Why We Like Dogs Better Than People

Most dogs are less exasperating than people. Think about it:

Has your dog ever asked you for your car keys?

Has your dog ever asked you for a loan?

Has any dog borrowed your tools and then not returned them?

Has your dog ever ignored you when you come home from work? (If so, get a new dog.)

Has your dog ever not thanked you for what you do? (Well, didn’t you see his tail wagging?)

Has your dog ever asked you why you want him to do unnatural things like walk between your legs while you are walking, to stand on his hind legs, to jump through your arms when you hold them like a loop, or to play dead?

Did your dog ever ask you if you wanted him to guard your property?

Dogs are perfect except I have never got one to pay board and room─except by unconditional love.

Okay, the article was rejected for too few words. Let’s try a poem if I can dream one up here.

If your dog bites your hand

When you feed him,

It’s not a dog,

It’s a ferret.

If your dog hates your cats,

Barks all night,

And poops on your rug,

It’s a dog.

That aught to do it!

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine, Jones is Executive Representative of International Wealth Success. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (IWS wealth-success books and kits and business newsletters / TopFlight flagpoles)

Based on Grand Prix-style horse jumping events, Dog Agility has come a long way since its inception more than twenty years ago. Dog lovers all over the world have taken to this event in droves.

There are two types of classes of Agility: Standard and Jumpers with Weaves. In Standard Agility, there are between 13 and 20 obstacles that include the Dog Walk, the A-Frame, the Pause Table and tunnels. Jumpers with Weaves doesn’t include the contact obstacles such as the A-Frame, but does have the tunnel, chute and the tire jump.

The contact obstacles in Standard Agility have clearly marked “contact” points on either end of the obstacle that _must_ be touched, or points are taken off. Points are also lost for taking an obstacle out of sequence (off course), not pausing long enough on the pause table, refusing any obstacle, or taking too long to complete the course. Three refusals/misses on any obstacle are grounds for dismissal from the class.

In Jumpers with Weaves, the contact obstacles are removed and more jumps added to the course. The weave poles are a fascinating aspect of the courses. There may be six to twelve poles for the dog to weave through and to see a skilled dog do them is an amazing sight. Some of the dogs literally jump from side to side as they move through the poles.

On the day of the trial, the judge sets up the course with a view to variety in the obstacles and timing. Jump heights are dependent upon the size of the dog(s) to be run, so they may be set for one size dog and all those entries run before the jump heights are changed.

Titles in either event are Novice (NA or NAJ), Open (OA or OAJ), Excellent (AX or AXJ), Excellent B (MX or MXJ), and Master Agility Champion (MACH).

Obstacles like the A-Frame (which is set to 6 feet high), the Dog Walk (two ramps attached to a cross-walk approximately 5 feet high), and the Teeter-totter challenge the dog in balance and fortitude. The Pause Table is a challenge in control. The dog is asked to stop on a table-like obstacle and either sit or down (at the judge’s discretion) for a specific period of time and then continue on the course.

Training for Agility should begin with the “height” obstacles lowered to safe levels, even to the point of laying flat on the ground. The goal is to teach the dog confidence and safety in taking the obstacle. As the obstacles are slowly raised, the dog is taught to navigate them more rapidly, but still with an eye to safety. Eventually, they are raised to their proper height and the dog learns to negotiate them at speed.

The tunnels are large “tubes” of material that can be set in any configuration from straight to a U shape. There is also a “chute” which is like a tunnel, but one end is open and the other is unsupported so it lies on the ground. In the chute, the dog must push her way through the material at speed. This can be a difficult obstacle to teach the dog, as it appears to her that it’s a dead-end.

Learning to manuver over the teeter-totter, or seesaw, is another tricky skill for the dog. He must go up one side, pause at the apex and cause the board to seesaw down in the other direction, then continue the course.

With patience and practice, your dog could become an Agility “nut” and cover the course with a bark of excitement every step. Better eat your Wheaties, because this is not a sedentary sport to be involved in.

C. Rogers Upson has been training dogs and studying them for nearly 40 years. Her website is Dog Potentials and she has two dog-related stores at Keeping to the Borders and Dog Potentials-The Store.

Recently received this question:

“AM LOOKING FOR A LABADOR RETREIVER PUPPY AT THIS MOMENT - I AM WANTING TO GET THE PUPPY TAUGHT TO AIR AND GROUND SCENT HUNT FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE WORK AS WELL AS MYSELF TAUGHT

WHERE DO I GO?”

Here is what I answered:

From my research on the net (using search-and-rescue-dog-training), I’ve found the following resources:

Search Dog Network, Inc.
Selecting a Potential SAR Dog
http://www.searchdogs.org/articles/selectingsardog.html
(most of the links at the bottom don’t work)

SARBC
Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia
http://www.sarbc.org/dinfo.html

National Association for Search and Rescue
http://www.nasar.org/nasar/
Particularly view the Education links

North American Search Dog Network
http://www.nasdn.org/index.htm

American Rescue Dog Association, Inc.
http://www.ardainc.org/main.html

Since you don’t indicate where you’re located, I added in the BC info. It appears to be an excellent information resource.

You might also check with your local Fire Department and Police Department for information on local SAR dog teams and contact them to find out where they trained.

It appears from the information available, that some of the training available may be iffy. Find out from any potential trainers how much time they’ve spent in the field and what certifications they hold, not only in SAR, but in other work, too, such as Agility Titles, Obedience Titles, Field Trial or Tracking Titles. I would definately check the NASAR link and look at the courses they offer under their Education link.

As for finding your puppy, I’d suggest locating a few Lab breeders in your area and ask them about the people they have placed puppies with. Do any of them use the dogs for SAR? Ask, too, about dogs from their lines that have been used in hunting, agility, obedience training and such. You’re looking for lines that are “working” dogs. Those are the lines that would probably work best for this.

The SARBC site lists a great many “traits” that would be of use to a SAR dog, like agility and obedience.

If you’re in a hurry to get into the training, you might want to talk to your local Lab Rescue group for an older dog to begin with. Labs don’t generally physically mature until they are 18-24 months old and emotionally later than that, so you’re looking at a minimum of about two years before the dog will be stable enough to really do the SAR work. Socializing the young dog is extremely important to move this stability along.

The training for you will take a good while, too. Not only do you have to train the dog, but there are aspects you need training in, such as, handling the dog in different terrains, first aid for your SAR dog (and yourself and others), physical conditioning for you and the dog. Then, if you choose to specialize, there is more training that will have to be done.

It is not going to be a six- or eight-week course and you’re ready. It is going to be an ongoing committment for a long time. It can get pretty expensive, too, because if your SAR team is called to other areas to help, you’ll have to get there, take care of your housing needs and meals, and any other expenses that occur. Too, if you can’t be gone from your job for long periods, what will you do in a longer-term situation
where you and your dog are needed for weeks at a time?

I’m certainly not trying to discourage you, I think it is wonderful that you want to get into the work–there are many more teams needed for it. But, it is important to know that this is not going to be something you can generally do over a weekend like an obedience trial or show.

Best of luck on finding your SAR dog and training and let me know how it goes.

C. Rogers Upson has been training dogs and studying them for nearly 40 years. Her website is Dog Potentials and she has two dog-related stores at Keeping to the Borders and Dog Potentials-The Store.

Your dog is more similar to you in their emotions than in their mentality. Some of their emotional reactions are so much like ours, that we tend to humanize them. The dogs emotions are visibly expressed in his eyes and face, his ear and tail movements, his posture, and general behavior. Sometimes they are vocally expressed as well. Your dog can feel and express the same emotions as we do: love, hate, joy, sorrow, grief, anxiety, jealousy, remorse, anger, fear, and even more subtle ones such as distrust and resignation.

Pet dogs have an endearing tendency to imitate their owner’s emotional reactions, which may not weigh much in an argument, but it certainly offers much in moral support. They are no more individual in expressing their emotions than we are. Dogs approach and seek contact with objects and beings that inspire friendly feelings, and avoid or shy away from those they fear. Often a dog will pretend not to see a person or animal he dislikes. A crouching position and a watchful eye mean that he has not yet made up his mind to trust or distrust.

Some facial expressions are much like ours. Worried frowns, angry glares, adoring gazes, suspicious squints, questioning looks, seductive glances, humor, and even genuine smiles. A smile, accompanied by half-closed eyes and ears held low signifies intense pleasure. Dogs express their feelings thru body language more so than facial expressions. A wagging tail and friendly grin are invitations to approach and perhaps make friends, while a snarl, a fixed stare, stiff, straight legs and tail are warnings to keep your distance. The question of distance is important to the dog because of territorial concerns and of survival instincts.

Dogs usually give voice to the emotions, and their meanings are generally clear. A happy dog gurgles or squeals with pleasure. A gentle whine says “please”, and snarling is definitely hostile. Dogs yelp from pain or fear, whine from frustration or pain, and sigh for the same reasons we do. Puppy cries are easiest to interpret, they scream when they are too hot, whimper when cold, and protest loudly when hungry. Barking is usually done to attract attention or to work excess energy if the dog is constrained such as in a kennel. Dogs exchange information among themselves less by voice than by a wide range of facial expressions, body postures and gestures.

An owner who takes the trouble to observe his dog and pay him the courtesy of listening to him, can establish a simple two-way communications system with his pet. Canine messages are usually very elementary, as he asks much less of us than we do of him. “I’m hungry”, “I’m thirsty, “I need to go out”, or “Come with me”, are among the messages he manages to convey very well, considering his limited means. His most eloquent utterance is perhaps the emotional gurgle or barks that mean to say, “It’s about time you came home, I’ve missed you!”

Randy Jones and his partner Brent Jones have been in the pet industry for a long time. Recently they formed the website http://joncopets.com/ on the site, customers can read articles about anything pets as well as shop for the latest trendy items for their best friend. Feel free to check out the site at http://joncopets.com/

Raising up is a dog is a hard task. The only consolation that you’ll have when raising up a dog is that it’s not as hard when you raised or will raise up kids.

Dogs may be a little rough around the edges when you start training them. But when they get trained, a small amount of dog burdens will be lifted away from your shoulders. Imagine that you will no longer have to step on dog poop all of a sudden or have your dog occupy your couch.

However to get your dog trained well it will need a little effort form you as well. As the saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” The better you are at training your dog, the better attitude your dog will have. Here are some tips that you can do to make the training effective.

If you live with a family or lots of other people, chances are there will be one person with most of the burden of training the dog. This person might be the one who bought the dog or the person who got forced to train the dog. It is suggestible though to make kids train the dog. This is because kids have a higher pitched voice and are more animated making dogs react more. A child training the dog will also make the dog feel less abused or imposed because of their size.

Having the right attitude when you are training your dog will also be helpful. Don’t think of training the dog as a chore, because if you do you will feel bored. Naturally when you feel bored, you and your dog will not enjoy. Prevent it from happening, because when it does happen you will be spending less time training. Try to enjoy and have fun, that’s what your relationship with the dog should be anyway.

If you are tired or cranky, train at a later time. Relax first, if you train the dog when you are tired, you will only become more irritated when things don’t go right. When the dog is having trouble with something new; try to go back to something the dog has already mastered. This will make the dog feel not so bad.

Don’t give up immediately when things are not going your way. Just think about the dog learning something from a different language. If you are learning how to read a book in Chinese, you’ll also have a hard time right?

If you’re at the point of giving up, just think about the benefits of all things once the dog has been properly trained.

Michael Colucci is a technical writer for Free Dog Training and Dog Care