How Never To Behave Around Your Dog

Cesar Milan has written an interesting blog post on 5 ways never to behave around your dog. Here are 3 ways that especially stood out for us:

• Never project weak energy.
  Instead: Be confident. A dominant dog will have its head up, chest forward, ears up, and tail stiff. As a human pack leader, you should follow suit: Stand up straight and hold your head high!
  
• Never let yourself get too worked up.
  Instead: Be balanced. In the animal world, overly excited, fearful, and anxious individuals are never considered leaders. Pack members must trust their leaders, and that requires balanced energy.


• Never pick and choose when you discipline.
  Instead: Be consistent.
  Inconsistent reinforcement of the rules leads to inconsistently obedient pack members, so pack leaders make the rules and stick to them!

We say these apply just as well to human to human interaction, don't you think so? ;-)

Read the full post here.

Tags: Cesar Milan, dog training, pack leader, dog behaviour

History Of Medium Dog Breeds - Airedale Terrier

Medium Dog Guide will be bringing you some interesting information on how each of the medium-sized dog breeds in the Medium Dog Guide came about. The first medium dog that we will be blogging about is the Airedale Terrier.

The Airedale Terrier breed could be said to be the most multi-talented all-rounded dog breeds around today. Being smart, protective, humorous, and BIG (the Airedale Terrier is the largest member of the terrier family) the Airedale Terrier is definitely deserving of the prestigious moniker - King Of Terriers.

The Airedale Terrier originated from Airedale, a Dale or valley located near the River Aire in Yorkshire, Great Britain in the mid-19th century. The breed developed from a cross between two old British dog breeds: the Old English Black and Tan Terrier and the Otterhound (left picture). The breed was originally intended as a sporting dog that could swim well so that it could hunt otters, badgers and water fowl with ease in addition to hunting land prey like rabbits, hares and rats. Due perhaps to the Airedale's excellent swimming skills, it was also known as the Waterside Terrier then. The name "AiredaleTerrier" was only established as the de-facto name of the breed in the 1880s.

During the First and Second World Wars, the Airedale Terrier worked as messanger and rescue dogs. Their loyalty and bravery were unquestionable as they often cotinued to deliver messages even after suffering serious injuries. And before German Shepherd Dogs became the popular choice as police dogs, the Airedale Terrier was the breed of choice for law enforcement work in many parts of the world.

Hunting, retrieving, guarding, rescuing, swiming... none of these activities are too difficult for the Airedale Terrier. The Airedale Terrier is truly one of the most multi-talented dog breeds in the world, and with their great personality and sense of humour, what more could you ask for in a pet ;-)

For more information on the Airedale Terrier, check out the Medium Dog Guide - Airedale Terrier.

Tags: Airedale Terrier, History Of Airedale Terrier