Human Focus

I often find myself mentally doing the same crystal ball exercise when a new client enters my training center with a seemingly mismatched canine companion. Sometimes I see right away that we are really going to have our work cut out for us. However, I really don’t ever despair; relationship miracles can, and do, happen. Seemingly misfit human/canine matches can grow into solid partnerships . . . as long as the partners have a few things going for them – the major components of a good relationship, the kind that’s built to last.

Do your homework before you go and you'll enjoy nothing but happy trails with your dog. If you spend your time in the company of dogs, you're probably used to walking – long walks, short walks, walks for potty stops, walks for exercise, walks to relieve boredom, and walks for walking's sake. So, what's the difference between walking and hiking? In practical application, not much. But in attitude, everything!

The fact is, purebred dogs are everywhere. You can find them at shelters, in rescue groups, free in the newspaper, running loose in the streets, for sale by breeders, and, unfortunately, in pet stores. There are pros and cons to acquiring your next family member from any of these sources; you can find good dogs from any one of them, but each venue can also supply you with dogs with minor to severe health and behavior problems. Much of the dog breeding industry seems to subscribe to the caveat emptor" philosophy. The average dog owner is very much on her own when it comes to acquiring a new canine companion

Most trainers would agree that it helps immeasurably to be very clear about what you are asking for when you work with a dog – even to the point of visualizing in your mind the behavior or movement you are seeking from your dog. Unquestionably, your focus will help you communicate your wishes to your dog, making it easier for him to interpret and understand your cues. Life is demanding and stressful for many people these days. We rarely have enough time to be as reflective as we’d like. But as you work with and care for others, including your dogs, take a moment to focus purposeful thought on your tasks.

A healthy home is a happy home. We can all agree on that. How can you make your home healthier for you and your animal companions? We can tell you 20 ways, right off the top of our heads. We’ll divide our suggestions into four areas: Cleanliness, Diet, Environment, and Lifestyle.

When shopping for a veterinarian, how can you tell whether one doctor or another will be the best practitioner for your pet? Well, it’s a trick question; there isn’t any way to guarantee that any particular individual is the best. The emphasis should be on the first part of the question: shopping. Only through rigorous research can we possibly find the best-equipped facilities, with the most receptive staff, and the most communicative and skilled veterinarians. It may be possible to luck into finding the ideal veterinary practice by picking a name out of the yellow pages, but with your dog’s health (and sometimes, his life) depending on your decision, it’s best not to leave your choice to chance.

Twenty-five years ago, a friend of mine found two abandoned black-and-tan coonhound pups by the side of the road. He took them home and immediately called a real estate broker, thus beginning his search for a house with a fenced yard and ending his years as an apartment dweller. This same dog owner recently purchased the car of his dreams, only to discover that his dog's crate wouldn't fit in the back seat. He returned the car the next day.

Two stunning standard poodles, one pure white, the other charcoal gray, were wandering loose on Santa Cruz’s Seacliff Beach in early June, not far from a busy road. Jeff, the concerned citizen who corralled the dogs, was dismayed to find they had no tags, so he was unable to return them to their home. He put a “Dogs Found” ad in the newspaper and kept the dogs for three days, sure that someone would be looking for such wonderful animals, but no one called. With some ambivalence, he loaded them into his car and delivered them to the nearby Santa Cruz SPCA. They are obviously well-loved dogs, he reassured himself. They will be safe; the owner will come for them.

Sure there are a small percentage of people out there who want to win no matter what the cost. But for the most part the people that I meet at shows love and care about their dogs. In fact some of them care so much about their dogs, they forget about the breed! In 15 years of showing dogs, my dogs are always pets first, then show dogs. We compete in obedience, conformation, agility, tracking and field. I would never consider hurting some one else’s dog to help my dog win, nor illegally alter my dog.

Summer is here! Whether you are packing your bags for a luxury cruise or making a glass of lemonade and heading for the chaise lounge in the back yard, it’s a great time to grab a couple of good books and catch up on your reading. As we all know, dogs are hot – and not just in the panting-in-the-sun sense. An excess of books about dogs have been published in the last year, with numerous titles on dog training, care, psychology, and more. But while you can find something interesting in almost any dog book you read, we prefer to spend our precious free time reading those that have lots of useful information.

We have four dogs and two cats. Pet hair is omnipresent in our lives, especially since housecleaning never seems to get very high on our list of priorities. However, we know enough other dog owners to know that we are not alone. With the possible exceptions of the short list of “non-shedding” breeds, anyone who allows dogs in the house (which is where, in our opinion, dogs belong!) has to deal with dog hair. We vacuum. We sweep. We brush. We cringe in embarrassment when we glance at our clothes in public and see the plethora of hairs that our clothes brushes missed.

As we were going to press with this issue, we received a report of a dog’s death due to ingestion of a small part...