Month: January 2011

Adopt-a-Pet.com’s partnership PEOPLEPets.com is raising awareness of animals adoption! Each month, PEOPLEPets.com highlights a pet from AdoptaPet.com who is looking for a home. Today we’d like you to meet Beatrice, a black-and-tan coonhound from Arkansas whom we met through Adopt-a-Pet.com.

Beatrice was found tied to a tree without shelter, food or water. Cold and hungry, the 3-year-old was frightened, but has since warmed up to her human friends at the Humane Society of Garland County. “She is grateful and kind, [has] plenty of food, and loves her warm place to sleep and the many ‘boyfriends’ she plays with,” says volunteer Theresa Carter. The pup walks very well on a leash, and enjoys strolls with shelter staffers.

“She’s a good girl who is longing for her very own family that will love her and take good care of her,” Carter says. “She will love them with all of her heart for the rest of her life!” View her profile at Adopt-a-Pet.com here.

Training your dog to stop pulling on the leash has so many benefits, it’s hard to count them all! Since you’ll both enjoy walks so much more, you’ll likely go on more walks, which has health, behavior, and emotional benefits for your dog – and you. Physically, you’ll avoid potential injuries to your hands, arms, neck, shoulders, back… and many more. Your dog will avoid possibly injuring their neck, throat and back too. Even if your dog is “off-leash” trained and you live in an environment where you almost never need to use a leash, you never know when good leash skills will come in handy – a trip to the vet, at friends or families houses, or in any new environment. Sometimes when you adopt a new dog who’s a strong puller, it can seem like an impossible task to get them to stop. But there are many easy-to-follow exercises that with repetition and persistence, can teach your dog not to pull on his or her leash, and instead walk happily at your side. Below is one great exercise from our trainer-in-residence, Katya.

Katya’s exercise:

1. Hold your leash in your hand, with your hand firmly behind your back or at your side. This is so that every time your dog pulls he doesn’t get the reward of an extra 2 feet from your arm stretching out.
2. Now, play the Red light/Green light game! When your dog pulls, red light! Stop and stand still – and what he wants (moving forward) ends.
3. As soon as he does anything that causes some slack in the leash (stops pulling, backs up, looks at you, etc), Green Light! Give lots of praise and immediately start walking again.
4. Gradually over time you will increase the distance your dog will walk without pulling.

This exercise teaches your dog that pulling does not work and that we move forward by walking right by you on a loose leash. The trick of this exercise is that it’s a patience game for us, so if you want your pooch to stop pulling, be consistent with this practice and “red light” every time he pulls, “green light” only on a slack leash.

This post comes from Barbara Heidenreich, whose experience includes consulting on animal training in zoos and other animal related facilities. Barbara has written several books on training parrots and has an excellent website (www.goodbirdinc.com) with content on how to live a healthy life with your pet parrot. One of the worst fears most bird owners is having your flighted parrot escape. Barbara recalls her experience loosing her parrot. “I was visiting my parents as I was moving from southern California to northern California. When I arrived I brought Tarah in his cage to my old bedroom. I opened the door to the cage to allow my bird some much needed free time. Before I knew it, he bolted off his cage, through the bedroom door, took a right and made his way down the hall. He then banked left and flew through the living room. At that very moment my father was just opening the sliding glass door to step out onto the deck. Guess who went through the door too? The deck was on the second floor, so my bird had two stories of lift to assist him on his grand flight.”

Immediate response if you bird is flying away:

• Call to your bird loudly as he is flying- it may help him find his way back to you.
• As your bird is flying, do not take your eyes off of him. Note the last place you saw him, the level of his flight, how tired he looked. He may have landed in that area. (Radio or phone contact for a group of people searching can be very helpful in this situation. Grab your cell phone!)

To find out what happened with Barbara’s parrot, and to read about searching for your pet parrot read the full post on Barbara’s website.

Even though this post is a tribute to a very special therapy dog who has just passed on, I can say with utmost certainty that he remains very much alive in spirit, and still hard at work healing hearts! Rescued mutt Baxter went from a life in which no one loved him to one in which he loved everyone. He became a therapy dog who specialized in giving comfort to patients in their final days at the San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine. And having learned from the best, Baxter’s human mom, Melissa Joseph, shared his mission, and intends to continue his legacy in everything she does. “I never really got how I could impact the world until I got Baxter,” Melissa says.

Melissa chronicled Baxter’s heartwarming encounters in her book, Moments with Baxter. I had the pleasure of speaking with her today, and she told me, “I don’t feel like he was mine alone. I feel like I got to be part of a remarkable phenomenon.” Baxter passed away at the age of 19 on October 16.

My “moment with Melissa” was in many ways also a “moment with Baxter:” Together, they were a six-legged team working as one. Melissa shared a recent event that revealed not only the positive impact Baxter had on his hospice friends but also Melissa’s keen sense of the best way to connect with people in times of need.

Baxter was visiting the hospice on the day that a 36-year old woman who had battled breast cancer was to be transported home to die with family. The woman had come to love Baxter and had shared with staff that his visits literally removed her pain: Pain that she consistently rated at 8 out of 10 in intensity before his visits and at 0 following them. As the gurney was wheeled towards this woman’s room, Melissa asked if she could place Baxter on it. This was against the rules, the attendant told her, but Melissa continued to lift Baxter, respectfully assuring the attendant that this would be an important “moment with Baxter.” When Baxter arrived in the room on the gurney, the patient laughed and cried at once. She removed her oxygen mask and barked, “Move over, Baxter!” The newly enlightened attendant wheeled them around the hospital grounds for a playful final ride together. Everyone present was grateful for taking part and reminded of the importance of such moments.

Melissa adopted Baxter when… finish the post by clicking here.

Pia blogs often at The Daily Wag on MarthaStewart.com, the home of episodes from Francesca and Sharkey – Martha Stewart’s two dogs. Dr. Pia Salk is a psychologist, animal welfare advocate, and expert on the human-animal bond. Pia frequently highlights the important role that animals play in our lives and how our societal treatment of animals conveys important messages to our youth. In her own work, Pia often credits the animals as being “the real therapists.”

Americans love owning a pets!! That’s a generalization,  but one based on statistical facts from huge surveys that are conducted on an ongoing basis, and compiled every year by some very reputable research organizations. There are some very interesting facts that these studies reveal about pet ownership in the U.S. – and we’ve included some of the most interesting and recent ones from below. If you are doing professional or serious research about pets and pet owners in the United States, you can order the detailed reports at the links listed at the end of this article. But for most of us, the summary information we’ve included here is what’s fun to learn, and doesn’t require getting out your calculator! What’s really amazing about this first fact is that it shows that if everyone who bought their pet from a breeder or pet shop instead ADOPTED from a shelter or rescue – that could, in just one year, reduce unwanted homeless pets in shelters by up to 30%!!

• The majority of pets are obtained from acquaintances and family members. About 15 to 20 percent of dogs are purchased from breeders, 10 to 20 percent of cats and dogs are adopted from shelters and rescues, and 2 to 10 percent are purchased from pet shops. (Source: Ralston Purina and NCPPSP)
• About 63 percent of all households in the United States have a pet. (Source: American Veterinary Medical Association)
• About 75 million dogs and about 85 million cats are owned in the United States. (Source: Pet Food Institute)
• According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), about 65 percent of pet owners acquire their pets free or at low cost.
• At least 20 percent of cats are acquired as strays. (Source: NCPPSP) Many strays are lost pets who were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.
• More than 20 percent of people who leave dogs in shelters adopted them from a shelter. (Source: NCPPSP)
• The cost of spaying and neutering a pet is less than the cost of raising puppies or kittens for one year.
• The average cost of basic food, supplies, medical care and training for a dog or cat is $700 to $875 annually.

If you’re looking for the studies quoted above, here are three websites to help you: The National Council on Pet Population Study & Policy (NCPPSP) is at www.petpopulation.org, The American Veterinary Medical Association’s U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics are online at http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/ownership.asp, the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association has their most current survey for sale at www.americanpetproducts.org/pubs_survey.asp

A lovely big fenced in yard is a playtime paradise for your and your a dog… but it can turn into a canine version of barking brimstone if another dog walks by outside the fence, or a not-so-friendly neighbor dog appears on the other side. Or maybe a squirrel family is using the fence top as a freeway! The good news is there are many things you can do to restore peace to your yard, and to you and your dog’s yard playtime. Read on to find out how!

The tips below were inspired by the above “Peace at the Fence” photo, and taken from the accompanying note posted by our friend over at Our Pack, Inc.  Pit Bull Rescue www.OurPack.org – their website has more great training tips, and you can see their well-trained dogs for adoption in their Adopt-a-Pet.com listings.

• First and foremost, we suggest that you don’t leave dogs in the yard unattended. Many things could happen. Supervise when they’re outside. When your dog or dogs are out in the yard, you should be there – and be in charge.
• Check your fences regularly. As they age, gaps in between wooden planks can appear.
• A solid fence is the quickest fix: if you can’t install a block wall, install a solid fence covering on chain link and iron fences.
• Some dogs will listen if you intercede before they’ve gotten all the way into an aroused state. Call the dog to you (if they have a solid recall) or physically prevent them before they charges the fence. If you miss the moment, go and calmly retrieve your dog, leashing if necessary. We wouldn’t let our human 2 year old children scream and yell at neighbors, and the same should go for our dogs. If your dog will not come when called in the yard, follow the training exercise below.

Our Pack’s Peace at the Fence Training Exercise

What works for many dogs is to practice when the other dogs, squirrels, etc. aren’t there. Practice calling your dog to you in the yard when it’s easy. Use high value treats especially at first (for folks who don’t like treat training you can fade them out very quickly as I do). Call him to you and surprise him with a treat. Don’t call him if you don’t think he’ll come to you, wait until you think he’ll do it at first. Have the treat sitting on something or hide it. Don’t hold it out and show it to him. Otherwise you might have to show him the money every time. Have your body in a natural position so you don’t have to have the same body position every time. Call him from different areas in the yard as he improves. Make him think that coming to is way more rewarding than going to the fence

Practice with more and more distractions as time goes on. Using our neighbor dog example, the minute you hear the neighbor’s dog come toward the fence and just as or preferably before your dog hears/sees it call him to you and reward.

If you wait until he’s too aroused he’ll go into the “Sorry, Fido’s not in right now” zone and he may not respond to you. This isn’t because he’s bad, dominant or trying to ruin your life. He’s probably just being a dog with no guidance as to what to do in that setting.

As he gets to about 80% reliable on the recall, start fading the treats down to where you only have to treat once in awhile. Always use praise and really tell your dog how good he is for coming to you. Build a working partnership with him, of course you can be senior partner in these scenarios.

If you have more than one dog, practice with each separately until they get it as above then 2 at a time etc. If you do have the neighbor dog scenerio you can try talking to your neighbor and if he’s game, train together or he might be willing to bring his dog in.

Hire a trainer to help you if you become unsure of what to do.

You really can control the fence happenings and have peace through positive management and being a good leader. You are in charge of your dog. As we always say in the Our Pack class, there’s a reason that dogs don’t drive cars or have jobs. 🙂 They really do rely on us for guidance and of course we love them for just exactly what they are.

Peace!