Sunday, June 23, 2013
More Research Needed
There seems to be very little research on the subject of additives in dog food and their potential affects on behavior. I don't mean the actual main source of protein, I'm talking about any food coloring and other ingredients that have no nutritional value. I have read studies on the subject involving children, but never canines.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
No More Leash jerks or "Pops"
I've seen plenty of so-called Dog Trainer instructing people how to take control of their dog pulling on-lead. Would you call jerking the leash while the dog has a choke or a prong collar on "Training"?
I don't think so. I have no problem using training collars, such as prong collars in certain situations; they work if it's used correctly. With or without a training collar ,there is a much better way to have your dog stop pulling on-lead. Real Trainers or Behavior Counselors can show you. when you are in need of a trainer, make sure (before you commit) you ask questions about his/her training methods. You want to hear the they use "Positive Reinforcement" methods.
I don't think so. I have no problem using training collars, such as prong collars in certain situations; they work if it's used correctly. With or without a training collar ,there is a much better way to have your dog stop pulling on-lead. Real Trainers or Behavior Counselors can show you. when you are in need of a trainer, make sure (before you commit) you ask questions about his/her training methods. You want to hear the they use "Positive Reinforcement" methods.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Pack Leader Myth
The subject of domesticated dogs as pack animals has
made a fortune for a television Trainer here in the United States. His theory
of “the pack leader” for training purposes is his sole programme of gaining
compliance from his client’s dogs. What I have witnessed is a man use
submission techniques that have no place in the modern world to instill fear
into dogs until they comply. This has nothing to do with dogs as pack animals.
We humans are not pack leaders; we are humans. Dogs do not “see” humans as dogs
in a pack or pack leaders or pack anything. On my website
www.educatemymutt.com, I have a brief discussion on the subject of the “pack
leader” theory. In my opinion, it has no basis for training purposes at all
(Greis, 2010). Based on my knowledge of the history of dogs, one of the main
behaviors that set them apart from their closest relatives, the grey wolf is
the domesticated dog’s inherited ability to live with a human family with no
other dogs, and be perfectly happy for a lifetime doing so. Take that same dog,
go to a dog park, and majority of the time, the dogs will run together and play
together without incident. On her website, “The Canine Mind”, Canine
Psychologist Lizi Angel (Angel, 2007-2012) discusses the human-dog bond. She
states when a dog challenges and threatens a human (I’d rather use the term
“becomes aggressive”), it’s not because the dog wants to become the pack
leader, it’s because we do not understand the dog’s temperament type and we
need to teach the dog how to use alternative , acceptable, peaceful ways to get
what
dog wants. Angel further states that through thousands of years of domestication dog have chosen to leave the pack life behind and now proximate their social life with humans. They come to read our 'left-gaze bias', which means the right side of our faces display the true emotions we are feeling. In other words, dogs learned to read our faces. They naturally gaze at us. This is something a dog would never do with another dog. Dogs naturally communicate with humans. Angel comments on the obsession with people attempting to “speak” dog and acting as a pack leader and how all this not necessary. We need to “aspire to be the best provider, teacher and companion to our dogs, and put ourselves squarely back into the human part of the human-canine bond”. An article in the May 2009 Bristol University news reports of a study conducted by the University’s’ Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences shows how dogs have been misjudged for generations. The paper submitted to the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research called “Dominance in domestic dogs – useful construct or bad habit?” discovered that dogs are not attempting to maintain themselves in a pack hierarchy, and any dog training using “dominance reduction” is likely to cause more unwanted behaviors than cure them. Dr. Rachel Casey Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Bristol University said: “The blanket assumption that every dog is motivated by some innate desire to control people and other dogs is frankly ridiculous”. Any coercive training techniques which compromise the safety of the dog can cause behavioral problems. In her clinic, Dr. Casey has seen dog that has learned to show aggression to avoid anticipated punishment. Dr Casey further States “Sadly, many techniques used to teach a dog that his owner is leader of the pack is counter-productive; you won’t get a better behaved dog, but you will either end up with a dog so fearful it has suppressed all its natural behaviours and will just do nothing, or one so aggressive it’s dangerous to be around.” (News from the University, 27 May 2009) Unfortunately, this is the type of behavior I have seen in dogs on the popular ‘pack leader” show here in the states. I have seen dogs on his show shy away with their ears back, necks and heads low which he calls “calm submissive” or some other non-sense. I call it fear. I recently reviewed the site of the TV dog trainer who uses the pack oriented training methods. He has an e-mail page where people can send him questions and he will answer their concerns. One person wrote about how her Son left for college and her two dogs, a puggle and a German sheppard dog were acting different. The puggle (female) urinated in the home (she claims the dog never did prior) and the GSD was “moping around”. In my opinion, without an interview, it seems the two dogs were feeling a little separation anxiety since the son left home and probably would recoup in a few days if the parents resume normal activities with the dogs (both dogs are under 5 years old). The trainer had a different slant on the whole scenario. Without asking questions whether the dogs were neutered and/or spayed, this was part of his response: She’s eliminating in the place where your son’s scent is, as this was the person who triggered her when they went on her walk. Or, perhaps your son represented the dominant energy in the house. “The German shepherd moping around means that he is the weaker energy, so the Pug is taking the more dominant role in your son’s absence by marking her scent over your son’s”. “With the testosterone gone, the estrogen kicks in. The biologically and psychologically dominant role is in question, and since the German shepherd won’t take over, the Pug is doing it”. “In Mother Nature, this is normal pack mentality to maintain balance”. He then goes on how to create a new routine for the dogs. But the last bit of advice he gave them is disturbing and I don’t know where he is going with this: “And most importantly, be aware you’re your energy. They are trying to tell you something”. “Work on your calm, assertive leadership!” (Millan, August 29 2011). I believe I have presented several examples of writings by educated and experienced people whom I agree; the domesticated dog is not a pack animal and should not be treated as a pack animal for the purposes of training. The studies have shown that rank-reduction, or any other dominance busting training causes more behavior problems in dogs. The best methods time and time again are “Positive Reinforcement” & actually understanding how dogs learn.
dog wants. Angel further states that through thousands of years of domestication dog have chosen to leave the pack life behind and now proximate their social life with humans. They come to read our 'left-gaze bias', which means the right side of our faces display the true emotions we are feeling. In other words, dogs learned to read our faces. They naturally gaze at us. This is something a dog would never do with another dog. Dogs naturally communicate with humans. Angel comments on the obsession with people attempting to “speak” dog and acting as a pack leader and how all this not necessary. We need to “aspire to be the best provider, teacher and companion to our dogs, and put ourselves squarely back into the human part of the human-canine bond”. An article in the May 2009 Bristol University news reports of a study conducted by the University’s’ Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences shows how dogs have been misjudged for generations. The paper submitted to the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research called “Dominance in domestic dogs – useful construct or bad habit?” discovered that dogs are not attempting to maintain themselves in a pack hierarchy, and any dog training using “dominance reduction” is likely to cause more unwanted behaviors than cure them. Dr. Rachel Casey Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Bristol University said: “The blanket assumption that every dog is motivated by some innate desire to control people and other dogs is frankly ridiculous”. Any coercive training techniques which compromise the safety of the dog can cause behavioral problems. In her clinic, Dr. Casey has seen dog that has learned to show aggression to avoid anticipated punishment. Dr Casey further States “Sadly, many techniques used to teach a dog that his owner is leader of the pack is counter-productive; you won’t get a better behaved dog, but you will either end up with a dog so fearful it has suppressed all its natural behaviours and will just do nothing, or one so aggressive it’s dangerous to be around.” (News from the University, 27 May 2009) Unfortunately, this is the type of behavior I have seen in dogs on the popular ‘pack leader” show here in the states. I have seen dogs on his show shy away with their ears back, necks and heads low which he calls “calm submissive” or some other non-sense. I call it fear. I recently reviewed the site of the TV dog trainer who uses the pack oriented training methods. He has an e-mail page where people can send him questions and he will answer their concerns. One person wrote about how her Son left for college and her two dogs, a puggle and a German sheppard dog were acting different. The puggle (female) urinated in the home (she claims the dog never did prior) and the GSD was “moping around”. In my opinion, without an interview, it seems the two dogs were feeling a little separation anxiety since the son left home and probably would recoup in a few days if the parents resume normal activities with the dogs (both dogs are under 5 years old). The trainer had a different slant on the whole scenario. Without asking questions whether the dogs were neutered and/or spayed, this was part of his response: She’s eliminating in the place where your son’s scent is, as this was the person who triggered her when they went on her walk. Or, perhaps your son represented the dominant energy in the house. “The German shepherd moping around means that he is the weaker energy, so the Pug is taking the more dominant role in your son’s absence by marking her scent over your son’s”. “With the testosterone gone, the estrogen kicks in. The biologically and psychologically dominant role is in question, and since the German shepherd won’t take over, the Pug is doing it”. “In Mother Nature, this is normal pack mentality to maintain balance”. He then goes on how to create a new routine for the dogs. But the last bit of advice he gave them is disturbing and I don’t know where he is going with this: “And most importantly, be aware you’re your energy. They are trying to tell you something”. “Work on your calm, assertive leadership!” (Millan, August 29 2011). I believe I have presented several examples of writings by educated and experienced people whom I agree; the domesticated dog is not a pack animal and should not be treated as a pack animal for the purposes of training. The studies have shown that rank-reduction, or any other dominance busting training causes more behavior problems in dogs. The best methods time and time again are “Positive Reinforcement” & actually understanding how dogs learn.
Philip K Greis
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Closing Canine Gene Pools
The short answer for the question regarding problems
associated with selective breeding for specific qualities is yes. Is there
scientific evidence to substantiate this claim? The answer again is yes. In my
research, I have found evidence over and over again, if the gene pools of
full-bred dogs do not expand, genetic disorders do increase. In 2003, at the
AKC Canine Health Foundation Conference in St Louis, Mo, Dr. Jerold Bell DVM
spoke about “Popular Sire Syndrome”. According to Dr Bell, there is a tendency
to breed a winning sire with certified hip and eye clearance (meaning no hip or
eye problems certified by a recognized association) or no epileptic breedings
to epileptic dams. No matter how healthy the sire is, too much breeding can
shift the gene pool in the direction of the sire and cause a loss of genetic
diversity. It’s not a matter of what bad recessive genes the sire is carrying;
it’s only a matter of when they will cause problems in future generations of
the sire’s lineage. Dr Bell called this the “Founder’s Effect” Dr Bell further
states that problems that inbreeding depression causes in purebred populations comes
from the effects of deleterious recessive genes. When homozygous, they cause
impaired health. Lethal recessive genes place a drain on the gene pool and can
cause smaller litter size and new-born deaths. Other deleterious recessive
genes can cause immune system problems and other diseases. (Jerold S.
Bell, 2003)
In an article for BARK magazine, Dr. Jane
Brackman, PhD writes how 25% of the world’s dog breeds today were created in
the between 1859 and 1900. Prior to that, she states “any hodge-podge of
similar-looking dogs performing similar tasks was awarded the right to be
called a breed”. She continues on to talk about the creation of dog shows such
as Crufts and Westminster created strict breed standards, which led to a common
gene pool. Dr. Brackman further states this continuation of the strict
conformity to the standards led to homozygosity, which the downside is disease
and unsoundness. She claims as a result of this “concentration of form”,
today’s dogs suffer from more than 350 genetic illnesses. She interviewed Professor
Mark Neff at UC Davis whose team has been researching this problem and has
expanded on some results that was discovered during earlier studies. Dr. Neff
and his team have found a single mutated gene that is sensitive to several
modern medicines including anti-cancer meds, and an anti-heartworm drug called ivermectin.
This sensitivity to the meds may cause death.
This mutation has gone unnoticed for over one hundred years. They
discovered there must have been a common ancestor for at least the following
nine breeds of dogs and the percentage of the frequency of the mutated genes:
Collie (54.6%), Long-haired Whippet (41.6%), Miniature Australian
Shepherd (25.9%), Silken Wind hound (17.9%), McNab (17.1%), Australian Shepherd
(16.6%), Shetland sheepdog (8.4%), English Shepherd (7.1%) and the Old English
Sheepdog (3.6%). (Jane Brackman, The Bark, Issue 34, Jan/Feb 2006) In a film released
by the BBC called “Pedigree Dogs Exposed”, the very subject of selectively
breeding and the consequences was the entirety of the film. If there was any
doubt that closed gene pools, limited gene pools, in-breeding, etc. has any
detrimental genetic effects on a dog breed, this film will cast out any doubts
you may have. The dog breed that appears to be the major subject of the film is
the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. According to the film, in the UK this
beautiful little breed is plagued with a neurological disorder known as “Syringomyelia”
This is a condition where the back half of the dog’s skull is too small to
accommodate the brain’s cerebellum. This causes an enormous amount of pain to
the dogs. From watching the film, it appears to be nightmarish. This disease
has been directly linked to the small gene pool for the breed. It is a problem
for the breed in the United States as well. The film discusses other breeds
with genetic disorders associated to the breeds. German Shepard’s hind legs
appear to be lower to the ground and almost dragging. This is a direct result
of the strict breed standard established by The Kennel Club UK. Another genetic
mutation that was a total surprise to me is the Rhodesian ridgeback. According
to Dr James Kirkwood, The ridge on the ridgeback is a sign of a genetic
disorder known as dermoid sinus which is similar to human spina bifida. This is
a condition whereby the backbone and spinal canal do not close prior to birth.
The ironic thing is the puppies born without the ridge are considered mutations
by breeders and are “put down”, but in reality actually born without the
genetic defect. It was also brought out in the film although there are 10,000
pugs in the UK; in actually there is only enough genetic diversity for 50
healthy pugs. These are dogs that are plagued with numerous genetic disorders
from selective breeding habits. (Pedigree Dogs Exposed, 2008) There are ways to
perpetuate the breeds and create healthier lines. This is known and can be done.
All that needs to be done is diversify the breeding stock by importing from
other countries that have excellent breeding programs. The Swedish Kennel Club
has banned all close in-breeding. The problem is as long as the show game is
lucrative and profitable, the show breeders will continue business as usual
until the genetic disorders will become so bad, the sires will become sterile
or the dams will produce no litters. Looking at the big picture, would it be so
bad if pure bred dogs could not breed anymore? All pure breeds are a result of
man playing god and the consequences of this failed experiment are being felt
by the innocent victims who rely solely on us to take care of them. Mixed breed
dogs are stronger, healthier, live longer, and make great family friends. Maybe
that’s the future of dogs. Philip K Greis
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