Apathy is something that can be caused by health related issues or just simply by lack of mental stimulation. We will now rule out health related problems and momentary apathy that is common for active dogs under a forced rest and talk about apathy that is caused by continuous lack of exercise.

Apathy is a state where a dog does not ask or demand exercise or mental stimulation and is often just sleeping or otherwise resting the whole day. In many cases of apathy the dog is labelled lazy and resting is seen as something the dog decides itself, however usually this is not the case. In cases like this the dog adapts to it's life of continuous boredom and rests, while some dogs react to lack of exercise by developing behavioral issues. It is more common for a dog to act over excited and problematic when it's bored, hence apathetic dogs are many times, sadly, mistaken as happy and lazy. Sometimes, if the dog has been bored for a long time, it may actually lack enthusiasm and even refuse activities, which unfortunately increases the possibility of mistaking apathy as being lazy. Continuous mental stimulation often helps the dog to open up eventually.

Like stated earlier, behavioral issues are common in dogs that are bored.

When talking about behavioral issues one must understand for a dog it's behavior is NOT an issue. It's acting like any energetic curious thing would act. Because it's not offered things to do, tasks that would stimulate it's mind and make it think or physical exercise to drain it's energy, it is continuously anxious. It starts figuring out stuff to do, because doing stuff is fun and it's something that comes naturally to any dog. It is acting like a dog. It's behavior is an issue only to the human.

Luckily, in many cases, problematic behavior is often ”fixed” by simply offering the dog something to do and exercising it properly. Sometimes it has learned some bad habits during it's boredom and it may take time and training to teach it out of those activities, but in most cases boredom is fairly easily fixed. That is if the owner is ready to exercise the dog like it needs to be exercised. One hour walk in a park doesn't make a young malinois happy, while it may be enough for a shih tzu.

Some most known behavioral issues caused by boredom are breaking things, chewing on things and territorial/dominant behavior. This is why, when working with a territorial or overly dominant dog, one must always see the big picture. Scolding never fixes the main problem. Territorial behavior will continue as long as the dog is bored as guarding things gives the dog something to do. Therefore I am strongly against trainers who just give tips to fix the behavior rather than figure out the main problem behind that behavior.

Dogs need things to do. If they don't have that, they will figure out something themselves.
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Obesity is a growing problem amongst people, and it's is equally growing problem amongst dogs. This is mainly because the meaning of the dog has changed over the years and most dogs these days are companions. Sometimes this means the dog is not exercised properly and it's fed generously as it's main job is to offer company and friendship. No matter life as a loved family member is every dog's dream, dogs exercise to maintain physical health.

Obesity is a serious health issue that may cause various different issues such as joint problems, heart problems and even diabetes. It is often estimated that severily obese dogs live far less than their athletic, fit friends due to obesity causing such severe stress over the whole body.

Though obesity is often connected with retired people and their small lapdogs, it's actually a much larger problem. During my time in shows I have seen many cases where the required ”mass” for the showring is gotten by feeding the dog until it's plump rather than exercising it until it's muscly. Unfortunately this gets prized in shows more often than not, and for some breeds like labradors being obese is almost required for a decent evaluation.  

Here is a chart showing some basic tips on figuring out if a dog is obese or not. Breeds are different and some breeds are more robust than others, but a general rule would be feeling the dogs ribs. If you can't feel the ribs when gently moving your hand on the dog, then the dog has way too much fat on it's body. Then again, only feeling the ribs is not good enough for many sigthounds, for they are supposed to be dry and lean.
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Poor physical condition and lack of muscle means higher risk for accidents and trauma during physical activities.

It is unfortunately very common to assume dogs are able to pull through very rough physical exercises just because they are dogs. In reality dogs need training and good physical condition as much as an athlete needs to be fit to perform in sports. How many of us would attend in high jump trial or sign up for 100 meter hurdless without any practice or being physically fit? How many of us would be surprised if/when we'd get injured? And yet we send dogs to perform tasks like lure coursing and protection training when they are in poor physical condition.

Taking a dog for a walk is not conditioning it. No matter if the dog is at good weight, it still needs proper training and proper conditioning before attending to more demanding physical activities. Otherwise it's unfortunately prone to many trauma. If one is not willing to exercise the dog and build up it's muscle mass, it's usually totally OK. The dog doesn't need to be Usain Bolt of the dog world. Being a Regular Joe is good too! As long as the dog gets it's walks and occasional free runs and mental stimulation it should live a totally happy life. Just don't make it run through a police dog course.  
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When I talk about exercising dogs in this chapter I talk about normal house pets that may or may not do semi rough exercise routines sometimes. I do not talk about heavy sports dogs that require certain kind of physical conditioning. That is a whole another story.

Firstly, one should always think about the type of dog one has. What kind of exercise can it do? Is there some special need or some special trait one must take into account when thinking about exercising? For example, dogs with short muzzles (the so called brachycephalic breeds) and dogs with short legs have physical restrictions to what they can and can not do. I do not go to those restrictions here, but encourage everyone to educate themselves especially if one owns a dog like this.

Moving off leash and free is always the best possible solution for any dog, but as there are limited possibilities to that, specially when living in town, one can always find other ways of giving the dog as relaxed walk as possible. By relaxed I mean the dogs natural trot, of course, not what we call a relaxed walk.

When a human being walks, he often walks too slow for the dog. If the dog is small it is possible it's able to maintain what I call ”a normal trot” here. It's the pace the dog chooses itself, the speed during which it is trotting calm, relaxed and the leash does not tighten up around it's neck causing pulling. This is a balanced way of moving and the most natural for the dog too. It's the speed it would choose when it ”travels” around it's territory. When I'm walking with my dogs I usually prefer them ”travelling” rather than just following me. If they try to adjust themselves to my speed, they often either walk or pace, and neither is as natural for them as the natural, calm, relaxed trot.

How does one get to that, then? Well, running is an option. Another option is bicycling, but as it easily gets a little too fast and sometimes a little too dangerous with some breeds, I myself have learned to appreciate the wonders of a kickbike. It's a good way to adjust oneself to the speed of the dog and you are able to stop the thing rapidly if/when the dog decides here is a good place to sniff.

I can see what you are saying there! ”Why do you let it sniff? It must follow you!”. Well, dear reader, I do agree with you to some extent; when I am conditioning my dogs, when I am trying to increase their endurance and physical abilities and building up muscle I do expect them to follow me and not the scent of the neighbor's dog. However, I am not always out there conditioning them. I want them to be able to travel too, sniff things and experience the world as a dog experiences it. Walks that allow the dog to sniff and explore answer to it's insticts and offer mental stimulation as well as physical exercise. It's walks like these that ”tire the dog up” and make it sleep comfortably at home afterwards.

No matter how often you offer exercise on a leash, and even if you offer it adapting yourself to the dogs natural travelling speed, it's always a good thing to let the dog be free, too. I do not mean letting it free in an unfenced area and bidding farewell or letting it cause terror and hammock amongst neighbors, but secluded forests and fields, sand pits, beaches and just fenced yards offer the dog a tremendous amount of things to sniff, follow, see and hear. This is the most natural possible exercise for the dog as well as the most natural mental stimulation. Is it enough for the most active breeds that require lots of tasks to perform? Most certainly not. It's just beneficial for them as it is beneficial for any dog that might be ”OK” with less.

To sum it up, moving is what dogs were born to do. It's not what they are bred to do, it's in them no matter what's the breed. There is not a single breed in the world that would choose to sit around all day and not do anything. If that is the case, there are usually physical restrictions that unfortunately make it either hard or uncomfortable for the dog to move. It's a sad thing we have breeds that are not able to perform things a normal dog should be able to perform. Luckily most individuals of those breeds as well can do some exercise and they also like it.

I am not saying there is no lazy dogs. There are, I have one at home. Most of the times it is just very alright with staying indoors and sleep, but that is only when it's basic needs are met. One of those basic needs is the need to get a decent amount of exercise to keep fit. 

These terms are often used when talking about training. They both aim for teaching the dog a certain habit, a certain way to act. Negative reinforcement uses punishment of some sort to show the dog what it does is wrong. It creates something nasty or unpleasant or frustrating that teaches the dog it must avoid certain way of behaving in order to prevent the nasty thing from happening. Positive reinforcing will praise the dog when it does right and teach the dog doing something or stopping from doing something gains it a prize.

Both these types of reinforcing work, but positive reinforcement is proven to be more effecting when teaching a new way to behave, whilst negative reinforcement works mostly when the dog must stop a certain learned habit. Using negative reinforcement can cause apathy, and a dog that does not work and try in order to see what it's expected to do can't learn. Fear blocks learning. That is why a dog should never be afraid of punishment, surroundings or anything around when trained. It must be comfortable and calm enough to concentrate.

Negative reinforcement is something to be used with caution and never by inexperienced handler who doesn't know what to do. Then again, no dog can go through it's life without facing negative reinforcement. When the pup tugs in a leash and hurts it's neck, it learns by negative reinforcement that one should not speed around when leashed (or then it doesn't, and continues doing it for the delight of the desperate owner). When the handler must hold the dog in place to calm it down, it learns by negative reinforcement acting like crazy will cause holding it down. By avoiding too rough play it gains freedom.

No matter negative reinforcement has it's place and time, for the reasons listed above it's something to be very cautios about when teaching the dog something. Negative reinforcement trusts in the dog. It is based solemnly in the process of trial and error, learning what is wrong, but it does not TEACH. Learning can happen without teaching, but you can't teach the dog by punishing it from something it does. In order to teach you must use positive reinforcement. Teaching is taking the pupil towards the target by giving it cues and tips and praising it from it's efforts. Teaching is telling ”now you are doing right. Do it again”.  

When trying to raise a dog to behave like a modern dog citizen should, one often stumbless across different training tools. Some of these tools, however, have nothing to do with actual training. They are tools that are supposed to punish the dog from doing something, and they trust in the dog understanding to avoid certain habits it gets punished from.

E-collar is a tool that gives the dog an electric shock when it does something not desired. It may be used to shock the dog when it leaves the area or it may be used when the dog barks. The collar will first make a beeping sound and then shock if the dog continues doing undesired things. This does in some cases cause results, but those results are not based on training the dog. They are based on letting the dog get hurt by the collar until it either learns what to avoid or will learn to stay completely still and silent because it is afraid of another shock. E-collars cause pain, they can cause fear and anxiety and their use is forbidden in many countries by the law. Dogs that have been wearing E-collars also suffer from apathy more than often. Apathy is a state where the dog does nothing, because doing nothing for certainty doesn't hurt it. After all, dogs usually don't connect the pain to for example a bark. They may connect the pain to entering a certain room, or moving, or panting. Whatever the dog sees, smells or hears during the shock may be connecter to the shock rather than the actual reason, for example leaving the yard.

Spray collars are much like E-collars, but they stray scent or air when the dog performs unwanted tasks. No matter they don't hurt the dog, softer dogs can become skittish because of them. There is also a risk for the dog connecting the spray to something completely different than it was meant to. If it happens to bark to the neighbor and gets sprayed, it may as well connect the neighbor to the spray and start to dislike the sight of the neighbor. Spray collars are sometimes used as last resorts to dogs that keep barking indoors, but the results they provide wary from success to an even worse problem.

Prong collar is a collar of metal, usually, that has blunt edge spokes in it. Whenever the dog oulls, the spikes press against it's skin, causing discomfort and it some cases where the dog launches in the leash for one reason or another, even serious injuries. Just like E-collars and spray collars, prong collars do not teach the dog to walk nicely. They teach the dog pulling hurts. That may give results, but one must think how the results were obtained. Dogs also tend to connect hurting with the collar and once the collar is removed, the dog walking nicely beside the owner may be all over the place all of a sudden. It was taught nothing. It still doesn't know how to walk properly in the leash. It just knows not to pull when the prong collar is on. Just like shock collars, prong collars are also forbidden in many countries.

Many anti-pulling harnesses or muzzle collars make the pulling uncomfortable for the dog. They don't hurt, but they feel odd and the dog finds it easier to move, and more pleasant to move, when it doesnät pull. These tools used alone without any kind of training often produce the same result as the prong collar – the dog keeps pulling as soon as the harness is gone.

To avoid this, tools like this require the dog also being praised from good behavior. This way it does not only learn not to pull when the harness is on but that it is expected to walk nicely with a loose leash.

Tools like these are tools that are supposed to help with controlling the dog while teaching it to behave properly. If the dog is large and it may cause problems with pulling during the training, it is better to use good anti-pull harnesses than risk the owner getting seriously injured when his 78kg mastiff decided it wants to go full speed over the street to greet a yorkie.  
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Treats and toys.

Seriously. Find what motivated your dog, or any animal for that matter, and use that in teaching. Praise good behavior and coach the dog towards something you want it to do. Praise it when it does right. Treat it with food or a moment of play. Positive reinforcement in the fastes and also most long lasting of teaching methods. Dogs are selfish things that do whatever benefits them and causes them pleasure. It is faster and more effocoent to praise good behavior than just plain punishing from wrong.

A properly timed punishment or command is also a good tool. One must of course remember the dog should never be hurt, but in most cases things don't go as they go in books. You can turn your back to a bouncing chihuahua, but I don't recommend it with a pyrenean. You must make the dog stop it's harmful behavior and if it doesn't respond to a high sound, for example, and you can't leave it on it's own, you must gain control. In many cases this means physically touching the dog, holding it in place, preventing it from acting idiotic and scolding it.

Dogs do need discipline. There are dogs you don't ever need to punish or scold, and dogs that need it all the time specially when they are young. See what your dog can handle and never cross the line. Discipline should not hurt. Pain or fear caused by the owner results in losing trust. With dominant, hard dogs it can also be potentially dangerous as they may answer to pain with force and what started as a play will turn into a fight. Never fight with your dog. You are a human being, and the dog knows it. We do not need our teeth to gain authority. You can't win a dane in fight if the dane decides to fight you. So don't make it. Control it, be an authority, but don't become an enemy. Pain creates an enemy.  
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Dogs are in many ways like us people when it comes to learning. They do things that benefit them and avoid things that don't or that cause them harm. They are usually curious and they may do things that are perfectly normal to a dog yet highly disliked by us people. In moments like that teaching the dog a new way to behave requires knowing the dog you work with, knowing what motivates it and knowing why it does what it does. Dogging a hole in the garden is fun for the dog, it gets rewarded by it's own mind when it digs a hole. To make it stop one must not only make digging the hole more unpleasant than pleasant (scolding) but also offer something else to do. That way it doesn't only get told digging a hole is wrong but that doing something else is actually more beneficial.

In the end there are many tools in the dog world that work, but one must ask oneself with what cost do they work and if they actually teach the dog anything. There is no fastlane to a perfectly trained dog, unfortunately. It may feel tempting to use some tool that promises fast results, but ask yourself at what cost does it provide those results and if there is a possibility it actually makes the problem worse or even creates a new problem.

We expect pretty much from our dogs. Just remember, when you were 12 months old, you could hardly form words and communicate with your parents and you still pooped your pants. No matter the dog develops faster, there is only so much you can learn in a short period of time.

Give time. Give opportunities. Raise your dog so it wants to try new things and please you rather than lay down afraid of another shock of pain.   

The use of carbohydrates in dog food is often explained with the need of sugars. Sugars are essential for the brain, which is correct. The dogs, however, are able to form glucose out of fat (the process is called gluconeogenesis), and therefore they do not need a special source of carbohydrate in their diet. The reason why dogs and wolves can use some carbohydrates and turn them into energy is because their prey in wild consists of plant eaters. While eating their prey they can sometimes consume parts of the undigested plants eaten by the prey animal. Therefore their digestive system can use that source of energy to some extent. In most commercial dog foods the amount of carbohydrates is as high as 30%-70%. It is not natural for dogs.

The most common problem created by excessive use of carbohydrates is obesity, along with problems like diabetes. A dog is just plain and simply not made to use that much carbohydrates. However, because dogs CAN use carbohydrates for energy to some extent, and because the sources of carbohydrates are cheaper to use for the companies, commercial dog foods often use lots of sources of carbohydrates as part of their ingredients.

It is often recommended that puppies are not fed low-carb diets, however many companies producing low-carb diets have puppy foods. There is no real reason to why puppies should have high level of carbohydrates in their food if they are offered enough protein and they get all the supplements they need to grow.

Carbohydrates are not to be mixed with fiber, that does indeed serve a purpose in food. It is, however, not needed in great amounts. A little goes a long way.

Another problem often caused by carbohydrates, and the reason why I am writing this post, is yeast.

Afghan hounds are prone to yeast. It's a common thing in the breed due to the breed's ”originality” and because of their long, quite heavy hanging ears. It is possible a dog developes yeast because of humidity, but it's even more common because the dog gets too much sugar from it's diet.

Yeast needs sugar to live. The yeast infection of a dog is simply an overgrowth of the natural bacteria the dog already has in it's normal flora. It's usually a symptom of the imbalance of digestive system, either because of allergies or inability to use as much carbohydrates the dog is fed.

”Diet is the foundation of health. The way you nourish your dog is either going to help his immune system manage yeast, or it's going to feed a potential or existing yeast overgrowth situation.” - healthypets.mercola.com

So quite simply, if your dog has yeast, you should take a look at it's diet. Are you feeding your dog a food it can process, or are you expecting it's system to digest food that is actually not appropriate for it's species? Before you go on trying million different hypoallergenic kibble, take a moment and consider the possibility of going raw.
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Raw food diet does not cure cancer, nor does it do miracles, but sometimes it can change the life of a dog. This is because most dogs benefit from being fed like dogs should be fed – getting low carbohydrates and lots of protein and fat.

Allergies are always a symptom of an immune system failure, however if your dog is ”allergic” to wheat or gets yeast from too much sugar, it is not to be considered suffering from immune system failure but simply having a digestive system of a more original canine. The fact some dogs are better using carbohydrates and dealing with sugars is not a reason to call the others allergic. Allergy is something caused by an overactive immune system failing to see what is to be considered a threat and what is not. Yeast is simply an overgrowth of bacteria that feed on sugars (however, in some cases it is caused by allergies).

Raw food diet is not feeding raw bones and hoping the dog survives (that is actually called BARF and it's not healthy for the dog. It provides mostly calcium with the loss of everything else). It is feeding raw MEAT. Bones are actually quite small part of any canine's diet, and therefore they shouldn't be too dominant in raw feeding either. In some cases you can't use bones at all, but you can still feed your dog raw meat as long as you prove the source of calcium.

What does this benefit, then?

Well, obviously it's the most natural way to feed a dog! Most dogs do great with raw, most do great with getting some raw and then getting kibble. Some dogs that have digestive system problems may be bad at using lots of fat and therefore some very rare cases may benefit better from a high quality kibble than from raw food. This is totally alright, as long as the kibble fed is good quality. I myself avoid kibble with corn, rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes, as they are high in sugar and sugar is exactly what I don't wish to have in my dog's diet.

Raw food is mostly just protein and fat, and with added supplements (such as vitamisn A, D and E, calcium and zinc) it answers to the basic need of a dog. Your dog is a meat eater. Take a look at it's teeth – are those made for biting rice or ripping the flesh of a prey? Often dogs that are fed raw have more energy. This is simply because they can use their food faster and better.

Raw is what nature meant for canines to eat. 
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