Activities to do with a Working Dog

Some people ask me why I chose a large dog breed over a smaller one, and I tell them because I want to actually do things with a dog. He is my motivation to get out and enjoy nature. Here are some activities that you can include with your dog:

-summer camping : taking your dog into your provincial parks or a campsite and just living in the wild is a great way to let your dog enjoy being a dog, and for you to enjoy nature. 

-biking: with the right equipment and some practice, biking with your dog gives both of you exercise and tires out an energetic dog!

-jogging: running with your dog is a great way to bond and keep healthy. And all you need is a leash  and collar, it's something you can do every day, following the guidelines.

-swimming: if you're like me, and love the blue sea; then swimming with your canine is a wonderful sport. Dogs love swimming and who doesn't like this refreshing pastime in the summer?

-hiking -talk about great cardio! Not only will the view and fresh air be invigorating, but your dog will enjoy the earth under his paws.

-Frisbee-Of course every dog owner does this with their dog, but still, it's the classic game with dog and man.

Dog Jumping

How To Stop Your Dog Jumping

Got A Jumping Dog? Put an end to your Dog's Annoying, Excessive Jumping Today!

It can be a shocking, even frightful, situation: Your dog jumps on a family member, a visitor, even you. And when you want it to go down, it just won't. What's a dog owner to do?
Fortunately, it's not too difficult to stop your dog from jumping. With the proper amount of consistent training and know-how, any dog owner can teach his dog to get off people, and stop jumping.
Here are some things you should know:

Reasons Why Dogs Jump

There are three main reasons why dogs jump:
1. To assert dominance. Whether it's jumping on people or jumping on furniture, both instances illustrate a dog that wants to raise his station in life. By jumping on you or jumping on the couch, he's saying that he's the pack leader--something that you DON'T want to happen, as a dominant dog is much more difficult to train (and can become quite aggressive). In either case, you'll definitely want to institute the proper alpha dog training techniques, if you haven't already.
2. To greet people. Dogs identify each other by smelling scent glands around each other's faces. As humans are much taller than dogs, there's nowhere to go but up!
3. Because they have been rewarded for this behavior in the past, whether purposely or unknowingly. Some owners may, at one point or another, allowed the dog to jump on them or on their furniture, welcoming their dog's enthusiasm to see them. Other owners inadvertently reward their dogs jumping, simply by doing something good--such as walking or feeding the dog--right after the dog has jumped. Even if they told off the dog for jumping, by providing the dog with a walk or with food, they make the dog connect these positive actions, with a not-so-positive action: jumping! The dog sees thing in a very simple, linear fashion: if he jumps, he'll get to go for a walk--or even better, he'll get fed!

Top 5 Techniques To Stop Your Dog From Jumping

1. Do not let your dog make a big deal out of your arrival home. In fact, as the alpha leader of your family's "pack", you shouldn't even greet him or her for at least 15 minutes. If your dog jumps around and pesters you before that, squirt him with water pistol or shake a can filled with pebbles. This will startle him, and if done on a regular basis, calm him whenever you get home. He won't make such a big deal of your arrival, and thus learn that he can greet you without jumping. Follow the same technique for any visitors to your home. Do not introduce the dog to your visitors until after 15 minutes or longer.
2. Greet your dog on his level! In addition to waiting to greet your dog, you should also greet him in a stooped position, so that he doesn't have to jump up to greet you. Additionally, if you wish to pet or cuddle your dog, do so on his level. This removes the need to jump at any time. PRAISE HIM for not jumping. If he jumps, use the "Off" command until he stops.
3. Avoid rough play with your dog. This means no tug of war or wrestling games. These types of activities only encourage your dog to jump, and make him think it is perfectly acceptable ALL the time. It will also lead to aggressive behavior such as biting and unprompted attacks, so make sure to avoid overzealous play!
4. Use the "Sit" command. This is one of the most basic, and important, commands. As such, if your dog is well trained, he will respond to the Sit command before even thinking to jump. If he does not respond well to the Sit command, then more training is necessary, as this is the foundation for dog obedience training. Train him until he responds to it in everyday situations, such as greeting and going for walks. The better he understands the Sit command, the much less likely he is to ever jump at all.
5. Finally, teach the very necessary "Off" command.

Teaching Your Dog the "Off" Command

Ideally, this command should be taught immediately from the time your dog is a pup just brought from home. If not taught early, it will be MUCH more difficult to teach your dog, later.
1. When the puppy or older dog jumps (whether on a person or furniture), immediately say OFF.
2. Make an open-mouthed snarl without noise, but with your teeth quite visible. This way, you're talking a dog's language, one he will surely understand! This is a natural signal used by adult dogs to their puppies to calm down. Ensure you make direct eye contact.
3. Repeat this command several times, until your dog doesnt need to be told twice. Praise immediately when he stops himself from jumping.
Make sure other family members and visitors understand this command, as well. It is crucial that your dog understand that all family and visitors are above his rank in the pack. Otherwise, he will lash out and try to assert himself on everyone. While using the Off command may not be appreciated by most visitors, but it is more important that a dog has a good greeting manner with all people. A little effort on everyone's side makes your dog disciplined and docile.

AGILITY ANGEL DOGS

Perhaps putting Benji in agility will make him the pick-up-the-newspaper and sit by your feet kinda dog. Maybe he'll stop chewing the walls and howling when we leave the house. Okay, maybe my expectations are high but Agility Training sounds like the best things for dogs since leashes were invented. 
 Best of all, every other kind of training leads up to become beneficial for Agility--obedience, off-leash, etc. Teaching him "sit" "come" "down" will help him with his agility, apparently. He is too young for agility now--he needs all his shots but that doesn't mean I can't "pretrain" him at home with a baby's tunnel, etc. It will help him become familiar with it. I hope he has the right personality for agility. Agility will make a well trained dog out of him!
Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Consequently the handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.
In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles, laid out by an agility judge in a design of his or her own choosing on a roughly 100 by 100-foot (30 by 30 m) area, with numbers indicating the order in which the dog must complete the obstacles.
Courses are complicated enough that a dog could not complete them correctly without human direction. In competition, the handler must assess the course, decide on handling strategies, and direct the dog through the course, with precision and speed equally important. Many strategies exist to compensate for the inherent difference in human and dog speeds and the strengths and weaknesses of the various dogs and handlers.

All about Benji

All About Benji
   Benji is a puppy I share with my fiancee. He is a Border Collie and Australian cattledog mix and is 8 weeks old now. I bought him without doing my research on the ACD breed though I had done research on the border collie before. I think everything happens for a reason and Benji was meant to be our dog. We have had Benji now for 6 days and have detected a lot of issues. From day one we realized he will grow to be a large dog and secondly, he is headstrong and difficult to train which is why I started this blog to document and help navigate the murky waters of training a dog like Benji.
    ACD dogs are canines that work hard. They are work dogs who spend 10-12 hours a day working, usually herding cattle. ACD dogs are headstrong, active and agile. WIKIPEDIA says working collies (Benji) is able to run all day and has great stamina and extreme energy. They are also extremely intelligent and highly motivated to work. Since Benji is half border collie, he is not just bred to be a working dog. As a (half) border collie, he is gentle enough to be a companion and pet.
    Benji has recently been separated from his mother and littermates so he suffers from separation anxiety which is difficult to deal with, at times. My number one step after housebreaking him is to treat his separation anxiety. Since he is a new pup I have been home with him 24/7 but now I have realized he has separation anxiety I have to address it and many articles online have been helpful. He tends to bark (extremely loudly) waking up every dog on our street and squeal loudly until we come back to him. If he is not crated or in a blocked off area, he is by my feet constantly and will even sleep on my feet if I stay still. I want to teach him independence and confidence, and that I--his pack leader--will return!
    Like most pups, Benji is still being housebroken but he really enjoys peeing on carpets. Especially our brand new ones. Working on his housebreaking skills is number one on our list for sake of our furniture but he has been OK with going outside--I don't wait long for him to do something.
    Benji is a biter. He could be just teething but he is quick to snap at a face or hand and uses his teeth on any and everything. I am a bit worried he will bite something and harm himself and I try to get him to bite his toys and not people or innappropriate things like wires--or the TV!
    Benji has tons of energy. He is not old enough to go for walks yet since he's not fully vaccinated and the ground is covered in snow, but I plan to tire the heck out of him and enroll him in some kind of energetic dog classes like agility to give him mental and physical stimulation. I wanted a bigger dog so I would have a companion to run/hike/swim with and I know Benji will love those things. He is also going to be pretty big, so keeping him tired means he'll be at my feet when we return home. That's important!