Follow Me Dog Training

Pumpkins, ghouls, ghosties and candy

Halloween is almost here and Leinie found the perfect pumpkin to place on! As the human population gears up to the festivities on 31 October, Follow Me Dog Training LLC encourages you to keep the dogs in mind!

Halloween isn’t a very dog friendly holiday, so remember to take some precautions so everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

• Costumes for dogs can look very cute and might even win you awards at local Howl-O-Ween festival, but think carefully about the costume you have your dog wear. Many costumes are restrictive to movement and to sight.
• Don’t be surprised if your dog doesn’t recognize you or the kids when you are wearing a costume. The rubber in the masks and the synthetic materials in costumes are enough to make the dog think twice about what they are sniffing. Show your dog the costume without you in it first and desensitize them to the sight and smell.
• Doorbells ringing and kids pounding on the door may cause your dog to make some bad decisions in barking and jumping. Know how your dog will react and either leash them up, kennel them or have them away from the door to relieve some of their stress.
• Work on a solid “come” command and “wait at the door” command. Scary demons (aka 5 year olds in ghost costumes) might be too much for your dog and if they bolt out the door, you want to know you can call them back before they either chase the demons or run into the street!
• If your dog eats the candy stash, they WILL have a an upset stomach. Depending on the size of the dog and amount of candy, may require veterinary care. Keep Halloween candy away from your pets!
• No matter how well behaved your dog is, Follow Me Dog Training LLC encourages you to only take your dog with you trick or treating if they are on a leash and are showing NO signs of stress. I have a good friend that came to my door a couple years ago that had her daughter dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and their Malinois, Hero, was the big bad wolf carrying a basket. Cutest thing in the world, BUT, Hero was on a leash and Hero is also the dog of a dog trainer, who was walking with her daughter and watching Hero very closely for signs of stress or exhaustion! Sometimes it is best to leave your dog at home, Halloween night is not the kind of socialization your dog needs!

• Take your dog for some good exercise during the day before any festivities begin.
• Dogs and pumpkins….. work well together only when they aren’t lit jack-o-lanterns.
• Keep your dog (and cats!) inside on Halloween, especially during trick or treating hours. Yes, there are still stupid people that pull Halloween pranks on animals. Nor do you want your dog to get ’spooked’ and run out of your yard! Keep your pets safe and secure inside!
• After Halloween, watch that your dog doesn’t pick up pieces of candy, wrappers, or other Halloween debris. You don’t want them to eat and possibly choke on any leftovers off the ground.

After Halloween if you plan on starting a walking program with your dog to work off some of the chocolate you indulged in, contact Follow Me Dog Training LLC to help teach you and your dog to walk nicely! We offer FREE evaluations and appointments 7 days a week.

Dogs & National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October has been named National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer has made an impact on humans and until a cure is found will continue to do so for many years to come. Follow Me Dog Training LLC supports awareness and the search for a cure.

But wait…this is a blog about dogs and dog training so where is the connection? Did you know that dogs can develop breast cancer as well?

According to Peteducation.com run by Doctor’s Foster and Smith, un-spayed female dogs are more susceptible to mammary tumors then females spayed before their first heat cycle. Male dogs can also develop mammary tumors but unfortunately for them it is usually aggressive and comes with a very poor prognosis. The vets at thepetcenter.com suggest you do a routine (once a month) check on your dog for mammary tumors and if you feel anything lumpy, make sure you point it out to your vet immediately so they can check it out.

How can your dog help find a cure for Breast Cancer? Well support Susan G. Komen for the Cure and have your dog wear a pink bandanna. Wilson Sporting Goods is the official sporting goods equipment sponsor for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, so do what Follow Me Dog Training LLC does when Leinie needs new Tennis Balls…go Pink!

Dogs are also being found to be a huge help detecting early stages of breast cancer. A dog’s nose has at least 20 times more olfactory receptors then humans do. Dogs have used their nose for all kinds of detection work. In 2006 a study was done to train 5 dogs to detect breast and lung cancer through breath samples.

“The scientists said dogs’ extraordinary scenting ability can distinguish people with both early and late stage lung and breast cancers from healthy people. The research, performed in California, was recently documented by the BBC in the United Kingdom, and is soon to be aired in the United States, researchers said.”

Dogs are  also being used as therapy dogs for cancer survivors and those going through treatment. Providing people with much needed fuzz therapy and love, dogs can help survivors break through depression and rejoin the world. The Memorial  Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in 2007,  introduced a group called Caring Canines to visit their breast and gynecologic cancer patients.

Breast Cancer affects everyone. It is hard to find someone that doesn’t know a friend or family member that has seen this cancer first hand. Follow Me Dog Training LLC hopes that a cure is found. While that is being worked toward, we hope that they continue to utilize dogs to help with detection and therapy.

Follow Me Dog Training LLC doesn’t train detection dogs, although we can teach you some cool games to get your dog using their nose more. Leinie and Pepper are not working therapy dogs although, Pepper has been visiting with my mom’s Irish Terrier Maggie (a therapy dog for more then 8 years) and provided great fuzz therapy. If you are interested in training your dog to be a therapy dog, Follow Me Dog Training LLC can help get your dog started along that route with training, clear communication, and CGC testing. 

Follow Me Dog Training LLC offers FREE evaluations and demonstrations at your home, with your dog. Contact us to set something up.

#1 movie in the country

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment and talk about the #1 movie in the country right now. Mostly because it is a dog movie. Walt Disney has graced us with Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Not only is it the #1 movie but this is for the second week in a row. Follow Me Dog Training LLC has not been to see the movie yet, but I have to admit I want to.

Two Chihuahuas, a German Shepherd Dog, and Doberman Pinscher make up the main dog cast. According to the official website though, there were over 200 different dogs in the cast. That is pretty impressive. All sizes and all breeds. some were shelter dogs, some seasoned pros to the acting world.

Training dogs for any kind of theatre, movie or tv work can be challenging. Preperaction includes alot of distraction work, trick training, obedience, focus, fun and hard work. Has anyone out there tried to take a good picture of their dog, the dogs need to sit still or you’ll take a picture of grass…ok I did that this morning when I was trying to take a picture of Leinie and Ginger playing.

Follow Me Dog Training LLC has a friend that works with animal actors. Dawn Wolfe has had a few of her personal dogs in some big movies and helps cast and train for tv and movies. She is fun to talk to and her dogs are even cooler. Chances are you have seen some of the things she has worked on. 

On a more serious note though we have to mention that the dogs in the movie may not be anything like what you get in real life. For one, real dogs can’t talk out loud in English with Placido Domingo’s accent…although your dog may have a sense of humor like Cheech Marin. Also the dogs in the movie are well trained actors and sometimes more then one dog is used for the same role (as with the German Shepherd Dog in this one). That is because not all dogs can do every trick or command the same, or even has the physical ability to perform. So don’t everyone in America go out and buy Chihuahua’s because you saw how wonderful the one in this movie is. A Chihuahua may not be the right dog for your family or lifestyle…same goes for any of the other 200 breeds that make up the cast.

Adopt or purchase (from a reputable breeder) the right dog for you, not because you saw a certain breed in a movie! And when you bring that dog home and find that your dog is a Diva or he “acts” like a bully, contact Follow Me Dog Training LLC for a FREE evaluation and demonstration. We can help your dog with the “role” of their life….your dog.

Go see Walt Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua and let us know what you think!

A Jagdterrier named Emma

When I was attending E4 at That’s My Dog! Inc, Leinie and I were able to stay with some friends of ours. They have three dogs. A wonderful black lab named Tio, A Belgian Malinois named Lager (a near a dear dog to our heart!) and a Jagdterrier named Emma.

Emma has a very special talent for digging holes. In-fact, having watched her in the act…focused and frenzied…I’d say she is a pro.

Emma has had boundless amounts of energy since the day I met her. I admit I was one of the people that helped my friends discover and adopt Emma. We knew her energy could match Tio and Lager’s and we weren’t wrong!

Jagdterriers or the German Hunting Terriers, were conceived between the two world wars, to compete against the American and British terriers…. check out this post by the Terrierman for more information. They were bred to hunt fox and larger animals like boar and badger. They could also function as a retriever, which blows my mind because it is a contradiction of jobs. Tenacious is just one word to describe the breed. Emma herself has been known to swing on the tail of a not so happy horse or two. I love this quote from www.Dog.com “This is a country dog, happiest out digging up some varmint ”

Emma uses her teeth, nose, and paws to dig as deep as she can. It is actually quite impressive to see her at work. She burns a lot of energy (both mental and physical) in her digging and comes into the house tired and muddy. I have never seen a dog actually bite and tear at the ground to get their hole deeper and wider.

Follow Me Dog Training LLC is usually helping clients teach their dogs how NOT to dig up their garden or back yard. Emma is lucky her owners are allowing her, as an energy release, to dig to her heart’s content and fulfill the deepest of Terrier desires. If like Emma’s owners you don’t mind encouraging a little digging make sure you teach your dog where they are allowed to dig, or build them a digging box to play in. Oh and if you get the chance to check out a earthdog competition or go-to-ground competition, I highly recomend it. You can find out more about these trials through the American Working Terrier Association.

If you don’t want your dog digging or exhibiting any other behaviors that might just be driving you nuts, contact Follow Me Dog Training LLC for a FREE demonstration and evaluation.

One year strong….

In October of 2007, Follow Me Dog Training LLC officially opened for business. Starting off in a strange city (Richmond, Virginia) and in a totally new dog world, we had a lot of goals listed that we wanted to meet for our first year in business. Happily, they were all met and we look forward to the challenge of a new set of goals for our business and the dogs that we help. Because if you don’t keep reaching for and attaining newer and better goals it is easy to become stagnant. Becoming stagnant is something I never want to happen to my business, there are far too many people and their dogs to help!

Follow Me Dog Training LLC offers a FREE evaluation and demonstration to anyone that is interested in working with us. During that evaluation we talk about YOUR goals for YOUR dog. Many of my clients, when I first meet them, have goals such as: no more jumping, walking nicely on a leash, not running into traffic and many more.  

When you start working with Follow Me Dog Training LLC we often revisit those goals to make sure we are working toward and attaining them. Many of you also point out to me that once you see how much fun it is to be able to do more with your dogs, your goals change during the training as well. I think that is awesome! Dogs are learning every moment of the day, let’s continue to challenge them to learn all the things that create better communication with you, the owner, and your family. Lets challenge them to do things your dogs never knew they could do. For example, many of my clients think I am down right insane when I pull out a step stool to teach their dog how to “place” on. My goals are always a bit different from yours because I know what your dog is capable of and a step stool is usually no problem once your dog understands it.

So when you contact me for a FREE evaluation and demonstration, think ahead of our meeting what your goals are for your dog. I’ll tell you what kind of goals I might add to yours and then all Follow Me Dog Training LLC needs is a commitment to training and loving your dog.

Thanks to all the dogs and people that Leinie and I have worked with for the past year. You all keep the business going and keep my desire for dog education strong. Check out what some of these great clients have to say on our testimonials page.