Welcome to Pets and Paradise TV, the show that explores the relationship between people
and animals in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Hawaii.
Here's what's coming up in the next half hour.
We'll learn the meeting of natural horsemanship while watching two top equine trainers in
a competition.
Then, we'll meet a rottweiler named Max, whose life depends on him learning right from
Ron.
Plus, find out if the corgi is the right breed for your family, and it's all about
the breed.
Pets and Paradise TV starts now.
Hawaii has a rich history when it comes to horsemanship.
Starting with the poniotas of the 1800s, horsemanship has grown and evolved.
And even if it's a centuries old trade, there are still techniques to be learned.
So today, I'm over here at the Hawaii short starting challenge, and this is natural horsemanship
training.
Natural horsemanship is also called horse whispering.
Others using this technique don't use physical force to break an untrained horse.
Instead, they try to be as gentle as possible, using the horse's natural instincts to help
in the training.
And in some cases, the horses are raised to mimic life in the wild.
So what the horsemen do is get the horse to understand that the horsemen is the leader.
So the two horses today that these trainers are using have never been saddled, bridled,
or had a blanket on their back.
Other methods of training can be tough on a horse, tying its legs, blindfolding it to
get control.
Natural horsemanship is the complete opposite, but it reaches the same goal.
Now, let's see how it's done by two trainers in a challenge.
So these two trainers, Dan Olson and Russell Beatty are up against a big challenge because
normally you train a horse, it takes at least two weeks to about a month, and these guys
are out here doing it in a little less than two days with only two hours each day.
People, they don't get respect out of their horses, and the horses just push on them.
So I always want them to stay back off me.
Russell is a pro when it comes to training horses.
A Maui resident, he's been training since he was 10, and has taken part in more than
100 cold challenge events.
So at the end of this day, what we're supposed to be able to do is to take our horses, ride
them, we're going to be able to walk, trot, and run.
Daniel is also an old pro.
He grew up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming and now works as a farrier, someone who specializes
in carrying four horses hooves.
He also trains horses that are difficult to work with.
They're actually training these horses in less than a couple of days.
These horses here have less than three hours of ride time, and they're already on their
back today.
This is day two of the competition.
We're about two hours in on this event, and we're breaking everything down.
We're setting up the obstacle course.
So far, it seems that Russell has been able to get quite a bit more forward movement out
of his horse.
He's been able to walk, trot, and canner.
Pretty fine.
Dan's groundwork has been excellent.
He's done a great job.
I am a little concerned because he hasn't quite yet gotten his horse to canner.
So we'll go ahead and see how he does during the obstacle course.
The real challenge outside of this round pan is when these two trainers actually ride these
two horses in an obstacle course, a way outside of the round pan, no walls, no structures
or obstacles.
So at this part of the competition is where it kind of gets to the nitty gritty, and I
feel like I'm pretty well ready to do it.
Now the competition starts.
Dan is first.
The competition consists of a series of exercises designed to challenge the horses.
Horses scare easily, so if the horse doesn't trust a rider, doing the obstacles will be
difficult, but Dan is doing a good job.
Russell's up, but it's a bumpy start.
He has some trouble getting up on his horse as the horse takes a nip at him, but after
some gentle prodding, Russell gains some ground and is able to take to the course.
Now for the winner.
So the winner of the Hawaiian Copes starting challenge on a wahoo is Daniel Olson.
So Daniel, what did you think?
It was fun.
I really enjoyed it.
Both men proved that even with so little time, natural horsemanship works.
There's an old saying we've all heard, sweating like a pig.
But some people say that pigs don't sweat at all.
So why that's saying, we'll find out right after this.
[Music]
To pig sweat, well, they do sweat a little, but not nearly enough to cool off those large
bodies.
That's why they love to wallow in the mud.
It cools them off like sweat would if they had enough.
So where does the saying come in, sweat like a pig?
Well, it's not about pigs at all.
The saying originated with the manufacturer of pig iron, which is a form of iron made
when the ore is melted at extremely high temperatures.
As it cools, the air around it reaches the dew point, forming droplets on the metal that
look like sweat.
So next time you're hot and the perspiration is plentiful, just say you're sweating like
pig iron.
Welcome back to Pet's Infrared Ice TV.
There are more than 500 dog breeds ranging from the world's smallest to two-wowow to
the mighty great Jane.
Our goal is to pick one and learn all about it, and it's all about the breed.
Today, it's all about the Welsh corgi.
Originally from Wales, there are actually two dogs that go by the name corgi, the Pembroke
Welsh corgi and the Cardigan corgi.
Both are separate and distinct breeds.
Of the two, the most popular is the Pembroke Welsh corgi.
To the 11th most intelligent dog, the Welsh corgi is an ancient breed, dating back as
far as the 10th century when records indicate that they were used to herd sheep, geese, ducks,
horses, and cattle, so obviously they're one of the oldest of the herding breeds.
There's also a popular folk legend that says corgis were a gift from woodland fairies, and
that the markings on their back were the result of the tiny saddles used by the fairies to
ride them.
As old as the breed is, their ability as herders has carried through the years, and even today
they are considered one of the best herders.
They excel as healers, which means that they nip at the heels of cattle to keep them moving.
They're very agile dogs.
You can see that when they're herding, but that trade also makes them excel in competition,
in obedience, showmanship, fly ball, tracking, and herding events.
These were even used at one time to guard children, but it isn't clear if they actually heard
of them.
As for popularity, corgis are well known to hobnob with royalty.
Queen Elizabeth has owned more than 30, either Pembroke Welsh corgis or a corgi doxon mix.
She was given her first corgi by her father when she was seven, its name was Dookie.
Young Elizabeth chose Dookie out of the litter because he had a longer tail.
She said that having a long tail would make it easier for her to know if he was pleased
or not.
Welsh corgis were first brought to the US in 1933 by a breeder in Massachusetts.
They were recognized by the AKC the following year.
As for size, male corgis weigh an average of 30 pounds, females about 25.
They come in red, sable, tan, fawn, and black and may or may not have the white markings.
As for health issues, they are generally a healthy breed and have an average lifespan
of just over 12 years.
They are prone to some cancer and kidney problems as well as some types of eye conditions including
progressive retinal atrophy.
Hip dysplasia among corgis is rare.
Corgis love physical activity and need regular exercise.
They're strong and athletic and are happiest when they've got a job to do.
Some corgis are barkers, they're best suited to temperate climates if they're going to
be outdoors, but they make great indoor pets.
They need brushing only once a week or so.
They make great companions, just ask the queen, and now you know all about the corgi.
There's a really spooky thing that cats do in the dark that you've probably seen.
Their eyes appear to glow.
It always looks like Halloween when they appear that way, but are their eyes really glowing?
What makes their eyes look like that?
We'll tell you right after this.
You've seen it.
In the darkness, a cat's eyes will glow and look really creepy, but their eyes aren't
really glowing at all.
The reason that they look like that is a special reflective layer in their eyes, called the
tapetum lucidum.
This special layer permits their eyes to see better in low light situations because it
sends more light to the retina.
Because it's dark and because cats have proportionally larger eyes than we do, the
glowing effect, which scientists call eyeshine, is much more pronounced.
And if you're wondering, yes, dogs and some other animals have the same reflective layer
and their eyes appear to glow in the dark as well.
There's nothing as special and rewarding as the love of a good dog.
For centuries, they've provided people with affection and companionship.
On occasion, however, man's best friend can sometimes become his greatest enemy.
This story is about Max, a good-hearted rottweiler who made a bad choice and now his life depends
on learning right from Ron.
So Max's mom and dad reached out to me because Max got himself into a lot of trouble and
we're going to start his initial training this morning.
We're going to do a little bit of evaluations with him and see exactly where he stands, what
his naughty behaviors are and what he needs the most help with so that we can focus his
training towards those versus spending time on things we don't really need to focus on.
Robweilers are inclined toward dominance and will test for a position in the family pecking
order.
Without ongoing socialization and obedience training, they can prove to be too much dog
for many households.
Clearly, this is the case for Max's family, which is why his training will either make
or break his future.
All right.
So we're going to walk up to some of our trainers over here just hanging out, show that Max can
actually go around a group of people, he's not going to be bothered by it, doesn't even
care at all.
Want to say hi, bud?
Good job.
Good job.
All right.
Go ahead and stand up.
And now they went from a less threatening position to a more threatening position by standing
up and being taller and bigger than him.
This still doesn't really seem to care.
He's just kind of hanging out.
All right, guys, you guys want to space out and we'll go through the rest of this?
So far, Max has shown no hostility in this training session, but his previous actions
have come with some heartache.
He has recently shown signs of increased agitation and aggression.
The day that Max got in trouble, they were all outside and the gate didn't quite shut
well, and Max came out of the yard.
And dad and grandpa and son were all running around trying to catch him.
In the meantime, the neighbor came out and was upset because he is a rotweiler and they
tend to be scary dogs because of their reputation.
Neighbor came out and started yelling, Max turned around and ran and bit the neighbor.
Whenever they went to court, they were given option, pay the fine and put the dog down,
pay the fine and find the dog a new home, or they could pay the fine and they requested
training and the court system actually agreed to allow them to come in training.
Max needs to comply with the terms set by the court and complete training.
He needs to show he is worth through his aggression, but in order to do so, Erica needs
to find Max's trigger and just what makes him bite.
All right, so I'm going to walk Max over by one of our first people and throw in one
of the scenarios.
We're going to see how he responds to you.
Go ahead.
He's right by you.
Get away from me.
Get your dog away from me.
Get a fearful trying to get away from him, giving some loud voices and throwing her hands
up.
He doesn't really seem to care.
Brian's going to be a little bit more threatening to see if Max is going to show any of those
aggressive signs.
Max.
All right, so basically, all right, so what happened right there is whenever Brian put
his hand down on Max's face around his mouth, he didn't really like that and he turned around
and he tagged Brian in the hand to let him know, "Hey buddy, I don't really like that."
So this is one of those aggressive behaviors that Max has that we want to be able to work
out of him throughout his two weeks of training.
I did something he didn't like and received a notification of that via Max here.
So there's different levels of aggression with dogs and whatnot and that's something
he didn't enjoy.
He just kind of pushed his face.
He let me do it twice with just a warning.
I came back for one more and he let me know that it was game time.
Well, we just finished the evaluation and I definitely can tell I've got my work cut
out with him.
Max clearly has some aggression issues but hopefully now that Erica has an idea of what
his triggers are, she might have a chance to save his life.
When we return, we'll find out if an old dog can learn new tricks or if it's the end
of the road for Mad Max.
You've probably heard the dogs can't see in color, that they see everything in black
and white.
But is that really true?
We'll find out right after this.
[Music]
Is it a myth that dogs see everything in black and white?
The answer is a qualified no.
It turns out the dogs can see some color.
Human eyes contain three different kinds of cones, those receptors that distinguish color.
Dogs have only two of these cones and scientists at the University of Washington discovered
that they can't detect shades of red or green but they can see shades of blue and yellow.
Dogs use the variations in shades and brightness of blue and yellow to distinguish between
items so they may see the world differently than we do but at least it's not all black
and white.
For the last week, Erica has been working hard with Max to identify what makes Max so
mad.
She needs to help him work through his aggression so he can continue living his life back home.
So Max is a nervous dog, so anytime something changes in his environment or he gets nervous,
he's instinctually going to jump into fight or flight, up, sit.
So whenever his nerves pick up, he just wants to go and either defend himself or run away
from it and the event that he can't run away from it, he's going to attack it, sit.
One of the best kept secrets in dog training is the use of elevated areas.
This helps to define space, keeping the dog in one place and making it easier to focus
on their trainer.
Erica goes through a series of exercises in hopes to desensitize Max to the things that
set him off.
She hones in on his facial area because that was the place the trainer touched earlier
and then got bit.
Then the event that he does have a negative behavior, he does something naughty like jumps
or gets out of his position or barks or growls, then we use the e-collar.
It's a muscle stimulation tool that lets me communicate with him to let him know that
hey that's unacceptable, that's not right, that's, you know, fix this problem and then
we go right back into having him hold his position and then he gets praised at the end
of it because that was very hard for him.
The e-collar is widely used by trainers, especially with dogs like Max with a history
of aggression.
Some critics argue that e-collar should not be used because they inflict some degree of
pain.
While this debate continues, it's important to remember that the electric stimulus is
actually very mild and in many instances it can be the difference between failure and
saving a dog's life.
Okay, so I'll show you a big day about how it works.
Max down, one push of the button that sends a low-level stimulation to his neck where
the caller is secured, letting him know that hey we need to pay attention, you need to
do what you need to do and it's just a matter of communicating with him and another means
that's been super awesome and beneficial for Max.
Erica is bringing Max into new environments and situations to take him out of his comfort
zone and to continue desensitizing him.
But the most important test is about to come.
We know Max doesn't like his face being touched, but the only way to see if Max has made real
progress is to re-enact the scenario, but is he ready?
Mission accomplished.
It seems Mad Max does have a soft side after all.
While the techniques and training Max has received are leading to better outcomes, it
remains to be seen if he will continue to do the same for his owners.
So today's a really big day for Max, he's going to go home for his first time after
his 14-day training program with us, he did come for our board and train, he did the special
on-leash version specifically catered to Max.
We're headed out to Capulani Park right now to do a little bit of practice and meet up
with his family and go over everything we're going to need to go over so that they can
continue to practice with him over the next week and a half and then we're going to get
Max back for a little bit longer and do some more socialization training and his training
is just going to continue to be an ongoing process to get him on the right path.
He'll say hi to your mom.
His mom's here now and he's going to get ready to go home.
The first portion of our training is to train mom how to use the remote in the collar system.
This is the collar of the remote system that comes in the box, if it's to keep the box
don't worry about it.
After the tools and training Max has received, his owner expresses some hesitation about
using the e-collar on him.
Since it has proven to be a very effective tool for Max, Erica offers her a demonstration
to help put her at ease.
And now you're going to tell me whenever you feel something, this will not hurt, okay?
You feel a little, the little tingles?
Max's owner realizes it's a small amount of discomfort, for a big reward in making
Max a law abiding citizen.
So Max's mom is going to have Max back home for about two weeks.
She's now got the tools to continue training and practicing with him to get him on, continue
on the right path.
Max has the tools and the foundation established to be successful.
So at this point, it's going to be up to Max's mom and the time and dedication and how much
practice her Max get in over this next two weeks to see where he's at.
[MUSIC]
[BLANKAUDIO]