NOTE: This article is adapted from an article by Kathy Partridge, a Golden Retriever breeder, with her permission. She had a lot to say that applies to Airedales and other breeds. I have added some things from Lew Olsen, a Rottweiler breeder with a doctorate in canine nutrition, about carnivore. I believe that there are many different ways to feed our dog,, and what Partridge says about choosing a kibble is excellent information for people who feed kibble..
. . . and because we have fed raw successfully for nearly 14 years, I have included the following site for added information on raw feeding:
A GOOD SITE FOR INFORMATION ON FEEDING A RAW NATURAL DIET
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIET TO YOUR AIREDALE’S OVERALL HEALTH
DIET AND ORTHOPEDIC PROBLEMS
It has been shown that diet is strongly linked to the development of orthopedic problems in dogs as well as other species. Overfeeding and rapid growth-rate predispose animals to all kinds of problems like osteochondrosis (OCD), hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD), panosteitis, and canine hip dysplasia (CHD). But I think there's more to it than that. I believe that feeding for optimum health and growth rate (and by that I mean the growth rate that Nature intended, not that promoted by the purveyors of puppy foods or breeders who want their puppies in the ring and winning by six months of age) are further protection. My feeling is that for bone and muscle to develop normally, the nutrients have to be there in a form that the puppy can assimilate. Again, that means animal proteins from varied sources, preferably in a raw form, as well as fresh vegetable matter, etc. We shouldn't overfeed (particularly in terms of calories), but denying puppies proper, fresh, natural nutrients could also be playing a role in the proliferation of many so-called "genetic" diseases.
At the same time, we cannot deny the fact that there may be, and probably are, genetic bases for many conditions. The smart approach, I think, is to breed as if genetics is everything. Then rear them in such a way as to optimize the genetic potential of the puppies we produce. In short, we must rear them as though husbandry is everything. That means a species-appropriate diet and, for puppies, only the amount of exercise that they want to do. Instead of long boring walks with their repetitive motion on hard surfaces, let your puppies be puppies, playing in the yard as rough as they wish and letting them stop and sleep whenever they wish. If we can manage their growth as well as we test for genetic predispositions, we will give our dogs the best chance for a long healthy life. Only then should we consider ourselves as true fanciers of a breed.
DIET AND IMMUNE PROBLEMS
We're constantly hearing these days about the number of immune problems that are affecting dogs.
Allergies, cancer, lupus, and thyroid problems, to list just a few, all have a common link - a malfunctioning immune system.
Basically, there are two kinds of immune malfunctions.
One is where the immune system gets trigger-happy. Everything it encounters, including the body itself, is perceived as a threat. So everything is attacked – including major organs. This is referred to as an "auto-immune" problem. The immune system has lost the ability to "recognize self" and conditions like arthritis, hypothyroidism, and lupus are a result.
On the other hand, the immune system could be depressed - not attacking much of anything, in which case the body can't protect itself against foreign invaders or faulty cells within the body. If a dog's immune system is not functioning well, it can't defend itself against cancer cells, or invaders like viruses and bacteria.
Much time and energy is spent on hand-wringing over the current number of health problems in many breeds.
Cancer is especially worrisome. Many people feel powerless to do anything about it, figuring our only choice is to wait for science to come up with the cure for all these "genetic" problems that beset our dogs.
I disagree. It is my belief that we can do a great deal to prevent or at least delay the onset of cancer and other immune-related problems in our dogs. We can feed for optimum health. A dog in optimum health has an immune system in optimum health. It's functioning at peak efficiency. It is neither trigger-happy, nor sluggish. It recognizes foreign invaders (and internally, faulty cells that are the early stages of cancer) and reacts quickly to attack them. At the same time, it stays "sane" and realizes that skin, thyroid, and other organs/systems are part of the body and not a threat.
A dog in optimum health does not have fleas, rashes, lick sores, infected ears, etc. These all relate to the skin, the largest and most easily observed organ in the body. Logically,
I think we can assume that if the right diet can do all this for the skin, it must also be benefiting the rest of the body—the internal parts we cannot see. Admittedly, this does involve a bit of faith, but in my opinion, it's a much better option than sitting around, waiting for a cure, and keeping our fingers crossed while our dogs die prematurely.
And there is some evidence, that even heartworm is not a problem to a truly healthy dog. See: http://www.thewholedog.org/heartworm.html
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOUR AIREDALE’S HEALTH?
Even though there are hereditary problems that exist in any breed, I believe that many of the chronic problems have their true roots in the commercial diets we feed. Do I have scientific proof of this? No. But 12 years ago, we started feeding our Airedales like the carnivores they are. And we are seeing excellent results.
You might say that the biggest genetic problem that Airedales or any dogs have is that they are dogs: canis lupus familiaris, a relative of wolves. Here are some comments from Lew Olson, a Rottweiler breeder who has earned a doctorate in canine nutrition; she is very knowledgeable, on the differences between our digestive systems and canine digestive systems:
• One carnivore trait is that all teeth are sharp and pointed (like a dogs), and they are not made for chewing. They are made for tearing. It is the chewing of kibble that creates tartar buildup on dogs teeth. These teeth are not made to have food sit on them. Dogs naturally teeth hunks of food, and using their tongue as a ladle, push the food back whole into the throat. Their tongue is designed to do this. They have no enzymes in their mouth to predigest food, so all digesting is done in their stomach and intestines. In other words, chewing is not important. They tear the food to get it to a size that they can swallow, and then push it down their throats. If it gets stuck, they try to spit it up and start over, eating it again. Omnivores like us have grinding teeth (some or all flat) to grind and chew food for the amylase production in the mouth to begin to digest it.
• Carnivores, unlike omnivores, do not naturally have a consistent stool. Carnivore stools can range from white and chalky (if they have consumed bones) to yellow and runny (from eating grass, berries and rotten meat) without the ill effects this would have on a human. Commercial dog food is designed—replete with brown dye—to firm dog stools and make them brown, so owners can feel comfort that their dogs stools look like their own and therefore feel the dogs’ stools are normal.... While canine stools can be naturally brown, they can be in a variety of other colors and looseness and firmness and still be considered normal.
• Finally, dogs digest food much faster than omnivores, and they can digest a fresh food meal in four hours. Humans, or omnivores, take 12 to 16 hours. Dry dog food, because it contains no digestive enzymes or probiotics and has grain (which needs the digestive enzyme—analyse—to digest it. Dogs have very little analyse), often take up to 16 hours for dogs to digest. Many believe that keeping this waste inside encourages allergies (by creating an autoimmune response), and digestive upsets, and allows toxins to get into the animals system (this is why quick, efficient elimination is so important to a dogs health).
WHAT SHOULD DOGS EAT?
Many people want the definitive (and easy) answer to the question: "What's the best food to feed my Airedale?" There is no best food. And despite claims of balanced diets, every dog is an individual with different needs.
It is very important that you learn to think for yourself when it comes to feeding your dog. It is up to you to take responsibility for their nutrition and their health. So ask a lot of people what they think. Read everything you can. Keep everything in mind. Pay attention to the experts, but remember that the experts also have limited knowledge. And often, science and profits are working together. So keep in mind that in addition to scientists, experienced dog people can offer practical information, and most of them have nothing to gain from the advice they give you.
Then consider what makes sense to you, what makes you comfortable. Understanding canine nutrition is no more difficult than understanding your children’s needs. You can do it.
Dogs, like their fairly close cousins, the wolves, are carnivores. Domesticated dogs have been around for ten to fifteen thousand years, and we have only had commercial pet food for the past sixty years.
Their wild ancestors ate a diet that consisted almost entirely of high quality animal tissue. Muscle meat, organs, bones, and even skin and hooves. Strictly speaking canines aren't 'true' carnivores because they do consume the partially digested plant matter in the intestinal tracts of their herbivorous prey. But this is a relatively small percentage of their overall intake. However, stop and think for a minute what a moose or caribou or buffalo—the wolves' prey—eat. They roam and graze. They eat grasses, leaves and lichens. They do not, to my knowledge, eat a lot of grains in their mature form—the seed heads—nor do they eat rice or ears of mature corn. If they do so, it would only be seasonally, in the late summer or fall. In addition, no canine has ever been known to cook its food. Wild canines eat a lot of animal matter with a little plant matter.
KIBBLE GUIDELINES
No matter what you feed your Airedale, you will need to make compromises. If you decide to feed kibble, study the label: Be sure that:
1. The first ingredient on the list is a meat or poultry meal (not fresh meat which generally gets to be first on the list because of its 70% water weight).
2. There are at least two meat or poultry meals in the first four ingredients. For a 20 – 24 percent protein food, this will be 2 within the first 5 or 6 ingredients.
3. At least three different animal proteins in the food, not counting the eggs (for example lamb, chicken and fish).
4. There are no by-products
5. There should be no soy products of any kind in the food.
6. There should be minimal duplication of cereals (e.g., rice gluten, rice flour and brewer’s rice is a lot of duplication but many premium foods use this little deception to make it look like they are not using a lot of a particular grain. When you see it, you will know that you are dealing with a cereal-based food.)
7. No peanut hulls or cellulose (dogs cannot digest cellulose).
8. The food must include probiotics.
9. The food is preserved with vitamin C and vitamin E. This is an area that you may have to compromise in order to get other good ingredients because it is difficult to preserve a high-protein food with these vitamins. In other words, do not choose a grain-based food simply because it is preserved with vitamin C or E. Grain-based foods are a major culprit in dog allergies. By the way, allergies are not due to a lack of prednisone in the body, but vets like to give it to stop the itching. Be careful.
10. There must be no added ethoxyquin.
11. Vitamins and minerals are sequestered or chelated for better absorption
12. There should be a list of real food ingredients that is as long as possible. This is a sign that the company is formulating its products so that the bulk of nutrients come from real food, not just synthetic and/or crude vitamins and minerals.
13. There should be no sugar (e.g., sucrose, fructose, etc.).
Of course feeding any commercial food is an exercise in compromise. I don't think there are any that meet all 13 of the above requirements, so do the best you can.
Any kind of By-Product Meal is less desirable because it contains lots of feet, beaks, heads, etc. Not as good as the plain Meals listed above.
When in optimum health, dogs do not have allergies, hot spots, lick sores, gastro-intestinal problems, auto-immune diseases or problems, and they are virtually flea-proof.
No matter what you're feeding, if your dogs do not have allergies, hot spots, lick sores, gastro-intestinal problems or fleas, there is probably no reason to switch. But if your animals do suffer with any or all of the above, then you could be doing better.
LAMB & RICE FOODS - THE MYTH OF THE HYPOALLERGENIC DIET
Once upon a time, all readily available commercial dog foods were based on beef, chicken, corn and wheat. You couldn't buy a lamb and rice food "over the counter". Since it is constant and repeated exposure to foods or food ingredients that are the triggering mechanism of allergies, many dogs eventually became allergic to beef, chicken, corn and wheat.
The solution was to put the dog on a lamb and rice food, which at the time, was only available from your vet. The lamb and rice food helped manage these allergic dogs because they hadn't been exposed to it before. Wow! Lamb and rice soon became known as 'hypoallergenic'.
Well intentioned puppy owners decided the smart thing to do was to start their animals on this 'hypoallergenic' formula from the beginning, in the mistaken belief their dogs could never become allergic to it. Not true. Through constant, repeated exposure to lamb and rice, your dog can become just as allergic to these ingredients as any other. Because the lamb and rice foods have been so overused in this regard, the vets now have new, more exotic hypoallergenic formulas to dispense to dogs who are allergic to lamb and rice.
When you feed a dog a diet based on plant-protein, he has to struggle for the nutrition he needs. His system was designed to break-down animal protein. He does not have the complex digestive track that cows or horses have for breaking down plant material. Cooking destroys and alters nutrients, and, in the case of dog food, makes it even more difficult for a dog to do well. In addition, many pet food diets are too alkaline for many breeds and leave the dogs susceptible to bacterial infections, such as recurrent ear infections, staph and bladder infections, and more.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE OR THE REAL AMOUNT OF PROTEIN IN COMMERCIAL DIETS
There's no shortage of protein in commercial dog foods, the problem is, most of it is from cereal grains and that's what gives our dogs such grief. The labeling laws don't mandate that we be told what percent of protein is from plants, and how much is from animals. That information would help us a lot. But you can call the companies that make the food you are considering and talk to someone about what percentage of the protein comes from which sources.
"COOKING" FOR YOUR DOG: THE RAW HOME-MADE DIET
A diet that's growing in popularity is the raw diet. There are many books on this diet, including: Ian Billinghurst DVM, Give Your Dog A Bone, Ian Billinghurst DVM, The BARF Diet, Tom Lonsdale DVM, Raw Meaty Bones, Tom Lonsdale DVM, Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones; Kymythy Schultze, Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats; Carina Beth MacDonald, Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy for You and Your Dog, Sue Johnson, Switching to Raw, R.L. Wysong, Rationale for Animal Nutrition, and Wendy Volhard & Kerry Brown, DVM, The Holistic Guide For A Healthy Dog. A good book for a cooked home-made diet for your dog is: Donald R. Strombeck DVM, Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthy Alternative. Two classic books on what is needed, such as supplements, for a healthy dog are: Juliette de Bairacli Levy, The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat, and Wendell O. Belfield DVM and Martin Zucker, How to Have a Healthier Dog. And an important classic for overall health is Richard H. Pitcairn DVM, Natural Health for Dogs & Cats.
Many home-made diets rely on raw meat—don’t be afraid of feeding it this way. Raw foods contain enzymes, bacteria (good ones) and other 'life forces' that are essential to good health. If you doubt that vegetables are alive, consider this—if you plant a raw potato, it will grow and reproduce. If you plant a cooked one, it will rot in the ground. Raw foods are alive in some way that cooked foods are not.
Because of the lengthy explanations involved, I'm not going to attempt to outline any of the exact recipes or diet plans. My best advice is to buy the books and read them cover to cover. Besides you shouldn't be doing this because someone said to—you need to understand for yourself what you're attempting to do.
FRESH (OR "PEOPLE") FOODS YOU SHOULDN'T FEED
Large amounts of egg whites: The feeding of large amounts of egg whites will cause a deficiency of biotin, a B-vitamin due to the presence of a destructive substance called avidin. However, this is of no concern if the yolks are also being fed, since the effect of the avidin is offset by the high biotin content of egg yolk. Whole eggs are among the best sources of protein available. I feed them, with the shell.
Chocolate: Contains theobromine which is toxic to dogs and cats. Unsweetened chocolate is the most dangerous, containing 16 mg. of theobromine per gram. Milk chocolate contains about 1.5 mg. per gram. The LD50 (the level at which 50% of test subjects die) for theobromine in dogs is between 240 and 500 mg/kg of body weight, but deaths have been reported after ingestion of as little as 114 mg/kg. Bottom line: No chocolate!
Onions and garlic: Consumption of a sufficient amount (equal to more than 0.5% of body weight, which isn't much) of onions results in hemolytic anemia, fever, darkened urine, and death. The toxic element is n-propyldisulphide, an alkaloid. I do not know the toxic dose for garlic.
Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Rhubarb: While these are not toxic, they are high in oxalic acid, a compound that interferes with calcium absorption, so don't feed these very often.
COMBINATION APPROACH
It is important to feed a diet that really emphasizes variety so that your dogs have whatever nutrients they need whenever they need them. They don't have to wait for you to wake up, notice a problem and switch foods. Our dogs have the capacity to keep themselves perfectly healthy if we provide them with the materials to do so.
Every dog is an individual—who are we to say that this dog should do well on chicken every day, that dog needs lamb? What if your dog really needs a little bit of the nutrition from fish? What if it's not in the food? What many people find is that if you give them a little bit of everything, but not too much of anything over time (say two or three weeks), their dogs are very good at using that as they see fit. Just make sure you pay attention to animal protein—that is critical. Without it, your dog has to struggle to stay healthy.
A combination approach tries to let you have it both ways: feeding kibble for convenience and raw meaty bones diet ingredients for your dog’s benefit. For some dog owners, the basis for a "combination approach" is a good animal-protein based kibble. Every year, The Whole Dog Journal, evaluates kibble foods and rates them for consumers.
Once you have a base kibble, you need to supplement with fresh foods. Please don't call them 'people foods'—whoever said they were put here for just us? You have a couple of ways to do this; if you have several dogs, you can use Dr. Pitcairn's higher-protein recipes. His meat, egg and cottage cheese 'kibble boosters' are especially good, but I would add more veggies.
Or you can share your food with your dog—but make sure it's the good stuff. No junk food or table scraps – if you wouldn't eat it, or you know it's not good for you, don't feed it to your dog. The Wysong booklet gives good advice on this. Use lots of variety—raw ground beef, turkey, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, finely chopped veggies (my dogs digest chopped frozen vegetables best, just thaw and run through the food processor), and occasionally, fruit.
Remember, dogs cannot digest cellulose, and cellulose is a part of raw veggies. In order to make it digestible, you must crush or break down the vegetables in a juicer, a meat grinder, or a food processor. In the good weather, dogs graze on grasses; in the winter, give them greens powder. There are several of these available in health food stores. If you let your dogs graze, make sure the area hasn't been chemically treated or fertilized.
Almost any vegetable is fair game—broccoli, carrots, kale, mustard greens, cauliflower, etc.
To 'acidify' your dog and help keep infections at bay, start adding one—to—two ounces of apple cider vinegar (ACV) to each gallon of your dog's drinking water or add a tablespoon to their meal. Some breeders report that they have cured the beginning stages of a bladder infection by doubling the amount of apple cider vinegar for a few days. Most dogs will drink it willingly. If possible, use raw, organic ACV. Apples are one of the most heavily sprayed fruits, plus the raw ACV has a much better flavor than the grocery store variety, which is cooked. If you use grocery store apple cider vinegar, be sure that it is ACV, and not ACV-flavored white distilled vinegar.
If your dog is currently having a lot of problems, add 1 or 2 amino acid complex tablets to his daily diet until he's recovered. You can add them any time the dog starts to have problems - stress does cause dogs' needs to change, and sometimes the diet needs an amino acid boost. Increasing the ACV also helps. Make sure you use a casein-based amino acid complex, most dogs accept them without problems. I am told the soy based tablets can cause an allergic reaction. DO NOT try to guess which amino acid your dog needs - it's impossible to do and since they work in concert with each other, you could be making things worse. Use a complex so that your dog will get them all. Let his body pick and choose what he needs.
I do use some other supplements, I like whole food supplements best. Kelp, honey, and seaweed are good. Also B-complex and vitamin E. For coat, you can add chelated zinc. I do not feed these every day, I rotate so that they get each one once or twice a week. I do feed vitamin C powder every day. I feed ascorbic acid with citrus bioflavonoids or ester C. Other people use the buffered forms of C - sodium ascorbate or calcium ascorbate.
Good sources for vitamins are www.b-naturals.com and http://www.naturalrearing.com/ .
THE OVERWEIGHT DOG
Too many dogs are overweight and their owners are constantly looking for a sure-fire formula for taking that weight off. Very often they're advised to feed one of the "Lite" formulas. Some people combine this with canned pumpkin or green beans, in an effort to fill the dog up, not out. They've all been on diets themselves (hasn't everybody at one time or another?) and they're upset by the fact that while eating such a regimen, their dog is probably hungry.
Before attempting to take weight off your dog by any method, you should first have a thyroid test done. Many dogs do have sluggish thyroids, and if this is the case with your dog, no weight loss program is going to work until you correct the condition. Hypothyroid dogs have very slow metabolisms, and can gain huge amounts of weight while eating next to nothing. Ask for the tests that are done by labs, like Michigan State and Dr. Jean Dodds Hemopet (http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM ). We use Dr. Dodds, and we have been very satisfied. To do that, you need to fill out her forms, take them and your dog to your vet, have the vet pull the blood and send it to the address on the forms. Dr. Dodds’ fee is very reasonable, she will discuss the results with you, and any profits go to a good cause.
If your dog's thyroid levels are low, you will have to supplement with thyroid hormone. Once you get the dosage adjusted (which will involve further periodic testing), you will probably find that your dog loses weight with no dietary changes on your part (assuming you were feeding adequate, but not excessive calories before).
HOW MANY CALORIES SHOULD I FEED?
Here's a good rule of thumb that you can use as a starting point for an average dog (geriatric dogs and puppies will be the exceptions to this). Feed 290 calories for every 15 lbs. you think your dog should weigh. So if you figure an ideal weight for your dog should be 50 lbs. you will want to feed him around 1,015 calories per day. To find out how many cups of kibble that is, divide 1,015 by the number of calories in a cup of your dog’s kibble food. If the caloric content of your kibble isn't listed on the bag, call the company and ask. They should have this information readily available.
Since it is difficult to determine the calories of raw food, the standard by weight of the food is to feed 2% to 3% of your dogs weight. Start at 2%; if your dog gains too much weight, go down a little. If your dog is too thin, increase a little. Our dogs eat between 2 and 2.5 percent of their weight.
If you find your dog isn't losing on the ideal amount, or is staying a bit over weight, adjust the quantity of food to less per day. Keep adjusting until you find the amount that keeps your dog at the desired weight. Of course, puppies need more calories than this, and geriatrics will probably need less. But the above formulas can be used as a starting point.
Keep in mind as you figure out quantities that every dog is an individual and that the ingredients also count: for example, too high a level of protein may give your dog lots of energy - to the point of making him hyper and hard to live with - and his food may keep him too thin. Too little protein - particularly from animal sources - and your dog may become obese and encounter real health problems. The trick is to find the right levels for you your dog.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
WHY DO HOTELS REFUSE OUR DOGS?
Dear Jubilee,
My husband and I like to travel with our dogs. But it is getting more and more difficult to find hotels that will accept our dogs. Why is this and what can be done about it?
Disappointed
Dear Disappointed,
We used to travel cross country with one or two dogs once a year. And you are right: It has been more difficult in recent years to find hotels than it used to be. One thing that we always carry when we travel with dogs is the most recent Triple A guide to dog friendly hotels. There are also books about dog friendly hotels and dog friendly Bed and Breakfasts.
When I was with a regional Airedale club that held several events every year. We had to provide lists of hotels that people could use when they brought their dogs with them to these events. Hotel managers told us that because some dog people are very careless of hotel property, they have to restrict or ban dogs in their hotels. We worked very closely with these hotel managers and with our club members to make sure that our members were good guests in their hotels. As a result, there were several hotels that banned dogs but which accepted our club Airedales.
Here is what we have learned that you can do to make sure that you do not become the one bad apple that ruins it for everyone:
1. Be thoughtful of others. Make sure that your dog does not bark when people need to sleep, does not relieve himself where people walk, and does not jump on people in an attempt to be friendly.
2. Take care of your room: do not let your dog chew on the woodwork or furniture, play tug of war with hotel towels, dig up the carpet, etc. In short, leave the room looking better than when you arrived. Bring a large plastic mat with you for your dog’s water and food bowls. Put a larger plastic mat under your dog’s crate to protect the carpet. Always bring a crate for use in the hotel room so your dog will have a safe and familiar place to stay while you go out for dinner. And if your dog has an accident in the hotel room, make sure you have everything you need to clean it up and leave the carpet as clean as you would like it to be when you occupy a room.
3. If your room is not clean, do not hesitate to have the hotel clean it up for you before you take occupancy. We stayed in a suite hotel one year that had a kitchenette: there were old dried up food droppings under the cabinets and caked on the floor. Our dogs thought these were great fun. We put the dogs back in the van, and we went to the manager. He had someone come and clean the floor to our satisfaction. Only then did we unpack and let our dogs in the room.
4. Bring a sheet or a blanket to cover the bed and sofas in the room so if your dog jumps on the furniture, he will not leave it dirty for the next customer.
5. Bring lots of poop bags so you can always pick up after your dog.
6. Do not let your dogs piddle where people have to walk. And if you have a male, do not let him lift his leg on the building, the shrubs and plants, or on any of the furniture in your room. Don’t let any dog, male or female, mark their territory in your hotel room. You would be surprised at how many hotel rooms have had to be re-carpeted after a dog family departed: It is no wonder that these hotels do not want dog people back.
7. Don’t let your dogs go into any well tended gardens on the hotel grounds.
In short, always remember that restrictions come about because somebody has complained about a dog or a careless owner has let a dog damage hotel property.
Unfortunately, the dogs get blamed for their owners lack of manners. So it is very important that you not give any non-dog people any reasons to complain about your dogs.
So do what you can do to educate the dog people you know. If we all treat hotel property with respect and act like good dog citizens, more hotels will be dog friendly.
Jubilee
My husband and I like to travel with our dogs. But it is getting more and more difficult to find hotels that will accept our dogs. Why is this and what can be done about it?
Disappointed
Dear Disappointed,
We used to travel cross country with one or two dogs once a year. And you are right: It has been more difficult in recent years to find hotels than it used to be. One thing that we always carry when we travel with dogs is the most recent Triple A guide to dog friendly hotels. There are also books about dog friendly hotels and dog friendly Bed and Breakfasts.
When I was with a regional Airedale club that held several events every year. We had to provide lists of hotels that people could use when they brought their dogs with them to these events. Hotel managers told us that because some dog people are very careless of hotel property, they have to restrict or ban dogs in their hotels. We worked very closely with these hotel managers and with our club members to make sure that our members were good guests in their hotels. As a result, there were several hotels that banned dogs but which accepted our club Airedales.
Here is what we have learned that you can do to make sure that you do not become the one bad apple that ruins it for everyone:
1. Be thoughtful of others. Make sure that your dog does not bark when people need to sleep, does not relieve himself where people walk, and does not jump on people in an attempt to be friendly.
2. Take care of your room: do not let your dog chew on the woodwork or furniture, play tug of war with hotel towels, dig up the carpet, etc. In short, leave the room looking better than when you arrived. Bring a large plastic mat with you for your dog’s water and food bowls. Put a larger plastic mat under your dog’s crate to protect the carpet. Always bring a crate for use in the hotel room so your dog will have a safe and familiar place to stay while you go out for dinner. And if your dog has an accident in the hotel room, make sure you have everything you need to clean it up and leave the carpet as clean as you would like it to be when you occupy a room.
3. If your room is not clean, do not hesitate to have the hotel clean it up for you before you take occupancy. We stayed in a suite hotel one year that had a kitchenette: there were old dried up food droppings under the cabinets and caked on the floor. Our dogs thought these were great fun. We put the dogs back in the van, and we went to the manager. He had someone come and clean the floor to our satisfaction. Only then did we unpack and let our dogs in the room.
4. Bring a sheet or a blanket to cover the bed and sofas in the room so if your dog jumps on the furniture, he will not leave it dirty for the next customer.
5. Bring lots of poop bags so you can always pick up after your dog.
6. Do not let your dogs piddle where people have to walk. And if you have a male, do not let him lift his leg on the building, the shrubs and plants, or on any of the furniture in your room. Don’t let any dog, male or female, mark their territory in your hotel room. You would be surprised at how many hotel rooms have had to be re-carpeted after a dog family departed: It is no wonder that these hotels do not want dog people back.
7. Don’t let your dogs go into any well tended gardens on the hotel grounds.
In short, always remember that restrictions come about because somebody has complained about a dog or a careless owner has let a dog damage hotel property.
Unfortunately, the dogs get blamed for their owners lack of manners. So it is very important that you not give any non-dog people any reasons to complain about your dogs.
So do what you can do to educate the dog people you know. If we all treat hotel property with respect and act like good dog citizens, more hotels will be dog friendly.
Jubilee
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CESAR MILLAN, THE DOG WHISPERER?
Dear Jubilee:
What do you think of Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer? I have heard conflicting opinions from trainers: Some think he is wonderful; others criticize him for not being a positive trainer. I have watched his shows, and I enjoy them.
Confused
Dear Confused,
I am a fan of Cesar Millan, but he is NOT a trainer.
He is helping rehabilitate a lot of dogs who otherwise would not survive, and he is helping people establish a rewarding relationship with their dogs. Without interfering in the positive aspects of our relationships with dogs, he helps people who have lost control of their dogs to regain that control. And when he needed a trainer to help him, he chose a clicker trainer.
There is nothing new in his message, and it has nothing to do with your choice of a training method. It has everything to do with your attitude and the mental connection you make with your dog. (See my article, Picture the Behavior and Make It Happen, elsewhere on this site).
What Cesar does works with whatever training method you choose.
In March 2005, I had the opportunity to go to a weekend conference of the International Association of Canine Professionals because Cesar Millan and Wendy Volhard were the primary speakers, and I wanted the opportunity to hear them, ask each of them questions, etc.
In person, Cesar is an entertainer: he is happy; he is having fun; and he is rehabilitating a lot of dogs so that they and their families can stay together. At the conference, he expanded on the things that he says in his DVD and on his program, and he stayed on message: dogs communicate through constant energy, and they sense the energy of humans and other dogs the moment they enter their space. Humans need to focus on projecting their human energy to their dog in the moment; there is only one pack leader in the dog’s world, and the human needs to be that pack leader. The pack leader has to project calm assertive energy – or as my friend and trainer Tom Lams would say: “put your hear up, hold your shoulders straight, show off your new bra, and move! The dog will follow you.”
There is nothing new in Cesar’s message. When working with a person or living in our homes, the dog’s energy should be calm energy, or what Cesar calls calm submissive energy. Keep in mind, calm submissive energy does not mean that the dog is groveling and fearful. I got a much better understanding of what he means by calm submissive when he said that people should watch dog shows like Westminster because the show dogs are in a calm submissive state: they are energetic; they are proud of who they are; they are showing off; they are on their toes; and they are working happily with a human leader.
I am a fan of Cesar's because:
• He expects people to be the leader when it comes to their relationship to their dogs
• He says that dogs cannot be fulfilled as dogs if the human abdicates this role by not taking charge of their dogs (be it a pack of 1, 2 ,3 or more dogs)
• He puts all the responsibility for the success of the human-dog relationship squarely on the shoulders of the humans, not on the dog, and
• He has taken a stand against breed specific legislation: he shows through his own dogs and the work he does rehabilitating dogs that breed has nothing to do with dogs going bad. His own pack of about 26 dogs comprises pit bulls, Rotties and many other breeds. Many of them came from shelters where they were scheduled to be euthanized because they were vicious. When you watch them on his DVD, especially how he feeds them, you realize that they are not vicious. He has rehabilitated them by providing them with fulfilling lives of exercise, self-discipline, and love/affection/respect, and he can trust them with his own children scampering among them and working with them.
Cesar shows in the most powerful way that we do not need breed specific legislation: we need to help make people better, more responsible dog owners.
Jubilee
What do you think of Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer? I have heard conflicting opinions from trainers: Some think he is wonderful; others criticize him for not being a positive trainer. I have watched his shows, and I enjoy them.
Confused
Dear Confused,
I am a fan of Cesar Millan, but he is NOT a trainer.
He is helping rehabilitate a lot of dogs who otherwise would not survive, and he is helping people establish a rewarding relationship with their dogs. Without interfering in the positive aspects of our relationships with dogs, he helps people who have lost control of their dogs to regain that control. And when he needed a trainer to help him, he chose a clicker trainer.
There is nothing new in his message, and it has nothing to do with your choice of a training method. It has everything to do with your attitude and the mental connection you make with your dog. (See my article, Picture the Behavior and Make It Happen, elsewhere on this site).
What Cesar does works with whatever training method you choose.
In March 2005, I had the opportunity to go to a weekend conference of the International Association of Canine Professionals because Cesar Millan and Wendy Volhard were the primary speakers, and I wanted the opportunity to hear them, ask each of them questions, etc.
In person, Cesar is an entertainer: he is happy; he is having fun; and he is rehabilitating a lot of dogs so that they and their families can stay together. At the conference, he expanded on the things that he says in his DVD and on his program, and he stayed on message: dogs communicate through constant energy, and they sense the energy of humans and other dogs the moment they enter their space. Humans need to focus on projecting their human energy to their dog in the moment; there is only one pack leader in the dog’s world, and the human needs to be that pack leader. The pack leader has to project calm assertive energy – or as my friend and trainer Tom Lams would say: “put your hear up, hold your shoulders straight, show off your new bra, and move! The dog will follow you.”
There is nothing new in Cesar’s message. When working with a person or living in our homes, the dog’s energy should be calm energy, or what Cesar calls calm submissive energy. Keep in mind, calm submissive energy does not mean that the dog is groveling and fearful. I got a much better understanding of what he means by calm submissive when he said that people should watch dog shows like Westminster because the show dogs are in a calm submissive state: they are energetic; they are proud of who they are; they are showing off; they are on their toes; and they are working happily with a human leader.
I am a fan of Cesar's because:
• He expects people to be the leader when it comes to their relationship to their dogs
• He says that dogs cannot be fulfilled as dogs if the human abdicates this role by not taking charge of their dogs (be it a pack of 1, 2 ,3 or more dogs)
• He puts all the responsibility for the success of the human-dog relationship squarely on the shoulders of the humans, not on the dog, and
• He has taken a stand against breed specific legislation: he shows through his own dogs and the work he does rehabilitating dogs that breed has nothing to do with dogs going bad. His own pack of about 26 dogs comprises pit bulls, Rotties and many other breeds. Many of them came from shelters where they were scheduled to be euthanized because they were vicious. When you watch them on his DVD, especially how he feeds them, you realize that they are not vicious. He has rehabilitated them by providing them with fulfilling lives of exercise, self-discipline, and love/affection/respect, and he can trust them with his own children scampering among them and working with them.
Cesar shows in the most powerful way that we do not need breed specific legislation: we need to help make people better, more responsible dog owners.
Jubilee
TO CRATE OR NOT TO CRATE
Dear Jubilee:
I have been struggling with the "to crate or not to crate" issue and would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on crating and not crating.
What Should I Do?
Dear What,
Years ago, I thought crating was cruel and unusual punishment. Now I know better. Each of our dogs, no matter how many are in residence at any one time, has its own crate. And they know which crate is theirs. We leave the doors open, and they go into the crates whenever they want.
Crates are useful for; for times when there are workers coming and going with doors opening and closing and fence gates open; for times when friends or relatives who don't like dogs or who are either small or frail and cannot withstand an Airedale or two jumping on them unexpectedly; for times when they have a health issue (like recovering from surgery or have hurt a leg and cannot have much exercise); and more.
I have two dogs, and they prefer sleeping in their crates; we do not leave their doors open during the night. In addition, in the afternoon, if they have become hyperactive, the crate is a great time-out place with a femur bone full of marrow to gnaw on.
Dogs are cave animals: they love small places that are all their own. When we got Holly and Hannah, they each had their own crate, and both started with a half-sized crate as their puppy crate. We had a seven year old Shi'tzu at the time (she lived to be almost 20), and she made it very clear that she wanted a crate as well. So we got the crate we used to take her to the vet out and placed it beside the other two crates in my husband's office. Well, came the day that Hannah moved up to a full-sized crate (Holly had already done that earlier). Chelsea Shi'tzu walked over to her little tiny blue crate and stood there. She looked up and down the row of crates. Then she looked at her tiny crate. Then she looked at me and proceeded to scan the large crates again. So I went and got the half size puppy crate which was much larger than her little blue one, and put it next to the Airedale crates. She wiggled and wagged and walked in and looked out. Then she looked at her tiny crate as though to say, get rid of it! I put it away and only used it to take her to the vets! She was placated. She had chosen her own new home. This was a dog that had not used a crate at any time except as a travel carrier for the first seven years of her life!
That incident told me volumes about how dogs view crates. Crates are their own bedrooms, their own place to go and relax. They are not jails; they are not punishments. They are their havens. And to make sure that they are happy in them, I feed them in their crates.
I believe that giving all kinds of good things in the crate will help an older dog get used to it very quickly, especially if you feed the dog in the crate. You don't have to close the door, but I have never had a problem with closing the door. And all of my dogs understand the command, Go Crate, and they do it. Some people use Go Kennel. It’s like having a room of their own.
Good luck,
Jubilee
I have been struggling with the "to crate or not to crate" issue and would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on crating and not crating.
What Should I Do?
Dear What,
Years ago, I thought crating was cruel and unusual punishment. Now I know better. Each of our dogs, no matter how many are in residence at any one time, has its own crate. And they know which crate is theirs. We leave the doors open, and they go into the crates whenever they want.
Crates are useful for; for times when there are workers coming and going with doors opening and closing and fence gates open; for times when friends or relatives who don't like dogs or who are either small or frail and cannot withstand an Airedale or two jumping on them unexpectedly; for times when they have a health issue (like recovering from surgery or have hurt a leg and cannot have much exercise); and more.
I have two dogs, and they prefer sleeping in their crates; we do not leave their doors open during the night. In addition, in the afternoon, if they have become hyperactive, the crate is a great time-out place with a femur bone full of marrow to gnaw on.
Dogs are cave animals: they love small places that are all their own. When we got Holly and Hannah, they each had their own crate, and both started with a half-sized crate as their puppy crate. We had a seven year old Shi'tzu at the time (she lived to be almost 20), and she made it very clear that she wanted a crate as well. So we got the crate we used to take her to the vet out and placed it beside the other two crates in my husband's office. Well, came the day that Hannah moved up to a full-sized crate (Holly had already done that earlier). Chelsea Shi'tzu walked over to her little tiny blue crate and stood there. She looked up and down the row of crates. Then she looked at her tiny crate. Then she looked at me and proceeded to scan the large crates again. So I went and got the half size puppy crate which was much larger than her little blue one, and put it next to the Airedale crates. She wiggled and wagged and walked in and looked out. Then she looked at her tiny crate as though to say, get rid of it! I put it away and only used it to take her to the vets! She was placated. She had chosen her own new home. This was a dog that had not used a crate at any time except as a travel carrier for the first seven years of her life!
That incident told me volumes about how dogs view crates. Crates are their own bedrooms, their own place to go and relax. They are not jails; they are not punishments. They are their havens. And to make sure that they are happy in them, I feed them in their crates.
I believe that giving all kinds of good things in the crate will help an older dog get used to it very quickly, especially if you feed the dog in the crate. You don't have to close the door, but I have never had a problem with closing the door. And all of my dogs understand the command, Go Crate, and they do it. Some people use Go Kennel. It’s like having a room of their own.
Good luck,
Jubilee
CAN YOU TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS?
Dear Jubilee:
Hi, I am getting an Airedale that is nearly two years old. She is spayed and potty trained and very lovable. But when she is let out of her crate, she goes wild. She jumps and carries on like a wild puppy.
Will I ever be able to train her to be a well-behaved dog at this age?
Need Advice
Dear Need Advice:
I believe that you can train a dog at any age.
I recommend clicker training: You need to find someone in your area that does clicker training and that is Airedale friendly. Airedales, no matter how old they are when they start this kind of training, absolutely love it. They think they are in control of you and that training is a wonderful game to get you to click and treat.
The important thing is that they learn to do what you want them to do without any force at all. Just be sure to find a good clicker trainer. There are also books, videos and training kits available on the Web. For more information, go to:
www.dontshootthedog.com
www.clickertrain.com
www.clickandtreat.com
How long have you been leaving her in her crate? A few hours are max (except for sleeping at night). They will be excited when they first come out of the crate because they have a lot of pent up energy to use up.
When you take her out of the crate, take her immediately outdoors and let her run off some of that pent-up energy by chasing noises, squirrels, birds, whatever catches her attention. Try throwing a ball and teaching her to retrieve: many Airedales are wonderful retrievers.
When she tries to jump up on you, walk directly into her. She will her back up to avoid your walking into her, and she needs four feet on the ground to back up. Or, turn your back on her and keep turning around as she tries to get to your front and side to jump on you – eventually she will sit and ponder what you are doing! Praise her by clicking and treating the sit.
Whatever you do, do not back up when she jumps: that tells her to come after you and jump some more.
Most importantly, ask yourself what you want her to do instead of jumping on you. If it is sit and stay or fetch a toy or something else, focus on teaching her that behavior and when she has it down pat in regular training, just use that command when she is excited. You may have to help her in the beginning, but dogs respond to positive commands better than to No and other negative commands.
Good luck. The more you work with this girl, the more love you give her, the better she will respond. Remember, be patient, don’t laugh at bad behavior, and stay calm. She is probably so grateful to you for her new home that she has to show you through her exuberance. You need to harness that energy and show her how to use it in a positive, more appropriate manner.
Jubilee
Hi, I am getting an Airedale that is nearly two years old. She is spayed and potty trained and very lovable. But when she is let out of her crate, she goes wild. She jumps and carries on like a wild puppy.
Will I ever be able to train her to be a well-behaved dog at this age?
Need Advice
Dear Need Advice:
I believe that you can train a dog at any age.
I recommend clicker training: You need to find someone in your area that does clicker training and that is Airedale friendly. Airedales, no matter how old they are when they start this kind of training, absolutely love it. They think they are in control of you and that training is a wonderful game to get you to click and treat.
The important thing is that they learn to do what you want them to do without any force at all. Just be sure to find a good clicker trainer. There are also books, videos and training kits available on the Web. For more information, go to:
www.dontshootthedog.com
www.clickertrain.com
www.clickandtreat.com
How long have you been leaving her in her crate? A few hours are max (except for sleeping at night). They will be excited when they first come out of the crate because they have a lot of pent up energy to use up.
When you take her out of the crate, take her immediately outdoors and let her run off some of that pent-up energy by chasing noises, squirrels, birds, whatever catches her attention. Try throwing a ball and teaching her to retrieve: many Airedales are wonderful retrievers.
When she tries to jump up on you, walk directly into her. She will her back up to avoid your walking into her, and she needs four feet on the ground to back up. Or, turn your back on her and keep turning around as she tries to get to your front and side to jump on you – eventually she will sit and ponder what you are doing! Praise her by clicking and treating the sit.
Whatever you do, do not back up when she jumps: that tells her to come after you and jump some more.
Most importantly, ask yourself what you want her to do instead of jumping on you. If it is sit and stay or fetch a toy or something else, focus on teaching her that behavior and when she has it down pat in regular training, just use that command when she is excited. You may have to help her in the beginning, but dogs respond to positive commands better than to No and other negative commands.
Good luck. The more you work with this girl, the more love you give her, the better she will respond. Remember, be patient, don’t laugh at bad behavior, and stay calm. She is probably so grateful to you for her new home that she has to show you through her exuberance. You need to harness that energy and show her how to use it in a positive, more appropriate manner.
Jubilee
HOW CAN I STOP MY DOG FROM BARKING IN HIS CRATE?
Dear Jubilee,
My Airedale is two years old. I work out of a home office, and I need to have him quiet when I am in meetings or on telephone conference calls. If he is lose in the house, he barks at squirrels and birds that he sees outside. I have tried crating him, and even thought he is crate trained, he barks continuously if I crate him during the day. What can I do?
Frantic
Dear Frantic,
For many years, Tom and Kay Lams came to Texas to do a training weekend in Dallas, and we have learned a lot from them.
One tip, which I promise really does work, is for teaching a dog not to bark when he is crated. When a dog barks in his crate in order to get attention, Tom says to go into the room, don't say a word, pick up the crate by one corner (just a little off the ground, not much) and drop the corner. Tom calls it an earthquake. Without saying a work, leave the room. If the dog starts barking again, do that again, but lift the corner a little higher off the ground. After three or four times, you should notice a definite difference in the amount of barking.
I had forgotten this tip, but we had a female, two and a half years old, that continually barked when she was in her crate. She too had been well crate trained, but for some reason one year, she decided she would bark up a storm in the crate whenever we put her in it (to wait for dinner, for the night, etc.). I tried talking to her; I tried closing the door to the room; I tried the towel over the door. Nothing worked. Then I remembered Tom's tip.
The next time she did it, I went quietly into the room and followed Tom's instructions. Then I went back to the kitchen; and when the barking started again, I repeated the action but lifted the crate corner a little bit higher. I had to do this two more times. Then the barking ceased. What peace.
Give it a try. I know it means going up the stairs, and that he will quiet when he hears you coming. BUT do it anyway. He will learn very quickly that the only attention he gets when he barks is an "earthquake: in his crate. And dogs do not like these earthquakes.
Jubilee
My Airedale is two years old. I work out of a home office, and I need to have him quiet when I am in meetings or on telephone conference calls. If he is lose in the house, he barks at squirrels and birds that he sees outside. I have tried crating him, and even thought he is crate trained, he barks continuously if I crate him during the day. What can I do?
Frantic
Dear Frantic,
For many years, Tom and Kay Lams came to Texas to do a training weekend in Dallas, and we have learned a lot from them.
One tip, which I promise really does work, is for teaching a dog not to bark when he is crated. When a dog barks in his crate in order to get attention, Tom says to go into the room, don't say a word, pick up the crate by one corner (just a little off the ground, not much) and drop the corner. Tom calls it an earthquake. Without saying a work, leave the room. If the dog starts barking again, do that again, but lift the corner a little higher off the ground. After three or four times, you should notice a definite difference in the amount of barking.
I had forgotten this tip, but we had a female, two and a half years old, that continually barked when she was in her crate. She too had been well crate trained, but for some reason one year, she decided she would bark up a storm in the crate whenever we put her in it (to wait for dinner, for the night, etc.). I tried talking to her; I tried closing the door to the room; I tried the towel over the door. Nothing worked. Then I remembered Tom's tip.
The next time she did it, I went quietly into the room and followed Tom's instructions. Then I went back to the kitchen; and when the barking started again, I repeated the action but lifted the crate corner a little bit higher. I had to do this two more times. Then the barking ceased. What peace.
Give it a try. I know it means going up the stairs, and that he will quiet when he hears you coming. BUT do it anyway. He will learn very quickly that the only attention he gets when he barks is an "earthquake: in his crate. And dogs do not like these earthquakes.
Jubilee
Saturday, June 18, 2011
ADULT HOUSE-TRAINED MALE URINATING IN THE HOUSE
Dear Jubilee,
I have a 3 year old male terrier who has recently decided he has urinate in the house, particularly things and places related to me. I see it as an attempt to dominate me and get my attention. What suggestions do you have to extinguish the behavior?
Fed Up in Frisco
Dear Fed Up,
If a well-housetrained adult dog starts urinating in the house, don't assume a reason like dominance even if it appears that he is mainly soiling things that relate to you. We cannot know what dogs are thinking, and such assumptions are just guesses.
The first thing I would do is have the dog checked out by a vet. He might have a urinary infection (UTI). Take the dog to the vet, and don't settle for a quick urinalysis because those can come back negative even if the dog has an infection. Ask for a culture which will take a couple of days. Then if there is an infection, treat it according to the vet's recommendations.
If it is not an infection, your vet may suggest (or you may ask about) using one shot of female hormones while you are trying to break the behavior because it may lessen the urge to urinate in the beginning of the re-training period. But this is not something to do on a regular basis. Again, listen to your vet.
If there is no infection, then you need to do two things: (1) eliminate all odor of urine from your house and (2) re-housetrain your dog.
(1) Eliminating all odor: You need to use an enzyme urine odor remover. Bleach, household cleaners and ammonia will NOT work. Your dog's sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than ours and even if you do not smell urine, he will. And where he smells it, he will cover it with fresh urine. Do not use ammonia: it ends up breaking down into a smell that smells like urine and your dog will cover it with his own urine.
(2) Re-housebreaking requires that you supervise, supervise, supervise. This takes: (a) confinement, (b) scheduled outdoor time, and (c) a special place outside near the door where he will get rewarded for urinating.
(a) Confinement: if you cannot supervise your boy, he must be crated. His crate should be in a family kind of room (kitchen or family room that members of the family spend lots of time in), and if you work at home, the crate should be in your office so he still feels part of the family. Retraining using a crate is something that many people don't want to do with an adult dog, but it is necessary with this kind of problem. Most people who use a crate to re-train find that the problem is gone within a month or so. Try it and see: I feel pretty sure that if you follow this program of confinement and going out that the problem will resolve itself.
Remember: you must take the dog out far more often than you might think is necessary, and you may have to stay outside with the dog upwards of 20 minutes each time. Do no punishing and speak calmly: crating and retraining are not punishment: you are helping your dog relearn his training.
(b) Scheduled outdoor time: Follow a similar schedule as you did when you first trained him as a puppy: take him out on a leash when he wakes up from sleeping, after he has eaten, whenever he has been excited (like when company comes), after drinking water, and every 20 or 30 minutes when he is playing. Be sure to walk him four or more times a day . Take him to the place where you want him to pee, and after he pees, then walk him around and give him plenty of opportunity to urine mark enough to empty his bladder (males may hold some back just in case they need to mark something!). When you bring him back inside, if you can supervise him, allow him some freedom but only under your watchful eye. If he starts to lift his leg, say sharply "Eh-Eh" to divert his attention, and take him immediately outside. When he lifts his leg outside, praise and treat. Put him back in his crate if you cannot watch him. Repeat this whole process frequently.
When you start giving him more space than his crate, you really have to supervise him carefully. You can tether him to you with a six-foot lead. If you see him sniffing or circling (indications that he is looking to mark), then take him immediately outside on a leash to his bathroom spot. When he eliminates, praise him lavishly and reward him with a treat.
After an hour or two of confinement in his crate or a small area (an area too small for him to want to urinate in), take him out to his bathroom spot and praise and treat when he eliminates.
(c) Special place near the door (but far enough away to not cause any problem for you). I read somewhere that using a marking post is a good idea: get a wooden fence post and install it in the part of the yard that you want him to use as a bathroom. Get your friends to bring their male dogs over to mark it, giving your guy an incentive to use it. When you mop up his urine in the house with paper towels or rags, leave them at the base of the marking post for awhile to show him that this is where you want him to urinate.
Don't punish your dog after the fact. Even a minute is too late because your dog does not understand why he is being punished. Dogs are not people: they do not do this out of jealousy or spite or other emotions. I doubt that they even do it out of any sense of trying to dominate you.
They do have a drive to cover urine smells with their own (and they will cover the smells made by any other pets and they will even cover their own urine smells); they do mark things that smell unfamiliar, like new things or even things that smell of other people, and this is a territorial drive: they are re-establishing that this is their territory. If he marks something that belongs to a visitor, he is just viewing the visitor as an intruder and is letting the intruder know that the space belongs to him.
Finally, if all else fails, you can consider using a belly band. This is a cloth band that is wrapped around the middle of your boy. It is secured with a velcro closing. A woman's sanitary napkin is put inside. If your dogs lifts his leg and urinates while wearing one of these, he will wet himself. Don't remove the pad immediately: they do not like having to stay wet. But don't leave it on too long either: you don't want germs to grow in it and you don't want his skin to be irritated. You also do not want to rely on it all day long because it can irritate the tip of the penis and bacteria can grow there. But it is fine for occasional use around the house when you want him to have more freedom or if you have to run to the store and don't want to confine him. The belly band is a reminder to your dog to stay dry.
Jubilee
I have a 3 year old male terrier who has recently decided he has urinate in the house, particularly things and places related to me. I see it as an attempt to dominate me and get my attention. What suggestions do you have to extinguish the behavior?
Fed Up in Frisco
Dear Fed Up,
If a well-housetrained adult dog starts urinating in the house, don't assume a reason like dominance even if it appears that he is mainly soiling things that relate to you. We cannot know what dogs are thinking, and such assumptions are just guesses.
The first thing I would do is have the dog checked out by a vet. He might have a urinary infection (UTI). Take the dog to the vet, and don't settle for a quick urinalysis because those can come back negative even if the dog has an infection. Ask for a culture which will take a couple of days. Then if there is an infection, treat it according to the vet's recommendations.
If it is not an infection, your vet may suggest (or you may ask about) using one shot of female hormones while you are trying to break the behavior because it may lessen the urge to urinate in the beginning of the re-training period. But this is not something to do on a regular basis. Again, listen to your vet.
If there is no infection, then you need to do two things: (1) eliminate all odor of urine from your house and (2) re-housetrain your dog.
(1) Eliminating all odor: You need to use an enzyme urine odor remover. Bleach, household cleaners and ammonia will NOT work. Your dog's sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than ours and even if you do not smell urine, he will. And where he smells it, he will cover it with fresh urine. Do not use ammonia: it ends up breaking down into a smell that smells like urine and your dog will cover it with his own urine.
(2) Re-housebreaking requires that you supervise, supervise, supervise. This takes: (a) confinement, (b) scheduled outdoor time, and (c) a special place outside near the door where he will get rewarded for urinating.
(a) Confinement: if you cannot supervise your boy, he must be crated. His crate should be in a family kind of room (kitchen or family room that members of the family spend lots of time in), and if you work at home, the crate should be in your office so he still feels part of the family. Retraining using a crate is something that many people don't want to do with an adult dog, but it is necessary with this kind of problem. Most people who use a crate to re-train find that the problem is gone within a month or so. Try it and see: I feel pretty sure that if you follow this program of confinement and going out that the problem will resolve itself.
Remember: you must take the dog out far more often than you might think is necessary, and you may have to stay outside with the dog upwards of 20 minutes each time. Do no punishing and speak calmly: crating and retraining are not punishment: you are helping your dog relearn his training.
(b) Scheduled outdoor time: Follow a similar schedule as you did when you first trained him as a puppy: take him out on a leash when he wakes up from sleeping, after he has eaten, whenever he has been excited (like when company comes), after drinking water, and every 20 or 30 minutes when he is playing. Be sure to walk him four or more times a day . Take him to the place where you want him to pee, and after he pees, then walk him around and give him plenty of opportunity to urine mark enough to empty his bladder (males may hold some back just in case they need to mark something!). When you bring him back inside, if you can supervise him, allow him some freedom but only under your watchful eye. If he starts to lift his leg, say sharply "Eh-Eh" to divert his attention, and take him immediately outside. When he lifts his leg outside, praise and treat. Put him back in his crate if you cannot watch him. Repeat this whole process frequently.
When you start giving him more space than his crate, you really have to supervise him carefully. You can tether him to you with a six-foot lead. If you see him sniffing or circling (indications that he is looking to mark), then take him immediately outside on a leash to his bathroom spot. When he eliminates, praise him lavishly and reward him with a treat.
After an hour or two of confinement in his crate or a small area (an area too small for him to want to urinate in), take him out to his bathroom spot and praise and treat when he eliminates.
(c) Special place near the door (but far enough away to not cause any problem for you). I read somewhere that using a marking post is a good idea: get a wooden fence post and install it in the part of the yard that you want him to use as a bathroom. Get your friends to bring their male dogs over to mark it, giving your guy an incentive to use it. When you mop up his urine in the house with paper towels or rags, leave them at the base of the marking post for awhile to show him that this is where you want him to urinate.
Don't punish your dog after the fact. Even a minute is too late because your dog does not understand why he is being punished. Dogs are not people: they do not do this out of jealousy or spite or other emotions. I doubt that they even do it out of any sense of trying to dominate you.
They do have a drive to cover urine smells with their own (and they will cover the smells made by any other pets and they will even cover their own urine smells); they do mark things that smell unfamiliar, like new things or even things that smell of other people, and this is a territorial drive: they are re-establishing that this is their territory. If he marks something that belongs to a visitor, he is just viewing the visitor as an intruder and is letting the intruder know that the space belongs to him.
Finally, if all else fails, you can consider using a belly band. This is a cloth band that is wrapped around the middle of your boy. It is secured with a velcro closing. A woman's sanitary napkin is put inside. If your dogs lifts his leg and urinates while wearing one of these, he will wet himself. Don't remove the pad immediately: they do not like having to stay wet. But don't leave it on too long either: you don't want germs to grow in it and you don't want his skin to be irritated. You also do not want to rely on it all day long because it can irritate the tip of the penis and bacteria can grow there. But it is fine for occasional use around the house when you want him to have more freedom or if you have to run to the store and don't want to confine him. The belly band is a reminder to your dog to stay dry.
Jubilee
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