"Humanization" of dogs: The pros and cons

This is Brain from one of my favorite television shows.
He is a very good example of a humanized dog. He
is actually very over-humanized.

Humanization:

In recent years, dogs have increasingly become part of our families. People love their dogs and tend to treat them as people. I think this is, in large part, due to the way that dogs bond with people. This tendency to bond with people and become faithful companions is why dogs have become known as, "man's best friend".

We share our living space with dogs. Dogs make good companions. 

People dress their dogs in facsimiles of human clothing. Unfortunately, we tend to think of them as little people with four legs and a tail. 

Pros of the humanization movement:

There are some very good things that have come out of this movement to make our dogs part of our families.

This is me and a blue tick hound named
Joe. The picture was taken in 1982

When I was growing up (in the 1970s  in Georgia) most dogs lived outside for their entire lives. We had fenced in backyards or dog runs. Many dogs roamed freely outside in the more rural areas. We loved our dogs back then, but, they were not generally thought of as family members. Many folks used their dogs for hunting or for herding. This is not a bad thing but the dogs were rarely thought of as family members.

Veterinary care was generally just for rabies vaccines and for injuries or severe sickness. Generally flea and tick control was not nearly as good as it is today. 

Dogs were generally not as healthy and in my experience, the lifespans were noticeably shorter. I knew of very few healthy senior dogs.

The way we fed dogs was much different as well. We used some dog food but it was always supplemented by scraps that we had left over from our meals. There was very little real effort to ensure that dogs ate a balanced and healthy diet.

With this humanization of dogs, dogs are generally much better cared for and have a longer life span. That is a really great thing!

Please understand, I don't think that this trend of having our dogs play a larger role in our lives is a bad thing. The Lovely Shane and I have a tenancy to project certain human aspects incorrectly onto our dogs. It is sometimes a bit of a struggle to realize that our dogs are really, in many ways quite different from us as adult human beings.

Some of the "toddlers". Two of these are former fosters
and two are permanent members of our pack.

The Lovely Shane has, quite correctly, pointed out that adult and senior dog behavior is more closely analogous to human toddler behavior. As always, there is much wisdom and validity to her point. However, as with most analogies, this one is not exact. While human toddlers grow up and their behavior changes in many significant ways, the dog's behavior does not change in the same ways. This is an important thing to remember in order to set your dog up for success in training. You must set your expectations correctly and to do this it is important to understand that dogs do not mature in the same ways that we do and they do not think exactly like people think. Dogs can be very intelligent but their minds work differently than do ours. For this reason, I think the over-humanization of dogs can prove to be a great hindrance to your training efforts and ultimately to your relationship to your dog.

Cons of the humanization movement:

While I love my dogs and they are absolutely part of our family, I understand that dogs are very different from people. It is important that you as a dog parent(or owner, or handler) understand this as well.

I am convinced that many, if not most, of the behavioral problems that we have with our dogs is the result of our misunderstanding of the fact that dogs are not people. I know this seems simple. I also know that I see the results of this fundamental misunderstanding quite frequently.

Our dogs, while great and loyal companions, are not our peers. They look to us for leadership.

The results of one of Copper's most notable
trash can incidents.

You have perhaps heard it stated that dog's live in the moment. This is a popular saying of dog trainers with television shows. I think it is over-stated at times but it is, indeed, true. For instance, dogs do not always immediately link cause to effect. Sometimes this link seems to never be complete. For example, my demo dog, Copper loves to sniff through the trash and eat any items that he finds interesting regardless of whether they are dangerous to him. This happens, in large part, due to his instinct as a Beagle. He is lead by his nose. He is a very well behaved dog but, the allure of fresh smelly trash is overwhelming to him at times. For that reason we go to great lengths to keep him, and the rest of our scent hounds, out of trash. We do this mostly by making the trash physically inaccessible.  However, there are times in which our best efforts fail. Copper has, in the past, eaten treasures from the trash that have made him sick. He does not, however, seem to link the eating of the trash to his tummy ache. 

Dogs are very much dependent upon us humans. This seems to be an emotional as well as physical dependence. We must remember that dogs communicate differently than we humans communicate. Dogs do not use much verbal communication. So called "body language" is very much a part of their communications. It plays a much bigger role than verbal communication. The dog consistently looks to your body language for his cues. The dog notice subtle differences. I believe this is how my dogs often realize that I am not feeling well and try to comfort me. They notice subtle differences in the way that I interact with them and others. 

This aspect of their communication is important to remember when dealing with anxiety in dogs. For instance, if a dog is afraid of thunder, you should not be overly affectionate with him when he is scared. In other words, do not act like you are reacting to the thunder as well. If you react, it tends to reinforce his anxiety. To us, this may seem counter-intuitive, but it is true. It serves as an illustration of one of the many ways that dogs are different from humans. Over-humanization may lead us to react to the dog in a way that actually does not help him.

Eating is another of the many areas in which your dog is quite different from you. We love the

These are peanut butter and jelly
duplex dog cookies. We used to sell
these on the treat bar at Petco. Dogs love the
peanut butter and I like the taste as well.

taste of food. Our taste buds are very refined and sensitive in comparison to our dog. The dog does not get all that much enjoyment from the taste of the food. It is actually the odor that the dog enjoys. Dogs do not have a need to chew their food nearly as much as we do. Their saliva actually works quite differently from ours. The main purpose of a dog's saliva, in regard to eating, is to lubricate the food. In people, the saliva begins the digestive process (at least that is my understanding). So, we have much more time to taste the food and we have better taste buds to taste. Therefore, much of the marketing of dog food for taste is really directed at the human consumer rather than the dog. This is also the reason that high value foods for a dog are generally very smelly and not really appealing to the human sense of smell or taste for that matter. Although, some of the high end dog biscuits are quite tasty! When I worked at Petco, we had a treat bar with bulk dog cookies. These were human grade food. Some of them tasted pretty good. It was also fun to see the look on customer's faces when I would eat them. However, the dogs like them more for the smell than the taste. My experience has been that the heavier the odor, the more the dog likes the treat. Also, the smellier ones that the dogs really enjoy are not all that tasty to my pallet.

I have not done exhaustive research on this particular subject. I am sure there are many other areas that I have neglected to cover here on both the pro and con sides. However, my point is that it behooves us as adopted dog parents to understand that while we share a significant bond with our dogs, they are, indeed very different from us.

This is a grain free food that Petco actually sells for
$80.99 in a 25.3 pound bag. When I worked there we
carried a similar food and actually sold about 3 bags a week.

In my humble and perhaps biased opinion, I think that this over-humanization of dogs is exacerbated by those who market their products to us. This is a fact of which we need to be aware in all of our purchasing decisions. A dog's dietary needs are quite different than our own. Please keep this in mind when choosing dog food. Dog food manufacturers many times attempt to capatilze on our tendencies to humanize our dogs. This is evident in the prevalence of  dog food alternatives that mirror closely the current dietary trends in humans. For instance there are vegetarian , grain free, and gluten free foods that are pricey and very heavily marketed. While I am certain there are some dogs that benefit from this type of diet due to relatively rare health issues, it is not necessarily good for the dog just because it is beneficial in people. For that reason, before you switch foods to address some perceived problem with your dog's health, it is my strong recommendation that you seek veterinary advice. Please avoid the temptation to seek this advice from those who have a vested interest in selling you the food. When I worked at Petco, we were trained in dog nutrition. However, that training was very heavily geared toward selling food and not so highly motivated by the true needs of the dog. Sales people are simply not experts in dog health. Neither are dog trainers in general. The true experts are those who went to medical school and have examined your dog. I am referring, of course, to your veterinarian.

I hope that this post has been helpful to you in your endeavor to better understand your dog.

If you have any training needs or questions please contact me.

Till next time 

-William-

Who are the True Friends of Man's Best Friend ?

Trigger the Dapple Dachshund 

Trigger, our adopted Dapple Dachshund recently experienced a severe health problem. He had an intestinal obstruction and was very close to death.

He stopped eating for about eight days. The x-rays showed evidence of obstruction and it seemed that the only option to save his life was costly urgent surgery.

As you may recall, I had back surgery about six months ago and missed quite a bit of work. This depleted quite a bit of our family funds. However, Trigger needed medical attention and we were determined to provide what he needed. Trigger is a member of our family and that is our responsibility.

You see, this is the responsibility that we all accept when we adopt a dog. We are responsible for their needs throughout their lives.

Well, we began to seek funding. We borrowed some money. Some of you folks, upon learning of Trigger's situation, generously donated money.

As many of you know, I was, at one time, employed by Petco in Peachtree City, Georgia. Petco claims to support dog adoption. They host adoption events at their stores. This is not, however, an exclusively altruistic endeavor for Petco. I was the Dog Trainer at this store and was also involved as a volunteer with one of the rescue organizations that participated in the events.

What are Petco's motives in their support
of  adopted dogs? If you are thinking revenue,
you are probably correct.

The adoption events do expose a lot of dogs to potential forever homes. That is a great thing! In fact, we adopted Trigger as a result of one of those events. However, we who care about adopted/rescue dogs must always remember the motives of Petco as a corporation. Petco makes a lot of revenue from the supplies that these adopted dog parents buy at the events. My observations during my employment there indicated that it was an average of about $300 of revenue for each adoption.This is revenue from supplies that the adoptive parents buy for the dog (beds, food, crates,toys, training and grooming services, bowls, bedding, etc.) Multiply that by hundreds of thousands and pretty soon you are talking about real money :).

I am not against making a profit. In fact, that is part of the reason that I am in business. My business is a for profit endeavor as well. I really enjoy eating at least two are three times a day and having a roof over my head and other luxuries :) . So, profit is not bad. I want to make as much as possible without compromising my ethics. Moore Services for Your Money treats our customers the way that we would like to be treated. Therefore, ethics and honesty is very important to us. We do advertise however, you, as our customer can and should trust that what we say in advertising or anywhere else does truly reflect our beliefs.

Petco maintains that they are seriously concerned about the welfare of homeless dogs. They make a really big deal about how many hundreds of thousands of dogs that find forever homes as a result of their adoption events. This is great! I truly applaud them for this and encourage them to continue this endeavor.  Petco also supports a non-profit called the Petco Foundation. Again, this is in no way exclusively altruistic. The Petco name is promoted at every opportunity, even the name of the organization screams "Hey, look how much Petco cares!". That is good. I do not begrudge them this promotional and marketing opportunity and the Petco Foundation actually does some great work. However, we must keep the Petco corporate motivation in mind here.

At this point, if you are still reading, you are likely wondering what this information about Petco has to do with Trigger's health issues. Please indulge me a few more lines to explain:

In our efforts to raise money for Trigger, The Lovely Shane set up a gofundme page. We really did not raise much directly from the page but we did get indirect donations and help from the publicity that it generated.

Petco has a presence on Twitter. I contacted @petco by private message on Twitter and simply requested that they retweet a tweet that I sent out earlier with a link to the gofundme page. I explained that I am a former Petco Dog Trainer and that Trigger was adopted at one of their events. I explained the very urgent and potentially life and death need for the surgery. I did not ask for money from Petco. I did not ask for a personal endorsement of my business. I very literally and quite simply asked for a simple click of the mouse to help one of these dogs that they claim to care so much about.

The terse and rude reply that I received was that Petco does not retweet or in any way promote "private fundraisers".

My friends ,customers, and fellow dog lovers, Petco literally refused to move a mouse a few inches to help one of these dogs that they claim to care so much about.

I thought, "well maybe this is just an employee who does not understand Petco's alleged commitment to these dogs". So, as a business owner myself, I thought the CEO should know about this apparent disconnect from their message. So, I sent an email to Jim Myers, the Petco CEO. I have sent him email messages on a few other occasions. He never has responded directly but always forwards the message to an associate who responds to me quite promptly. This case was no exception. I got a response that indicates that Petco never retweets or makes any sort of public acknowledgement of these sorts of requests. The response essentially indicates that it is too much work for them to move the mouse and click on these. Folks, I am not in anyway exaggerating here. This is essentially what the email indicated.

I have to give Petco credit. They did forward my contact information to the Petco Foundation and to a non-profit that in "qualified cases" does "sometimes" provide assistance.

However, what I learned from this experience is this: Petco cares publicly about dogs like Trigger when there is potential revenue at stake (like the adoption events) but, when there is no potential revenue involved (like the retweet request) they will literally not even clck a mouse in an effort to help.

Even in their forwarding of my request to the Petco foundation, Petco's interest seems to be revenue motivated. They could attach the Petco name to any assistance that Trigger ultimately received via the foundation.

So, that is the bad part.

Here is the great part:

Trigger was helped by many true friends of man's best friend.

Flat Creek Animal Clinic where Trigger was initially evaluated and treated allowed us to break the bill up into payments. We paid the bill in full yesterday. We can not thank them enough for this!

The Animal Medical Clinic  in Peachtree City gave us a great price on Trigger's care and medication. They were also going to do the surgery at a great price! Trigger thanks you and we thank you!

 Elisa Price with Critter Sitters was very generous to us in the form of retweets and publicity. By the way, if you need pet sitting please contact her!

Several other people provided loans and donations. We really got great support in only a couple of hours!

The really great news is that Trigger did not need the surgery! It was apparently a parasitic blockage. He is now doing much better! We still incurred quite a bit of expense. He spent all day at the vet's office doing diagnostic testing to make sure that he no longer needed surgery and that is never cheap.

However, we were able to pay back the loans. And the donations helped greatly in covering the treatment and diagnostic costs!

So, Trigger is now back to his old self. He has his appetite back and is doing very well!

We truly appreciate the help of all of you who are truly friends to man's best friend!

God Bless you all!

-William-

Getting a puppy for Christmas??

This is a campaign that dogster ran in 2012.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post here detailing why dogs should not be given as gifts.

Having a dog in your home is a serious responsibility and I still believe that it should not be taken lightly.

I was surprised recently when I saw an article on dogster.com recently titled "It’s OK to Get a Puppy for Christmas If You Agree to Do These 30 Things". I thought that perhaps my long time colleague, Annie Phenix was kidding. Especially since last year she wrote and article titled,"What Not to Give This Year for Christmas: Puppies!",  Both articles are spot on!

I suppose the point that Annie is trying to make is that you must consider that is required when you bring a dog into your home. That cute little pup will grow up. The person who owns a dog makes a commitment to care for the dog for the dog's entire lifetime.

There is great information in the two articles that Annie wrote. My earlier blog post also has some good information about what is required of dog owners.

Also, if you are considering bringing a dog into your home I suggest that you read my book, "Parents Manual for Adopted Dogs". The book will help you to welcome the dog into your home.

Remember that training is also a commitment that you have to make to a new dog. As a professional dog trainer, I do not train dogs. I train people in the proper techniques to use with their dogs. Training the dog requires a commitment from the owner. Polite Dogs = Happy People is my motto when it comes to dog training. However, to get a polite dog, the owner must work with the dog! I can show a dog owner the proper technique but, the owner must apply the techniques in a consistent manner.

If you are considering welcoming a new dog into your home or if you want to teach the dog that you already have in your home to be a Polite little guy or girl, please contact me!

Till Next Time

-William

After a rough few months, the Dog Trainer is back!

Dog Trainer just before back surgery

The Lovely and Awesome Shane

As many of you know, I have not been working much the last several months. I have had some pretty severe problems with nerve pain in my right leg. It turns out that the problem seems to have been a pinched nerve in my lower back. The nerve was being pinched by a ruptured disc.

After trying physical therapy and three rounds of very uncomfortable steroidal injection in the lower back, I had surgery to remove the offending disc material. The surgery was done two months ago.

I am still having some pain but it is getting better every day. I am not yet back to doing all the handyman work that I usually provide but, I am back to dog training!

The lovely and awesome Shane has been, and continues to be a big help to me!

Copper is ready for work!

Copper, my demo beagle,  is also looking forward to getting back to work! We are both ready to help you with any training issues that you may have!

If you would like Copper and I to help you train your dogs to be polite little guys and girls, please contact us!

I always say, " Polite Dogs = Happy People". Let us help you to become happy today!

Till Next Time -

William

Professional Dog Trainer
Co-Owner
Moore Services for Your Money
678-702-4791
mooresvs.com

Welcome to the pack, Doyle the Doxle, Also, what I have been up to lately.

Welcome Doyle!

The Lovely Shane, Doyle and Butters spend quality time
at the Dog Training Shack

The Lovely Shane and I would like to welcome Doyle the Doxle to the pack at the Dog Training Shack!

We adopted Doyle shortly before Christmas from his former foster family at Angels Among Us dog rescue. The Lovely Shane saw Doyle on an Internet advertisement and fell in love with the little guy,

Doyle is a young adult and is very mild mannered. He loves nothing more than snuggling on the couch with his new Mommy. He is a young adult.

Doyle gives Daddy a kiss.

For those of you not familiar with the term "Doxle", Doyle is a mix of Dachshund and Beagle. He has a long body with short legs similar to his pack mate and new buddy Trigger the Dachshund. His face more closely resembles that of a Beagle.

Doyle is very food motivated, like a true Beagle. He also has many of the personality traits that one associates with the Dachshund. His bark sounds more like the Dachshund than the Beagle.

Now that Doyle is beginning to settle in to life with our pack, we are beginning to teach him basic commands (He knew a few already when we got him). It appears that he has never been taught to walk properly on a leash. We will begin that training soon.

Where has the Dog Trainer been hiding lately?

I apologize that it has been so long since you have heard much from me. I have had a few health problems lately. Most recently I had a very painful time with kidney stones. Before that, I had terrible migraine headaches that occurred every day. The doctors never really determined the cause of the headaches although they seem to have stopped now.

So, I am back in action now!

Copper and I have been doing dog training sessions. I have also started doing Handyman work again.

So, if you have a dog that is having trouble being a polite and well behaved little guy or girl, please contact me, Copper and I will be happy to help you!

By the way, Copper has now been my demo dog for two years! We are happy to celebrate that anniversary with Copper!

I am sure that I will put up a blog post soon to commemorate Copper's Anniversary.

Till Next Time-

William

A Virtually Dog Proof Kitchen Trash Can!

 Any of you that live with Beagles or other scent hounds realize the importance of dog-proofing the kitchen.  The Lovely and Beautiful Shane and I are currently doing a small remodeling project in our kitchen. As you may recall, from a previous blog post, we used to keep our trash can behind a latched door in the kitchen pantry. This was problematic because a simple latch is no match for a curious and motivated beagle. Beagles and scent hounds find the aroma of kitchen trash to be a highly motivating thing indeed!

The other problem with keeping the trash behind the latched door was that it was inconvenient. Anytime we wanted to throw something away, we had to deal with the latch and door.

We decided that we would rather have more open shelf and counter space than the enclosed pantry so, I removed a couple of walls and we are working on building a new counter and shelves. We are also installing some cool wall panels that look like stone work.  We are exited about this project but, we needed a trash containment solution that would deter motivated beagles and allow us convenient and easy access to the trash can.

Through much research, The Lovely, Beautiful, and Intelligent Shane found a really cool trash can manufactured by Simply Human. This trash can is a model that simply human refers to as "butterfly". It has a cantilever type of lid that is operated by a foot pedal. Because of the cantilever design, the lid closes very securely. The model that we purchased is slightly bottom heavy so, it stays upright pretty easily. We have had ours in the kitchen for about a month now and the dogs pretty much ignore it.

For a trash can, these units are a little pricey. However, we feel that this unit is well worth the price that we paid for it!

We bought ours at a clearance price from a local Bed, Bath and Beyond store. I suppose this would fall into the "beyond" department :) . I am not sure why Bed, Bath and Beyond stopped carrying this item. We really do like ours!

If you need help dog proofing your home, or if you need help training your canine buddy to be a polite little guy or girl, please contact me at any time.

Polite Dogs = Happy People.... Let me help you get happy today!!!

Till Next Time

-William

Advice regarding stores that suddenly deny access to your dog.

Copper Whopper helping me in the shop.

As many of my readers know, I also own and operate a Lawn Maintenance/Handyman business.By the way, we provide the best and most reliable service available anywhere.

I often take one or two of the pack to work with me when weather conditions are mild.

Recently Copper and I went to work together. We were purchasing material an tools for a custom shelving job. Copper has done this with me many times before. We were in Harbor Freight Tools in Fayetteville, GA. This is one of our frequent stops. Copper was on leash (as he always is when we are out) and we were approached by an associate of the store who asked that I put Copper in a shopping cart or remove him. Well, as you can imagine, a shopping cart, for many reasons, is not an option for Copper. So, I did not cause a scene. We simply went to the check-out, paid for our stuff, and departed for our next stop.

I never suggest that you start an argument with anyone who ask you to remove your pet dog. Please comply with a business owner's ( or in this case their representative's) request. It is, after all, their property and this is a free country. They have the absolute right to deny service or access to anyone at anytime and I would not have it any other way.

I was however, confused. Copper had been welcome in that establishment for a long time. So, I contacted Harbor Freight Tools through their website. I sent them an email in which I respectfully requested clarification on their policies and explained my concerns regarding the safety of pet dogs in shopping carts.

I learned that this was simply an encounter with an employee who did not understand the policy.

This is an except from the email I got from Harbor Freight:

Good Afternoon Mr. Moore,

I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience in our store.
I know who you are because I see you in the store with your dog.
It is not a policy nor is there a law that should keep you from bringing your dog into our store.
You and your dog is more than welcome in our store at any time. The only time that we may<sic> band a dog if customer’s felt threaten by a dog and I would confer with my boss and the office before making that decision.
If you will let me know who told you not to bring your dog back into the store, I will correct the situation.
The small business owner is the meat and potatoes of our business. We too are a small one owner company.
I am looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you and Copper in the store soon.
Thanks,
Bill

Bill Tesney
Store Manager
HFT352
1415 HWY 85 North
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Store Phone: 770-461-5521
HARBOR FREIGHT TOOLS
Quality Tools at Ridiculously Low Prices


I responded with a description of the employee whom I encountered along with further clarification of my concerns:

Hello Mr. Tensey-

Thank you for your response.

I was never told to not bring Copper back into the store. I was told to put him into a shopping cart.

My experience and observations of canine behavior, in my work as a professional dog trainer, has influenced my belief that a shopping cart can be a very dangerous place for a dog. The issue is two-fold. If a dog is stressed, for any reason, being confined is not a good thing. This makes the effects of the anxiety much stronger for the dog. It has been my experience that a confined dog is exponentially more likely to bite. The other issue with confinement to something like a shopping cart is that shopping carts were not really designed with our canine buddies in mind. The large openings between the mesh on the bottom can lead to injury. It is also difficult to get a dog larger than medium size in and out of a shopping cart.

The above is my concern. I simply want to know if dogs are allowed to walk on the floor, on a leash  in your store. The representative who asked me to put Copper in a shopping cart was a white lady I believe she had brunette or dark color hair. Probably about 5'6" - 5'9" in height (if I remember correctly). I was a little rushed on the day of the incident so, I did not really discuss it with her. I simply told her that we were on our way out and went to the register.

I work with many customers who are interested in pet friendly places to bring their dogs. I maintain an Internet Blog at http://fayettedogtrainer.blogspot.com. I would like to accurately indicate your policy to my customers. Are dogs required to be in shopping carts?

By the way, I completely understand and agree that you absolutely have the right to ban any dog that you consider to be a threat to safety. In fact, other that the case of service dogs, you, as a business, can ban dogs altogether. That is your company's decision and I respect that right. I am not upset, I simply want to understand Harbor Freight Tools' position and policy on pet dogs in your stores.

Thank you again, and Copper and I look forward to seeing you soon. We are in there quite frequently to pick up tools that we need for the Handyman business.

Have a good day!


-William Moore

This is the response I got back:

Good Morning Mr Moore,
Thank you for your response.
On a leash in the store is fine.
We have numerous dogs that come in our store all the time.
The managers that I spoke all know who you are and have no problem.
Let me know if you need anything else.
I will speak to <name censored> about the incident from the other day.
Thanks,
Bill

Bill Tesney
Store Manager
HFT352
1415 HWY 85 North
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Store Phone: 770-461-5521
Cell Phone: 770-359-8112
HARBOR FREIGHT TOOLS
Quality Tools at Ridiculously Low Prices

This, my friends, is the way that professionals handle this sort of situation. I asked for clarification and Bill Tensey provided the clarification I requested. I was never mad, simply concerned and a bit confused.

Now I can report that Harbor Freight Tools is a pet friendly business. Please be respectful of Harbor Freight Tools, or any other business, and do not bring your dog in unless they are properly housebroken and behave well on leash.

If you need assistance in training your dog to be a polite little guy or girl in public, or anywhere else, please contact me.

Till Next Time

-William-

Does a dog's face ever remind you of a particular person's face?

This is foster boy Biscuit. His face reminds
me of one of my father's uncles face.

This is Trigger. His face reminds me of
a cousin.

This is foster boy Charlie. His face reminds
me of an aunt.

This is Butters. His face reminds me of
an uncle.

Have you ever seen a dog and noticed a facial resemblance to a particular person? This happens to me quite frequently. The Lovely Shane thinks I am joking. It is however, true!

The collage of pictures above represent some recent examples of this phenomena. 

I saw something on Netflix recently that perhaps begins to explain this phenomena (or psychosis, if you prefer). Sometimes I watch a documentary on Netflix before I fall asleep. On this particular evening I found one produced by the Smithsonian Channel. The documentary is part of their series titled "Catching Killers". The documentary was about using skeletal remains of murder victims in an effort to catch the murderer.  It was quite interesting. There are actually folks called forensic artists who can recreate facial features very accurately from the skull of a victim. This is used in an attempt to identify remains. They do this with modeling clay applied to the skull. It is really pretty cool. Well, the forensic artist indicated that the reason this technique works so well is that people remember faces based upon patterns. Patterns that we use are made up of elements like eye spacing, size of mouth, nose size, ears, etc. This is how we recognize individuals. 

If I apply this to my odd habit of identifying a particular dog's face to that of a human that I have seen, perhaps it begins to make sense. Maybe what my irregular mind is doing is using the patterns in the faces of people I have seen previously and seeing similarities in a particular dog. This makes me feel more sane :).

So, if you ever see a dog and think, "Hey he looks like Uncle Billy Bob", or something similar, perhaps that does not indicate that you are crazy :) . I just thought you should know.

Regardless of who your dog looks like, I can help you train him to be a polite little man. So, please contact me!

Till Next Time -

William

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

Coming in 2015 ..... New Book!

That is the Lovely and Awesome Shane on the cover with our cover boy,
Foster Boy Charles the Duke of Fayette County (We just call him Charlie).

I am happy to announce a new book on which I am working. The working title is Parent's Manual for Adopted Dogs (all rights reserved).

The book is intended as a reference manual for people who have adopted dogs in thier packs. In addition to that, it is also intended as a guide for those of you who are contemplating adding an adopted little guy or girl to your pack.

There are sections of the book regarding the most common behavioral and medical issues associated with adopted dogs. The book also leads you through getting your home ready for your adopted dog and introducing them to the pack.

The book details the monetary and time commitments that are necessary for the care of your adopted dog. The book also details what behaviors and training are necessary to help your adopted guy or girl become a polite dog. Because, as many of you understand, Polite Dogs = Happy People. This book is intended to guide you to the happiness that you can obtain from your relationship with your polite adopted dog!

My plans are to, at least initially, make this book available in electronic format for some of the popular e-reader devices (i.e. Nook, Kindle, etc.). Dependent upon the success of the electronic book, I will likely publish the book in a printed format.

I need some feedback from you, my readers. Please let me know which e-reader you currently use. Also let me know of any specific topics that you would like to see covered in the book. You can do this in the comments on this post or, if you would rather send me an e-mail or call me, that is fine as well. My contact information is at the bottom of this post.

Thank you all in advance for any help that you can provide on this project.

I expect to be ready to publish the book in electronic format around the beginning of 2015.

Till next time-

William

William Moore Canine Training
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com
678-702-4791

Waste Industries Full Circle Project Supports Animal Rescue!

The Lovely and Awesome Shane and I use Waste Industries for our trash collection. The Lovely and Awesome Shane got an email from them today announcing a new program that sounds pretty cool. Their customers get to pick which type of charities that waste management will support. It does not add any additional cost to your bill. All the details of the program are not in place yet but there is a selection to support animal rescue. If you are a waste industries customer you will be getting an email from the soon. Here is an except from the one Shane received:

"Welcome to the Full Circle Project, the all-new Customer Driven Charitable Giving project by Waste Industries!



Before we get into the details on how this campaign works, we want to take a brief moment to say how thankful we are for your participation. This project is designed to more appropriately direct how Waste Industries handles its annual charitable giving.

We take special pride in helping out the communities we service, a commitment that extends from the services we provide to the many charities we give back to each and every year. Now, however, we are doing things with a bit of a twist.

From now on, you get to decide how we donate our charitable funds. It won’t cost you a penny extra to participate, as this service is funded 100% by Waste Industries. The twist is that we don’t get to decide how the money is spent anymore, you do!

We have broken down our charitable giving into five categories. Those categories include:

Animal Rescue – Includes charities such as the Humane Society"

Other worthy causes were listed here as well. It goes on to read:

"Once you select a category, your iCAN account will be updated with a badge displaying your decision to push Waste Industries donations to the charities within your category. Within 2-4 weeks, you’ll receive an envelope from Waste Industries containing further information on your category and a sticker/decal to attach to your Waste Industries container, showing your neighbors that you have helped direct funds that benefit the charity of your choosing. The more people that donate to your category, the more funds your category could potentially receive."

So, if you are a waste industries customer, please consider making the choice of Animal Rescue like the Lovely and Awesome Shane and I did! Waste Industries customers should be getting an email like this soon.

Till Next Time

-William-

My dog ignores me when I call. The importance of recall.

The Importance of Recall Training

One of the most common things that folks ask me about involves teaching a dog to consistently come when called. Dog trainers (just to sound cool) call this recall.

A polite dog should be very consistent at coming to you when you call. However, like everything else in dog training, this requires consistency in training. The dog must get a consistent message from you. The absolute most important thing to remember is that responding to your come command must not be seen, by the dog, as optional. I am in no way suggesting that you punish the dog for not responding. However, if the dog does not respond, you must be prepared to physically walk over to the dog and get his attention.

Recall is important for the safety of the dog. It is also important because a lot of other things that you will likely want to accomplish in training rely, to a large extent, upon good recall.

I know this sounds like it does not need to be pointed out.... but... I am going to point it out anyway (this is my blog I suppose I can do that :) ) : The dog must respond to his/her name before recall has any chance at all of working. Before you begin your recall training the dog must understand his/her name! 

Does this guy look complex to you? All Dr. Phil McBeagle
really wants here is attention from his foster daddy.
Affection is a great motivator for Dr. Phil. Treats are
not bad either :).

I have mentioned many times before, on this blog, that dogs are not complex. They really are not complex.  You must keep that in mind. They do not understand the English language. Therefore, repeating their names or commands can really be confusing to these little guys. For instance, when I want Copper to come to me, I call his name one time i.e. " Copper" then I give the command (or cue)" Come". Those are the only two words I use.  If I need to get his attention again, I make kissing sounds or whistle or maybe even snap my fingers. I never repeat the command (or cue) or his name. The reasoning for this is very simple. If I repeat his name, Copper may begin to think his name is "Copper....Copper.... Copper" or that the cue (or command) to which he needs to respond is " Come...Come...Come". 

By the way, I also tell folks that it is really important to use a verbal and visual cue. For instance, Copper knows the hand signal for "Come" and if he can see me, I should not have to use the verbal cue. This is part of training for a polite dog. For instance, if I am in a conversation with another person and want Copper to come over, I should not have to stop my conversation to call him, simply using the visual cues should work too.

Foster Boy Tiny and Foster Boy Biscuit playing on the porch.
This is an example of something that is fun for the dogs
and a potential distraction when you call them.

It is really beyond the scope of this post to teach you step-by-step how to accomplish good recall. However, I want to encourage you that it can be done! Sometimes it is frustrating but you can be successful.

A large part of success however, involves setting realistic expectations. You will very likely never get 100% recall from any dog. This is especially true with the scent hound breeds. If a dog is on the trail of some interesting scent, it is difficult. However, you can get really good recall. The times when the dog does not respond should be rare. 

You must also remember that this is a process. You have to first get your dog to come consistently with no distractions before you introduce distractions. There are techniques that allow adding distractions slowly. For instance, the dog should consistently come to you when you are in the same room in the house before you start trying it when the dog can not see you ( i.e. you are in another room). And until the dog comes consistently from another room with a few distractions, you should not expect him to come when he is outside with all the interesting smells and cool fun things to do!

Treats can be a powerful motivator

You also must have some type of motivation to entice the dog to do something that he really does not want to do, like come to you when he would rather play with a pack mate or chase a squirrel. I often use treats in the beginning.  To address my trainer friends who do not like this technique, I will point out that I do not have to use the treats forever. If the dog begins to associate fun things (like getting a tasty treat) with doing what I want him to do, he will be more likely to do it even if he does not get a treat every time. Eventually it will become routine for him. There are different techniques for training. I have found that I have success with this positive motivation method. So, I use it!

If you need help teaching your dog recall, Copper and I will be happy to help! Good recall is essential for a polite dog. I always tell you that " Polite Dogs = Happy People". So, call me and let me help you get happy today!

Till next time,

-William-

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

Announcing a Cool New Contest

Trigger the Dapple Dachshund's Secret Word Search

This is a new contest that we will be running periodically. A discount will be offered .All you have to do is find Trigger's secret word in the latest blog post. 

The hint for Trigger's secret word will be posted in a Craigslist Ad. 

The current contest hint can be found at http://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/pas/4344127747.html

Find Trigger's Secret Word and get a 10% discount!

- William-

Who did it??

Cuddles is as shocked as the Lovely Shane and I were...
She has no idea how this happened! 

A couple of days ago the Lovely, Awesome Shane and I were in the kitchen having a cup of coffee. While we were in the kitchen we heard a crash in the office. Upon closer investigation we found the scene depicted in the photograph. A chair was overturned. How did that happen?  Obviously, barring the possibility of paranormal activity, one of our canine buddies was responsible. Who, oh who, could it be???

Trigger surveys the damage .

The dogs looked at us as if they were as surprised as we were. Fortunately no dogs were injured. Even with polite little guys and girls, like we have in our pack, accidents sometimes happen.

This sort of thing occurs often enough at the Dog Training/Foster Shack that we have come up with a unique and hopefully humorous solution:

We assign a "head dog in charge" each day. That dog is in charge of pack behavior. We were at Wal-Mart the other day and found a little white board that sticks to the refrigerator with a magnet. This thing was on sale for less than a dollar so, we made the investment .We use this to post "head dog in charge" each day. (Yes..... we really do this.... we both have an odd sense of humor, I suppose). Even the foster pack members get to be "head dog in charge". This is a rotating title, a different dog has it each day.  Notice in the picture that Foster Boy Sammy has the honor today!

We enjoy our dogs and have a lot of fun with them. The point of posting this here is that you do not have to always be serious when it comes to dealing with your dogs. Accidents will happen. From time to time stuff will get knocked over. It is all part of having these little guys and girls in our families. I think what happened here is that Copper the Whopper Beagle jumped out of the chair too quickly and turned it over. It is no big deal. We allow him on that chair. He is about the best behaved dog I have ever worked with. He is polite and mild mannered. But, he is a beagle :) .

Copper relaxing on "his" office chair.

If you need help training your little guy or girl to be better behaved, please contact me. I will even help you teach them not to get on your furniture if that is what you desire. The point is that Copper is allowed on the furniture so, I  should not get upset with him when he accidentally knocks a chair over :) Besides, Sammy was in charge, it wasn't Copper's fault......at least that is Copper's story!.

A yard sign I use for my Lawn Maintenance
Handyman business... Yes that is actually an
old reel mower that I use to hold the sign up.

Well... there is more winter weather here in Fayette County, Georgia. We are in the middle of an ice storm here. We lost our electricity, here at the shack, for most of the day today. I understand that a large part of the eastern USA is having similar weather. As I have mentioned before, please, please, please, let your dog inside if you normally keep them outside. Also, make sure that all your dogs are in the house before you close the door if you let them out in a fenced back yard like we do. This winter weather is extremely dangerous for them (as it is for us as well)!

Till Next Time-

William
William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

Dog Training/Foster Shack in snow and ice. The
Lovely Shane and I are staying home until
the roads get better. Yes, that is the Awesome Mobile parked
out front!

A piece of yard art left by a previous occupant. I have not decided
if I like it or not. It is heavy so, I have not felt like moving it either.

Welcome Foster Boy Charlie the Beagle!

The Lovely and Awesome Shane with our newest arrival,
Charlie the Little Beagle.

The Lovely and Awesome Shane, Cuddles the Corgi Mix, Copper the Whopper Beagle, Cody the Little Beagle, Trigger the Dapple Dachshund, Foster Boy Dr. Phil McBeagle, Foster Boy Sammy the Beagle, and I  are pleased to welcome our newest foster member, Charlie the Little Beagle to our pack!

I drove the Awesome Mobile (Shane's Car) to Animal Medical Clinic in Peachtree City, Georgia to pick up this little guy today. He has been in our pack for about four hours. 

The Awesome Mobile parked outside the shack
during a recent snow storm.

Charlie is a senior guy (I am unsure of his exact age). He looks a lot like Cody the Little Beagle. Cody says Charlie is very handsome :) . 

Charlie is recovering from pneumonia. We will have him on antibiotics for a little longer. He seems to feel pretty good and has a great appetite! He has a growth in one of his ears that needs to be taken care of after he recovers completely from the pneumonia.

After he has fully recovered, he will be available for adoption! If you are interested in adding a handsome senior beagle boy to your pack, please contact me for more information on little Charlie!

 Dr. Phil McBeagle in the Dog Training office with
a few of his pack mates in the background ( Cody ,
Copper, and Trigger)

Dr. Phil McBeagle is still available for adoption. His anxiety is much better! He is acting like a typical beagle now :) . He is fully housebroken. His training is coming along very nicely! Copper and I have been working with him. He knows sit, down, stay and leave it. He is beginning to learn the wait command (handy for proper behavior at doorways). He is also getting much better at loose leash walking! Dr. Phil is a very sweet and loyal beagle. He is going to be a very good addition to some lucky person's pack! If you are interested in Dr. Phil, please contact me!

Sammy relaxing in Cody's Basket Bed

Sammy is also making great progress! He is still on antibiotics. He is eating very well! We expect him to start gaining back his weight very soon! His anxiety is getting better. He is slowly learning that not all people will hurt him. Copper has sort of become his mentor. Copper follows him around and takes care of him. It is really neat to watch! Trigger is his playmate. They love to run and play together! As soon as he finishes the antibiotics and gets a little more weight on him, we will take him to the veterinarian to be neutered, micro chipped, heart worm tested and get his rabies vaccine. At that point he will be available for immediate adoption. We expect that to take two or three weeks. If you are interested in adding Sammy to your pack, please contact me!

Charley being visited by Sammy. Charley will be spending most
of his time in the crate until he is fully recovered.

Folks, if you are looking for a new addition to your pack, please, please, please consider adoption! There are so many of these little guys and girls who desperately want and need a forever home! We have three beautiful beagles here at the shack that really need love and attention. We love our foster guys/girls but our ultimate goal is to find them a forever home so that we can save the lives of more dogs. This is truly a life or death issue for these dogs. Were it not for volunteers at rescue groups, many of these guys/girls would be killed in shelters. Unfortunately, that is not at all an exaggeration. I wish it were not true..... but it is true.

If you have a little guy or girl with anxiety issues, as is unfortunately very common in rescue/adopted dogs, Copper and I are happy to assist you! Also if you need help getting your little guy or girl to be a polite dog, please contact me! I always tell you: "Polite Dogs = Happy People". Let me help you get happy today!

Till Next Time

-William-

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

What to do with a dog who is malnourished or underweight.

If you look closely in this picture, you can see
that Foster Girl Penny the Tiny Beagle was
underweight when we first brought her to the Dog
Training/Foster Shack

All too often, we , as dog lovers we have to care for malnourished or underweight dogs. Sometimes it is a result of some sort of illness. Sometimes we take in a stray or adopt/foster a little guy or girl who has simply not eaten regularly in quite some time.

Boomer the Beagle in his later years

As many of you know, in the early 1990s I adopted a sweet beagle from the Dekalb County (GA) Shelter. He was a 9 month old anxious little guy named Boomer. Boomer was my companion until he died of renal failure at the age of 15 years. We had lots of fun together and I learned a great deal about anxiety issues in dogs from working with him.

When he was about eight years old, I was working as a Computer Network Engineer/Consultant at a now defunct company in Sandy Springs, GA called Consultec. Boomer got sick. I do not remember exactly what the health issue was now but a nasty side effect was that he lost a lot of weight very quickly. I could see all his ribs and some of his backbone. His normally extremely healthy appetite had disappeared. He would not touch any of his favorite foods. This was very unusual for him and just not at all beagle-like.

At the time, I lived in Marietta, GA. Dr. Tyler Huhman and Dr. David Lawless at Tritt Animal Hospital in Marietta, GA were the veterinarians that helped me to care for Boomer and a few cats that lived with me at the time (or maybe I lived with them.... you know how cats are ).

The guys a Tritt did an excellent job treating Boomer's illness! However, the home care was my responsibility.  I think it was Tyler who told me that the most important goal I needed to have was putting weight on Boomer quickly. I believe it was at his suggestion that I used Nutri-Cal in an attempt to stimulate his appetite and to load him up on the calories and nutrients that he desperately needed. I think Tyler gave me (or sold me, I don't recall) some prescription food that was formulated to help him gain weight (if I could get him to eat it).

You can't really tell now but, our little Cody was also
malnourished when he got to the Shack.

I worked from my small home office for about a week (we used to call that telecommuting). During that time I cared for Boomer almost 24/7. I gave him medication for his illness and almost constantly tried to get him to eat. He would eat some canned food and I slowly began getting him to eat the Nuti-Cal. Slowly he started to eating peanut butter that I offered him and eventually he began eating his dry food. It was a long week but he finally began eating well. After a couple of more weeks he was almost back to his healthy weight. And I seem to remember that after he put the weight on ,I spent a month in Minnesota on business over the next three days (at least that is what it felt like :) )

I did not just share that story with you so that you can see how cool my life was in those days (that is just an added bonus :) ) . I shared that story with you to make a few points about caring for a dog who is underweight or malnourished:

• If you notice a rapid weight loss, please, consult a really good veterinarian. There is generally an underling cause that probably needs to be treated.
• If your dog is not eating foods that he normally loves, if it lasts more than a day or so, you should really strongly consider taking him to a veterinarian.
• Once you have any health issues treated, it is your responsibility to care for the little guy or girl. You must be diligent about it! Always remember that your veterinarian will be more than happy to talk to you about methods that you can use to get him/her to eat. If your dog is not making progress, do not hesitate to contact your veterinarian for guidance!

I mentioned Nutri-Cal earlier in my work with Boomer. Nutri-Cal is a high calorie vitamin paste. There are other similar products on the market. Most large pet stores (i.e. Petco, Petsmart, etc.) have their own store brand products that are labeled for the same use. When I worked at Petco, I found that our vitamin paste was good but some really picky dogs seemed to prefer the taste of the Nuti-Cal product and the price difference is not huge either way.

In many cases the dogs will eat this stuff right out of the tube. However, in many cases you have to put it on the food. In Boomer's case, I put some of the stuff on my finger and sort of stuck it to the roof of the mouth to get him started. It is really sticky and he had to lick it off the roof of his mouth. He did not really like this but it worked.

Foster Boy Sammy

I decided to write about this subject today because, The Lovely and Awesome Shane and I are working with our new foster boy, Sammy on the same issue. He is very thin. His ribs and backbone are clearly visible. I am happy to report that he is beginning to get his appetite back! This morning he actually finished his entire bowl of food for the first time since he got here three days ago!

If you have a dog who needs to gain weight, it is not a hopeless problem! It can be very frustrating but, there is hope and it feels really good to see a little guy or girl finally eat and gain weight!

Our foster girl Penny the Tiny Beagle had the same issue. She gained a little weight we she was with us. I saw her with her adopted family recently and she looks great!!

If you have questions about getting your dog to eat please contact me! Also contact me if you need help teaching your little guy or girl to be a polite dog. I always tell you: " Polite Dogs = Happy People". Let me help you get happy today!

Till next time

-William-

William Moore Canine Training

678-702-4791

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com