Wlochata Pasja Australian Labradoodles

niedziela, 9 stycznia 2011

Puppies smarties (pictures)

Why did I decide to open this topic?

Well, we – human — try to fit dogs into our environment – we decide what they should or should not like, what they should or should not eat. It is we – people who manage the access to various resources. However what is our goal? Do we take the natural animal needs into consideration or is it our human rules that we look into?
Recently I saw very irritated owner whose dog stopped for some sniffing by the tree. Not one time I saw the owner pulling his dog who just happened to stop by the nearby bushes. Few days ago on an American forum I came across frustrated woman writing “How shall I unteach my dog sniffing??!!
Let’s discuss the matter some more – what are the natural needs of the dog?
– Sniffing
– Chewing
– Digging
– Social contact (with human)
Those needs often and in most cases compete with our own – human rules. Not a lot of owners let their dog dig in the garden, chew on shoes and sniff when one is already late for work…
However not fulfilling those needs we really ask for trouble. The dog will fulfill those needs either way and it can turn out that we will not like his way too much
It is also crucial to fulfill those natural needs especially with problematic dogs as first of all – it makes the dog tired, second of all it builds self-confidence, and finally it reduces stress.
We have to remember that if we let our dog sniff – we make his brain work. That in turn reduces stress and makes the dog even more tired than running on a field.
I will now show how we enrich environment of the puppies as soon as they open their eyes, ears, stand on their own feet and are ready to taste something other than bitches milk.
Building such puppy play field enables puppies to fulfill their natural needs. They sniff, hunt, dig, lick ect. We are using different tools from different materials and we hide a little bit of the doggy food in them, between them ect. Puppies sniff and when they find a treat they lick on it, eat it, chew it (dependently on the consistence). After few minutes (for young puppies) they are tired and fall asleep.
The same happens with the older puppies and the grownup dogs, however the playground can be moved outside.
After the breeder does this job and handles the puppy to you – it becomes your job. Of course some will ask – how shall I build it on my own, some do not have the place. Well – it is not about building complicated field at all. It is not even about building at all. Of course it is a lot of fun that you and our dog can have – especially that you can use different treats and hide them in a very strange places (as it happened at one of the seminaries that was held by the pupil of Turid Rugaas) as the water bowl. Instead you can take your dog for a walk on the very long leash and you can let him walk and sniff. If you take him to the woods and let sniff the other animal senses it is even better.
So what can we really do as the owners:
1. Walk your dog remembering about following rules
– Long, loose leash
– Harness
– Do not pull the dog
– Do not talk to the dog
– Do not hurry
– Let the dog sniff
2. Give your dog something to chew on safely (available in Germany – NYLABONE bones that either a puppy or an adult dog can chew on (be careful to use the right king so that your dog will not tear it apart)
3. Let the dog dig. I know I know – who would want their garden to be full of holes? No one. You can however designate one place for dog to do it or take him to the woods. In Finland it is very popular to make special sandpits for the dogs.
Through ages of joint existence dogs have learnt how to fit in our environment, and they do it perfectly however what is important for us will not necessarily be important for our dogs. I appeal – let the dogs, be the dogs and let them fulfill their natural needs — it will pay off.

Please enjoy the photos.

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Elzbieta Gajewska
Włochata Pasja

First Professional Australian Labradoodle Kennel in Poland
www.labradoodle.com.pl

Fokker van originele Australian Labradoodles
www.australische-labradoodle.nl

Pierwsza hodowla Australijskich Labradoodle w Polsce
www.wlochata-pasja.com.pl

Snow, snow, snow…everything is getting white...

Snowing all the time..
It is so nice to play in the snow (some of us Saw it for the first time)

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Do you want to train dogs? First train the chicken! (by Edyta Gajewska)

Do you want to train dogs? Try to train the chicken first!

I believe that every person thinking about professional dog training, should first train chickens. I will even go further — anyone who’s job is to motivate effectively not only animals but humans as well. I am talking here about coaches, managers, teachers and even parents, because each of us in some way is or will be “the trainer.“
When I talk about this to my friends the first reaction is of course — laughter. And then a lot of questions, but why actually train chickens for? So I first let them laugh out loud and then I explain what I mean.
Certainly it’s not about teaching chicken to shake a paw, play cards or pull trolley in between the intervals for egg bearing. It is not about teaching chickens at all (although they learn very fast), but it is about teaching yourself how to train without using aversive methods. It is to convince yourself that much better, faster results are achieved by using methods of positive reinforcement. It is because the secret of an effective behavior change involves the application of methods based on motivation, positive reinforcement, reward, instead of yelling, physical force or punishment.
But why chicken? BIRDS DO NOT LET MANIPULATE THEMSELVES!
How many of you pressed your dog’s rump to teach him how to sit? Did you ever yell at your child because whole trip to the supermarket was just a disaster with baby on your shoulder crying for a new toy?
Listen to this – you will never force anything on a chicken, so you will not be even tempted. Now tell me how many patience did you show while teaching your dog not to pull on the leash or your child not to write on the walls? How many of you would lose it and use the force? I think many – but it is really unnecessary.
Teaching this kind of creature, in principle, sets the coach from the very beginning on the right track – positive reinforcement track. Training chickens shows that we do not need to use violent methods to educate others.
But why chicken? CHICKEN IS FAST!
Training chicken requires tremendous reflex and observation skills. Suppose we want to reward some specific behavior — such as “sit” in the dog. The dog sits and we say SUUUUPER and give him a treat. But it often happens that it only seems to us that we reward “sit”, but from a dog’s “point of view,” it might have been something else. Between the time that dog actually sat and we said “suuuuper”, many other movements could have occurred like lifting the paw, ect. So basically – if I said “suuuuuper” praising dog’s nice “sit”, but just before my “suuuuper” dog lifted his paw – I certainly rewarded lifting the paw – not sitting. Reflex and observation are necessary features of a good coach. Chicken is much faster than most animals — if we learn on one of the most difficult, other species will not be a problem for us.
But why chicken? Chicken does not involve emotionally with his coach!
Emotional relationship is often an obstacle during the training, the coach often does not retain the objectivity and the object trained quickly realizes that he will be able to get away with many things. Chickens do not get attached to the trainers.
But why chicken? Mistakes made by the trainers reflect very quick in the chicken’s behavior.
Dogs are a very tolerant. The dog will finally learn how to sit, despite of the trainer’s mistakes. Chicken will not, either he will not learn anything or he will stop responding to the training at all. By teaching chickens we quite quickly realize what mistakes do we make and we correct them very quickly.
To all interested I recommend the book of Karen Pryor “Don’t Shoot the Dog”
See some practice with chickens on the pictures and videos attached from the seminary I attended myself.