Book Report: "Be the Pack Leader" by Cesar Millan

BE THE PACK  LEADER
Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer

1.                  Dogs come into the world using their noses first, then their eyes, then their ears.  Don’t bother yelling at them, it’s the energy and scent they pay attention to.

2.                  Dogs communicate with each other using their scent, body language and energy.  You cannot lie to a dog, they always know how you are feeling.

3.                  Dogs are pack animals.  If you are not the pack leader you create feelings of instability and the dog will compensate by dominant unstable behaviour.

4.                  Dogs live in the moment.  Their past is past.  They connect with the “now”. If we let them, they will let go of their unstable past and become “balanced” members of the pack.

5.                  A dog’s natural “goal” is to be connected, to live harmoniously, grounded, and balanced, in tune with Mother Nature.

6.                  Dogs don’t care about degrees, money or social status.  Dogs DO care about how unstable you are, because, being pack-oriented, it directly affects them.  How comfortable are you with yourself?  Are you happy?  Our dogs are our mirrors and in order for them to have a balanced life, we need to address our own issues as well as theirs.

When you interact with your dog-especially when you’re trying to correct out-of-control behavior- you must train your mind to relate to him in this order:

1.      Animal

2.      Species: dog

3.      Breed (Pit Bull)

4.      Name (Bella)

Animal:    

We have that in common, we are both animals.  All animals work for food and water and they all communicate with other animals using energy. 

Dog:

Your dog is a dog, not a baby.  All dogs have certain traits in common and certain ingrained ways of behaving.  Learning to recognize what is a “dog” and what is “Bella” is the key in distinguishing unstable behavior from normal behavior.  All dogs want to be part of a pack.  Dogs strive to see the world in a very orderly fashion, with clearly defined rules to live by and a defined hierarchy of jobs and status. 

Breed:

Recognizing breed is especially important if you have a purebred animal.  The  genes that make him “pure” also give him special needs that you must know how to fulfill in order to ensure his happiness and balance.  However, the “breed’ part of your dog is far less primal than the dog or animal part of her.  You block the brain from listening to the breed by draining energy.  Exercise, physical activity and psychological challenge are the three ways to drain energy in any dog.  Nothing triumphs the vigorous walk.  Dogs walk with powerful intention, not just to pee.  They feel in a primal way they are using their skills to survive.  Respond to the dogs breed by structuring the walk to address the specific needs of the breed i.e. hunting dogs a high energy group need high energy walks; hike, use a backpack on the dog, run, rollerblade etc.  Hide items in the yard and have the dog search for them.  Hike, jog, agility games, flyball, walk briskly until the energy displayed becomes calm and relaxed.

Name: 

Most of the time, what we think of as a dog’s personaility is in our own heads, the story we made up about the dog.  Often it is based on how the dog looks or acts,  and what we think of as personality is actually based upon the dog’s own issues of instability.  It is important to understand the difference between what might be an “issue” for a dog and what is merely a normal dog trait or personality.

ISSUES:

1.                  Aggression:  Directed toward other dogs and/or people .  Includes fear-biting, growling over food, lunging at strangers or strange dogs, aggressive possessiveness.

2.                  Hyperactive Energy:  Includes jumping on people upon meeting them or when they enter the house: compulsively spinning or twitching; destructive activity such as chewing and digging; overexcited panting; etc.  Don’t confuse overexcitement with happiness.

3.                  Anxiety/Separation Anxiety:  Includes barking, whining, scratching; etc.- whether you are there or after you leave the house, pacing; destroying things when you’re away.

4.                  Obsessions/Fixations:  Includes an “addiction” or unusual preoccupation with anything from a cat to a tennis ball expressed by tense body language, obliviousness to owner’s commands, food, rewards, even physical pain.

5.                  Phobias:  A fear or traumatic incident that the dog has not been able to move beyond-anything from shinny floors to thunder to the UPS truck.

6.                  Low Self-esteem/Timidity:  Weak energy, irrational fear of anything, total freezing up.  An extreme degree of fear.

Personality in a dog’s world is expressed by scent and energy.  Dogs seek out ‘friends’ dogs who match their level of play.

Dogs don’t have a “name” within the pack, dogs have a “position”, and all positions are important.  Every position serves a purpose, it may not be a democracy, but it is about the “we”.

REMEMBER:

EXERCISE…Then DISCIPLINE (rules, boundaries, limitations)…Then AFFECTION

Normal Dog Traits or Personality            Dog Issues or Instability

Active                                                                          Hyperactive

Playful                                                                          Jumps on People

Responsive to general commands/signals                       Disobedient, doesn’t come

Eager to join in Pack activities                           Runs away

Sometimes cautious                                                      Fearful, biting, barking, peeing

Sociable with dogs/people                                            Obsessive barking

Curious                                                                        Antisocial

Happy-go-lucky                                                           Aggressive or predatory

Alert                                                                             Overly territorial

Exploratory                                                                  Possessive of toys, food, furniture

Patient-practices waiting                                               Obsessive over object or activity, chewing, tail chasing

Affectionate                                                                  Shrinks from touch

CREATING CALM ASSERTIVE ENERGY

Dogs often respond better when there’s less sound involved, and you are strengthening your energy by turning your thoughts inward.  When claiming a piece of furniture, focus your mind and then tell yourself, “This is my sofa.”  Use your body to claim it, repeating that thought in your mind over and over again.  It is your energy that speaks to your dog.  Talking to yourself is a much faster way to communicate your energy to your dog than trying to use human language to reason with him, no matter how persuasive you are, or how loudly you yell or how nicely you ask. 

Techniques For Attaining Calm Assertive Energy:

1.                  Clear and positive intention

2.                  Method acting techniques

3.                  Visualization

4.                  Self-hypnosis

5.                  Inner dialogue

6.                  Motivational recordings

7.                  Positive affirmations, written or verbal

8.                  Music

9.                  Yoga, Tai Chi

10.              Martial arts

11.              Meditation or prayer

If you can accomplish calm-assertive energy and leadership with your dog, you can accomplish it in any other area of your life.  Let your dog be your trusting follower, your mirror—and ultimately, your guide, on your journey to becoming the very best person you can be.

MASTERING THE WALK

1. Ideal time is when you are not in a rush.  This should be a meaningful, enjoyable experience for both of you
2. Daytime is the best time to walk- in synch with dogs biological clocks.
3. Don’t create overexcitement .  Wait until the dog is in a calm state before attaching the leash and always ensure that the dog comes to you for the leash.
4. Remember your inner dialogue of calm, assertive and strong.
5. After attaching the leash ensure that your dog is in a calm state and you are leading outside the door before departing.  An excited dog must wait till he has calmed down, do not reinforce excited, unbalanced behavior before leaving.  Ask your dog to sit, settle, and relax
6. Let your dog relieve itself within 5 minutes of being outside and then begin the migration ritual, moving forward together.  Don’t let her sniff the ground until she has demonstrated for a number of blocks following your lead.
7. Vary your routine as much as possible.  Dogs get bored with the same walk, they search out new smells and sounds- it becomes psychologically challenging to them as well as a physical exercise.
8. Don’t forget upon returning home, you are still the pack leader and enter the house first.
9. In the event the weather is terrible, let you dog see the outside either from a patio or the front door so that they understand why you are not going out for the routine excursion at this moment.

Pups

Amstaff

Puppy Mills

u

Nightmare

Spay/Neuter

Amstaff video

Owners of between 5 and 10 million pit-bull-type dogs in America Listen Up:

The dog wants to be sweet and docile, but well-meaning humans mess it all up.

On a10-acre stretch of land just outside Los Angeles, Villalobos Rescue Center, run by Tia Maria Torres, has found homes for thousands of pits since the rescue opened its doors 15 years ago. Some of these animals were abandoned. Some were shelter dogs slated for euthanasia. Others were confiscated in drug busts or fighting rings. And some are victims of nature, the so-called Hurricane Katrina dogs of New Orleans.

It's a 24/7 job... estimates show that there are anywhere from 5 million to 10 million pit-bull-type dogs in the U.S. today, out of about 61 million total dogs....pits have become popular and not just gangbangers and wannabe thugs who use a pit as proxy for toughness. About 20 percent of dogs in ASPCA shelters are pit mixes.

The trendiest pet owners spend thousands of dollars for a "blue" pits...profiting unethical breeders who contribute to the overpopulation problem.  Pets aren't purses, and people who jump into pit-bull ownership without the requisite training and education can often do more harm than good. Pit-bull experts say that some current owners are too easy to spook, are too ill-informed, and have unrealistic expectations of what pit bulls can do: Pits make lousy guard dogs because a well-bred pit is just too human-friendly to protect your property, as just one misconception about the breed.

Pit bulls are no longer being purposefully bred along fighting lines.  But pit bulls still can be dog aggressive (as are many other types of dogs). How that plays out will vary from pit to pit, and the dogs need a smart owner to keep them in line as pack leader.  Dog aggression can be managed by getting a pit into a training program that offers structured, controlled socialization.

Pits are also among the most human-friendly canines. In tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society, which evaluates stability, friendliness, and other traits in several hundred dog breeds, the American pit-bull terrier scored 85.3 percent, higher than a golden retriever. Their human-friendly nature remains strong even in horrific circumstances. "I thought I was going to meet a bunch of Tasmanian devils," says Dr. Frank MacMillan, a veterinarian with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary who is working with some 20 pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels. "I was stunned at how sweet they were."

That inherent sweetness toward people can lead well-meaning humans to be too permissive with their precious pooches. Because of its tendencies toward dog-on-dog aggression, Torres advises pit owners to keep their dogs out of mosh-pit, free-for-all dog parks. "If there's a fight, no matter what dog started it, the pit will be blamed."

At Villalobos, Torres does an exhaustive interview with potential adopters. She wants to know what kinds of dogs they owned in the past, whether there are kids in the house, if it's a multidog household, if they have a cat, and what they want from their pit. Once they answer those questions, Torres tries to match them up with the right pit bull.  "The good thing about a pit is that some of them can be high energy, others just want to watch TV. "

Despite laws in many parts of the country that place restrictions on pit ownership... if you want to rescue a pit bull, Torres's advice is simple: Make sure the dog is the right one for you, and you are right for it. Get the dog spayed or neutered, obey leash laws and any local regulations, and do ongoing training.

Public perception of the APBT is misinformed by media hype.

The APBT is a misunderstood breed that was once a national symbol of courage and pride, that is demonized in the media. A pit bull can make a great family pet but they are not the dog for everyone. They are bold, active creatures and can get into all sorts of adventures (and misadventures). If you are considering a pit bull, ask yourself if you are willing to learn all you can about this breed so you can educate people and handle the negative image, looks and comments from the public. Also, ask yourself if you will have time to train, socialize, exercise and provide a safe environment. Finally, ask yourself if you will be able to make a lifetime commitment to this breed. Only through responsible ownership can we change the pit bull's image.

RESPECT-A-BULL TO THE RESCUE of Stanley

S

Stanley the Christmas Rescue

Overpopulation of wolves at 210 individuals leads to culling.

Swedish hunters have begun culling wolves for the first time in 45 years after parliament ruled that numbers needed to be reduced again.  Hunters have until 15 February to complete the cull, which will leave Sweden with an estimated 210 wolves.

Some 10,000 hunters were reported to be planning to take part in the hunt to kill 27 wolves out of the population of 210.

Nevertheless, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation was critical of the decision to proceed with the cull, saying it was against EU legislation as the Swedish wolf population had not reached a healthy level. A formal complaint was to be issued to the EU Commission, Swedish radio said.  The hunt is timed to end before the mating season, which begins in mid-February.

Wolves were hunted to near extinction in southern Scandinavia until a hunting ban was imposed in the 1970s.
Sweden and Norway have worked together to reintroduce the species to the forests along their border. When Norway culled some wolves in 2001, saying the population had spread too far, Sweden lodged a protest.  But the Swedish parliament recently decided there should be at most 210 wolves in Sweden. Michael Schneider of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency says that was the level last year, and since then more than 20 pairs of wolves have had pups.

This cull is pointed out because there are 61 million domestic dogs in America and what happens if some bureaucrat decides the time has come to reduce the numbers?

The FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US. If you add those owned by the military, law enforcement agencies and museums, there is probably about 1 gun per person in the country or about 350,000,000 guns in Total.


China culled their dogs in most brutal fashion because dogs are bourgeois and do not conform to Communistic views.



Story from BBC NEWS

Ban Puppy Mills and Ban Backyard Breeders.

Overpopulation is a problem for many dog breeds in North America and the statistics are depressing when you become acquainted with the magnitude of the problem. Too many dogs are being born into unhappy circumstances. China has a one-child policy to curb its human population growth and academics suggest that is the only solution that will save this planet from Global catastrophe. People need to stop breeding pets as an income source or by negligence in spaying and neutering their pets because the outcome is a staggering number of dogs being euthanized.

"There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must stand up and be counted. Does he believe in the words he mouths, or is he only doing lip service? Trying to straddle the fence and then fall in whichever direction looks as though it might be most advantageous to him? This is a question each and every person must answer for himself." ~ Virginia McCoy, circa 1976

Choosing to own a rescue dog for the second time has caused me to re-visit the terrible problem that exists as regards dog overpopulation and the societal solution to the problem being euthanasia. There are plenty of stories about the problem but judging by the lack of progress it seems like very few people are listening to reason.

We are a consumer society and even satisfy our acquisitiveness by purchasing dogs that are "in-fashion" like the chihuahua. When these dogs are no longer popular the buyers think you can just toss this living creature onto the trash heap like last year's sweater. This is nothing short of reprehensible and perhaps cruelty laws need to be expanded and toughened.

Animal cruelty is a crisis in our society and needs to be addressed. Education is plentiful but it is not being heeded.

Dianne Jessup tells us to be stewards of the pit bull breed.

The dictionary definition of a steward is "someone who manages property or other affairs for someone else". When stewarding a breed, you manage the breed FOR the breed - not for yourself. THIS is the absolute difference between someone who is "in the dogs" for themselves, and those rare and important individuals who put the welfare of the breed before their own goals.


"Every pure breed or working strain of animal around today is here because people stewarded it through the decades or centuries to us. Some animals have been well served by their stewards - others, not so much. Take for example, the American bred German shepherd, now a virtual cripple and no longer useful for the work for which it was developed. Or the show bulldog; perhaps the most extreme example of poor stewardship. In the case of the show bulldog, people most certainly put their own desire for show points over the welfare of the animal.

Today there are societies in place for the preservation of "heritage" breeds. As agribusiness focuses on only one or two super-producer breeds of chickens, cows and pigs, many important breeds are dying out.

WHY STEWARD PIT BULLS?: Pit bulls are one of the oldest breeds of dogs. Long before many of today's modern show breeds existed, the "main" groups of dogs, sled dogs, greyhounds, mastiffs/bulldogs, flock dogs and hounds were breeding pure to type. The "American" pit bull represents the purest of the bulldog blood surviving today. (If you doubt this, consider every breed whose fans attempt to state they are the "original" bull baiting dog is a direct cross off the purebred American pit bull!) Many pit bulls have pedigrees which reach back into the mid 1800's - far older than most "Best of Show" winners at Westminster!

The blood of the pit bull - and thus the purest of working bulldogs - has been used to make and improve dozens of breeds. The genes of the American pit bull may, in the future, be used again to shore up other breeds needing a "shot in the arm".

Besides that, the "real" American pit bull is a medium sized, short haired, people friendly breed with an amazing sense of humor and fewer health issues than the average breed. They are proving useful for detection work, are useful in the eradication of destructive wild hogs and have along and storied history of service to man.

Stewardship is much more than just breeding litters. Much, much more. In fact, sometimes it means knowing when not to produce pups for resale. Overpopulation is responsible for all the problems our pit bulls face today.

Hungry pups

Read and Weep: exponential numbers and the canine population.

If none are spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in 6 years.

Rather than waste valuable time with Breed Specific Legislation, propose a ban on backyard breeders and puppy mills.  This  legislation would combat much of the abuse and abandonment that creates vicious, poorly trained and sickly animals.  These facilities are run by "fast buck artists" who are long gone when trouble starts.  The society at large ultimately pays for these abuses by being forced to deal with the abandoned and sick animals through agencies like the SPCA.

Does this seem right?  Wasting time blaming a few breeds for all the problems when the real culprits are greedy human beings who over produce popular dogs like the Chihuahua which is flooding into animal shelters at an asounding rate.  People bought them because they were featured in TV commercials, talking animal movies and some irrational celebrities trotted them out as fashion accessories.  Now people are finding all kinds of problems with this breed, such as, they are very difficult to house train.

Here is how the human population will grow to 9.5 billion people by 2050.  Our trusty dog population will be growing right along with the number of humans on the Planet so sadly dog rescue is here to stay.  We need better options to stop animal suffering, abuse and abandonment.  Spay and neuter your pets.

The world population increased from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion by 1999, a doubling that occurred over 40 years. The Census Bureau's latest projections imply that population growth will continue into the 21st century, although more slowly. The world population is projected to grow from 6 billion in 1999 to 9 billion by 2045, an increase of 50 percent that is expected to require 46 years.

Blue eyes big teeth in our human subjects.

GM Punnett Square

Punnet Square

Mendel's DNA theory

Pure Lab color reject

Canine DNA Testing

http://www.petaliterature.com/images/200-BS405.jpg

Ten Commandments of owning a Pit Bull:

1. Thou shalt NEVER trust thy Pit Bull not to fight
2. Thou shalt contain thy Pit Bull securely when not supervised by an adult
3. Thou shalt NEVER leave thy adult Pit Bull alone and unsupervised with another dog
4. Thou SHALT attend obedience classes most faithfully with thy Pit Bull
5. Thou SHALT keep thy Pit Bull socialized with ALL KINDS of people
6. Thy Pit Bull wilt NEVER be allowed off-leash in a public place
7. Thy Pit Bull wilt NEVER be allowed to roam free in thy neighborhood, EVER!
8. Thou SHALT take thy well trained Pit Bull out in public and show him/her off - on leash for good breed PR!
9. Thy Pit Bull shalt go forth into the world as an ambassador of the pit bull breed

   10.  THOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY WRONG DONE BY THY DOGS!