A couple of weeks ago I was at the ophthalmologist with my cat, Minka, who was diagnosed with histoplasmosis. We were waiting in the lobby for her recheck when I saw something that I have not been able to stop thinking about. There was a large middle aged dog (dog #1) at the reception desk with his owners and someone had just entered the lobby with their medium/large dog (dog #2). I immediately could tell that dog #1 was going to have an issue with dog #2 and the owner saw it too but did not do anything. He just stared at the stand off his dog was having and instead of creating distance or removing the dog entirely from the lobby (the owner was there with his wife so no dine and dash would have occurred) his dog reacted and owner of dog #1 pulled back with the leash. Owner of dog #1 then pulled his dog further into the lobby and closer to the other pets that were there and his wife finished up talking to the staff. What was demonstrated above is something called opposition reflex which is when the person pulls back against the dog wanting to go forward. This type of pressure, dog wants to go forward and the person is pulling back, creates an involuntary counter response. This involuntary counter response will actually increase the dog’s resistance instead of dampening it. This is due to increased frustration within the dog and typically the response to being frustrated is persistence. Think about how people increase toy drive: they hold the dog back while the toy that they want is out of reach. So how can we change how we physically remove a dog from a situation whether that be in the lobby at the vet or on a nature walk near interesting critters? You use something called Conditioned Harness (Collar) Pressure. This is found within the PST curriculum and while it is recommended to have a dog on a harness to minimize tracheal damage this can work on a collar as well. This is something that should be taught to all dogs so they understand what you are wanting but especially to dogs that may have a negative reaction to being grabbed/startled especially while focused on a stimulus.

I am wanting to come up with a new community name due to Beyond the Leash already being taken on Youtube and for a couple of obedience schools. I am leaning towards Redirect K9s as I think it encompasses what I talk about on Tuesdays and Fridays while also still showing a working dog intent (hopefully regardless of starting point). I will also be redoing my about page to reflect this. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback.

The Icelandic Sheepdog is the only native dog of Iceland via Norse settlers that originated in Scandinavia and is part of the spitz family. Their predecessors are documented through Nordic literature to have been introduced to Iceland approximately 1100 years ago. It is thought that they are part of the same foundational stock as the Buhund of Norway and the Vallhund of Sweden. The Icelandic Sheepdog did not just stay on the island but also had fans in other countries and in various literature. This documentation ranged from Shakespeare in Henry V from 1599 to Natural History (English) by Georges-Louis Leclerc which was published in 1755. It was not all fun and games for the Icelandic Sheepdog because in the late 19th century canine distemper, which effects the central nervous system and is highly contagious, and parvovirus, which effects the gastrointestinal tract and is highly contagious, plus Tapeworm Laws which enforced that each farm is only allowed one dog. The Tapeworm Law caused the population to drop drastically in only a couple of decades and the highly contagious diseases, which are still around today, caused the breed to be dangerously close to extinction. Thanks to an Englishmen named Mark Watson and an Icelandic journalist Haukur Snorrason they located the last few pure bred Icelandic Sheepdogs and had them exported to Watson’s kennels abroad which helped secure bloodlines. An Icelandic veterinarian was also involved in preservation efforts of the breed and incorporated the exported bloodline to encourage genetic diversity. As you can imagine the Icelandic Sheepdog has to be a tough and hardy dog to be able to endure the rough terrain and weather of Iceland. They come in two coat lengths: long-haired and short-haired with both having an undercoat. The accepted colors are tan/fawn, grey, tri colored, chocolate and reddish brown with each coat color including white markings and some having a black mask. They stand between 42-45cm (17-18”) and weigh 9-14kgs (20-30lbs) so I think it is safe to say they are mostly fur.

I wanted to talk today about something that some people might struggle with and that is asking for help. Perhaps you have been doing this for a number of years, you are on your second, third or fourth dog, you have been part of a team for a while, copious amounts of operations and attend plenty of workshops in person and online. With dedication like that it can sometimes feel like you finally are starting to have a grip on this whole dog handling thing. Then it happens…either you have a new dog that makes you feel like you don’t know anything or your current dog shows a behavior that you have never seen them do. This is when it is important to reach out to a trusted person that you feel is the best fit not only for your concern but also this dog’s learning style. Preferably a trainer that can adapt to the dog in front of them over one that has the approach of “your dog is this breed so you must do this” or “your dog is this discipline so it has to do that”. Running into snags isn’t just for handlers but trainers too. It is through the difficult moments that learning occurs even for us humans. If we want our dogs to enjoy their work and be successful we figure out how to communicate that to them in the best way possible and tailor training to what that dog needs. Do they need steps broken down into smaller ones? Do they need a different direction? Do they need a whole different approach? These questions, and those like them, are why there are so many different ways to train a dog for the same job and it is important to keep an open mind while also having discernment. You may go to a workshop or seminar and hear something that you think is not helpful but a year or two down the line you remember it and it is exactly what you needed to troubleshoot. I had a similar experience recently and, while I cannot go into detail, I can say that it is a benefit to work with people who have many more years of experience than you. Not just quantity of years but quality and variety. Dog training has evolved tenfold in the past 20 years or so with what is accepted as mainstream. Welfare is huge compared to how it use to be and the types of dogs that have access to work has multiplied in ways that very few probably saw coming.

The Brussels Griffon is a dog that originated in Brussels, Belgium in the early 1800s. They are also known as the Brussels Bruxellois. At that time they were referred to as the griffons d’ecurie or wire-coated stable dogs. Their start was as rough and tumble rate dogs but it didn’t take long for them to become stylish lap dogs for the wealthy. There is a portrait that was done in 1434 of a dog that some consider a Brussels Griffon but due to the breed not being recognized until 1880 it is considered an ancestor possibly a Smous which was a common stable dog at that time. There is also a life sized statue of a Smous that indicated the Smous was larger than the modern Griffon and had a more well-defined muzzle. The Brussel Griffon’s original rise to popularity was thanks to Henrietta Maria, Queen of the Belgians, in the 1870s. Thanks to her liking of the breed they became all the rage and kennel keepers of the upper class further refined the breed with a smaller body and a more human like face. Originally it is thought that the Brussels Griffon was a cross between an Affenpinscher and Yorkshire Terrier but DNA testing has put those thoughts to rest. Such a crossing did exist at one point in the early 1900s thanks to a farmer in Flanders but became entirely extinct during WWI. Instead the modern Brussels Griffon is confirmed to be a cross between Pugs and English Toy Spaniels. This information is documented in a trunk full of papers that was owned by Lady Muriel Handley Spicer who is among the early influential breeders of the Brussels Griffon. The papers were Spicer’s original breeding records and charts not just for her own breeding kennel but also the Belgian kennel club, Société Royale Saint-Hubert. Much like other breeds we have covered, WWI and WWII effected their numbers greatly and efforts had to be taken to keep the breed alive. The Brussels Griffon after WWI they struggled to gain numbers as a result of breeders being particular about undesirable things such as webbed toes.