Highland Canine Training, LLC » Lake Norman http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog Tips and Advice on Dog Training and Behavior Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:11:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Stop Hitting Your Dogs http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/13/stop-hitting-your-dogs/ http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/13/stop-hitting-your-dogs/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:07:18 +0000 admin http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/?p=272 I recently had the opportunity to observe some police canine training locally where about 20 handlers were working on some complex detection exercises. There were quite a few handlers waiting their turn to work the detection exercises. Apparently, some of the dogs and handlers were getting anxious about what was ahead, but everyone seemed to be waiting patiently. SWOOSH, and a loud, resounding CRACK was the sound that rang out across the parking lot. One of the handlers had swung their leash all the way around and cracked their Malinois right across the nose with the handle of the leash for not holding the sit and stay position. My first thought was, “What an Idiot!”. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time that I had seen this and I am afraid it won’t be the last.

We commonly work with owners and handlers that consistently hit their dogs on the head or other places in order to correct unwanted behavior. They hit them with everything from their hands, feet, leashes, newspapers, or anything else that they can get their hands on. We recently spoke with the owner of a 6 month old Labradoodle who admitted to hitting it in the head whenever it did anything that they didn’t like. Some of the things it would get hit for would include, jumping, pulling, barking or getting on the furniture.

So, what do these dogs learn from being hit in the head? For one, they learn to stay at least an arms (or leash) reach from their owners at all times. They also learn to be afraid of leashes, hands, newspapers and anything else that they feel may strike them. Equally as important, they often never know why or when they will get hit next. There is often no clear direction from the handler as to what is and is not expected from them. Therefore, the dog experiences “learned helplessness” and feels as though they are trapped as an unwilling participant in a game of “WHACKAMOLE”.

About a year and a half ago, we had the opportunity to work with a dog that had been consistently hit in the head by his owners. After several short months of this, the dog began to bite. The dog would bite the hands of anyone who tried to pet it, feed it or touch it in general. This made it difficult for the owners to have company over, to take the dog to the vet and to work with the dog in general. It took months to rehabilitate this particular dog and teach him to trust people and their hands again.

Let’s just take a quick look at when and how we use our hands with our dogs. We give them treats with our hands. We feed them with our hands and we also pet them with our hands. Therefore, it is important to use our hands properly with the dog so that we don’t create a negative association with our hands in general. When we think about it, we also use a leash for walking, training and other exercises and it is equally as important that we do not create the same association with the leash by whacking the dog in the head or nose with it.

Plain and simple, there is no benefit from hitting a dog with anything, including your hands or a leash. There are much better and more effective ways to train a dog and to correct unwanted behavior in dogs without hitting them. Physically hitting dogs is not a positive punishment techniques that dogs can understand and not beneficial in training or living with a dog.

If you have any questions about our training methods or programs, please feel free to call us at 866.200.2207 or email us at training@highlandcanine.com.

]]> http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/13/stop-hitting-your-dogs/feed/ 0 FREE Dog Behavior Seminar – Lake Norman http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/03/360/ http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/03/360/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:28:00 +0000 admin http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/?p=360 Highland Canine Training, LLC will be holding another FREE dog behavior seminar on March 15, 2010 at 6 p.m. at Troutman Elementary School (Media Center) located at 220 S. Main Street, Troutman, NC 28166.

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 about an hour question and answer session with our training staff.

The seminar will include such topics as:
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. Our recent seminar posting for Charlotte filled in about a week. If you have questions about the seminar, feel free to call us at 704.728.9494.

]]> http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2010/02/03/360/feed/ 0 Upcoming Group Classes in Mooresville, NC http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2009/10/07/upcoming-group-classes-in-mooresville-nc/ http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/2009/10/07/upcoming-group-classes-in-mooresville-nc/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:47:47 +0000 admin http://www.highlandcanine.com/blog/?p=160
Agility Dog

Agility Dog

Highland Canine Training is offering group classes in Mooresville, NC again this fall. Group Classes will be held at the Humane Society of Iredell located at 110 Robinson Road in Mooresville, NC beginning on Saturday, November 14th, 2009. Each class lasts for about an hour.

Agility for Fun Class 11:30 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
This class is a great way for owners to teach their dog confidence as well as some exciting new skills. Our agility for fun class teaches ground work and fundamentals to complete a variety of obstacles and jumps such as weave poles, pause tables, tire jumps, triple jumps and more! There are no prerequistes for this course.

Basic Obedience Class 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
This class teaches dogs and owners on-leash skills such as sit, down, stay, come, heel and place. This class is also designed to help owners deal with problems such as pulling on the leash, jumping on people, etc. This course is also a great forum for socializing your dog with new people and dogs.

Rally Obedience Class 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Rally-O class introduces dogs and owners to Rally Obedience. This class will teach the skills (sit, down, turn, stand, come, etc) to learn and compete in either AKC or APDT Rally courses and competitions. Rally is a great way for dogs and owner to work closely together and to show others their hard work. Rally is fun, competition obedience that is completed under time.

Therapy Dog Training Class 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Therapy Dog Class teaches dogs and owners the fundamentals of therapy dog work. Dogs and owners wishing to attend this class must have previously completed a basic obedience class or an equivalent. This course teaches the skills and environmental training that is required for therapy dogs. This course is great if you are looking into doing therapy work in schools, nursing homes and hospitals. Many of our previous graduates are already involved in these types of exciting and fulfilling programs.

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