ODOR EDUCATION

“The best way I can explain how a dog breaks up a scent is by using the “Spaghetti” analogy. Dogs smell components, where as the handler smells items as a completed whole. Example: Someone is making Spaghetti, the K9 comes in and smells all the ingredients that are involved. The handler may be able to pick out a few potent ingredients, but still smells it as a completed whole.” Says Ron Barton, Phantom K9s Master Trainer/Instructor.

Barton has trained hundreds of dogs during his career as a Military Working Dog Trainer at Lackland air force base and ensured the safety of some of our Nation’s highest ranking officials with the help of his K9 partners.

“About 35 % of the dog’s brain is assigned to smell related operations, whereas a human’s brain is only assigned to 5% of smelling operations. The Dog’s nose actually extends from the nostrils to the back of its throat, housing about 300 million olfactory cells, about 50 more times as many as a human’s. Dogs can afford to assign certain areas of their smell memory cells for specific odors.” Barton explains, a human might be able to smell a teaspoon of sugar in a cup of coffee, but a dog could detect a teaspoon of sugar in 1,320,000 gallons (size of 2 Olympic swimming pools) of coffee.  “This is why we can “Imprint” the odors we want the dogs to find.

This is initially done by consistent training and reward, but it also must be maintained by quality proficiency training. As the dog advances in his/her recognition of the odor, so does their training; higher, deeper hides, more distracting odors, sounds and/or visual distractions.” States Barton, who in his 15 year career as a Military working dog trainer has turned out several of the Nation’s finest narcotic and bomb sniffing dogs.

“The mechanics of a dog’s nose is astounding in its self.” Barton explains when air enters a dog’s nose it splits into two separate paths – one for breathing and one for smelling. “When a dog exhales, the air going out exits through a series of slits on the sides of the dog’s nose. This means the outgoing air doesn’t interfere with the dog’s ability to analyze incoming odors; in fact, the outgoing air is even thought to help new odors enter. Even better, it allows dog’s to smell continuously over many breathing cycles.” During his career Barton has had the chance to work and study with many world renowned animal behaviorists and psychologists.

“Remember how cool it was when you were a kid, if someone could wiggle their nose without touching it?” Barton explains that in a dog’s case they are able to wiggle either nostril individually this also helps the dog locate and pinpoint the location of the odor.

But when it comes to scouting out a K9 partner there is one breed that Barton prefers for a certain standard of excellence.

Dogs don’t necessarily take first place in the animal kingdom. Elephants are a walking dictionary of odors. Rats and mice smell at least as well as dogs, and Jackals are just uncanny. But dogs beat them all in the “attitude” department.

No other animal is so well prepared to do what we want them to do. They want to please us! The best dogs for finding bombs in my opinion are German Shepherds (my personal preference), Belgian Malinois, and Labrador Retrievers. Not so much for any olfactory prowess as for their tireless work ethic. GS’s and BM’s are more “play reward”, and some will work to exhaustion for their reward. LR’s are more “food reward”, perpetually hungry. GS’s and BM’s will take constructive criticism. LR’s won’t – the stress of not measuring up takes the starch right out of them. What about Bloodhounds you might ask! True a Bloodhound will follow a trail as if being pulled by a string. But they are way down the scale in the intelligence department. Golden Retrievers can out smell everybody, but it’s not so easy getting them to buy into the system. They’re so smart that if they don’t want to do something, they just don’t. Some breeders are looking into “Glabs”, a mix of GR’s and LR’s, to get the best of both breeds.

Barton has handled and trained several different types of breeds, he has also experienced real world situations with his K9 Partners. We were fortunate

enough to have him share a few.

 “Before it was shut down several years ago, a defense department project called Dogs Nose was developed based on fluorescent polymers that supposedly was as effective as a dog’s nose. This technology was commercialized in a product called Fido X3, now owned by FLIR systems. Many of these units were sold for use in Afghanistan and Iraq. While in Iraq, the ones I witnessed in use were better off put on the range as targets.

The dogs were far superior to the machines.” Barton smiles upon remembering his German Shepherd K9 partner. “In 2004 my Narcotics detection dog, Bond responded on the far corner of an old wooden desk in the deputies office when I started bringing him in. When I mentioned my four legged partner’s obsession with the piece of office furniture, I was promptly told there was nothing in there. Bond had never given me a false indication before and I was not about to let him down by just walking away. When the drawer was pulled out, there all the way at the back was a Marijuana pipe with black residue from an old case.

Another incident was when My brother was working a bomb dog, Dowey in Iraq. One day during training he was told to clear an area under an overpass. There was lots of rubble and trash. As he was clearing the area with his K9 he was suddenly pulled over to an indent in the ground and his K9 sat. The trainer said “No! This is a blank search area.”(nothing was placed for the K9s to find).  My brother stood firm that in fact there was an article there because his partner said there is. So the trainer came over and did a visual search and found a block of C4that had been formed to look like just another piece of ruble. The nose Knows!  Trust in your Dog!

Another case I never forgot was when a Law Enforcement K9 team arrived at a two story house where it was reported their 3yr old daughter had went missing. When the K9 team had arrived several officers had already spent hours looking for the girl and found nothing. The officer asked for something the girl had worn that had not yet been washed. His K9 smelled the article of clothing, was given his command to find this person and within 15 minutes of their arrival to the house, the K9 found the little girl. She had fallen asleep under a pile of clothes inside a closet on the second floor of the house.

Dogs have the abilities to be our best asset, as they have proven over the years. We just have to be able to put forth the patience and compassion to teach them what we need……….”

Ron Barton continues today to train dogs for Law Enforcement, Military and Government operations. He has even donated some of his time and skills to helping save and rehabilitate German Shepherds with severe aggression issues and place them in the proper working homes and programs.

Barton’s current K9 partner in training is a 10 month old red and black German Shepherd named Dooley. Dooley was handpicked from Longworth Shepherds in Butler, Missouri. The young Shepherd’s parents were both German imports and out of Law Enforcement working stock.

What's in your Dog Food?

What is in your Dog’s food?

Disease begins when your K9 partners body is not getting the NUTRIENTS it needs to maintain the immune system, thus the immune system cannot do its job.  When the immune system fails to purge, toxins and unhealthy cells take over. It could be said the correct diet might just prevent or help combat disease.  Diet is IMPORTANT to your partner’s health.  It contributes to or can be the actual basis for performance and top health condition.  
Proteins from food build cellular structure. The poorer your K9 partner’s diet is, the more toxins are in their body. Over time, poor diet weakens the body and the immune system.  Poor diet may not CAUSE disease; rather it creates conditions within the body that can lead to disease.   Many chronic health problems and acute diseases suffered by humans and animals are directly related to diet.
Though dogs have adapted to a domesticated, omnivorous diet over the centuries, a protein- based diet free of grains more closely mimics their ancestral beginnings. Dogs are able to digest grains, but their bodies don't break down grains as efficiently as they do proteins and fats.
This is why a diet free of grains and made with protein sources is an excellent option for working dogs, especially those with food sensitivities.
The first ingredient in every formula of your partner’s food needs to be animal-sourced protein from trusted sources, for superior taste and nutrition. Sweet Potatoes provide complex carbohydrates for all-day energy, while fruits and vegetables add powerful natural antioxidants for Optimal health and vitality.

• Protein Blend - Real beef, chicken or fish protein sources provide dogs with the amino acid building blocks necessary for ideal lean body condition.
• Digestive Support - Natural fiber ingredients, including prebiotic fiber (dried chicory root), help support healthy digestion. Omega Fatty Acids - A blend of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids from fish meal, flaxseed and either chicken fat or canola oil helps keep the skin and coat healthy and shiny.
• Fruits and Veggies - Sweet potatoes, peas, garbanzo beans, potatoes, blueberries and raspberries provide an excellent spectrum of phytonutrients.
• Antioxidant Formulation - Guaranteed levels of selenium and vitamin E help support a healthy and active lifestyle.

We share our lives with our K9 Partner and lives depend on them, so a proper diet is key to their and others survival.
For Homemade and Raw diets check out Doctor Karen Becker at Mercola.com

The Big Mistakes in Trail Laying

BIG Mistake in Trail Laying

As trailing handlers progress in their craft and the trails become longer and more arduous – not only in length, but in age and complexity – it is very easy to succumb to the temptation to ease the workload.
“This really begins to happen when handlers form training groups and they have a limited amount of time and subject resources. The temptation is to double-lay trails and add distance for the next handler. What I am describing here is common practice, and I see it in almost every training venue in every state in which I train. This is how it goes.” Says Jeff Schettler.
Schettler is a retired police K-9 Handler who was attached to the FBI Hostage Rescue Team’s K-9 assistance Program tasked with hunting high risk fugitives.
“The subject runs a trail to the end and the first dog works it. Because time and space are limited (sometimes out of laziness), the next trail to be laid is really nothing more than an extension of the first one. In other words, the subject simply starts where the first trail finished and moves to another ending. The second dog comes in and follows the first trail and then the second trail.
This vicious cycle sometimes continues for as many as ten dogs or more! By the time the last dog runs the game trail (and I say this because it is really nothing more than one giant elephant trail), This last dog is really only following tons of prior dog odor to the point where he encounters a fresh subject trail. What this teaches the dog is that he should follow other doggy odor whenever it is available.” States Schettler
“Dogs are cheaters, just like humans. They have no intention to do what is perceived as the ‘right thing’. However there is one BIG difference – they have no honor or code about trailing. They do things to get what they want as quickly as possible. If following five trails of other dog scent is easier than finding one human odor among the five dog scents, they will follow the dogs every time.”Says Schettler
“I have heard this form of training rationalized in this way: The dog is proving that he is scent discriminating when he wades through all of the other dog and subject trails and then, upon encountering the last extension of the subject’s trail (after the elephant trails), he finds the subject with ease. I beg to differ. I believe that the dog is following massive amounts of other dog odor because he has been conditioned to follow dog odor through the training he received. When he encounters the fresh subject trail at the end of the doggy trails, the trailing dog switches to the fresh human odor and follows it to the end.
What first started me thinking about this idea was when I did it myself one time. I discovered on real cases that had my training partners as part of the search team. My dog followed the other trailing dogs first – and every time! I finally tested this theory with double-blind tests. Lo and behold, we had been teaching our dogs to follow other dogs.
The only way for a handler to truly learn to read one dog on one subject odor is, for every new dog trained in sequence on any given day, (1) use a new area for training, and (2) use only the subject for whom the dog is hunting. There is a time when we must train for double-laid trails and more, but now is not the time. There also may be a need to learn what the dog does when he encounters the odor of other search dogs, but I can guarantee that these dogs should not be following them. If they do, we must take a hard look at the training program.”

Ice Melt and Your K9

       Ice Melt and your K9

Exposure to salt and salt based ice melting products, a common occurrence, can cause dogs severe dermatitis, inflammation of the paws and serious gastrointestinal problems including vomiting and internal burns of the mouth and digestive tract. For dogs, in particular, exposure to salt and salt-based ice melt products can mean an unhealthy winter and unplanned trips to the vets’ office or animal hospital. The problem is that when dogs are let out they frolic and eat the snow and many of the ice melt products sit on the surface of the ice. Dogs either ingest these ice melt pellets or they get frozen into their paws. Later when they are inside with higher temperatures the ice melts and dogs begin to lick their paws. The salt can heat up as high as 175 degrees and not only burn their skin but their mouth and digestive system, if ingested. To save your partner’s paws use Paw Safe ice melter. Its patented dual-effect compound, made up of crystalline amide core infused with special glycols, provides a non-corrosive composition with two-way timed release action. Your partner’s feet play a big role in his/her job, you can find out more at www.safepaw.com

Food Allergies & Your GSDs

                              Food Allergies & Your GSD

An incorrect diet could affect your dog’s health, behavior and nervous system, possibly making a normal dog an aggressive one. The result of a good or bad diet is most visible in a dog’s skin and coat, but internal organs are affected, too.

Dogs are allergic to many foods that are popular and recommended by breeders. Changing the brand of food may not eliminate the problem if the ingredient to which your dog is allergic is contained in the new brand.
Recognizing a food allergy can be difficult. Dogs do not usually develop rashes, but they react the same way they do to an airborne or bite allergy; they itch, scratch and bite. While pollen allergies and parasite bites are usually seasonal, food allergies are year round problems. Diagnosis of a food allergy is based on a two to four week dietary trial with a home cooked diet, excluding all other foods.
The diet should consist of boiled rice or potato with a source of protein that your GSD has never eaten before, such as fresh or frozen fish. You must find a diet that does not stress your dog’s skin. Start with a commercially available hypoallergenic food or the homemade diet that your Vet has recommended.  Food intolerance is the inability to completely digest certain foods. This occurs because the dog does not have the enzymes necessary to digest some foodstuffs. Example: All puppies have the enzymes needed to digest canine milk, but some dogs do not have the enzymes to digest cow milk, resulting in loose bowels, stomach pains and flatulence.
Remember to consult your veterinarian before changing your dog’s diet and/or if you suspect food allergies.

The Poster

 It must have been the 5th time that I sat in that corner café after search training, reading the same “Missing” girl poster as I ate. 
She started to look familiar, but I only realized it was because her face haunted me… it was everywhere I went in town, the grocery store, the fuel station and even on the back of T-Shirts. The teenage girl had gone missing in 2007 and the town has never given up hope of finding her.

                               

                                       “Missing”

The one term that no parent wants to hear when it is prefixed to their child’s name; “Missing”.  Every day 2,185 children across the nation are reported “Missing”, this unfortunately is just a minute travesty considering in one calendar year 797,525 children under the age of 17 will be reported “Missing” according to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Almost every child by the time they’re 16 years old has done the standardized threat of “I’m going to run away.” They’d pack a peanut butter and jelly sand which, teddy bear and favorite book into a back pack; while some never made it passed the end of the drive way; others wouldn’t have made it home without the help of a four legged Emergency responder, that has a Nose that knows no boundaries; The Search & Rescue Dog.

“This Nose Knows, Trust in It”

The number of children that have been recovered by search and rescue dogs is truly unknown for it continues to grow every day.  These amazing lifesaving dogs are trained to detect human scent.

Although the exact process is still unknown, it may include skin rafts (scent-carrying skin cells that drop off living humans at a rate of about 40,000 cells per minute) respiratory gases, evaporated perspiration, or decomposition gases.
As a Search and Rescue handler I have been asked many times, how can does your dog pick out my scent from all the others? To fully answer this question I sat down with Phantom K9’s Master Trainer and Instructor, Ron Barton.
“The best way I can explain how a dog breaks up a scent is by using the “Spaghetti” analogy. Dogs smell components, where as the handler smells items as a completed whole. Example: Someone is making Spaghetti, the K9 comes in and smells all the ingredients that are involved. The handler may be able to pick out a few potent ingredients, but still smells it as a completed whole.” explains Barton. Barton has trained hundreds of dogs during his career as a Military Working Dog Trainer at Lackland air force base and ensured the safety of some of our Nation’s highest ranking officials with the help of his K9 partners.

“About 35 % of the dog’s brain is assigned to smell related operations, whereas a human’s brain is only assigned to 5% of smelling operations. The Dog’s nose actually extends from the nostrils to the back of its throat, housing about 300 million olfactory cells, about 50 more times as many as a human’s. Dogs can afford to assign certain areas of their smell memory cells for specific odors.” Barton explains, a human might be able to smell a teaspoon of sugar in a cup of coffee, but a dog could detect a teaspoon of sugar in 1,320,000 gallons (size of 2 Olympic swimming pools) of coffee. “The mechanics of a dog’s nose is astounding in its self.” Barton explains when air enters a dog’s nose it splits into two separate paths – one for breathing and one for smelling. “When a dog exhales, the air going out exits through a series of slits on the sides of the dog’s nose. This means the outgoing air doesn’t interfere with the dog’s ability to analyze incoming odors; in fact, the outgoing air is even thought to help new odors enter. Even better, it allows dog’s to smell continuously over many breathing cycles.” During his career Barton has had the chance to work and study with many world renowned animal behaviorists and psychologists.
“An incident that I never forgot was when a Law Enforcement K9 team arrived at a two story house where it was reported a 3yr old girl had went missing. When the K9 team had arrived several officers had already spent hours looking for the girl and found nothing. The officer asked for something the girl had worn that had not yet been washed. His K9 smelled the article of clothing, and was given the command to find the little girl. Within 15 minutes of their arrival to the house, the K9 found the little girl, asleep under a pile of clothes inside a closet on the second floor of the house.” Barton has used his K9s in many different situations and used this incident to remind us that the nose knows and to trust in it.
As we talk about trusting in the Search and Rescue dog’s nose and abilities I am reminded of an Interview that I had done with some of Law Enforcement’s finest.  Officer Spears who is the Division Commander of the Belton Missouri Police Department has been involved in some of the most complex missing children cases in the area. With 35 years on the department Officer Spears has had to make that call for the four legged Emergency responders. “In the situations that we’ve had to use tracking or cadaver dogs, it has saved us time and man power. The use of a well trained certified handler and K9 prove to be effective time and again.”

                                                              “Hug A Tree”

Many Search and Rescue Team Members donate their time to help teach children as young as 3 years old what to do if they ever should become lost. 
The program derives from its primary message: If you’re lost – stay put and hug a tree until help arrives. Team members show children how to survive using different items from trash bags to stay dry to how to use compact disks to signal for help. 
The Hug A Tree program has saved hundreds of lives and reached thousands of children since it was put into play in the 1980’s. Currently some search teams in city areas have teamed up with Law Enforcement, showing children what to do if they should become lost in the shopping mall, city park or city itself.
So whether you encourage your child’s teacher or talk to other parents on the block, call your local Search and Rescue Team and schedule a Hug A Tree demonstration today and don’t let your child become a statistic.

What is Coprophagia?

What is Coprophagia

Humans find feces eating, aka Coprophagia, one of the most disgusting behaviors that their dog could engage in; yet to your dog it is perfectly normal.

Vets have found that diets with low digestibility, containing relatively low levels of fiber and high levels of starch, increase Coprophagia.

Therefore, high-fiber diets may decrease the likelihood of your dog eating feces. To discourage this behavior, feed nutritionally complete food in the proper amount. If changes in his diet do not seem to work, and no medical cause can be found, you will have to modify his/her behavior through environmental control before it becomes a habit.  

There are some tricks you can try, such as adding an unpleasant-tasting substance to the feces to make them unpalatable or adding something to your dog’s food which will make it unpleasant tasting after it passes through the dog. The best way to prevent your dog from eating his stool is to make it unavailable – clean up after he eliminates and remove any stool from the yard. If it is not there, he cannot eat it.

Never reprimand your dog for stool eating, as this rarely impresses your dog. Vets recommend distracting your German Shepherd while he is in the act.

Another option is to muzzle your dog when he/she goes in the yard to relieve his/herself; this usually is effective within 30 to 60 days.

Coprophagia is mostly seen in pups 6 to 12 months old, and usually disappears around the dog's first birthday.

Remember the first ingredient in every formula of your partner’s food needs to be animal sourced protein from trusted sources, for superior taste and nutrition. Sweet potatoes provide complex carbohydrates for all-day energy, while fruits and vegetables add powerful natural antioxidants for optimal health and vitality. Remember the main things your GSD requires and the systems they support.

Protein blends provide dogs with the amino acid building blocks necessary for ideal lean body condition. Natural fiber ingredients, including prebiotic fiber (dried chicory root), help support healthy digestion. The right antioxidant formulation contains guaranteed levels of selenium and vitamin E help support a healthy and active lifestyle. Omega Fatty Acids- a blend of Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids from fish meal, flaxseed and either chicken fat or canola oil helps keep the skin and coat healthy and shinny.

The Valentine for your K-9

Valentine's Day is a holiday where we recognize the emotional aspects of the heart. While you are out running around buying cards, flowers and chocolates, ask yourself when was the last time your K9 partner received his/her Heartguard. Heartworms are very common in dogs throughout the U.S and are among the MOST DAMAGING parasites in dogs. However with routine care they are almost 100% preventable. Heartworms are transmitted by Mosquitoes and once mature they take up Residence inside your K9 Partner’s Heart and large blood vessels of the lungs.

Heartworms cause disease by clogging the heart and major blood vessels leading from the heart.
They also interfere with the valve action in the heart, by clogging the main blood vessel, the blood supply to other organs of the body is reduced, particularly blood flow to the lungs, liver and kidneys, causing these organs to malfunction and eventually shut down. The American Heartworm Society recommends year round prevention. Although they are seeing a Universal growing trend that has cost many dogs their lives; people skipping heartworm preventative, because it’s cold out or it’s just not Mosquito season in their region. Many of the Heartworm preventives today also help protect against fleas, and intestinal parasite control for roundworms, whipworms and some even help protect against tapeworms.
Over 300 dogs die a year from undetected heartworms. Many Veterinarians devote a entire month to heartworm awareness and give discounts on screenings. The best way to screen for Heartworms is by having your Veterinarian administer a blood test on your K9 partner, once if not twice a year.
Clinical stage signs of Canine Heartworm Disease:
Early Infection- No abnormal clinical signs
Mild Disease- Cough
Moderate Disease- Cough, exercise intolerance, abnormal lung sounds.
Severe Disease- Cough, exercise intolerance, dyspnea (difficulty breathing), abnormal lung sounds, hepatomegaloy (enlargement of the liver), syncope (temporary loss of consciousness due to poor blood flow to the brain), ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity), abnormal heart sounds and death. Stop by your Vet's office schedule a Heartworm test and pick up some preventative for that Special K9 that lives depend on.