Social and sporting events for dogs are on the rise. Just like their human counterparts, the more dogs interact, the more at risk they are for contracting illnesses in public places. To help dog owners and event organizers better understand and prevent transmission of infectious diseases in dogs, the AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF), in collaboration with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA), announces a newly funded study that will provide practical guidelines to reduce the risk of disease spread in the canine population. Rather than generate new data, researchers will do a retrospective analysis of existing information to provide recommendations for managing infectious disease at the level of both the dog and the environment.

Dr. Jason Stull, VMD, MPVM, PhD, DACVPM (Public Health, Epidemiology) of The Ohio State University is the principal researcher on the project. His OSU team includes: Armando Hoet, DVM, PhD, DACVPM (Public Health, Epidemiology); Jeanette OQuin, DVM, MPH (Public Health, Epidemiology); and Mary Jo Burkhard, DVM, PhD, DACVP (Immunology/Infectious Disease, Clinical Pathology). We are excited to have this stellar team of veterinary infectious disease experts work with CHF and OFA to produce up-to-date recommendations that will have real world implications, said Dr. Shila Nordone, CHF Chief Scientific Officer.

Fully funded by OFA, the grant aims to equip the dog loving community with information and an understanding of how to keep their dogs healthy in locations where disease spread is more likely. According to Eddie Dziuk, Chief Operating Officer of OFA, Whether participating in various dog sports, attending training classes, or simply visiting the local dog park, mitigating the risk of infectious disease transmission should be of concern to all responsible dog owners whose dogs are regularly in contact with other dogs. Dziuk goes on to state, The Ohio State University has assembled an outstanding team to review the existing literature, engage stakeholder groups in the process, and develop consensus recommendations from key opinion leaders. The end result will be safer, healthier environments for our dogs through education, prevention, and guidelines of best practices to prevent the outbreak of infectious disease.

The outcome of the study will be a peer-reviewed publication defining up-to-date risk assessment and management recommendations, and most importantly, a white paper that can be used by dog owners and organizers of canine events and facilities. CHF anticipates that the recommendations will be released to the public by early 2016. Researchers also hope to create an open-access, interactive website that can be used by all involved with dogs to help reduce the risk and spread of infectious disease where dogs meet and compete.

CHF is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding research to prevent, treat and cure canine disease. Visit CHF online at http://www.akcchf.org for more information about the Foundation. Like CHF on Facebook, follow CHF on Twitter @CanineHealthFnd, or connect with CHF on LinkedIn.

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About CHF The AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping dogs live longer, healthier lives by funding research that helps prevent, treat, and cure canine disease. Established in 1995, CHFs mission is to advance the health of all dogs and their owners by funding sound, scientific research and supporting the dissemination of canine health information. Through the generous support of the American Kennel Club, Nestl Purina PetCare, Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health), dog clubs, and dog owners worldwide, CHF has dedicated more than $ 40 million to canine health research projects and education programs. Visit CHF online at http://www.akcchf.org for more information.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should move toward permitting private contractors to train explosive-sniffing dogs and make them available for use at government certified cargo screening facilities, the Airforwarders Association (AfA) urged a congressional panel in testimony today.

Appearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, AfA board member Chris Connell urged TSA to finalize its efforts to develop a program for private companies to use their own canines, certified to TSA standards, to meet federal air cargo screening mandates. Currently, TSA permits only the use of the agencys own dogs in cargo screening, and only at on-airport facilities.

Click here to download the AfA’s written testimony.

Connell, who is President of Commodity Forwarders, Inc., a Los Angeles-based freight forwarding company specializing in perishable products, said enabling the use of private sector dogs will help broaden the security options for freight forwarders who operate off-airport Certified Cargo Screening Facilities (CCSF), which are supervised by TSA.

We are not saying that privatized canines are a magic bullet when it comes to screening cargo, but they are a potentially valuable part of this multilayer approach another important tool in the toolbox, if you will that includes a range of other technology solutions that our members can use to meet their screening requirements, he said.

Connell told the subcommittee that the AfA had just recently surveyed its members and found that fully three-quarters of the respondents about half of whom operate CCSFs said they would strongly consider using dogs provided by private companies if they were given the option to do that.

While emphasizing that the threat to the aviation industry remains high and association members are determined to do their part to ensure safety, Connell noted that time is money in our business. And right now our company believes that we could save over a million dollars a year at our LAX facility if we had access to a third party solution deploying canines. And of course our customers would highly appreciate the time savings that this solution would help us achieve.

Accordingly, we are highly interested in any solution that can help us expedite the screening process, move our perishables more quickly through the supply chain, and still provide the utmost in safety and security of what we ship. We think dogs can really help us do that, he said.

Connell also noted that use of specially trained dogs is one of several methods for screening air freight that are identified in the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act that was passed by Congress in 2007. And he said that, given the track record of using canines in cargo screening, proceeding with a private sector option with solutions fully regulated, certified and monitored by government agencies would square with other screening approaches such as in-house x-ray and ETD, where the government relies on private sector solutions that are tested and certified.

About the Airforwarders Association

The Airforwarders Association (AfA) represents more than 360 member companies dedicated to moving cargo throughout the supply chain. The association’s members range from small businesses with fewer than 20 employees to large companies employing more than 1,000 people and business models varying from domestic to worldwide freight forwarding operations. In short, they are the travel agents for freight shipments, moving cargo in the timeliest and most cost efficient manner whether it is carried on aircraft, truck, rail or ship. For more information, visit the association’s website at http://www.airforwarders.org.

Dogs are carefree animals. They do whatever they like such as peeing, pooping, licking, barking, chewing, whining, scratching, jumping, sniffing and running around like there’s no tomorrow. As they are unable to figure out how to act on their own, they do what comes naturally to them. So, they must be trained to instill good behaviors in them.

You must know that it’s never too late to train a dog. Though it gets difficult when they grow older, but it’s never impossible. If you know the nature of your dog and some methods to deal with them, then you can train them effectively in your own way. However, if you want your dog to learn quicker, train them as early as possible. Just like the proverb, “Early bird catches the worm”, you must also train them early to get the best results.

There are lots of ways for dog training and they differ with different breeds. For instance, a training approach used for Yorkshire terrier may not work for Jack Russell terrier. Likewise, beagles also cannot be trained in the way you train your pugs. Different breed of dogs have different level of understanding and learning capacity. So, they should be trained in their own unique and effective ways.

Exception to this, there is one thing that works best for any type of breeds, and one thing that should be strictly avoided for all breeds.

Positive reinforcement

This is a simple dog training method that can be implied to any dogs, yet you can get effective results. Positive reinforcement means rewarding your dog for the good behaviors. You can reward your dogs either by giving treats or by using verbal praises. Rewards or treats will motivate and promote good behaviors in your dog. Therefore, it has been one of the effective ways for training any breed of dogs.

Old School Method

This method, which simply rely on harsh and punitive measures for training should be strictly avoided as such methods only bring abnormal and unnatural behaviors in your dog. They resent you for such behaviors and may not obey your commands as often as they used to. So, don’t ever include this method for training any breed of dogs.