Happy Holidays from Zoomdog!

Keeping Your Dog Active During the Holidays

The holidays are a crazy (but fun) time for everybody.  With the cold weather, family dinners, and guests coming over, the dog can often get neglected.  Here are a  few quick ways that you can keep your dog mentally active everyday:

• Practice down stays while baking cookies.  Build up your dog's down-stay so that he or she can eventually stay for the whole time the cookies are in the oven.

• Build a mini agility course in your house to show off your dog's awesome agility skills to guests.  Jump over the broom propped on chairs, crawl under the piano bench, go around a chair, jump through a hula hoop and pause on the ottoman.  Just make sure you have enough room for your dog to land on the jumps.
• Work on their contact spots by having them "go all the way" up or down the stairs.  Remember that the skill you are focusing on is not leaping off before the last stair (Cheri was infamous for this).  So, encourage them to go to the last stair, then reward them once they hit the last stair, just like you would when they hit the contact zone on the dog walk.
• Practice positive greetings with guests.  Have your dog greet each guest by sitting.  Once sitting, he or she gets attention from the guests.  If the dog gets up, no more attention.  This will quickly teach your dog that sitting gets attention.  If your dog is shy, have guests offer tasty treats to help socialize him or her.
• Build those problem solving skills.  Involve the kids and the dogs in hide and seek.  Have one child hide with a tasty treat.  Turn the dog loose and have the child call the dog's name.  Once Fido finds the child, he gets a tasty treat.  Repeat and increase difficulty as your dog becomes more proficient.  Having guests over or taking your dog to a different place are great times to work on generalizing their obedience skills.  Find a canine-savvy guest to give commands to your dog.  Make sure the dog gets a reward every time they perform a task for a new person.  Also, make sure the new "handler" knows all the right commands and that you are supervising.  At a new place, go through a 2-3 minute obedience routine (sit, down, stay, etc.) in different rooms of the house.  Doing these activities will help your dog learn that no matter the location or person, he or she still needs to perform the behavior when the command is given.

• Utilize the crate.  Many people think crating is a punishment, but it is definitely not.  Read this previous blog to see why crating is useful: A Dog's Crate is His Castle. Keeping your dog crate trained takes practice and there is no better time to work on crating skills than when the holidays are around.  Don't feel guilty about putting Fido in there-he may even feel it's a sanctuary away from screaming kids, too many people, and the temptations of all those chocolate goodies and the Christmas tree water.  

Christmas Bone

This happened a few years back, but for those of you who missed it or if you would just like to get another laugh, here it is!

Keeping Warm

It sure has been a cold December!  Check out what this smart dog does to stay warm :)

Tunnel Sucker

I was looking through some agility sites and ran across this term and definition that I quite enjoyed.

Tunnel sucker: Any dog that preferentially goes to the tunnel over other obstacles regardless of the commands given by the handler.

From durangoagilitydogs.com

Breakaway Tires

USDAA has now implemented breakaway tires:

Why these are now being used in competitions:

What the break away tire looks like in action:

Visualization

In sports psychology, visualization is an important technique.  Many athletes use visualization to help them perform better in competitions.  Watch the video below to get a better of how a gymnast uses visualization to help her to learn her routine.  (While it is more a documentary style, it's brief and you do get to listen to the British narrator!)

This type of visualization can also be applied to agility.  Before a run or doing a complex sequence, it is a good idea to first think of the path your are going to take, the hand and body cues you are going to give, and the crosses you will use.  You can then go over this path in your mind, slowly at first, without your dog.  Does it seem to make sense?  If not, you can make the adjustments in your brain before you make the mistakes on the course.  Next, it's a good idea to then go through course/sequence again, this time putting your dog into the picture and adjusting as necessary. Last, but definitely not least, throw in the speed and distraction factors.  As you work through the course each time in your brain, you should be able to problem solve and find the best way to direct your dog through the course.  Like Rebecca in the video, you can then replay this mental film over and over so that your runs will be more successful.

Want to learn more?  Check out this blog post by Susan Garrett Visualization; Can You See It?

Canine Influenze

Winter is the time when everybody gets sick-including the dog!  

http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/files/images/blogs/SickDog.jpg

Canine Influenza can be serious and should be taken care of immediately.  Below you will see some more information about it from the Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/canine/).  Please just remember that if your dog is acting out of the ordinary or is showing any of the signs seen below, you should take him or her to the vet as soon as possible and keep your pooch home to limit the spread of the virus.

What is canine influenza (dog flu)?

Dog flu is a contagious respiratory disease in dogs caused by a specific Type A influenza virus referred to as a “canine influenza virus.” This is a disease of dogs, not of humans.

What is a canine influenza virus?

The “canine influenza virus” is an influenza A H3N8 influenza virus (not a human influenza virus) that was originally an equine (horse) influenza virus. This virus has spread to dogs and can now spread between dogs.

How long has canine influenza been around?

The H3N8 equine influenza virus has been known to exist in horses for more than 40 years. In 2004, however, cases of an unknown respiratory illness in dogs (initially greyhounds) were reported. An investigation showed that this respiratory illness was caused by the equine influenza A H3N8 virus. Scientists believe that this virus jumped species (from horses to dogs) and has now adapted to cause illness in dogs and spread efficiently among dogs. This is now considered a new dog-specific lineage of H3N8. In September of 2005, this virus was identified by experts as “a newly emerging pathogen in the dog population” in the United States.

What are the symptoms of this infection in dogs?

The symptoms of this illness in dogs are cough, runny nose and fever, however, a small proportion of dogs can develop severe disease.

How serious is this infection in dogs?

The number of dogs infected with this disease that die is very small. Some dogs have asymptomatic infections (no symptoms), while some have severe infections. Severe illness is characterized by the onset of pneumonia. Although this is a relatively new cause of disease in dogs and nearly all dogs are susceptible to infection, about 80 percent of dogs will have a mild form of disease.

How does dog flu spread?

Canine influenza virus can be spread by direct contact with aerosolized respiratory secretions from infected dogs, by contact with contaminated objects, and by people moving between infected and uninfected dogs. Therefore, dog owners whose dogs are coughing or showing other signs of respiratory disease should not participate in activities or bring their dogs to facilities where other dogs can be exposed to the virus. Clothing, equipment, surfaces, and hands should be cleaned and disinfected after exposure to dogs showing signs of respiratory disease.

Is there a test for canine influenza?

Testing to confirm canine influenza virus infection is available at veterinary diagnostic centers. The tests can be performed using respiratory secretions collected at the time of disease onset or using two blood samples; the first collected while the animal is sick and the second 2 to 3 weeks later.

How is canine influenza treated?

Treatment largely consists of supportive care. This helps the dog mount an immune response. In the milder form of the disease, this care may include medication to make your dog more comfortable and fluids to ensure that your dog remains well-hydrated. Broad spectrum antibiotics may be prescribed by your veterinarian if a secondary bacterial infection is suspected.

Is there a vaccine for canine influenza?

Yes, an approved vaccine is available.

What is the risk to humans from this virus?

To date, there is no evidence of transmission of canine influenza virus from dogs to people and there has not been a single reported case of human infection with the canine influenza virus. While this virus infects dogs and spreads between dogs, there is no evidence that this virus infects humans.

However, human infections with new influenza viruses (against which the human population has little immunity) would be concerning if they occurred. Influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans. Such a virus could represent a pandemic influenza threat. For this reason, CDC and its partners are monitoring the H3N8 influenza virus (as well as other animal influenza viruses) along with instances of possible human exposure to these viruses very closely. In general, however, canine influenza viruses are considered to pose a low threat to humans. As mentioned earlier, while these viruses are well established in horse and dog populations, there is no evidence of infection among humans with this virus.

My dog has a cough what should I do?

Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian so that they can evaluate your dog and recommend an appropriate course of treatment.

Where can I find more information on canine influenza virus?

More information on canine influenza in pet dogs can be found in this article: Influenza A Virus (H3N8) in Dogs with Respiratory Disease, Florida in Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.

Google Dog Commercial

I can't tell a lie-I love this commercial :)  If you haven't seen it on TV, go ahead and check it out here:

Flow and Momentum

This agility team has excellent flow.  Watch for how the handler and dog work together fluidly.  What kinds of techniques do you see being used?