Tag Archives: enrichment

Top Training Tips

Think Outside the Food Bowl, Part 3

Part 3 Think Outside
Just-Taking-Your-Dog-for-a-Walk

We’ve been looking at thinking outside the conventional when entertaining your dog here and here already; now we are going to think far outside food-based enrichment to providing sensory, physical, cognitive and social challenges to help keep our dogs happy and healthy.

Walkies

When you think of entertaining or exercising your dog, you probably have taking your dog for a walk on the list – perhaps that’s the main form of entertainment and exercise your dog gets.

But what if you consider, that just like food-bowls, taking your dog for a walk may be more of a human convenience device than entertaining for your dog.

Human/Dog Divide

Going for a walk for humans and going for a walk for dogs are very different experiences, even when there is one human and one dog, together on the same walk.

It will not be news to you that dogs love to sniff and although we recognise their love of all things smelly, we are often too wrapped up in the human end of the walk to facilitate sniffing for our dogs’ entertainment.

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That may be because the preferred human past-time is walking while talking and taking in the sights – we live to take in visual information and that requires walking at not much more than a strolling pace.

Recently, Patricia McConnell shared this interesting paper looking at ways of improving animal welfare by recognising the importance of olfaction in impacting the lives of animals in our care. Scents are invisible and undetected by us, but their importance in our dogs’ lives cannot be underestimated.

Pounding the Pavement

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Asking our dogs to walk with us, at our two-legged-sightseeing-pace, on a loose lead is a pretty tall order. Not only do dogs need to move faster so as to take in lots of smells, they also have twice the number of legs that we do so are very efficient at covering distance.

Not only is walking up, down, back and forth on suburban streets difficult for your dog (at human pace), it’s also probably pretty boring for them too.
To top it off we use devices that restrict their movement even further, sometimes painfully.

Sheesh! this walking-malarky is becoming more and more like a military drill…

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See ya – Decker’s done with military style walkies

Human/Canine Compromise

What are you getting out of walkies?

  • healthier lifestyle
  • physical exercise
  • fresh air
  • social interaction
  • chats with friends
  • meeting & greeting
  • see your local world
  • time with your dog
  • a quiet dog, afterwards

With all this in mind, what’s your dog truly getting out of walkies…?

This might be his only opportunity to be exposed to something other than the same four walls so we gotta make it worthwhile!

Your dog didn’t choose this more limiting lifestyle, and indeed has probably been made for something much more exciting, so how can we make walkies-time the best-time?

Variety is the spice of walkies

You have one walk, maybe only one hour (or even less), let’s cram as much enrichment into that time as we can to boost the value of every walk, every outing and every activity.

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Check out the human list of experiences – it pretty much covers our four categories of enrichment that our dogs need added to their daily lives. We can come up with ways to tick those boxes for our dogs too.

Sensory challenges:

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  • Turn every walk into a sniff – choose locations, routes and times when you and your dog can devote a good chunk of each outing to just sniffing.
    Dogs find almost every area smelly, but particular favourites are those where other dogs have contributed, where wildlife or livestock frequents or where there’s plenty of traffic of different species.
  • Novelty is interesting for many dogs – bring your dog new places that will provide them with different sights, sounds, smells, textures, substrates and conditions.
    Take care and make sure that it’s not sensory overload.
  • Rotate the experience – if you are lucky enough to have access to varied landscapes, try bringing your dog to different places on different walks.
    Woodland, grassland, beaches and waterways all provide very different sensory experiences, especially when you factor in seasonal changes too.
  • Set-up sniffing challenges – you can introduce new and exciting smells for your dog, and what’s more this can be done at home too.Introduce new herb plants that interest dogs (and that are also safe) and by planting them in pots you can rotate them, hide them or arrange them so that they encourage curiosity and investigation.
    Some informative resources here, here and here.

    Use hunting scents (from different animals, available from hunting and gundog outlets online) and rotate these, set up trails or add to a special toy that you can hide and play with.

  • Scent work games will always be popular with your pet, no matter what you practice finding like food, toys, other items and specific scents – it’s what your dog was made to do!

Don’t forget to teach your dog to “Go Sniff!” on cue so that you always have a handy reward (that your dog loves) and so that your dog can get all his sniffing jollies:

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Physical challenges:

Dogs are super efficient at burning energy (that’s why they are so easy to overfeed!) so for most dogs, if they are just trotting along beside you on a pretty military-style walk, they are probably not getting a whole lot of physical challenge out of it.

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  • Change your pace – stroll, walk, trot, jog, sprint and then back to trot and up to sprint again and mix & match so that your dog (and you) need to adjust and compensate.
  • Warm up and warm down – make sure your dog has plenty of time at the beginning and end of activity to walk and trot, to loosen up and stretch before the real physical challenges begin.
    Speak to your vet or veterinary physiotherapist about the sorts of conditioning and warm-up exercises that would work best for your dog and activity.
  • Balancing exercises – introduce balancing on unstable objects to really get your dog’s muscles and body awareness working; but as always talk to your vet or veterinary physiotherapist so that you can match the best exercises for your dog.
  • Levels, substrates and terrains – rotate and vary the levels your dog must climb, the substrates he must cope with and the terrain he must negotiate as regularly as possible so that your dog gets to exercise different muscles and body awareness skills.
  • Play – teach your dog to play games with you and with you and toys and bring this on the road. This will help you to introduce varying challenges on each walk, changing pace and directions.
    Tug, fetch, jogging with you, flirtpole and chasing with you will bring lots of fun and games to your daily grind.
    Remember, always teach the rules of games first and make sure to help your dog warm up and warm down.
  • It doesn’t always need to involve walking – drive your dog to a safe spot for games or scent work, bring your dog for a swim or a paddle  or enroll in a dog-sports class such as agility.

Cognitive challenges:

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  • Puzzles – don’t have to be elaborate or too complicated, just enough to cause your dog to pause and think a little.
    Why not bring a frozen Kong on each walk and have some downtime in the middle? This is an excellent tool for training better settling behaviour and a great way for you to catch up on sightseeing or just relaxing and chatting.
  • Training exercises – when is a better time to practice training exercises than in the very situations you are going to need those cues?
    Start by working in really quiet locations using really really high value rewards to build up some reliability and set your dog up for success.
  • Passive focus – teach your dog valuable focus with lazy dog training techniques.
    Just stop and wait for your dog to get distracted by something. Allow him to watch it but don’t move. As soon as he turns away from the distraction immediately reward with high value food rewards. Soon you, and this game, will become more valuable!
    If your dog has trouble looking away and back toward you, try moving further away, using super-dooper rewards and working for very short times (30 seconds).

Social challenges:

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  • SNIFFING – it really is that great to and for your dog and it’s probably one of the main ways that dogs interact socially with other dogs in modern life.
  • Play-dates – we are not big fans of out-of-control-play at dog parks, daycares, group walks or just random meetings and find it much better for you and your dog to meet up with another like-minded duo to hang out with.
  • Meeting people – gentle introductions to a range of people types can be very pleasant for most dogs. Bring treats and work on polite greetings at the same time!
  • People-watching – sitting back a bit from the action and just watching the comings and goings can be really beneficial for many dogs, especially those who find being in the thick of it, a bit too much.
  • Just hang-out – you are the most important entity in your dog’s life. Hang out with him, do fun stuff together, just be with one another. Ultimate joy of living with and loving dogs!

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Let your dog be the guide

Help your dog choose – free-choice exercise is probably more beneficial for mental health than addictive adrenaline-junkie-inducing activity.

Take some time out of each walk to allow your dog dictate the flow. I’ll bet his choices will involve sniffing at some point…!

Thinking beyond an everyday walk

Although walkies is traditionally considered the way to exercise dogs, this might not work for everyone and that’s ok too.

Bringing your dog out in the world can be great for lots of reasons but for some dogs alternatives may be even greater.

There are special considerations for puppies and growing dogs when it comes to physical activity. Check out this fantastic piece from Puppy Culture.

Older dogs or dogs recovering from or with injuries or surgery may benefit from much more controlled exercise such as physical therapy, just pottering around the house, hydrotherapy or gentle play.
Intense, regular walking on concrete is probably not terribly beneficial for anyone – another excellent reason for lots of variety in your daily activity.

Dogs who are fearful, reactive or highly distractible may be pushed beyond their coping abilities when brought out and about. Until some work can be put in place with a suitably qualified behaviour professional it may be better to limit exposure to too much, until they have some help with coping better.

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Hey! Be more dog. And make sure your dog is too.

Daily dog walks are not the be-all-and-end-all – dogs need daily activity, enrichment, entertainment and exercise, not necessarily in the form of walks.
Try and mix it up and add and rotate different challenges into your daily adventures.

But always remember to strike that balance between mental and physical exercise, with plenty of downtime and calming thrown in for good measure.

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

There’s always time for another Woof!

Reward based training isn’t about pushing-cookies, it’s about applying what we know about how dogs learn to teach dogs in an effective and efficient manner (works for all learning species too!): The truth about positive reinforcement

Never presume that a change in your dog’s health or behaviour is ‘just age’ – have a chat with your vet, even if it is a normal part of aging, there may be excellent treatments available that can greatly improve your dog’s quality of life, including with arthritis: So your dog has arthritis

Know someone who has kids and dogs, or is soon to have dogs and kids? Send them this: Pregnancy, Pups & Preparation

Not a dog but these same strategies can be adapted to arrange the training environment so that husbandry procedures, like nail clipping, can be stress free: Restraint-free nail clipping for  Allen, a Bearded Dragon

Although manners training (e.g. loose leash walking, recall, stay etc.) is a great start and very helpful, some dogs and some behaviours need more help, and generally regular training classes won’t be the way to help them: “Needs Training”

This is a thought provoking piece – neglecting to look after a dog’s behavioural, training, social and environmental needs can and does certainly impact its welfare: Poor Little Rich Dog

More on University of Lincoln’s work looking at our dogs’ pretty amazing capacity for appreciating human (and canine) emotion: Dogs can read human emotions

(Warning: tissues may be required) What we do for them at the end, says a lot about how we loved and lived with them: The Last Meal I Gave My Dog

We love the ScienceDog blog; here’s a great covering of some work on dog-dog social learning: Doggie See, Doggie Do?

Here are some great tips of introducing a dog to a cat

But sometimes it’s not a match made in heaven: Cats stealing dogs’ beds

More very smart, stealthy, and sneaky animals stealing food!

And perhaps the stealthiest of them all: An A-door-able Thief!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

Today’s Woof is a bit of a dog-appreciation-post…as if we would post anything different!

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and regardless of your romantic leanings, your dog is still awesome:

dogs-better-than-boyfriends

Despite dogs coming in all shapes and sizes (more so than any other species), they can still recognise other dogs as dogs, visually only – that’s pretty amazing!
Dogs recognise other dogs in a crowd and Do dogs know other dogs are dogs?

Dogs with grey muzzles are wise and proud, but why do dogs go grey early?

Always ask: Does my dog want to be petted or hugged?
So how do you know? Try the pet-pause-respect test with your dog and remember some dogs don’t want belly-rubs!

How much exercise does it take to keep your breed happy & healthy?

Physical exercise is great, but don’t forget you need to match it with mental exercise too. Here are a couple of really puzzling challenges for your dog to get his brain working hard:
Problem Solving Game and Fun with a shape sorter box!

Training is not just about teaching cute behaviours, like this amazing Irish dancing sequence, (even though that has lots of benefits too) but also preparing your dog for more difficult times – like maintaining open channels of communications – Choice & Control

I know you know our relationship with dogs is pretty deep, but did you know it’s this deep? Dogs’ hormones adjust to match those of their owners

A socialised person, like you, doesn’t need to approach, greet or touch other people while out and about; indeed to do so would be weird and a little creepy. Well, socialised dogs are the same – that’s what being socialised is, it means you can ignore stuff because it’s not a big deal. Most adult dogs are DINOS and the rest probably need to develop a little more self-control in learning about polite greetings, even if their people think they are just being friendly: “My dog is friendly!” A public service announcement and a funny spin on this here.

Here’s a tug of war that will make you smile 🙂

Snoopy has something to say about more traditional notions of dog training! A visit to the library

Top Training Tips

Think Outside the Food Bowl, 2

Part 2: Give That Dog A Job

Remimder why it’s important to get your dog working!

Unemployed dogs soon become self-employed so the easiest, quickest, most efficient and enjoyable way to get your dog working is by having him use some of those in-built skills  to earn his food, everyday.

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Food is Currency

To dogs, food is like currency, euros and dollars. So, if you are to employ a dog, you gotta get them working for their food.

Last time, we looked at the sorts of predatory and feeding related behaviours that dogs come with as part of the package.

We can safely offer our pet dogs outlets for behaviours like the following, using your dog’s dinner:

  • tracking
  • chewing
  • dissecting

And we can safely provide more appropriate outlets for some of this behaviour, through the use of games and play:

  • stalking & chasing
  • grabbing & biting

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Don’t let “domestication” fool you!

Domestication has done lots of things to dogs that has made them better pets and companions, but this process has also done a couple of things that mean getting your dog working for their food is even more important.

This process continues to ensure that dogs live closer and closer to humans and the more time the dog spends in the human world, the less time it gets to spend on doggie pursuits.

Domestication has certainly seen a dilution of some more serious predatory traits, but has amplified these traits across various breeds.
Each component of the predatory sequence is exaggerated in some dogs, but played down in others, according to their job or breeding history.

A lot of breed history is mythic but if we look closely at the early roles for many dogs, we can get some clues as to the activities they may love most.
But saying that, teaching your dog to carry out any and all of these behaviours will provide them (and you) much joy regardless.IMG_8604

Tracking:

 

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Chewing:

Our absolute favourite toy:

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Pupsicles:

Choose chews for your dog carefully and know your dog’s chewing style. Your dog chewing anything may be potentially harmful in a particular situation so be aware of ways to reduce the risks.

It’s never a good idea to give your dog cooked bones or very hard bone (e.g. weight bearing bone, heavy antlers etc.) as these can cause damage either when ingested or during chewing to teeth.

Natural chews are generally best but always check and monitor their condition. Look for signs of splitting or splintering, and keep an eye on their size appropriate to your dog.
Chews such as gullets, ‘pizzles’ and scalp have become more widely available.

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Cheaper rawhide type chews can be dangerous if swallowed so if choosing rawhide look for chews that are constructed from one piece of hide, that are not bleached or coloured and keep a close eye on your dog as he chews them.

If in doubt, ask your qualified veterinary healthcare team before allowing your pet to chew!

Dissecting:

Snuffle ball –

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Busy box –

Fill a box with crumpled paper, add treats and close up the box. To make an even busier box, you can add that box to another box too.

Stalking & Chasing:

Energising food dispensing toys –

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Flirtpole –

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Fetch –

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Give the Treat Launcher a go, especially for those dogs less inclined to chase a ball – they might chase this though!

Grabbing & Biting

Tug is one of our favourite doggy games because if it’s played with appropriate rules we can teach dogs so much with this game, all dressed up in pure fun!

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And for the DIY inclined why not consider building a springpole for your tug-addict: How to make a springpole

Enrichment comes in all shapes & sizes

We can give our dogs all sorts of jobs that challenge them in different ways. Giving them outlets for natural behaviour might include providing them with :

  • sensory challenges
  • physical challenges
  • cognitive challenges
  • social challenges

Stay tuned for more…

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Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web

In this Woof, we have wolves howling and dogs barking, we have little dogs and big dogs, and we have lots more good stuff!

Just like in human language, we are finding that more and more animal communication shows evidence of having different dialects; wolves are the latest to be added to the list.
Turn the sound down when you open this link if you don’t want to be surprised by howling wolves – I am sure your dog will be interested in the dialects 🙂

Think you know your dog-breed-barks? Here’s a challenge for you: The Sound & the Furry (maybe best to do this one with headphones in case it drives your dog bonkers!)

Some great tips here on housetraining!

Vital vital vital training for you and your dog: Collar grab for safety

Our dogs are not the only ones who require attention, training and lots of pleasant interactions; Guinea pig socialisation and Rabbit handling – small pets need compassion and love too!

Help your dog learn to LOVE bath-time and nail clipping: Spa Day

This piece from Patricia McConnell might be an old one, but that myth sure hasn’t gone away over that time: You can’t reinforce fear

Need help with a barky dog? Here’s a nice training plan for teaching an interruption cue so that you can divert your dog’s attention back to you, away from whatever he’s barking at: How to interrupt barking with a quiet cue

Helping to integrate a new dog can be difficult, and there may be many ups and downs but the important thing is to be observant and think of all the possibilities, and prevent them happening: The importance of being aware
But you are human, and they are dogs – mistakes will happen, so learn from them.

One of our favourite topics – lots of great ideas in here on different food dispensing toys for dog, go on, your dog will thank you: Enrichment games

Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they don’t need a job too; check out Mixy the L/h Chihuahua and this speedy Yorkie, Kiki, rockin’ at agility!

Maybe you like ’em BIG instead – Perfectly timed photos that turn dogs into giants

Nobody’s gonna contain this fella: you can’t cage the fluff!

Top Training Tips

Think Outside the Food Bowl!

4 Comments

Part 1: We Really Don’t Like Food Bowls

Feeding time is an exciting and important part of your dog’s daily routine but just because it’s routine doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.

The key is enrichment; protocols that you can put in place, simply, to provide your dog more appropriate outlets for natural, doggie behaviour.

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Why enrichment for pet dogs?

‘Natural’ behaviour

The “wild”, that idyllic place that’s considered the model we should mimic even though in actuality it is a dangerous, dog-eat-dog place, has nonetheless caused the evolution of a wide range of feeding behaviours that take up plenty of an animal’s energy and keep them busy.

Animals will naturally work for their food, with or without your help (or knowledge!):

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Contrafreeloading

Animals  are compelled to carry out behaviours, even if the goal of those behaviours e.g. food, is freely available.

This is referred to as contrafreeloading – animals often prefer to work for access to food, even when food is freely available.

Sounds counter-productive, but perhaps not!

Check out this smart pup, passing by a bowl of free food to activate a food dispenser:

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Natural Puzzlers

Dogs also appear to experience that ‘eureka’ feeling when working on challenges – working on a puzzle is rewarding to dogs, even if they don’t solve the puzzle successfully (i.e. get the tangible reward such as a food treat).

Dogs are natural-born-puzzle-addicts!

Ian & Irene work on puzzles for the first time, in puppy class; they work harder relative to the value of the food reward – they are in it just for the fun:

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“Problem” Behaviours

When animals don’t get the opportunity to engage in enrichment and are lacking outlets of natural behaviour, they can develop all sorts of difficulties.

At the very least, those behaviours that dogs are compelled to carry out will become a problem for us – dogs need to chew, dogs need to chase, dogs need to sniff and track.
And you might not like the outlets they choose for those behaviours.

All the puppies learn to settle themselves in a busy class with the help of a food puzzle and lapping & chewing, which helps dogs to chill:

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Think of all the things your pup can’t do if he is chilling out, working on a food toy?!

Dogs that are unemployed, become self-employed…

With all that free time on his paws, your dog may also engage in other behaviours that become a problem for you such as barking, digging, escaping, jumping up, being obnoxious.

It is not easy to live with a self-employed dog because the jobs they choose for themselves are usually not particularly preferred by humans…

First step, ditch the food bowls.

Why do we HATE food bowls?

  • food bowls do very little to encourage interaction between dog and owner
  • food bowls do little to teach the dog that good things come through their owner
  • feeding from a food bowl wastes hundreds of reward opportunities by presenting them for free all in one go
  • your dog would probably prefer to work for his food than get it for free
  • modern pet feeding practices encourage a sedentary way of life for our pets
  • there is a limited range of behaviours demonstrated so dogs will need to display them in other ways (which may cause problems for people)
  • chasing, chewing, tracking and using their brains are important for dogs and modern feeding practices often don’t encourage any or much of that

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Food bowls are human convenience devices – toss food in bowl, leave on floor, dog eats….dog is fed and my job is done.

But feeding your pet can be soooo much more…

Dogs come with  predatory behaviour, built-in

Dave Mech, the wolf guru, outlines canid predatory behaviour in a sequence of behaviours called, not-surprisingly, a predatory sequence. These are behaviours that are innate in all dogs and to greater or lesser extents in different types of dogs and individuals.

The dog predatory sequence might look something like this:

track – stalk – chase – grab – hold – bite – chew – dissect

These are the behaviours that your predatory pet needs to do – provide acceptable outlets otherwise he will find his own, and you might not like that.

Watching dogs play with pals gives you an insight into just how relevant these behaviours are for even modern, pet dogs. A good proportion of normal play behaviour will be feeding related with games of stalking, chasing, take downs, neck biting, and of course enjoying being chased too!

You will see your dog practicing these behaviours in other non-real-life scenarios too – give your dog a tissue or soft toy and watch him chew and dissect it, throw a tennis ball or play tug and flip the switch, turning on those in-built behaviours.

But feeding behaviour isn’t just about feeding…

Dogs engage in all sorts of feeding related behaviour, and many activities revolve around feeding.

Dogs enjoy actively scavenging for food and, let’s face it, non-food items – they will devote plenty of time to this sort of activity and often learn to do it when their owners are not watching…!

Although dogs prefer their own space when eating (not big on sharing!) they have evolved plenty of behaviour for negotiating social contact around food.
For the most part, this can cause trouble for us living with modern dogs, but it can be easily managed, with the right guidance.

Competitive interactions, that may lead to resource guarding and even social facilitation have been shaped over millions of years and generations, and despite a few hundred years of pretty intense selective breeding modern dogs still show these behaviours strongly today.

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Digging/burying and hoarding behaviour may be employed by many dogs, often much to their owner’s disgust (especially the green-fingered owners). Some dogs appear really bothered when they get something quite special, carrying it from place to place, vocalising, difficulty settling…
This may be frustration related at not having a safe place to work on their treat or indeed at not being able to stash it away for a rainy day.

Grass and plant eating can cause concern for many owners. But for the most part where this behaviour isn’t excessive or too intense, it’s probably nothing to worry about and a normal part of canine behaviour.
However, where dogs do this a lot, or try to, and/or where there has been any changes to this behaviour have a chat with your vet as soon as possible.
Intense eating of grass, plants or other non-food items (behaviour called pica) may be linked with gastrointestinal upset and stress.

And you thought feeding was just about putting- food-in-a-bowl…

 

In Part 2 we will be looking at things to get started enriching your dog’s life!

Weekly Woofs from the Web

Weekly Woof from the Web, 2

Our first WWW this week was overflowing so here’s more good stuff, we just couldn’t leave behind!

Each of us has that point at which we become overwhelmed, and our dogs are no different. Here’s a great piece looking at what’s happening your dog when they get to that point and things that you can do to help – Thresholds: when dogs reach their emotional edge

More news of just how awesome dogs are and how much they can and do help us: Largest dog genetic study informs human diseases, Tracing the roots of OCD in pets and people and ASU Lab training bomb-sniffing dogs to detect IEDs.

Why?
– do dogs turn in circles before lying down?
– does my dog cock her head?
– do dogs make a mess when they drink?
– do dogs like to shred tissues?

How?

– to live with a high energy dog without losing your mind
– to crate a dog (!)
– to completely pet-proof your home

Puzzles and brain teasers are essential for ALL dogs but they can really help boost the confidence of shy or fearful dogs: teaching your fearful dog to use puzzle toys.
The weather is pretty nasty right now so have lots of fun indoors with these 7 rainy day games to play with your dog.
And of course entertainment and enrichment is not just for pet dogs: 15 easy ways to enrich your indoor cat’s life and environmental enrichment for cats (we are not big fans of laser-chasing for pets, so please take care with that suggestion).

Today we hear the very sad news of a newborn baby killed by the family dogs, while the new mother fell asleep beside baby. Please check out and share this video-presentation: 5 types of supervision

Why not really pamper your dog and make him some homemade yummies?! Try some black pudding & potato bites or some low-cal snacks!
Please be careful any time your dog might be exposed to ‘human’ food and check for components that may be dangerous to them, such as xylitol.
Most people are aware of the dangers associated with your pet eating chocolate, but few are aware of much more serious and sinister dangers such as grapes/raisins and xylitol products.

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Just as in humans, recent work has suggested that dogs also have ‘general intelligence’ that can be measured in a canine ‘IQ’ test: Mensa Mutts? and Canine IQ test developed. Why not try some ‘intelligence’ tests with your dog, just for fun: Dog IQ test.

As we learn more about human and canine sports medicine, canine conditioning and physical therapy is becoming more popular: Physical Therapy of the 4 legged variety and Doggy Yoga – and it’s no joke! for more on what this area is all about,
But as we learn more, we must take extra care not to cause our dogs more harm than good: Extreme Canine Conditioning Exercises – they may be possible but are they safe?
Here Duffy shows you some fitness tricks!

And all this developing knowledge is great for helping dogs shed those extra pounds, that will improve both the quality and quantity of their lives: Pet Fit Club – check out some of those amazing transformations!

Canine Bloat or GDV is a serious, life-threatening condition that all pet owners must be aware of: Everything you need to know about canine bloat.

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What do you think of matching pets and people just like online dating? Well, there’s an app (almost) for that!

This week we looked at some misunderstandings when assessing a calm dog or a very stressed dogs; frozen ain’t fear free!

Clever/sneaky dog has worked out to get a yummy treat for himself!

Speaking of sneaky, check out these stealthy, spy-cats!

Top Training Tips

Just be

What ever happened to doing nothing?

I can’t remember what I used to do when there was any sort of lull in the action before I had a smartphone.
Anything other than constant stimulation and I am reaching for my iPhone…

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The movie Bolt struck a cord when I saw it a few years ago.

It’s about a canine star of a TV show, Bolt, who plays a dog with super-powers saving his person Penny from the Green Eyed Man, week in, week out.
Except, that nobody told Bolt it was just a work of fiction and that he isn’t really a super-dog.

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When the cameras stop rolling Bolt is kept in a permanent state of readiness, to fend off attacks by his enemies.

What about pet dogs? 

We certainly invest lots in teaching them to do lots of stuff, to increase their responsiveness, to build their love of learning and interaction.
And we put lots of energy into keeping them active, getting them moving, in the hope that a tired dog is a good dog (but is it?).

When do they get to just be?

‘Just being’ doesn’t necessarily come easily

Pretty much every type of dog was developed for some sort of job and in modern pet-dom most dogs are unemployed.

Our efforts in guiding dogs from wild to pet, whether intentional or not, selected for characteristics such as wariness, reactivity, inquisitiveness, attachment and activity.

Our pets’ lives, just like our’s, continue to become more and more sedentary with us substituting real-life pursuits for those that are easier to participate from a seated position – even sport is a less serious outlet for pretty serious behaviour.

Without outlets for our behaviour, it is channelled somewhere else – I have a Smartphone but what do our dogs have?

Would we know a dog ‘just being’ if we saw one?

It can be tricky to spot a calm, chilled out dog.

With great access to knowledge you might think we have a better handle on canine signalling, but unfortunately our awareness (or lack thereof) is affected by popular media’s interpretation of “calmness”.

Shutdown is not the same as calmness

A dog who is overwhelmed by a situation and can’t use behaviour to escape something they find unpleasant, will often show signs of ‘shutting down’.

This happens because the dog is unable to escape and his requests for relief have gone unheard/unanswered. This is typified by a very still dog – the absence of behaviour is not calmness.

Shut down dogs interact minimally with their environment, their body may be still and tense, if they are moving their posture may be low slung, they will often be frozen, you may see them yawn, lick their lips, and squint and blink (outside of normal contexts for these behaviours).

Eileen Anderson’s clip gives you a run down of some examples, mistaken for calmness:

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Calmness myths and mistakes:

  • The absence of behaviour is not calmness (nor ideal)
  • Stillness because there’s no way out, ain’t calmness
  • Stillness through restraint ain’t calmness
  • Lying down through uncomfortable handling or contact ain’t calmness
  • Compliance because they can’t escape ain’t calmness
  • Compliance due to the application of training equipment or techniques (that the individual finds aversive) ain’t calmness
  • “Settling” due to exhaustion, ain’t calmness (is a tired dog, a good dog?)
  • Less behaviour is not necessarily better than more behaviour
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If you want less behaviour, maybe the one in the middle ain’t for you…

What does a ‘just being’ dog look like?

A chilled dog is loose, breathing deeply, he may still be monitoring the environment but not really on his tip-toes, he may still be responsive but not in an overly enthusiastic way – but the biggest difference?

The chilled out, calm, ‘just being’ dog is choosing to chill, be calm and be.

Back to Eileen Anderson for her ying to the yang clip:

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Teaching a dog to just be

Start by helping your dog to learn that settling, and being calm is excellent!
Check out Week 2 training games from our Train Your Dog Month here.

From ‘excited-by-everything’ to just-be

This dog needs help coming down from the highs, and to better control his swings from up to down.

  • play games with rules:

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  • make play training and training play

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  • play jazz up/settle down

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From ‘let’s go go go’ to just-be

This dog needs help learning that they don’t need to be ‘on’ all the time – good things happen when you’re doing nothing too.

Both in training sessions, and in life, mark and reward doing nothing – even if it’s only a split second – the more you reinforce nothing, the less frantic behaviour you will see.

  • make sure to put behaviours on stimulus control – this means that the dog learns to offer behaviours when you cue them only, rather than as soon as he thinks there might be a reward or he thinks it might be time to work

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  • teach calm-focus exercises rather than laser-focus-on-the-task activities

Week 4 of our Train Your Dog Month program

  • make doing-nothing your new job

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  • take a break/breath

https://aniedireland.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/training-game-2-5/

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Hanging out

When we might only have limited time with a dog, whether that be because we are visiting, working long hours or the dog is in a rescue/kennel environment, of course we want to make the most of our time together.

But, a dog who hasn’t been getting too much human attention will be pretty wound up and anticipatory waiting for it. Sometimes, it’s better just to hang out with them – this gives them the opportunity to calm down, bond and be.

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Just be…a dog

Don’t forget, that before the dog can just be, he must have an outlet to just be a dog too.

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Train Your Dog Month 2016

Training Game 4.5

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This is our last challenge…make it a good one!

Adding Distractions

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To teach your dog best, keep him successful as possible. That means that if your dog can’t find your face in a particular situation, it’s just too distracting for him.

Distractions will affect your training efforts distractionsin three ways:

  • distance
  • duration
  • intensity

If your dog has trouble focusing it may be because:

  • you are too close to a distraction
  • you may be around the distraction for too long
  • the distraction may be too exciting, interesting, active, scary or conspicuous

For example, your dog may be distracted by another dog when:

  • you are too close to the other dog
  • your dog can watch the other dog for too long
  • the other dog is big, is bouncy, is barking, is making direct eye contact with your dog or maybe even approaching your dog

Keeping your dog successful means that you monitor his ability to focus and be comfortable around distractions.

Asking your dog to focus with distractions

Distance:

Start with distance from potentially distracting situations

How close can you be to a distraction, that your dog can find your face?

A good indication is that if your dog can do the Find my Face exercise, take their reward and then offer another focus, within a 5-count

If there is more of a delay or your dog has difficulty playing the
game at all, you’re too close.

Take a few steps away, and try again.

When your dog can offer 5 repetitions, with a 5-count or less between each one, take a couple of steps closer and build again.

When working on distance:distance

  • work for about 30 seconds to 1 minute
  • practice using distractions that are quiet, still, not facing your dog, not interacting with your dog in any way and are not too conspicuous
Duration:

When your dog is able to play focus games pretty close to distractions, start to build the length of each session.

Build by no more than 30 seconds at a time.

When working on duration:duration

  • practice at your starting working distance – decrease distance again gradually
  • practice using distractions that are quiet, still, not facing your dog, not interacting with your dog in any way and are not too conspicuous
Intensity

Now your dog is able to focus closer to distractions for a little longer – it’s time to increase the intensity of that distraction.

  • play Find my Face around more active distractions

When working on intensity:intensity

  • practice at your starting working distance – increase distance again gradually
  • work for about 30 seconds to 1 minute

 

Combinations

As your dog improves and is able to Find your Face in and around distractions start to decrease distance while at the same time increasing duration or build intensity while decreasing distance.

This will best help you to have your dog responsive and with you in all sorts of situations.

 

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Setting your dog (and you) up for success:

  • Adjust the distance, duration and intensity of exposure to distractions when working on focus exercises according to your dog’s abilities.
  • Use rewards that can compete with the level of distraction you are working on.
  • Keep the lead loose.
  • If your dog vocalises, lunges, jumps up on you and is too easily distracted – give your dog a break.
  • If the situation is too much for your dog, get him outta there!
  • If you haven’t trained for it, you can’t expect it!

 

Train Your Dog Month 2016

Training Game 4.3

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Go be a dog!

We can’t expect our dog to be focused all the time – it’s important that we also make sure our dog gets to be a dog and have fun too!

Rather than just ending a training session or a focus exercise and ignoring your dog, give them something else to do and encourage them to enjoy off-time too.

Today’s Games

Time Allowance:
Practice for 2-4 minute sessions and then take a break. Have a few sessions today.

Try fitting  each short session into your routine; for example, while you wait for the kettle to boil, during the ad break of your TV show or while you wait for the computer to start up.

Family Participation:
Kids are often great dog trainers. Teach each child how to play this game safely.

If your dog is mouthy,  jumpy or likely to get over-excited it might be best for you to get the behaviours established and then bring in the kids to help with practice.
Always supervise child-dog interactions and make sure children learn to leave the dog alone when eating his rewards.

Top Tip for Today’s Training Game:
Establish this exercise with your dog searching for food and then begin to transfer it to sniffing doggie areas.
This way you will always be able to give your dog some time-off to sniff, no matter where you are.

You will need:

  • Training Mix
  • toys or other high value rewards
  • leash, collar, things for walkies

Go Sniff!

Teach your dog to search and sniff on cue:

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It’s a great idea to work on this exercise because:
  • dogs gotta sniff
  • dog love to sniff
  • sniffing provides great exercise
  • having sniffing on cue allows your dog to get his sniffing-jollies when it best suits
  • you can divert your dog’s attention before he gets distracted or upset
  • you can reward your dog with the opportunity to sniff
  • you can provide your dog with a bit of relief after excitement
  • and you can let your dog go be a dog!

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Wohoo!

That wasn’t a tough one at all, but we’re back with more challenges tomorrow!