A couple of tips to help avoid pulling on lead.

There are several labrador training resources available and I have read a lot of tips on how to avoid being pulled along by your dog.
I heard a good tip today from a colleague which I would like to share today. It involves walking with a walking stick or golf umbrella or something of similar length.

Walk with your dog between you and a wall or hedge to keep him in a straight line and swing the stick or umbrella across your body towards the dog and up in front of his eyes. Do this as you walk just as you would swinging your arms naturally.
The constant swinging of an object at his eye level should deter him from attempting to pull ahead.

However the best solution to a pulling dog I have found, after a lot of trial and error is the head collar type such as the Halti® headcollar. More info here http://www.halti.co.uk/.

I have two strong minded dogs who always seemed to see walks as a challenge to see who could separate my arm from my body. I tried all the methods where you stop abruptly, change direction and tug the lead. All had limited success and walks very frustrating.

I had initially tried a head collar when my labrador was an older puppy but he clawed at it so much it made his snout bleed. After that I decided to let him run free on walks. I live on a farm and that was not a problem as such.
However, I still wanted to take him farther on walks and this would require a lead. I tried various harnesses before returning to the head collar for another shot. This time, anytime he tried to claw at it, I pulled on it to move his head away from his paw with a stern “No!” It worked like a dream!

I have now bought a head collar for our golden retriever as well and he has responded well and is much easier to train.
I recommend this method to all labrador owners struggling to control a pulling dog.

Dogs are not furry people

Okay maybe that’s an obvious statement to make but it leads to a lot of frustration when it comes to training and socialising dogs.

While dogs share and display many similar emotions as humans, they lack the ability to reason and think about a situation in a way you or I might.

For example, dogs will enthusiastically welcome you home, reminding you why you got a dog if you’re like me, but if you’ve had a bad day and are a bit grumpy your dog will think you’re annoyed at him and his behaviour will quickly reflect that. Dogs seem to have a sixth sense that way. The most boisterous dog will often calm down and show sympathy if his owner is sad.

While it is difficult to tell if a dog is actually feeling a particular emotion by asking them, we can read the dog’s body language and apply our reasoning to come up with the emotion we believe the dog is feeling.

This is often mistaken however for actual human emotions and this is where the frustration can begin. For example, your dog is out in the garden and you call his name to get him to come in. He ignores you completely and keeps sniffing. You think the dog is ignoring you and start getting angry. When he returns you give him a ticking off for not coming back. You think he’ll get the message and listen next time.

Now let’s look at it from a dog’s perspective. Your brain is wired differently to a human’s. Your primary sense is smell, then hearing, then sight. At the moment the interesting smell is overwhelming your brain and you can barely hear the call coming from behind you. You then figure the smell was no longer interesting and, since the call is getting louder, that your pack leader is calling. Maybe there’s food available. When you get to the door expecting praise you get a ticking off. Your owner is angry. Coming back must be bad. Must remember not to do that in future.

It is important to remember that dogs don’t think as we do. If the dog doesn’t respond to you first time, it’s just because you haven’t established yourself as a more interesting option than the smell. And you definitely don’t want to scold your dog when he returns. As hard as it may be because you are frustrated, you must praise him. This is behaviour you want to reinforce. Make him realise that returning is a good experience and should happen more.

Take some time to understand your dog and his actions won’t seem so personal. Believe it or not he wants to please you. He is, after all, your best friend.

Dealing With A Food Aggressive Dog

Our dogs are our best friend; that is until they begin to exhibit behaviors that we really do not like and could certainly do without. Dog aggression is one of those things that most dog lovers can do without. In fact, it can be downright dangerous for owner as well as the people that come to visit. Keeping Spot locked away from the world sometimes seems to be the only solution, but what do you do when your dog is aggressive about his food. That is another thing altogether because he must eat and since you are the one that is feeding him that puts you in danger.

This kind of behavior does not have to continue once it has begun but it should have been nipped in the bud early on before it became entrenched. The best way to deal with any dog behavior is to prevent it from happening in the first place by starting when it is a pup. Most of the time any behavior that is undesirable can be traced back to the way they were treated when they were young and as they get older, what was funny to begin with becomes a nuisance if not more than that.

The first thing that any dog owner must remember when they are taking a new dog into their home, whether that dog is a young puppy or an older dog, is that dogs do not think the same way people do, so anytime you reward them with petting when they are misbehaving you will be encouraging that behavior. While we would comfort our children when they are frightened, to do that with a dog only encourages them to become more fearful, and this can become quite frustrating when your favorite pet can only be found hiding under the bed.

As pack animals, your pet dog always needs to know that there is a strong leader of the pack. If he sees that there is nobody stepping up, he will test to see if he can take over that position. Often, this is displayed at feeding time. It may start with a growl at another pet in the house or even at you if you try to touch his food dish. If this behavior is allowed to continue, his aggression will only get worse.

The best way to deal with food aggression in dogs is to teach your pup early on how to control his emotions. This can be accomplished by teaching him to wait until you are ready to sit his food down in front of him to eat. Teaching sit, leave it, or drop it are great ways to manage teaching him this trick. Practically speaking, when it is meal time have your dog sit while you are preparing his meal, and once it is ready sit it in front of him telling him to leave it until you give him the okay.

If you are having troubles with an already aggressive dog, you might want to get in touch with a professional dog trainer, one that comes highly recommended to help you with this kind of behavior. Don’t let it get out of hand, because an aggressive dog can be dangerous.

No, Spot, No!

Bringing a dog into the family can be a wonderful event, but also presents a few areas of frustration.  Of course, there is nothing better than gaining a new friend to love who will love you unconditionally.  But what can you do when your new friend keeps making trouble by jumping onto countertops while left at home alone?

There is a lot you can do, actually!  Pets are very curious, and they like to explore new areas, taste new tastes, and smell new smells – even if this means going somewhere you don’t want them to go in order to do it!  They will likely do this in front of you, so be sure to set clear boundaries for your dog when you are in the house.  Say an authoritative “no” when they go somewhere they’re not allowed to go.  This will give them good habits that will eventually be kept even while you are away.

When you are not around to discipline the dog, it is important to get a little bit more clever with your prevention techniques.  For example, start gathering or saving empty aluminum cans.  When you leave the house, line them up on the edge of the countertops.  When your dog tries to jump up, the cans will fall over, scatter noisily, and scare the dog away, without harming it at all.

Another recommended training method is the use of car mats.  The mats used in vehicles are designed with a very bumpy and uneven bottom to prevent slipping.  When placed upside down on a countertop, this bumpy texture will be very uncomfortable, but not painful or damaging, to your pet.  Upon jumping onto the table or work top and taking a few awkward steps, your dog will likely decide this is not a good place to be, and jump down.

These are some quick and simple training methods to help you keep your dog behaving, even when you are not at home to keep an eye on it.  With the use a few common items you could start teaching your dog better habits immediately!

My Lab in Winter

The Labrador retriever

Why Labradors?

For me, when it came to choosing a dog companion for our rural home, there was a very short list of possibilities; Labrador or Golden Retriever.

Our first choice was a black Labrador which be bought as a puppy. We called him Ben and looked forward to a long happy relationship with him. But why did we choose a lab?

First of all we chose because of temperament. Labs are very friendly and get on well with children and other dogs. They are affectionate and seem to go out of their way to please. We were planning to have children when we bought Ben so temperament had to be a consideration.

Next, their general care was considered. Grooming for such a short haired dog is very easy, just a weekly comb to remove dead hair and a cleaning of his ears. Getting him to sit still while doing this proved to be a different matter altogether.

Labs love exercise and can’t seem to get enough. Ben would fetch that rubber ball as many times as I had the patience to throw it and seemed just as excited to bring it back the 20^th time as he was the first. On long walks, Ben loves to roam but will never leave our sight. He generally returns when called and always when a biscuit is in the offering.

When it comes to food, labs are voracious eaters and can become overweight if too much food is provided. One thing I learned was not to trust the measurements given on dry food bags. This is probably designed to sell more food and will result in a fat dog. Ask your vet for advice here.

The one problem we have had with Ben is an aggression when it comes to feeding time. I will address this issue in another post. Otherwise his nature is loving and affectionate, consistent with the breed as a whole.

Common health problems encountered by labs are:

• Hip dysplasia
• Multi-focal retinal dysplasia (MRD)
• Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA)
• Hereditary cataracts
• Entropion (in turned eyelids)

Good breeders will test their breeding dogs and this should be something to ask before you buy a puppy.

Overall the Labrador makes an excellent family pet and will warn of strangers approaching without aggression. They are low maintenance and fairly easy to train. This blog will focus mainly on the training side of things but really anything goes. Please feel free to leave a comment.