Malinois in sport: the beginning

About 800 till 100 before Christ, in Fore-Asia, the first written proofs of dogs used for war, where found. They where very big fighting-dogs who where very important for the army's in that time. Kyros, King of Perzians, was the first to let all his dogs wearing a panzer or harness to fight together in the frontline of the battle. He, together with other conquerors has brought big dogs into Europe. The Romans have used about 200 before and 200 after Christ also dogs for several reasons. They had two types of dogs: the heavy build, mollossoide type and the lighter, more elegant type. From that time on, the dogs where bred and used for a certain aim. The heavy Mollosser was used as weapon in battles, the lighter type was used as herding-guarddog and also preferred by the later poor farmers for two reasons: they where more efficient to help with the cattle, and they where cheaper to feed. Centuries later about the years 1500 some dogs where used to guard the frontiers, in England to catch cattle or horse thieves, later in America to track runaway slaves.

In Belgium about 1700 was the first time they used dogs to help the city guards. These dogs where not trained, they only companioned the "policeman". Also between 1700 and 1900 a light type of dog was used for herding sheep's. They where middle sized, very intelligent and fast dogs. Al colors and coats where present. This is where the real beginning starts, because the "Belgium Shepherd" is at the foundation of the Ringsport…

from the  article  "The history of the Belgian Ringsport "by  Guy Verschatse

/To be continued/

                                           

Temperament testing of dogs: is it valuable for serious breeding of working dogs?

TEMPERAMENT TESTING by Jim Engel 

http://www.angelplace.net/Angel/DestinedToDie.htm#TempTesting. 

Throughout our lifetime most of us have grown accustomed to a parade of labor saving devices, the washing machine, the power saw and more recently the personal computer. Whether or not our lives are richer is a question for the philosophers, but certainly our expectation that there is always a way around the drudgery of labor has been seldom disappointed.

Historically, working dog breeding has progressed by training so as to identify those dogs worthy to carry on the race, to be bred. Although for many of us this is a rewarding and agreeable pastime, others have sought out the short cut, a way to certify breeding stock without the time and effort necessary for training. Many of these people are those with money, who through the professional handler system have purchased prominence and glory in the show dog world without ever getting their hands dirty, often with dogs which they simply purchase and send off to the handler, dogs which have never been in their homes or physical possession.

The labor saving device has inevitably been some sort of a "temperament test," a brief exercise in which the supposedly untrained dog is exposed to a number of situations and an "expert" or a panel of experts make observations and evaluate the dog. Typically, the dog, accompanied by his owner, is approached by a friendly stranger and perhaps a passive stranger and expected to show confidence and no overt aggression. There is usually a gun test and some sort of device to startle the dog, such as an umbrella. There will be some sort of mild agitation to see if the dog will turn on to an aggressor, in which a bite may or may not be expected.

In and of itself, as an exercise to observe the dog, there is nothing inherently wrong with this process. But when substituted as a real test, as a certification of character rather than a superficial and preliminary evaluation, serious questions emerge.

For one thing, the testers are generally not experienced trainers, are in fact drawn from among those seeking to avoid the necessity of training. Serious trainers are generally reluctant to participate, to lend credence to what is an obviously insufficient test being presented in a false light. Thus, the "panel of experts" is often surprisingly light on real experts, that is, those with extensive training experience and solid credentials. The problem, in a nut shell, is that those who would be qualified by experience and accomplishment to serve by and large will not serve precisely because they understand that it is fundamentally and grievously dishonest to participate when such a test is presented as a working character certification.

Another fallacy of the temperament test is that the fundamental premise - that you are looking at the reactions of untrained dogs, a pristine picture not clouded by human interference - is fundamentally and routinely violated. The fact of the matter is that when the results will be recorded and published all serious people will rigorously prepare their dogs, and not present them until virtually certain of success. But the training negates the fundamental premise, for the dog which can be trained to go "woof, woof" at the agitator with the peculiar mannerisms will pass and become a "certified working dog" in the eyes of his owner and those unfortunate enough to buy puppies on the basis of such a test.

Although it has recently again become fashionable to put forth some sort of ill defined "temperament test" as a quick and easy way to promote the breed, this is not a new phenomena. Indeed, each generation has seen its own myth builders come forth to hold out the promise of a simple process to identify and certify dogs as of "working character" without the necessity of training. For those of us who have actually trained dogs the absurdity is profound; but the desire to believe, the attraction of the simple solution, blinds each successive generation.

Perhaps the most fundamental and obvious fallacy is the implication that training in and of itself is without importance. The working willingness, the inborn propensity to form partnership bonds with the human species, to accept training and make work a way of life, is what the working dog, especially those drawn from herding stock, is all about. How can you know if a dog is a working dog without training, putting him in the crucible of the trial and seeing the truth emerge? Tracking or search work demand enormous desire and willingness, are fundamental aspects of the Bouvier as a working breed, yet are totally beyond the scope of temperament tests. Indeed, a twenty minute test cannot because of brevity alone bring forth and make obvious drive and perseverance, offer the steadfast dog no opportunity at all to stand tall in the presence of the pedestrian mass.

Another fundamental failure of the character test is that dogs which will bark and lunge at a mildly offensive agitator are passed, declared to be of working character, without ever truly facing the test for courage, proving the ability to press an attack against a determined, threatening aggressor.

Among serious breeders, more demanding working tests serve as the breeding prerequisite, the test of breeding suitability. These tests vary by nation, with Schutzhund being the German standard, the IPO the very similar test in much of the rest of Europe and the KNPV or Ring trials being the tradition among various elements of the Dutch, Belgians and French. In the Schutzhund world, a dog is required, prior to a trial with protection test, to demonstrate stability and trainability in the test refereed to as the BH or "Begleithund Prufung" in German. The BH is an obedience and character examination with many similarities to the temperament tests as well as fundamental differences.

The BH is of course not an adequate standard as a breeding criteria, in that it does not have a protection exercise to test courage and discipline under stress, nor a tracking or search test to demonstrate olfactory capacity, working willingness and persistence. The Bouvier des Flandres is a second rate working dog precisely because his breeders have not held themselves to a higher standard. But it is a first step back on the long road to redemption, important in a symbolic as well as a practical sense.

The BH has two parts, a formal obedience test, quite simple and elementary, and a more realistic test in circumstances meant to show the dog's stability in the practical world. In the practical test, the dog must walk on a loose leash and be passed by a jogger, a person on a bicycle and perhaps a slow moving vehicle. The dog must walk on a loose leash past another dog laying beside the path and not show aggression or fear. The judge has some discretion on how the test is structured, so that while you can train for the test, you do not know exactly what your dog will be presented with. The "B" involves a simple obedience exercise, since as a prerequisite to serious protection training it is important to demonstrate that the dog can be taught to obey, that there is a certain level of intelligence and working willingness.

A drawback to the temperament only test is that a stupid or dull dog can usually pass. It may not be a pretty sight, but the dog does not really have to do anything to pass, just not behave badly. A further problem is that it is relatively easy to use drugs to turn a spooky or sharp-shy dog into a simply dull dog and thus pass the test.

For this reason, the obedience exercises, elementary as they are, are essential in that they show the dog can actually respond to handler direction. While one dog is on a long down, the other dog must demonstrate an on lead healing pattern, a walk through a group of people on lead, and then a repeat of the group and healing exercises off lead, during which there is a gun test. Then the dog must demonstrate a walking sit, a walking down and a recall. That's all there is to it, no go out, no retrieve, nothing especially difficult or demanding.

My experience is that temperament tests tend to favor and bring forth the "happy-stupid" dog, the dog who is boisterous, likes everybody and is willing to play the bark and lunge game with the mildly aggressive agitator. He does quite well in the social tests, is oblivious to the gun, indeed is in many ways too stupid to be afraid of anything, and in general is willing to play and enjoy any of the games the temperament test people conjure up. But he is not trainable in a practical sense, is incapable of taking responsibility or exercising judgment and generally is deficient as a protector when the going gets tough, as it from time to time does in the real world. In short, such tests bring forth and promote dogs profoundly deficient in the characteristics and propensities for which our protective heritage breeds were developed, preserved and protected by the founders and succeeding generations of working dog breeders. 

Please share and comment.

Hippocampus and dog’s training

     Hippocampus is a  small specimen of the sea fauna.  How does it relate to dogs and dog’s education? Through  a  brain limbic cortex structure which looks a bit like a sea horse and that’s  why got the name of hippocampus.   There are various scientific ideas and opinions relating to how this structure works, however an integrated opinion was developed that among other functions it is responsible for emotions and memory, and  plays a dramatic role in the capability of a dog to be taught and trained.

     It is a well known fact that the very process of education will be more successful if it is accompanied  with emotions. What kind of emotions? It depends upon the method of training.  Briefly, we can identify two main approaches  in dog’s training: the one which is based on a punishment for an undesirable behavior, and the other which is  based on tips  for a desirable behavior (of course, the first variant does not exclude tips, as well as the second one does not exclude some kind of punishment). The first one – let’s call it “the old school” – was developed mostly in the first half of the XX century in the army and police and applied for service dogs. It’s application was - and is - justified taking into account the particular purposes and terms of training. One of the valuable outcomes of this training is that it produces highly reliable and responsible dogs. However, this training can be successful if the teacher himself is a highly qualified professional who really love dogs.

     The second approach was launched about forty years ago and got impetus due to valuable works of Karen Prayor, Cesar Millan and other outstanding biologists and cynologists. This method presumes that - while teaching dogs - the accent is made on positive stimulation of a  desirable behavior, which is  much more practical for millions of amateurs and dog lovers.

    Here we come to a role of the hippocampus. To develop a desirable behavior through positive stimulation has  deep physiological roots, as lessons linked to favorable emotions are properly fixed in the brain due to  hippocampus.

    As it was already mentioned, it is the limbic cortex - and hippocampus in particular - that are responsible for dog’s intellect (taking into account that shaping different “spheres of responsibility” is rather vague as the brain works as a unique system). While being trained a dog constantly meets with situations that are new to him/her. Each time he/her has to decide whether to fulfill a  command or an exercise  or to follow the instincts. It is no easy task for a dog to make such  a decision as in most cases the instincts tell quite opposite. The outcome of such “brain storm” depends upon what is in the other scalepan. If the dog is offered a  tip in an adequate amount he/she will ignore his original intentions and chose completing the command.   After repeating this practice several times we can put dog’s behavior under our control (to some extent) and obtain fulfilling a particular command. If the dog has a pause in completing this very exercise he/she can forget it. It’ll be necessary to repeat the exercise from the very start. It happens not because the dog is not clever enough. The reason for it is the nature of this part of a brain – it is responsible for a short term memory. That’s why it’s only natural if your young dog after a week vacation forgets some command, try not to get annoyed but be tolerant and repeat them quietly.

    The other variant of training is when in the other scalepan the dog can find a punishment for a fail to the exercise. Stresses that feels your dog the moment he is punished are fixed in his brain. One can think “What’s wrong with it? The dog will know what not to do”. However, it not so simple, particularly if the dog is young. If this kind of practices is repeated one can have a depressed creature as a result with an inadequate  reaction to a command.

   We can not completely avoid punishments in the teaching process. But what kind of punishment should be applied? Too strict punishments (cries on a dog is also a punishment) are better to be avoided. For dogs-pets to stop playing or being ignored by his master for a few minutes are rather serious scourge.

For a conclusion.

    In  training of dogs-pets it is better not to rely on the effectiveness of punishments. It would be much practical and enjoyable to make an accent on tips and games as it gives more fruitful results, supports education and- what is very important - has psychological grounds.

UnWinter colors

    

      What colors do you imagine while speaking about Winter?  The very word “Winter” always associates with white snow, blue ice, green Christmas tree, orange mandarins, red berries of holly (or ilex). This images emerge from our childhood. However, Winter can be quite different from this bucolic pictures. The snow melted, leaving only grey spots somewhere under trees, trees didn’t drop their foliage, green ivy, continues to climb trees about twenty meters high. And the sky… it’s not cold blue or black, but golden yellow or terracotta as a fire.

Keeping Your Pets Safe This Christmas

Keeping Your Pets Safe This Christmas

By Hindy Pearson

In order to make it safe for our pets, we need to take a little extra care, so part of that time is not spent in the emergency room.

When things get hectic, pets' needs can sometimes get neglected. It may be a holiday, but it is never a holiday from the responsibilities of pet care.

Always make time to pay attention to your pets. Don't get lax about walking your dog, cleaning your cat's litter box or letting your rabbit out of the hutch. If you worry there will be times you can't give them your full attention, enlist the help of a trusted family member, neighbour or professional pet sitter/dog walker.

With people in and out of the house, there's an increased risk of a pet getting out. Warn everyone to take extra care, or keep the front door locked if you have to.

If you don't think you can safely monitor comings and goings, keep your pets separated in another part of the house - at least until everyone has arrived.

Now is a good time to make sure your pets are wearing ID tags, and all contact information is current.

Make a note of your vet's holiday hours, the address of a 24 hour emergency hospital, and the number of the animal poison hotline. The last thing you want to do, is run around searching in a panic.

Decorations

Animals always seem to gravitate to the new things you bring into your home, don't they? Imagine the temptation of trees, plants, decorations, bright colours and flashing lights. Keep ornaments above their reach as they, along with hooks and fasteners, can be eaten. Consider larger, unbreakable ornaments. Watch out for tinsel. The shine is a real attraction, and can be eaten, or become wrapped around the animals' neck.

If your pet is freaked out by twinkling lights, buy ones that don't.

Snow globes can contain anti freeze, which is deadly to pets. Pay attention to where you place them.

Cords are a tangling hazard, and some animals consider them a chew toy. Hide them, cover them, tape them down.

Are some of your decorations toxic? Things like bubbling lights, fake spray snow, and styrofoam, are potential hazards.

Who doesn't love lit candles, and logs burning in the fireplace? Use fireplace screens, and keep candles out of reach. Never leave burning candles unattended, even if you think you will only be gone for a second. It never works out that way. Battery operated "faux" candles are an alternative, and some are quite beautiful. While they may not be an exact replacement for the real thing, you won't have any of the real worry.

Food

Who isn't guilty of slipping their pets a little something, from the dinner table? If you aren't, great, but if we're talking about you...

When you're sitting around the table, enjoying your feast with family and friends, it's an exciting time for your pets, because there are so many more people your animals can beg from. It also means a greater chance of stomach problems. Even if you're used to feeding them table scraps, it's probably best to put a blanket ban on that practice for now.

Poultry bones can splinter once swallowed, and cause damage, and food too rich for sensitive stomachs can lead to vomiting, diarrhea and even pancreatitis.

Never give sweets or chocolate. Remove all candy, even sealed boxes from their line of sight. We've all seen our pets accomplish amazing feats, when they put their minds to it.

Don't leave glasses with alcohol lying around for pets to lick.

Keep your garbage can in a cupboard, but if you prefer it out for the sake of convenience, make it pet proof.

Gifts and Wrapping

Of course you want to include your pet in the holiday, by giving them presents. Just buy ones suitable for animals.

Take care when the rest of the family are opening their gifts. Immediately throw out gift wrapping, ribbon, bows, and plastic packaging. They'll be swiped before you know it.

Don't leave the kids' toys lying around either. Small pieces can be bitten off, and cause choking or blockages.

Remember to never give pets as presents. You want to get a family pet? Do it some other time of the year. Kids should be taught to respect animals, and not view them as things. They need to learn there's a difference between an animal and a sweater.

Noise

All the extra people in the house, means lots of extra noise. Kids running around, music playing, Champagne bottles being opened, Christmas crackers and balloons. While some animals have no problem, and are more than happy to be in the middle of the mayhem, others are more skittish and will feel quite nervous and stressed.

Make sure they have a quiet place where they can hide. Put a bed, blanket, water and toys so they'll feel comfortable.

If your pet is particularly freaked out, there are natural remedies and traditional medications that may be helpful. Speak to your vet for some suggestions.

Weather

Depending on where you live, of course, Christmas can bring some nasty weather. Christmas or not, animal care is not seasonal.

Consider limiting the amount of time they're outside, and putting them in a coat or sweater. Salted sidewalks can burn your dogs' paws, so try booties or one of the protective creams on the market.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hindy_Pearson

A Christmas tale about dog’s origination

Who were the ancestry   of dogs: wolves, jackals or an unknown animal. Or may be all of them.  Nobody knows for sure.    I have an idea  of my own about how dogs appeared.

Having created a man the God tried to teach him to live on his own.  When he considered that the education was completed he took the man to the road, and leaving him there started back home. In a minute  he looked back: the man was still standing on the road lost and alone. The God felt confused. Yes, it was his first experiment in creating a man, however he hoped the outcome would be more promising. The God decided to correct the situation: he created a dog and sent him to the man.

The  dog got many useful  talents, the most outstanding is dog’s ability to change for he could follow and live with the man in any place of the world and take any shape according to man’s fantasies. However, the God was generous that day and gave the dog one more feature - the most valuable: dog’s inexhaustible  ability to love man and the readiness to go with him till the very end.     

Our dogs - our alter ego?

http://vk.com/album145376788_151819280