February 2012 Newsletter

We pass on Dunbar's wisdom to you, new Wangara venue and classes, and of course, Agility class updates!

Hi Paw Printers!

We had a terrific time in Melbourne at the Ian Dunbar seminar. It was 3 days of learning about how to prevent behaviour problems in dogs, which is of course, much easier than treating them!

The main points we would like to pass on to you are:

• For nuisance barkers, there is a 90% reduction in barking if the dog is fed solely from a Kong (wow!)
• Puppies need to be socialised from birth. There is no time to waste and pups should have met 200 people by the time they are 8 weeks old.
• Breeders can start housetraining and chew toy training as early as 4 weeks of age and by 8 weeks of age when the pups are going into their new homes, they can be well on their way to being great companion dogs. We as Trainers know the struggles our clients have with housetraining. BUT, it is so easy and Breeders can really ensure dogs stay in their original homes by housetraining them and teaching them to chew Kongs only!
• Eating meals from a Kong lowers a dogs heartrate and blood pressure, how cool is that!
• Punishment must be delivered within 0.5 second of misbehaviour to be effective, otherwise it is inhumane. Every second you wait to administer punishment, you must increase the severity by 5 times. Another reason why NOT to use punishment during our dogs' education! (Do you realise just how hard it is to get the punishment in that quickly? That's why it makes more sense to use the method you know will work!)
• Pass on the 'BEFORE You Get Your Puppy' and 'AFTER You Get Your Puppy' books to everyone you know! Let's work together to keep dogs out of shelters and in their original homes. People with adult dogs will find the information within helpful too.

We are expanding! Billy's Day-Care For Dogs is the newest venue for Paw Prints classes. We will be running Advanced Puppy classes (an excellent follow on from our Kindy class) and our Companion Dog Life-Skills class where you and your dog can earn a BA, an MA or a PhD. Check our website or Facebook page for dates and times for the Wangara venue.

The most popular class ever is our Agility class. The next intake for level one dogs is Sunday 22nd April 2012 at our Floreat location. Please register your interest ASAP with Georgia by mail or 0411 385 840.

From the team at Paw Prints Pet Training!