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Once your dog knows a behavior well, and can perform it in many locations and with many distractions, you can fade the use of your marker signal and rewards. In other words, you don’t need to click and treat every time your dog sits for you. However, it’s also important to pay off every now and then to keep your dog in the game and gambling. “This time might be the time the reward happens, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, just in case.”
Here’s an example of how you can fade the use of treats when using a verbal marker while teaching a behavior like “sit”:
Ask your dog to “Sit.”
As his butt hits the ground, say, “Good boy,” give a treat (praise and treat paired together) and release him with a release cue such as, “All done.”
Ask your dog to sit again, but just say, “Good boy,” without the treat (builds anticipation of the treat), and release him.
The next time, give the treat after your verbal praise (score!).
Ask for the sit once again and give the treat again after your verbal praise (score again!).
Use just the verbal praise for a couple of rounds, and so on until your are only using treats occasionally but still getting good responses from your dog.
You can also add in other rewards that your dog likes, such as asking him to sit and when he does, saying “Good boy,” and throwing a ball or playing a little tug. You could also open a door, pet him, or allow him access to something like the car if he enjoys car rides. These are called “real life” rewards, and anything your dog wants or likes can and should become a reward as you progress in your training.
Reducing the use of food rewards should be a goal, but always be ready to go back to using more or better treats when you add more distractions, duration, or distance to a behavior – at least until your dog has a clear understanding that this is the same training as before, just in different context. If a well-trained behavior falls apart when you go out into the world, that’s information for you. It’s time to help your dog by going back to food – usually a high value reward.
Once your dog demonstrates that he can stay focused on the task at hand, you can switch to a lower value food as long as you maintain the successes you achieved with the high-value food in that same location or with the same distractions.
Once you have decided to use fewer treats, bear in mind that never using treats again would be like asking yourself to give up ice cream, cake, or other goodies. There is nothing wrong with using food to reward your dog, just use it to your advantage – to help him get better with his skills. Sometimes it is fun to give your dog a treat, just like it is fun for us to get unexpected rewards. Also, if your dog does something really amazing that you would like repeated, then food is the best paycheck you can give him to keep him in your employment.
For more advice on training your dog, purchase Chill Out Fido! from Whole Dog Journal.
I’ve heard it from a dozen different people in the past few weeks: “Oh my goodness, Nancy, that puppy LOVES you!” In every case, the person who made the spontaneous exclamation was prompted to do so by witnessing the same phenomenon: Seeing my new puppy sit calmly and stare, making direct eye contact with me.
The puppy, Woody, may well love me – I certainly love and adore him! But what’s the true explanation? Does he stare at me because he loves me, or has he developed affection for me as a result of all the reinforcement he’s received for that eye contact?
Honestly, I think it’s the latter. Humans love an extended gaze, and even people who don’t particularly like or understand dogs tend to respond warmly to a dog’s soft, direct eye contact. Woody learned early on that he got more petting and treats when he sat quietly and gazed at me – I noticed him doing it more than the rest of the other eight puppies in his litter, when he was as young as five or six weeks old. He got a lot of treats for the behavior, because it’s one I like to encourage in all of my foster dogs and puppies: It helps them win hearts, minds, and homes from prospective adopters!
Well, I was a little too successful this time! It worked its magic on me!
Researchers have confirmed why we humans love the gaze of our dogs so much. In the April 17, 2015 issue of Science, an article entitled, “Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds” researchers reported that oxytocin levels increase in both dogs and humans when they gaze at each other. Oxytocin facilitates and strengthens bonding in every mammalian species.
From a training perspective, too, it’s a good thing for your dog to pay attention to you, and your face in particular. Dogs are master observers, and often learn your “tells” – expressions and movements and breathing patterns that reliably predict your next move, whether or not you consciously knew what you were about to do or not! This is why you can’t find your dog right before you were about to load him into the car for a trip to the vet or groomer, why he is so depressed the day before you leave for a vacation without him, and how he knew to wait for you by the door the minute you decided you needed to get out for a walk. You can use this effect to your advantage, by consciously using reliable body language or facial expression cues for your dog’s behaviors that you’d like to increase.
I’m in love with Woody, and I hope Woody loves me – but for now, I’m thrilled enough that he finds it reinforcing to watch me. I want to sustain that behavior forever.
Tinctures are liquid extracts that preserve the medicinal properties of the fresh or dried herbs they contain. Alcohol is the most widely used tincture solvent because it extracts fats, resins, waxes, most alkaloids, some volatile oils, and other plant components, which it preserves indefinitely. Vegetable glycerin, a sweet, syrupy liquid, dissolves mucilage, vitamins, and minerals but does not dissolve resinous or oily plant constituents. Apple cider vinegar does not break down plant constituents as effectively as alcohol or glycerin, but it extracts sugars, tannins, glycosides, bitter compounds, alkaloids, vitamins, and minerals.
My teacher, the herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, recommends using unpasteurized apple cider vinegar for making tinctures, especially for tonic herbs, which are slow-acting regulating herbs that should be taken daily to improve the health of a system or to revitalize the entire body. Examples include dandelion, stinging nettle, raspberry leaf, garlic, hawthorn berry, ginger root, ginseng, pau d’arco, schizandra, fo-ti, and astragalus.
As Gladstar notes, most of the herbal literature warns that vinegar tinctures have a shelf life of only six to eight months, but she has found that vinegar tinctures stored in a cool, dark place can last for many years. For best results, use undiluted vinegar containing five to seven percent acetic acid. Adding water to a vinegar tincture in any proportion or using fresh herbs that are too moist will cause fermentation and spoilage; be sure to let succulent fresh herbs wilt and partially dry before using them in a vinegar tincture.
Garlic-Dandelion Vinegar Tincture
This tincture is recommended for dogs as a general tonic and to help repel parasites.
Partially fill a pint or quart jar with coarsely chopped, fresh garlic and fresh or dried dandelion leaves, roots and/or blossoms in approximately equal proportions. (If using dried dandelion, leave ample room for expansion.) Fill the jar with apple cider vinegar, seal tightly, leave in a warm place, shake gently every few days, and let it stand for six to eight weeks. Strain and bottle, or simply pour off what you need.
Add this tincture in small amounts to your dog’s food, gradually increasing to approximately 1/4 teaspoon per 20 pounds of body weight per day. The dandelion is a tonic for the entire body(it helps improve digestion, cleanses the blood and supports kidney function), while garlic repels internal and external parasites and acts as a digestive and circulatory tonic.
If desired, make a double-strength tincture by straining the completed tincture into a new jar of freshly chopped dandelion and repeating the process. Reduce the dosage accordingly.
Vinegar Liniment
An effective liniment warms and relaxes joints and muscles, increases circulation to the area, relieves inflammation, improves flexibility and speeds healing. Traditional recipes combine skin-warming ingredients and therapeutic herbs with cider vinegar.
For example, combine one pint apple cider vinegar with one teaspoon powdered cayenne pepper, four tablespoons dried (or 1/4 cup fresh) rosemary, and two tablespoons dried (or 1/8 cup fresh) comfrey leaf or root that has been cut or broken into small pieces. Leave the jar in a warm place for a month or longer before straining. Shake well before using.
Massage into tight muscles, bruises, or sore joints, or simply soak a cloth or bandage in the liniment and hold it on the affected area for as long as possible. Keep this liniment away from the eyes and mucous membranes.
None of you actually had any money riding on the question of whether I was going to keep him or not, did you? I hope not.
Yes, I am keeping the puppy, the one I fell in love with from the litter I fostered for my shelter. One of these days, I’m going to go back through all my files and do the math, but I think that if I added up all the dogs I’ve fostered for one shelter or rescue of another in the past 20 years, the total would come to more than 25, and this is the first one I’ve “failed” at fostering. At least, so far. I am still not discounting the idea that, if it turns out that this puppy turns out to be the ideal dog for an ideal family sometime down the road, I could, theoretically, still turn him over to a perfect life elsewhere. Who knows? Maybe he will turn out to be a great service dog or therapy dog, as some of you have suggested. He does have the calmest, most centered personality I’ve ever seen in such a young dog.
And his name is Woody. I wanted a nice, friendly name – even though half of my friends were proposing names based on his size and promise of future bulk, names like Thor and Hercules and Max. My husband usually names all of our pets, and he admired the wood-grained look of the pup, apparently unaware that the brindle coat color is generally just called brindle. It’s never been my favorite coat color, but now that I look at it like wood-grain, I like it. I like everything about this pup so far.
For example, I taught him (within minutes) to put his front feet up on a stool. He decided to go one step further and get up onto the stool, and then sit down on it (sitting is still his very favorite behavior). I thought it was just too cute, and rewarded him richly. The next day, I was working at my computer and suddenly thought that thought you don’t want to have when you have a puppy: “It’s too quiet! Where is the puppy?!” I started to jump up from my chair, and as I did, I looked into the next room – where Woody was sitting comfortably on his little step stool, waiting for me to notice and reward him. Goodness knows how long he had been sitting there, but he got rewarded with treats and an abundance of kisses. He climbs up there all the time now, just to hang out, but he’s not going to fit on the stool much longer, the way he’s growing. I’ve ordered a K9 Kore Balance Disk and Base from TotoFit (totofit.com) for his next “station.”
My good friend Leonora, who was fostering a litter of six tiny puppies (the ones I had for just the Christmas week in addition to the litter of nine I was fostering), has also “failed” at fostering. She kept the smallest of her litter, and she did give him a big, tough name, Samson! We’re both signed up for a puppy kindergarten class with my favorite local trainer, Sarah Richardson of The Canine Connection, starting this week, and we’ll take the puppies to Sarah’s puppy socials, too.
I haven’t owned a young puppy since I was a kid (and didn’t really own the ones my parents kept). As an adult, the youngest dog I’ve owned was my Border Collie, Rupert, bought by my then-boyfriend when the pup was about four months old – and that was years before I knew anything about dogs, years before WDJ. This is my first opportunity to own a dog from as early as possible, and I could not be more excited.
Otto is still not excited, but he knows that where there are untrained puppies, there are more treats and more exercise than usual, so he’s getting on board, slowly. He gets extra compensatory love, too, and I’m taking pains to crate Woody enough so that Otto gets plenty of alone-time. And, fortunately, I am still fostering Maebe the Black and Tan Coonhound, who is absolutely the best puppy-sitter ever. She plays and plays with Woody, helping get him good and tired. Most of the pictures I have been taking of him have Maebe in them; they are just too cute together.
As you may know, I’ve been fostering a litter of nine puppies for about seven weeks. From day 1, there was one puppy who stood out to me as a potentially great dog. One of just two males in the litter, he was the first to learn to offer a “sit” when I was getting their food or medicine ready, and to make eye contact with me any time I looked over the group. He also shows great poise and self-control: He will sit and stare at me, even as other puppies are jumping all over him, trying to get him to play with them, and he will just physically shrug off their very rough attempts to hijack his attention, with his eyes fixed on me the entire time. His devotion makes my heart hurt!
At my shelter, we have one particular veterinarian who comes on Thursdays to spay and neuter. Two weeks ago, she spayed four of the puppies, and they were adopted within a day or two. Then, last week, I said a tearful goodbye to each of the last five pups and brought them to the shelter for their surgeries. I have been considering adopting that one special puppy – but ultimately decided against it. I knew he would be adopted immediately; I just wished I could hand-select a home for him!
I cried on and off all day, even though I knew we had a line of people waiting to adopt the puppies; I had taken portraits of each of the pups and we had posted their pictures on the shelter’s Facebook page, and people had been calling the shelter for days asking when they would be ready to adopt.
At about 5 P.M. that day, I got a text from the shelter director, saying that the veterinarian hadn’t been able to get to all the surgeries they had hoped to get done that day, and the boy puppies hadn’t yet been neutered, and did I want to pick them up and keep them for another week?
So, even though I had decided last week that there is no way I need another dog, and managed to say a painful goodbye to my special puppy, I’ve had another week to spend admiring this guy, and I’m wavering again. I love the other boy puppy, too, but it’s the brindle boy who has just absolutely grabbed my heart. I’m not giving him any more attention than the other puppy, I’ve been treating them the same way all this time, and yet, while the grey pup is interested in me in a general way, the brindle boy is obsessed. He follows me from room to room. When I’m waiting for my coffee to re-heat in the microwave, he sits on my foot. He eschews the comfy dog bed two feet from my office chair in favor of draping himself across the highly uncomfortable hard plastic legs of my office chair. And yes, he follows me into the bathroom and lies down patiently on the bathmat while I brush my teeth or, you know, whatever. Is it my imagination, or is he reading my mind? He seems to be saying, “Look, I’m yours.”
I had an instant-message chat with WDJ Training Editor Pat Miller about the puppy. “Paaaaat!” I whined. “What am I going to do! I don’t need another dog! I don’t particularly like pit-mixes! But he loves me! And I love him!”
I should have known better than to consult someone who generally has five or so dogs herself. She said, “You know, all the years I worked at/with shelters, only rarely did one speak to me like this… sometimes you just have to listen.” In other words, she was no help at all. 😉
I finally had to have a heart to heart with my husband about this last night. He’s come a loooonnnggg way, folks. He’s not a dog person – he would live quite happily with no dogs. And when I told him I was seriously thinking of keeping this puppy, and asked him, “What do you think? Am I crazy?”, he started his answer with, “Well, how many dogs do we have now?” I laughed out loud.
“Two!” I said. “Plus one foster – but she will be leaving sometime. I’m not keeping her!” I have been fostering and training this hound girl, Maebe, for a week or two longer than I’ve had the puppies. I adore and am amused by her, but she really does need to go to a home with younger, more active people in it. Preferably a distance runner who wants a trail companion! Or lots of small children! While I feel confident I will be able to place her somewhere within a month or two, she has been a constant presence on our sofa every night for the past two months, adding validity to my husband’s seemingly silly question about how many dogs we already have.
And to his credit, my husband then asked, “How does Otto feel about this?” That right there shows that for all his seeming gruffness about the dogs around here, my husband is paying attention. Otto’s opinion is important.
The truth is, Otto doesn’t like puppies. He has absolutely no use for them until they get a bit older. He growls in a most fearsome way when the puppies come toward him, and makes the most hideous faces you can imagine, with lots of teeth showing. If they come at him fast, he leaps and dodges away like they have leprosy. But just this past week, down to just the two puppies, he’s been not only holding his ground when they approach, but starting to wag his tail at them. He still growls, but the faces are getting less fearsome, and the tail is definitely wagging. I think as long as it’s clear that Otto is my biggest, deepest canine love, he’ll be okay with the addition of another dog in the family.
I still can’t say that I need another dog. I really don’t. But I also just can’t let this guy go to just anyone. It may develop that I keep him and train him for a few more months until the perfect family for him comes along. We’ll see. This morning, when I take the last two puppies to the shelter for their surgeries, I’m going to let them know that I will be taking the brindle pup home with me again at the end of the day.
I’m fostering a one-year-old hound, Maebe, who has a minor amount of separation anxiety. The other day, I left her in a wire crate for about two hours in the house where I have my office. When I returned, I found that she had escaped from the crate and went on a bit of a rampage in the house. She went “counter-surfing” in the kitchen and ate the better part of a cube of butter and a few English muffins. She found a bag of treats on another counter and ate them, as well as half of the bag itself. She got into the trash in my office. She was on my desk – !!! – and knocked over my computer monitor!
In the past six weeks or so that I’ve had her, she hasn’t been this destructive, even when I’ve left her for longer periods. So, today, when I had to step out of the office for 15 minutes or so, I decided to set up the camera on my laptop to spy on the hound and see what she did while I was gone. I was curious: Would she be upset while I was gone? Frantic? And how did she get the door to the crate open?
I put Maebe in the crate, put a carabiner on the gate as a second level of defense, tossed her a handful of treats, and set up my laptop computer so that its camera was pointed at the crate, and set it to “record.” Otto was in the house, and I left him loose, as I always do. I walked out of the house, and took a short walk, rather than drive away. As I walked away from the house, I saw a mailman approaching my neighbor’s house. I knew that Otto would likely bark a time or two when the mailman put mail in the mailbox, and I hesitated, thinking that perhaps I should wait until the mailman had passed already, so that Otto’s barking wouldn’t affect Maebe. But then the mailman stopped to sort through his bag, and, impatient, and with the camera running, I decided to just keep walking.
I was gone 15 minutes. When I walked back into the house, Otto was standing inside the door, as if he heard me approach the house and was ready to greet me. Maebe was in the crate and seemed calm. I let Maebe out of the crate, stopped the recording on the laptop, and sat down to watch.
There were a few surprises!
Surprise # 1: Perhaps because I walked away from the house, and she didn’t hear my car start up and leave, Maebe was completely calm, not even arising from a “down” position, for a few minutes after I left.
#2: At the one-minute mark the mailman must have put the mail in my box (which is affixed to the wall next to the front door) and Otto leaped off the couch in my office, and ran to the front door, barking up a storm. That much, I expect; it’s his habit. The surprise here was how long and hard he barked. If I hadn’t known better, if I heard only the audio, I would have thought there was someone actually trying to break into my house. And he went on and on! My nearly perfect dog barked at the long-departed mailman with total ferocity for a minute and a half. AND, surprise #3: Maebe never got up during that time!! She was completely calm during Otto’s outburst!
Surprise #4: It wasn’t until the four-minute mark before Maebe got up and started inspecting the crate for weak spots. She stood up and pressed her nose to the ceiling, one wall and then the other, and the gate several times. She pawed at the bottom of the gate repeatedly and whined. Since she had escaped from the crate just two days earlier, I expected her to start trying to escape almost immediately after I left, and to be fairly upset. She seemed only mildly distressed.
At 5:46, she seems to give up on the tampering with the crate, and starts to howl in a disconsolate manner. And at 6:01, in Surprise #5, Otto joins in the howling! WHAT? I’ve never known him to howl before, but there it is on permanent record . . . and the duo went on and on, until 7:34. Then Maebe sits and listens until 8:07, when she goes back to pawing and even biting at the crate door. She alternates between sitting and whining and pawing at the door until 9:23, when she finally lays down again, albeit somewhat tensely.
At 10:07, Otto walks into the room, and in fact, stands in front of the camera, obscuring the view of Maebe. He alternates between looking out the front window, and staring into space, listening. He doesn’t pay one lick of attention to Maebe. At 12:00 he abruptly walks off camera, headed to the front door. Maebe, who at that point was lying down, sits up and fixes her gaze on the door. And for the next three-plus minutes my video looks like a still photograph, with Maebe sitting tense and still, listening intently to (surprise #6!) Otto whining in the front hallway! He whined and then I heard him give a little bark of excitement when I turned the key in the front door. Maebe sat like a statue until I walked in and turned off the camera.
So, while the exercise did, in fact, reveal that Maebe is mildly distressed by being home without humans, and that she doesn’t seem to get much (if any) comfort from the presence of another dog in the house, it revealed even more about my own dog! He is more stressed than I would have imagined about being left home with another dog. So, now I have more experiments to do: Putting the camera on Maebe when she is left home with no other dogs in the house, and when I drive (rather than walk) away, and putting the camera on Otto when there are no other dogs in house, and when I drive away. I may have to set my laptop up to record every time I leave my office with any dogs in it, for any length of time!
Have you ever “spied on” your dogs when you weren’t home? Did you learn anything you didn’t expect?
Almost as soon as I walked into Boomer’s house, I could tell his owner was nervous. This isn’t all that unusual when meeting a new client for the first time. I always have my new clients put the dog in another room so we can get acquainted with each other and have some time to chat without being distracted.
Very often, the clients are uneasy during these initial consultations; I’ve grown accustomed to it. After all, often they have agonized over acknowledging their dog’s issues and their decision to call in a professional. But after a few minutes, I could tell there was something more. I’d been called to help her dog with his reactive behavior. She related that he lunged and barked at some people as they walked by. During our discussion, she seemed unusually pensive and was having difficulty making eye contact with me. So I pressed, “Is there anything else you need to tell me? Whatever it is, you’re safe and can tell me without fear of judgment.” She finally looked up at me and whispered, “I think my dog is racist. He hates black people.”
Race is a touchy subject and most of us try to avoid talking about it. In this case, though, the dog owner was left with little choice. I’m African American, and since I’d be working with her dog, she knew she needed to be up front about it from the start. I responded, “Is that all? I was expecting something bad!” We both started to chuckle, albeit a little nervously, but I felt it was important to try to lighten the mood a bit.
What she didn’t know was that it was far from the first time I’ve heard people describe their dogs as such. In fact, it’s a lot more common than I’d like to admit. But is it true? Can dogs be “racists”?
Racism is an ugly concept and an ugly word associated with an ongoing, systemic problem in our society, deeply rooted in history. True racists generally believe that some races are superior or inferior to others, which is why I’ve always felt the term is used way too loosely even when describing human behavior. People might have prejudices and biases, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are “racist.” More often than not it means they are fearful of, unsure of, have had negative experiences with, or haven’t been exposed to enough of the type of person they are concerned about. And this goes for dogs, too!
Dogs gravitate toward the familiar and seek out experiences that have formerly resulted in positive, beneficial, and/or pleasurable outcomes. They also tend to avoid situations and other beings who look (or even smell) deeply unfamiliar to them. So, in my view, it’s only natural that they can be biased toward or against people of a particular race, nationality, culture, and/or gender. Of course, as understandable as it may be, their fearful or defensive behavior around people who look very different from those they have more experience with can be difficult and downright embarrassing when it manifests.
What can you do about it? Here are my suggestions:
Confront it head on.
It’s understandable to want to just avoid the subject entirely, especially if it’s rare that your dog will come across a person of that particular race. But therein lies part of the problem. We all know the importance of socialization and acclimating our dogs to all kinds of different people, places, and things.
A dog who repeatedly shows fear or reacts negatively to persons of a particular race has probably not been well socialized with people of that race. If you’re fortunate enough to adopt the dog before this issue arises, the most beneficial and proactive thing to do is to make a concerted effort to socialize your dog or puppy with people of every different race or nationality you can think of.
Many dog trainers are familiar with Margaret Hughes’ “Puppy’s Rule of 12s,” which addresses introducing your puppy to 12 different people (outside of family) including children, adults (mostly men), senior citizens, people in wheelchairs, walkers, with canes, crutches, hats, sunglasses, etc. Although the “etc” implies taking it even further, since it doesn’t directly emphasize people of different races, nationalities, and cultures, it’s easy for that to be overlooked, especially if you don’t routinely run into people who might fit into any of these categories. That means you might need to go out of your way, and out of your own comfort zone, to ensure your dog makes friends with a virtual rainbow coalition of people!
Stop using the “R word.”
There’s too much stigma attached to the word. How many times have you heard people say their dog doesn’t like men? Well, they don’t go on to describe their dogs as “sexist.” There are a lot of dogs who also don’t seem to like children, people wearing hats, people in uniform, etc. Dogs have all kinds of biases, and racial/cultural biases are just like any other and should be treated as such. There shouldn’t be anything taboo about this or anything to be embarrassed about.
Don’t assume abuse or mistreatment.
Particularly when dealing with rescue dogs, people often assume that if a dog reacts fearfully or aggressively toward certain people, he must have been abused by people who resemble the ones who triggered his reaction. I would hazard a guess that this is only rarely the case. More often than not it is more a lack of association and positive interactions, not mistreatment.
The problem with this assumption is it excuses the behavior – a disservice to your dog – and inadvertently places blame on the person your dog is apprehensive about. So unless you know with absolute certainty that your dog was abused, don’t attribute his behavior to this.
Seek professional help.
As a canine behavior counselor, the number one dog problem I deal with is reactive behavior, regardless of the trigger, and I’m sure other canine behavior experts would likely say the same. Research shows that reactive dogs can be helped through behavior modification and counter-conditioning exercises, but these exercises take time and a lot of repetition. A behavior professional not only can develop a customized program for your dog, but also can be your extra set of hands and eyes, giving you feedback, tracking progress, and tweaking the program when necessary. She can also facilitate a more predictable environment to work in; this is especially valuable if your dog (and you) are already scared. The last thing either of you need is an unwelcome surprise at any given corner.
Reactive behavior does not disappear overnight. Accept that it’s going to take some diligence and perseverance to see progress. I always advise my clients to expect to take two steps forward, and sometimes one step back, but to keep working. These methods are time-tested, and you’ll be moving full speed ahead again before you know it.
Confront your own fears and possible biases.
I think one of the other reasons people are so reluctant to talk about their dog being “racist” (there’s that ugly word again) is they feel it could imply they, too, are racist. Well, let’s talk about that for a minute.
A handler’s fears, apprehensions, and emotions can travel right down the leash to her dogs, so if you’re harboring some fears of your own about people of certain races, your dog could certainly pick up on it and react. Does that make you a bad person? No, it makes you human.
A very nice lady once told me that her dog wasn’t racist, but he “didn’t like criminals.” I asked how she knew that, and she related how, when she and the dog waited in the car while her husband ran into a convenience store, he always growled at the “young men wearing hoodies walking into the store.” When I asked her how her dog knew those kids were criminals, she couldn’t answer. Obviously the dog doesn’t know anyone’s “rap sheet,” but if she was uneasy when those young men were around, her dog would most certainly pick up on it.
Again, this is nothing to be ashamed of. What will make the difference is if and how you address it. You have a couple of choices. You can shrug it off and act like it’s no big deal, but know that this is not a problem that is going to go away by itself.
Depending on where you live, it’s quite possible you could carry on with life in a vacuum without running into anyone of that particular race or nationality for a while. However, if we take a look around, we can see that the world is getting smaller and our society grows more diverse by the day.
There may come a time when it won’t be so easy to keep your dog in that protective bubble; then what? Preferably, you’ll try to help your dog alleviate his fears, so he can walk with confidence in the world and enjoy all it has to offer. Who knows? If your dog is able to make new friends, you might, too!
A demonstration of how to use counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) for a dog who is anxious about or distrustful of humans with an unfamilar skin color or other appearance. The author, Laurie Williams stands in a relaxed, neutral pose, not staring at the dog. The dog’s owner feeds the dog treats, one after the other, as long as Williams is close by, and stops only when Williams steps out of view. After multiple repetitions, Williams’ appearance at a below-threshold distance should elicit a cheerful “Where’s my treat?” response from the dog. Photo courtesy of Laurie C. Williams.
Counter-Conditioning and Desensitization (CC&D)
Counter-conditioning involves changing your dog’s association with a scary or arousing stimulus from negative to positive. Desensitization is starting with a very low-level intensity of aversive stimulus until the dog habituates to (or changes his association with) the aversive, and then gradually increasing the strength until the dog is comfortable with the stimulus at full intensity.
The easiest way to give most dogs a positive association and to help them become comfortable with a stimulus is by using something they find extremely pleasurable. For a food-motivated dog you could use very high-value, really yummy treats. If your dog is more motivated by toys, you could use his most coveted and desirable toy to engage him in play. Briefly, here’s how a person would use the CC&D process to help change her dog’s reaction to people of a different race or appearance from a fearful or aggressive one to a happy, friendly one.
Ideally, the handler would bring her dog to an environment where she would be assured of seeing the kind of people her dog is uncomfortable with – but where there is room to control the distance between the dog and the people.
It’s important to start with the scary stimuli (in this case, the people of a different appearance) at a great enough distance from the dog so that the dog notices them, but is not yet extremely fearful or aroused (this is called the threshold distance). As soon as and whenever the handler sees her dog noticing someone, she can begin feeding the dog a constant stream of tiny bits of high-value treats, or begin offering play with the toy to the dog. As soon as the scary stimulus is out of view, or far enough away that the dog stops paying any attention to the stimulus, the handler stops feeding the treats or the game.
This process is repeated until the sight of the scary stimuli consistently prompts the dog to look at his handler with a happy smile and a “Yay! Where’s my treat?” or “Are we gonna play?” expression. This is a conditioned emotional response (CER) – your dog’s association with seeing people of the novel appearance is now positive one rather than a negative one. The process is continued, with increasing intensity of the scary stimulus: the handler moves the dog closer to the scary stimuli, or stages the exercise in a location where there are even more of the scary stimuli. Care is taken to keep the dog “under threshold” – happy and comfortable, and never stressed or pushed to the point of having a negative reaction to the stimuli.
Canine education specialist, dog behavior counselor, and trainer Laurie Williams is the owner of Pup ‘N Iron Canine Fitness & Learning Center in Fredericksburg, Va.
When it comes to love, dogs offer all of the devotion with none of the guile. They won’t sign up for a secret account on Match.com, or see another owner behind your back. And that flirtation with the pet sitter … well, it’s harmless. After all, there’s a reason dogs have a reputation for being faithful friends. Reciprocating, though, can sometimes be a challenge. Dogs, you remember, approached our hearth; it has been in many ways a rather lopsided arrangement in the love department since the dawn of time. And with our busy lives and competing priorities, we humans have altogether too few opportunities to return that cupidity in kind – although, given how utterly and completely most of our dogs rely on us, that’s a tall order under even the best of circumstances.
But we can at least try. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here are some thoughts about how to share the love with the dogs in your life:
Food is love; provide good food!
As any Italian grandmother will tell you, the act of providing a meal is about far more than just calories. Whether you feed a conventional kibble diet or organic, home-prepared fare, study your dog to determine what food she thrives on: What makes her eyes sparkle, her coat shine, her breath smell fresh? Experiment a bit: Don’t buy into the scare tactics that you’ll create an intestinal avalanche if you mix things up. (Of course, if you know your dog has a sensitive stomach, or a medical condition that requires a specialized food, don’t start offering a buffet.) Try different foods, and keep track of what you feed and how she responds to it – write it down!
Once you know what works for your dog, feed it. If your budget can’t support the very best, then feed as high a quality food as you can afford. Don’t feel guilty, and don’t get behind on the mortgage so your dog can eat organic chicken necks. Dogs are generally hardy souls; what’s most important is that you stay healthy, stable, and positive so you can continue to provide the loving home that your dog needs most of all.
Love means never having to say goodbye – literally.
Dogs are dogs, not humans in fur suits. Many of the social rituals we share with our fellow two-leggers aren’t appropriate for dogs. Amping up arrivals and departures as if you are dropping off or picking up from the first day of kindergarten isn’t a display of love to your dog. For many, it’s a great way to seed and feed separation anxiety. If you love your dog, save your displays of affection for another time – one that’s more spontaneous, sporadic, and less likely to become a trigger for a behavioral consult.
I never make a big deal when I leave the house, whether it’s for a snappy errand or an afternoon-long meeting. I crate the puppy, with just one word – “Crate!” – dispensing a treat or chewie when she complies. As I ready my keys and check that I have my iPhone, the adult dogs just sigh, hop up onto the couch, and settle in.
To know him is to love him – also literally.
Dogs are like fuzzy snowflakes – no two are alike. And while the dogs who came before helped shape you into the competent, caring owner that you are today, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that what works for one will work for the other.
I come out of the dog-showing world, where the mark of a great handler is being able to adapt your style to the dog at the other end of the leash. This dog lives for liver, but that one would much prefer a squeaky toy. This dog can handle a little tug on the leash to indicate a change of direction, that one will respond by throwing herself on the ground in a fit of apoplexy. (Saluki, anyone?)
And of course, even within breeds, all dogs are individuals. Sacrilegious as it sounds, there are Labrador Retrievers who hate water, Border Collies who couldn’t care less about sheep, and Jack Russell Terriers who are the very portrait of mellow. (Well, maybe we can’t go that far . . . .) You might acquire a purposefully bred dog because of a certain physical or temperament trait, but that’s no guarantee, and you need to be okay with that.
The greatest act of love you can offer your dog is to accept him for who he is. He certainly does that for you. Don’t get caught up in preconceived, and often romanticized, notions about who he should be. If you always wanted a dog you could take to the dog park, and wind up with one who really doesn’t enjoy being exposed to the attentions of other dogs, continuing to take him there is bound to result in misery, sooner or later; chronically stressed dogs are more prone to behavior and health problems.
Some people have loved a now-gone dog so deeply and thoroughly that any subsequent one is always held up for comparison, often in unhealthy ways. If your grief or unresolved mourning makes even the idea of new dog a piercing reminder of the one who is no longer, do yourself a favor and wait until the wound has healed a bit. Often, opting for a dog of the opposite gender, or a very different physical appearance, can give the distance your heart needs to open just a sliver. That’s all a dog needs to wiggle his way in.
Love on the run.
We love our dogs so much that there’s a temptation to keep them from anything that might hurt them – to cover them in cotton batting, away from any sharp edges. But dogs are hard-wired to want to interact with the world – sniffing, poking, running, jumping, dodging, and otherwise shaking it up in the biosphere.
Suburban dogs, in particular, often live their lives behind a picket fence and on a comfy couch. Enrich their lives as much as possible with car rides, visits to the dog-friendly teller at the bank, walks around the neighborhood, romps in a fenced field, and play dates with other friendly, well-adjusted dogs. Let her indulge any of her ancestral instincts: While most Borzoi no longer course hare, and a good number of terriers have never gone to ground for a rat, there are organized sports – such as lure-coursing and barn hunt trials, respectively – that can simulate it for them. Dock diving, scentwork, agility, rally . . . there is an ever-growing list of dog sports and activities that you and your dog can do together.
After all, what do dogs love – besides us, that is? They love life, and it’s our charge to give them access to it. And if we can strengthen our bond with them in the process, that’s the champagne truffle in the chocolate sampler.
The Big Love.
If you’re really a “dog person,” then you would be happy to see more dogs mingling with humans almost everywhere you go. On some days, it seems like we’re getting there; never before have we had such a progressive and welcoming attitude toward dogs. From puppy kindergarten classes to therapy dogs in hospitals and nursing homes, our culture has come to regard dogs as social partners, as a source of comfort and solace like no other. That’s the good news.
At the same time, our society has come to expect a degree of unparalleled perfection from dogs in everyday interactions – and no one has yet managed to inform dogs everywhere of this new requirement and obtain their consent! The responsibility for your dog’s good behavior in public is yours alone; whether the impression she makes is positive or negative is entirely up to you.
If you truly love your dog – and dogs in general – you’ll never knowingly put her in a situation that makes her feel insecure, or that she’s unprepared for. You’ll work hard to ensure that she’s properly socialized, calm, and well trained. In short, you’ll give her the tools and the confidence to be a model canine citizen – the kind of dog that even non-dog-lovers love the most.
A regular contributor to WDJ, Denise Flaim raises Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Long Island, New York.
Teaching our dogs to look at us is important for training; if we have their attention, we can get them to work with us. If we can keep their attention, we can keep them working with us even in the face of distractions. These things are big accomplishments, but the value of teaching eye contact is even bigger!
I have done behavioral assessments on thousands of shelter dogs over the years. I’ve adopted a few of them, fostered several more, and helped find forever homes for many. Even after decades of shelter work, I am still touched to my soul by the dog who walks up to me, looks me squarely in the eyes, and sends me the powerful, electric message, “I know how to communicate with you.” That’s what teaching eye contact does for our dogs: it opens the door for interspecies communication.
It’s really not natural for dogs to offer direct and prolonged eye contact. In the dog world, direct eye contact is a threat, and the appropriate response to a direct stare is to look away as a deference or appeasement behavior (“I’m not challenging you/please don’t hurt me!”). In many human cultures, however, direct eye contact is considered polite – it means the other is focused and attentive – and it has certainly come to mean that in the dog training world. Like so many other behaviors we expect of our dogs that are alien to their own basic natures, we’ve come to expect our dogs to look at us when we ask them to, and to maintain eye contact for extended periods of time in a variety of contexts.
Eye Exercises
Because eye contact is important for training purposes, we teach eye contact exercises in our classes at Peaceable Paws. Here are some of the exercises that we practice in our basic classes:
Capturing Eye Contact – When dogs come to class for the first time, they are understandably distracted. Rather than letting our students beg and plead for their dogs’ attention, we tell them to sit in a chair and wait. The instant their dog looks at them or even glances in their general direction, they click their clickers and feed their dogs a treat.
You can do the same with your dog. Practice at home first, in the least distracting environment, then when he’s ready, take him out in public. Sit on a chair with your dog in front of you, leashed if necessary, and wait. The instant he looks at you, or near you, click (or use your verbal marker) and feed a high-value treat. You’re reinforcing offered attention – teaching your dog that if he chooses to look at you, he can make you click.
Over time, “shape” for longer eye contact (reward increasingly longer moments of eye contact), and then for eye contact when you’re walking. When your dog is doing well with it, take him out in public and practice there – in a park, on a bench outside your neighborhood pet supply store, in front of the post office, in the lobby of your veterinary clinic . . . the possibilities are endless.
Name Game – If your dog is not offering attention, you can always ask for it – if you’ve taught him that his name means “Look at me for something wonderful!” This is just like “charging” the clicker: say his name, and then feed him a tasty treat when he looks at you. Repeat this game regularly, until your dog instantly swivels his head toward you at the sound of his name. Then practice with increasing levels of distraction. Now you can get his attention if he doesn’t offer it.
Zen Attention – Getting attention is one thing; keeping it is sometimes an entirely different matter. This exercise makes it clear to your dog that eye contact gets reinforced (not just looking at the treat), and allows you to shape for duration. With your dog sitting in front of you, hold a treat straight out at arm’s length to the side. He will likely watch the treat. Just wait.
Here’s the Zen part. In order to get the treat he has to look away from it – back at you. The instant he looks at you (as if to say, “Hey, what’s the deal here?”) you click and feed him the treat. Then do it again. Most dogs figure this out amazingly quickly. When he comprehends that looking at you – not the treat – gets the click (and treat), you can add your “Watch me” cue, and start shaping for eye contact of longer duration.
Me, Not That – Now it’s distraction time. With your “Watch me” cue solidly installed, ask a family member or friend to walk past while you’re reinforcing your dog for looking at you. Use a high rate of reinforcement at first (click and treat a lot) – then decrease the frequency as your dog figures out the game.
If he looks away, use his name or your “Watch me” cue to get his attention back. Click and treat! Gradually increase the intensity of the distraction: Start walking with your own dog toward your human distraction, have your friend whistle, clap his hands or jingle car keys while walking past, then jog, then bounce a ball … get creative!
Take it on the Road – When he’s doing well with his eye contact games, take him out in public and practice there – in a park, on a bench outside your neighborhood pet supply store, in front of the post office, in the lobby of your veterinary clinic . . . the possibilities are endless. With each successful session under your belt, you can plan for a more distracting venue the next time.
Windows to the Soul
If we pay attention to teaching eye contact only for training purposes, we are missing out on one of the most fulfilling aspects of the behavior: our dog’s ability to use his eyes to communicate with us. As behavior science continues to explore and acknowledge the cognitive capabilities of our canine companions, we are realizing that our dogs may possess “theory of mind.”
Theory of mind (often abbreviated ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states – beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc. – to oneself and others, and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one’s own. It is sometimes expressed in “levels” like this:
Level 1 – I know.
Level 2 – I know you know.
Level 3 – I know you know I know.
And on and on…
Although science may not be ready to conclusively grant ToM to dogs, it’s hard to argue that they can’t attain at least Level 1, probably Level 2, and possibly Level 3. When our Kelpie, Kai, sees us packing his training bag and gets all excited, it seems like a clear indication that he knows he’s going to agility class. When he dances happily in front of us, making strong direct eye contact, one might suggest he’s saying, “I know you know we’re going to agility class.” And when he runs to the door and looks purposefully back at us, one could hypothesize that he’s saying, “I know you know I know we’re going to agility class!”
This isn’t just an academic exercise. Humans who have close relationships with their dogs recognize ToM communications in their daily interactions with their canine family members – and it often involves eye contact:
Bonnie, our Scotti/Corgi/Poodle-mix, comes and sits next to me as I type on my computer, looking intently into my eyes. “Oh,” I realize. “She has to go out.”
As we walk toward the back door, Lucy, our Cardigan Welsh Corgi, runs ahead of us, stops in front of the bookcase, looks at me, looks at the top shelf of the bookcase, and looks toward the door. “Oh,” I realize. “She wants me to take her out and throw the Frisbee that is sitting on top of the bookcase.”
I’m assessing a dog at the shelter who looks somewhat stressed and shut down. I say “Sit!” and his eyes light with joy as he plops his bottom to the ground and looks into my eyes as if to say, “Finally! Someone who knows what I know!”
You may have your own examples of this kind of cognitive communication with your dog. To nurture this thrilling connection, pay even closer attention to your dog’s efforts to communicate with you. When he makes eye contact, contemplate what he’s trying to tell you and respond appropriately. By reinforcing his eye-contact communications you will encourage him to communicate more, and you’ll get better and better at translating his messages.
When dogs learn the value of communicating through eye contact, it opens up a whole new door in the relationship between the two of you, and makes your time together even more rewarding and satisfying for you both.
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ‘s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she 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.
There are many examples where eye contact is useful in our training and every day activities with our dogs. Here are some of them:
✓✓ Attention for focused heeling
✓✓ Keeping attention while waiting to give next cue
✓✓ Maintaining attention so your dog doesn’t pester passersby in public places
✓✓ Keeping focus for duration of a wait or stay”
✓✓ Holding attention during demonstration of behavior for imitation training
✓✓ Keeping attention while hiding treats to teach “Find it” behavior
✓✓ Teaching directional exercise in advanced obedience competition
✓✓ Teaching directional signals for Treibball and herding
As valuable as eye contact can be, there are also times when it can be a hindrance. In K9 Nosework, tracking, earthdog trials, and a variety of other canine activities, the dog is supposed to be focused on the task, not the handler. As I recently learned, this is true of agility, too.
Our Kelpie, Kai, is a master at eye contact. My husband and I recently signed up for a foundation agility class with Kai at Kamp Kitty in nearby West Virginia. We entered the training center proudly on the first day of class with him heeling next to me, and beautifully focused on me. To our dismay, we were told that kind of focus is detrimental to agility, where the dog needs to focus on the equipment, not the handler. Fortunately Kai is bright and adaptable, quickly figured out the new rules, and dearly loves to play the agility game.
As much as we value eye contact, we also need to remember to give our dogs time just to be dogs. Focused leash-walking is great, but it’s quite taxing. (Imagine taking every walk with your eyes fixed on your best friend’s face the entire time!) Our canine companions also need plenty of time to smell the flowers, read the pee-mail, and chase the occasional squirrel up a tree.
In late autumn, we closed our pool, an annual event that all four of our swim-loving dogs dread. They will swim as long into the fall season as we allow and I am pretty certain that our Toller, Chippy, would bring out an ice pick and break his way through the ice if he could. In addition to the daily joy, excitement, and happiness that our pool brings to us all, we have found that it has had an additional benefit for some of our dogs. The pool and the daily swims that it provides help to keep itchy dogs from itching all summer long.
Over the years, several of our dogs have suffered from atopic dermatitis (also known as atopy). This is not unusual given that we have Golden Retrievers (a breed that is genetically predisposed to atopy) and we live in the Midwest, an area with lots of allergens for hypersensitive dogs to react to.
We have successfully managed this using frequent bathing, topical medications, and when absolutely necessary, short periods of oral (systemic) medication. And now, we also have the pool. Once our dogs started to have daily swims, we found that this form of frequent bathing kept allergy signs at bay throughout the summer, simply by its ability to physically reduce exposure to allergens and to cleanse the skin.
This benefit is not that surprising because, according to two reports (See here and here) by an international task force on canine atopic dermatitis, frequent bathing of dogs, with the specific purpose of removing and reducing exposure to allergens, is identified as one of the most important factors in relieving pruritus (itchiness). Indeed, the task force has quite a bit more to say about effective and not-so-effective approaches to managing itchy dogs.
Treatment Guidelines
In 1999, the American College of Veterinary Dermatology (ACVD) established a committee to study canine atopic dermatitis (hereafter CAD). The initial group spent two years reviewing existing knowledge about CAD and published its findings in 2001. That collection of 24 papers provided practicing veterinarians and dermatologists with up-to-date information about the diagnosis, treatment, and management of CAD.
The committee was eventually expanded to include international representation, and its name was changed accordingly, to the International Committee on Allergic Diseases of Animals (ICADA). Now comprised of veterinary dermatologists from around the world, the committee has a series of objectives. One of the most important is to develop and distribute a set of practical guidelines for veterinarians to use when diagnosing and treating CAD. The first set of these guidelines was published in 2010 and recently, a revised edition was made available.
A central component of these guidelines is that they follow the tenets of evidence-based medicine. This means that the committee recommends only procedures and treatments that have supporting scientific evidence and that they systematically rate the scientific merit of that evidence. Naturally, there is a lot of information in these reports that is of interest primarily to researchers and practicing veterinarians. However, there is also an abundance of helpful information for owners who wish to learn more about CAD and about how to best manage this disorder in their dogs.
CAD is a Diverse (and Complex) Disorder
The ICADA’s most recent description of CAD is a genetically predisposed pruritic (itchy) and inflammatory skin disorder. It is most commonly triggered by one or more types of environmental allergens such as dust mites, pollens, and molds. Although the actual sequence of events that leads to a chronically itchy dog is complex, the general progression involves these steps:
1. Exposure to the allergen (or allergens). These either are absorbed through the dog’s skin, are inhaled, or, when a food allergy is the cause (see below), are consumed. Note: Recent evidence suggests that absorption of allergens across the skin, called percutaneous absorption, may be the primary trigger of the allergic response in atopic dogs (See here).
2. This exposure causes an immune system response in the body, which includes the production of a cascade of immune factors and inflammatory agents. One of these factors is allergen-specific IgE, which is considered to be a hallmark indicator of CAD.
3. IgE migrates from the bloodstream to the dog’s skin, where it binds to mast cells (a type of immune cell) and to certain types of nerve cells. When the dog is exposed again to the same allergen, the immunological reaction is amplified and now involves both immune cells and the nervous system. This “neuroimmodulary” response is the major cause of the intensely pruritic (itchy) response that a dog with CAD experiences.
4. Without treatment for the intense itching, the dog begins to scratch, rub, and bite at the affected areas, which causes breaks in the skin, inflammation, and the development of sores and infections. Breaks in the skin (changes in the skin’s integrity) allow more allergen access, which further ratchets up the immune response. The result is a vicious and unending itch-inflammation cycle.
The genetic component of CAD means that certain breeds of dogs are at greater risk for developing the disorder, including Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Lhasa Apsos, Wire Fox Terriers, West Highland White Terriers, Boxers, and Bulldogs.
Although not completely understood, the underlying mechanisms that make certain individuals more susceptible to CAD include being born with skin and an immune system that are hyper-responsive to allergens, having a highly sensitive (i.e., easily triggered) inflammatory response, and having a reduced ability to arrest or slow down this response.
CAD and Food Allergy
The ICADA recognizes the complexity of the relationship between CAD and food allergies (technically referred to as “cutaneous adverse food reactions”). Although not true for all dogs, some dogs with CAD can also have food allergies or develop food allergy at a later point in time. Difficulties lie in the fact that the clinical signs of food allergy and CAD can be indistinguishable in a given dog, making diagnosis of either disorder very challenging for veterinarians.
Currently, the ICADA recommends testing a dog for food allergy when the signs of CAD are chronic and non-seasonal. Food allergy should also be suspected in dogs with previously well-controlled CAD who show a sudden return (flare) of symptoms that cannot be explained by environmental allergens.
Unfortunately, the only proven method for diagnosing food allergies continues to be dietary restriction trials lasting at least 8 to 10 weeks. Therefore, in most cases, a diagnosis of CAD is first ruled out or confirmed before moving to include food allergy as a potential cause.
ICADA Recommended Treatments
The committee makes a distinction between treating acute flares of CAD and treating/managing chronic cases of CAD. An acute flare refers to the sudden onset of clinical signs, usually in a localized region of the body, in a dog who has either not been previously diagnosed or who had been diagnosed but whose symptoms were well managed.
Chronic CAD is identified as long-term cases that have either remained undiagnosed or have not been treated successfully. Chronic cases are characterized by widespread skin involvement, self-induced lesions, infection, skin changes, and severe and prolonged discomfort in the dog.
The primary goal in treating both acute flares and chronic cases of CAD is to stop the itch. This is of vital importance because it is the itch-scratch cycle that leads to self-induced trauma, unrelenting inflammation, and infection. Stopping the itch not only makes the dog feel better (consider how we feel when we have poison ivy and are able to relieve the itch), but also breaks the itch-scratch cycle and allows the skin to heal. Long-term management approaches of CAD include limiting the dog’s exposure to allergens (if they are known) and preventing the recurrences of flares.
The ICADA emphasizes that therapy for the atopic dog must always be approached on an individual basis and will usually be multimodal. This means that it will include various combinations of topical or oral anti-pruritic medications, control of secondary infections and parasites, allergen avoidance when possible, and in some cases, allergy hyposensitization (“allergy shots”). The current ICADA guidelines identify a variety of oral (systemic) and topical medications along with several management approaches that have been demonstrated through research to be effective:
Improved Skin Hygiene and Care – Frequent bathing with a non-irritating shampoo physically removes allergens from the body, cleanses the skin, and may reduce bacterial colonization (growth). One study showed that using a lipid-containing antiseptic shampoo reduced pruritus in dogs with CAD and that the benefit was enhanced when the dog was bathed in a whirlpool.
However, bathing the dog using the whirlpool alone (without the shampoo) also reduced itchiness, suggesting that the complete elimination of allergens and thorough cleansing of skin was more important than the type of shampoo that was used. ICADA states that there is currently no evidence supporting the benefit of any specific type of shampoo ingredient, such as oatmeal, antihistamine, or glucocorticoids. The bottom line is that frequent bathing (or perhaps swimming?) may be one of the most important therapeutic approaches for atopic dogs.
Identification and Avoidance of Flare Factors – Because dogs may be allergic to more than one allergen in the environment (or in food), flare factors are considered to be anything that causes a sudden return of symptoms in a dog. For example, the implementation of an effective flea-control program will remove flea-associated dermatitis as a potential flare factor.
Because house dust mites are considered to be the most important source of allergens in dogs with CAD, measures for controlling these mites in the home may be effective (though, admittedly, difficult to accomplish). Additionally, as stated previously, the ICADA recommends an elimination food trial for those dogs who have suspected food allergy.
Without question it is difficult (if not impossible) to prevent a dog’s exposure to many types of environmental allergens. Therefore, as much as it would be nice to say that simply bathing and reducing exposure to allergens will do the trick, most dogs with CAD will also require some form of medical therapy.
Topical Medications – A wide variety of topical sprays and spot-on treatments are promoted and sold as aids for reducing itching and supporting skin healing in dogs. However, of the many ingredients that are found in these products, only two are supported with scientific evidence.
The strongest evidence is for spray-on medium-potency glucocorticoid sprays. Three randomized, controlled research trials showed that two brands of these sprays, Genesis® and Cortavance®, both produced by Virbac, effectively reduced pruritus and self-induced skin damage in dogs. The ICADA recommends the use of these sprays (or similar products) primarily during flares on a localized region such as the dog’s belly or feet.
Because long-term application of even low concentrations of glucocorticoids can lead to skin thinning and other skin problems, these sprays should never be used in chronic cases and should be limited to a short period of time (less than two months).
There is one study showing that a topical immune-modulating ointment called tacrolimus (Protopic®, Astellas Pharma) reduced signs of CAD when used for several weeks. Tacrolimus may be helpful in healing skin in chronic cases as it does not have the long-term side effects on skin that are associated with topical glucocorticoids.
Oral Medications – When a dog is chronically affected or when symptoms cannot be controlled using hygiene and topical medications, a short course of systemic oral medications may be required. The two types of oral medications that have the strongest evidence for efficacy are the oral glucocorticoids and cyclosporine. The most commonly used glucocorticoids in dogs are prednisone, prednisolone, and methylprednisolone.
A major difference between glucocorticoids and cyclosporine is that a reduction in pruritus (itchiness) occurs much more rapidly, often within 24 hours with glucocorticoids, while treatment for 4 to 6 weeks is required before clinical benefit is seen with cyclosporine (Atopica®, Novartis).
In both types of drugs, a higher loading dose is used initially to control signs. The prescription is then gradually reduced to the lowest effective dosage. This helps to prevent the side effects associated with glucocorticoids (increased appetite, drinking, and urination and increased risk of urinary tract infection). Although reported at a low rate, side effects of cyclosporine include nausea and vomiting. (Note: When a dog has a concurrent bacterial skin infection, oral glucocorticoid therapy is not recommended prior to treating the infection).
Although some owners (and veterinarians) are resistant to using glucocorticoid therapy because of its long-term risks, the ICADA supports their use – for as short a period as possible and at the lowest effective dose. Similarly, although there are fewer documented side effects with cyclosporine, its use may be cost-prohibitive for some owners. It should be noted that these drugs are recommended only when signs are too severe or too extensive to be controlled with frequent bathing and topical formulations.
The ICADA also recommends medications that may have a steroid-sparing effect be investigated. These are adjunctive (supporting) therapies that, when added to a treatment regimen, may allow lower dosages of glucocorticoids or cyclosporine.
Between 2010 and 2015, one new oral medication was tested using a series of clinical trials and was approved for use as an antipruritic (anti-itching) drug in dogs. It is a drug called oclacitinib, marketed by Zoetis under the trade name Apoquel®. Oclacitinib is in a class of drugs known as the Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKs). It has a different mode of action than other anti-inflammatory agents such as prednisone and cyclosporine, and functions to inhibit the neuronal itch sensation – the nervous system component of the itch-scratch cycle discussed above.
The benefits of oclacitinib include a very rapid reduction in pruritus, with dogs showing reduced itchiness within four hours of the initial dose. A series of trials comparing Apoquel to glucocorticoids and cyclosporine reported equal or better effectiveness with the new drug when used to treat dogs with CAD.
Anti-microbial therapy – Antimicrobial therapy is only needed in dogs who have concurrent skin and/or ear infections that have developed as a result of CAD. While these infections can develop during flares, they are most commonly seen in dogs who are chronically affected. The two most common microorganisms that are involved are Staphylococcus bacteria and Malassezia yeast.
Similar to its recommendations for anti-inflammatories, the ICADA recommends using topical anti-microbial agents for infections whenever possible. Oral (systemic) antibiotics and anti-fungal drugs should be used only when needed to control recurrent or severe infections.
Allergen-Specific Immuno-therapy (ASIT) – Better known among dog owners as “allergy shots,” ASIT refers to the practice of administering low and gradually increasing concentrations of an allergen extract subcutaneously.
Intradermal or serology testing is first used to identify the specific agents (allergens) to which the dog reacts. Once identified, the specific environmental (note: NOT food) allergens to which the dog reacts are used in the immunotherapy regimen.
ASIT is not universally effective; studies report that between 50 and 80 percent of treated dogs show improvement of signs over a 6- to 12- month period. Because ASIT is time-consuming and expensive, the ICADA recommends it when other anti-inflammatory treatments have been unsuccessful or when other treatments are associated with unacceptable or severe side effects in an individual.
What the ICADA Does Not Recommend
The ICADA has a strong consensus that the diagnosis of atopy in dogs is a clinical diagnosis, based upon the dog’s signalment (breed, age, living situation), clinical signs, and disease history. The committee emphasizes that neither serological (blood) nor intradermal (skin) testing is reliable as a tool for diagnosing CAD because of these tests’ high risk of false positive results. However, following a diagnosis, these tests may have some use in identifying flare factors for allergen-avoidance management or if immunotherapy is being considered. However, as attractive as it may sound to dog owners, CAD (just like food allergy) cannot be successfully diagnosed through a simple blood or skin test.
There are also several proposed treatments for CAD that do not have sufficient evidence to support them and are not recommended. Perhaps the most important of these, when one considers the popularity of their use with itchy dogs, are the type-1 antihistamines. Examples of these are hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine (Benadryl), clemastine (Tavist), and chlorpheniramine.
When examined as a group, there is no conclusive evidence that these drugs are effective for either acute flares or chronic cases of CAD. There is some evidence of a very moderate prednisone-sparing effect when trimeprazine was administered to dogs with CAD. However, because antihistamines also have a sedating effect in dogs, it is possible that the sedating effect was responsible for the small benefit that was reported in that study. While it is possible that antihistamines may be helpful to prevent recurrence when administered daily after an atopic dog’s signs have been controlled, studies are still needed to test (and support) this hypothesis.
The ICADA also reports that increasing a dog’s essential fatty acid (both omega-6 and omega-3 classes) intake through either supplementation or by feeding an EFA-enriched diet is unlikely to provide measureable benefit to dogs with CAD when used alone. There is evidence that increasing EFAs in a dog’s diet can improve coat quality and reduce dry skin (aid in skin hydration). However, there is no evidence that supports the use of any particular combination of EFAs, dosage, or ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
A single study reported that increasing EFAs in the diet using a Chinese herbal supplement (Phytopica, Intervet-Schering Plough Animal Health) had a glucocorticoid-sparing effect in some dogs with CAD. However, no other product has been shown to be effective, so the ICADA could not make a recommendation for the use of essential fatty acids in general.
Similarly, the ICADA reports note that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of topical formulations that contain essential fatty acids, essential oils, or complex lipid mixtures to benefit dogs with CAD.
The Bottom Line
Happily for owners of dogs with CAD, it seems that one of the most highly recommended practices to prevent flares and reduce the itchiness in our dogs is the simple practice of frequently rinsing off our dog’s coats (and any adhering allergens) through weekly baths using a mild and non-irritating soap (or, perhaps, a nice swim in the pool).
Reducing a dog’s exposure to flare factors such as fleas, an identified food allergen (when present), and environmental pollens is also key. Treating flares with topical anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents is similarly recommended.
When topical treatment is not effective or when dogs are chronically affected, veterinarians and owners have several medications to choose from for systemic therapy. In all cases, the ICADA emphasizes that treatment for CAD is “multimodal,” involving a variety of possible approaches that meet the needs of the individual patient and owner, with the primary objectives of reducing itchiness, maintaining a healthy skin and coat and supporting the dog’s long-term health and well-being.
As for my dogs, I hope that we continue to see the anti-itch benefits of our pool that go beyond enjoying swimming, dock diving, and retrieving!
Linda P. Case, MS, is the owner of AutumnGold Consulting and Dog Training Center in Mahomet, IL, and author of Dog Food Logic and other books on nutrition for dogs and cats.
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?”
