Dog Bully Behavior: How to help protect your dog from getting picked on

I recently wrote about this situation in my weekly doggie advice column on the Noozhawk. "Anxious in Austin" has a cocker spaniel that seemed to be terrorized by the neighbor’s "nightmare of a Pomeranian". When situations like this arise, it is important to be able to recognize appropriate dog play…

Venture to any off-leash dog arena and these are the types of behaviors you’ll likely see being displayed: 

• dogs chasing after other dogs 
• dogs being chased
• mouthing
• nipping
• tugging
• chest banging
• pinning
• wrestling
• rolling
• mounting 

But when it’s “play,” it’s reciprocal and consensual! Those are a couple key factors! Reciprocal and consensual! Other notable elements of proper play are:

• Big, inefficient movements amongst all involved. Think “Three Stooges” versus Muhammad Ali. 
• Self-interruption: One dog will stop for a second or two to take a break, others follow by taking a break as well. 
• Good “listening” skills: If one dog no longer wants to play, they will communicate as such, and the other dog will comply and go in search of another playmate. 

When dogs aren't exhibiting healthy dog play behaviors, there are several things you, as a responsibly aware dog guardian can do. 

The goal: to help your dog build trust and self-confidence. You can easily do this by rewarding your dog for being brave. EX: your dog looks at, approaches gently, or investigates another dog, he or she gets a yummy food reward, and lots of "cheerleading happy talk". You can also reward with food and praise if another dog approaches your dog to say *hi*. This is similar to encouraging young children to make new friends. As humans we use encouraging verbal language and praise to help children deal with shyness and novel experiences. We can do the same for our pet dogs too. Through food, your dog learns to trust, while making positive associations with other dogs they meet. 

Additional techniques that may come in handy…

• Manage your environment or “avoid” if necessary: This is for when you don’t have the right kind of rewards handy, you don’t have the time to train, or you just don’t feel like dealing with the situation. 
• Come up with your best “spin”: “I’m so sorry, I’m running late today and don’t have time to stop. How about another time?” “Oh geez, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve only got a couple of minutes to get my dog exercise, so I’m gonna have to take a rain check. Thanks though!” 
• And with the convenience of modern gadgets, you can always be tied up on the phone, or even pretend to be on the phone - just make sure the ringers off so you don’t get a call while you’re faking it. I know, it’s a white lie, not very ethical. But hey, you’re doing it to protect your family and your sanity! 
• In the case with "Austin", maintain a friendly relationship between you and your neighbor: You can use some of the same techniques with your neighbor’s dog too. Bring a basket of muffins for your neighbor, and treats for both dogs. You can reward the Pom for being nice towards your dog, while continuing the treat plan with your Cocker. If the Pom begins to “act up” the rewards stop, and you suddenly remember you have to leave. You can also explain to your neighbor that you’re trying to help your dog overcome her shyness. Many people love to help and feel needed, so it’s a good time to fill her in on your plan and ask for assistance.
• Dog training classes and doggy socials: even for dogs that are already trained, getting into classes helps build up or maintain trained skills, but also helps to keep dogs socialized. Sometimes classes are the only time dogs get to be around other dogs. 

It’s important to be consistent when helping your dog learn to successfully conquer difficult situations. With a little patience, understanding, and time, even the shyest of dogs can make new friends, eventually leading to lots of play-dates!

Dog Behavior and Discrimination: how come my dog listens to my husband but not me?

I know, nowadays the word "discrimination" can be a negative thing. As socially conscious humans we're not supposed to discriminate - at least when we're talking about certain human characteristics. But trust me, we discriminate all the time - and it's a good thing, as you'll see below. How does discrimination relate to dog training? First a general definition of discrimination: 

• the recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing and another: discrimination between right and wrong | young children have difficulties in making fine discriminations.
• the ability to distinguish between different stimuli : [as adj. ] discrimination learning.

With consistency, and precise timing, we can actively teach dogs to discriminate. Check out the video of me and Poncho the dog. I'm teaching him to discriminate when to jump through my legs. Turning my right leg out is the cue for him to jump through. Turning my left leg out, he isn't supposed to. He got his reward for staying put. 

Poncho learned pretty quickly that: right leg turned out = jump through = gets rewarded. Left leg turned out = stay = gets rewarded. If he didn't jump when he was supposed to, or jumped when I didn't want him to, then I'd give him a "too bad", which is the cue for "no reward". The punishment is he doesn't get a food reward, and he has to wait to try again. 

Another human world example:

• Green light = "go", Red light = Stop, Yellow light = "slow down in preparation of stopping" (although some folks define the yellow as "speed up and get through the intersection"). 

In this example we, as humans, discriminate between the different colors of the traffic signal, and based on what we've learned, we know what to do for each one. I don't know about you, but when I was a child, I quickly learned which parent to go to for what, and when to ask. This is example of "discriminative learning".

As a certified pet dog trainer, I often hear comments or get questions, either from my manners class students or my Noozhawk advice column about "Why does a dog do one thing for one person and not another? Why does my dog pull on leash with me, but not my spouse?" Well, the simple explanation is: One person is more consistent with teaching and rewarding what they want and/or punishing out what they don't want. In a case like this, the dog in question has been able to discriminate which parent to go to for what! 

Dogs, just like small children, don't have the mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. They aren't born with the section of the brain that is wired for it, and they never really develop it. However, they are very good at differentiating between safe and dangerous. Along with discriminating between safe or dangerous stimuli, they are masters at discriminating between finite cues - provided passively or actively. For example:

• Passive cue: sneakers = going for walkies, dress shoes = dog stays home while human goes to work. 
• Active cue: human places specific blanket (environmental cue) on couch = dog gets to hang out on couch. No blanky on couch, doggy isn't allowed on couch.

So, if your dog is behaving differently for you than they are for someone else, ask yourself: 

• What am I rewarding or not rewarding my dog for?
• Am I being consistent?
• What cues am I giving my dog?
  

Then, once you've answered yourself, you can then fix the problem, if there is one. 

Thank You Social Media: Making it easier to find this dog trainer

Wow, after wrapping up my Social Media Marketing class last night at UCSB extension with the Wild Web Women, I realized that I now have so many social media platforms, that I was starting to become a bit scatter-brained. So, since my new round of dog training classes is beginning this Sunday April 19th, I thought, what a great time to put together a list of how to find me! So, here it is! I took liberty of adding Poncho's info too...he likes to make himself available also. 

Official IC Website: http://inquisitivecanine.com/

• For information on services, schedules, events, where to contact us, FAQ’s. 
  
• A little about Joan and the Inquisitive Canine, our approach, methodology. 

Joan’s Blog: http://dogtrainingventura.blogspot.com/ 

• For dog training tips (from the human perspective)
  
• Information on upcoming events, including those outside the Inquisitive Canine
  
• Commentary on the latest and greatest social topics
  
• An all around fun place to share with the community
  
• The perfect place for friends, clients, and the general public to make comments! 
  
• A great place to send questions! 

Poncho’s Blog: http://ponchosprose.blogspot.com/ 

• Poncho’s own dog training tips (from the dogs perspective) 
  
• Information on events at the Inquisitive Canine, and those elsewhere
  
• Commentary on the latest and greatest social topics.
  
• The perfect place for friends (human and dog) to make comments or send questions. 
  

Noozhawk Advice Column: http://www.noozhawk.com/joan_mayer/

• Dog training and behavior advice column written by both Joan & Poncho the dog
  
• Another great place for you or your dog to send in questions.

Facebook: 

• Joan’s  FB homepage: the place where I’m more of a “dog mom” 
  
• The Inquisitive Canine Group page: for IC students, great place to “meet” other dog folks, have discussions, or set up doggy play dates. 
  
• Poncho the Dog Fan Page: I’m his #1 fan and want to share that. 

Twitter:

• Joan’s: http://twitter.com/joanthedogcoach 
  
• Poncho: http://twitter.com/timeline/home

Flickr:

• http://www.flickr.com/people/joanthedogcoach/ 
  

Obama's in the doghouse with rescue groups?

Well it's finally happened... the First Family received their "First Dog", Bo, a six-month-old Portuguese water dog. A "gift" from Senator Edward Kennedy. Hmm, interesting. My paranoid self immediate thought: Ruh-roh, Kennedy curse? Okay, maybe a bit too paranoid. But then my thoughts jumped to "Nice political spin there boys!"

According to the L.A. Times article, Senator Kennedy took the dog from a family who could no longer care for it, had it trained by his trainers, and thought the dog would be perfect for the Obama's. Really? Was this all just coincidental? Am I, this little ol' dog trainer, the only critical thinker (albeit skeptical) about how this whole situation panned out? 

The Obama's had been going back and forth between breeder and rescue. Being the liberal democrats they are, they were really making us rescue supporters believe they were going to go the shelter route... but this just seems a tad too convenient. The perfect way for them to get their purebred dog, without hurting anyones feelings :-) Oh, and the final kicker, is that to make up for not adopting from a shelter, the Obama's will make a donation to their local D.C Humane Society. Nice spin...Well, what were we expecting? It is politics ya know. 

Let's at least hope he chooses more modern, humane, reward-based training techniques like the ones we use at the Inquisitive Canine, versus the old fashioned stuff - there's no way to put a favorable spin on that! 

Oh, and changing the name to Bo. Sweet that the girls named him after their grandfathers nickname, but IMO, a one syllable name that sounds like "no"? Well, hopefully they'll be using the former more than the latter. Or, maybe they can add "Diddley" onto it...just to keep the confusion to a minimum. 

Regardless, at least the pup has a nice home...and a loving family...and a great yard! Plus, ya gotta admit, those secret service guys and gals are perfect for puppy socialization. 

Hail to the Chief - DOG! 

Dog's Figuring Out What Works Best: The Surf is the Word

Check out this great video of Buddy the Surf Dog. Sure his dad Bruce helped teach him - but Buddy is out there figuring out how to "duck dive" just by shifting his weight back and forth on the board. He's also determined where to position himself for "dropping in" on the wave, and avoiding running humans over. Just amazing. I'm also proud to say he is my neighbor!

Let's apply Skinner's Operant Condition Quadrant to this surfing scenario: 

• Positive Reinforcement: going to the beach, catching waves, playing in the sand, hangin' with his friends.
• Negative Punishment: having to go home :-( 
• Positive Punishment: getting caught in the impact zone! (getting slammed by a wave)
• Negative Reinforcement: relief of being slammed by a wave...

This just goes to show you animals do what works. Yes, dad has to get Buddy to the beach - but Buddy quickly figured out what "works" and what doesn't work. It also shows you where training and practice can get you. 

Food-Stuffing Type Dog Toys: What the heck do I do with this thing?

You may have purchased one of those great interactive food stuffing toys for your dog, right? Maybe one of those red cone-shaped ones from the Kong Company? And you put some of your dogs kibble with a little peanut butter in it, gave it to him or her, and left it at that. But what now? What else can you do with it? OMG there's just SO much! As a matter of fact, I teach an entire class on stuffing food toys, and other types of "enrichment" at my inquisitive canine studio. 

I love feeding my own dog Poncho out of these, and other "interactive" food toys. He enjoys eating his meals out of them as well - I can tell because he goes into his "whirling dervish" mode every time I get one out of the freezer...yes, the freezer - he's at what I call "University Level". Pre-school would be dry kibble topped off with a little wet food. 

The Kong Company is nice enough to supply you with lots of tips and advice on great ways to use your dogs Kong toys. For me, I like coming up with my own "recipes" (okay, I think of them more of concoctions) with anything and everything that is either leftover from me and my hubby, or whatever I find in the fridge that needs to be eaten. 

Because the Kong's are relatively small on the inside, you aren't able to put an entire meal in just one. So, like we humans have sets of dishes, I have purchased a few Kong's of the same size and consider them Poncho's "dishes". I might just give him one, along with his other favorite food toy the Tricky Treat Ball. And of course he gets his veggies in his bowl - there are some veggies in his Kong mixture, but most of them end up in his bowl...I think the veggies are the only thing I'll feed him from his bowl. 

Okay, so what all do I put in it? And how do I do it? Simple...for the easiest "recipe" I combine the following ingredients*:

• Kibble (high quality like Solid Gold or Wellness)
• Canned wet food (high quality like Solid Gold or Wellness)
• Leftover veggies: canned pumpkin, zucchini, asparagus, bell peppers, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash etc...and anything else that might be around that he likes.
• Fruit: apples, pears, berries (or whatever is around that he likes)
• Grains: leftover brown rice, whole wheat pasta, couscous, quinoa, sweet and regular potatoes...and anything else leftover that he likes. 
• Meat: scraps of whatever we have leftover
• Dairy: plain non-fat yoghurt

I mix it all together, making sure there is enough kibble (which has many of Poncho's doggy specific required nutrients) and wet stuff to make it the consistency of a human type chicken salad. I add a little chicken broth or water to thin it out a bit. Then, I cover and refrigerate it overnight. This way, the kibble soaks up the water from the veggies etc...makes it a little stiffer, for easier stuffing. 

Now I'm ready to prepare Poncho's meals. I take one of his Kong toys, and using a small fork or spoon, I fill it tightly with his "casserole". I then wrap it in plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer. This way, I can make a whole bunch of them, and keep them for when I need them. When they're frozen, it takes him longer to go through one...instead of gulping down a meal in 10 seconds!

If you're just starting out, you'll want to have your dog go through all the "stages" - beginners level (pre-school) to "University". If you start with a more difficult level, your dog might get frustrated and not want anything to do with it. Making it easy gets him or her conditioned to loving their Kong. They begin to associate the toy with more excitement than just the food itself. It's a fun game for them - plus again, this action taps into their predatory drive, and gives them something to do! 

Here are some "level of difficulty" suggestions, which are based upon how quickly your dog can get the food out:

1. Beginner: dry kibble (can add in some dry treats to make it extra tasty and enticing), top off hole with wet food.
2. Intermediate I: mix kibble with a little wet food, add any leftovers you want, loosely pack it - you still want to make it easy for food to come out. 
3. Intermediate II: kibble, wet food, any leftovers you want to add, pack it tight. 
4. Advanced: Freeze it! Initially you can thaw it partially before giving it to your dog, so as not to make it too difficult. 

Remember: there are some foods that are not healthy or safe for your dog - check with your vet if you are unsure. If you're dog has never had a Kong, it's best to supervise until you know he or she know how to "use it". 

Water Balloons & Squirt Bottles: NEVER a good option for dog training!

My new round of Canine College just started this past week over at Ventura College Community Education. As much as I hate to brag, it is truly a great group!!! Wait wait wait, let me clarify. So have all the other groups. I just get SO excited each time a new group starts at VC or at my inquisitive canine studio. It's like it's the first time, each and every time. I guess I'm just like a dog myself in this respect - isn't that the way our pet dogs act whenever we come home after being gone for a long time? 

Anyway, one reason I was just SO thrilled was because of the human students paying attention to what I was saying - I could tell learning was taking place because their behavior changed! HA! And so did their dogs behavior! Learning going on all around - just lovely!

At first people were telling their dogs multiple times to be quiet - but the dogs continued to bark, and the humans got frustrated. Then I went through what the class was about, what I wanted from them - my "What This Class Is" list, which included:

• Having students focus on what all they wanted from their dogs!
• Rewarding behaviors they like using food, petting, praise, play - anything to acknowledge what their dog did was what they wanted. 
• Realistic expectations! 
• What their dogs knew at this time versus what they'll know by the end of the class. 
• And the ever important "Barking Protocol" that I have as part of all of my dog training classes and workshops... not the dog socials though, because that is more like a playground...

Once everyone was "rewarding quiet", and the dogs were minding their manners, the humans started to engage and ask questions!!! I LOVE questions! I mean, that is one reason I love writing my Noozhawk advice column, right? Not because I want to sit at a computer all day, or hear myself "speak" - I want to help empower dog owners to create better relationships with their dogs!

Okay, so one of these great questions was about a certain training technique that this person had heard about, and was wondering what my thoughts were about it. I've heard about it too. As a matter of fact it was one of the old fashioned training techniques I had learned as a new dog owner. It never made sense to me then, and it certainly doesn't make sense now. I've gone as far as to have it in my policies that it is not allowed - we don't use this coercive training technique at the inquisitive canine. What am I talking about you ask? Squirt bottles!

This great student was brave enough to ask: "Joan, what are your feelings about using squirt bottles to train dogs?" She hadn't done it herself, but she had heard about it from another trainer - along with a few other aversive methods. 

After establishing how the squirt bottle was intended to be used, this is what I said.

• First I encouraged her to answer her own question: "How would the dog learn what you wanted him to do?"
• If I were teaching you how to knit, and every time you did something "wrong" I was to squirt you with water, would you learn what to do? Or would you just end up being afraid of knitting and afraid of me? 
• Would you ever be able to figure out what behavior I wanted? Or would you just learn to avoid doing anything, for fear of "doing something wrong" or being squirt in the face? 

She knew in her heart it was the wrong thing to do - she just wanted to reassure herself. Plus she helped clear matters up for others as well - this is a very popular technique still used today, so I'm sure other students were wondering the same thing. 

Another disturbing technique was just mentioned on one of my "group" lists. They were talking about how a franchise group of dog training "professionals" is now recommending throwing water balloons at dogs who are "misbehaving"! Wow, there are just so many things wrong with that. Talk about aversive! This is not fun and games for a dog - they can't throw one back, right? And isn't the humans own underlying motivation out of anger and frustration? Talk about poor coping skills! 

Again, I ask, shouldn't we just stick with teaching dogs what we want in a way they understand and enjoy? And then acknowledge them in a happy, healthy, fun way when they do? Let's leave the water balloon fights to us humans on a hot summer day...shall we?