Click here to join FunctionalRewards, a discussion group and creative space for people interested in BAT and related methods for aggression, fear, and other dog issues.

@doggiezen is the more official one with tips and updates about Ahimsa.

@peanutseattle is life from my dog’s perspective.

Experienced folks, can you follow and and let me know if I make any technical or etiquette mistakes?

Most area shelters and rescue organizations have a foster program.  One such program is Ginger’s Pet Rescue.  Ginger’s “specializes in Death Row Dogs” and is about to have 80 dogs from a puppy mill bust in the next few weeks.  It seems like every time I hear about Ginger, she’s getting another huge batch of dogs. She needs to mobilize all the foster homes that she can get!

Find out more about Ginger’s a www.GingersPetRescue.org.

[click here for another Breed Ban article, written Sept 10, 2008, with suggestions for what to do to reduce dog bites in Seattle].

First off, it doesn’t solve anything and second of all, it’s going to kill a lot of dogs in the process. Banning a breed doesn’t make does just disappear. Someone has to kill them.

I designed a shirt for FABB with the slogan, “Will Your Breed Be Next?” I didn’t really realize, at the time, just how accurate that was, given that there are so many banned/restricted dog breeds.

There’s a fascinating list of 75 Banned or Restricted Breeds in the US & Canada that I thought I’d share the highlights of. Here goes:

1. Airedale Terrier
2. Akbash
3. Akita
4. Alaskan Malamute (often what’s really used for Husky Mascots)
5. American Bulldog
6. American Husky (yup, Huskies, too)
7. American Pit Bull Terrier
8. American Staffordshire Terrier
9. Australian Cattle Dog
10. Australian Shepherd (yes, even Aussies)
11. Belgian Malinois
12. Belgian Sheepdog
13. Belgian Turvuren
14. Boerboel
15. Borzoi
16. Boston Terrier (can you believe it?)
17. Bouviet Des Flandres
18. Boxer
19. Bulldog
20. Bull Terrier
21. Bull Mastiff
22. Chinese Shar Pei
23. Chow-Chow
24. Doberman Pinscher
25. English Mastiff
26. English Springer Spaniel
27. Eskimo Dog (I think that’s American Eskimo Dog)
28. Fox Terrier
29. French Bulldog (you know they’re like 18 pounds, right?)
30. German Shepherd Dog
31. Golden Retriever (wow, them too?)
32. Great Dane
33. Great Pyrenees
34. Keeshond
35. Komondor
36. Labrador Retriever
37. Leonberger
38. Neopolitan Mastiff
39. Newfoundland
40. Pug
41. Rottweiler
42. Saint Bernard
43. Samoyed
44. Staffordshire Bull Terrier

You can join a vigil against Breed Bans on Sunday, August 24th, 2008. The address is 3000 Rockefeller Ave in Everett, at the NE corner of the courthouse campus, kitty-corner from the Events Center. I don’t think you bring dogs, but I’m not certain. Info on the vigils in general (but not this, one, as far as I can tell) is at http://www.lightacandlesavealife.com/.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Rose Photography

The I-Cue workshop is on June 26 & 27th, which is a Thursday & Friday. I figured professional dog trainers might appreciate a workshop that didn’t involve sacrificing a weekend of work. Space is limited, and registrations are already coming in!

The play times are odd this Saturday, February 2nd:

* Puppy Play 12:20-1 p.m.
* Mini Dog Play (under 15 pounds) 1:05 – 1:45 p.m.
* Small Dog Play (under 30 pounds) 1:45 -2:25 p.m.

This Saturday’s 10 a.m. and 11:15 classes are as is. Starting NEXT Saturday, February 9th, the classes and play times are changing permanently. The first class will be at 9:30-10:30 and the second class is 10:40-11:40.

Play Times starting Saturday, February 9th:

* 11:50-12:30 puppy play
* 12:40-1:20 Mini Dog Play (under 15 pounds)
* 1:30-2:10 Small Dog Play (under 30 pounds)

Note that the bigger “small dog play” is new. Play times are $10 cash or check. Dogs must have their adult shots to come to the Mini & Small Dog play times. For more info on play times, visit http://ahimsadogtraining.com/seattle-dog-play-socialization.html

WORKSHOPS THIS WEEK:

We have three workshops this week!

Coming when called is a workshop for sprucing up your dog’s recall. Fraidy Dog is a workshop for teaching your dog to get over her fears of strangers, loud noises, other dogs, etc. In the Baby-Proofing workshop, you’ll get useful tips on getting your dog used to babies. If you’re expecting or think your dog might be around children during the holidays, I highly recommend this workshop. Click for dog workshop Info.

Click to register for a workshop

We also have a Jump Into Agility workshop on November 30th. Register Here.

ONLINE FORUM – FREE DOG ADVICE

Join other Ahimsa students (and some others) on this Seattle forum about dogs. Get training tips, help with socialization, and more!

FEATURED PRODUCT

The KeepSafe Breakaway safety collar is a very important bit of equipment. Dogs can strangle when their collars or harnesses catch on crates, bushes, or other obstacles. When not attached to a leash, the KeepSafe collar pops open under pressure and helps keep your dog safe and sound. Current sizes are for bigger dogs, but I’ve just ordered a batch for the little guys. Order a Keepsafe Breakaway Collar online or get one in class.

TRAINING PRACTICE CHANGING TO MONDAYS

The Free Training Practice sessions are open to all clients that have registered for a 6-week class at Ahimsa (current, past, or future). Just bring your shot records to the first session. The session is switching from Thursday to Mondays. This Thursday, there’s a session from 6:30-7:30 and next week at 7:15, we’re on Mondays.

Click for Practice Class info or check out the schedule for times and skip dates.

TIP: TEACHING FETCH

If your dog picks up a toy and runs around with it, try walking away and clicking right before she gets to you. She’s likely to drop the toy. Toss her a treat while you pick up the toy to throw again. For complete details, go to the Teaching Your Dog to Fetch article in the blog.

For the most up-to-date news and training tips, please check or subscribe to our blog.

Only good things,
Grisha

_________________________________
Grisha Stewart, M.A., CPDT
Ahimsa Dog Training
902 NW 49th Street
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 364-4072 (New number!)

http://DoggieZen.com

Now available at our online store: The Comfort Trainer head collar. Power-steering for your dog that’s easier to get used to than the Halti or Gentle Leader head collar. Available in the training center or at our online dog store. We can ship to you or you can save shipping by picking your purchases up in class.

To UNSUBSCRIBE, please reply to info@doggiezen.com with your last name and email address.

We will continue offering the Jump Into Agility workshop, taught by Pritamo Kentala, who taught our agility classes before. She is a great instructor and we wish her the best with her company, FunQuest Dog Sports.

• New class: Intermediate Puppy, a.k.a. Puppy Jr. High
• Baby-Proofing Your Dog workshop – this Saturday
• Rally Obedience starts on Oct 18.
• Wallflower Shy Dog class starts Nov 17.
• More Agility Classes on the Schedule
• CityDog’s TopDog votes are in!

PUPPY JR. HIGH

Our off-leash Advanced Puppy classes were popular, but they’ve always been a challenge for the dogs coming right out of puppy class. Most owners put in a Herculean effort and got their dogs through the class, and loved it. But I’ve decided (with the help of feedback from the people who took Advanced Puppy) to add a class between the play-play-play of puppy class and the work-work-work of Advanced Puppy. Intermediate Puppy (a.k.a. Puppy Jr. High) is just that class. It’s for dogs 4-9 months old who have taken a puppy class at Ahimsa or elsewhere and have a good, but not perfect understanding of sit, down, stay, come, leave it, and leash walking. Read more about the Intermediate Puppy Training Class.

Advanced Puppy Training is now open to dogs that are 5-12 months who are ready for an off leash class. Students are welcome to retake Intermediate Puppy to prepare for this class or can skip Puppy Jr. High if they want a big challenge. Both classes are limited to 6 dogs.

The content for Advanced Puppy will be changing, now that we have Intermediate Puppy to prepare the students a bit more. So if you took Advanced Puppy before, and your dog is still under a year old, you can take the new Advanced Puppy. Sign up for either class at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

WALLFLOWER SHY DOG CLASS

Teach your dog to be brave! This class is for dogs who are shy or fearful around other dogs or people, but not aggressive (some barking and mild warning growls are okay). The next round of this calm, confidence-boosting class begins on Saturday, October 13th at 5 p.m. Sign up at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

RALLY OBEDIENCE

Rally Obedience (also called Rally-O or just Rally) is an exciting new dog sport, where dog and handler teams navigate a course made up of between 10 and 20 different stations. This is a good class to take after Better Manners. https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

BABY-PROOFING YOUR DOG WORKSHOP

This one-hour workshop is your chance to start getting your dog used to babies and their equipment (swings, strollers, etc.). Mireille will give you ways to prepare your dog for bringing home a baby, or to prepare for visits with the grandkids. Cost is $50. The next one is November 17, 5-6 p.m. Sign up at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

DOG AGILITY

This is a great team sport. You don’t have to compete, you just have to want to play with your dog. Check out the schedule for the new agility classes and Jump Into Agility workshops. Schedule and sign-up page is at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php.

CITYDOG MAGAZINE’S TOPDOG VOTES ARE IN

Well, first the bad news. We weren’t TopDog. Not exactly. But we did get more TopDog votes than any other trainer in Seattle. How can this be? Is this some kind of repeat of the 2000 election? No…it’s just that CityDog is now a NW magazine, representing more than just the city of Seattle. The other place is in Woodinville. Ahimsa Dog Training of Seattle was a “close second.” Do you suppose we could say we won TopDog honors for Seattle? Anybody else have another way to spin that? Let me know!

In this newsletter:

• CityDog TopDog voting ends today! (maybe tomorrow)
• Free Practice Class for past and current students
• Join the Humane Society’s fight to end Dog-Fighting!
• New Round of Dog Agility
• Wallflower Shy Dog class returns!
• Baby-Proofing Your Dog – workshop
• Burien classes: Terrier & Puppy

CityDog Magazine TopDog VOTING ENDS TODAY!

If you are willing and able, I’d love your vote of confidence.  Last year, our clients picked Ahimsa as the TopDog and we’d like to have that honor again!  Please vote!    You’ll also have a chance to pick your favorite treats, dog park, groomer, and more.  Thanks in advance! And thanks to those who already voted for Ahimsa!

FREE TRAINING PRACTICE CLASS

I’m excited to be able to offer this class to current and former Ahimsa students. It’s totally free, no strings, and you just show up and bring your shot records. (Records needed the first time only). Every Wednesday, starting August 8th, 6-7 p.m. (see the schedule for skip dates). You can practice whatever you want, and Rachel, who is studying to be a trainer and took her first puppy class at Ahimsa a very long time ago, will be there to answer your questions.  I’m hoping to take advantage of it myself, with Peanut.  I’m looking forward to the chance to practice his training around other dogs.  If you’re taking the Canine Good Citizen Test, this would be a great way to prepare! (Next CGC test is on Labor Day, 9/3, 7:30 p.m. – sign up at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

HUMANE SOCIETY IS FIGHTING DOG FIGHTING!

Finally, somebody’s doing something about this terribly violent "sport."  Brenda Barnette, Chief Executive Officer for the Seattle Humane Society (in Bellevue) will be holding a press conference / community meeting to announce their plan to help end dog fighting in King County. “We have a responsibility to our children and the animals to hold criminals accountable for their decisions,” says Ms. Barnette. “The Seattle Humane Society will take a big step towards helping to end this cycle of abuse.” Meeting is today (July 31) at 11 a.m. in their auditorium at 13212 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue.

NEW ROUND OF DOG AGILITY

We’ve got new Puppy Pre-Agility, Agility One, and Agility Two classes. Thursday daytime classes and Sunday afternoon/early evening available. Sign up at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

WALLFLOWER SHY DOG CLASS

If you have a dog that’s shy around people or dogs, this class is for you!  Learn how to boost your dog’s confidence.  If you’ve taken the Fraidy Dog workshop, some of the material will be familiar, but you’ll get to see it in action in this 4 session class.  No dogs in the first session.  The remaining 3 sessions are working sessions for you and your dog.  Next class starts August 23, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Read the class description for the Shy/Fearful Dog Class

BABY-PROOFING YOUR DOG

Expecting a new baby? Or have a puppy and think you may want a baby someday?  Now is the time to get your dog comfortable with the various baby equipment and get information on how to make a smooth transition.  Workshop by Mireille, who will be bringing in some of her own baby gear.  August 16, 6:30-7:30 p.m.  Bring your dog.  Sign up at https://ahimsadogtraining.com/newregistration/AhimsaOverhaul/class-registration-1.php

BURIEN CLASSES

Jennifer will be teaching her popular Terrier-rific Basic Manners class, for Terriers under 30 pounds, in Burien starting on August 11th, 5-6 p.m. We’ve also added another puppy class in Burien, because the other one filled up so quickly.  This rolling admission puppy class will be on Saturdays at 3:45 p.m., starting August 11.

Thanks!

The Baby-Proofing Your Dog workshop for expecting parents is completely new, and the Wallflower Shy Dog Class is a returning favorite.

I’ve also added a ton of new classes to the schedule: Agility, Basic Manners, Terrier classes in Burien, and a new Saturday puppy class in Burien.

Click here to see the schedule.

I have some awful news. A dog that took puppy class with me this spring passed away last week. Her harness caught on the exercise pen that she was kept in when her owners were gone for a bit, and she strangled.

The family emailed me because they wanted to prevent other dogs from danger. They asked me to be sure to tell people that it was a Shih Tzu – not the kind of dog one might expect to leap acrobatically into the air and get stuck on something high up.

I had heard rumors of this problem, and put my dogs into breakaway collars, but having never actually known a dog that had this happen, I thought it was very rare and got rid of the collars.

Looking into it, it seems it’s common enough to warrant warning you: 91% of vets say they have had 1-5 dogs in their practice who have strangled in the last year. I have just ordered several KeepSafe breakaway collars, which bust open if the dogs tangle in something but can be clipped to work like a regular collar when on leash. You can get them at the training center starting next week, or you can order them on our online dog store.

If you do get a breakaway collar, or have your dog go collarless in the home, it’s *especially* important to microchip your dog.

Love them every day, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is too short for dogs, even if we do everything right.

FOXTAILS – Danger!

Foxtails are a plant seed that land on your dog’s fur and then keep burrowing in, given the chance. I’ve had clients whose dogs and cats have had them in eyeballs, paws, and skin. They are known to go deeper, too, into the animal’s body, winding up in hearts and lungs. The dog parks are full of them and they are traveling now due to the hot weather drying up the plants. I spent yesterday removing as many as I could from the front of the training center.

Make sure to look at your pet’s fur whenever you come back inside from a walk or play time. Look in the fur and between the toes. Take note of any strange pawing at the ears or an unusual amount of sneezing. One cause of sneezing is that there may be a foxtail up your dog’s nose.

For more info, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtail_%28diaspore%29

And of course, the top of the summer danger list: do not leave your dog in a car during the summer. It heats up much faster than you think, even with the windows down.

• Please Give Feedback
  • We now have an online class evaluation form.  Please take a moment to give us feedback on the quality of your experience at Ahimsa.
• Advanced Puppy is a Success!
  • We’ve had several Advanced Puppy classes and I continue to be amazed at how well they go.  They’re almost entirely off leash.  Depending on the class and the time of day, we’ll either work indoors or fence off the nearby parking lot and use that as a training space.  At the end of my last class, we had the students all lined up in sit-stays about 4 feet apart, while another student dog weaved in and out of them in heel position.  That last part was on leash, but wow! Click here for more info on this off-leash adolescent manners class. I’ve justed switched the Monday night one starting next week to All Sizes, so there’s room available in this popular class.
• Please – No Dog Park before Puppy Class!
  • While you are attending puppy class at Ahimsa, please do not socialize your dogs in settings where they could bring germs back to our puppy classes – dog parks, dog daycare, etc.  If you do so, at least bathe your dog before attending class again.  You may also wash your puppy in our sink.
• Did You Get Your Homework?
  • Most of our classes provide written homework online.  Some classes get printouts in class, but for most classes, it is your responsibility to get the homework and handbook from the internet.  Please look at the confirmation email you received when you registered.  It has a link to the instruction page for your class, which has the homework and handbook on it.  If it’s been awhile since your class, now would be a great time to bust out the homework and refresh your dog’s memory!
• Burien Location Opens July 12
  • We’re starting puppy classes in Burien on Thursday, July 12th.  Tell your friends!
• Canine Good Citzen Test July 8
  • Test your dog on basic skills on Sunday, July 8th.  For more info, visit the AKC’s website.  Clients who have finished Better Manners, Rally Obedience, or Advanced Puppy are especially encouraged to take the test.  Your dog may immediately pass or you may find out that she needs a bit more work, but this will help focus your training energy for the next few weeks!  You can register here.
• Fraidy Dog Workshop July 8
  • Help your dog overcome his fears in a systematic way.  We have this workshop every few months, so now is the time to sign up if you want to work on this problem over the summer.  Click here for more info.
• Better Manners July 21
  • Better Manners is the natural class to follow Basic Manners, Advanced Puppy, or Puppy Training (for those who can’t do Advanced Puppy).  The next open class starts July 21st.  Register here.
• Jump Into Agility July 21
  • This workshop is a "taste test" to see if your dog likes agility (kind of a dog obstacle course) and it’s also just a fun activity to do for a few hours. Pritamo has been teaching agility for years and years and still loves the sport! Register here.
• Terrier-rific Better Manners in August
  • Jennifer is our resident Terrier Expert and is now offering this class as a continuation of Terrier-rific Basic Manners, regular Basic Manners, or Puppy Training & Socialization. Register here.
• Growly Dog Class
  • The Growly Dog class is one of our most popular classes and we can’t do it without the help of our wonderful volunteers. Let me know if you’d like to become one – it’s a great way to practice leash walking. Your dog is not put into danger and we do our best to keep the one Growly Dog present each session in a calm state. Most classes are full, but I did have two last-minute cancellations for the class that started last Monday at 11 a.m. If you have taken a class with me before (even Growly Dog) and want to try this class, please sign up. I’ll refund $30 of your fee for the late start. Register here.