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Showing posts from May, 2016

Is it alright for children to touch and play with other dogs?

Some have asked if it is okay for their children to interact with dogs that their parents/guardians isn't sure of, the answer is a straight no from me. When interacting with a dog that you don't understand well enough, many risks are present and adults will always need to make wise decisions to ensure that their child is safe.  Below is a list of concerns that you will need to consider: Temperament of the dog Every dog is different in terms of personality and behavior, usually it isn't related to the breed so don't go thinking that all golden retrievers are friendly and all mastiffs are aggressive, it doesn't work that way. The reaction of a dog towards strangers depends on 3 things - the environment, how well trained the dog is and lastly, how the stranger approaches the dog.  For example, if a dog is well trained but the environment is uncomfortable, maybe a scenario where there's thunderstorm, a friendly dog can suddenly become aggressive wit

Forgiveness

Many professional trainers and rescuers continue to use abusive methods on their dogs, these people often refer to dog whisperer as an excuse for overpowering dogs unnecessarily. As mentioned in our post here , "A number of owner who practices negative reinforcement have turned abusive, violence thoughts and anger management problems may start causing more unwanted behaviors than positive ones. Many professional trainers, as long as money and fame is involved have admitted causing abuse to animals due to their inability to control their mood and emotions." People will always need to have someone to proof what they are doing behind closed doors before concluding that the methods are wrong and abusive, but have you wondered before they were exposed, how many other dogs were traumatized? Are you really sure the dog whisperer show is really aimed to help dogs? Celebrities are always backed by legal teams and they are free to cut away any parts of videos that does not seem g

Tug of war manners

This video provides a lot of details to dog obedience if you watch closely, I thought that it would be good to explain a couple of important points for those that wish to have their dogs behave better. - I started to invite Amber to play by flickering my hands near the toy, instead of the usual "dog demands playtime" routine. - The game was made even more intense as I wiggle the toy and playing tug of war.  - You can see Amber almost lifting off the ground, which means that she was really determined to win. It wouldn't be healthy for her jaw if she was really lifted off the ground so I lowered the toy. - Stroking her face is to get her used to being touched even during intense situation, this should be practiced when a dog has not developed any form of aggression. Do not do this if your dog tends to snap. - An "Off" command before ending the tug of war game is a good way to reset her mind, and then returning the toy to her is a reward fo

Where are you?

This is what we have been covering on our recently lessons. This bar represent the things you have done for training, the more things you have done right for the day then the better position you'll be in, you'll want to aim for the Green Zone at all times. Everyday your dog will fall towards the Red (Danger) zone by 1-3 points depending on individual energy level, and to push your dog back to towards the Green Zone you'll have to exercise and train them. If let's say you did a whole lot of training yesterday, add 5 points and your dog should be back to the Green Zone (plus minus). But remember, the next day it'll automatically decrease 1-3 points again, so if you are going to skip 1 day of training, just remember to make up for the loss tomorrow. Many dogs fall in the Red Zone for days, weeks and even years, that's when they develop frustration and it will eventually lead to depression 😊

Truth about the dog industry - Part 2 (RANT)

I've always thought that the pet industry is focused on pets, that owners will prefer those that can show to have more love and affection for pets as well as having the knowledge, experience and skills in handling them, apparently after almost 5 years in the industry, I found that it wasn't so simple. Since young I've always dreamt of growing up to either work with animals or being an artist, but due to my family's view and friends around me I've moved towards art as a profession, I believed that even if art is chosen as a job, I could still spend time with animals at the end of the day. Animals had been a part of my life since I was born, we've had all sorts of pets that Singapore allows. When i was still in primary school, i've once told my friends that I wanted to become an animal trainer at the zoo and they all laughed at me, saying that the job is all about picking animal poop, I'm not afraid to say that at that point of time I was somehow aff