Bandit is about 10 weeks old now & still struggling with potty training & knowing the strength behind his bite. So, Jeremy found a local dog trainer that did house visits and scheduled an appointment. Gene worked with us for about 2 hours and we have all learned how to better communicate with each other.
First, we learned a new word! The German word for 'no' is 'nein' (pronounced nine). The reason behind saying 'nein' instead of 'no' is because it prevents us from showing frustration in our voice so that the struggle stays between him and his collar rather than him and us. For instance, since our natural dialect is the English language, saying 'nein' forces us to focus on our use of the word and does not confuse Bandit since we do not use that word in any other circumstance. Also, it is important for Bandit to associate the word 'nein' with his collar being pulled rather than mommy and/or daddy showing interaction with him, which encourages him to do whatever it is he's doing to get interaction, whether positive or negative.
First, we learned a new word! The German word for 'no' is 'nein' (pronounced nine). The reason behind saying 'nein' instead of 'no' is because it prevents us from showing frustration in our voice so that the struggle stays between him and his collar rather than him and us. For instance, since our natural dialect is the English language, saying 'nein' forces us to focus on our use of the word and does not confuse Bandit since we do not use that word in any other circumstance. Also, it is important for Bandit to associate the word 'nein' with his collar being pulled rather than mommy and/or daddy showing interaction with him, which encourages him to do whatever it is he's doing to get interaction, whether positive or negative.
Now, about this collar.......
This collar is worn around his neck just like any other and is built so that the links, when pulled, give the same sensation to the back of his neck that he felt from his mother when she disciplined him. You've probably seen this before: when the puppy no longer needs to nurse from his mother, she will simply pick him up by the fat of his neck to tell him no.
This collar is worn around his neck just like any other and is built so that the links, when pulled, give the same sensation to the back of his neck that he felt from his mother when she disciplined him. You've probably seen this before: when the puppy no longer needs to nurse from his mother, she will simply pick him up by the fat of his neck to tell him no.
So how do you "pull" his collar to give him that feeling?
<------ Simply tug on his leash, or the keychain part of the collar (gold part of leash pictured to the right) and say 'nein'.
Already, we have a way to have him stop doing something without him thinking he's winning by getting us to interact with him, whether that is a pop on the butt or whatever. Instead, he associates our body language when we go for the pull with our word nein with the pull of his collar.
<------ Simply tug on his leash, or the keychain part of the collar (gold part of leash pictured to the right) and say 'nein'.
Already, we have a way to have him stop doing something without him thinking he's winning by getting us to interact with him, whether that is a pop on the butt or whatever. Instead, he associates our body language when we go for the pull with our word nein with the pull of his collar.
*IMPORTANT*
There is a 9 second window when dogs associate our actions with what they're doing. First three seconds before the action happens (while he's thinking about doing it), three seconds during the action, and three seconds after it's happened. So, if he pees on the floor and walks away, you're already too late.
There is a 9 second window when dogs associate our actions with what they're doing. First three seconds before the action happens (while he's thinking about doing it), three seconds during the action, and three seconds after it's happened. So, if he pees on the floor and walks away, you're already too late.
Nutrition
We spent a good portion of our time together talking about nutrition. Today, Bandit's life expectancy is roughly 9 years. However, it used to be closer to 14-15 years old. Why is this?
Mal-Nutrition. In other words....Dog food.
We have noticed that whenever Bandit goes outside he's usually eating grass, dirt, chewing on sticks, etc. Well now we know why! (This is also the reasoning behind dogs that eat their poop).
Dogs have a strong nose and they can smell the minerals in these things and that causes them to want to digest them.
We learned that dog food has a shelf life of TWO YEARS. We found the "Best By" label on our bag of dog food that we just bought... it was for April of 2014, which means it is already over a year old. It is preserved to last and this is the bad odor you smell when you open the bag of food and also the greasy feeling of the food inside of the bag. The dog food is cooked at a temperature greater than 120 degrees and then sprayed with preservatives to make it last. Unfortunately, this kills all the good ingredients; including enzymes. This is the reasoning behind the hardened poop we all have in our yards that never goes away. Without enzymes, are doggies are not able to digest all the good stuff they should be. A better example would be dog food when it gets wet, it expands.. same thing happens in their tummies. Their stomach has acid in it, which when they eat, causes the food to expand in their tummies. About an hour and a half after your doggie eats, he will go for the "Big Drink". This is the time that he is able to start flushing out the food that he cannot digest. Dog food these days is simply grain, all of the enzymes in the meats and greens in 'ingredients' is cooked out. (Don't judge my lack of big words, it was a lot of information in just two hours). :P
So what would happen if he did have enough enzymes in his diet? (See picture below about Prozymes). He would poop (if he ate the Prozymes powder there would be a white powdery substance on the top of it) and this would all wash away in the rain. But instead, we have this hardened poop that I feel bad about every time the lawnmowers come so we bought a pooper scooper.
Gene has been a very successful dog trainer for over 30 years and so I really do trust his judgment and knowledge, which is a lot! He trains the local K9s at Fort Leonard Wood, he trains cattle dogs, hunting dogs, therapy dogs, etc. He had much better explanations than I relayed in this post and I hope that someone can find the literature he provided us with useful!
Bandit has already learned how to sit, lay down, shake, speak, he now understands the meaning of 'nein', and has even told us he needs to go outside to go potty. I'm sure we have a long way to go, but he really is such an intelligent dog & I'm so glad we had the opportunity to learn from Gene today. Maybe Bandit will be Jeremy's K9 for work afterall ;)
We spent a good portion of our time together talking about nutrition. Today, Bandit's life expectancy is roughly 9 years. However, it used to be closer to 14-15 years old. Why is this?
Mal-Nutrition. In other words....Dog food.
We have noticed that whenever Bandit goes outside he's usually eating grass, dirt, chewing on sticks, etc. Well now we know why! (This is also the reasoning behind dogs that eat their poop).
Dogs have a strong nose and they can smell the minerals in these things and that causes them to want to digest them.
We learned that dog food has a shelf life of TWO YEARS. We found the "Best By" label on our bag of dog food that we just bought... it was for April of 2014, which means it is already over a year old. It is preserved to last and this is the bad odor you smell when you open the bag of food and also the greasy feeling of the food inside of the bag. The dog food is cooked at a temperature greater than 120 degrees and then sprayed with preservatives to make it last. Unfortunately, this kills all the good ingredients; including enzymes. This is the reasoning behind the hardened poop we all have in our yards that never goes away. Without enzymes, are doggies are not able to digest all the good stuff they should be. A better example would be dog food when it gets wet, it expands.. same thing happens in their tummies. Their stomach has acid in it, which when they eat, causes the food to expand in their tummies. About an hour and a half after your doggie eats, he will go for the "Big Drink". This is the time that he is able to start flushing out the food that he cannot digest. Dog food these days is simply grain, all of the enzymes in the meats and greens in 'ingredients' is cooked out. (Don't judge my lack of big words, it was a lot of information in just two hours). :P
So what would happen if he did have enough enzymes in his diet? (See picture below about Prozymes). He would poop (if he ate the Prozymes powder there would be a white powdery substance on the top of it) and this would all wash away in the rain. But instead, we have this hardened poop that I feel bad about every time the lawnmowers come so we bought a pooper scooper.
Gene has been a very successful dog trainer for over 30 years and so I really do trust his judgment and knowledge, which is a lot! He trains the local K9s at Fort Leonard Wood, he trains cattle dogs, hunting dogs, therapy dogs, etc. He had much better explanations than I relayed in this post and I hope that someone can find the literature he provided us with useful!
Bandit has already learned how to sit, lay down, shake, speak, he now understands the meaning of 'nein', and has even told us he needs to go outside to go potty. I'm sure we have a long way to go, but he really is such an intelligent dog & I'm so glad we had the opportunity to learn from Gene today. Maybe Bandit will be Jeremy's K9 for work afterall ;)