Blind Ambitions

Now that duck seaosn has ended most places, guys without a dog start thinking, “Man I need a dog for next year”. If this is you, that is great, you are in for one heck of a journey.

There are some previous psotings I did on picking out a puppy and reading pedigrees that may be helpful as well as what to look for in health clearances. You cna click on the training tips icon to get to those articles.

What I wanted to discuss here is what someone needs to get their puppy started off right as far a retriever goes. You don’t need a thousand dollars worth of training gear with a young puppy. In fact if you search the net, youc an find puppy trianign kits sold at many of the dog supply places I mentioned yesterday.

Some of the things you want to make sure you have are as follows: a crate, a 4-6 ft. lead, a choke chain or pinch collar (puppy sized), small canvas puppy bumpers, a whistle, heeling stick (won’t need it right away though) and a cap gun. This will get you from the time you bring your pup home up until around six months, at which point you will need a variety of bumpers, check cords, blank pistol, and an e-collar.

In some coming articles we will look at why a dog should be crate trained, choke chain vs pinch collar, and some gear reviews will be coming soon as well, so please check back often.

This is the Avery Pro Trainer’s Bag Kit available form Mack’s Prairie Wings

http://www.mackspw.com/Item–i-AVEPROCB

Yesterday, I had to place an internet order for some new bumpers and other gear I need. I spent an hour before dawn looking at different sites to find the best deal. Being a small one man operation I have to try and save where I can. So I figured I would share some links for places I like to use to order dog training gear.

 Lion Country Supply: www.lcsupply.com

They have just about everything you can imagine for retrievers and upland dogs. Good prices, excellent quality on their house brand stuff (Better LCS brand). Ususually my first place to check when I need something. Also has good sales from time to time.

Gun Dog Supply: www.gundogsupply.com

Another large retailer with a huge selection. Prices are in line with everyone else. Probably my second choice when I need to order something.

Dixie Dog Supply: www.dixiedogsupply.com

Limited selection of stuff, but great prices and if you are an HRC member you get a discount. Mainly deals with Avery, Bumper Boy, SportDog, and Hallmark. If you are looking for something from one of the mentioned companies, this is a great place to check.

These are the places I buy most of my gear like bumpers, pinch collars, choke chains, leads, collars, vests, blank pistols, blanks, etc. I would encourage you to check these guys out when you need to pick up some new gear.

If you are looking to buy a new SportDog collar, I am now a dealer so please check out http://www.averycreek.net/SportdogE-Collars.html

When trying to figure out what dog food to feed to keep your dog lena and healthy, you must learn to read a food label. Two things you want to look for on a bag of dog food is the guaranteed analysis and the ingredient list.  

The guaranteed analysis lists the minimum levels of crude protein and fat and the maximum levels of fiber and water. The guaranteed analysis can be helpful but only when coupled with an ingredient list. When you read an ingredient list, all ingredients are listed by weight. In a good quality food the first ingredient will be a meat or meat by product.

There is a very good tutorial for how to read a label at Pet Education.

The main thing I tyr to explain is that I don’t want  a food that has corn as the numbe rone ingredient or one that has corn listed several times (such as ground corn, corn gluten, corn bran). The other thing to remembr is if the main ingredient says chicken, that it is the pre processed weight of the chicken, so after processing, water loss will lower the meat weight. Chicken by product will not lose weight during processing and is a great source of protein.

Just take some time and search around for info on dog food labels and familiarize yourself with some of the information out there to help you make the best decision possible for your dog.

As I have mentioned before I feed Diamond dog food to all the dogs in my kennel.

As I posted yesterday, one of the most common health problems with dogs is their weight. People, in general, tend to feed their dogs way too much. So if you have a dog that could benefit from losing a few pounds what are the first steps to take? Number one is to cut out the table scraps and treats. Forget about giving your pup some left over mashed potatoes or the meat loaf scraps you didn’t quite finish, it is not good for them. In fact many people don’t know that their are long lists of common foods people feed their dogs that are poisonous to the dog, check out this link for information.

Secondly is cut out the treats and milk bones. They are not real healthy, in fact many are between 200-300 calories per treat, and have anywhere from 3-6 grams of fat. They offer no real nutritional value other than added calories. I know some will use the argument that they help clean teeth, but so will a Kong.

By eliminating these two things, we have already helped our dog shave some pounds and become more healthy. I know it’s tough when you sit down to eat and your pup is begging, but it is not doing him any favors sneaking him a bunch of french fries.

Next time we will look at dog foods and how we can help our pup by the food we choose to feed.

Yesterday, I got a dog in to run through an obedience program. Very nice dog, 3 years old, a little hyper, but good personality. The dog should be pretty easy to get through basic obedience, but I had a huge concern when he got out of the car, he is pretty bad overweight. I see similar dogs when I go to the vet or see people out walking with there dogs. So many dogs are overweight, and this is not good for the dog.

When a dog gets overweight it can lead to many problems, including joint problems, especially in older dogs. We, as dog owners, think it’s nice of us to provide table scraps or to give them treats several times a day, but we are not doing our pup any favors by doing this.

Be honest with yourself and detemrine if your pup needs to shed a few pounds, and over the next few days I will be posting some ways to help your dog lose weight and keep it off.

A couple weeks ago I posted about Force Fetch not being a Magic Bullet. I wanted to follow up on that entry and get a little more in depth. If you haven’t read that entry please do first so you can get an idea where I am coming from.

I truly believe that a Force Fetch program is vital to make a complete gun dog. Like I said in the other entry, I FF every dog that I put through gun dog training. I also think Force Fetch is one of the most misunderstood aspects of training a dog.

I want to take a moment to give you my interpretation of what Force Fetch is. Force Fetch is simply formalizing the Fetch command, a secondary effect that happens is the dog will learn to deal with pressure, but mainly it makes “Fetch” a command. Much like using a choke chain or pinch collar and a heeling stick during obedience training for corrections, the ear pinch in Force Fetch is the same thing, it is a correction.

When i start doing a FF program with a dog, we start with “Hold”. I will use a leather glove and my hand, move to a paint roller, then a bumper.  Once I can put a bumper in the dogs mouth and walk the dog at heel, making it sit every few yards, we move on to the “Fetch” part of Force Fetch. Starting with a paint roller and ear pinch, I’ll move to bumper and ear pinch, then bumper and heeling stick then bumper and e-collar. Each step of that is done first on the table, then on the ground then walking.

All of this takes anywhere from 3-8 weeks depending on the dog, but it is worth the effort and time. When completed I know I have a dog that will pick up when commanded, and if it does decide to refuse, I have a way to use a correction (ear pinch, heeling stick or e-collar) and the dog will understand why it is getting the correction, and how to turn the correction off.

Force Fetch doesn’t all of a sudden make a dog complete, but it is needed, in my opinion, to have a complete dog. We are not doing anything in a FF program other than formalizing a command much like using a jerk and release of a choke chain when teaching site and heel. Yes, the dog is exposed to more pressure during a FF program than in any other aspect of trianing, and yes it will learn that compliance turns pressure off. This is a by-product that benefits us down the road, but is secondary to formalizing another command.

Mnay people think once the ear pinch is done the FF program is completed; while others think once you get through “walking Fetch” with e-collar pressure it’s done.  I still consider Force to Pile part of a solid FF program. Being able to get a dog to pick up a bumper it walks by in the yard by saying “Fetch” is great, but I like to know that the dog will, when given a command, on it’s own, run to a spot and pick up a bird/bumper and return to hand with a good solid hold at heel.

Puppy Test

 I found this site the other day while searching for somehting totally unrelated. After clicking on it however, I found it quite interesting. The Puppy Aptitude Test is pulled form the book Dog Training for Dummies.

It is a grading scale from 1-5 in each of these areas, and it gives interpretations of the scores to determine if the puppy would be right for you and what you want to do with it.

I am not convinced it should be used as the gospel on picking puppies, but reading it over it is actually full of common sense and, I think, could be a good baseline or guide for someone who is looking at getting their first pup.

Feel free to share your views on the Puppy Aptitude test.

Perhaps the easiest way to deal with hypothermia and your dog is to avoid it. This does not mean you cancel those cold weather duck hunts, but a few precautions should be taken when the mercury drops.The first thing is transporting a dog to the field. If you have a dog box, put cedar shavings in the box to help insulate it. If you use the plastic or wire crates, use an insulated kennel cover. This will keep the cold wind of the dog as you drive to your hunting location.Once you arrive, put a neoprene vest on your dog. The neoprene vest does a great job at keeping the body warm even when wet. There are several manufactures and several models to choose from.Keep the dog from sitting in the water. Sitting in the cold water will zap the warmth right out of the dog; so use a dog stand or find a spot in the boat or blind that is dry for the dog to sit.Keep your wet dog out of the wind. You can do this buy hanging a piece or burlap or placing the dog behind a brush pile. Anything that will help keep some of the cold wind of will be beneficial.Dry the dog often. Try and help keep the dog dry, use towels, or better yet a chamois cloth, to dry the dog off when the shooting slows down.Keep a bumper in your blind bag. If it’s bitter cold and the shooting is slow, throw bumper (on land) a few times and let the dog run some to retrieve it. Just getting the dog up and getting the blood flowing will help add warmth.Hypothermia is serious and kills hunting dogs every year. Knowing the signs and symptoms, having some basic knowledge of first level treatment may one day save your dog’s life. There is no better cure than prevention, so use good sense when the temperatures are cold, and you and your buddy can enjoy a lot more cold mornings together.

www.mackspw.com   www.cabelas.com   www.averysportingdog.com

 So now that we know what the signs and symptoms are we notice that are dog is shivering and seems clumsy and uncoordinated. Hypothermia is suspected, so we grab our Field First-Aid kit and check the dog’s temperature; it’s 94 degrees F. What now?At this point the number one factor is to remove the dog form exposure to cold, and prevent any further heat loss. For most of us duck hunters that will mean drying the dog. Use towels, your coat, anything you can that will absorb the water from the dog. The next step is getting the dog out of the wind. If you are in a blind this will not be too difficult, but if you are hunting from a boat or in flooded timber you may want to use your coat to make a wind block for the dog. Body to body contact can help as well. This doesn’t mean you have to get naked and huddle with the dog, but pulling the dog close or opening your coat and huddling with the dog will help the dog warm up. If you can get the dog to your truck, put the dog in the floor board, crank the truck and use the heater. This is about all that can be done in the field, but anytime you have to do any of this an emergency vet visit is needed. Once at the vet’s office there are number of things they can do like warm fluid IV’s and flushing stomach or rectum with warm isotonic fluids. Next time we will look at ways to prevent hypothermia while hunting.

Hypothermia can be divided into 3 categories or stages.

1) Mild: The dog begins to shiver and cannot control the shivering. Your dog will begin to act lethargic or tired. Typically at this stage the dog’s temperature is between 96-99 degrees F.

2) Moderate:  Once a dog’s temperature falls into the 90-95 degree F. range it lose it’s ability to shiver. The dog will lose coordination and appear clumsy; at this point the dog may lose consciousness. If it gets to this point, your dog life’s is in serious danger.

3) Severe:  82-90 degrees F. At this point your dog will have collapsed, it will have trouble breathing, the pupils will be dilated and the dog will be unresponsive. If hypothermia gets to this point it is critical that the dog be warmed quickly and taken to an emergency vet center.

Like most things, if you pick up on the signs early, it is very treatable and will have no long suffering effects on the dog. Keep and eye on your pup when it’s cold out so you can be sure he can share the blind with you again next time.