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Commercial pet foods
I am often asked to explain what exactly is wrong with the
"normal" pet foods. Even when it is obvious from the health of
the pet, it may be difficult to say what it is about the food
which makes it unsuitable. Unlike for human food the law...
Dealing with Dog House Training Issues
The best house training uses the dogs own instincts to avoid soiling its bed. That is the basis behind crate training, in which the dog is confined to its crate in the absence of the owner, and den training, in which the dog is confined to a small...
Emergency Pet and Family Planning
As thousands of families struggled with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many of them were also missing pets. Many people have plans to deal with emergencies for themselves, but fail to make arrangements for the animal members of their family....
It's a Dog's Life
What do we mean when we say "Oh, It's a Dog's Life"?
Maybe it's because the ideal dog's life is to have nothing more
than a warm bed, to be fed regularly, and know that there is at
least one human who cares and loves them. Or, is it that...
Meet My 4-Legged Family
If you've been reading this ezine for very long, you probably already know a good bit about my wife, Ann, who is also my business partner and soul mate, and my soon-to-be 13-year-old daughter, Amber. Today I want to introduce you to the rest of the...
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Training Your Dog To Save a Life In Water
Occasionally watching Animal Planet does have its advantage. You can really learn how to train your dog for different situations.
There was a program on in August, 2005 about a dog that loved to swim in a nearby lake. Whenever the dog left the house, you would find him in the water. The dog would just wade in the water for hours. The family would then need to go into the water and get the dog out.
Instead of going in a getting the dog out of the water, why not train the dog to get people in trouble out of the water. So the owners decided to teach the dog to save lives while enjoying the water at the same time.
Of course, an expert was brought in on training the dog to actually understand that if there is someone drowning in the water, what actually needs to be accomplished.
As a matter of fact, in the past, when the owner’s daughter was having difficulty in the water, the dog was able to bring her to the dry ground but just left her there and went back into the water. Good on one hand, but what if she was unconscious?
So the training began with a long leash. The dog had a long leash on. The trainer just threw a favorite toy in the water. The dog retrieved it and came back out of the water.
The trainer then threw in 2 balls covered in a sheet tied at the top so this way the dog couldn’t actually grab the balls but was able to
take the knotted material in his mouth. That is what this dog did. The dog dragged the material with the balls out of the water to safety. The material acted just like a human’s clothing where the dog would say grab a collar or loose clothing the person was wearing.
Then the next step they did was to use a boat with 2 people in it. The trainer threw in a favorite toy, I think it was attached to the rope outside the small boat. The dog brought back the toy and the rope attached to the boat to safety.
Their goal was to train the dog to possibly save lives on a boat that was unable to get to the shore safely. Also, if anyone was drowning, that the dog would pull the person to the safety of the ground and to get help.
This particular dog was very smart and was picking up what the trainer was doing. So if you are looking to train your dog to save lives in water, then using a long leash and doing what the trainer did above, can start you on your way.
Of course, you can find books on this very specific training method.
About the Author
Copyright 2005
Fern Kuhn, RN
Specializing in Diabetes
http://www.dogtrainingcenter.info
http://www.diabetestestingcenter.com
You may reprint this article as long as you keep the links active.
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