Monday, May 31, 2010

Dogs and toddlers, so much alike!

Sometimes I am asked some pretty dumb questions about dog training, but every now and again someone is generally interested in understanding and doing the right thing!
Recently I had a question regarding a dog who had a behavior problem and the owner was trying to understand why odd behaviors develop in dogs, what happens in a pack dynamic and how the fact that she would now be taking over as the leader of the pack would this teach the dog to behave better. Her pack consisted of her small dog, herself, her husband, and 2 kids. The problem was that the dog was too clingy to her and growled at anyone who tried to move it away from her, even if this meant something pleasant such as going for a walk. Now in all fairness, the dog was a rescue so we don’t really know much about its past. What we do know is somewhere along the line the dog growled and people moved away from it.

Below is how I related my experience with dogs in a way that she could better understand. I do hope this helps others to understand as well.

Dogs develop their behaviors generally within the litter, similar to humans who have siblings who bully, or use other behaviors try to get their way. For dogs it is very simple really, when something works for a pup or dog they continue to do it.

If your baby sister cried and told you she was going to tell daddy that you would not share your Barbie doll with her and to avoid your father’s wrath you handed over the Barbie doll, what do you think she would do the next time she wanted the doll? Simple right? Hey it worked for me! My brother always gave me his Barbie doll!

Generally pups learn how to act and become socially acceptable among the dog world during the time they spend with their litter mates, but this does not happen when they are taken away from the litter too soon. I hear too often of people who are willing to sell their pups at the age of four or five weeks because by then the pup is weaned and eating dog food, but little thought is given to the pack dynamics and how important it is that they learn how to interact with not only each other , but also people during this critical time.

Common practice is that a pup is taken from the mother/litter at the age of eight weeks, which is still a very critical time for them to learn how to behave socially, and then they are thrown into a home and expected to behave. Once they are in the home that family then becomes its pack and if that home already has other dogs, then sometimes those dogs will show the pup how to act socially.

So, in comparison when a pup is taken away from the litter too soon in its life it’s like taking a human toddler and tossing her into a class of five year old preschoolers! The toddler does not have the social skills to ask a preschooler for an item, instead, if the item is not handed over, the toddler will yell, hit, and bite to get it! They have not had time to form the observation that this behavior does not get them the toy among other toddlers. Let’s be truthful here, if one toddler bites another toddler, the victim toddler is gonna bite right back! If the biting toddler is put in their place enough times by other toddlers they learn that biting does not get them what they want. If they skip that stage and are sent right up to preschool, they will continue to bite the preschool children, who in turn will react in horror and run away from them, or give them what they want before they risk getting a chunk taken out of their arm. As long as the preschool child continues to give in, the toddler is not learning social skills, but only that biting gets her what she wants.

As it pertains to being a leader: dog packs have leaders and those leaders reign as long as they remain healthy enough to put the others in their place and this is done mostly with body language, hovering over another dog's neck, going through an open door first, being the first to eat and leaving the leftovers for the pack, deciding when it is okay for the pack to play and when play should end, etc.

This is similar to the head of a household, AKA your mother! From the time our children are born we as leaders choose when our children will eat, what they will eat, where and when they will play, sometimes who they will play with, what activities they can do, etc. Now, we do this for many different reasons and mostly it's to keep the child safe and healthy, so until the child feels its oats and tries to rebel a bit, we are seen as the child's pack leader. Even when the child does start to rebel, it's not that they are rebelling that is the issue, it is how the parent handles it that will show the child how to develop into a socially acceptable part of the human race. But please don't grab your child by the scruff of the neck or someone will report you!

As humans we don’t have the patience to wait things out when it comes to our dogs, even I have been guilty of that from time to time. It would be great if we were all as even tempered as a Golden Retriever! We live in a society in which we want instant gratification even if it is at the expense of physically hurting the dog. Although I understand that we live in an ‘I want it now’ society, I don’t think dogs have evolved all that much since we took them hostage as pets.

That’s it in a nut shell. Dogs are not as dumb as we sometimes make them out to be, their annoying habits are not annoying habits but intentional chess moves! Checkmate!




Tuesday, May 25, 2010

testing colors, a follow up on how dogs see


Recently I wrote on my blog about seeing the world through your dog’s eyes and how they see color. At the end I put a little experiment that I found on petplace.com for you to try with a blue, green, and red item. Did you try it?


Well, I  did and although I am sure I still have a long way to go and I will eventually take it further, I was impressed with how long, or should I say short of a time it took to teach my Golden Retriever Casey the word blue, and how quickly he picked the blue towel out of the other two colors.

To start, I first had to teach him what object I considered to be blue and put a name and command to it. I picked towels because I have many different color drool cloths for my Newfs, but it should work with any colored items. When you view the video you may think, “Of course he'll get the towel because  it is the only thing on the floor!" Casey however, loves to pull garments out of my laundry basket (which was nearby), pull pillows off my bed, as well as grab any shoe he may see lying on the floor, so for him to go to the towel and disregard my bed and the laundry basket was no easy task.

In the beginning you will see him sit, speak (bark), raise his paw, and do a little dance to get a treat. He gives it his best and tries them all to see which will work, but when none earn him a treat, he then becomes more consistent with getting the blue towel and realizes that, "This is what I must do to get the treat."  But wait, soon there is more than just one towel! What's a dog to do?

After mixing in the green and then later the red towel I was again impressed with how quickly he picked it up. At one point he had picked up a mouthful of towels that had been in a pile in front of him, then dropped them to the floor and searched among them for the blue towel. Luck? Maybe. I am going to continue this as long as Casey will allow and see where this takes us. If you have tried this at home please let me know how you made out.

. The video I took of this training is about 6- 8 minutes which is all the time it took for Casey to figure out what I wanted from him. There is a bit of barking especially in the beginning as he tries to figure out what I want, but if you have the patience to make it through his barking, you’ll see him pick up the blue towel when asked. If you don’t have the patience to watch it all, well, then you probably should not have a dog!

All the towels came fresh from my recently washed laundry basket that had been brought up just the day before, so there would have been no difference in smell.
Do I have the smartest Golden in the world or what? I bet he would have made a great assistance dog!

To view a video of Casey doing the above click here

To view the original blog article on how dogs see color click here.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Premier Harnesses, one person's opinion.

Okay, I have to face it, I’m a neurotic mother! Steeler had been gagging a little  while on therapy visits and I was blaming his collar. First it was Steeler who started, and then Chance followed suit. I noticed this gagging mostly when we did big events such as the Bloomsburg Fair as they would tend to pull on the leash to greet every new person who wanted to 'oooh and ahhh' over them. Yes they relish the attention!
Because of their breed I always worry about the possible health issues that come along with them such as megaesophagus. Even though this is a neuromuscular dysfunction and wearing a collar would not be the cause, I still need something to worry about or it just wouldn’t be me! However, something was clearly bothering the dogs enough to make them gag, which in turn was enough to make me worry!
“Peter, we need to get them harnesses.” I said. “They’re choking too much.”
“They’re fine!” Peter replied.
“They’re not fine!” I protested. “Try not to hold the leash so tightly when they greet people.”
“Puuh.” Peter sighed as if puuh is even a word! “Okay, we’ll stop at pet store this week.”
What a love he is!
By the middle of fair week we got Steeler a Lupine harness and the choking gradually subsided. I went with the Lupine brand because they are well made and if the product is destroyed in any way they give you a new one, even if the dog chews it to bits. Impressive since Steeler’s father Bentley had already chewed through two harnesses!

Ever since Chance was a pup he has never liked the collar and I often wonder if it’s because he died at birth and needed mouth to nose or if it’s because he is just as neurotic as I am! After all, dogs can acquire their owner’s personalities! Whenever I approach him with a collar or a bandanna he will try not to make eye contact with me. If he’s lying down he won’t move a muscle, and if he is standing, he lowers his head as close to the ground as he possibly can.
I imagine him saying, “If she can’t see my eyes, she won’t find me!”

When he is lying down and I approach with a bandanna, he presses his head so tightly to the floor it takes two hands to pry it up and squeeze the bandanna under his head. Not an easy task for sure. Once the bandanna is on, he’s ready to go and all is right with the world again.

But alas, when looking for a harness for Chance in our local pet store there were none big enough to go around his 41 inch girth! So, I sat at the computer one day and Googled harness /41 inch girth. Although I can’t tell you the sites that originally came up because I like to keep my blog clean and free of sexual content, I can tell you that after trying to rid my computer of sex sites pertaining to big women in garter belts and stilettos, I finally came upon a site called bigtalldog.com.

So, I opened the big-tall-dog door and went in! This is a store that you should visit if you own a large to giant breed. I’m not just talking harnesses here; there are plenty of other items from booties to art prints. The only problem I had with this store at the time of my order was that they did not accept pay pal which is my preferred method when buying online. This caused a slight debacle. Their methods of payment are credit card or sending a check. So I processed my order and clicked “Send Check” then proceeded to take out my check book and lay it on my desk.

Two weeks later I emailed the company asking when I would receive my harness, thinking of course that I had been scammed in some way. Their reply was that they had it on hold for me but they had never received my check! This is when my ‘younger real memory’ popped back into my ‘now older body’ and I remembered that I had never written the check out!  So I put in another order via the phone and three days later I got the harness.

But lo an behold, I would not be Sally if I were totally satisfied to sit around and wait two weeks for something I had ordered to arrive. Nope, I took that time to scour around for an even better bargain just in case the first bargain did not work out, even if it was my fault! So in that time I continued my search for a harness and came upon the Easy Walk Harness by Premier on a site called sitstay.com. The price was right at $18.90 for a 36-46 inch girth so I purchased that one also. After all, with five Newfs I figured I’d eventually use it! I’m also a sucker for a good deal so even if I ended up putting it on one of my kids, one way or the other it was getting used!

So, why am I so thrilled and writing about these products? Well, I had always gone the regular standard harness route, (AKA the cheap route) and if you have ever used a standard harness you know that you have to slip it over the dog’s neck, then try to pass one leg through the bottom, and then slide it under the belly and through a loop to snap it all together and hope that you had adjusted it correctly in the beginning or you would have to start all over again! That can be painstakingly long if you have an impatient dog! With the new harnesses there was no such hassle! My dogs did not have to become the Great Houdini to get into them. In fact it took no time at all to put them on once I understood just how to use them. I had been so programmed to the old harnesses that I admit I was a bit confused at first putting the new ones on.

After all, nothing is ever this easy and hassle free!

So please feel free check out my video, if you can get past the drool, you’ll see how they work and why I like them. Each goes on a bit differently for the right fit and to serve their intended purpose, but it is still easier than wrangling with the old over the neck, through the leg, under the belly, and into the loop type!

Both harnesses get a four paws up from this big 41 inch girth girl in a garter belt and stilettos!

To see the video click here

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Seeing the world through your dog's eyes!

The age old question. “Can my dog see color?” The age old general answer. “Dogs are color blind." So is this correct? Are dogs color blind?



Not exactly. Dogs see color but they see it differently then we do. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, dogs have color sensitive cones in the eyes as do humans, but dogs have fewer of these light catching cones so it signifies that a dog’s vision would not be as rich as a human’s. There are different types of cones and each type of cone tunes into different wavelengths of light. Humans have three different types of cones whereas dogs have only two. So while they see color, they see fewer colors. Basically they see their world in colors of yellow, blue, and gray. So something green, orange, or yellow would be seen as more of a yellowish color. Blue/green may be seen as a bluish/ gray color. However dogs were able to see differences between various shades of blue and violet that the humans could not.
In the picture below you can compare the differences between the site of humans as to that of dogs.
So hopefully this ends that age old question and helps you pick out the best new color toy for your dog to help him see it more easily. And while I am glad a dog sees in color, I am also glad that no matter what, they see the world as a happy place to be and they always give humans a second chance!

Here’s a test you can try on this link on  just to keep it interesting.
Take three objects that are exactly alike in shape and size. Get a blue, green, and red one. Train with the blue one that anything that comes from the blue object gets the dog something positive. Give a command that names the blue object. Once the dog understands that, then bring into the mix the green and red one. Wash them all so there is no specific scent on the blue one, then lay them out and ask the dog to get the blue one.

I did try this with  Casey with three freshly washed hand towels and the time it took to learn the color blue and to pick out the blue towel amongst a green and red one took all of about 10 minutes.  Casey is a 9 year old Golden with some sight issues but was still able to do it. Click here to see the video   You just have to get past a little baking as he figures out what I want from him



Sunday, May 2, 2010

To board or not to board! What questions you should ask a facility.


So the vacation season is among us and many who plan to travel or who are having week long company may choose to board their dog. So how do you choose a good boarding facility? I have to tell you I have always boarded my dogs if they were under a year old. After my dogs turned a year old and were well trained, I felt confident to leave them home and have someone come in to check on them.


I will however, if weather permits, set up automatic watering systems and feeding systems to make it easier on the caretaker coming over. But I am realistic, I own six large dogs and that is very time consuming for anyone and the more I can do for them before I leave, the better I feel.

I also happen to have lucked out with having great neighbors over the years! But I still board one or two dogs while away because of the either their noise factor or to insure they remain safe.

Some people are not comfortable with having strange people from a dog sitting service in the home or they think it will cost an arm and a leg to do so. An alternative is to ask a friend or family member to care for the dog in your home and offer to pay them what you would a boarding facility. Write down the dog’s routine within reason, and ask the person follow it the best that they can. This is certainly less stressful on the dog.
A misnomer with many people is that if they write down their dog’s routine and leave instructions or toys with a boarding facility that the facility is going to abide by them. Beware, they usually don’t! If your dog has a special diet or takes medicine, then that will be carried through and you may be charged extra for it. But if you plan on leaving toys, bones, special treats, etc. don’t count on them being given. As well, some boarding facilities have bones and toys for sale in their lobbies. If you buy one, then buy it to take home with you and give it to the dog when you get home. Don’t assume that because you bought this to leave in the facility with your dog that they will get it. A facility does not want to be responsible for your dog eating a non food item and getting an obstruction of the bowel while in their care. An obstruction may require surgery and who wants to be responsible for that? Also if you don’t take it home with you how can you be sure that once you leave the facility, it goes to your dog and not back on their shelf for the next customer to pick up. Especially if it’s a bone or some type of treat.

Many facilities set up scheduled times for drop off and pick up. I can understand this, as there is payment arrangements, paperwork etc. to be taken care of. But when a facility tells me that I can’t visit the dog at any time of the day then that makes me wonder, “why not?” Again some people board because they have Aunt Lucy coming for a week and she’s allergic to dogs, so does that mean the facility should not allow you to visit the dog during the day? Some will say they don’t want to upset all the other dogs, but I’m not so sure I agree with that. It’s a kennel! Dogs in kennels bark! It would make me leery that maybe the dogs are only being seen by staff in the AM and PM so who’s manning the ship in the afternoon? What are you paying for? Ask!

Also examine the cages. Are they safe? If your dog gets stressed by being boarded he/she may constantly scratch at the wire. Are there sharp objects that he/she could cut themselves on? I once boarded my Newfoundland and when I picked her up rather than paying a low boarding fee I was charged a hefty vet fee because she pawed at cage so much that she cut open her paw which required the kennel to call a vet to come and stitch her up. The cage by the way had its fencing screws pointing into the pen which is what she cut her paw on! Not my fault and I guess I could have pursued it, but the people were honest as to why and how it happened so I decided not to go further with it. She was never brought back to that kennel or any other kennel as it was not the first time she had hurt herself when being boarded so that told me that she stresses out too much and is best left at home.

Selecting a kennel:

Ask for recommendations, by friends, vet offices, groomers , dog clubs, and anyone in the dog world. Don’t just ask your own vet and leave it at that. I once boarded a dog on the recommendation of a vet and later found out from a person who worked at the facility that the AC that is advertised in the  kennel building is indeed there, but not always turned on and it’s hot as hell in the summer. So don’t trust one source.
Ask to see the whole facility, examine the pen your dog may be kept in.

1) Are there screws or other hardware facing the inside that you dog could get hurt on?

2) Is there an inside and outside area that they always have access to?

3) Where is the water dish kept? If it is on the floor how quickly will it be refilled if knocked over? Check the water dishes of the other kennels when there. Are they filled with fresh water? Ask how often fresh water is given.

4) What type of bedding is provided? Is there soft bedding or is your pooch lying on cement?

5) What type of food is provided if you do not provide your own?

6) What constitutes an emergency vet visit and who is their vet on call?

7) Are the shelter employees trained in basic pet first aid? Is there a first aide kit on site?

8) Can you visit the dog and take it for a walk during the day?

9) Check with the Better Business Bureau and see if there are any complaints against them.

In home care:

1) Ask for at least three to five references,

2) Ask if they are trained in pet first aid,

3) Ask what happens if they become ill or incapacitated. Do they have a back up person and who is it?

4) What experience or training have they had with pet sitting?


Be very clear, put everything in writing, and have both parties sign the paper.

If it is someone you know well then the paper signing may not be necessary, but you still want to be sure who will take that persons spot if they are incapacitated.

There are sites on the web that claim they are professional and accredited such as the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters or Pet Sitters International but I would still check them out with the BBB.
Until next time , happy vacationing!