July 2010

As much as many of us love dogs there are some dogs that have jobs to do.  These are dogs that are not satisfied with being couch potatoes or love bugs.  They need work and things to keep them busy.  They need work to occupy their minds.

You may have seen dogs acting as service dogs for the disabled or as therapy dogs.  Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and some other breeds take to this kind of training very well, becoming helpers for people who need assistance.  Training for service dogs begins when the dogs are puppies and they are placed with families who are willing to teach them basic training.  This involves a great deal of socialization and taking them out to places they would go as adult service dogs.  They will learn that when they are wearing their service dog vest they are working and they shouldn’t look for petting.  When the vest comes off they are pets again.  When the dogs become adults they go to school for more intensive training and to meet the disabled person they will be paired with so that the two of them can learn together.  Service dogs usually remain in service until their age begins to catch up with them when they may be retired and live out their years with their disabled partner or be placed in a home with someone who wishes to adopt them and take care of them.

Therapy dogs usually begin as someone’s pet.  These are dogs who may display a great deal of empathy with people.  Any dog can be a therapy dog including mixed breeds.  Therapy work requires that the dog have good manners and social skills.  It helps if your dog knows a little obedience.  Organizations such as the Delta Society train volunteers and screen owners and their pets for therapy work.  Dogs become approved, with their handlers, so that they can visit people in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, schools and other facilities.  Therapy dogs and their owners bring a great deal of comfort and happiness to people’s lives.

Other dogs have much more athletic jobs, such as hunting dogs.  Dogs such as Pointers, Setters, Beagles, Coonhounds, Salukis and many other breeds were originally bred to hunt various game.  Although these dogs make wonderful pets many dogs of hunting breeds still have strong hunting instincts.  If you have a dog from hunting bloodlines your dog may not be completely happy unless he has the opportunity to do some field work.  Many people still field trial their dogs or go hunting on the weekends.  As soon as their dog sees them getting out the hunting gear the dog is at the door ready to go to work.  Hunting is a deep instinct in dogs that survives despite all the generations of domestication.  Many breeders still try to breed superior hunting dogs.  If your dog shows an interest in hunting or you are curious about it try to take your dog out and let him enjoy it.  If you are no good with guns your dog can still enjoy some aspects of field sports with events like hunt tests or lure coursing which simulate hunting conditions.

Other dogs perform jobs that are very important to our society today such as police work, bomb and drug sniffing, war service and detective work.  A dog has many abilities that can be trained for these necessary jobs, from using his nose to his guarding instincts.  Some police forces are beginning to breed their own dogs for this work but many of the finest law enforcement dogs still come from Europe — dogs such as German Shepherd Dogs and Belgian Malinois.  These well-bred, highly trained dogs excel at the skills required for tracking, obedience and protection.  War dogs have been used by armies for centuries.  The U.S. military currently employs many K9 teams in Iraq and Afghanistan and they are in the process of developing a breeding and training center for their future canine needs.

If you have a dog who seems bored at home he may need a job.  Perhaps there’s something he was bred to do or something that he excels at.  Maybe there’s something enjoyable that the two of you can do together.  Look into the things he’s good at doing or consider his heritage.  You may find that your dog needs a job.

What kind of job does your dog have?  Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Until next time…..

As any owner knows, sometimes there are communication problems when it comes to knowing when your dog needs to go outside for potty reasons. Even with older dogs your dog may not always give you a signal that you recognize. Sometimes it takes a definite “nudge” or a paw slapping to get your attention. There’s a very good way to teach your dog to let you know when he needs to go out and the message will be clear as a bell.

When you’re housebreaking your dog it can be very easy to teach him to ring a small bell next to your door to let you know that he needs to go outside. All you have to do is follow the same procedure for regular housebreaking — watch your puppy closely for signs that he needs to go outside. Signs may vary slightly from puppy to puppy (or dog to dog) but they usually include sniffing the floor and looking for a private spot. When you see your puppy looking like he needs to go out you should quickly, but calmly, stop him and lead him outside. Don’t descend on him like a screaming banshee! If you frighten him you will probably literally scare the poop out of him. Plus, you don’t want to make bathroom duties something traumatic for your puppy. That will simply set your housetraining back.

Once you are leading or carrying your puppy outside you should stop for a second by the door and touch your puppy’s paw to the small bell that you have installed next to the door. This bell can be some chimes, a bell from a hardware store or a thrift shop, a cowbell. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s something that makes a bell sound that you can live with. It should be loud enough for you to hear it in another room. The bell should be hanging at a height that will be easy for your puppy/dog to reach with his nose or paw when you aren’t with him. Let your puppy touch the bell and then go on outside with him so he can take care of his potty needs.

Continue this routine each time you take your puppy outside, making sure that you praise your puppy and reward him for using the bathroom when you take him out. Your puppy will associate touching the bell with going out to potty. In fact, your puppy may be very smart and begin to associate touching the bell with simply going outside. He may start ringing the bell whenever he wants to go outside and get a treat. You will have to take him outside every time he rings the bell but you should only reward him when he goes to the bathroom. Your puppy will eventually figure out that he’s not going to get treats and rewards for ringing the bell unless he actually has a potty situation.

Of course, you can teach a dog who is already housebroken to ring the bell, too. You simply incorporate ringing the bell into letting your dog go outside. When your dog indicates that he needs to go outside take his paw and touch the bell then reward him when he completes his pottying. Do this each time and your dog will soon learn that ringing the bell is part of letting you know that he needs to go out and that he will get a treat when he follows the routine.

It’s very helpful to have a dog ring the bell to let you know he needs to go out. It saves you running around watching your dog to see if he needs to go out or wondering if he does. Your dog can communicate with you directly, telling you that he needs to go outside. And, it’s a fun little trick to teach your dog.

Until next time…….