The Modern Bark | Dog Training Tips

Sad Lucy on her first day home from the shelter, hiding under the coffee table.  Photo by Tim Dawson Helping Rescue Dogs Adjust to Their New Families While many rescue and shelter dogs are ready to adjust to their new family lives, others can be anxious or fearful of their new environment and family members. The constant changes in their circumstances leading up to adoption are often bewildering, and can make an otherwise laid-back and eager-to-please dog, cautious or even suspicious of its new surroundings. These tips from top obedience trainers can help ease your new canine family member's transition into his new lifestyle, and quickly build bonds of trust between you and your new best friend. How to Approach Your Rescue Dog When Petting Him Research shows that dogs that are highly stimuli-reactive and those with fear aggression are most likely to bite their owners if startled when they are approached.  Before petting your new dog, first say his name, and be sure yo

Luna's puppies emerging from their den Crate training, when properly done, provides owners with peace of mind during those times when they cannot monitor the activities of their new puppy or dog.  Dogs Love Their Dens and Crates Dogs are essentially den animals by nature, meaning they instinctively enjoy being in dark close quarters.  In the wild, expectant mothers dig dens in order to whelp and raise their new puppies.  In fact, our border collie regularly digs dens or re-excavates old dens in accordance with her seasons to prepare for her coming or imaginary litters.  These dens are relatively spacious, and will protect the puppies from the elements such as summer heat, winter snow and rain. Their den maintains a relatively constant temperature, as it is typically one foot underground.  Here the puppies will stay until they begin to walk and venture out short distances from the den, returning to the den to sleep and nurse.  With proper introduction to his new cr

The average dog can learn as many as 150 words, a fairly substantial vocabulary beyond sit, stay and come. Research with several border collies has brought those vocabulary numbers up beyond 400 words, and a border collie named Chaser has learned the names of 1022 objects, which he can differentiate and fetch on command.  There appears to be no upper limit in Chaser's vocabulary lessons, as he continues to add words to his lexicon. In the wake of such impressive results, researchers Emile van der Zee, Helen Zulch and Daniel Mills sought to determine the presence of a key feature of human word comprehension in canine learning. In the research article,  Word Generalization by a Dog (Canis familiaris): Is Shape Important?, the researchers sought to determine if shape bias existed in dogs as it does in humans. Experiments with human 2 year olds, have shown a "shape bias" exists in the learning of new words.  Simply put, once the child associates a name with an object,

Dog whistles have been used since the late 1850’s  for long distance control of dogs for  obedience,  hunting and retrieval as well as the herding of stock.   Whistle commands are used when working  dogs outdoors over long distances, where  verbal and visual commands are impractical.   Typically these whistle commands are taught after the dog has mastered the related visual or voice commands in close proximity to their trainer.  A variety of styles of whistles are in production, and each has its advantages based on the type of work the dog is performing and environmental conditions.   In this review we will discuss which model whistles are appropriate for herding dog training along with video tutorials of whistle training basics for this venue. Herding Dog Whistles Compared If you are adept at whistling, scroll on down for the video on traditional herding whistle commands. For those of us that have a hard time making any sound through pursed lips, Acme makes two models

The Modern Bark - Dog Training Tips and Insights: Treating Dog Anxiety | 3 Proven Treatments for Fea... : How Prevalent is Dog Anxiety for Thunder Typical fear stance: ears back, whites of the eyes  are evident,  head lowered  and back hunch...

Pure bred dogs offer puppy seekers the opportunity to match their family’s needs with the traits and temperament characteristics of the dog that may best suit their home environment.  Each dog breed was bred to perform a specific set of tasks. For that reason, each breed’s body structure, instincts and temperament have been molded over generations, in many instances centuries, through selective breeding, to develop the breed’s type.   While there are no guarantees on temperaments, pure bred dogs offer prospective owners a good idea of what their puppy will grow up to look like, what is energy level is likely to be, as well as its inherent instincts, tendencies and general personality characteristics. Where To Find Your Dog Breed and Leads on Breeders If you are still choosing between several dog breeds or have already set your sights on a particular breed, a good starting place is a dog show.  Most AKC breeds will be represented there, and in many instances breeders will

By Marilyn Peddle (Flickr) Whether you are getting a new puppy or adopting an adult from the local shelter, finding the right name for your new dog will help you bond to him in record time.  We have complied a list of 50 meaningful names for black male Labs. Here, you're sure to find the perfect name for your new black pup! Lab Names for Male Puppies Related to the Color Black Ash - Ruins, the powdery reside that remains after something has been burned. Coal - A blackish brown combustible mineral. Dusk - Darkness at twilight hour. Ebon - Darkness often used to describe the sky or heavy rain clouds. Eclipse - The blotting-out of a celestial objects light by another closer object. Etch - The etched material is filled with dark ink to create and image on another object after it has been pressed and the image transferred. Inky - Ink Black. Jet - Pure black and a means of extreme propulsion. Murk -  Darkness. Onyx - A jet black semi-precious stone.

How Prevalent is Dog Anxiety for Thunder Typical dog fear stance: ears back, whites of the  eyes  showing,  head lowered  and back hunched. A dog anxiety survey of 2000 dog owners found that approximately 13% of dogs suffer from noise phobias, defined as a persistent, irrational fear response.  Yet of those surveyed, only one third of the respondents whose dogs exhibited  symptoms had sought any treatment or professional advice to manage their dog's condition. Furthermore the Bristol survey found that 50% of owners did not recognize that behaviors they reported in response to loud noises were in fact fear related symptoms. Here are three effective treatments for reducing canine anxiety caused by fireworks, gunshots and thunderstorms. Noise Sensitive Dogs: Causes of Noise Phobias and Anxiety Some dogs exhibit fear of loud noises from an early age while others display a sudden or slowly increasing fear of loud noises over time. Certain breeds, such as

By  federico stevanin , published on 08 November 2008 Stock photo - image ID: 1001821 As scientists of various disciplines investigate the topic of dirt eating, or more accurately clay eating, they are discovering that it is more prevalent across geographic regions and species than previously imagined.  Humans, primates, dogs, cats, parrots, buffalo, deer and even fruit bats engage in clay eating or geophagia, a subset of pica. Until now it has been assumed that the animals engaging in geophagia were either malnourished or suffering from a form of obsessive compulsive disorder originating from boredom.  New studies indicate that there may be other factors at work in the age old practice of clay eating. In our list of five reasons your dog eats clay, we offer up three traditional explanations as well as two new explanations that are gaining credence in the international dirt-eating research community. Eating Soil From Boredom, Habit or OCD It has been noted that bored dogs c