When a dog is over threshold they may not be interested in treats. I often think about my first working dog Lucas who is the most treat motivated dog I have ever met. He has eaten himself to the vet on multiple occasions! The moment he saw an armadillo near our campsite his motivation for treats had temporarily disappeared. I had never seen him turn down treats, except for medical reasons, so seeing him so excited about an armadillo and not even caring about the Kong peanut butter in a can was bewildering to me. The armadillo took his time leaving the campsite and it was quite obvious at that point that Lucas was not going to relax until the armadillo did. It took Lucas around 10 minutes before he started taking treats again since the encounter began. If I knew then half of what I know now I'm sure I could have used that moment for teaching instead of waiting him out and trying to bribe him for his attention. This is especially true since Lucas has probably encountered maybe 4-5 live armadillos in his life. What is an animal that your dog has only seen a few times and what did they do?

I look forward to your answers in the comments! I will go first.

I look forward to everyone's responses!

Today we are going to talk about the Xoloitzcuintli. You may know this dog has the Hairless Mexican Dog or Mexican Hairless Dog. First let’s just get pronunciation out of the way because my God what a name! I am going to quote from the AKC website: “to pronounce this three-car pile-up of letters, try ‘show-low-eats-queen-tlee. Or just know when you’ve been beaten and use the shorthand ‘show-low’ instead.” The Xoloitzcuintli is considered another one of the oldest dogs but also one of the rarest breeds with statues that look like the hairless variety going back over 3,000 years. (I have only seen 1 that I can remember and it was over 10 years ago). They are native to Mexico and nearly went extinct in the 1950s until the Federation Cynologique Internationle (FCI) took action, recognized the breed officially and a gentlemen named Norman Pelham Wright along with a team of Mexican and British dog authorities ventured off to find any purebred Xoloitzcuintli that may have still existed in remote areas of Mexico. They ended up finding 10 strongly suited Xoloitzcuintli and became the foundation stock to revive the breed and by May 1, 1956 a breed standard was established in the breeds native land and around the world. The Xoloitzcuintli is named after the god of lightening and death, Xolotl, and it is believed they were made from a sliver of the bone of life which is where all of mankind is from, according to the Aztecs. The Xolo, being beloved by the Aztec people, believed that they would guide man to the world of death in exchange for man protecting the Xolo in life. The Aztecs also believed that the Xolo had healing abilities not only for the physical but also the spiritual and were often buried beside their custodians. This would be accomplished by killing or being burned alongside their masters to ensure safe travels in the world of death. If a person could not afford to own a dog a stature in the shape of one would be provided. The Xoloitzcuintli did also aid those in life by lending their furnace like abilities to warm aching joints and other afflicted areas. If food was scarce they were also used for food as well as they were the only domesticated animals alongside turkeys. It wasn’t just during times of scarcity but also religious ceremonies due the powers they were thought to have had.

Hello my name is Christina Brewster and I am a professional dog trainer who has a passion on how dogs think and perceive the world. I am a training partner with Chiron K9 and I am a certified Predation Substitution Instructor. The type of dog training I do is off leash detection but a lot of what it takes to have a great and dependable off leash detection dog are skills every dog can benefit from knowing. A big concern for both working dogs and pet dogs is chasing wildlife. A dog that is interested in chasing wildlife can find themselves in dangerous situations. They could run into traffic, they can get their gear caught up in branches, they can become impaled by branches or the animal itself, they can find themselves lost for extended periods, etc. Instead of getting frustrated and suppressing the dog’s quality of life I want to help owners, handlers and other trainers understand what is happening in their dog and how to redirect it in a safe way. “Frustration begins where knowledge ends” - Clinton Anderson