Custom Canines - Kristin Castro

10/31/2024

09/09/2024

Adolescence occurs between six months and 18 months of age—a time when guardians typically struggle the most with their dogs. Some guardians are so overwhelmed and underprepared for this developmental stage of their dog’s life, they choose to surrender the dog to a local shelter or rescue group. In a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found that the majority of the surrendered dogs (47.7 percent) ) were between 5 months and 3 years of age (M.D. Salman,John G. New, Jr.,Janet M. Scarlett,Philip H. Kass,Rebecca Ruch-Gallie &Suzanne Hetts, 2010)

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, changing s*x hormones effect the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to process information they are receiving from the environment including the presence of dogs, vehicles, people, or really anything around them. They behave in ways that might feel frustrating or upsetting for the dog’s person.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control. We see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

So what does this mean? This could mean that what was once no big deal to the dog now feels scary; what was once easy to do is now stressful; what once made sense is now confusing. At times, the world can feel like ‘too much’ for the adolescent dog.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, our own frustration and impatience can cause us to act unpredictably. This adds to our puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for our dogs to adjust.

If you have an adolescent dog, what can you do? You can give your dog the time and space to observe what is going on around them when on leash at a distance away from the activity when possible. You can give your dog long walks to sniff and explore in nature, giving their brain time to decompress. You can offer your dog a quiet space to sleep so that they can consolidate memories effectively. You can continue training various skills, breaking them down into easier steps that can be generously reinforced.

By understanding what our adolescent dog is experiencing we gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best adult selves.

09/06/2024

Just a few shots of Bess enjoying her summer boarding. While her people enjoy their vacation, Bess got to enjoy her own mini vacation with pool time to stay cool, hiking, and healthy socialization.

09/06/2024

Bear and Ruby returned for boarding camp while their people took a vacation and we had a great time reconnecting. Their people put in the time and effort to continue their training as they become adult siblings in the same household and their hard work shows! This doesn’t mean they haven’t experienced setbacks and challenges as the pair develop, but does mean they have the tools and support to address each challenge in the best way for themselves and their furry family members.

08/23/2024

Bess, a previous board and train graduate, is back for boarding camp and I am excited to have her back! While her people are out of town we will be keeping up with the commands and expectations she previously learned and having fun.

06/11/2024

Recent research findings on recommended minimum age for neutering depending on breed. The study looks at a variety of health challenges. Age may vary based on psychological maturity and behavior.

I generally recommend waiting until at least a year and ideally two years for any breed to allow healthy mind and body growth.

Updated information from the University of California study on the effects of spay/neutering.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/when-should-you-neuter-or-spay-your-dog

06/11/2024

Jojo, the German Short Hair Pointer and Doberman mix, graduated from his four week board and train with flying colors. Like many bird dogs, Jojo has a very high drive to hunt and track critters. So high that he couldn’t be trusted off leash and would go into a frenzy pulling on the leash on walks. He also became very excited and reactive toward other dogs.

While here Jojo learned that humans can understand him and appreciate the things he enjoys. This allowed us to create clarity of when and where certain behaviors were appreciated and when and where they are not. This helped build relevance of his handlers and a partnership attitude. Pushing against genetics with “never” can create conflict and a huge rift between human and dog. Understanding and appreciating each other allows the two species to work and survive better together.

Jojo now has and loves his play outlets with his person and they use their environment for agility together. His owner is enjoying hiking with him off leash with the confidence that he will come when called, even off of squirrels. They can also go on enjoyable walks on leash together. He holds place nicely in order to have an off switch, boundaries, and relax. With the flow of understanding that sometimes he needs to follow her lead and sometimes she will follow his, they are living their best lives together. Way to go team Jojo!

06/11/2024

Bailey, the German Shepherd and Husky mix has arrived at camp! We will be spending four weeks building up her confidence and teaching her helpful behaviors like heeling and place so she can feel comfortable and be successful going places in public with her people. Creating clear communication and helping Bailey become neutral to other dogs while on walks while trusting her people to advocate for her is also top on our to do list. Go Bailey!

04/24/2024

Kona the 3yr old pitty graduated from our board and train program! Kona had strong opinions about other dogs in her neighborhood, drug her owners around, and even broke through their front glass window to get to another dog. While here Kona has learned proper outlets for her drives through play. She learned how to walk nicely on leash, engage with her owners, and make better decisions on and off leash. Impulse control built through play and clear communication has helped her learn to think before she acts. Her senior owners are continuing to build their communication and skillsets to help her keep her success at home. She is a lot of dog for them, so we set up spring poles for play and leash free clear communication to help them live better lives together.

04/22/2024

04/02/2024

Congratulations Poke, the adolescent Tibetan Terrier, on graduating from our three week board and train camp! While here we built his foundation of obedience including heel, loose leash walking, place, sit, down, stay, come, wait and worked on manners (not jumping up, not biting the leash, waiting at thresholds, appropriate interactions with other dogs). Poke’s owners are doing great helping him show off his new skills at home!

04/02/2024

Welcome Peaches! Peaches is here for our two week puppy board and train camp to start her out on the right paw. We are going to begin building her obedience foundation while focusing on building confidence, human-canine relationship, play, manners, and social skills.

03/12/2024

I’m so grateful for this thought provoking experience and to have made some new connections with wonderful people. Nerding out on the canine brain and behavior is one of my favorite things.

Will be posting more about my thoughts after my California Workshop this past weekend, but I wanted to thank everyone that attended.

I hope everyone walked away with something to make you a better dog trainer 💪🏻

03/06/2024

02/22/2024

DOG OWNERS: Updated dog food info (as I understand based on reading research, studying canine nutrition and having discussions with vets).

🚨YOUR DOG DOES NOT NEED GRAINS IN THEIR DIET FOR HEART OR GENERAL HEALTH.🚨

✨Before blindly following nutritional advice from individuals who do not specialize in canine nutrition (yes this includes many veterinarians, breeders, pet stores, etc.), do some of your own research or speak to a professional who does.✨

🐶Domesticated canines thrive on diets that have less than 10% of good carbs and actually need zero carbs in their diets.🐶

🫛Many studies have linked diet-associated DCM (heart disease) with grain-free diets. This is due to containing pulses (peas, lentils, chickpeas, and dry beans), rather than the presence or absence of grains in a diet.

🌾Grain free foods more commonly contained pulses in place of the grains due to some dogs having allergies to grains, but you can find them in food with grain as well. Both grains and pulses are low cost bulk fillers for dog food manufacturers.

❌Pulses historically have been shown to interrupt the bodies uptake of nutrients. Even for humans!

🦠The nutritional causes of secondary DCM can be nutrient deficiencies (such as deficiency in taurine, vitamin B1, thiamine, carnitine, or vitamin E), but also can be levels of nutrients or other dietary compounds that are too high (such as heavy metal toxicity). Taurine deficiency has not been found in most dogs with diet-associated DCM (except in one study of Golden Retrievers).

🍗If you want to learn how to choose a quality food, what your dog requires to thrive, and what you can add to help improve their food, The Forever Dog by Dr Becker is a great start.

The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer

01/15/2024

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