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Dogs BORN FOR SPEED
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| ADVICE 385 |
| The lebrels are fast runners and shepherd dogs are born chasers. |
| GREAT RESISTANCE |
| ADVICE 386 |
| The arctic breed such as the husky and the spitz are, by nature, slower than the lebrels, but the have a great resistance and keep the chase for longer distances. |
| SLOW BUT SECURE |
| ADVICE 387 |
| The tracking dogs and the "shotgun" dogs don't usually chase the other breeds. |
| ANIMAL CHASING |
| During thousands of years of evolution, dogs survived chasing and killing other animals. |
| ADVICE 388 |
| With the selective breeding, the man has diminished this instinct, but it is still strong in some breed or dogs. Hunting is a natural activity for the dog, but it is also a serious problem. |
| ADVICE 389 |
| A way of solving a problem is to train the dog to chase some safe object instead of other animals. |
| If you have any doubt about your capacity to solve the problem, ask for the advice of a professional trainer. |
| ADVICE 390 |
| If you haven't gotten the dog used to other animal's company when it was still young, it is possible for the dog to present problems when it is in front of a possible prey. |
| ADVICE 391 |
| Never let a dog to go free in labor lands if you are not sure it is not going to chase other animals. |
| ADVICE 392 |
| Take the same precautions when the dog meets other species for the first time. |
| THE SOLUTION |
| 1. The purpose of this exercise is to direct the hunting instinct of the dog to a controllable exercise. Try with different toys to discover what the most exciting one for the dog is and incite the animal with it. |
| 2. In a quiet place, with the dog attached to a long rope, throw the toy to it, but keep with you another toy that is also exciting. The dog will instinctively follow the object you have thrown. |
| 3. Before the dog reaches the toy, call it by its name and order it to come back to you. Be theatrical when you do it and swing the second toy for the dog to see it and feel incited to come back. Then, play with the dog and congratulate it. |
| 4. Go to the toy you have just thrown and pick it up keeping the dog apart with the leash. The dog will understand that the toy it will chase belongs to you. Repeat steps from two to four in even more distracted environments. |
| 5. Once the dog learns not to chase an object of your property, make a "retrieving exercise" in the presence of cattle. Throw the object in the opposite direction to the animals and tell the dog to look for it. |
| DOGS AND CATS |
| Dogs and cats enjoy each other's company if they have met from a very young age. |
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| ADVICE 393 |
| Introduce them when the dog is younger than twelve weeks of age and the cat less than seven. |
| ADVICE 394 |
| If any of them is older than that, let the old one smell the one that has just arrived. You have to watch their first encounters and keep the dog from chasing the cat. |
| COMPETITION |
| An animal that is installed at home can see a newly arrived as a competitor for food or affection. |
| ADVICE 395 |
| Reduce the risk by feeding the animals at the same time or the dog on the floor and the cat on a higher level. |
| Reward the dog with physical and verbal compliments when it shows curious but kind with the cat. If the dog is not aggressive or dominant with the cat, the cat will end up being controlled. |
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