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Canine First Aid and emergencies - practical advice for dog owners
Christian LeVan BVM&S MRCVS
Thursday 23rd February 2012
7:00 – 10:00pm
Jack Abraham, of the Well Animal Clinic in Hampstead, has been our favourite vet for decades! But since his retirement, veterinary surgeon Christian LeVan took over being a partner at the clinic and is going to be our lecturer for the evening.
Christian was born in London and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1999. He spent two years working in Somerset then worked at various practices across the UK for several years, including time at the central RSPCA hospital in Birmingham. He has been the principal vet at Well Animal Clinic since 2006.
He is interested in all aspects of canine and feline medicine and surgery and is a member of the European Society of Feline Medicine. He now lives in West Hampstead with a Border Terrier called Chester, along with being a butler to his cats Bullet and Bertie. Christian is also an active fundraiser for the RSPCA.
His First Aid lecture will cover many aspects of dog welfare and health including:
Basic Health Examination
Principles of First Aid
Road Traffic Accidents and severe trauma
Dog fights
Wounds, burns and bleeding
Poisoning and toxicity
Parasitic and infectious disease
Gastric dilation and torsion
Heat stroke
Epilepsy, seizures and fits
Eye Injuries
Whelping bitches
Case studies
and will include practical sessions on some of these subjects as well as a Q&A session.
All attendees will obtain a brochure / summary of the presentation and attendance certificate.
Tickets: £15 per person (sorry, no group discounts this time)
(Cash or Cheque. Please enclose SAE if you require paper ticket and purchased by post)
Hot and cold drinks / snacks provided.
Venue: 1st Barnet Scout Hut, Priory Grove, off Westcombe Drive, Barnet, Herts. EN5 2BE
Information / Payment: Dima Yeremenko / Good Boy Dog School, 12 The Highlands, Edgware, HA8 5HL; Tel: 07957 228 269 / 0208 931 8207; Email: dimadogs@hotmail.com
What DOGS want?
So, OK, your dog bites, or tries to… It’s bad. Or does it pull on the lead? Tries to run away? Barks incessantly? Does not like … the list goes on. This is my working week answering the phone. - What can I do for you? – “I have this dog / s and the problem that didn’t seem to be serious at first seems to be ruining my life…” Yes, this is the nature of calls I receive from people looking for help with their dogs. I still hope that one day the phone will ring and the person ringing will ask whether I have any more fun ideas on making their training / communication together more fun, exciting and challenging. This is what I want the Dog Training to be, and not just the way to resolve someone’s wrong-doing (or non-doing!).
And then I go and see the dog/s in question and attempt to put things right. Day after day, session after session. But what if there was a trick to do all this in one go, to help all the dogs at once, to install a gadget / secret recipe that will work for every dog in trouble? How much more fun that work would have been… Teaching good dogs to be great, improving the well-behaved dog’s reactions towards achieving the best this dog can be! And I am sure the day will come, but for now there’s one thing that will make it all so much better, easier and promising – it is finding the reason WHY this hound does that thing that puts it on the “bad” list in the first place.
And there is an answer. I think you would all agree with me as over years of observation and working with dogs, I noticed that almost every badly behaved dog is not motivated to listen to its owner and will therefore do (or not) what it’s told. But what is this illusive MOTIVATION and how do you find it when needed? So here we go:
Every dog has NEEDS. There are a few, and most often a combination of them is presented, but they all are a MUST and no dog can go on without them. They are:
Need to eliminate bodily waste products (basically, when you need to go, you need to go!) – understandable, metabolism, or functioning, has end products – it is the activity itself as a result of energy produced, and it’s by-product, waste.
Need to thermoregulate – whether you like it or not, all living things tend to move towards the best temperature suitable for their specific organism. We might not even know what it is, but our bodies do, and the rest of this machine will do whatever it takes to provide it with the best possible climate.
Need for drinking water / fluids – it goes without saying that no living thing can function without the fluids needed for the many internal processes to take place. Be very careful with this one as it can save lives as well as irreversibly affect one’s physics if the provisions are not sensible.
Need for food – you wouldn’t run your car once the fuel is out. Same goes for your pooch. Keep filling them up and they go on, and on, and on.
Self-preservation – safety seems to be something that every dog somehow knows a lot about. Sometimes rightfully, and at times wrongly, but what is perceived as a threat will be avoided or dealt with. Plain and simple.
Need for fresh / breathing air – as most of the reactions inside a dog are bacterial or have a chemical nature, it requires a strictly balanced atmosphere to function at the fullest. Air is there and we don’t need to notice it. But we all need it at all times.
Sexual desires – ok, some can live without it, but some dogs (let’s just talk about dogs here) get seriously affected by it, and sexual drive becomes one of the only things that matter for them once they are out of their den. They might not even want or intend to act in this way, but the hormones in their blood stream make them act in this way, not usually acceptable by the outside world.
Need to chemically balance the food intake (micro and macro-elements needed for the organism to properly function are numerous. Whatever the dog diet is, they may need lots more ingredients and chemicals to digest it into the system, which would have been available in natural diets of whole prey carcasses, plants and various waste products that dogs seem to instinctively want to find and consume.) Please look up the term “Homeostasis” for more info on this.
Need to exercise / movement – greatly varies in all dogs, so this cannot be generalized and routinely prescribed to every student.
Physical activity helps the body to release beta-endorphins, enhances nor-adrenergic activity (increasing production of noradrenalin) and increases serotonin metabolism in the brain.This means that it benefits brain chemistry, enhances mental stability and well-being and increases immunity and activity level and health overall.
Need to recuperate / rest / sleep. With all the above in place, a dog has to still recharge it’s batteries. Let the sleeping dog lie, and it will be once again your loving and caring companion once it is up.
Organism deals with quite a high level of adrenalin and cortisol, which is exhausting and makes it work extra hard almost all the time. Rest and sleep help them to produce Melatonin that helps to balance all of the bodily functions and immune system.
Social needs – mysterious zone, described widely and by every pretender to the “Dog Whisperer” title, but mostly misconstrued as they are not physiological needs as such, though we will still list them here as they often overlap with other behavioural necessities.
Leadership, attention and affection – this is a source of those positive emotions, mental stimulation and excitement in animals’ life-cycles. Depriving your dog of these will only work once the alternative has been offered aplenty.
Cognitive Needs – these are not far fetched from the ones described above. Dogs (presumably!) have more than just a pre-programmed set of instincts. They also have the ability to think and problem solve. They need to experience more than just the same old scenery of their own home. Mental stimulation leads to a happy dog.
Chewing – very commonly overlooked as a physiological process, chewing is a source of quick serotonin just as sleep, and it, being a hormone of calm and happiness, gives a dog what no other activity can. Given a chance to rip the flesh of an animal and consume every tiniest remain of its carcass would obviously compensate this need for a self-sufficient animal, but receiving all your deer and pheasants on a silver plate you should expect the uneasy attitude many owners have over destroyed table-legs and ripped-off shoes.
Overall health not covered with previous points – skin, ears, eyes and other sensitive zones’ well-being (there are four basic types of animal tissue - epithelium, connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue).
For more on these please see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, best described by J. A. Simons to help our discussion. There you will see that all those needs can be spaced out in certain order by which you can understand a dog’s priorities and order of behavioural tendencies lots better. But in this presentation it is irrelevant as we are just trying to understand what gives the dog the reason / s to do what they do. And hopefully to control it better!
Have I missed anything? Please point this out if I have and I will happily accept my lack of academic knowledge on the subject.
But keeping in mind that all of the above are the sole reasons for ALL of our Fido’s antics and not most – we can now easily figure out the trading currency needed to modify / improve on any of the behaviours we are interested in changing. Bluntly speaking – close off the dog’s air-supply, or the rear “canal” (please don’t) – and you get yourself a devoted servant for the time being. Keep him up all night, or out in a wet and cold (don’t you dare!) – and the chances that he’d sell his soul to win back what’s being taken off him will be substantial. Easy-peasy! Make him believe that from now on your love is conditional – and he’s your silent follower for life!
“It doesn’t help” – you’d probably say, and you will be right. None of the listed is applicable due to the whole issue of keeping your dog as a pet, not as a beast being treated with just “Stick and a carrot”. We love our dogs, however good or bad they are. But we need that trading tool, the motivator, the currency that can buy those good behaviours, habits and thoughts from our pooch.
But there is a point that you will find usable. One of the needs that actually works when controlled by humans who know what to give, how much and when just as well as the tens of thousand years of dogs’ evolution have made our dogs want to pursue. It is food! And this is the reason we encourage you to consider HANDFEEDING – the nicest of motivational practices and a gentle approach that can do no harm.
And remember – it is not just about delivering or withholding the stimulus you find working for your Canine. It is about teaching them to value your input, appreciate your part in the whole daily routine of being fed and being provided with nutrients and extras everywhere and any time. It is about forming a habit of feeding from a pouch on your belt or bum-bag be it in a park, on the way to shops or in a car. Get used to doing it, and learn to enjoy it on the dog’s part. In brief -
Reflexes are built by repetitions.
Attitude is a result of motivation.
Reliability is a product of good handling skills.
And Handfeeding offers a solution to all of these and more. Lots more. Just see the videos below if you are tired of reading.
Training should not just be about dealing with problems - using the Handfeeding technique you will learn the way to turn Dog Training into fun and games –a training game with a happy, content and compliant dog and a skilful, coordinated, consistent and understanding owner able to teach their own dog at the end of it.
Here are the links to the free help available:
http://goodboydogschool.com/
http://goodboydogschool.com/
http://goodboydogschool.com/
http://goodboydogschool.com/
Please note, that the recommended Handfeeding course should be attempted over a course of a few weeks, usually between 2 and 3 after which all of our dogs are then put on normal bowl (or Kong, Activity Ball, or Buster Cube if you prefer) feeding so you would not be able to tell the difference in the owners’ input. Being the most commonly asked question I just felt that I’d rather tell you this now. Try it, stick with it, wean the dog of it – and you are good to go!
Have fun, and keep us posted on your progress.
Dog Training - out and about, or a story of an international Dog Training Spy
This is the theory:
The idea behind taking your dog to classes is this – you convince a dog to follow your instruction of whatever kind, and dogs just generalise it and behave in the same manner in all sorts of environments and circumstances. Well, this is the theory, but the practical side of it varies greatly from trainer to trainer. So in order to get a better picture on the subject I embarked on another exciting journey- please see below.
Months of visiting dog training clubs is about to come to an end. Competitive and Pet classes, professional and part-time trainers, large and small groups held in the mornings and evenings, midweek and weekend as well as indoors and outside (yes, there are many places where you can take your dog to work outside even on a cold November morning!) – There are so many choices people have when searching for a place to take their dog for some tutoring/training.
I cannot comment on a few establishments whose trainers turned really protective and would not agree to a visitor such as myself after being told that I am not looking to enrol a dog, but would like to learn the ways they teach. I guess they have something to hide or perhaps they are just not as confident doing it in front of someone who’s not a novice!
You have to agree, that whatever your trade is, after years of doing it day and night you might lose a sense of reality to some degree, get rusty and wish to brush up on the way you work, and on the ways the business is organised elsewhere. Well, this was my idea.
It was all initially intended to gather some new and effective training hints and secrets to share with my students and have a chance to meet up with some really knowledgeable and skilled trainers. But what came out of it was something not quite as planned, but rather a bit different – I saw a niche in the programmes and methods practiced so widely in and around our area. I probably understood a bit more the reason behind the fact that so many trainees come to us at times supplementing their training elsewhere with what we teach, and more often, people come and see our place for themselves and decide to stay on. I am going to tell you why shortly.
I personally own a mutt of a dog called George (he came with the name from RSPCA kennels where I teach) with no birthday, particular breed looks or characteristics. And even though he’s been on the Kennel Club working register for a few years now, I do not live for shows or competitions; neither can I commit myself to hours of heelwork and stays in order to succeed in a show ring.
This is how it is done elsewhere:
This is what I found myself watching in those numerous classes: a variety / mixture of combinations of Sits, Stays, Downs, Stands, Heel, Sits, Come, Downs, Heel, Sits and so on with longer and shorter breaks in between; just Stays, Come, Heel, Sit, Stand, Down, Come for the whole session…
Some of the more inventive classes would also enrich the routine with “Off-you-go” or even “Good Boy” and “Good Girl” but that’s about it, all keeping the dogs on the lead the whole time. All the places I have been to use rewards, some more than others.
And every time when coming home or having a brief moment of having to do something useful with my hound, I would take him for a short round of Heelwork …and struggle to design a “Precision” training routine that at the same time would be fun, exciting, variable and easy to teach.
Precision training can take as many shapes as you wish. You could be working with some experts making a work of art of an old obedience round – it looks fantastic when you pay attention to every little detail. Or you can put your dog (and yourself, not sure, who’d have to work harder) through an agility training program changing the course every few minutes. This will still gain that perfect anticipation / attention and focus from your dog. Heelwork-to-Music seems to overthrow all the Schutzhund, Working and Gun dog trials in the multitude of elements taught, as well as voluntary participation from the dog involved. And I hope I manage to explain to you why.
What I struggle to organize at our venue as well as for my individual training plans, is an exciting and variable routine of hand feeding reinforcements and polishing up the same standard obedience exercises – sits, stays, heel and recall… I know I am not that good at it – teaching a dog to be accurate and “spot-on” for an obedience ring is hugely different from convincing the same dog to become compliant and to try hard to please which is what I have been polishing up as a science for ages. OK, if you are good at what you do and creative at the same time, your dog might be asked to also perform a few stands, downs, send-aways etc, and experts in the field would also break down each exercise and introduce tons of tiny sub-exercises, such as keeping close, holding it’s head up high enough, and remaining in a close position with its’ shoulders level with the handlers left leg (knee, thigh or heel for different breeds). I absolutely love watching advanced handlers and trainers who make up a hundred and one tiny precision tests of, say, heel position, that are really different if you think about it – heelwork in slow, fast, and normal pace, touching the leg and not breaking the position when being rewarded, walking in a left-hand and right-hand circle, a figure of eight, passing distractions, anticipating the reward and being treated with right and left hand, recalling to heel from different directions at the start and end of each exercise. This list for a true expert in competitive obedience will go on for pages and pages, and lucky dogs being taught this way will have plenty to do and will hardly get bored neither will their handlers as they have to master absolute brilliance in each of the above micro-tests. Obviously, once you get involved in this sport, you might discover that all of the above does not even begin to describe the huge number of points you’d be training all individually trying to achieve that perfect heel position throughout your obedience round. Briefly, you might want to polish up the attitude of the dog being asked to walk passed the distraction and stay focused on the handler, work with and without food incentives in sight, and also food carried by the handler and/or laying about on the floor. You’d be working on prolonging your dog’s attention and consistency during, say, 10 or 15 minutes sessions as well as their, reaction to other dogs and people on the floor and doing the same outside and in. Many minute and hardly noticeable fluctuations will escape even some experienced minds, things like training a dog whilst it is being excited, and remaining calm and un-interesting as well as being near your dog when producing reinforcements as well as doing so from a few steps away. Verbal and non-verbal signals, stationary positioning with left (and later on - right) leg slightly bent, brought forward, lifted back etc.; straightening and changing angulations both on the move and standing still, then alternating the two… I do not doubt that handfeeding just for the obedience round can be stimulating and intriguing for a dog, but how many of you, readers, are prepared to spend your time firstly getting into all of the above plus lots more, and then putting it all into practice having a professional understanding of what you are doing, and where to go from there?
And this is how we do it:
I guess developing the feeling when you just know that your dog is doing great takes time, and whether you are achieving it doing your obedience round, or teaching a silly vocabulary of rollover and jumps – you still know what to do and how it needs to look once it is all complete. But again – imagine the surprise of the newcomers being asked to go home and practice all the nuances of that positioning and heights of sitting when doing sit-stays… Send them home to do a hundred and one fancy exercises of crawl, paws and begs – and you will see how happy and inspired they will come back a week later to demonstrate the art of the challenges they remembered from all that “rubbish” you taught them a week before.
So I start with a “follow me” walk. A step or two forward and reward. You remember that we are talking about the feed rather that an extra-dietary treat or supplement – healthy stuff and not junk food!
A couple of “Twirls”. Fun! Fast and refreshing. Then the two together. Then the tugger game – feed – short stay and back into the heelwork. This time a step or two into it and walk about – 180 or 360 degrees turn around yourself, perhaps, a walk between your legs – throw the titbit on the floor, vary the direction of this. Start with the sit – beg – sit and wait. Feed-feed-feed for each of the steps on this routine.
Start with forward and back - walk towards you and back, feed for that, repeat (as we always do a few of those repeats on each step). Get the dog to follow you in a zigzag direction on the walk besides you forward, mild at first, but building up a speed as you go along. Get the dog’s head up and down by luring it where you want it to be. Speak to it, give all of the steps a name – you might, and most likely will, need them all at a later stage.
Try to watch the dog’s gait- is it pacing or trotting? You’ll probably struggle to get a dog galloping to heelwork if the dog is anything bigger than a pug or Pomeranian.
Incorporate all the speed variations into your routine as well as anything else you might think will help (or, rather, complicate it)!
Then I would probably reward myself with a hot drink and after wiping my hands clean sit and have a few biscuits and tea, but continue the work – while in your comfy chair. Try to send the dog from left to right, then into a sit on each side, turn them inwards and outwards when changing sides, and add the number of exercises for each reward – see how they cope with the job. After all, they need to work for you – their meals are now earned bit by bit rather than given for free in the kitchen. We are already a hundred or something close to it of reinforcements and variations since we started the session a few minutes ago. And we will be running out of their meal soon enough – you will never spend too much time handfeeding, and if it exceeds 10-15 minutes for each meal – start giving a few kibbles together rather than just one at a time, or drop your standards – it doesn’t have to be a hard work at all! Have fun, speak to them, praise at will, and laugh as I am sure they will give you lots of reasons to!
If we need to continue – lets do a couple of “give me your paw”, come (stepping away and facing a dog, no other commands for that one), and I love putting “catch a biscuit” into this sequence a few times. In between the legs, back into the heel (or other side) stationary position, then try to teach the walk on the other side – I usually give it a name “side” or similar – again, the more variety, the more vocabulary – the better. The more interesting it is, the cleverer the dog will be in enabling you to teach more and lots faster as the time goes by. I love working with clever dogs, so the more “waste of time” exercises you teach, the more time saving this will give you in the long run. There’s no such a thing as wasting it really. Think of how many classes you spend your money on for your kids? Are they likely to become astronomers, historians or ballerinas? Well, some will, but we teach them the whole range, however gifted they are and whichever career you may wish them to pursue.
These dogs learn how great it is to work for their mum or dad. This is how you want your dog to think of you: “However stupid this command may sound, do it and enjoy the outcome. Not sure about it? Do not like the sound of it? Go for it anyway – has your mum ever lied about the good outcome? No, she didn’t! Has your dad encouraged you to use your own brain to figure out what to do? No, you just go with the flow, and take the hints from the person delivering your meal, they do the thinking, and somehow you seem to enjoy sticking to the doing.” This is the message.
There are tricks to get a dog to move into the parallel position whilst at heel and maintain it through the steps. Trainers adjust the dogs to following their shoulder line rather than knee or hands, and the heels / back of their foot to observe the parallel instead of making shortcuts on the turns. But it can, and always does once you start doing it, get far too complicated and just not comprehensive for a novice handler. (Or, perhaps, I am a bit behind in it myself?) Replace it with a little hop on a cue, insert a stop or a “look away” trick into it, educate a dog on moving its’ hind legs independently of the front - and you got it – a dog will try to be precise in doing whatever it does, and when eventually the handler masters the ring discipline – will immediately grasp the new skill necessary for the successful round in front of the competition judge.
So to summarize the above – 5 commands mixed around make boring, monotonous training that is dull, un-inspiring and disinteresting. “Pick whatever you like” approach allows handlers to experiment, and create as challenging and colourful a routine as they wish, the more imagination put into it, the better. Hundred or so tricks to do during a class, and to remember them all to take home and recite is hard work, but thanks to the handouts and demo videos available on-line it is certainly doable, creative and individually adjustable. Like it – take it on-board, and if you don’t – just do not do it. There are plenty of alternatives. Sidesteps and pivot towards the handler may not be the stuff for a first-timer and not for the first lesson, but all the bows, catch and chase the biscuit – are, and it is great to teach things like this, just try it yourself – your dog is a few steps away from you, and instead of calling it back you sharply acknowledge that in a few seconds you two are going to be racing for the treat on the floor a few steps away from you but on the opposite side of you from the dog. Sharp – “Race you” and you two are on your way. Whoever gets it first keeps it. How many times do you think your dog will let you win and ignore the instruction? Not many. Better prospects and lots more fun than teaching recalls, but the meaning is nearly the same – you listen – you win! Do it faster – and the world is your oyster. Pose with your front paws on handlers arm in a sit or stand – get you a treat, do it with the lead on, and you have a problem of pulling when on leash flying out of the window. Teach words like “neck” or “tummy” with a subsequent touch – and treat that. You have yourself another bonding experience, top it up with a figure of eight in front of you and then between the legs hand-following, walk around (finish exercise) and two sets of twist and twirls again – and it a great fun combination that will still teach the compliance, accuracy, attention and focus.
A bit of homework recommended would be trying to put your mind to go through 30 different things your dog would do with you sitting in a chair. You may bribe (and bribery and corruption work like magic, believe me!) and you may use the cues already introduced – as long as you feel you are making progress. After all, there’s no cue for everything, but once you have taught your first 100 skills, the path to generalizing and basing your act on previous experiences should help you both. So, lure, observe the performance and reward, repeat and after a while put it on a cue – this is what you do with any skill / behaviour you are teaching. Done it? Great! Next time you practice, just pour yourself a cup of tea, turn your TV on and make your Corrie night not just about watching someone else’s adventures.
And the total recall: Dog Training as the way to solve problems is a search for a quick fix by lazy people who do not love their dogs. Take your ‘difficult’ dog into the sitting room, teach it to follow 50 silly instructions into 50 different positions and actions – and see if there’s anything left from the problem you were having previously. It is fun, it is creative, gentle on the dogs’ nervous systems and emotional sensitivity, and turns the dogs into little geniuses in no time. And you forget the reasons that brought the dog into the class to start with. What can be better?! No rules to follow, not much effort, no need to sound vicious or look dominant, and no need to get soaked when the weather is not nice on you. If I was a dog, I would thank you for taking the time to learn to be fun and stimulating and for finding a nice and gentle way to get me out of whatever problem I got myself into to start with.
Have fun! Lots of it!
D.Y.
Discover Dogs London Earl's Court 2011
The dogs made me so proud! With joint help of our wonderful walking / training assistance, Diana and Fernanda, we managed to put a lovely 1 man + 13 dogs routine together and it worked like magic! I think all the hounds had a bit of showmanship in them beforehand - all 4 demos were fantastic with occasional tiny mistakes that were hardly noticeable. Hardest job was to pick up the shortlist of dogs for the demo as many of our regular trainees / walking companion dogs would make a good team member just as well.
Not “Just a walk in a park”
The Cure Cancer @ UCL Charity
would like to invite you to join Good Boy Dog School on the 4th of December
with your pet on a beautiful stroll
in Sunny Hill Park with Dima Yeremenko
and his performing dogs.
As well as enjoying the walk you will be helping to raise money for the curecancer@UCL charity www.curecancer-ucl.org
All of the money raised will go directly to purchase much needed equipment at UCL to find a cure for cancer.
You will be welcome to not only have a lovely walk with like minded people, but also see a demonstration of synchronized obedience and heelwork-to-music. Dima is a specialist dog trainer who has been featured on many TV programs, including
The Underdog Show, Leader of the Pack and many more.
Registration will be at 1pm and the walk will leave the Pavilion promptly at 1.30 so please don't be late.
Good Boy Dog School team will be on hand to answer any of your doggy issues.
Refreshments will be provided by the Pavilion Cafe in the park.
It’s simple to sign up – and it is only £15 per person.
PLEASE NOTE: Free parking is available in Sunningfields Road / Crescent. The Park car park will be closed for the event.
We look forward to walking with you and having a fun day out!
For more info please contact Sandra: sandrahamilton@curecancer-ucl.
Registered Charity No 1141310
Kay Raven
Kay Raven
(As seen on FAKING IT & THE UNDERDOG SHOW)
Evening of Obedience Training & Animals on TV
Thursday 17th November
7:00 – 10:00pm
Kay first got involved in the sport of dog obedience in 1970 after acquiring a very nervous long coated GSD bitch. Bella was followed by a rescue dog, and Kay was eventually to have the privilege to become a member of the club run by none other than Barbara & Dick Hill. Her next dog was a much loved Border Collie dog called Flak, who sadly had to be retired from working Championship level Obedience at the age of 6.
During the 1970’s, whilst working as a veterinary nurse, Kay was introduced into the world of working animals in TV and subsequently set up her own company, “Animals O Kay” which has given her the opportunity to work with all breeds of dogs and species of animals.
In 2001 Kay made up her first Obedience Champion (Ob Ch Tanamerye Bunnie), and is currently competing with her dogs Lucas and Candy (Golden Retrievers) and Fashion (Border Collie) and Bailey (Beardie).
In all, Kay has been judging for over 30 years, and was awarded her first Ticket appointment in 1996. She has also held training seminars in Holland, Belgium, Jersey and Czech Republic. Kay was judging the Crufts Obedience Championship in 2010.
Tickets: Spectators - £8.00 (under 16s - £4.00)
(Cash or Cheque. Please enclose SAE if you require paper ticket and purchased by post)
Hot and cold drinks / snacks provided.
Venue: 1st Barnet Scout Hut, Priory Grove, off Westcombe Drive, Barnet,
Herts. EN5 2BE
Information / Payment: Dima Yeremenko / Good Boy Dog School, 12 The Highlands, Edgware, HA8 5HL; Tel: 07957 228 269 / 0208 931 8207; Email: dimadogs@hotmail.com
Swimming between the continents.
Can’t tell you, guys, how good it is to be back with the good news! I enjoyed Turkey and the whole trip a great deal, bit of course the Hellespont crossing was a highlight of it no doubt. Sorry for the delay in updating you on my progress, I just had to take a couple of days to see the sites and Istanbul!
Many thanks for your support, both contributing to the "Orphanz" - charity of my choice, and for your cheers and kind words!
The excitement and adrenalin rush has not worn out yet, but I will try to focus and tell you about the swim in detail.
Firstly, it was a hell of a journey to make it to Canakkale as it is a gruelling 6,5 hours drive from Istanbul; to make the matters worth, all the bus seats were sold out due to Ramadan in the area, and I had to wait for 12 hours to have a transfer in semi-comfortable tour bus with one of the local companies.
Flying overnight hoping to be on the spot for a morning training swim didn’t pay off – I still missed it as a result. Evening welcome drink was great – we all had a chance to meet most of the 180 foreign swimmers (320 Turks didn’t arrive till Tuesday) and make some friends.
I felt like a fish out of the water though as I ended up being surrounded by professional swimmers from all over the world, people who’ve crossed English Channel, triathlon competitors, and others, swimming 30k a week for leisure as well as some ice-swimmers, rugby players that became swimming champions and many others… During the briefing Rotary Club’s chiefs also informed us that last year 2/3 of all the swimmers could not complete the race… Very inspiring and helpful I thought!
Two writers and some celebrities, none of whom I really knew, were there too. I believe a book will come out of it one day soon – I will keep you posted.
Nice boutique hotel was my designated B&B for the stay, and the town was magnificent – it is the base of all Gallipoli excursions, Troy and other local places of interest, so the place was rather busy. There’s a Trojan horse chained down on the sea front, the same one that featured in “Troy” film with Brad Pitt.
Morning trial swim was cold, boring and unexciting – after a brief medical we had to “test” the currents and waves, but I took it easy as with my frozen shoulder and aching knee the last thing I wanted to do was to push my luck.
Anyhow, I was at a registration kiosk (Naval base) at 9:30, and with numbered hat and electronic tag was put on a bus for the transfer to the European side for 1 pm start. Huge boat took all the 500 + swimmers there together with TV crews, photographers and supporters. 50 boats were waiting for us on the other side – rescue and support boats followed the group all the way from the start to finish and helped struggling swimmers on-board. During the briefing we were all told to head for the big balloons in the water all along the route. And I was naïve to listen – there was actually just one of those around 700 metres from the starting point, and no more which caused a huge confusion and as a result some people overshooting the finishing bridge taken by the current.
The first leg of the swim seemed rather easy and we were advised to swim up the current, almost in the other direction to the finish in order to beat the current and wind (and I am talking about fast water of 9 km an hour speed!). I nearly made it, only to realise that once in the open water, the current picked me up and I was about a few hundred yards to the boat with the first and the only balloon down the passage. Boy, that was fast! So I legged it (if I can use this expression in connection to the swim) and headed for the big Turkish red flag ahead for what seemed like forever. Nearing it I realised that it actually was on the shore up on a mountain, and not on a boat as a direction guide. Bummer, I though, but this is what actually saved me I think – many swimmers heading in the right direction were taken further down the channel with the current and never finished the swim. Afterwards, I could see some of them desperately swimming towards the pontoon platform on the spot till they gave up and were also picked up.
I hit a bit of the slow water once across the current, but lost time making it to the finish on my own rather than with the assistance of the current.
The last several hundred yards were actually the hardest – like a bottle-neck, all the swimmers were heading for the same spot making it nearly impossible to move your arms, and I even had a guy swimming through me sinking me into the salted Marmaris sea water. I had a couple of scratches too, but it was too minor to notice at the time, so I just swam being nearly sucked under one of the huge barges moored not far from the end destination. Many of you asked whether I had a kick in a face at the start which often happens in a mass swims… No I did not – and thanks for the advanced warning – I just waited till all the ambitious sportsmen were a distance away, and went in the water after that having one big concern in mind – the race would finish in exactly 90 minutes and I had no idea how badly I did till I heard the beep of the scanner crossing the line on a wooden platform on the Asian side. And there it was – I did it in 1 hour 7 minutes and 50 seconds! Being told that it was suppose to be 4.7 k our certificates said that the actual crossing is 6.2k – so the speed was ultrasonic! And the thrill of the whole think and legs that were bending on dry land was something I never experienced before. And I just could not stop watching the water and swimmers coming out of it – some with the assistance of people as legs get weak after such a long and strenuous swim. Some made it, and some went passed. And then there were those that didn’t make it in time, and this was the most upsetting part for me – they made it all the way across only to be disqualified as outside the time-frame… I would still be proud of myself if I did it without any respect for the time restraints – it was a crossing I had in mind and not the race as such!
Then there were awards ceremony, evening banquet, (I even managed to squeeze a Turkish Hammam in) and early morning transfer back to Istanbul. I have done it, and the rest did not matter – that was all I thought about in the morning.
Now – see the photo gallery – I made some fabulous discoveries when looking at those pictures myself.
https://picasaweb.google.com/115470121746753648749/SwimBetweenContinents...
The fundraiser is being finalised, and if you have pledged some money to help the “Orphanz” (www.orphanz.org) – please see their website, and either make a transfer yourself, or let me forward it for you, but in any case let me know what you sent, and they will acknowledge every donation and the overall contribution of my initiative. I will let everyone know the total, but it exceeded my expectation in any case. Huge thanks to all of you who contributed, and if you have not done it yet – please consider and see below.
Please write your cheques to Urals Orphans Foundation
and send them to: 48A The Pryors, East Heath Road, London, NW3 1BP or make a
transfer to the A/C no.10080659, sort code 20-36-16, at Barclays Bank, in
favour of Urals Orphans Foundation. For the overseas transfers please use
the following details IBAN GB21BARC20361610080659, SWIFT BARCGB22. Please
write your name on the back of the cheque or use it as a reference when
making a transfer as sometimes it could be very difficult to identify a
sender. The Gift Aid code for the charity is DAR37GG, tax reference XR76625
0 11 for those of you who are paying taxes in the UK. You can also make your
donation via Just Giving service http://www.justgiving.com/uralsorphans,
they charge a rather high service charge but worth using if you want the
charity to reclaim gift aid, which currently stands at 28%.
Speak soon – as I am sure there’ll be more news on the Swim in the near future!
D.Y.
When food use goes wrong, or why reward-based training does not always work
Reward that we so religiously offer our trainees does not necessarily carry some value.
It usually does, but only when the dog behaves in attentive and sensitive manner and asks for a permission or instruction to pull away. If a dog willingly follows and independently makes decision to maintain contact, it values the outcomes of that behaviour. Reward takes place. What happens otherwise – a dog accepts a treat. Completely different to the ideas of our handfeeding technique.
Example: A dog continues to follow & succeeds in getting positive feedback every now and then (often – when performing the best act out of the whole repertoire offered). Good illustration of a proper use of reward. Alternatively, dog keeps looking away, sniffs around, pulls on lead. Owner keeps luring, enticing the dog with titbits, calling it’s name and pleading to come back to heel – don’t we all see this picture a bit far too often? Food gets eaten, but does not become a reward.
It is not the number of skills that matters when it comes to training your dog, it is the attitude it gives you and each particular exercise, as well as willingness to follow and discover the best behaviour leading to the reward on offer in the shortest time.
Food use is exciting, as together with the actual nutrient and resource, successful student also gets plenty of mental stimulation based on natural, unconditioned instincts, together with a sense of success, resulting in subsequent release of endorphins into the blood stream, and therefore sending a strong surge of positive emotions that eventually is likely to be associated with the behaviour itself, and not with the fact or time of a treat’s delivery. In other words, if used correctly, your dog will be getting used to enjoy the challenge, instruction, and an opportunity to follow the command.
Think of the dog’s language when they are working hard on achieving something. Firstly, they position themselves in front of us, or in required position, close enough, making direct uninterrupted eye contact and stare. Eyes are sweet, begging, not demanding. Ears are pinned back, head brought up, to be in level with the line of vision. Mouth slightly open, with some wrinkles in it’s corners. Tongue is out, breathing in heightened. Body is loose, not tense, tail is relaxed, the whole body tells you that the dog is attentive and is all yours. Isn’t this the picture we all want to see when working (or walking) our dogs? Do you often see this when feeding your dog a treat?
When things go well, on the other hand, you may consider varying the use of rewards, and there are so many different things you can keep in mind when considering, or expanding, the use of food rewards.
1 – Just give him a treat. Plain and simple, and prone to work.
2 – Vary those stimulants, switch between lower and higher value treats.
3 – Reduce allowance, so that the dog appreciates the reward more.
4 – Offer to perform an easy or favourite trick of behaviour first – many dogs just love to be asked to, say, roll over.
5 – Toss the treat towards the dog, or up in the air – engage Catching instincts, natural for any animal.
6 – Throw a treat away from a dog encouraging a chase – another strong instinctive thread.
7 - Ask the dog to wait a second, and then allow to go and get the treat – permission will also work as additional stimulus.
8 – Never use rewards to avert dog’s fading attention.
9 – later on in your training have no food in your hand, but still reward immediately – hand deepen in pocket or pouch works as an additional conditioned reward.
10 – Hide a pouch or treat bag, or even food on it’s own – searching instinct is strong in many dogs, and finding is such a huge release of those positive feelings.
11 – Place a treat somewhere when your dog is not watching, and then call them to show what you have found – they are likely to be amazed how good you are in this game and trust your recall more.
12 – Please practice the following rule: “Extras for Excellence”
13 – Being predictable in delivering stimulants will work against you.
Make sure, that we educate our dogs, that “It pays to pay attention”, and that rewards, or offers, do not stand. And one more thing – when our dogs get older, we often cease to acknowledge their natural spontaneous obedience. Instead we use words and signals as we think that the dog is old enough to understand English. We highly recommend: continue being bilingual. What speaks better for the dogs is what they do not have to think about. Dogs’ nature, and their jobs get harder, distractions intensify and various complications make their jobs so much harder. So pay them more, and better – after all, it’s so rewarding for us to just give our dogs a well deserved treat.
And now, try to do a list of non-food rewards that we can all use to add to the excitement of working with humans. It should become a long list!
D.Y.
