Hot Seat Topics - Pros and Cons - Blog Twenty One

Today, we are going to address the pros and cons of a few of the hot seat topics that often get owners and trainers alike arguing - and what the bottom line really is on all of them. In our opinion, there is more than one side to every coin, and obviously, different circumstances and stories allow for different areas where its going to be a different rule for different families, and that's okay. We are not posting this to start a fight; we are posting this show both sides of the fence, and our OWN bottom line - yours could very well be different.

E-collars

E-collars are arguably one of the most hated tools of the trade, and also one of the most misused. It is the target of many hate groups, protests, and boycotts. They can vibrate, make sound, or can stimulate the nerves by a gentle electrical impulse. While it is common to believe and be told that this stimulation causes pain, that is the farthest from the truth. In reality, it causes a painless muscle spasm that lasts only a split second - and in dogs, it feels more like a slight tingle. When improperly used, it can cause panic and suspicious behaviour in dogs, generally when a user applies the collar to a pet without giving the dog information as to what the stimulation means, or any realm of reference to what causes it or who is giving it - or, they have it set way too high.

Pros
-E-collars allow you to offer either positive or negative commands to your dog from a distance - from training the stimulation means "down" to communicating it made a mistake, and allows you to do so at a far greater distance than your voice or hand signals allow.
-E-collars allow you to communicate with disabled dogs, such as a dog that cannot see, or a dog that cannot hear. You can utilize the e-collar to teach these special dogs that the stimulation means look at me, or pay attention to me.
-E-collars allow you to manage behaviour while off-leash, especially if your dog easily distracts and stops listening to commands in high distraction scenarios.
-E-collars can completely replace the need for leashes and collars of all kinds, allowing you full control while still allowing a certain level of canine freedom.
-E-collars allow you to shut down trained protection, defense, or military animals in case a call-off fails.
-E-collars allow you to change behaviours when you are not present (such as a dog that barks while they are alone, or a dog that eats or chews things it shouldn't when they are alone, by utilizing a webcam for training).

Cons

-E-collars are easily abused, misused, or used completely incorrectly, as they are not a plug-and-play type of tool. They require a certain level of knowledge, and must be used with respect - it is way too easy to overuse, overstimulate, or otherwise use way too often and abuse your dog.
-E-collars can be turned up way too high and cause panic in a dog, leading to permanent stimulation aggression or suspicious behaviours.
-E-collars are expensive, and run on expensive batteries, when one can accomplish similar responses with a proper leash and collar combo, and proper training.
-E-collars are subjective in quality - you can spend hundreds of dollars on a tool that operates at the same level as a bargain model, and it is a very confusing market to get in to.
-E-collars cannot be just slipped on a dog and turned on - you must spend weeks or even a few months training the dog about the stimulation, what it means, and how to respond - especially if you want the e-collar to be a communication tool, and not become a source of relationship damage.

Our Bottom Line

There are many ways to accomplish the training that an e-collar provides, and are mostly unnecessary - unless you're training a protection, defense, military, disabled, or hunting animal. However, when properly used, and employed with proper training, there is no tool that is more versatile, and effective than the e-collar. Professionals and trainers alike should be able to utilize and train owners and dogs how to use the tool properly, without bias, and without the judgement that many trainers and professionals readily offer. It is solely up to the owner whether or not they would like to use this tool properly - end of story.


Prong Collars

Arguably number two on the most hated tool there is, the prong collar is popular with protection trainers, and people who think it will control their pets more easily. Traditionally, prong collars are made of steel, and provide a sharper correction than the average collar, and is intended to be used in dogs that have high "drive" - the intense focus a dog gets when they are so keenly interested in something, nothing will shut them off. While they are also very easy to misuse, they are also very easy to use properly, and can change the relationship with your working dog.

Pros

-Prong Collars are far more plug-and-play than e-collars, and only take a few days to help your dog understand what the tool is, and what it means. This means that there is far less time between purchasing and permanent use when compared to an e-collar.
-Prong Collars are a guarantee that a dog with high defense or protection drive will stop a charge or attack when used properly.
-Prong Collars are far less expensive than other tools of the same nature, and are easily repaired, replaced, and sized.
-Prong Collars are one type of stimulation, and do not change and does not get stronger or weaker, and does not contain batteries.

Cons
-Prong Collars are easier to misuse than use correctly, and can quickly overstimulate a dog. They are also too easy to cause serious injury to a dog when misused, as opposed to e-collars that merely scare a dog.
-Prong Collars rely on a dog's solid understanding of leash pressure, how to turn it on and off, and consistent and deep relationship with the owner/handler.
-Prong Collars when properly used can often cause a dog in drive to be startled, which cause vocalization - which is often misunderstood as pain or fear, and can turn an owner/handler off of using the tool.
-Prong Collars effectiveness rely directly on the user's competence, relationship with the dog, and the dog's personality - if one of these things is off, the Prong becomes a weapon.
-Prong Collars are the fastest tool to abuse a dog with - especially if an owner or handler allows themselves to become frustrated by a dog's behaviour.

Our Bottom Line
Prong Collars are great tools when used properly - however, there are too many variables for the average owner to be able to use these tools properly, for many reasons - some of which being relationship/trust levels, proper leash skills, the dog understanding leash pressure flawlessly, and an incorrect application. For this reason, we believe only trained professionals should be using Prong Collars, and only on properly trained working animals - not as a form of pet dog control or "power steering".


Off-Leash Walking

It is always awesome to see a dog in their element, enjoying nature, and all around having a great time. Nothing replaces the relaxed, carefree trot an off-leash dog has. However, unless a relationship is perfect, there are a lot of things that can go wrong - and there are limited places in Victoria that actually allow you to have your dog off leash.

Pros

-Off-Leash Walking provides a relaxed, more fun play-time-like walk rather than a serious, energy-burning structured walk.
-Off-Leash Walking allow an owner or trainer to walk without having to focus on or micromanage a dog's walking behaviour.
-Off-Leash Walking lets a dog simply be a dog, to get a holiday of sorts from training and structure of any kind, and can build trust and relationship between dog and owner.

Cons

-Off-Leash Walking is dangerous, safety-wise. There is no way to 100% guarantee against dangers that can befall a roaming dog, such as dog fights, wild animal attacks, the dog eating deadly plants or intentionally placed foods, ect.
-Off-Leash Walking completely stops an owner's ability to prevent running, bolting, fleeing, and fighting or predatory behaviours that are very difficult to shut down even ON leash but can be managed otherwise on leash.
-Off-Leash Walking shuts off the bond and structure that a leash brings - and doesn't burn nearly as much mental energy.
-Off-Leash Walking disconnects a dog from their handler, reduces behaviour reaction time, and lessens the owner's ability to judge a dog's energy. It also can promote dominance, and aggression by separating a dog from their pack leader.
-Off-Leash Walking is illegal in most places in Victoria, and the list of off-leash parks are quite spread out - its easy to break the law and be unaware.
-Off-Leash does not command respect from a dog, and every dog, no matter how well trained, and no matter how deep the relationship can disobey.

Our Bottom Line
Off-Leash walking is great for those that chose to allow it - but for our purposes, and because there is no way to guarantee safety like you can on a leash, and because it is for the most part illegal in most places, we do not support or condone off-leash walking. We can count too many times where a dog has fled, or had been killed, expressly because they were off leash. We believe it is completely irresponsible to rank fun and convenience over safety for the dog - but that is just our personal opinion. Every family is different, and if you believe it is worth the risks, that is all up to you!


The Use Of Crates

Many owners use and love the crate. Dogs take to it as well, and rely on the separate space to be able to relax and get away from the stimulation of life - but when it's not taught or used properly, the crate can become a site of trauma for owners and dogs alike. There seems to be quite a division on the use of the crate, and has been the target of many pet advocates.

Pros

-Crates allow you to limit the things your dogs can get in to when you're not in the area.
-Crates provide a safe spot for your dog to get to when they are feeling overstimulated or unsafe.
-Crates are easily trained and used with puppies, when you simply need a break for a while.
-Crates allow safe transport of dogs to and from areas within your car (and could save their life).
-Crates allow one area for sleeping, feeding, napping, and resting, when without a crate, these things happen in many different places.
-Crates utilize the den instinct, thereby increasing natural instincts and natural means of relaxing.

Cons

-Crates can't just be used - you must train a dog properly to understand what a crate is for.
-Crates are too easy to use as a punishment spot, which creates negative association for the dog and can create severe issues.
-Crates in the heat can single-handedly kill a dog.
-One error in the training of a use of a crate can cause a dog to become resistant, aggressive, and avoidant of a crate.
-If a dog is left in a crate too long, it can cause entrapment fears, crate-messing, and other issues that take a very long time to repair.
-If left in the crate in the wrong state of mind, a dog can and will chew themselves out, destroy their surroundings, and cause injury or even death to themselves.

Our Bottom Line

When properly used and trained, the crate is irreplaceable as the first and foremost tool of highest importance any owner can use. Of course, there needs to be a sense of rules and what is acceptable in the use of a crate that is banking on proper use, and it can get complicated, however is easily avoided with some basic education. If there is no other tool an owner uses in this list, the crate is absolutely the most valuable.


Unattended Dogs

Sometimes, people just simply don't have the time to be there when they let the dog outside - or they are forced to bring a dog with them while shopping, and tie them up outside - which in most places in BC is completely illegal, and bi-law will impound your dog on the spot. Sometimes, people just simply can't be bothered, or don't have the will, to go for a walk, and just let the dog outside in the yard. Sometimes, they let the dog out, and for whatever reason, they have to go back in - in any case, both instances of unattended dogs is illegal and highly discouraged. Normally, dogs are brought along on shopping trips either because the owner was already out with the dog and stopped to get something on the way, OR, the dog was not trained properly and cannot be safely left at home.

Pros

-Owners can get a break.
-Owners can go shopping where pets are banned.

Cons

-It is illegal to leave a dog unattended, be it in a yard, outside of a store, or in a vehicle. It crosses into dog abuse if it is hot out, the dog has no access to food/water or air, and/or if there is no way to escape the heat. Most police ignore unattended dogs, as does bi-law, unless the circumstances cross into dog abuse, but this doesn't change the fact that it is illegal.
-Smaller dogs can be eaten by wild animals and birds of prey when unattended.
-Larger dogs can scale most fences and restrictions therein if they really want to, and get loose.
-Dogs in a car can die in as fast as 20 minutes in the heat, even if it's only 15 degrees out.
-Dogs tied outside a store can be stolen, attacked, impounded or even killed.
-Dogs that are tied up can spook and either chew loose and bolt, or attack a person, even if they've never had a shred of aggression in them, ever.
-Dogs left outside alone often charge the property line and bark, terrorizing passersby, possibly attacking people or dogs, and inflicting bad behaviour on other dogs such as fence fighting, and suspicious behaviours.
-Things can go wrong in a split second when dogs are unattended, and you won't be there to handle it.
-Poorly trained dogs left unattended can and will kill other dogs or people that accidentally crosses too far to their property.
-Dogs that attack someone, whether they are on your property or not, as an owner you are financially and legally responsible for their injuries (Even if they are breaking in!)
-Dogs left outside alone will not burn any energy of any kind, and will not be any more exercised than they were before - contrary to common thought. When a dog does not get exercise away from the home, it does not accomplish their needs, and will compact their energy and behaviours instead of relieving them.

Our Bottom Line

While it might be convenient, the bottom line is, leaving a dog unattended is illegal, irresponsible, and unsafe. While we can understand and sympathize with people that need to do so for just a quick moment, it is still illegal, and we cannot condone it.


Harnesses/Flexi-Leads

These tools are often used when owners either misunderstand a dog's needs, or haven't trained proper leash skills. In either case, these tools are useless, and sometimes even dangerous. The only time an owner should use a harness is when a dog is pulling a load such as a wagon, sled, or human on skates, when training a recall, or if the dog has sustained a neck injury. Flexi-leads allow a dog to completely disrespect an owner, and can snap in very little strain - which creates a very bad scenario if your pet has no recall, or leash skills.

Pros

-Harnesses allow a dog to be trained in a solid recall without jarring their neck.
-Flexi-Leads are tools that can be used on search and rescue dogs and keep the lead out of the way (they never use these, by the way - they use long leads, but its still a tool that COULD be used in this capacity - otherwise we have nothing positive to say about a flexi-lead).
-Harnesses can allow an owner to walk a dog even if it's sustained a neck injury.
-Harnesses can be used with dogs that need to pull a load, without putting that load on their throats, which can kill them.

Cons

-Harnesses will combat your ability to train and guide your dog - they also can cause them to pull worse than before, and don't address the root of the behaviour - its like putting a band aid on a broken leg.
-Flexi-Leads allow a dog to disrespect an owner and ignore proper walking rules, as well as lessens your response time to bad behaviours or negative situations by several seconds, thereby making your reaction virtually useless.
-Harnesses remove the leash from the most controllable part of a dog, and are generally used because a dog pulls and has no leash skills - both of which can be corrected within a day or two.
-Flexi-Leads break very easily, and if your dog is not properly trained, will allow your dog to bolt.
-Harnesses completely stop you from being able to communicate through the leash with your dog.
-Harnesses change how corrections work, by upsetting the dog's balance. This can easily happen by accident if an owner resists a bolting dog, and it will flip a dog on their side, and in some cases, can seriously injure or even kill a dog. It can also create fear responses to the harness, leash, owner, park or area it happened in, and even the walk itself.
-Flexi-leads bridge the gap between a disrespectful walk, and a chaotic off-leash experience, neither of which is healthy for a dog or the relationship.
-Harnesses must be specially fitted to a dog by breed and body type, weight, and usage - it is possible to buy eight different harnesses and have none of them be the proper sizing or type for the job. They are also costlier, and a lot harder to free a dog of in case of emergency.

The Bottom Line
Unless you're using a harness for pulling a load, because of neck injury, or training a recall, both harnesses and flexi-leads are useless, dangerous, and are often used as a kind of temporary replacement for good behaviour. While a harness should be available for your dog in the instances if injury or training, it should not be something used outside of those scenarios - and you should promptly discard any flexi-lead you may have. No tool replaces proper training and recall.

Boredom! Blog Twenty

Hard to believe it's been twenty blogs already! Wow!

Today's blog is about boredom - what it is, and how to fix it!

Most owners are usually fairly good at accomplishing the physical exercise needs of their dog - whether that means an hour a day, or an hour every four hours! Most of the time, we don't come across a dog with physical exercise being left unsatisfied - usually, in the cases where the client is at their wit's end with their pet, is when they have forgotten all about mental exercise!

Dogs have a few main basic exercise needs that must be accomplished for them to be satisfied every day. These are physical exercise, hunting exercise, traveling exercise, and mental exercise. Would it surprise you to learn that the LEAST of these is physical exercise? Taking a dog for a structured on-leash walk will accomplish physical, hunting, and traveling exercise, but mental is left in the dust. Any unstructured walks (such as letting them smell everything, pee a lot, wander off leash without boundaries, or not moving fast enough) will burn hunting energy, but will very rarely touch physical, mental, and traveling exercise. This is because a dog needs quick locomotion to focus on the travel, and the ability to "check in" to the exercise. When they "check out" by nosing the ground and such, they're only hunting. While the first example is better than the second by a long shot, neither will accomplish mental energy needs. Like a child, dogs need to use their minds to feel satisfied. Children have an innate need to learn and experience new things, and dogs are exactly the same. The only difference is, while your child can burn mental energy by coloring, reading, or watching educational TV, your dog relies 100% solely on you to help them burn their mental energy - and unfortunately, most of the time, owners are totally unaware of this need and don't address it.

When it isn't addressed properly, dogs become bored. While a closer term would be "mentally stagnant", its far simpler to call it boredom. When a dog understands they need to burn pent up mental energy, because they don't understand how to communicate their needs - so they are left to their own devices. What are the symptoms of canine boredom? Every dog is different, but here are the most common:

Symptoms of boredom:
-Pacing
-Barking/growling at nothing
-Destroying their toys or your things
-Disobeying commands, or slow to listen to them
-Challenging/dominating humans, your furniture, or your items.
-"Snacking" from their food or water bowl (if it is readily available - we do not condone free feeding, however this is an unfortunate reality in many homes).
-Running around the home for no reason
-Checking entrances and windows every few minutes
-Smelling the same spots in the house every few minutes
-Playing with a toy intensely
-Playing with a toy then suddenly stopping
-Napping in the daytime (if you have introduced night time as sleep time)

If one or more of these sound like your pet, especially after a walk or in the afternoon or evening, this is a sign your dog is bored. If your dog is waking up and producing these symptoms immediately, it is a sign that there has been several days - often months, or years - of pent up mental energy. Like physical energy, if it is not drained early in the day and done every day, it builds up and doesn't get released like it does with humans.

How do we release mental energy?

Its a lot simpler than it sounds - and you can accomplish it with very little effort on your part, compared to an hour of walking. If you spend 15-30 minutes doing the following whenever you can tell your dog is starting to go stir-crazy, you'll see a big difference in a matter of weeks - and sometimes, days! From the lightest burning (for light boredom) to the most intense (for built up energy), here is our list of mental energy solutions!

Solutions

-Take them to a new location - whether they're walking, or just experiencing it. As long as they've never been there before, this will make them think and analyze the area for scents, threats, and other dog-important things.

-Refining old behaviours by adapting them, and making them better or faster.

-Teach them a brand new skill, trick, or behaviour - something completely new or foreign.

-Tug with rules! By this, we mean a consistent start and stop, the ability to use "out" commands without a challenge, and the ability to control intensity without bribing or tricking the dog in any way.

-Engagement training - this will burn a dog out incredibly fast if it's done correctly. It has many other beneficial side effects as well, including fast command response, "bomb-proof" nerves of steel, high reward drive (meaning you can train your dog to go psycho over a toy and have them do anything for it), and can introduce complex behaviours, as well as ensure they will never ever react to anything strange, ever.

When we employ the right tools, we can fix almost any canine problem - it just takes a little understanding, and a little effort!