Tricks, Games, Sports

When spring is in the air, every dog knows it. Spring is the season when dogs want to run, play, and stretch their bodies, when their eyes brighten, and their natural zest for life flows through their veins. Spring is a time of action. There are so many canine performance sports today that require peak levels of running, twisting, turning, jumping, and pivoting. Anyone watching a canine agility trial or flyball competition can see the adrenaline pumping through every ounce of the dog's being. Adrenaline can override the senses and the animal can unknowingly hurt himself badly, especially early in the season. The risk of injury is very high when a dog is not properly conditioned. Also, dogs need to be given the opportunity to warm up before engaging in the burst of excitement and energy they experience at the moment they are released for coursing, a herding test, or on a sledding trail.

Owning an aggressive, fearful, or other type of special needs" dog is stressful. When your dog overreacts to other dogs or just the stimulus of being out in the world by barking

Last week a trainer friend stopped by to visit with her three dogs: Star, Kaiya, and Lhotse. As we were chatting, Laura confessed to me that she thought she'd ruined Star's "fetch" with the clicker. "She had a great retrieve," Laura said, "until I started clicking her for it. Now she just drops it as soon as I click. I stopped working on it because I knew I was messing it up." I chuckled to myself. I knew this would be a fun - and easy - training fix.

Humans have taken advantage of dogs' incredibly keen sense of smell over the ages for such uses as hunting, tracking lost and fugitive humans, and more recently, the detection of bombs, narcotics, and other contraband. It's well known that a dog's nose is many times sharper than our own – estimates range from 10,000 to 100,000 times superior to ours, with a far greater number and variety of scent receptors in their noses, more neurons linking the nose to the brain, and a greater proportion of their brains devoted to smell.

bonding

and took four-month-old Gideon home in August 2002.

Seeking an outlet for Gideon's energy

Some trainers say you shouldn’t play tug with your dog. Not me! Those of you who enjoy this energy-eating aerobic activity with your dog will be pleased to know that I personally think it’s a fine game to play, as long as you’re using appropriate tug toys and playing with rules.

Whether you and your dog are road-seasoned competitors in canine sports, just playing around" in novice dog shows

Different dogs have different play styles. If I tried to play patty-paws with our Australian Kelpie, she would slink away in horror. Her idea of a rousing good time is to help me bring the horses in for their evening grain. Our Cattle Dog mix, Tucker, would rather fetch a stick or a tennis ball, or go jump in the neighbor's pond. Our Scottish Terrier's response to the paws activity would be a bored Whatever . . . " but he'd be delighted to engage in a game of "Let's roust critters out of the drainage pipe!" "

It goes without saying that every dog should undergo an annual health examination, complete with laboratory tests to evaluate blood chemistry and composition. Hard-working dogs – whether they are athletes or used for emotional therapy work – should be taken to the veterinarian for additional exams if their performance or attitude sours. In addition to conventional veterinary examination tehcniques, Dr. Bessent employs an age-old practice, taken from traditional Chinese medicine: tongue and pulse examination of the dog.

Flyball racing is fast and furious. Most of all, it's a great time for both dogs and people! The first time I saw Flyball

By now, if you're into dogs, you've probably heard about agility. Maybe you've even seen it in action or tried it with your dog. Agility is one of the fastest growing dog sports in the world, and with good reason – it's fun! Of all of the dog things I've done