Did you know that the best way to teach a puppy to walk politely on a leash is to not use a leash? If you think that sounds like an inscrutable Buddhist koan, fear not – you are not alone. It’s far more common to see people either dragging their puppies around, or being dragged around by their puppies, than it is to see a calm, happy puppy trotting along by her owner’s side.
A lot of people seem to have the misconception that a leash is a handle for pulling your dog wherever you want him to go – or for him to pull you! The evidence for this starts in puppyhood, when you see the reluctant (often tired or scared) baby dog being tugged along behind the human who is intent on getting somewhere faster than the puppy can, or wants to. The leash, they believe, is supposed to make the puppy come along, regardless.
They couldn’t be more wrong. The true function of a leash is simply to keep the puppy from leaving. The motivation to get the pup to walk happily alongside you should come from you! The challenge, then, is to teach your pup to walk with you without a leash – and it’s actually much easier than you might think. Here’s how:
1. In a low-distraction, safely enclosed environment, equipped with plenty of treats, a squeaky toy, and/or a tug toy in your pocket, engage your off-leash pup by talking happily to him and feeding him a treat.
2. With your treat hand hidden behind your back, take a step, cheerfully inviting your puppy to come with you. When he does, “mark” this desired behavior with the click! of a clicker or a verbal marker (such as the word, “Yes!”), and give him a treat.
3. Now take another step, and click and treat when he comes with you.
4. Gradually increase the number of steps you take, remembering to use variable reinforcement. That is, sometimes you give him a treat after several steps, and sometimes after one or two steps, to keep him guessing – and enthusiastic.
5. Make it a fun game. Take bouncy steps. Use a happy voice. Sometimes reinforce with a squeaky toy or a game of tug instead of treats. Make yourself the most fun, interesting, and reinforcing thing in the room so he chooses to stay close to you.
6. When your puppy is a rock star at walking with you without a leash, attach the leash to his collar but don’t change anything else. Keep practicing your fun-walk games. If at any time the leash tightens, resist the temptation to pull him toward you – just stop, happily engage him, wait until he loosens the leash by coming toward you, and walk again.
7. Now you’re ready to fun-walk with your pup in more distracting environments – i.e., the real world. Take higher-value treats and more-enticing toys if necessary, but always remember it’s our job as the supposedly more intelligent species to get our dogs to want to do what we want them to, including walking with us, rather than forcing them to do it.
Come When Called
The same procedure works for teaching your pup to come when called. I shudder when I think of the way we used to teach it in old-fashioned obedience classes: Leave your dog on a sit stay, walk to the end of the leash, then call your dog and jerk on the leash to teach him to come quickly in order to avoid being yanked off his feet. Talk about giving a negative association with the word, “Come!” No wonder so many dogs got “leash-wise” and refused to come when they were called in wide-open spaces.
Instead, teach your pup the fun-come game, in the same way as the fun-walk game. With high-value treats and enticing toys, convince your pup that the word “Come” means “You better get over here, because we’re about to have the most fun ever!” Get in the habit of running away from your pup when you call him to take advantage of his natural response to chase things that move, incorporated with treats and games when he gets to you, and you’ve got a sure winner!
In fact, if you apply this fun-training philosophy to everything you teach your pup, you may be amazed at your training success. Dogs are fun-lovers, and this engaging, rewarding approach will preserve your dog’s interest in working with you on any training project.
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.
“Does this collar make me look fat?” This is not a question your dog is likely to ever ask, even if he spends time gazing at himself in the mirror. Style, while important to us humans, is far less important for your dog than function. With all the choices on the market, how’s a puppy owner to know which equipment she should choose? Here are some tips.
Collars to Consider for Puppies:
Flat Collar with a Buckle or a Quick-Release Snap – Great for hanging ID tags and licenses, and for walking dogs who have learned to walk politely, without pulling. Not great for dogs or puppies who pull; too much pressure on the throat can cause a collapsed trachea. (Note: For safety, we strongly prefer collars with quick-release snaps.)
Martingale/Limited Slip Collar – Same as flat collar (above), but with an added advantage: if properly fitted, these collars tighten enough to prevent the collar from slipping over the dog’s head if he pulls back, without choking the dog. However, if improperly fitted, these can tighten too much, and choke the dog like a choke collar.
Regular Walking Harness – On a “regular” harness, the leash attaches to a ring behind the dog’s shoulders, so if the dog pulls, the pressure is on his chest, not his throat. This is great for avoiding trachea damage for a dog who pulls, but really not great for controlling a dog who pulls.
Front-Clip No-Pull Harness – On this type of harness, the leash attaches to a ring in front of the dog’s chest (some also have a behind-the-shoulders attachment option). This prevents trachea damage and helps manage a dog who pulls. Our favorite brands are the Freedom Harness from Two Hounds Design (2houndsdesign.com) and the Sense-ation and Sense-ible Harnesses from Soft Touch Concepts (softouchconcepts.com). Note: Some professionals suggest that the pressure exerted on a dog’s shoulders by these harnesses can cause physical problems. Teaching your dog to walk properly without pulling is your best alternative.
Head Halters – A halter goes over the dog’s head and face, with the leash attaching to a ring under his chin or behind his head, depending on the brand. While these are often considered a “positive” training tool, many dogs aren’t fond of halters, and it can take a fair amount of counter-conditioning to convince dogs to like them. For dogs who do well with them, they are a good tool for managing a dog who pulls. Our favorite brand: Perfect Pace Bold Lead Designs (boldleaddesigns.com).
Note: There is at least one documented case of a dog who was instantly paralyzed when he hit the end of his leash running while wearing a head halter with a leash clipped below his chin (he eventually recovered). Teaching your dog to walk properly without pulling is still your best alternative.
Never Use These Collars on Puppies:
Choke Chains/Nylon Slip Collars – Also called “training collars,” these collars work by inflicting pain when the leash is jerked, and have a high likelihood of causing trachea damage. They can be effective when used with care and perfect timing by a professional – and they can cause fear, pain, and learned helplessness in some dogs when used “properly” or improperly.
Prong or Pinch Collars – These collars work by inflicting pain when the leash is jerked or when the dog pulls. They are less likely to cause trachea damage than a choke chain, as the pressure/pain is distributed evenly around the dog’s neck, but they are still very aversive and not recommended.
Shock Collars – Also called “electronic collars” and “e-collars” in an attempt to make them more palatable, these collars inflict an electric shock to the dog’s neck either when a button is pushed (training collar), or when the dog crosses an electronic field (underground fence). Proponents argue that the shock is a “tickle,” “tingle,” or “stim” and that it doesn’t really hurt. It’s a shock and it’s aversive – which is why the collars can work! However, some dogs develop negative behavioral fallout from the use of these collars – such as fear, generalized anxiety, phobias, and/or aggression – and it’s impossible to predict which dogs may experience this until it’s too late. After punishment with these collars, especially at the hand of someone with poor observation skills or poor timing, the dog may give up and lose interest in training, develop negative feelings about his handler, the training environment, or something present in his training environment, and/or develop defensive aggression. We never recommend the use of shock collars.
Let’s be honest: Some areas of veterinary study are sexier than others. The functioning of complex organs such as the thyroid, the treatment of behavioral aberrations like separation anxiety, the risk factors for hip dysplasia – all these topics have had their share of academics willing to question, probe, and publish their findings. But anal sacs? Very few researchers in veterinary medicine find themselves called to explore the nuances of this grape-shaped pair of pouches.
Very likely this has to do with their location at the puckered inside edge of the anus, or their contents, which is an oily, semi-liquid substance that smells like a dead mackerel…on a good day.
Also dampening academic enthusiasm is the fact that there is no biological corollary in humans: Unlike some other mammals, including bears and sea otters, we humans simply don’t have anal sacs. (Conversely, dogs don’t get hemorrhoids, so maybe we’re even.) And if our species doesn’t have to contend with something so gross, why go out of your way to study it?
One good reason is that so many dogs have minor but annoying problems with their anal sacs – and some dogs have required surgery to repair or improve the situation.
What Are Canine Anal Sacs?
Many dog owners are oblivious to the existence of these two sacs, whose openings are positioned at four and eight o’clock as the clock ticks around the dog’s anus, and are not obvious to the untrained eye. In dogs, anal sacs are considered vestigial, sort of like the human appendix. When marking and defending boundaries were crucial for canine survival, they likely had a key role, adding a dog’s unique and identifying scent to his excrement; today, salutatory butt-sniffing might very well be an evolutionary remnant of that territorial imperative. Another theory is that the liquid in the anal sacs lubricates hard stool, making it easier for the dog to eliminate.
Located between the internal and external anal sphincter muscles, and lined with oil and sweat glands, each anal sac is connected to the outside world via a short, narrow duct. Occasionally, when these ducts get plugged up, anal sacs can get impacted or, if left untreated, infected, leaving the dog uncomfortable and the owner befuddled at why her furry co-habitator is now dragging his bottom across the living-room rug.
“Most people don’t know that anal sacs exist, until their dogs start scooting,” says Jennifer Schissler, DVM, MS, DACVD, an assistant professor of dermatology at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences in Fort Collins.
The fact that dermatologists are the specialists under whose purview anal sacs usually fall tells you just how much of a veterinary stepchild these obscure little cavities are. “In veterinary medicine, dermatologists are a catch-all for things related to glands,” Dr. Schissler shrugs. “Nobody really is an expert in anal sacs.”
Scooting and Other Signs of Anal Sac Problems
Along with “scooting,” or dragging their rears across carpets and floors, dogs can exhibit a variety of signs of an anal-sac problem, including licking or biting at their anus; painful or prolonged defecation, or avoiding it altogether; and, in severe cases, an abscess or draining tract around the anus. (Sudden fear or excitement can also sometimes prompt a dog to empty his sacs involuntarily, which is entirely normal – and particularly nasty if he happens to be on your lap or in your arms at the time.)
A full physical examination, including a rectal exam, can determine if anal sacs are the problem. “I might do a fecal exam to see if there are any internal parasites, because tapeworms can cause perianal itch,” Dr. Schissler explains. “Flea-bite hypersensitivity can be a cause, too.”
She ticks off other sources of irritation around the rectum that may not be related to impacted anal sacs: Some dogs can have an allergy that manifests around the anus and is not an anal-sac problem at all; still others might have a tumor or polyp in the rectum or anal sac.
If all of the above are ruled out and the anal sacs are dilated and inflamed, then the veterinarian will usually evacuate (empty) them. “Some veterinarians will do cytology and look at the material under a microscope,” Dr. Schissler says. Inflammatory cells might suggest infection and a subsequent prescription for antibiotics.
Expressing Your Dog’s Anal Glands: Don’t Try It at Home
Emptying anal sacs by manually manipulating and squeezing them is not something that Dr. Schissler recommends to the average dog owner. If a dog’s anal sacs are working normally, they will express themselves on their own when the dog defecates; there is no regular need to manually empty them.
If the dog has a problem with her anal sacs that requires manual expression, some brave souls prefer to do it on their own rather than bringing the dog back to the vet once the problem has been diagnosed. “Some people do it successfully,” after having been shown the proper procedure by their veterinarian, Dr. Schissler concedes. “But one of the things that’s likely to cause a dog discomfort and anxiety is handling around his anus. If a dog is going to bite you, he’s going to bite you if you’re touching his rear end.” In addition, to do a thorough job of evacuating the sacs, “you need to do it digitally, with a finger in the dog’s rectum, and most clients are not comfortable with that.”
The anal sacs can be expressed externally, by squeezing the anus at the four and eight o’clock positions. In fact, many groomers empty the sacs this way as a routine part of a grooming visit. But Dr. Schissler stresses that this will not empty the sacs entirely. And some experts argue that manipulating the sacs may cause damage and create the very problem that you’re trying to avoid in the first place.
If your dog is having ongoing anal-sac problems and you want or need to learn to empty them yourself, have your veterinarian show you how to do it. Make sure your dog is restrained properly, and be sure that other problems, such as a tumor, polyp, or abscess, have been ruled out. “If the anal sac starts to abscess and you squeeze internally, you’ll make it worse,” Dr. Schissler cautions.
But, she says, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: “If a dog’s not having a problem, I’d just leave them alone.”
Treatment and Possible Anal Gland Complications
While some studies estimate that as many as 12 percent of dogs have had problems with their anal sacs, there is no clear understanding of the cause. One theory suggests that some dogs have very narrow anal-sac ducts that are more prone to obstruction; inflammation from allergies may also block the ducts. Smaller and toy dogs have a greater likelihood of developing anal-sac problems, as do certain breeds, including Cocker Spaniels, Basset Hounds, and Beagles.
“As a dermatologist, I see a lot of dogs with anal-sac issues,” Dr. Schissler says. “My guess is that there are several different causes, but the reality is that it’s not a glamorous thing to study, so there are few studies about what’s normal.”
Regardless of the cause, ignoring anal-sac problems can lead to unpleasant complications: The accumulated material in the sac eventually will begin to thicken, impacting the sac. If infection results and remains untreated, the anal sac can abscess and rupture, allowing the infection to spread into the tissue around the anus and the back of the thigh.
In such serious cases, the veterinarian might prescribe steroid and antibiotic therapy. But unless signs of infection are definitely present, “treatment with antibiotics is not usually indicated,” Dr. Schissler says. And diagnosing a brewing infection doesn’t just mean the presence of bacteria, as all normal anal-sac excretions contain those organisms; the secretions will also contain many inflammatory cells.
While uncommon, anal-sac adeno-carcinomas can metastasize aggressively, and are also signaled by high levels of calcium in the blood. If physical examination rules out a tumor, and an infection is not suspected, Dr. Schissler says a veterinarian might opt to empty the anal sacs and monitor the situation.
Though studies are few and far between, Dr. Schissler says that allergies are suspected to play a role in anal-sac problems. If an allergic response is suspected, a veterinarian might opt to put the dog on a hypoallergenic diet or one with a novel protein, though Dr. Schissler finds that anal-sac problems don’t always respond to a diet change or allergy therapy.
Some anecdotal evidence suggests that an increase in dietary fiber can help resolve anal-sac problems, the theory being that the firmer stool expresses the glands naturally. (Some owners report that raw diets, whose natural-bone content produces very hard stools, are particularly helpful in this regard.) While Dr. Schissler has found that high-fiber diets do not always help, “they can’t hurt,” she says.
The most drastic treatment for repeated, chronic anal-sac infections is surgery to remove the sacs. Not a minor surgery, anal sacculectomy runs the risk of intraoperative bleeding (because the area is so vascular), post-operative infection, and – the outcome that concerns most owners – fecal incontinence. Dr. Schissler notes that when the surgery is done appropriately, by an experienced, board-certified surgeon, the risk of the latter is low.
And she stresses that surgery is very much a last resort. “I’ve been practicing vet medicine for 10 years, nine of them dermatology related, and I’ve only sent two dogs to surgery,” Dr. Schissler says. “It’s not common, and the vast majority of cases can be managed.”
She says she will consider surgery under one of two circumstances: Repeated infections have created so much suspected scar tissue that there is no longer an opening for the anal sacs to empty, or the anal-sac problem is so severe, and has been so unresponsive to medical treatment over time, that the dog’s quality of life is negatively impacted.
With the constant “scooting” and seemingly endless carpet-cleaning that they bring, anal-sac problems are no fun for anyone. Being diligent about noting symptoms and seeking out early veterinary care can ensure that your dog – not to mention that antique Aubusson – both get the relief they need.
A regular contributor to WDJ, Denise Flaim raises Ridgebacks in Long Island, New York.
Editor’s note: Denise Fenzi is the founder and head trainer at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high-quality instruction for competitive dog sports, using only the most current and progressive training methods. Denise has competed in a wide range of dog sports, titling dogs in obedience (AKC and UKC), tracking (AKC and schutzhund), schutzhund (USA), mondioring (MRSA), herding (AKC), conformation (AKC), and agility (AKC). Although Denise has found success as a competitor, her real passion lies in training dogs – and teaching people how to train their dogs. To that end, she’s written a number of books on dog training, including a series on dog sports skills (co-authored by Deborah Jones, PhD, and previously warmly reviewed in WDJ). The book we have excerpted here is Fenzi’s first title aimed exclusively at pet dog owners and pet dog trainers. We are grateful for the opportunity to share its first chapter here. – Nancy Kerns
While dog training does not require a degree in animal behavior, it is useful to understand how dogs learn. If you understand how your dog learns, you will be able to teach her more than what’s presented in this or any book, magazine, or class. You’ll also be better able to solve problems that arise. All animals, including humans, will maximize their well-being in the process of learning – which is just a fancy way of saying that animals do what works best for them. This includes getting things like food or desired objects as well as a sense of emotional well-being, such as feeling safe, happy, or engaged. Animals avoid things that make them uncomfortable and seek out things that they like, want, or need. So if you want an animal to do something for you (called a behavior), then either provide a pleasant consequence when she cooperates, or an unpleasant consequence when she doesn’t. Sometimes an animal is consciously thinking about what is happening around her. At other times, she is learning without any thought at all. In both cases, the animal is learning. Let’s take a moment to look at each of these scenarios, because they are important to understand.
When your dog is making choices and is aware of what she is learning, you are using operant conditioning. Although you probably didn’t realize it at the time, you were using operant conditioning when you taught your dog to perform some basic behaviors. Operant conditioning simply means that your dog makes an association between doing something and the resulting consequence. Nothing more, nothing less.
Each time you give dogs a cue, they weigh the possible benefits of the act with the negative consequences they are aware of, and choose whether or not to comply – just like people do! If working with you is likely to be rewarding to them in some way, they will likely comply.
There are three basic ways you can use operant conditioning:
1. Your dog learns that when she does something you want, something awesome happens. For example, you may have taught your dog to sit by using a cookie.
2. Your dog learns that if she doesn’t do what you want, something unpleasant happens. Some people teach their dogs to sit by pulling up on the collar.
3. Your dog learns through a combination of each of the above. Cookies when she sits, and receiving a collar correction when she doesn’t.
Each time you give your dog a cue to do something, she makes a choice. She can calculate the sum of the possible motivators with the possible punishers and choose whether or not to comply. If complying with you works in her favor, she’ll likely obey. Same as with people.
There’s another form of learning, and this one is a bit more subtle. It’s called classical conditioning. Unlike operant conditioning, where the animal is making choices, classical conditioning doesn’t require any conscious effort at all to learn. It just happens. Animals are learning all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. When you were teaching your dog to sit – no matter how you did it – she was learning more than just how to sit. She was learning about training in general; is it fun and something to look forward to, or something unpleasant and best avoided? She learned how much she enjoys (or doesn’t enjoy) your company. She learned if the world is a safe, predictable place, or if it’s unsafe and anxiety-provoking. As you may have already guessed, people have the same experiences with classical conditioning. If you’re ever had a really super teacher who was patient, kind, and consistent, yet held you to high expectations, you know how hard you worked to learn and to please her, and how much you wanted to be in her company. On the other hand, if you’ve ever had a teacher or an employer who was grumpy, demanding, unreasonable, or unpredictable, you know how anxious you felt in her presence. You may have even discovered that under her supervision, you were unable to do even simple tasks because your nervousness blocked your ability to learn or to perform correctly. That is because fear overwhelms rational thought. Again, this is true in all animals, including dogs and humans.
Operant conditioning has been used to teach these dogs to perform an extended down/stay behavior. A t the same time, classical conditioning is always at work! Happily, they all appear relaxed and comfortable as they comply with the cues they were given.
Since classical conditioning isn’t conscious, you might find yourself feeling anxiety and unpleasantness well after the event that caused those reactions in the first place. Many parents who did not enjoy their school years have reported feeling upset or anxious when they first walked into their child’s school classroom, even twenty years later! Long after they have forgotten exactly what it was about school that was unpleasant, they still harbor the negative feelings. That’s classical conditioning at work. Just as the dog was learning without realizing it, it is quite likely that you were teaching these lessons without realizing it either. It is critically important for your dog to learn that training time is pleasant, because fear and anxiety block effective and efficient learning. The more your dog is able to relax and look forward to her lessons, the more quickly she will master them and work to please you. If you want your dog to be an engaged learner, then make it a priority to set up training sessions that are short, positive, and rewarding for your dog. In contrast, if you express disappointment in her work or use physical manipulation to get the desired responses, you’ll erode your working relationship by creating unpleasant classically conditioned responses to training.
I teach and use positive training methods for several reasons:
1. We want to condition our dogs to enjoy working with us so that they can learn more quickly.
2. We want our dogs to respond even when they are out of our physical reach. Dogs are smart. If compliance is gained primarily through methods that involve corrections, they quickly learn when you can and cannot enforce your cues. If your dog complies only when he is on a leash or when he is wearing a special collar, you need to consider how this relates to your training goals. How often do you need a recall on a six-foot leash? Probably never; he’s already with you! All dogs can figure out if they are wearing a leash, but it’s a rare dog who knows if you have access to a cookie. (Note that I said “access to.” Most dogs know if you have a cookie in your hand or pocket!)
3. While residual fear and the generally easygoing nature of dogs might allow for cooperation even when enforcement is not possible, it’s not much fun to have a dog cooperate because she is afraid of you. The purpose of having a dog is to enjoy the mutually beneficial relationship that can exist across species. Why create a relationship based on fear when it’s not necessary?
Good training plans take both operant conditioning and classical conditioning into account. You and your dog should both enjoy the process! If you aren’t both having fun, go back and look at why this might be. What are you teaching your dog without meaning to? Are you doing something to scare her, even if you don’t mean to? Find ways to make the process enjoyable for you both!
Last month, I described my favorite dog books – at least, those that have been published in the past year or two. Once I started listing them, I couldn’t stop! Here are more of the books I find myself thinking about, going back to read (or in the case of a few photography books, just look at and enjoy), and buy for friends. I’ll start with the coffee-table worthy photo books.
The Black Dogs Project: Extraordinary Black Dogs and Why We Can’t Forget Them
by Fred Levy Race Point Publishing, 2015 Hardcover, 128 pages, $26
We love looking at great photos of dogs, but The Black Dogs Project aspires to more than just entertaining dog lovers. When animal photographer Fred Levy learned that black dogs in shelters are often the last to be adopted and first to be euthanized, he didn’t believe it. But when he investigated, he learned that the bias against black dogs is real, and it’s a serious problem. This led to a series of elegant, somber portraits of black dogs, complete with their stories.
Originally a Tumblr blog that went viral (caninenoir.tumblr.com), the photos support the adoption of black dogs. In a March 2014 Huffington Post interview, Levy explained, “I thought this project would be a good graphic challenge. . . .
I want to bring awareness to this issue and remind people who are searching for the perfect dog that black dogs have great personalities, too.” Levy is donating a portion of the proceeds to a group called Labrador and Friends in support of the adoption of black dogs.
The Dogist: Photographic Encounters with 1,000 Dogs
by Elias Weiss Friedman Artisan, 2015 Hardcover, 304 pages, $25
Photographer Elias Weiss Friedman, who launched his blog and Instagram feed
(@TheDogist) in 2013, captures the personalities of a thousand dogs of all breeds, shapes, ages, sizes, and attire in a coffee-table book that reviewers and fans call endearing, delightful, emotional, spontaneous, caring, and can’t-put-down wonderful.
Shake
Shake Puppies
by Carli Davidson Harper Design, 2013 and 2014 Hardcover, 144 pages, $18
Photographer Carli Davidson captures dogs and puppies in the middle of that magical moment: mid-shake. Their eyes bulge and their ears, tongues, and bodies go in all directions in vivid colors and perfect focus. You’ve watched your dog shake a million times, but the action is simply too fast to see. Take a look at these dogs of every breed and size and your own will look different next time. Better yet, try to capture your dog in mid-shake with cell phone or camera, and you’ll appreciate Davidson’s skill.
After the initial success of Shake, Davidson focused solely on puppies for a follow-up book, Shake Puppies; her newest work is Shake Cats! Most animal lovers call these books fun, uplifting, adorable, hilarious, personality-capturing, and stress-reducing.
Underwater Dogs
Underwater Puppies
by Seth Casteel Little, Brown and Company, 2012 and 2014 respectively. Hardcover, 132 and 128 pages, $21
Self-taught photographer Seth Casteel was working with Buster, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, in the dog’s backyard when he wondered what the enthusiastic swimmer would look like underwater. He left to buy an inexpensive underwater camera and Buster became the first in a series of bug-eyed, ball-chasing, fang-showing, bubble-surrounded swimming dogs. Casteel then maxed his credit card buying a camera housing designed for surf photographers, and the investment paid off when the world noticed his startling, entertaining underwater photos. Casteel’s pictures are featured in annual calendars, children’s books, address books, and other products.
Underwater Dogs was followed by Underwater Puppies, Underwater Dogs Kids Edition, and (to be fair) Underwater Babies.
Casteel also photographs homeless pets for shelters and rescue organizations around the world, in order to help animals find forever homes. See his blog at sethcasteel.com.
Man’s Best Hero: True Stories of Great American Dogs
by Ace Collins Abingdon Press, 2014 Paperback, 208 pages, $16
Who doesn’t love a good dog story? These hero dogs – mostly household pets – rose to the occasion when their humans were drowning, on fire, about to be run over, or simply discouraged and depressed. They are all sizes, ages, and conditions, and their stories are old (Stubby, the most decorated dog of World War I) and new. This straightforward, entertaining collection can be read in small sections or straight through, and it’s appropriate for all ages. Best of all, though it mentions Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and other famous canines, the book’s main focus is the everyday family dog.
Real Dog Yoga
by Jo-Rosie Haffenden First Stone Publishing, 2015 Paperback, 128 pages, $17
This English import offers step-by-step instructions for enhancing the human-animal bond with exercises that come naturally to dogs.
Author Jo-Rosie Haffenden is not a fan of Doga, the yoga-for-dogs classes in which small dogs are lifted into the air, pinned to the floor, or propped on the owner’s back. Instead, she combines 30 canine postures (safe and comfortable positions), 15 expressions (slow and calm actions), and 10 communication expressions (mostly facial or vocal) with force-free training and respect for dogs.
Detailed instructions for clicker training, verbal cues, and shaping are organized into sessions and sequences that combine body consciousness with mental focus. The result: calm, relaxed dogs, enhanced overall health, and improved dog-handler communication.
Teaming with Your Therapy Dog
by Ann R. Howie, LICSW, ACSW Purdue University Press, 2015 Paperback, 161 pages, $17
If you’re at all interested in animal-assisted therapy, you’ve probably heard of Ann Howie. For the past 30 years she has incorporated animals into acute-care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health and hospice care, in-patient psychiatry, and the ever-expanding world of therapy pet training and registration.
A popular conference speaker, Howie focuses on positive training methods and a strong bond between dog and handler in which the dog is an equal partner.
Her 13-point “Therapy Dog’s Bill of Rights” begins with “As a therapy dog, I have the right to a handler who obtains my consent to participate in the work.” Too often, she says, therapy dogs are put to work with little regard for their wants and needs.
The Bill continues, “As a therapy dog, I have the right to a handler who provides gentle training to help me understand what I’m supposed to do; is considerate of my perception of the world; helps me adapt to the work environment; guides the client, staff, and visitors to interact with me appropriately; focuses on me as much as the client, staff, and visitors; pays attention to my nonverbal cues; takes action to reduce my stress; supports me during interactions with the client; protects me from overwork; gives me ways to relax after sessions; provides a well-rounded life with nutritious food, medical care, physical and intellectual exercise, social time, and activities beyond work; and respects my desire to retire from work when I think it is time.”
In addition to elaborating on these points, Howie describes different ways of handling therapy dogs, the importance of being fully present on visits, and how to understand a dog’s behavior, maintain close proximity to your dog on visits, improve your observation skills, support your therapy dog with touch, speak conversationally, and combine all of these ingredients for effective, satisfying results. A dog behavior checklist and resources complete this readable, thorough, and very useful book.
What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs
by Cat Warren Touchstone, 2015 Paperback, 343 pages, $16
Dogs have all kinds of jobs, but the ones we call “working dogs” are the most physical. These include military, police, bomb-sniffing, drug-sniffing, search and rescue, and cadaver dogs. They need stamina, strength, intelligence, good handlers, and excellent training.
Thanks to Cat Warren, we bystanders can have an intimate, inside view of cadaver dog training and handling, along with insights into the training of all working dogs. Warren, who lives in North Carolina, describes every aspect of her development as a handler and the training her dogs received, with important help from experts who were generous with their time, advice, and attention to detail.
“I blame Solo, my third German Shepherd, for this book,” she explains at catwarren.com. “The dog didn’t eat my homework. He became my homework. I finally stopped making excuses to colleagues about the time I spent working and learning with Solo and conceded that I had become a sniffer-dog nerd.”
Some of Warren’s most interesting descriptions involve the ways in which we humans interfere with our dogs’ training by projecting our own expectations, which are often wrong and which easily mislead our dogs. She explains how the illegal and unethical actions of a few dog handlers caused innocent people to be arrested and, when the errors were discovered, resulted in expensive exonerations and a general discrediting of canine testimony.
Readers involved in scent tracking and nose work should find Warren’s descriptions of blind and double-blind training methods interesting. Correct and careful training from the beginning can help prevent both dog and handler from making serious mistakes.
The research that went into this project (several pages of acknowledgments detail the participation of leading trainers) makes What the Dog Knows far more than a personal memoir. This is an exciting book full of useful information.
A Wolf Called Romeo
by Nick Jans Manner Books, 2015 Paperback, 288 pages, $15
Though wolves are more common in Alaska than the rest of the U.S., it was still thrilling when Nick Jans and his wife saw a black wolf in December 2003, as they walked with their yellow Lab, Dakotah. Suddenly the wolf ran straight at them, stopping 40 yards away, stiff-legged, tail raised, in a dominant posture. Dakotah, who was half the wolf’s size, moaned and broke away from her humans, ignoring their cries as she skidded to a stop by the wolf. “She stood tall, her own tail straight out,” writes Jans, “and as we watched, mouths open, the wolf lowered his to match.” Then the wolf bowed, lifted a paw, and the two animals watched each other intently while Dakotah sidled closer and circled.
So began a relationship between the wolf and Jans’ dogs, and through them with Jans himself, one that lasted for the rest of Dakotah’s life and beyond. For six years the gentle black wolf returned to play with Juneau’s dogs, follow cross-country skiers, and nap near his friends in the sun.
At first a handful of residents and their dogs were the only ones who knew about the wolf, but word – and publicity and controversy – soon spread. It wasn’t long before curious or uninformed people were putting their dogs and themselves at risk by getting close or even pushing their dogs toward the wolf for play. To his credit, Romeo, as he came to be called, was well behaved. By all accounts intelligent, curious, and in excellent health, the black wolf captivated photographers and animal lovers, and he inspired Jans and others to study the history and nature of wolves in detail.
Alas, Romeo’s story has a sad ending, one that still frustrates Jans. You may learn more than you wanted about politics and the legal aspects of wolf management, but Jans’ breathtaking photos and haunting descriptions of Romeo will stay with you.
Let me just start with the moral of this story first: If you have a dog, keep some nice, fresh hydrogen peroxide on hand, won’t you?
Last night, I’m feeding my three-year-old grandson dinner, and he wants to simultaneously play with these little wooden cubes at the same time. The cubes are about a quarter-inch cubes, and have a tiny magnet glued on one side; they are supposed to be arranged in various artful ways in the accompanying metal tray. Because he’s actually a little young to play with this particular toy, and is more fond of just scrambling them around, I tell him, “You can play with them for a minute, but make sure they stay in the tray, okay? I don’t want them on the floor.”
Of course, within a minute he’s done something that caused several of the cubes to leap out of the tray, and a few fall to the floor – and as they do, my current foster dog, a young coonhound, leaps for them. I yell, “Hey!” trying to stop her forward momentum, but she manages to snatch one up; I hear it clinking on her molars. And just as fast, she runs from the room.
I run down the hall after her, into the living room. She’s happy with this game. She leaps onto the couch and faces me, panting happily. Her mouth is empty. I look around the room; she’s dropped no cubes in there. I retrace our steps; no dropped cubes in the hall. I carefully pick up the ones on the kitchen floor, from under my grandson’s chair, feeling them to see if they are wet with dog spit. Nope, they are all dry.
Crud. Is one missing? As quickly as I can, I arrange them by color in the tray. There are supposed to be 10 of each color. I start with the dark colors – 10, 10, 10, 10… – and work myself up to the brightest yellow, the last color. NINE. Crud crud crud. That’s when I started looking for the hydrogen peroxide, to make that coonhound vomit. CAN a quarter-inch cube make it through the dog without harm? I’d rather it come out how it went in, and now.
But guess what? We are all out of peroxide.
And my next door neighbors are not home.
And my sister is not home at her house, several blocks away.
At this point, I turn the three-year-old over to my husband, put the coonhound in the car, and race to CVS, race home with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and give her the first dose. Within 10 minutes she starts looking restless and unhappy, and drinks a bunch of water, but after 10 more minutes, hasn’t vomited, so I give her some more. About 10 minutes later, she vomits. The first round is grass and a little food and water. The next bit is watery bile. The last one is tiny, just a bit of watery bile. No cube.
I consult with the veterinary technician from my shelter, the one that I am fostering the hound for. She is unfazed. “Meh, give her some food, maybe some canned pumpkin, watch her, I’m sure it will go through,” she tells me.
Meanwhile, my husband is looking under the sofas and beds, in every room the cubes have been played with. Because the cubes have been spilled out of their tray before, many times, he’s certain the set wasn’t complete to begin with, though he agrees that it’s weird that just ONE is missing. “I thought there were at least four or five missing,” he says.
The hound ate dinner with gusto. And breakfast this morning.
As I write this, it’s lunchtime. No poop yet, though I will be examining it when it happens. I won’t be letting her out of my sight for a while. And, truthfully, if I know myself, I will most likely end up bringing her to the vet for an x-ray, even though the shelter vet tech says it’s not necessary. I just hate not knowing whether or not she actually swallowed one – AND I hate the feeling I have that if I had been able to make her vomit immediately, I would have known for sure whether she had swallowed a cube or not.
I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, check your hydrogen peroxide supply, won’t you?
A note on the dosage mentioned in the linked article: You will find other Internet searches that recommend 1 teaspoon per TEN pounds of body weight, with a maximum dose of 3 tablespoons, no matter the dog’s weight. Our veterinary sources recommend the more assertive dose of 1 teaspoon per FIVE pounds of body weight, but still suggest no more than 3 tablespoons no matter the dog’s weight.
Have you ever had the experience of getting incredibly “stuck” with your dog, unable to teach him a certain new behavior? And then an experienced trainer steps up, and has your dog happily performing the behavior again and again within a minute? At that moment, part of you is happy because your dog “got it,” but part of you may be seething, too. What the heck, dog?
That scenario was running through my head as I sat and worked in one room, while in the next room, someone was trying to coerce a willful three-year-old through dinner, a bath, pajamas, story time, and bed. The adult kept threatening various punishments (a time-out, not getting treats the next day, having a favorite toy taken away), but never quite delivered on any of them. I was dying to go in there and give advice (or even take over), because I knew I could make it all happen, and without threats or a raised voice, tight with exasperation. I know this because I’ve finessed the same toddler through the same routine without eliciting his tears, anger, and frustration. But unlike a human student and her dog in a training class, this person didn’t sign up for my advice. So I just sat there unhappily, wishing I could put some “dog training” to work.
For the 19 years that I’ve been editing WDJ, I’ve been studying animal trainers – mostly dog trainers, but other trainers, too. I’ve watched them work (in person and on video), photographed them, interviewed them, read what they’ve written, and taken lessons from them. I’ve learned a ton about influencing the behavior of other animals, and successfully used what I’ve learned on my own dogs, foster dogs, shelter dogs – and yes, I’ve even used what I’ve learned to help “train” my son. He’s 23 now, long past needing any intervention to change his behavior, but I have to say, what I learned from all the animal trainers I’ve studied worked with him, too! He’s a great dog – um, successful young man!
What have I learned? For starters, I’ve learned that a good trainer doesn’t yell at or physically menace her pupil, intimidating or threatening him into compliance. Because – what if the dog still won’t do the behavior? Then what?
A dog trainer also knows that rewards need to be palpable and immediate. If a handler fails to reward – or even notice – the behaviors that a dog does after being cued to do them, and they are behaviors that are not particularly enjoyable in and of themselves for the dog – why should he keep doing them? Failing to reinforce good behavior with something that is valuable to the training subject is a sure-fire way to get that good behavior to stop.
As I sat there, listening to the parent/toddler struggle in the other room, I was dying to jump in and “train the dog.” And then it occurred to me: This must be exactly what it’s like for dog trainers when their human students struggle to get their dogs to do something that is ridiculously easy for the trainer to accomplish. They must also be thinking, “Why doesn’t this person just do it like this?”
And so, like any of the really great trainers I’ve met and admire, what I really need to do is figure out how to reach out and teach the “amateur handler,” not the “dog.” I need to notice and reinforce the things she’s doing right, so she not only learns a better way to get the behavior she wants, but enjoys the process, too.
Every year we asked WDJ’s contributors for their recommendations for “things they can’t imagine living without” in their dog-care kits – their favorite dog toys, training tools, and treats. Here are some of the products that made their lists of things that they must have for their dogs. Scroll down for full reviews.
Of all the products featured here, this is my favorite. I can’t walk even a single block at night without someone calling out from the opposite sidewalk, a porch, or a passing car, “What a cool light!” or “Hey, look at that dog!” – or “Please tell me where you bought that!” The attention itself isn’t something that appeals to me (though Otto seems to like it!), but the fact that I am 100 percent confident that anyone who goes by can see him, even on the darkest, rainiest night, makes me deliriously happy. The Lighthound was developed with help from Kickstarter funders, who, by all accounts, are thrilled with the product they helped into production!
Noxgear was founded “with a mission to deliver innovative, well-designed gear to all nocturnal athletes” (they make products for humans, too). Its Lighthound is a lightweight harness, made of durable, washable Cordura, with 3M Scotchlite microreflective piping (which reflects in headlights at distances greater than 1,000 feet). Both the strap that goes around the dog’s neck and the one that goes around the dog’s girth are highly adjustable. The Lighthound has no leash attachment; it’s meant to be worn by your dog in combination with whatever other gear he’s wearing.
Here’s the fun part: With the press of a button, the Lighthound can be lit up with your choice of six different solid colors (aqua, orange, lime green, pink, red, or yellow) or one of six flashing modes. There are slow and flashing modes, and some great color-changing modes that cycle through different colors (check the WDJ Facebook page for a video of this). Highly visible, beautiful, and fun! The rain-proof unit that illuminates the vest can be easily removed so the vest can be washed – and get this: the rechargeable lithium battery that powers the unit is charged via a USB connection, and keeps the vest flashing or glowing for 12 hours! – Nancy Kerns
Nite Ize Nite Dawg Collar and Meteorlite LED Ball
Fewer hours of daylight do not deter my two young, high-energy dogs from action; they are ready to run, sun or none. After years of crawling through bushes with a head lamp searching for lost balls, only to emerge and wonder where the dogs wandered off to (always inches past my light, giggling, I’m sure!), I discovered the Nite Ize LED dog products.
The Nite Dawg collar comes in red or orange and houses a flexible, light-transmitting polymer core that illuminates when the collar is turned on with a firm press of a button (orange offers the longest-range visibility). The collar has two modes, flash and steady glow. By far, it beats any light-up collar attachment that you can only see when your dog is facing a specific direction, which mine seem to never do. It’s powered by a long-life, easily replaceable battery; one usually lasts all fall/winter on my dogs.
Nite Ize sells other light-up products for dogs, but this collar is my favorite, closely followed by the Meteorlight K-9 LED Ball, another must-have during the dark days of winter. It’s endlessly entertaining to watch the nighttime game of fetch (especially in light-up Disc-O color) and great exercise given that the ball is made of durable, extra-bounce rubber. This ball is beloved by all the four-legged fetch nuts at our house, which may be why we’ve had to replace these batteries more than once per season of darkness. (Note that because of these batteries, the ball is for fetching only; no chewing allowed!) – Kathryn Socie Dunning
Sexy Beast Leather Dog Collars and Leashes
My mom used to have two sets of towels – “one for show, and one for blow.”
I have a similar ethic about dog collars: Some are fancy enough that you want to save them for special occasions.
The irresistibly named Sexy Beast makes beautiful, limited-edition leather dog collars and leashes – and crafts absolutely gorgeous, custom collars and leashes to your exact specifications. The craftsmen owners of the company started this unique business in 2009 to raise money for cancer research after losing both of their Rhodesian Ridgebacks to that disease.
Among their fashion-forward designs: “Candy Heart,” inch-wide latigo leather studded with colorful cabochons, crystals, studs, and a heart concho (seen here), and “Dragonfly,” completely hand-tooled, dyed, and painted with your choice of color scheme to bring these pond-flitters to life. There are a variety of closure styles available, most of them variations on the martingale, which is designed to prevent a dog from slipping his collar. All of Sexy Beast’s cow and bull hides are sourced in the United States, and are cut, beveled, and conditioned by hand. Every design can be customized – you can choose the width and type of leather, as well as add a soft leather lining and nameplate, which is also a one-of-a-kind creation. Be patient; the wait time for the custom creations can be lengthy, but the product, we assure you, will be worth it. – Denise Flaim
Doggie Tail Toy
I’m not sure the Doggie Tail has the best name – it looks more like a faceless rabbit head with one ear. But dogs don’t care, especially when it is in their mouth and it’s making their entire head vibrate.
This unique poly fake fur-covered ball with an 8-inch tail contains a mechanism that produces frenetic motions: a hopping scurry when on a flat surface, or, when held, a robust vibration. It moves! And makes noises, too: a small-dog-like bark, followed by a whine. These activities are initiated whenever the ball’s power switch is turned to “on,” and then when the ball is bumped. The sound and movement features last about 10 seconds, and then the toy goes still. Until your dog whacks it and it goes off again, and again, and again… keeping him entertained and (I hope) not driving you crazy.
While toy-savvy dogs usually love the Doggie Tail, the very nature of the toy – a simulation of a small, noisy, furry, moving creature – would not be appropriate for dogs whose interest in prey has been something you have been trying to dampen. It might also be a bit scary for sensitive or fearful dogs, so use care when introducing it for the first time.
The Doggie Tail should always be enjoyed with supervision and you should never allow your dog to chew on it. While it is sturdy, it is not indestructible and it does contain batteries; inspect it frequently and throw it away if it is damaged.
Finally, it does not come with the three AAA batteries it requires, and the battery compartment is difficult to access in the 4″ diameter ball. And it requires a screwdriver to open! But knowing dogs, I’m glad for that. – Barbara Dobbins
Pet Tutor
Whether human or canine, it’s easy to get addicted to the Pet Tutor, the newest high-tech treat-dispensing system on the market. After hearing all the buzz about it from several of my trainer friends, I purchased the device a few months ago, and after a quick, easy setup, my dog, Cody, was addicted to it in less than three dispenses (and so was I)!
The Pet Tutor from Smart Animal Training Systems is a patented, smart, wireless training, feeding, and game system for your pet (dogs, cats, birds, or other animals) that gives you new and innovative ways to remotely reward your animal for any number of desired behaviors. Need to teach your dog to love her crate? Stop barking? Help your dog go to a mat and stay there? Slow down your dog’s pace of eating? Provide more mental stimulation for your animal? Pet Tutor to the rescue.
Lightweight, very well made, and durable, the Pet Tutor bridges the gap between positive training and high technology. Developed by Wes Anderson, an electrical engineer and a passionate positive dog trainer, the device is amazing in its multiple capabilities, and the company has excellent customer service. Here are only a few of the attributes of this amazing new device:
– Can be triggered manually with the remote or programmed automatically to dispense food at specific times or intervals.
– The feeder can be turned on its base to either dispense food to the floor or into the tray on the base. If you think your dog might spend the day trying to destroy the device to get the food out, you can put it up on a counter or high cabinet, and turn the dispenser so that the food rolls out onto the floor rather than into the tray. You can also put the device on top of a wire crate and have the food fall directly into the crate.
– The feeder holds up to five cups of food and is nearly jam-proof. All manner and sizes of treats easily move through the dispensing unit, including odd shapes and various sizes of kibble, but also moist things like bits of hot dog or chicken.
– There is a silent dispensing mode for animals sensitive to sounds.
– It’s easy to take apart to clean and is dishwasher safe.
– You can hang it from above, stand it on any flat surface, or mount it on a crate or kennel door with the optional crate attachment.
– You can trigger multiple devices via one remote control.
– The remote control contains movement sensors (tilt mode), enabling it to be placed into a toy (such as a Kong Wobbler). Movement of the remote triggers the base to dispense a treat, so the dog is rewarded each and every time she interacts with the toy. (Once your dog understands the game, you can position the toy at greater and greater distances from the base, so your dog has to travel back and forth to get his treats!)
– The remote also contains a microphone, and can be fastened to the dog’s collar or placed on top of the crate; as long as the dog is quiet, the Pet Tutor will dispense treats at random moments, but if the dog barks, the remote senses the sound and withholds treats until the dog is quiet again for at least five seconds.
– The Pet Tutor is available with customizable computer software; it’s also iPhone and Bluetooth compatible.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the Pet Tutor’s capabilities with my own dogs. No matter your level of skill or ability, you’ll find the Pet Tutor a welcome addition to your home for training and feeding or playing games with your dog. But its price might limit its sales to professional trainers, exceptionally motivated owners, and owners of dogs who have separation anxiety (its uses for keeping these dogs occupied are limitless). – Lisa Lyle Waggoner
Earth Rated Waste Bags
Goodbye, plastic grocery bag. Earth Rated’s green-hued poop bags contain an additive that helps them break down in landfills, and they smell nice, too – the company uses a formulation of “spice plants, flowers, and fruits” to make for a pleasant olfactory experience. (They also have unscented ones, if you’d prefer.)
Scooping for a big-un? Earth Rated has a bag with handles that opens wider for bigger messes, and can accommodate kitty litter and pick-me-ups from multi-dog households. Picking up a lot of poop, more than your average bear? Earth Rated sells a 300-bag roll that dispenses nicely out of a recycled cardboard box.
Even though its business is “waste,” the company takes its environmental impact and good citizenship seriously. Excess production material is recycled – reused for future production.
And finished products that don’t meet its standards are donated to shelters.
Though they’re more environmentally friendly than plastic, technically the bags aren’t “biodegradable” because, the company explains, “they cannot be proven to break down within a regulated time frame in every type of landfill environment.” If you want to totally allay your landfill angst, Earth Rated also sells white, unscented bags that are made out of a vegetable starch base. These can be disposed of in municipal compost environments where pet waste is accepted. – Denise Flaim
The Turdle Bag
We’re really going to have an entire page devoted to poop? Yes, I’m afraid so. But, look – we all have dogs, so we all have to deal with poop, and we may as well have the best gear available to deal with it. Agreed?
The Turdle Bag is genius because of its name alone! Even better, though, is the concept behind it: a dog poop bag carrier. I want to buy a bunch and give them to fellow hikers with dogs while enjoying one my favorite dog-friendly open spaces. The hiking trails there have become littered with filled dog-waste bags. And while I’m thankful that the trail hazard has been minimized, these “trail markers” are unsightly and environmentally unfriendly. I know that most people have good intentions, and think they will retrieve the bag on their way out, but rarely do they exit by the same trail, and so the poop remains.
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I don’t know how many times the items in my pack have shared the same space as odiferous dog poop, but it was just the price I had to pay to pack it out. Now the poop has a bag of its own! Available in red, forest green, and navy, the 8 1/2- by 6-inch bag is small enough so as not to be a burden to carry, and large and sturdy enough to handle a large and stinky deposit.
The top of the bag is wide, making it easy to receive a full bag. Then it rolls down, becoming smaller, and buckles to close, keeping odors trapped. A strap on the back secures the bag to a leash, belt, or pack. A handle on the bottom of the pack makes it easy to dispose the contents into a garbage can. A pouch on the front stores a supply of pet waste bags. And it can be machine washed and dried! – Barbara Dobbins
Polar Bowl
It’s a bit ironic that I’m writing about products that keep things cool as I try to stay warm. But it wasn’t that long ago that the temperatures were soaring over 100 degrees. My Border Collie, Duncan, was never an avid drinker of water and even less so when his water was warm. But he didn’t like ice cubes. What’s a dog mom to do to encourage hydration?!
Get him a Polar Bowl! This stainless steel bowl by Neater Feeder (Neater Pet Brands, LLC) features double-walled stainless steel surrounding a non-toxic gel core and comes in three sizes:
small = 14 ounces
medium = 28 ounces
large = 58 ounces
Simply place the empty bowl in the freezer for a few hours, remove, and then fill it with water. The frozen gel core keeps the water cold for hours. For outings and traveling, I freeze one and keep it in a cooler. It’s dishwasher-safe, but the same element that keeps it cold (the gel core) will also retain heat, so use caution when removing it from dishwasher. Made in the USA. – Barbara Dobbins
Paw Pudding
Developed and tested through the seasonal extremes found in the western Rocky Mountains, Paw Pudding promotes healing of the inevitable cracks and splits that arise from all canine adventures, big and small, in the great outdoors. Whether you and your hound head out hiking in the hot and dry summer months or skijoring in the wicked cold of deep winter, this non-toxic, preservative-free goodness will keep paws happily on the move. It’s also free of chemicals and artificial colors, making it perfectly safe for your four-legged friend to have a lick, should she be so inclined.
Paw Pudding is made by The Scent Project, a small, Montana-based business. Their products benefit both dogs and people; this one works wonders on hard-working hands, too! Rub some on after a long day digging in the garden or pounding nails building Fido his dream home. It’s made with anti-microbial and anti-bacterial lavender and calendula, as well as olive oil.
Small, hand-blended batches are made to order, and since a dab will do, a small jar will last a long time. All the paws, palms, heels, hands in your home deserve it! – Kathryn Socie Dunning
Invincibles Snake
All the toys made by Outward Hound are high-quality, well-made toys, though the Invincibles Snake is the number one “go to toy” for our own two high-energy Australian Shepherds.
The Snake is made of super-tough fabric and contains large, special squeakers that make two different sounds – one sound when the squeaker is depressed and another sound when released, quite different from a traditional squeaker. The Snake also features a special inner lining the company calls “Dura-Tuff” and double-layered seams. The squeakers are designed so that even if punctured by a hard chewer, the toy will continue its wonderful noise-making capability. The Snake comes in a three- or six-squeaker option.
The Invincibles Snake entered our home eight years ago, and our dogs have played hard and tugged together with this toy between them time after time with no damage to the toy. It’s provided years of enjoyment for them and a ton of laughs from me. – Lisa Lyle Waggoner
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I am thankful that I’m from a family that loves dogs.
My sister hosted Thanksgiving this year. Her husband recently retired and they moved to my town – across the street from my office/house! They have three little dogs: perhaps 10-year-old Bo, a scruffy Terrier-mix they adopted from a friend whose life was too much in flux to keep him; Daisy, a 2-year-old Jack Russell-mix adopted from a Jack Russell rescue; and Dinah, the ?-year-old “mommy dog” that I fostered (along with her puppy) last summer. (My sister dog-sat for me when I was traveling and ended up falling in love with soft-coated Dinah, her first non-terrier!) Daisy is the most social and well-adjusted with guests, jumping into anyone’s lap for petting and play, but the other two both spent a fair amount of time on the laps of the people they knew. It was nice to be able to reach out and pet a dog in any room we were in before and after dinner! To keep the chaos level low, we made sure that they were the only dogs in their home.
My brother-in-law and his wife and their dogs stayed at my office/house for a few days, and tehn my son came and stayed a few days with his dog, so I had days and days of dog walks in my local open spaces. My sister’s cooking was phenomenal, but the off-leash dog walks out in nature, with mostly well-behaved dogs, were the highlights of my week.
My in-laws brought their Boxer, Rosie, whom they adopted from a Boxer-rescue; and Oliver, an older foster from the same group. Oliver is smaller and sweet, with a long tail. Rosie is a handful, and tends to “lock on” to small dogs (and other small animals), so I coordinated their movements in order to avoid unmanaged moments between Rosie and my Chihuahua Tito, who will snarl at, rather than run from, any dog he perceives as a threat to his well being. He is not one of those hysterical small dogs who will start trouble with a big dog, but he won’t exactly back down, either.
Tito and my big dog Otto stayed at my home most of the time. My son arrived to the party well after dinner and spent a couple nights with his amiable 2-year-old coonhound-mix, Cole. It seemed like Otto used to regard Cole as a big pest, but he always seems happy to see the playful dog now. He usually greets Cole with a ferocious growl (paired with a wagging tail), to which Cole responds by ducking into a play bow and then taking off at a crazy-legged run; then, the chase is on. They grab toys and take turns playing “keep away” from the other. Tito grabs a tennis ball and plays by himself, trying to stay out of the way.
When the in-laws came over to my house with the Boxers, I put Tito in a crate to protect him. When people are busy catching up with each other, it’s not possible to make sure that the dogs aren’t crossing paths or swords. Better safe than sorry. Tito didn’t complain once, even though he normally would protest with some whining or a few barks if he’s locked up in the middle of the day; I think he felt safer in there, too.
Though I’ve come to rely on Otto to help me socialize and train ill-mannered juvenile foster dogs in the past, he made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with helping manage Rosie’s behavior. She’s a big, strong dog, with a very assertive presence. Here she was in his house, in his yard, and she’d greet him by walking straight up to him, staring straight at him, with a stiff, forward body – very rude canine behavior. If it had been coming from an adolescent, Otto would have likely pounced on her and demanded some sort of show of submission. As it was, he very calmly just looked the other way, every time. He’d hold his ground, changing not one bit of his posture besides turning his head in an “I don’t even see you!” sort of gesture. And it worked! After a moment, Rosie would seem to get bored and move on to something else.
They were all fine when we were out on walks together, though. Rosie and Oliver mostly hung together on the trail, and Cole and his “Uncle Otto” were almost always within a few feet of each other; Tito mostly stays closest to the humans. The tactic keeps him from getting run over, and he’s ready in case anyone wants to give good little dogs a treat.
We had only one naughty dog incident in four total days with dogs out on the trail. We were in a densely wooded area, near an algae-covered pond, checking out a small, overgrown cemetery that dates back to the early 1860s. All of a sudden, we heard rhythmic crashing sounds in the dried leaves and underbrush – a deer who suddenly discovered that there was a pack of dogs nearby, and who decided to run for it. Otto and Cole were closest to her, and both of them knew exactly what those crashing sounds were. They took off after her. The other dogs, closer to us, immediately responded to our urgent calls, and stayed by us. We rewarded them quickly and extravagantly, and leashed them.
Otto was the leader, and closest to the deer. I was appalled that he failed to respond to my cues of “Off!” and “Come!” but the temptation was too great; the deer was only about 50 feet ahead of him when she started running. Cole was maybe 100 feet from her, and he actually stopped and turned back for a moment when he heard my son’s calls – but then he succumbed to the double temptation: Running deer! And running Otto!
Otto isn’t very fast, though, and though it’s clearly a blast for him to strike up a chase, he’s not so “gamey” as to chase anything for very long. He circled back and galloped back to us in less than a minute, eyes shining and very pleased with himself. But without Cole.
My son and I both called for a few minutes, listening between shouts for sounds of the deer or the dog. Then we heard more crashing sounds, and here was Cole – 100 percent soaked, from the tip of his tail to the top of his head, and covered with tiny green plants. In his haste, he must have run right “onto” the pond, mistaking the green surface for solid ground, and landing hard enough to carry him completely under the surface of the water. He shook and shook for the rest of the walk, trying to get all the water out of his ears. I’m most sorry to report that we didn’t get a picture of him covered with the little green specks; he looked sort of like a space alien. He just would not stop shaking and sending the green specks flying.
We kept a much closer eye on the dogs from then on, calling them back to us again and again, and rewarding them with the ample treats we brought along. We saw a lot more deer, including whole herd of them trotting a few hundred yards away, but by then, all of the dogs were clearly more motivated by the treats and praise than the prospect of another chase, and we had no more incidents, on that or any other walks.
Four days, five dogs on the trail and three different ones by the Thanksgiving dinner table, and no further incidents . . . it was a wonderful holiday.
This happened to two couples I know – one, very recently: They adopted a dog who turned out to have some “issues.” Each couple hired a trainer to help them manage and change the dog’s behavior. The trainers started out with teaching them very dog-friendly basic training techniques that helped them get their dogs’ attention, improved basic obedience and cooperation, and generally encouraged the couples that there was hope for their dogs. But then, when progress wasn’t being made fast enough – at least, in the eyes of the trainers – the trainers started using (and encouraging the couples to use) punitive, force-based methods. In both instances, my friends contacted me to ask for a reality check, like, “Is this okay? Is this what we should expect?” In both cases, my answer was, “Oh heck no!”
In the first case, my friends had adopted a small dog who was so reactive on leash, that he would suddenly lunge and snap at passersby. He didn’t actually manage to make contact with anyone’s flesh, but he bit shopping bags, coat and skirt hems, and the leg of someone’s pants, despite the best efforts of his very dedicated owners to keep him away from other people, and especially other dogs, when they walked. On my advice, they hired a trainer who advertised that he used dog-friendly methods, and was an alumni of a prestigious dog-friendly trainer academy, for private lessons.
The trainer taught them to ask the dog to look at them on cue, to look at other dogs or people and then choose to look back at them, to sit and stay very reliably when someone was approaching or passing when they just could not avoid this (they live in a large, busy city), and the dog was making great progress. They were dedicated to training him, and generally happy with his progress, but the hardest nut to crack (so to speak) was the unpredictable lunge-and-snap behavior. I kept encouraging my friends, because it seemed like they were getting somewhere and were highly invested in the dog – and they even took the dog in for several extensive veterinary workups and blood tests, to make sure there wasn’t a physical problem or thyroid imbalance that would help explain his hard-to-predict aggressive behavior.
But around this time, it seemed like the trainer grew frustrated with the persistence of the dog’s lunge-and-snap behavior. He brought a choke chain to their next few sessions, and showed my friends how to “pop” the dog if it looked like he was about to lunge. They saw that the trainer’s method was successful in (at least temporarily) controlling the dog, so they tried it, with a little success. Maybe all the positive stuff had to be balanced with a little discipline, they thought.
In very little time, however, the dog’s aggressive behavior started to increase, and he began to behave aggressively in more situations, many of them unpredictable. And while he had seemed to improve in the first few sessions in which the trainer had “popped” him, he abruptly started getting worse, growing much more dramatically aggressive when subjected to the things that triggered him (people and especially other dogs passing by). My friends discontinued their lessons with the trainer after one session in which the trainer appeared to lose his temper repeatedly, yanking the dog repeatedly with the choke chain, at several points lifting him off the ground, and yelling at him loudly.
My friends consulted with another trainer, who witnessed the behavior and had some minor suggestions, but admitted she didn’t have any significant answers about what else could be done.
Some weeks later, when one of my friends was sweeping their front sidewalk, and his partner opened the front door to tell him something, the dog bolted out the front door and ran like a lightning bolt next door, where their neighbor was also sweeping, and without a second of premeditation, attacked the neighbor, biting him in the leg. With great sadness, they decided they could not keep an animal that was this sort of unpredictable liability, and they returned him to the shelter he was adopted from. After an evaluation by the shelter, he was euthanized.
This is a story I will tell over Thanksgiving to my in-laws, who have a lovely adopted Boxer, and are fostering another one – and who are dealing with the first dog’s mild reactivity to other dogs when walking on leash. They, too, hired a trainer who advertises as “dog-friendly” to help them, and the lessons have paid off in spades. Their dog now knows to “look at” them on cue, and to sit calmly when cued, ignoring the passersby and their dogs, too. Yet, while I haven’t yet heard why, the same trainer also insisted that they buy and use a prong collar on the dog when walking. “Should we use it?” my sister-in-law asked me. “No!” I responded. Instead, I’ll help them when they come to stay in my office/house for a few days over Thanksgiving, and we go out for walks every day. And I’ll be sure to tell them the sad story of my other friends’ dog.
Folks, read our back articles. Pain-based, force-based, intimidation-based, fear-based, and even discomfort-based methods all tend to make aggressive behavior worse over time. You may be able to intimidate a dog into behaving better in certain circumstances, but unless you seriously and systematically address his stress – the things that get him anxious or aroused – the behavior will continue to pop up from time to time, and pretty much always when you least expect it and least wish for it to happen. You have to improve how he feels when he’s exposed to his stressors – and leash pops and yelling certainly won’t make him any less anxious or defensive about them. And next, you have to teach him a more rewarding response, something he should do (as opposed to telling him all the things he should NOT do) when he sees one of his stressors. The process takes time and commitment, but it can be, and has been, done time and time again. Usually, with people who are working with trainers who have lots of tools in their training “toolbox,” and who don’t give up on the dog-friendly stuff when they get stuck.
What’s your definition of a “well-trained dog?” For many people, a well-trained dog is one who knows how to perform a variety of behaviors. However, there are many dogs who will sit, lie down, stay, heel, and show off a few fun parlor tricks at home – but who look completely perplexed when asked to perform the same behaviors at an outdoor café, while visiting relatives or friends, or perhaps even when entering the ring at a dog show!
If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “But he does it at home!” while wondering why your dog fails to respond correctly when working in a new environment, you have acknowledged that your dog has not yet generalized the behavior to all contexts, and lacks fluency.
In dog training, generalization means that your dog can apply a concept to many situations; he knows that “Sit!” means he should sit whether he’s home, on a loud, crowded sidewalk in the rain, or in a grassy park with squirrels chattering in the trees. Fluency means the dog performs the desired behavior correctly, smoothly, and without hesitation.
When we train a behavior, we often do so with the unspoken expectation that the dog will perform the behavior anywhere, anytime, so long as the correct cue is given. It’s important to understand generalization and fluency because a dog’s failure to perform is often seen as the dog’s deliberate choice to not comply. In reality, the dog’s lack of compliance usually means he doesn’t know the behavior to the extent you believe he does. That’s a training problem; the behavior wasn’t generalized and taught to fluency.
As a trainer, my definition of “well trained” has less to do with how many behaviors my dog knows; it’s much more about whether he can correctly perform these behaviors in many unique circumstances, a feat that is necessary for him to live harmoniously within my lifestyle.
Out of Context
Dogs have dozens of wonderful qualities, but unfortunately, an ability to quickly generalize is not one of them. Dogs are contextual creatures. Learning to sit for three seconds in the kitchen when the house is quiet is not the same as sitting in a crowded outdoor shopping center. When dogs fail to comply in new settings or in the face of distractions, they aren’t being stubborn, willful, or dominant, as many people believe. In reality, they are struggling to meet the demands placed upon them in that moment, and they need our help to become successful.
In order for a dog to truly know a behavior, we must take the time to specifically train for the many types of situations we are likely to encounter with our dogs. It’s not just about more practice – it’s about strategic practice. Taking the time to train a behavior to fluency helps ensure that the behavior works whenever and wherever you need it. It’s the difference between a dog who can come when called when you leave him in a sit, walk away, and call him, and a dog who can still come when called while in the middle of chasing a squirrel down your driveway toward traffic!
The better your dog is able to respond to your cues, the less you are likely to be frustrated by his behavior. Even better, dogs who are reliable in their skills are more likely to be found accompanying their owners on adventures away from home. It’s more fun to hit the town with a well-trained dog!
We typically associate fluency with language, but it’s just as relevant to any acquired skill. Think about when you first learned to drive a car. You probably started in an empty parking lot or on a quiet road where you were unlikely to encounter other drivers; you needed to work in an area free from the distraction of other drivers. In the beginning, it took effort to remember each of the important steps that make up the behavior of “driving safely.” You relied heavily on the guidance of a driving instructor. As your skill level and confidence increased, you practiced on busier roads, in different weather conditions, and maybe even behind the wheels of different cars. Over time, you became so well practiced in the art of safe driving that it now appears effortless. The skill of operating a car has become generalized and fluent.
The following are methods that help dogs generalize behaviors and become fluent.
1. Start by clearly defining the behavior you want.
When you teach a behavior, it’s important to have a clear picture of what you want the finished behavior to look like. Does “heel” mean that your dog should match your pace and stay even with your left leg, or does “heel” mean your dog may stay anywhere on your left side so long as the leash stays loose? Does “on your spot” mean your dog should run directly to his mat and lie down with his entire body on the mat, or does it mean he should run to his mat and lie down with most of his body on the mat?
You should also have an idea of how quickly you want your dog to perform the behavior – both in terms of the time it takes the dog to start the behavior after you deliver the cue (latency), and the time it takes to perform the behavior from start to finish (speed).
There are no right or wrong answers. As the owner and trainer, you get to decide what’s most important to you, but you do need to think about your overall expectations in order to develop a training plan to support them. If you don’t have a clear idea of what you want, how will your dog know? Many of us begin training a behavior without clear expectations, only to suddenly decide the behavior we’ve been rewarding isn’t really what we want.
For example, think of the “puppy sit.” It’s not uncommon to have clients ask how to get their now 8-month-old dog to sit square on his hips after months of rewarding the puppy for slouched sitting. To fix it, we have to stop rewarding “sloppy sits” and work to re-train the behavior. Ever have a boss criticize you for failing to follow a procedure change nobody bothered to tell you about? It’s frustrating to be told you’re wrong when you’re doing exactly what was expected of you in the past. I suspect our dogs might agree.
2. Wean your dog off of lures and prompts.
A critical step toward your dog’s fluency is to get rid of common training aids such as food lures and assorted prompts as quickly as possible. If your dog lies down only when you say “down” and point to the floor with a cookie in your hand, he doesn’t truly understand that the word “down,” by itself, means he should move his body to the floor. If he turns to look at you only when you say his name while patting your leg as encouragement, he doesn’t actually know that you want him to orient himself to you when he hears his name.
To eliminate your dog’s dependency on lures and prompts, try warming him up by asking for a behavior two or three times in a row, using the known lure or prompt. With this short pattern in place, quickly ask for the behavior again, but without the obvious food lure or prompt. When he’s successful (which is likely, due to the patterned warm-up), surprise him with a celebratory jackpot. This is an important step toward weaning your dog off of the lures and prompts, teaching him to show up for work by responding to cues in order to earn food rewards versus food and prompts as training wheels that help create behavior.
3. Be clear and consistent with your cues.
It’s important to be mindful of how you taught a behavior, and what part of your cue might be most salient to your dog. For example, many people teach “down” by saying the word while luring the dog into position with a treat. Next, the dog learns to follow the same hand signal (pointing to the floor) without needing a treat on his nose. In this case, even though you say “down,” food on your dog’s nose, and later, the same hand that once held food, is likely the most noticeable piece of information, not the word, “down.”
If your goal is for your dog to lie down with only a verbal cue, don’t use verbal and physical cues simultaneously. Be sure to say the word “down” before you begin bending or pointing toward the floor. Allow your dog a brief moment (one second) to hear and consider the newer (to him) verbal cue, and then, if he doesn’t respond, follow the verbal cue with the physical cue that he understands. Soon, he will realize that the verbal cue consistently predicts the physical cue and will perform the behavior upon hearing the verbal cue alone.
It’s also important to be consistent with the delivery of your cues. If your verbal cue for sit is “sit,” be careful to not say, “sit down,” when asking your dog to perform the behavior. If your gestural cue for your dog to lift his left paw to “shake” is the presentation of your right hand, don’t be surprised if he struggles to perform correctly when you suddenly reach across your body with your left hand. These may seem like subtle differences, but they can easily create confusion in dogs, who are supreme masters when it comes to recognizing body language.
4. Make training a way of life.
Positive reinforcement training is all about teaching a dog that desired behavior brings rewards. We often use food treats as rewards, but we must be careful to avoid creating a dog who wants to work only when he sees that you have food, or has good reason to believe that you might have food. It’s great to have formal practice sessions where it’s completely obvious you are training the dog – you have your treat pouch, maybe he’s on leash, and you’re working in your usual training area. But it’s also important to make training a way of life to help your dog understand what’s expected of him all the time, not just when the overall picture looks like training.
To accomplish this, be aware of your dog’s behavior throughout the day and “catch him in the act” of being good. Consider stashing a portion of his daily kibble in one or two plastic cups around the house and randomly toss him a piece when he offers a behavior you’d like to see more of. This takes some of the formality out of training, gives him many opportunities for practice that support eventual fluency, and helps your dog realize there’s always an opportunity for reinforcement.
Using “life rewards” (such as opening a door to let the dog out, throwing a favorite toy to fetch, attaching a leash for a walk, or inviting the dog to join you on the sofa) is another meaningful way to reinforce a dog for correct behavior away from a formal training session. It also helps us develop a long list of ways to reinforce our dogs besides just treats.
In many cases, the potential life reward is, in that moment, even more valuable to the dog than an offered cookie. Ever see a dog refuse a treat, or take it and then spit it out as he sits transfixed by a squirrel? For that dog, getting the “Okay!” to race out the door and chase the squirrel across the yard after he sits when asked is way more powerful than an offered cookie.
5. Systematically generalize the behavior.
An important part of achieving fluency with a behavior is to help your dog generalize the behavior as needed. Just as you get to decide what the finished behavior should look like, you also get to decide under what conditions you need the behavior to hold up.
Will you ask your dog to perform the behavior in the presence of distractions? What kind? Will the dog need to perform the behavior at a distance from you? How long will he be expected to perform the behavior? Do you need the behavior only at home, or in a variety of locations? Do you prefer that the dog respond to you alone, or do you need him to respond to the cue if it is delivered by other people?
You don’t need to specifically train for every scenario you can imagine, but the more you train for, the greater his generalization will be. The more time you invest in specifically training to help your dog generalize, the greater the odds that he will be successful when you suddenly encounter something different or unusual. Once, while I was leading a group of city dogs and their owners on a training walk through a mountain resort, I ran into a man walking a goat. None of the dogs had ever seen (or smelled!) a goat before, but we had previously worked sit-stays around so many different types of distractions, all of the dogs were able to successfully control themselves as the goat strolled by!
Training for generalization is like asking, “Can you do the desired behavior if:_?” Think about your lifestyle and your expectations, and make a list of the different ways you might pose the question to your dog. Then set out to teach your dog how to meet the different challenges. For example, your dog might be able to hold a down-stay on his spot if you’re standing right next to him. But can he do it if:
There’s delicious food on the table? The cat saunters into the room? The kids are running nearby? The doorbell rings?
Someone other than the primary trainer is working with him?
You’re at an outdoor café near a busy sidewalk and another dog walks past? What if the dog is barking? What if the dog is pulling somebody on a skateboard?
Don’t be afraid to get creative and challenge your dog to perform under circumstances that seem unlikely. Can your dog sit if your back is to him when you ask? If you cover your face with your hands while delivering the cue? If you’re standing on a chair? If you’re lying on the ground?
He might need help at first – and that’s okay! As you introduce new challenges, be mindful of your dog’s emotional state. Meeting a new challenge should be a fun way to build confidence, not an overwhelming experience. Choose situations that your dog is realistically able to handle. As he works through a variety of challenges, he will realize he can perform successfully even when the training picture looks different from what he’s most used to – like when you’re asking him to sit at a busy sidewalk café versus sitting at home in the kitchen.
6. Break things down.
It’s important to break full behaviors into smaller pieces during training. Say your idea of a perfect stay is a dog who can maintain a sit for 10 minutes, while you stand 30 feet away as others run past your dog squeaking toys and bouncing tennis balls. It would not be fair to immediately set up such a scenario and expect him to work through it, especially if he’s a relatively inexperienced dog. Instead, concentrate on one element of the behavior while lowering your expectations for the others. If you’re asking him to stay for 3 minutes when he’s used to shorter stays, don’t practice this piece (duration) while you’re also standing far away or in a distracting environment.
Knowing the right time to raise criteria (make something harder) is an important part of successful training. A rule of thumb is to ask for more only when your dog has easily met your expectation of the easier task 80 percent of the time. If he wasn’t able to perform the behavior correctly three times in a row, the current task is too hard; find a way to make it easier. Struggling to meet the challenge isn’t failure – it’s information!
7. Most importantly, keep it fun!
As you work with your dog, be careful to not put too much pressure on yourself or your dog. Be mindful of your dog’s body language. Yawning, excessive sniffing, lip-licking, avoidance, or hyper or “fooling around” behaviors are all signs that your dog is feeling distress. Focus on meeting your goals through a series of baby steps rather than a few giant leaps. Keep training sessions upbeat and fun; there’s no need to “drill” a behavior. Remember to breathe and smile at your dog, and stop if you start to feel frustrated. Nothing will shut down your dog faster than your own frustration.
Pieces of the Training Puzzle
Element:
What it means:
Special considerations:
Precision
Can the dog perform the behavior accurately? For example, if “on your spot” means lie down with your entire body touching the bed, does your dog meet that criteria, or does he lie down near the bed, or with only part of his body on the bed?
To train for precision, you must know what you want the finished behavior to look like. Break complex behaviors into smaller parts to ensure that each piece can be done correctly. For example, if your vision for a formal retrieve includes a quiet hold on the object (no mouthing), don’t be in a hurry to throw the object until the dog can pick it up and hand it to you in a way that meets your criteria.
Latency
The length of time it takes for the dog to initiate the behavior after perceiving the cue. How long is acceptable to you?
High latency can indicate a lack of understanding on the dog’s part or a lack of motivation. Make sure your cues are consistent to help avoid confusion, and consider what you might change to make the behavior more rewarding (motivating) for the dog.
Speed
The amount of time it takes for the dog to execute the behavior from start to finish. Is your ideal “spin” one where the dog twists in a circle in a rapid, flashy manner, or is a slower rotation acceptable?
Be mindful of physical/breed characteristics that affect speed. A Mastiff physically cannot sit as fast as a Border Collie. Define your goal based on what is realistic for your dog. Use high-energy rewards to increase speed (toys, energetic personal play, the opportunity to chase a thrown food reward) and calm rewards (quiet praise, massage-like petting, calmly delivered food rewards) if you’re trying to encourage a less exuberant performance.
Distance
Where, in relationship to the handler, will the dog be asked to perform the behavior? Holding a stay next to the handler is easier than holding a stay with the handler across the room. It’s easier to sit when your handler is right in front of you than when he asks for the sit when you are 10 feet away from him.
It’s important to consider your dog’s emotional state when adding distance to behaviors. Dogs who are fearful will typically find it more difficult to work away from their handlers. Reward generously to help build confidence and form a positive association with the increased distance. Be especially careful to not overface your dog (to give him a greater distance challenge than he can handle).
Duration
How long will the dog need to perform the behavior? A 5-second sit-stay is easier than a 3-minute sit-stay. Some behaviors require more duration. Loose-leash walking is challenging for most dogs because of the duration required, i.e., the length of the walk.
When training, raise criteria slowly and avoid always asking for more. For example, when working on stays, sometimes surprise your dog with a reward after just a few seconds of an especially nice stay, even when you know he can stay longer.
Distractions
What distracting conditions are most relevant to your needs with your dog? Some possibilities: working around food, toys, other dogs, other animals, strangers, adored family members, urban distractions. Decide what you need and create a plan to help your dog learn to work around a variety of distractions.
Be reasonable in your expectations and set your dog up for success. The goal is not to trick your dog into doing it wrong. Rather, you want to introduce distractions in such a way that your dog enjoys success. Success builds confidence, and confident dogs are better able to work around myriad distractions. Plan to progress via baby steps and be ready to make the challenge easier when needed.
Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Los Angeles.
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?”
