Our Favorite Dog Treats--Homemade, Quick and Easy. Promise!!!

We have quite a few dog nutrition sticklers around here at Wags, who go above and beyond to make sure their dogs only are eating the best possible foods.

At agility trials where there are lots of Wags "family" in attendance, the dogs can often be found crowding around Romi and myself for the tastiest rewards for their efforts! Specifically, a favorite treat recipe known as "Tuna Fudge" really makes the pups go crazy! I have also had great success with some of our pickier training dogs really going gaga over these treats when they would not touch anything else.

This is the version I have more-or-less perfected. I have also used a 15oz can of Salmon that worked great as well. You also could probably substitute rice flour if your dog has wheat issues, but you may have to play with the consistency a bit. Let us know how it turns out for you!

TUNA FUDGE
2 6oz. cans of tuna in water (do not drain)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose/whole wheat flour
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Put ingredients in food processor and process lightly to break up big chunks of tuna and even out ingredients. If you don't have a food processor, just first break up the tuna with a fork, then add other ingredients.

The consistency should be thick, but moist... like cookie dough. If it looks too dry, you can add a little bit of water at a time to moisten it.

Spray or lightly wipe pan with olive oil. Pour in 9x9 square or pie pan and spread evenly with spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Let sit until cool - then take out of pan and cut into bite size treats! They keep in the fridge for about a week. Or, you can freeze them to extend their life. This makes about 1.5--2 cups of 1/4 inch cubed treats.

Happy cooking!!!

~Liz

Agility & The Importance of Understanding Distance

Can you just look at a piece of wood and immediately know how long it is?  What about if I asked you the distance driving from your house to your work?  Would you be accurate?  I should probably would not be.  I can be directionally challenged.  In agility, this can be a problem for dogs and humans that don't naturally calculate distance well.

On course do you notice the distance between jumps changes?  Sometimes they are closer together and sometimes farther away.  When you walk a course, notice when the course has been designed to collect or extend your dog.  Dogs will need to learn the skills of shortening their stride, expanding their stride, and going back and forth.  Do you know what is the largest distance your dog can 1 stride?  Can you clearly describe what cue you give your dog to shorten their stride and what cue you give your dog to extend their stride? 

Shouldn't your dog do this on their own? 
My personal view is that agility is team sport and handlers should

assist their dogs in every way possible.  Handling is more than directing your dog around the course.

Like humans, some dogs are not naturals at this.  This is one of the most missed skills in dogs that knock bars.  They can turn, they can jump, they can go, but they can't read the distance without handler assistance.  This is where you can learn to help your dog.  Notice in advance on walk through places you will need to run or slow down to aid your dog's jumping through a course.  You may need to adjust your handling plan to assist your dog.

Here is a great video showing a dog's mastery of changing its stride when necessary on course.  When the spaces get wider, he jumps longer/harder.  When the distance shrinks, he shortens his stride.

Laurie Zurborg, CPDT Wags & Wiggles Founder.

Doing the Chicken Dance!

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference in San Diego. This annual conference hosts the leading positive reinforcement animal trainers, behaviorists, and scientists. It is always such a pleasure to attend these conferences to learn the latest and greatest positive reinforcement techniques, reinforce what I know, and to network with other trainers.

This year I decided to attend the much talked about Click-A-Chick seminar held by Terry Ryan. This seminar is a hands on workshop clicker training, yes you guessed it, CHICKENS! Real live chickens. The purpose of this experience is to sharpen up the mechanical skills of the trainer (improving the timing of the click and the criteria designation for the behavior). Chickens move extremely fast so capturing the behavior that you are looking for with a precise "click" of a clicker takes some skill. (see information on clicker training here http://www.wagsandwiggles.com/clickertraining.pdf)

I have avoided this workshop for years because I have a bizarre phobia of flying birds. When Wags was first in operation in our little 3000 square foot building in Rancho Santa Margarita, the Wags birds "Wiggles" and "Giggles" used to fly around the office and freak me out. So, sitting in this seminar before the chickens came out, I was a nervous wreck. Nicole and Liz, trainers at Wags & Wiggles, were with me and helped me remain calm every time the chickens moved. During demonstration Terry Ryan had a chicken who was wildly flapping its wings. It made me very scared to start training one myself.

Then we got started. Once I laid my hands on that sweet Chick, I was calm and excited to train. We worked on teaching the chickens to peck a target at first. The timing of the click was very important. There were a few people in the room that did not have good timing, therefore their chickens walked to another trainer, pecked their hands, or flew away. Luckly none of us from Wags had that happen. We were amazing and our chickens were stellar. The chickens not only learned to peck the targets, but also to peck the small dot in the center of the target. Precision was what we worked up to and conquered!
We then taught the chickens to distinguish between targets by having them peck a red poker chip. After she was pecking the red one, we introduced a blue poker chip that we wanted her to ignore. If she pecked the blue one we just removed the red one (removed the opportunity for reward) until she stopped. Then the red poker chip came back as did the opportunity for more clicks/treats. She was pecking the red poker chip so hard she was flinging it off the table! Smart girl knew exactly what I wanted and was going for it with gusto!

This was such a great experience for me. I got to practice my mechanical skills and add Chickens the species of animal I have trained. It also helped me with my fear of flying birds.

I now have an obession with Chickens. Now I'll have to have those too. My husband is so thrilled.

~Lysa

Nationals Wrap Up

The trip to Kentucky for the USDAA 2011 Nationals was a good trip but not a great trip.  We didn't come back with any wins or trophies this year.  While I was proud of what we did, we just had an off trial.  Gumbo, my steady Catahoula, and I were just not in sync.  After close examination of video, there wasn't anything obvious I did most of the time, we were just off.  He was paying attention and trying hard.  It just figures we won almost every event all year long and then not do well at nationals.  Luckily, my long time agility partner and friend Shelley Permann won Performance Grand Prix and Performance Speed Jumping with her 10 yr old Cardigan Corgi, so at least I got to celebrate with her.  Gem, my 2 yr old border collie, was just fabulous for her age.  And Gator, my Pyrenean Shepherd, actually was the most consistent of all my dogs which is quite the shocker considering we joke that "he's got issues".

We had other lessons to learn apparently and the one thing I took away from my trip is that training your dog to handle the real world, come when called, and be social makes traveling much more enjoyable.  The best time we had was finding a river for the dogs to swim.  Then other agility competitors showed up with their pack and it was game on. 

Gumbo's most memorable moment was at the river.  Gumbo disappeared for awhile unnoticed. He dug up a mole, tossed it around and about to swallow! Shelley yells "he's eating something, laurie". I yell "well stop him". She yells "no way he's growling at me" and I get into a muddy wrestling match to save the mole. Guess who won, yes Gumbo got the prize.

Rodent, my new agility chihuahua, was adored by all at the event.  He learned to be handled by strangers, get measured, sit in the stands, and beg for food.  He also was a frequent visitor of the FitPaws booth where he wobbled, jumped, tumbled, and learned about his body. He even kept his anger management in check and made some new doggie friends.  That's not easy for him. 

USDAA did a really great job this year and really listened to the competitor complaints from last year.  The running surface was much better, the competitor result area was much better, and the dust was virtually non-existent.  I applaud USDAA for their efforts.  Not to mention the courses were perfectly tough yet fun.  The best news is that next year the event will be in Colorado.  So excited not to drive to Kentucky again.  Lastly, the IFCS 2012 World Team was announced at nationals.  Sadly, Gem will not be on the team but it wasn't expected since she was the youngest dog to try out.  It was a great learning experience for us all and we hope to be selected for a future world team.  Rachel Sanders, the World Team Coach, will be coming to Wags & Wiggles to share her expertise with us in December. 

Laurie Zurborg, CPDT, Founder

Mayhem has her big surgery!

Having a young dog can be the most fun and the most frustrating experience. I’ve had my fair share of puppies, and being the “crazy Lab lady” most of them have been high energy verging on psychosis. I love it though and get puppy fever more often than is normal.

My most recent Puppy, Mayhem, was born in February and recently it was time for her to get spayed. One of the hardest parts of having a dog, on top of the crazy puppy stages, is the part where they need to undergo a major surgery. They cannot speak to tell you that the doctors and nurses treated them well, they cannot tell you how much it hurts, or how much the medications affect them. Because of that, I am always a nervous wreck with my furry children’s medical care and am always looking for the least invasive way to treat them.

With what I do I am lucky enough to know many different people in the animal business and talk about and explore options for the care of the dogs, both my own and the client dogs. Enter Veterinary Surgical Specialists (VSS) in Tustin. I was able to discuss with them the option of the Laparoscopic Ovariectomy. With this procedure, the surgeon goes in Laparoscopically and removes the ovaries versus the traditional method of cutting the dog open and removing the ovaries and uterus. I was told there is practically no down time for the dog after and much less painful. I was sold!

Dr. Cambridge and his staff at VSS were amazing with my questions and general anxiety about my baby. I really am a lunatic when it comes to this stuff. Mayhem came out and was sleepy that first night from the anesthetic, but was back in action the next day as if nothing happened!! I have had dogs spayed in the past in the traditional way and they were down for a week with some pretty significant pain. My husband and I were both thrilled at the difference and I am certain I won’t ever have a dog spayed or neutered any other way.

I was so impressed with VSS, of course, but over the moon about how great it was for Mayhem I had to share the information.

I was told too that for dogs that are prone to bloat/Gastric Dilatation Volvulus or "GDV" (large breed, or deep chested dogs are most prone, but are not the only breeds) the surgeon can tack the stomach internally (Gastropexy) while performing this surgery laparoscopically so to minimize the likelihood of the dogs bloating. (If you are unfamiliar with dog bloat and have a large breed dog, please do look it up) They can also do a laparoscopic Gastropexy for prevention on dogs that have already been spayed/neutered with a fast recovery and tiny incision. Pretty amazing stuff.

Mayhem still continues to show off her puppyness and gives me a run for my money…I look forward to many years to come.

~Lysa Knight, CPDT, Co-Owner Tustin

New Fecal Policy - REQUIRED by 11/01/11!

Have you recently received this flyer from your Wags & Wiggles Facility? If not, Wags & Wiggles is now REQUIRING yearly fecal & parasite testing. As of November 1st, all current and new clients will need to show proof of a Negative fecal testing done within 90 days.

As of September 2011 we have decided to add fecal (poop) and parasite testing to our daycare requirements. We have not had a big issue with the spread of parasites at our facilities due to our extensive cleaning and supervision, however we feel this new policy will only make our daycares and the community better. Some parasites can go undetected in dogs without symptoms of illness. There may always be a chance that your dog can get sick being around other dogs despite current vaccinations and fecal tests, but we want you to know that we love your dogs and want to implement everything possible to keep them happy and healthy.

This is what you need to know about this policy:

• We recommend two tests: Ova/Parasite Test and Giardia Elisa Test. The Ova/Parasite test is MANDATORY. The Giardia Test is optional but is strongly suggested especially for Giardia prone areas like Irvine. Giardia is notoriously hard to detect in a standard flotation fecal test. This is why we suggest the Elisa Test. The Ova/Parasite test will check for all other parasites such as Roundworms, Tapeworms, Hookworms, Pinworms, Coccidia & other parasites. We anticipate that if you have current status with your veterinarian there will be no office charge. Contact your own veterinarian regarding their own policies.

• If you are a new client, you must present confirmation from your veterinarian that your dog had a fecal and the results came back Negative. The test must have been done within 90 days prior to starting daycare or puppy class.

• If you are an existing client, you will have until November 1st to present verification of a clean fecal. The fecal must have been done in the last 90 days.

• All clients will be required to present proof of a clean fecal on a yearly basis. Hopefully you can tie this into your vaccination schedule. We will keep track of your fecal status in our computer and will remind you when your yearly due date comes around.

• If your dogs fecal shows a parasite, you must seek treatment, and present a clean fecal result to us at the end of the treatment.

We know that asking you to get this test done may be difficult for your busy schedule. However, we are confident that our clients will respond positively to keeping their dogs in the safest daycare possible. We recommend that you get this fecal testing done through your own veterinarian. However, in the case of immediate need (such as emergency boarding), we have made arrangements with a local veterinarian to be able to do the fecal testing through W&W. Please contact either the RSM or the Tustin Facility for details.

Any dog that shows up for boarding or daycare after November 1st without proof of a clean fecal will not be allowed in the play area until this testing is done.

Here is some additional information on Giardia and Parasites: Giardia is an organism that lives in the small intestine of dogs and cats. If your dog shows symptoms, it's usually very watery diarrhea. Some dogs will lose weight (but still eat fine), have bad smelling poop with an abnormal pale color. Giardia transmits through feces. Your dog does not have to eat poop to get Giardia. They can drink infected water on walks or at dog parks, they can get Giardia on their feet and then lick their feet, and through normal nose to butt greetings with other dogs. Treatment is usually a 10-14 day long treatment of antibiotics.

Click here for more information on Giardia

Click here for more information on Common Small Animal Parasites

If you have any questions regarding this new policy - Please contact your Wags & Wiggles Facility today and we will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Tustin: 714-368-7077 RSM: 949-635-9655

-Romi

Upcoming Training Classes for October & November 2011!

Here is a schedule of our upcoming Classes at both Wags & Wiggles locations for October & November! You can also Click Here to view our class schedule on our website.

PUPPY CLASSES

Tustin

Every Monday 4:30pm - 5:30pm (Instructors: Gretchen & Nicole)

Every Saturday 8:30am-9:30am (Instructors: Gretchen & Amanda)

RSM

Every Wednesday 12pm-1pm (Instructor: Ranaye)

Every Saturday 10am-11am (Instructor: Jenny)

Puppy Class Prices: $40 per class, $130 for a pack of 4 classes, $199 for a pack of 4 class + 1 private lessons, Train for Life Prgram applies.

OBEDIENCE LEVEL 1 (5 weeks)

Tustin

Saturdays - Starting 10/29/11 - 10am-11am (Instructor: Amanda)

Mondays - Starting: 11/07/11 - 6pm-7pm (Instructor: Gretchen)

Thursdays - Starting: 11/10/11 - 11am-12pm (Instructor: Amanda)

RSM

Wednesdays - Starting: 11/02/11 - 6:15pm-7:15pm (Instructor: Ranaye)

OBEDIENCE LEVEL 2 (5 weeks)

Tustin

Saturdays - Starting: 10/29/11 - 11:30am-12:30pm (Instructor: Amanda)

Tuesdays - Starting: 11/01/11 - 4pm-5pm (Instructor: Lysa)

Mondays - Starting: 11/07/11 - 11am-12pm (Instructor: Amanda)

RSM

Wednesdays - Starting: 11/02/11 - 5pm-6pm (Instructor: Ranaye)

CANINE GOOD CITIZEN (5 weeks)

RSM

Wednesdays - Starting: 11/02/11 - 5pm-6pm (Instructor: Ranaye)

All 5 Week Obedience Classes + Canine Good Citizen Class Prices: $165 for 5 weeks, Train for Life Program applies.

SPECIALTY AGILITY CLASSES

Tustin

ONE-TIME CLASSES

Tunnelers - Tuesday - 11/08/11 - 12:30pm-1:30pm (Instructor: Lysa)

Serpentines & Threadles - Tuesday - 11/08/11 - 1:45pm-2:45pm (Instructor: Lysa)

Contacts - Tuesday - 11/15/11 - 12:30pm-1:30pm (Instructor: Lysa)

Serpentines & Threadles - Tuesday - 11/15/11 - 1:45pm-2:45pm (Instructor: Lysa)

All One-Time Agility Class Prices: $20, Train for Life Program DOES NOT apply.

Ongoing Classes

Jump Grids - Every Friday - 12:30-1:30pm (Instructor: Laurie)

Ongoing Jump Grids Class Price: $20 per class or $80 for a pack of 4, Train for Life Program DOES NOT apply.

RSM

Ongoing Classes

Contact & Weave Rehab - Every Thursday - 8:30am-9:30am (Instructor: Laurie)

Ongoing Contact & Weave Rehab Price: $20 per class or $80 for a pack of 4, Train for Life Program DOES NOT apply.

TRICKS FOR TREATS (3 weeks)

Tustin

Fridays - Starting: 11/04/11 - 5pm-6pm (Instructor: Gretchen)

Tricks for Treats Class Price: $75 for 3 weeks, Train For Life Program applies.

RALLY OBEDIENCE (3 weeks)

Tustin

Fridays - Starting: 11/04/11 - 6:30pm-7:30pm (Instructor: Gretchen)

Rally Obedience Class Price: $75 for 3 weeks, Train for Life Program DOES NOT apply.

To sign up for any classes or to get more information, please feel free to contact either facility: Tustin - 714-368-7077 RSM - 949-635-9655. You can also sign up for classes online through our online-pay. Click Here to Sign Up through Online Pay

Happy Training!

-Romi