with AKC Judge and Trainer Dawn Martin

What: Rally Obedience, Tracking and Agility Clinic When: February 11th @ 2 PM Who: AKC Judge and Trainer Dawn Martin Dawn Martin has trained and shown some of the best Trackers and Rally Obedience dogs around. [...]]]> Mark your calendars for our upcoming Sit. Stay. Speak. clinic of February!

What: Rally Obedience, Tracking and Agility Clinic
When: February 11th @ 2 PM
Who: AKC Judge and Trainer Dawn Martin
Dawn Martin has trained and shown some of the best Trackers and Rally Obedience dogs around. A published and highly knowledgeable breeder of West Highland White Terriers, Dawn will teach you about the sports of Rally Obedience and Tracking, the methods used to train for each, and show you some demos with her dogs.

No charge to attend. Please leave your pets at home!
RSVP, seating is limited: 610-437-9978 or  info@chaar.us

What are Rally Obedience and Tracking? Dawn Martin explains:

AKC Rally Obedience is a fun sport that's perfect for the pet dog!

What is Rally-O?

AKC Rally is the new dog sport that is taking the nation by storm, a successful stepping stone from the AKC Canine Good Citizen® program to the world of obedience or agility. Rally offers both the dogs and handlers an experience that is fun and energizing. The canine team moves at their own pace, very similar to rally-style auto racing. Rally was designed with the traditional pet owner in mind, but it can still be very challenging for those who enjoy higher levels of competition.

What is Tracking?
We’ve all seen movies with dogs following the trail of an escapee through swamps. The AKC’s Tracking Tests allow dogs to demonstrate their natural ability to recognize and follow human scent. This vigorous outdoor activity is great for canine athletes. Unlike Agility and Obedience events that require a dog to qualify three times, a dog only needs to complete one track successfully to earn each title.

Please leave your pets at home but bring your curiosity and your questions!
RSVP, seating is limited: 610-437-9978 or info@chaar.us

Coming up…

-March 10th – Herding / Field Trials & Hunting: Learn about the world of Field Trials, Hunting and Herding, the techniques used to train and master these unique skills, and see some cool demos of these dogs in action! Featuring Sheep Dog Trials Competitor and Dog Trainer Nancy Ortiz and AKC Field Trials & Hunt Test Judge and Dog Trainer Missy Lemoi. You may get the urge to give it a try!

View the full Sit. Stay. Speak. agenda.

Puppy Kindergarten is offered every Sunday on a rolling 6-week, continuous schedule. New puppies can start any time and never miss out. Each week we will work on basic puppy needs such as socialization, biting, house training, come and leash walking. The “rolling” schedule will circle through 6 themes, so [...]]]> Puppy Kindergarten Open Enrollment

Puppy Kindergarten is offered every Sunday on a rolling 6-week, continuous schedule. New puppies can start any time and never miss out. Each week we will work on basic puppy needs such as socialization, biting, house training, come and leash walking. The “rolling” schedule will circle through 6 themes, so no matter when you start you will be able to cover our entire puppy class!

It’s important to start puppies as early as possible, so sign your pup up today!
NO CLASS FEBRUARY  19th!

View our full dog training schedule.

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Open Play Every Saturday at 12:30PM

Your pooch will enjoy a fun-filled hour of play in our warm and cozy training room. Join us this Saturday for Open Play!

• Group size is limited to 8 dogs. Sign ups are first come first serve.
• You can reserve a space by calling or emailing us
• Any friendly dog over 4 months old may attend
• Cost is $10.00 per dog, per session (or buy 5 sessions for $40)

New to Doggie Open Play? Read our Open Play Rules and check out some pictures from previous Open Play sessions.

Would you like us to offer Open Play an additional day of the week? Please let us know! Call us: 610-437-9978, or email us: info@chaar.us

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Flavor of the Day

Does your pooch have food allergies, stomach sensitivities or a picky palate? Check out these new flavors from California Natural and FROMM Family now available at CHAAR!

California Natural Grain Free Kangaroo

California Natural Grain Free Salmon

FROMM Four Star Grain Free Game Bird

FROMM Four Star Grain Free Salmon Tunalini

There are innumerable reasons why a dog may show aggression, and usually there is more [...]]]> Aggression is defined by the ASPCA Behaviorist Website as, “threatening or harmful behavior directed toward another individual (a person, another cat or other animals).”  Often, the purpose of aggression is to increase the distance between the animal and the perceived threat.

There are innumerable reasons why a dog may show aggression, and usually there is more than one stimulus that could lead toward the behavior.  He could be dominant, fearful or guarding.  It could be his breeding, hard-wiring of his brain, medical, or nutritional.  The bottom line is that we can never be 100% sure of exactly why he is reacting in an aggressive manner.  But, we can learn what might cause a reaction and we can train the dog to be more comfortable and mannerly with stimulus at closer ranges.

Think of a person who’s afraid of swimming.  Without talking to him or her about his past, you couldn’t find out why he’s afraid.  Even then, knowing why isn’t going to help much when it comes to getting him in the water.  The best approach to getting that person to try swimming would be a very gradual process with lots of “baby steps.” First, go in  the baby pool, then the shallow end of the pool. Then, the junior pool (with floaties). .   You may never be able to get him in the deep end but you can teach him to be comfortable and even enjoy the calm water of the junior pool.  You also need to make each step of the way successful and rewarding.

Many behavior experts use classical conditioning and sub threshold type activities.  In order to change the way a dog feels and behaves, when dealing with emotional arousal, we need to change the way he feels along with understanding basic commands in increasingly stressful situations.  It’s not complicated, but it does take time.

For safety sake, we might use barriers like crates, distance, or a comfortable muzzle when training.  (We call the muzzle the happy mask and teach dogs to enjoy them.)  Any training and management must start with a risk assessment.  Make a list of any past aggression, observe behavior and body language.  Owners need to learn to read their dog’s body language, recognize and avoid the dog’s triggers, and above all exercise caution to prevent contact with those triggers.

Each time the dog uses aggression it is a learning experience.  He gets to practice.  That’s not what you want.  Avoid any confrontation that may escalate behavior.  That does not mean you allow the dog to rule the house.  Effective training should comprise of a combination of basic principles of psychology, and common sense.

Some trainers may advocate punishment to make the dog stop barking, lunging, growling.  The downside of that approach is that you may be just suppressing the warning signs of an attack, but not the attack itself.  Try to appreciate how the dog must be feeling to be displaying so many signs of discomfort.

To understand warning signs or lack thereof, take a look at this video clip.  Look closely at the dog, he has been trained not to move and tolerate people but you can see he is very uncomfortable.  Ears back, mouth closed, eyes shifting, lip licking.  The officer does not read his dog’s warning signs (which don’t include barking and lunging) very well.  The dog holds still until he can’t take it any more and bites.

With proper management and conditioning aggression is often controllable.  Some dogs with severe problems may require medication along with behavior training to get started. Talk to your veterinarian.  It could take weeks, months or in some cases, years of work, depending on your dog and your level of commitment to the process.

The Story of Mikey:

I have a Boston Terrier, Mikey, who used to show extreme anxiety and high aggression toward strange dogs.  He displayed the behavior up to 100 feet away from other dogs.  To curb this behavior I first had to increase his repertoire of behaviors I liked.  I focused on teaching him to pay attention to me, and made sure he could do what I asked in different locations under mildly stressful situations like walking really, really far away (think it was something like 100 yards) outside of our local dog park and in our training room with one other really nice calm dog.  Over a several months we gradually reduced the distance to about 10 feet.  I had to use high value rewards to help Mikey forget about the other dogs (and a healthy dose of, “I mean it!” when necessary).  My weapons of choice were boiled chicken and string cheese.  I ensured success by being attentive to his body language and leaving or ending the training session if he looked like he was going to get stressed.  By keeping Mikey focused on me and successful his anxiety level was reduced and he was able to tolerate our multi-month journey of slowly getting closer to, ignoring, and being in the presents of other dogs.

These days Mikey actually shows great focus on me when we’re near other dogs.  This is partly due to the classical conditioning he experienced when he got tasty morsels from me whenever we were approaching other dogs, ( he somewhat associates other dogs with getting food from me) and, partly due to him being able to obey commands even tho he may be excited.   It’s important to note that I did wean him of treats in the final stages of training away from aggression and he no longer “needs” treats to exhibit the improved behavior.

Although Mikey has improved drastically, I still have to pay close attention to his body language to prevent putting him in a situation that may be too stressful and trigger a relapse.

So the question that remains is, “Can you train an aggressive dog to be not aggressive?” The answer isn’t always a straightforward “yes” or “no.”  But you can almost always reduce or diminish aggressive behaviors.  You start small and with the not-so-scary stuff, make training short, and make it very rewarding.

Recommended Reading:

Culture Clash and Fight by Jean Donaldson,

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor.

Calming Signals video or book by Turid Rugaas

“Behavior Protocol” series by Dr. Karen Overall.

There are also some good websites.  Try www.leerburg.com or www.dogstardaily.com.  Always use caution; however, when seeking advice online.  Make sure you’re learning from a reputable source.

If you need help,  ask for help from a reputable trainer at the first sign aggression or anxiety.  Ask how the trainer plans to approach training and make sure you are comfortable with it.   There are many good dog trainers out there who can help you (and some bad ones so don’t be too hasty to make a lifetime commitment to one).
Although, house calls, phone calls and emails have become popular,  it can be extremely frustrating for clients to get a hold of “trainers/behaviorists*” who work out of the back of their car. You want your trainer to have made a commitment to his/her business and is easily accessible.

(*”Behaviorist” is the new buzz word in dog training and almost everyone calls themselves a behaviorist so take it with a grain of salt unless you see the diploma on the wall from an accredited school.)

A ridiculous look at what dogs can get away with but humans can’t.

Enjoy!

Statement from American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior  www.AVSABonline.org

The primary and most important time for puppy socialization is the first three months of life. During this time puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli and environments as can be achieved safely and [...]]]> Puppy Class
–     For puppies 7 – 16 weeks

Statement from American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior  www.AVSABonline.org

The primary and most important time for puppy socialization is the first three months of life. During this time puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli and environments as can be achieved safely and without causing over­stimulation manifested as excessive fear, with­drawal or avoidance behavior. For this reason, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes that it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated.

Because the first three months are the period when sociability outweighs fear, this is the primary window of opportunity for puppies to adapt to new people, animals, and experiences. Incomplete or im­proper socialization during this important time can increase the risk of behavioral problems later in life including fear, avoidance, and/or aggression. Behavioral problems are the greatest threat to the owner-dog bond. In fact, behavioral problems are the num­ber one cause of relin­quishment to shelters. Behavioral issues, not infectious diseases, are the number one cause of death for dogs under three years of age.

While puppies’ im­mune systems are still developing during these early months, the combination of maternal immunity, primary vac­cination, and appropriate care makes the risk of infection relatively small compared to the chance of death from a behavior problem.

Veterinarians specializing in behavior recom­mend that owners take advantage of every safe opportunity to expose young puppies to the great variety of stimuli that they will experi­ence in their lives. Enrolling in puppy classes prior to three months of age can be an excellent means of improving training, strengthening the human-animal bond, and socializing puppies in an environment where risk of illness can be minimized.

For this reason, the Amer­ican Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes that it should be the stan­dard of care for puppies to receive such socializa­tion before they are fully vaccinated.

In general, puppies can start puppy socialization classes as early as 7-8 weeks of age. Puppies should receive a minimum of one set of vac­cines at least 7 days prior to the first class and a first deworming. They should be kept up-to-date on vaccines throughout the class.

The Process of Socialization: Puppies should be handled from birth, learning to accept manipulation of all body parts. Every effort should be made to expose them to as many different people, well-socialized animals, situations, places, etc. as possible. Puppies should be encour­aged to explore, investigate, and manipu­late their environments. Interactive toys and games, a variety of surfaces, tunnels, steps, chutes, and other stimuli can enrich the puppy’s environment. Puppies should accompany their breeders/owners on as many car trips as possible. These exposures should continue into adulthood to maintain an outgoing and sociable dog.

Weekly puppy classes can offer a safe and organized means of socializing puppies and more quickly improve their responsiveness to commands. Each puppy should have up-to-date vaccinations and be disease and parasite free before entering the class. Where possible, classes should be held on surfaces that are easily cleaned and disinfected (e.g. indoor environments). Visits to dog parks or other areas that are not sanitized and/or are highly trafficked by dogs of unknown vaccination or disease status should be avoided.

Classes should be based on positive reinforcement with frequent rewards praise, petting, play and/or treats. Positive and consistent training is associated with fewer behavioral problems and greater obedience than methods that involve punishment and/or encourage hu­man dominance.

Time must be scheduled for puppies to play alone with their favorite toys (such as stuffed food toys). This teaches puppies to amuse themselves, and may help to prevent problems of over attachment to the owners. Continuing to offer dogs a wide variety of experiences during their first year of life is also helpful in preventing separation-related behavior.

Proper confinement training using pens or crates helps to ensure that puppies have safe and secure places for rest and con­finement. Puppies that are used to being crated will be less stressed if they must be hospitalized or be confined for travel by plane or car. Crates should serve as comfort or play areas.

Early and adequate socialization and programs of positive training can go a long way to preventing behavior problems and improving bonding between humans and dogs. While the first three months is the most important socialization period in a puppy’s life, owners of puppies that have passed this milestone are strongly encour­aged to continue to socialize their puppies to as many people, pets, and locations as is practical.

Other topics in this class include, play biting, potty training, chewing,  intro to marker training (some people use a clicker), how to develop a gentle play style & attention,  leash walking and come when called.