There is nothing sadder than the look on my 8-year-old dog Otto’s face when he sees me loading my new puppy Woody into the car, on our way to puppy kindergarten classes. This is pretty much the only time I take Woody somewhere and don’t ask Otto to come along, too. Otto’s expression was so bereft, it got me looking around for some other activity to take up with Otto (and Otto alone).
We had a blast when we were taking agility classes a few years ago – Otto absolutely loves running, jumping, climbing, and balancing – so I think that’s the thing we need to do again. There are several dog sports that I would really like to try (including Treibball and Nosework), but I know that agility is the one that Otto would have the most fun doing.
In contrast, I don’t think Woody is ever going to be a sporty dog. I have been characterizing him as extraordinarily “calm” – but my son has just come out and said it: “Mom, the word is lazy. He even eats lying down!” Woody can be speedy, and he gets the “zoomies” a couple times a day, but when it comes to training, I have to keep the sessions short and sweet. After just a couple of “puppy pushups” – repetitions of sit, down, sit, down, or sit, stand, down, etc., Woody is liable to go down and stay down. “What’s the point?” he seems to say. Of course, he’s young, and he may well develop more athleticism and endurance as he grows up, but we’ll see. There is no point trying to pound a square peg into a round hole.
Just today, I saw a post from a local protection-dog trainer, explaining how she’s taking dock-diving lessons from another trainer with one of her dogs – a foster-failed dog who looked perfect for, but did not develop into, a protection-dog prospect. I have so much respect for that! She seriously appraised the dog’s lack of enthusiasm for one type of training, observed how joyful he is in another venue (water!), and said, “Well, okay, let’s go do that!”
I recently saw a video made by another trainer I respect, of her and one of her dogs’ first attempts at an entirely unfamiliar activity: sheep-herding. She admitted that she had no idea of how to go about it; she put herself and her dog into the hands of an experienced sheep-dog trainer, and gave it a go. Her dog, a Border Collie, absolutely loved it, learned a lot, and clearly had a blast. She’s made plans to pursue it some more – not because it’s something she wants to compete in, just as a novel learning experience, and one that her dog thoroughly enjoyed.
On another topic:
I’m sorry that it’s been taking so long for me to complete a planned profile of a dog food company whose manufacturing facilities I toured last September (Nature’s Variety). My failure to get the piece completed – and to plan and begin several more pet food company profiles – can be blamed on any number of things, including too much puppy fostering in the past six months – and foster-failing/new puppy ownership, too. I can assure you that the Nature’s Variety profile will appear in the June issue, and I’m scheduling several more company tours for the summer and fall. Which pet food companies would you most like to learn more about? Let me know; I’m motivated to learn more, too.
It’s the stuff of nightmares: You and your dog are enjoying a walk through the neighborhood when all of a sudden, you spot an unaccompanied canine rounding the corner and heading your way. It can turn into a bad scene even if you and your dog are both young, healthy, and your dog is confident and well socialized. But what if your or your dog is frail or fearful? What if you’ve spent months trying to rehabilitate a dog whose is extremely reactive to other dogs?
Being approached by loose dogs, especially when my dogs are on leash, is my least-favorite experience as a dog owner. When we’re walking in a public place, such as a beach or park, I can usually identify the owner and ask that he please wrangle his dog. Of course, this request may be met with varying responses, ranging from appropriately apologetic for their dog having invaded our space, to accusatory, suggesting I am the problem for not allowing my dogs to roam free and socialize. But as uncomfortable as it may be to deal with unpleasant dog owners, it can be even worse to deal with a loose dog whose owner is nowhere in sight!
While every situation is different, conducting an on-the-spot risk assessment and having a mental list of possible tactics can boost your confidence and help you make clear-headed decisions when every second counts.
Following are five non-assertive strategies that you can use to deal with loose dogs (or avoid them!) while on walks. As we all know, some situations call for more urgent actions. If a dog rushes at you or your dog, here are some alternative ways you can keep yourselves safe.
1. Avoid the Situation
As a dog trainer, I work to avoid avoidance in my canine students (since it’s a stress response), but I will happily work to avoid loose dog encounters. If I know there’s a certain house where the dogs are likely to be uncontained and free to rush toward, follow, or otherwise harass my dogs and myself, I pick another route for our walk.
Yes, it stinks that I have to change my behavior as a result of someone else’s inconsiderate habits, but my priority is the emotional and physical well-being of my dog and myself. At best, it’s unfair to ask my leashed dog to tolerate interaction with a loose dog – even a friendly one. At it’s worst, being ambushed by a loose dog can quickly spell disaster for dogs who are sensitive or reactive to dogs invading their personal space. And, of course, somewhere in the middle are the “we love everybody” dogs who would enthusiastically greet any dog, and whose enthusiasm quickly creates an excited frenzy that’s difficult for an owner to control. From a training perspective, the last thing we want to offer the overly social dog is the chance to go nose-to-nose with the loose dog – even when it’s a friendly dog – since that would be rewarding the over-excited behavior.
In general, leashes interfere with natural dog body language, especially when owners get nervous about the situation and without thinking or being aware of it, shorten (tighten) the leash. In this situation, the leashed dog is unable to use his natural language to effectively communicate with the approaching dog.
Dog body language is like a ballet of subtle and not-so-subtle behaviors that facilitate an exchange of valuable information. When held close to the owner on a shortened leash, a dog is unable to defuse an uncomfortable situation by changing positions relative to the intruding dog, or simply walking (or running) away.
Also, the sudden tightening of the leash easily becomes a red flag to your dog that you are uncomfortable, which can further stress both dogs. It is for this reason that trainers generally discourage on-leash greetings between dogs (even when both are willing participants in the interaction), or at least remind owners to maintain a loose leash during greetings where both parties have given consent.
If your immediate neighborhood offers limited options for re-routing a walk to avoid problematic areas, consider hopping in the car and driving to another neighborhood, or even to a local shopping center where it’s far less likely you’ll encounter other dogs. It may seem horribly inconvenient at first, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – especially with dogs for whom encounters with loose dogs are especially challenging. It’s much easier to prevent significant behavior problems than to modify them later.
Depending on the situation, you can always visit the house where the loose dog is often seen (without your dog), and kindly ask the owners to contain their dog. If the dog is frequently running loose and you know where he lives, consider timing your visit for when you will likely encounter the dog, leash him up if possible, and knock on the owner’s front door. With this approach, it’s wise to point out how the loose dog is at risk for getting hit by a car or lost when he’s not properly contained, and you’d hate to see anything happen to him.
Although you’re likely to be annoyed, and the dog owners are in the wrong, as the saying goes, “kill them with kindness.” Find something to compliment about the dog, even if you’ve generally only see his less-than-desirable side. Something as simple as, “His coat is such a nice color,” or “I love his eyes” can often go a long way toward defusing the potential for confrontation and help maintain peaceful relations with neighbors.
Consider explaining that your dog is afraid of other dogs and it’s scary for her to have dogs run into her space, or that he’s “old and cranky” and you don’t want their (loose) dog to get snarked at by your dog. Yes, this approach can be a test of your emotional self-control since, if you’re like me, you’re likely to be supremely annoyed by the loose dog owners’ mind-blowing sense of entitlement. But remember the end goal is to encourage owners to contain their dogs, not to prove you are “right.”
If this fails, or past experience tells you it’s not a safe approach, there’s always the option of reporting a loose dog to animal control, or, if the dog can be safely handled, collecting the dog when he’s loose and unsupervised, and taking him to the local shelter. Some owners must experience some positive punishment before they are willing to change their behavior. (Note: In this case, “positive” is an operant conditioning term denoting the addition of something. In the case of “positive punishment,” what is added is unpleasant – having to visit the shelter to retrieve the dog, possibly pay a fine, etc.)
2. Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
The earlier you spot a loose dog, the easier it is to adjust your walk on the fly or prepare to manage a potentially sticky situation. I’m always shocked to see neighborhood dog owners walking dogs with leashes draped over their wrists and a coffee cup in hand, as they stare intently at their cell phones. All I can imagine is a loose dog rounding the corner, causing all heck to break loose in a very avoidable situation.
When you’re out with your dog, pay attention – especially if you know your dog doesn’t take kindly to interactions with unknown dogs, or if you worry about known loose dogs in the area.
If you do spot a loose dog, quickly changing direction is often an effective strategy, as many loose dogs are patrolling their perceived territory and aren’t likely to follow you all the way home. Stay calm as you instruct your dog to turn around with you, and remember to not choke up on the leash, as a tight leash is a glaring red flag to your own dog.
I typically walk with a favorite toy and/or treats and readily use one of these tools to capture my dog’s attention as I escort us out of the area. In that situation, I’d rather my dog not even notice the other dog, or if he does notice, I’d rather he not pay prolonged attention to the dog, since the more attention my dog pays to the loose dog, the more attractive we are likely to become.
The success of this U-turn approach depends largely on how readily your dog complies with your instructions. That’s a training issue. Never underestimate the importance of training.
In general, it might not seem like a big deal if your dog’s focus defaults to the environment and you find it hard to get his attention while on a walk, or if his loose leash walking is mostly acceptable, except when he sees other dogs, he gets super excited and starts pulling toward the dog. But when you find yourself in a sticky situation, not being able to get – and keep – your dog’s attention in the face of distractions can create unnecessary challenges.
3. Remain Calm and Try “Calming Signals.”
If you aren’t able to avoid an unwanted interaction with a loose dog, do your best to remain calm and use calm body language as a way to tell both dogs – yours and the intruder – that everything is fine, there’s no need for conflict.
Calming signals is a term coined by Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas to describe a collection of behaviors dogs often exhibit when faced with stressful stimuli, including looking away to avoid eye contact, yawning, lip-licking, and sniffing the ground. Rugaas has postulated that these behaviors are used by dogs to communicate peaceful intentions and avoid potential conflict. Other behaviorists speculate that those behaviors are meant, in varying shades, to signal deference or avoidance – but the overall intent is to keep the dog who offers these behaviors safe and whole, not to “calm” the other.
We don’t know for certain what these signals mean, but most dogs understand them, so even humans can use them to help defuse a tense situation. The other dog won’t suddenly think you’re a dog just because you’re “speaking his language,” but the ability to communicate in a way he’s likely to understand can de-escalate an encounter that might otherwise turn into a confrontation, and can also help your own dog feel more relaxed during a challenging situation.
4. Body Block
My main goal when we encounter a loose dog on a walk, aside from ensuring our safety, is to prevent the loose dog from making contact with my dog. To help accomplish this, I will purposefully position myself between my dog and the incoming dog, asking my dog to sit and jockeying position as necessary to keep the approaching dog at bay.
Depending on my interpretation of the incoming dog’s intent, I might posture a bit, weight forward as I sternly tell the dog to “Go home!” or “Get back!” Sometimes asking a loose dog to “sit” in a firm voice helps stop the dog’s forward motion. From there, you can toss a handful of treats behind the dog and as he turns to eat them, you now have valuable time to move away.
In the face of a loose dog coming at you and your dog, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Patricia McConnell, PhD, suggests taking the tossing of a handful of treats one step further; she actually suggests throwing a handful of treats into the charging dog’s face. She admits it would not stop a “highly motivated, hard-charging dog who is laser focused on attacking you or your dog,” but she made a video and posted it on her blog to show that it can work. See tinyurl.com/grrftsf.
5. Other Alternatives
When it comes to managing encounters with loose dogs, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Following are some additional tactics to consider:
Deterrent Spray
We don’t recommend traditional mace or pepper spray, including those sold as animal deterrents, such as Halt! Dog Repellent (hot pepper-based), due to the potential risk of blow-back into your eyes or your dog’s eyes. (Even the faintest waft of mace or pepper spray can be extraordinarily painful.)
However, a citronella-based deterrent spray such as Spray Shield (formerly sold under the name “Direct Stop”) can help stop the unwanted advance of a dog, or, in extreme cases, can be used to help break up a dog fight, and is far less caustic in nature.
Air Horn
The sudden, loud blast of an air horn can often frighten a loose dog and cause him to turn-tail and head home. Pocket-sized air horns can be found in sporting good and marine stores. The downside to an air horn is that the noise can scare your own dog, too. If this is a tactic you’d consider using, it’s wise to desensitize your dog to the noise first.
Walking Stick
Many people carry a walking stick, golf club or other similar object that can be brandished as a weapon when faced with an unwanted approaching dog. The goal here, is to intimidate the dog in an effort to stop his approach, not to cause bodily harm. The crisp “crack!” of a stick slapping the ground, or the audible “whirl!” of a club slicing through the air will often deter an approaching dog without ever needing to make physical contact. Some people also report success using the sudden burst of an opened, push-button umbrella. With any of these tactics, be mindful of the potential for scaring your own dogs.
Head up a Walkway/Driveway
Heading toward a neighbor’s front door or up the driveway as though you live there often gives loose dogs second thoughts, as they can be leery of more confined spaces and of being captured.
Unconventional Exit Strategies
Depending on the size of your dog, objects in the environment can provide unique protection against approaching dogs. A client once told me her husband quickly jumped into the back of a parked pickup truck with their small terrier to avoid an aggressively approaching dog. The quick-thinking client of a fellow trainer once put her little dog in a trashcan to keep him safe as she dealt with the problematic loose dog. Lucky for them, it was trash day and the cans were out on the curb!
Whatever approach you choose, do your best to remain calm so as not to escalate the situation with your own panicked behavior. After any altercation with a loose dog, carefully assess your dog for injuries and consider taking him to the veterinarian, as bite wounds can be difficult to spot under thick fur. Write down as much as you can remember about the incident, such as location and a description of the dog, and contact your local animal control agency.
Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Los Angeles.
Being approached by loose dogs, especially when my dogs are on leash, is my least-favorite experience as a dog owner. When we're walking in a public place, such as a beach or park, I can usually identify the owner and ask that he please wrangle his dog. Of course, this request may be met with varying responses, ranging from appropriately apologetic for their dog having invaded our space, to accusatory, suggesting I am the problem for not allowing my dogs to roam free and socialize. But as uncomfortable as it may be to deal with unpleasant dog owners, it can be even worse to deal with a loose dog whose owner is nowhere in sight!
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One evening more than a week ago, I’m sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of wine, engrossed in a Netflix movie, when my husband exclaims something from the kitchen – something that sounded like “cat” or was it “bat”?
“What?” I yell back.
He comes in grumbling about us having too many animals, and that there is a bat in the kitchen. Ducking reflexively, I may have shrieked, “Alive or dead?”
“I didn’t check its pulse,” he answered, deadpan. “The cat’s got it.”
Ugh, that’s a job for me, then. If the bat had flown or been found in the house without a feline or canine companion, I probably could have made a case for it being his job to deal with. But if it has to do with “my” cats or dogs, I’m up.
I like bats, and appreciate their mosquito-eating skills. But I like them in the sky, where they belong, not in my kitchen. Fortunately for me, not so much for the bat, this one was dead – and perhaps dead for a while. The cat who brought it in didn’t look very interested in it, and I couldn’t see any wounds or blood on it. I used a Ziploc bag to pick it up, sealed the bag, and washed my hands. I then looked the cat over for wounds or bites. I didn’t see any.
I was at my local animal shelter a month or so ago, picking up or dropping off one litter of foster puppies or another, when I overheard a discussion regarding rabid bats. My ears pricked up when I heard the name of the street I live on. Elbowing my way into the conversation, I learned that in the past two months, there have been two bats found in homes – both within blocks of my house – which were tested and found to have rabies. So, first thing the next morning, I called my local animal control officer, and asked what I should do. I was advised to bring the vaccination records for the cat, and the bat, to my local shelter; the bat would be tested by our county’s public health department for rabies.
I started looking through my animals’ health records, to check on all of their vaccinations. Wouldn’t you know it? Somehow, all the dogs, and the other cat, were perfectly current on their rabies vaccines. The cat in question, though, hadn’t had a rabies vaccine for three years – and she’s only had one. How had I screwed that up? (Well, there’s an answer; she was sick the last time I brought her and her brother to the vet; he was well and got vaccinated, and I was supposed to bring her back but had forgotten to do so. Bad owner!)
I called the officer back with this news about the cat’s rabies vaccination status, and was told to add my cat to the list of things I needed to bring to the shelter. Because her rabies vaccine was not current, she would have to be quarantined until the results of the bat came back – negative, we hoped.
My shelter was doing me a favor in quarantining the cat. Ordinarily, a person would have to board the cat at a veterinary office that provides quarantine services. But given that I’ve been fostering puppies for the shelter at my office/house (two blocks away from where I live) nearly nonstop since November, the shelter director said they would quarantine (and vaccinate) the cat for me.
The good news: The bat’s rabies test came back negative.
The bad news: My cat picked up a mild upper respiratory virus at the shelter. When I picked her up and drove toward home, she sneezed nearly nonstop. I decided I would keep her at my office/house until she felt better, so she wouldn’t bring the virus home to her brother and my neighbor’s cats. (She spends a lot of time in my neighbor’s yard, which drives me crazy because she is fat from eating from the trough of cat food they keep outdoors. I have begged them to discourage her from hanging out over there, but they like her.)
When my cats were younger, I kept them at my office/house a lot. They actually got to the point where they would jump into my car with my dogs for my two-block commute, hang out with us all day, and then load up again for the evening commute home. But since we started renting out bedrooms to students attending a local trade school, and one student was allergic to cats, I stopped bringing the cats to work. Currently, I don’t have any of the rooms rented, and though it had been a few years since she had been here, my cat settled right down on the sofa and went to sleep.
I had a litter box in the garage, from when my sister-in-law brought a neighbor and her cat to stay here during a forest fire evacuation last summer. I brought it out, filled it with fresh litter, and put it in the kitchen. I put food and water for the cat on the pass-through between the kitchen and the living/dining room, the best spot to keep the dogs from eating it.
We spent the day peacefully. The cat has smacked my puppy, Woody, a few times for being too curious or moving too quickly through a room in which the cat was sitting (she’s a harsh ruler), and though he was excited to see her after a few days apart, she raised her paw to him once and he settled right down again. They even napped on the loveseat in my office (it’s pretty much just for pets) in the afternoon.
That evening, I was working at my computer when I heard a noise I couldn’t place. Then I identified it as the sound of the cat in the litter box. But the cat was still asleep on the loveseat. I looked around, counting heads. Woody was missing. “WOODY!”
He came ambling in from the kitchen – with cat litter stuck all over his nose. ACK!! My cats are indoor/outdoor cats, and they don’t ordinarily use a litter box, and even when I did have an indoor-only cat, I’ve never had a dog who snacked from a litter box! But now I do!
Because I’ve had so many foster puppies, I’ve invested heavily in exercise pens and baby gates. I can keep the litter box gated away from Woody, but accessible to my sneezy cat, until she’s well enough to go home again. I’ll just have to step over it a dozen times a day.
While my cat and I were super lucky that the bat wasn’t rabid, and cat-poop-snacking isn’t the worst behavior a dog can learn, I still really, really wish I hadn’t failed to keep one of my pets’ rabies vaccines current. It all could have been avoided: the quarantine, the feline upper respiratory virus, the horror of coprophagia. Don’t be like me!
When I first saw the adolescent canine who was to become my darling dog Otto, in my local shelter in June 2008, his cage card warned “Kills chicken” – an endearing typo that evidently meant he had either killed a chicken, or makes a habit of killing chickens. There is no way to know what was meant by that now, but the fact is, I brought home three adult laying hens in late 2010, and after a single warning to Otto (No! Off!), he’s been completely trustworthy with the birds, even when they are loose and walking around the backyard, something I allow them to do mostly in the winter, after our summer vegetable garden is done.
He made a predatory move toward a chicken one time in the eight years I’ve shared with him. Our next door neighbors have six or so hens, one of whom got in the habit of flying over the fence into our backyard (tiring of having to rescue her frequently, they eventually rehomed her). She miscalculated and flew into our chicken pen once, and my hens attacked her, causing a loud ruckus that brought my husband out of his home office (I wasn’t home) and forced him to wade into the melee to save her. His inexperience with fowl (I don’t think he’s touched a chicken before or since!) caused a lot of flapping and squawking, and, as he described it to me later, caused Otto to just sort of forget himself for a moment. He jumped up onto my husband, mesmerized by the wildly flapping chicken that my husband was attempting to carry to and fling back over the neighbor’s fence. When my husband, shocked, exclaimed, “OTTO! NO!” Otto looked embarrassed and immediately slunk away. He’s not made an error in avian judgment since.
I was worried that it was going to take a bit more to keep the chickens safe from my new puppy, Woody – until one of the now-mature hens took puppy-training into her own hands . . . er, beak.
Woody likes to walk around their pen and stare at the hens, an activity I call him away from whenever I catch him at it. I’ve given him the “No! Off!” speech at least a dozen times; he’s much more persistent than Otto ever was in the face of this message, and I’ve worried that I may never be able to allow the chickens to walk around loose with impunity again. But we’ll see; there has been a potentially game-changing event.
This morning, I was washing dishes and saw Woody standing, staring, just outside the chicken yard, his nose pressed against the chicken-wire. I was just about to rap on the kitchen window and call to him when I saw one of the hens TROT toward the fascinated puppy and PECK him right on the end of his nose through the fence! He yelped in surprise and pain, and ran from the pen with his tail tucked between his legs. A perfectly timed correction, delivered at just the right time in his as-yet-inexperienced life – and one that had nothing to do with me, that he won’t/can’t associate with me.
I can’t wait for tomorrow, to see if he will avoid the chicken pen, or go back to investigate some more. Life with a puppy is never dull!
Not long after my husband and I bought our house in 2006, we were introduced to another couple who, unbeknownst to us, shared our home address: a pair of skunks. They had a den under the house, and emerged shortly after dusk to wander through the neighborhood, foraging for fallen fruit from ornamental and backyard fruit trees, digging for grubs and worms in freshly watered lawns, and helping themselves to cat food on various porches where some people feed cats (feral and otherwise).
We attempted to seal them out from under the house, but they kept digging under the foundation. I bought one of those motion-activated sprinklers, that would kick on if anything crossed its path, and mostly managed to wet my husband or myself, when we went to take out the trash and forgot it was on. We consulted with a “pest” service that would trap and kill them, but didn’t like anything about that solution and declined. I actually used a cat trap and trapped one, illegally (and without incident, by the way) releasing it in the wildlife area a few miles away. But I kept saying to my husband, “They aren’t going to move away until we get a dog!”
When we first moved here, we were dogless. My “heart dog” Rupert had passed away a couple years before, and I had just turned over a long-haired Chihuahua, inherited from one sister, to our other sister, who has a thing for little dogs. I wanted another dog, badly, but I had to have my husband’s buy-in, since I was commuting a long distance and wasn’t home a lot. He really didn’t want to be responsible for a dog when I wasn’t home, so we were at an impasse for some time. Our second summer here, though, the digging the skunks did in the lawn and garden escalated. My husband finally agreed that it was time to get a dog to help encourage the skunks to relocate.
We got Otto in the summer of 2008. He was eager to join our anti-skunk campaign – that is, until he got skunked twice. And to this day, when he sees skunks, he will bark, but he will NOT advance on them.
I think this is a sign of his superior intellect. Some dogs get skunked again and again and again, and never seem to connect that stinging sensation in their eyes and nose and throat (nor all those baths) with that funny-looking cat that doesn’t run. Otto got the spray in his eyes and face the first time, and just a glancing mist the second time, and he has retained that knowledge to this day: he doesn’t mess with skunks at all anymore.
The skunks finally did move out from under the house. Maybe it was because I had broken up their family by removing the dad or mom (whomever it was, he or she was a big, mature skunk). Or maybe having a dog patrolling around the yard, even at a safe distance, was enough to get them to move down the street to someone else’s house. They definitely are still around though, and on mornings like this, when the breeze that accompanies the sunrise carries a strong skunk odor from somewhere on our block, Otto will invariably come inside the house and approach our bedside, whining with concern about the nearby skunks. I understand that Otto is simply letting us know that a skunk is out there; but my husband cracks jokes. “Don’t worry, Otto, we’ll protect you from those scary skunks!” However, he can’t deny there aren’t any more holes in the lawn, and I haven’t had to use the magic skunk-scent-erasing formula to bathe Otto since that first summer. So it’s all worked out.
If I had to name my puppy’s most annoying trait, I’d have to say it’s “fooling around” with my older dog, Otto.
What do I mean by this? A person who wasn’t familiar with dog behavior would be likely to say that Woody is pestering my older dog. He jumps up into Otto’s face, licking and flopping around, and generally acting like a fool. The more he does it, the more irritated Otto gets. Otto may start out with his tail wagging, standing in one place and turning his head away, trying to ignore the puppy’s foolishness. Within a few seconds, though, he will start baring his teeth and growling at the puppy in a fearsome manner, until they are either interrupted (by me), or by Otto abruptly deciding enough is enough and flattening the puppy with a roar and a lot of snapping teeth.
Truthfully, Otto doesn’t actually flatten Woody, although that’s how it looks. If you watch carefully (and I have been), Woody throws himself on the ground, in an act of active submission. When the moment plays itself out without interruption, Otto will stand over Woody’s wiggling, lip-licking form for a moment, as if to say, “Seriously! Stop it!”
Does Woody have a death wish? Why would he do this several times a day?
“Fooling around” is the phrase behaviorists use to describe one of the dog’s most common indicators of stress; it’s right up there with fight and flight, in terms of “top five things that a dog might do when stressed.” Otto is clearly the leader of my little pack of dogs, and his mere presence nearby exerts a powerful influence on the most junior member of the family. Woody is both drawn to Otto and mildly afraid of him, and the combination seems to trigger moments of this over-the-top obsequiousness.
When we invite them to live with us, we ask dogs to mute – or at least, turn way down – much of their natural, normal way of relating to each other. Their noises, facial expressions, and behavior can appear to us humans as very dramatic – but the drama is meant to forestall actual violence. It wouldn’t make any sense for animals in a highly social group to genuinely hurt each other when they squabble on a day-to-day basis over resources like food, toys, the most comfortable spot in the room, or proximity to an owner. So, while I understand that Woody’s exuberant “sucking up” to Otto and Otto’s dramatic “Knock it off! Go find something else to do!” are natural and normal behaviors, things they have to do as they work out the intricacies of their canine relationship, I still find it annoying. It may be natural and normal for dogs, but it seems to be equally natural and normal for humans to be uncomfortable with sounds of growling, snarling, and roaring/snapping.
Woody is maturing day by day, and as he gains self-control and confidence, these little flurries of animated canine behavior are slowly giving way to more subtle interactions. Now, more often than not, Otto can walk into a room and Woody will acknowledge the senior dog with just a few flips of his tail and a lowered head, with low ears and a flicking tongue. I’m glad my bully breed puppy is showing appropriate deference to our pack leader, but I’ll also be happy when he’s completely confident in this role and the “fooling around” behavior stops.
A colleague sent me this link to a video of famed BASE jumper Dean Potter flying off a cliff wearing a “wingsuit” with his dog, Whisper.
I had seen the video before. In fact, when I first saw it, I was tempted to write a blog post about it – but I got caught up in something else and forgot about it. At least, until the news broke that Potter and one of his best friends – but not his dog – had died in the middle of a similar wingsuit jump. Authorities aren’t certain exactly what happened, but some sort of miscalculation or errant current of air blew the adventurers into unforgiving rock. My colleague was unaware that the guy in the video had died, but when I sent her a link with a news story about his death, she was sort of horrified. “How could he risk his dog’s life like that?”
I was horrified, too – because I’m aware that the sport has a high fatality rate, a fact that no dog could ever be aware of. It begs the question: If the dog understood the concept of death, and what a risk they were taking, would she choose to go with her owner, whom she clearly adores?
Maybe. Just maybe.
As just two examples: There are bomb-sniffing dogs who accompany members of the military, and who have witnessed the horrible sight of people (and perhaps their canine compatriots) blown up before, who still choose to go out each day with their handlers. There are police dogs who have been shot by bad guys and have returned to duty with just as much vigor and enthusiasm as before.
One could argue that we risk our dogs’ lives every time we put them into a car (seat belt or no seat belt), or put them in the cargo hold of a plane, or even just walk them on leash on our city streets! (I’ll never forget this story, or get it out of my head . . . it makes me run across streets rather than walking when I’m with my dog, always.
Is it different, risking a dog’s life for mundane activities, than in the pursuit of something unique and dangerous? Is it more noble to risk a dog’s life when he’s a partner in the service of an activity that may save other human lives?
I guess we all have to decide for ourselves. What do you think?
Dr. Hershman realized that when an ear is not inflamed and not painful but full of debris or tarry exudates from a yeast or bacterial infection, flushing the ear makes sense. “If you don’t flush it out but keep applying medication on top of the debris,” she says, “you’re never going to cure the problem. But I also learned that flushing the ear is an art. You can’t simply fill the ear with otic solution and expect it to flow out by itself, taking all the debris with it. Because the dog’s ear canal forms a right angle, you just can’t get the liquid out unless you suction it gently with a bulb syringe or some kind of tube with a syringe attached.”
Flushing the ears, says Dr. Hershman, is one of the most important techniques you can learn for keeping your dog’s ears healthy. “They don’t teach this in veterinary school,” she says. “It’s something people learn by experience.”
When should the ears not be flushed? “If they’re painful, ulcerated, or bleeding,” she says, “or if there’s slimy, slippery pus in the ear or a gluten- ous, yeasty, golden yellow discharge. In any of these cases, flushing is not recommended. But if the ears are not inflamed and are simply waxy or filled with tarry exudates, flushing works well.”
The procedure begins with a mild, natural, unscented liquid soap from the health food store. Place a few drops of full-strength soap in the ear, then thoroughly massage the base of the ear. The soap is a surfactant, and it breaks up debris that’s stuck to the sides of the ear canal. From a bowl of water that’s slightly warmer than body temperature, fill a rubber bulb syringe or ear syringe, the kind sold in pharmacies for use with children or adults. Place the point of the syringe deep down in the soap-treated ear, then slowly squeeze the syringe so it releases a gentle stream of water.
“By the first or second application,” says Dr. Hershman, “you should see all kinds of debris flowing out. It’s like a waterfall. At the end of each application, hold the syringe in place so it sucks remaining water and debris up out of the ear canal. Then empty the syringe before filling it again.”
For seriously debris-filled ears, Dr. Hershman repeats the procedure three or four times, then she lets the dog shake his head before drying the ear with cotton balls and Q-tips. “I look for blood or debris,” she says, “and I check inside with the otoscope. If there’s still a lot of debris, I put more soap in, do a more vigorous massage, and flush it a few more times.
“An ear flush can be traumatic if the ear is inflamed,” she warns, “and occasionally there will be an ulcer or sore that you don’t know is there and it will bleed. That’s why you have to be careful about how you do this. You have to be vigorous but not aggressive. You don’t want to make the ear more inflamed, painful, or damaged than it was to begin with.”
After flushing the ear, Dr. Hershman applies calendula gel, a homeopathic remedy. “I put a large dab in each ear and ask the owner to do that once or twice a day for the next three days. The gel is water-soluble and very soothing. Calendula helps relieve itching and it stimulates the growth of new cells, so it speeds tissue repair.”
If the discharge in the dog’s ear is yeasty or obviously infected, Dr. Hershman skips the ear flush, instead using the following treatment.
I’m a HUGE advocate of shopping in independent pet supply stores. They are generally run by people who really care and are knowledgeable about dogs (and other small pets). They tend to carry better-quality foods, treats, toys, training products, and just about everything else than the chain pet supply stores do. (But don’t get me wrong: The giant pet supply chains are leagues better at identifying and carrying better-quality products than chain supermarkets and big box stores. I can’t think of a single product I’d buy in the pet supply aisle at a Walmart, for example.)
But there is a catch: At some of the small independent stores, it’s maybe a bit more important that you check the expiration date of any food or treat that you buy! Well-managed stores have systems in place to make sure that products that are close to or past their “best by” dates are pulled from the shelves, so that customers don’t bring home products whose fats are oxidized – gone some degree of rancid, which makes them exude a strong odor and renders them unpalatable to all but the most undiscriminating eaters. Rancid foods and treats can also upset canine tummies and cause what some vets call “bottom of the bag syndrome” – a temporary case of diarrhea and/or vomiting.
The best stores, like the San Francisco Bay area-based chain Pet Food Express, have programs in place to donate food and treats that are getting close to their best-by dates to rescues and shelters. See “What a Waste,” WDJ November 2012.
Keep in mind that naturally preserved foods (those preserved with mixed tocopherols, a.k.a., vitamin E) have shorter shelf lives than those that are preserved with artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. (We avoid foods that are artificially preserved, but it is undoubtedly better to feed artificially preserved foods that are not rancid than to feed naturally preserved, rancid foods.) If you buy foods that contain natural preservatives, it’s even more important to check the “best by” date.
Unfortunately, it’s easy for inventory control in any store to fail, and for products to linger on the shelves well past their “best by” dates. I recently had a bag of food in my cart and was halfway to the cash register before I remembered to check the date on the bag – and was I glad I did! It was six months past its “best by” date!
But I was so excited to see one of my favorite training treats (Stella and Chewy’s freeze dried “Meal Mixers”) in an independent store in a town about 60 miles from my home (I was visiting my sister-in-law and niece), that I failed to check the date … and when I opened the bag so I could load up my bait bag an hour before Woody’s most recent puppy kindergarten class, I was super disappointed to see that the normally flaky, puffy “nuggets” (easily smooshed into two or three treats in the hand, making them easy to use for reinforcing several behaviors, and super healthy) were hardened – like popcorn that had been left out for weeks. I checked the date on the bag, and d’oh! They passed their “best by” date months and months ago – and probably should have been sold months and months before that!
The worst part is that because I was shopping so far from home, I can’t immediately take them back for an exchange! And at $20 a bag, it’s a costly mistake. I’ll get back there in the next couple of weeks, and bring my receipt, but it’s not quite as compelling to a store manager to bring something back that you bought weeks ago versus just a couple days ago. How can she know that I didn’t buy some newer treats from her, and am trying to get a credit for some old treats I’ve had around for months? And honestly, I was more bummed about having to scramble for treats before class than I am about having to go back to that store – I still really like that store! I just will look at the labels more carefully.
One of the many things I love about today’s dog training world is that now, thanks to our culture’s paradigm shift toward positive reinforcement-based training, a lot more people are having fun teaching their dogs to do tricks. Once a mere afterthought in training, fun is now taking center stage as more trainers offer classes in “just” tricks, and encourage their clients to get creative with the behaviors they teach their dogs. In fact, there are even canine titles to be earned in tricks! Kyra Sundance, a stunt dog trainer/performer and author, offers five levels of Trick Dog titles through her Do More With Your Dog program, from Novice Trick Dog to Trick Dog Champion.
We have gone far beyond the “Sit, Shake, Sit Pretty, Roll Over” list of basic tricks, although these are still favorites with many dog owners. Today’s trick-trained dog can play an electronic keyboard, roll himself up in a blanket, put bottles in a recycling bin, and much more. Here are some of my favorite creative tricks that you can teach your dog. All you need to get started are your dog, a clicker (or verbal marker), treats, and any props your chosen trick entails.
Leg Weaves
For this trick, your dog weaves in and out of your legs every time you take a step forward. No props are needed for this one, and it’s a pretty easy trick for most dogs.
– Start with your dog sitting at your left side. Put your right foot forward.
– To lure, put a treat in your right hand and offer it to your dog under your thigh, behind your right leg. As he moves toward the treat, pull it back away from him so he follows it under your leg. Click and treat. (He should move across in front of you.)
– Put your left foot forward and repeat the action with the treat in your left hand this time. Or, you can ask him to target to your hand or a target stick held behind your leg, rather than using a lure.
– If he’s hesitant to follow the lure or target under your leg, toss the treat behind you as he starts under, until he’s moving more easily – then have him follow the lure or target.
– As soon as he’s moving smoothly under your legs, add your cue, and fade the lure or target. Eventually you will only need to cue the first step – after that your steps forward become the cue for him to continue weaving. Look – you’re dancing with your dog!
If you want to use a target stick for this trick, teach your dog to target! See “Utilizing Target Training,” WDJ January 2007.
Check out this video by San Diego, California, trainer Emily Larlham, owner of Dogmantics dog training and the Kikopup Youtube channel, showing how she teaches a dog to do leg weaves.
Say Your Prayers
This trick is cute: On cue, your dog goes to a bench, sits, puts his paws up on the bench, then drops his nose between his paws as if he’s saying his prayers.
– Have your dog sit in front of his prayer bench. Encourage him to put his paws on the bench; he will probably stand up to do this. That’s okay! Click and treat when his paws are on the bench.
– While he is standing with his paws on the bench, ask him to sit. He will probably try to remove his paws from the bench in order to sit. That’s okay! Click and treat for any movement toward a sit before his paws come off the bench.
– Alternate repetitions of both behaviors (paws on the bench from a sit, and sit while standing with paws on the bench). As you gradually shape each behavior they will eventually meet in the middle and he will be able to sit with his paws on the bench.
– When he will remain seated with his paws on the bench, hold a treat in front of his nose with one hand to keep him in place while you move a second treat underneath and between his front legs with your other hand.
– Lure his nose down with your first treat until his nose reaches your second treat, then lure his nose down slightly between his front legs. Click (or use your verbal marker) and treat.
– When you can easily lure his nose between his legs, add your verbal cue, “Say your prayers!” and gradually lure less and less, until he can say his prayers on cue.
Pups in a Blanket
For this more challenging trick, your dog lies down on a blanket, grasps the corner of the blanket in his mouth, and rolls over to wrap himself up. For the best success, teach rolling over and blanket-grasping separately, then put them together.
Roll Over:
– Ask your dog to lie down. Kneel or squat next to your dog.
– Use a treat in your hand to encourage your dog to roll flat onto one side (if he is already rolled onto one hip be sure to continue in the same direction) by moving the lure in a “C” shape toward his ribcage, then up to his spine. Repeat until he easily moves into the flat-on-his-side position. (I call this position “Relax.”)
– From “Relax,” encourage your dog to turn tummy side up using your treat lure. Place the lure at the end of his nose and move it up in a half-circle above his head. As soon as he shifts so his legs lift off the floor ever so slightly, click and treat. Gradually increase the amount of the arc until he is turning onto his back, and then all the way over. Once the dog passes the point of equilibrium, gravity takes over and the roll just happens.
– Go slowly; some dogs get a little worried when they feel themselves rolling over. Make sure your dog is comfortable at each new step before asking him to roll a little farther.
Grasp the Blanket:
– Have your dog lie down on the blanket. If he already knows a “Take it!” cue, offer him the corner of the blanket and ask him to take it. If he doesn’t, encourage him to play with the corner of the blanket, then click and treat any time he puts his mouth on it.
– When he’ll grasp the blanket with his teeth, add your “Take it!” cue. Gradually increase duration until he is holding the blanket in his teeth for several seconds.
– Alternatively, you can fold a treat into the corner of the blanket and click and treat when he grabs it with his teeth. Add your cue, and gradually increase duration until he is holding the blanket in his teeth for several seconds.
Combine the Behaviors:
– When he knows both behaviors well, put them together. Start by having him lie down on the blanket.
– Give him your “Take it!” cue, and when he is holding the blanket in his teeth, cue him to “Roll Over.”
– If he keeps hold of the blanket and rolls over, click, treat and party!
– It is more likely that at first he will probably drop the blanket and roll over. Watch him closely, and click just before he drops the blanket. If he drops it before he rolls over at all, just try again.
– Repeat this step, gradually increasing duration of the blanket hold until he will keep it in his teeth while he rolls all the way over. Pup’s in a blanket!
6 More Dog Tricks!
1. Take a Bow: Use the food lure (or touch target) as if asking for a “down.” Move the food just a little at first, so only his front end lowers. Gradually move the treat lower and lower until the front end is all the way down but the hind end is still up.
2. Crawl: Have the dog lie down, then move the lure or target forward slowly, close to the ground, to encourage the dog to follow it without getting up.
3. Jump Over (or Through) My Arm(s): Kneel facing a wall, two feet away, with your dog on your left side. Touch the fingers of your left hand to the wall, arm low. Use the lure or target in your right hand to encourage him to jump over your arm. With your dog on your right side, switch arms and do it again.
4. Spin/Twirl: Move the lure or target in a slow circle at the dog’s nose level, so the dog can follow. Use different words for left- and right-hand circles.
5. Side Pass: With the dog standing in front of you, use a lure or target to keep her nose centered in front of you and slowly step sideways.
6. Dance: Hold the lure or target the height of the dog’s body length off the ground. When the dog stands on her hind legs, move the lure/target as if asking for a spin.
Other Trainer Favorites
Some of my trainer friends shared their favorite dog tricks with me:
Valerie Balwanz, PMCT, CPDT-KA Pampered Pets, Charlottesville, VA
Photo courtesy of Valerie Balwanz
“My favorite thing to teach the dogs in my tricks class is to hit buzzers that make funny sounds with their paws. Some of the buzzers make animal sounds, mooing like a cow or crowing like a rooster. Others make cartoon-like ‘Boing!’ or honking sounds. Once the dogs have mastered this trick, the classroom explodes into a cacophony of amusing sounds. This gets everyone laughing.”
You can also do this trick using talking buttons, like the Staples “That Was Easy” Button.
Balwanz recommends using shaping to teach this trick. (See “Fun Training Techniques,” WDJ March 2006.) But first, make sure the dog isn’t concerned about the sound the buzzer makes. Push the buzzer, feed a treat. Repeat this several times and watch for signs of stress. For dogs who are concerned about the sound, use a push-on night light in place of the buzzer. Then start shaping:
– Click and treat for any movement toward the buzzer. This could include looking toward the buzzer, leaning toward the buzzer, or actually moving toward the buzzer.
– When you are starting to get consistent movement toward the buzzer, raise your criteria, and only click/treat for any foot movement toward the buzzer.
– When you are getting lots of foot movement, select which foot you want the dog to use and then only click/treat specific right- or left-foot movement toward the buzzer.
– When you are seeing consistent movement of your chosen foot, raise your criteria again, and click/treat for right-foot movements within six inches of the buzzer.
– Your next criteria might be to click/treat for right-foot movements within three inches of the buzzer.
– Then click/treat for right-foot movements within one inch of the buzzer.
– Then only click/treat for right-foot movements that touch the buzzer anywhere.
– Then only click/treat righ- foot movements that touch the buzzer on top.
– Finally, click and treat right-foot movements that touch the buzzer on top and are hard enough to make it make noise.
Once your dog performs this last step consistently, name the behavior (put it on cue). Balwanz asks her students to make up their own cue for this behavior. “My students understand that we always get behavior before we name behavior, so once their dog is hitting the buzzer, they can call it anything they like. This encourages them to be creative. I enjoy hearing the funny cues they invent!”
Following are links to various sources for buzzers and buttons. Some office supply stores sell “front desk” bells, which are also fun to use for this trick.
Sharon Messersmith, Canine Valley Training Facility, Reading, PA
Photo courtesy of Sharon Messersmith
“My favorite trick to teach dogs to play is ‘Peek-a-Boo’ between the owner’s legs,” Messersmith says. “It gets the most reaction from kids and adults when I’m doing a therapy visit or just trying to make someone laugh.”
– Stand in front of the dog with your back to him, your feet wide enough apart so the dog can put his head through your legs. Hold a treat at the dog’s nose level in front of you to lure him through your legs. Make sure you only put it far enough so he comes through to his shoulders. As the dog is walking toward the treat, mark the behavior with a click or the word, “Yes,” and treat your dog.
– Repeat the first step until your dog starts to offer the behavior a few times. Then you can start to add the cue “Peek-a-Boo” as your dog is walking between your legs, but before you mark the behavior with a click or “Yes.”
– When your dog is reliably walking through your legs (eight out of 10 tries), begin to fade the lure. Stand in front of your dog with feet apart and say, “Peek-a-Boo.” When your dog starts to walk through your legs, click or say, “Yes” and feed a treat. If your dog doesn’t walk through your legs after being cued, wait three seconds, then lure him through.
– As you continue to practice this trick, your dog will need less of a lure. Continue to fade the lure until he will do Peek-a-Boo reliably on cue. Click and treat!
Jessica Ring, PMCT, My Fantastic Friend, Ellicott City, MD
“One of my favorite tricks is ‘Chill,’ in which the dog rests his chin on the ground or on some other designated surface such as someone’s lap,” Ring says. “This is a simple and great trick to teach a therapy dog, or one who is on crate rest. I taught it to my dog after he had hip replacement surgery. It’s useful in the car or to help a dog relax – and it’s also ridiculously adorable.”
To teach this trick, Ring also uses shaping:
– Start with the dog in the down position and wait for any tiny movement of the head, eyes, or ears toward the ground. Click and deliver the treat on the ground.
– Repeat several times, until you are sure your dog has caught on (you see him offering small but deliberate movement toward the ground), and then hold out for a slightly larger movement.
– Keep repeating this process over the course of multiple short sessions, until your dog is resting his chin on the ground.
– Once you get to the point where your dog’s chin is resting on the ground, click and treat after just a split second.
– After several repetitions, gradually build duration over time by waiting just a hair longer before clicking/treating. Be sure that you are clicking and treating frequently. If your dog seems to be getting frustrated or you are not clicking very frequently, back up a few steps and work there a bit longer before increasing your expectations.
Endless Possibilities
The tricks described here can get you started, and further possibilities are endless! Ask whether your local dog trainer teaches a trick class. Search Youtube for “dog tricks” to see more dogs doing more tricks than you ever thought possible. Check out Kyra Sundance’s books – 101 Dog Tricks: Step-By-Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond With Your Dog and 101 Dog Tricks, Kids Edition, both available from Dogwise.com. But most important, remember to have fun training your dog. If you do that . . . it’s all tricks!
Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She and her husband Paul and their four dogs live in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where Pat offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers. Miller is also the author of many books on positive training. Her two most recent books are Do Over Dogs: Give Your Dog a Second Chance at a First-Class Life, and How to Foster Dogs: From Homeless to Homeward Bound.
Stunt dog trainer/performer and author Kyra Sundance has created an entire program around teaching dogs to do tricks. Trainers can become Certified Trick Dog Instructors (CTDI), and dog owners can earn titles at five levels by having a witness sign the Trick Dog Performance Form found on Sundance’s website. To achieve the various levels, you simply need your dog to perform enough tricks from Sundance’s Tricks List to meet the requirements for that level:
Novice Trick Dog (NTD): Demonstrate 15 tricks (intermediate and advanced tricks count as two tricks).
Intermediate Trick Dog (ITD): First earn your NTD, then demonstrate 12 tricks from an intermediate or higher skill level (advanced and expert tricks count as two tricks).
Advanced Trick Dog (ATD): First earn your ITD, then demonstrate five advanced or expert tricks.
Expert Trick Dog (ETD): First earn your ATD, then demonstrate five expert tricks.
Trick Dog Champion (TDC): First earn your ETD, then submit a video that meets the requirements spelled out on the Do More With Your Dog website.
For Sundance’s Tricks Lists and more about her Trick Dog titling program, visit her website here.
A couple of days ago, I received a text from a dog-training client, wondering about a video she had just watched—and which she linked in the text. “Is meat meal bad for dogs?” she asked. She followed that message with, “I get that she’s selling her own pet food, but is it (meat meal) that bad?”
