It’s very frustrating when you’re sure your dog knows the cue for a behavior but he doesn’t do it when you ask him to. Imagine how frustrating it is for him when you cue a behavior and he just doesn’t understand the cue that you were so sure he knew! Here are five things to do to avoid this impasse.
1. Use the same cue, the same way, every time.
You may think you already do that, but chances are you don’t. The cue “Sit!” for example, needs to always be “Sit!” – not “Sit! Sit down! I said SIT DOWN!!!” or other variations such as “Could you please sit for mommy?”
Dogs can learn multiple cues for the same behavior, and well-trained dogs can learn to pick out and respond to cues in a sentence (a fun thing to teach, down the road!) but in early training, and if you’re having communication issues with your dog, it’s best to keep it simple.
Be consistent with the tone of your voice, too. Cue your “Sit!” in the same tone you would invite a friend to have a seat in your living room. If you chirp a quick “Sit!” one time, use a long, drawn out “Siiiiiiiiiiit” the next, and give an angry “SIT” on still another, your dog’s confusion will be entirely predictable.
2. Pair a body language cue with the verbal cue.
Dogs are natural body language communicators, so you can enhance your dog’s verbal learning if you use a body language cue (also known as a prompt). Say “Sit!” and pause for a second or two. Then raise your hand, with a treat in it, to your chest. Eventually the gesture will become a cue on its own, without a treat, and not necessarily paired with the verbal “Sit!” Practice them together and separately, so you have the flexibility of a reliable verbal or body language cue.
3. Fade lures quickly.
As soon as you can lure the behavior easily, it’s time to fade the lure so you and your dog don’t both become dependent on its presence to accomplish the behavior.
With your treat-hand behind your back, cue the behavior “Sit!” If your dog sits, click and treat. If he doesn’t, bring the treat out and give your hand-to-chest prompt or lure the sit by moving the treat over his head. Click and treat. Gradually (and variably) increase the length of time you wait after giving the verbal cue before you give the prompt. If you see his “wheels turning” – signs that he’s trying to figure out what to do – just wait a bit longer, without repeating the cue. If he sits without you having to use the lure, give him an encouraging jackpot and lots of happy praise.
4. Practice the cue!
Dogs learn through repetition, just like we do, so the more you practice, the more reliably your dog will respond to your verbal cues. Also like us, dogs can learn concepts. So a training-savvy dog will be able to put each new behavior on cue more quickly than the preceding ones when he has come to understand the concept of verbal cues.
5. Generalize your cues.
If you always practice “Sit!” in the living room, on carpeting, two feet in front of the TV, your dog might conclude that “Sit!” means “Sit in the living room, on carpeting, two feet in front of the TV.”
Practice “Sit!” in as many different locations as possible, until your dog is proficient with your verbal and body language cues (together and separately) wherever you go. Be prepared to start at Training Square One at each new location until your dog generalizes the cue.
Next, change the picture as you give the “Sit!” cue. Instead of standing in front of him making eye contact, give the cue while you are looking off to the side. Cue him to sit while you are sitting on the sofa, sitting on the floor, standing with your back to him, and hopping from one foot to the other. Give him the hand signal cue for sit while you are talking on your cell phone, and the verbal cue to sit while your hands are busy changing the baby’s diaper. When he will reliably sit on cue at least 80 percent of the time in all of these scenarios – and more – your dog really does know the cues for “Sit!”
Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor.
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Walking nicely on leash is not the same thing as heeling. Heeling is much more precise and demanding, and – while an interesting behavior to train – is rarely employed by pet owners on walks. The point of the walk, in fact is to give the dog an opportunity to check out smells, a great pleasure for dogs, and this is impossible if he is heeling. So walking on leash is a compromise both owner and dog can live with. It allows the dog some freedom but not so much that he is all over the place (meaning switching sides) or pulling, which makes the walk unpleasant for the owner.
Walking on Leash Exercises
If you have a toy-crazy dog, use a toy for this exercise. If he’s toy-interested, buy a new toy and don’t let him see it until you do the exercise. If he’s quite unmotivated by toys, use a pile of tasty treats. Dinner is also fine if he’s keen for it.
In a quiet room in your house, put your dog on leash (I like a four-foot leash, but six is fine) and tie him to something so he can see what you’re doing.
Show him the toy or handful of treats, then walk about ten feet away and put it on the floor.
Go back to your dog, take the leash, and start walking verrrrry slowly toward the prize. Hold the end of the leash against your body to keep the length from changing due to arm movements.
Your dog will pull the leash tight toward the prize. This makes you start over. Say “Too bad” and return to the starting position.
Wait until he gives up straining, and then start slowly walking again. He’ll pull again. Say “Too bad”.
Repeat until your dog can make it all the way to the prize without tightening the leash at all, then do a two-second Leave It and pick up the toy treat and let him have it (don’t let him grab it from the ground).
Push on five in a row without one tightening. This exercise will take many repetitions for most dogs. This is one of those character building parts of training that I mentioned earlier, so make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to plod away at it.
For more training tips and ideas, purchase Jean Donaldson’s Train Your Dog Like a Pro from Whole Dog Journal.
Visitors and guests fall into two groups: those who will be happy to pitch in and help you train your dog, and those who you can’t afford to have the dog jump on even once or twice. The former group is the one you want to help you train your dog’s behavior. For the latter group, put the dog away when they come over until she has done a few rounds with “helper” people. Once she’s proofed, the dog will sit politely for everybody, including people who would have been distressed or offended by your dog jumping on them.
Another reason not to risk letting your dog make a mistake with people who aren’t in on the training is that they may inadvertently react in a way that undermines the cause. Many dogs find it rewarding when people make physical contact with them, so pushing them off may not read as a negative consequence. Any bending or squealing could likewise reward the jumping. This could culminate in a selective jumper, a dog who jumps on the worst possible people! Even if you then time the dog out, or even get violent with her, the person’s reaction may be the most powerful consequence in this context.
An important principle of dog training is not to ever let the dog discover any circumstances in which the cause and affects you want do not exist. In other words, if you prematurely give your dog the opportunity to jump on certain people without any “too bads” or exits by them, she could think something like, “Hmm. Sometimes that rule must not be in effect. Oh, I see! It’s those people who wear silk!” Dogs are very good at discriminating specific cases, remember, and your dog could very well use this ability to learn that the best way to get facial proximity with a certain group is to jump, whereas with others it is to sit. For this reason, we’re going to use only people who are “in on it” until the dog has a strong default sit.
For more training tips and ideas, purchase Jean Donaldson’s Train Your Dog Like a Pro from Whole Dog Journal.
I have to admit: I have met dogs I don’t enjoy, and one type that I have a lot of admiration and respect for, but would never want to share my home with, are hunting dogs.
Now, there are hunting dogs and dogs who do nothing but hunt, hunt, hunt. I have been informed that there are lots of breeds that have on/off switches, so to speak – breeds that will hunt when you want them to, and live peaceably with a family (even a family with cats and chickens, say) when you don’t. A friend informed me this morning that most hunting-line retrievers and spaniels are typically mellow in the house and “companion” circumstances. And that upland game breeds – Weimaraners, Vislas, German Wire-Haired and German Short-Haired Pointers – tend to be among the breeds that don’t have an “off” switch. But I’ve known some cat-safe Weims and very family friendly Pointers. I guess it depends a lot of the lines they were bred from: family/companion/show dogs, or field dogs.
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But I like to walk my dogs off-leash, and I am lucky enough to have thousands of acres of open space where one can do this safely within just a few miles of my home. And when I’m walking with my dogs, I don’t want them to hunt. I want them to have fun walking with me, but in no danger of running away in order to chase some animal over the horizon. My dog Otto is NEARLY perfect in this regard. He does what I call “fantasy hunts” – he’s constantly smelling and scanning the trail, but he’s no hunter. He often misses the sight of game that I see easily. He often runs past the scent of whatever he is trying to follow; his nose is not much better than his eyes. And he’s not terribly fast! Even rabbits that leap up under his nose, practically, can easily get away from him. Best of all, he calls off 95 percent of the time. (And we work on this skill constantly!)
This week, I’ve been dog-sitting a very sweet young female German Wire-Haired Pointer for a friend. While she is a total sweetheart in the house, very affectionate and mellow, the second you take her out of the house she’s hunting. Hunting my cats and chickens, hunting the bird she just heard rustling in the ivy, hunting the squirrel she spotted on the electrical wire a block away. She’ll be walking along and suddenly FREEZE. “Tink, tink!” That’s the noise I imagine when I tap her suddenly metallic body, every muscle tense, ready to spring into action.
And that’s on-leash. This dog would require many, many moons of training, and all sorts of proofing, to become reliable off-leash in the country. Even after NINE miles of hiking with me and some of my friends and their dogs (two separate hikes, one about five miles and one about four) the other day, she remained fully engrossed in her own world when she spotted or smelled game. No amount of calling, hyper-playfully or super sternly, made her turn her head toward me. Even when my friend (and the whole pack of other dogs) took off in the opposite direction, yelling “Yahoo! Yippee! Come with me!!”, she stood stone-like, transfixed by the sight or smell of some critter. Or bird. I don’t know what made her play the statue game; must have been rabbits or birds she could smell that remained hunkered down in the grass. Anyway, I would find it exhausting to have to manage that instinct all the time, on the trail, and in my home and yard. Poor kitties. She’s leaving tomorrow!
Is there some kind of dog, or dog trait, that you couldn’t live with?
I’m grateful, beyond what words can express, for the companionship and health of my near-perfect “heart dog” Otto, a six-year-old scruffy mixed breed. Our early years together were a challenge but worth the effort, and I count on him to behave well in all sorts of circumstances and he *almost* never lets me down. He always seems to know when I need to take a break from the computer for dog hugs and petting, and when I need to take a break from the office for a mind-clearing, heart-opening walk in the woods – and he knows exactly how get me to comply with either recommendation. He helps me train the various foster dogs and dogs who belong to friends who are having trouble with said dogs, and guides all of them forward on the trail, and unfailingly, back to me when I call.
I’m also grateful for little Tito, the Chihuahua my husband and I agreed to care for, “for just a little while,” a couple of years ago. He came to us too-skinny and hand-shy, quick to growl menacingly if he perceived a threat. At 10 pounds, he couldn’t possibly defend himself in any meaningful way against humans who meant him harm, but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Today, most of that behavior is gone, replaced by a quirky, funny, happy little dude who greets everyone he meets like people he knows. . . and if he HAS met you before, you get the “OH MY GOD I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” treatment. He loves tennis balls and swimming more than your average Labrador, and can hold his own on any cross-country hike that can deflate much bigger and more athletic dogs. Despite the fact that he knows only one behavior reliably (“Sit”), he blends in and behaves so well that we tend to think of him as well-trained.
Tell us about the dogs you are grateful for this Thanksgiving week!
So, one of my sisters visited recently. She lives out of state, and I loaned her my car to drive for a week, which she was going to spend traveling to see her daughter — about 6 hours drive from me — our other sister and a friend about five hours from there, and then come back here. All that happened.
Then when she got back here and was telling me about her travels, and stays in various people’s homes, she kept complaining about everyone’s dogs – how many there were everywhere she went, how they barked, the hair… Meanwhile, Tito my Chihuahua DOES bark and whine when people arrive, and Otto is a veritable dust-bunny-in-the-making 24/7/365. Okay, whatever, let’s try to all get along. Have a hair-roller.
Her last morning here, we go for a walk: just my sister, me, and Otto. (I was keeping Tito at a remove; I didn’t want to hear about his occasional barking!) We head out to a particular trailhead in our local “wildlife area” – imagine a many-thousand-acre gravel pit, abandoned for the past 40 years and grown over with trees and wildlife, where hunting (in season) is allowed (with shotguns, no rifles). And hardly anyone is out there.
About a quarter mile into our walk, a deer pops up, practically right in front of us. It turns and runs directly away from us down the dirt road/trail we are on, and Otto gives chase. My sister says, “Oh no!” in anticipation that we are going to have to look for Otto for the next few hours.
I said, “No, it’s okay,” and after letting the pair get a good 1,000 feet away from us, I yell, “Otto! OFF! Otto, HERE!” That’s it. Four words. And Otto turns and runs back to us as fast as he ran away. He was pumped up on adrenaline and fun, and as he ran toward us, I cheered him on, “YES! GOOD dog! Atta boy! Woohoo!” I didn’t have any treats on me, as I usually do when walking out there, but I ruffled his fur and patted him the way he likes, and he glowed with pride. “I did good, didn’t I? And I almost got that deer!” (Not even close, he’s not that fast, but whatever.)
My sister, who had been talking before all that happened, went on with her story. Not ONE WORD of praise for my dog.
I had to interrupt her. “Wait a second,” I said, playfully but firmly. “Do you know ANYONE who can call their dog off the heels of a deer at a 1,000 feet and the dog comes right back?!” I was incredulous that she couldn’t bring herself to say at least, “Wow, good dog!”
And she said, “Yeah, good job,” with exactly zero enthusiasm.
I feel like not speaking to her again for a month.
PS: I was walking, a few days later, in another part of this wildlife area, with two of my friends and a total of 7 off-leash dogs. I was telling this story to them. AT THAT MOMENT, Otto flushed a giant jackrabbit and gave chase. I yelled, “Otto OFF! Otto HERE!” and he completely blew me off, chasing the rabbit a good quarter mile before it went under a fence and got safely away. Then he came back, filled with pride . . . and I put his leash on for the next half-mile or so. And then we worked on recalls on and off the whole rest of the walk, and he was perfect again. Well, nobody is perfect, but darn it, my dog is pretty damn good. And if my sister complains about him to anyone, I better not hear about it.
Tug is a great game to play with your dog to work off energy and allow the two of you to roughhouse safely. It won’t make him “dominant” and it won’t make him aggressive or unruly, as long as you play by the rules. And it’s the process of being able to follow rules and exhibit a degree of self control that makes this game such a great one for Do-Over Dogs. The rules are designed to remind him that you are in charge (the leader controls the good stuff), and to let him know which behaviors are acceptable, and which ones are not when he’s playing exuberantly with humans.
Rules of Tug:
1. Use a toy that is long enough to keep your dog’s teeth away from hands and that is comfortable for you to hold when he pulls. Keep the tug toy put away. Bring it out when you want to play tug.
2. Hold up the toy. If he lunges for it, say “oops” and quickly hide it behind your back. It’s your toy – he can grab it when you give him permission.
3. When he remains sitting as you offer the toy, tell him to “Take it!” and encourage him to grab and pull. If he’s reluctant, be gentle until he learns the game. If he’s enthusiastic, go for it!
4. Randomly throughout tug-play, ask him to “Give” and have him relinquish the toy to you. If necessary, trade him for a yummy treat. After he gives it to you, you can play again (see steps 2 and 3). You should “win” most of the time – that is, you end up with possession of the toy, not the dog.
5. While you are playing, if his teeth creep up the toy beyond a marked or imaginary line, say, “Oops! Too bad,” in a cheerful voice, have him give you the toy, and put it away briefly. (You can get it out and play again after a minute.)
6. If your dig’s teeth touch your clothing or skin, say “Oops! Too bad,” and put the toy away for a minute.
7. When you are done playing, put the toy away until next time.
8. Children should not play tug with your dog unless and until you are confident they can play by the rules.
My husband and I were lounging on our sofa the other night, when we both became aware of an odd background noise that didn’t fit into the movie we were watching at all – a sort of growly, snorty, buzzy sound. We looked at each other for a moment, puzzled, before he reached for the remote and paused the movie so we could listen and identify the source of the noise. It was our dog, Otto, sound asleep on a thick dog bed next to the couch, and snoring like a hibernating bear. Or an oncoming train. It was loud!
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“Yo, Otto!” my husband called, trying to wake the dog from his deep slumber. “You’re snoring like an old man, man!”
It took a few moments for Otto to stir. He raised his head and looked at us groggily for a second – “What did you wake me up for?” – wagged his tail, and went back to sleep.
“Sheesh!” my husband remarked. “Is he getting old already?”
“No! For goodness’ sakes, he’s six!” I huffed. “He’s in his prime! And besides, he ran five miles this morning! It’s nighttime! He’s tired!”
“But look at him,” my husband persisted. “His muzzle is getting all grey. And if that whole thing about ‘dog years’ is accurate, he’s around 42; he’s middle-aged, at least!”
Brian was teasing – it’s easy to bait me into defending our dog’s perfection – but I found myself thinking about our exchange again the next day. Otto is a large dog, and large breed dogs don’t generally live as long as smaller dogs. The idea that we have already spent half his life together is just unthinkable. The first couple of years went so fast! Especially since, in those early days, long walks were a daily chore, a requirement for any day that we didn’t want the yard excavated, or something chewed up, or the neighbors annoyed by barking.
Training, too, was a formal and daily event for the first couple of years. We adopted Otto as a 7-month-old former stray, and he had been in the shelter for over two months. He was not particularly knowledgeable about the world in general or humans specifically, and he was easily frightened by strangers, quick movements, and loud noises. I took him through several group training classes, and deliberately socialized him to all sorts of people in all sorts of places.
It was a ton of work, but it really paid off. For the past couple of years, he’s been so good, I take it for granted that he’s going to always be good. I trust him without reservation to behave appropriately with any other dog, whether it’s a boisterous puppy, cranky old lady dog, or somewhat aggressive young male. He’s reliable with strange humans, too, with one exception: toddlers and very young children still sort of give him the willies. There are very few of these in our social circle, so managing this particular thing, by keeping him at a safe distance from small children, has been far easier than working to improve his opinion of toddlers.
But guess what? Time flies for humans, too. My husband’s son, who was 9 when I first met him some 17 years ago, has an 18-month-old son now. A grandson! And they are coming to visit soon, so we have some work to do, installing baby gates in the house and building a happier response to the sight of a toddler in Otto.
And speaking of time, WDJ starts its 17th year of publication with the next issue. It’s been an honor to share this time with you – but where has it gone?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began receiving reports in 2006 regarding dogs becoming ill – sometimes fatally ill – shortly after being fed dried chicken “jerky” treats. Most, but not all, of the treats mentioned in these reports were made or sourced in China. A small but steady number of reports continued to trickle into FDA, with the trickle becoming a flood in 2012 and 2013. Most of the cases reported to FDA involve chicken jerky, but increasingly, dried sweet potato treats and dried duck jerky have also been implicated. As of September 24, 2013, FDA has received reports of more than 3,600 dogs and 10 cats who have gotten sick after eating dried jerky treats; at least 580 dog deaths have been linked to these treats.
No single agent has been found to be responsible for the illnesses and deaths; the cause is still a mystery. According to FDA, about 60 percent of the reports are for gastrointestinal illness (with or without elevated liver enzymes); about 30 percent relate to kidney or urinary signs. The remaining 10 percent of cases involve a variety of other signs, including convulsions, tremors, hives, and skin irritation. Here are five things you can do to keep your dog safe from whatever toxin or hazard may be present in jerky treats.
1. Don’t buy any dried jerky treats! Let’s keep in mind that these cases all involve treats – not a vital staple in a dog’s diet. There is no limit to the number of safe, healthy alternatives to jerky treats; look for them in your refrigerator! Give your dog tiny pieces of last night’s roasted chicken, bits of sausage plucked out of the leftover pasta dish, tiny cubes of whatever cheese might be on hand, or a spoonful of yogurt. However, if you simply cannot imagine not giving your dog dried jerky treats, read on.
2. Buy only those treats that unequivocally state that they are made, and all ingredients are sourced, in the U.S. It’s no longer enough for a product to say that it’s made in the USA; look for a clear statement on the label asserting that all the ingredients are sourced within the U.S.
3.Stop feeding any treat if your dog vomits, loses his appetite, or has diarrhea within hours or days of eating them. Increased drinking and/or urination and decreased activity are other common signs of trouble caused by these treats. Retain the remainder of any treats you have – or at least the package.
4.Report any problem your dog has following consumption of a jerky treat. The online reporting process is simple; go to safetyreporting.hhs.gov. Alternatively, ask your veterinarian to help you file a report.
5. Make your own jerky treats. It’s ridiculously easy. You can use a dehydrator (as described in “Dry It Yourself!” in WDJ May 2012) or a long stint (about six or seven hours) in your oven at a low temperature (170º F. works nicely). Cut meat or sweet potatoes into strips of even thickness; place on baking sheets (use non-stick spray); and check every hour or so, turning each strip over so that all of them dry evenly.
One advantage of making your own jerky is that you can stop the process when the jerky gets to the texture (chewiness) that you desire. Most commercial jerky products are excessively dry and hard; this is done to reduce the opportunity for bacterial growth. However, one area of investigation into illnesses caused by these treats focuses on the potential for physical injury caused to the digestive tract by extremely hard, sharp edges of jerky treats.
As long as you refrigerate and feed the treats within a few days of making them, or store them in an airtight container in your freezer before feeding, your homemade jerky treats will be a big improvement on the commercial products: chewier, more delicious, and far safer.
Three months ago, I asked, “Why can’t veterinary nutritionists design recipes that meet most nutritional needs through the use of whole foods, rather than synthetic supplements?” The question appeared in my article “Dishing On Diets” (WDJ September 2013), about a study claiming that most homemade diet recipes are incomplete and unbalanced. I pointed out that most veterinary nutritionist recipes consist of minimal whole foods and rely heavily on supplements to meet nutritional needs. My (secret) hope was to plant a seed that might someday bear fruit, but I didn’t realize that my challenge had already been met.
JustFoodForDogs was started almost three years ago in Newport Beach, California. The company is led by Dr. Oscar Chavez, DVM, whose focus has been clinical nutrition since graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London. From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Chavez was director of the Animal Health Science veterinary technology program at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and he remains an adjunct professor of canine clinical nutrition there. Dr. Chavez is also a member of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition.
JustFoodForDogs offers cooked, frozen JustDailyMeals, made from high-quality whole foods free of hormones, preservatives, and artificial colors and flavorings. These meals include meat or fish, organs, vegetables, fruits, and oils, along with potatoes and sweet potatoes in their grain-free recipes, and white rice, brown rice, and macaroni in the rest. The company says that all the ingredients, including supplements, are USDA- or FDA-approved for human consumption. All these meals have plenty of protein, but the amount of fat varies widely, from low-fat fish to higher-fat lamb and beef. Delivery is available in parts of southern California, or foods can be shipped anywhere in the U.S. The cost ranges from $3.60 to $6.74 per pound, plus shipping.
Instead of using the same vitamin and mineral blend for all foods, JustFoodForDogs customizes a blend specific to each recipe. This is highly unusual in the pet food market; most companies use the same supplement premix for all their foods, as it’s more economical. The downside of using the same supplements for all foods is that there may be far more than is needed of some nutrients, and ratios may not be properly balanced. Note that the nutrient guidelines established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and the National Research Council (NRC) do not require specific ratios other than calcium:phosphorus, and their maximums allow for a very wide range of nutrients.
For example, beef and lamb liver are high in copper, so there’s no need to add copper to recipes that include either of those, but poultry meat and organs have little copper, so copper must be added to poultry-based diets. If the same premix is used for all foods, those that include beef or lamb liver will have more copper than is needed, which will upset the ideal 10:1 ratio of zinc to copper. A study published this year in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found increased copper accumulation in the liver of Labrador Retrievers, both with and without liver disease, most likely the result of increased exposure via their diets. This may be a side effect of feeding foods with more copper than is appropriate.
As another example, I’ve seen recipes that relied on Balance IT (a vitamin/mineral supplement used extensively by veterinary nutritionists ) where twice as much of the supplement as would otherwise be needed was prescribed in order to ensure that there was more calcium than phosphorus in a recipe relatively high in meat (apparently Balance It’s program doesn’t have an option for adding additional calcium separately).
The only other companies I know of using individualized supplement blends are Darwin’s Natural Pet Products and Raw Bistro Pet Fare. Both companies consulted with Steve Brown (founder of Steve’s Real Food for Dogs and author of See Spot Live Longer, seespotlivelonger.com), who insists on customized supplement premixes for the companies he works with, to ensure that their frozen raw foods are complete and balanced.
I was delighted to see that the company also offers JustDoItYourself kits, which include the recipe for each Daily Meal, along with their customized nutrient mixture, so that you can make the same meals yourself at home. The cost per kit, enough to make about 30 pounds of food, is $18 (shipping is free).
JustFoodForDogs also offers Vet Support Diets, designed for dogs with kidney disease, cancer, digestive disorders, and allergies. I was pleased to see that their kidney diets are not overly restricted in protein, while still being low in phosphorus. All of the Vet Support diets except their ultra-low-fat Balanced Remedy require a veterinary prescription. Unfortunately, the company does not currently offer JustDoItYourself kits for their Vet Support Diets, but may consider doing so in the future through veterinarians.
Not all dogs are willing to eat home-prepared meals with spoonfuls of added supplement powder, which change the smell and taste of the food. Another benefit to using whole foods to meet more of a dog’s nutritional requirement, and to using customized supplement blends, is that less supplement powder is added to the food. Minimizing supplements makes the food more palatable, especially for sick dogs whose appetite may already be compromised.
The company will also design customized diets for dogs with health problems, including an individualized nutrient blend designed to make the recipe complete. Health issues commonly addressed include obesity, digestive disorders, pancreatitis, diabetes, liver and kidney disease, and more. A blood panel from your vet is typically required. There is a one-time fee of $195 to cover the cost of formulating the recipe and nutrient blend. You can then choose to have the company make the food for you, or you can buy the supplement mixture and the recipe to make yourself at home. This is a much improved option for those whose dogs have health issues than the typical recipe created by a veterinary nutritionist. It’s also likely to be more palatable for your dog with more real food and less supplement powder per meal.
JustFoodForDogs offers other supplements and treats, including what the company claims is USDA dehydrated chicken breast, a safer option than the vast majority of chicken jerky products on the market that use chicken imported from China and have been linked to kidney failure in dogs.
Finally, I applaud the company’s unique use of feeding trials using dogs living in family homes rather than a research environment. Cal Poly Pomona helped to develop feeding trial protocols that meet AAFCO guidelines, considered the “gold standard” for proving nutritional adequacy. The study tested their daily recipes over a six-month period, with all participants passing with flying colors.
Perhaps the most common mistake that humans make when they want to make friends with a dog they don’t know is to bend over him, looking him in the eyes and patting him on the head. What they don’t realize is that everything about that interaction is – from the average dog’s perspective – rude, rude, rude. For a supposedly intelligent species, we humans tend to be incredibly dense about communicating with our canine companions.
People who work successfully with dogs either have good instincts about how to interact with them, or they learn quickly. There is a real art to using body language to help a dog feel at ease with your presence. The most competent professionals make training look almost effortless, because all the messages they convey to their canine pupils are calm, clear, and consistent – and that means both the cues and rewards they use consciously, and the posture and movements they use without thinking.
But if your body language is unintentionally intimidating, erratic, or contradicts the cues you are trying to give, the result can be a very confused, uncertain, frightened, or aggressive dog. A disconnect between what you want to “say” and what your body language actually expresses can also be quite threatening to some dogs.
In contrast, humans who send appropriate messages with their body language are far less likely to be bitten than those who are oblivious to the effect they are having on the canine in front of them. Good dog training and behavior professionals, and perceptive dog owners and lovers, are rarely bitten.
We spend a lot of time talking about reading and understanding dog body language. It’s about time we took a harder look at the human side of the body language equation.
A Dog’s Talking Body Parts
Just as a dog’s various body parts can send clear messages, so can a human’s. The trouble is, as Patricia McConnell explains so well in her wonderful book, The Other End of the Leash, the message that primates (humans are primates) intend to send are very different from the messages that canids (dogs are canids) receive. In fact, our languages are so different, it’s nothing short of a miracle that our two species are able to get along as well as we do. Let’s look at the differences.
Eye Contact with Dogs
In our culture, direct eye contact is admired. Someone who doesn’t look you in the eye is perceived as shifty, untruthful, or weak. Our propensity to make direct eye contact with our dogs seems, to us, the right and honorable way to greet another sentient being. In a dog’s world, however, direct eye contact is a challenge or a threat, while looking away is a sign of deference or respect. Dogophiles in-the-know approach dogs with soft eye contact or without making eye contact at all. At the same time, we make it a point to teach our own dogs that direct eye contact with a human is a highly rewarded behavior. Dog trainers from coast to coast go to great lengths to reinforce their dogs for making – and maintaining – eye contact.
Tip: When approaching a dog you don’t know, or if your own dog seems wary of you when you approach her, try looking off to the side or over the head instead of directly into the dog’s eyes. If the dog seems comfortable with you, try making brief, soft eye contact and see how she reacts. If her body language stays soft and she continues to approach you, she is probably comfortable with at least some eye contact. Take it slow.
There’s sometimes an occasional moment during shelter dog behavior assessments when the dog being assessed makes deliberate, direct, soft eye contact with the person performing the assessment. When this happens to me, my heart warms and I get a little teary-eyed. “This,” I think to myself, “is a dog who has had meaningful relationships with humans.”
What this undoubtedly means is that the dog has learned that there is a value in making eye contact with humans. It’s a behavior that most humans strongly value; it makes most of us feel as if the dog is communicating something to us.
If your dog doesn’t already know the value of eye contact with humans, you can easily teach him. This is an operant conditioning/positive reinforcement exercise, whereby your dog learns his behavior can make good stuff happen:
1. Holding a tasty treat in your hand, have your dog sit in front of you.
2. Show him the treat and move it to the corner of your eye. When his eyes meet yours, click a clicker (or use another “reward marker,” such as the word “Yes!”) and give him the treat. Then repeat.
3. Say the cue “Watch!” just before you move the treat to your eye. When he makes eye contact, click and treat. Repeat.
4. After several repetitions (the number of repetitions needed will depend on the dog), pause after you give the “Watch!” cue and see if he looks into your eyes. If he does, click and treat. If he doesn’t, move the treat to your eye, and click and treat when he makes eye contact.
5. Say “Watch!” Move the treat halfway to your eye, and wait. Just wait. His eyes may lock onto the treat and follow it at first, but eventually he will glance at your eyes in order to gain information about what you are doing. When he does, click and treat. (If he never looks at your eyes, do several more repetitions of Step 4.)
6. Say “Watch” and hold the treat at arm’s length out to the side. Wait. When he makes eye contact, click and treat.
7. When your dog has come to realize the value of eye contact, he will sometimes offer the behavior without being cued for it. Be sure to reinforce eye contact that he spontaneously offers throughout the day, in addition to the eye contact that you cue him for.
8. To help him be comfortable with eye contact from other humans, ask your friends and family members to play the “Watch” game with him as well. Monitor the game to make sure it’s always rewarding, not uncomfortable.
Hand Contact: Grabbing, Petting
What’s the first thing you’re likely to do when you’re introduced to a human stranger? Reach out boldly and shake hands with a firm, assertive grip. What’s the first thing many humans are likely to do when they meet a dog? Reach out boldly and pat him on top of the head. Non-dog-savvy humans, that is. Those in the dog-know are well aware that many dogs hate being patted on top of the head, some dogs tolerate it, and a small minority may actually enjoy it.
Tip: If you are trying to make a good impression on the canine you are meeting, you might do best not to reach out at all. Rather, allow the dog to offer the first contact with you. If you must reach toward the dog, offer your open hand, palm up, below his chin level, and let him reach forward to sniff. If he invites closer contact, try scratching gently under his chin or behind his ear – most dogs love that. Just in case he’s one of the few who doesn’t, or he’s not yet ready for that much intimacy from a stranger, watch his response to your touch. If he pulls away, respect his message and stop trying to touch him.
How Your Body Orientation Looks to Dogs
Remember that approach for the handshake with another human? You probably stood tall and offered a full-frontal presentation at the same time; you would think it quite weird if another person crouched and/or sidled up to you to say hello. However, along with direct eye contact, to a dog, a face-front direct approach screams “Threat!” Equally offensive to many dogs is the human habit of bending or hovering over a dog. If you watch a dog-pro making the acquaintance of a new canine friend, you are likely to see them kneel sideways while avoiding eye contact, and either keeping hands close to the body, or offering an open hand low to the ground.
Tip: Take your lead from the pros. The more wary of you the dog seems, the more important you turn sideways and make yourself small and non-threatening. Of course, if you’re greeting an enthusiastic Labrador Retriever who is happily trying to body slam you at the end of his leash, you’re probably safe to stand up and face front. But still no hugs, head-pats, or hovering, please.
Movement
Dogs, especially dogs who aren’t completely comfortable with humans, are very sensitive to our movement. Fast, sudden, and erratic movements can be alarming, especially if they are combined with direct eye contact and inappropriate hand-reaching.
Tip: Slow, calm movement – or in some case no movement at all, is a better approach with a dog you don’t know.
C’mon now, even in the world of humans, you’d be offended if someone you didn’t know walked up and wrapped their arms around you in an intimate hug. Lots of dogs are equally offended, even by hugs from someone they know well. Sure, there are dogs who invite hugs and snuggles, but they are the exception, not the rule.
Tip:Never try to hug a dog you don’t know (and don’t let your children do it, either!).
If you are in the habit of hugging (or allowing your children to hug) your own dog, video some hugs in action and take a good hard look at her body language. If your dog leans into the hugs with a relaxed body and soft expression, you’re on solid ground. If you see your dog ducking, looking away, leaning away, tensing up, or offering other distance-increasing signals, you might want to rethink your hugging program.
If you’re dead set on hugging a dog who doesn’t love it, then make a commitment to a counter-conditioning program that can teach her to love (or at least calmly accept) hugs.
Hugging Your Dog
I’m a primate, and I love hugging dogs as much as the next human. Of the four Miller dogs, only one loves to be hugged; Bonnie actively and routinely solicits close contact, so most of my dog-hugging needs are met by hugging her. Of the remaining three, one tolerates hugs, so I occasionally inflict one upon him. The other two have made their no-hugging preferences clear with avoidance behaviors, so I don’t even try. I can pick up the smallest dog as needed to carry him places, but it’s not a warm-fuzzy hug-fest event. If we didn’t have a dog who loved hugs, I would use the following process to teach one of them to at least tolerate them!
This process involves either classical conditioning – giving a puppy a positive association with something he doesn’t already have an opinion of, or classicalcounter–conditioning, which gives the dog a new association with something he already has a negative opinion of. Either way, the process is similar, but it may go more slowly if you are working to change an existing opinion, rather than simply installing one where none previously existed:
1. Sit next to your sitting dog, a handful of tasty treats in the hand farthest from your dog. (Assuming your dog is on your left side, have treats in your right hand. If you prefer the other side, just flip the following directions.)
2. Touch the top of your dog’s shoulders (the withers) briefly with your left hand. While your hand is touching him, immediately deliver a high-value treat to his mouth with your right hand. Remove both hands at the same time.
3. Repeat the brief-touch-then-feed process until you see your dog brighten happily and turn to look for the arrival of the treat when you touch him.
Note: If your dog doesn’t look happy at this step, don’t go any further. You have three choices: a) Seek the help of a positive reinforcement-based trainer to help you with the process. b) Resign yourself to hugging other humans instead of your dog. c) Look to adopt a second dog into your family who clearly loves being hugged.
4. Gradually increase the length of time you touch him. As you increase the duration of your contact with him, feed him a treat, pause, then feed him another. Feed him multiple times as you increase the duration of your touch.
5. Now touch your dog on his far shoulder, on the other side of the withers, and immediately give him a treat. This will start to move your arm over his back as if you are beginning to hug him.
6. Repeat this touch as you did with the withers touch, gradually increasing the duration of your touch and giving him several treats as he looks happy about the process.
7. Slowly increase the approximations of your touch toward an actually hug, making sure you get a consistent positive response at each step before proceeding further.
Can Dogs Interpret Your Demeanor?
This is tricky. Often, when someone tries to avoid eye contact, move slowly, speak softly, turn sideways, and control the movement of their hands, they end up looking awkward or weird. And that can be very alarming to a dog who isn’t sure about the approaching human – or humans in general.
Tip: Video yourself with your own dog while you train yourself to control your eye contact, hands, and body postures. Practice until you can act naturally while employing all the approach and greeting behaviors that are very unnatural to primates (but reassuring to dogs). Then ask your friends if you can try these behaviors with their dogs. Get really good at them before you try them with random dogs you meet in public or at your local shelter. And always remember to ask the dog’s owner first for permission to greet – and respect their wishes if they say “no.”
Bottom Line
Primates will be primates. As much as we work to educate humans about appropriate ways to interact with dogs, there will always be those who do all the wrong things in their misguided efforts to love dogs. You can do better, by making sure you use appropriate body language with the dogs you meet. And you can help your own canids survive in a primate world by teaching them that eye contact, reaches over the head, hugging, and other stupid human behaviors all make good stuff happen.
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. Pat is also author of many books on positive training, including her newest, Do Over Dogs: Give Your Dog a Second Chance at a First-Class Life.
Thanks to trainer Sarah Richardson, CPDT-KA, CDBC, owner of The Canine Connection in Chico, California, for demonstrating polite and rude body language.
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?”
