You can teach an old dog new tricks By jeANNe PUTNAM | contributor
Matt Snyder has been a trainer and owner of All About K9 Training for nearly 20 years. In the wake of recent dog attacks in the Upstate, he offers advice on how to prevent aggressive behavior in pets.
hoW do you as a trainer deal With aggressiveness in dogs?
We first develop an effective way to communicate with them by teaching them obedience training. Without obedience training we have no effective way to communicate with our dogs. After laying a solid foundation of obedience training, we will then begin to work on the issues at hand. What Would your advice be to oWners if they find their dogs behaving aggressively?
Seek the advice of a professional trainer immediately. There are many types of aggression that your dog could be demonstrating, so leave it to the professionals. The bottom line is: Do not allow the behaviors to fester. Get help immediately. What do you advise oWners to do to make sure their dog knoWs the oWner is in control?
First off, make sure your dog does something for everything that they will receive from you. The easiest thing to do is to get your dog to sit; once they comply, praise them and reward. We consider this the “No Free Lunch Program” because it
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We at All About K9 Training believe that training can start as young as eight weeks of age. A puppies’ imprinting period is between eight and 16 weeks of age. During this period, it is very important to safely expose puppies to all sorts of sights, sounds and objects. Doing so will help ensure they will grow up with confidence and strong nerves.
Yes, you can certainly train senior dogs. The only time we consider not training is if the cost would outweigh the pets’ life. We firmly believe that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
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When is the prime age to train a dog?
do you feel that senior dogs can be trained?
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MEDICAL WEIGHT LOSS INFORMATION SESSION Tuesday, February 12, 4-5 p.m. Spartanburg Regional Cafeteria Conference Room This free class covers information about our medical weight loss programs: Rapid Weight Loss, Healthy Lifestyle and 9- or 18-week Optifast®. Call 560-7070 for more information or to register.
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For more information about training, visit www.allaboutk9.com. teaches the dog that nothing in life is for free. Another good thing to do is to keep all of your dog’s toys up out of sight so they cannot get them on their own. The job for us as the alpha is to loan a toy, not to just give it. Like children with toys, if they are always in sight, they become everyday boring objects. do you feel that dogs that have attacked people can be rehabilitated?
This is a very debatable subject. We categorize our bites and attacks on a scale of one through five, with five being the worst case. When evaluating a case of this nature, it is important to get a very detailed report of the incident to determine what led to the attack. From there, we will evaluate the dog further to determine a possible rehabilitation program. Depending on the case itself, dogs on the lower end of the scale have a good chance for rehabilitation, whereas dogs towards the higher end do not. Any dog attack needs to be taken seriously. All of us can help prevent attacks by socializing our puppies with people and other puppies between eight and 16 weeks of age, as well as educating our children on dog safety.
Wednesday, February 13, 6:30-9 p.m. Regional Outpatient Center, Family Medicine Conference Room This free class covers detailed information about LapBand® surgery. This procedure does not require stapling, cutting or intestinal rerouting and is adjustable. Wednesday, February 20, 6:30-9 p.m. Regional Outpatient Center, Family Medicine Conference Room This free class covers detailed information about gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy surgeries. Register online at spartanburgweightloss.com or call 560-7070 for more information on any of our weight loss procedures.
LOOK GOOD...FEEL BETTER Monday, February 11, 12-2 p.m. Gibbs Cancer Center Auditorium This free makeover program for cancer patients is held the second Monday of each month. It is open to all women receiving chemotherapy, radiation or other forms of treatment. The goal of the program is to help women manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. Register at gibbscancercenter.com.
CENTER FOR WOMEN MATERNITY TOUR Tuesday, February 19, 5:45-6:45 p.m. Information Desk, Montgomery Tower A guided tour of our labor, delivery and post-partum areas eases stress on the day of the delivery by allowing you to become familiar with the hospital, parking and waiting areas. If regularly scheduled tours do not meet your schedule, please call Colleen Gilmore at 560-2294. Register online.
Online registration and event details are available at spartanburgregional.com or by calling 864-560-7999.
Contact Jeanne Putnam at jputnam@communityjournals.com.
JANUARY 25, 2013 | the Journal 11