BBQ Dog Biscuits!

Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is what I     used!)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup water

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 cookie sheets
2) Mix all dry ingredients, THEN add wet ingredients & mix until a "rollable" dough forms... May need to add flour.
3) Cut out whatever shapes you please! (I did bite-sizish pieces for training!) and place on greased cookie sheets.
4) Bake 20 minutes for soft treats, longer for crunchier treats!

Q.  Can you explain this weight pulling thing to me please?  I'm just not sure I understand it, to the point of it being a great thing... I mean, I know physical exercise is necessary for these dogs, but is this weight pull sport as harsh as it looks?

A.  Sorry this took me a minute to get back to you, and I am absolutely thrilled that you asked me this... Seriously, because I would much rather see people seeking education on the subject before passing judgements on something they know nothing about.  Here is my general feeling on the weight pull thing, and forgive me in advance, I have gotten pretty heated during some of these discussions in the last two weeks, and it's very unlike me, but the whole weight pull debate really touches something in the core of me that parallels the whole pit bull debate in general.

I TOTALLY support the sport of weight pull, in the same way I support the sport of dockdogs & agility.  Just like anything, including agility, obedience, protection sports, fill in the blank, people can use abusive techniques to teach it. That does not mean it is a "cruel sport" & "abusive" and all these other negative adjectives that people have used to describe it, based solely on a picture of a dog (in a regulation safety harness, no less) pulling a heavy load.

The people that scream "ABUSE! ABUSE!!" over a photo of a dog with it's eyes closed pulling, I guarantee you have never been around the sport, never seen anyone train it, never gone to a competition and couldn't tell you a single thing about it, with regard to rules, training techniques, competitions or physiology.

I do not pretend to be an expert in the sport of weight pull. I absolutely am not.  I am, however, personally offended by the people who judge the book by its cover and get all up-in-arms about a photograph and make all these judgements without educating themselves... That makes the "advocates" just as bad as the haters, and in some cases, worse.

As far as the harshness of the sport, I wouldn't even describe it in those terms.  Pit bulls like to pull (I'm generalizing there, obviously)... Show me the pit bull who doesn't enjoy pulling (and I'm laughing here because I legit can't think of a single one), and they obviously have a lot of energy and drive, generally speaking.  There is a huge difference between the person who chains a tire to their dog and indiscriminately lets it loose in the yard with it and the people who train & condition for the sport.  The dogs that compete in the sport have to be in extremely good physical shape, well-conditioned, safely equipped and have an understanding of what they are doing.  Handlers are not allowed to touch their dogs or bait their dogs with food or toys in order to get them to pull during competition.  The dogs pull on command, just like the dogs jump on command in the sport of dockdogs.  (I DO compete in dockdogs, and nor in that sport can you physically touch your dog to get it to jump... That will get you kicked off the dock.)

Also, from a training standpoint, it is extremely difficult to get a dog to perform in that sport (same as dockdogs) that doesn't want to.  The dogs that compete in weight pull (again, same as dockdogs) perform because they want to, and have that drive & that confidence.  I acknowledge that I only have rudimentary knowledge of weight pull but it is still a LOT more than the hundreds of people who jumped on the bandwagons in the last few weeks who take one look at a picture and call all of the participants & supporters of the sports animal abusers.  In weight pull, the judge will "call it" if the dog is done, whether it is a motivational or safety issue.

I have heard the argument in the last few weeks "you can train a dog to work without risk of injury."  Really??  I tend to disagree... There is ALWAYS risk of injury when you are into physical activities with your dog, and there aren't too many dogs out there that aren't into physical activity.  I am not going to keep my dog in the house in a padded room because there is the possibility of him hurting himself.  Weight pull does take a lot of training, physically, I mean, kind of like working out, and therein lies (possibly) a greater risk of injury.  That is probably just a fact, and that does not make the people who participate in the sport abusive because of that.  I hike in the woods with my dogs off leash most every week, and we hit some pretty hard trails.. Is there the chance they could get cut or twist an ankle?  YEP. Me, too.  Does that mean I'm abusive?  Absolutely not.  And nor does it mean I am going to discontinue that activity because of risk of injury.

If you have ever seen anyone responsibly training for the sport, or been to a competition, you would see how happy & EXCITED the dogs are to participate, again, just like in dockdogs.  The two sports are really very similar in many regards and this is what I mean by that: the sports are both very physical, and so is the training for it.  (A lot of people don't realize that most of the training for dockdogs competitors takes place on land, hence speed, impact, physically catching objects, and then you've got hitting the water, flying through the air, risk of hitting the water wrong, things like that, once you're working on a dock.)  People see dockdogs in action and think it's this wonderful, fun spectator sport that the dogs love (which it is), but they look at weight pull, and call "abuse."  All the elements are the same.  In neither sport, again, can you physically touch your dog to get them to perform, and a lot of the training elements are similar; i.e. you need a dog with drive, confidence (natural or built) and physical stamina and in good health.

The dogs that compete in weight pull love it (and again, I am generalizing here... It is impossible to make a statement like that and not be generalizing).  By that I mean, ANY time someone is training for ANY sport (doesn't even have to be a sport, we could go as far as to say ANY time someone has INTERACTION with a dog) there is the potential for abuse.  Does that mean that every person who participates in weight pull (or dockdogs, or agility, or obedience, or even the protection sports) is abusive??  Absolutely not, and I take personal offense to that.  THAT mindset is EXACTLY the same as that of people who say things like "all pit bulls are killers; all their owners are criminal degenerates; you can't trust any pit bull," etc. etc.

What I am saying is that I think the sport of weight pull is wonderful in that it is a productive, awesome outlet for physical energy, as well as a proper expression of that natural drive that a lot of these dogs have.  The sport itself is NOT abusive, nor would I even personally use the word "harsh."  If you are the owner of a high drive dog, (like me & many other bully breed owners) and you want a well-behaved kid, they need to have a proper outlet for that physical energy.  If they don't have that, they generally express it in inappropriate ways, which, at best may mean your couch gets eaten, and at worst, leads to frustration that can lead to aggression.

After all of the recent hubbub about the sport of weight pull in general, I plan to get into it with my own dogs.  Sure, it may go a long way in proving my above points in that I'm pretty sure everyone who knows me knows I am not an abusive dog owner (psssh!), but more importantly, I am always looking for something else fun (in training) for us to try.  I have four dogs now.. There is usually one well-suited to a given sport.  My dogs are all pit bull dogs (American bully, American Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier, and a pit bull dog mix), who are in great shape and full of energy!  Weight pull is such a great outlet for their drive. 

I think weight pull scares people a little because it is such a strong visual expression of that drive... (People don't realize that drive is what makes a good dockdog as well, not a love of the water.)  Just because people don't like to look at, or educate themselves on, or acknowledge how high drive these kids are (because it is exactly what gets them into trouble when not properly channeled), does not mean that it doesn't exist.  Owners and nay-sayers alike would be a lot better off if they acknowledged that some of these dogs have a "scary" amount of drive, and allowed for that to be channeled into something productive, as opposed to "my sweet little fluffy puppy wuppy pibble furbaby would NEVER do anything aggressive" and condemning any visual image of a dog in high drive participating in a sport.

So, in answer to your very, very good question (and I am seriously - and I'm not being sarcastic - super thankful that you asked me about it), I love weight pull in the same way that I LOVE dockdogs, LOVE competitive obedience, and LOVE P.S.A.  I love pretty much any sport that is fun for the dog and gets people involved in the amazing world of dog training, because it just opens up a whole other level of communication, understand, love and respect, as well as gives the dogs a positive outlet for their physical energy.  That's why I'm a trainer! :)

I am super sorry I went on for this long, but as you can see, you hit a hot button... I wish people would do what you did, and try to educate themselves on the subject so you can draw your own conclusions, and not just jump on the "Weight Pull Is Abusive" bandwagon with no knowledge of the sport or the participants.  The people that do that are just as bad, maybe worse, as the "I Hate Pit Bulls Because They're Vicious" crowd.

Thank you so much for asking me this, truly, and if you ever want to go check out a training session or a competition, I would love to go with you, and we can get educated together!

Cassie

I am posting this question I received earlier in the week regarding proper greetings when people come into your house!

As with pretty much everything, there are a million ways to train for this.  The advice I give via email, social media or even on the phone is not always exactly the same as what I would teach you to do in person, reason being, the potential for human error.  The advice I give in this column is pretty fool-proof, as in there really isn't any damage you can cause following it, even if you screw it up! :)  That being said, read on!

Q.  When someone's in the hall outside my apartment, my dog goes crazy at the door and runs up to me barking and jumping up.  She doesn't do it to me so much anymore, but people when people come in, she's jumping up wild and in their lap, kissing them and trying to pin them down.  Any suggestions?

A.  First thing, the more physical exercise she gets, the better... It is very hard when we have our dogs behind walls all day to expect them to keep their composure once they get some interaction!  I am in love with the dog back pack... I have some links on my page for it: http://www.hexdogs.com/cassies-favorites.html

I used to have Patches where his weighted backpack in the house, which helped him calm down and made it physically more challenging to act up.  I would also suggest you keep your dog on a leash in the house when people are coming around; if she's all "up on someone's sh*t," pull her OFF.  Don't let her accost people.. You know what I mean?  If she goes right back to do it again, repeat.. Let her greet when she has calmed down.  Greeting is the reinforcement of the behavior.  Don't let her jump up on you without an invitation, if you choose to let her jump at all.

Also, don't let her out of the crate (if she's in one) when she's flipping out.  Wait for her to calm down, even if it takes ten minutes when you get home.  Walk around, put your things away, grab a beer, whatever...  If you go to open the door and she starts up again, wait it out.  You are training her brain to calm down.

Sometimes, it helps having a few - and I mean like, two - toys around.  When people come in or she gets all excited, try to direct her to the toy.  This STILL works with my dog, Spark Plug.  When he gets really excited, he goes and grabs a toy to show you :).  You can start teaching her to get a toy on cue, by throwing the toy when she's into it and tell her "GIT' IT! GIT' IT!" when she's going for it.  Eventually, you have her sit and wait WHILE you throw the toy and THEN tell her "GIT' IT!"  When you practice this little exercise without people around, she learns "GIT' IT!" means go grab the toy.  Do it when you get home yourself.  I used to get in the door, and Spark would start running over, and I'd bend down and say "GIT' IT!  Where's yo' tooyyyy?"  And he'd get it and prance around with it all proud.  SUPER cute, and way more desirable than tackling me! :)

There are a million ways to handle this scenario, but you can't really do any damage with the advice that I'm giving you here... When we meet in the spring, we will fine tune everything, but for now, try these things, stay committed to it, and the biggest thing.. Don't ALLOW her to practice the behavior if you don't like it.  Put a leash on her, use physical barriers like crates & gates to your advantage (stating the obvious right here: none of that is an excuse not to train by just crating her all the time.. I know that's not you, though).

ANNNNNNNNNNNNND I would get her into a sport.  Get your feet wet - try agility, try obedience, try flyball - see what's around and try it out.  That dog needs to WORK, boy :) and that's why I LOVE 'er!

Let me know if this helps!!
Cassie

A question was posed today on the Project Train Yo' Dog! Group which I thought was worth re-posting!  Here is the question and my response:

Q. How do you suggest dealing with a dog that's afraid of the clicker?

A. There is a button-style clicker available here: http://www.clickercompany.com/Blank-QT-Clickers_c_42.html. One of my dogs was afraid of it, too, to the point of trying to run away... I would do this: put yourselves in a smallish room with minimal distractions and "escape routes" for your pup, make sure he's hungry, and get some super-duper high-value treats (think cheese, steak, ham, that kind of thing). Have him on a leash, and simply step on it so you are preventing him from practicing running away. Don't look directly at him, don't make a lot of noise, and try simply clicking and then basically stuffing the treat into his mouth regardless of what he is doing.. So click, your treat-filled hand goes immediately to his mouth, repeat! This is what I did with Rocky, and although he reverted a little bit after initially making progress, we eventually got there and now he loves it. Try this and let me know how it works, please!! If he is seriously too distressed, when hungry, to even take a piece of steak, we could break it down even further... Lemme know!!

I thought I would post this, because I found this experience very enlightening as a trainer, and thought you might, too!

With Dually, you have to be so aware of your body language & the tone of your voice because he is so sensitive. The littlest differences in movements and your voice can make him shut down... I have never had a soft dog like this, and it's amazing because I've never had a dog with a 27" head either! It is a cool experience for me, as a trainer, working with him because I really have to celebrate the little victories, maintain that very peaceful mindset, and really break down things into small steps in order for him to be nothing but successful because he picks up on the littlest bit of frustration. For us, that means he takes about 3x as long as some of my other dogs to teach the same behavior, because even a simple "eh, eh" (just a "no reward" marker, not a physical correction or anything) will get him looking over his shoulder to his crate ("safety!"). The more we work, the more confident he is becoming, and it is very cool to see, and it doesn't matter that it takes 3x as much... it really doesn't. ♥