Austin Dog Trainer Blog

Lining up some exciting seminars and workshops!

We're working on some exciting workshops and seminars for Austin dog owners! We'll have a workshop with Denise Frenzi in February and a Search and Rescue and off leash focus workshop with Bob Deeds that will likely take place in November. I'll post more details and registration info in a few days!

Caution Walker Safety Leash

People who say they love dogs don't necessarily understand dogs. You know who we mean: those people who think that petting your dog is it's fondest wish. They'll approach your dog, hand extended, without even asking you if it's okay.

via shop.cautionwalker.com

This is a great idea! So many of our clients at our Austin Dog Training Facility (www.buddyschance.com) with fearful or aggressive dogs have trouble keeping people back at a safe distance. This can be a big help to them!

This is a great idea! So many of our clients at our Austin Dog Training Facility (www.buddyschance.com) with fearful or aggressive dogs have trouble keeping people back at a safe distance. This can be a big help to them!

We're running a grooming coupon this week for new grooming clients! Mention this ad and get $20 off of your dog's grooming this Friday. Space is limited - call 512-636-3793 to book! http://www.buddyschance.com/Austindoggrooming.html

Avoiding hard situations with dogs and children

What a tough call to handle today! I'm counseling a family that is fighting an accusation of a dangerous animal made against their dog. The dog reportedly bit the neighbor's child while playing with a group of children on a trampoline.  It appears that the injuries to the child are not severe, but the child's mother is frightened that the dog will injure her child again.

I completely understand, being a mother myself; however, we need to take a number of factors into consideration in looking at cases like these. Here, one of the most important pieces of information we'll be looking at is the level of injuries involved. The injuries include scratches from the dog's paws and what may be injuries from a single bite. I don't have the full information yet to be able to assess the bite in full, but a careful assessment must be done!

We are also looking at two other factors here. First, the incident took place when the dog was playing on a trampoline with children. The dog appears to have become overly arroused in its play with the child, but it also could have easily become frightened at the way the trampoline moves and at the way the children tumble around on the trampoline. Dogs don't undertand trampolines! This is a scenario that is easily avoided in the future by not having the dog play on the trampoline with children.

Second, other children have now reported that this child taunted the dog on several occassions. We can work to ensure that this doesn't take place any longer (taunting should NEVER be allowed!) and do some training to teach the dog how to act around children.

Unfortunately, this family will need to go to court to keep their dog from being put to sleep as a result of this incident. Make sure you take the following steps with your children and dog to be sure that you never find yourself in this awful situation:

• Never leave children and dogs alone! This is especially important if the children are not your own children that the dogs know well, but even your own children should be supervised with your dog. This will allow you to see if any taunting is taking place or to see if your dog looks uncomfortable with anything happening. Some of the things that children do just don't seem normal to a dog. Children make sudden and sometimes awkward movements, they shout and yell, they run, hug, and grab. Dogs may find this frightening or become overly stimulated by this.
• If you see signs of stress in your dog, any taunting or teasing by the kids, or if you cannot stay to supervise, put your dog away.
• Talk to kids about taunting and teasing and never allow it with your animals or any other animals. Also teach kids not to wrap their arms around dogs, kiss dogs in the face, or hug dogs. These are all threatening behaviors for a dog so unless you are absolutely positive your dog is comfortable with it and you are directly involved in the interaction, it's a very bad idea!
• Teach your dog a solid recall to be able to call it over to you if you see situations that may cause trouble. It is also very helpful to teach your dog to greet children (and adults) by sitting or laying down and heavily reinforcing this behavior with food, praise, toys, or petting!
• Beware of situations that seem normal to you but may be confusing or frightening to your dog. A dog on a trampoline cannot understand what is happening when the surface bounces or moves out from under it or when other people on the trampoline bounce into the dog. It can frighten and overwhelm a dog, causing them to act in a manner they wouldn't otherwise.

Take precautions and always supervise so that you are in a better position to prevent these types of issues and so that you can better defend yourself and your dog if anything does occur! And, if you are worried about your dog's behavior, seek the help of a trained professional.

Cara Shannon, JD, CDBD, CPDT-KA

Add dog grooming prep to your puppy's training list!

If you have a puppy that is going to need dog  grooming as an adult, don't wait to get that puppy grooming started!

One of the most important jobs our Austin dog groomer does is training young puppies to handle dog grooming with ease and comfort! There are so many elements to dog grooming that can cause a dog concern. The water from the bath, the sound of the clippers coming near them, the sound and blowing of the blow dryer, trimming of nails, being up on the table ... the list just goes on and on!

A good dog groomer can take your puppy for short baths and brush outs as soon as you get your puppy and start easing them into the process with fun toys, games, and treats. Book your puppy in with a dog  groomer ASAP!

Some dogs shouldn't be groomed all in one sitting!

Just because most dogs can sit through a full dog grooming in one day doesn't mean all dogs should sit through a full grooming in one day. 

My own dog is getting his dog grooming done over the course of three to four sessions rather than all at once! He has a curly coat that takes a lot of care and easily becomes matted if not properly groomed. Over time, his dog grooming experiences have become more and more negative. Dog grooming for him was tedious, long, and uncomfortable. He was becoming more and more upset on the grooming table, refusing to eat treats. 

Because of this, I would put off bringing him to the dog groomer to avoid seeing him in discomfort. Unfortunately, that leads to more matting and future difficulty on the table! 

To turn this around but still get him the care that he needs, we decided to have him groomed in pieces, working on a little bit of the problem at a time! Last week, our dog groomer gave him a bath and brushed him out. She had to use some pretty hefty amounts of conditioner and a lot of patience for the bursh out but you could see that he looked better already.

This week, our Austin dog groomer was able to give Rev a partial trim, shaving down some of his coat and doing a bit of hand scissoring. She did not work on his legs yet (except to brush them out) so she needed to do a bit of blending to make sure his body didn't look too choppy compared to his bushy legs that have been growing out lately! We fed him canned dog food and yummy treats the whole time, helping him to handle being up on the grooming table. 

Next week, he'll be due for another bath and we'll tackle the legs, feet, and polish up the hand scissoring to really make him sparkle and shine! 

After that, Rev will have regular dog grooming sessions to maintain his coat more easily so that he and I won't have to be so stressed out by the whole dog grooming experience. I can't wait for him to look spiffy and neat again, but breaking the process up if the right thing to do for him. If your dog is fearful of being groomed, you might consider breaking his grooming into pieces at first as well. It can help get them back on track with dog grooming and back on the way to a healthy coat and skin! 

Cara Shannon, Austin Dog Trainer and mom to a nervous dog on the grooming table! 

We are now up and running with our Austin Dog Grooming!

Our new dog groomer is now up and running at our Austin Dog Training Center. It's so much fun to add new services for all of our doggy clients! It lets us combine our knowledge of dog training and behavior with dog grooming, to make sure dogs have a positive experience with us while getting a great cut and style! We'll post some of the updates on our new Austin dog grooming and have tips for dog owners on keeping up with their dog grooming needs! 

 

Cara Shannon, Austin Dog Trainer

Austin Dog Grooming

Stay tuned for details on Austin Dog Grooming at our Central Austin Training Facility! Coming at the end of January!

 

What do I work on next?

I just had a client in our Austin Dog Training Manners II class what she should be focusing on with her dog. She explained that she's not always sure whether she should work on her recall or the place cue (lay on a bed and stay there) or her leave it. This is a great question!

Whether you're training a new puppy or training your adult dog, you should be sure to prioritize your training based on what you need most in your dog. Choose two to three behaviors to focus on as your core behavior plan. For many owners, the set of behaviors that makes the most sense is: 1) sit and focus on the owner even with distractions; 2) come when called; and 3) walk nicely on leash.

For you and your dog, this may differ. For example, some of our clients at our Austin Dog Training Center, have dogs that jump on guests who come in the house. For these clients, it may make more sense to focus on a sit stay or a bed cue when guests arrive at the house. Each plan has to be tailored to your individual dog.

Once you pick your core behaviors to teahc, focus your efforts on these cues. Have your dog practice these cues at meal time and for play sessions and toys. Practice them on walks and throughout the day during daily chores. When your dog has mastered this handful of behaviors, add another behavior, like a leave it cue.

One way to be successful in your dog training is to take things a step at a time and try not to bite off more than you can chew!

Cara Shannon, Austin Dog Trainer, Buddy's Chance, LLC

Romeo is available for adoption!

To adopt Romeo, visit www.love-a-bull.org