January is Train Your Dog Month Free Webinars and Chats

National Train Your Dog Month is an Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) annual campaign, and 2012’s event will be better than ever! Join us for FREE educational webinars and live chats with professionals!

Each year, hundreds of thousands of pets are turned into animal shelters because their owners couldn’t find a reliable resource to help them with their pets’ behavior problems. Sadly, the end result is often euthanasia at the shelter rather than rehoming the pet. In response, the APDT has designated the month of January as National Train Your Dog Month to bring awareness to the importance of socialization and training for all pets! January was selected as the perfect month because so many animals are adopted and brought home during the winter holidays. We hope to help families and their pets start the New Year off on the right paw with information on the behavior needs and training of their pets.

To help the pet-loving public, as well as professionals in the animal shelter and others in the pet care industry, the APDT has recorded free educational webinars featuring many well-known pet training and behavior professionals and experts. These webinars will be available starting in January through the Train Your Dog Month event website and are completely free. APDT has also filled the month of January with a variety of “live” Facebook “chats” where anyone can “talk” in real time with professional training and behavior consultants, on a variety of topics pertaining to the training and care of dogs, cats and even rabbits! Anyone with any behavior and training questions can join the chats to learn more about their chosen pet. Visit the event website, www.trainyourdogmonth.com, for full schedule information, professional bios, as well as fun downloadable resources on training and behavior.

Free Webinar: Dog Safety - What to Teach Your Kids with Joan Orr

Free Webinar: Setting Dog and Baby Up for Success with Jennifer Shryock

Doggone Safe and the APDT believes that a better understanding of our pets’ behavior can lead to happier, healthier and harmonious households for humans and companion animals. Top trainer Ken Ramirez says:

?"Training is not a luxury, but a key component to good animal care. Everyone who has a pet should understand that basic fact. Training is a way to enhance the quality of life for our pets. It is far more than just teaching a dog to do a cute trick. Training is about teaching a dog (or any animal) how to live in our world safely."

Read a fascinating interview with Ken about advanced training concepts.

Have Fun! Train your dog!

Read More..

Doggone Safe Member Victoria Stilwell Steps Up!

Today Victoria Stilwell posted the following on Facebook:

Im worried now that the family is in danger of getting bitten by their JR after the abusive techniques that were used by Jordan Shelley on the BBCs One Show and if so the JR will get put down. If anyone knows who the family is, please tell them that I will come over to England free of charge and teach them how to stop their dog guarding in a humane and beautifully effective way. No point in just complaining, I want to save this dog and this family. Please send this to everyone you know.

Congratulations to Victoria for her generosity of spirit and willingness to stand up for her belief in the power of positive reinforcement training. We are proud to have Victoria as a member of Doggone Safe!

 I hope everyone will pass this on and help Victoria find the name of the family that she wants to help.

You can contact her at http://www.facebook.com/VictoriaStilwell or through her website http://positively.com/.

Here is the video that caused the concern:



Here are some articles that explain the proper and safe way to deal with and prevent resource guarding:

http://doggonesafe.blogspot.com/2009/10/stop-puppy-from-biting-part-2.html

http://doggonesafe.blogspot.com/2010/04/stop-puppy-from-biting-part-3.html

http://doggonesafe.blogspot.com/2010/06/serious-warning-signs-from-dog.html

Read More..

Dogs and Jumping Up

Book of the Day:

Todays book is Click For Joy!



This book is amazing. If you have ANY questions about Clicker Training, this book is for you! I own this book myself and enjoyed reading through it. Click for Joy will answer all of your questions plus more about Clicker Training. Pair this up with the book I posted yesterday and youll be set! Click for Joy has a lot of great ideas, Highly recommended by me!


Advice of the day:

Does your dog Jump up on you? Maybe they jump up on people when they come to your house. If this behavior bothers you, it most certainly bothers your visitors! Not many people, if anybody, enjoys a dog jumping up on them unless theyve asked for them to do so. Especially if they are getting them dirty. Here are a few different training methods you can try to help your dog no longer jump on people. Use which ever works for you and your dog.

1. The clicker way-

If youre familiar with clicker training and use it with your dog, then get some treats handy and your clicker. Dont forget the dog! You can do this at times when your dog is full of energy and most likely going to jump up on you or even when your dog is being calm and not jumping on you. You want to click and reward your dog for having all four feet on the ground or even sitting. If your dog jumps up on you, ignore them or turn your back on them. When they return to the ground, click and reward them with a yummy treat! Always reward them when all four feet are on the ground or if youd rather they sit, then reward them when they sit. You dont have to say anything, just wait for them to offer the behavior you are looking for, click and treat! Dont be greedy with those treats! You can even divide up your dogs regular meals and use their regular food during training sessions. Be sure to practice this with other people and when others come to your door. Be ready to reward good behavior!

2. The Balanced Way -

Perhaps clicker training isnt for you. You use rewards and/or treats in training but you also correct your dog perhaps with a pop of the collar. If this is you, then youd try this method. You want to start out the same as you would with the clicker and treats. You want to reward your dog for being good weather it be with a toy, treat, or regular food every time all four feet are on the ground. You want to be sure your dog knows what you want before they are being corrected for what you dont want. Be sure youve rewarded your dog several times in different training sessions before adding in a correction. Once youre sure your dog knows what is wanted of them, then if they jump up, you can add in your correction (a pop of the collar with a leash) & tell them OFF! Once they have all four feet back on the ground give them their reward. Practice this a lot and with visitors. Before long youll have a dog who keeps all fours on the ground.

3. Praise & Discipline -

If youre against using treats during training and have the mind set of a dog should listen and want to please me, not just because I have food, then this method would be for you. When dog jumps up, you can do a correction with leash & collar, or a bump in the chest with the knee. You start off easy with your corrections, then build up from there, each time they do it you do it a little harder. When they are being good and keep all four feet on the ground be sure to praise them with lots of petting and maybe a favorite toy. Play a game with them, make it rewarding to not jump up and uncomfortable to jump up.


All three methods are effective, it just depends on what type you want to use with your dog. Go ahead, try it out today and have a dog that no longer jumps up!



Recipe of the Week:

I hope have each day be themed with a once a week kind of a thing. Tuesday is Recipe day! Recipes will either be for treats or for homemade dog food.

Todays Recipe is: Cinnabone

Needed:

• 2 tablespoons honey
  
• 2 tablespoons molasses
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
  
• 1/2 cup brewers yeast (can be found in health food stores)
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together honey, molasses, oil, milk and cinnamon. Gradually add flour, yeast, and wheat germ. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness and cut into bone shapes or another shape you might like. Bake at 350 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes or until bottoms are brown. Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

This Recipe comes from the book: The Doggy Bone Cook Book

Read More..