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Thanks For Dogs

By
Nancy Kerns
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First, of course: Otto my wonder dog. I could not be more thankful for this dog, I really couldn’t. It’s incredible to me that I’ve been lucky enough to have two “heart dogs” in my adult lifetime. Otto and his predecessor (Rupert the Border Collie, who passed away at the age of 14 in late 2003) could not be more different in appearance and temperament, but both of them have been so generously present for me. Both dogs have seen me through some tough times for me and my family, and I’m grateful for their constant companionship, soulful comfort when needed, and readiness for fun and adventure all the rest of the time. Border Collie owners are accustomed to their dogs watching them constantly, and so I accepted the ever-present scrutiny from Rupert, but I have to admit that it is a little unnerving to have a dog with no BC traits whatsoever being so sensitive to so much as a hitch in my breath or my tone of voice as I talk on the phone; Otto detects any emotional instability at all and offers himself to me immediately. “Here I am, pet me, it’s going to be okay,” he seems to say. And so far, with his help, it has been. Thank you, Otto.

Also present: Tito, the Chihuahua who came to spend a few weeks a few years ago. He’s small, he’s loud, and he’ll take on the biggest, baddest dog in town – as long as there is a nice sturdy fence between them. If there is a bigger, cushier dog bed in the room, he’s on it, no matter who he has to menace to get it, and if you are thinking about taking away his bone before he’s done with it – well, let’s just say the only way you are going to get it is with steak, or maybe a tennis ball. He’s an outsized character in a little dog disguise and he’s not here to provide for my emotional comfort or anyone else’s; what’s a guy gotta do to get dinner served, and is that ALL? Sheesh!

Back under my table, unhappily, but making do: Mary, one of my former fosters. No, she’s not being returned – and I’m as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that’s never going to happen. She’s here because her new owner had emergency surgery last week. She was at work, and felt horrible, and decided she needed to leave work and go to the emergency room. But before she went to the ER, she went home to feed and let the dog outside, because she was afraid that she would be a long time and she didn’t want the dog to be uncomfortable or worried… and that’s probably about the time her appendix ruptured, while she was home, taking care of her dog. I don’t know how she made it from there to the ER, but I do know that people were telling her to let go of her phone as she was being prepped for surgery; I know because she was calling me to ask if I could please go get Mary out of her house and take care of the dog for a few days. Now, I know that Mary has no way of understanding that her owner cares about her so much that she risked her own life in order to take care of Mary’s needs before taking care of her own, but I’ve been trying to explain it to her while giving her as much comfort as I can while her owner recuperates. If we’re all lucky, her owner will be released from the hospital just after Thanksgiving. She and Mary will need no greater celebration than to sleep together again in their own home.

I have two sisters. One of them, the dog-crazy one, lives about four hours away from me. She’s also a chef, and she often cooks Thanksgiving dinner at my house; I have a bigger kitchen, and she has serious skills. This year, she is caring for her husband, who is having hip replacement surgery as I write this, so while ordinarily she and her husband and their three little dogs would be joining us, they, too, are sitting out the holiday to recover from surgery.

Instead, the one person in my family who doesn’t have a dog and doesn’t ever want a dog, my other sister, who lives several large states to the right of me… She’s coming, and bringing a dog. WHAT? Well, it’s her young adult daughter’s little dog, and her daughter is working long hours through the holiday, and so we will be joined by Riot, a darling young Chihuahua with next to zero training. Young adult with new career, working long hours, plus young exuberant dog? I plan to spend the week that my sister will be visiting helping Riot with remedial potty training, a default “sit” (sit when you don’t know what else you should do), and “shush” – what I consider a prerequisite foundation behavior for small dogs. Riot training is scheduled to begin exactly one minute after she arrives.

Sadie, my daughter-in-law’s little dog, a reputed miniature Schnauzer, will be around, but not likely at dinner. I adore her, she’s incredibly sweet, but our “shush” lessons have paid dividends only in small groups. She gets aroused and anxious in crowds, and with all the family members we’re expecting, all bets are off. She is tiny and delicate, but her aroused barking is the most shrill, ear-piercing sound you can imagine. If you could bottle it, you could stop real riots with it. So she’s uninvited, but no skin off her nose, because she lives just blocks away and will be without company for just a few hours. We’ll save her some turkey, I’m sure.

Finally, we will welcome the newest member of the family: just days ago, my husband’s brother and sister-in-law adopted Rosie, a three-year-old Boxer from a Boxer rescue group. She’ll get preferential treatment and management, to protect her from being overwhelmed with the travel and rapid changes in venue. I’ll check her ID tag as soon as she gets here, to make sure it has my in-laws’ cell numbers on it (this often gets overlooked in all the excitement of adoptions) and will put up special “Close the gate!” signs on all of my yard gates. Newly adopted dogs are at super high risk of bolting in the first week or two, so we will be super careful.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving! And please give your dogs a little treat, not too fatty, from all of us at WDJ.

(The Culture Clash Tip #1) The Dominance Panacea

By
Jean Donaldson
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One model that has been put forth as a quasi-justification for the use of aversives in training is pack theory. Ever since the linear hierarchy was postulated in wolves, dog people have gone cuckoo in their efforts to explain every conceivable dog behavior and human – dog interaction in terms of “dominance.” We really latched onto that one. It is a great example of a successful meme. Dogs misbehave or are disobedient because they haven’t been shown who’s boss. You must be the “alpha” in your “pack.” Aside from amounting to yet another justification for aversives – oriented training methods – the dog is supposedly staying up nights thinking up ways to stage a coup so you’d better keep him in his pace with plenty of coercion – dominance has provided a panacea – like explanation for dog – behaviors.

For the owner, this simple explanation makes unnecessary the work of boning up on a myriad of other topics, like how animals learn. Notions like dogs rushing through doors ahead of their owners or pulling on a leash to exert dominance over their owners are too stupid for words. Some poor people have it so backwards that they view appeasement behaviors such as jumping up to lick or pawing as dominance displays and thus fair game for aversive training. The dominance panacea is, once again, a case of leaping to a conclusion before ruling out more obvious explanations. Dogs chew furniture because what else could furniture possibly be for? They are disobedient because they have no idea what is being asked of them, are undermotivated to comply, or something else has won the behavioral gambit at that moment in time, like a fleeing squirrel. Rank is not likely on their minds.

From Jean Donaldson’s thought-provoking book, The Culture Clash, dog owners will learn and get a better understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans. Purchase The Culture Clash from Whole Dog Journal today. 

(The Culture Clash Tip #2) Tug Of War

By
Jean Donaldson
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Dog owners have been admonished for decades by trainers, breeders and veterinarians to never play tug of war with their dogs because it risks increasing aggression and/or dominance in the dog. I think they’ve muddled predatory behavior, which tug actually is, with agnostic (conflict resolution) behavior, which tug is not. Played with rules, tug of war is a tremendous predatory energy burner and good exercise for both dog and owner. Like structured roughhousing, it servers as a good barometer of the kind of control you have over the dog, most importantly over his jaws. The game doesn’t make the dog a predator; he already is one. The game is an outlet.

Tug, or any vigorous activity for that matter, played without rules or functioning human brain cells is potentially dangerous. But the baby has been thrown out with the bath water in this case: why deprive dogs and owners of one of the best energy burners and outlets there is? It’s good because it is intense, increases dog focus and confidence, and plugs into something very deep inside dogs. The owner becomes the source of a potent reinforcing activity, and there is a payoff in terms of lowered incidence of behavior problems due to understimulation. It’s also extremely efficient for the owner in terms of space and time requirements, and it can be used as a convenient reinforcement option in obedience.

The “tug might make him more dominant” argument is extremely lame. The implication is that dogs or wolves ascertain rank by grabbing the ends of an object and tugging to see who “wins”. If anything, the best description of tug is that it is cooperative behavior. It’s not you vs. the dog, it’s you and the dog vs. the tug of war toy. When you’re playing tug of war with a dog and he “wins,” the game rather than leaving and hoarding. You have control of the supreme, ultimate reinforcer here: the ability to make the toy appear to resist, to feel like living prey. The dog learns this.

From Jean Donaldson’s thought-provoking book, The Culture Clash, dog owners will learn and get a better understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans, including rules of tug. Purchase The Culture Clash from Whole Dog Journal today. 

(The Culture Clash Tip #3) Barking

By
Jean Donaldson
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Dogs bark for a variety of reasons.

1)    Watchdog Barking serves the dual purpose of alerting other pack members that there is an intruder or change in the environment and warning the intruder that they have been noticed. Dogs bark much more than their ancestors, wolves, who hardly ever bark. In domesticating them, we have selected for more barking. The predisposition to watch-dog bark varies among breeds and individuals. The modifying principles are the same, though, whether you’re trying to coax a little more barking out of a couch potato Newfoundland or tone down barking in a hair – trigger German Shepard or miniature schnauzer.

2)    Request Barking starts off as a behavioral experiment by the dog, kind of a “let’s see what this produces.” Typical requests include opening doors, handouts from your plate, invitations to play attention, and being let out of a crate or confinement area. This behavior is a problem not because the dog tries out the experiment but because the experiment usually succeeds: the owner reinforces the barking by granting the request and a habit is born. Dogs zero in on whatever strategy works.

3)    Spooky Barking occurs when the dog is fearful or uncomfortable about something in the environment. It’s the dog’s way of saying: “Back off – don’t come any closer.” This is much more serious than garden variety watchdog barking because the dog in question is advertising that he is afraid and therefore potentially dangerous if approached.

4)    Boredom Barking can result when the dog’s daily needs for exercise and social and mental stimulation aren’t met. The dog barks compulsively. This is very much like pacing back and forth, tail-chasing or self-mutilation. Chained dogs and dogs left outdoors in yards are at high risk.

From Jean Donaldson’s thought-provoking book, The Culture Clash, dog owners will learn and get a better understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans, including ways to control excessive barking. Purchase The Culture Clash from Whole Dog Journal today. 

(The Culture Clash Tip #4) Jumping Up

By
Jean Donaldson
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A classic culture clash example is greeting rituals: in most human cultures, we shake hands or bow. In dog culture, they buzz around excitedly, lick and sniff each other. The origin of jumping up is in infancy. Wolf pups will jump up to lick the corners of adults’ mouths, triggering the latter to regurgitate food that the puppies can eat. This jumping up and licking is retained into adulthood as a greeting ritual. It’s extremely common in dogs though its root has faded: only a minority of adults regurgitate. Greeting may become exaggerated when dogs live with humans because the social group is continually being fractured, then reunited: we leave and come back a lot, necessitating constant broad rituals. We’re also vertical: the dog wants to get at our face. We also tend to let tiny puppies get away with it and then change the rules when they grow larger.

The main reason dogs jump is that no one has taught them to do otherwise. I’m not talking about punishments like kneeing dogs, pinching their feet or cutting off their air with a strangle collar. This sort of abuse has been the prevailing “treatment” but is inhumane and laden with side-effects. Imagine yourself being kneed in the diaphragm or pushed over backwards for smiling or extending your hand in friendship. It’s not the fault of dogs that their cultural norm is at odds with our greeting preferences.

The key to training dogs not to jump up is to strongly train an alternative behavior that is mutually exclusive to jumping. The dog cannot jump up and sit at the same time. Nor can he dig through walls while working on a chew toy, lie on a mat and annoy dinner guests, or hold eye contact while chasing cars. The applications of this technique – DRI (differential reinforcement of an in compatible behavior, or “operant counterconditioning”) – are limitless.

From Jean Donaldson’s thought-provoking book, The Culture Clash, dog owners will learn and get a better understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans, including ways to control jumping up. Purchase The Culture Clash from Whole Dog Journal today. 

(The Culture Clash Tip #5) Training Regressions

By
Jean Donaldson
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People are terribly mystified by any change in their dog’s behavior and go on a lot with the “why? WHY” as though there should never be any variability whatsoever in this living organism’s behavior. Training regressions are a frequent occurrence and no big deal. It is so important to remember that behavior is always in flux, constantly subjected to whatever contingencies there are in the environment as well as being influenced by unknown internal events. In the case of behavior problems, there are three main reasons for behavior that had seemed to be “fixed” to break down again:

  1. Undertraining: the behavior was never that strong in the first place

  2. Contingency change: the behavior extinguished or another one was trained by the owner or environment

  3. Failure to generalize: the behavior falls apart in the a new location or context

A “contingency change” example: Inadvertent New Rules

A contingency change might look like the following. The dog has learned that it’s safe and often reinforcing to urinate in the yard and dangerous in most places he has tried in the house and so a fairly solid yard habit is in place. The owner has become upset about the yellowing of grass from dog urine and has decided to limit the dog to eliminating in one corner of the yard. The owner takes the dog on leash at elimination times for a couple of weeks, always going to one corner and praising the dog for urinating. The first couple of times the dog goes out off leash, she urinates in the wrong area. The owner punishes the dog. On the third day, the dog will now urinate in the yard. The owners sees this and takes the dog for a walk. The dog has a very full bladder and finally urinates and is praised by the owner. The owner likes the idea of the dog urinating on the walk rather than in the yard and starts taking the dog around the block to eliminate, which is successful and keeps the yard urine-free.

A few months later, the owner is in a rush to prepare for guests arriving so lets the dog into the yard to pee while finishing the cooking. The dog does not urinate in the yard and comes back in full. When the guests arrive, the owner puts the dog on leash to calm one of the visitors who is afraid of dogs. The dog urinates on the Persian rug. The owner thinks the dog sensed that one of the guests didn’t like her and urinated to demonstrate her resentment. In fact, the dog has learned to urinate when on leash only, based on the new contingencies inadvertently set up by the owner. Dogs aren’t into big agendas. They just need to know where and when it’s safe to pee.

From Jean Donaldson’s thought-provoking book, The Culture Clash, dog owners will learn and get a better understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans. Purchase The Culture Clash from Whole Dog Journal today. 

(Do As I Do Tip #1) Four Golden Rules

By
Claudia Fugazza
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These four golden rules should be followed during Do As I Do training (or any other training technique one relies upon).

1. Working sessions must be kept SHORT

Each training session must amount to what is a fun game for your dog to be played in your company. If the dog becomes exhausted, his motivation can decrease and he can be less willing to cooperate with what you are trying to accomplish in the next training session. For this reason, it is important to close the training session before the dog becomes tired, when he is still willing to work (i.e., willing to have fun) with you.

Remember that training sessions should be a fun, playful activity for your dog. This does not mean that you should not work hard to get the training right; it just means that you should be diligent about making it fun for you and especially for your dog. If you respect this rule, you will see that in the next session the dog’s motivation will likely increase.

Keep in mind also that this training technique is not merely based on the establishment of associations between stimuli and responses. It required the dog to use his cognitive social skills. The dog will likely get tired relatively quickly because this implies much concentration. A good strategy to ensure that you do not overextend the training session out of enthusiasm is to count the treats you are delivering to the dog. But do not forget to offer a jackpot when you come across a particularly good response!

On average a six-trial session is sufficient and after the training it is ideal to provide the dog a place to relax body and mind.

2. Pause immediately if you detect signs of STRESS in the dog

Learning something new is always a stressful mental challenge. In any training situation, it is likely that the dog will not understand the purpose of the game at the beginning. If you notice at any point that the stress level is excessive, it is better to stop the training session at once and only resume it after the dog has rested and is calmer. In fact, excessive amounts of stress are not only bad for your dog but also compromise his ability to learn.

3. Always end the training session with a SUCCESS from the dog (and for you!)

If your dog fails with a difficult exercise, do not set him up for failure again and again. The right thing to do is to simplify the exercise a bit and end the working session on a high note.

4. Let your dog take a BREAK

Working sessions must be kept short to be effective for learning. Asking for six consecutive trials represents a significant mental effort and it is more than enough for most dogs. For some dogs this length may even be excessive.

By stopping before the dog gets tired, learning will be much more effective and the dog will not lose the motivation to work with you. Sometimes the enthusiasm for what you are doing or the attempt to obtain immediate results can lead you to prolong the working sessions too much. Rather than waiting for your dog to be tired or stressed, it is good practice to end the session while your dog is still willing to work. After a training session it is of the utmost importance to grant your dog a break.

Claudia Fugazza’s new book, Do As I Do, examines dog training based on social learning. The book and accompanying DVD, explains and details this innovative approach to training. Buy it from Whole Dog Journal today.

(Do As I Do Tip #2) Learning The Imitation Rule

By
Claudia Fugazza
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Do As I Do Phase One: Learning the imitation rule

The aim of the first phase of the protocol in the following paragraphs is to teach the imitation rule to the dog. This involves the dog learning the cue “Do it!” means “copy the behavior I have just demonstrated” no matter what it is.

  • Choose three behaviors for your dog to master. They should already be under stimulus control, preferably a verbal cue.
  • Remember that you must choose behaviors that the dog can perform and demonstrate.
  • Practice the three behaviors to strengthen the dog’s ability to do them on cue.
  • Then, stand in front of the dog and ask him to “Stay” or use some other cue that will hold the dog in position (standing, sitting or lying).
  • Demonstrate one of the three behaviors that you have decided to use during this first phase or the protocol.
  • Return and stand in front of your dog again and use the new cue “Do it!” followed by the specific cue he already knows for the behavior you have just demonstrated (e.g., “Table”).

Claudia Fugazza’s new book, Do As I Do, examines dog training based on social learning. The book and accompanying DVD, explains and details this innovative approach to training. Buy it from Whole Dog Journal today.

5 Steps To Determine How Much To Feed Your Dog

By
Nancy Kerns
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Each and every one of the six people who adopted the puppies I fostered recently asked me the same question: “How much should I feed him?” I was surprised the first time, and cracking up by the last time I heard the inevitable question. “How much to feed” is not something I’ve ever struggled with or worried about. And yet, it must be a problem! Just look at the dogs at your local park or in the waiting room at your vet’s office – most of them are quite frankly obese! So here a few basic guidelines.

dog eating in kitchen

1. Use the “recommended feeding amounts” on the label of your dog’s food as a starting point, not a fixed rule.

Calorie calculations and recommended amounts to feed are always an estimate, as the caloric needs of individual dogs can vary significantly based on activity level, metabolism, and other factors. The only way to know for sure how much food or how many calories your dog needs is to carefully monitor and keep track of the amount you feed her, watch her weight closely, and adjust the amount you feed as needed to keep her at, or help her reach, her ideal weight.

2. Use a measuring cup or scale.

If you measure the amount of food you feed in cups, be sure to use a measuring cup, not just any cup, which might hold more or less than the regulation 8 fluid ounces. Better yet, get a small kitchen or postal scale and measure the food by weight, which is more accurate. This is especially useful for those of us feeding small dogs; even a few kibbles’ difference – which you can’t really appreciate when they are in even a measuring cup – can make a big difference in the weight of a small dog.

3. Do a little math (it won’t kill you, we promise).

If you feed a homemade diet and calculate the amount to feed as a percentage of your dog’s body weight, remember that small dogs eat a larger percentage of their weight than larger dogs do. The amount of fat in the diet will significantly affect the number of calories provided; it’s best to feed only lean meats (no more than 10 percent fat) to most pet (non-athlete) dogs. Dogs fed grains and other starchy carbs will usually eat more food by weight than those fed primarily meat and animal products (which are higher in fat).

4. Add up the extras (and consider eliminating most of them).

If your dog is any fatter than lean, he’s getting too many calories. Those of us who feed dry dog food (a nutritionally very dense food) may object when our veterinarian says, “Feed him less!” – especially when it seems we are feeding him practically nothing at all. But don’t forget to take into account the calories your dog gets from treats, chews, leftovers, and supplements (particularly oils, which provide 40 calories per teaspoon).

Many treats do not show calories on the label, so if you’re concerned, contact the company to find out. Some examples: Greenies have 25 to a whopping 272 calories each (depending on size), while Milk Bone dog biscuits range from 10 to 225 calories. Bully sticks may have about 29 calories per inch, while rawhide may have 80 calories per ounce!

If you find you have to feed much less than the amount of food recommended on the label to keep your dog at her proper weight, the odds are she’s getting significant calories from these other sources, which may be limiting the nutrients that she needs. (If that’s not the case, consider asking your vet whether it might be worth testing your dog for hypothyroidism.)

5. Add real food if you want – but the right foods.

When adding “human” foods to a commercial diet, you can generally give as many non-starchy vegetables as you want, including carrots, broccoli, zucchini and other summer squashes, green beans, and all kinds of leafy greens. These foods are low in calories but provide valuable antioxidants and phytonutrients, and may help your dog feel fuller. Remember that vegetables must be either cooked or pureed in order to be digestible by dogs, but there’s no harm in giving whole, raw veggies as a treat, such as carrot sticks, green beans, or zucchini slices.

Other good choices for added foods without a lot of added calories include skinless chicken breast, low-fat or nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese, and sardines packed in water, not oil. Canned pumpkin and sweet potato in small amounts can be good for digestive health.

Remember, studies have shown that thin dogs live significantly longer, and their health and mobility stays good later in life. If you really love your dog, keep her lean!  

Thanks to WDJ contributor Mary Straus for help with this article.

Know When Your Dog is Scared

By
Linda P. Case, MS
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Recently, on the drive home from our annual vacation in Maine, our 11-year-old Brittany, Vinny, suddenly and inexplicably awoke from a sound sleep, and began to tremble, pant, pace, and obsessively lick at the sides of his travel crate. When I crawled back over the seat to find out what was wrong, I observed that Vinny’s eyes were “squinty,” and he avoided looking at me as he continued to lick and pant.

It’s important for dog owners to recognize and respond to signs of stress and fear in our dogs. If we are sensitive to their emotional states and are accurate in our interpretations, we can respond appropriately to situations in which a dog is uncomfortable, stressed, or frightened. Because nonspecific stress-related behaviors can be the first signs of illness or injury, attending to these promptly may help us deliver medical attention to our dogs before conditions worsen or escalate into an emergency.

It is well known that perceiving and understanding the emotions of others is a basic human social skill – and that studies have shown that these abilities vary tremendously among individuals. It follows that those of us who share our lives with dogs display a similar variability in skills when recognizing and interpreting the emotions of our canine friends.

However, until recently, the accuracy of our perceptions of dogs’ emotional states had not been studied. Two research studies examined the cues that we use and our levels of accuracy when we perceive fear and stress in our canine companions.

scared dog body language

Signs of Fear in Dogs

The first of these studies was conducted by researchers in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University in New York1. The study team produced a series of video clips of dogs and embedded them in an on-line survey. Participants viewed the videos and then were asked to classify each dog’s emotional state using one of five possible descriptors (angry, fearful, happy, sad, or neutral). The first four of these are called “primary emotions” and were selected because research has supported the existence of these emotions in dogs and other animals.

Although the study participants had five choices, the videos in the study showed dogs demonstrating one of only two expressions: either happiness or fear. All of the videos had been pre-categorized into the two emotion categories by a panel of dog behavior experts prior to the start of the study.

After identifying each dog’s emotion, participants were asked to describe the specific features of the dog that led them to their conclusion. For example, if a person classified a dog as showing happiness, she might say that the dog’s facial expression, ear set, and wagging tail were important features that conveyed this state to her. Last, the participants were asked to rate the level of difficulty that they experienced while attempting to interpret the emotions of each dog and to provide an estimate of overall confidence in their accuracy.

More than 2,000 people completed the survey and were divided into four categories based upon their dog ownership and professional histories: non-owners, dog owners, dog professionals with fewer than 10 years of experience, and professionals with more than 10 years of experience.

The vast majority of people who completed the survey – more than 90 percent – correctly identified happy dogs in the video clips, regardless of the person’s level of dog experience. This means that most people, even those who have never owned a dog, could look at a happy dog and see a happy dog! This is good news.

However, when it came to recognizing fear in dogs, the news was not quite so positive. While more than 70 percent of dog professionals correctly identified the fearful dogs, this proportion dropped to 60 percent of dog owners, and to only 35 percent of non-owners. Put another way, 40 percent of dog owners and 65 percent of non-owners were unable to correctly identify signs of fear and stress in an unfamiliar dog.

Moreover, a substantial number of the non-owners (17 percent, or about one in six people) misclassified a fearful dog as a happy dog!

This latter statistic is especially troubling, given the potential for a dangerous outcome of such mistakes. A person who approaches a fearful dog with the perception that the dog is friendly will, at the very least, increase the dog’s fear and distress, and could potentially cause a defensive response in the dog, leading to a snap or bite.

The features of the dogs that participants used to make their decisions also varied with experience level. A person’s tendency to focus on a dog’s facial features (eyes, mouth, ears) increased significantly along with experience. Inexperienced participants used primarily the dog’s tail and body posture to inform them about the dog’s emotional state. Conversely, more experienced people identified both facial expressions and body postures as important features when assessing a dog.

Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the results of this study are consistent with studies of human abilities to perceive and interpret the expression of emotions in other people. We are generally more sensitive to and more accurate at interpreting happy facial expressions in other humans than we are when experiencing fearful expressions. Moreover, while social experience seems to have little effect upon our responses to happy faces (we show a proficiency to do this at a very young age), having varied and extensive social experience is an important factor in determining our success at perceiving fear and stress in other humans.

This study tells us that dog-related training and experience enhance our tendency to pay attention to dogs’ facial expressions and body postures, and enhances our ability to correctly perceive fear.

Stress and Your Dog

While the first study provided a general test of how people perceive fear in unfamiliar dogs, the second examined the ability of dog owners to recognize signs of stress in their own dogs2. This Italian study was conducted by researchers at the University of Pisa, with a group of almost 1,200 dog owners recruited through veterinary clinics.
Participants first completed a questionnaire in which they were asked about stress in dogs and its potential health and behavioral consequences. They then identified what they believed to be signs of stress in dogs and estimated the level of stress in their own dog.

More than half of the owners (60 percent) were found to have a clear understanding of what stress is and how it can affect a dog’s emotional state and health. However, about 20 percent of owners (one in five) believed that experiencing stress had no negative physical or emotional consequences on dogs. (In other words, while they agreed that it occurred, they thought it was no big deal.)

The behaviors that owners most frequently identified as reflecting stress in their dogs included trembling, whining/crying, excessive barking, and panting. In contrast, very few owners identified more subtle behaviors, such as avoiding eye contact, turning away, nose licking, or yawning as signs of canine stress.

Those owners who self-reported as being highly concerned with their dog’s stress level were more likely to identify these less obvious signs as important. Overall though, owners tended to miss many of the facial expressions (squinty eyes, avoiding eye contact, changes to ear set, retracted commissures) that most trainers look for when assessing a dog’s stress level.

Like the first study, this suggests that it is these more subtle facial cues of stress and fear that may be missed if a person is only paying attention to the more obvious body posture signs.

Take-Away Points for Dog Folks

These studies provide complementary information about the behavior cues that people pay attention to when attempting to decipher a dog’s emotional state. The first showed that even inexperienced people were able to correctly identify a dog who was feeling happy. However, perceptions of fear were strongly correlated to how much prior experience a person has had with dogs. As experience level increased, people were not only more likely to be correct, but also more likely to pay attention to a dog’s facial expressions, compared with people who did not spend much time with dogs. We also learned that dog owners are more likely to focus attention on their dog’s body posture, vocalizations, and movements than on the more subtle signs of stress that involve a dog’s facial expressions and eyes.

Accurately recognizing fear and stress in dogs is an important skill set to possess. Understanding our own dog’s emotional state allows us to respond by helping him out of situations that cause fear and reducing or eliminating triggers of stress when they are under our control.

For trainers and behaviorists, working with owners who are sensitive to their dog’s stress response promotes the development of a more effective training and management plan. On a societal level we all benefit from a universal understanding of the behaviors, body postures, and facial expressions that convey happiness versus fear or stress in dogs. Correctly interpreting a dog’s behavior is always enhanced by attending to both body posture and facial expressions.

However, interpretation of dogs’ facial expressions may not come naturally to many people. This knowledge emphasizes the importance of teaching the subtleties of canine facial expressions in training classes, behavior-education courses, and bite-prevention programs.

Moreover, the statistic suggesting that one in five owners do not consider the effects of stress in their dogs to be of negative consequence tells us that education is also needed regarding the health and welfare impacts of stress and fear on our dogs’ well-being and quality of life.

Quick Response to Stress Signals

My husband and I are still uncertain about what caused Vinny’s acute stress response during our vacation. As quickly as possible, Mike pulled over to a rest area and we got Vinny out of the car. As soon as he was on the ground and moving about, Vinny relaxed, looked at us calmly, gave each of us a nice Brittany hug, and off we went for a little walk. Perplexed, we thought that maybe he had to eliminate (nope, no urgency there), was feeling carsick (no signs), or had had a bad dream (who knows?). Within less than a minute, our boy was his typical happy self, showing no signs at all of distress. We loaded all of the dogs back into the car and Vinny continued the journey home with no further incident.

Weeks later, Vinny has not had a recurrence and seems¡ healthy and happy, but we continue to monitor him carefully. As Vinny has aged he has become somewhat more sensitive to sounds, which is not unusual in senior dogs. However, even though we responded quickly at the time and he apparently recovered, we did not learn enough from the episode to determine a possible underlying cause. Perhaps we’ll never know. Regardless, I do know that paying attention to all of Vinny’s signs – body language, facial expressions, and eyes – will help us to understand, care for, and love him as best we can.

Linda P. Case, MS, is the owner of AutumnGold Consulting and Dog Training Center in Mahomet, Illinois, where she lives with her four dogs and husband Mike. She is the author of a new book, Dog Food Logic, and many other books and numerous publications on nutrition for dogs and cats. Her blog can be read at thesciencedog.wordpress.com. 

The Right Tool at the Right Time

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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Few dogs behave in ways that please us all day every day – especially puppies, adolescent dogs, or newly adopted adult dogs who have little experience living closely with humans. “Training” is what we usually call our formal efforts to teach dogs how to behave in ways that please us more – and most frequently, dog owners use that term to describe what is needed to prevent their dogs from causing chaos in or destruction to their homes, or upsetting or harming other members of the household (whether human, canine, feline, or anything else). But when discussing behaviors that we’d like to prevent our dogs from practicing, many trainers would likely say that what’s needed in many of those vexing situations is better canine management, not training!

dog trying to escape door

What’s the difference?  “Management” generally means using simple tools – such as leashes, fences, doors, and gates – to prevent the dog from practicing behaviors we don’t want him to do (such as wandering away from home, chasing your cat through the house, chewing your sofa cushions, helping himself to food from the kitchen garbage or on the counter, or jumping on visitors).

In contrast, “training” usually refers to situations where we are teaching the dog what to do.

Both management and training are highly effective in modifying our dogs’ behavior so that they can share our lives and homes more peacefully and pleasingly – but it’s helpful to be aware of the difference between the approaches, and use each to its best advantage, in order to most effectively and efficiently (and humanely) get our dogs to behave the way we’d like them to.

I’m a trainer, and believe me, I love training, and am fascinated by any pain- and fear-free method that can be used to teach dogs to perform behaviors that are helpful or just plain enjoyable to us. But there are many instances when training is not the most efficient or effective way to change a dog’s behavior!

“Counter-surfing” is a perfect example. When a dog has learned to help himself to food that’s on the kitchen counter, some people will set up elaborate traps that are meant to scare the dog and teach him not to jump on the counters any more, or spend time teaching him “off” or “leave it.”

However, dogs who are highly motivated by food may find the prospect of finding food so rewarding that they gladly run the risk of whatever traps their owners devise (or learn to identify the traps and detect any time the traps haven’t been “set”). And expecting a dog to perform a behavior in the many hours you are absent is unrealistic; why would you expect him to “leave it” for hours when you would never expect him to, say, hold a “down/stay” for the same period of time?

In this case, managing the dog’s behavior – by preventing him from being able to do it at all, by, say, using a baby gate to keep him out of the kitchen altogether – is a far simpler solution than training.

In contrast, there are also instances when we can use a tool to manage the dog’s unwanted behavior, but it would be even more helpful if he learned to do something that we like better. That’s when training is indicated.

leash training a dog

Complementary Dog Training Techniques

Here’s an example: If you have a dog who is prone to chasing your cat in the house, you can manage his behavior by keeping him on a tether at all times, or using gates that your cat can jump over, go through, or run under to evade your dog’s pursuit. This is a good, first-line-of-defense strategy that will protect your cat, especially when you are not present. But teaching your dog to look at you or come to you when he sees the cat will be a better long-term solution, one that may eventually result in the animals’ peaceful co-existence.

I have lived this example for the past 10 years, ever since my husband and I adopted a young Cardigan Welsh Corgi from a shelter. Lucy spent six months’ worth of evenings on a leash next to me on the sofa so I could prevent her from leaping after Barney, our black-and-white tuxedo cat, when he bounced into the living room. That was management.

But while I managed Lucy’s cat-chasing behavior, I also worked to convince her that cats appearing in the living room makes treats appear for her to enjoy. That was training – and it pays off to this day, almost 10 years later. Just this evening, as I sat on the living-room sofa, fingers on my laptop keyboard and one eye on the television, I noticed Barney waltz into the room. Next to me, Lucy sparked alert.

I watched and waited. A second later, her head swiveled toward me. Ah! Good girl! I usually reward her with a treat; I almost always have some in a pocket or on a nearby table. Sometimes her reward for a behavior that I like – such as looking at me – is a few moments of petting and praise, or a chance to chase a toy.  

The Right Time for the Right Dog Training Tool

When does it make the most sense to manage your dog’s unwanted behavior and when should you work to train him to do something you like more? It’s almost always most effective to immediately manage the dog’s environment to prevent him from practicing (and being reinforced for) the unwanted behavior. In some cases, that’s all that’s needed – especially when a simple management tool replaces unrealistic training expectations. For example, if you really don’t want your dog to snooze on your sofa while you are at work all day, it would be far easier and more effective to simply block her access to the room with the sofa than it would be to devise, set up, and monitor some sort of remote surveillance and training system to teach her to stay off the sofa when you aren’t there.

In other cases, it makes sense to manage the dog’s environment (again, to prevent your dog from practicing the unwanted behavior) for just as long as it takes you to teach the dog a new, more appropriate behavior. For example, you may want to use a head halter or front-clip harness to prevent your large dog from pulling you off your feet when you take him on pottying walks, while you also take a class or work with a trainer to teach him to walk politely with just a flat collar in slowly increasingly distracting environments. This will set him up for eventual success, while (we hope) preventing him from ever experiencing the thrill of pulling the leash out of your hand in order to bolt after a squirrel on the sidewalk across the street.

Caveat: Behavior Management Failure Factors

I’m a big fan of management – good management tools and practices can often salvage a previously frustrating dog/owner relationship – but management does have a bad name in some training circles. “Management always fails,” some will pontificate, meaning that there may be a high price to pay if you rely solely on a gate or leash to control your dog’s behavior, and someone forgets to latch the gate or the leash breaks. I try to avoid saying “always” or “never” to my clients, though. I prefer to say, “Management has a high likelihood of failure, so if you plan to manage a behavior, be aware of the potential for failure and what the risks are if management fails, and make training and management decisions accordingly.” It’s not as snappy a sound bite, for sure, but it is far more accurate.

When you do decide to employ management – whether as an alternative or a complement to training – it pays to be thoroughly aware of its potential for failure and the potential risks of any possible failures.  What do I mean by this? Let me flesh out one of the examples above. Say you have adopted a large dog who hasn’t yet been trained to walk nicely on a leash, and who is reactive to other dogs. You are taking a group class with a good trainer, and working hard to improve his social and on-leash skills, but his behavior is much better if he gets a lot of exercise. So, even though it’s challenging to take him on walks, you use a front-clip harness (management tool) to help control him on walks, which you take very early in the morning (management technique, to try to avoid seeing many other dog walkers).

There are many risks of this approach: The harness or leash could break; the dog could pull the leash out of your hand with a strong bolt; he could pull you over (if there is a size/strength disparity between the two of you); or someone else’s dog could get loose and come after your dog and you might be unable to pull or summon your dog away. If your dog got loose in one of these ways, he might run off and get hit by a car, or initiate a fight with another dog.

Then there are the mitigating factors: you bought good equipment; you check it frequently to make sure it’s not chewed or frayed and that the leash snap is not cracked and its mechanism is working properly; and you keep your cell phone in your pocket and stay attentive to the appearance of any other dogs on the horizon, so that you are ready to execute a quick turn in the other direction. All of these things will minimize the risk of your temporary management strategies.

Potential for Behavior Management Failure and Failure Risk

When considering management, short- or long-term, as an option for dealing with a behavior, it’s important that you make a realistic assessment of the potential for and risk of management failure.

Factors that contribute the likelihood that management will fail include but are not limited to:

  • Poor-quality equipment (such as frayed or chewed leashes, doors that don’t latch properly, inadequately installed gates, fences in poor repair)

  • Children in the home

  • Lots of activity/traffic in and out of the house

  • Multiple residents in the home (especially if some aren’t conscientious about management protocols)

  • Lack of commitment to or inability to implement management protocols

  • Creative, persistent, determined, and/or anxious dogs

  • Intensity of behavior

  • Predictability of behavior (either extreme)

Consider, too, the potential risks (to your dog or other family members, or other people or animals) if your management techniques or tools fail. What is the most serious or tragic thing that is likely to happen if your management does fail? 

Management is not an appropriate option if the likely consequences are very serious, such as someone (a human or animal) being badly bitten or even killed, animal-control action being taken against you, someone filing a lawsuit against you (and possible loss of homeowner’s insurance), or significant damage to valuable possessions.

Remember, every behavior and training scenario invites you to make choices about how much to manage and how much to train. Choose wisely – your dog’s well-being depends on it.

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. 

Examples of Management/Training Scenarios

By
Nancy Kerns
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Behavior Challenge: 10-month-old Yorki-Poo is not housetrained; still having several “accidents” per week.

Failure Factors: Lack of commitment to management protocols; anxious dog.

Risk Factors: Damage to carpeting and floors; owner losing patience with dog and rehoming or euthanizing.

Management Solution: Manage his environment so he doesn’t have the opportunity to urinate or defecate in the house. The umbilical cord approach (keeping your dog leashed to you at all times) is very useful. When he’s not attached to you, crate him – but never for so long that he’s forced to soil his crate. If he must be left crated all day while you are at work, make arrangements for a pet sitter to come midday to take him out.

Training Solution: Take your dog out more often than he has to go – initially every hour on the hour. Take him on leash to his designated bathroom spot, and wait quietly there until he goes. When he does, give him a “Yes!” and a treat and then play with him. If he doesn’t, no play – take him back inside and crate him or keep him leashed to you, then take him out again in 20 minutes and try again. When you know he’s empty he can have 10-20 minutes of house freedom, then leash or crate him again until his next bathroom break. As long as he is successful, gradually increase the time between potty trips and house freedom time. If he has an accident, proceed more slowly.

Behavior Challenge: Your newly adopted 8-year-old rescue Pomeranian fiercely resource-guards his food bowl.

Failure Factors: Intensity of behavior.

Risk Factors: Someone could be badly bitten.

Mitigating Factors: Despite intensity of behavior, your dog’s bites have never broken skin; the behavior is very predictable – it happens only with his food bowl and high-value resources; household consists of two adults, very little activity.

Management Solution: Feed him in his own space (such as a laundry room) with the door closed, and leave him alone when he has a high-value resource. If you do need to take something away from him, trade him for a very high-value treat.

Training Solution: Implement a behavior-modification protocol if you feel it’s necessary, dropping high-value treats as you approach and pass by, to convince him that you are not a threat to his good stuff, but rather that you make more good stuff happen! However, opting for management only in this case, as the risks are low, is a perfectly acceptable solution in this case.

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