Love and The Need for Boundaries

Zeus

     I will be the first to admit I have a ton of embarrassing and affectionate nicknames for Brutus and Grace.  He is "Bru-Tabulous!" "Stripe-a-Dog" "Broo-bus-face" and "Broopies" at times.  Grace is "Roo" "Princess Fluffy" "G-funky!" and "Gracie".  I often refer to them as my fur-babies, or fur-kids.  However, this does NOT mean I forget for a moment that they are dogs.  It does NOT mean I do not love them enough to provide boundaries and guidance to create an environment where they can learn, grow and thrive.

     This is not a halfway house where the primary concern is getting food in their bellies, getting them up to date on vaccinations and having them spayed or neutered.  Those needs are basic and must be met first.  But after that, I love my dogs enough to recognize that they are intelligent, and can get bored or endanger themselves with their curiosity.  I love them enough to see that they have energy that should be directed towards tasks they are suited for.  I love them enough to take the time to study and learn more about them as a species, instead of simply assuming they will like the things I want them to.

     Intelligence is always a double-edged sword.  Everyone I have spoken to always includes "smart" in their laundry list of traits they wish for in a dog.  Sometimes however, we are not prepared for the fact that most dogs use their intelligence for self-serving purposes. At some point, a responsible owner must be willing to step up and say "NO."  An intelligent dog dog not simply need to be walked and petted daily.  They need more than your daily amusement to encourage them to not become destructive.  They need guidance and interaction through training and daily routine to learn what they are allowed and expected to do.  They need boundaries to stop them from harming themselves.

     A healthy dog will have lots of energy.  This means spending time with them actually DOING things where the dog can move around, and must think to come to a satisfactory solution.  Even when playing fetch, which my dog views as a game, there are still rules to be followed.  She must sit to offer me an item to throw.  She can run and play with it, but she is not allowed to put her mouth on my hand, arm or any other part of my body, and she must relinquish the item at my request.  The game is not safe unless there are rules.  The boundaries I impose keep her safe.  If I allow her to hop up and try to grab the toy without paying attention to where her mouth is, she could inadvertently nip or bite someone else or myself when playing.  If it breaks the skin and medical treatment is sought, it is classified as a bite, regardless of lack of intent.  I refuse to endanger my dog that way.  Even when we are burning away excess energy, there are still clear boundaries for what is and what is not allowed.

Maple and Morgan

     Have you ever heard about dogs who chew up nice, new, expensive dog beds as soon as they are left alone with them?  As humans we exclaim our disappointment and frustration, lament about money wasted, and sometimes scold the poor dog.  If we stepped outside the bipedal box, we should only be scolding ourselves.  A dog likes to chew.  It did not pay the money for the bed, so does not know how to value it in those terms.  If you simply put the new dog bed in the crate, or on the floor, and left the dog alone with it, how is it different than any other dog toy you have presented?  If you want a dog to know what to do with a particular object or situation, you need to show it what you want.  Show the dog what you want it to do, multiple times.  When you assign a reward, make sure it's something the dog actually values, not what you think they should like.  Just because YOU label something as "good" or "desirable" does not mean your dog will (and same goes for "bad" things too).  Without knowing at least the basics of canine ethology, it is easy to be misguided. 

     So in short, yes, I love my dogs very much.  But I love them enough to set boundaries for their health and well-being, and always remember that they are only going to view this world as a dog does, not necessarily how I do. 


     For help with your dogs, please feel free to contact me.  pawsthenplay@gmail.com

Dog Training Question: Angry at the Barking Dog

     Earlier today I had a caller ask if it was wrong that when her dog barks, she gets annoyed and yells at the dog to "Hush!".   The caller loves her dog very much, but sometimes the seemingly random barking just pushes her buttons.  So she became frustrated.  When she was talking to me about it, she became upset that she was angry with her dog. 

     I explained to her that most dogs use barking as an alert.  It could be "Hey! I heard a big truck go by! Did you hear that truck go by!" or "That darned squirrel is here again, can you believe it!" or "I'm craving attention, I bet this will make you look!"  Regardless of the reasoning at any given moment, if you want to replace it with another reaction first you have to emphasize that you like something else more, and are willing to give it attention.  Until you have spent enough time to really show and reward your dog for alternate behaviors, it is unfair to expect them to show you different responses.

     If the dog barks to alert to an occurrence and the human yells, this opens the door to misinterpretation.  On one level, if the alert was due to a stressor (loud noise, energetic new dog arriving etc.) and the human yells, the dogs sees the human following it's lead to shout as a reaction.  This can exacerbate the barking.

     The irritation the human projects to the dog changes that human slightly, the hormones and body language.  We may gesture with bolder, faster movements.  The chemical change in the body (adrenaline, catecholamines, blood pressure change) is completely detectable to your dog.  It knows you are stressed too, which can compound and intensify the situation.

     So take a deep breath caller!  If you are unhappy with your results, the easiest way to find relief is to change your approach.  During quiet calm times, take a few moments to re-train a simple command such as sit, or down.  When the dog performs, be sure to reward with plenty of attention.  The more often a behavior is rewarded, the more likely the dog is to repeat it!  So the next time you hear that bark, go back to the simple command.  The calmer you stay about it, the easier it is to convey the message to your dog- "I'd rather you do THIS."

     I saw a post the other day online that was intended for child care but I think it is applicable here: "The more words you use when a [dog] is incorrect or acting out, the less effective you become."

     As always, if you have a question, please contact me directly at PawsThenPlay@gmail.com.  Happy training!



*Don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook!  www.facebook.com/pawsthenplay

    

An Inside Look at Service Dogs

 

     This post was originally shared by an acquaintance in one of the online Service Dog groups I am a part of.  With his permission, I am sharing it with you all.   If it touches you the way it moved me, please forward it on to a friend.

 

 

 Written by Todd Smith.

“You are so lucky!”

We hear it frequently. And it always makes me cringe.

Many times when I am out and about with my wife and her guide dog, people comment about how ‘lucky’ she is. I like to think it is because she is married to me, but after a few years of hearing it, I now know better.

It is because of her guide dog.

The comments are, for the most part, innocently made because of the general public’s misunderstanding of just exactly how being blind can impact a person’s day-to-day living. They do not see the barriers, both physical and mental, which must be overcome in order to do the same things that so-called “normal” people do every day and seemingly take for granted. Things like getting safely from one place to the next, not bumping into other people and things when walking, noticing hazards that can trip someone easily and possibly cause an injury, and even simply walking across the street without being hit by an inattentive driver. These are some of the reasons she has her guide dog with her, not because she is ‘lucky’. And yet we hear it all the time: “You are so lucky that you can have your dog come with you. I wish I could take my dog with me everywhere I go.” They never see the real reason behind having the guide dog; all they see is the dog.

And it is not just guide dog users that hear the ‘lucky’ platitude. The general public sees a person with any kind of disability who uses any kind of service dog and automatically uses THEIR OWN interpretation of THEIR OWN life to come to the conclusion that somehow being able to have the service dog “along for the ride” makes the person with the disability ‘lucky’, because, after all, “you get to take your special friend along everywhere you go”.

The sentiment is genuine, but the understanding is lacking.

So, was my wife ‘lucky’ that she was shaken as an infant, causing her retinas to detach? Was she ‘lucky’ to have the scars on the inside of her brain from the shaking to swell, press on her brain stem, and cause her to have seizures? Is she also ‘lucky’ that the visual cortex in her brain was so damaged by the shaking that there is no type of medical treatment or procedure which can ever allow her to see ‘normally’?

She will never do the simple things that others with ‘normal’ vision do. She adapts by using special programs on her computer to ‘read’ the text on the screen. She adapts by using a portable GPS device because she can’t read the street signs. She adapts by using an Audio Description service when we go to the movies or a live performance play. She adapts by using specially marked knobs on the stove, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and with marked shelves in the pantry and kitchen. She adapts by walking or taking the bus or train because she cannot drive. She adapts when shopping by using a UPC scanner to read what the items are. And yes, she adapts in her travels by using a guide dog because she can’t see you and your shopping cart, automobile, stroller, or anything else. Is that what makes her 'lucky'?

I can honestly tell you that my wife would turn her guide dog into a pet dog in a New York minute if doing so meant that she could see like every 'normal' person and not have to constantly be gawked at, questioned, bullied, and made to feel inferior simply because of the type of mitigating device she uses to try and compensate for her blindness. Would she still be 'lucky' then?

The whole 'lucky' bit comes from those who are dog lovers and would like to be able to take their pet dog places with them. That’s all they see when they see a service dog working for a person with a disability: being able to take a dog places. Their thought patterns are all about them and their own desires; not about what is going on in the real world of those with disabilities. It is kind of like saying this to a person in a wheelchair: "You are so lucky that you get to sit down all the time."

Using a service dog is a lot of work. It’s expensive. It’s time consuming. The logistics are mind numbing. One has to prepare many things in advance just to take a quick trip to the store. The dog has to be brushed, relieved, have all the gear in place, special leashes, and many other things which differ depending on what the dog needs to do. And when it comes to trips that are overnight or longer, there is a lot more which needs to be considered such as food, bowls, clean up supplies, crates or sleeping mats, vaccination records, and other things. At least a wheelchair doesn’t have to be fed, watered, walked or relieved. A white cane won’t get sick in the hotel room and puke on the carpet. But for many service dog handlers, a wheelchair or white cane simply cannot do what needs to be done efficiently or quickly, and many times cannot give the personal confidence and reassurance that handling a properly trained service dog can bring.

When one truly has an understanding of what the day-to-day life of a person with a disability who uses a service dog is, one is in a better position to see that it isn’t ‘luck’; it’s adaptability. It’s overcoming. It’s finding a way to get things done in spite of the challenges one faces. In the simplest term: It’s doing what works best to be as independent as possible. There is no ‘luck’ involved.

Sleeping With the Dogs

     Usually the dogs retire to their room when I begin getting ready for bed, and the last thing I do before I go to my bedroom is close the doors in the dog room and say goodnight to my pups.  Last night I fell asleep on the couch. 

     For my pups, it is a rare treat as my husband does not allow dogs in the bed, thus the only time I can sleep with them is when I choose to snooze in the living room or the dog room.  I love feeling immersed in doggy bodies that are as large as I am.  Grace does not typically like to cuddle, but will sleep under or beside me, usually with her nose buried in my neck or arm pit.  Brutus is a snuggle bug extraordinaire, with Gumby-like properties and patience that allows me to move him where ever I would like him to be, and then hug. 

     I was cuddled cozily with Grace furled tightly in a ball for my pillow, and Brutus stretched out parallel to me, hugged tightly like a living body pillow.   The soft warmth radiated gently around me and slowly my headache dissipated.  Brutus' body heat helped ease my muscles so my sleep was truly restful.  The added bonus (for me) is no dog will move until I wake up.  Even when my husband quietly crept out for work early in the morning, my pillows and heaters stayed in place until I was ready to fully awaken.  He reported that they both were looking at him as he tiptoed by holding his boots, but did not move their bodies.  Bliss.

 

     Sleeping with your dogs at night is a personal choice.  There are those who will speak passionately for or against it.  There are a few key points to consider before you make a decision for your household.

     1. Are you willing to sleep with your dogs when they are full grown?  Some dogs are bed hogs, and others are simply large (mine weigh just over 70 pounds each).  Take into account the sheer amount of space another sleeping being uses.  The gentle tapping of puppy toes during a fierce dream can be cute, but the foot of a lab can be more like a bear cub paw when it is fully grown.  When Brutus was an adolescent (I was single at the time, so he did sleep with me every night) he was an awful kicker!  If you do not have the temperament to be amused by such things, you may want to reconsider sleeping with your dogs.

     2. Is the person sleeping with you also willing to share the bed?  As stated earlier- my husband does not allow dogs in his bed.  Since we are married, and I sleep in that bed now, Brutus and Grace have their own room now.

     3. Are the behavioral problems that are safety issues that you cannot or will not address from a deep sleep?  There are several instances I can think of off of the top of my head.  Any issues that can jeopardize yours and/or the dog/s health should negate the desire to have them share your bed.  For example, if you have multiple dogs that do not get along and you are a deep sleeper, you will want to choose one dog or the other, or neither to sleep with unless you would like to wake up covered in blood with a dog fight on your chest.  If your dog is having a misunderstanding involving possession of you, or the one you share your bed with- when either party moves it is prime time for a bite.  Even if you are a light sleeper, the behaviors should not be allowed to continue, and you will have to wake in order to stop it, rather then prevent the incident altogether.

     4. Are you willing to perform the necessary routines to ensure cleanliness?  Anyone who allows pets on the furniture knows a bit about the hygiene factors.  Sheets will need to be cleaned more often, and dogs will need to be kept clean as well.

     Those are the main points.  As always, feel free to add on with a comment below.

     Happy training! :)

  

 Have you "Liked" the page on Facebook yet?  Click the link below to like it now!  www.facebook.com/pawsthenplay

Dog training: Of Crate Importance

     I spend most of my time on the phone helping concerned dog owners.  One of the most commonly asked questions is "Well why do I need to crate my dog at all?  He doesn't like that cage."   If you have the preconceived notion that the crate is a horrid torture device, then your dog most likely will come to believe it also.  I am going to list some of the main benefits of crate conditioning.  If I miss anything, please feel free to chime in with a comment below.

To successfully crate train a dog, it needs daily exercise.

     First, I need to clarify that crate training or crate conditioning does NOT mean simply shutting your dog away in a box indefinitely.  A crate is a safe place, it is not a substitute for obedience training, exercise and affection.  When used as a training aid, it can help a dog learn to control and calm themselves, keep the dog safe, protect the house itself from damage, and bolster self confidence and mental development.  If anyone has ever owned, seen or heard about a dog that is so insecure it even follows a person to the bathroom, crate training would be an excellent option to help that poor animal realize that a human possibly going out of sight for a few moments does not equate to eternal abandonment.

     Have you ever noticed when dogs are stressed, if they do not have a crate or other designated safe area, they will make one?  Thunder phobic dogs hide in closets, under beds, behind furniture, beneath tables..... any small and den-like place they can find.  If you do a fast interweb search, you can find tons of nifty articles supporting the fact that dogs are denning animals.  Click here to read one I found.  So if the behavior of your dog and dogs around you is not enough empirical evidence for you hardcore non-believers, look it up for yourself.

     Beyond catering to canine's natural instinct to den, crates are a way to prevent potentially dangerous situations.  Dogs are wonderfully intelligent and creative beings who can sniff out the possessions we prize most (your favorite shoes, the tv remote, the toilet paper roll..... anything covered and smothered with your scent) and effectively hide and or destroy them before you can blink.  This is dangerous not only because your chunky heels are choking hazards and your sneakers are toxic, but the tangle of cords to your computer may appear tasty as well.  Instead of wondering how your dog managed to open the cabinets that had the child-proof lock and measuring how much peroxide it takes to induce vomiting, wouldn't it be nice if you had prevented it in the first place?

Shhhh! Peanut is sleeping!

     Having a safe place to rest and receive meals (I recommend feeding in the crate from time to time) morphs the crate from a prison to a comfortable "Bed and Breakfast" in the canine mind, and can reduce potty training time dramatically.  The vast majority of folks I know do not eliminate in their beds.  Dogs have a tendency to not want to go potty where they sleep either.  If the dog still has "accidents" a crate can save you from having to clean a lot of messes.

     The most powerful reason for crate conditioning is for the mental health of the dog.  As we age and become adults we also crave our own space.  Although I have seen dogs who are perfectly content to always be attached to a human companion, I do not see it as a desirable or healthy trait to encourage.  It all too often leads directly to a dog who is an overly anxious basket case when the human is not present (separation anxiety), and eventually to a dog who cannot even figure out how to relax in your presence.   Canines have fine minds if we allow them to use them.  The crate is like giving the dog it's own room.  Anyone who has a teenager or who has been a teenager (that should be all of us) probably recalls how nice it was to have your own room that you can spend time by yourself in- no siblings or parents allowed!

     As I mentioned earlier, a dog will seek out a safe haven when stressed.  By having a crate readily available, the dog has the option to avoid stressful situations.  It will also learn to be content by itself for short periods of time, even when you are home.  It does not mean the dog will not enjoy your company and attention.  Crate training opens up the mind for more learning opportunities by limiting the dependence on human guidance.  


*for more information, please check out the main website at www.pawsthenplay.com

Dog Body Language: A Snapshot

     Yesterday I posted a picture on the Facebook page of 3 Rottweilers.   I asked readers to share what they thought the dogs were really trying to communicate with their body language.  To my delight, 3 clever ladies stepped forth with wonderful answers.

    

     Above is the picture with the flippant caption.  My explanation is a similar echo of the ladies bold enough to post responses.  Like them I have spent years around dogs.  I have trained multiple breeds in a wide variety of circumstances.  When one has hands on the leash and only a second to respond to body language while applying pressure in the form of commands or expectations reading body language becomes a critical skill to avoid undue stress in the animal or at worst, a bite.  No back story is necessary to decode body language.

     The dog in the center is clearly the most attentive to the photographer and on alert, but not necessarily "unhappy" about anything.   The mouth appears a bit tense but it is not puckered to show teeth or growl.  Not only because it is the largest is it receiving attention from the other two, but because it has the most confidence in this particular situation.  It is undaunted by the staged photo, and dogs will gravitate to the one who is willing to take control of a situation.

     The dog on the left is clearly the most uncomfortable.  It is offering obvious submission and a plea for guidance with the licking of the mouth of the center dog.  Licking of it's own mouth would show some anxiety, the application of the action to the other dog is a request.

     The dog on the right is just observing the calmly.  It has a soft open mouth, soft eyes.  The posture suggests it may have been considering laying down or he could just be young and awkward.  Not only is he smaller than the center dog, but sitting lower to avoid any unintended conflict with the dog in the center.

   

*For more fun learning, please stop by the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pawsthenplay
or feel free to e-mail me directly at PawsThenPlay@gmail.com with any dog training or behavioral inquiries.

Multiple dog management

Ebony, Grace, Gracie and Garrett hanging out on their Bases

     Someone asked me what I do at my home when I have multiple dogs.  I always have multiple dogs: I own two dogs, and when I board dogs they come to me for a variety of reasons.  A few dogs stay with me on a regular basis to keep their training fresh and occasionally add more skills.  Others are dogs with very low thresholds that the owners know would be extremely stressed in any other environment.  There are dogs who come for basic skills, such as crate conditioning, simple commands, or leash work.  But as a Behavioral Consultant I also have dogs that are from questionable backgrounds that need to be temperament tested around other dogs and people in a home environment (versus the high activity level of a shelter or other holding facility) or that are here to work on larger issues such as fear, aggression, separation anxiety.

     There are several key factors that make my business successful for all of these instances.  First and foremost, I work from my home by appointment only.  There is not a public storefront or attraction.  No pretty display areas.  Just a regular house that I live in with my husband and our two fur kids.  This means when I schedule time to work with another dog/dogs they are the only ones I am focused on.  There is minimal chance for distractions.  I do a lot of classical conditioning, which is less popular mainly because of the necessary repetition.  In addition, when I am shaping a behavior with a dog, it can cut training time in half or better when I work directly with the dog- as I only have one student to show and reward for new skills, instead of having to explain each new adaptation to the owner. 

     I am very careful to balance my appointments so I will always be mentally and physically ready and able to devote all of my attention to the goals of the canine directly in front of me.  Each lesson is a personal bonding experience of the dog to whichever humans are guiding it.  Creating my business from my house was a deliberate choice designed to limit clientele numbers to yield higher quality results in the cases I choose to take on.  Paws Then Play LLC will never have multiple employees, have a huge facility or turn into a franchise.  I do what I love to help where I can.  I have a small enough roster that I can be available to any of my students who call me at any time of day and I know who they are, who their dog is and how I can help troubleshoot without having to shuffle through papers or pull up a database.

Riley, Brutus and Grace practicing down/stay.

     The most crucial element I have here is structure.  I don't mean the frame of the house, I mean the consistency in the day to day workings with my dogs, whether there are others present or not.  Every day my dogs know and expect to have to work for their meals.  There is no "Free Lunch" served and thus it cements the state of mind in my dogs of my role as the provider (this is part of my preferred non-confrontational methods which I will write more on in another entry).  Every day has multiple training opportunities since dogs are continually learning and I am strict with my "house rules."  The dogs are never allowed to run amok in the fenced-in enclosure (about 1/2 an acre) like a doggy daycare.  They are here to learn to control themselves, and see the inherent reward in self control as opposed to the constant barrage of forced interaction that is the root cause of many of my clients' issues.

     Both of my dogs went through months (in Brutus' case years) of on-leash training and observation before earning the freedom of being leash- and collar-free by becoming reliable to voice commands at a distance and with distraction.  Any new dog will always be wearing a lead when it is out of the crate in my home until it has proven its reliability off-leash.  Not only does this allow for the greatest amount of guidance (and thus, learning potential) but dramatically reduces the chances for any undesirable behaviors to be learned or any misunderstandings that can result in a bite.

     I presently have two four-legged house guests.  Holly and Stormie are keeping their training skills current while they await their fur-ever homes.  *(For more information about these wonderful girls, click on their names above for pictures and information, or click HERE for a link to the Greater Charlotte SPCA site.)  This morning they waited patiently in their crates for their turn to go outside for potty.  Holly was outside on leash while Brutus finished his time outside.  Grace had wiggle time solo off lead.  Stormie also had one on one potty time but on a long line.   Breakfast is served one at a time, so each dog has time to really shine working on their specific training goals.  Water bowls are freshened next as everyone settles in for quiet time (I feel rest is very important after meals or training).  Potty breaks are spaced sporadically throughout the day, whenever I am switching from one dog to another (or others) and water is always freshened after a dog has been out.

Theo and Tia after a nice long walk in the woods.

     Throughout the day I rotate through the dogs finding ways to relax or challenge them in turn.  Sometimes I have only one dog out training, other times I will have all four.  Everything is gauged by how much the individual dog can handle (what can it perform with minimal stress and retain) and its particular goals.  Grace and Brutus are "control dogs" or examples mostly.  For groups of dogs out together I assign particular areas for each dog, called "bases" to prevent the possibility of aggression. My two dogs are very used to this structure and so will almost immediately relax and take a nap. Monkey see= monkeys do for the most part! Other dogs are much more inclined to relax when they see my two doing so.  When I am working on the group stays on "base" my two simply relax and snooze, showing the newbies what is expected and possible.  Once a new dog has mastered "base" sometimes I will practice basic heeling exercises with one of my dogs where they can see which makes it easier for the dog learning the new skills.

     In a nutshell, what I do with multiple dogs is handle multiple work loads.  Each dog deserves not only to be exposed positively to other humans and dogs (socialization), but also one on one training time, and time to themselves for rest.  It is a matter of being able to accurately determine each dog's threshold, and balance the possible stress of learning new skills against the progress and coveted results, while managing the environment constantly to ensure each dog's success in any given exercise.  I live for the difference I see in the dogs I work with.  Knowing that the self relaxation skills I taught a dog helped to de-escalate a potentially aggressive situation, or seeing that a handler understands their dog more fully and has taken steps to make that dog's life better gives me fulfillment and justifies any physical or mental strain I may have exerted to get them there.


For more information go to www.pawsthenplay.com or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pawsthenplay