This morning at the dog park

Understanding Dogs

“Why does my dog dog that?” Because they can, because they are a dog, because they have been inadvertintly taught to do it, have not been trained to do something else instead…those are the answers, or at least some of them.

I tell people nearly every day that the problem is not the dog. What you see dogs doing are normal dog behaviors and for the dog they are not a problem. There are however dog and human communication issues, human to dog expectation issues and lack of teaching issues. Tthe majority of “dog behavior problems” are actually created by the humans in the dogs life. I do understand some dogs are born wrong or have physical issues, but they are the minority I can assure you.

Dogs do what works. Dogs do what gets them things and attention. Behavior that is reinforced has a higher likelihood of repeating. If you leave food on the counter and the dog is able to get it, he will. He has now been reinforced for counter surfing and will continue to surf the counters looking for more reinforcement again, and again and again.

Dogs do not waste much time or energy on any activity that does not allow them to win. Dogs are wonderful at conserving energy. You can avoid or minimize problem behavior by ensuring these behaviors lack reinforcement from humans. Dogs really like to do things that are rewarding and worthwhile (to them), so will expend far more energy to do it.

Dogs really are beautifully simple and do not wish to take over the world or dominate you. They do not dwell on the "wrongs" you may have done them or the toy you took away from them. When you aren't around, they are probably sleeping (provided you have thoroughly exercised them before you leave). If they are doing “naughty things” it is out of boredom. loneliness, a need to do something, hunger, or anxiety.

Dogs are social animals and as such need social contact with other beings. They follow you around room to room because they wish to remain with you, because you were gone all day, because you are their only social option or because they really like being with you. They get excited when you return, no matter how long your were gone, they jump up and perform other rituals they know. They aren't doing these greeting riturals to dominate you or take over, but rather to say “hi”, to smell all the great smells from the places you've been and the things you've encountered, and out of sheer joy to be reunited.

Dogs are not four-footed people in fur, they are a different species just trying to survive and function in a foreign world with beings that don’t understand their language, their exercise or social needs or their commitment to being there. They are wonderfully loyal and tolerant of things humans would never live with and do it with grace and style that cannot be matched. Spending time with your dog could be the highlight of your day if you learn to communicate and interpret correctly your dog's communication.

Ask The Trainer - Totally terrified in the car

Question:  I got a call from someone asking about their dog and his terror of riding in a car. They go on a weekly weekend trip and he can't enjoy the wide open spaces of the destination because of his terror.

Answer: Here is the program I gave her.
A) First step - day one

Put Jake on a leash and lead him into the car. Count to 5 and lead him out. Take him for a short walk around the yard and repeat. Repeat this until he is anticipating going in the car or he doesn't want to get out at the end of your count.

up the time in the car to 30 seconds. Do the short walk in between each going in and out of the car. Don't let him control things, you control everything. If he tries to get out, keep him in for a count of 5 and then lead him out. The walk is to calm him. So if he starts stressing, keep him walking until he calms down. Calm is normal rate of breathing, mouth open with tongue gently laying on the bottom front teeth or hanging out and down. Tail floating between hanging straight down and half way up. Eyes soft and liquid. Again, repeat this until he starts anticipating getting in or reluctant to get out.

Up the time to 1 minute

up the time to 5 minutes. This time get him to sit while he's in there if he's not already sitting.

up the time to 10 minutes with him laying down.
Do this until he's comfortable laying down and is reluctant to get up and get out of the car for 10 minutes.
B) Next step is the treats. Hide treats everywhere. If you trust him off leash, then take the leash off and let him find all the treats both in and out of the car. Note what parts of the car he refuses to go near even with a treat there. Do this for a good 1/2 hour or until he is willing to go near at least half the areas he was reluctant about when you started this step.
C) Day two - Repeat step A with the car running in the driveway.

D) Day three - Repeat step B with the car running in the driveway.

E) Day four - Take Jake on a long walk, or otherwise get him really tired before you start today's process.

Put Jake on a lead and then put him in the car and take him around the block. Take him out and do the walk around the yard. Do this step until he lays down all by himself while you are driving.

Go around the block 5 times watching Jake. If he stands up, check his signals. Stop, no matter where around the block you are and let him out and walk him til he calms. Then get back to the house and walk him again. Repeat this until he either stays laying down the whole time or he is not exhibiting any calming or stress signals.

Go around 5 blocks once and repeat until he is willing to lay down for most of the trip

Go around 5 blocks 5 times and repeat until he is willing to lay down for most of the trip

Go for a 15 minute drive and repeat until he is willing to lay down for most of the trip

Go for a 30 minute drive and repeat until he is willing to lay down for most of the trip

Make sure on steps 3 through 6 that he stays calm the entire time. Stop immediately if he starts showing any stress and walk him until he is calm before getting back in the car. If he stresses on any step. Go back a step until he stays totally calm for that step.

He should be good to go at this point. Before you go on any trips from this point, get him really tired before putting him in the car. Start making it a habit to watch his stress level after this and stop the car and take him for a walk at the first sign of stress. By doing this you are letting him know that you are in control of the situation. A long time ago, when I was doing a lot of SCUBA diving and being on boats, I had someone tell me that motion anxiety happens because of the feeling of a lack of control. So now when I first get on a boat, I ask the skipper if I can drive for awhile. It always gets rid of the motion sickness. Obviously we can't do that with a dog. But dogs are happy if they know their human is in control and this is the way to show him that.

Calming herbs, aromas and nutritional supplements:

lavender
B Vitamins
Omega 3's
Bach Rescue Remedy
Ginger

Things to remember with this process.

It's boring and repetitive and whereas we don't like boring repetitive tasks, dogs thrive on them. Ask any ball chasing dog why he keeps bringing back the ball just to chase it again :). So, if you can get the attitude that each time you do this that it's something you've never done before, it will help keep you from getting frustrated. Take breaks for yourself if you start feeling frustrated or bored with the process. Start watching Jake closer, look for every minor detail in his body language, see if you can spot the very first signs of stress. This keeps your mind busy.

In any process like this, whether it takes 4 days or 8 weeks of behavior class, there is always going to be set backs. We call them extinction bursts. Basically what happens is Jake will revert and it will be worse then ever - for a short while. If you stay calm when this happens, and it will happen approximately three times during the four days, he will get over this. After a year of freaking out in the car, it's become a habit he can't break. LIke an addict, on average a dog will say - but I've alway done it THAT way, I don't want to do it THIS way - three times before it completely extinguishes.

Don't talk to him during this whole thing except to say - in (get in the car), out (get out of the car), find it (find the treats), sit or lay down. Do not tell him "it's okay", "everything is fine" - all those things we tell humans when they get upset. No talking and no petting unless he's totally calm. Reinforce calmness - ignore stress. Especially don't say the words you've used with him in the past in trying to calm him.

Ask The Trainier: What should I do? Problem dog

Question: I have a Maltese mix and have had him since he was a very small puppy, he has always been socialized with other animals (dogs, cats, even horses) and people but it never really "took". He is never outright aggressive but he growls whenever the cat or puppy come into his space and otherwise ignores them. He also is very irritable when I am not around and will poo on the carpet even though he is potty trained(he's almost 4 btw). Lately he has also come to be very jealous of my boyfriend, who tries very hard to interact with him and play with him, and just today snapped at him for no reason when my boyfriend was reaching down to pet him. Also, if I am gone and it is just my boyfriend here he will cower whenever he is spoken to and pee on the carpet when my boyfriend tries to let all the dogs outside then won't come back inside when he is asked. I am very worried about how he will take to our new baby that is on the way but have no idea what to do. I don't want to get rid of him because he is so attached to me I don't know how he would do in another household and I know he would get put to sleep at the pound, but I'm also afraid he will bite the baby. He hates little things like puppies and kittens and hates things even more if they take my attention away from him but if he bites the baby I will have no choice but to give him up. What do I do in this situation?

Answer: He sounds like a very frightened dog who has learned that being confrontational chases the scary things away. The biting, the growling, the hiding in corners, peeing and pooping on the floor and the jealousy are all signs of fear, anxiety, uncertainty and a lack of consistency. He can't predict what is going to happen in his world and so lashes out at everything.

Socialization is great in most cases, but if you have a dog that is frightened and try to "socialize" him, all you are really doing is adding to his fear. Growling at the cat or puppy is the Maltese telling them that they are invading what he considers his space, as is the growling at and nipping at your boyfriend.

You say he hates anything that takes your attention away from him. This tells me that he thinks he owns you. You are the only thing in his world that doesn't scare him and he isn't going to let anything change that.

Changing this Maltese will require a lot of desensitization (not socialization since he has no clue how to be sociable at this point), but he can be gently and with regard to his fear threshold, desensitized enough that he can then start being curious about things. At that point he can be taught how to be sociable and what doggie manners are.

You are going to have to let go of him to a large degree or he is never going to learn how to live in a human world. You are his crutch, so you'll need to back off. Your boyfriend will need to start being the center of his universe for awhile which means feeding him, even hand feeding if necessary, taking him for walks and doing gentle massage and TTouch with him when he's ready for it.

He needs to be crate trained so that he has a safe spot to relax in and not feel threatened. You don't have to close the door to the crate, but he needs a den that is all his. Somewhere he can retreat to when the world is just too much to handle.

He needs more exercise and mental stimulation to build his confidence. He needs to be gently taught that he can control things other then you. Play 101 things to do with a box and other confidence building games.

And most importantly, he needs some rules, boundaries and limitations in his world. He needs to be told what he can and can't do, where he can and can't go, how much barking he can do (3 barks is my limit), when and where he eats (no free feeding), his toys need to be rotated so that he understands that they don't actually belong to him. He needs consistent leadership and parenting.

Saturday Blog Hop

Dogs & Cats

Question: I have full grown cats and what can I do to keep Pinto from chasing the cats? He only does it at certain times. Can you give me any suggestions?

Answer: When small animals move fast, a dog is going to chase it. It's a fact of life. You can eventually get the cats use to being chased, but you're never going to totally cure the dog of chasing something that is moving. Eventually, both the cats and the dog will understand that this can be a fun game. One of my daughter's dogs when she was growing up, use to race along the the length of our house while the cats raced along any high surface they could find. I caught them at this game one day when I decided to go in the backdoor instead of the front door. I saw Sammy the dog, "chasing" the cats through the living room window.


Having said that, here is how you can keep the chasing to a minimum.


Behaviors to teach the dog: Teach the dog "leave it" with the ultimate response to you saying "leave it" meaning "walk away". Teach him to "wait" (hold on just a sec and then we'll do it) and to "stay" (don't move until I say "OK").


Control the Environment
You have an opportunity with a new dog to convince him that you are the ultimate authority on everything - including cats. You do this by controlling the dog's environment from the moment you bring him home. First, set up a tie-down - attach a short, unbreakable leash to an immovable object. A wall is best, but an extremely heavy piece of furniture is okay.

Acclimate the dog to this area. Give him treats, bones or chewies there, and make a nice safe spot for him. Once he's happy with his tie-down, bring the cat in when the dog is NOT there (his scent will be). Let the cat explore and examine the area where the dog has been. Provide a perch, out of the dog's reach, where the cat can comfortably watch the dog's area. Give him some treats, catnip or other toy in that area. You may even want to feed him there for a period of days or weeks. It's best if you can acclimate both animals separately for at least a couple of days.

When both cat and dog appear to be comfortable with their spots, tie the dog down, and give her something delicious to chew on. Then, bring the cat in and place him on his perch. It's not usually wise to hold him because he may feel trapped and try to escape, injuring himself and you and exciting the dog in the process. Leave the door open this first time, so the cat can leave if he wishes to. (He probably will.)

An important component of Counter Conditioning is making the association of something pleasant with something unpleasant. Thus, you might withhold attention from both parties until they're in the same room with each other, then give both of them lots of attention. Or, feed them when they can see each other, making sure the cat is very safe and the dog.

When not doing this exercise, keep Pinto on a leash attached to your belt (or get a hands free leash). Say "leave it" whenever Pinto sees one of the cats and then walk away from the cat.

Ask the Trainer - Obscessive, Incessant Licking

Lance came to class as a foster and again with his new owner.  The picture is the day he came as a foster with Deena working with him on focus.

Question: Lance is doing very well he is well behaved walks and runs with me very well. The only thing that he really needs work on is that he likes to lick your face and won't stop once he starts, i even gave him a good swat on the snout the other day and he didn't even flinch he just keeps pushing towards you and want to lick you...it's really annoying haha. so i was hoping to learn some way to get him to stop getting in peoples faces and licking all the time other than that, he is doing terrific. He is also very skiddish i don't know why, i think maybe he was abused as a puppy... 
A week later: Lance did pretty well at the class, he get's easily distracted with other dogs around but i think a little more focus training will do him well. I took him hiking after the class and against my better judgement i let him off the leash and i'm happy to say he did great he stayed close by and was very well mannered. I think it gave him a good sense of freedom but he still responded to me when i called and would come right back. I took him for another run today but he didn't seem so inclined, i pretty much had to drag him the whole way, but hopefully with a little more work he'll come to enjoy a daily run like i do.

Answer: It sounds to me like Lance may have been frightened by something when you started the run the other day. When you come on Saturday, remind either me or Deena to show you "look at that" and "reorienting" which will solve this problem.
Dogs generally have 5 things they can do under stress - Fight, Flight, Freeze, Faint and Fool Around. What you've seen with the licking is "fool around". That much licking and fawning is a sign of stress. Signe was right when she said he is saying "you're my master" over and over so you don't forget it :). It's the "fooling around" method of handling stress. My cat does this when I get to her tail during her nightly brushing. She doesn't like her tail messed with and starts to stress out. Her solution - grab the brush and start playing with it to keep it from her tail.
Not wanting to run was Faint. Freeze is different then Faint. Freeze you can unstick with some gentle tugging, Faint means the dog is shutting down in the face of too much fear/stress. First the Freeze (stop and check it out) then the Faint (shutdown) totally skipping the Flight (run away) because the stress is too much. The best way to handle Faint is to teach him who will handle any perceived danger - YOU. Which means you get him to focus on you instead of the environment when you walk out your front door (reorienting) and if you do see anything that might spook Lance, tell him to "look" at it.

Ask the Trainer: Food Fight

Question:: I took home three 4mo old pups who seem very sweet, lab/hound mixes I would say. I put them in a crate to eat out of one big bowl and they got into a fight. Should I try and make them eat out of one bowl or avoid conflict by feeding them separately or how does one go about getting them over being food aggressive? They are skinny too.

Answer: I would just put them in a room with three bowls. Four months is considered adult by the adult pack members. They have their first rush of sex hormones around 17 weeks, so fights will start happening as they manuever themselves into position in the pack and figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are. Putting them all in the crate together made them fight for space, not food. If you put them in a room instead, they will play musical bowls and not fight. Most fights are actually over space, rank/status and manners (bad ones).

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