September 2014                                                                                              Volume 5, Issue 7
Carolina Dog Times 
          The Information You Need About the Dogs You Love
News and Views from the Front of the Pack
                 
                   

Many of you got to enjoy a day off from work or school yesterday in celebration of Labor Day. As I walked with the pack through the neighborhood, we noticed folks washing their cars or loading them with coolers and chairs in preparation of this year's final summer outing. And, I thought, no matter what the day, be it my birthday, a holiday or a snow day, taking a vacation from a pack walk is not an option any more than missing a nourishing meal for me or our dogs who look forward to this important practice enjoyed in unison as required sustenance for a healthy, happy life!

WOOF!
Elaine

 

 
In This Issue
Children and Dogs
Graduate Pack Walk
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Children and Dogs 

         

                                                                   Jackie lays calmly for petting 
 
I had to share this with my dog-loving friends - I got a call from a frantic woman a few days ago about how her dog bit her friend's son on the hand and she didn't know what to do. Unfortunately, I've been on the receiving end of calls like this before. The woman told me that her dog has never done this before and "he's really such a good dog." 

As dog owners, it is our responsibility to teach our dogs to be respectful to children- ours or someone else's, and to teach our children how to be equally respectful to dogs. 

Being a responsible dog owner means: 
  • Teaching our dogs to sit or lay down calmly in order to be given attention or affection by both adults and children and to chew on his designated toys only and not a child's belongings.
  • Teaching children how to be respectful to animals by not teasing or handling them inappropriately. For example, I've witnessed children pulling on a dog's tail or trying to ride on their backs!  
  • Teaching children examples of appropriate versus inappropriate play with dogs. For example, ball throwing is appropriate while tug-of-war and chasing are not.
  • Teaching children to always ask permission from both their parent and the dog owner to pet a dog rather than running up to a dog with the assumption that he wants you to touch him. 
In addition, many children and adults believe that if the dog's tail is wagging, it is a sign that the dog wants to play. That can't be further from the truth! While sometimes a dog's tail is wagging when his family returns home or he is in play mode, it is also true that a dog's tail wags prior to a bite. A wagging tail simply equals excitement.
 

According to the American Humane Society -

  • An estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur in the U.S. each year
  • Nearly 800,000 dog bites require medical care2
  • Approximately 92% of fatal dog attacks involved male dogs, 94% of which were not neutered
  • Approximately 25% of fatal dog attacks involved chained dogs
  • Approximately 71% of bites occur to the extremities (arms, legs, hands, feet)2
  • Approximately two-thirds of bites occurred on or near the victim's property, and most victims knew the dog

It's hard to imagine that the dog you know and love - your own or a friend's or family member's - could or would ever bite you. After all, he's so sweet and knows you! But, dogs are not human. They are animals first and foremost.  Unfortunately, news anchor Kyle Dyer was reminded of this lesson very recently as shown in the following clip: Dog Bite Story

 

Most bites are proceeded by a warning growl or snarl and can be induced by dominance, rivalry, resource guarding, jealousy, uncertainty as well as other stressors such as fear. 

 

It is extremely important that dogs are well socialized with exposure at an early age to a variety of stimuli including: people, children, cars, places, environments, other well-behaved dogs, noises and things in our everyday life such as garbage trucks, garden hoses and vacuum cleaners! This socialization at an early age, along with basic training for you and your pup, will help keep everyone safe. Teaching dogs and humans - adults and children - good greeting manners and how to stay safe and approach a dog is vital to enjoying healthy relationships with four-legged friends. We at Carolina Dog Training, take this early socialization very seriously and can start you off on the right paw! We provide private puppy consultations for pups between the ages of 7 - 16 weeks of age in your own home with your entire family so that full vaccination is not necessary. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes that it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated and we fully support that!

 

Socialization, effective training, supervision and education for all are key to bite prevention and dog safety. 

Graduate Pack Walk!
                                                      

Elaine on Pack Walk     Trained by Elaine Logo  

  

Yes, it's finally here! Our graduate-only pack walk to hone our skills and socialize! We'll meet on Sunday, September 28th at 9:00 am sharp at Jordan Lake's Old Oak trail head at the southeast corner of the beach parking lot: 

 

http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/jord/pics/ebchurch.pdf

 

Directions: From Hwy. 55 in Cary, take Hwy 64 West. It is 7.2 miles from the traffic light at the intersection of NC 55 and US 64.  At the Wilsonville intersection (Hwy 751) turn left onto Beaver Creek Rd at the traffic light. Turn right into the Ebenezer Church Campground and travel past the guard gate to beach parking lot.

 

All dogs must be on leash. Please RSVP to elaine@carolinadogtraining.com.