Country Canine Blog

Enrichment Food Toys for Bored and Destructive Dogs

2011-10-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

Animals in nature spend hunt and forage for food. Although pet dogs these days have great lives - they get to live inside the house with their humans, go to dog parks, and get premium vet care - they don't get to use their hunting and problem solving skills as much as they should. Many pet dogs spend long hours at home alone with nothing to do, while their owner is at work or out with friends

In order to keep dogs from getting too bored or destructive (e.g. chewing inappropriate items or digging holes in the yard), I recommend enrichment food toys. Of course, you'll want to give your dog enough exercise and social interaction too, but the food toys will help keep your dog happy and out of trouble.

There's really no good reason that a dog needs to eat his meals out of a food bowl, so you can feed all his meals in food toys if you want.

KONG FOOD TOYS

Website: http://www.kongcompany.com/

Available at most major pet stores or online

The Classic Kong (shown left)

This is the most basic model of Kong. It looks like a beehive but it's a thick rubber toy that is hollow in the middle, allowing you to stuff it with food. I recommend mixing dry kibble with a few spoonfuls of canned food (or something else that's wet, like peanut butter) so that the food doesn't come out too easily.

For high drive dogs, you can even freeze the whole thing so that it will take them longer to get the food out.

(left) This is an inside view of a Kong stuffed with food.

Wobbler

"The Wobbler is a KONG-shaped food dispensing toy and feeder that sits upright until pushed witha dog's paw or nose, then dispenses treats as it wobbles, spins and rolls. The unpredictable movement keeps the toy challenging, even for seasoned Wobbler users. Use the Wobbler as an alternative to a dog bowl, and help to extend meal time and exercise your dog."

Kong Dental

"The KONG Dental has special grooves that clean teeth and gums as dogs chew. KONG Easy Treat can be used inside the grooves to get your dog chewing."

Like the Kong Classic, it is hollow inside so that you can stuff it with food.

NINA OTTOSON DOG ACTIVITY TOYS

Website: http://www.nina-ottosson.com/Dog-2.php

Available through Amazon.com or Nina's website

Nina Ottoson has a large selection of dog food toys that vary in difficulty level. If the Kong is too easy for your smart dog, then you might consider these toys. The purple toy on the right is called a DogTwister - the dog has to move the little pieces around in order to access the food. The blue one is called a DogTornado - the dog has to spin the compartments around and remove the little white lids to get to the food.

You can see the DogTwister on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG4xWycW3GQ&feature=youtu.be

PREMIER'S BUSY BUDDY SERIES

Website: http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/toys/busybuddy

Available through Amazon.com, Hawaiian Humane Society, Petco and other Oahu pet stores

Kibble Nibble (similar to Kong's Wobbler) - this toy is egg-shaped and dispenses kibble or treats through a small hole as the dog rolls it around.

Twist N Treat

The Twist N Treat is a fun toy in which you can put various size treats. You can adjust the difficulty level of the toy by twisting the top and modifying the size of the opening on the side.

AIKIOU DOG FEEDER

Website: http://www.aikiou.com/

Food is hidden inside this feeder’s many compartments, which your dog can access by sliding the doors open or spinng the central wheel. Allowing your dog to exercise his or her problem solving instincts with the Aikiou bowl fun and rewarding for you and your pet while keeping him fit by reducing his speed of ingestion.

Watch the YouTube video below to see some dogs eating out of an Aikiou:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaSvx1264qM

RAW BEEF BONES

Available at Tamura's grocery store (and possibly other grocery stores)

A raw beef bone or hoof is another good option for keeping your dog occupied. Raw bones are good for the dogs' teeth, and are safer than cooked or smoked bones because they don't crack. Tamura's Market sells frozen beef bones in bags of 5-6 for only a few dollars. As gross as it might seem to a human, I have yet to meet a dog that doesn't love raw beef bones!

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For ideas on what kinds of treats to put in these food toys, see my last blog "Training Treats - A Biscuit Ain't Gonna Cut It".

Training Treats - A Biscuit Ain't Gonna Cut It

2011-09-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

In dog training classes, I'm often asked what kind of treats I use. I've listed a few of my favorites below. When training dogs (especially rambunctious adolescent dogs that would rather do anything but pay attention to its owners) it's important to use food/treats that are rewarding to the dog, and will motivate them to do what you ask of them. I never use dry biscuits for training! I try to pick smelly treats that are made with good ingredients. Usually this ends up being something with meat or fish as the number one ingredient.

I also like to mix up the treats so the dogs never know what to expect. All they know is that I'm the giver of yummy treats, and I will pay them for working for me!

Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls

This is a big roll of dog food that comes in beef, turkey and lamb flavor. I usually cut these rolls into little treat size cubes and store them in the refrigerator in a Ziploc bag. These rolls have the texture of Spam, so it will stay solid even if you cut it up. When it's time for a training session or a walk, I grab a handful of the treat cubes from the fridge. The dogs LOVE these because it smells like real meat (because it is)! They're also moist and easy for the dogs to swallow.

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/DFRolls.html

Available at Crazy Canine (Aiea), Petco and most major pet stores.

Wildside Salmon Training Treats for Dogs

These are bite-sized freeze-dried bits of salmon that dogs love. These treats have a strong salmon smell so they are quite motivating for dogs.

http://www.wildsidesalmon.com/retailcatalog.html

Available at Crazy Canine (Aiea)

Real Meat Treat Jerky series

These soft jerky treats are made from real meat and come in various flavors including chicken & venison, lamb, fish & venison, beef and more. The treats are really easy to tear up, so you can use little pieces for training to get the most bang out of your buck.

http://www.realmeatpet.com/realmeattreats.htm

Available at Crazy Canine (Aiea)

Crazy Canine Chicken Jerky

Dogs love these chicken treats. Made in Hawaii, these treats are made with 100% chicken breast meat. Sliced thin and dried for 10 hours for a delicious crunchy snack. No preservatives, salt, nor sugar, just chicken. Because the chicken is dried, I tend to use this treat during training rather than dog walks. During walks the dogs are running around and panting, so if they eat a dry treat like this, sometimes they swallow too fast and start coughing.

Available at Crazy Canine in Aiea

Pet Botanics Omega Salmon Treats

Dogs love Cardinal Laboratories’ unique 5-layer Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats, especially this salmon flavor. It is stinky and easy to cut into smaller pieces. They contain no wheat, soybean, glutens, grains, or artificial flavor. They offer Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids and antioxidants that make your dog’s coat shine. Ingredients include salmon sweet potato, and cod.

Available online

Lamb and Rice Jerky by Sunshine Mills

This comes in a clear container with a red lid and is available for a low price at Costco. The jerky comes in a strip about 6 or 7 inches long, and is easy to tear into little pieces. It's not a super-high-value treat for training purposes, but it can still be used for low-difficulty-level training.

Available at Costco

Raw Beef Bones/Hooves

Raw beef bones are not good for training, but they are a good substitute for a chew toy if you have a high-energy adolescent dog that would do some destructive digging or chewing if you leave them home alone. Raw bones are good for the dogs' teeth, and are safer than cooked or smoked bones because they can't crack. Tamura's market (and probably most supermarkets) sell frozen beef bones in bags of 5-6 for only a few dollars.

Available at Tamura's Market freezer section

Come When Called...Or Not?

2011-08-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Does your dog come when called? For most of us, the answer is, "It depends." It depends on whether there's another dog around, whether you're at home or on the beach, whether your dog feels like it, and so on. Most dog owners don't have this problem when their dog is still in puppyhood. But come adolescence, the dogs develop more independence (just like teenage kids) and they'd rather do their own thing than hang out with Mom and Dad.

Well then, you say, how do you get your dog to come when there are distractions? It's all about mentally conditioning your dog to think that coming to you is a good thing. Below are 12 guidelines to help you teach your dog to come amidst distractions...

1. MAKE IT WORTHWHILE FOR YOUR DOG

Make it worthwhile for your dog to come to you. You have to look at it from your dog's point of view. For instance, let's say your dog is playing with his friends and you ask him to come to you. He complies, and all he gets is a lousy pet on the head (which he could care less about!), and then you put him on leash and take him away from his friends. Was it worth it for your dog? Probably not :-)

Praise is good, but it usually doesn't work as an only reward. If your boss at work praised you profusely for doing a good job, it might make you feel good, but if you didn't also get paid, then you'd probably end up quitting your job. We all work for something. Think about what your dog will work for.

A lot of clients tell me, "My dog loves attention, so praise and petting should be enough of a reward for him." I see their point - typically a dog loves attention when he has nothing better to do - but if he is distracted, then he could care less about your attention!

2. USE HIGH-VALUE TREATS OR REWARDS

For some dogs that are not food-motivated, a tug toy or tennis ball might serve as a good reward. For most dogs however, food is the number one thing they will work for. If you're going to use food rewards, use high-value treats. Coming when called is one of the most important things a dog can learn - it could even save his life. So pay for his compliance with something good like real chicken, freeze-dried salmon or something equally valuable to the dog. Dry biscuits are not as effective because they are not stinky and wet. In summary, the reward should be equal in value or more valuable than whatever your dog is leaving in order to come to you.

For instance, if your dog is doing nothing and he comes to you, you don't need to give him a steak. But if your adolescent dog (who LOVES other dogs) is playing with his friends and he comes to you when called, then he probably deserves a piece of meat, or even a few pieces!

Mix up the rewards too. Don't always use the same treat. Keep your dog guessing.

3. NO BRIBING

There's a big difference between rewarding and bribing. Don't bribe your dog (e.g. with food), or he'll always depend on seeing the bribe. It's okay to bribe the first few times when working with a particular distraction, in order to show your dog that it pays to go away from that distraction and come to you. But after the first few times, give your dog a chance to voluntarily come and THEN get rewarded.

4. ASSESS DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF EACH DISTRACTION

Recognize that each distraction is at a different difficulty level. You have to train (condition) your dog at each level. It would help to make a list of your dog's distraction and rate the difficulty level. For instance:

~ Geckos - MILDLY DIFFICULT

~ Smells - grass, trees, other dogs' pee - MODERATELY DIFFICULT

~ Other dogs - VERY DIFFICULT

~ Food in the bushes - VERY DIFFICULT
~ Cats - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE

Keep in mind also that the DISTANCE from which you call your dog can add to the difficulty level. Your dog might easily leave a faint smell on the grass and come to you from 5 feet away, but not if you are 20 feet away.

If your dog hasn't learned to come to you at a certain difficulty level yet, then don't ask him to Come. Either don't put yourselves in that situation or manage the situation (i.e. use a long leash or Flexi-leash).

5. SET YOUR DOG UP FOR SUCCESS

While your dog is still learning to come to you and away from distractions, meet him halfway if you have to. For instance, walk halfway to your dog and then ask him to Come. Don't use Come when the situation or distraction is beyond your dog's level of training. It will only teach your dog to ignore you. Instead, if you happen to be in an off-leash situation in a location where the distractions are very high, you might try rewarding your dog for "checking in" with you voluntarily, rather than explicitly asking for a Come.

If your dog is playing with other dogs, learn to recognize the quick natural pauses in the play, and use those moments to call your dog, rather than saying Come when they're in the middle of wrestling on the ground.

6. SEND YOUR DOG BACK TO PLAY 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES

Nine out of ten times that you ask for a Come, send your dog back to play (or whatever he was doing before you called him) right after he comes to you and gets his reward. This way, your dog will learn that when he comes to you, he gets a yummy treat PLUS he gets to go back and play. If you only use Come for things that your dog doesn't enjoy, such as taking a bath or clipping his nails or leaving the dog park, then your dog will think of Come as a bad thing.

7. COMMUNICATE CLEARLY

Be clear in your communication. I recommend saying your dog's name first, and then the cue Come. For instance, "Fido, (dog looks), Come!" rather than "Come here puppy" one day and then "Over Here" another day. Say the name clearly first, wait for a head turn or acknowledgment, and then immediately say Come (or use a hand signal) with enthusiasm.

Remember that it's windy in Hawaii, and there are times when your dog may not hear you because you are downwind from him

8. USE PRAISE AND BODY LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY

In order to encourage your dog to come to you, praise your dog enthusiastically once he starts walking or running towards you. I often see dogs that start coming to the owner, but get distracted halfway and walk away. Praising your dog with enthusiasm as he's coming to you will keep your dog focused on you. You might also find that standing sideways (i.e not facing your dog directly), or slowly walking in the other direction (i.e. away from your dog) as you call him will also encourage your dog to come to you. Facing your dog or walking towards him as you say Come may appear as a chase and trigger his "running away" instinct.

Another thing I see often is a dog coming to the owner but then ducking from the owner's hands, or not coming all the way (i.e. dog returns but stays 3 feet away), or coming all the way and then immediately taking off. Often it's because the owner inadvertently had been doing one of a few things such as:

~ Hovering over the dog when the dog came

~ Petting the dog on top of the head or all over his face (most dogs don't like that)

~ Grabbing the dog's collar in an invasive way

To avoid this reaction from your dog, you can stand straight and have your dog target your hand (which is holding the reward treat). If you have to leash your dog, then gently and inconspicuously grab her collar while she's eating the treat, not afterwards.

9. GIVE YOUR DOG ENOUGH EXERCISE, DOG PLAY AND OFF-LEASH TIME

Make sure that your dog regularly gets enough exercise, socialization with other dogs and/or off-leash time to get his ya-ya's out. Otherwise, he may run off every time you take his leash off, because that's the only way he can fulfill his own needs.

For an energetic or young dog, a 30-minute leashed walk in your neighborhood is not going to cut it, even if it's twice a day. They need to run or play with other dogs or play fetch or go hiking!

10. SAY IT ONCE

Get in the habit of only saying Come once. Otherwise the cue becomes "Come, come, come" and your dog will learn that he doesn't have to come the first time you say it. But what if your dog doesn't come the first time you say it? Read on...

11. COME MEANS COME, NO MATTER WHAT

Don't allow your dog to blow you off. If you follow the rules above, including not asking for more than your dog is capable of, then your dog shouldn't blow you off. But life happens, and you will find yourself in situations when your dog blows you off, assuming he heard you say Come. In these situations, go get your dog! Don't scold or punish your dog, just go get your dog. The consequence for Come has to be that your dog comes back to you, whether he does so voluntarily or you have to go get him. Consistency is important, or else your dog can learn that he can get away with blowing you off!

12. REWARD SCHEDULES

When your dog is is initially learning Come, or if he is learning for the first time to Come away from a particular type of distraction (such as another dog), you should reward every single time he complies to your Come.

Once your dog becomes reliable at coming away from a particular distraction, then you can switch to rewarding him on a random basis. For instance you might reward him once out of 2-4 times or just for the quickest response out of 3 responses. It's scientifically proven that a random reward schedule will make a behavior stronger. You can see it in gamblers - they'd get bored if they won every single time, and they'd lose interest if they NEVER won, but because they only win sometimes, they are driven to keep gambling.

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I hope these guidelines help you train your dog's recall. As with the rest of the advice on my blog, they are just guidelines, and I recommend supplementing them with a group class or private lessons with an in-person trainer. There also some great videos out there including Dr. Patricia McConnell's "Lassie Come!" video:

http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/lassie-come-dvd-dog-recall-training

Happy Training!

Poultry in Motion: Chicken Training with Terry Ryan

2011-02-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of hosting legendary dog trainer Terry Ryan in Hawaii. Terry has been a dog trainer for almost four decades and is the author of many books including Toolbox for Building a Great Family Dog and Coaching People To Train Their Dogs, a book that dog trainers study to prepare for their certification. Besides being an accomplished dog trainer, Terry is famous for her chicken camps.

Why would anyone want to train a chicken, you ask? Well, for one thing, chickens are incredibly fast. So your timing and coordination skills are quickly improved. Also, chickens will freeze or fly away if they don't like the way you are training them. Unlike dogs, you will know immediately if you are taking advantage of a chicken or pushing too hard too fast. Chickens don't give their trainers second chances as often as dogs do. (Excerpt from Legacy Canine website)

In Terry's chicken workshops, we used the clicker as a training tool. A clicker is a little box that, when pressed, makes a distinctive clicking noise that is quite audible to the animal. It serves as a marker for the correct behavior, which is followed by a reward such as food. The animal, in this case a chicken, learns to associate the sound of the clicker with a reward. If a verbal marker or clicker is not used, the chicken would not know what behavior is being rewarded. The laws of learning dictate that any regularly rewarded behavior will increase in frequency.

Above: Clicker cup with cracked corn, a high-value reward for a hungry chicken!

SHAPING BEHAVIOR
In part 1 of Terry's Poultry in Motion workshop, we practiced the shaping of behavior. Shaping means that you "gradually teach new behavior through the use of reinforcement until the target behavior is achieved (Wolfgang 272)." In our case, the target behavior was the chicken pecking a red poker chip on the table. We started by clicking and treating any approach or look towards the chip, until we were eventually able to get the chickens to peck the actual chips.

Above: Terry clicks and rewards the chicken for looking at the red chip.

Shaping is a common way to train behaviors in dogs, whether it's a pet dog, service dog or search and rescue dog. An example is the "Go To Your Bed" behavior. At first, you might reward the dog for placing one paw on his bed. Then you would wait for a little more from the dog, such as 2 paws on the bed, then all 4 paws, and eventually the entire dog on the bed in a Down position.

RATE OF REINFORCEMENT
When shaping, an animal isn't "told" what to do. Rather, the animal tries different behaviors, which may or may not be "correct." As a trainer, you have to walk the fine line between keeping the animal curious and guessing, while not frustrating the animal too much. That's why it's important to keep the rate of reinforcement high enough (in other words, to reward the animal enough).

With dogs, the worst that can happen if they don't get rewarded enough is that they get bored and lose interest in the training. Chickens on the other hand, will get scared and fly off the training table! Working with chickens was a good reminder to keep training sessions short and to keep the them motivated.

On the other hand, we also learned that too much reinforcement can have a downside too.

THE 80/20 RULE
While shaping the chickens we witnessed what is commonly called the 80/20 Rule. Once a chicken or dog is successful at doing something 80% of the time, it's time to raise the criteria, or make things a little harder. Otherwise, the animal might get stuck at the previous step. We saw this happen when a chicken got repeatedly rewarded for just looking at the poker chip. To put it anthropomorphically, the chicken was saying, "Why should I peck the chip if I'm getting yummy corn for just looking at the chip?" In the "Go To The Bed" example, a dog might get stuck at putting only one paw on the bed because the trainer never raised the criteria before rewarding the dog.

COLOR DISCRIMINATION
We also taught the chickens to discriminate between the different colored poker chips. Our goal was to have our chicken peck the red chip only, even if there were green (and later yellow) chips around. We first reinforced the chickens heavily for pecking at the red chip. We then slowly introduced a green chip by placing it at the edge of the table, and eventually in the center of the table near the red chip, thus setting the chicken up for success. We were instructed by Terry to make it easy for the chicken at first, so she would do the "right" behavior, rather than making it too hard from the start and and having to "correct" the wrong behavior (something we often do with our pet dogs).

EXTINCTION BURST
A few times we inadvertently made things too difficult for the chicken. We placed the green chip too close to her so that she didn't know whether to peck the red or green chip. Whenever the chicken did the "wrong" thing, Terry instructed us to remove the possibility of reinforcement (in this case, we picked up the red chip). What happened next was very interesting. The chicken started to peck the green chip (wrong one) really hard and fast, until she eventually gave up and stopped. This is called an extinction burst, and is the temporary increase of a behavior followed by the eventual extinction of that behavior.

In a dog, you might witness it with demand barking. Let's say your dog has a habit of barking at you so that you'll give him a treat. Maybe one day you decide that enough is enough and you are no longer going to give in to your dog's barking demands. Your dog may bark harder than ever as a last ditch effort ("She used to give me treats when I barked...what's going on? Maybe she doesn't hear me! Bark! Bark!") During that time, you may be tempted to give him a treat to quiet him down. Just know that the demand barking will extinguish itself if you don't reinforce it!

SUMMARY
I recommend Terry Ryan's chicken workshops to anyone who is remotely interested in training animals, whether you're a dog trainer or a pet dog owner. Dog trainers will gain the experience of training a new species and witnessing familiar training concepts up close. Dog owners will learn these new concepts in a unique training environment, and will be able to apply them to their own dogs at home.

I will write another blog soon about Part 2 of the chicken workshop, where we learned about chained behaviors using chicken agility!

For more information about Terry's chicken camps, please visit:
http://www.legacycanine.com/workshops/chicken-camps.html

All photos were taken by my "poultographer" husband Tor Johnson. Visit his website at:
http://www.tjhawaii.com

How I Inadvertently Conditioned My Husband's Negative Emotional Response

2010-11-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

The story of Ivan Pavlov and the salivating dogs is legendary, and a great example of classical conditioning. While studying digestion in dogs, Pavlov noticed an interesting occurrence – his canine subjects would begin to salivate whenever an assistant entered the room. Why? Because the dogs had come to associate the assistants with the presentation of food. This is called a learned or conditioned response, whereas an unconditioned response or reflex would be a dog salivating to the actual presentation of food.

Classical conditioning is widely used in the realm of dog training and behavior modification. For instance, if your dog has a fear of elevators, you might pair the elevator rides with your dog's favorite treats or toy. Your dog would eventually begin to look forward to riding the elevator because Elevator Ride = Favorite Treat!

The use of clickers and verbal markers is another good example of classical conditioning. The sound of the clicker doesn't inherently have any value to your dog, but if you regularly pair it with a follow-up treat, then your dog will learn that the sound of the clicker = reward, and therefore this would lead to reinforcement and increase of the behavior you're clicking.

Using classical conditioning can be a great way to train dogs if you use it deliberately. Towards the beginning of my dog training apprenticeship, my mentor Marie Selarque gave me the assignment of conditioning an emotional response in my dog using a neutral object (i.e. something that didn't already have a good or bad association for my dog). I chose a baseball cap. Several times a day for about a week, I paired the sight of my baseball cap with everything that Luka loved, such as chicken treats and walks. By the end of the week, Luka was wagging his tail and perking up his ears whenever I presented the baseball cap to him! This was a fun exercise that showed me the power of classical conditioning - something that affects the learning process in all animals, including humans.

Since then I've learned that we can also inadvertently condition a negative emotional response. I'll tell you something funny that happened to me recently (well, it's funny in retrospect).

Target Training With Luka

Over the last few weeks, I've been training my dog Luka to target (or touch) things with his nose. I started by having him touch the palm of my hand, and then the end of a chopstick. Currently he's learning to touch the kitchen cabinet door so that he can eventually close the door with his nose.

My dog Luka is almost 9 years old and is not the sharpest tool in the shed, so to speak. In order to teach this "trick" it was essential for me to give him feedback when he did the correct thing. Although I could have used a clicker to mark those moments, I decided to use the verbal reward marker of Good! because my hands were busy handling the cabinet door and feeding treats.

Twice a day for the last week, I have been working on this training with Luka. A typical session went something like, (Touch) Good! (Pause) (Touch) Good! (Touch) Good! (Pause) (Touch) Good! (Pause) (Touch) Good! (Big Push) Very Good!!!

A few days ago, I had just finished a session with Luka, only to find that my husband was in a very cranky mood. I couldn't think of anything I had done to upset him, and when I asked him what was wrong, he wasn't really sure. So I decided to leave him alone in order to avoid his wrath.

Several minutes later, he came to me apologetically and said, "I realized why I was so upset. The other day when you were training Luka, I was on the phone with a client, and I could hear you saying Good! Good! Good! in the background, and I was really annoyed because I had a hard time concentrating on the phone call. So when I heard you training Luka today, I guess it evoked that same feeling of annoyance in me!"

Now, if that isn't a brilliant example of classical conditioning, I don't know what is! Soon after this incident, I switched from using the Good! verbal marker to using a clicker. I thought it would be easier than changing my husband's conditioned negative emotional response to a positive one. In puppy classes, we sometimes encounter dogs that run away when the owner says "Come!" because the owner has inadvertently taught the dog that Come = End of Play, Time for Bath, and other unpleasant things. In these cases, we might suggest that the owner use a whole new word, like Here instead of trying to re-condition the word Come.

I encourage you to use classical conditioning to your advantage and to your puppy's advantage. It can play a key part in socializing your young puppy to everything in her environment, including riding cars, taking baths, clipping nails, walking past barking dogs, etc. If you're a training geek like me, you might also enjoy analyzing your own emotional reactions to various people, objects and locations in your life. You may be surprised what you discover.

Stress and How It Affects A Dog's Bite Threshold

2010-11-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

This blog entry was written by my mentor Marie Selarque of Pro-Dog Hawaii. She talks about stress in dogs, and how it can affect their bite threshold. It's something every dog owner should understand, even if their dog is not aggressive. It can help keep everyone safe and your dog happy!

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In my puppy class I take great care to tell people about bite inhibition. I show them how to teach the dog that when she bites, she should inhibit the strength with which she bites rather than [inhibiting] the action of biting. It is very important that dogs know that we have much more sensitive skin than they do, and that engaging in play is much more effective if they bring us a toy rather than nip at our toes.

   In puppy class we also do a lot of handling, introductions to strangers, kids (when we have some), noises, etc. It is called socialization. This is also a very important step in the development of the puppy. By doing so we offer a buffer of "good experiences" to counteract what may come later that is not so pleasant. Hopefully the puppy, having experienced a minor conflict with tons of great encounters in class, will be better equipped to deflect, avoid or recover from a more serious aggression.

   But will it prevent bites? To a certain degree, yes. But it does only because we have reduced the possible stress that the dog would feel. Stress in dogs, as in humans, will pile up, resulting in an explosion. It can be road rage or bad temper for us and a snap or bite for them.

   Let's take Rover for example. He is an Aussie mix and has has great owners. They have taken him to classes, play groups, hikes, etc. They have been very conscientious about exposing their puppy to everybody and everything. Yet Rover is funny about his personal space; he does not like people approaching too fast and hovering above him. He is also sound sensitive. And to top it off he is in love with his duck toy.

   Rover will feel cautious about overly enthusiastic people wanting to pet him, but he will offer head turns and lip licking as calming signals and all will be fine. Similarly, if a stranger approaches calmly but wants to engage in tug of war with him and goes to grab his favorite toy, Rover will simply grab the toy and walk away.

   You get the picture. Rover is really a good dog. Now put all of it together. The family takes Rover to the soccer game. The field is near a big street with lots of traffic noise with buses whizzing by. There are a lot of kids running around, with high pitch voices, whistles, cheering. For most of the game Rover has been chewing on his Duck toy, lying down between mom and dad.

   Arrives the end of the game, and 3 happy kids spot Rover and come running. They crowd him (break rule of personal space), they speak loudly (break rule of quietness) and they grab the Duck (break rule of possession). Rover snaps and bites one of the kids' finger.

   Is Rover at fault? No. His owner, then? No, Rover never exhibited aggression [before]. The kids? No, they were being kids. So what happened? The stressors stacked up, making it impossible for Rover to deal with the situation other than by biting and telling everyone loudly, "Back off please!!!!!!"
He had no other way to express himself.

   This bite may seem totally unprovoked, but from the dog's perspective it was provoked, and he tried to tell people but was not heard.

   Now let's look at the possible consequences. He is scolded by his owners. Rover will fear children, soccer fields, soccer balls maybe, and will have less tolerance, starting a downward spiral toward true aggression. Or he is pushed aside to [so the owners can] attend to the bitten child. He is left alone; his action worked. He is rewarded by having peace and quiet and space. His snapping may increase.

   Also he will feel the fear that his owners now have and he will get even more worried about kids, crowd, fields, etc.

   So what is there to do? First calm everybody. Chances are Rover who has a "soft mouth" (due to the good work done in puppy classes) just bruised the finger so it is not a life/death situation. Give everyone some space and look at the situation. Teach the children how to behave near dogs, all dogs. Take control of the situation and protect your dog by preventing kids from approaching too fast, being too loud, grabbing things from the dog. Perhaps allow the kids to give Rover some treats, making everybody feel more relaxed. The final outcome of this interaction has been positive. Everyone learned and not too much damage has been done.

   Now imagine Fido, just adopted from the shelter. Stressed beyond her limits, not well socialized, put in a situation where she cannot cope, and you have a tragedy.

   In our life we are stressed and often we have little mishaps. Now let's look at Arnold for our human example. He has problems at work, he woke up late, forgot important documents, etc. It piles up but he can still cope. Then comes the phone call telling him something happened to his kid at school. He explodes and he gets in a car accident. A shouting match follows and now he shoves the person in front of him. This person looses balance, falls and gets hit by a passing car. Tragedy.

   It is so important to know the triggers that will create stress in your dog (as well as in us) and not put him/her in those situations. The dog cannot help his emotional responses any more than we can when faced with something that scares us or hurts us. Training, such as desensitization and counter-conditioning work very well and can increase tolerance but will not take nature away. What you can avoid though, is increasing the undesirable behaviors of lunging, barking, biting by punishing the dog, or inadvertently reinforcing them.

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For more information about desensitization and counter-conditioning please contact Marie. You can also subscribe to her newsletter at www.prodoghawaii.com.

Mark My Words - using verbal markers to communicate to your dog

2010-08-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

When training a dog, one of the most important things to do is to give your dog feedback about his behavior. Timing of the feedback is very important - the reward or punishment must come within a few seconds of the dog's behavior, otherwise the dog will not understand why he is being rewarded or punished. The problem with this is that there will inevitably be more than a few second delay in giving your dog a reward or punishment.

The idea behind using a verbal marker is to mark the exact moment that the dog is doing something right or wrong, and then follow it up with a consequence, such as a treat or a time-out. The verbal marker acts as a bridge between the behavior and the corresponding consequence. You may have heard of a training tool called a clicker. It's a little plastic box that makes a clicking noise when you press on it. It serves the same purpose as a verbal reward marker.

REWARD MARKER

A verbal reward marker can be a word such as "Yes!" or "Good!" so long as you use the same word in the same tone consistently. The verbal marker would be followed by a "positive" consequence such as a treat, freedom, or access to another dog.

Example 1: Let's say you want to teach your dog to pay attention to you more (and look at you). Rather than calling your dog's name numerous times, you can simply wait until he happens to look at you. When both of your eyes meet, immediately say "Yes!" and then give your dog a treat.

Example 2: Let's say your dog is on leash and is dying to go say hello to a dog that is 10 feet away. Your dog is pulling like mad towards him. Wait for your dog to stop pulling on the leash, and immediately mark it with a "Yes!" The consequence can be that you unleash your dog and let him go and greet the other dog.

A consistently used verbal reward marker will become a predictor of good consequences, therefore reinforcing the behavior.

NON-REWARD (or PUNISHMENT) MARKER

A non-reward marker is the opposite of a reward marker. It tells the dog when he is doing something undesirable. The verbal marker can be something like "Oops!" or "Uh uh!" Just remember that it is feedback, not a punishment in itself. The verbal marker would be followed by a "negative" consequence such as a time-out or the withdrawal of your attention. (I don't recommend giving a physical punishment such as a leash jerk.)

Example 1: Let's say your dog jumps on you all the time. As soon as his front paws leave the ground, say "Uh uh!" and then walk away or turn your back on your dog.

As the dog starts to make the association between the non-reward marker and the follow-up consequence, he may start to self-correct himself before you give him the consequence. If that happens, remember to praise your dog for making the right choice.

SUMMARY
Dogs are a lot smarter than many dog owners give them credit for. We have to remember that dogs don't speak English, and that we have to communicate in a clear way in order for them to understand what we want them to do (or not). Verbal markers are one way to do that.

Jump! For Your Love

2010-07-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

"My puppy jumps on me and everyone she meets!" This is probably the number one puppy problem that people call me about. I sympathize with dog owners who have paw prints all over their clothes, especially with red dirt and rain being so prevalent in Hawaii!

WHY DO THEY JUMP?

While it's true that some dogs will jump as a status-seeking gesture, most dogs and puppies jump on people simply out of excitement, e.g. upon reuniting after a period of separation, and because they don't understand that it's not acceptable to us humans. It's common for puppies to jump up on adult dogs and lick their muzzles as a submissive gesture. Biologically, puppy-licking is a request by a very young puppy that encourages the adult dog to regurgitate food for the puppy to eat. (Canine Body Language p.97 by Brenda Aloff) We humans are so much taller than the pups are, and my feeling is that the pups jump up to get closer to our faces.

TIPS TO STOP JUMPING

* Don't reinforce the jumping behavior by giving your dog attention when he jumps. Attention includes physical touch, eye contact and verbal communication. Give your dog attention if he doesn't jump on you, or once he gets back on all four paws. We often inadvertently reinforce our puppy's jumping by petting them when they jump up, but this only gives mixed messages to the puppy.

* If it's not enough to simply withdraw your attention from your pup, then give him an added consequence. Immediately mark the wrong behavior with a word like "Uh Uh!" or "Oops!" and turn away or walk away from your pup. Praise or reward your pup with attention once he stops jumping.

* Teach your dog an incompatible behavior such as a Sit every time she greets somebody. It's physically impossible to Sit and Jump at the same time.

* Identify your puppy's triggers for jumping and set your puppy up for success. For example, if eye contact sets your puppy off into a jumping frenzy, don't look at him when he's excited. Or if holding treats in your hand makes him jump, then leave the treats on the table and throw them onto the ground instead of feeding from your hand.

* Make your departures and returns as uneventful as possible. Walk in quietly, don't speak in a high-pitched excited tone, etc.

* If you're coming through a door or gate, wait until your puppy has stopped jumping and then go through. If puppy starts to get over-excited and jump again as soon as you crack open the door, close the door again and start over. This technique is called the Evil Door, and it shows your dog what the consequences of jumping are (door closes, dog doesn't get to see you) without using harsh punishments or making you the bad guy.

* Mark and reward the right behavior (e.g. "Good girl!" followed by a treat) - a Sit, for example, or four paws on the ground. Dogs don't do well if they are only told what NOT to do. Instead, we should also teach them what TO DO and reward that behavior. Behaviors that are rewarded will happen more often.

* Make sure your dog doesn't chain the behaviors: jump, get down, get rewarded.

* Ask everybody that meets your dog to follow the same rules. This means that you may have to explain these techniques to house guests prior to their visits.

* If your dog has a long history of jumping and does not respond to the above techniques, or if you have 2 puppies who jump on you from all sides, you may have to use food. Have a couple of yummy treats in your hands at the dogs' nose level, and release them as you walk past the dogs. If you do this consistently, the dogs will get in the habit of staying on the ground instead of jumping on you.

* You can also keep your dog on a leash when house guests arrive, so that you have control over your puppy. Teach your dog to sit calmly next to you and give you eye contact before you give her permission to greet your guest. Once you release your dog, the leash should be loose. If your dog then proceeds to jump on the guest, say "Uh Uh!" and walk the other way with your dog. Try again. You can use this technique in conjunction with the previous food technique if you need. Have your guest offer a treat at your dog's nose level, or you can feed your dog while your guest approaches and pets your dog.

WHAT NOT TO DO

* Kneeing your dog in the chest - This (and other forms of physical correction) may work for some dogs, but I do not recommend it. Not only is it unpleasant for both human and dog, but it could cause injury, or may encourage your puppy to try harder. Scientific studies show that dogs (and humans) get accustomed to physical punishments and will start tuning them out unless the punishment gets harsher and harsher. Who in their right mind wants to be harsh towards their puppy?

* Scolding or telling your dog to stop - Again, this may work on some sensitive dogs who can sense your displeasure. But with many exuberant puppies, being scolded is not enough of a consequence for them to stop jumping. Also, any kind of attention (even negative attention like yelling) can be rewarding to a puppy who is craving attention.

SUMMARY

It is a lot more effective to show your puppy:

* The consequences of jumping (he loses your attention)
* What to do instead - reward him for four paws on the ground
* Consistency - insist that all your friends and family follow the same rules.

There's More to Sniffing Than Meets the Nose

2010-04-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the privilege of dog-sitting a delightful one-year old dog named Roxy. Roxy has wonderful dog-to-dog social skills. She is extremely playful but is not pushy towards other dogs. One of the things I saw her do several times during her stay with me was sniffing the ground as a calming signal to other dogs.

In the video clip below, you'll see Roxy (the tan one) playing with her friend Marlee (the black one). Marlee is the older of the two, and has a tendency to guard her toys from younger dogs. You can't hear it in the video clip, but what happens is that they run around playing for a few seconds, and then Roxy tries to grab a stick that Marlee had been chewing on earlier. Marlee lowers her head and lets out a quick growl to say "Mine! Back off!" Roxy backs off immediately, and then starts sniffing the ground as if to say, "I'm not a threat. Don't worry." It's also possible that Roxy is sniffing the ground as a displacement behavior. When dogs are a little stressed or uncertain, you might see them perform a familiar activity such as sniffing or scratching, except that the activity will seem out of place in the situation.

On another occasion I took Roxy to the mini dog park within my friend's boarding facility Bow Wow Bungalows. As soon as Roxy walked into the dog park, a pack of ten or so dogs crowded around her and started chasing her around to sniff her butt. Roxy felt a little intimidated by the pack of dogs, so she started walking around the dog park and sniffing the ground. In this case, I could tell that she wasn't just doing investigative sniffing, because her body was stiff, her back was curved, her tail was almost tucked, and she sniffed obsessively for a while without lifting her head. After about 3 minutes, all the dogs became familiar with Roxy, and she turned into her usual self - a social butterfly.

Canine body language and signals are often quite subtle and easy to miss. It's a great idea for dog owners to educate themselves about the language of dogs so that they can recognize when their dogs are feeling stressed, happy, threatened, curious, etc. There are lots of good DVDs and books out there. Two books I highly recommend are Canine Body Language - A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff and Canine Behavior- A Photo Illustrated Handbook by Barbara Handelman. For video, I recommend Sarah Kalnajs' The Language of Dogs DVDs.

The Benefits of Group Off-Leash Hikes

2010-03-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Off-leash hikes are not only a good way to exercise dogs, but also a great way to socialize dogs with each other. Shy dogs in particular can benefit from being around other dogs, but in a less threatening way than in a dog park, where a shy dog might feel cornered or overwhelmed. On a group off-leash hike, the dogs are focused on walking and exploring the environment, and they can choose to interact with the other dogs when they feel like it.

I have also noticed that off-leash hikes are good for dogs that tend to play too rough with other dogs when they are in a static environment like a dog park or someone's yard. During a hike, the dogs cannot stop and play in one spot for too long, or they will be left behind. So they tend to play a little, and then run along to catch up with the rest of the pack. This gives them a natural break from their play.

Off-leash hikes are also great for draining the energy of young hyper dogs. The humans and mellower dogs can walk in a straight line, while the energetic dogs can run back and forth and tire themselves out! Leashed walks can be fun too, and are a good way to train your dogs, but if you have multiple dogs with different energy levels, you may find it hard to satisfy all the dogs' needs with a leashed walk.

For those of you who are worried that your dog might run off and not come back if you let him off leash, I would definitely recommend that you practice your recalls beforehand. However I do find that dogs tend to stick with the pack during off-leash hikes, even dogs that are not used to being off-leash. Of course you'll want to hike in an area that is fairly safe, but you might be surprised to see your dog checking in with you every few minutes to make sure he hasn't lost you. To reinforce that behavior, reward your dog with treats and praise when she comes back to you, and then send her off to play again.

Oahu has a limited number of trails where dogs are allowed, but it's definitely worth finding a few in your area. Happy Trails!

In the short video clip below, you'll see various dogs hiking off leash with each other. When I board new dogs at my house, I like to take them all for a hike together before putting them in the yard or house together. It's a low pressure way for them all to get to know each other.

A Visit with Aloha Schutzhund Club

2010-01-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of sitting in on one of Aloha Schutzhund Club's weekly meetings. Schutzhund means "protection dog" in German, and was originally developed in Germany in the early 1900s to test whether German Shepherd Dogs exhibit the traits necessary for police-type work (Wikipedia). Schutzhund is now a popular dog sport among people with working breed dogs.

Aloha Schutzhund Club's president Robert Blok was kind enough to explain and show me all the exercises they do in Schutzhund. He has many years of experience training police dogs, and owns his own training business Hawaii K9 Solutions as well. Watching Robert and another trainer named Jim Philson work with the dogs and coach the club members was pretty inspiring.

Below are some photos and videos I took. I didn't get any photos or video of the scent tracking exercise but that was also fascinating - something that many pet dogs might enjoy, even if they're not doing Schutzhund.

OBEDIENCE ~ HEELING AND SIT-STAY
The dogs learn to do a precise heel and pay very close attention to the handler. The dog and handler could be running at full speed, but as soon as the handler gives the Sit or Down command, the dog immediately stops and does it. Often the dogs would get to fetch a ball after doing a good job with obedience. According to Robert, it starts out as a play reward, but ultimately they are allowing the dogs to express their prey drive.

OBEDIENCE ~ A-FRAME RETRIEVE
Below is a video clip of a dog jumping over an A-frame and retrieving a dumb bell thrown by trainer Jim. Amazing and so beautiful!

PROTECTION ~ OBJECT GUARDING
In the video below, you'll see Robert's dog Bear protecting an object on the ground. When trainer Jim approaches, Bear guards the object. Bear knows Jim and is normally friendly towards him, but Bear still guards the object from Jim because his handler has asked him to. Would you try to take an object away from a dog that was barking and lunging at you like this? I don't think so!

PROTECTION ~ BITING THE DECOY ATTACKER
The bite work seemed to be the most exciting activity for these working dogs. What happens is the handler and her dog walk behind the "decoy" person (in this case trainer Jim). The decoy person suddenly turns around and pretends to attack the dog and handler. The dog jumps up and bites the protected arm piece on the decoy person. The dog lets go when he is asked. With this kind of training, it's really important for the dog to have self-control and listen to the handler, for instance when he is asked to let go of the arm.

In the video below, you'll see one of the club members doing this with her Rottweiler, who LOVED the bite work. Even the German Shepherds who were watching from their crates got really excited and started barking while the bite work was going on - it was like a gladiator ring! (My 8-year old Golden Retriever Luka was sitting in the corner of the field, quivering amidst all this intensity. He is obviously not cut out for Schutzhund!)

All the dogs that I observed thrived on the exercises. These are not your average couch potato dogs - they NEED and LOVE to work...all the time! If you have a super-driven dog and you are committed to this type of training, contact the Aloha Schutzhund Club for more information.

Give A Dog A Job!

2010-01-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

I recently boarded and trained a 7-month old German Shepherd puppy named Piko. He had A LOT of energy, even after taking him on 3 walks a day (bike rides, mid-day fetch games and/or swimming, AND off-leash walks). I quickly figured out that it wasn't more exercise he needed, but mental stimulation.

Piko was too smart for a Kong toy. No matter what I stuffed in it, he ate all the contents within minutes. He would then eye my household items to see what else he could chew on to keep his mind occupied.

So I decided to teach him some service dog tasks. I am just starting to learn about using a clicker to shape behavior, so it was exciting for me too. Piko was already good at fetching balls - he could do it all day. And he also liked to play tug-of-war. So we worked on a couple of things that took advantage of those skills.

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
During the several days that Piko stayed with me, I worked on getting Piko to pick up my neighbor's newspaper at the mailbox and deliver it to her doorstep. He easily picked up the newspaper (which I praised him for), but the tricky part was getting him to carry it all the way down the driveway instead of stopping and chewing on the newspaper! I strongly reinforced him with praise for picking up and carrying the paper, and redirected his attention or asked him to "Leave It" if he dropped the paper prematurely and started chewing on it.

Having him drop the paper at my neighbor's door was easy. I had already taught him the "Leave It" command, and that's all it took for him to drop it. Once he dropped it, I made sure to praise/click/treat as we walked away from the newspaper - otherwise he started chewing on the newspaper! He is a puppy after all.

OPENING THE REFRIGERATOR
I also taught Piko how to open the refrigerator door on command. Since he already enjoyed playing tug-of-war, I started out by waving an old shirt around his face until he started mouthing it, and clicking and treating that. I then waited for him to pull the shirt. After clicking and treating him several times for pulling the shirt, I tied the shirt to the fridge door.

I waved the shirt around his face again until he pulled the shirt and opened the door (click and treat). Next I pointed to the shirt and said Open (instead of waving the shirt around). Piko was so smart that he immediately pulled the shirt and door open. We repeated this several times to reinforce the command and behavior, and we practiced this every day.

People often call me about their puppy or dog's problem behaviors, such as destructive chewing and digging. Sometimes the dog needs more exercise or training, other times the puppy is just being a puppy, while other times the dog is in need of more mental stimulation. Whatever the case may be, it's fun to figure out what kind of talents a dog has and teach him or her to utilize them in a useful or fun way. Some dogs might be good at service dog tasks, others might be good at scenting and tracking (search and rescue), while others might be good at agility.

Bark, Bark, Bark!

2009-10-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

People often ask me how to stop their dog's excessive barking. The answer depends on why the dog is barking. It's helpful to learn the differences between the various types of barking. Below are some common reasons that dog bark, along with potential solutions:

Attention-Seeking or Demand Barking
Dogs will often bark at their owner in order to demand something specific, whether it's attention, food, or access to a physical area. Nobody wants their neighbors to complain about the barking, so we dog owners often immediately give our dog what he's asking for in order to stop his barking. Although this may stop the barking temporarily, we are inadvertently teaching our dog that he can get what he wants by barking. Another way that dog owners attempt to quiet down their dogs is to yell at them to shut up. While this may work (i.e. your dog is scared of punishment or your dog is barking temporarily for territorial reasons), it may also encourage the barking because your dog doesn't speak English and he thinks you're screaming, "Keep barking, Fido!"

The simple solution to demand barking is to ignore your dog when he's demanding something. You may have to put up with extra barking for a few days while your dog makes a last ditch effort to get what he wants, but if you stick to the "no attention" program, your dog's demand barking should fade away from lack of reinforcement. You can also reward your dog a few seconds after he stops barking, and associate that with a cue like "Quiet." Just make sure he doesn't learn to chain the behaviors (bark first, then be quiet to get rewarded)!

Boredom and Frustration Barking
Under-exercised and under-stimulated dogs will often bark for no apparent reason. They won't direct their barking at anyone or anything in particular, but they may bark for prolonged periods of time in order to get their frustration out. I see this happen with dogs whose owners are very busy with work, and the dogs are left at home alone all day with nothing to do. Exercise is probably the best solution for this. A tired dog is usually a good dog. Before leaving for work every day, take your dog for a long walk, jog or swim. If you don't have much time and you have a high-energy dog, go on a bike ride or off-leash hike with your dog. Your dog can burn twice as much of his energy as regular leashed walking, and it takes a lot less time. You can also hire a dog walker.

Another thing that might help is to give your dog a food-puzzle/chew-toy such as Premier's Busy Buddy or Kong, to keep his mind occupied while home alone. These types of toys work especially well for food-motivated dogs.

Excitement Barking
It's an endearing quality for a dog to bark every now and then to let you know how excited he is. But what if he does it all the time, i.e. when he sees another dog, when he's waiting for his food, when he's about to enter the dog park? This would be a chance for you to practice NILIF ("Nothing In Life Is Free"). In simple terms, you only give your dog what he wants when and if he behaves nicely (see my blog about NILIF for more info).

Let's say your dog is barking in excitement when he's about to enter the dog park. Simply stop and wait for your dog to stop barking and calm down. Re-approach the dog park only when he's calmed down (repeat as necessary).

Alert Barking and Territorial Barking
Two kinds of barking that are quite different from demand, boredom and excitement barking are alert barking and territorial barking, which are quite natural things for dogs to do. I will write a Part 2 of this blog entry to talk about these types of barking.

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Shock Collars, Citronella Collars and Debarking
I do not recommend the use of anti-barking shock collars because in addition to harming your dog and potentially having negative side effects, they don't solve the underlying problem of your dog's barking. They now have less harmful anti-barking citronella spray collars, which could be used as a temporary solution if, for instance, your landlord is threatening to evict you because of your dog's barking. But even the citronella spray should not be used as a long-term solution.

Debarking a dog is not a humane solution for barking either. It may take care of the symptoms, but it doesn't change the underlying reasons for the barking. Let's all educate ourselves so that we can use humane and effective techniques instead!

Reinforcing Calm Behavior Using NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free)

2009-09-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Positive reinforcment is a popular phrase in dog training these days. All it means is that a desired behavior is increased by giving your dog a reward. For instance, if he sits when you ask him to, and you give him a treat or praise for doing so, then it will increase the likelihood that he will sit next time.

But what should you do if your dog is over-excited, pushy and obnoxious?!? It might seem like there are no desired behaviors to reward, and plenty of undesired behaviors to scold! If this sounds like your situation, then you are a perfect candidate for the "Nothing In Life Is Free" program or NILIF. In order for your dog to get attention, food, freedom or anything else that he wants, he must "pay" for it by first being calm and polite.

JUMPING
So for instance, let's say your dog jumps up on you all the time. It might be tempting to yell at your dog or knee him in the chest - this technique may work temporarily but it usually doesn't solve the problem long-term. Scolding a dog is also unpleasant and can damage your relationship with your dog. What you can do instead is turn away from your dog and/or walk away as soon as he's about to jump. A dog usually jumps on somebody to get attention, but if she is not successful in getting what she's after, then she will most likely stop doing that behavior. As soon as your dog stops jumping and calms down, you can turn around and give your dog attention again. While your dog is learning not to jump, it's a good idea to stay calm and keep your greetings nice and simple (quick pat under the chin, quick eye contact) so you don't get him too excited.

DOOR DASHING
We've all experienced having a dog rush past you as you open a door or push you aside as you open a gate. If a dog is big and strong, he could easily injure someone in his path. This is another great opportunity to train your dog to be patient. When your dog tries to push past you to get through the doorway, simply close the door or gate without letting her through. Wait for her to back off and calm down. (You may have to body block her if she's extra-pushy!) Slowly open the door again, but close the door if she gets over-excited again. Soon your dog will learn to wait calmly by the door because she'll realize that's the only way she'll get to the other side!

FEEDING
Different dogs get excited about different things. Some dogs are so food-motivated that they start salivating and their eyes glaze over when you start preparing their food. For dogs that love to eat, feeding time is a good chance to work on their impulse control. See my blog entry Incorporating Training Into Feeding Time for a step-by-step guide and video. You can also choose to eliminate formal feedings, and instead use all of your dog's daily food allowance on training. You can use high-value food such as cooked chicken if that motivates your dog.

GREETING OTHER DOGS
It's not uncommon for dogs to get excited when they see another dog. Of course, it's important to let your dog socialize with other dogs on a regular basis so that he doesn't feel deprived. But if your dog gets over-excited when he sees other dogs, regardless of the amount of socializing he does, then it's time for training! Let's say your dog circles other dogs or excessively mounts them; you can give your dog a time-out to let him know that over-excitement towards other dogs will result in his losing his play time. If your dogs gets excited while you're on a leashed walk and starts pulling, whining and barking at an approaching dog, you can turn him around, have him focus on you, and then re-approach the other dog when your dog has calmed down. Again, you may have to repeat the steps multiple times.

With this type of impulse control training, it's very important to not give in until your dog is truly calm (i.e. not just in a sit position, but actually mentally calm). If you give in and let your dog go crazy, then you give your dog the message that if he tries hard enough, he can get what he wants without calming down first.

EVERYTHING!
The opportunities to extinguish over-excitement and reinforce calm behavior are endless, including:
* Letting your dog off-leash after being leashed
* Before throwing a ball or stick for your dog to fetch
* Welcoming guests into your house
* Getting out of a car
* Putting on a collar and leash before a walk, and walking out the door

The NILIF program takes a lot of patience on the dog owner's part, because it requires that you wait until your dog gives you the behavior you want. It's tempting to use aversives instead (such as yelling or leash-jerking), but I firmly believe that your dog will be happier and learn faster if you use NILIF instead.

With any training, be careful not to ask your dog to do too much too soon. Start small and gradually go bigger.

Happy Training!

The Canine "Look Away" - with videos

2009-09-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Dogs have a fascinating array of body language signals that allow them to convey messages to each other. Some of the body language is involuntary (reflexive) but others are deliberate. The "Look Away" is one of those deliberate signals that can mean different things in different situations.

A Look Away could be a distance-decreasing signal, i.e. dog uses a Look Away to let another another dog know he's not a threat, or dog uses a Look Away to invite another dog to play. Often a Look Away is quick and subtle, with the head staying level and the neck staying relaxed. In the videos below, you will see distance-increasing Look Aways, with stiffer necks and chin up, as if to say, “I’m not available for social interaction right now. Don't bother me.”

In the video below, 3-year old shepherd mix Heidser does a Look Away to avoid the exuberant black puppy. Notice that Heidser points her chin up to show her lack of interest. If her chin were down, she might be expressing deference to the puppy.

In the video below, you will see three energetic yellow Labradors running over to 8-year old Golden Retriever Luka (the blonde one). As Luka emerges from the crowd, one of the Lab puppies tries to engage Luka, but Luka stops and does a Look Away with his chin up, which causes the puppy to walk away.

In the last video, you will see Mochi the French Bulldog using Sniffing as a calming signal to the yellow Lab puppy. Sniffing is one of the most common behaviors in dogs, and like the Look Away, can mean various things. In this case, Mochi seems to be telling the puppy, "Calm down and stop bothering me." You'll notice Mochi doing a few Look Aways too, to avoid interaction with the puppy.

We humans tend to think excited puppies are cute, so we often inadvertently reinforce those behaviors. But remember, a cute and bouncy 10-lb. puppy can eventually turn into a hyper 75-lb. dog that is jumping and slobbering all over you! One of the most effective ways for a dog owner to stop a puppy's jumping or over-excitement is to simply ignore the puppy when he's behaving that way - the way the adult dogs above do - and give the puppy attention or affection only when he is calm.

Fulfilling Your Dog’s Needs and Developing a Good Relationship With Your Dog

2009-09-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

In addition to doing training, it's very important to fulfill your dog’s physical and mental needs on a daily basis. Dogs need more than just companionship and love. In much the same way, humans feel more fulfilled if we have a purpose in life (career, volunteer work, hobby, etc.), and we feel healthier if we get regular exercise, whether it’s going to the gym or going surfing. When we’re not working or exercising, we like to hang out with friends, read books, watch TV, etc. to stimulate our minds. Dogs are the same way. When dogs get bored and frustrated from lack of mental stimulation and exercise, many problems can surface, including hyperactivity, destruction of household items, aggression and obsessive compulsiveness.

It's also important to develop a good relationship with your dog, so that you trust each other and want to do everything possible to make each other happy. If your dog doesn’t trust you and doesn’t see you as his guardian, then it is going to very hard for him to listen to you. On the other hand, if your dog LOVES you and his needs are regularly fulfilled by you, then he will want to please you and follow your lead.

Below is a checklist of things that will promote the well-being and happiness of most pet dogs:

* Exercise – running, walking, swimming, etc. It’s a good idea to provide structured walks in addition to unstructured exercise such as off-leash beach walks and going to the dog park. (Read my Dog Walking blog entry for tips on loose leash walking.)

* Mental stimulation and/or challenges – Give your dog a job - you can customize it to the specific dog and breed - or games to play, such as hide and seek, tracking and scent work, agility, flyball, enrichment toys such as stuffed Kongs, etc. See my blog Give A Dog A Job for other ideas.

* Play – Activities include going to the beach or dog park, retrieving balls, off-leash walks, chasing a flirt pole, etc. Different dogs have different preferences so figure out what your dog likes!

Above: Dogs playing on the beach.

* Love and attention – This is an easy one for most of us to provide! Just remember to give your dog attention only when he is calm and well-mannered.

* Quality time spent together – Dogs are social animals that have an inherent need to be around their pack, whether it’s other dogs or humans. If possible, don’t make your dog an outdoors-only dog, or he may develop behavioral problems stemming from boredom and loneliness. Take your dog with you whenever you can. There are lots of places out there where you can take your dog, including restaurants with outdoor seating and dog-friendly stores.

Above: Dogs hanging out with us at a friend's BBQ.

* Reinforce good behavior and extinguish bad behavior – Dogs are born into the human world, and don’t automatically know what is expected of them. It’s our responsibility as their guardians to guide them towards socially acceptable behavior. Remember that rewarding good behavior is a lot more effective than punishing bad behavior. For more info, read my blog entry on Reinforcing Calm Behavior.

* Clear and consistent rules about what is allowed and what is not allowed.

* Socialization with other friendly and balanced dogs - It’s not always easy to set up play dates with other dogs, but you can always take your dog with you when you visit friends who have dogs. It’s easy for us humans to forget that our dog is a dog, and that most dogs love to be around other members of their own species. (Note: When you introduce your dog to other dogs, be sure to look for signs of pushy or aggressive behaviors and prevent them, whether it's coming from your own dog or the other dog.)

Above: Dogs socializing with each other at the dog park.

* Exposure to and positive experiences with common aspects of daily life, such as strangers (men & women), children, babies, stairs, bicycles, vacuum cleaners, ocean, bathing, riding cars, nail-clipping, ear cleaning, etc. Early exposure to these things in a positive way will prevent fearfulness and anxiety in the future. See my blog entry on socialization for more info.

Above: Little grom playing with dog.

Incorporating Training into Feeding Time - with videos

2009-09-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Doggie mealtime is a great time to practice "impulse control" and manners training. Food is a huge motivator for most dogs, so it should be easy to train your dog to sit calmly and wait for his or her food, even if he is easily excitable.

Below is a video of a dog that is familiar with the routine. He sits, waits, makes eye contact and then starts eating when released.

To teach your dog to sit and wait before eating, follow these guidelines:

1) While preparing your dog's food, don’t allow your dog to jump up on you or stalk you. Take your time preparing the food in order to give your dog enough time to calm down.

2) When the food is ready and your dog is calm, ask your dog to sit.

3) Put the food bowl down in front of your dog and at the same time say “WAIT” with your hand held out in front of you with your palm facing your dog. Don’t let your dog dive right into the food. If your dog tries to get at the food, immediately lift the bowl. Repeat this step until your dog remains seated and waits.

4) If your dog waits calmly, then let him start eating by using a hand signal and/or verbal cue such as “OK” or “RELEASE.”

5) Once your dog gets the hang of it, you can take it one step further. Before releasing him, get your dog’s attention and eye contact. You can ask your dog to look at you, or you could choose to just wait for him to voluntarily give you eye contact.

6) When you have his attention and he has given you eye contact, use your verbal cue or hand signal to let your dog know he can start eating.

7) Once your dog is consistently giving you eye contact before eating, you can extend the amount of time you have him look at you before you release him.

Below is a video clip of a puppy that is learning to Sit and Wait before eating. Notice that I lift the bowl multiple times until she figures out that she won't get to eat until she waits in a seated position. You'll be surprised how fast puppies pick this up!

Considerations When Adopting or Fostering a New Dog

2009-09-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

Above: LD, aka Little Dog

I recently fostered a 6-week old formerly stray puppy for the Humane Society. She had big bulging eyes and a brindle coat with white patches. She was absolutely adorable, and even my hard-hearted boyfriend fell in love with her. We named her "LD," short for "Little Dog." On her first day in our home, she was quiet and shy. But as soon as she became comfortable with her new surroundings, LD was quite energetic and playful.

In fact, she was SO playful towards my almost 8-year old dog Luka, that Luka couldn't stand it! Luka is a mellow dog to begin with, and although he is friendly towards other dogs, he has never been very playful with them. So when LD started running around him in circles like a buzzing fly, jumping up at his face to get his attention, and repeatedly doing the play bow to entice him, Luka got increasingly anxious. Luka would try to ignore LD for a few minutes. But if LD continued her energetic display, then Luka would finally show some teeth and bark at her to stop. After a while, Luka started hanging out in the yard and avoiding the living room where puppy was, even if puppy was in her crate.

This is a case where neither dog was really at fault. LD, being so young and having been separated from her mother and siblings at an early age, doesn't know cutoff signals yet. And she's still a puppy, so of course she wants to play all the time! Luka, on the other hand, is an older lower-energy dog that enjoys his peace and quiet.

Above: A rare moment of peace between Luka and LD.

I think it's a common misconception and unrealistic expectation that all dogs should get along with each other. Dog owners expect this of their dogs, but wouldn't deny that there are some humans whom they would not want to hang out with or be around. Much the same way, it's natural for a dog to get along with certain dogs but not others.

Although I was supposed to foster LD for three weeks, I asked the Humane Society to transfer her to another foster home a little sooner. If you already have a dog and are considering adopting or fostering another dog, please take a moment to consider the age, temperament and energy level that would complement your own dog. I promise that everyone will be a lot happier that way!

Above: It was hard to resist an angelic face like this. Well...hard for me, but not for Luka!

Making Dog Walking A Pleasant Experience

2009-08-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

Walking your dog is not just about exercise - it's an essential part of training and bonding with your dog. It should be fun for both you and your dog, and something you should do every day! Walking with you will give your dog a sense of purpose and a chance to be mentally focused. It will also allow him or her to see you as his trusted leader and guardian. Unlike their owners, pet dogs spend most of their time at home or in the yard. Most dogs will jump at any chance to explore the world outside their home!

Below are some guidelines to make your daily walks a positive experience:

LOOSE LEASH WALKING

Practice loose leash walking. You will find that your dog is less frustrated when he learns to walk on a loose leash. A dog that cannot walk on a loose leash is more difficult to train when issues like leash reactivity or over-excitement enter the picture. You can use a tool like the Sense-ible Harness, Gentle Leader Headcollar or Halti Headcollar to prevent your dog from pulling (click here more info on walking tools). Or you can use one of various methods to teach him to keep the leash loose, such as Red Light Green Light and the Penalty Yard. (Click here for video examples on how to stop pulling.) If your dog simply has too much energy, try playing fetch or let him run off leash for a while before going on a leashed walk.

SNIFFING, URINE MARKING AND OTHER LIFE REWARDS

Discourage excessive sniffing and urine marking, or else use them as rewards. If your dog constantly tries to pull you towards things he wants to smell or pee on, just keep walking. Pretend like you didn’t even notice that he wants to stop! Over time your dog will most likely stop trying to pull you towards the side of the road because it never works.

Another option is to use those bushes, fire hydrants and other smelly things as "life rewards." For instance, if your dog walks nicely on leash for an entire block, you could grant him access to smell or pee on the bush on the side of the road at the end of each block. What if he pulls you towards the bush? You can stop, wait for him to stop pulling, wait for him to look at you, and then grant him the reward of sniffing the bush.

With practice, your dog will start to "ask" politely (i.e. look at you) for things that he wants rather than just pulling you towards whatever he wants.

GREETING OTHER DOGS AND PEOPLE

Discourage over-excitement when greeting other dogs and people. Some dogs are very enthusiastic and will pull you towards or bark at another dog or person that he wants to meet. I've met many dog owners who were physically injured because their dogs pulled them so hard! Instead of giving in to your dog's demands (which will only reinforce the behavior), wait for him to be calm and give you eye contact, even if it's just for a second, and then reward him for it by allowing him to meet the other dog or person (when appropriate).

This method (of waiting for the right behavior and rewarding it) tends to work a lot better than telling your dog to be calm or to Sit. Most dogs will not listen to commands when they're very excited. But they will eventually calm down if you just wait. The idea is to show your dog that his actions have consequences - by staying calm, he gets to meet other dogs. With practice, it will become a default behavior, meaning your dog will automatically remain calm when greeting other dogs and people.

REACTIVITY TO BARKING DOGS

For dogs that are reactive towards barking dogs behind fences, redirect your dog’s attention as soon as he looks in that direction or his ears perk up. Prevention is always easier than intervention. To redirect his attention towards you, you can snap your fingers, clap, whistle, etc. (but try not to repeat your dog's name over and over again). Praise or treat him as soon as he looks at you. You may have to start this exercise by leaving a large distance between your dog and the barking dog behind the fence, so that you won't be asking your dog to do more than he is capable of.

If you absolutely can't get your dog's attention with a sound, it probably means that you are too close to the other dog. If you find yourself in this situation, gently redirect him with the leash before he reacts, without jerking on the leash. As your dog improves, gradually decrease the distance between the dogs. If your dog has a full-blown fear of other dogs, I would recommend avoiding neighborhoods with lots of barky dogs, until you've had a chance to modify his fear.

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It’s nice to reward dogs for good behavior by letting them go off leash at the end of a walk, if there is a safe place to do this. It gets boring for a dog to be on leash all the time. It also gets boring for them to walk the same route day after day, so mix up your routes whenever possible. In addition to exercise, dogs need socialization with other dogs too, so get together with friends' dogs in a park or someone's yard.

Happy Dog Walking!

Dogs At Play - Videos

2009-06-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

I dog-sat a wonderful 9-month old mix-breed dog named Rocky last week. He is awfully cute and was extremely playful with every dog he met. I videotaped him interacting with other dogs. Below are eight short and fun video clips.

PLAY BITING
Here's a video of Rocky (the taller one with black muzzle) playing with a 7-month old puppy named Natto. They're both young, energetic boys. Notice the soft mouthing and play bows. Very nice!

In the next clip, Rocky is playing with a 1+ year old female shepherd mix named Marley. The playing style is a little different from the video above of Rocky and Natto although they are also play-biting each other's necks. Notice the bite inhibition - they never bite too hard. When dogs are playing, they will often pause, and then continue their play. In this video you'll see Rocky shaking off at the end, a sign that he's coming down off of adrenaline.

WRESTLING AND PAWING
Here we have Rocky playing with Marley again. They wrestle a little and use their paws to paw at each other. Dogs at play will often take turns being on the bottom, or being the prey versus predator.

STALK-N-POUNCE
In the next clip you'll see Rocky stalking my golden retriever Luka, and then pouncing. Dogs often use hunting behavior in play. Ruby the 10-week old puppy also tries to engage Luka by play bowing and growling. Luka is an older dog (almost 8) so he's not interested in playing with the young dogs!

KEEP AWAY
Dogs love to play "keep away" where they grab a toy and keep it away from another dog or a person and be chased. Here's Marley keeping a rawhide bone away from Rocky.

Below we have Rocky keeping a rope toy away from a 10-week old puppy named Ruby. Rocky is very playful with Ruby, and doesn't guard the toy when she takes it away.

PUPPY LICKING
In the next video, Marley keeps the rawhide away from Rocky again. When Rocky attempts to approach the rawhide, Marley makes a playful but sudden movement as if to say, "Mine!" Rocky backs off, and then appeases Marley by licking her muzzle. "Puppy licking" can also be a sign of bonding.

BONUS VIDEO - SIT STAY
Here we have Rocky, Luka and 7 year old German Shepherd Vader doing sit-stays. Rocky is young and new to the sit-stay, so he attempts to get up once. I use my body to put Rocky back in his original position. They all get rewarded in the end for maintaining their sit-stay.

The Importance of Early Socialization

2009-06-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

It's quite common for dogs to become averse to certain things. Occasionally the aversions turn into full-blown fears or fear-based aggression. It's not fun for your dog, and it's not fun for the dog owner. Exposing your dog to many things from an early age can help to prevent this problem. Some common things you will want to expose your puppy to include:

* People - men, women, children, babies
* Other dogs
* Cats and other animals
* Riding in cars
* Going to the vet
* Nail clipping
* Bathing
* Swimming
* Stairs (including ones you can see through)
* Crates
* Being alone
* Loud noises including fireworks and thunder
* Bicycles, skateboards, scooters
* Public places and crowds
* Walking on a leash

When exposing your dog to these things, it's important to make it a positive experience. For instance, you might give Fido his favorite treat or give him a massage while you clip his nails so that he thinks of nail clipping as a happy event. If Fido is naturally fearful of certain things from the get go, you will want to introduce him to those things slowly or in increments.

It's especially important for puppies to be socialized with other dogs and people (strangers). Puppies go through a critical period of socialization between 1 to 4 months of age. If isolated from the outside world during that time, they can grow up to be unbalanced adult dogs. Some veterinarians advise people to keep their puppies in the yard or home until the entire vaccination series are complete. Of course, you should complete the first set of vaccines and keep your pup away from high-risk areas, but did you know that the chance of a dog being euthanized for behavioral problems is 1000 times higher than a dog getting sick from parvovirus or distemper?

It's also true that dogs, especially young ones, can be easily traumatized by a single negative experience with another dog. So it's very important that you monitor your dog's interactions with other dogs, and that you don't put your dog in a position where he has to defend himself. Dog parks are great, but as your dog's guardian, it's a good idea to educate yourself on subtle dog behaviors and always keep an eye on your dog, so that you can prevent bullying and fighting.

It's always easier to take precautionary measures to prevent fear, than to counter-condition a dog that has developed a negative emotional response towards something. Trust me on this one - early socialization is well worth your time!

Argentinian Hounds

2009-06-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina for the first time in December 2008. The food was amazing and we loved the people and the European feel of the cafés. But what struck me the most in Buenos Aires were the dog walkers. While sightseeing in the city, I saw many dog walkers walking up to ten dogs at a time! And what was even more amazing was that the dogs were all perfectly calm, no matter what they saw around them! Not one of them was pulling on the leash.

As a dog trainer in Hawaii, I meet many troubled dog owners who get walked by their dogs instead of them walking their dogs. Pulling on the leash and over-excitement are pretty common issues with dogs in the United States. How was it possible that the Buenos Aires dogs were so calm? I could be completely wrong but my theory is:

1. The dogs in Buenos Aires get out of the house and get walked more than their American counterparts.
2. They get to be around other dogs more often so it's not such a novelty to see another dog.
3. Argentinians treat their dogs like dogs, and they don't reinforce the dogs' excited behavior with attention.

Below: A makeshift dog park in the city center.

There were a lot of stray dogs in Ushuaia, the southernmost town in Argentina. What was interesting about the stray dogs there was that they all had long hair. Most stray dogs I've seen in Hawaii are short haired. I don't know if it's a case of "survival of the fittest," where long-haired dogs are more likely to survive in the cold climate of Ushuaia, or if there are more long-haired pet dogs over there in general, and therefore more long-haired strays.

Below: Stray dogs of Ushuaia.

5th Annual Hawaii Kai Dog Walk

2009-06-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Below: The registration booth

Below: Hundreds of dogs and their humans participated in this fun walk to raise funds for Hui 'Ilio.

Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i (the Hawaii Dog Group) was founded to promote safe and friendly places for dogs and their people to play, and to promote responsible dog ownership. Their initial reason for organizing was to establish the Hawaii Kai Dog Park.

Below: The 2.3 mile walk was a bit long for some of the smaller dogs but they seemed to enjoy it anyway.
I participated in their 5th annual dog walk fundraiser on June 7th, 2009. It was exciting to be around so many dogs, from tiny Pomeranians to huge Great Danes. It was amazing how well-behaved all the dogs were. The event was very well organized, with prizes, goodie bags, T-shirts, and booths offering dog-related information. There were lots of volunteers throughout the walking trail, providing water for the dogs and directing traffic. The Hawaii Kai Dog Walk is definitely a model to follow when it's time for the North Shore to hold a fundraiser for our dog park.

Below: They must be from the Great Dane Club of Hawaii!

Now that the Hawaii Kai dog park is a reality, Hui 'Ilio's ongoing goals include helping other dog groups (like us) get approval for parks in their respective districts, enhancing the opportunities for dogs to get proper exercise and socialization, and promoting the licensing, vaccination, and good-behavior training of dogs.

Below: Not surprisingly, all the Labradors gravitated towards the swimming pool.