Dogs And Nova Scotia Forest Walking Ban

I used to love vacationing in Canada. It was very dog friendly and the national parks, unlike the US, welcomed dogs on their trails. 

But along the way, Canada has become insane. It isn't a safe place, from crime to governmental tyranny. There is no free speech, no right of self defense, no freedom to protest, a significant loss of property rights, enforcement of every goofy politically correct idea, infiltration of politics by foreign powers, and now no freedom of movement. The latest is their ban on anyone going into any forest, including on their own land. Nova Scotia is 75% forested, so that is the essence of Nova Scotia. They have also implemented a snitch line so neighbors can rat each other out. The fine? $25.000.

Imagine your dog runs out the door and goes into the forested part of your back yard. You have to go get your dog, the neighbor reports you, and you are fined $25,000 to make an example of you. You can't even take your dog for a walk, on your own property.

The rationale is prevention of forest fires. The problem is that the fires are a result of arson. Rather than going after them, the entire province has been locked down as a form of collective punishment. That's what you get when you let Leftists take over.

I'm guessing Canada has become a nation of incompetent sheep. Men with no chests. Ruled by wolves.

Not going there again. 

Dogs And Babies

Sometimes parents have a dog that is not responding well to the new baby. 

This is a tricky situation. In some cases, the situation can be fixed with good supervision and some behavior modification. In others, the dog hates the child, or the child (especially older infants) isn't going to be good around the dog (for a variety of reasons) until they are older. I think that first year is the most difficult since the child can't be taught anything, and either the situation can be properly managed and changed or the dog needs to be kept away from the child. 

It starts with an evaluation. What is going on? 

Don't take these situations lightly. The first rule is the baby's safety always comes first. The dog trainer can't solve this for the parents. They can only give guidance since they are not moving in to manage the dog, baby, other family members, parents, guests and such. Parental skill definitely factors in as the primary determination of what is going to be the best compromise. Some parents are good, some are dingbats.

Plan accordingly. 

STOP Treating Puppies Like Trained Adult Dogs

I was on a Facebook group yesterday. Someone was asking how to get her moderately trained 10 month old dog to perform at the level of a well trained adult dog (my words). Of course, the peanut gallery had a variety of corrections that they recommended that she impose on her dog. All abusive.

You will never get reliable advice from the peanut gallery on the internet.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Paddleboards

Paddleboarder, dog die after being blown into water by windstorm.

If you decide to take your dog on a boat or paddleboard or kayak… it is foolish to not put a lifejacket on the dog. Dogs are not really that good of swimmers. And in stormy weather… it could be bad for you and your dog. 

Plan accordingly.

Dogs And Mountain Lions

A Colorado couple are devastated after their 10-pound dog was attacked and killed by a mountain lion minutes into their usual evening walk.

If you walk your dog in an area with large predators… you had better have a defense for the both of you, or it could be game over.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Busted Fences

A car ran over a dog after a fence was allegedly kicked into, creating a hole big enough for the dog to escape its backyard

What a horror. Fence kicking has become an internet thing. I wonder if this is what caused this tragedy. The perp should be tossed in prison as far as I’m concerned.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Clarity

I think one of the biggest problems in dog training is the trainer not being crystal clear to the dog as to what is right and wrong. That then passes along to the dog owner. Lastly, the dog gets punished for the mistakes of the trainer and the owner because it doesn't understand what is exactly required. 

Do better.

Plan accordingly. 

A Good Pitbull Dog Story

Pitbull hailed as hero for helping bring life-saving help to unconscious owners: Pit bull faced traffic and led a stranger to a ‘secluded’ tent encampment where a man and woman were unconscious 

I like pits. They just need to be properly managed instead of demonized.

Plan accordingly. 

Police Shooting Dogs

There are many reports of police shooting dogs. The reports generally fall into two categories. 

First, the justified self defense shootings. Aggressive big dogs that are out of control can mess you up.

Second, the unjustified shootings of dogs that neither acted in a threatening manner. or were so tiny that they could barely harm someone's shoelace. It is this category that bothers people. This is the one that makes the news, costs a lot of money, and creates a lot of resentment towards law enforcement. 

What is the solution? On the owner's side, if you stay out of, and away from, trouble you are less likely to have a police officer interact with your dog. If your dog is well trained, you can call them back before they are shot. On the police officer side, there needs to be more training about dogs during their professional actions. I get that these situations are tense, but it is their job to be able to correctly interpret and act in highly stressful and dangerous situations.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Repeating Commands

I was working with a Dachshund puppy yesterday. Second lesson. The pup was having trouble doing the Down command (we are using food, so at the very basic level). 

First question from the owner was if it was OK to repeat a command. Yes, of course. This isn't an obedience competition, you are there to help the dog understand and learn. 

The next step was showing her that she was accidentally signaling the wrong things to the puppy when doing the commands, which was making it harder for her dog to learn exactly what we were trying to teach. A few small adjustments, and the dog figured it out. Success!

So, even owners need to be given guidance, it isn't just the dog.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And What I Do On My Vacations

If you ever go on a vacation with me, you’ll find that I tend to gravitate to doing things that involve nature rather than being in human constructed and populated centers. I love fresh air, the smell of nature, watching wild animals, seeing waterfalls and mountains and forests and deserts. I want to experience the sunrises, sunsets, rain, wind, and see the stars at night. I want to get a feel for the place, which is why you rarely find me flying somewhere for a vacation. Road trips are for me.

 

Thus, if I was to go to, say, Yosemite, you’d more likely find me either outdoors, or possibly navigating an indoor natural history museum, or in a bookstore looking for animal related books to bring home with me. Or I'm walking around to take pictures of the wildflowers, looking in the stream for fish, observing the birds in the air, picking up a pinecone, looking on the ground for animal footprints, or listening to the small sounds to see if there are wild animals hidden around me.

 

Even in a city, I notice whether it is a pet friendly place, what types of people have the dogs (such as seniors), and what types of dogs they have in that city. 

 

I just got back from a vacation, and sitting on my desk is a clear plastic sack with 5 new books. Four of the books are on wolf behavior and one is about mountain lion behavior. I purposely seek out local book stores, including those in the visitor centers and ranger stations.

 

So, even on vacation, I’m still thinking about extending my knowledge of animal behavior. I can’t get enough of this stuff! I find it endlessly fascinating and practically useful. 

Dogs And Where Are All The Good Men?

I had a student with a somewhat fearful dog. Fearful of strangers and strange dogs. 

One of the questions I sometimes ask during an evaluation is, “why do you have a dog?”

Her answer? “Because I hate people.”

I asked, “Seriously?”

Her: “Yep.”

I have a couple of thoughts on this. First, because of this viewpoint, this is why her dog was fearful. She didn’t adequately socialize her puppy, so the adolescent dog was now afraid of strangers and strange dogs. Further, if you are single, and you are wondering where all the good guys are, maybe they are all around you but you are driving them away. 

Just sayiin’… 

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Trusting Your Gut

I can’t tell you how many times I have trusted my gut about a dog and was glad afterwards. 

I remember a Husky that I was working with, teaching him how to walk on a leash. This must have been at least 25 years ago. I had just started walking with him. My gut told me he was thinking about biting my calf. I stopped everything and had the owner acclimate him to wearing a basket muzzle. Several days later, I started the leash walking again, and sure enough, he went for my lower left leg near the calf. If it hadn’t been for that muzzle, and my gut feeling, I would have been injured. 

I made this kind of gut trust a part of my training long ago. It isn’t always right, but it is an essential tool that can be developed. 

Since I am on the road a lot, I also trust my gut when driving. It has saved me many times from bad situations. I remember one time I was heading westbound on NE 8th street in Bellevue, WA. There was an older lady in her car on the right of me, waiting at the exit to a property, getting ready to go into my lane. I was in the right lane, and I moved quickly to the left lane. Sure enough, as soon as I passed her, she pulled out into traffic and t-boned the guy behind me. 

I can give other examples, both with dogs, traffic and people. I had a weird experience today. Gut feel was right again.

There are ways to hone your gut instincts. But that is for another article.

Do your own research for now. 

Plan accordingly. 

North Korean Dogs

North Korea holds national dog meat cooking competition with contestants from across the country

Do I need to say any more? 

Would You Go In Debt For Your Dog?

Yes.

So would you.

Plan accordingly. 

Dog Training Evaluations

I did an evaluation of a rescue dog last night. I'm 99% sure the problem isn't behavioral but medical. I'm almost always right on these things. They are going to consult with their veterinarian.

They had previously hired a dog trainer that had recommended punishment, or avoidance of the situations, for this dog... or euthanasia. 

Something to consider. 

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Punishment-Based Training

There is no such thing as “punishment-based training”. Dogs don’t learn the word associations, such as Sit, Down, Come, or Heel, through punishment. 

If you don’t know what I mean, then you haven’t done enough study. If you use that terminology, you don’t understand what you are talking about or the application of the concepts. This is why you should only work with a trainer, or mentor, that knows the difference.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Nice People

There are a lot of nasty people out there. 

Not nice to others. Not nice to dogs.

When I was a kid, I took it personally. I figured it was me. What's a kid know?

As an adult, I know that being nice is a choice. You can either be nice or nasty. 

Plan accordingly. 

New Dog Vaccine Requirements For Colorado

There are also new vaccination changes that impact local doggy daycares, boarding facilities and groomers. All of those facilities now need to have a record of current vaccines for:

Rabies- pets over 16 weeks old

Distemper- dogs over 8 weeks old

Parvovirus - dogs over 8 weeks old

FVRCP - cats over 8 weeks old

Dogs And Civil War

Just about every week, some major news outlet publishes an article about how the US is on the verge of a civil war. 

No, it isn’t. 

That’s just clickbait to get readership and to manipulate the SEO for that website. 

Similarly, there are dog trainers that make ridiculous claims of competence that they can fix every dog. If that was true, then they should go to every municipal shelter and set free all those extremely dangerous dogs on the euthanasia list. Good luck with that.

Don’t believe everything. Some of it is BS.

Plan accordingly.