Are you a first-time dog owner?

An experienced dog owner looking for puppy training and socialization?

Wondering how to integrate the puppy and the kids, or the puppy and the cat?

Puppies are cute, but they can present some special behavioral challenges.  Kindergarten Puppy Training (KPT) can help your puppy happily learn to:

• Tolerate other dogs and people Come when called
• Be quiet on command Be safe around children
• Permit handling and grooming Sit and lie down
• Walk politely on a loose leash Stop biting and chewing
• Kindergarten Puppy Training introduces all the fundamental obedience commands, as well as puppy ownership basics including socialization, handling, and problem-solving for chewing, playbiting, barking, digging, stealing, pulling on the lead and jumping up. Instructor: Dr. Jill Morstad
• Do you have a puppy, age 10 weeks to six months?
• Call us at 483-7403 to learn more.

Kindergarten puppy classes are offered at three Lincoln locations:

• Capital Humane Society 441-4488 (ask for Liz)

• Antelope Creek Veterinary Health Care Center 488-0993 (ask for Rachel)

• Yankee Hill Veterinary Hospital 421-8111 (ask for Amy)

Prairie Skies, CHS and our veterinary colleagues promote community awareness of the human-animal bond through wellness education and behavior services.

Prairie Skies – Dog Training for Open Spaces Summer School, 2009
Summer training opportunities for dogs (and owners) starting in May, 2009

• All classes run consecutive weeks, and then repeat. KMODT is ten weeks.
• NO CLASSES the week of the Fourth of July.
• Each class has a specialized emphasis (see above) and includes practice with obedience foundations (sit, down, come, heel, stay); how dogs learn (and how they don’t), training with distractions, setting goals, proofing, and problemsolving.
Dates/sites TBA. Class sizes are limited.
Jill Morstad, instructor 483-7403 or 430-4668 (cell)
Email: jmorstad@prairiek9.com
Visit us on the web at www.prairiek9.com
Surviving Your Dog’s Adolescence
A training class especially for puppies 7-18 months old. (Four weeks)
Koehler Method of Dog Training (KMODT)
Specialized basic obedience for dogs age 8 mos and up. Off-leash control in ten weeks. No dogs the first night of class.
MetroDog
For owners who want a dog they can take anywhere, with special emphasis on well-behaved dogs in urban and institutional environments. Completing two sessions of MetroDog will prepare you and your dog to test for the AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate. If you’ve ever thought about doing therapy work with your dog in hospitals, schools or senior centers, this class is for you. (Four weeks)
Tracking (six weeks)
Teach your dog to follow human scent, and prepare for tracking tests or titles. Tracking regulations and info available from the AKC at www.akc.org
Puppy Kindergarten
For puppies age 10 weeks to 7 months old. Introduce your puppy to basic obedience, promote good behavior, and eliminate jumping up, biting and chewing, barking, digging… On-going classes at three different Lincoln locations. (Four weeks)

Dogs, cats send 86,000 Americans flying annually!

Dogs and cats soothe the soul and provide companionship, but a report released this week suggests they sometimes cause broken bones and sprains, too.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every year, more than 86,000 fall injuries are caused by pets. Dogs are the biggest culprits, causing 88 percent of the injuries. Cats cause 11.7 percent of the falls, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly  Report.  CDC researchers formulated the national estimates based on data from 66 emergency rooms.

“Many of them occurred while people were walking their dog or chasing either their dog or cat,” said Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist with the CDC
http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention/

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Over half the injuries with dogs were either falls or tripping over the pet or they were pushed or pulled by the pet.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/27/fall.dogs.cats/index.html

A clip from one of my favorite dog-related sites: the smartdogs weblog.

“The emotions and intentions we project onto our dogs typically take the form of complex narrative. And while much of this interpretative narration is part of a healthy reciprocal, thoughtful relationship – sometimes it can lead to serious problems. As we project ideas and emotions onto our dogs we need to remember….”

More at the link: http://smartdogs.wordpress.com/

EVERYBODY who owns a dog needs to read this blog post, and think about how that doggy Rorschach resonates in their own life.

Happy training!
– Jill
http://www.prairiek9.com/

We all have a boundary or “personal space” around us. None of us allow or like any person to enter our personal space uninvited. Do you? Dogs should not enter your space uninvited either.
One of two paths can be taken to teach a dog not to jump up on you. One is prevention, which takes place before the behavior happens. The other is correction which takes place after it has already happened. Prevention is always better than correction. You may have to use both of these methods together. Plan on setting the dog up several different times.

PREVENTION > THE PERSONAL SPACE RACE

PREDICT- Write a list of the occasions your dog jumps up on you. (Ex. When you come into the house, getting his food ready, etc.)
PREPARE- Ready yourself by reviewing the “process” and planning ahead.
THE PROCESS
1. Watch him as he approaches you.
2. Step towards your dog while the dog has all four paws on the ground, and BEFORE the dog has his front paws off the ground. This prevents him from jumping up. IT’S THE SPACE RACE. Get into his personal space BEFORE he gets the chance to get into yours. This takes good timing on your part. Race him to the personal space invasion. Some dogs may require that the owner step fast, others slow. Some require a large step, some just a small step or a lean into his space. Some need more than one step, or actually crowding him.
3. Tell him to sit as you step towards him.
4. Quietly praise and pet him. Loud praise may excite the dog causing him to jump up.
5. Repeat until he no longer attempts to jump up. Just keep on getting into his space.

CORRECTION
If your dog has already jumped up on you, don’t worry, it can be fixed. This is the correction phase. He has already performed a bad behavior that needs correcting.
1. Command your dog with “OFF”. He will soon learn what “off” means. (All four feet on the ground).
2. Step and walk into him as you say off.
3. Tell him to sit when all fours are on the ground.
4. Quietly praise and pet him.
5. Repeat until he no longer attempts to jump up. Just keep on getting into his space.

Article submitted by dog trainer Vicky Moser, owner of AK Animal Services.