Pet Safety Reminder for 009-Dogs lost in the woods

jacarape · 01-26-2009, 11:40 AM

Hi fellow campers and camper dogs!

I'd like to post a really basic reminder for camping with dogs. They have to have the "come, here and no" commands down, obediently. Their lives may depend on that.

I spent last summer in New Mexico National Forest and attempted to help 3 strays and helped look for another.

The picture is of a happy ending, the Husky type dog ended up staying at a commercial kennel. She even got her foto on Kodachrome, not that she cared. When she arrived she was subsisting on a diet probably of rodents, she ate all of the ones in my yard. Worming, spaying and a lot of work to gain her trust from being an untouchable wild to a big lap dog, lucky her.

When I first worked dog Nyx (second pooch in the foto) off leash and had to recall her from chasing 4 big ol turkeys, I held my breath in PANIC, she recalled, and since did it again 2 more times. I won't say if the next time I'll recall or not but that's another thread...

It's a sad site to see a pooch come struggling in hungry and dry, the first thought is you've escaped lions for 4 nights, lucky you...(they ate my neighbors cats, but you should never feed the wildlife HAHAHA).

Minnie's Mate · 01-26-2009, 04:01 PM

My Sulley is a very head strong dog and has become more curious about the big, wide world as he has become an adult. Fortunately, he has also become more mellow and more obedient, too. It's amazing what a leash will do for wonder-lust among the K-9 set when they are young.

jacarape · 01-26-2009, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

My Sulley is a very head strong dog and has become more curious about the big, wide world as he has become an adult. Fortunately, he has also become more mellow and more obedient, too. It's amazing what a leash will do for wonder-lust among the K-9 set when they are young.

Hey Mate, thanks for adding to the thread. If you think a leash is good for a pooch to learn on try speaking fried liver, ha man, they can read your mind!

Minnie's Mate · 01-27-2009, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacarape

Hey Mate, thanks for adding to the thread. If you think a leash is good for a pooch to learn on try speaking fried liver, ha man, they can read your mind!

Unfortunately my cocker spaniel has extreme food allergies and can eat only one prescription food (Hills prescription HD) to the point that he had to go to Auburn University Veterinary School to have an Ear Ablation (removal of the ear canal) of his left ear so voice command is the only way I can train him. It takes lots of patience on both our parts. I have never believed in teaching stupid pet tricks and only teach the basic useful commands plus the friendly ones (high-five and shake hands/paws).

He has really settled down and become obedient since he reached three years old. The lady that grooms him shows cockers and one of hers is the cocker on the US postage stamp. She told me that cockers don't get their brains 'till they are two years old. Sulley was a late bloomer and didn't get his 'till mid-year in his second year. I think it was more a matter of him being intelligent and not wanting to do what he didn't want to do. Like I said, it has taken a lot of patience on both of our part.

**Stefrobrts** · 01-26-2009, 06:55 PM

My dogs are always on leash! Eskimos seem to be resistant to any kind of recall training

But there's always hope...

gduff · 01-26-2009, 07:48 PM

Good job reminding all campers and camper dogs.

Our dog travels with us everywhere. We wouldn't be without the elecronic collar and we highly recommend it. It is not inhumane and is much better they come when called rather than becoming lion bait. After training to the collar, all you have to use is the paige command which vibrates. Again, we highly recommend an electronic collar especially when traveling.

jacarape · 01-26-2009, 11:08 PM

hey gd, electronic collars are sometimes exactly what is called for. Dogs are awesome companions and training them well is really part of the fun. Most would view a training, or prong collar to be inhumane. But my dogs really do respond to the security of a firm leash, they know I'm on the other end of it and with that security. And with that love and affection, my key to communication with my pooches.

Yesterday I started to crate train Jupitor. Today I had a revelation, I was trying to push him into the crate by his tail. Today, I gave him a pull, it was pretty cool.

Instead of wondering how I can get him to recognize the command "hup! in!". I tossed a piece of beef kidney in the crate and gave ney sitz command outside the crate. Hahaha, he suffered with that, I made him sitz outside the crate, was waiting for me to tell him to get in the box after that, man, I guess it smelled pretty good cuz he sure followed the in the box command afterwards. Child psych, works on doggies to.

Fun stuff.

**Stefrobrts** · 01-27-2009, 01:32 AM

I'm training Barclay with all positive training using the clicker. Problem is the clicker works best with food, and he's just not food motivated. No one believes me, but I can have a handfull of the yummiest liver treats right in front of his nose, and almost anything can distract him away from it. Now Alki, if she knows I have treats she'll never take her eyes off me! We've been using the clicker since he was a baby and when he hears a click he still doesn't turn around to get a treat - he just doesn't really care about the treat that much. But he does know the click means he did something right. I'm hoping part of it is that he's only a year and his brain hasn't come in yet! I know he has gotten a LOT better in the last couple months. I think I really will have a good recall on him someday, we just have to keep working at it. I can reward him with food, squeeky toys, balls, praise, anything that gets his attention for a moment. It's a lot of fun though, he's such a happy guy, he makes my day everyday. I already love to take him hiking and fishing with me and watch him splash around in the water (on a long line, of course), I'm sure we'll have many happy times camping together in our future.

whitsend · 01-27-2009, 05:53 AM

Dear All - Thanks for the gentle reminders that we all need to train our dogs to the simple come / sit / down / stay commands, especially when on the road. Our border collie goes EVERYWHERE with us. An RV park doesn't allow dogs, we take our dollars elsewhere. I just don't know what our lives would be like without him - were he to take off after a rabbit, get into the woods & get lost, and not know those simple commands.

I hope it's kosher here, but I've never read any better books on dog training & living with dogs than those written by Jon Katz - nothing but positive reinforcement training methods and "crating" - which I'd never heard of. I highly recommend his books, both for a sentimental read about the nurturing realtionship between we humans & our dogs, but also for his training methods.

ROBERT CROSS · 01-27-2009, 07:09 AM

Great thread thanks....

Our rule...Attached to us or under control, even in the water.

Minnie's Mate · 01-27-2009, 08:51 AM

With our last cocker, he was not interested in treats as a puppy either. In fact we used to keep a dish full of them on the coffee table and the only time he would get one is when either my wife or I would have popcorn or some other snack. He would then go over to the table and have a treat. That made it difficult at times to train him also. But, he was very attentive to me and giving him praise really made a difference.

Our current cocker was just kind of spastic as a pup but now has settled down a lot...treats are a real incentive for him, however. He will work for treats! Anything I want him to do just about can be accomplished with a couple of kibbles of his prescription dog food in hand...unless there is a squirrel around, then all bets are off! Did I mention that he is territorial?

**Stefrobrts** · 01-27-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

Anything I want him to do just about can be accomplished with a couple of kibbles of his prescription dog food in hand...unless there is a squirrel around, then all bets are off! Did I mention that he is territorial?

Barclay and I are working through a wonderful book called 'Control Unleashed', and it really has helped a lot. One of the key things in the book, and I'm sure I'm not explaining it perfectly, is the 'look at that' game. So where Barclay used to go nuts whenever he saw a dog, or cat, or squirrel, now when he looks at those things I click before he gets too excited, and pop a treat in his mouth. Before too long he would look at the distraction, then look back at me for his treat. Now if he gets too 'into' whatever he's looking at then the click doesn't break his interest, so it's a balancing act. But it's definitly helped reduce his interest in distractions and increase the amount of time he spends looking to me for rewards/direction. One of the examples in the book relates how the author broke her Jack Russel of chasing squirrels with this technique.

I think if I could teach him a perfect 'stop', 'come', and 'leave it', we would live happily ever after

But along the way we're working on other stuff for variety, and because we both enjoy it.

Silverhobby · 01-27-2009, 09:13 AM

My dog is now 8, a pointer-lab mix. There is a lot of wildlife in my back yard. From deer, skunks, squirrels, rabbits, to the occasional bobcat or mountain lion. I keep Baity on leash, except for his run-time in the yard. I was fortunate that the day I DID see the mountain lion, it was running opposite the direction we were heading. Baity learned the sit / stay/ come / commands early, yet reluctantly. The treats DO help in training.

Minnie's Mate · 01-27-2009, 09:36 AM

Speaking of treats, with our last cocker I noticed that the Christmas colored Liv-a-snaps had an interesting affect on his poop. I gave him only green liv-a-snaps for a couple of days and his poop turned a decided Christmas green...not a sick poop green but a bright festive green.

I then gave him only red ones for a couple of days and, you guessed it, bright red poop.

Then I switched back to green. I am easily amused.

Can't do that with this cocker because of the food allergies. He is currently undergoing the umpteenth ear infection treatment because we went camping over the holidays and I forgot to pack his prescription food so we bought the closest thing Petsmart had (salmon and regular potato instead of salmon and sweet potato). $179 in vet bills later and a week's worth of antibiotic ointment and allergy pills and he still isn't over the ear infection.

Moral of the story: remember to pack the dog's food!