Category Archives: AniEd

AniEd, Top Training Tips

When playing footsie ain’t funny any more

Almost consistently, puppy owners will want help with puppy biting & nipping behaviour (including foot chasing) and toilet training. Although they will understandably have lots of concerns and questions, those top the polls.

Most puppies, by the time I see them, will show well established foot biting/chasing behaviour. But, this behaviour didn’t start in their new home; swinging out of conspecifics is a normal part of puppy-puppy and puppy-dog interactions. When they go home, that comes to an end so human feet become a clear favourite.

While this behaviour isn’t terribly concerning in terms of the dog becoming ‘aggressive’ as an adult, it’s irritating and possibly dangerous (in tripping someone up), plus might indicate puppy needs help with managing internal conflict and arousal.

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Your Toolbox

No one tool alone is going to resolve this, or any other unwanted behaviour, but, rather, a variety of tools that are best applied in different contexts.

  • STOP making it fun!
    When you move, squeal and pull your foot back, this is likely to add to the fun puppy is having…you are basically acting like a dog toy…
    Puppy is getting lots of jollies out of this – getting to bite, chew and rag your feet, shoes, slippers or trousers gives puppy an outlet for their excitement, providing relief from stress (feeling wound up) and soon this game becomes the source of fun in and of itself.
    When puppy approaches, stop moving. Be boring.
    While this might be most effective for puppies whose behaviour isn’t really well established, it also stops a seasoned-foot-biter getting any further pay off.

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  • Redirect their focus.
    You’ve stopped moving. The little monkey is swinging out of your trouser leg or dressing gown strap. Now what?
    Puppies are pretty easy to distract so make a fuss about something else.
    Pretend to be embroiled in a very interesting imaginary task, complete with lots of ooohs and aaaahs, rustling of packaging, moving of items, tapping of surfaces.
    Very often puppy will be enticed and wonder what you are up to.
    Now you will be able to redirect puppy to a different activity by, for example, tossing some kibble onto the floor for searching, toss a treat or chew into another room, throw or wiggle their toy. Once they have moved away and forgotten about foot chasing, you can engage them in another activity that will keep them busy a little longer while also helping them calm such as a stuffed toy, a sniffing game or chewing.

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  •  Provide them with an alternative outlet.
    All behaviour serves a purpose, meaning the dog is doing behaviour to get something they need. A puppy biting, chewing and ragging on something, especially in a greeting or exciting situation, is seeking an outlet for their excitement.
    They might not be quite sure how to cope with a greeting or the associated excitement so may be experience some internal conflict, not sure how to proceed.
    Have a long toy, ready to wriggly on the floor, as soon as you come in the door so that puppy has something to rag on and tug. (Clip below)

Spend lots of time playing with puppies in short two minute sessions, practicing tug & thank you. A typical tug session should look like this (clip link):

This not only encourages play between human and puppy, but you are also teaching puppy to respond even when excited and helping puppy learn to regulate their own excitement, before things become too crazy and bitey.

  • Change puppy’s expectations
    Instead of expecting a big greeting and lots of foot chasing, help puppy’s expectations change to some other activity.
    Practice coming in and out of confinement, in through a door or baby gate for example, presenting a different activity straight away. Puppy doesn’t even get to think about foot chasing. Toss food to move puppy away as soon as you enter and keep them sniffing and moving away as you move about. (Clip below)

  • Play FOLLOW ME! games, a lot
    Follow Me! teaches puppy to walk close to you for food rewards. It’s a simple game that must be practiced often, even outside foot-chasing contexts. Puppy learns that there are other ways to get and keep your attention.
    It’s simple. Stroll about and each time puppy catches up with you or walks beside you, stop and feed a small food reward. Puppy can earn an entire meal during practice for this one.
    Puppy learns that you moving about doesn’t need to involve chasing or biting your feet and by rewarding very regularly initially, puppy is prevented from even thinking about it. (Clip below)

This simple and fun exercise quickly establishes a really nice walking position for awesome loose leash walking and builds an excellent level of engagement. Lots of benefits to this one!

In this clip we practice Follow-Me! with Klaus. He happens to offer a sit behaviour that is rewarded and from then on, he offers an auto-sit each time the human stops moving. While this isn’t required, it’s a nice side-effect of puppy learning to human train. From Klaus’ point of view, he’s learning to get the human to produce food rewards – he just sits (and looks cute) – irresistible! (Clip below)

  • teach LEAVE-IT! for feet or moving things
    Help puppy learn that “leave it” means to reorient to their person, away from the moving thing, for a big pay-off.
    Start by practicing in non-chasing scenarios and don’t make the moving thing too enticing to begin with. As soon as puppy looks toward it, say “leave it” and immediately offer a great reward. (Clip below)

You can work on mop chasing in the same way too, and apply ‘leave it’ with a toy to foot chasing. (Clip below)

Foot chasing and biting isn’t confined just to puppies; lots of adolescent dogs will do it too, often when greeting or going out for a walk. The excitement is more than their teenage brains are able for and biting is a neat way for them to channel that.

This usually is an initial response to getting out into the world, and soon dies down as the dog finds other forms of entertainment.
Use sniffing stations to get out the door – drop a few food rewards every couple of steps until you can get to an area where you can encourage your dog to sniff or engage in other activities.

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Similarly, you could use a tug toy or other toy that the dog can carry or bite on. This can also help to redirect them from leash biting, which might be seen at the beginning of walks too.

Play the Go Find It! game on walks or in areas where the dog might redirect their excitement to biting or mouthing. This simple game can help to improve loose leash walking and engagement, while changing their motivations and helping to provide them with an outlet for their excitement.

Lots of tools and tricks to help!
If you would like more help or advice with puppy training or adolescent training, please get in touch!

AniEd, Dog nerds, Trainer Talk

Behaviour serves a purpose…that’s why we do it!

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Behaviour functions for the behaver. This means that the animal is doing the behaviour to get things that they like or to avoid things they don’t like – dogs do behaviour that works for them!

Culturally, we are pretty obsessed with stopping behaviour we view as bad but to modify behaviour, stopping unwanted behaviour might be short sighted but often appeals to the quick-fix addicts.

Attempting to stop behaviour after the fact by, for example, administering punishers is so often too little too late. The dog has already got his jollies.

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Instead we prevent the dog practicing behaviour we don’t like (practice makes perfect, after all!) so that we can clean the slate and establish new, alternative, more desired and ideally, incompatible behaviour.

To modify unwanted behaviour, we need to know the whens, whats and whys.

How does behaviour happen?

Dog training is generally thought to be about telling the dog to do something, using commands and making sure they’re followed through on.
While that satisfies a traditional attitude to our dogs, that’s not really what’s happening at all.

Dogs do behaviours that work. These behaviours work because things around the dog, in the environment, tell them to do a behaviour to access something or avoid something.

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The things in the environment that tell the dog it’s the right time to do that behaviour are called antecedents (A) and the things they access as a result of doing the behaviour are called consequences (C).

When the A’s happen, the dog is getting prepared to do the behaviour and expecting a specific outcome. The A’s tell the dog to anticipate the availability of something the dog likes or to anticipate a way to avoid something they don’t like.

A little mention of management here, before we go on

The conditions in which behaviour happens, the A and the C, have nothing to do with the dog – they are in the environment. That’s why we say that behaviour is in the environment and not in the dog!

To stop behaviour, we must prevent the dog’s exposure to A’s and their access to C’s. That’s what management is – we stop the dog rehearsing behaviour by rearranging their environment.

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Management clears the way for teaching and learning new and more desirable behaviour, providing a foundation upon which to build.

Consider the function of behaviour when teaching new behaviour

This is Ollie and one of his awesome humans. He’s a puppy and has been taught that tugging the mop is the BEST game ever. This commonly happens with puppy behaviours – they are cute and funny, providing endless entertainment for both species.

But the reality is that, in just a couple of short months, Ollie will be able to quickly destroy the mop as soon as it’s produced and that doesn’t make it so fun after all.

Over time, his mop-tugging behaviour has become very intense, more so than with toys.

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Have a think about the A’s and C’s for this behaviour.

The C’s are pretty clear – there is a big pay off in getting to tug the mop; it moves and it’s soft and squishy, which are textures dogs often like to bite; this behaviour causes a surge in arousal with all the component neurochemicals causing him to feel good about it all.

Don’t forget the A’s! In dog training there is an inordinate amount of time devoted to discussion of C’s and not nearly enough about A’s and related factors.
As soon as Ollie’s human walks toward the mop, he is following and watching. You can see his excitement building with jumping up, trying to grab it, even vocalising.
He responds this way when in another room and can only hear the mop too! Ollie might just be a proper mop-addict!

He anticipates a whole lot of excitement when the mop comes out (you’re on your own there, Ollie!). This arousal means it’s really tricky to redirect his attention on to something else and to get him to let go of the mop.

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Modifying mop chasing/tugging

As soon as the mop comes out, Ollie is geared up for some tugging – that behaviour functions for him, providing an outlet for his excitement. If we just take that away, in that context (ABC), where does that excitement go?

Our goal in modifying behaviour is to teach a suitable alternative behaviour – what would we prefer the dog to do?
But that behaviour needs to also plug the gap of the unwanted behaviour so that the dog still gets his jollies, just in a more appropriate manner. The new behaviour functions for the old, unwanted one.

Often times, in reward based training (or what ever label you care to use), we get hooked on throwing food rewards at new behaviour without considering that there was a real need there, on the part of our learner, and a real function being satisfied.

When we remove that outlet for that animal, we may be effectively suppressing behaviour but because we are reinforcing a more desired behaviour, often with food, we think that’s ok. And it might be.
But, our training plans must include consideration for the function of unwanted behaviour, ensuring that those functions are satisfied.

(Want to learn more about this? Check out this introduction to the A-B-Cs of Behaviour webinar for the tools to design training plans. )

For Ollie, we will tick lots of these boxes, with the help of his awesome family:

  • no mopping when Ollie is around – management
  • short one to two minute training sessions of ‘leave the mop’ exercise in the clip above – he learns that he gets his tugging jollies when he hears “leave it” and that the mop coming out makes his toy available for tugging…we are switching up those A’s and C’s
  • continued practice on play and tugging in other contexts too to really get some control and responsiveness built in
  • plenty of outlets for normal puppy behaviour in lots of different ways throughout the day (#100daysofenrichment is great for puppies too!)

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As we move forward, we can start to build other alternative behaviours into this context; for example, the mop coming out means crate time or garden time with a yummy stuffable or sniffing game.
And we might use some strategies that have been successful with less intense mop chasers too.
Ultimately, the presentation of the mop will mean chill out over there but first we gotta make sure he’s getting what he needs out of this mop business. Training is a journey, not a destination, and we’re in it for the long haul!

AniEd, At AniEd, Training Classes

Dogs on Sniffari

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Last weekend we had a Scent & Sniffing workshop for our trainers. We hold workshops about every month to provide continuing education for our trainers, and where there is space, for other trainers and dog lovers too.

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Certainly my favourite part of this is the application of scent and sniffing to improving the welfare of pet dogs. But, we covered lots on related sports and training, the biology of scent and learning about airflow and the ‘behaviour’ of odour.

It was a great day, with lots of engaged trainers and willing dogs – after all this is their thing!

By far the favourite part of the day, for humans and canines alike, was the Sniffari we set up, at the front of the training centre.

What’s a Sniffari?

I would love to say that I originated the term, but I think the credit goes to dog trainer Kristi Benson. And I would also love to claim that I came up with this idea, but I saw some similar version of this on a training company’s Facebook page and I can’t find it now – if anyone knows, please share so I can give credit.
(UPDATE:  found it, tucked away in resources folder! This comes from the mobile Snuffle Park by Dog Solutions, an Australian company!)

AniEd’s version of this is possibly a little different and I am hoping to develop it more and more.

Sniffari is an olfactory adventure for your dog. It can be as elaborate or as basic, as large or small, and as complex or simple as you like. You are limited only by your imagination, and how far you want to take this.

We went all-out-elaborate for our workshop. Attendees from around the country brought lots of bits and pieces to build the Sniffari. AniEd is already filled with “rubbish” that we use for puzzling and enrichment, so we contributed lots too.

Here’s a quick tour of the set-up:

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AniEd Sniffari

Our Sniffari is not just an olfactory journey, but a multi-sensory one. The dogs are drawn in and around many substrates, obstacles, sights AND smells. Many layers of cognition are engaged, meaning that so much brain power is involved.

That it was outside, to give us lots of space, also provided extra challenges in the way the breeze moved through the obstacles.

There were five dogs at the workshop and each had a different experience but all were enthralled. Afterwards they were tired, but chilled out rather than exhausted from exertion.

If you would prefer just to watch little snippets from each dog’s adventure see the next clip, but if you would like to watch an edited clip of each dog’s journey, that follows too (in alphabetical order!).

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Cooper on Sniffari

Cooper is an adolescent Cocker, a pretty high-arousal fella who is always moving and whirling. I particularly enjoyed watching him do this and felt that he may benefit the most from this sort of slower-paced activity. I don’t think I have seen him as calm, engaged, and moving as slowly and controlled as he did through the items of interest.

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He systematically sniffs every item and methodically moves around the course, ensuring he doesn’t miss anything. What a wonderful experience for this guy; really taking time to think and sniff, take his time, relax and take in information without worry or arousal. Good job Cooper!

Decker on Sniffari

Decker is a mature entire male and although he is a serious sniffer, this was probably a little less enriching for him. Most of the items are from AniEd and he’s here almost every day, and many are from the beach he goes to most days too, so lots of these things are just not as interesting to him – he’s sniffed it all before!

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Decker also believes that all people who come to AniEd are here to see him, so he feels obliged to greet everyone and make sure he shows his gratitude to his fanbase.

He spent lots of time on feathers and does a great double-take passing the duck feathers, going back to give them some intense attention. He’s a pretty methodical sniffer too, but this is how he is when sniffing in general and during specific trained sniffing related activities.

Eric on Sniffari

Eric is a mature neutered male and is a cautious fella. He finds new things, new environments and change a little concerning so would rather keep his distance. However, Eric was able to engage with this activity and was certainly keen to investigate and explore.

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You can see Eric’s worry and apprehension but his senses took over and led him in and around obstacles he wouldn’t normally approach, helping him cope and allowing him to gather information about the world around him. Such an awesome experience for him.

He worked for a shorter period than the other dogs – they all got to decide when they had enough and wanted to move on but, he certainly immersed himself in Sniffari-ing. We left it up for the rest of the day, so each time the dogs went out for a break, they could choose to engage in the course at any stage.

Well done Eric – Sniffari’s are excellent for soft, sensitive dogs too!

Ivy on Sniffari

Ivy is a mature ex-racing Greyhound, spayed female, and is a slightly cautious and very dainty lady. She also sniffed methodically and seemed to be particularly interested in animal related items.

She shows a little apprehension when passing between items so a more sparsely populated Sniffari might be preferred by her.

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She spends lots of time sniffing every inch of the snufflemat that one of our trainers had made for her pet rats. Ivy is pretty interested in small-furries and chasing, so this intense interest makes sense.
What a great way to provide her some outlets for her interests, without causing the high high high arousal associated with chasing and hunting.

Sniffaris work as an outlet for chasers – go Ivy!

It’s interesting to note that Ivy marked, with urine, twice; once after sniffing the rat snufflemat and a second time, after sniffing a mound of seaweed. Both times she showed marking behaviour with leg lifting.

It is to be expected that dogs will urinate after sniffing, especially lengthy sniffing sessions. Shafik, 1994, demonstrates a link between sniffing and urinating so the dogs were given lots of toilet breaks throughout the day between olfactory adventures.

It might also be interesting to note that the two girls marked in the Sniffari and the boys didn’t, even though two of them followed the girls’ rounds.

Lottie on Sniffari

Lottie is a mature Boerboel spayed female. She is a pretty social girl but did show a little concern at some of our attendees, who sat across the road to watch, and, also at some patrons from another business up the road a bit. Regardless, she methodically sniffs her way around, not missing a thing with her nose!

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Upon reviewing her footage I note that she spends a lot of time sniffing and studying other dogs’ bedding and items. To dogs, this is social interaction, even though there’s no contact.

This may be an important outlet for dogs who prefer not to hang out with other dogs, for dogs who are worried by other dogs, and for dogs who are not going to be able to be exposed to other dogs due to their age, health and so on.

Gathering that information may also be important in developing comfort with other dogs, assessing the potential level of threat or determining that the dog hasn’t been in the area for a while (as in, it’s an old or weak smell).

Sniffaris might be a great way of giving dogs who don’t hang out with other dogs access to social interaction. Way to go Lottie!

Along with Ivy the other bitch, Lottie also marked, at the side of the tent. This may have been overmarking as it’s possible that another dog had marked there previously (but not for a while as this was the first time this tent had been used in a long time).

Puppy1 on Sniffari

We are continuing to develop our Sniffaris so we added some to Puppy1 class this week. Puppy class includes different cognitive, physical and environmental challenges each week, and this week’s was puzzle feeding. We combined this with some Sniffari ideas.

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There are lots of differences in the puppies’ experience and that of the workshop dogs. First you will notice the level of activity is higher and their ability to sniff and explore methodologically is lower.

Although the fact that they’re puppies has a little to do with this, it’s also affected by the group dynamics and the presence of food in some of the puzzles.
This increases activity relating to competition between the dogs and it increases the intensity of their searching.

Also, it’s Galaxy’s (Pug) first class so he’s likely pretty overwhelmed by the entire sensory explosion that evening. It’s also likely that these puppies haven’t had a ton of experience with other dogs, outside of class, and that the world is relatively new to all of them. Puppies, of course, approach most interactions with exuberance and enthusiasm, and that’s certainly evident here.

Sniffari’s, providing multi-sensory experience and multi-level challenges are good for puppies, helping to grow puppy brains!

Take Your Dog On Sniffari!

We will be continuing to develop this idea as we feel it, like many of the sniffing applications we use regularly, has the potential to provide many benefits to lots of dogs.

Dogs live in the human world and as such must inhibit a lot of their most dogginess. Providing sniffing outlets is essential for making sure pet dogs are healthy in both body and mind.

Sniffaris may be ideal for:

  • young dogs
  • kenneled dogs
  • dogs living in less enriched environments
  • dogs on rest or exercise restriction
  • dogs who will benefit from some confidence building
  • dogs who are excitable and easily aroused
  • dogs who find the outside world a little overwhelming
  • dogs who might be very interested in hunting
  • dogs who might not want to be around other dogs a whole lot, or don’t get the opportunity to meet other dogs a lot
  • dogs new to the home – everything is a Sniffari to them as they settle into their new world
  • older dogs who may not be able to get about as well as they once did

But really, all dogs will benefit and enjoy the opportunity to get lost in their olfactory world.

In our Sniffari we had a tent, chairs and tables to add different dimensions. We used a wooden frame, pool noodles, streamers, mats of different substrates, tubs of water, platforms and hula-hoops to add in physical and tactile challenge. We used seaweed, plants, old shoes, fur, feathers, toys, boxes, old food and cosmetic containers, vegetation, twigs and branches, sweeping brush, different containers, and lots of bits and pieces to add real olfactory interest.

Make sure the item/s aren’t dangerous and safe to be sniffed, that they don’t contain or have never contained substances toxic to dogs, and make sure they’re appropriate for your dog. For example, it’s not a good idea to bring back vegetation that strange dogs may have peed on to unvaccinated puppies.

Display the items in as wide a space as possible so that odour can circulate and leave space for your dog to move between items.

Start today by promising to take your dog on Sniffari as often as possible. When you go somewhere, without your dog, bring back at least one item and allow your dog to sniff, sniff, sniff. This might simply be allowing them to go to town on your shoes, tracing your steps in olfaction.

Take your dog on a SNIFF, rather than a walk, make dog walks more dog, and add some snuffling puzzles to every day life.

Share with us your Sniffari ideas!

 

 

AniEd, At AniEd, Training Classes

Crazy2Calm class – STARTING SOON!

Crazy dogs are often misjudged, much maligned and blamed for their crazy ways but that very crazy behaviour is more than likely associated with high arousal (emotional excitement), difficulty to cope with frustration and poor stress-control skills.

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How might you identify a crazy dog?

The crazy dog comes in many forms, but in general these dogs have trouble with bringing themselves down after getting wound up; they might :

  • show reactive behaviour on lead or in confinement – barking, lunging, growling toward triggers such as other dogs, cyclists, other people
  • show attention seeking behaviour and/or bark excessively
  • have difficulty settling
  • have difficulty focusing
  • jump up
  • pull on lead
  • be excitable
  • be destructive
  • show frustration related behaviour such as pulling on lead, grabbing, vocalising when they want something
  • dislike confinement or being left alone

The crazy behaviour itself isn’t really the full issue, it’s more that the dog has trouble bringing themselves down from this high and often this manifests in over the top behaviour.

These are my favourite dogs to work with (and live with…ahem…Decker…) because they offer lots of behaviour (lots of crazy behaviour) and  are just begging to be shown which ones are more appropriate.

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Crazy to Calm Training Class

This training course is perfect for those crazy dogs, and their humans but also for dogs:

  • who are expected to cope with pretty exciting environments such as dogs who attend shows and competitions, dogs who assist their humans or dogs who attend work with their humans
  • who have spent time in a kennel environment such as a shelter
  • who are working through a training or behaviour modification program to help with reactive or stress-related behaviour

Crazy to Calm class will help you to:

  • prevent crazy behaviour by giving the humans a better understanding of their dog’s behaviour
  • manage crazy behaviour by helping your dog develop better focus skills and improved on-leash behaviour
  • tackle the underlying causes of crazy behaviour by working on self-calming skills

We will do this through lots of games, using a high rate of reward with food rewards, interaction with their human,  toys & play.
We will not be suppressing crazy behaviour, as is so often the approach, but instead building more appropriate behaviour, while helping your dog learn to cope with excitement better – giving you both tools to harness that crazy into focus, fun and engagement.

Details:

  • 10 class course starting soon, Thursday evenings 7-8.30pm
  • 4 dog/handler teams
  • each class is 90 minutes
  • costs €250

You will have access to course online area where videos and homework exercises, along with comprehensive course manual, will be available so that you and your dog can practice at home and where you really need these developing skills.

You will need:

  • your dog!
  • your dog’s flat collar and regular lead
  • a range of food rewards of different values to your dog
  • tug toys – a longer one and a shorter hand-held one
  • specific mat or blanket (just for classwork)
  • a jacket or top with pockets to hold rewards (rather than a treat pouch)
  • optional: flirt pole
  • optional: a crate, at home

Course content includes:

  • human training
  • tools for managing your dog in class and crazy situations
  • settling & self-calming
  • mindfulness
  • focus & engagement
  • release cues
  • patience & frustration control
  • targeting and applications
  • handling comfort & restraint
  • on-leash responsiveness & behaviour
  • focus points
  • body awareness
  • confinement training & Crate Games
  • escape & emergency cues
  • play & rollercoaster games
  • appropriate application of enrichment
  • counterconditioning & trigger work

Register for class here, or email info@anied.ie, comment here or on our Facebook page!

To know more about our training, check out our YouTube channel for lots of clips or our Facebook page for more information.

AniEd

Our Courses: Canine Health & Disease

At a glance:

When?: Course seminar on 9th and 10th June, 2018. Four months to complete optional assessment work from there – ends 31st October 2018

Where?: at the AniEd centre, Glasnevin, Dublin 11 (M50, J5)

How much?: Course fees: €120 includes weekend seminar, comprehensive course materials and supplementary resources
Assessment fee: €20 payable at submission

Who should do it?: anyone working with dogs, for example, trainers, kennel and petshop staff, groomers, rescue staff and volunteers, and pet owners with a keen interest in canine health

Booking: register here and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.
We will ask you how you would like to pay, and raise an invoice for you by which you can pay.
Upon receipt of payment we will send you your Learner Handbook and ask that you sign and return the declaration at the back.
A couple of days before your course starts, we will send you details, directions and so on, for your seminar and then you’ll be good to go!

Why do this course?

This course will provide you with an excellent overview and understanding of canine health, from a biological point of view. You will not find this tricky, even if you have never done science before, or even if you find science too difficult.

This approach, allows you to understand how diseases and disorders affect dogs, and, how treatment is devised and implemented.

This can be applied to building knowledge in terms of first aid, preventative care and humane husbandry care for dogs.

What will you learn?

This course comprises three parts:

Part 1: Canine Physiology & Disease
Part 2: Monitoring & Maintaining Canine Health
Part 3: Responsible Dog Ownership

Each course part covers a wide range of topics.

Part 1 Canine Physiology & Disease:

  • cell anatomy & physiology -> zooming in, we start by looking at health and disorder at microscopic level to provide you with an understanding of the workings and treatment of serious disorder such as deydration and shock, tumours and cancer.
  • skeletal & muscular systems -> a common source of concerns such as lameness, bone, joint & muscle disorders, cancer, the effects of skull shape on health, and vertebral health & disease
  • blood vascular system -> covering blood and related disease, heart functioning and disorder, the lymph system and cancer, plus first aid and the control of bleeding
  • immune system -> the effects, disease and treatment relating to pathogenic organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi, and vaccination
  • respiratory system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • digestive system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • urinary system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • reproductive system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • integumentary system -> the skin and related systems are exposed to the external and internal environment so may be associated with a wide range of disorder and disease
  • endocrine system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • neurological system -> how these organs work, and disease and treatment of disorder
  • sensory organs -> anatomy, physiology and disease affecting the eyes, ears, and nose

Part 2 Monitoring & Maintaining Canine Health

  • how to assess and evaluate canine health
  • care required when in contact with animals, particularly in relation to zoonotic conditions
  • providing healthy nutrition
  • providing healthy environmental condtions
  • carrying out health care procedures
  • preventative health care & parasites
  • cooperative husbandry care for dogs

Part 3 Responsible Dog Ownership

  • canine related legislation in Ireland
  • responsible ownership guidelines & choosing a dog responsibly
  • canine reproductive control & the effects of neutering

Assessment

All assessment work is optional, unless you are completing a Specialisation.
But don’t worry, there are no tests or exams! All assessment will be conducted over a number of months, and as part of your course materials, you are provided with a study planner to help you organise your studies.
Even if you don’t plan to submit, you are encouraged to complete assessment work.

For this course, there are four separate assessment pieces:

  1. using course material, develop a healthcare checklist of signs for urgent, less urgent and non-urgent care
  2. carry out practical work with your dog (or any suitable dog to which you have access) demonstrating non-invasive health evaluation procedures
  3. design a suitable environmental enrichment program for a specific dog you know
  4. design a responsible ownership handout for pet owners

You have four months of complete this assessment work.

Register here.

AniEd, At AniEd, Top Training Tips

Got Puppy. Now what?

Regardless of whether getting a puppy or new dog around Christmas is actually a bad thing (for that puppy or new dog), is up for debate; arguing the point is not relevant now.

If new puppies are in new homes, which they undoubtedly are, we want to keep them there by supporting new puppy owners, giving them the best advice and helping them avail of the best resources on puppy care.

We have a FREE trouble-shooting seminar for all puppy owners in January to help, and make sure everyone gets off on the right paw.

When – Saturday 6th January, 2018
What time – 2pm-4pm
Where – at the AniEd centre in Glasnevin, Dublin 11; just off J5 M50

What will we cover?

It will be two hours of puppy-people’s questions. All those niggling, puppy problems and behaviour mysteries will be discussed, so that puppies and their families can stay together in peace and harmony.

We will cover topics such as:

  • what puppies need to know
  • social experience – puppy and people
  • social experience  – puppy and other dogs
  • social experience – puppy and other animals
  • environmental experience – growing puppy brains and building confident, resilient puppies
  • puppy’s first walks
  • travelling in the car
  • importance of mental exercise
  • care with physical exercise
  • puppy nipping, biting and bite inhibition
  • puppies & children
  • management – prevent unwanted puppy behaviour
  • crate and confinement training – benefits and pitfalls
  • alone training
  • night-time training
  • passive training – catch your puppy doing the right thing!
  • Park your Pup – teach your puppy to relax and settle, and be ignored
  • preventing resource guarding
  • handling and grooming comfort
  • toilet training
  • playing with your puppy

We have lots to cover, and no doubt there will be more to discuss.

Who should attend?

This is vital for new puppy owners, if even if they have had puppies before. There’s nothing like going from an adult dog to a new, young puppy!!

We will be discussing puppy training & behaviour relating to puppies five months and younger.

This will also be great for those thinking of getting a puppy so that they can be prepared.

Pet professionals and veterinary personnel are welcome to come along too, as they will often be in positions to advise puppy owners.

Please book!

This is a people-only event, and requires booking so we know how many to expect.

You can book by emailing info@anied.ie, messaging our Facebook page, or calling and leaving your details (01 8308380 or 086 044 9275).
We are closed for Christmas and New Year’s but will make sure to respond to all bookings for this event as soon as possible. Rest assured, that if you have contacted us and left your details, you have a spot on this seminar!

Please share, far & wide so we can get the best support to new puppy people, and prevent an onslaught of unwanted, difficult puppies in 2018.

AniEd, At AniEd, Top Training Tips

SNIFFING STATIONS!

This will not be news to you, at all, that dogs love sniffing. Sniffing isn’t just a fun past-time for dogs, it’s essential behaviour that they MUST do for behavioural health.

Not only that, sniffing can be a great training tool.

Sniffing for training

Dogs pull on lead for lots of reasons:

  • they’re excited to be out and about
  • the world is an exciting place
  • they have twice the number of legs we do
  • they want to get sniffing and sniffing and sniffing
  • they want to get to things
  • they want to get away from things
  • we have trained them to pull

Pet owners spend lots of money on all sorts of, often times, scary equipment and lots of time on training exercises, to improve their dogs’ loose leash walking skills.

Changing the dog’s motivation for behaviour, and reducing his expectation (that crazy behaviour is required) will help to prevent pulling behaviour, making walks more enjoyable for all.

SNIFFING STATIONS

Is there a time or area in which your dog really, really pulls?

Do you find it difficult to get your dog from point A to point B, on lead?

Are there particular distractions that you find difficult to manage?

Establishing Sniffing Stations will help:

  • to get your dog out the door, without too much craziness
  • to get your dog from the house to the car, or from the car to the park or from one spot to a very exciting place
  • your dog get passed, toward or through particularly distracting situations
  • your dog get to another person or dog in a calmer fashion
  • to get a dog from a kennel to an exercise area
  • to get a dog to an exit (or entrance)
  • the dog to associate good things with potentially distracting or worrying triggers
  • your dog’s focus on you to increase

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Start with your dog on lead, and use really yummy food rewards.

  • say “Go Sniff!”
  • drop a couple of treats to the ground, across your dog’s eyeline if possible but just point them out if he misses them
  • let your dog eat the treats
  • repeat approx. every two metres

We start out with Sniffing Stations close to one another, and can move them further apart as the dog improves, or closer together for really tricky distractions.

If you know that you need to move the dog over the same short route, make more permanent Sniffing Stations.
Use double-sided tape to secure little bowls or even lids to each spot. Pre-load with treats for each trip.
For more temporary but pre-loaded Sniffing Stations, use little pieces of double-sided tape at each station and place treats on each one. This will also take the dog a little longer to eat, so is great to get dog past tricky distractions.
(Securely stick tape so that the dog doesn’t take that too!)

Teach sniffing on cue

Put sniffing on cue:

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Sniffing is a handy training exercise because:

  • your dog loves to sniff (and is already really good at it)!
  • sniffing is a polite dog behaviour and can be used to diffuse the tension between two dogs at a distance
  • sniffing is a calming behaviour for your dog
  • sniffing can help to divert your dog’s attention away from a trigger
  • sniffing can be used as a release cue, to let your dog know they they can go be a dog again
  • sniffing can be used to keep your dog busy or entertained when you are otherwise engaged
  • sniffing can be used to help your dog calm after excitement
  • sniffing can be used as a reward, after recalling for example
  • sniffing can be used to help your dog form more pleasant associations toward some trigger

Sniffing as a past-time

Make sure your dog has lots of opportunities to sniff. Forget about taking your dog for walks, instead make outings about sniffing.

Take your dog on a sniff, rather than on a walk. Who’s walk is it anyway!?

AniEd, Top Training Tips

No, your dog is not just being “friendly”

Set the scene…you are walking your dog, interacting or playing, your dog might even be on lead, or at the very least is engaged with you and not looking to meet and greet…in the distance a loose dog approaches, directly, attempting to interact with your dog, who is not really in to it…

Regardless of how this interaction goes, it’s not appropriate behaviour.
You are, I am sure, a ‘socialised’ person. This means that you can pass other people without having to approach them, attempt to interact or touch them. Strangers running up to strangers, attempting contact, especially if one person is clearly not looking to interact, would be weird and concerning human behaviour.

Same goes for dogs. A socialised dog doesn’t need to greet every dog, doesn’t get excited by the presence of other dogs, and can read another dog’s signalling without having to get right up in their face.
This negatively impacts a dog’s comfort levels and behaviour, and is probably not great for either dog involved.

Dealing with Uninvited Approaches

Safety first

Not only does this behaviour present risks for your dog’s safety, but also yours. Lots of your first reactions may be borne out of panic, and that may not be helpful.

Picking up your dog, trying to move them with the lead, or even putting your body between them and the interloper, may increase the tension or arousal in the situation leading to an escalation in their behaviour.

When your dog is at risk, you might be tempted to put yourself in harm’s way, to attempt to prevent your dog being injured or scared.

I get that. As much as I might advise you don’t do that, to be honest, I am going to do whatever I need to do to protect my dog from inappropriate contact with another dog who may potentially cause injury or stress.

  • picking up your dog may cause the other dog’s arousal to increase, pursuing your dog up into your arms. This may lead to a more persistent ‘attack’, with the dog frustrated and trying to reach your dog, and may lead to injury to you as the other dog attempts to get to your dog, or re-directs onto you.
    In a panicked state and being lifted and losing control, it’s also possible that your own dog will re-direct on you or catch you with his teeth or claws.

If you must pick your dog up, try to tuck him inside your jacket and turn your back on the other dog immediately.

It might be possible to put your own dog up on to something high such as a log, a rock or even on a vehicle.

Regardless, keep your balance, and possibly implement some of our other recommendations to reduce the impact on you, and your dog.

  • restraining your dog on lead may offer some protection in that your dog doesn’t have the opportunity to go after another dog, but dogs on lead are more likely to react and aggress when they feel under pressure.
    But when another dog comes close, we can feel the temptation to tighten the lead, and even use it to move our dog out of harm’s way.
    Doing so may cause your dog’s reaction to escalate faster and increase in intensity.
    If your dog is in an interaction with the other dog, them being moved suddenly and stiffly may cause the interaction to go south fast.
    Moving them by the lead, may even cause greater damage and injury should there be a bite.

Your dog being on lead may very well contribute to an interaction becoming more tense, more serious, leading to more harm.

Dropping the lead and allowing your dog to move and escape may well offer greater protection as your dog can move faster without you, but may put your dog at greater risk in other ways. Your dog running may even increase another dog’s interest, leading to intense chasing behaviour.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, loosening the lead, may be your best bet, especially if the other dog’s intentions are social, albeit obnoxious.
Keep the lead loose, stay at your dog’s shoulder, and move with your dog as he moves or circles may help. Stay calm, hum or sing softly to yourself (“Happy Birthday” is a great one to sing as it’s hard to be tense during that one!), and be ready to move.

  • you moving between your dog and the approaching dog is often a go-to move…indeed I have done it myself. Sometimes this can be enough to deter an overly-exuberant greeter, but sometimes it may just draw the other dog’s attention to you, making you the focus.
    Where an interaction has begun or where there is tension, you moving may certainly cause fireworks.

Although we are tempted to try and intimidate the other dog so that they move away, this doesn’t always work as intended, instead leading to an increase in arousal and a lowering of already impaired inhibitions, possibly in both dogs.

We can teach a dog to move behind us on cue which might help to diffuse tension, and paired with some of our other recommendations, may help to cool the situation.

Diffuse

Being proactive, and looking to keep interactions low key is probably going to be safest and most comfortable for everyone, but this requires time and space, which you might not always have.

  • assess the situation – how is your dog feeling, how is the other dog responding – how direct, tense and intense are they, how much control does the other owner have, how responsive is your dog, how well will you be able to escape?
  • scan your environment for signs that loose dogs may be present, such as people who look like dog walkers and other dogs in the distance, listen for dog tags and paws on concrete.
  • walk in places that require dogs to be on lead, that offer you good vantage points with lots of places that you and your dog can escape to that provide visual barriers
  • remain alert close to blind corners or concealed entrances, which might reveal loose dogs suddenly
  • keep your dog’s attention on you with trained cues for simple behaviours such as hand targeting, and high value motivators such as food rewards and toys.
    It’s best to avoid stationary behaviours such as stay, sit or down, as this can cause your dog to feel less well able to control the goings-on.
    Remember, the introduction or availability of high value motivators may cause your dog’s discomfort to increase as he attempts to keep the other dog away from his prized possessions. It may also make you more attractive to rude dogs looking to score a treat from a stranger, or take another dog’s ball (someone else’s is always better, right?!).
  • get your dog sniffing – head down and sniffing can communicate a desire for a calmer, slower interaction among dogs which may be heeded. Your dog staring and making eye contact with another dog, may encourage it to approach.
  • walking away calmly and/or taking sudden direction change can help to keep your dog focused on you and less likely to interact with another dog, and may cause the other dog to give up in its pursuit
  • this is the opportunity for you to have your dog behind you, and you between your dog and the other dog, before tensions rise and direct approach is imminent. It may also give you time to call to the other dog owner, asking them to get their dog.

The other owner

While some of you will scoff at this, sometimes another owner may not be aware of the distress their dog potentially causes.

Culturally, among dog owners, it’s presumed that their dog running directly up to another dog or person is just an expression of their dog’s friendliness and joie do vivre. This interaction may be a teaching moment, if there’s enough time and everyone is open to discussion.

 

  • call to the other dog owner and ask them to get their dog, to leash their dog, to remove their dog
    There’s no point asking them to call their dog as doing so doesn’t necessarily mean that their dog will return to them.
  • as frustrating as it is when they say their dog is “just being friendly”, (we, of course know different), it’s best to stay as calm as possible so as not to increase the tension, or possibly get their back up, making them less cooperative
  • if your requests are not successful, tell them that your dog is not friendly, is sick or old, or is “contagious”
  • muzzle training your own dog, and having them wear a muzzle is a sure-fire way to get other dog owners to avoid you…
  • taking out your phone and really or mock filming them will often cause them to remove their dog and move away quickly
  • informing them that you will do what you need to do to protect your own dog, should they be unable to remove their dog immediately, is a last resort but threats may be necessary

React

Sometimes you won’t have time for any of the above, and are left with no choice but to react and to hope that you can minimise emotional and physical damage to all involved.

Repellents & Shields

Some you might be able to carry with you, but you may also be able to use things you find around you.

Repellents might include:

  • compressed air (Pet Corrector)
  • small aerosol can, citronella spray
  • water gun or spray
  • a Dog Stop alarm (very loud!)

The problem with these is that they will only be effective when the other dog is quite close. Outdoors the wind may blow a spray back into your or your dog’s face.

If something is designed to scare away another dog, it may also have that effect on your dog possibly leading to a greater level of distress in association with that context.

Shields might include:

  • an umbrella with a button pop
  • a length of cardboard, like a flattened box
  • a clipboard, sheet of Styrofoam, chopping board
  • your bag

Shields might act to intimidate a dog sufficiently that they move away, or may give you a few seconds to redirect and escape.

Again, anything intended to startle an oncoming dog might also distress your own dog.

Carrying a small back pack is a good idea, not only to carry things safely and out of reach, but also to use as a shield or as something to redirect a persistent interloper.

Other deterrents

Carrying a walking stick, or even an umbrella folded up may be enough to deter other dogs. Swinging it or cracking it on the ground can help to move them away.

Swinging a lead or line, or even the heavy handled end of a retractable leash may also help. Cracking the line in the air or on the ground may also cause sufficient startle to halt an approaching dog.

Try:

  • turn your attention to your dog immediately and keep them engaged
  • move away briskly, keeping your dog moving away, rather than directly
  • keep yourself between your dog and the other dog as you move
  • toss treats or something (such as pebbles) into the dog’s path (not at them), across their eyeline
    Tossing something bigger like a stick, or even your bag or jacket.
  • using a shield or repellent, and then using the couple of seconds it buys and get out of there
  • stepping forward and shouting “NO!”, “STAY!”, “SIT!”, “GO HOME!” or growling – might just buy you a couple of seconds of redirection so you can get out of there
  • get something between you and the other dog

Although the temptation is to ‘go big’, try calm and cool first and attempt to diffuse. Up the ante as needed.

Don’t:

  • grab collars
  • put your hands in the middle, or near mouths
  • pick up a dog
  • hit, kick, or punch
  • put your body or body parts in the middle

No magic wand

There is no one solution that is going to work every time. One of these may work in one context, but may be ineffective in another. The key is to have plenty of tools at the ready, and to practice when there’s no panic, so that you are ready when the shi1t hits the fan.

Sadly, loose dogs, under poor control, are an every day occurrence for the majority of my clients (and my friends, and me!), many having dogs who have been injured and are seriously distressed by other irresponsible owners’ actions (or lack thereof). Not only that, but a number of friends and clients have been hurt, frightened and injured by these dogs themselves, as they try to do their best to deal with the onslaught.

Understand that it’s not appropriate for dogs to behave like this (just as it wouldn’t be OK for people to behave this way), and that your dog is allowed to say they don’t want another dog in their face by ignoring them or even snarking. In that context, that’s appropriate behaviour. Do your dog a favour, and get them out of there quickly and calmly.