Saturday, November 21, 2009

different techniques for different dogs

Some trainers push some cookie cutter approach for all dogs either negative or positive types of training for all their dogs. I wanted to use treat based training with my dog last year but, he was shy and too nervous to accept treats which made training in class difficult. I saw another trainer who encouraged flooding and making him deal with his anxiety head on but, he was too stern and forceful and my dog needed encouragement and a pleasing gentle tone to stay calm. To this day if I am gentle and calm with him he responds way better than if I nearly shout and sometimes he will get frustrated with what I expect and gives me frustration bark or even a nip. The second I turn off any aggressive type techniques he is back to happy go lucky. So what do you do when one size does not fit all? How do you balance training to tailor fit each of your dogs?
Well that is tricky. What do I do? I read a ton of books to find what fit my dog. I went to a bahaviorist for advice when he couldn't seem to shake the shyness at all. I saw many trainers more so he would see that people are there to help him. When I got him he was shy and got worse. He would hide behind me, cowar in stance and jump away or bark and growl at people who looked at him "too long" He remains shy. The first trainer I saw had me give him so many treats he didn't like even the best treats, he refused to take them from others and sometimes would be so nervous he didn't take them from me either. I couldn't move ahead on the shyness at all because of this, even with verbal praise baby talk voices or anything else. I switched to a much rougher trainer. I thought it was great at the time. He had me try a wedge pinch collar supposedly to encourage him like his mom would. I don't know why I fell for it probably part exhaustion part desparation. It was paired with flooding of walking in crowds, walking by people, sitting while others passed. We went to a conformation class to help with strangers touching him but, since it was the same instructor each week that lost its "stranger" quality fast. He is a smart dog and once he warms up he isn't really bothered much. We still have the problem with people leaning over and trying to pat the top of his head.... dogs see both of those actions as a threat and it is hard to explain to people in a way they actually listen. It comes down to doing what you think your dog can handle and trying to push the limits a little as tolerance grows. I liken it to lifting weights. You can't start with a heavy weight on your bicep, you start with a small amount and when you find you have little or no pain after lifting as usual you increase weight. Same thing, you have to get used to and tolerate the difficult emotions without going into overload or shock. I find encouraging him in a gentle tone helps greatly.
Some friends just got a puppy and I try to tag along when they take him out to socialize. He is a cute fuzzy golden retreiver and people rush to say hi to him. He wags and gets excited. Then my dog who is standing near looks to me, I tell him it is ok to "sniff" and he reaches out to the people more. He did bark at a little girl today who was looking at him while he was in a small spot but then some little boy was walking by and reached out and touched his back and he was fine. I know the support helps him out a great deal because he doesn't have someone at him staring at him and reaching out, he has time to sniff and reach out to them first which is way less pressure.
I did have apoint originally... Just as we humans are different from one to another, our dogs need help finding what works best for them individually as well. It can be a hard road to go if you don't really know your dog well but, with love respect and a bit of patience you can find what works for your dogs needs. oh an my dog no longer wears that collar he uses a gentle leader if he is in a situation with need for better control or he is on his buckle collar only. and now he takes most treats from people and will even do his sit when they ask. What strides... now if I can just get him used to people touching and staring at him so I could get his conformation title, then we would be just in great shape, he would be moments away from accepting all people then. I am patient enough to know he will get there eventually. He is improving and not getting worse and that is the best sign.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

bonding to better understanding

recently I read this incredible book which talks about the trusting bond that can be established and maintained between owner and dog. The book talks about how you need to connect with your dog not yank them to and frow. I had read about sending out energy to your dog and even sending mental praise when the dog does good but, it wasn't until I read this particular book that I connected the calm, peaceful energies with that of a deep bond with my dog.
In order to connect deeply you must understand and believe your dog wants to do as you instruct. Believing this leads you to signal better and communicate in ways which your dog understands. Afterall if the dogs intentions are good, we must see that our signals or their interpretation of those signals is confused.
This process involves a lot of watching and studying your dogs behaviors and their own signals. My dog will get frustrated when he does what he thinks I want but, the signal is too similar to another one. I experienced this one time and was like why are you doing this when I am asking for that.... then my brain clicked...oh that signal is a fist with one finger pointing up and the other signal it a fist which is open making a kind of o shape. It must be hard to see the difference outside in the sun. My answer was to change the pointed finger to a arm pointing up (which he very quickly picked up) I think sometimes we don't understand that dogs are not verbal beings and respond better to hand gestures but, we can teach our dogs many verbal words simply by making an effort to use a simple vocabulary with them. Always saying the same words for the same units will reveal tremendous learning potential. Example of these words other than everday commands like sit and stay etc. are ride,car,in, side, relax,neighbor,gate,slow,careful, eat, close, and stairs. My dog knows all these words and many more simply by my repeating them through daily life. By teaching these words he understands my directions better and is more willing to trust what I say because I try to communicate with him. it puts him at ease better and I think it helps our bond immensely.
Better bonds can be built through sitting. When you share a space you use some trusting tools. If you practice this (I would suggest when you are both relaxed,before bed) Call your dog over to an area he likes to sit and have him sit or lie down so he can lean on your legs while you sit. The exercise can be as little as 3 minutes but, help your relationship greatly. simply sit together. If your dog enjoys petting or brushing or massage you can try a little bit gently but, don't feel you must be doing anything other than sharing space. Use this time to try to read and understand your dog not reading the paper or watching tv. Tune out the world and tune in your dog. at first you may sit a few feet apart and gradually over days or weeks get closer together. Don't push, we tend to push as a rule and why? We have plenty of time to work on this with our dog and the slower we go the more ease it puts them at.
Another thing I do to exercise my bond sounds silly and simple. When my dog goes to bed each night. I tell him I love him and he was such a good boy today he made me very proud. I try to state an example of his good behavior. This is visualizing good qualities of my dog to myself and helps me believe in my dog. I also wait for his relaxing/release sigh before I turn in. All dogs will do this when they give in and relax ready for sleep. You know it when you hear it. It is a deep breath and long exhale. I tell him he is good boy when he does the relax sigh, then I can turn out my light. This sigh is also the "Igive up" sigh which is when they are annoyed, the tv is too loud and they want to sleep or the assigned task is boring them, they finally give up and accept what is around them. It is up to us when they do this to be sure they are indeed comfortable. It is the job of the leader to watch out for the charges.
I find that making a concentrated effort to connect or try to understand my dog is beneficial and helps you understand yourself more allowing you to work on your own challenges. To have a friend who relies on you so much and doesn't speak the same language can show you yourself in ways you never saw. It is so interesting to see what is really there, what we are made of. When we do it helps our dogs trust and want to please us. Patience is essential. As it seems to be in a large part of life.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

bedtime

Many people will have routines they follow when they get ready for bed. It is alarming to find out how many do not have any such routine for their dogs. Dogs are such creatures of habit, and to get the last 10 or 15 minutes of their day in a way that they completely understand they need to relax and start the resting patterns, well, this is important.
What I do will give you an idea, though may not be perfect for your dog. When I am ready for bed. I say to my dog"let's go outside and get ready for nigh-nights" (I am not usually so cute-sy with my commands but, I call his bed bed and don't want to confuse the two) Then We put on the leash go out into the yard and I stand by the same bush by the deck until he lifts his leg and then I give him a command that to us means he won't go out for a while, I also use this when he is to be alone at home for a long while, I call it the "empty the tank" command. He then knows he won't have any more chances that night and will pee for quite awhile.
Next we go in and I give him a small snack. It is abot 1/2 the size of his main dinner meal and this is something that since puppyhood he has had and I haven't seen to get rid of. He is not overweight and I don't want him to go to bed hungry or have a slow metabolism so I stick with. My last dog would have a large milk bone before bed to settle down with. I guess I always worry my dog is hungry and since he can't really tell me I make adjustments to make myself feel batter. During his snack I get my routine done brushing teeth etc.
Then I bring him bed into my room and point him to go "nigh-nights" and he trots in and plops down on his bed. I change and do a little brushing (about 2 or 3 minutes shifting areas each night) If he had extra exercise that day like a long hike or daycare I will exchange the brush for a light massage.
I play a calming cd to drown out any noise as we settle in. Then I read for a bit and after typically 20 minutes I shut the light off and sleep.
I believe it is good for a dog especially a stressed or insecure dog to have some minutes in the nighttime in which they bond and realx with their owner. I don't care if your dog sleeps in a crate comfy in the corner of the room or on your bed sleeping next to your feet. I have read if you choose to have pets on your bed though that you settle in first and should be able to tell them to move if they crowd you in anyway.
Sometimes my dog gets a little too into play when we are haing rest time, I tell him to get on his bed, I only allow for chew hides in the bedroom (no balls or plush) he must settle on his bed or I will put him in his crate (which he likes and is comfortable with its large cushion bed in it) then I will let him out some time later.
I give free water. Some people limit the times and will take water away after 6 or 8 at night. If your dog can go through the night why limit? I have a small bowl on the crate door and fill it both before work and before bed.
Whatever you choose to do with your dog to relax into restng time, be sure it fits your dog and can be done comfortably each evening. make it known that it is bedtime and much like with kids don't let up on the guidlines.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

When to look and what to look for

I was reading a great training book a while back and was shocked to learn about eye energy. Many people can't pick up on the body language or read just what their dog is saying. Perhaps they are a bit nervous or don't completely trust the dog because they are new and a bond isn't set or they may not know the body signals or misread them or even not understand there is such a thing. What happens next? They will look at their dog, constantly during walks to see what they do next or try to guide them to appropriate behavior. They do this around the house and when out at pet stores. What is interesting, I find, they don't do this when the dog is at a dog park. You canlearn a lot about dogs from watching them but, if you stare or don't know what you are looking for it is doing more harm than good. Have you ever been sitting somewhere and felt eyes on you? This is energy that is given off when others watch you and dogs feel this very well, I think it might be stronger than their actual sight.
Well what can you do?
First when you are on a walk or out, always be aware of your dog. If they become aggressive, be sure you know triggers or why they do this. Are they protecting you or the other dog or child in their pack? Are they afraid of children or of men or hats? Protect all involved.
What do you look for?
If your dog stands with ears forward, base of tail raised, scruff hair pricked, possibly showing teeth, eyes dilated... he is trying to asert dominance and possibly could lead to aggression if the other dog doesn't conceed.
If your dog has a tail set against his back it is so high and flutters in a wag or keeps the tail even with the back line this means calling for play or reading the signals and not wanting to rush posture. A play bow always means that, if your dog remains on leash during play, rotate yourself to keep leash untangled, reaching over a dog to untangle leashes is inefficient and could be read as a dominant posturing. A dog who chirps or is sniffing and then suddenly jerks could be playing but, if unsure lean toward thinking aggression.
I make mental notes about stances. He sees a bunny... ears go from back to up, he freezes and then bounces, this is the same with a squirrel. He sees a person he lifts head and if we are stopped he freezes for a second then he looks at me to see what I want of him, perfect. He is scared of some flag or trash bag that seems out of place... he freezes, leans forward, ears up, reluctantly approaches the preceived threat when he feels it is not a threat and wants to know what it is. Someone walks by the house... he gets wide eyes, slightly tilts head, ears up, bark alarm then bounces at me to ask why I am not alarmed then I call him over to me, treat the "come" and we move on.
A dog in charge will care for the others in the pack but not study the every move visually, a bottom rung dog will watch others looking for guidance, approval etc. Humans should be in charge earning others respect and leading with confidence. Relax and walk with a confident relaxed leash, walk quickly unless you are with a small dog and stop at intersections or paths and let your dog sniff and mark those areas most. If your dog decides to stop other places too slow down a bit and show interest in the area too, tap the ground with your shoes or lean over to pretend to sniff then after a moment give a kind,firm "let's go" or "hurry up" and start on your way, if you get to the end of the leash a gentle tug or two should do and if not use "leave it" and be sure to treat the good behavior when there is success. You don't have to stare at your dog and wonder if he will behave. Enjoy your walk and if you lead it well your dog will be happy to follow the plan.
I do look at my dog, he is being cute and good so I try to send him loving, good boy vibes. I try to envision him walking loose leashed by my side 100% of our walks but, I try to ignore the relapses or wandering dog he sometimes is choosing to praise the good. I try to only give short glances at my dog and I watch shadows to praise him for looking at me.
When in crowds I don't trust my dog because he is shy and a stranger could overstep his comfort without realizing it. To protect all involved I will typically have a treat ready to distract him with or I will be sure to have his gentle leader on. I have learned that when greeting people he is quick to warm up to the stranger and needs a few moments of them not looking at him so he can approach and sniff a pant or a hand. He will sometimes even give strangers kisses. I will talk to the person and after a moment I say"sniff" and he knows he should sniff, once he reads the hormones and pheromones and everything he is good.
I kept going to classes and the students were constantly staring and watchng their dogs. You can feel the energy they are transmitting most of the time through the leash and using your eyes is not allowing you to truly connect with your dog. We must learn to use our other senses which we find weak. we must pay attention to the signals our dogs send. When we learn what our dog is saying we have such a greater connection.
Recently I was reading about connections and how dogs respect posession, giving the leader the most buffer space when they have an object. I read also that they will use a low warning growl to warn the space buffer has been invaded. Dogs also do this at mealtime. When a puppy was introduced to our pack recently I watched as my dog gave signals to the new pup. Since I knew what to look for I saw not aggression but, correction. It was enlightening to understand what he was saying. I kind a felt like I learned how to speak dog.

Friday, November 6, 2009

sensing a difference

There have been studies which have exposed that the canine species has trouble registering one sense when another is actively engaged. this leads us to believe that the brain either cannot focus and interpret complex sensory multitasking or it becomes so engaged that the brain shuts off the others in order to gather indepth information. I compare this to that of a blind person expanding their other senses or a deaf person who may develop a more intricate sense of touch to feel the vibrations as energy moves off one object onto another. Is it that the body is hindered from lack of one sense or given a gift of such indepth intensities of other senses? That being said, imagine you are on all fours and hungry and you smell this awesome, mouthwatering scent down amongst the leaves and it is close to the ground, if you were a bird you would open ears to the sound of underground bugs, if you allowed yourself you would feel the wet grass cold underfoot but, you allow yourself to open your nose to smuggle in the scent with your ears which dangle close by, you shut off the world and focus on that one scent, weed out the others and soon it carries you to the delicious piece of cheese someone dropped in the park. I would believe this to be a gift, such focus. Most of us humans try to tug the leash or yell at our dog, "what is with you, let's go, heel" these commands truely fall on deaf ears. What we work on with focus is getting our dog to not get to that intense "shutting out" senses and pull his interest in on what we want. That is why focus is such an essential command. When we start to read signs of our dog spotting a dog accross the park, we will see first the acknowledgement of the dog... then the brain processes what that could mean reading body language, then the action of how to proceed. The mind will do this for all sorts of things, prey,play, aggression, fear, etc. It is up to us to difuse the situation as close to the acknowledgement stage as possible, if we wait until the action it is near impossible to get those focus senses back on us. Practice focus exercises and whenever you see a distraction assume your dog is about to as well. Work that focus and call your dogs eyes onto you. Be confident, proud and interesting. Some people need help on the interesting part and may use treats or praise or may help the situation by placing distance or easing pressure by turning away from the distraction or blocking the line of sight with their own body. Whatever is used the timing is crucial. Some dogs are so sensitive to a certain sense that they may need a diffuser of sorts to help them through the situations with intense distraction, most dogs will be good with a smelly treat or something she really loves. You should take time to find out what your dog really loves. The smell will diffuse the distraction, you can also use aromatherapy oils to calm, relax or mask smells for you dog. Someone suggested to me recently that you can use a calming scent such as vanilla or lavender and place a diluted oil on a cotton ball and dab the snout above the nose to mask any scent which could disrupt . In this case it was for walking amongst other intact testosterone emitting male dogs so the dog would not get defensive and aggressive. There are also veil type products which will mask an insecure dog from staring onlookers (though I would imagine onlookers may look a bit more at a dog wearing a veil) these and many other ideas to help block or diminish senses intensities. Leading me to believe it is once it gets to the intense stage, this is when the senses are shut off and the brain is able to heighten a single one.
In our relationships with our dogs the respect for their ways is so important because it will tighten our bond and lead to better understanding. Understanding how the brain works is so complicated often the signals can be misread. What is important is that indeed the signals are attempted to be read because in the end this will indeed guide us to understanding our dogs. Don't be afraid to misread, do be afraid of not trying to read because then the connection will fade away.