Sunday is full of SWEETS! Each week we will showcase the sweeter side of Cairns. If you have
a sweet filled Cairn and would like us to consider YOUR picture for an upcoming
"Sunday Sweets!" send it to us at cpcrnblog@gmail.com (All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN
and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.).
A drag lead is strongly recommended for at
least the first two weeks your new dog is in your home, and maybe longer,
to prevent any potential trouble and give you easy control whenever it is
needed.A drag lead is simply a short
lead (maybe 4 or 5 feet long) that is attached to your dog’s harness at all
times.
Why Leadership is Important
Before
you bring a new dog home, it's important that you understand that your new dog
must accept you as the leader - in all things - in order for there to be
peace and harmony in the home. First
and foremost, you must be Alpha in your new dog’s eyes, i.e., the All-Powerful
Leader and Provider of All Good Things. Being Alpha does not mean
you must be domineering or that your dog is supposed to think you're a
dog! It is ludicrous to even suggest that! Being Alpha simply
means your dog sees you and respects you as the Leader, the entity who
controls all of the things of value: food, toys, furnishings, doors –
everything!
The messages you put out the first
few days are vital to your ultimate success with your new dog. Think ahead about how you are going to
introduce the new dog to your home, your family, and your routines. If
you can visualize exactly how you will do things, every act will flow much more
naturally when you have your new dog in your arms or at the other end of the
leash.
If your dog feels secure that you
know what you’re doing, you will have harmony in the home. To be a good, effective leader, you must
provide clear communication to your dog in every situation, so it is entirely
up to you - the human - to see the world through their eyes and think like a
dog, not the other way around.
The Magic of a Drag Lead
It
is always best to Start at the Beginning! For the first two weeks minimum, you should have a drag lead
attached to your New Cairn’s harness, inside your home and outside, in a
securely fenced area.
A
drag lead is simply a short lead (maybe 4 or 5 feet long) that is attached to
your dog’s harness at all times. Simple,
yet it can seem almost magical because it communicates to your dog that you are
the leader. The first time you calmly step on a drag lead to gain
control over a situation, your new dog will “get” the message.
Eliminating a drag lead too soon can
lead to real problems. A shorter drag lead - maybe a foot in length
- is extremely helpful long-term to consistently remind a smart Alpha
Cairn that you are truly in charge, without interfering with their
freedom to run and play in the yard.
If
there is a problem, the drag lead allows you to take control of the situation
without putting your Cairn in a position where it feels the need to defend
itself. Remember, you are a
Leader, not an adversary! If you reach for your new Cairn under a
piece of furniture, you are invading their space and may rightly invite a
defensive growl (or other defensive behavior), but if you calmly step on the
lead and maneuver it toward you so you can pick it up in a non-threatening
manner, you are in a much better position to coax the dog out of it’s “safe”
spot, redirect the dog’s energies, and restore the leadership balance.
A
drag lead gives you power (Alpha) and a measure of control, and it helps
you avoid situations where you ask for a behavior but have no way to ensure
that you can make it happen without asking a 2nd time (which you
should never do!). “Come!” is a great example. In the
beginning, it is really best to calmly step on the lead, pick it up, and then
say, “Come!” where you can easily reel the dog in, ready to give a nice treat
as soon as the action has been achieved.
How
much you need to use the drag lead will vary from dog to dog, depending on
their level of fear or sense of entitlement (i.e., they think they
should be Alpha!), but you will be well
served, no matter what, if you attach a drag lead for at least two weeks
– and maybe longer.
In the following video, these young Cairns are on short drag leads and you can
easily see that they have no problem running and playing. What you don't
see is that, at the end of play, the male Cairn would always come back in the
home when called, even if he did not have the drag lead, but the little Alpha
female would come only when wearing the drag lead. She would
simply play "keep away" without that little drag lead because she absolutely
knew the difference in the ability of the human to control her actions, and it took a solid two-plus years of
consistency to get to the point where she would reliably come when
called without the lead.
More to Think About from the Whole Dog Journal
Blog:
Sunday is full of SWEETS! Each week we showcase the sweeter side of Cairns. If you have
a sweet filled Cairn and would like us to consider YOUR photo for an upcoming
"Sunday Sweets!" send it to us at cpcrnblog@gmail.com(All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN
and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.).
Sweet, sweet Meatloaf
Jack
Cubby O'Brien
Zane
Foster Jimmie E
King Fergus
Sequins
Foster Paisley
Foster Rigatoni
Red Rover
Foster Penne
Foster McGraw
Foster Jennie C
Yancy fka CP Jancy, Tai fka CP Taiwan, CP Maggie,
CP Rally, Diesel, Daisy, Ollie, and Pepe
Sunday is full of SWEETS! Each week we will showcase the sweeter side of Cairns. If you have
a sweet filled Cairn and would like us to consider YOUR picture for an upcoming
"Sunday Sweets!" send it to us at cpcrnblog@gmail.com (All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN
and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.).
Calmly changing the dog’s body position to
“Sit!” or “Down!” and relaxing the tension on the lead will change the dog’s
emotional state and help avoid conflict.A timely distraction like “Look at me!” with great treats in the offing will help desensitize your dog to triggers.
"…On leash aggression always involves
unintentional signals from the owner which create a vicious cycle..."Suzanne Clothier
Handling On-lead
Aggression
A common behavior problem, on-lead
aggression involves the handler & unintentional training. Here's how to resolve the problem without
using aggression of your own.
Perhaps
one of the most embarrassing behavior problems is a dog who acts aggressively
on leash, whether towards dogs, other animals or people. Often these dogs do not exhibit any aggression
when off leash. Though puzzling to
owners, the difference between off leash and on leash behavior offers a clue to
the problem as well as the solution. Recognize that on leash aggression always
involves unintentional signals from the owner which create a vicious cycle.
Here's how:
At some point, usually in adolescence, the dog growls, barks, lunges at or
snaps at a dog or person. The owner is
surprised and embarrassed, and not sure what to do. If not handled correctly, the dog may persist
in this behavior and get worse over time.
Understandably, the owner begins to anticipate any situation which might
trigger this behavior. Spotting an
approaching dog or person before the dog does, the owner tightens up on the
leash so he can control the dog better, stiffens his own body posture and holds
his breath. The dog notices the change
in the leash tension, the owner's body posture and breathing, and begins
looking to see what has the owner so worried, and once he spots it, begins his
aggressive behavior.
Did you know that the first step in
attack training is to give the dog something or someone he wants to get to,
while using a tight lead and tense body posture to excite the dog into a more
aggressive state? In the case of on
leash aggression, the owner actually makes the situation worse without meaning
to, and the dog simply responds to signals received from the owner.
What can you do to solve the problem? Here's
the basics:
Train! Take the time to teach your dog self control
and basic obedience commands which you can reinforce, and praise his good
behavior.
Be alert to the earliest signs. No dog spends his entire life in an aggressive
state. Learn what body language your dog
exhibits when he is calm and relaxed, and what changes occur as he moves into a
more aggressive mood. Watch for changes
in ears, head and neck carriage, eye shape and expression, mouth and whisker
changes, tail carriage and overall posture. Intervention
at the first sign of a problem is more successful than trying to deal with the
full blown aggression.
Redirect the dog's attention. By giving a command he knows in a cheerful,
upbeat tone, you can redirect the dog's attention back to working with you. If possible, change direction and move away
from the situation - the dog cannot walk briskly with you and be aggressive at
the same time.
Change the body posture, change the
emotional state. Body language is
nothing more than an external expression of an internal state. It is possible to change an emotional state by
changing body posture and vice versa. This
is why the advice to "Stand up straight, smile and you'll feel
better" actually works! In the case
of aggression, imagine how hard it would be to be angry if you were sitting in
a comfortable chair with your face and head relaxed.
With a dog, you can physically change
the body posture, and thus shift the emotional state, by simply asking the dog
to sit (a neutral, non-aggressive
position) and using your hands to stroke
ears, mouth, head and hackles back to a more relaxed position. This is not petting, and you are not trying to
reassure the dog. Concentrate on changing the body posture using firm strokes of your
hands at the same time you insist the dog sit quietly with no tension on the
leash. This very simple technique is
amazingly effective.
Be aware of your breathing and body
posture. Since we tend to hold our
breath and thus tense our muscles when nervous (facts that do not escape the
dog), it is important to breathe in a more normal fashion. The
easiest way is to either sing or tell the dog a fairy tale, such as Goldilocks
and the Three Bears. While this
sounds silly, the very silliness keeps you calm and relaxed. How uptight can you get talking about a blonde
and three bears in the woods?
Keep the leash loose. Remember tension on the leash encourages
aggressive behavior. Put the dog under a
command, like "sit", using the leash if needed to help him, but then
immediately loosen all tension on the leash. This does NOT mean to give the dog the full
freedom of his leash - keep your hand on the leash in such a way so that if
needed you can quickly control him, but do not have any tension on the leash. If the dog breaks position, quietly remind
him what he was asked to do, and reposition him.
Learn the difference between aggression
and an appropriate response to rudeness. Far too many dogs are labeled aggressive when
in fact they are responding in a perfectly appropriate canine fashion to
rudeness. This usually occurs with
others dogs whose owners allow them to be very rude because they believe that
their dog is simply saying "hello" to your dog. What is really happening is a canine version
of a complete stranger rushing up to you and hugging & kissing you! If you verbally snapped at such a person and
pushed him away, you would be well within your rights, and not considered
aggressive. Don't let your dog be rude, and try to protect him from well meaning
but uninformed owners who allow their dogs to be rude. (For
more information on this, please read our article "He Just Wants to Say
HI!")
Shouting doesn't equal murder! Very few canine arguments result in any
serious injuries. Though it is scary
when dogs snap, growl and bark, remember that dog behavior is mostly posturing
and threats designed to avoid real conflict. Just as you may raise your voice when upset to
warn someone that you are angry, this does not mean you will escalate to real
violence. Your dog uses his body
language and vocalizations in the same way. Should a physical conflict arise, most dogs
have bite inhibition and rarely inflict any serious damage. Knowing this allows you to stay calmer, and
not imagine the worst!
To learn more, see the Flying Dog Press
booklets Body Posture & Emotions, Finding A Balance, The Seven C's and
Understanding & Teaching Self Control.
Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network, the nationwide rescue formed in 2001, has rescued more than 4,500 cairns and cairn mixes across the United States. For more about CPCRN, see our website atcairnrescue.com.
