Travelling with dogs

Travelling with Your Dogs this Christmas

Travelling with your dog over the Christmas holidays is a great way to include your best friends in your end of year celebrations. Some important things to bear in mind are warm weather safety and car safety.

Warm weather safety tips

Dogs are less efficient than humans at regulating their body temperature in warm weather. Dogs only sweat minimally through their nose and paw pads.

Their primary mechanism for cooling is to pant. This allows the moisture on their tongue, airway and lungs to evaporate, providing heat exchange between their overheated body and the ambient air.

Unfortunately this is not the most efficient cooling mechanism, so it is important to take steps to prevent your dog from overheating, especially in the height of an Australian summer.

Precautions:

• Ensure your dog has access to clean, cool drinking water. Some dogs will try to dig in their water bowl when hot, so make sure they can’t spill the bowl, or provide several bowls in different locations.
• Provide a shallow paddle pool for your dog to splash around or lay down in
• Try to limit your dog’s exercise to cooler times of day such as early morning or late afternoon.
• Provide access to comfortable, shady resting spots, or bring them indoors to share your air conditioning.
• On very hot days, give your dog a “pupsicle”.
• Never leave your dog in the car on a hot day, as temperates can rise to dangerous levels very quickly.

Risk factors for heat stress:

Some dogs are at higher risk of suffering heat stress than others due to various physiological features that make them less efficient at regulating their own body temperature. If your dog has one or more of these risk factors, you should take particular care in monitoring your dog’s environment and looking out for symptoms of heat stress.

• Overweight dogs
• Dogs with dark coloured coats
• Brachycephalic dogs (less effective at cooling themselves through panting)
• Dogs with a history of heat stress
• Dogs with existing medical conditions

Signs of heat stress:

• excessive panting
• excessive drooling
• vomiting
• difficulty standing or walking
• red gums
• rapid or irregular heart rate

What to do if your dog is showing signs of heat distress

• Move your dog out of the sun, preferably indoors with a fan or air conditioning
• Provide drinking water, add ice cubes to the water dish if possible
• Offer an ice pack or wet towel to lay on.
• Splash cool running water over your dog and under his “armpits”. The capillaries are close to the skin here so it will have a greater cooling effect
• Offer access to a wading pool with shallow, cool water.
• Seek veterinary advice urgently. Dogs can quickly go into shock and suffer organ damage from heat stroke

Car travel and dogs

Safety first

Just like humans, dogs should wear seat belts to protect them from injury in the event of an accident. Invest in a good quality car harness which can be attached to the car’s seatbelts. Having your dog properly restrained in the car will also reduce potential driver distractions. As with small children, dogs should not ride in the front passenger seat due to the risk of injury from an air bag deployment.

Car sickness

Some dogs that don’t travel in the car very often may suffer from car sickness, which makes long journeys unpleasant for everyone involved. You may be able to improve matters by starting off with short car trips and gradually building up to longer journeys. This will also help to reduce the “anxiety factor” which may contribute to their car sickness.

Note that many puppies have car sickness which they simply “grow out of”. If possible, avoid taking a young puppy on very long drives.

Take regular driving breaks to allow your dog to stretch its legs, have a drink of water and eliminate. This will make them more comfortable during the drive and less prone to car sickness.

An old wive’s tale with anecdotal evidence is that ginger biscuits help to reduce car sickness in dogs. The required dosage would vary based on your dog’s body weight. A small dog may benefit from half a ginger biscuit while a larger dog may need one or two to have an effect.

In severe cases, consult with your veterinarian, as medications may be available which can help.

Dog Travel Essentials

• car safe harness and seatbelt
• plenty of fresh water and a no-tip water bowl
• a familiar bed, blanket or toy to make them feel more secure in their new surroundings
• waste bags
• leash
• your dog’s normal food (any sudden changes to diet is likely to upset their system)
• any regular medications
• ensure they are wearing identification with your current contact number
• Adaptil collar or spray to help them feel more secure (especially if prone to anxiety)

So you’ve got a reactive dog?

How to desensitise a reactive dog

In dog obedience training, there are often many different approaches to the same problem. At Jordan Dog Training we recommend the following approach for working with reactive dogs as it does no harm (emotionally or physically) to the dog and it uses a science-based understanding of canine stress and dog behavioural learning. What do we mean by “reactive dogs”? This refers to more than just a nuisance habit such as jumping up on people in excitement. It’s a label that we give to dogs who perceive certain situations as a threat and react instinctively to try and protect themselves. To people, it often looks like an overreaction, but to the dog it is very real. Read more →

Positive reinforcement dog training

To treat or not to treat

Many people object to using rewards in training, particularly food rewards, which is the most common tool in the positive reinforcement toolbox. The primary objection is because the reward is seen as a “bribe”, creating dogs that need food to work. Rewards come in many forms. Training a dog without offering any rewards, whether food, praise or play, will not be motivating for your dog and is likely to be damaging to your relationship with them.

Food: bribe or positive reinforcement?

If rewards (food or otherwise) are used correctly, they are not a bribe but a reinforcer. A bribe is something that is presented before the desired behaviour to prompt them into action. A dog that is trained using bribes will generally only perform the behaviour if there is a reward in front of him first. A reinforcer is something that is given after the desired behaviour by the dog. The dog understands that the reward appeared after they performed the behaviour, which reinforces the behaviour. A dog trained with positive reinforcement will perform the behaviour in the expectation or hope of a reward, but they don’t need to see or smell it ahead of time.

Luring – during early stages only

Treats are often used as a “lure” in the very early stages of training a specific behaviour. The food is used to guide the dog into a particular position. The trick is to use an empty hand lure as soon as possible after the dog begins to grasp of the mechanics of the behaviour. You should still reward the behaviour, but don’t show the dog the treat until after the dog performs the behaviour – keep the treats in a pocket or treat pouch. The next stage is to transform the empty hand lure into a hand gesture; again, only presenting the reward once the dog performs the behaviour.

Fading out the food

Once the dog is reliable in performing the behaviour, you can reward less frequently or sporadically. However, if they start to show reluctance to perform behaviours that they know perfectly well how to do, (after ruling out any medical issues), consider whether you should be paying (reinforcing) your dog for more of the work he does for you, particularly in distracting environments.

Distracted dog?

Another important tip for preventing accidental bribery is to ensure you have your dog’s attention before giving a cue. People often wave a treat under the dog’s nose to get their attention, unwittingly bribing their dog. Try making a silly noise to get your dog’s attention instead, or be more animated to gain your dog’s focus. If your dog is too distracted, move your training to a calmer environment until your dog is at a stage of training where he can remain focused on you without resorting to bribes.

My dog doesn’t work for food

If your dog doesn’t work well for food, it may be because he’s getting too much of it already or he has free access to it whenever he wants. If you load your dog’s meal up in a treat pouch instead of a bowl, he will soon be motivated to work for it. Food dispensing toys are another great way of encouraging your dog to work for his daily meals. Another consideration is what types of food are you using in training. Some dogs are not that excited by kibble but will work well for soft, meaty treats. A trick to supercharge kibble is to place it in a bag with a couple of chunks of hot dog. The kibble will take on the smell of the hot dog. Remember, whatever calories you use as rewards should be subtracted from their meals to avoid weight gain.

Non-food rewards

However, some dogs will be more motivated by a tossed ball or a tug on a rope. The same considerations apply to these rewards. If you have to show your dog the ball before they will sit, the ball has become a bribe. The more effective sequence is to cue the behaviour, and only present the ball when the dog performs the behaviour. If the dog doesn’t perform the behaviour, it hasn’t been reinforced enough in the earlier stages. Take your training back a step to a calmer environment with more frequent positive reinforcement.

Justin Jordan to work with the Australian Army’s handler of the official 6th

Battalion mascot, Blue. Jordan will be working with Blue and also guiding Blue’s handler to help groom the Australian Cattle Dog into the ideal Army mascot. Who is Sgt Ridgeliegh Blue III? Blue is the official mascot for the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. The unit is an infantry battalion located at the Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane that was raised on June 6, 1965. The battalion has deployed on operations to Vietnam, East Timor, Iraq, and Afghanistan.     Read more →

Jordan Dog Training Receives the 2016 PIAA Dog Trainer of Excellence Award

This year, we were lucky enough to attend the Pet Industry of Association of Australia annual awards evening in Melbourne, where we were awarded the 2016 PIAA Dog Trainer of Excellence award in recognition of outstanding dog training performance. We are honoured and humbled to have won this award.   As always, we believe in going above and beyond for our clients and their pets. Our team takes pride in our puppy and dog training services, particularly our in-home behaviour programs. Read more →