Dog Poisoned in Dog Park
I saw on the news this morning that there has been another poisoning, this time in a Mississagua dog park. Meat was laced with windshield wiper fluid and packed in a yogurt cup and left inside the park. A dog ate the contents and became very ill later that evening. It was taken to the vet and is expected to recover.
It would be very nice if people would stop randomly trying to kill other people's pets, but then, it would be nice if people stopped all the totally insane things people do. It seems evident, however, that there will always be sick people out there doing things like this, and it is just another reason pet owners need to be aware of their pet's surroundings, as well as their own.
A simple, yet effective training tip is to teach your dog the "leave it" command, which in a case like this, could save your dog's life. If a dog sees something that even remotely looks tasty, its impulse is to scarf it down as fast as possible to avoid any other predators from stealing it. If the dog is trained to leave it, it will hesitate, and at the command, will ignore that tasty looking temptation in liu of something it knows will be tasty, like a treat from his or her owner.
To train this behaviour, start simple. Hold a treat in your hand, show your dog the treat and then close it up in your fist and let the dog smell it. The dog will try and get at the treat but you must keep your fist closed and let them nom on your hand a bit softly saying "leave it" while they get more and more frustrated. The second they stop paying attention to the treat, say "Yes!" and immediately give them the treat. Pretty soon your dog will start to realize that it won't get the treat by snarfing and will sniff it, and look up at you expectantly.
This is awesome and should be seen as a huge major canine break through!
This is the hesitating behaviour you want to instill.
Once it comes to his point, you can start slowly placing a treat on the ground. If your dog tries to go for the treat right away, so "Oops!" or something to that effect, and quickly pick the treat up. Never reward that behaviour. When the dog settles, put the treat down again, having another treat still in your hand. Tell your pet to "leave it" as many times as you need. Wait a couple seconds and then say "Yes!" and give the dog the treat in your hand not the one on the floor. Pick that one up and put it away. The dog NEVER gets the treat on the floor.
Gradually increase the amount of time your dog has to "leave" the treat on the floor, before it gets the other treat in your hand. Always remember to pick up the other treat.
The goal is that the dog will learn to check with you visually to see if it can eat what is on the ground, or if you have something better. As a general rule, when you go to dog parks or on walks, at least a first, you should have some treats to reinforce that thought.
Eventually that hesitation will give your enough time, hopefully, to shout "Fido! Leave it!" when you see fido sniffing at a yogurt cup left on the ground.
In my opinion, "leave it" is up there with "Come" and "Stay" for commands that can save your dog's life someday.
Until the world is suddenly devoid of sick and cruel people, this should be a staple in all dog training.
Even if it isn't to avoid poisoning, it will help to keep your dog from eating other gross things...like her own droppings...which is common in puppies, but still pretty gross.
It would be very nice if people would stop randomly trying to kill other people's pets, but then, it would be nice if people stopped all the totally insane things people do. It seems evident, however, that there will always be sick people out there doing things like this, and it is just another reason pet owners need to be aware of their pet's surroundings, as well as their own.
A simple, yet effective training tip is to teach your dog the "leave it" command, which in a case like this, could save your dog's life. If a dog sees something that even remotely looks tasty, its impulse is to scarf it down as fast as possible to avoid any other predators from stealing it. If the dog is trained to leave it, it will hesitate, and at the command, will ignore that tasty looking temptation in liu of something it knows will be tasty, like a treat from his or her owner.
To train this behaviour, start simple. Hold a treat in your hand, show your dog the treat and then close it up in your fist and let the dog smell it. The dog will try and get at the treat but you must keep your fist closed and let them nom on your hand a bit softly saying "leave it" while they get more and more frustrated. The second they stop paying attention to the treat, say "Yes!" and immediately give them the treat. Pretty soon your dog will start to realize that it won't get the treat by snarfing and will sniff it, and look up at you expectantly.
This is awesome and should be seen as a huge major canine break through!
This is the hesitating behaviour you want to instill.
Once it comes to his point, you can start slowly placing a treat on the ground. If your dog tries to go for the treat right away, so "Oops!" or something to that effect, and quickly pick the treat up. Never reward that behaviour. When the dog settles, put the treat down again, having another treat still in your hand. Tell your pet to "leave it" as many times as you need. Wait a couple seconds and then say "Yes!" and give the dog the treat in your hand not the one on the floor. Pick that one up and put it away. The dog NEVER gets the treat on the floor.
Gradually increase the amount of time your dog has to "leave" the treat on the floor, before it gets the other treat in your hand. Always remember to pick up the other treat.
The goal is that the dog will learn to check with you visually to see if it can eat what is on the ground, or if you have something better. As a general rule, when you go to dog parks or on walks, at least a first, you should have some treats to reinforce that thought.
Eventually that hesitation will give your enough time, hopefully, to shout "Fido! Leave it!" when you see fido sniffing at a yogurt cup left on the ground.
In my opinion, "leave it" is up there with "Come" and "Stay" for commands that can save your dog's life someday.
Until the world is suddenly devoid of sick and cruel people, this should be a staple in all dog training.
Even if it isn't to avoid poisoning, it will help to keep your dog from eating other gross things...like her own droppings...which is common in puppies, but still pretty gross.