin Landsberg. “All COAPE Diploma graduates use only the latest scientifically researched and proven protocols. This means ease of mind when consulting with any member of the CAPBT SA. Clients and veterinarians can be comfortable in the knowledge that their COAPE Behaviourist holds a solid qualification through a highly reputable educational facility.”

For more info or to find your nearest Behaviourist or Trainer, visit www.capbt.org .

By Janna Joseph – PR for CAPBT SA

BSC Physiotherapy University of Stellenbosch 2003

MSC Animal Physiotherapy University of Brisbane 2007

Telephone 072  742 4694

Email: Marinette@capeanimalphysiotherapy.co.za

Our talk on Canine Body Language – “Are you listening” will comprise of more than 100 Power Point slides and videos to view, discuss and analyze. This is not just a course that is useful only if you are busy training a dog at the moment. If you have a dog as  a pet or as a working dog or a sport dog, then this will help you to notice the subtle signals that your dog is displaying that reflex how is feeling about that particular situation / a context / or when meeting a new dog or person.  Being “able to listen to what your dog is saying” will help you to better facilitate socialization with other dogs and humans and to prevent unpleasant experiences.

See schedule page for the next course

Bookings essential.

Answer:  No, only C & D are really stress free – surprised?? Both A & B look like they are happy… but they are showing signs of stress in their facial muscles, ear carriage and eyes.

1 a)  Ever organism (human, any domesticated or wild animal …) learn by the immediate — not delayed — consequences of their behavior.

A consequence good or bad, must immediately follow a behaviour for it to be associated with that behaviour. You might still be focused on the behaviour (even a few) seconds afterwards, but your dog has mentally moved onto something else, therefore TIMING is everything when it comes to providing consequences for behaviours.

1 b) Behaviors that meet with rewarding consequences will happen more often.

If a behaviour gets the dog what he wanted, it’s  just natural that he will do that behaviour again and again.  Why then does he keep on jumping up on you, even when you shout at him or push him off ? Because he is getting some form of attention and interaction from you. He won’t keep jumping up, if jumping up leads to no attention.

2.  Use valued resources like food, toys, play, walks and petting as a consequence for good behaviour.

This is not meant to be boot-camp or the well known ‘Nothing in Life is Free’ program, which is often implemented incorrectly anyway. (But that’s a topic for another discussion.) We don’t always ask “please” when we want something, do we? A lot has to do with HOW we ask for things. If a child says “GIMME the salt” vs. “pass the salt” it will lead to two different reactions from a parent. If the salt is passed on, on the “GIMME”, you’ve just reward rude behaviour, if not passed on, then rude behaviour has a negative consequence – no salt. Likewise if your dog is jumping up, pushing between you and the door and barking at you to open the door because it’s ‘walkies’ time – and you open the door, you have just rewarded his wild behaviour & the next time it’s ‘walkies’ time, the same will happen.

3.  In every moment of life, learning happens . Always ask yourself – what am I teaching my dog in this moment ?

I know, it’s very difficult to stay consistent every time we interact with our dogs – we get busy, we are always rushing, things need to be done and it causes us to be not so mindful of our interactions with our dogs. But we’ve got to make a point of trying and become more conscious of our interaction. When WE slip up – we can’t blame it on the dog. If ever you feel you want to cut corners, always ask yourself – what will this teach him?

4.  Learn to set your dog up for success and prevent mistakes.

We don’t expect young adults to learn how to drive in peak traffic – that would just be disastrous, so why do we expect so much so soon when we train our dogs. If your dog is not successful, take a step back and think how you can chunk the behaviour down in more rewardable steps, after all, most of the time you are teaching him something that YOU would like him to do & he, as a dog, could probably care less about. If he is not coming when called at home, he sure is not going to come when you call him in the park. Find smaller recall goals to reward and steadily increase your level of difficulty. Success breeds success.

5.  Find a positive trainer.

Invest some time in finding a trainer that understands behaviour and that uses positive training techniques.  Taking aversive short cuts lead to problematic behaviours down to road.

6.  Don’t ever be afraid to ask advice for fear of sounding silly.

That’s what we’re here for – it’s what we love to do. There is no such thing as a silly question – if you don’t ask – you won’t know.  Chances are, there are other people that also wanted to know the answer to your question, but did not have the courage to ask.

7.  Learn to say ‘No’ – if you feel your dog is treated unjust or in an unsafe manner.

This is difficult for most people but we must learn to say ‘no’ and be our dog’s voice. Just because a trainer does something does not always make it right – if you feel uncomfortable about how any person handles your dog, you have the right to stop it. If you are asked to provide your dog as a demo – it is your right to ask what it will entail.

8.  Don’t just take advice at face-value – ask “why?”

Sometimes I hear the most bizarre advice that is given to people. And when I inquire as to why this particular advice has been given to the owner, the person has no idea – the trainer did not tell them. If it’s not explained to you why something is advised, you’ve got to ask. Does it feel right to you? If not, no harm done in getting a second opinion.

9.  Training should be fun

When training is done in a fun way, both of you are going to enjoy it. When something becomes a chore, our enthusiasm dwindles. When we have fun, our mood state lightens, which makes for easier learning. Even the more serious stuff like “recalls” can be done in a fun way, long gone are the days that we have to train our dogs in a militaristic way.

10.  It is far more efficient to teach a dog to do a desirable behaviour than it is to teach him to stop doing an undesirable behaviour.

Can you teach a dog to stop jumping up on visitors? Technically, no. You cannot teach a dog NOT to do a behaviour. You can only teach him what you WANT him to do & at the same time make the unwanted behaviour (jumping up) less rewarding than the new behaviour you are teaching. Jumping up on visitors will only cease if you teach him the only why he gets to greet the visitors is if he has four paws on the floor & that any jumping behaviour will be ignored – thus not rewarded.

© Claire Grobbelaar

A positive outcome of the meeting was the decision that a steering committee will be formed to develop a Democratic Alliance policy on animal welfare and that Mike Walters and James Vos will lead the process in the Western Cape Provincial government and the City Council respectively. The present Cape Town draft by-laws will not be postponed until the animal policy has been drawn up! While it would have been more sensible for the DA to have developed a policy, before drawing up the by-laws, the decision is a step in the right direction and will, hopefully, govern by-laws that may be developed in other DA led councils in the future.

The by-laws, in their present state, make provision for the confiscation of animals who are kept on properties in violation of specified numbers allowed by the Council and of those whose barking, or other ‘nuisance’ value, violates the by-laws. A ludicrous situation exists, where one may ask if the removal of one’s companion animals is not an infringement of “property” laws, which are also protected in the constitution, as animals are legally classified as ‘things’ or ‘movable property in South African law!

Unfortunately, any legislation, regulations, or even a political party’s animal welfare policy, will still exist within the framework of animals not having legal rights and the fact is that any improvement in laws protecting the well being of animals in this country rests heavily on their legal status being changed from that of “things”, or moveable property, to that of “sentient beings”. At the moment animals are regarded as nothing more than inanimate objects and if this classification remains, they will never be accorded the basic rights and protection to which they are entitled, nor will effective animal welfare laws be put in place to monitor such rights. Animal welfare legislation should be an adjunct to animal’s rights, in the same way as child welfare laws are to children’s rights!

Children’s rights are protected in the constitution, with child welfare laws and organisations in place to protect those rights. Similarly, animal’s rights must be included in the constitution, with animal welfare laws and organisations protecting those rights! At the moment we have the tail wagging the dog, so to speak, with animal welfare working without the benefit of rights laws! Animals are our nearest relatives, with whom we share our lives, the environment and the planet. The time has come for us to acknowledge the duty we have, which is enshrined in the constitution, to protect and respect the vulnerable among us and this duty must be applied equally to animals; we must extend the constitution to reflect this duty to all sentient beings.

Beryl Scott

© Beauty without Cruelty Newsletter June 2010

www.bwcsa.co.za

Training today is so much more than just sit, down, stay and let’s play. We demand so much more of our dogs than 10 years ago, they have become part of families, live indoors, some sleep on our beds, go out on outings and holidays. We need to teach them how to confidently handle these things and situations that are truly foreign to them. They don’t automatically understand the human world and our humans rules. Sniffing crotches is not desirable with humans, but in canine communication it is vital – we need to guide them and teach them what we want them to do – in a way that they would understand.

“Positive training methods only” is a myth – it’s virtually impossible to only use positive training. Usually what is meant by if trainers, such as myself, say “we use techniques that are non-confrontational and are based on the principles of positive reinforcement” it means that we first focus on Positive Reinforcement and then use Reward Removal as a negative consequence to an unwanted behaviour, for example if your dog snatches at the treat, the treat is removed, thus snatching equals no treat. The snatching behaviour will decrease, because it leads to loss of reward.

For  more information on why we don’t use confrontational methods or physical punishment see the About Us page on the website.

Unfortunately there is no law that requires dog trainers to have certification or to belong to an organization that regulates the industry, however some of us do belong to internationally recognized associations that works according to a strict code of ethics. Therefore it is important to do a little homework on the person that you are entrusting your dog’s education to.

Here are some pointers to help you choose:

• Beware of trainers that proclaim that they use treats/praise/play motivation; they might also be using physical punishment, they might even ’soften it’ and call it ‘discipline’. It is important to ask them what type of punishment methods they use. Ask them what would they do with a dog that is constantly barking in the class, is not responding to cues/commands or that is not focused on the owner.

• Ask if you can sit in on a lesson before booking; if the trainer will not allow it, run like Forest Gump.

• Speak to the clients after the class. Are they happy and do they look relaxed? Do their dogs look happy and relaxed? Does it look like they and their dogs are having fun?

• How does the trainer respond to questions in class? Is it encouraged, is it answered clearly and with patience or is the trainer arrogant and abrupt? Does s/he make people feel comfortable about asking questions?

• BEWARE of guarantees, promises, cures and quick fixes. The dog is a living being with a fully functioning brain, nervous and endocrine system therefore, no one, not even the world’s top trainers can guarantee an outcome; they can however give you an expected outcome. A dog is not a machine or computer that if a few buttons are pressed you are sure of the outcome.

• Most trainers are not behaviourist. Behaviour can be very complex; make sure your trainer is educated in canine behaviour as well. Behaviour training and obedience training are two very different things, but they are closely intertwined.

• The amount of years the trainer has been training is not an indication of their ability. Does the amount of years include the time they trained, Fluffy the family dog when s/he was 13? You are interested in their professional experience. If they have 15 or 20 years of experience, are they using 15 or 20 year old methods. Behaviour is a science – have they kept up?

• How many trainers and how many dogs are in the class? A good ratio for adult dogs are at least one trainer to four/five dogs. If it is more than that, someone and their dog is being overlooked.

• If they have a website, read it thoroughly.

• It is your right to ask about their qualifications and then follow up if it is so.

• When attending a class, don’t hand your dog over to a trainer to do a demonstration that you feel uncomfortable with. If at any time the trainer does something to your dog or instructs you to do, that you don’t feel comfortable with, leave, it’s your right. Just because the person is an instructor does not make the use of aversive methods justifiable, no matter what the dog has done. And then give feedback to the person who recommended or referred you to this trainer.

• The latest trend followed by trainers is for owners to leave their ‘difficult’ or ‘untrainable’ dogs with a trainer and are then asked to go shopping for an hour or so…what is it that the owner is not allowed to see?

• Can you see that the trainer has a true passion for dogs, AND people AND teaching or does it just look like it’s a job ?  Do you get the feeling that the trainer serious about what s/he does, or do you get the feeling that it is a pastime or hobby?

• After speaking to the trainer do you feel comfortable with him/her, because ultimately you and the trainer are going to spend a lot of time together.

Copyright Claire Grobbelaar

4/20/2010 10:37:00 PM

Pretoria – Sniffing out bombs and landmines in war-torn countries is the last thing 11 dogs, belonging to Minetech outside Pretoria, want to do.

They just want to play.

These dogs and four of their “colleagues” are ready for retirement after all the hard work over the course of their long careers. And that’s why Minetech wants to find loving homes for them.

Talitha Etsebeth, general manager of the dog school at Minetech, said on Tuesday it’s not right to keep these dogs in cages, when they could rather be running around in someone’s back yard. In addition to that, the staff at Minetech don’t have enough time to give each individual dog enough attention.

No more work, just play

Goldie, 5, and Daja, 5, are Malinois dogs, Hyco, 4, a German Shepherd and Apollo, 4, a Border collie, all sniffed out explosives in Iraq.

After a few years in the field, Apollo started suffering from post-traumatic stress. Goldie, Daja and Hyco have also just reached a point where they don’t want to work anymore.

The rest of their friends, Herschey, 2, Isaac, 1, Nicky, 2, and Carmen, 1 – all Malinois dogs – and Austin, 2, Geisha, 3, Twig, 3, Dinx, 1, and Dee, 1 – all Springer spaniels – were never chosen for bomb sniffing.

Apply now

According to Etsebeth, some of them were used as breeding dogs but the rest just want to play.

They can’t concentrate long enough to do the work of sniffing out mines and explosives properly.

“They’re pets and all they want to do is play with you and lick you,” said Etsebeth.

“They’re too gentle, and they don’t have the drive to do this work. These are shy dogs who will die of fright if a bomb was to explode behind them.”

Etsebeth said people can apply to adopt one of the dogs. Applicants’ lifestyle and the size of their property will be looked at before a decision is made.

Click here to read the rest of the story…

Medical advances making it possible for dogs like Cassidy to romp on all four legs

By Maryann Mott
HealthDay Reporter

An injury prevented Juniper from walking normally. Frostbite damaged the hind legs of Meadow. And Andre gnawed off his paws to escape from a wolf trap.

Until a few years ago, there wasn’t much hope for these and other disabled animals of ever leading normal lives again. But thanks to advancements in veterinary medicine, and the small but growing field of animal prosthetics, it’s now possible for pets and farm animals with missing limbs to walk, run and romp on all four legs.

Cassidy, a shepherd mix, with a caramel-colored coat, was recently outfitted with a carbon fiber leg similar to ones that amputee runners use.

“We just came back from the beach and he’s able to run all day,” said Cassidy’s owner, Steve Posovsky, a retired dentist in Delray Beach, Fla.

The adopted stray — found wandering the streets of the Bronx on three legs — is a medical pioneer, becoming the first dog to successfully undergo osseointegration orthopedic surgery, a procedure that may one day benefit humans.

During the four-hour operation, a titanium implant was inserted into Cassidy’s right hind leg bone — designed by veterinarian Denis Marcellin-Little and his colleagues at North Carolina State University in Raleigh — so that a custom prosthetic limb could later be screwed into the visible tip. The result is an artificial leg that behaves more like a natural limb.

“It’s not that different from a total joint replacement,” said Marcellin-Little of the surgery. “And, clearly, we have a lot of experience fixing joint prosthetics to bone. That’s done in hundreds of thousands of people each year worldwide.”

CASSIDY

Since Cassidy’s surgery in July 2008, a handful of veterinarians in the United States and Europe have used osseointegration to replace limbs of other family dogs and cats.

Marcellin-Little, a professor of orthopedics, currently has three patients — all dogs that will soon undergo the $7,000 procedure that replaces a missing lower extremity of an otherwise healthy leg.

Entire limbs cannot be replaced, he said.

In Cassidy’s case, it’s taken 18 months between the surgery and receiving his permanent prosthetic leg in March.

“It’s not simple, cheap or quick,” Marcellin-Little said of the process.

That’s because all equipment is designed and hand-built for each patient, and the experimental surgery must be rehearsed beforehand to make sure it goes smoothly.

It takes around three months of healing time before weight is put on the leg; the animal then must re-learn how to walk on all four feet.

For six weeks, Posovsky patiently helped Cassidy inch across the bedroom, putting one leg in front of the other. The hours upon hours of training finally paid off when one morning Cassidy began to walk on his own.

For most animal owners, externally attached prosthetics are a faster, less-expensive option.

ANDRE

OrthoPets, in Denver, manufactures prosthetics and braces for about 1,200 animals worldwide each year. Most are dogs, but they’vealso worked with cats, cows, birds, llamas, horses, even an orangutan.

“We joke that if it has an appendage and a heartbeat, we can usually help out,” said Amy Kaufmann.

She started the business six years ago with her husband, Martin, who previously worked in the human prosthetics field.

The external prosthetics are built to “last a lifetime” by using tough industrial grade plastic, said Kaufmann. To combat chafing and irritation the devices are lined with special color-changing foam that turns black, alerting owners if a problem arises.

For an animal to be outfitted with an artificial limb, which is attached with straps, Kaufmann said front legs must still have the elbow joint and part of the radius and ulna. The knee joint, as well as part of the tibia and fibula, must be present on rear legs.

Prosthetics for cats and dogs cost between $600 and $800. The price for larger animals, such as cows, llamas and horses, ranges from $800 to $2,000.

For Cassidy, the three-legged shepherd, even the most sophisticated external prosthetic didn’t work. Marcellin-Little made two different artificial limbs for him. But because of Cassidy’s odd-shaped leg, the devices didn’t stay on.

That’s when Posovsky and his wife, Susan, decided to move forward with osseointegration, in hopes of giving their dog the joy of being able to go for long walks with them on the beach.

“Cassidy had every reason not to be a nice dog, and have an attitude,” said Posovsky of the practically hairless mutt he adopted from the pound. “But this dog — you can’t even make him mad if you tried. That’s how sweet he is. He is just the most wonderful, deserving, loving animal there is.”