Woofs, Wags & Barks
October  2012

Are You Afraid of Hiring the Wrong Professional?
by Niki Tudge, The DogSmith Founder. 

 

I am often asked to explain the different letters or alphabet soup as my husband terms it, that are behind by name on my business card.  Well in short I am a certified Dog Trainer and Dog Behavior Consultant and I have attained various certifications in each category.  What is the difference you may ask? This is an important question if you are a dog owner as you may need to engage the services of a canine professional if you are experiencing problems with your dog. Like any other professional service you use, you need to be sure that you are engaging the services of a person qualified to work with you and your individual needs.

 Would you ask or expect a dental hygienist to perform root canal surgery? Read more here.

 The DogSmith FEATS Program

In partnership with Washington County and the  NW Florida Reception Center, The DogSmith National Dog Training and Pet Care Franchise, launches Force-free Education And Training Solutions (FEATS) program.

The DogSmith proudly announces its new Force-free Education And Training Solutions (FEATS) prison pet program in partnership with the Washington County Government and the Northwest Florida Reception Center. Like similar programs throughout the US, the DogSmith FEATS program brings shelter dogs into prisons where inmates are taught to train and care for them. The original idea for prison pet partnership programs like FEATS is generally credited to Sister Pauline Quinn, who introduced the concept of inmates training unwanted dogs to the Washington State prison for women in 1981.
According to Bethany Jordan, owner of The DogSmith of the Florida Panhandle, “Our goal with the FEATS program is to teach inmates how to train dogs giving them valuable technical and interpersonal skills and training shelter dogs so that they may be more adoptable. The inmates learn great skills and getting more dogs adopted helps ease the pressure on local shelters that provide the dogs.”
While in the eight week program the dogs will become crate trained, housetrained and socialized with people and other dogs, and they will learn basic manners and obedience including ‘sit,’ ‘stay,’ ‘come’ and walk loosely on a leash. A great benefit for the adopting family is that every dog will be spayed/neutered, current with their vaccinations and they are even micro-chipped.”

Participation in the FEATS program is considered a privilege and only model inmates are accepted. This has proven to be a great incentive in prison communities for inmates to work hard to become eligible and stay in the program.

Through these programs inmates have the opportunity to learn skills and responsibilities that benefit their life. Interacting with animals has been shown to have therapeutic value in a wide variety of settings including hospitals and schools and can help reduce feelings of isolation. Connecting with a dog can help promote a healthy mental state, ease boredom and restlessness and give purpose to every day routine. Inmates are also giving back to their community by helping stray dogs become more adoptable and find a good home. Since the dogs live with the inmates they have plenty of time to work with and care for the dog.

There are other benefits seen from prison pet partnership programs. Results across the US show that facilities experience a decrease in overall behavioral problems and they see an improvement in public relations.

 

Why do half of all bites involve children and the family dog? Is it simple proximity, kids provoking dogs or are dogs frightened of children?

Dogs communicate their frustrations, dislikes or fears in many subtle ways, these subtle ways are often missed by humans so the dog’s communication progresses through a hierarchy of events until eventually the dog bites if it isn’t understood. In most of the dog bite cases we take on, where a dog has bitten a family member, we are informed “the bite came from nowhere”. We then discover, during our assessment, that the dog had been giving a variety of signals for months if not years.  These signals can be subtle or as prevalent as freezing, snarling or snapping. A dog considers these signals requests to “increase the distance” between them and you.  If we ignore these signals then the dog will increase its strength of communication, like when parents shout at a child who is ignoring them. Click here and visit our website where you will find a great selection of photographs and information regarding canine communicataion.

Dogs bite under an array of circumstances. Resource guarding is one example such as when the dog has not been trained to relinquish something they value (toy, food bowl, treats etc.) and a child or adult attempts to take the valued item away, the dog may bite. Another example is when the family pet is fearful and is placed in a situation where it bites to escape or avoid something. Dogs may also bite when displaying predatory behaviors such as chasing small quick animals (like children) which can result in bites. A dog can also display aggression if they are in pain and are approached or touched in a sensitive area.

The median age of dog bite victims is 15 and boys aged from 5 to 9 have the highest incident rate. It is not a surprise to learn that 77% of dog bites on children are in the facial area, whereas with adults and postal carriers it is the lower extremities.

It is important for parents and children to understand canine communication and social behavior and in the event that a dog is communicating its displeasure then call a professional and seek expert advice. Schedule a FREE DogSmith consultation.