04/5/12
Author Archives: Leema
04/3/12
The Importance of Bite Inhibition
This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.
Imagine you are at the dentist and he slips with his little scratchy-hook tool, and stabs your gum a little bit. You respond by biting down on the dentist’s finger and punching him in the face.
Or you’re asleep in your bed and you partner wakes you as she hops in. This terrifies you, so you grab your gun from under the mattress, and shoot her.
Puppies need to be guided to learn to not use the full force of their bite as an adult dog. Photo © Ruthless Photos.
Ian Dunbar used similar human-aggressive examples in his seminar to make a point: Dog-human aggression is never okay. Just like humans don’t (shouldn’t) hurt people that accidentally hurt them, and don’t hurt people that scare them, dogs shouldn’t hurt people in response to pain or fear.
There are simply no excuses for a dog to be human aggressive – it is never appropriate and never acceptable, regardless of the context.
First, appropriate socialisation should aim to build a confident puppy that is never fearful enough to bite as an adult dog. Second, a puppy should be taught how to inhibit (i.e. make less forceful) their bite so that, if for some reason they are motivated to bite in their life, the bite is less severe.
Dunbar didn’t go into much detail about teaching bite inhibition at the seminar, but basically the process involves teaching the puppy to bite less forcefully and then teaching the puppy to bite less frequently (and eventually learn that they are not allowed to put their teeth on people). Alongside this, you add a cue that means ‘let go’. (It seems that the Dunbar seminar Crystal, at Reactive Champion, attended did talk about teaching bite inhibition in more detail.)
Furthermore, puppies that attend the Dunbar-style puppy classes, with offleash play, mean that they learn how to appropriately control their bite when interacting with other dogs.
The plan is that, after teaching bite inhibition to a puppy, the adult dog will be more likely to bite in an inhibited way. That is, the depth and seriousness of the bite will be less severe. A puppy that is well socialised, but does not have bite inhibition, makes for a dangerous dog.
04/2/12
Dog Breeders: Don’t Produce Lemon Puppies
This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.
Dunbar is big on socialisation, and thinks that breeders should put a lot of effort and attention to socialising their puppies. While breeders will select the best genetic combination, socialisation and training will seek to fix any deficiencies in the genetic package. He thinks many breeders are ‘not doing their job’ and are producing ‘lemon’ puppies. Good breeders, through socialisation, produce puppies that like being handled and like all people.
Clover: Pregnant but active.
Puppy buyers need to know that all breeders are not created equal, even if producing pedigree dogs. A pedigree is not a socialisation history, and (to Dunbar) a socialisation history is more important than their pedigree.
Breeders are responsible for training puppies until they are 8 weeks old. They should be selling well-socialised, housetrained, and chew-toy trained puppies. (And if they are, they can charge twice as much for one – Dunbar’s motivator to breeders!) By 8 weeks, the critical period is half over! So breeders really need to be doing something.
A puppy that is exhibiting fearful behaviour at 8 weeks or earlier is problematic. At 8 weeks, a puppy should run up to all people – men, women, and children. Continue reading
03/30/12
The Week in Tweets (29th March)
Things we tweeted about this week. Continue reading
03/28/12
Incentives to breed more greyhounds?!
I was alarmed to read today, through Maggie’s Farm, that the Victorian Minister for Racing, Denis Napthine, has bumped the winning incentives for greyhound breeders to $30 million annually (through a new scheme). To say I was horrified is putting it mildly. Already, a colossal number of greyhounds (19 000) are destroyed each year as surplus to the industry, and a scheme such as this one is surely going to encourage the disposal of a huge number of greyhounds each year.
Finn, my current greyhound foster, playing with a squeaky toy. Greyhounds make great pets!
Imagine in the government removed all contributions to racing prize money (that is, less $30 million +) and instead putting that money into the greyhound adoption groups. Potentially, these groups could rehome all these dogs! If we say, on a generous sum, adoption groups spent $700 per grey to get them ready for adoption, that would only be $13 million (for all 19 000 greys currently killed a year). Perhaps the remaining sums could be used for enforcing welfare legislation regarding greyhound kennelling, and funding the wages of all individuals involved in improving welfare outcomes for greyhounds caught up in the racing industry.
Note: I do not find the lure coursing of greyhounds and other dogs all the abhorrent. Greyhounds and other dogs love to run, and lure coursing is a fun way for them to practice running. My issue stems from an industry that treats their companion animals as commodities, and disposes of them as such.
Please consider writing a letter to Mr Napthine regarding his support of a greyhound industry that kills 95% of the dogs bred. Below, his contact details and a letter that I wrote regarding this issue. (You’re welcome to use all or parts of my letter in yours.)
denis.napthine@parliament.vic.
Ministerial Office – Phone (03) 9095 4170
Electorial Office/ Warmambool – Phone (03) 5562 8230
94 Liebig Street,
Warrnambool VIC 3280
Or use the ‘ask’ form on Denis’s website. Continue reading