Expecting a new addition to the family and it won’t have 4 legs and a tail? While you prepare for the arrival of your baby, don’t forget that your dog needs to get ready for the new addition too.

When should I Start?

As soon as you know that you are pregnant, begin preparing your dog. Don’t wait until you are 7 months pregnant to get started. The longer your dog has to get used to the changes you will need to make in your home, the easier it will be for him to adapt

What Do I need to do?

Address your dog’s Problem Behaviours

Consult an accredited animal behaviourist to help you with any behavioral problems. Any kind of aggression needs to be addressed immediately. Nuisance behaviors like jumping up, jumping onto the couch and barking should also be dealt with.

Training

Book your dog in for some obedience classes to teach him basic manners. You will find it much easier to manage your dog when the baby comes along if he can walk nicely on the lead, come when called, lie down on command, stay and sit quietly in the car.  

Start Crate Training

Giving your dog a safe haven away from the baby and all the activity of the household will make for a happier dog. The crate can become your dog’s sanctuary as well as a handy place to confine your dog when things get hectic. Dog’s soon come to love their crate. For more info on crate training, click here.

Introduce your Dog to Babies

Make sure that your dog meets lots of babies before you bring yours home. Your dog need to get used to the smells and sounds that go along with babies. Invite friends around who have babies or visit your local park where you are likely to meet Moms and babies.

Create a Routine

Imagine what life might be like once your baby comes along and introduce your dog to these new routines. Between your dog’s usual walks and play times, have periods when he is not given any attention at all. To do this, either practice down stays or pop him in his crate. Once your hands are full you will not be able to constantly interact with your dog. It is unfair to your dog to lavish loads of attention on him in the weeks before the baby is born and then suddenly to withdraw it.  

Get started today!

You have a new puppy and you know that at some point, you are going to need to take it to training. When should you start? Do you need to wait until the puppy has had all his shots?  Maybe you won’t need training at all – seeing as you’ve had dogs before or perhaps your puppy is a small breed. 

We advise you to get your puppy to a training class as soon as you get the puppy. (Best results will be with pups who stay with the litter  until 8 weeks of age and don’t leave any earlier). Don’t wait for a problem to develop, it is so much easier to prevent problems than to fix them. We find that pups who come to us at 8 weeks cope far better with the stress of puppy classes  than puppies who start later. Even the 10 week old pups can find the  whole experience quite overwhelming. The longer you wait, the harder it is for the puppy to cope with the class environment.

Pups at 8 weeks are very adaptable. They are curious. They bounce back quickly if startled. Every pup is different. Some spend their first lesson dozing, some will explore and some will interact with the other pups and even play. All round, the 8 week olds have the most positive experience. They quickly learn how to interact with other puppies most effectively, how to read and use body language and how to inhibit their bite (not bite too hard!). 

We find that slightly older pups often have poor social skills. Some are very anxious and scared of the other pups and people. They may hide in the corner or snarl when any other pups approach. Some are like loose cannons – dashing around wildly, chasing and mounting other pups.

Pups who have been with us from  8 weeks, concentrate best, particularly after a few weeks of training. They seem to be able to tune out the other puppies and all the noise and activity and focus on their owners.                 

If you have had dogs before, you might feel that you don’t need to attend a class, you can do all your training at home.  It is essential that your puppy gets to meet a variety of other dogs away from your pack. This is to ensure that  he becomes confident as an individual and does not always need to rely on his pack to cope.  A puppy class is the most convenient and safest place for this socialising to take place. You can still do all your training at home, if you prefer.

All breeds of dog need to be socialised, even the tiny ones. Often the dogs with the poorest social skills are toy breeds. I was chatting to my GP the other day and he was telling me that most of the dog bites he sees to children are from small breeds. Most are to the face.  Little dogs belong in  puppy classes too.

You might have heard that you should wait until your puppy has had all his shots before you allow him near other dogs. While there is always a small risk of picking up a disease, there is more chance that your puppy could turn into a dog that you cannot manage.  Many adolescent and adult dogs are put down or re-homed because of behavioural problems. Many of those problems could  have been avoided with the right intervention when the dog was a tiny puppy.

If you are feeling unsure about puppy classes, go and visit a few. Chat to the puppy owners  and watch the puppies interact with each other.  Besides learning plenty yourself,  taking your puppy to puppy classes could well be the most important thing you ever do for your puppy.   

Congratulations to Ashyln and Clare on the birth of their human baby, Samual Ray Wagner. Born at 2.28pm weighing 3.5kg.  Mom and baby both well!   

Visit www.dancingwithdogs.co.za to learn how to tearn your dog into a Pudsey!

In December, some naughty kids hit Lady with a cricket bat, breaking her leg. She lived with the damaged leg until February, when she was rescued.

She is now in foster with her life long friend Topsy. They are balanced, friendly dogs without issues.

Contact  Rosa Pheiffer, Tel: (021) 975-6397, Cell: 083 227 3488, e-mail  rosap@telkomsa.net

• Choose a simple, two syllable name for your puppy e.g. Nemo, Lexi, Chichi. 

• Decide what food you will feed your puppy. Discuss feeding with your puppy’s breeder and do as much research as possible about various ways of feeding a dog. (Complete processed dry dog food, mixed feeding, home cooking or raw food)

• Decide where your puppy is going to sleep and buy his or her bedding. We suggest a fold up metal dog crate with comfortable bedding next to your bed.

• Visit puppy classes in your neighbourhood to make sure you find one that you feel will be right for you and your puppy.

• Choose a good vet. You need someone approachable who you feel comfortable with.

•  Go shopping for your basic puppy accessories. You will need a soft webbing lead, soft collar, ID tag, food and water bowl, a variety of edible chews like dried cow hooves and rawhide, toys (a rope tug and a rubber Kong) and a brush.

•  Arrange a few days off from work when you get your puppy so that you will be able to help your puppy settle in to his or her new home and new routine.

•  Investigate pet insurance and sign your puppy up with the company which offers the best deal.

•  Have a family meeting to discuss the ground rules for your new puppy. Agree on how your puppy will be handled, where your puppy will be allowed access to and who will take on the various tasks that will be required once the puppy arrives like picking up the poo, feeding, training and walking. Make sure that children undertand how to interact with the puppy correctly and not ever to play rough, wrestle or chase  the puppy.

•  Puppy -proof your home and garden. Prevent access to your swimming pool, check all your fences and gates  and remove any poisonous plants from your garden. Also remove any ornaments which stand on the floor and pack away all shoes and children’s toys.

Is your dog really good when in a class on the field but easily distracted when out on walks?  Our first Roadworx Course is starting on Saturday 12 May at 4.30pm. Are you wondering if this is for you?  Here is what is planned:

Duration: 8 lessons

Course Fee: R250

Trainers: Eva and Michelle

Entry Requirements: Old Class 2 obedience or basic obedience training at another club or dog school. Dogs must be calm and friendly with other dogs and people. There will be an assessment at the beginning of the course. 

Classes will be held on Saturday afternoons, Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings. (the Saturday time slot will not clash with obedience or agility classes).

Venue:

Lessons 1-4 –  In and around Pinelands plus Rondebosch common.

Lessons 5-8 –  Beach, Newlands Forest, Seapoint Promenade , a pet-friendly restuarant.

 Course Content:

Lesson 1 – Assessment ( Stays, Recalls )
Introduction to the  course including , Pack behaviour, how to read your dog’s behaviour, what is acceptable behaviour.

How to Praise and the Reprimand – Controlled behaviour of the dog.
Initial steps to Off Lead control/ Long Lead Work
Half Way Drops
Extreme Focus on Distance Control.

Lesson 2 – Distance Stays (Progression to Distance Stays)
Walk around neighbourhood, distractions – controlled downs and distance downs.
Group Interaction. Socialising

Lesson 3 – Advancing on Distance Control. Recall and Wait at an Object, progressing to ‘recall and wait’ at a Pavement.
Heelwork focus: correct walking on lead.

Controlled exercises with distractions:
Recall with a half way drop.
Road Crossing
Stays out in the park/ on lead

Lesson 4 – All of the above, on a field, off lead to the best of your abilities – controlled work.

Lessons 5 – 8 Practical Outings 

Apply Now

The Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE) is publishing the results of their first experiment, showing how the brains of dogs reacted to hand signals given by their owners.

“It was amazing to see the first brain images of a fully awake, unrestrained dog,” says Gregory Berns, director of the Emory Center for Neuropolicy and lead researcher of the dog project. “As far as we know, no one has been able to do this previously. We hope this opens up a whole new door for understanding canine cognition and inter-species communication. We want to understand the dog-human relationship, from the dog’s perspective.”

Key members of the research team include Andrew Brooks, a graduate student at the Center for Neuropolicy, and Mark Spivak, a professional dog trainer and owner of Comprehensive Pet Therapy in Atlanta.

Two dogs are involved in the first phase of the project. Callie is a two-year-old Feist, or southern squirrel-hunting dog. Berns adopted her at nine months from a shelter. McKenzie is a three-year-old Border Collie, who was already well-trained in agility competition by her owner, Melissa Cate. Both dogs were trained over several months to walk into an MRI scanner and hold completely still while researchers measured their neural activity.

The researchers aim to decode the mental processes of dogs by recording which areas of their brains are activated by various stimuli. Ultimately, they hope to get at questions like: Do dogs have empathy? Do they know when their owners are happy or sad? How much language do they really understand?

In the first experiment, the dogs were trained to respond to hand signals. One signal meant the dog would receive a hot dog treat, and another signal meant it would not receive one. The caudate region of the brain, associated with rewards in humans, showed activation in both dogs when they saw the signal for the treat, but not for the no-treat signal.

“These results indicate that dogs pay very close attention to human signals,” Berns says. “And these signals may have a direct line to the dog’s reward system.”

Berns is a neuroeconomist, who normally uses fMRI technology to study how the human mind works. His human brain-imaging studies have looked at everything from why teens engage in risky behavior to how adults decide to follow, or break, established rules of society.

Dog lovers may not need convincing on the merits of researching the minds of our canine companions. “To the skeptics out there, and the cat people, I would say that dogs are the first domesticated species, going back at least 10,000 years, and by some estimates 30,000 years,” Berns says. “The dog’s brain represents something special about how humans and animals came together. It’s possible that dogs have even affected human evolution. People who took dogs into their homes and villages may have had certain advantages. As much as we made dogs, I think dogs probably made some part of us, too.”

The idea for the dog project came to Berns about a year ago, when he learned that a U.S. Navy dog had been a member of the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden. “I was amazed when I saw the pictures of what military dogs can do,” Berns says. “I realized that if dogs can be trained to jump out of helicopters and airplanes, we could certainly train them to go into an fMRI to see what they’re thinking.”

All procedures for the dog project were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Emory. “From the outset, we wanted to ensure the safety and comfort of the dogs,” Berns says. “We wanted them to be unrestrained and go into the scanner willingly.”

The dogs were trained to wear earmuffs, to protect them from the noise of the scanner. They were also taught to hold their heads perfectly still on a chin rest during the scanning process, to prevent blurring of the images.

“We know the dogs are happy by their body language,” says Mark Spivak, the professional trainer involved in the project. Callie, in particular, seems to revel in the attention of breaking new ground in science.

“She enters the scanner on her own, without a command, sometimes when it’s not her turn,” Spivak says. “She’s eager to participate.”

Science Daily