What I Have To Say

      Small's K-9 School
                     Luiza Small
                                   Kincardine/Lucknow/Ripley Area
                                     smallk9school@hurontel.on.ca

This is just a page of what I have to say, my opinions and thoughts, some are questions and answers. Please understand this is not meant to be taken personally.
Luiza

Dog aggression explained!!!
By: Luiza Small

Question: “My dog (a Cocker Spaniel mix) was diagnosed with dominance aggression by a behaviour specialist and was recommended excessive exercise. We have not noticed any prognosis in the past few months…any suggestions?”
Answer: Aggression is one of those dog behaviours that are very mis-understood, misdiagnosis may be deadly for a dog.
First of all let me say this, there are many forms of aggression, but the basic 5 is what I go by (we can break them down to literally hundreds but in my opinion these 5 are still the root of them all). Fear (did you know that there are some breeds that actually poses the fear gene? Like Cocker Spaniels for example), dominance, pain/disease/idiopathic, hormonal and learned aggression.
Understanding the difference between them is the key to a proper solution. Hiring a trainer/behaviour specialist that diagnoses your dog with automatic dominance aggression is… well, stupid! Diagnosing dominance is like saying that all kids have ADD and need to be medicated.
Other things that influence aggression are: #1 Genetics - reality is that most breeders do not put much thought into the temperament of the parents and just breed the dog for nice looks and a quick buck. As impulsive animal buyers we pick out a puppy solely on its cute looks and not ask the really important questions. #2 Hormones - fix, fix, fix your dogs!!!! #3 Excitement (and other environmental factors).
- My personal favourite is dog to people, or dog to dog aggression. First it starts as an excitement (dog wants to play, owners don’t allow for a fear the dog might get hurt (small breeds) or hurt another dog (large breed), then that excitement builds into a barrier aggression (only when a dog has something that is stopping them from interaction with that they want, like a leash, fence or a window) then that grows into such a barrier aggression that the dogs once freed nips a person or the other dog. That is now associated with a bad experience! Next time the dog will growl at a sight of another dog or person, the owner pulls on a leash and the dog learns to growl to make the dog/person go away and voila! We have a dog to person/dog aggression diagnosis. While the real issue is that this aggression is learned and therefore, may also be unlearned in most cases. No excessive exercise is need! Just a little bit of education on dog behaviour and how to deal with it may cure most problems.
For more questions or information e-mail me smallk9school@hurontel.on.ca

Choosing a trainer
Luiza Small

Question: “…we are getting our first puppy this Christmas for the kids and are looking for a good local trainer... Any suggestions on what we should look for…?”
Thanks you,
Jasmine Cam
Answer: Please understand because of the age of your children, the reality is that you are getting the dog for yourself!!! So if you are not prepared and willing to take care of this dog by yourself, do not get it.
The sad truth is that the dog training world is not governed by anyone. There are many places that say they certify professional dog trainers and clubs trainers join to be more liked by people, but the truth is anyone can join these clubs, anyone can start a club, even if you don’t have a dog. All you need is a fancy web page and a really good English vocabulary.
So I personally do not waste my time on that.
Anyway, you need to ask the right questions, like what education/experience they have with dogs (there are many courses trainers can take ask for transcripts to see what they learned), what breeds they worked with, why they choose this line of work, get references-CALL THEM!!! Meet the trainer you will be working with (in my almost 3 years of professional experience I only had one person who came to meet me first. This shows me that they are serious about their dog.) You need to trust your trainer, because your dog’s life does depend on the choices YOU make.
Secondly, you need to remember this is a very small community and good word of mouth travels fast, and the bad even faster. Sometime people give trainers a bad reference because they (people) think that one hour a week for 6 weeks will cure their dog of any and all problems-it will not. You need to make that commitment and stick with it.
CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY is the key to any good training!!!
For more questions or information e-mail me @ smallk9school@hurontel.on.ca

Did you KNOW?

No one can ask you to move or to re-home your pet even if you have signed a “no pet” lease! See Residential Tenancies Act for more information
http://www.ontariotenants.ca/law/law.phtml#Q6

Ever wonder why there are some places that have CKC Registered puppies but a huge difference in price from the next one? Well CKC registration means NOTHING other than that the dog is a pure breed. Health, temperament and character have nothing to do with the dog being registered. These are mostly individuals that are “Back Yard Breeders” that are after a quick buck, not to better of the breed. These dog have NO guarantees of any kind.
The owner that sell their dog for a higher price tend to show their dogs and put titles on their dogs (ask to see proof), they also tend to take better care of the dam (mother) BEFORE, DURING and AFTER her pregnancy. They also make sure the puppies are family raised and had a good experience with our everyday chaotic life, and have had a good start on things like house training, chewing on the proper items (toys), basic obedience training and more. And ONE thing they will NEVER do is let a puppy go BEFORE 8 weeks!!!
Now do you actually think a “BYB” (Back Yard Breeder) would do all that?

See CKC By-Laws.

…did you know that selling a ckc registered puppy for a different price then a non registered puppy from the same litter is…ILLEGAL!!! It cost only $21 to register the entire litter of puppies so why should you pay hundreds more for a puppy with papers.
http://www.ckc.ca/en/Default.aspx?tabid=92

Are You a Certified dog trainer?
By Luiza Small

This has got be one of the most popular questions I get, and the answer is…NO! Why? Well for starters sadly there is no such thing!!! There is nothing
that governs the dog training industry. Some effort to certify dog trainers is starting to take place but it will be a long time before this will really
start to happen.
People can join one of many groups like Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT), Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainer (CAPPDT)
or International Positive Dog
Training Association IPDTA and many more. It is defiantly a great way to further educate yourself and start a good networking process.
These organizations will ask you to follow a code of ethics that will guide your work.
Now I personally have nothing against these great organizations. Except that anyone can join them, even you-right now. So really you still have no way of
knowing who is real and who is a trainer wannabe! Anyone (at this time) can put something quickly together and sell it for a huge price and tell you
that they will certify you as a dog trainer, and they do. But ANYONE can do that-even me (but I won’t)
You have to remember that dog training is (in most cases) a good and profitable business. Especially know that we have shows like “The Dog Wispier”
or “At The End Of My Leash” (please note that these shows come with warning labels and they are there for a reason!). My god dog trainers are coming
out of wood work.
Seriously people, WHATCHING all episodes of these shows does not make them dog trainers. And then the ones that really put the time, effort and
don’t forget $$$ into educating themselves in this field get stuck with the bad
reputation because some wannabe wants to make a quick buck.
There are many ways to get into a dog training business and be a great trainer but it all takes time, patients and MONEY. People can take different
courses such as behaviour,
biology, ethology, zoology, and much more, they are taught in colleges, universities and now more and more home study courses. You can always begin your
career with animals by working with a trainer, kind of like an apprentice. But calling yourself a pro from watching “The Dog Whisperer” please.
If this industry is starting to sounding primarily unregulated – that is because IT IS!!!
So this is what I have done to become a PROFESSIONAL Dog Trainer (in my opinion):
1) I have started with reading many books on dog behaviour, and different types of training.
2) I started working with family and friends dogs since the year 2000 when I got my first dog.
3) I then enrolled into behaviour and dog training course from a person that has a great reputation and a very successful business-and as far as
I am concern is education is education and regardless where you get it, as long as you learn something it was worth it.
4) I then continued to a home study course in professional dog training and obedience Instructor, and I am currently taking a home study course in
vet assistant.
As soon as I am done with this one hoping in the next 3-4 months I would like to enroll into a an Animal Welfare Certificate Program in
Thompson Rivers University,
to get better skills and knowledge to open a small dog/people education and adoption facility of my own where I can implement my own ideas how things
should be done- good luck to me;)
So at this time I spend about $7,000 and 10 years on getting myself where I can call myself a dog trainer and I have a long way to go.
People tell me that I know so much about dogs, but as far as I am concern I have not even scratched the surface. I know that I will always be a student
and the dogs and their people will always be my teachers.
When choosing a trainer ask to see what they have done to educate themselves, ask for transcripts, references-call them!!! Ask the trainer about their
goals in the business, ask why they got into business in the first place. Some answers may totally shock you and your dog is worth it. Like for instance
when I got into one of the courses we had a chat group, I was shocked to learn that most of these people have NEVER owned a dog themselves, or so
called dog trainers that work rehabilitating aggressive dogs NEVER had an aggressive dog themselves or even been in close proximity to one. I guess my
issue here is,
how can you tell someone, what they should do or what they are doing wrong if you yourself have never dealt with that problem personally. You can tell people
what they should do and how they should do it-but are they going to do it? Will this fit into their life style?
When I opened my business bmyu3 years ago to the general public, I was not prepared for the other things that go a long with it. Such as people
that LOVE their dogs but cannot afford a dog behaviourist or a trainer. I felt bad, I don’t think anyone should feel like they HAVE to re-home
their dog or have it put down due to lack of funds. So after a long soul searching I decided to go not-for-profit. I work with people that want to
fix their dog (s) and work hard at it. People that understand that there is no magic pill I can give them or a quick fix-just time.
This is largely why I have a free phone consultations and reasonable rates (on individual basis). Most people are GREAT dog owners they just need
help understanding their dogs.
Ok, so I am way off topic now, but here all this in a nut shell.
“There is no such thing as a certified dog trainer. You need to screen all trainers (yes even me;) even if what they say makes sense. Ask for
educational proof (and none of this human psychology BS-we are dealing with dogs not humans). ”
Any other questions can be forwarded to smallk9school@hurontel.on.ca.

Thank you

Luiza

Reduce ( Pet population-Spay /Neuter your pets)
Reuse ( Don't buy~Adopt!!!)
Recycle ( Give a loving home to an animal in need)