Does Your Dog Have Problems With Fighting Other Dogs?

Does Your Dog Have Problems With Fighting Other Dogs?Dogs that have severe fighting problems with other dogs are the ones that causetheir owners the most worry. It is this vice that many owners hope a psychiatristwill be able to probe and cure, but since this is the process of investigating intothe past of a dog's mind, which cannot be probed because the dog cannotanswer questions, no progress

It's a boy!

My sister's new bulldog puppy is finally here. His name is Minos and he is almost 10 weeks old. In mythology King Minos was the son of Zeus. Excuse the poor photos. Aside from the one with my sister, I used the less appealing photos on here to help thwart those who might steal them for use on those hideous puppy-for-sale websites. (If anyone can tell me how to protect pics from being taken from my blog I would love to know the details. E-mail me at CanineHelp@aol.com ) As you can see, even from these photos, he is absolutely adorable.

And here he is on video playing with Missy.

I am so happy for my sister. She has waited a long time for this fabulous boy.

Jack and Missy join the scouts

Tonight Jack, Missy and I attended a girl scout meeting I was invited to for a talk on dog training and safety with dogs. I think it went very well. There were some excellent questions asked by the girls. Most of them had dogs themselves. After the majority of the talk, we used the stage for a short demo of training skills. Jack was facinated to be up higher than everyone else. It was a first for him. The girls seemed to enjoy the show. Afterwards I let everyone say hello to both of my beasts.

Hopefully the girls, and their leaders, learned some helpful training and safety tips for the future. I love teaching kids dog skills. They are generally fast learners and come with much less baggage about dogs. It is always good to get to kids as soon as possible in hopes it prevents potential problems later. They gave us a fabulous thank you gift of healthy dog treats they made themselves. Where there are girl scounts there are cookies! It was a great way to end the day.

The name game

As much griping as I have done about the AKC lately I am going to go ahead and get Jenny's PAL. (Purebred Alternative Listing) I have always registered my dogs so that I have the option of showing open to me. I figure someday I might have the time or inclination to get back in the ring. Since I also plan on doing some serious tracking with Jenny this year I might as well get the ball started. I like to be prepared.

One of the fun things is chosing a name for the registration forms. Since Jenny is from rescue I would like to use PRoNE in place of the kennel name. PRoNE stands for Pug Rescue of New England. This way if I indeed ever get some sort of title on her, rescue could use her as an example for future potential adopters. Everybody wins.

So I have 25 spaces available for the name with 5 already taken. Example: something like PRoNE's Gotta Have Faith. She was named by my son and he chose the name Jenny because she is Forrest Gumps girlfriend in the movie Forrest Gump. So something related to that is a possibility. Also something related to her having a great nose. She also likes to eat anything and everything. My husband suggested PRoNE's likes to eat the poo, but I don't think that is exactly appropriate. (tho I find it quite funny) In her off time you can see she is quite the couch potato. (or is that a curtain potato in this case?)

Feel free to suggest names. I would appreciate the help. The final submission will need to pass approval by my son since she is his dog. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on what we decide.

Simply amazing

Check out the story of an armless woman who trained her dog to a championship in obedience.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/armless-woman-trains-dog-championship

I'd say this means there really is NO excuse for not training.

Appreciating the service

I know this is a dog blog but today I am going off topic. When I sign onto my e-mail I get the aol news. Most of the time I skip it because the news is generally depressing. I prefer to be a positive person as much as possible. Not only that but so much of it doesn't apply directly to my own life. Unfortunately one of today's headline stories does touch my life. Here it is: http://news.aol.com/article/oakland-police-shooting/392279?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link3http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Foakland-police-shooting%2F392279 For those that can't read the article it is a story about a traffic stop that resulted in the deaths of 3 police officers and the critical wounding of a 4th.

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How? you might ask since this is in California. Well for those that don't know I am married to a police officer myself. That was one of the reasons I tried my hand at dispatching as a second job. My husband thought it might suit me. I quickly decided that being the link to the officers in the field was a HUGE responsibility. One that I never quite got comfortable with. The California story is a scenario I think about regularly because people just don't realize how dangerous doing traffic stops can be for our officers out there. This story brings it home. Officers have no idea who they will run into when they stop a vehicle. This is why they have the protocols that they do. Unfortunately the protocols don't always stop unstable people or hardcore criminals from hurting and even killing them. Now that I have seen the dispatching side of my husbands job I know specifically more of the things that can go wrong. While I have the utmost faith in my husbands abilities, I also know that life can be very unpredictable. I am grateful for every shift he gets home safely to me and our children from.

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In April of 1996 a state trooper friend of ours, Drew, was killed turning to make a traffic stop because his cruiser was hit by an oncoming truck. This is another example of how a stop can be dangerous. He left 4 children under 10 and a wife behind. His wife is now a Chaplin for the Maine Warden service. She has written a fantastic book about her job and also the connection to Drew. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Here-if-You-Need-Me/Kate-Braestrup/e/9780316066303 It is a wonderful read. Of course I may be slightly biased.

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Whenever I think about my beginnings in dog training I also think of Drew. After his death we did some memorial walks to raise money for our local shelter because he was a supporter of them. He was also a K-9 handler himself. (his dog Rock survived the accident) Some of that funding became part of my tuition for my own apprenticeship. Knowing Drew I think he would be proud of the link. He was a wonderful human being and the world lost a really great man that day.

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I know not everyone likes police officers, and not all of them are good people. Some also make mistakes. They are only human after all. I only ask that when you see them remember that they have very dangerous and highly stressful jobs. And ask yourself, where would we be without them in our society? I think the answer to that is pretty scary. For me this story is a reminder that not every ones husband, or father, comes home from work each night. While that is true for everyone in a way because nothing in life is guaranteed, for some it is a daily risk that comes with their job. One that is unfortunately typically under appreciated and underpaid.

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My heart goes out to the families of these latest victims who were just trying to do their jobs keeping the rest of society safe. They paid the ultimate price and I hope it is appreciated. I know it is by my family.

Thinking out loud

There are things I definitely dislike about the AKC. One is the fact they seem to support commercial breeders. They almost jumped into bed with Petland a few years ago but came to their senses when the fur started going up as people heard about the pending deal. I think they realized the move would give them a huge black eye in the PR department. (well bigger than the one they got for even considering it) They say they can't do anything about puppymills because they are only a registry but I have to wonder how true that really is. If they required more of the people doing the registrating then things could change. Consider how much money those puppy registrations are bringing in after all.
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On the other hand they have supported health testing for some breed issues. They also have programs like the Canine Good Citizen test and more recently the S.T.A.R program. (think CGC for puppies and their owners)
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It has been on my mind lately because I have been thinking about some of my long term training goals for the year. If I decide to show in obedience who do I send my registration fees to? AKC of course. If I decide to pursue a tracking title who puts on the event and again benefits from my registration fee? Yup the good ole AKC. I am even a member of a local kennel club that puts on a yearly show. Who for? Pick yourself a prize if you said the AKC. The downside to living in the boonies is less access to UKC events without major travel time. Let's face it, the AKC runs alot of the show in the dog showing world. (no pun intended) At least for the moment.
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If I decide to try for the tracking title with Jenny I need to first get her registered with the AKC though the PAL program. From the AKC website: Purebred Alternative Listing/Indefinite Listing Privilege (PAL/ILP): The program that provides purebred dogs a second chance.There are various reasons why a purebred dog might not be eligible for registration. The dog may be the product of an unregistered litter, or have unregistered parents. The dog's papers may have been withheld by its breeder or lost by its owner. Sometimes, it is the dog itself that was "lost." There are many dogs enrolled in the PAL/ILP program after they have been surrendered or abandoned, then adopted by new owners from animal shelters or purebred rescue groups. The PAL/ILP program allows the dog and owner a second chance at discovering the rewards of participating in AKC events.
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Again another $35 to the AKC. (not counting the cost of trialing of course) With the economy the way it is the AKC is bound to see some decreases in show entries. While I understand the mission of the AKC is to promote the purebred dog, I think in some cases they are not doing the best for some of the breeds. Alot more on this subject can be seen over at the Terrierman's blog: http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/ While I don't agree with everything he says, or how he says it, he definitely has some good points when it comes to the dog fancy and breeding for health.
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I wish we had alter classes at shows for people to be able to show dogs without the burden of having an intact dog. Not everyone interested in showing wants to breed after all. They say the point of the show is to prove breeding stock but I would argue that showing dogs from a line, even though altered, would help show the results of what a good breeding program can produce.
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Another thing I would like to see is obedience classes for mixed breeds included as well. Yes it may not promote purebreeds but it promotes responsible dog ownership by promoting training to the average person. How can that not be good in the long run? Besides, it seems like they need to consider the revenue from every entry fee possible. Of course when you have commercial breeders pumping out registered puppies, even of questionable health and temperament, perhaps clean money doesn't have the same appeal. (not that I am bitter or anything)
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I just heard that the AKC won't be allowing the S.T.A.R program for special groups anymore. (think prison programs) I guess their reasoning is that the dog needs to be taken through the program by a long term owner. While I understand the intent of the program, I am saddened that they can't see the big picture in this case. I used to be a CGC evaluator but gave up the title when they added fees for evaluators and because I didn't want to give out the award just because people could get their dog to pass with dogs that didn't deserve it. My standards on what I consider a Canine Good Citizen and what others are were just to extreme for my liking. It's like the dog with a CD title that is not well behaved outside the ring. It's not supposed to be just about that moment in time, but for the lifetime of behavior as far as I am concerned.
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I am also dismayed that breeders seem to have changed. I am not sure why it happened but no longer can you count on show breeders being reputable by virtue of being involved in showing. Not all of them are doing health testing or breeding for better temperaments. One has to wonder why that is. Is it because chasing ribbons and wins has become more important? From what I have heard about UKC showing, with their written evaluations and no professional handler rules, it seems they may be on a better track. Perhaps the AKC needs to stop thinking they are the only option. They may want to do it before they hemorrhage the few responsible breeders they have left in their show rings. Just a thought.