MONSTER LIFE APP
When deciding on an Appenzeller, we must remember the most important element, i.e. the breeding background of the breed. Appenzeller is a dog for working with cattle, very distrustful of strangers. Breeding selection was merciless towards weak individuals. Over time, breeding modernization softened the breed, and it was slowly introduced to the city - or rather to its suburbs - and the breed began to be used as a companion dog. Unfortunately, the Appenzeller did not quite fit the role of a medium-sized companion dog. Apenzeller remained appenzeller, in all its glory. People who are not fully aware of the breed's genetic conditions often wonder only later whether the breed is really right for them. - Appenzeller dogs cannot be denied their incredible charm, so what problems can a dog with such a sweet appearance cause?
Unfortunately, the Appenzeller is still not very popular among people working with working dogs. However, it gains allies among people who simply want to have a dog. I confidently recommend this breed of dog to an active person, i.e. after 8 hours at work, they still want to go for a longer walk (over 1 hour) + a physio walk 3 times a day. Adding consistency, decisiveness, hardness, great sensitivity and delicacy should be enough to be a suitable companion and guide for Appenzeller.
I encourage those who decide to get a dog to read the rest of the article.
We are picking up our puppy from the kennel. Beginning a dozen or so years of adventure with our companion. You should start by building trust, relationships, learning to get used to everyday life, at least for the first year of life.
On average, an 8-week-old puppy is separated from its mother, its pack. It is worth noting that a puppy is only 8-10 weeks old in the kennel, apart from sleeping and eating, it spends most of its time playing.
with siblings, exploring and getting to know the world at their own pace, becoming more or less bold towards the world and people. How much and to what extent is an individual feature received in the gene package, depending on the breeder, the mother bitch and the environmental conditions in which it develops during the first weeks of life. Until the 6th week of life, breeders have their hands tied due to the risk of catching infectious diseases. During this time, the breeder can introduce puppies to toys, objects, touch, sounds, and reacting to the presence of humans.
After the sixth week, you can more boldly allow puppies to be in the company of strangers, not necessarily picking them up, hugging them, sniffing and blowing them, or kissing them because they are so sweet, going for walks in the yard, etc. Usually, when we go to the kennel to pick up our puppy, we spend some time there, apart from formalities. related to purchases and inquiries
about dealing with a puppy, let's take our time to get to know the puppy better, let's play, let's give it time to get to know us at its pace, let's not scare us with ourselves, with our human desire to cuddle
and desire. Let's become a link between the "old" and the "new" world. A long time ago, when taking a puppy from its mother, you also took something with the mother's scent, just to facilitate the transition from place A to place A.
B. Nowadays, most often the puppy is given a new, elegant layette filled with completely foreign scents. Therefore, with our support, it is easier for him to go through the "moving" period; and acclimatize to the new place. Let's sleep at least the first night in the target room,
where our puppy should sleep. So that he can find us when he wakes up, so that when he wakes up at night he doesn't panic because he will forget where he is. The euphoria of buying a puppy reigns in the house for several days, during the day the puppy is "torn" and constantly under constant attention. Everyone disappears for the night, the puppy is left alone
and just last night my siblings had their mother/boobs and slept in poop. After a few nights, everyone's emotions subside and reality begins to sink in. During the night, monsters start walking on the walls, i.e. street lamps, household furniture create shadows, electricity buzzes in sockets, you can hear the wind or rain outside the window. Some puppies will be curious, others will become afraid, so it's worth being there
at night indoors with the puppy. The time of the acclimatization process varies greatly
and individually individual.
As a rule, the vaccination quarantine lasts until the 12th week, which is the period when our puppy is extremely susceptible to infectious animal diseases, some of which can be fatal. For the health of your dog, limit your trips outside, especially to places where there is a lot of dog walking.
Let's use this period to increase the bond with your dog. To work on the relationship by learning how to play, use toys, introduce commands, exercises, and use patterns, which we will deepen in later stages to achieve our intended goals. Expanding the relationship will give us more knowledge about our dog, whether it has any concerns/anxiety, whether it is an assertive puppy or a little lazy person. Individual diagnosis
ego type relatively early gives us a huge range of modifications to a given behavior. Learning to have fun seems like a cliché. Unfortunately, "I gave him a toy and he doesn't play" often happens. Playing with your puppy is a mutual pleasure in the time spent together. Both parties should be equally involved. Through play, we develop hunting and prey instincts - chasing a ball with a gently ball, it teaches coordination of skills and body awareness, we develop the senses: sight, hearing, touch. Play promotes emotional development, teaches patience and independence. And the most important advantage of play is the development of creativity and ingenuity, giving a great sense of agency, i.e. that "the child is the creator of his or her own thoughts and actions."
Dog kindergartens are a cool and recently fashionable solution, but this is obvious after the quarantine. And during it, if you have any doubts about your skills, it is worth inviting the person running such dog kindergartens. For individual lessons, she would show how to play with a puppy, how to focus attention on yourself, and how to teach to be understandable to the dog.
The Appenzeller is a specific breed, a sensitive, tough guy, lined with distrust, based on an anxiety dog.
with outstanding intelligence. The observer analyst can be an individualist. Since most of the behaviors come from fear, it automatically forces the owner to work hard. The sacrifice invested, at least in the first year of the dog's life, guarantees us a comfortable and comfortable life together for several years.
The specificity of the Appenzeller forces us to familiarize it with the world "manually", i.e. for a long time, the breed has been bred to help people work with farm animals in the countryside and it feels great there too. City life can be very difficult to adapt to. Therefore, great emphasis should be placed on adapting Appenzeller to city life. Manual introduction to the world is nothing more than joint expeditions and fun, building trust and relationships between a dog and a human.
Appenzeller puppies tend to have different behavior than other breeds. Hardly any puppy is bold and open to people and the world. They "mature" exceptionally quickly, separating their own people from strangers, and do not hesitate to show it. A very high level of distrust, especially towards people, is inherent in the breed pattern. A two- to three-month-old puppy is driven more by fear than by distrust. It is up to us to decide which direction and how a given behavior will develop - we are aware of the breed, the behavior of our puppy and the tools to shape it. Excessive familiarity between people, reaching out to dogs, wanting to pet them, looking directly into their eyes will trigger natural reflexes, such as growling, warning and snapping, even in such a small and very sensitive puppy. The originality of the Appenzeller and their puppies significantly distinguishes them from their peers of other breeds. Our puppy is guided by the instinct from the gene package it received from its parents. He can be wild, natural without any learned behavior model, like a little kitty, a savage. In all its wildness, this little puppy is aware of its characteristics, which it will not hesitate to use in a situation it deems necessary (often causing the intrusive "bitten person" to react with aggression, indignation and attacking the dog's owner). People are very pushy and aggressively provoke, without being aware of their actions - after all, they just want to pet a cute little puppy! How our dog will behave in the future depends only on us. How and in what version will we introduce the world and people to the dog.
After a few weeks, the moment has come when you can take your puppy for its first walk! After the quarantine ends, we set off with our dog to conquer the world. I wrote earlier about socialization and play
with a dog in your own garden. A dog that has been taught to play in the yard will demand it there, and that's a very good thing. Toys and treats are two basic tools for working with a puppy of this age. A toy, i.e. a soft, fluffy, relatively large, easily visible object that can be dragged through puddles. Its aim is to raise emotions, i.e. to stimulate the dog and put it in a good mood, at least two levels higher, to feel more confident with full control over emotions and the degree of arousal. Knowing the reactivity of our dog, we can select the intensity of the level of excitation. At the same time, he learns how to manage and control his emotions. Constantly throwing the ball for the dog to run not only causes a lot of trauma for our pet, but also stimulates the dog to a state of emotional extremes, where awareness and brain control have long been forgotten. Being aroused to extreme emotional limits is not healthy for anyone. It paves the way for behaviors that often go out of control - creating hyperactivity in a hyperactive dog. Undoing it is possible, but it requires great perseverance, self-denial and human awareness.
I use the dog's good mood (controlled arousal).
y in order to replace a weaker stimulus (anxiety) with a stronger stimulus (aggression), if we want to consolidate a given behavior, we give a treat. A dog taught to act in this pattern, i.e., using a toy to relieve stress, relax and recharge with positive emotions, very smoothly defeats the monsters that stand in its way. Untamed monsters cause great anxiety, they make our pet become more and more withdrawn, reluctant to do any activities, and even does not want to leave the house (from its kennel) for fear of everything. Everything that is new barks either as a warning to us or scaring the monster (how dangerous I am). One of the most terrifying monsters for my dog was the "bull's head" figure sewn onto the backpack of passers-by walking in front of us on one of the streets in the city. The people's clothing blended with the surroundings of the cloudy, gray day - the patch was blue, a color very clear to the dog's eye. After analyzing my dog, a blue bull monster appeared on the street. Fortunately, people understood that the young girl was learning, and with a little help from them, we managed to tame this monster.
The ability to stimulate the dog's mood and emotions, using a toy and treats, gives us a lot of opportunities to work. With the dog and dog key in hand, we set out into town. Let's use what we learned at home to show our puppy: Hey, it can also be nice and pleasant here, despite the noise of cars, people, bicycles, trams or trains. We can have a lot of fun here too. It is important that our dog enters a new - sometimes very scary and alien world - in a good mood. So before we set off, let's play with our favorite toy that we always have with us (using it in every difficult situation for the dog). You can also try using treats - although they will not always give the desired effect. Food mobilizes thinking and it may happen that we get the opposite effect than intended. Playing and tugging puts the dog's instincts into action
and adrenaline, endorphins (boxer/boxer effect, runner effect). There are times when the dog will refuse food or a toy, so it is worth having both tools with you at all times. Our attitude is a very important element. We do everything with pleasure and in a very good mood. There is no option of walking or going on trips as a punishment or because it's necessary, because it's written so somewhere. We do everything for ourselves and our dog - after all, no one forced us to buy a puppy of this breed.
Please remember that the puppy is supposed to follow us and with us. We have to make ourselves the most attractive creature and phenomenon for the dog, trips with us are absolutely great, nothing bad will happen, and all the monsters and horrors can be defeated. A young puppy needs an example to follow. We - as its guides - should be its boss and the eighth wonder of the world. Make everyone feel safe with us everywhere. We cannot be afraid of the world, we must want to work with the puppy. We are to defend, lead prudently and show diplomatically, not just expect and demand. So we do not miss the markets, crowds of people, crowded underpasses, heavy street traffic. Kindergarten area
and schools during school breaks, railway stations or platforms. It is worth visiting places during trips that will be very necessary in the future, e.g. a veterinarian. When we go to the vet, we also behave more freely without tension and stress, because our task is to show the dog the veterinary office and not to visit the vet for a sick visit.
Another feature of Appenzeller is his innate distrust of people. During the post-vaccination quarantine, our puppy has already met the household members in the form of people and other animals, and knows every nook and cranny of the house.
and suddenly the guests arrive! Who is this? Why did he come? What does he want from us? these questions fly through our puppy's head at the speed of light. Our main task is to focus people's attention on us and not on the dog, causing it to be terrified, afraid, and sometimes aggressive. Guests come to us, not to the dog. Let's put the puppy on a leash, cover it with our body and invite people into the room. Let the dog watch
and watches. Ok - everyone sat down at the table. At this point, let's go to a common room with the dog and let him meet people at his own pace and time. By sniffing, a dog learns about its environment. Our dog doesn't need to be hugged, stroked or touched by strangers or be amazed at how sweet a puppy he is! The dog only needs to smell to know, without touching - from a distance. We can scatter a few granules of dog food on the floor behind the guests and give a small packet of it into the stranger's hand (remember to ask the visitor to keep his or her hand loosely directed at the floor). Probably the puppy will pick up the food from the floor and will also eat from the guest's hand.
Let's not allow people to reach out to our dogs. Dogs don't like touch, stroking is a human need. Apenzeller can bite, hurting or harming a person, and not out of anger or aggression, but as a form of expression.
and your dissatisfaction. This is a kind of warning - don't do it, I don't want it! Before expressing its dissatisfaction so aggressively, the dog often displays a range of behaviors that make it uncomfortable. These include: turning the head away from the source of discomfort, dodging with the body, jumping away or retreating to a safe distance for the dog, allowing it to increase control over the situation (making a decision to attack or escape). During our trips, we taught the dog to pass people and cars without being bothered or afraid. We should expect the same from our friends who meet with us and our dog. I assume that our interlocutors are already informed about the lack of reaction to our dog and they talk to us and the stand is prolonged - let's not expect the dog to freeze. Timidity and lack of exercise are not a good combination. To prevent your dog from getting stressed unnecessarily, let him walk on the entire length of the leash. When talking to your friends, throw treats on the grass for your dog so that he has to look for them and focus on this specific activity and not think about it.
about terrible people.
I mentioned above that dogs do not like touch, they do not like stroking initiated by a human (I will write about touch initiated by a dog in the next entry). Dogs touch each other with their bodies, they do not use their paws for this purpose. Dog paws are used to express position in the pack. One dog places a paw or climbs with both paws on the other dog's withers. Touch dominates, limits freedom, distracts and subjugates. Acceptance of touch can be taught and it is worth it because it can be used as a supporting tool. Touch can de-stress and relax your dog. Getting used to touch is very useful, e.g. at exhibitions, the judge touches the dog, checks the testicles, tail, teeth, sometimes the backline or cranial fusions. The sentence repeated like a mantra by those who exhibit their dog of this breed is: it's an Appenzeller, don't touch it! However, please remember that by deciding to participate in the exhibition, you automatically accept the exhibition regulations, which clearly define the judge's tasks to be performed. It also determines how the dog should behave in the ring. The most important thing - it has to be safe for the environment. Dogs of breeds from the list of aggressive dogs also take part in exhibitions and in everyday life, and they are also subject to the above-mentioned behavioral requirements. Aggressive behavior results in the dog being disqualified and leaving the ring, even if it is the best dog in the pack. You cannot allow your dog to snap its muzzle, regardless of its intentions, at accidental touches that can happen anywhere. Taking various precautions.
You can move around and live with such a dog that snaps at everything and everyone. Someone will say: muzzle! - yes, you can, sometimes you even have to, but is it necessary to put additional stress on yourself and your dog? I don't mean the muzzle as a stressful factor, but our behavior and that of the dog while being outside the home. Getting used to touch should start with your inner peace and time for this activity. We can touch a small puppy while sleeping, while feeding it from a bowl or from your hand. You can treat it as an exercise to learn like a regular one: sit. A dog has places on its body where it tolerates touch more and those where it tolerates touch less. You can teach by shifting attention - we focus on something pleasant for the dog (e.g. food) and try to gently touch the places that are pleasant to the dog's perception and are within the dog's sight, i.e. the front paws (fibula) with the back of the hand. Let's never do it by surprise. The important order is not to cause pain - touch can hurt. We must adapt to the dog - we make movements around the dog very slowly and at a steady pace - so that the dog sees our hand and can predict our intentions (and has the opportunity to escape). By touching and talking to the dog, we convey a lot of information about ourselves (mood, emotions). We can also calm down an anxious dog in a situation that is beyond its capabilities. For anxious dogs, touch can be a godsend: hey... it's not the end of the world, nothing terrible is happening, I'm not angry with you, I have the situation under control, you really don't have to panic... Touching by people is much more common petting the dog with our emotional sympathy, which means that we negatively reinforce fear. By petting them, we want to comfort them and lift their spirits
and instead of improving, the situation is becoming more and more tense. Let's give the dog support - let's not cry with him. By crying with the dog, stroking and hugging the dog, we show weakness and lose our established authority. At this point we put our dog in a very difficult situation, forcing him to play the role of being strong - stronger than us. We unconsciously force the dog to defend us from the whole world. Voila! The recipe for an aggressive animal is ready!
In a word of conclusion, monsters can be scary, but we as a guide y -having tools, awareness
and possibilities - we can condition the greatest dog in the world to finally become an Appenzeller, apart from
with incredible intelligence, they are famous for their outpouring of feelings towards their owner. Then all we will have to do is spend the next dozen or so wonderful years together in a healthy relationship and incredible respect between dog and human.