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Breathe Deep - Feel Good!
Creating a STRESS-FREE Environment In Your Home.
Think of a sunny day, sands and beaches, white flowers, and all sorts of happy things. Think of experiencing new things and improving yourself. Healthy food, fruits and vegetables, healthy lifestyle - you feel good, you look good, and everything around you just fits - it feels right and it feels familiar. You could really learn a thing or two on a day like this - you want to learn. You WANT to improve yourself...
Now place yourself for a minute out of fantasy into a nightmare. You are now in environment of abuse, control and manipulation, aggression, anger, hurt, and discomfort. Your feelings don't matter and your physical needs are not met. You haven't eaten in days and you are dying of thirst. You couldn't find a bathroom, and you are on the verge of wetting yourself. How much do you want to learn now? What if you really had to learn? What would you be learning? How to run away? How to fight and rebel against your surroundings? Would you just lie down and give up? When nothing around you is familiar and the only creature you can interact with is a stranger who inflicts pain onto you without any obvious cause or a reason. Would you not feel confused and angry?
This might seem like two paragraphs out of a fairy tale and horror novel, respectively. These words sound unreal and overly exaggerated. Or do they? What you read is not far from our daily truths -- the very lives that we, and our beloved pets live. What may not profess itself visually in our conscious mind still exists and occupies our subconscious. Environment that surrounds us is perceived by our subconscious and interpreted to create our internal vision and understanding of the world around us. Who we are and how we feel, what we are capable of and what we will ultimately accomplish is all shaped by what surrounds us when we learn what we must learn in life. A good environment is crucial to successful learning, and in turn develops into our own success and success of our relationships.
Your dog does not have the benefit of the complex conscious mind that we, humans, posess. They know only what they know, and see only what they see, not what they want to see, not any kind of politically correct and polished version of facts. Which is why proper training environment is just as important if not far more important when you are training your canine pet. So what is it? What is the proper environment? What can you do to ensure your training success? Below are some pretty good ideas that will create a foundation of positive and productive environment in your very own house.
Location
Dogs truly live through their senses. Their smell, sight, and hearing is what paints the picture to them of the world they are in. What happens when you take your dog to a training class? The abundance of foreign smells, sights and sounds will put your dog into a frenzy. Defense and curiosity both would kick in and force the dog to sniff and lick and roam around. Trainer's response to this is a corrective one. Most trainers are really not there to train your dog. They are there to please you. A dog that roams doesn't reflect well on them. The dog will be put into a position to associate these new smells and this new place with punishment. Later the dog will associate this new place with training, and respectively, training with punishment. Thus, turning training into a negative experience, and obedience into routine undesirable chore. Once free of the new smells, and back into its own home, the dog will revert to familiar behaviors that did not cause punishment, and will act as if no training ever took place. In best case scenario, the dog would mind for an instance or two and give you only a hint of the desired behavior if food or other reward has been used in training. You have literally BOUGHT your dogs moment of obedience. From that point it is the dog training you to produce food, not you training the dog to obey.
This is why our firm belief is that all training should start within your home - the dogs familiar territory, and not advance any further until true partnership is reached and your dog has exhibited full understanding of all commands and desire to please you and obey you with or without any tangible reward - only the positive feelings, brought by your team-spirited relationship.
Basic Needs
While it may be very clear and almost common sense to most of us, this is actually the number one aspect of training environment that even professional trainers some times overlook. Has your dog been de-wormed recently? What about a neutering? While these two procedures are designed to serve a positive purpose, they will affect your dog adversely for a day or two after the procedure. What about a developing condition? If the dog is just starting to feel bad and is coming down with an illness, maybe now is a good time to take your dog to a vet before training begins. It is always a good idea to go to a vet's office for regular checkups, but it becomes especially important during training. If you train your dog while the dog is uncomfortable, in pain, or is under any other stress then these factors will all be associated with your training, and will cause an adverse reaction to training in the future. Dogs may forgive, but they never forget any experience they have lived through and used to build an association with.
Has your dog urinated and deficated recently? It is probably a great idea to take your dog out and let it relieve itself before any training begins. Do not ever take a chance on the dog incurring ANY discomfort while training. If your dog has a hurt paw, perhaps it is a good day to work on Sit or Stay commands... maybe even try a new trick with dog holding a toy in their mouth or food on the top of their nose. It is probably not a good day for Down or Come commands. It is DEFINITELY a bad day for Fetch command or a bike ride.
How about a tricky question? Has the dog been sleeping well? A change in regular routine will cause in most cases more stress on a dog than virtually any other environmental factor. Dogs, like most animals, depend greatly on their internal biological clock. They time season changes with it, feeding times, grooming periods, and even breeding seasons. When taking your dog to a kennel, you are more than likely going to cause a change in regularity and timing of their sleep, feeding and watering cycle, and their relieving schedule. This is why it is now a state regulation for kennels to require a bordatella shot before boarding. This change in routine impacts your dog so much, that their entire immune system is weakened and health is jeopardized. They become far more susceptible to diseases and far less capable of learning obedience.
Diet
A healthy body makes a home to a healthy mind, says an ancient Greek proverb. The key to successful training of and overall relationship with your dog is your dog's health. While many aspects are important to good health, the most important one remains your dog's diet. For example, extra sugar in the most common treats available on the supermarket shelves can not only cause your dog to become extra hyper and more difficult to control and train, but may even result in diabetes and cancers. In this article, you will learn what it takes to raise a happy and healthy dog, and how to create yet another strong block in the solid foundation, required for training.
If you choose to get your dog as a puppy, be aware that your puppy's first diet comes from it's mother. The immune system antibodies, balance of nutrients, and certain digestive qualities are all created during breast feeding. It is generally a very good idea to wait until a pup is 8-10 weeks old before taking one into your home. You should ask the breeder for the shot record, de-worming record, and for the food and supplements that the mother was fed while nursing as well as the puppies after they were weaned from the breast milk. Because the puppy's immune system is so weak and fragile in the beginning and depends so much on its mother's antibodies, it is also a good idea to ask to see the conditions in which the mother dog was kept while nursing. A bad physical environment, such as cheap food, unclean premises, lack of shade in the summer or warmth in the winter, and other such factors, all could be causes for a stressed and worn immune system in the mother and a potentially very sickly puppy with issues that may not surface until 4-5 years of age or later. Many such puppies end up developing cancers, dysphasia, abnormal growth, deformities, bad temperament, tendency to bloat, and pancreatitis. Another place where the puppy's system can undergo such immense stress and become more likely to develop long term illnesses is a shelter. Many shelters feed the dogs substandard cheap foods while the premises barely meet the legal requirements for health regulations, and their owners drive luxury cars and live in mansions. Bad air circulation, dirt, and insufficient water access create a great environment for some nasty worms to grow and mature, eating the puppy from inside. Keep in mind that all worms are not made the same, and it is usually not the least harmful kinds that bad conditions will help grow. Nine out of then dogs that come from shelters will also have cases of bordatella (kennel cough) or mange. Choosing a dog through an adoption is a process that requires just as much discrimination, if not more, as picking a puppy from a breeder. This is the time to really learn where the diet and the environment of your puppy stand, because the quality of the health for the rest of his or her life in your home depends on it.
Now that the puppy is in your house, it is time to develop your own diet system that fits both - your budget and your schedule, as well as the puppy's health needs. Let's start with the base food. This is the canned or dry food that will make up the bulk of your pet's nutritional intake. Your vet and the breeder will likely have their recommendations, but they are not law, and usually the primary reason for recommending a certain diet is budget, which should be your least weighing factor. Still, the opinion of people that actually know your puppy is very important. Outside of maybe Iams, most store brands will not contain enough balanced nutrients to be the only food that your puppy will eat. Many dog foods are bulked with "fillers" that will pass straight through the body and come out undigested.
Watching your pet's feces is a good way to find out about its digestive problems and dietary needs. Lack of solidity, or diarrhea, could be a sign of pancreatic problems, intestinal bacteria, or worms. To check the quality of your base food, wash down fresh feces with a water hose set to a gentle spray, and look for a very sandy texture - this is the undigested filler. Two cups fed to a healthy adult dog over the course of a day of quality food should digest into no more than a half of a cup of fecal matter. Among such quality foods are Iams, Eucanuba, Innova, Innova Evo, Royal Canin, Eagle Holistic, Science Diet, Solid Gold, California Natural, and several others. While costing more, these food are actually far more economical because only one to two cups a day are required for a dog that was eating 8-10 cups of a cheap grocery-store-brand food. Add to that the vet bills over the years, and your dog's piece of mind without all that extra sugar in its diet, and you will have a winner.
Two very common questions most people have about their dogs' diet have to do with canned or dry food, and the schedule - how many times a day should a dog be fed, or should the food just be available at all times. Canned food really does not add any value to your dog's meal. You are paying for water, and thus paying too much. Its best purpose is to entice a sick animal to eat or to allow for an easier mixing of dry supplements, such as bone meal or alfalfa. Crushing down dry food and sprinkling water over it will create a very similar substance to canned food, and will be just as nutritional while far more economical. Small amounts of cheese, sour cream, peanut butter, and jam could be used for the same purpose, but always keep in mind that too much fat in combination with excessive sugar (a dog getting into a box of chocolates, or a jar of cookies) can rapidly cause a pancreatic disorder or diabetes, both of which will last for the remainder of your dog's life.
A very important aspect of feeding is dental care. Both canned and dry foods have a tendency to leave residue on the dog's teeth and without regular dental care, this residue can lead to dental problems and ultimately even heart issues, caused by bacteria that enters the bloodstream through gum disease. Remember to brush your dog's teeth regularly. Brushing is a good idea, regardless of the food type.
Scheduling is a more complicated issue. It has to do with your dog's needs and your own schedule as well. When your puppy is very young, unlimited access to food and water is an acceptable solution. However, remember that food and water bowls are prime breeding grounds for bacteria. Empty them regularly and wash thoroughly before filling with fresh food and water. Additionally, collect a sample of your dog's stool every 2-3 months and take it to a vet for examination for worms, bacteria, or digestive disorders.
Constant changes take place in your puppy's metabolism. Amounts and timing of feeding will vary from the time that the pup is born until approximately 18 months of age. You should discuss these changes with your vet to ensure that the dog is receiving the proper amount. Always break feedings into at least two or three portions per day. For instance, if your dog eats 2 cups of dry food a day, feed a cup twice daily, or even a half of a cup four times through the day. When it comes to water, unless it becomes a serious issue with house training, water should remain always accessible.
Finally, there is a recent trend in the dog owners' community to supplement the regular base food with vitamins, health supplements, enzymes, or holistic, home, and raw foods. Many books and internet articles are available on the subject, and a holistic vet will probably serve as a tremendous source of advice on proper supplemental or alternative nutrition. This is especially important to owners of dogs with sensitive stomachs or sick dogs when the dog's body may be full of toxins from the medication or non-responsive to the medication altogether. An alternative species-specific canine diet, selected for you by a professional in this field, based on what the dog would choose naturally, could be exactly what your dog needs to recover and achieve optimal health.
Isn't it great to have a healthy dog full of energy? All this diet talk has made me hungry!
Check out these great shots of Steve with his clients:
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