December 7, 2009
Dog's Best Friend Gift Certificates Available for the Howlidays!
November 23, 2009
Dog's Best Friend's Turkey Tips!
Dog's Best Friend's
Turkey Tips
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and is one of the happiest times of the year, for humans and pups.
But Turkey Day can be stressful and even dangerous for our rascals, if we're not careful and don't take the appropriate precautions.
With a little bit of smarts and good planning, you can help your pup make it through the day, happy and safe!
Here are a few Turkey Tips...
Bone Up on your Pups' Obedience Skills – In the days before the holiday (and before Christmas and Hannukah too), plan practice sessions everyday to remind your pup of his/her manners. Practice Sit, Down, Go To Your Spot, Recall and their Boundaries. Impress your family with a well mannered dog and keep your dog safe at the same time.
Give Them a Safe/Quiet Place To Hang-out – Most dogs love the the family and friends that come to visit during the holidays, but just like children, dogs can become overwhelmed. Pay close attention to your dogs' behavior and make sure they have a safe, quiet place to hang-out when it just gets to be too much. Set up their bed/crate in a comfy, quiet room, soft music playing, a worn t-shirt of yours for them to snuggle up to and a yummy bone (something special) for them to gnaw on. Make it happy! This is not a punishment. This is their special place to relax. Make sure all the kids in the house know this and ask them to give Buddy space for a little while. He can come out and play later.
Don't overdue the Turkey – It's probably unrealistic to say, “Don't give your dogs turkey.” They love it and what the heck, it's just once a year. But do it in moderation, just a little bit goes a long way. Make sure it's a lean piece and that there are no bones. Give it to them away from the table, so they don't learn to beg. Have them sit nicely, then give them their Thanksgiving treat. *No turkey for pups that are allergic to poultry though and ask your guests not to feed your dog from the table. If they really want to join in the giving, have them ask your dog to sit and give him/her the Turkey away from the dinner table.
No Sweets - What is Thanksgiving without Pumpkin Pie and other luscious desserts? Us humans love 'em, but they can be deadly to dogs. So keep those pies up and don't feed anything with sugar to your pup. The last thing you want to be doing is rushing to the ER with a sick pup on Thanksgiving night.
Assign a Door Cop – One of the greatest hazards of the holiday season is the possibility of losing your pup, watching them dash out as the door flies open because a guest forgets to close it properly. So assign a responsible adult to keep an eye on the door. Ask them to let all the guests in/out and to be in charge of “security,” making sure your pup never has the chance to bolt out the door. Everyone likes to feel needed, so find a family member/friend who loves to help. Have a little thank you gift ready for them at the end of the night. People like Rewards too!
If you have any questions, please feel free to call or e-mail me!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Be thankful for those Furry Tails and Fluffy Feet!
They make the Holidays extra special!
November 18, 2009
Frankie and Nic, Dog's Best Friend's Dogs of the Month Novemeber and December
After Data and Bunjee crossed the rainbow bridge, our client Debi, missed the pitter patter of little paws and longed for another Furry Friend. Debi searched the local rescue groups and stumbled upon the adorable, Frankie and Nic.
We don't know their background,but we do know that these two love bugs are super sweet and are just the cutest little rascals you'd ever want to meet. They love their walks and get so excited when they see another canine or human friend. They want to meet everyone and feel it's their duty to say, "hello," and make anyone visiting their neighborhood feel welcome.
These rascals are so lucky to have found Debi and Steve, who give them the warmest, most loving home a pup could ever imagine. You can tell by their wiggles and wags that they are so happy and really adore Debi and Steve.
Welcome to Hermosa Beach, Frankie and Nic. We love spending time with you and look forward to becoming your Best Friends!
"A dog has lots of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue." ~ Anonymous
www.youtube.com/dogsbestfriendHB
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Watch our Canine Training Clients on You Tube @
November 17, 2009
Dog's Best Friend's Canine Good Citizen - Class of 2009
Watch them now!
November 15, 2009
Don't Miss "Best Friend Forgotten"...
November 14, 2009
Dog Tip of the Day - Hide-N-Go-Seek For Dogs...
Dog Tip of the Day
Did you know that playing Hide-N-Go-Seek with your dog (inside your house) is a great way to teach your dog to come to you? And it’s lots of fun for the whole family too! This is how it works…
1)Have one family member hang out with your pup in a room of your home (on leash), separated from the "hiders".
2) Arm the “hiders” with lots of fun, healthy dog treats.
3) Have the “hiders” go find a secret place to hide (closets and showers work best).
4) When the “hiders” are good and ready, have them call your pup’s name out loud. If he’s having a hard time finding the “hiders,” help him out by calling his name again.
5) When the pup finds you, reward him with lots of praise and treats!
6) Repeat until you and your pooch are pooped!
If you’d like to receive more tips like this one, please give us your e-mail address and we’ll add you to the list.
November 13, 2009
Critics Challenge 'Dog Whisperer' Methods By Lynne Peeples, Scienceline
JonBee jumps up at Cesar Millan, his sharp teeth snapping repeatedly. Millan calmly yanks on the leash and pulls the wolf-like Korean Jindo away. This continues for over a minute, with Millan’s face remaining undisturbed and JonBee’s owners gasping on the other side of the living room. Finally, the dog shows a moment of weakness. Millan quickly pins him to the floor and rolls him onto his side. Millan’s calmness seems to be reflected in the dog now lying frozen in submission.
Every Friday night, troubled American dogs undergo a seemingly miraculous transformation on national television. The magician is Cesar Millan, better known as the “Dog Whisperer.” He is the current face of dog training, and he has brought “dominance theory,” an age-old training technique, back into canine conversation and practice.
To understand how to control a dog’s behavior, according to Millan, one needs to look at the hierarchy of wolf packs. Domestic dogowners must confidently carry the title of “pack leader” and assume power over their pets.
But many dog trainers and behavior experts criticize the show, advocating a gentler approach to training that replaces coercion and physical behavior corrections with food rewards and other forms of positive reinforcement. They point to new studies that have placed the two popular dog-training methods head-to-head and almost universally shown positive training to be more successful than punitive methods in reducing aggression and disobedience.
Millan may have the ratings, they argue, but purely positive trainers have the science.
No more crying wolf
Millan’s concept of dominance is based on an old understanding of the behavior of wolves. In the 1960s, researchers observed that wolves formed large packs in which certain individuals beat out others to earn “top dog” status. These were called “alphas.” Millan contends that a dog displaying aggression is trying to establish dominance and attain alpha status, much like its ancestors. He advises humans to take on this position themselves, forcefully if necessary, to keep the dog in a submissive role.
Dog trainers whose practices are grounded in these concepts, such as the late Bill Koehler and Captain Arthur Haggerty, have dominated the business for most of the past half-century. But as Dave Mech, an expert on wolf behavior at the University of Minnesota, points out, the early wolf research — much of it his own — was done on animals living in captivity.
Mech has been studying wolves for 50 years now, yet only over the past decade has he gotten a clear picture of these animals in their natural habitats. And what he’s found is far from the domineering behavior popularized by Millan. “In the wild it works just like it does in the human family,” says Mech. “They don’t have to fight to get to the top. When they mature and find a mate they are at the top.” In other words, wolves don't need to play the “alpha” game to win.
In the 1980s, around the same time that our understanding of wolves began to change, positive dog-training methods slowly emerged from the fringes and grew in popularity. A tug-of-war continues today between dog trainers practicing predominantly positive reinforcement and those using punishment-based techniques.
Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University, is one of the leading proponents of positive training methods. He believes the source of most bad behavior, especially owner-directed aggression, is mistrust and recommends rebuilding a dog’s trust by “making sure that the dog understands that all good things in life come only and obviously from you.” To get those things — whether food or basic attention — the dog must learn to please you first.
But others see these techniques as little more than pampering borne out of lax and inappropriate attitudes toward pets that have recently come into vogue. “In the last ten to fifteen years it’s become, ‘don’t ever say ‘No’ to your dog; don’t ever punish dogs,’” says Babette Haggerty, who is carrying on her father’s dominance-based teaching at Haggerty’s School for Dogs in Manhattan. “I think people are coddling dogs more than ever before.”
But in 2004, “The Dog Whisperer” — Millan's doggy psych 101 — premiered on the National Geographic Channel, and the momentum mounting in the positive direction was stymied. “In America, we [had begun] using human psychology on dogs,” Millan says in an email. “What was needed was for humans to learn dog psychology.”
Perils of punishment
Many veterinary behaviorists believe punishment-based techniques, like those seen on the show, could come back to bite dog owners. The National Geographic Channel even posts a warning on the screen during each episode: “Do not attempt these techniques yourself without consulting a professional.”
According to a paper in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, attempts to assert dominance over a dog can increase a dog’s aggression. Researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom studied dogs in a shelter for six months, while also reanalyzing data from previous studies of feral dogs. Their findings support those of the Mech at the University of Minnesota: dogs don’t fight to get to the top of a “pack.” Rather, violence appears to be copycat behavior — something borne of nurture, not nature.
In another recent study, around 25 percent of owners using confrontational training techniques reported aggressive responses from their dogs. “The source of dog aggression has nothing to do with social hierarchy, but it does, in fact, have to do with fear,” says Meghan Herron, a veterinarian at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study published in the January 2009 issue of Applied Animal Behavior Science. “These dogs are acting aggressively as a response to fear.”
Dogs react physiologically to stress and fear in the same way people do, with hormones. Two 2008 studies out of Hungary and Japan showed, respectively, that concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol increased in dogs that were strictly disciplined and that levels were linked to elevation of aggressive behavior. What’s more, an Irish study found that physically or verbally reprimanding a dog with a history of biting people was one of the significant predictors of a subsequent bite. The results were published in April 2008 in Applied Animal Behavior Science.
“[All these studies] confirm what many of us have said for a long time,” says Pat Miller, owner of Peaceable Paws dog and puppy training in Hagerstown, Maryland. “If you use aggression in training your dog, you’re likely to elicit aggression back.”
Paybacks of positive reinforcement
Before practicing professionally as a dog trainer, Jolanta Benal of Brooklyn, New York, learned the difference between positive and punitive methods personally.
Her dog, Mugsy, had an attraction to men in uniform. Whether they were wearing UPS brown or U.S. Postal Service blue, Benal's bulldog would lunge at them on the street. So she hired a highly recommended dog trainer to try to correct this behavior.
“He would set Mugsy up to do offending behavior, and then throw a can full of pennies at the dog,” she says. “It was a traditional old school technique. And it worked to suppress the problem behavior — at least in the moment.” Mugsy’s unhealthy obsession with the postal workers, however, did not go away. Even if he didn’t always jump at the UPS guy on a walk-by, says Benal, he wasn’t happy to see him either.
Benal then traded in for a new trainer that brought chicken instead of coins. As the man in uniform approached, Benal was now instructed to distract Mugsy by giving him the treat. And it worked. After several times, the dog would look to her in expectation, rather than towards the uniform-clad men in alarm. “For the last year of his life, he was an angel,” says Benal. “It was amazing the changes it brought.”
Millan argues that using food to coax dogs may be impractical: “It can result in an addiction to treats or an overweight dog,” he says in an email. However, Dodman of Tufts University explains that trainers only give food at the beginning of training. After a period of time, owners should reward intermittently, reinforcing the response. “If every time you played the lottery you won money, then the excitement wouldn’t be there anymore,” says Dodman. “The thrill for the dog is ‘Will I get a treat this time?’” Back-aches from stooping low to feed a dog, or the added cost of extra chicken or doggy treats, he believes, are far less dreadful than the anxiety and altered relationships caused by the punitive alternative.
Dodman has some data to back him up. In February 2004, a paper in Animal Welfare by Elly Hiby and colleagues at the University of Bristol compared the relative effectiveness of the positive and punitive methods for the first time. The dogs became more obedient the more they were trained using rewards. When they were punished, on the other hand, the only significant change was a corresponding rise in the number of bad behaviors.
A series of more recent papers also support Dodman’s theory and Hiby’s results. A study published in the October 2008 issue of Journal of Veterinary Behavior found that positive reinforcement led to the lowest average scores for fear and attention-seeking behaviors, while aggression scores were higher in dogs of owners who used punishment. Another 2008 study, this one published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, found that positive training methods resulted in better performances than punishment for Belgian military dog handlers.
Bridging the differences in dogma
It’s hard to argue that the slow, patient techniques used in positive reinforcement would elicit the same dramatic moments seen on Cesar Millan’s show. “There’s a big difference between looking at behavior as a ‘Stop that’ versus a ‘Here’s what I want,’” says Bruce Blumberg, a professor of dog psychology at the Harvard Extension School. “Positive reinforcement is a different mindset. And it’s one that doesn’t work quite as well on TV.”
Dodman is one of many people who have asked the National Geographic Channel to discontinue “The Dog Whisperer,” consistently one of the highest-rated shows on the network. The American Humane Association issued a press statement in 2006 asking for a cancellation because of what they suggested were abusive techniques used by Millan. More recently, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior issued a position statement in which it expresses concern “with the recent reemergence of dominance theory and forcing dogs and other animals into submission as a means of preventing and correcting behaviors.”
Millan defends his methods, asserting they “use the minimum force necessary to prevent or correct a problem.” According to the dog rehabilitator, he can “redirect the behavior of most of my pack with just my body language, eye contact and energy.” He points to the “thousands upon thousands of letters” he receives from viewers touting “miracles” of restored relationships and saved dogs. “All I want is what is best for the animal,” Millan says.
Despite the controversy, there is a lot that everyone agrees on. Both sides of the training spectrum teach that a lack of discipline or structure is not conducive to a well-behaved dog. “Dogs need direction and boundaries, just like human relationships,” says Haggerty, the trainer from the School for Dogs in Manhattan, which uses dominance theory. “If dogs don’t know what the boundaries are, they will wreak havoc.”
How a dog owner projects those boundaries is also important. “You have to be calm, you have to be clear, you have to be consistent, and you have to make sure you meet your pet’s needs for other things: exercise, play, social interaction,” says Herron of The Ohio State University.
So what does an owner do when a calm and structured environment still breeds a misfit pup like JonBee? Should it be the leash and hand that redirects the dog, or poultry and patience? Current science favors the chicken flavor. But whichever strategy you choose, everyone agrees that the timing must be precise. It is very difficult for a dog to make an appropriate association and learn from the reprimand or reward otherwise.
Of course, if you take Blumberg’s Harvard class, he'll tell you, “If your timing is lousy using positive reinforcement, the worst thing that happens is you get a fat dog.”
This article is provided by Scienceline, a project of New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.
Courtesy of Pat Miller, Peaceable Paws and TrulyDogFriendly
The Cutest Things...
Sisters, Lola and Lambchop, walking
side by side
Dog's Best Friend's Quote of the Day
"The average dog is a nicer person thanthe average person."
~ Andrew A. Rooney
Moose Drehs
October 25, 2009
Dog's Best Friend's Exciting New Classes Coming in February
DBF Basic Manners, Canine Good Citizen, RoveReactive, Teaching Your Kids To Be Their Dog's Best Friend and the brand new Dog's Best Friend's Teen Trainers, for handlers ages 12-19.
We'll keep you posted on the start dates....
October 20, 2009
Manhattan Sammy Needs a Forever Home!
Dear Dog Lovers,
I'm repping an 8 year old BEAUTIFUL Golden Retriever named Manhattan Sammy for the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue.
He's a big love bug looking for his forever home! He likes to boss around other dogs, so needs to be placed in a home without any other dogs OR a very easy going dog that doesn't mind taking the back seat to this big lug.
He's currently in a foster home with another dog and they've worked out their differences and are now Best Friends.
He's perfect with humans and longs to be in a home that he can call his
own. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting this sweet
boy, please give me a bark.
See additional photos and get adoption details at www.grcglarescue.org.
October 9, 2009
Please Do Not Shock Your Dog!!!!
Courtesy of Frania Shelley-Grielen and The LA Examiner
September 27, 2009
A Meaningful Gift
Do you have a dog loving friend that has a birthday, anniversary or other celebration coming up? Instead of buying a gift that gets stuck in a drawer somewhere, why not make the world a better place and donate to a local dog rescue? They'll send your friend a nice card and sometimes give them an acknowlegement on their website (with a photo of the dog they've helped save). Give the gift of saving a life. A few wonderful rescue groups are...
The Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue www.grcglarescue.org
September 25, 2009
Dog's Best Friend's Book of the Month, September
One Nation Under Dog: America's Love Affair with Our Dogs
by Michael Schaffer
Congratulations Burley and Stella, Dog's Best Friend's Dogs of the Month, September and October
Burley has been one of our friends for awhile now and we're so proud of all he's accomplished.
Saved from the mean streets of LA by his Mom, Jill, he has gone from Street Dog to Canine Good Citizen. He's a happy, well-adjusted guy who loves walks, playing and training with Mom.
But something has been missing in his life. A canine companion that he could wrestle and cuddle with. He loves his Mom, but he missed having a four-legged friend.
Thankfully, just a short time ago, along came adorable Stella. She too was homeless, saved from a local shelter by a good Samaritan, she just wanted a family of her own. With the help of Joni Powell, one Dog's Best Friend's clients, an introduction was made and FIREWORKS. Burley was in love. He'd found his soul mate and guess what, Mom approved.
It's been just a few weeks, but Burley and Stella act like they've been together forever. They play hard all day long, walk perfectly together and cuddle together in their bed. We're so delighted to spend time with this lovely couple. Watching their puppy love bloom right before of our eyes!
Congratulations, Stella and Burley! We love you!
"A dog has lots of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue. " ~ Anonymous
By Rebecca Mandell
Fun Facts About Pit Bulls
So was Buster Brown!
Famous Pit owners include John Stewart, Mark Twain and Mary Tyler Moore.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.
More On Michael Vick
1 was euthanized for aggressiveness towards humans
1 was euthanized due to illness
22 were too dog-aggressive to be adopted, but will be maintained for the rest of their lives in an animal sanctuary at Mr. Vick's expense
25 passed temperament testing and were deemed adoptable
Courtesy of Wikipedia
After Michael Vick, the Battle to Stop Dog Fighting
Please take a few minutes to listen to this heartbreaking and disturbing story about Dog Fighting. It's important. Hug your dogs afterwards.
tp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113158123&sc=emaf
Courtesy of Fresh Air, NPR, WHYY
Dog's Best Friend's own
Burley and Stella
Giving Pit Bulls a New, Friendlier Face
September 21, 2009
Teaching Rover Recall by Rebecca Mandell
Rover RecallTeaching your dog to come to you, aka Recall, is the single most important command you can teach your dog. If you can get your pooch to come to you one hundred percent of the time, under all circumstances, you will have a great tool to deal with many different issues.
Here are just a few:
- Barking at outside stimulus (knocks at door, passersby) –
Allow your dog two-three barks, then call him to you. This way he gets to fulfill his doggy instinct of protecting his home, yet he's not driving you and the neighbors crazy.
- Chewing or other types of mischief – If your pup is about to get into something he's not supposed to (or already has), call him to you in a happy voice. This helps change his focus on to something more positive, YOU, rather than chewing up your favorite pair of shoes. When he gets to you, give him something else to do, a toy, game or bone.
-Safety – It can/will save his life. At least once in
your dog's lifetime, they will somehow get out of their house, off-leash. So you'll want them to respond to their name ON A DIME, in order to save them from that speeding car driving down the road. Even the best trained dogs get excited and make mistakes, so drilling Recall is supremely important.
How we teach Recall...
1). With your dog on a 6 foot leash and treats in your hand (something he/she LOVES), throw the treat roughly five feet away from you and gesture to the dog to go get the treat (make sure he sees it before you throw it). Once his back is turned to you and he's either gotten the treat or is looking for it, call his name in a very excited, happy, upbeat way (he does not need to find the treat before you start calling him). For example, Toby, Toby, Toby, Whoohoo and at the same time jog backwards, so that the dog is forced to jog to you. When he/she gets to you, give him big treats and tons of praise, “HAVE A PARTY.” Your pup's just done the best thing in the whole wide world. Do this over and over and over again. Then over and over and over again.
2). Once your pup is successful on his 6 foot lead, switch to a 15-25 foot long line (no Retractable leashes). Repeat step 1. You'll have to work on your pitching arm, so you can throw the treat farther.
3). Once your dog is coming to you one hundred percent of the time, without hesitation (with distractions), then test him off-leash in a safe, enclosed area (your backyard). Never move to open/unfenced areas until you are absolutely positive that he will come to you. If there's any doubt, do not move to this step! VERY IMPORTANT! All it takes is one mistake to lose your beloved pooch.
A few Notes...
-Why teach your dog Recall on leash? So we can keep them focused and close to us. We don't want your pup running off in the middle of the Recall exercise. Secondly, if he is not responding to your call, you can “reel” him in (not tug, or pull), but simply reel him towards you in that happy voice.
-Why a happy voice? We want your dog coming to you because he/she WANTS to, because you are the BEST thing in the whole wide world. A happy voice is exactly that...it makes them HAPPY,
therefore having a positive association with YOU!
-Why do we run backwards? Because Recall should be fast. No lollygagging. When you call your dog they should turn ON A DIME and run back to you. We want them joyously bounding to you.
-Don't we use the word, “Come?” Not yet. Do not add this command until they actually Come To You. Using it before they know it is useless, it'll just be another word.
-NEVER EVER, EVER call your dog to you in frustration or anger.
Again, we want coming to you to be the best thing in the world! If they are in trouble or need something unpleasant done (nail clipping, bath, meds), go to them. Recall should always be positive.
Most importantly, HAVE FUN! Training your dog should be a fun experience, a time to learn from one another and solidify your Human/Canine bond. If they aren't listening to you, it's not because they are bad, or being dominant and are desirous of taking over the household. It's because they simply don't understand you and/or your relationship needs to be strengthened. Training gives you the opportunity to create a wonderful, lasting relationship with your pooch, based on communication, trust and compassion! Enjoy!
Written by Rebecca Mandell, Dog's Best Friend
Photo of Koal doing Rover Recall
September 17, 2009
More Classes from Dog's Best Friend...
September 13, 2009
Good Job Dog's Best Friend's Future Canine Good Citizens
More Scientific Evidence Backing up Positive Reinforcement Training
http://ping.fm/sUa1w
A cognitive scientist leads a tour of the sensations and thought processes of dogs.
Courtesy of the New York Times
August 31, 2009
Coming Soon from Dog's Best Friend...
The Term Alpha is Wildly Mis-used Says the Scientist who Termed the Phrase...
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=tNtFgdwTsbU&feature=player_ embedded
And remember that what applies to wolves does not apply to domestic dogs…
Courtesy of Barbara Davis, Baddogs, Inc.
August 16, 2009
Congratulations Dog's Best Friend's August Dog of the Month
Dear Dog Lovers,
Congratulations to Rusty Clarke for being crowned Dog's Best Friend's
August Dog of the Month.
Rusty will be featured all month on our Dog of the Month page, will be on the cover of our next newsletter AND will receive a special gift.
To read Rusty's story, please log on to rebeccadogsbestfriend.com.
You can't miss Rusty's adorable photo!
Happy August! A round of apaws for Rusty!
July 29, 2009
Michael Vick - No Second Chances for Murder
July 28, 2009
An Important Lesson from Toby, my Golden Retriever
Toby LOVES people and wants to say hi to everyone. Usually, they want to say hi back, but every once in awhile, he'll approach someone that ignores him as he bounces up to them, tail wagging. They clearly DON'T return his affection. When this happens, does Toby lower his head and think, "no one likes me, I'm a loser." No way, he holds his head high and moves on to the next human. Tail wagging!
You gotta love 'em.
July 13, 2009
Dog's Best Friend's - Book of the Month
If the answer is yes, check out Chill Out Fido! How to Calm Your Dog by Nan Kene' Arthur.
Available at Dogwise. com. You can access Dogwise by going to
Rebeccadogsbestfriend.com, Favortie Links Page.
July 11, 2009
A Beautiful Story about a Boy and his Dog...
'Sit! Stay! Snuggle!': An Iraq Vet Finds His Dog Tuesday
Trained for 2 Years, Retriever Helps Mr. Montalvan Get Back on His Feet
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
NEW YORK -- Like any other golden retriever seeking a treat, Tuesday nudged his owner's hand with his snout one recent morning and waited expectantly.
Luis Carlos Montalvan got up from a chair in his small Brooklyn apartment and walked to the kitchen. Tuesday followed close behind, eyes fixed on a white cabinet. The retriever sat alertly as Mr. Montalvan, an Iraq war veteran with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, reached for a vial of pills, lined a half-dozen on the table and took them one by one.
![[Tuesday Dog]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GN913_Dog_BV_20090710204855.gif)
Tuesday
The dog had gotten what he wanted: When the last pill was swallowed, he got up and followed his master out of the kitchen, tail wagging.
Tuesday is a so-called psychiatric-service dog, a new generation of animals trained to help people whose suffering is not physical, but emotional. They are, effectively, Seeing Eye dogs for the mind.
Tuesday is with Mr. Montalvan at all hours. Taught to recognize changes in a person's breathing, perspiration or scent that can indicate an imminent panic attack, Tuesday can keep Mr. Montalvan buffered from crowds or deliver a calming nuzzle. Other dogs, typically golden retrievers, Labradors or Labrador retriever blends, are trained to wake masters from debilitating nightmares and to help patients differentiate between hallucinations and reality by barking if a real person is nearby.
"Tuesday is just extraordinarily empathetic," said Mr. Montalvan, 36 years old, a retired Army captain who received a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in Iraq. "In bad moments, he'll lay his head on my leg, and it'll be like he's saying, 'You're OK. You're not alone.'"
Seeing Eye dogs were first systematically trained in Germany during World War I to aid blinded veterans. Today, psychiatric-service dogs are being trained to help veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan battles.
The federal government has given the dogs the same legal protections as other service animals, so Tuesday can ride the subway with Mr. Montalvan and accompany him to restaurants and theaters. But few of the dogs are available to former troops like Mr. Montalvan, one of the estimated 300,000 veterans of the two wars who will ultimately develop PTSD.
Service Dogs for Vets' Unseen Injuries
3:45When Luis Montalvan was an Army Captain stationed in Iraq, he suffered serious injuries in an ambush. Back in the States, he's finding comfort from a service dog that tends to his injuries, both physical and emotional.
Puppies Behind Bars Inc., a New York-based nonprofit that uses prisoners to train animals, has placed psychiatric-service dogs with 11 veterans and hopes to provide 14 more this year. Gloria Gilbert Stoga, the charity's president, said it is difficult to raise the $26,000 needed to train each dog. "We're just scratching the surface," she said.
Tuesday was born on the upstate New York farm of Lu Picard, who runs East Coast Assistance Dogs Inc., a nonprofit that trains dogs to assist masters ranging from mentally handicapped children to stroke victims and quadriplegics.
Tuesday was eight weeks old when he and five siblings were turned over to Puppies Behind Bars, who moved them to New York's Fishkill Correctional Facility. The pup shared a cell with John Pucci, a convicted killer who assumed primary responsibility for molding Tuesday into a service dog.
"No one thought he would make it," said Mr. Pucci, explaining that Tuesday would fall asleep in other prisoners' laps as they watched television and would sometimes hide under Mr. Pucci's bed and refuse to leave the cell. Inmates bet Mr. Pucci some cigarettes that Tuesday was too affectionate to be a service dog.
Mr. Pucci discovered that Tuesday loved the jail's small inflatable pool and would run through commands perfectly if he was in the water. In nine months, Mr. Pucci taught Tuesday to respond to 82 commands geared mainly toward helping the physically disabled -- turning on lights with his nose, retrieving food from shelves, helping load washing machines.
"I got released before I could collect the cigarettes," said Mr. Pucci, 64 years old, who served 29 years and now lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he continues to train dogs.
Tuesday returned to Ms. Picard's farm, where his skills were fine-tuned for another 18 months. Ms. Picard taught him to respond to signs of anxiety and commands tailored to veterans with PTSD: "block," which tells the dog to create space for an owner who fears crowds, "my lap" and "snuggle."
Mr. Montalvan grew up in Potomac, Md., a wealthy suburb of Washington, where he played war games with friends. He enlisted at 17, spent a decade in the Army and enrolled in college to pursue a career as an officer.
In the summer of 2003, newly commissioned as a second lieutenant, he left for Iraq. Photos from the time show a square-jawed man with bulging muscles. Comrades jokingly called him the "Terminator."
Montalvan at a New York bookstore with Tuesday, who goes with him everywhere and is trained to respond to signs of anxiety." vspace="0" width="262" border="0" height="174" hspace="0">Luis Carlos Montalvan at a New York bookstore with Tuesday, who goes with him everywhere and is trained to respond to signs of anxiety.That changed in December 2003. Mr. Montalvan was walking in a compound on Iraq's border with Syria at around 9:30 p.m. when a man leaped out of the darkness and started slashing at him with a knife.
He pulled out his Beretta and shot the man, wounding him. Another soldier killed the attacker, according to Army records and several soldiers who served in the unit. Mr. Montalvan was thrown into a truck, fracturing three vertebrae.
Tall with long hair and broad shoulders, Mr. Montalvan now walks with a cane. But his biggest problems, he says, are emotional. "Sometimes my mind goes jumbled," he said one afternoon as he struggled to remember which subway line to take home. "Everything just gets kind of cloudy."
His marriage fell apart in late 2005. He left the Army two years later and severed many friendships. He began to fear crowds and drink himself to sleep. He regularly considered suicide, he says. A local Veterans Affairs medical facility has prescribed painkillers for his back, migraine pills for brain injury, and drugs for anxiety and depression.
By last summer, Mr. Montalvan was living alone in a small apartment in Brooklyn. He was surfing the Web in July when he saw a mass email about free trained service dogs for veterans with physical or psychological wounds -- the "Dog Tags" program of Puppies Behind Bars.
He submitted a formal application. By early November, he joined a group of veterans at Ms. Picard's farm in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., for two weeks of training with their new dogs.
Mr. Montalvan says he initially didn't feel much of a connection to Tuesday. The dog licked other people's faces, but not his. For the first four months they lived together in Brooklyn, Tuesday was obedient but not particularly affectionate.
"I guess it just took us a while to adjust to each other," he says.
They did. Tuesday, now 3 years old, listens to the daily alarm on Mr. Montalvan's wristwatch, his cue to make sure he takes his pills. Wearing the red harness of a work dog, he accompanies Mr. Montalvan to Dunkin' Donuts and the movie theater, to Veterans Administration group counseling sessions in Manhattan, and to Columbia University, where Mr. Montalvan is studying journalism and communication.
At Mr. Montalvan's apartment -- decorated with his Purple Heart and Bronze Star certificates, and pictures and paintings of Tuesday -- they sleep in the same wooden sleigh bed.
On a recent afternoon, Mr. Montalvan and Tuesday walked to a nearby subway station. The platform was crowded. Mr. Montalvan began to look agitated. Tuesday, who had been lying at his feet, jumped up and stood between his master and the nearest cluster of people, creating a buffer. Mr. Montalvan's breathing noticeably stabilized.
The train approached. Mr. Montalvan bent down to tie his Army combat boots, scratched Tuesday behind the ears, and they made their way aboard.
*Originally Published in The Wallstreet Journal
June 29, 2009
How could you do that to your dog?
This really happened. Very sad.
The Story...
I just need to vent about what I witnessed last night. I think what was
more shocking (literally) to me was the fact that the owners truly felt
nothing was wrong. They just said "huh, that's weird" but weren't willing
to do anything about it.
So, I went to the home of a family with three young kids and an 8th month
old Pembroke corgi. (obviously they didn't get my input into which breed of
dog to pick!) their complaints were typical of young kids and herding dogs
- he was nipping at them and was jumping, etc.
When I pulled up everyone was outside in the front yard. They use a shock
fence in the front yard and have a huge nicely fenced back yard. They use
the shock fence because they have three young kids and don't want the dog to
run away or run after people/other dogs. They bought a Petsafe fence from
Petsmart - it's the kind that is movable and sends out a signal in a
circular area. Anyway, when I got out of the car the dog came running over
to me and then fell down on the ground writhing like he was having a
seizure. I asked the mother what was going on and she said "I think he's
getting shocked." I asked her why it didn't beep and she said she didn't
know. Anyway, the poor dog was getting shocked and didn't know how to avoid
it....The mother said that it had happened before - she looked outside and
he was just sitting there looking like he was having a seizure. They had
the boundaries all "f'd" up. They didn't even know where the shock line
was. And, the battery in the collar was probably too low to give a decent
audible beep. I took the collar off the dog immediately and threw it on the
ground saying it was junk and they should get their money back. I made the
mother walk around the perimeter to find the line and she couldn't find it
and it didn't always beep. I said "if you can't figure out where the line
is, how the heck can the dog?" And, then I asked how they trained him and
they put him on leash, walked him up to the flags (they only kept the flags
up for one week) and yanked him back. So, I took her arm and yanked her and
said "what did you just learn?" And, she said "nothing." Then, the collar
they had on him was too big so, he'd just run right through the shock
line...Ugh.. ..I explained to them that they didn't train the dog
appropriately on the fence and that if this continued they'd be euthanizing
him for aggression to strangers. As it was this was the nicest and smartest
corgi (with the exception of my parent's corgi) that I had ever met. I
could not believe that these people did not realize what they were doing to
their dog was just wrong...They saw nothing wrong with him laying there
getting continually shocked. I'd be surprised if he didn't have serious
brain damage by this time.
Unbelieveable. ..
June 22, 2009
What is Positive Reinforcement?
It's simply rewarding your dog for doing the right thing rather than punishing them for doing the wrong thing. In which case, she probably doesn't even know that she's doing the wrong thing. It's up to us to teach him this. Through rewards and praise.
Think of it like this....would you punish an 8 year old for not knowing how to do Geometry? Of course not, he hasn't learned it. So that would be cruel wouldn't it?
Unfortunately I see this cruelty inflicted upon dogs every single day. Humans get frustrated with their dogs for not sitting or coming to them or not walking nicely on leash, but it's the HUMANS fault. They haven't taught the dogs how to carry out these tasks. Or they've taught them, but the relationship is not intact because the dog learned these things through coercion (punishment), so the dog has no positive motivation to listen to their human...who is now somewhat of an enemy to him.
I have learned through my work with hundreds (maybe even thousands now) of dogs that they are most responsive...and the happiest, when they are rewarded for what they've done. You can see it in their bright eyes, wagging tails and proud stances....and sometimes even their smiles.
What's Not Positive?
If any one of the tools or technique below are used, your training/trainer is not positive.
Rather than helping your dog, you are hurting them and destroying the bond between you and your Best Friend...
1) Prong collars are not positive.
2) Choke collars are not positive.
3) Shock collars are not positive.
4) Citronella Spray is not positive.
5) Leash corrections - when the handler yanks up on the collar to "correct" the dog.
6) Alpha Rolls - when the handler forces the dog into a down position...usually on the dogs back until the dog "submits."
7) Shaking the dog at the scruff of the neck is not positive.
8) Hitting, kicking, slamming doors on the dog, throwing shoes, yelling. All of these are not positive.
A Truly Positive Trainer will only use praise and treats, will never yell, lose their temper or use physical force to train the dog.
To find a Truly Positive Trainer in your area, click on TrulyDogFriendly.com.
Remember, training is not an excuse to abuse!
June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day from Toby Mandell
Hi Fellow Human- Lovers,
Here's five things you can do today to let your dad know you love him on his special day.
1) Take him on an extra long walk.
2) Retrieve the ball for him when he accidentally drops it 20 feet away.
3) Humor him and sit when he asks you to.
4) Take him to a park and sit with him while he reads his favorite book.
5) Give him lots of wet, sloppy kisses.
Have a pawfect day!
June 17, 2009
Making the World a Better Place, One Dog at a Time...
Let's talk Dog...