Puppy Mills- What they really mean to the pet industry

Did you know that one puppy mill breeder with just 10 breeding females can easily put 100-140 dogs in the industry a year. But if you think that sounds horrendous then think of this. The HSUS has documented over one thousand commercial breeders in Virginia alone, many of these puppy mills admit to owning over 500 breeding females. That means that one puppy mill with 500 breeding females can easily put 5000-7000 dogs in the industry a year.

Responsible breeders DO NOT sell their dogs to pet stores. It just never happens. If you can't see the parents and living conditions of the breeder's home then DON'T buy the puppy.
Each time a puppy mills puppy is bought you put money into the hands of the cruel people. They do not care about the health and wellbeing of a single animal, they only care about making money.

Even if your puppy doesn't become sick think about it's parents. Breeding dogs never get to touch grass and are of kept in cages raised off the ground so that the dogs must stand on chicken wire their entire life.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Adopt from a Shelter
Buy ONLY from reputable small single breed breeders who let you visit their homes.

In Response to the HSUS Investigation

Virginia authorities responded to the Humane Socirty of the United States undercover investigation this week. With help from HSUS, dozens of shelters and Virginia authorities all helped close down just one of the puppy mills in Virginia.
All the data is still coming in but according to HSUS website 45 adult dogs and 65 puppies were taken from one breeder in two separate visits. Unfortunately the number of rescued dogs has swelled in the past several days as dozens of the adult females were pregnant at the time of rescue.
The majority of dogs were small breeds. These dogs would have been sold in clasified ads and pet stores across the East Coast. In the end the only thing that will truly end puppy mills is for the money trail to run out. By not ever buying a puppy from a pet store or from back yard breeders we will cut off the income supply for these breeders. It is the consumer who has the ultimate power.
LET'S USE IT!!!!
Please visit the HSUS website and learn more about puppy mills.

Love for all creatures
Kat

Behavioral Myths

The below list is a compilation created by Dr. Lore Haug of many trainers and what we hear as "behavioral truths" which in fact have no baring in scientific reality.

If one of these myths confuses you then please comment.  I'm happy to explain the reality in more detail.

1. Puppies should not go to puppy classes/the mall/friend's houses until they have had all their vaccinations at 16 weeks of age

2. Aggressive dogs are dominant.

3. Dogs pull on leash and jump up on people because they are dominant

4. If you let your dog sleep on the bed, he will become the alpha.

5. It's importnat to rub a dog's nose in it's feces or urine to properly housetrain it.

6. Dogs can't learn from positive reinforcement.  You have to punish them so they know they are wrong.

7. My dog is aggressive towards strangers because he is protecting me.

8. If you use treats to train, you will always need them.

9. Dogs urinate inside the house and barks when him alone because he is spiteful.

10. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers are aggressive due to a "missing gene"

There will be more to come

Keeper of the Dogs

POWER

The idea of power has such a strong force in the human psyche.  To feel power over something gives a person control and security that they will be able to determine and mold the future.

In dog training the idea of power has been used and misused so many times that even dog trainers, animal behaviors and scientists get confused at times with what is power and what is the natural order of things.  But if you sit back and try to understand what power really achieves and what it doesn't then you can make some better choices on how to train your dog.

The first thing that must be realized is that in the end each human, each creature, each living thing has the power to control it's own body/destiny.  There are of course so many factors that go into choice but in the end the reaction that a being takes is it's own.  By understanding that although we use such words as "owning a dog" or "commands for a dog" the dog has a choice in the end to listen to us or not.  Now please understand me that choice doesn't always mean rational or survival of the decision.  A slave can finally decide to choose to walk away.  Now in that moment of choice the slave is finally taking on it's ability to have control of it's life.  That decision will probably also precipitate the death of the slave but in the act of the slave choosing to walk away the slave takes the power away from the owner and back to himself.

In the end there was nothing the owner could do to have power over that slave.

Realize first that your dog ALWAYS has a choice to make.  Realize as well that you can guide your dog towards one decision or another but you will never be able to make that decision for your dog.  The final decision is the dog's decision.  Upon realizing that you do not own or control or have power over your dog you will also realize that the method of forcing a dog to make decisions about sitting, coming, laying down, not biting are all acts in futility.  Just as a battered wife eventually turns and kills her husband so will a dog eventually lash out at you.  He may try to run away at first but if you always limit your dog's choice to obey or be hit/shocked etc you are in the end limiting the dog's ability to choose anything except to fight back.

The joy of understanding the new methods of reinforcement training is that we never start with the goal of power over the dog.  We start with the knowledge that the dog doesn't know what we want from his behavior but he does have the ability to learn.  By using a majority of positive reinforcement concepts with only minimal punishment we encourage a dog to enjoy the act of listening and learning from us.  Upon this the dog will actually learn much more quickly then by threatening body harm to achieve our goals of sitting, laying down and coming.  When choosing your next trainer or training book think about what you are really trying to do with your dog.

Are you trying to force power and control over something that you never can have control over?

or 

Are you trying to create a communication bond between two different species that will help both of you understand your customs and behaviors better therefore making both of you able to live together more peacefully?

HSUS undercover investigation

The Humane Society of the United States has published an undercover investigation regarding puppy mills in the State of Virginia. Virginia is a state that has decent regulations regarding the care treatment and welfare of dogs being bred and sold there. However clear problems in this state include the fact that very few commercial breeders are licensed and then they are not monitored by the agriculture department
Please visit the Humane Society's website to see their whole video
I have often had people question my complete ban on Pet stores who sell puppies. People tell me that the puppy in the window needs saved too. But what these well meaning people don't understand is that unlicensed puppy mills put a majority of the dogs into our communities. They are often sick, not well socialized, and many times dumped at shelters at six weeks of age. You may think your saving one dog but you are at the same time killing hundreds of other dogs by financially supporting these breeders. The only way to get them to stop breeding unhealthy and excessive numbers of dogs is to cut off their income.
DON"T BUY FROM PUPPY MILLS OR PET STORES and they will stop breeding. The treatment of these animals is just has horrendous as what Michael Vick did to his fighting dogs. PLEASE STOP BUYING FROM PET STORES!
If you are looking for a dog. Consider a shelter or rescue organization. If you definitely want to buy a full bred puppy then go to a reputable breeder. A good breeder will interview you as much as you should be interviewing the breeder. If the breeder doesn't care where the puppy is going then I would worry that the breeder never cared about where the puppies genes came from or how well it was cared for after birth.

Crumpet in his new home

I am pleased and honored to let everyone know that Crumpet has found his new permanent home. He is living with two adult humans and one sister cockapoo. They were all very patient with Crumpet as he came to stay with them. They even invited me and my dog, Kayla, to stay at their house to help Crumpet in his transition.

I am always honored to care for my foster dogs and the love and generosity of the people who adopt these dogs is astounding to say the least.

Crumpet's new family have let me know that he as relaxed into his new home over the past six weeks and they graciously thanked me for the work that I did with Crumpet before bringing him to them.

I also want to thank Abandoned Angels for rescuing Crumpet out of his previous life and putting in the effort and immense cost to care for him until he was ready for his new home. I've been working with Abandoned Angels for about six months and I'm constantly amazed at the love and generosity they put into their dogs. The people who run Abandoned Angels have full time jobs and spend every moment of their free time caring for lost/dumped/and abused cockers to make sure they find good loving homes.

I can't even begin to express the respect and awe I have for this organization.
www.nyabandonedangels.com

Kat

APDT CONFERENCE

I wanted to take a moment to thank the board of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers for putting on such a wonderful conference for it's members this year. For those of you who don't know, the APDT is at the forefront of education and development of the professional dog trainer. Their constant work has brought trainers, veterinarians, vet technicians, and animal scientists from many fields together to gather and learn more about dogs in a holistic way.
This year I focused greatly on scientific issues. Learning more about the brain, it's structure and operations. I've learned about how any brain works and how dog and human brains work both the same and differently.
With this knowledge I've been able to begin better training plans for my clients. I've been able to tailor my training plans that focus on how your dog's brain learns most quickly and with the least about of stress.

I hope that others at the conference got as much out of the wonderful speakers as I did

To learn more about APDT please go to their website at www.apdt.com
They can help you make a more educated choice in choosing the right trainer to help better the relationship between you and your dog.

Welcome me back

My apologies for being distant in my management of my blog. A number of personal and familial issues have conspired to make my professional life difficult to maintain.

Please make sure to browse older blogs for help and ideas with training.

Love to all
Kat, Keeper of the Dogs, Berger