Blog the Change October 15 2013

Today, for Blog the Change, I want to talk about the Doberman Assistance Network.

DAN was founded in 2007 and went into business in 2008, "when people from the Doberman community realized the need and came together to assist this intelligent, affectionate, and often misunderstood breed" (from the DAN site). I didn't realize it was such a young organization, actually. They try to accept owner surrenders. They work with breed specific rescues, and they work to pull Dobermans from shelters and organize transport to get the dogs to safety.

I love the Doberman breed, and I feel like this is "my" breed. In a way, even as a writer, it's hard to articulate how important this kind of work is. There are so many dogs who need help. There are so many breeds who need champions, big and small. The way people treat dogs, casually, like puppy factories or toys or garbage. And then the people who care about the breed pick up the pieces.

Most recently, I posted about Sweetheart (the picture of her is graphic and very sad, be warned), a dog who was taken in as a stray in Charlotte, NC. The update on her is that she is Heartworm negative, and accepting food. Maybe she just needs love and groceries, and DAN can provide that, until she's well enough to go to a home.

But that's just the most recent DAN case I've blogged about. There are any number of them who aren't quite so touch and go, who don't necessarily make it onto Facebook. There are dogs pulled from kill shelters with time running out. There were dogs who had nowhere else to go, when their breeder who passed away. I hear people say "It's just a dog" when they hear impassioned please for help, and when they hear outrage at the treatment of dogs. And yes, they are "just" dogs. Which means it's up to us, as humans, to watch out for them. To be responsible for them, and help them, and make sure they aren't cold and afraid and hungry.

If you're interested in sponsoring a dog (Nola and her litter are still listed on their site), you can visit the DAN site. They don't currently have anything in eBay (and remember the lovely collar my aunt won the bidding for?) but they do have a lovely 2014 Doberman rescue calendar. They also have an Amazon wishlist and a store with DAN merchandise.

Blog the Change, April 15, 2012

Well, I daresay my Blog the Change platform is the same as it was back in January.  Train your dog! Your life, and hers, will be better.

I don't know a lot of dog owners, at least not to talk to at length. I try to "spread the gospel" anyway, as it were. One library patron got a puppy a few months back, and lately has come in describing how the puppy is chewing everything up. Oh, we've dealt with that, haven't we? I recommended feeding her only out of Kongs, which would contain her regular meals but mixed with a bit of yogurt and freezing, to use up that mental energy. Apparently the puppy does well in other realms, with sitting nicely for her meals, and retrieving. 

One of my friends, when visiting somebody else, taught the dog in that household "touch". Another friend's dog knows "roll over", which Elka does not, by the by. Any time Elka is on her back, it is on her own terms, and it's typically on a couch and on an object of her vigorous affection.

"Touch" and "roll over" might seem like silly tricks. "Touch", however, can lead to other things, like closing doors or cabinets, or send aways in agility and other dog sports."Roll over" might be pure fun, but you all know that I think trick training is valuable in and of itself. When you do trick training, you're still spending time with your dog and bonding, and working together. When Elka and I trick train, it's also typically when I bust the clicker out, and she's overjoyed to see that happens. The clicker means treats, and Elka loves treats. She also kind of likes getting something right, which is nice. 

Elka's "drop it" is still quite nice. She had a piece of candy in her mouth that somebody had let fall on the floor, unnoticed (a Sour Patch Kid). My fiance said "drop it", and she did immediately. I'm so very proud of that in her.

Dogs that you spend time with aren't bored. Dogs that you train don't tend to get cast aside and end up in shelters. Rescue, maybe, because sometimes home situations occur that are unavoidable. I think it was in Playtraining Your Dog that Patricia Gail Burnham said something about how people will sell their conformation champions, but asking somebody to sell their titled Utility Dog? No way, José. Granted, there's also a degree of training that goes into conformation dogs, and I don't know that owners give them up that easily either, but every owner is different, and competitors may be in it for different things, to be sure.

Blog the Change, January 15 2012

Blog the Change (for animals) is something that I've been thinking about doing since I heard of it, but I wasn't sure what cause I was going to champion. I mean, thematically, I'm all into Dobermans here, but it doesn't mean I feel every household is suited for them. I'm anti Puppy Mill, but not actively spearheading anything against them, and I do applaud the people who do. Especial congrats go the Republic of Ireland, who just this month strengthened their laws regarding commercial breeding in an attempt to eradicate them.

But no, my cause is training. Sounds kind of minor and silly, right? To a lot of people, "trained" means your dog doesn't poop or pee in the house. To other people, "trained" means your dog will gait around the show ring with them and stand to be judged, hopefully garnering points towards a Championship. To other people, a trained dog is the difference between whether they feel able to leave their house, put on their sneakers, anticipate a seizure, ride out Post Traumatic Stress.

I'm having a difficult time finding the actual statistic, but I've heard in various places that the number one reason dogs are turned into shelters and subsequently euthanized in the United States is behavioral problems.

He won't stop jumping up.

She won't stop chewing.

He growled.

She snapped.

He doesn't get along with other dogs.

She doesn't like kids.

He pees in the house.

She pulls on the leash.

He barks.

She has too much energy.

Can every single dog in the world be "fixed" by training? I'm not qualified, really, to say yes or no to that. Can a whole lot of "broken" dogs be fixed by training, or could they have never been "broken" in the first place if their humans were trained to listen to them and work on their behavior together? Oh yes.  A dog who is worked on in obedience style commands, and even just household manners, is more likely to be a dog that's a pleasure to be around. She's a dog more likely to have the behavioral tools to deal with the things going on around her. Did I teach Elka to lay down when kids approach? No. Does she do it sometimes anyway, on her own? Yes, and it's endeared her to several parents who were obviously uncertain about this upcoming potential interaction. 

I see (and hear) many dogs who I think seem to be lacking in training, and stimulation. They bark. They pull on their leashes and dart around and bark, and never look at their owners. The owners never give them any cues (that I can see or hear), or talk to them in any way. They instead look embarrassed (or not) and say things like "I can't stop him" or "that dog would eat you in one bite" (meaning Elka). Elka has certainly had her pulling days, I assure you, and I imagine will have some again. But "freak on a leash" doesn't really apply to her anymore either.

A dog without training is a dog without mental exercise. A dog without exercise, physical or mental, is a bored dog. A bored dog is a destructive, frustrating dog who drives you crazy with whining and barking and chewing and getting into what she should not. Through the cold, Elka and I haven't really been getting on our walks; as a direct result, Elka has been whining more, and picking up things off of the coffee table, and pacing around. That kind of thing. A peanut butter Kong or Monster mouth helps with that, directly. A laser pointer is a fun way to blow off some of her energy, and for me to get some laughs. 

A trained dog is a pleasure to be around, and one who your friends and family enjoy as well. A trained dog has a home for life. Isn't that what we all want? A home for every dog? Keep dogs out of shelters; teach them how you want them to live in your house, and share your life.