Skip to content

Good Works, Good Karma…

Sunday, August 29, 2010

I received the following email a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with others who visit this site.

Bob,

I was filling some time at one of my daughters and decided to make sure you were still active as I have been recommending your kennel on a regular basis to people admiring our Orsa Soui.

We purchased her 5 years ago and couldn’t be more pleased.  She is our 3rd Rotti and far and away the best personality of the 3.  She is very much a “people oriented” girl; expecting and looking for attention wherever she goes.  As a result of her personality and appearance we are regularly asked where we got her.  She loves to ride with us anytime we travel locally by car and is accommodated whenever it is appropriate and cool enough.  She is greatly loved by regulars at our local farmers market, at her veterinary clinic, the UF small animal clinic  and other places she visits regularly with us.

Regards,

John
There you go,

Bob

Filed in article | | Comments (0)

Crate Training Is Training!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Regarding puppies, crate training and housebreaking are, in part synonymous.  They are, in the beginning of a pup’s life, combined into one action to enable to owner/handler to housebreak the pup while teaching it where to stay when the humans are out of the house, etc.

Having a safe, clean secure space for the pup to rest, chew and otherwise be comfortable for a few hours at a time is vital to the dog-human relationship.

Unfortunately, some people regard the crate as some form of punishment, which it isn’t. These folks somehow equate dogs with people (anthropomorphism) and may have a vivid mental picture of captured POWs being jammed  into bamboo cages or some such thing. It sounds ridiculous, and it should. A canine requires a compact, safe, comfortable space to rest and re-energize and sleeping on a human bed is sometimes just not practical.

That being said, there is a key factor in crate training that one must follow in order for it to be successful. This factor is known as PATIENCE. Crate training is TRAINING, and as such, follows the same rules as other types of training. You have got to give this action enough time and repetition to get the job done.

As an example, I had a young pup (twelve weeks old) that I needed to crate train. At first she wouldn’t go inside the crate at all, so I spent about a week, simply throwing some kibble into the crate and letting her go in on her own. Once in, she would whine and cry, which is not unusual.  I waited until she would stop crying for a moment, then let her out and praised her.

The next step was to see how long she would go before she would start fussing. I spent another week doing this, not making a big deal out of it. I got her up to twenty minutes in the crate with no crying or fussing. I always used food to get her into the crate and to reward for her staying in there.

After another week of extending her crate time, she figured out that it wasn’t so bad. I put a bone in there for her to chew and life was great. Now, she stays in the crate for four hours at a time, no fussing, no crying.

This isn’t some time intensive mega training activity. It takes a few minutes a day, for a week or two and you will have a pup that can stay put when it needs to, stop messing in the house and upgrade everyone’s life.

By the way, I would recommend putting the crate in a place that is populated by as many humans as possible, like a living room. This way the pup is not being isolated from her people and is more apt to move through this training faster.

Best,

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Tweets, Blog Posts, Etc…

Monday, August 2, 2010

Today, I decided to make better use of my Twitter account by linking it up to my Fallhammer Blog.  Now when I post an article, WordPress will send it to my Twitter page.

Wow, I finally found a use for Twitter!!

Bob

Filed in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Feeding Your Rottweiler – More Info

Saturday, July 24, 2010

I wanted to add a few tips on dog feeding as I believe  myths and false information  exist on this subject.

So, to set the record straight once again, you control how much you feed your Rottie pup or adult. Most people know that free feeding leads to obesity, period. Now, that being said, you can even do controlled feedings on your dog using high quality kibble and still have them become overweight by giving them too much. This is a simple datum: Overfeeding leads to Overweight dogs and puppies.

I can only guess that some owners don’t want their dog to be underweight, so they actually over feed the dog to compensate for what they feel is a “thin” dog (Note: A lean dog is not a thin dog. There is a difference). The mistaken idea here, I guess, is that a lean dog doesn’t look like someone’s mental picture of a Rottweiler.

How do you know your dog or pup is underweight? Well, we should begin by looking at the ribcage of the animal in question. If you cannot SEE his ribcage, then he is not underweight. I repeat, if you cannot see his ribcage (by this, I mean actually see the ribs showing through his coat), then he is not underweight. Now, granted, the dog may not look like the fat Rottweiler on someone’s web site or the one owned by the guy down the street.  The fact remains that a dog can be lean and not be underweight.

Now, add to this the fact that pups, especially, are going through different growth stages and you see where this misunderstanding may show itself. For example, there is a stage in a pup’s life where they are leaner than when they were 8 weeks old,  as they are better utilizing the nutrients in their food to grow bone and muscle tissue. To some, this looks “thin” and is overcompensated for with more food. Not a good idea. Just let the pup grow at its natural pace, increase food intake gradually, keep an eye on things and everything will turn out fine.

Lean dogs are more athletic, energetic and healthier than obese dogs. This is a fact, not my opinion.  If you were to go to Europe, where owners actually work their dogs in all kinds of sports, you would see that their dogs are lean and in shape.

Remember, it takes up to four years for a Rottweiler to fully physically mature. Please be patient. Why screw it up with speed feeding and over feeding?

Best,

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Regarding Health Guarantees – An Update

Thursday, May 6, 2010

I am posting this article as I have recently had some questions arise as to exactly what type of circumstances will void the health guarantee for my own kennel. Below, I have listed those things which, from my experience, have the greatest negative impact on a pup in the first year of it’s life.

Additionally, I wanted to clarify why a one year health guarantee is given rather than a two year guarantee. Simply stated, a two year guarantee was originally established to serve as a way to protect people who were showing their dogs in the AKC show ring to ensure that they wouldn’t spend two years raising a pup only to find that they couldn’t use it for breeding or show at two years (Two years is the agreed upon age for beginning to use a dog for breeding purposes, at least in the Rottweiler world. It is also the earliest age that the OFA will certify a dog in its database. This, of course, has nothing to do with people who own pets.). In actual fact, detecting things such as hip dysplasia in a pet, can be done much earlier than two years, around seven to nine months, with the appropriate xrays done by a competent vet. Add to this the fact that other circumstances, impossible for the breeder to control, enter into the mix after a year of ownership, and you have the reason for a one year guarantee. Remember, people, these aren’t cars, but living breathing things that need to be raised and cared for properly.

That being said, here are the clarifications to the Fallhammer Health Guarantee:

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES WILL AUTOMATICALLY VOID THIS HEALTH GUARANTEE:

1. Speed feeding or otherwise overfeeding the dog so it becomes oversized, obese or unhealthy due to improper weight gain or growth.

2. Failing to follow the breeder’s instructions as to what type of food to feed the pup for the first year.

3. Using or attempting to use the dog for breeding purposes.

4. Failing to properly exercise or allowing the dog to do exercise in a way that is harmful to the dog’s proper growth and development. This includes, but is not limited to dog’s jumping in and out of trucks, climbing up long flights of stairs, road work on cement or hard surfaces, indoor play on slippery tile or surfaces, underexercising by only walking the dog once a day or any other activity that will not allow the pup to correctly develop good muscle tone and that could cause injury to the dog.

5. Failing to follow breeder’s advices on proper preventative maintenance, including heartworm, general worming, flea prevention, ear cleaning, etc.

6. Any form of abuse, long periods of tie out, malnutrition, etc, caused by the owner or any person designation by the owner, such as boarding kennels.

7. Taking harmful, misdiagnosed or unfounded advice from a veterinarian that results in the dog being wrongly diagnosed and treated for an illness or condition.

8. Purchasing a pup under false pretenses, such as withholding the fact that you intend to use the pup for breeding or for illegal activities, such as dog fighting.

9. Purchasing a pup for the purpose of re-selling to another person, or actually selling or giving the pup away for any reason. (no transfer of health guarantee to another owner).

Any failure to follow the above will result in the health guarantee becoming null and void.

Bob Levy
Fallhammer Rottweilers

Filed in article | Tagged , | Comments (0)

A Note On Dog Training

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Dogs are, by nature, excellent students. They are also, along with humans, the most eager opportunists on the planet.

As a result, dogs will learn from any available source, including other dogs as well as environmental opportunities. So, if you leave the garbage available to your dog, he will learn (i.e. teach himself) to get into the garbage and make a mess.  If you leave two dogs together for any period of time, one will teach the other to do the strangest things, some good, some very, very bad.

Try not to get upset with the dog, but instead re-train and re-condition the dog into the correct behavior. And stop giving him so many opportunities to do destructive or unproductive things.

It’s not the dog’s fault that you’re a human!

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , | Comments (0)

What to Chew?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I know I’ve done a post like this before, but it bears repeating. Here is a great email from an owner who has questions about what dogs should chew. Remember, this is relative to Rottweilers as they are vigorous chewers…

Bob,

I think we talked about this before but what are your thoughts on rawhide bones? Bear is at the point were the rubber toys are no good, he is chewing them up and I cant think of anything else to replace a chew toy with other than a rawhide bone…..

Answer: Here are my views on toys and rawhides, versus bones. I myself do not recommend leaving a dog’s toys, such as balls and so on, for a dog to chew on as:

1. they then either become bored with toys in general (because now they associate a toy with food) and won’t play with you with the toy. Hold off on giving him any more toys to chew, as he will then not want to play with them.

2. You are running the risk of the dog swallowing a piece of the toy and creating an obstruction in his intestines, requiring expensive surgury.

3. A rawhide is not a good chew item for a dog as it does nothing for cleaning his teeth and can also be swallowed whole and get caught in the intestines,etc. Also, they get
chewed up in a matter of minutes, especially with Rotties = waste of money.

So, with that being said, I suggest you get real beef bones. No chicken bones. No rib bones. Nothing that will shatter while being chewed. You want big, knuckle bones or leg bones, from cows. Or big pork bones, like leg bones. You can pick these up at any good pet store or order them online. I like to get the smoked bones, with some meat left on them that the dog nibbles off and then gets into the actual bone. These will really help the dog to clean his own teeth and the bone meal is totally digestible. You can smoke your own bones, too, if you have a smoker at the house.

I’ve attached a couple pics of what I consider good bone types to use. Just keep him in fresh bones and when the bone gets too small, get rid of it and replace it. You can also go to jefferspet.com to order bones in bulk, as they are cheaper than at the local pet store.

Let me know if this helps.

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Theory Of Relativity

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Okay, here it is for those of you who are curious, confused or not sure as to how a live animal is priced for placement in a home.  This is my philosophy based on years of experience and may be quite in variance with those of other breeders who may feel that a pup who is nine weeks old should be given away.

THE PRICE OF A PURE BRED PUP IS BASED ON THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:

1. THE PUP’S HEALTH, NERVES AND TEMPERAMENT

2. THE PUP’S CONFORMATION, OR CORRECT TYPE

3. THE PUP’S PEDIGREE

4. THE PUP’S TRAINING

5. THE BREEDER’S INTEGRITY

There it is. If you have a pup with numbers 1-3 in great shape, then you get a pup in the mid to high level of price.  Remember, this is all relative to the quality of numbers 1-3. If the pedigree is poor or unknown, the price goes down. If the pup’s conformation is off, such as an overbite, the price goes down. If the pup has thin nerves, the price is dropped.

Now, let’s go on to number 4. Here is the truth. When you purchase a pup at eight weeks of age, that pup knows just about nothing. There is no way a pup who has just been weaned knows much or can do much. That is up to you. You do the socializing, obedience, crate training, etc. Those of you who have done this, know how much time is involved in this process. Now, if the breeder also trains the pup after eight weeks of age, then the value of the animal goes up, not down, relative to the amount of training, etc that is done. Now, just exactly why would the value drop if the breeder is raising the abilities of the pup? I don’t know either.

TRAINING AND IMPRINTING A YOUNG PUP IN THE BASICS OF OBEDIENCE, CRATING, NERVE NEUTRALIZATION AND OTHER SOCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES RAISES THE ABILITY, SKILL AND COMPATABLILITY OF THE PUP, THUS RAISING ITS VALUE TO A POTENTIAL OWNER.

Only a very dull person (i.e. an idiot) will not understand this.   A typical puppy obedience class costs between $250 and $400 with a competent trainer.  In home training is between $50 and $100 per hour.

Pups are not used VCRs. They are living, breathing, wonderful companions.  However, a value must be placed for the purpose of proper exchange with the breeder for his valuable experience, time, know how and actual training on the pup. By the way, a breeder who won’t or can’t train his own puppies is worthless as a breeder, much less as a dog owner.

Which brings me to Number 5.

Best,

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Two Rules

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Rule Number One: The purpose of a leash is to control your dog.

If you use a leash to let the dog drag you down the street, you are not using the lead for its intended purpose. When done this way, the dog is using the lead to control you. Practice using the leash to position your dog with quick corrections (see below) and to initiate heeling or walking. If a dog pulls, work it in basic heeling and correct this in your back yard or training area daily until the dog complies. Trying to correct a dog for the first time while it is outside the realm of a training activity (and while he is free to sniff and pee, etc) will get you nowhere.

Rule Number Two: The purpose of a correction collar is to train the dog into correct obedience.

Using a choke or prong collar as a type of jewelry is a misuse of this training tool and can also be hazardous to your dog’s health. All it takes is one hang up of the collar on a fence or some other stationary object and the dog will choke itself out and possibly die.

Training collars need to be used during training sessions, not just for walking the dog to go to the bathroom. Letting a dog drag you with its training collar on just strengthens the dog’s ability to drag you around and does not really correct anything. Pop the collar with your lead with correct timing after the command has been given so the dog avoids being disobedient. Reward for compliance. Begin by doing this daily in your back yard during training time. Then, the correction will have some relevance to the dog when walking with you or out and about on lead.

Obviously, you need to first train the dog or pup to understand your commands, otherwise all of the above correction will not be understood by the dog.

I hope this helps!

Best,

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Rhythm and Dog Training

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Contrary to what some canine trainers would have you believe (why tell you this, when they can charge you weekly for their skills and keep you completely uninformed about one of the most basic datums in dog training!), successfully training a pup as well as an adult requires a degree of rhythm. That means you, as a trainer and handler, need to develop an actual rhythm in your training sessions that also spills over into day to day living with your dog.

More specifically, when you give a pup a command, you are loading the dog with some form of stress or demand for compliance. The dog will go only so long in this loaded state before it begins to sag in drive and become distracted or disinterested. It is up to you to get the reward or correction done during that critical time. Failure to do so results in a failed or bogged down training session and added time in handling whatever issue is at hand. Worse yet, it may permanently stall the dog’s progress in training and obedience.

Additionally, this rhythm must be kept going during the rest of the time with your dog, during the day, at night, whenever you are playing or interacting. So, when you tell the dog to do something in the house, outside, at the park, wherever, you need to maintain this same rhythm in correction and praise.

If you don’t spill this over into day to day living, you will have essentially wasted all of your training time with the dog.

Because, that’s why you’re training them in the first place, isn’t it?

Bob

Filed in article | Tagged , , | Comments (0)