A puppy tale

Now a bit older, "wilder" and more able and capable - these are the same puppies you saw in the previous blog post - now two weeks older. The coolest little story unfolded in front of me as I was set up with camera and pink backdrop..two of the puppies joined in the scene and started to have a very Big conversation about Space (photo collage at the very bottom).  The camera can truly be a fantastic tool in recording such conversations! Enjoy :-)

Rescue puppies for Adoption

I love puppies as much as anyone. It's wonderful to have opportunities to visit puppies - and I would say, like most people: who *doesn't* love to play and cuddle with adorable, sweet and sometimes crazy bundles of joy? This past weekend I got my personal puppy-fix when I had the great privilege to meet, play with, cuddle with and ultimately photograph two separate litters of Rescue Puppies. 

If you read my previous blog post, this one will offer yet a different perspective as it ponders, perhaps not the ideal situation - but the Reality of what we currently quite often have...

While the last blog post was trying to offer some food for thought on supporting the "best of the best" when it comes to breeders; ethical, responsible - excellent, thoughtful and deliberate breeding - here we are, in Reality: in which, there are a LOT of unplanned, unexpected (also unwanted!) puppies and litters - born in less-than-ideal circumstances, where the most urgent question may be about survival, certainly not how to provide the best and most enriched upbringing :-( Sadly.

And so we continue to struggle with how to deal with that and how to help. What to do: in the Here and Now, where sadly it's not all Perfect, with all dogs coming from a Perfect Background.

While we work toward better education and hopefully, ideally away from the "unwanted puppy" and poor breeding practices, we will still have to contend with what to do about these unwanted animals in the meantime. 



There's no easy or quick solution, but I like to reflect over it with the same words as the problem solving mantra: "focus on what you CAN do." It's easy to get bogged down in what's wrong and why it shouldn't be this way, but there isn't much progress in that. I've decided one of the things I *CAN* do is support with photography and getting the word out there.



Both of these litters are being fostered locally in Canmore. The first litter (pictured here at the top) is from the Morely Reserve. Three puppies, from a much larger litter, taken away from their Mother too young - at only about 4 weeks of age. They'll stay in the foster home for a few weeks yet before ready to be adopted. I'm hoping to go back and take more photos as they mature and grow - and maybe posting adorable puppy photos will in some small way help find them great homes?

The other litter is a Husky Shepherd Cross from NWT that are being fostered for Pawstive Match (Calgary, Alberta). As apparent by the photos below alone, they are older - about 7 weeks - and will be ready to go to homes in about a week's time. Their energy level and interactivity, interest in people and being "part of it" was big. A super cute and Very Fun bunch! Hope you Enjoy the photos!

Is there anything cuter than a fluffy, roly poly puppy body? 

Again - the Husky Crosses are being fostered for Pawsitive Match, Calgary - you can get in touch with them directly if interested - or send me a note if you want to be put in touch with the foster home! 

Where is YOUR next puppy coming from?

So – where do dogs come from? And what difference does it make where YOUR next dog comes from?

Let me start this tale by saying that this IS a huge topic and I am in no way speaking against adoptions or trying to belittle the work shelters and rescue groups do with dogs and puppies. What I am hoping to do with this blog post is to offer a different point of view and discuss the BIGGER picture, and hopefully offer some food for thought on a topic I believe should be discussed more. 

Why does it matter WHERE your next puppy comes from?

Over the last two summers my own view on puppy raising and rearing has changed pretty much completely. The bar of what’s possible, what actually can be accomplished and what difference it makes for that individual dog AND subsequently for his people!! has been lifted to a new height, which honestly, I didn’t really know was possible!

Over two summers I have had the amazing privilege of watching Catherine Thomas: a great dog trainer and dear friend raise three litters of puppies.  I say “watch” albeit sadly from afar and mostly though use of emails, internet, photos, video and phone calls.  Through her Email updates, photos and video it is obvious that these puppies have gotten to grow up in an unusually rich and stimulating environment, daily small challenges in their environment have been presented right from the time they started moving about, and the confidence and athleticism of these young dogs has been evident, really since the day they started to really explore and motor around. It was mind-boggling to see a video taken at age 4 weeks; the puppies were demonstrating REMARKABLE athleticism and proprioception!

The early socialization and exposure she provided has been second to none and beyond the daily walks on her own property, they ALL receive individual training and solo time with her learning about the Human Language (this was started as small groups away from Momma, then in pairs and finally the pups are getting solo attention with a human!!!) Beyond all of this, of course there were visitors of all ages and sizes – as well as puppies meeting friendly adult dogs. Further, their routines  included daily field trips to new, safe locations –yes, I said daily (!) – which took place from about week six.

This is a typical set-up in a Wags Puppy Foundation Skills class.
We play around a lot with "stuff" but ideally a puppy should be
exposed to navigating things like this, long before they are old
enough to be in a Puppy Program!

What an unbelievable start!

She told me many times, that when in conversation with “breeders” about just how much time she is devoting to these youngsters -- I say “breeder” in quotations, as contrast to her, who is not actually a breeder (maybe yet??) but more so a Phenomenal Trainer who has taken on raising a few litters; the “breeders” have replied by saying “Oh it`s great what you are doing, but I don’t have time for that. I just can`t do that!”

Yet, shouldn`t doing exactly that be part of the deal, when breeding dogs? To do the very, very best by any standard, and to keep raising the bar to see what`s possible? To share with future puppy owners just WHAT a big difference it makes when the young ones have had a start like this?! Because the difference will be evident to anyone who has been around puppies a few times…these guys are athletic, bold, brave, confident, resilient and pretty well unflappable! The individual attention and training will mean that she also knows these puppies inside out as individual beings and can do a most phenomenal job of matching the right prospective owner with the best fit from the litter of puppies.  The future owners (all in place already by the time the puppies are motoring around!) have had a chance to watch them grow up, read the daily accounts of what they`ve been up to and can see and share in the joy of personalities develop over video clips. What a true blessing and what peace of mind for everyone!

But back to Reality and the Sad fact, that the large majority of puppies have a start that is nothing like that.

I still hear a LOT of accounts of people making a quick Sunday visit to pick up a puppy from a breeder who they are actually not very familiar with at all. In some situations people may not even really know what to ask breeders and don’t know how to identify the Great ones and what sets them apart from the "so-so" ones or even how to spot potential red flags. In a few cases the prospective puppy buyers might suspect the quality of breeding program is not the best, but go and see the litter anyway and when a puppy is offered on the spot – they are unable to walk away. Many puppies that come to my puppy classes are also purchased over the internet, where a seller does little more than post a few adorable puppy photos to an unsuspecting buyer. The buyer does little to verify the circumstances or check background - just pays a fee and might meet the breeder to pick up the new puppy at a "neutral location". Yikes!

A few months back, a puppy in my puppy class stayed after class each week for extra problem solving help as it was obvious this puppy was just a bit “more puppy” than the owner was prepared for.  It quickly became evident that the puppy came from a-more-than-questionable background and the “breeders” had actually raised puppies in a very small, non-stimulating and tight environment that promoted competition and fighting, and while they admitted they had seen it as a bit of a problem in this particular litter, they did nothing about trying to resolve it – but rather stated “this is how we have always raised puppies and we’ve actually never heard complaints before” (Gee, isn’t THAT scary – “the breeder” doesn`t even stay in touch long enough after the puppy is sold to see how things are going??)

In this particular case, I actually advised the owner to call the “breeder” back and ask them what their take-back ”Warranty” was. I honestly felt that the breeder was completely irresponsible and needed to be held accountable for this puppy`s very difficult behaviors.  But of course, as suspected, there was no gesture toward being of assistance and granted: no offer to take the difficult puppy back! And how horrible, their justification was that that they thought it should be OK because they weren’t  “real breeders” and had stated “we only have a couple of litters per year”!

Does that somehow justify poor breeding and really bad puppy raising practises?

So, with this particular puppy – obviously the owner did call the breeder back on my encouragement, but found out that the breeder would never take a puppy back after its sold  - the new owner resigned as if inflated and just said OK, well, maybe better with me than with someone else?

Of course, one way of looking at this is saying that this is a noble and a very heartwarming way of thinking. BUT on the other hand – if we, as puppy buyers (read “consumers”..because in effect that is what we are when we buy a puppy) if we never start to demand a change and insist that breeders either do a better job raising their puppies – OR insist that they take a problematic puppy or dog back – or start to ONLY SEEK THE EXCELLENT ONES OUT -- we will also never change the whole pet overpopulation and sheltering dilemma.  Right? It`s all part of a VERY BIG puzzle and I really believe breeding practises should be considered in the whole big “adopt from shelters” debate, too! Maybe there is a way to educate people and affect chance BEFORE we have the shelter problem?

Let`s say, we could get word out there to EVERYONE who is in the market for a puppy, and plead and ask that they go in with strict criteria looking for the best of breeders, settling for nothing less: maybe then and only then can we affect change and start to slow down the production of the sadly and badly bred and raised dogs who end up becoming shelter-dogs later in their lives (many due to behavior problems that started already in the litter!).  

If you strip the emotion out of it, it becomes a business of market and demand. There should be no more demand for pet store puppies, for internet sales or puppy mill puppies or poorly raised puppies only bred for an easy dollar - because we should want QUALITY: a sound puppy raised in the best of circumstances: a puppy raised in a RICH, healthy and physically safe but challenging environment with lots of early experiences and exposure. What you buy,  DOES make a difference!  When  buying from someone, you support the way they handle their dogs and how they go about their breeding program!

Another Puppy Foundation skills lesson with
odd surfaces to become familiar with.

"Novel" experiences should already have been introduced on so many
different levels in the litter, that by the time a puppy reaches class-age,
a well-raised and exposed puppy is pretty well familiar with it all!
and have a "Been there, done that!" kind of attitude :-)

I do believe that in the Big Picture, we have to really start looking at the breeding of dogs/ where they come from in the first place. IT`s NOT that breeding dogs is bad or that breeders are bad – it is that there are MASSIVE differences and we need to get better at highlighting and supporting the Best ones who care for the overall welfare of dogs/ and we need to educate people to stop supporting questionable breeding practises and instead Walk Away. If we could eliminate support for poor breeding practises and only go to the best of the best for breeders, we would be one step ahead!

PLEASE help affect change!!! I do believe we can all make a difference in just openly talking about this!!!

The easiest way to “know” who a breeder might be, is of course to do your homework well ahead of time. Establish a relationship and get to know who your breeder is! Meet them, talk dogs, meet their other dogs! Or at very least: email - chat on the phone/ communicate and get references (=meet other dogs they have bred!) do what you can to find out who they are and tell them who You are, too! 

It's not a good idea to go looking at a litter or a puppy (from someone who sells a puppy like a loaf of bread on the whim), hoping to be able to walk away and say “No, Thank you” if you see behaviors or things that raise concern. A lot of people are not cut out for that. That's why it's important to be prepared ahead of time and KNOW who the breeder is and exactly what they do with their puppies! Know the parents of the litter, too! Ideally you would have time to meet several breeders and litters of dogs so that you can start to identify things you like/dislike and things you want to prioritize!

Realize that it will TAKE TIME to find a breeder you are going to be happy with! Good  breeders also mostly work from waiting lists, don`t sell puppies on the spot but have established relationships with people and will breed when they know they have buyers.

Don`t forget  the option of turning to a dog trainer BEFORE you have your puppy or dog!  You can get great help with “matching” and trying to find the very best match for YOUR life and desires….whether you are looking for a puppy or an older dog. I think a great service can be done by dog trainers as the connecting hand between “I  want a dog, now what?” to actually finding a good match, whether in defining breed, breed type or helping to select the actual dog!

And just a small final note: RED FLAG NUMBER ONE…if you interview a breeder who says that they do not take a puppy back after he or she is sold: RUN AWAY!! A great breeder will ALWAYS take a puppy of their breeding back. No matter at what age. ALWAYS! The answer to THAT question alone will tell you a massive amount about the breeder! Are they truly interested in the welfare of their animals, or are they just interested in a few easy dollars?? IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK!!!
You only need to briefly consider the implications this answer has on SHELTERS, too to see just HOW important this question is to ask! Don't compromise on this one!




Must add as a final footnote that John Rogerson, one of the leading behaviorists of the world speaks a great deal to this subject matter. The thinking that I have done is really a product of hearing him on this big topic. He has come up with some really unique ideas and concepts as to how shelters, trainers, rescues, and dog people of the world could "unite" in an effort to expose the bad and uplift the good of breeders to put pressure, globally, on better, higher quality, more ethical breeding and higher standards of raising of puppies. Two of the important points being, it starts with the realization that:
a) not all puppies are created equal - they are NOT blank slates
and
b) when we, as puppy buyers support one breeder over another (whether by going directly to a breeder, Internet Purchase or buying through a Pet Store; consider what breeding and raising practices you are thus supporting and ensuring will be repeated.

Recent Grad photos

 It's time to share some photos of recent class grads. Enjoy!

I

Chris Zink seminar: "Coaching the Canine Athlete"

The two dogs and I have just returned from a weekend seminar with Chris Zink, DVM, PhD in Edmonton.  Lots and lots of good learning, great new ideas for teaching others as well as working on with my own dogs! I have pages and pages of notes, too much to try to write out here. But I`ll try to highlight some of the things that she talked about during the seminar.


First off, she started with a basic overview of structure. That alone of course is a massive topic, but one of the take away messages in this section was that different body types and sizes of dog (breeds) were developed for certain jobs over time, and if we want our Canine Athletes and performance dogs to maximize their potential and minimize injury - it helps for you to be familiar with the demands of the sport you plan on being involved in, so that your choice of dog perhaps matches the demands of your chosen performance event. Some dogs and body types will have advantages over other body types, the better you think through what your do`s job is going to be and what demands that job will place on body and structure and function, the better you can match the right type of dog for your hopes and desires.


Regardless of type and breed of dog - bottom line for dogs who will be asked to jump (such as our agility dogs) is that the front assembly is hugely important. Chris stated she would take a dog with a crappy rear any day over a dog with a poor front. The front bears about 65% of a dog`s weight and when you consider that in agility - at each landing - that weight will come down and land on the front alone with impact, it of course becomes obvious how a poor front will deteriorate quickly and /or increase risk for injury. We took dogs out for some hands-on comparisons and to learn about looking for shoulder lay back and angulation.
While I enjoyed this part of the workshop, I wish there had been fewer dogs and more time with Chris actually evaluating live dogs and helping us see things. As it was, there were so many dogs, divided into several groups of dogs - and a lot of the time was very interesting but discussed in a group, where we had no "expert" (other than intermittently checking in) to help answer the many questions the arose in comparing our dogs. A lot more could have been learned, I think - had there not been so unbelievably many dogs.


Fitness, as well as keeping any excess weight off the dog, was of course stressed again and again in different contexts and throughout the weekend. A fit athlete is going to have a lot easier time within his or her sport but also shorter and easier time recovering from injury, IF something happens. 


Considerable time was spent talking about Spay and Neuter. I think most people in the room were probably familiar with Chris`article on Spay and Neuter considerations for the Canine Athlete. I know reference to this article always comes up in dog circles and I have certainly based some of my own spay/neuter decisions on it. In past she has recommended that PERFORMANCE DOG spay/neuter should wait and be done after 14 months, not at 6 months which is commonly out there as the "norm" with companion dogs. But what she added to the discussion this weekend is that there is some brand new evidence (a new paper that came out this month!) making her re-consider this whole discussion. One of the big factors in past indicating there is good advantage to spaying females has been the perceived link to mammary cancer. What the latest research is now showing is that there is no benefit of spaying for mammary cancer! In fact, she showed a lot of research and numbers pointing toward risk of cancers in general going up with spayed/neutered dogs. There were some other interesting links shown between cancers and spay/neuter, as well as fear and aggression and spay/neuter. Again - considerations for performance dogs - she's talking to a group of dedicated, keen dog enthusiasts and trainers - not so to the general public who own dogs. There's still that whole pet overpopulation thing - so I do want to stress that she is talking to a very specific trainer group with performance dogs. Lots of food for thought in this section - and she admitted she is currently so unsure what her recommendation for bitches should be - that she chose her newest puppy based on this: it's a MALE "because she knows what to do with him" (won't neuter). (Adding - if anything, we should consider vasectomies (not castration!) for our male dogs, and possibly taking out the uterus and leaving the ovaries in for females (but more research needs to be done in this area) Interesting, isn't it!? This topic was complex enough as it was...now we have more things to read up on and try to understand and consider :-)


Spay neuter effects on sex hormones and thus on growth was also brought up and her feeling was that we start to allow spayed/neutered dogs to jump, weave and impact train too soon. Most trainers (this is true for trainers I know of also) recommend holding off with jogging with the dog / biking with the dog and agility jump training and weaves for example until the dog is at least 12 months old. Chris suggest that 20 months would be much more appropriate for a spayed/neutered dog! The earlier a dog is altered or "fixed", the taller they grow! In doing this, we also start to put more stress on joints - image in the knee for example...and because different bones/ growth plates close at different ages it's better to wait longer to give ample time so that all growth plates are closed (ex: Femur closes at 9-11 months, Tibia at 12-14 months). 
In the training program part of the weekend she gave lots of suggestions for what to do/ age appropriate exercises and training/ depending on the puppy's and dog's age. I'll get back to that later.


We learned several really cool exercises that were completely new to me. She went over, for example, how to teach the dog to gait - on cue. Like we do with horses: "Walk" "Trot!" "Canter!" I think this will most definitely be on my fall- training list with my own dogs. It's too long to try to describe here, but the basics is quite simple and easy - like most things: it's just "doing it!". We had dogs out to work and do a whole jumping sequence - how she starts to teach the skill of jumping from a wee baby puppy (we had a 10 week old Rottie pup in the group who came out and learned a baby lesson in proprioception (at that stage it is really about body awareness and moving in space, rather than "jumping") to adult dogs learning to jump, to Lead-Leg exercises and change-of-lead exercises to how to resolve jumping problems. Tons of highly valuable information and great stuff I will certainly be using!


Overall, a great weekend with a lot of really good information. As alluded to earlier, my only criticism of the event was how unbelievably many dogs were given "working spots". I have attended a lot of seminars and workshops before with option to "audit" or pay more for a "working spot"  and usually the reason for paying that extra fee to get a "working spot" is because one then knows there will be some individual coaching and opportunity to work with one's own dog and get good help and feedback. On Saturday afternoon when we brought dogs out to work on strength skills I did several double-takes as I looked around the room and dogs kept coming out...more and more and more dogs...in a space where we would probably teach companion dog classes to about 8 dogs at a time. Finally I had to count, I just could not believe the number of dogs around me: I counted 28 dogs! In the same room, all trying to do some work and hope that we'd get at least 5 seconds of the instructor's time :-(
THAT part was disappointing. I took my two dogs - but the list of questions I went with were really all about Maggio - some of the struggles we have had with on and off lameness in the winter (luckily seems addressed now) and a big inconsistency in jumping. I really had high hopes and expectations that I would finally get some answers from an expert as to movement/ structure and thoughts on his struggle with clearing bars. But no. The question list came back home with me. Questions unanswered. With that many dogs - how would it even be possible to get any individual time?


But other than thinking I should have just audited, as the "working" piece really was a waste of money, the lecture part of the seminar was great. Lots of great ideas, tools, learning. Just not the individual coaching I had really hoped for. Still very happy I went, overall.

Come Fido! class grads

Here are photos of four of the six dogs who graduated from the most recent Come Fido! class, just before Easter.

We've chuckled at what a mouthful it was to try to keep track of the names of these dogs...try saying this in rapid succession: Kiska, Tess, Jazz, Ezzy, Sass, Jess!
And how is it possible that three dogs; Jazz, Jess and Tess end up in the same group :-) It's like a tongue twister from a children's book.

We've worked on everything Recall-related. My own favourite part has been to see the dog's play skills - namely retrieve and tug - develop and build. 
A high percentage of dog owners that I have in classes report that "my dog only retrieves so so - and likely won;t bring the toy back even if he will chase it first". There is a really simple two-toy trick that I absolutely love to get these dogs thinking otherwise and actually doing a full retrieve. For the majority of dogs, it works really, really well and is quite fast, too. 


And why is retrieve or tug important in a Recall class, you ask?
Well, there are many different ways to approach recall training. The old school methods (sadly still in use) are very heavy-handed and heavily rely on physical punishment and trying to show the dog what is "wrong" and that the dog must obey, or else. People who turn to the use of electric shock collars often feel very justified doing so (he must obey) and say things like "it's for the dog's own good. It's shock collar or the dog can't ever be let off leash. I HAVE TO KNOW that when I call, my dog comes." etc...justifications go on.

To me, the most important question in choosing what route to take with any training is to consider what kind of relationship it is you want to have with your dog. That little piece "MUST obey, or else" just really does not sit well with me. What God-given right do we have to say something like that? Amazingly enough, I find many people have never even reflected over this?! We're still, in many ways living in the dark ages, overshadowed by this mentality of "dogs must, or else"...but have not really even considered what that means or why we would have the right to say that?!


Where play fits in nicely is in a program where we do care about the relationship between human and dog and start to look for 'why should the dog care about where you are to begin with?' and this is where play can be a phenomenal tool. When YOU play with your dog, you are developing a relationship and saying to your dog that you can facilitate his pleasure and desire to play - you thus start to become a fun and reinforcing person to be around! The whole training process becomes less about "Why should the dog HAVE to come to you when you call?" and more about the realization that you've invested so much joy and fun into playing together with your dog - that, when eventually you do need to call him to you: "Why WOULDN'T the dog want to come to you when you call?" It's a completely different starting point and different mind-set.
One that I think pays off in dividends. 
Every time you play with your dog, as long as the play is honest, sincere and fun for both of you - you are investing in your relationship and putting "money in the bank".. that when you need to call him - the investment will pay off; he'll happily come bounding to you! 
Teaching an older dog to play tug or retrieve with a human can be a journey...for some it will be a fast track to success, for others it will require more time. I've written about this topic before if you're interested to search through archives for ideas on How To - but bottom line is: the time invested in teaching good and solid play skills is worth it! If your dog will play with you any time, anywhere - you have a powerful reward, but also; more than likely - you have a happy partner who has learned just how much fun it is to hang out close to you! 


The dog is not living in fear of when and what punishment will happen next - but instead the sparkle in his eyes will tell you his mind is on the "game": Another game is just around the corner...any moment now...any moment now...


and THAT you can do a lot with as the trainer/ handler!

Photo banner

In keeping with the new times and forever evolving Facebook...a banner or poster of sorts needed to be created for Wags Facebook page. All pages (as in business pages on Facebook) are going to change within the next few weeks and will include a cover banner. My impression is that - either you can create something and have some fun with this, or when the deadline approaches, Facebook will automate the process for you and just let you drag in photos from your fb files...


So, after a few hours of tinkering (time I didn't intend to spend on this kind of project :-) - the result is now live, and I thought it should be shared here, too!
The dogs in the photos are a really nice representation of dogs from several different classes: Puppy Foundation skills class, Adolescent Manners class, Thinking Games, and even the outdoor Rovers in the Rink - Recall class. 
So that's that: Wags photo banner prompted by technological changes. Enjoy!