Sunday, March 23, 2008

Puppies 101

Puppies 101
By Robert Forto, PhD

One of the most common questions new dog owners ask us at Denver Dog Works in Colorado is “How do I train my new puppy?” A well-trained dog is a true joy to own, but new pet owners have little experience training animals. These pointers will help you to establish a happy, loving relationship with your new pet. We at Denver Dog Works also strongly recommend new owners enroll in our Puppy Class. These classes start monthly on the first Saturday at our training center at 10400 E. Evans Avenue Denver Colorado 80247. This four-week course teaches you everything you need to know about raising a healthy, confident dog.
People often tell us that they want to wait until the puppy is a little older before enrolling in an obedience class. Training should begin the day you bring your puppy home. If you wait until he is six months old, imagine all of the bad habits that can develop. That is 180-days of accidents, trials and tribulations, biting and mouthing, and a lack of proper socialization. Your cute, cuddly little puppy will grow up quick. Give him the gift of a routine and consistency, and you will thank him for it later.
All in the Family
Even though he realizes that you are not a dog, the only way your puppy knows how to relate to other creatures is if they were dogs. With this in mind, you must learn “dog leadership skills” to let your dog know that you are the pack leader. Any family member who doesn’t do this may be bossed around by the dog, and even bitten.
One of the best techniques for teaching your puppy his social position is a technique that I call “Nothing in Life is Free.” First, you train your puppy to sit, or better yet, lie down. Then you teach a releasing command such as “Free Dog!” This means that the dog is free to do whatever he wants again. At first, the time spent sitting will be brief. Never reward your dog when gets up on his own, but always reward him if he remains sitting until released. Say “Good dog” and give a food reward at first (small pieces of hot dog or string cheese work best); later the verbal reward can be used alone.
Now ask your puppy to sit for anything he wants in your household except water. This means that he must assume a submissive body posture in order to get dinner, let out, petted or played with. In these situations, the reward is what the pup wanted in the first place, so no food reward is necessary. Soon the pup will sit on his own when he wants something. This is akin to teaching your children to say “Please” when they want something.
A Big Wide World
The crucial period for socialization in dogs is between four and fourteen weeks. During this time, expose your puppy to as many different people and situations as possible. Remember that a puppy does not realize that children of various ages eventually will be grown-ups. Introduce cats, other adult dogs, wheelchairs, cars, noises, and enroll him in a puppy class as soon as possible.
Stopping that Chewing
Puppies just like children, go through a teething period as well as an oral exploration phase, where everything seems to end up in their mouths. One of the easiest ways to prevent your puppy from chewing you out of house and home is to set him up for success. Give him a variety of safe chew toys such as Kongs®. Tuck food treats inside to stimulate your puppy’s interest. I make a puppy popsicles by placing a Milkbone® dog treat and a teaspoon of peanut butter in the Kong® and freezing it. This will provide hours of stimulation for your pup. I advise that you have two on hand at all times.
Do not expect the puppy to differentiate between old socks or shoes and new ones, or between a rag you’re taunting him with and a fluttering curtain. Always be sure that he has several appropriate chew toys in his crate with him. While you are monitoring him closely to get him housebroken, also watch for inappropriate chewing. Whenever you catch him chewing on anything other than his toys say, “No,” then redirect his attention to a chew toy. This may require you to carry a few toys in your pockets during this training period.
Chewing can also be directed towards people. Always use a toy when playing with your puppy—whenever you play with just your hands, you are training him that humans are chew toys from the wrist down. If your puppy mouths you, do exactly what another puppy who did not want to be bitten would do—make a high-pitched shrieking sound and leave. Your puppy will learn that people are wimpy, and that he simply cannot “play rough” with humans.
Now that you have a housebroken, well-socialized, polite puppy, consider obedience training. There is no better gift for your puppy than a lifelong commitment from you, and that includes continual learning. If you are interested in our puppy classes or any of our programs please check out our website at www.DenverDogWorks.com or give Dr. Robert Forto a call at 303-752-2810 anytime.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Never Forget Your Dreams


Never Forget Your Dreams
By Robert Forto, PhD

My life’s passion and my life’s work is dog sled racing. My lifelong dream is to run the Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska. The Last Great Race. I am 37-years old now and one day before I am old and gray I will run that race. While I am sure I will not win, I will at least complete it and get to the finish line in Nome, a mere 1049-miles away. I have even named my company after this quest—Dreamchaser Kennels. I will chase and fulfill this dream.
The running of the Last Great Race, as it is called, started the first weekend of March and the winner of this year’s race was Lance Mackey. He won last year as well. Mackey, like every other musher, as they are called, has a unique story to tell. Don’t we all? Mackey is a cancer survivor, a tremendous feat in itself but he had the guts, passion, determination, and most importantly the drive to complete this race. He won in just a little over nine, yes, nine days. He won 69,000 dollars and a new truck. When asked about his winnings: “By winning, it allows me not to have to get a real job”, says Mackey.
This week’s blog is dedicated to this race and one of the men that made it all possible. His name is Leonhard Seppala. While he is not a household name like the athletes, musicians, and movie stars of today, those who know about the Iditarod and dog sled racing, his name is instantly recognizable.
The following is an excerpt from my doctoral dissertation titled: Chasing the Dream: The History of Human-Canine Communication in the Sport of Dog Sledding. (2005). I hope you enjoy it and if you would like to read it in its entirety check out my website at http://www.denverdogworks.com/ and it is available to download.
No dog driver has the status, the renown and the respect of his colleagues as does Leonhard Seppala. His fame has lasted far beyond his brief national acclaim following the race to Nome against an epidemic. His greatness has long outlasted his success as a racer. Before his death in 1967 at the age of ninety, Seppala had been made an honorary member of four prestigious organizations: The Siberian Husky Club of America, The International Siberian Husky Club (which was originally chartered as the Seppala Siberian Husky Club), The New England Sled Dog Club and The Norwegian Sled Dog Club.
The longest sled dog race in North America was named for Seppala. When thirty four dog teams left the starting line in Anchorage on March 3, 1973 bound for Nome, in the first thousand-mile Seppala Memorial Iditarod Trail Race, no driver wore Number One. Starting position Number One had been reserved in memory of the most distinguished dog driver of all time.
In 1961, at a testimonial banquet at the Alaska Press Club, Lowe Thomas introduced the 84-year-old musher with sparkling blue eyes as “the greatest dog team driver that ever lived.” For Seppala was an original, an innovator, and a pioneer. There was no aspect of dog driving he left untouched. Even today, over one hundred years after his birth, many Siberian Huskies that race today are descended from Seppala’s Siberians.
At the turn of the century young Seppala left his native Norway, his father’s fishing boat and his apprenticeship with a blacksmith, to join the hundreds of new explorers seeking their fortune in the gold fields of Alaska. He soon discovered that a steady, if less spectacular, way to make money was to have a dog team and to freight supplies to the miners. Within a few years Seppala had the reputation as one of the best dog punchers in the new territory.
His life swerved onto a new trail when inspired by the excitement of the new sled dog races in Nome, he entered and won his first race at age thirty-six. The next year, 1914, he entered the All Alaska Sweepstakes with a team of young Siberian dogs he had been training for the explorer Roald Amundsen. After losing the trail and injuring his dogs, Seppala finished last. He started that race with a leader named Suggen, and he was hooked on sled dog racing. Seppala trained hard and in secret, far away from town and returned to win the race by over an hour in 1915. He repeated this feat in 1916, and 1917, winning both Sweepstakes by large margins. Seppala was to obtain permanent possession of the Siberians when Amundsen’s North Pole trip was cancelled. Seppala’s appreciation of the imported huskies was immediately apparent and years later he wrote, “Once more the little Siberians had proved their superiority over the other dogs and I was proud to have been their driver and to have brought them in such good condition.”
Seppala’s continuing success put him on “top of the list when the chairman of Nome’s Board of Health was looking for fast teams to go for the diphtheria serum being relayed in from Anchorage.” Seppala’s leader by then was Togo, a son of Suggen. Togo, destined to be a hero as the result of his valiant leadership across the trackless treachery of Norton Sound, began life as a spoiled, hard to handle pup. He was the offspring of some of Fox Ramsay’s Siberian imports. Part of his early training including running free beside the big team, which he loved, but one day he ran into a team of tough Malamutes and was badly chewed up. Perhaps this is one of the ways a future lead dog learns part of his lessons, for Togo became the best passer Seppala ever had. Togo was a master at leading his team well out of reach of any other dogs on the trail.
After the successful life-saving race to Nome, Seppala toured the East Coast of the United States. In 1927 he took his whole team to New England and proceeded to win race after race. He won New England Sled Dog Club races in Maine and New Hampshire; he won Eastern International Dog Derby’s in Quebec; he raced in Lake Placid, although Canada’s great Emile St. Godard did beat him for first place in the Olympic Games exhibition race. Everywhere he went, if he was not actually racing, he was “talking dogs.” Many future dog drivers learned the basics, the fun and the dangers of driving sled dogs by listening whenever “Sepp” was around.
Eastern mushers became just as enamored of the Siberian Huskies as was Seppala and, with his help; selective breeding programs were started at several kennels. Seppala was looking for a slightly larger dog without diminishing alertness, grace and the lightness of foot had contributed to this natural breed’s success in racing. These new kennels provided this by mixing their bloodlines with his.
In addition to the dogs, Seppala introduced to the East at least two innovations to the sport of dog sled racing. To New Englander’s familiar with the single file freight hitch brought from Alaska by Arthur Walden, Seppala’s method of hooking the dogs in pairs with a single leader looked strange. Nothing bodes better for an innovation than success however, and this double tandem hitch, with occasional slight modifications, is standard in races today. The other novelty presented by Seppala was the driver’s more active participation in the race. Although dog punchers and long-distance racers usually ran beside their sleds, the sprint racers would stand on the runners of their lighter sleds, jumping off only to run uphill. Seppala broke through this prevailing concept by introducing a pedaling motion. With one leg, as though on a scooter, timing his push with the dogs’ strides to keep the sled moving at an even rate.
Seppala and his wife returned to Alaska in the mid-thirties, and then after retirement moved to Seattle, Washington. In 1960 the chipper little man flew to Laconia, New Hampshire to serve as honorary judge at the World Championships Sled Dog Derby. He was eighty-three years young and still delighted with the sled dogs. He reflected on his forty-five years of dog driving, his quarter of a million miles by dog team, his ninety-three silver cups and eight gold medals. The people of Laconia knew they were witnessing a giant in the sport.
Beyond the trophies, the Seppala-strain sled dogs, the inspired dog drivers, the innovations and contributions to the sport, lies the quality of the man. In a sport where handling dogs well is a necessity, the best still pay tribute to Seppala’s skillful relationship with his dogs. In a sport where some try to win with pressure and punishment, Seppala’s unequalled triumphs were achieved with kindness and encouragement. A driver could be running a good race, but he knew if Seppala was in it, chances were good that the little Siberian team would go flying past, almost soundless. Many mushers would say that Seppala would just cluck them every now and then, and the dogs would lay into their harnesses harder than they have ever seen before. One competitor said, “Something came out of him and went into those dogs with that clucking sound. He passed me every day of the race and I wasn’t loafing any.”
After a long day Seppala would reach for his parka and cap and go out to his dogs one more time before retiring for the night to check on their comfort. Out would go that little weather-beaten Alaskan, a man who pinned his faith and his life on the good health, endurance and loyalty of his dogs.
Dr. Robert Forto is a certified canine behaviorist and owner of Denver Dog Works in Colorado. He specializes in canine aggression and dangerous dogs. He is also an avid musher and winter sports enthusiast. Dr. Forto can be contacted via his website http://www.denverdogworks.com/ and by phone at 303-752-2818.

Friday, March 7, 2008

A Simple Sit

A Simple Sit
By Robert Forto, PhD

It is a common scenario at Denver Dog Works in Colorado. A frenzied dog owner will call us or come by our school nearly fanatical and begging for our help. The best friend they so desperately endear has become the canine equivalent of the school-yard bully. He pushes the owner around, jumps on the furniture, tears up your favorite pair of shoes or destroys your neighbors’ fancy new suit while your dog greets your guest at your door when he arrives at your dinner party.
Whether you are just starting out with a new puppy, an older shelter dog, or realizing that there are some behavioral issues developing with your current dog, dog training can be a valuable asset for both owners and their dogs. There is tremendous value in obedience training. Here are just a few reasons why every dog should know some basic commands:
· Training helps to establish leadership with your dog.
· Training gives your dog a job to do for the things in life he wants which you provide.
· It begins to prepare your dog’s mind for immediate responses to commands in social situations where he is required to sit/stay and down/stay.
· The consistency and repetition of simple sits and downs will begin to foster discipline in behavior.
· Training provides you with acceptable alternative behaviors to which you can redirect your dog. If jumping is inappropriate, redirect to sit.
The sit command is the easiest command to teach a dog and yet most people do not teach a well-disciplined sit. Most people teach their dogs to sit as young puppies, so dogs are already very familiar with and comfortable doing it, remembering all positive associations with the sit command—food, treats, praise, etc.
When I think of problem solving behaviors in dogs, you would be surprised how many behaviors you can stop with a well disciplined sit. Jumping, running out the front door, dog aggression, and yes, even barking, just to name a few. Think about it for a moment. If your dog is sitting, he can not jump. The two behaviors are mutually exclusive. The same goes for aggressing on another dog.
Most people drop the ball in two places: weaning dogs off food treats too soon and distraction training. It really does not matter whether you use compulsion (no treats) or reward based methods to train as long as the dog is obeying without treats when you have the dog on a voice or a hand signal. But here is where the real work begins distraction training. A well disciplined sit means your dog has been “proofed” to sit around all the distractions to which he will be exposed.
Here are some helpful tips:
· Always train your dog on a leash so you will be able to reinforce commands. As your dog becomes more reliable you can move to off leash.
· Remember the 3-D formula for distraction training: duration, distractions and distance. You build time first (three minute sit/stay) then add distractions before you add distance from the dog.
Please remember, because dogs do not generalize well, you must always vary the level of distraction, the locations in which you train and your distance from the dog. Command elements such as tone of voice and different people handling the dog work well too.
While this all sounds like a lot of work, it probably is. But it is all relative to your dog’s problems and your willingness to live with these problems or fix them and dramatically improve the relationship with your dog. A simple sit can solve many problems, but successful behavior modification will ultimately always begin and end with 100-percent compliance from you, your dog’s owner. Remember that you are the leader in this relationship and what you say must go.
If you are interested in training your dog the natural way give Dr. Robert Forto a call at Denver Dog Works. He is the owner and training director of the school. Dr. Forto can be reached at 303-752-2818 or through his website at www.denverdogworks.com. He has over eighteen years experience working with canines of all breeds. While Dr. Forto specializes in canine aggression he often consults clients on becoming the pack leader in the dynamic relationship we have built with dogs.