Iams Dog Cruelty

Want to feed your dog Iams dog food? Watch this video to see how they treat dogs in their testing facility. Sick.



Iams Cruelty Website

The Stay Command for Dogs

The stay command is one of the most important commands you can teach your dog. Imagine being in the front yard with your dog loose and being able to put him in a stay before he runs out into the road. Or being able to put him in a stay at a park full of children. A stay command can be a life saving command, for your dog or others.

This guy uses clicker training. I'm not too familiar with clicker training, but it might be something worth investigating. Whether you use clicker training or not watch the video for some tips on how to teach the stay command.



Need to train your dog? Visit the Kingdom of Pets Sit-Stay-Fetch Dog Training Program

Recognizing, preventing, and handling dog aggression

A dog is an instinctively aggressive creature. In the wild, aggression came in very handy: dogs needed aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend resources such as food, a place to sleep, and a mate. Selective breeding over the centuries has minimized and refined this trait significantly, but there’s just no getting around it: dogs are physically capable of inflicting serious harm (just look at those teeth!) because that’s how they’ve survived and evolved. And Mother Nature is pretty wily – it’s hard to counteract the power of instinct!

But that doesn’t mean that we, as dog lovers and owners, are entirely helpless when it comes to handling our dogs. There’s a lot that we can do to prevent aggression from rearing its ugly head in the first place – and even if prevention hasn’t been possible (for whatever reason), there are still steps that we can take to recognize and deal with it efficiently.

- Different aggression types -

There are several different types of canine aggression. The two most common ones are:

- Aggression towards strangers

- Aggression towards family members

You may be wondering why we’re bothering categorizing this stuff: after all, aggression is aggression, and we want to turf it out NOW, not waste time with the details – right?

Well … not quite. These two different types of aggression stem from very different causes, and require different types of treatment.

- Aggression towards strangers -

What is it?

It’s pretty easy to tell when a dog’s nervy around strange people. He’s jumpy and on the alert: either he can’t sit still and is constantly fidgeting, leaping at the smallest sound, and pacing around barking and whining; or he’s veerrrry still indeed, sitting rock-steady in one place, staring hard at the object of his suspicions (a visitor, the mailman, someone approaching him on the street while he’s tied up outside a store.)

Why does it happen?

There’s one major reason why a dog doesn’t like strange people: he’s never had the chance to get used to them. Remember, your dog relies 100% on you to broaden his horizons for him: without being taken on lots of outings to see the world and realize for himself, through consistent and positive experiences, that the unknown doesn’t necessarily equal bad news for him, how can he realistically be expected to relax in an unfamiliar situation?

What can I do about it?

The process of accustoming your dog to the world and all the strange people (and animals) that it contains is called socialization. This is an incredibly important aspect of your dog’s upbringing: in fact, it’s pretty hard to overemphasize just how important it is. Socializing your dog means exposing him from a young age (generally speaking, as soon as he’s had his vaccinations) to a wide variety of new experiences, new people, and new animals.

How does socialization prevent stranger aggression?

When you socialize your dog, you’re getting him to learn through experience that new sights and sounds are fun, not scary.

It’s not enough to expose an adult dog to a crowd of unfamiliar people and tell him to “Settle down, Roxy, it’s OK” – he has to learn that it’s OK for himself. And he needs to do it from puppyhood for the lesson to sink in.

The more types of people and animals he meets (babies, toddlers, teenagers, old people, men, women, people wearing uniforms, people wearing motorcycle helmets, people carrying umbrellas, etc) in a fun and relaxed context, the more at ease and happy – and safe around strangers - he’ll be in general.

How can I socialize my dog so that he doesn’t develop a fear of strangers?

Socializing your dog is pretty easy to do – it’s more of a general effort than a specific training regimen.

First of all, you should take him to puppy preschool. This is a generic term for a series of easy group-training classes for puppies (often performed at the vet clinic, which has the additional benefit of teaching your dog positive associations with the vet!).

In a puppy preschool class, about ten or so puppy owners get together with a qualified trainer (often there’ll be at least two trainers present – the more there are, the better, since it means you get more one-on-one time with a professional) and start teaching their puppies the basic obedience commands: sit, stay, and so on.

Even though the obedience work is very helpful and is a great way to start your puppy on the road to being a trustworthy adult dog, really the best part of puppy preschool is the play sessions: several times throughout the class, the puppies are encouraged to run around off-leash and play amongst themselves.

This is an ideal environment for them to learn good social skills: there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar dogs present (which teaches them how to interact with strange dogs), there’s a whole bunch of unfamiliar people present (which teaches them that new faces are nothing to be afraid of), and the environment is safe and controlled (there’s at least one certified trainer present to make sure that things don’t get out of hand).

Socialization doesn’t just stop with puppy preschool, though. It’s an ongoing effort throughout the life of your puppy and dog: he needs to be taken to a whole bunch of new places and environments.

Remember not to overwhelm him: start off slow, and build up his tolerance gradually.

- Aggression towards family members -

There are two common reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:

- He’s trying to defend something he thinks of as his from a perceived threat (you).

This is known as resource guarding, and though it may sound innocuous, there’s actually a lot more going on here than your dog simply trying to keep his kibble to himself.

- He’s not comfortable with the treatment/handling he’s getting from you or other members of the family.

What’s resource guarding?

Resource guarding is pretty common among dogs. The term refers to overly-possessive behavior on behalf of your dog: for instance, snarling at you if you approach him when he’s eating, or giving you “the eye” (a flinty-eyed, direct stare) if you reach your hand out to take a toy away from him.

All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Sometimes they’re possessive over things with no conceivable value: inedible trash, balled up pieces of paper or tissue, old socks. More frequently, however, resource-guarding becomes an issue over items with a very real and understandable value: food and toys.

Why does it happen?

It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment: in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a hierarchy of position and power (or “dominance”) in relation to every other animal. Each animal is aware of the rank of every other animal, which means he knows specifically how to act in any given situation (whether to back down, whether to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc).

To your dog, the family environment is no different to the dog-pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family, and has his own perception of where he ranks in that environment as well.

This is where it gets interesting: if your dog perceives himself as higher up on the social totem-pole than other family members, he’s going to get cheeky. If he’s really got an overinflated sense of his own importance, he’ll start to act aggressively.

Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal (the consequences would be dire, and he knows it!)

Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behavior: only a higher-ranked dog (a “dominant” dog) would act aggressively in defence of resources.

To put it plainly: if it was clear to your dog that he is not, in fact, the leader of the family, he’d never even dream of trying to prevent you from taking his food or toys – because a lower-ranking dog (him) will always go along with what the higher-ranking dogs (you and your family) say.

So what can I do about it? The best treatment for dominant, aggressive behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work, which will underline your authority over your dog. Just two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you’re the boss, and that it pays to do what you say.

You can make this fact clear to him by rewarding him (with treats and lavish praise) for obeying a command, and isolating him (putting him in “time-out”, either outside the house or in a room by himself) for misbehaviour.

- If you’re not entirely confident doing this yourself, you may wish to consider enlisting the assistance of a qualified dog-trainer.

- Brush up on your understanding of canine psychology and communication, so that you understand what he’s trying to say – this will help you to nip any dominant behaviors in the bud, and to communicate your own authority more effectively

- Train regularly: keep obedience sessions short and productive (no more than fifteen minutes – maybe two or three of these per day).

Why doesn’t my dog like to be handled?

All dogs have different handling thresholds. Some dogs like lots of cuddles, and are perfectly content to be hugged, kissed, and have arms slung over their shoulders (this is the ultimate “I’m the boss” gesture to a dog, which is why a lot of them won’t tolerate it.) Others – usually the ones not accustomed to a great deal of physical contact from a very young age – aren’t comfortable with too much full-body contact and will get nervy and agitated if someone persists in trying to hug them.

Another common cause of handling-induced aggression is a bad grooming experience: nail-clipping and bathing are the two common culprits.

When you clip a dog’s nails, it’s very easy to “quick” him – that is, cut the blood vessel that runs inside the nail. This is extremely painful to a dog, and is a sure-fire way to cause a long-lasting aversion to those clippers.

Being washed is something that a great many dogs have difficulty dealing with – a lot of owners, when confronted with a wild-eyed, half-washed, upset dog, feel that in order to complete the wash they have to forcibly restrain him. This only adds to the dog’s sense of panic, and reinforces his impression of a wash as something to be avoided at all costs – if necessary, to defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles.

Can I “retrain” him to enjoy being handled and groomed?

In a word: yes. It’s a lot easier if you start from a young age – handle your puppy a lot, get him used to being touched and rubbed all over. Young dogs generally enjoy being handled – it’s only older ones who haven’t had a lot of physical contact throughout their lives that sometimes find physical affection difficult to accept.

Practice picking up his paws and touching them with the clipper; practice taking him into the bath (or outside, under the faucet – whatever works for you, but warm water is much more pleasant for a dog than a freezing spray of ice-water!), and augment the process throughout with lots of praise and the occasional small treat.

For an older dog that may already have had several unpleasant handling/grooming experiences, things are a little more difficult. You need to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences, which you can do by taking things very slowly – with an emphasis on keeping your dog calm.

The instant he starts to show signs of stress, stop immediately and let him relax. Try to make the whole thing into a game: give him lots of praise, pats, and treats.

Take things slowly. Don’t push it too far: if you get nervous, stop.

Dogs show aggression for a reason: they’re warning you to back off, or else! If your dog just can’t seem to accept being groomed, no matter how much practice you put in, it’s best to hand the job over to the professionals.

Your vet will clip his nails for you (make sure you tell him first that he gets aggressive when the clippers come out, so your vet can take the necessary precautions!). As far as washing and brushing goes, the dog-grooming business is a flourishing industry: for a small fee, you can get your dog washed, clipped, brushed, and whatever else you require by experienced professionals (again, make sure you tell them about your dog’s reaction to the experience first!)

For more information on handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as a great deal of detailed information on a host of other common dog behavior problems, check out SitStayFetch.

It’s a complete owner’s guide to owning, rearing, and training your dog, and it deals with all aspects of dog ownership.

To get the inside word on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors like aggression and dominance in your dog, SitStayFetch is well worth a look.

You can visit the SitStayFetch site by clicking on the link below:

Sit-Stay-Fetch Dog Obedience Training

Jake the German Shepherd Dog

Until recently, I hadn't been known to hoard animals. For most of my life I was a one-dog man, and then in 1996 I moved up to two with a Dalmatian named Tasha and a German Shepherd named Sam. Tasha had to be put down about a year and a half later because she was really old (nearly 16) and had a massive tumor on her leg. After that I got a second German Shepherd named Brandy, and had the two Shepherds from 1999-2007.


For reasons that I'll explain another time, by the spring of 2007 I had four dogs: Brandy, Lucy, a new German Shepherd named Tony and an Akita named Naomi. Well at this point I was like having four dogs in one house is completely insane, so there was NO WAY I was getting another dog. Well not until I met Jake that is.

My beloved German Shepherd of ten years Sam had died that April from stomach torsion, and things just didn't feel right. It was about then that a lady at a ranch where I board my horses began talking about getting rid of her German Shepherd. It was kind of strange because only a few weeks earlier she was ranting and raving about how wonderful it was for her to have come across this dog (whom she adopted from some doctor). He resembled a German Shepherd she had left behind in Jersey not just physically, but with his penchant for chasing and chewing on dogs.

The problem was the lady had just acquired some pygmy goats. One tragic Sunday morning the neighbors dog got in her yard and YIKES! killed the goats. This caused some soul searching-not only was the act of killing the neighbors dog considered, but she began to worry if her recently acquired German Shepherd might kill the goats too. Apparently he had made some displays of fondness for meat, and was eye-ing the goats a little too often.

There was also talk that he was too thin and had to stay outside all the time by some other people at the ranch. So a woman (who will remain nameless but plays a significant role in my life ;) convinced me to go over and take a look. First the idea was to just check on him and make sure he was OK, but one Sunday evening I dropped by to inquire about adopting him.

For an animal nut like me, this is of course a major mistake. Once the decision has been made to look in on a critter I may as well just say drop him off at my house. So I drove up there, knowing full well there was no way I would leave this dog behind.

The doctor had originally named this dog Kozmo, but the woman who now owned him sensibly changed his name to Jake. She had a whole army of animals, from a pair of gay (yes homosexual) canaries to four small dogs, two goats and two big dogs. The small dogs were allowed in the house but the big dogs had to stay outside with the goats. Since Jake had his eye on gourmet goat meat, he was kind of living as a loner.

Jake greeted me with a ball in his mouth. Living up to his description, Jake is a German Shepherd that is downright obsessed with rubber balls. In fact as I type this he is laying on the floor waiting for me to throw his ball to him now. Anyway, I looked the situation over for a few minutes pretending I would think about it and then told her I'd go ahead and take the dog. She was pretty happy I was taking this burden off her shoulders, she could stop worrying about the goats and her dog had a new home. So off I went with Jake, with the realization that I now owned five dogs slowly sinking in....

Honestly Jake was a mess. He was about 75 pounds looking very skinny, had pannus and an itchy skin condition due to allergies to some kind of mite that all dogs have. After putting him on my regular feeding schedule I use with the other dogs he's up to 95 pounds, and he's getting medication for his pannus and skin condition. I recently put him on Solid Gold Dog food in the hopes his skin my improve a bit and I could cut back on medication.

Well despite the fact I'm saddled with five dogs, Jake has turned out to be the perfect addition. He was eight when I got him (so kind of close to Sam's age) and he has many of Sam's best personality attirbutes. Jake is a fairly quiet dog that doesn't like getting into trouble, so he avoids bothering the other dogs. He likes chomping on his balls (the rubber ones, PLEASE...) and also has a fondness for tennis balls. An interesting quirk is that Jake can fit two or three balls in his mouth at the same time. Sam always tried, in fact Sam tried to fit two tennis balls in his mouth up to the day he died, but never succeeded. Jake also walks good and enjoys going for hikes in the mountains. I guess I would call it chemistry, but his chemistry is very much like Sam's. Having Jake there made me feel whole and secure again in a way I hadn't felt since Sam's death.

Jake has this funny quirk, sitting in the space on the floor between the front and back seats in the car. I don't remember if I've posted this pic before, but here it is, kind of grainy since I took it with the cell phone.

In any case, Jake is the best that a German Shepherd can be. Friendly, gentle, smart, loyal, and fun.

Be a Leader for Your Dog

A fiery debate at a blog called fugly horse of the day got me thinking about why there are so many problems with animals. In particular, why are so many dogs put in a position where euthanasia seems to be a viable option for behavior issues?

To find the answer to this question, we need look no further than the mirror. The problem is us and its time for dog owners to take responsibility and say the buck stops here.

I've come to this conclusion under some influence by Cesar Millan and others. Owning horses as well as dogs, I've gotten heavily involved in natural horsemanship training. One thing that is clear from natural horsemanship is that you need to become a leader for your horse, and you need to communicate with your horse using his own language. The same is true for dogs, and this is exactly what Cesar Millan is teaching. If you're looking for a happy, successful relationship with your dog, having him around the house and hoping for the best ain't going to cut it. You need to become a leader for your dog. And like natural horsemanship teaches, "dog whispering" is about speaking to your dog in his own language.

Let's take an example. A poster mentioned that a child rang the doorbell one day, and her dog burst forth and bit the child. This is a tragic situation to be sure. On impulse, you would probably say the dog should be put down, and that's exactly what happened. The owner of the dog reports being mystified as to why the dog did what he did. But is it really that mysterious?

The dog was following his gut instinct-which is to protect the household. That is not mysterious behavior. The question we need to ask then, is why did the dog decide to inappropriately bite a child, who is not a real threat? The answer in many, if not most cases is that the dog felt it had to act because the owner was not in a leadership position as far as the dog was concerned. Without an alpha dog in the household, the dog felt insecure and assumed the leadership position on his own. So he did what came natural to him, he saw a stranger at the door and proceeded to defend the household.

I want to make it clear I am speaking in general terms here-I never met the particular dog in question and wasn't there, so can't address that specific dog and owner. That dog might have been truly insane with euthanasia as the only reasonable option. With that as a given, what I am doing is addressing the situation in general and what is usually at play in most cases.

So how can we work to minimize the chances that our dogs will attack at will when someone rings the doorbell, especially a child? What a dog owner needs to do is actively assume the leadership position in the pack. A dog would rather not be the leader. The fact is he is going to look to you to be the leader and will only exhibit aggressive behavior like that when is failing to see you acting as the alpha.

There is nothing mysterious, new agey, or flaky about dog whispering or natural horsemanship. Maybe what's mysterious is that Cesar Millan figured all of this stuff out on his own, but the truth is you can learn it too. All dog whispering is about is taking a new view on dog ownership. Some suggestions:

• Read, read, and read again. Study every book on dog behavior (and yes, wolf behavior) so that you understand why dogs behave the way they do.
• You might spoil your grandkids or your 3 year old nephew, but don't view your dog as a child that should be spoiled. When it comes to the dog, start viewing the household in terms of a dog pack.
  
• You assume the leadership position of the pack. Read dog whispering books and watch dog training videos to learn how to do this.
  
• Don't neglect basic obedience training. Your dog should be an expert at sit, stay, down, down-stay, and come commands.

That last point might be as important as any other. If your dog is well trained at down-stay, you can put him in a down-stay when the doorbell rings-and he is going to stay in that position until you tell him otherwise. That is the hallmark of a well trained dog. Don't make any excuses. If my dog can't do that-its my fault and nobody else's, and the dog doesn't need to be put down. I need to invest more time and energy into training the dog. Euthanasia should only be a last resort for behaviorial problems. Start putting energy into training your dogs properly today.

Dog Training Help is One Click Away

Narcolepsy in Dogs

I came across this recent post about Narcolepsy (suddenly falling asleep uncontrollably) in Dogs over at Big Dog Blog. Something that mystified me was the vet seemed clueless about what to do. OK its a TV report so we're probably only getting half-truths, but the fact is the symptoms of narcolepsy can be treated. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is done using stimulants. For example, Ritalin, normally given to treat attention deficit disorder, can be used to control narcolepsy symptoms. Message to the vet treating this dog: Try that and maybe the dog can lead some kind of normal existence. I own 3 horses and where I board my horses there is a horse with narcolepsy (hey-better get out of the way when he falls asleep!). He gets medicine and lives a pretty normal life. Not sure if I would want to ride him, but he's able to enjoy the day and eat his meals etc.

Here is another video about narcolepsy in dogs.

Euthanizing a Dog for Behavioral Problems

All too often these days its easy to have an animal behaviorist come along and say a dog should be euthanized because it has this or that behavior problem. Having owned a few "problem" dogs, I think the time has come to recognize that dogs are often being put down when they don't need to be and that we shouldn't always defer to the so-called experts-animal behaviorists making life or death decisions.

My dog Tony-who is now being treated for heartworm-is one such example. He was found wandering along the river and ended up in the city animal shelter. An animal behaviorist examined him and declared him unfit for adoption. He was labeled as shy and fear-aggressive. Luckily a woman nearby runs a German Shepherd Rescue and she has a long-standing relationship with the city animal control. She happened to find out Tony was in the shelter and picked him up (they let her take him despite his supposed issues because of that long term relationship). Guess what? Tony is fine. He is the friendliest dog you could ever meet. Sometimes I wonder....is Tony really a German Shepherd? He seems more like a Labrador Retreiver wearing a German Shepherd dog suit most of the time.

Another of my dogs-Lucy the Weimaraner-has a similar story. She escaped from the yard at her previous owners and ended up in the shelter. Once again, the animal behaviorist labeled her as fear-aggressive. But Lucy wouldn't hurt a flea, even though she is definitely the alpha dog in my house.

These two cases taught me a lesson that really hit home. Had the German Shepherd Rescue not visited Tony, he might have been euthanized by the animal shelter staff since the resident expert deemed him dangerous. Same fate might have awaited Lucy. But these are perfectly good dogs that have made great pets.

Are we too eager to euthanize in this age where we desire perfect safety? I think we are. If a dog is fear-aggressive, why not work on the dog first? Start by getting the dog in basic obedience training and work HARD at it so the dog drops into a down without batting an eye. Then socialize the dog. Get it out among people and other dogs. Crate the dog when you've got company. I think people give up on a dog too easily. Remember life is precious and temporary. With a little effort a dog might come out of his shell and be a great companion. It takes a special person with some dedication to deal with a situation like this, but why not step up to the plate and try. There is already too much death in the world and people are always looking for the easy way out.

We live in an era when there are tough choices to be made. Tragic things do happen, all too often we hear about a pack of pit bulls attacking a child bringing the problem of dog aggression to the fore. But the real problem is breeding-too many dogs and not enough homes. Until that problem is solved difficult choices will continue to be a necessity.