~Distraction~

Tazer, remaining in his "down" command, while meeting our resident goat, Sidney, for the first time.

Before Disaster Strikes

Are you and your family prepared for a disaster at your home? Do you have a plan of action for your pets should a disaster force you to evacuate? Do you have supplies ready in case your home looses power for over a week, or perhaps even access to fresh water?

Don't forget about your pet during this storm season. Plan now and pack a disaster kit. Here's a list of some useful items to include inside...

• Leash and collar with an ID tag already attached.
• A copy of current vaccination records from your vet. We don't recommend relying on a Rabies tag as it does not include dates.
• Recent photo of your pet in case of separation.
• A week's worth of food, water and any medications your pet will need.
• Food and water dishes
• A blanket
• A pet first-aid kit. This should include vetrap or some sort of bandages, antiseptic spray, children's aspirin, tweezers and scissors.

These listed above are your very basics. You might also want to make sure you have a crate available, perhaps some toys, and a supply of plastic bags to name a few.

Don't forget to also have some sort of game plan for your pets. Who is responsible for finding them if there was a fire? Were would you put them? Who can watch your pets for you if you cannot, and so on...

Feel free to leave more tips and ideas.

Barking

Ask around and the number one complaint from neighbors of dogs is nuisance barking.  But what is considered excessive barking?  Normally it can be considered as any barking, yelping, howling or crying that happens during normal sleeping hours, that happens frequently or habitual.  Imagine your phone ringing... how many times can it ring before you become annoyed?  A few phone calls in a day and your probably not bothered... 2 calls twice an hour all day... and well, you can see where I'm going here.

But why do dogs bark? 

For Attention.
Humans have bred dogs to bark for a number of reasons, and yes we have even encouraged and praised barking.  How else would we know if there was a stranger lurking about?  Or where the rabbit had gone?  This would be good attention.  But because dogs are social animals they will bark for bad attention too.  This means if the only time a dog gets any attention, even if it's a punishment, is if it barks, then it will do so.

To Communicate
As we know from countless documentaries on wolves, dogs are social creatures.  Naturally they choose to communicate mainly with body language and other audible communication.  Just like for attention some dogs bark just in effort to communicate with their humans... even if the human is yelling for them to be quiet.

Out of Boredom
Like a child who will talk to themselves when left to play alone, a bored dog will bark just for something to do.


What can be done about nuisance barking?

• Spend time with your dog everyday.  This not only ensures that their social needs are fulfilled, but also keeps down on boredom, desperation and anxiety.
• Train your dog.  You cannot correct a behavior if your pet does not know the right behavior to begin with.  Contact our trainers for more tips on training both the "Quiet" and the "Speak" command.
• Problem solve.  If your dog is barking out of boredom, try new chews and toys to occupy their time if you can't be there.  See if you need new privacy fences or plants to protect your dog from taunters such as neighborhood children or passing dogs. 

These are all just a few basics to help you start.  Remember barking may not bother you, but bothers around 95% of people around you.  And the best time to solve nuisance behavior is to keep it from starting!  Keep your pets happy, healthy and well trained.  For more information please contact one of our trainers at http://www.gatewayk9training.com/ . 

Children & Dogs

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be sharing with my readers a small series of articles on the art of living happily with both children and dogs.

We'll be touching on subjects such as:

• Children and dog training.
• What makes a good family dog.
• Aggression in the family dog.
• Important things every child should know about dogs.
• Indoor and outdoor games that kids can play with their pets.
• and much more...

Please feel free to at any time during this series to submit any questions on this subject, I'd be more than happy to answer them when possible.

Review: Crates

*wood crate/bed image from costco.com* Some crates are more designed for the owner than the pet itself.

There is probably as many brands of crates out there as there are breeds of dogs. Some collapse for quick storage, some won't budge after they're set up. And then you have the color choices from a standard grey to hot pink with stripes. So which crate is really the best? After all one thing they do not offer are affordable crates. Here's a brief run down on my opinion on the most common crates available in most areas.

Soft Sided Travel Crates.

I have personally gone through 3 of these before I completely gave up on them. They are wonderful, easy to store and transport crates. The tension poles collapse allowing them to fold up into a storage bag, perfect for storage or throwing in the back of your car. They are pretty light as well making them easy to carry to a show while walking your dog. I found them to be pretty easy to use and equally easy to clean with a hose on a sunny day. But my dog also found it easy to tear off the zippers and claw apart the mesh within minutes. Despite my dog's need to eat these I still do recommend them for use in show like situations, but never for actual kenneling of your dog and definitely not for potty training.

Plastic Crates
These are by far my favorite option that is out there. First off they are easy to clean either by hosing them out or by using a pet safe solution and a towel. If your pet has an accident or gets sick the solid bottom walls contain the mess inside the crate, and not all over your floors and walls. The limited view from inside the crates recreates the feel of a natural den for the dog and also provides a sense of security for the dog. They are however not easy to move around once fully set up. I choose to toss the screws and bolts that attach the top to the bottom and use zip ties that I can simply cut to take it back apart (this of course is not airline safe if you need to ship your pet). You can also spend a wee bit more and buy crates that have quick connects instead of screws. I have not had as much trouble with dogs destroying these types of crates but it is possible. I would not recommend these crates for highly destructive pets. My mother's beagle was able to pull off her wire vent bars in a few hours, but my malinois has yet to put one scratch in his.

Wire Crates

Personally I would never spend a dime on these types of crates, all though they do have several advantages to them. They collapse and can easily fit under a couch or in the back of your car. Most of them come with an additional wire panel to size them properly for a growing puppy. The plastic tray bottom slides out without opening the main crate for easy cleaning, and most of them have more than one door which can be very convenient. But if your dog has an accident in one of these it is very likely the mess will quickly decorate any surroundings. Also they pose a high danger for pets. The openings allow for paws to easily get stuck. The plastic tray is easily chewed on (although some brands now carry metal trays for this reason), and I have seen numerous cases of dogs being able to pry the bars apart which can lead to many different injuries. Ask my mother's beagle who pried apart the top rows of bars and got her head stuck!

Now again these are all my personal opinions on the basic crate options that are out there. I was not paid by any crate makers to write this. Also note there are many more varieties out there that I have not listed, and only you can know what is best for your pet.

For more information on choosing and using a crate visit us at www.gatewayk9training.com .

Gateway Has Moved

Gateway K9 Training is no longer based in Florissant Missouri. We now are setting up shop in Dittmer Missouri off of Highway 30. Our new 6 acre location needs alot of work, but in the future we hope to open up a state of the art boarding and training facility to continue to meet the needs of our clients.

But what can you expect from Gateway now? As we settle into our new location we are not offering any inhome lessons at this time, but those should start back up later this summer. We are offering one on one private lessons at our location, and will shortly be opening up group classes depending on needs and demands.

Also we are offering limited Boarding Training stays in our home for your summer vacation needs.

Last month our main computer for maintaing our website crashed so our website most likely will not be reflecting these changes for a few more weeks. To see what's new please continue to visit this blog our our forum through the site.

You Can't Teach My Dog to do That!?!

I have heard the statement "You can't get my dog to do that!" many times during my career as a dog trainer. I believe that statement to be the biggest setback of almost every pet owner out there. The truth is, yes I can. And yes you can.

I remember one client who came into my office a few years back with a pit bull terrier and a hound mix. While we were talking I had my Australian cattle dog sitting quietly on her crate behind me. The prospective client joked that there's no way his two dogs would ever be able to behave that well. So I made him a bargain. If I could get his pit bull to do that he'd sign up right there for my group classes. Within 10 minutes his dog was mimicking my cattle dog, quietly sitting on a pet bed, and needless to say he signed on the dotted line.

Now this is not a testimony to how great my training skills are, although I would love it to be one. What I am getting to is that many owners deny their pets adequate training because they believe their dog can be no more than a disobedient family member. I have heard reasons stretching from their dog's breed, to age, to up-bringing to finances and back. But these are all just excuses.

There are circumstances that can affect training. In reality a dog's breed does have a lot of effect on how quickly a dog will learn, or what skills they will exceed at. For instance I would never ask a Maltese to herd long horn cattle. Sure we could train the dog to do it, and I've met some Maltese who believe they can... but why? And of course age and health also will change how the dog learns, but there is no task that is impossible.

Take my mother's beagle who just recently passed. We are talking about a full fledged, stubborn basic obedience drop out, only cares about food and rabbits, hound dog. She became a family member long before I had any interest in dog training. But to my surprise at the age of 14 she learned every trick my puppies were learning for my dog training classes. The secret was finding out how to motivate her. Before she passed this beagle could play dead, speak on command and do several other tricks.

To get back to my original point here is that any dog, of any breed and of any age can learn anything! But the owner must be dedicated to teaching the dog and be in for the long haul. And most importantly be able to know whether or not it is worth it, and in the best interest of his dog.