This is the first article for a new series/section of articles I am going to be doing around dogs and specifically working K9s of all kinds. You will occasionally see articles covering dogs, their training, health, as well as philosophy surrounding them and how they integrate into our Modern Barbarian lives. I used to run an other account specifically for this topic but I learned one thing before I shut it down. The dog and dog training community is second only to the horse show community in the levels of its toxicity so I will post this regularly but not as frequently as other topics.
The foundation of how I raise dogs is the same general idea that I use for health and nutrition decisions. What is the most natural and most inline with genetics, or natural behavior. Did humans evolve drinking sugar ladened sodas or chemically laced and manufactured food like products? No, they ate whole foods they found in nature.
From that foundation this is a rough philosophy around raising dogs.
Nutrition
I am a big fan of raw feeding. The healthiest dogs I have ever had I have fed raw. They have far less health problems than any of the kibble fed dogs we have owned. The same problems we have in healthcare with food companies funding and sponsoring medical schools and health organizations you see in veterinary medicine. Dog food companies fund vet schools and give kick backs to vet clinics that sell their food.
Feeding raw is much more than just throwing burger in a bowl for your dog so make sure you do your research
Forever Dog – A great book that covers dog health and nutrition as well as the dog food industry. Forever Dog Book
Barf diet – Raw feeding primer. Barf Diet Book
Now I do feed raw and I have some dogs that I feed kibble by following the check list in her book to make it the best kibble that I can but I would feed all my dogs raw if I could.
Breeding
Breeding has gotten a bad name in recent years with all of the animals in shelters and I do get it and if you are only looking for a pet/companion dog you 100% should go to a shelter. Plenty of dogs there will bond harder and and longer than any dog you have ever seen and would make great companions.
But when you need a working dog, your only real option is breeding or buying from a breeder. You have a much higher chance of getting the kind of dog you need than if you roll the dice at shelter. With that you have to vet your breeders and make sure that you are supporting good responsible breeders. Any responsible breeder will let you meet or see the parents, will tell you how many litters a year they breed as well as their general breeding philosophy. If they don’t want to tell you anything, you should look for a new breeder. Just because they are AKC registered does not mean that they are healthy dogs or that the breeders are responsible.
Closed book pure bread only breeding is horrible for dogs health. It limits the gene pool and long term will degrade the over all health and quality of breeds as no new genetic material is ever introduced into the gene pool. To that end I am a firm believer in strong breeding which in short means that you occasionally breed dogs into your lines that are not the same breed but have the same working characteristics and traits that you are looking for. This produces healthier, and longer living dogs.
To this end I am not a fan of AKC or any kennel clubs as they go directly against this philosophy as well as breed for looks and not working ability which results in unhealthy breeds. The german shepherd being one of the recent many breeds that has been run into the ground health and work wise because
Training
I firmly believe that the owner of the dog needs to do the training of the dog. Many trainers will work with the owners and tech them how to do it properly. This is because a bond forms through the training that you just don’t get if you send the dog off to a trainer for ti to be done for you. You also don’t learn how to maintain the training properly and the training will degrade and go away eventually.
No one training system will work on every dog out there. Just like humans every dog is different. So where do you start?
How does a mother dog raise(train) their pups? With corrections. She growls at them, mouths them, and if needed snaps at or bites them, usually in the scruff. The closest a human can get to this behavior while maintaining the safety of them and the dog is a pinch collar and verbal correction.
I train using a balanced approach of marker and reward training and corrections either verbally or with a pinch collar depending on what the dog and their temperament requires. Training collars and devices get a bad wrap because of people who have no clue how to use them and people who have never trained a dog in their life weighing in.
Marker training comes in because we know dogs respond to rewards as well even though it may or may not be completely inline evolutionarily. Though if you use only this method you often get dogs that wont listen unless you have treats in your hand. So you need to balance it out. Marker training is also where I start with puppies. Because at 8 wks old building a bond is more important than spot on training.
As they grow, the bond strengthens, and their temperament and personality develops and comes out more you can start to determine what the specific dog requires in terms of training methodology.
All their training starts on a leash, and then ounce their training progresses I move them to a long line. This especially is beneficial for recall training as they get more freedom but you can still remain in control so they cannot ignore the recall command. Then once I am firmly confident in their recall they progress to off leash training.
You have to Know what your dog is capable of
Not just training wise but physically. A corgey is not able of clearing a 6 foot wall no matter how much training you do. You also need to clearly communicate your expectations. This doesn’t mean explaining it to the dog. This is done through consistency. If your dog is not to get on the couch, then you can’t let him on the couch some times. If they are to bark at intruders or warn you of danger you can’t correct them when they do.
Sit down and think about what you want from the dog and think about how you and your family will need to act in order to foster that behavior. If you want the dog to warn of danger but your wife yells at it every time it barks its going to get confused.
The most important thing when it comes to corrections is to never correct the dog of it doesn’t understand the command in the first place. If you are training Sit for the first time, and you correct it when the dog doesn’t know sit your not accomplishing anything.
Great books on training your own dog are
Team dog – Written by seal team dog trainer Mike Ritland. Team Dog Book
Team dog online – Mike Ritland’s online training resource. https://teamdog.pet/
Fortress k9 online – Another online training resource from fortress K9. http://k9academyonline.com/
Dog man book series – These are the two that cover the most of his training philosophy. I do not agree with everything in there but a lot of it is good information.
Conclusion
That is the basic foundation and philosophy of how I raise dogs. The specifics will change slightly depending on what disciplines or combinations of them each dog is doing.