SEPARATION ANXIETY

Dogs with separation anxiety exhibit extreme behavior problems when they are left alone. The most common behaviors are destruction of property (sometimes injuring themselves in the process), especially around doors or windows, howling and barking, and urination and defecation from distress. The destruction and house soiling is not an attempt to seek revenge on the …

Tell Me About Your Dog! – Part I

The SV celebrates 100 years this year, so for all intents and purposes Schutzhund training has been around for close to 100 years as well. In that time countless books have been written, and even more seminars have been taught, and let’s not even start on how many conversations and discussions were held late into …

Tell Me About Your Dog! – Part 2

Continued from Part 1 Nerve Nerve has become a catch phrase for almost everything. Good nerve, bad nerve, weak nerve, strong nerve, thin nerve, thick nerve. Where do these terms come from? And more importantly, what do they mean? The nerve itself is nothing more than a fibrous long cell that transmits impulses from parts …

Tell Me About Your Dog! – Part 3

Continued from Part 2 I believe that reading dogs is one of the most important parts of dog training. In part one of this article I tried to address general qualities in dogs that we hear often when dogs and their training are discussed. I deliberately limited myself to traits that deal with perception and …

Tell Me About Your Dog! – Part 4

Continued from Part 3 There are a few more points I’d like to mention regarding defense drive. I strongly believe that these three defense drive categories are pre-determined and that this predetermination sets limits to how much we can change through training. Comments like “we need to put more defense into this dog” make me …

Tell Me About Your Dog! – Part 5

Continued from Part 4 Fighting “Drive,” Conclusion This brings me to the end of the discussion of fighting ?drive?. The major contributing components I have been able to isolate are the six I just described: prey drive, defense drive, frustration aggression, social aggression, dominance behavior, and rage. All dogs will have these components in some …

Two Sides to Everything – Part 1

A good foundation is where everything starts. I’ve covered foundation topics over the past few months and looking back, I think I missed something. The reason for that is probably because what I will discuss in this article may not become an issue until later in a dog’s career. But I think it should be …

Only the NOSE really KNOWS Part 1

Tracking -books, -videos, -articles, and -seminars have one thing in common. They are written, produced or taught by people. That factor also presents the biggest flaw in tracking: The human perspective on the subject. As people, I believe we have to accept our position in tracking. We are to a large degree spectators to this …

Only the NOSE really KNOWS Part 2

… Previous I call this my colored dot concept. Let me be clear here, this is totally made up and only an aid to help people understand things a little better. As you all know (if you don’t you should) dogs are macrosomatic animals. Loosely translated that word means, large nasal cavity. All animals that …