Archive for Pet + Animal Products
June 27, 2008 at 9:38 pm · Filed under Pet + Animal Products
Pit Bulls are undeniably the most controversial canine pet at the current time. They are the first to be pulled into the media limelight, as anything they are accused of makes headlines people eagerly wish to read. Sadly, the Pit Bulls who have actually harmed humans are dogs who have been neglected and not properly trained.
Along with unfit owners, the myths which are perpetuated by the unlearned about Pit Bulls give the dog an undue bad reputation. Some of the more popular myths concerning Pit Bulls are circulated continually on the internet via chain emails, which get passed to millions of people who’ve never spoken with an owner of, nor had the pleasure of having a Pit Bull in their family.
These untruthful rumor mails always talk about a friend of a cousin’s uncle who knew someone who had a neighbor who met a guy that once heard something about a Pit Bull, and it’s never a good thing. Hopefully, this article will set the record straight on the matter, and expose them for what they are, which is an electronic viral email of ignorance.
Myth: Pit Bulls were specially bred from dogs which had a mutation in the jaw that created a locking jaw, and all modern Pit Bulls have these locking jaws. Once they latch on, they cannot release.
Truth: The locking jaw rumor is a myth. Pit Bulls are not physiologically different from any other breeds of dogs. This means that the Pit Bull has no special jaw or teeth which would make the dog have a locking jaw. It’s a bogus statement, which perpetuates the Pit Bull as a menace to any who may be around them.
Myth: Pit Bulls are by nature aggressive to humans, and make excellent guard dogs because of this trait.
Truth: Pit Bulls do tend to be aggressive toward other dogs, which is not a trait specific to this breed. As a matter of fact, most all breeds of terriers tend to be this way. Pit Bulls who have been raised by caring owners make very affectionate pets. Remember the dog from the original Little Rascal series? Well he was Petey, and he was a Pit Bull. Petey was praised as being one of the smartest dogs in film, and he worked with a horde of children.
Myth: Pit Bulls are notorious for turning on their owners without warning.
Truth: There is no evidence on record which states that ANY breed of dog has a natural tendency to turn on their owners on a whim. As a matter of fact, any aggression by canines is always preceded by some type of warning from the dog. Indeed, it is usually the owners inability to read the dog’s body language and signals which result in a dog turning on the owner. Any dog, regardless of breed, has the same chance statistically to change temperament on the owner.
As long as there are headlines to be made, and inept and uncaring pet owners, there will always be a target breed to satisfy our human need to have unreasonable fear of the unknown. The German Shepherd as well as the Doberman have both been the “dog to fear” in the past, and now unfortunately for the Pit Bull, it’s his turn to be unduly hated.
To learn all about Pit Bulls and how to train a Pit Bull, visit http://www.pitbullsrevealed.com/ today.
May 4, 2008 at 1:00 pm · Filed under Pet + Animal Products
With so many people advertising in the field of professional dog training today, trying to determine who’s truly qualified to look after your dog can be overwhelming. What to look for when choosing a professional to help you with dog training :
1) A good reputation, ask around and get recommendations from your vet, other dog owners, or local kennel clubs.
2) Experience. - Inquire about their background, i.e. number of years experience.
3)A genuine love of and devotion to dogs.
4) Extensive and up to date knowledge. Dedicated trainers keep themselves updated by attending dog training and animal behaviour courses, conferences, seminars and workshops.
5) Their training methodology and handling skills. A good trainers first concern should be the dogs well being.
6) Memberships with reputable associations, organizations and training clubs.
General dog obedience tips
Training should be a positive and enjoyable experience for both you and your dog. If you are not in the right mood for training, don’t even begin. Always reward your dog for obeying your commands promptly! A reward is anything that your dog wants and is willing to work for. Treats are an obvious reward but other rewards could be verbal praise and toys. Several shorter sessions are usually better than one long one. Training should not involve any negative components or punishment . There should be no shouting, no hitting or smacking, no chain jerking on choke chains or collars, and absolutely no electric shocking! Each training session should be enjoyable and positive with rewards for jobs well done.
Training with head collars
Pulling on the lead is one of the few unpleasant experiences of bringing up a new puppy or dog. Using a head collar for dog training has become very popular over the last few years. Training with a head collar does have some advantages over the traditional training collar. Although very simple to use, it is important that head collars are fitted correctly and your dog properly introduced to the collar. Head collars are generally more intuitive to use than a traditional training collar. Head collars are very effective when controlling dogs in difficult situations.
Author writes many articles dealing with effective dog training and pet care
April 4, 2008 at 10:29 am · Filed under Pet + Animal Products
One of the reasons I strongly encourage horse owners to train their own horses rather than ship them away to a professional trainer is familiarity. Quite simply, an unfamiliar party will not understand your horse nearly as well as you, and this understanding of a horse is the backbone of any successful training plan.
This is not to suggest that all horse trainers are clueless individuals that bumble along hoping to do something right, because most professional trainers will take the time to understand a horse before ever thinking about saddling him and training him to ride. But all too often an impatient or inexperienced “trainer” will misread a horse’s problem or intention and react incorrectly due to his lack of understanding. Too many of these incidents can prolong the training process (thereby costing you money) and potentially mentally scar your horse for life.
Far too many head-shy horses can be attributed to inexperienced or abusive past trainers and/or owners who lacked an understanding of the horse they were working with. Once a horse has developed this mistrust or fear of people it can take a good while to reassure the horse that another cuff is not waiting around the corner. And who can blame the horse? If every past exposure with a dog resulted in the dog biting you, chances are you would be very wary, if not outright panicked, by future exposures to canines.
To correct an improper action it is first important to understand the motivation that lies behind it. For example, let’s say that you are training a young filly to walk alongside you to your left. Suddenly without permission the filly slams against your side, but being that she’s still young it doesn’t do much more than get your attention. What would you do?
1. Ignore the behavior - no harm was done after all.
2. Jab your elbow into the filly’s shoulder and growl at her to remind her to respect your space.
3. Take a moment to detect the reason why the filly brushed against you.
If you selected the first option, you chose wrong. Although your heart is in the right place in your willingness to “write off” a seemingly harmless action, eventually if you ignore these things they can compound to worse problems. Your filly won’t always be so small and light!
If you selected the second option you might have reacted correctly if the filly was gently asked to respect your space previously and elected to ignore the request out of defiance. In such a scenario you would need to reinforce your authority lest she view herself as being the alpha leader amongst you.
But what if the filly stepped against you because the wind was carrying along a plastic bag that startled her? In such a case if you discipline your horse you do her a huge disservice because she’s not trying to be defiant or challenge your authority - she’s scared and she wanted your reassurance! If you start cuffing your filly for violating your personal space she will be like a deer caught in a car’s headlights; the bag to her left and the handler to her right are scaring her and she’ll either bolt or become paralyzed.
Had you understood the root of her concern you could have forgiven the invasion of your space and instead showed your filly the plastic bag was nothing to be concerned about. Such reassurances would have put her mind at ease, allow her to regain focus on the task at hand and hopefully become desensitized towards future encounters with plastic bags.
A trainer that believed in the “one size fits all” philosophy would probably have chosen option two in the above scenario since at face value that would be the correct reaction, but without understanding the horse or the motivation behind her action his “correction” would have further compounded the problem. It is essential a handler take the time to understand a horse’s behavior before attempting to correct it since one size most definitely does not fit all. And who would better understand your horse than you?
In addition the training process does not have to be the stressful battle of wills that most of us initially believe it to be. Taken slowly, both the horse and the owner can actually look forward to advancing along the lesson plan. As the owner and horse work together, each will develop an even better understanding of the other’s mannerisms, personality and expectations… and with understanding comes success.
About the Author
Jeffrey Rolo, owner of AlphaHorse and an experienced horse trainer and breeder, is the author of the above article. You will find many other informational articles dealing with horse training and care as well as games and other horse fun on his website: http://www.alphahorse.com.
