Calming a Hyperactive Pup

You know about my neighbor's puppy, Freckles... She's 8 months old now and as hyper as ever... bouncing off everyone and driving my dogs nuts with wanting to jump on their heads, kiss them, chew their feet, etc.

Yesterday she came to visit out at the shop, and although she was tied to a post, she was being her wild self. Then one of the men got up and set her in the hammock. (Yes, my husband has a hammock in the shop - just in case he needs a nap.)

After moving around a bit too much and dumping herself out, she decided that was a scary place, so when she got set back in the hammock a second time, she didn't move. She whined a bit when my dogs went over to her person to be petted, but she didn't take any chances of falling out again.

I sent my neighbor home with a bottle of Feel5ive - the Bach Flower Essences blend that acts as a calmative. It's all natural - no narcotics and no side-effects - so safe to use. I'm hoping to hear that it was exactly what she needed to calm down and start paying attention.

Feel5ive is usually used for times of stress - for both humans and pets. We use it in animal rescue for critters who come in fearful, depressed, or angry. Humans benefit by taking it when they know they're going into a stressful situation - a visit to the dentist, a job interview, etc.

The reason I thought Feel5ive might help Freckles was a report I got from another friend. I had given him a bottle to use when he needed to take his dog riding in the car - because she always got upset about that. When his dog got over her fear, he still had half a bottle, so he passed it along to a friend of his with a hyperactive puppy.

The report that came back was "Relief!" The pup calmed down and the friend was able to enjoy her company instead of yelling at her.

Let's hope it gives Freckles the same benefit.

Dog obedience: Stop the jumping!

Does your dog jump all over visitors? Does he even jump all over you when you first get home? Does he fail to quit jumping when you give the command to stop?

Every dog is a different personality, but here are some tips that might work for you:

First, you and any guests must learn to ignore the dog when you walk in the house. No eye contact, no petting or talking to the dog. This is to dispel the idea that someone coming in is an exciting event.

Once the dog learns to calm down, you can go back to greeting him - but quietly.

When the dog does jump on you, instead of moving backward, move forward, into the dog. He'll not only lose his balance, but he'll get the message in "dog talk" that this is your space and he is to move out of it. You can give the command for down, but don't give him any other attention.

If this happens in the same place in the house repeatedly, keep a can of pebbles or pennies nearby and shake it at him. Dogs don't like that sound and will retreat.

While you're teaching the dog not to jump for attention, you need to also teach him that he will get positive attention by sitting quietly. Your dog wants attention from you - and if the only way he can get it is by being a pest, he'll be a pest.

So, when the dog is sitting quietly, tell him he's good, give him a pet, or even a treat. If he comes to sit quietly beside you when you're visiting with a guest, take a second to acknowledge his presence and give him some petting while you talk.

Try hard to remember not to just say "Good Dog." Praise the behavior itself using the words you use for commands. For instance, say "Good sit", "good off," "good down," & "good stay."

He knows he's a good dog - but he needs to know what he did that was so good!

Dog Obedience: How to stop pulling on the leash

Tonight I got a link to an informative article on Fox news... some good tips on training your dog not to pull on the leash when you're walking, and not to suddenly lunge.

A big dog can knock you to the ground doing that, so teaching them not to do it is important.

In addition to the tips in the article - here's one I learned when Suzie and I were doing obedience training:

Our class held several people with dogs who couldn't quite get the "pay attention" part, so the dogs were constantly trying to pull away from their handlers, and the handlers were becoming more tense and upset - as well as worn out from being jerked around.

Our teacher pointed out that energy passes from a person's hand, through the leash, to the dog - so along with them being able to sense their handler's emotions just because that's something dogs can do, the handlers' stress transmitting through the leash was making these dogs even more unruly.

The answer: Step on the leash. Keep one end in your hand, of course, but just stand on the leash and let the dog jerk on the bottom of your foot rather than your arm. The energy from your hand isn't there, and unlike the reaction he gets from jerking on your arm, there's no give, so he'll tire of that pretty quickly.

The article above discusses using a special control harness for training - we used a choke collar in class. I know, it sounds mean, but when it's put on properly, it isn't. As soon as the dog releases the pull, the collar also releases. So the only time it's even tight on his neck is if you give it a brief tug to tell him something, or if he's pulling.

An obedient dog is a joy - a misbehaving dog is a trial - so take the time to teach your dog good manners. You'll both be happier!

Introducing a new dog to the pack

This time I'm writing in hopes that someone has some good advice.

I wrote you about our new "family member" Freckles. She lives with my neighbor a mile down the road. He'd love to bring her along when he comes to visit, and I've always taken my dogs along when I stop by to see him - but one of my dogs is being a complete pill.

She takes serious offense at that puppy rushing up to say hello, and the other day I was actually afraid that she'd hurt the pup, so I hurried and got her back in the truck.

I don't know if this is a jealousy thing, because she always got lots of attention from this neighbor, or if it's just because the puppy is so enthusiastic. When we did obedience classes there were only 2 dogs out of about 50 that she didn't like - so her normal behavior is to be friendly.

Any good ideas?

Living happily with dogs

Dog lovers need to read more than one doggie blog... so go here and read about 31 doggie duties to do dutifuly for 31 days.

I told my own dogs what it said, and they agreed with everything but #20 - you'll see why.

I've always lived with dogs, and until about 6 years ago had never considered taking one to obedience class. But then our rescue sponsored obedience classes and I had a young dog, so I decided to take part. My dog loved it! She would get so excited when we'd pull up in front of the building that she couldn't sit still. From there we did advanced obedience and then agility - and we had great fun.

So, since these dogs have always been a part of my life, and since I had assimilated what I learned in obedience school into our daily lives, I hadn't been thinking much about the "commands" I give the dogs. I don't much like that word, by the way, but guess it's the one that fits.

Then our neighbor got a puppy and started asking me about how to train her, and I started paying attention to what I was saying and doing with my dogs. I was amazed when I realized how many commands they respond to, and how often I use some of them. Like "wait." I think I say that a lot! "Leave it" is another one - every time they start to harass the cat.

Now I'm hoping that we can find an obedience class somewhere nearby when little Freckles gets just old enough to pay attention.

The reason I never considered obedience class sure sounds silly when I think of it now... I had some notion that it would turn a dog into a robot, or make him lose his personality, or something. In truth, all it did was make us enjoy each other's company a whole lot more.

An Unprecedented Act of Dog Obedience

I could hardly believe what happened a couple of nights ago.

We had company, which always gets the dogs a bit wound up. Then the cat came in and started pestering them. After he got tired of the game he bounded off down the stairs and they all ran after him... until I said "No."

So all 3 laid down at the top of the stairs to watch and wait... maybe that Tiger would be coming back?

Our company thought that was so cute that she pulled out her camera, so I did the same. But what was amazing was when I decided to go down the stairs and get a picture from below. I told them all to stay put and not move - and they actually did it!

I don't think I've ever had a dog or a cat sit still and stay put when I deliberately went after a camera.

This trio finally gave up and went back to visiting with our company after I told them it was OK to move - and the cat never did come back. Guess he decided it was bedtime even though the rest of us had no sense.

Setting Training Limits for Your Dog

1. The dog is not allowed in the house
2. OK, he can come in, but only in the kitchen
3. Well, he can be in the living room, but he has to stay off the furniture
4. The dog can only get on the old couch, not the new chair
5. Fine, OK. The dog can sleep on the living room furniture, but not on the beds.
   
6. The dog can be on the bed, but only when I say so.
7. The dog can sleep on the bed any time, but not under the covers
8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only
9. Fine then. The dog can sleep under the covers every night
10. If it's OK with the dog, the humans can sleep under the covers too.

I thought this was cute, but it really doesn't address a couple of problems: Such as the dog being a bed-hog. Sometimes I can't understand how such a small critter can spread out over an entire bed.

Dogs we have to admire

Just had to share this video that came my way... I have Hughes Net, so I can only see it in snatches of a few seconds at a time, but I still love it.

I think you will too!

Well-mannered, polite dogs

Sunday I went horseback riding with a friend, and when we got back we settled on her front porch for a bit of refreshment. Her 4 dogs were there to greet us.

Usually, walking onto a porch with a crowd like that would mean 4 dogs, all pushing each other out of the way for attention, but these dogs don't behave that way.

First, Abbey came to greet me. She's the blind one, so she had to sniff a bit and make sure she remembered who I was. Abbey was one of a litter of pups who had been dumped in a ditch and found muddy, cold, and hungry. She was the only blind one of the litter, and as her foster mom, my friend found she couldn't part with her. Abbey does fine with her nose and her ears to guide her.

Next came Louie - the only boy in the household. He got up on the bench next to me and snuggled a bit. Experts say dogs don't like hugs, but they forgot to tell Louie. Louie was a rescue too, but his situation wasn't quite as dramatic as Abbey's or Tika's.

Tika is the girl with 3 legs. She was one tough rescue, forcing us to borrow a live trap to catch her after she'd been seen wandering around for a couple of weeks dragging a broken leg. It took days to trap her, even after the neighbors got around to letting us know about her.

But she's fine now, and you'd never convince her that there's anything wrong with the way she gets around.

Finally, ever the lady, Annie came to get some attention. She's my favorite, maybe because I've known her the longest, or maybe just because she's so darned sweet. My friends got her because one of their neighbors went snow shoeing and found her living by a travel trailer that had been abandoned when the snow got too deep that winter. She was a skinny, hungry pup, but that changed as soon as she got to my friend's house.

Unfortunately, the people had been gone too long - the rabbits and chickens left in their cages were all dead. But, a couple of weeks later another pup showed up, and he found a wonderful home.

I don't know how Sally taught her dogs such perfect manners, but it sure makes it a pleasure to visit with them.

Fearful owners = frightening dogs!

Yesterday a friend and I went horseback riding.

On the way back we met a man and a beautiful German Shepherd on the path, and the dog looked none too friendly. It's hard to describe his body language, but it was threatening. The man with him recognized that and reached for the dog's collar - whereupon the dog whirled around and snapped at him!

The man jumped back and made no further attempt to contain the dog, so I put my palm toward him and told him to stay back (in my sternest deepest voice) and then eased slowly past him. My friend did much the same and we got safely by.

I really wanted to go back after we put the horses away and suggest that the man and the dog should be at an obedience class - because if he's allowed to continue that behavior, he really might hurt someone. Maybe even his owner.

The dog definitely had the upper hand in that relationship, and had he decided to come after the horses, I don't think any commands from his owner would have made any difference at all.

It's a shame - he's a beautiful animal.

Yours for happy and safe canine companions,
Marte

Training kids or dogs - not a lot of difference

I just finished reading an article about the epidemic of doctors prescribing behavior modifying drugs for children - babies, even.

The article went on to say that changes in diet would probably be more beneficial to the children than prescription drugs, which could cause irreparable harm to their bodies.

But then it mentioned something people don't talk about much - discipline. And I was struck by the similarities between raising a pleasant child and raising a pleasant canine companion.

Check out this advice:

Count to three and then place the child in “timeout.” (Our Pepper used to get put in the kennel for an hour after he tried to chase passing cars.)

Also, let your child know the rules, and what the consequences are for not following them. If your child fails to clean his room for example, let him know that he’ll be placed in timeout and won’t be able to play with his toys for the rest of the day.
(Can't quite link that one to dogs - but they do care a lot about approval and need to know immediately when their behavior is not what you expect from them. Consequences could just be being sent to go lay down in the corner.)

Even more important, follow through and be consistent with what you say you are going to do. By the same token, don’t forget to reward exceptionally good behaviors.
(This one definitely relates - being consistent with what is or is not acceptable is of absolute importance. And reward is a major motivator for dogs as well as children.)

Nurturing -- Paying attention to your child, giving him/her responsibilities, and building his self-esteem is another key to eliminating behavior problems.
(Giving your dog a job to do - be it retrieving a ball or helping to herd the cattle or jumping through a tire, or letting you know when a stranger approaches - is always a good thing. Everyone needs a job and feels good when they contribute!)

And of course - plenty of appropriate praise is always a key. Treats are good - but some dogs don't care about them and would rather you tossed a ball.

My Mom told me to raise my kids so that other people could also love them. I did, and they do. I try to raise my dogs the same way, and so far it's working. Everyone who comes to our house speaks first to my dogs -

Yours for happy canines!
Marte

Obedience training comes first when you adopt an adolescent dog

Many dogs who come in to shelters as "lost" are adolescents - and I suspect that it's often more a case of abandonment than loss.

People get a cute, fuzzy little puppy and take it home to play with. But they ignore their responsibility to train that puppy - and it becomes an unruly adolescent. It might be a very nice dog - loving and wanting to please. But it has no idea what it should do to please. No one has ever given it any rules or let it know what kind of behavior is expected.

So, the dog jumps up on everyone, chews what shouldn't be chewed, digs in the trash, chases cars (or bicycles or chickens or cats), steals food from the kitchen counter, and generally makes a nuisance of itself.

Then, since the dog is no longer fun to have around, they drop it off at a shelter or simply drive out on some country road and kick it out of the car. After all, shelters often charge turn over fees, and dumping is free.

Later they wander past a grocery store, see kids giving away puppies, and start the cycle all over again.

Unfortunately, they also fail to spay or neuter, so the cycle of unwanted pets starts over again too. But that's the subject for a different post.

The bottom line for you as the adoptive parent of an adolescent dog is that you've got some serious training to do. And you'll have to begin at the beginning, because it's likely that your new dog doesn't even know that it should come when it's called.

We've been talking about calling your dog by his or her name and teaching it to pay attention when you speak that name. That's important when you've raised your dog from a pup - but it's difficult when you adopt an adolescent, because you don't even know what his or her name used to be. You'll have to be extra-careful to use that name often and praise your dog every time he responds.

Patience will be the name of the game, but your effort will be worth it. Your new dog will appreciate knowing the rules and being praised for following them - and you'll be blessed with the best friend a human could ever have.

Yours for happy pets,
Marte

Walking with your obedient dog

Ever see people who are pretending to take their dogs for a walk, but who are really being pulled all over the place by the dog?

I even saw that in dog obedience class - and not just on the first day. I think those folks weren't doing their homework.

Happy walking begins with the initial work of getting your dog to pay attention to you. He should be watching where you're going instead of gawking at everything under the sun. And they do. I took an untrained rescue dog for a walk one day and she got distracted by a piece of "cotton" falling from a Cottonwood tree. She really wanted to chase it!

I don't remember if our instructor gave us specific words to use, but I always said "walk with me." And if Suzie started trying to pull me off the path, I gave her a sharp tug with the choke collar to get her attention. It didn't take long before she realized that "with me" meant with me.

A lot of people don't want to use those - thinking it's cruel. They aren't cruel at all - as long as the chain is long enough and it is worn properly so that the instant you stop the "jerk" it releases. When you and your dog are walking happily, the chain will hang loose below his neck.

If your dog persists on trying to pull you, simply stand on the lead and let him go to the end, where he'll give himself a jerk back to attention. Of course, if you're dealing with a dog who has been allowed to learn bad habits, you might have to give a few mighty tugs before he figures out that the rules have changed.

Another trick we learned to keep the dogs paying attention was to walk briskly and do a lot of turns. With the dog on the right they sometimes got drug around a left turn, and sometimes got their toes stepped on or their bodies bumped into on a right turn. They learned quickly to watch their humans to see where they'd go next.

Going for a walk should be fun for both you and your dog - and it can be if you take some time to teach proper dog obedience manners.

Yours for happy pets,
Marte

Dog obedience training: A very important command

What do you think is the most important command you can teach your dog? I guess it would be hard to rate them, because things like come and stay and off (or down) make such a difference in how you get along with your dog.

But I think one of the most important is "Leave it." Teaching it takes a little bit of patience, and a little bit of "setting the stage." When you're interacting with your dog at home or when you have him on a leash, he isn't getting into too much mischief.

To teach this, have the dog on a leash so you can give a tug at the same time you give the command. Put something interesting where he'll be attracted to it. (This could happen naturally if you're out walking in the neighborhood.)

As soon as the dog starts to go toward the object (or other animal) give a tug and say "leave it." If you have to tug a bit harder to get his attention, do it. Then when he comes back to you, tell him "Good leave it" and praise him mightily. Give a treat, too.

It sure is nicer and more effective to be able to yell "leave it" and have your dog get out of the trash than to scream "Get the H... out of the garbage, you idiot!"

The other day I let my dogs out of the car at a neighbors and one immediately spotted the cat and headed that way. I said "Pepper, leave it." And he came right back to the car. Of course I felt just a little bit smug when my neighbor commented on how well my dog behaved.

Living with well-behaved canines really is a lot of fun. Now if I could just figure out a way to make the cat listen...

Yours for joy,
Marte

Your dog and the law of attraction

Ever wonder why some people have a terrible time with their dogs, and others have a fine time?

I've decided that it has to do with the Law of Attraction. I've been reading the new book "Money & the Law of Attraction," and listening to the CD that comes with it, and I'm realizing that everything we do sets up a vibration that attracts more of the same.

So when we approach our dogs with confidence and a clear expectation that they will learn to behave as good family members, they do. Conversely, when we expect them to run the other way when we call them, potty on the carpet, and chew up our shoes, they do that.

Think about the people you know who treat their dogs with kindness and respect, while expecting good behavior. Then think about the people who are constantly screaming at their animals or hitting them.

See if you agree with my thought...

Yours for happy pet families,
Marte

Dog Obedience Training Treats

Our dog obedience instructor recommended that we use different treats for training than we might use at other times. She said it set things up in the dog's mind that "This is work time." In fact, she often used that word - telling us to tell the dogs it was time to go to work.

One of her favorite treats was hot dogs - cut into small pieces and then cooked in the microwave until they got pretty hard. They're still greasy tho, so don't put them in the pocket of your best jacket unless they're in a plastic bag.

She also recommended string cheese - again cut into small pieces.

My dogs absolutely love liver. I bake it in the oven until the "slimy" goes away, then cut it into small pieces and continue baking it at about 250 degrees until it gets crunchy. In other words, I dehydrate it.

Anything your dog really loves will work, as long as it's different from the normal treats he gets when he's not "working." My son has dogs who love fruits and vegetables, so apple bits would probably motivate them! (Just stay away from the grapes, raisins, and of course the chocolate!)

I quit buying commercially made treats after reading a few dozen labels. I just can't bring myself to feed all those chemicals to my canine kids. So I bake their treats at home. Since mine don't have preservatives, I keep the bulk of the batch in the freezer and keep only enough for a couple of days in their cookie jar.

Our mainstay treats are beef and cheese - I buy inexpensive cuts of roast beef when it's on sale. Then cook it and pulverize the cooked meat in the food processor. After that I cut some chunks of cheese, add some flour so it won't stick together, and pulverize that. Then, a little olive oil and the juice from the roast. After I dump in some whole wheat flour and about a tablespoon of yeast I add water (or beef or chicken) broth to make a mix about the consistency of bread dough.

You can be fancy and roll this out and cut it like cookie dough, but the fast and easy way is to roll chunks into long "ropes" and lay them side by side on a cookie sheet. After the sheet is full, take a long knife and score the tops so the pieces will break apart easily. I usually let the dough raise before baking.

Then bake it in a slow oven until it gets crunchy.

If you'd like to share your favorite doggie recipe - please do!

Here's to happy pets,

Marte

Don't Telegraph Your Frustration to Your Dog

When Suzie and I were taking dog obedience classes there were several people in the class with dogs they just couldn't seem to handle. The harder they tried, the more they and the dogs became upset.

Getting their dogs to sit down beside them and stay quiet was almost impossible - until our instructor gave us one simple technique. She pointed out that our feelings - vibrations, if you will - transmit through the leash. So the more we become frustrated, the more the dog feels it and becomes frustrated as well.

We watched several people, especially those with large dogs, being literally drug around by their dogs.

The solution: Get the dog to sit or stand beside you, then lengthen the leash and simply stand on it while you hang on to the other end, just in case it slips. When the dog resists, the leash stays firm. And for some reason, your foot doesn't transmit frustration.

The strange thing was - and I think I've mentioned this before - not all of the human students followed instructions. So our ever-patient instructor had to keep reminding them. She also had to keep reminding them to say "good sit" and "good come" and "good walk" instead of "good dog." I think she shook her head and sighed a lot.

Remember to put those treats in your pocket and hand them out generously until your dog firmly learns each new command. After that, you can give them every 2nd or 3rd of 4th time - just to keep him on his toes.

Oh, and don't forget the praise and the petting. Those are darned important, too.

Spread the word about your rescue group

This week I sent a message out to my ezine members with an invitation to send links to their animal rescue groups for posting on this sidebar. As you can see, a few have responded. I hope you'll follow their links and see the good work they do - and choose to help them if you can.

If you work in rescue and are not getting my ezines, you can sign up by sending an email to rescuethem@getresponse.com. Meanwhile, feel free to add a comment here with a link and information about your rescue.

As well as on this sidebar, your information will be posted on my doggie website with a little information about your group and/or your activities.

And now, back to the dogs themselves...

If you rescue, you've noticed that many of the dogs who come in are "teen-agers" who haven't been taught basic manners. People dump them because they've become unruly - running through the house, jumping up on everyone, knocking things over, getting in the trash, chasing the cats, and generally behaving like wild things.

Of course that isn't the dogs' fault - it's the humans who somehow thought the dogs would learn to behave with no effort on their part. Humans aren't too bright sometimes, but then, if you look around, a whole lot of them think their kids will thrive under the same kind of non-training. But that's a different story, for someone else's blog.

Your challenge in turning those unruly teens into adoptable canine companions is a huge one - especially if you're understaffed and don't get to spend good quality time with the dogs.

You should, of course, begin with teaching them to give you their attention - we covered that in the last post. Then what? For many, it's learning to keep their front feet on the floor rather than smearing mud over visitors - or knocking them down.

Everybody seems to have a different method of training dogs to stay down, and I believe different methods work with different dogs, but there's one thing that should remain constant, and that's the verbal command.

Somehow, each rescue needs to gather all their dog handlers and fosters together to agree on the commands you're teaching these dogs. Otherwise they'll be confused, won't know what you want, and thus won't mind - and then people will think it's their fault.

Commands like come and sit seem to be universal, but what will you say to tell a dog not to jump on people? Some say "Off" while others say "down" or even "get down" and others choose "No" or "damnit, get offa me!"

I recommend a one-word command - a word that's only used for that purpose. But the most important thing is that it be consistent - and that ALL of your handlers use it.

Dog training really is a matter of training the humans...

Step #1 in Dog Obedience Training

This will sound so simple that you'll wonder why I'm telling you - or maybe not.

When we started classes, the first thing our instructor had us do was begin conditioning our dogs to stop and look at us when we spoke their names. We were to choose one name and use it consistently.

None of this stuff like I do now with Suzie. I call her Suzanna, Suzie Q, Sue, and Sue-Bell - and now that she's grown, she knows those are all her names. But we started with Suzie in class.

We were to use their names first before giving any command, so that they knew the words were directed to them. Later on you can yell "Leave it" and all of your dogs should respond at the same time, because they know those words are always for them. (If you forget and use the same command when your toddler is reaching for your new crystal vase, your dog will get confused!)

In order to reinforce the idea that your dog should give you attention every time you speak his or her name, you give a little treat when you get that attention immediately.

Our trainer recommended spending time at home on this - keep a few treats in a pocket and hand them out every time you call the dog's name and get immediate response.

Remember that the dogs are used to you talking all the time - and most of the time you're talking to someone else. If you say their name first and they pay attention, then they'll know what you're about to say is for them.

Unless you use their names first, please don't expect them to know that you're telling them to "come" when you've been saying that to the kids all day. (Just think how many times you say things like "come wash your hands," "come to the table," "come see what's outside," "come say Hi to Grandma," etc. etc. etc.)

Yours for happy dogs,
Marte

Should you take your dog to obedience training?

Yep - I firmly believe it. But I didn't always think so.

Before I knew better I thought that taking a dog to obedience school would turn them into some kind of robot or something - that they'd lose their personalities. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

I don't know what caused me to take Suzie - maybe the fact that the classes were being held only a few miles away, or maybe because so many in animal rescue were going and it suddenly sounded like fun.

It did turn out to be fun, and while I enjoyed it, Suzie absolutely loved it! She would get so excited when we drove up to the building where classes were held that she could hardly contain herself. Wiggling all over, whining to get out... she couldn't wait to get to class!

We enjoyed it so much that we took the advanced class and she earned a "Canine Good Citizen Certificate." Then we took the agility class - and she thought jumping was so much fun that when I walked over to a table to look at new leashes she jumped right up on the table to help me!

The best part, of course, is that I now know how to communicate better with her, and she now minds better. It really is a safety issue to be sure your dog knows to come when called, to "leave it," and to sit and wait when told. She slips now and then, of course, and we do need to do refreshers once in a while.

Classes were no longer available when we got Pepper, but I had learned enough with Suzie's classes to transfer some of it to him. So tonight when I let him out of the car and he headed straight for the neighbor's cat he stopped as soon as I hollered "leave it." It feels pretty nice to be able to maintain neighborly relations that way.

Obedience trainers say that dog obedience school really is for the humans more than for the dogs. When we learn to be clear in our requests - and when we learn not to give one command with our voice and a different one with our body language, our dogs are much happier. They do, after all, want to please us.

If you can't get to a class, get a good book and study. Just remember to take it one step at a time so you don't frustrate yourself or your dog.

If you do take a class, be sure to listen - I was always amazed in class when the instructor told us to praise behavior with the name of the good behavior, but otherwise intelligent people didn't listen. When your dog sits on command, your role is to say "Good sit" several times and make them understand that what they just did was wonderful. But a good percentage of the humans couldn't get it. They kept right on with "Good dog" or "Good Hector."

Oh, one more thing. The classes we took were reward based and worked wonderfully. But I've heard of trainers who use fear based and punishment based methods. Maybe those are the ones that turn your dog into a robot with no personality. I wouldn't be surprised.

Here's to happy canines!
Marte