Category Archives: Uncategorized

Talk To The Hand

Posted on by
Reply

I recently had the pleasure of working with a couple in Davidson, North Carolina who wanted some training for a dog that they had rescued. They stated that the dog was found abandoned and they took it in, not knowing her history. The dog, Jessie, was a beautiful boxer/mix and was, I believe, 7-8 months old when they got her. The couple had the dog for some time before contacting me.

The gentleman called and stated that they wanted some general training for the dog. He explained that the dog was quite fearful and especially had a problem with men. He stated that she would growl, bark and run away anytime that new people, especially men, came to their home. He also stated that the dog would come to his wife when called but would not come to him at all.

I went to their home to begin teaching them how to train their dog. When I arrived, the dog began barking, growling and running from me. It was apparent that this phobic rescue had an issue with men.

Over the following weeks, our work with this dog seemed to be paying off. She had learned to sit, down, stay and heel on a leash and she was much better when meeting new people. However, coming was a bit of a different story. She would come, when on a leash, reluctantly. Jessie would come to me and the wife but for some reason would not come to him. We discussed the situation and the problems that he’d had previously with the dog coming to him and he explained that this was his biggest issue. I explained to him that because she was a rescue and he didn’t know her history, it was likely that she had some negative association with the come command in the past. After some more work and motivational games with Jessie, she began to come to the owner more consistently on the leash.

We began off-leash training with Jessie and knew that getting her to come when off the leash would be a challenge. I talked with the owner again and we discussed some possible reasons that she was reluctant to come to him. It came to light that there was a considerable amount of doubt, on his part, that the dog would actually come when called. He had spent all these prior months trying to get the dog to come to him to no avail. Therefore, he had it in his mind that when he called Jessie, that she was not going to come. This explains why Jessie would come to his wife and me consistently. We both had no preconceived notions about whether or not she would come to us because she had always done so.

I explained to the owner that Jessie was likely picking up on the doubt in his voice when he called her and the he should attempt to forget about all of the times in the past that she had not come when called. He worked on doing this for a while but we still did not see the results that we were looking for.

We began working on teaching Jessie the hand signal for the come command and something magical happened! All of a sudden, Jessie would come to the owner consistently, when given the hand signal. By using a hand signal for the command, we were able to accomplish a number of things. First, we were able to eliminate any previous negative associations that Jessie had with the word come. Second, we were able to give the owner a method of calling Jessie without her being able to read any doubt in his voice inflection. It was an infallible method of calling her.

After working with Jessie on her hand signals for several weeks the owner was happy to report:

“…went to the dog park in Cornelius and there were 6 to 8 dogs there. They were all together in a pack and I was 40-45 yards away. I called Jessie’s name (not loud) – she looked – and I gave her the hand signal for come. She came right over. Over the period of an hour I did it three times – all successful. She only had on the nylon collar. For me that was like an acid test for the hand signal. I had never attempted it in any situation like that.”

If you would like to discuss training or how we can assist you in eliminating behavioral problems please call 866.200.2207 or email training@highlandcanine.com

Talk to the Hand….

History Lessons – “Those Who Do Not Learn From History Are Bound To Repeat It”

Posted on by
Reply

An old adage holds that “Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.” I find that this unfortunately is the case among too many police dog handlers. This “history” that I refer to is case law that applies to the police working dog team. Canine case law deals with many issues, from the Fourth Amendment to the Fourteenth Amendment. If we study it, it will explain to us when, where and how we can more effectively utilize our police canines. I find that generally, there are two basic problems with those who do not take the time to research and study case law.

First, are those who do not understand what the courts have decided in certain cases and they make the same mistakes that have been made in previous cases. In these instances, their cases are dismissed, criminals go free, or they find themselves and their department in the middle of a lawsuit.

Secondly, are those handlers who do not understand previous rulings and do little or nothing. These handlers commonly do not properly utilize their canines because they do not want to make a mistake. They do not understand what they can do with their dogs and do not want to make the wrong decision. Therefore, they do not utilize their canines or they under utilize them.

Another issue that I have observed in my dealings with district attorneys and prosecutors is that they often must handle many different types of cases, from murders to forgeries. Canine related cases are much fewer and far in between as compared to all of the other cases that they deal with. Therefore, they are often spread thin and unfortunately canine cases do not land high upon their rankings of cases that they are adequately prepared for. On the other hand, defense attorneys generally have more time to spend with individual cases. Some of them often specialize in certain areas, one of those being canine related cases. This can often cause an unbalanced court preceeding for and ill prepared canine handler.

Should you be able to recite, word for word, United States v. Place? No. That is not what I am suggesting at all. However, I do feel that you will be better prepared and more confident on the stand if you are capable of citing that United States v. Place was the 1983 landmark Supreme Court case that stated that “a canine sniff is not a search” By being able to establish this in court you will be able to give a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney something to “study” and make your case easier to prosecute successfully.

I feel that every law enforcement officer that handles a police canine should be well versed on the case law and court decisions that affect them. I highly recommend meeting with your prosecutor prior to trying canine related cases and discuss with them the previous decisions that affect your case. By studying case law and better understanding it, you will be able to work your dog on the street with confidence. You will be more capable of making sound, split second decisions and capable of “pushing the envelope” within the law. Your will be more successful and far more productive when you fully understand what you can and cannot do with you dog.

If you would like to discuss how our Police Canine Case Law Seminar may benefit your department and receive a free copy of Case Law Reference for Police Canine Handlers, please call us or email us at jpurgason@highlandcanine.com

Commercial Drug Detection Services

Posted on by
Reply

Of the 16.6 million illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2002, 12.4 million (74.6%) were employed either full or part time. These employees are costing American businesses billions of dollars annually in lost productivity and health care costs. Due to higher employment rates and rising substance abuse, the chances that your organization employs one of these 12.4 million workers is greater today than it has been in the past several years. Studies reveal that employees who abuse drugs have a tremendously harmful effect on the workplace—they are more likely to have extended absences from work, show up late, be involved in workplace accidents, and file workers’ compensation claims.

Highland Canine Training, LLC offers private detection services for businesses, schools, and private homes. This service allows private businesses to determine whether their facility has an issue with employees using illegal drugs at their workplace. This service also allows companies the opportunity to take a proactive approach to this increasing problem without the initial presence of local law enforcement. Drug detection services allow the employer to promote a Drug Free Workplace as well as providing an unmatched psychological deterrent.

Highland Canine Training, LLC offers teams that are capable of searching residential and commercial structures as well as motor vehicles. Our top-quality dogs are able to easily search a multitude of areas and objects and can detect the odor of illegal narcotics effortlessly. Our narcotics detection dogs are trained to locate the odor of Marijuana, Methamphetamines, Cocaine HCL, Crack Cocaine, Heroin and derivatives.

Our services can be contracted monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or you can be placed on a “will-call” status. These detection sweeps are coordinated with the appropriate company personnel and can be scheduled to suit your company’s needs.

Our handlers and employees are discreet and are held to the utmost confidentiality. We can assist you in implementing an effective plan for properly conducting these random searches within your business. With proper planning, these searches are often very effective and have little or no impact on the day-to-day workflow of your business. In some cases, these searches can be conducted in a manner that most employees never knew that they occurred.

Cost for our services is calculated based on a number of factors including but not limited to:

Size of facility
Area of facility to be covered
Number of employees
Vehicles to be searched (if any)
Scheduling (recurrent scheduling is at a reduced rate)

Highland Canine Training, LLC welcomes the opportunity to visit your facility and provide you with a detailed quote before services are contracted. Our services are very affordable and can easily fit within your budget. For example, a company with 100 employees would spend an average of $50 per employee to have them randomly drug tested once per year. This comes to a cost of $5,000 per year to drug screen each employee only once.

By utilizing detection dog services, the same company, with 100 employees could have their entire business screened once a month for an average cost of $200 per visit, totaling $2,400 per year. Therefore, the employer could have their employees and business screened twelve times more at a savings of $2,600 per year for the employer.

Some businesses are also eligible for insurance discounts when they initiate a proactive drug free workplace program. Check with your insurance provider for available discounts.

Highland Canine Training strives to offer the most professional and effective detection services available. A majority of our handlers are former or current law enforcement handlers. We provide discreet and confidential services for our clients at reasonable rates. You can learn more about our staff and facilities at our website. If you have questions or need more information, please feel free to contact us toll-free at .866.200.2207 or locally at 704.728.9494.

Upcoming Dog Behavior Seminar

Posted on by
Reply

Highland Canine Training, LLC will be holding a FREE dog behavior seminar on February 25, 2010 at 6 p.m. at the Mint Hill Fire Department located at 8313 Fairview Rd. Charlotte, NC 28227.

This seminar is a great opportunity for dog owners, veterinarians, rescue volunteers, petsitters, groomers and others to learn about canine communication, canine cognition as well as answers to some common myths and questions about dog behavior. The seminar will last for about 3 hours and will include a question and answer session with our training staff.

The seminar will include:
How Dogs Learn
Canine Body Language
Behavior Problems
How to be a Better Dog Owner
Bite Prevention
Working with Dogs and Children
…and much, much more!

This seminar is free of charge and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Space is limited and registration for the seminar is required. If you would like to attend the seminar, please email us at training@highlandcanine.com. Please include your name and phone number in your email. If you have questions about the seminar, feel free to call us at 704.728.9494.

Desensitization & Counter Conditioning

Posted on by
Reply

Are you the owner of a dog that is afraid of loud noises, afraid of dogs or afraid of slick floors? These are common phobias that we often deal with when working with clients and their dogs. Phobias are relatively common and can take on a great number of forms. Dogs can be afraid of children, men, dogs, cats, noises, cars, and almost anything else.
When dealing with fearful dog or dogs which have a negative association with something, we commonly use desensitization. Desensitization is where we systematically reduce the strength of a response to a certain object, situation, sound or person. An example of this would be if your dog is fearful of the vet, by desensitizing the dog to the veterinarians’ office, we will reduce their fearful response when they are taken to the vet.

Desensitization often works by gradually exposing the dog to the fearful stimulus. As an example, we would take our dog to the vet for short periods of time without any negative stimuli, i.e. nail trimming, vaccinations, exam, etc. until the dog began to relax when taken to the vet.

Desensitization is often accomplished by utilizing a process known as counter conditioning. Counter conditioning is when we change the association that the dog has already made with the stimulus so that the outcome is always a positive one as opposed to a negative one. When using counter conditioning we must understand that it will require a great deal of repetitions with our new association in order for the dog to automatically assume that the new association will always be the end result of the stimulus.

For example, I have recently been working with a young Australian Shepherd that belongs to one of our clients that is a NASCAR driver. This is important because the dog often travels with him to the races and other events on weekends during race season. The young Aussie had developed a fear of loud noises including the National Anthem. He would become extremely nervous, shake and attempt to hide when he heard the song play.

Let’s take a look at the associations that this dog made based on the patterns and routines that he had experienced. He would often travel to the race track on the weekends. Prior to each race, he would experience the invocation, the National Anthem, a flyover by military jets, fireworks and then the firing of forty-three very loud engines. Again, his fear was generally of loud noises, but he quickly made the connection that when the National Anthem began that the loud fireworks, flyover and race cars soon would start. Therefore, he began to get nervous, shake and begin to hide as soon as he heard the anthem begin.

This is a perfect example of how counter conditioning can break the associations that the dog had previously made. In the dogs mind, he thinks that when the anthem begins, something very bad is soon to come. So it is our job to teach him that any time the National Anthem plays, good things will happen. The young pup was highly food motivated, loved to chase a ball and do agility. So, we would play the anthem and immediately begin feeding him, playing ball or doing agility. This would help to refocus his brain and gradually teach him that the association that he had previously made with the anthem had now changed.

I am pleased to say that this Aussie pup has made tremendous strides in overcoming his fear of noises. He continues to improve each week. It is also important to understand that counter conditioning does not always work for every dog and can at times, have negative effects. Before you attempt desensitization and counter conditioning with your dog, be sure to contact a professional trainer to talk about your dogs behavior and develop a plan of rehabilitating it. If you have questions about phobias, desensitization or dog training programs, feel free to contact us for advice or information.

Update on Vail Police Dog “Star”

Posted on by
Reply

K-9 Star of the Vail Police Department had a really rough start in her life. She was a mix breed female that spent the first six months of her life tied to a tree in someone’s backyard. Star got a shot at becoming more when she was accepted into our Second Chance Program in 2007. Star came to us with some behavioral issues, she was not very good with new dogs or new people. We quicly rehabilitated her behavior and in doing so noticed that she really liked to chase and hunt for her balls and toys.

She had such an interest in her balls and toys that we decided to train her as a narcotics detection and trailing dog. Star was fully trained as a single purpose narcotics dog and was later donated to the Vail, Colorado Police Department, through our Paul LeBlanc Memorial Police Dog Donation Program. Stars’ new handler, Ryan Millbern, came to North Carolina to meet her and attend their handler school together. To sya the least, it was love at first sight. The two got along and worked very well together dring their initial handler training here.

Star

Well, Star has been working for the Vail Police Department for over two years now. In the past two years she has tracked suspected criminals and missing persons, conducted narcotics searches and located evidence during criminal investigations. In the past year, Star and her handler assisted or were involved with 84 arrests for various offenses including drug possession and burglary. Star regularly conducts public demonstrations for school children and other civic organizations.

Since the inception of our police dog donation program in 2006, Highland Canine Training has donated more than 7 dogs trained for single purpose anrcotics detection, police patrol and search and rescue. Highland Canine Training will continue its’ donation program in 2010 and we will post information regarding the program on our website when it becomes available. If you have questions regarding our program, feel free to email us or call at 866.200.2207.

New Years Resolution for You and Your Dog

Posted on by
Reply

Another year is upon us, as is those New Years Resolutions we all seem to forget about after the first three weeks. Chances are, we have all made a resolution and quickly forgot about it because of our busy schedules and hectic lives. This year, man’s best friend wants you to make a resolution, and they need you to follow through on it to ensure their happiness and wellbeing.

So, I am sure you are asking, “Where do I start?” You should start by looking at what you did and didn’t do with your pup last year, and what you can do to improve upon it. It’s imperative that you understand that your dog’s happiness directly correlates with the activities you do together. When is the last time you guys went on a walk together? Did you bring him to the park with your family at all? Invite him to a BBQ and let him run around with friends? Did you even have a nice catch with him in the house? If you did, ask yourself how often. If you didn’t…you have to ask yourself, why not?

Many times we are involved with dogs because the owner is not comfortable with the dog out in public. So they don’t bring him out in public. Often this will lead to destructive behavior inside the house, i.e. chewing on the furniture, counter surfing, chewing through walls and doors, non stop barking. It is common to see these behaviors purely because the dog is bored and makes games by himself to keep his mind stimulated.

If your dog is good in public with people and other dogs there is no reason not to get him out more often. This will decrease his energy, destructiveness and increase his behavior when he is home. If your dog is not good in public you need to address these issues. Does he bark or growl at strangers, or dogs? Has he bitten someone? Does he tend to pull on the leash and is hard to control when distracted? Do you have to repeat commands in order for him to pay attention to you? Does he jump on people? Is he easily startled or scared? Does he growl when he has a toy or food?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above you came to the right spot…because your dog needs your help. If these issues are not dealt with they could become serious, potentially dangerous for family members, neighbors, even strangers. Although these issues are common and can be fixed, you should consult with a professional dog trainer in order to make sure you don’t try to fix it and accidently make it worse.

We have many different training options, including group lessons, private lessons, in home training and in kennel training. We are committed to helping you and your dog succeed at this New Years Resolution so that you and your dog can live happier, healthier lives. Not to mention, we guarantee our training for the life of the dog. Contact us today to take the first step towards a new year both of you.

Alternative Training Methods for High Energy Dogs

Posted on by
Reply

Our everyday lives seem to become more busy by the minute, often times this results in our four-legged friends entertaining themselves quite frequently unattended. Its our job as dog trainers to make pet owners understand that dogs are not tearing up our furniture, chewing our gutters off the house, fence fighting with the neighbors dog, lunging and nipping at the end of the leash, or simply flipping over our trashcans out of spite, aggression, or because they miss you. The common answer to that question is sheer boredom!

Dog training obedience is the first step toward gaining structure and control back into your home and lifestyle. However not every dog is satisfied with 30 minutes of training a few times a week or most often I hear the old standby ” having the dog sit or down while I have my snack on the couch and throw them a piece or two! ” Some dogs need a little more interaction and so just need a job to do. The trainers at Highland Canine Training can offer you tips and suggestions for your lifestyle so that you can get more from your dog and your obedience training.

One alternative method of releasing in energy is what we call “Tracking for Fun” with your dog. Now, not every dog or pet owner is cut out for this exercise, we would have to test your dog out during our free evaluation to make sure that both you and the dog are up to speed! Tracking is a great we to get the whole family involved and make your puppy tired. We often times get the older kids in the family to run a short track in the wooded area or the park (some even take walkie talkie’s to make it even more fun) and then the rest of the family can run behind the dog while they are tracking. It’s great exercise for everyone!

Another alternative method is agility courses. This too will require a free evaluation from our trainers to make sure you and your dog are enjoying what you do. Some of our clients go to group classes or have private lessons for agility training or you can make your own agility equipment at home. This again is a fun hobby for the entire family. Some of our more creative clients come up with neat agility courses that they have made out of things lying around the yard or garage.

We often times see pet owners who have bought or ended up with extremely drivey working dog lines in their home, which can be a recipe for disaster if you’re not careful! Protection training is often a good outlet for those high energy dogs. Many people are under the asumption that dogs that do bitework are mean and cannot be socialized or controlled. That is not the case, if your dog has ambition you could simply conduct bitework sessions as a game or sport with very little civil agitation. Dogs can understand when the bite sleeve or suit is out…we get to play. This is a great work out for the dog as well as the handler and lets not forget the decoy. If you do not have access to the equipment we would be happy to provide you with private lessons for protection work.

Herding is another great way to provide your dog with both physical exercise as well as mental stimulation. Herding training is obviously not for every dog and owner, but is often a great way to burn off energy for pastoral breeds. Contrary to popular belief, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds and German Shepherds do not automatically know how to instinctively herd. These and many other dogs will have some natural herding instincts, but do not know how to herd. This activity is something that must be taught and can be learned by dogs both young and old. If you are interested in herding training feel free to call or email us to set up a free herding evaluation.

Tugging can also be a great game to play with your dog to exert mental and physical stimulation. This activity does not illicit aggressive behavior! A dog that is well-rounded and balanced will often find this game both challlenging and fun. The important thing to understand with playing tug is that you always control the game.

Utilizing a backpack during a walk or run can also be a great way of burning some excess energy. Physical exercise is not always enough and we would encourage mental stimulation along with any physical activity. Adding a backpack to your routine can sometimes be enough to tire out your dog.

Upcoming Group Classes for 2010

Posted on by
Reply

Highland Canine Training will be offering group classes this Winter in Matthews, Mooresville, Statesville and Harmony, NC. We have some exciting new classes for owners who want to keep their dogs busy this winter and to avoid “cabin fever”. Check out our class dates and times below:

Group Classes in Matthews, NC
Therapy Dog Class Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Basic Obedience Class Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Agility for Fun Friday, January 29, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Rally Obedience Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.
For information on Group Classes in Matthews, email ltaylor@highlandcanine.com

Group Classes in Mooresville, NC
Agility Class Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 11:30 a.m.
Rally -Obedience Class Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Basic Obedience Class Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
Therapy Dog Class Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 3:15 p.m.
For information on Group Classes in Mooresville, email ltaylor@highlandcanine.com

Group Classes in Statesville, NC
S.T.A.R Puppy Class Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
Basic Obedience Class Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Advanced Obedience Class Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
Basic Obedience Class Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
For information on Group Classes in Statesville, email rellis@highlandcanine.com

Group Classes in Harmony, NC
Tracking for Fun Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
Introduction to Herding Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
For information on Group Classes in Harmony, email training@highlandcanine.com

Free herding evaluations will be conducted for those interested in the herding class on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 9 a.m. at our facility in Harmony, NC.

If you have any questions about our group classes or need more information, please feel free to email us or call at 704.728.9494

The Importance of Proper Canine Behavioral Analysis

Posted on by
Reply

Unfortunately, dogs don’t come with an owners manual.

Often times, dog owners deal with frustrating issues and behavioral problems because they don’t have the understanding or resources to fix them. These behaviors can be as simple as jumping on people, barging out the door, pulling on the leash or chasing a cat. At times these behaviors are more serious and include; biting, fighting, nipping, guarding, fear of people, fear of dogs, dominance and territorial aggression.

Most owners will employ the help of a dog trainer to assist in rehabilitating these more serious behavior problems. At times, this behavior modification is unsuccessful and can even makes the problems worse. Lately, we have rehabilitated a number of dogs that have been seen by other trainers. We have realized that their behaviors have escalated because there was a misdiagnosis of their problem by the other trainer. Therefore, the trainer and owner have been utilizing methods of rehabilitation and treatment that conflict with the behavior problem that the dog actually has.

Proper behavior analysis is critical in order to successfully rehabilitate a problem dog. In order to decide on a plan of rehabilitation, we must first take the time to understand the root cause of the problem or problems. In order to understand the problem completely, the trainer should take the time to interview the owner(s) of the dog, ask questions about the dogs behavior and any previous incidents with the dog and then observe the dog under the same circumstances where it has displayed the problem behaviors in the past. This should only be the beginning of the evaluation. The trainer will often have to test theories about the trigger(s) for the behavior in order to accurately determine the root cause of the problem behavior.

If we are working with a dog that we have determined is fear aggressive (biting because they are fearful of something or someone), it is not acceptable to simply say the the dog is fearful and they will bite when put into a situation where they are scared. We must first dissect the problem so that we can treat it properly. For example, we may find that this particular dog is fearful and this causes them to bite. By dissecting the problem, we may find that the dog is only fearful in situations with other dogs. If we further evaluate the problem, we may learn that the dog is only fearful of large dogs that are brown. By taking the evaluation further we may often find that the dog is only fearful with males of this type.

So, our original assessment was that the dog was fearful and that the dog would display aggression when placed in fearful situations. But by taking the assessment further, we have found that the dog is fear aggressive when placed in situations with large, brown, male dogs. Our course of rehabilitation would require inclusion of training and exposure with large, brown, male dogs in order to be successful.

This example is only one of many combinations that is possible in a behavioral analysis examination. These problems can be less or more specific than the example that I listed above. What is important to understand is that we cannot successfully rehabilitate a problem or undesired behavior unless we fully understand what the problem truly is.

Once we have determined the cause of the behavior, only then can we efficiently begin to treat it. Fortunately, the majority of behavioral problems are treatable with a consistent training and rehabilitation program.