Happy Easter

Cleo’s Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

Here’s the recipe from Simmer till Done:

Cleo’s Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups brown rice flour *
1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin to smooth. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and dried parsley (if using, optional). Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface (can use the brown rice flour) and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine.

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ – depending on your dog’s chew preferences, ask first – and use biscuit or other shape cutter to punch shapes, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. If desired, press fork pattern on biscuits before baking, a quick up-and-down movement with fork, lightly pressing down halfway through dough. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to dog.

* Brown rice flour gives the biscuits crunch and promotes better dog digestion. Many dogs have touchy stomachs or allergies, and do not, like many people I know, tolerate wheat.

Makes up to 75 small (1″) biscuits or 50 medium biscuits

Good article in The Bark by Kama Brown CPDT-KA

RECENTLY, I VISITED AMERICAN FRIENDS IN the UK who had moved from Dallas to London’s Kensington South. Since relocating, they had adopted a cat and were considering getting a puppy. However, after reviewing their previous dog experiences, they realized that the dogs they raised had not been nearly as well behaved as the dogs they saw in their new city. As we chatted over drinks, they asked my opinion as a dog trainer: Why were the dogs in London behaved better than the dogs back home? What were dog owners in London doing differently? I told them I would make it a point to watch dogs as we traveled through England, Belgium and France, and report back to them. Following are my observations. > Dogs in the UK and in the countries we visited were allowed almost everywhere. We saw them in bakeries in Belgium, inside French toy stores, in the Stonehenge museum, at markets, on elevators, on the trolley, on the train. > It was common to see dogs off leash, except in areas where waterfowl were present. > Children were discouraged from interacting with strangers’ dogs. Over and over, I heard parents tell their children, “Don’t distract them, darling.” > Owners did not give their dogs obedience commands. I never saw a dog asked to wait before going through a doorway, sit for a pat, stay quiet on a train or lie down under a table. The dogs often did do these things, but they were not asked to do them. > Young dogs in Europe did the same things as young dogs in America. A nine-month-old black Labrador jumped onto a counter to sniff the cheese selection at the market. A small mixed breed stopped to sniff each interesting spot. When a young Bulldog resisted going down the stairs to the Underground, the owner coaxed him down each new step. A man with a very young puppy walked quickly to keep the puppy from picking up objects he found along the way. Nothing I saw made me think that European dogs were born well behaved. > The general public ignored the dogs. I never saw anyone ask to pet or give treats to a stranger’s dog. When I approached to inquire about a dog’s age and breed, the response was brief. If I gave a compliment, the answer was often “Oh, that’s very kind.” This noninteraction included other dogs as well. Dogs would see each other or stand near each other but were not allowed to sniff or play. As I examined my notes, I couldn’t help notice that the way dogs are treated in Europe is strikingly similar to the way we treat (or strive to treat) service dogs in the U.S. From an early age, the environment created for service dogs is meant to keep them calm and comfortable, which keeps them quiet as well. Young service dogs in training are walked through crowds of people who ignore them. Children are taught not to distract them. The dogs are not able to sniff or play while they’re working. We treat service dogs this way because we understand that interacting with them makes training harder for their handler. As a dog trainer, I understand how access to many environments and being ignored by strangers creates success for dogs and their people. When strangers frequently offer treats and attention, or allow their dogs to rush into another dog’s space, it produces specific emotional responses, which will arise each time a new person or a strange dog approaches. Sometimes, this emotion is pleasure, but more often, anxiety, over-exuberance or defensive behavior is manifested. There is no need to ask a dog to sit if no one is approaching. Nor is there a reason a dog would pull toward strangers who have typically ignored him. If being taken to new places were a regular occurrence, it would not excite a dog into lunging through doorways. If barking and pulling were consistently ignored in young dogs, those behaviors could never become a game or a way to get attention. Unlike the restrictions put on U.S. dog owners, Europeans are able to consistently expose their dogs to new sounds, sights and smells, which mentally enriches the dogs without overstimulating them. If a dog receives no reinforcement from strangers, the owner will never have to calm an excited dog or manage a fearful one. It gives dogs freedom to focus on their owners because nothing interesting is coming at them from another source. People have the freedom to work or relax with their dogs in a variety of environments without needing to fend off a strange person or dog, and their dogs gain confidence from knowing exactly what to expect. So when I reported back to my friends, I told them that they should have no trouble raising their puppy to be a well-behaved European dog. Their fellow Londoners would do 75 percent of the work for them by ignoring the dog, keeping their children from interacting with him, allowing him access to a wide range of socialization opportunities, and keeping their own dogs under control. My fiends would only need to build a strong bond with their puppy and teach him basic manners. It turns out that it’s not dog owners who are doing things differently across the pond, it’s everybody else.

Take the Lead

While opportunities for full public socialization are more limited in the U.S. than they are in Europe, there are still ways to instill European-style behaviors in our dogs.

• Create a neutral experience for your dog in a variety of places. The simplest way is to kindly ask that no one pet your dog while he is on a six-foot leash. The dog will begin to recognize that being on a short leash means ignoring others, and that being let off-leash is a chance to interact and play. (For those without access to safe off-leash areas, putting the dog on a 30-foot training lead works just as well.)

• Reward your dog with praise and attention when he notices other dogs, people, loud noises or things that are new to him, but encourage him to focus on you and maintain a relaxed and calm demeanor. Too much interaction and exuberance can lead the puppy or dog to distraction in the future.

• Keep high-value rewards with you in the event a person or dog rushes in. If walking, continue to walk, and offer your dog a treat once the excitement has passed and your dog begins to look up at you. If sitting, wait for the other dog to leave and reward your dog for refocusing on you.

• Use food toys to your advantage. Practice going to a busy place, sit down, place a food-stuffed toy at your feet and do not let anyone pet your dog. In a few sessions, most dogs will lie down and settle almost immediately when their owner sits.

By being proactive and putting these tips into practice, we can train others to have the same respect for pet dogs in training as they do for service dogs. Who knows—we may be able to influence greater access for our U.S. dogs, which would allow them to be part of our daily lives the way those in Europe are today.

Kama Brown CPDT-KA, is a dog trainer, author, speaker and the co-owner of FÖRSTÅ Dog [3], a company dedicated to enhancing canine life through enrichment and scent work.
forstadog.com [3]

ILLUSTRATION BY LORNA SCOBIE

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Source URL (retrieved on 1/8/2017): http://thebark.com/content/why-are-european-dogs-so-well-behaved?page=show

Links:
[1] http://thebark.com/print/7839?page=show
[2] http://thebark.com/category/author/kama-brown
[3] http://forstadog.com

Great article by Denise Fenzi on relationship building, treats and training

Engagement: Why the Extremes?

Posted on December 27, 2016 by dfenzi

I watch people train dogs for a living.

One thing I see is people silently staring at their dogs, handing over cookies for behaviors they like and withholding cookies for error.  The currency is cookies.

If you use food as your primary commodity for developing a relationship, then you might find your relationship feels very…hollow.  And if I ask you about your lack of sincere interaction, you might tell me that your dog is independent or doesn’t care about you so you don’t bother with it.  That’s certainly possible.  The other possibility is that how you are choosing to interact is creating that disengaged dynamic.

How about starting and ending each training session with some sincere form of interaction that your dog enjoys? It could be a belly rub.  It could be a game of chase.  It could just be happy talk and pleasant eye contact.  Connect.  Not with cookies.  Not with toys.  Just you.  Connect – and then train.  And when you end?  Connect again.  If you cannot find a way to do this right now, ask yourself how you might get there.

On the plus side, I can see that dogs trained this way clearly chooses their behaviors – to opt in and earn classic food reinforcement or to opt out and experience…nothing.  But what I don’t see is the development of the underlying relationship – you and your dog, that will glue your team together under pressure or when the classic motivators are gone.

And then I see the opposite.  I watch people who are “on” their dogs non-stop.  Second by second, attempting to control every thought, movement, and behavior that their dog might express.  Good or bad, but never relaxed and simply enjoying the process of training.

And what is the end result of this controlling approach?  As always, it depends on the temperament of the dog and the skills of the handler, but it seems to range from a stressy intense worker who channels that emotion into the work to a dog that takes off at the first hint that the trainer has stopped paying attention.  It’s not hard to see why the chance to escape from the physical or emotional control is hard to resist, hence- the dog leaves the moment the owner lets down their guard, or, when given choice in the matter, never opts into work in the first place.

Why is “middle” so hard to achieve?   Maybe because the right answer varies by dog – one dog’s “middle” is smothering or disconnected to another.  Maybe beacuse handlers have their own opinions; what they are comfortable with and their preconceived notions about how a dog should behave. Maybe beacuse handlers are working so hard to learn the skills that they forget to enjoy the process. Maybe because professional dog trainers are good at training dogs to perform specific behaviors, but are less good at training humans in the underlying relationship skills.  Regardless of why it happens, I certainly see the results when people cannot find middle.

Here’s the goal.  Develop a warm relationship with your dog.  “Warm” means that you sincerely acknowledge what you like within training and life as a whole.  That could include food or toys, but it really needs to be more.  It needs to be you as the basis.  Set up circumstances so that the dog can choose to be with you – to train and to learn – because they have learned that it works for them. And if your dog opts in – don’t get intense.  But don’t get clinical either.

Find the middle.  Express how you feel!  If you’re pleased with what is happening – let your dog know rather than having the cookies do the work for you.  And if you’re not pleased – consider your options.  Maybe just let your dog go back to doing not much of anything.  You don’t have to add control, but you also don’t have to try to ratchet training up so that your dog is compelled to stay.  Just let them go.  And see what happens, over time, when you offer sincere warmth for interaction and simply neutral existence for the alternatives.

If you’re not sure how you’re doing then videotape a training session and watch it. Do you look like a disconnected pez dispenser?  That’s bad.  Work to look like a human who loves their dog.  Or do you look like a neurotic parent supervising a child on the edge of a cliff?  That’s bad too.  There is no cliff.  Let your dog discover on his own just how much you have to offer.

And on another note…congratulations to me!  This blog has been nominated for  a Maxwell Award for “Best dog blog!” Even better, my book, “Beyond the Back Yard: Train Your Dog to Listen Anytime, Anywhere!” has ALSO been nominated in the category of Best Training Book.  Yay for me!

Engagement: Why the Extremes? https://denisefenzi.com/2016/12/27/engagement-why-the-extremes/ via @wordpressdotcom

Wishing you the very best for the New Year!

Perfection