Emmaline is a professional dog trainer and a certified behaviour counsellor. She is a graduate of the San Francisco’s SPCA’s Academy for dog trainers under the guidance of Jean donaldson and Janis Bradley. She also holds a certificate in Special Advance topics in Dog-dog aggression from the Academy.
www.citizencanineireland.com
Contact No: 0857697274
Why then do so many people get bitten when a dog is lying on it’s back? Surely he is looking for a belly rub?
A common misconception is that when a dog rolls over it is submitting to the other dog, person or animal and in many cases a child or baby. But this is not always the case.
We have been conditioned to believe that waggy tails and roll overs are a sign of a friendly dog but we regularly miss the many distance increasing signals that dogs display. Dogs do ask for space, if we don’t listen they may ask louder by growling and if we ignore that or punish the growl without dealing with the root cause then the dog will skip straight to the behaviour that will work – a snap or bite!
A lack of understanding of canine body language is not ideal especially in a multi dog household or where there are children. So it is a great idea to sit down and educate yourself on the language of DOG!
How can I tell the difference between a tap out and a roll over?
The phrase “tap out” is a wrestling term and happens when an opponent taps the ground with an open hand requesting a release.
In dog terms a tap out is a distance INCREASING signal. The dog will roll over almost vertebrae at a time with stiff or uncomfortable body language often accompanied by lip licking, puffing of the cheeks and kicking out of the legs. Ultimately the dog will end up on his back. Generally the dogs muscles are tight and the tail can be tucked into the belly or stiff.
A roll over is more of an open body language gesture. A happy floppy lose movement. All of the muscles are loose, the body is limp and free with the tail free moving and not tucked into the belly of the dog. The legs are loose generally straight out and again floppy plus there is no kicking out or pushing away. The dogs face will be soft generally with tongue hanging loosely out and soft eyes.
How can I learn more about canine body signals?
An excellent DVD on canine body language is available from www.dogwise.com online DVD and shop for canine related books.
Title: THE LANGUAGE OF DOGS – UNDERSTANDING CANINE BODY LANGUAGE AND OTHER COMMUNICATION SIGNALS DVD SET
by Sarah Kalnajs
Well we have just finished our 4th week of our new Daycare service and needless to say it is going extremely well. Tara and I put a lot of thought into how the whole thing would work and we are very happy with how it’s all coming together.
Firstly, I want to put Daycare in Ireland in context. Up until now Daycare of the kind that is seen in the U.S. did not exist here. Yes there were some kennels offering a “daycare” service but ours is the very first of it’s kind in the country. The economy however has joined ranks with the rest of the world and has plummeted into the depths of a recession. In under a year predictions are that we will go from almost full employment to an unemployment rate of almost 10%. The financial times are scary to say the least.
But thankfully due to the fact we had such a large client base from our training classes we really hit the ground running with bookings averaging between 15 – 20 dogs per day. Our location is also key, we are placed in a new business park that sits in the biggest zone of business parks in Dublin with companies like IBM, XEROX and Ebay to name but a few as residents. Amazingly we have yet to formally advertise. A couple of emails out to our mailing list and a new page on our website was all that was needed. Additional bookings are coming through word of mouth and the rate of growth and new clients over the last couple of weeks is staggering, we now have over 60 dogs on our books. Getting the price right was key and a bargain price of 15euro per day seems to be appealing to people. This is certainly a service that people were crying out for.
For clients a by-product of placing their beloved pet into daycare is the amount of socialisation they receive. All of our clients are reporting that their dogs are easier to manage on walks and don’t get “over excited” when they see another dog across the street. This is something that of course no amount of “training” would sort out for a client and it is quite simply the fastest way to build a dog’s confidence and social skills.
Clients are reporting general overall improvements in their dog’s behaviour due to the way we interact and deal with the dogs. Certain in-appropriate behaviour results in a short “Time out”. Polite and appropriate behaviours are encouraged and re-enforced. Formal training and learning games form part of the dog’s daily routine. The dog’s go home exercised both mentally and physically.
Another unforeseen advantage for clients is that their dog’s wellbeing is constantly monitored. We have had a dog poop out an ipod cover, another pooped a slug and one pee’d a small amount of blood. We were able to report all of these things to the clients and advise a vet visit. All of these things would probably have been missed if the dogs had been in the back garden while their owner was at work.
So while we have had many people laugh or snigger at the mention of Daycare for Dogs here in Ireland, it’s a business that is set to flourish and the benefits for both dogs, their owners and society in general are immeasurable.
Some video’s of the dogs
Zak & Morpheous Playing Tug and Bailey and Chloe playing
Zak and Morpheous Playing
Sammy playing
Maeve and Laura doing Agility with ALL the dogs!!!
The successful Interns who have started work with us are as follows:
Andrew Harold
Lisa Jones
Izaskun Arrieta
Rachel Archbold
The Intern List is now CLOSED and will reopen closer to the Summer. If you are interested in becomming an Intern please email your CV to Info@dogtrainingireland.ie with a cover letter.
We are delighted to announce that our Daycare service will commence at our new premises on January 12th.
For the month of January we are running a special offer of Daycare for EUR10 per day. Usual cost will be from EUR15 per day.
All daycare is supervised at all times with dogs matched by personality, age, size.
All care staff are trained and certified in canine first aid.
All training staff are certified CCPDT, APDT and only reward and positive training methods are used.
All toys and equipment are safe.
We have full planning permission for our safe and suitable newly built premises.
We are fully insured.
Our Address is:
The Dog Training Ireland Centre
Unit 31 Premier Business Park
Ballycoolin
Blanchardstown
Dublin 15
Daily activities include training for puppies and adult dogs, walks, play time, rest time, one to one time with the humans, feeding time and plenty of supervised social activity, play, confidence building where needed and a great alternative to leaving dogs home alone.
We can only accept dogs who are happy to be around other dogs. We can accept and help shy or fearful dogs as all of our staff are trained. We cannot accept dogs who suffer from dog to dog aggression. We can help these dogs through other courses however.
We do not have collection and delivery yet.
Opening Hours:
We are open from 8am until 6:30pm
Our Training classes are from 7pm – 9pm in the evening.
Places are limited and we are accepting bookings and further enquiries at:
Email: bookings@dogtrainingireland.ie
Phone: 01-8644922
We can take bookings for as many or as little days as you wish to use our service. Simply let us know what days you would like to book and an approx arrival and departure time.
If you have been with Dog Training Ireland before please state this.
It began last Saturday. After 2 vomiting instances, one on Friday night and one on Saturday I brought Homer, my 7 year old cocker spaniel to the vet. His gums had become pale and he was looking very down and sorry for himself. I was worried, this little dog had never been sick in his life. I rescued him at the age of 3 and he came with quite a number of behavioural issues to deal with, in particular his resource guarding. As a result he has a special place in my heart. He is such a lovely dog and everyone loves him.
The vet took him in straight away. Within an hour she came back with initial blood results, he wasn’t anaemic, but was fighting something, as his white blood cell count was up. The next step was to scan his stomach and intestine. Later that day she came back to say that there was a blockage in the intestine, but she could not see a foreign body i.e. something he had swallowed. The only other alternative was a tumour. I was devastated. She had given him barium to see where the blockage was and started x-rays. Over the next 24 hours we waited to see how he would progress. He was on a drip and antibiotics to keep him hydrated and help fight whatever infection he had.
On Monday the vomiting suddenly increased from every 12 hours to every 2 hours. The vomit was a very low ph and the vet was worried about his oesophagus sustaining damage. I was becoming increasing worried. We were waiting for a place in UCD (University College Dublin – The national Vet College) because the view was still that it was a tumour. The waiting was awful. UCD offered an appointment for Wednesday.
On Monday evening I spoke with the vet and I expressed my concern again that he was prone to scavenging and was there any way it could be a foreign body that he ingested. The next morning, after another xray I got a call at 9.30am, there seemed to be something foreign in the stomach. His stomach was almost empty after all the vomiting so it was easier to see and view the x-ray. We agreed that she would perform an Endoscope to have a look inside the stomach. The results were inconclusive, but there was something green there. So the next step was a laparoscopy to a look inside the stomach. I agreed and hung up the phone. I waited and waited for the phone call and prayed that it was a foreign body and not a tumour. But then, what if his stomach or intestine were perforated? What if he had septicaemia? What was the green stuff? My mind was racing.
Finally the phone rang, the vet had taken a small piece of what looked like rubber, which could have been the curved part of a ball out of his intestine. Luckily the intestine was not perforated and she was able to work it out through his intestine and exit it from his anus. She also had a look inside his stomach where she found smaller pieces of the rubber and quite an amount of hair all congealed in a single greeny mass. I racked my brain wondering what it could be. We don’t give our dogs free access to balls. He hadn’t destroyed any toys that I was aware of lately, and the only toys the dogs have free access to are the red Kongs and some similar toys from premier. Certainly none of these toys had ever been destructible. He would stay in overnight for observation. They would start him on water in the morning and introduce bland food later in the day. He progressed extremely well and I was told I could collect him that evening. I couldn’t wait to see him and give him a cuddle, I was also looking forward to forensically examining the offending article.
The moment I saw it I knew exactly what it was, the end off a puppy Kong bone, a blue one. We don’t have any in the house for our own dogs as they are all adults. However, last Halloween we were minding a client’s dog. They brought her crate and bed set up and carried it into the house. Inside the bedding was the puppy Kong bone, which I didn’t see until I noticed Homer chewing on it. He had taken it out of her bed and had chewed a piece off it. Obviously I took it from him immediately. I watched him for a few days afterwards and when there were no problems I thought nothing more of it. It was, after all pretty soft and I thought he had probably chewed it up enough so it would pass, or so I thought. That was 2 months ago. I never would have dreamed that it could sit in his stomach for so long before he could become ill from it. Because it was rubber, it didn’t show up on the x-ray, making diagnosis almost impossible. In addition based on the x-rays and comparing it to the vague shadows the vet assures me it was still in his stomach on Monday evening and sometime between then and the next morning it moved into the small intestine.
Thankfully he is home now after 5 harrowing days of worry. He is doing well and happy in himself. He’s on 6 meals a day and will be for about a week or so. I have always been very conscious and careful about the dogs ingesting foreign objects so only leave them with toys I know and trust. I never buy cheap toys that are destructible and any new toys are given under supervision. But it just goes to show that even when you’re ultra careful you can still get caught out. What have I learned? To always check bedding that arrives with a client’s dog. But most importantly, not to assume that problems will present within hours or days of ingestion and bring the dog to the vet straight away even if there are no symptoms.
Our policy is straight forward. At Dog Training Ireland we have no breed restrictions.
The definition of ‘Restricted Breeds’ is a breed as listed in the Irish Control of Dogs Act and are as follows:
American Pit Bull Terrier
Bull Mastiff
Doberman Pinscher
English Bull Terrier
German Shepherd
Japanese Akita
Japanese Tosa
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Rottweiler
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Bandog
Instead at Dog Training Ireland we work with each dog and their specific needs regardless of breed or breed type.
Our policy is based on the dogs who have attended our classes, research studies on various breeds, behaviour studies, knowledge and experience. In addition we monitor the yearly results published by the American Temperament Testing Society. These results clearly show that the dog breeds listed on the restricted breeds list are no different from other breeds. For more info on the ATTS go here www.atts.org
We strongly believe in the promotion of responsible ownership and helping owners understand their dogs.
Should you have any queries regarding this please contact us at Info@DogTrainingIreland.ie
STROKE:Remember The 1st Three Letters….S..T..R..
A nurse sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously..
Please read:
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital – (at 6:00 pmIngrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don’t die…. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this…
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the ’3′ steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S…. Ask the individual to SMILE.
T….. Ask the person to TALKand SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently, e.g. It is sunny out today)
R ….Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke — Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Ask the person to ‘stick’ out his tongue. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other,that is also an indication of a stroke.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
I passed it on… will you??
Congratulations to the following on completion of Clicker Training Workshop on Friday 12th December 2008
Claire Coleman and Tara
Lucy Johnston and Bobbi
Alison and Bush Zena
Christine Purcell and Uisce
Paula Halpin and Roxy
Gillian Berwick and Al
Ann Riordan Poppy
Denise Street and Bex
Marie and Tipsy
Therese Malone
Christine Kiefer
Congratulations to the following on completion of Clicker Gundog workshop on Saturday 13th December 2008
Colm O’ Callaghan and Keady
Mary Fox and Tigger
Claire Coleman and Tara
Gillian Berwick and Zena
Maura Molloy and Abby
Kizzy Moroney and Gary
Michelle Pearson and Chuck
Peter Byrne and Ruby
Lorna Toner and Molly
Congratulations to the following on completion of Clicker Gundog workshop level 2 on Sunday 14th December 2008
Laura Jennings and Charlie
Colm O’ Callaghan and Keady
Claire Coleman and Tara
Christine Purcell and Uisce
Caroline Treacy and Rua
Kizzy Moroney and Gary
Gary Loughnane and Ruby
Michelle Pearson and Chuck
A special thank you to Helen Philips from Learning About Dogs for her excellent training. We hope to have Helen visit early in 2009.
Photos
Oh the concentration!
Ruby
Smallest attendee!
A dog is a dog not a wolf!
Interesting reading from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour
To Quote:
While we can get ideas of the types of behaviors to study in dogs based on what we know about wolves, the best model for understanding domestic dogs is domestic dogs. Dogs have diverged significantly from wolves in the last 15,000 years. Ancestral wolves evolved as hunters and now generally live in packs consisting most often of family members (Mech 2000). Pack members cooperate to hunt and to take care of offspring. In a given year, generally only the alpha male and alpha female mate, so that the resources of the entire pack can be focused on their one litter. Dogs, on the other hand, evolved as scavengers rather than hunters (Coppinger and Coppinger 2002). Those who were the least fearful, compared to their human-shy counterparts, were best able to survive off the trash and waste of humans and reproduce in this environment. Currently, free-roaming dogs live in small groups rather than cohesive packs, and in some cases spend much of their time alone (MacDonald and Carr 1995). They do not generally cooperate to hunt or to raise their offspring, and virtually all males and females have the opportunity to mate (Boitani et al. 1995). Marked differences in social systems, such as those just described, inevitably lead to notable differences in social behavior.
And
The most common cause of aggression in dogs is fear. Pinning a dog down when he is scared will not address the root of his fear. Furthermore it can heighten the aggression (AVSAB 2007). In fact, a recent study of dogs (Herron et al. 2008) found that confrontational
techniques such as hitting or kicking the dog for undesirable behavior, growling at the dog, performing an “alpha roll,” staring the dog down, and enforcing a “dominance down” frequently elicited an aggressive response from the dog. The aggression may also be redirected toward inanimate objects, or other animals or people besides the owner. Even non-physical punishment, such as a harsh verbal reprimand or shaking a finger at a dog, can elicit defensive aggression if the dog feels threatened by it.
Read the full statement here:
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf
