When teaching your dog to target to the palm of your hand, don't move the hand toward him, but allow and encourage him to move toward your hand. It's best if he's standing (rather than sitting), so he feels freer to move toward the target.
There’s a behavior that we never used to teach in old-fashioned training classes that is now one of my absolute favorites; I can’t wait to introduce my students to “targeting” – teaching their dogs to touch a designated part of their bodies to a specified object or place. It is not only an amazingly useful behavior, but also fun and easy to teach and most dogs love it. I can’t imagine how we ever got along without it!
TEACHING NOSE TARGETING
We usually start with nose targeting, because dogs tend to investigate with their noses, making a “nose touch” an easy behavior to prompt and capture. If you offer the palm of your hand to your dog with your fingers pointed toward the floor, most dogs will stretch forward and sniff it. Mark (click a clicker or use a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”) and give your dog a treat, and you’re on your way! If your dog needs a little encouragement, you can rub a bit of a tasty treat on your hand, and when she sniffs it, mark and treat. Most dogs learn to touch the proffered palm within just a few tries.
As with all behaviors we teach, as soon as you can predict that your dog is going to touch your palm with his nose when you offer it, begin using the verbal cue; I use “Touch!” Note that if she already thinks an open palm is the cue to offer her paw to you for a “Shake,” then you can offer a closed fist or two fingers in place of the open palm.
TEACHING TARGETING WITH PAWS OR OTHER BODY PARTS
If you happen to have a dog who is very “pawsy” (likes to use her feet), teaching her to step on a talking button is likely going to be a breeze; she might just smack that button with her paw when you put it on the floor and you can just “capture” this foot targeting, by marking and reinforcing her randomly offered paw at the button.
The training technique known as “shaping” often works best to teach your dog to target with other body parts. To shape a behavior, you mark and reinforce progressively closer approximations of the behavior you actually want.
To shape a dog to touch a talking button with her paw, you would set the button on the floor, and mark and reinforce (feed her a treat) each time she takes a step toward it – or even if she merely moves a front foot! As she begins to realize she’s getting reinforced for foot movement, she’ll start to move her paw on purpose and you’ll be able to shape her to touch her foot to the button, or anything else you have in mind.
If you want her to target with other body parts – say, a shoulder or hip – shape it the same way: Mark and treat any movement with that body part until she’s deliberately moving it, then shape for targeting. (See “Shaping Your Dog’s Behavior,” Feb. 2017.)
COUNTLESS THINGS TO DO WITH A TARGET
Here are just a few of the things you can do with your dog’s targeting behavior:
* USES FOR NOSE TARGETING
Teaching your dog to touch his nose to the end of a target stick enables you to maneuver him (without force or touching him) over or around obstacles. The CLIX Target Stick seen her costs $6 from JeffersPet.com
*Positioning your dog. You can use nose targeting to invite your dog onto the walk-on scale at your veterinary clinic, into your vehicle, through a doorway, out of your path, onto the sofa – the list is endless.
*Teach tricks. Kai, our Kelpie, will leap five feet into the air to target to my hand, and weave through my legs, targeting to a hand on each side as he passes through. I also used a hand target to teach my dog Bonnie to open a picnic basket with her nose.
*Perform household behaviors. Your dog can close or open drawers with her nose and use touch-on/touch-off features of lamps or push-button dial 911 in an emergency.
*Decrease fear. If your dog is worried about something but loves targeting, you can ask her to touch your hand as you move past or away from the aversive object or person. This focuses her attention toward you and helps the emotional part of her brain shift from “Oh, scary person!” to “Yay, targeting!”
*Call your dog to you. If your dog loves targeting but is a little “meh” about her recall cue, try asking her to “Touch!” when you want her to come to you. She has to come to you to touch your palm!
*Move your dog away from you. Teach her to target to a cottage cheese lid, then tape the lid to a wall and ask her to target to it. Gradually send her across the room to her lid-target from farther and farther away.
Polite leash walking. (See “Moving Target,” page 5, for instructions on how to teach this.)
* FOOT TARGETING
Since the popularity of Stella, Bunny and other dogs who have been taught to press buttons to “talk”, it’s possible to buy the buttons from many online sources. Search for “talking buttons for dog.”
*Touching buttons. Your dog can foot-target to talking buttons as part of a fun routine. There are also light buttons that she can turn on and off with a tap of her paw.
*Communication. My Corgi, Lucy, used a paw touch to my foot to signal me she had found an odor (her “alert”) when we were doing scent work. Your dog could touch you with a paw as her cue to ask to go outside, or use her paw (or nose) to ring a bell or a buzzer as her bathroom “ask.”
*Agility. An important skill in the sport of agility is making sure your dog hits the contact zones at the end of obstacles. This is often accomplished by teaching the dog to hind-foot target to the contact zone.
* Targeting with Other Body Parts
*Target an ear toward you or your veterinarian for a physical examination or for an application of ear cleaner or medication.
*Target an open mouth to a metal bar for mouth exam or tooth cleaning (I saw a bear who was taught to do this at the Taronga Zoo in Australia!).
*Target the chin to a rolled-up towel on a chair for cooperative care procedures.
*Target a hip to a target stick to teach a pivot.
These examples just scratch the surface of the versatility and variety of potential applications for targeting. Do you have examples of other targeting behaviors you’ve taught your dog? Please share!
Did you walk into the room, or look up from your book, and notice that the puppy is lying on his bed chewing his own toy, even though no one told him to? Even more impressive: he's ignoring the cat on the chair! Good boy! Give him a warm word, a belly rub, or a treat! It's that easy to get more of this quiet, dog-bed behavior. A key bonus to this kind of training: it takes no planning - and yet is so powerful.
The best training tip out there is so simple it likely slips your mind: Catch your dog doing something right.
We all notice when our dogs take our peanut butter toast from the table, pull crazily on the leash, fly onto the freshly made (and forbidden) guest bed, or jump up on us as we’re trying to carry in the groceries.
But what about the rest of the time? Do we notice when this very same pup is lying calmly by the breakfast table? Or walking sweetly in an unasked-for “heel” by our left knee? Or standing out of the way while we make up that guest bed and bring in the groceries?
Nope. We just ignore those moments.
That’s an enormous mistake – and here’s my guess as to why so many people fail to notice, mark, and reinforce the good stuff throughout the day with, at the very least, some verbal praise such as, “Nice job, Max!” It’s this: Compared to all the “official” training you learn in Good Dog 101 – behaviors such as sit, down, come, stay, go to your bed, etc. – the moments when your dog is just being quietly good seem like . . .nothing.
Hear this: It is not nothing to your dog! The moments when he receives a reinforcer for exhibiting a behavior that you like are the breadcrumbs leading him home. He needs these clues to make sense of the random human rules regarding canine behavior.
Sure, that angry reaction you had to the toast-tasting incident instilled some kind of learning. But true clarity results from discovering what it is that you actually would like to see from him via a sweet pat, a kind word, and/or a tiny treat. If this enjoyable attention comes to him just as he lays down near the table, he learns,“Ah! Everything’s always nice when I do this thing! I’ll do this thing more.”
BEHAVIOR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Just try this: Today, focus on seeing and reinforcing all the “good” things you see your dog do – all the behaviors you appreciate from your dog.
She’s making eye contact? Aw, good girl. Talk to her.
You’re on Zoom and she’s just lying still at your feet? Make a point to stroke her in her favorite spot.
A delivery person rang your doorbell and your pup listened when you asked for a sit before opening the front door? That warrants a tossed treat or toy.
It’s obvious to you how you want your dog to act. It is not even a little bit obvious to your dog, in whose natural canine culture it is perfectly appropriate to jump up, grab any available food, mouth everybody, and tear stuff up. Reinforcing the behavior you’d prefer to see your dog display gives him a bright trail to follow.
Though most dogs ordinarily walk and trot with a diagonal gait (front left and rear right legs moving forward at the same time), see dogs habitually use a pacing gait (with the left legs moving as one pair, and the right legs moving as another). In contrast, a dog who suddenly begins using a pacing gait may be altering his movement in an attempt to favor something that hurts. This should be investigated.
Your active dog limping or moving in an unfamiliar way may set off mental alarms. Is it a sprain? A pulled muscle? Maybe an injured ligament or tendon? And what should you do about it?
First, you should know whether the abnormality is an acute or chronic symptom.
An acute injury is one that flares up quickly, within 24 to 48 hours of the incident that caused it. Acute injuries result from sprains, falls, collisions, and other impacts, and they produce sharp sudden pain, tenderness, redness, swelling, skin that feels hot to the touch, and inflammation.
In contrast, chronic injuries are slow to develop, get better and worse, and cause dull pain or soreness over extended periods. The usual causes of chronic injuries are overuse, arthritis, and acute injuries that were never properly treated.
SIGNS OF PAIN IN DOGS
Sometimes an injury is obvious – the dog limping, crying out in pain, or can’t move. But noticing subtle symptoms can help prevent more serious problems, so paying attention your dog’s movement and behavior is time well spent. Pain and stress signals include the following:
Behavior Signs of Dogs in Pain:
Avoiding contact with other dogs (play can cause pain).
Spending less or more time than usual with family or sleeping.
Growling or snapping for no apparent reason.
Avoiding routine activities such as getting into the car, climbing stairs, or jumping onto a bed or sofa.
Suddenly becoming hyperactive, unable to rest quietly, panting heavily, pacing, or chewing a body part.
Ignoring training cues, attempting to leave, sniffing the ground in a distracted manner, shutting down and not moving, offering behaviors other than the ones requested, or offering appeasement gestures such as licking, crouching, pawing, rolling over, yawning, or looking away.
Physical Signs of Dogs in Pain:
Refusing meals or treats.
Eliminating more frequently or vomiting.
No longer sitting straight.
Developing hot spots or other skin/coat changes.
Seeming stiff and sore, favoring one leg or one side of the body, moving differently, or displaying other changes in gait or posture.
Heat in the affected area. (Slowly run your hand over the dog’s body and check for changes of temperature.)
The most common canine injuries are not acute, they’re chronic, says Cathy Davis, DVM, a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist, veterinary chiropractor, and veterinary acupuncturist specializing in sports medicine in Helena, Montana. Chronic injuries result from repetitive motion, overuse, and wear and tear. Every dog is a candidate for injury, but those at special risk include overweight dogs, weekend athletes, couch potatoes, dogs with arthritis, older dogs, dogs engaged in search and rescue, and canine athletes (such as dogs competing in flyball, agility, freestyle, disc dog, hunting, field work, dock diving, obedience, weight pulling, dog sledding, and other active sports).
WHAT TO DO FOR A DOG IN PAIN
The No. 1 recommendation for canine injuries is rest. Both obvious injuries and subtle microtears take time to heal, especially if they involve ligaments and tendons, which don’t have a blood supply that carries healing nutrients to the injury site. That’s why it’s important to stop hiking, running, playing, or competing as soon as even minor symptoms arise.
“If your dog is suddenly lame, bleeding, or licking a paw excessively,” says Dr. Davis, “check his nails, paw pads, and fur. Grass awns are often found lodged in the skin between the toes. Cuts, stingers, or foreign bodies often affect the pads, and a torn nail can hurt.”
If the injury is serious, take your dog straight to a veterinary clinic, but for minor injuries or when a clinic visit isn’t possible, take your dog home and keep him quiet. Take notes on the changes you notice, starting with the date and time you first saw the problem and describe your dog’s activities at the time. An accurate history of symptoms and treatments will help your veterinarian or other therapist understand and treat the injury (see “Amantadine: Now for Relief of Chronic Pain,” WDJ August 2022).
To document symptoms, do range-of-motion exercises, such as luring your dog with a treat or toy into a turn to the right or left or raising and lowering his head. Daily massage and gentle touch offer clues, too. Does your dog turn away when you stroke or press her shoulder or hindquarters? Does any area feel unusually warm, hard, stiff, tender, or swollen? Touch is one of the fastest ways to discover inflammation, muscle strains, and other discomforts.
“Many minor and acute muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries respond to rest, ice, and massage,” says Dr. Davis. “Resting your pet involves going out on a leash to toilet, and no walks, hikes, running, jumping, stairs, or playing with other animals. If your pet has not improved or gets worse or shows the same symptoms after a few days, see your veterinarian for a proper diagnosis.”
COLD OR HEAT?
Cold is recommended for acute injuries because it reduces swelling and pain. Injured dogs instinctively seek puddles, ponds, streams, and snowbanks in which to stand or lie.
“Everyone says that a bag of frozen peas makes an effective ice pack,” says Dr. Davis, “but that isn’t true. The peas don’t stay cold long enough to do anything.” Cold therapy products for pets are available at pet supply stores, and medical supply companies sell cold packs for sports injuries. The best cold packs contain a gel that stays malleable when frozen, so they can be molded around a dog’s musculature.
To make your own cold packs, place 2 cups water, ½ cup isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, and 2 tablespoons salt in a self-sealing plastic bag (double-bag to be sure the seal is secure) and freeze.
Because cold restricts circulation and ice left in place for too long can cause complications, wrap any uncovered ice pack with a towel before applying it, remove the pack after 10 to 15 minutes, and wait at least two hours before reapplying. Never apply cold treatments just before exercise, training sessions, or competition.
Heat helps chronic problems like sore muscles, arthritic joints, and old injuries because it stimulates circulation, helps release tight muscles, and alleviates spasms. Heat is not recommended for acute injuries, areas of swelling or inflammation, or for use immediately after exercise.
To make your own warm pack, place 2 cups of raw rice in a sock, tie the sock top, and microwave for 1 minute. The pack will stay hot for 20 minutes. Add a lavender sprig or drop of essential oil for added relaxation. The sock can be reused several times. If you don’t have a microwave, place raw rice on a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 150°F for 5 to 7 minutes, pour the warm rice into a sock or pouch, check to be sure it’s a safe, comfortable temperature, and apply. Alternatively, pour very warm water on a towel, wring it well, and apply to the area. Reheat as needed.
Never leave a dog unattended when using a warm pack. Always place a towel between the pack and skin to assure proper temperature.
HANDS-ON TECHNIQUES THAT SPEED HEALING
Massage basics are easy to learn, and most dogs enjoy being stroked, kneaded, stretched, and rubbed. Massage helps repair damaged tissue, soothe the patient, restore range of motion, and prevent recurring injuries. Hire a canine massage therapist or learn the fundamentals by reading books or studying videos (see “Dog Massage Instruction,” August 2021.)
Chiropractic adjustments correct the alignment of joints and vertebrae in order to relieve pain, reduce muscle spasms, improve coordination, and enhance overall health (see “Chiropractors for Canines,” March 2008).
Acupuncture can improve or correct musculoskeletal problems such as arthritis, disc disorders, stiffness, and lameness. Acupressure, its close relative, involves activating acupressure points without inserting needles. This can be done with gentle finger pressure or by creating small circles that move the skin clockwise or counterclockwise (see “Truly Healing Touch,” March 2009).
Canine rehabilitation therapists and veterinarians offer a variety of treatments for injuries, including therapeutic exercise, hydrotherapy, shock wave therapy (see “Shock Waves for Arthritis,” May 2008), therapeutic ultrasound, therapeutic laser, PEMF therapy, cryotherapy, orthotics and bracing (see “Canine Knee Injury? Brace Yourself,” December 2020), electrical stimulation, herbal treatments, and energy healing techniques such as Reiki.
Don’t give your dog over-the-counter medication without consulting your veterinarian. “Many human medications may not be tolerated by your pet,” explains Dr. Davis, “or they may cause adverse interactions with your dog’s other medications.”
Even if your dog responds well to pain medication and seems to be fine, continue your veterinarian’s instructions for rest and limited exercise, letting the injury heal completely.
OUNCE OF PREVENTION
It requires attention and effort, but helping your dog avoid injury through preventive measures is time well spent.
One important goal is preventing obesity. “Excess weight leads to excess tension on the tendons, ligaments, and muscles,” says Dr. Davis. “In addition, obesity is an inflammatory condition. Chronic inflammation can lead to degenerative joint disease and a host of other issues throughout the body.” Control your overweight dog’s food intake, reduce her training treats, and prevent family members from giving her extras. Successful canine weight loss is a family affair.
For pets, just like humans, a strong core strength reduces strain on the spine and extremities. A sensible goal is to maintain regular conditioning throughout your dog’s life. “Your dog does not have to be an athlete to train like one,” says Dr. Davis. “There are many online conditioning and sporting groups, and your local kennel club may have recommendations.”
Another preventive strategy is to avoid repeating the same movements over and over. Throwing a tennis ball may be your dog’s favorite activity, but repetition contributes to injury, so alternate ball throwing with activities that involve other movements.
Too-long toenails change the toes’ biomechanics, which affects the alignment and motion of legs and spine, so keep nails trimmed short.
Be sensible about your dog’s schedule. Suddenly switching from couch potato to canine athlete contributes to sprains and strains. Inactive dogs need time and gradually increasing activity to prepare for trail runs, ambitious games of fetch, and other “too much fun” times. And if your dog suffers an injury, be patient. Remember that the passage of time is one of your dog’s best healers.
Using All The Available Tools to Keep Her Dog Together
Laurie Ekanger and her dog, Dash, wearing goggles to protect their eyes during an impending laser treatment.
Dash, a 3-year-old Irish Terrier, was having too much fun last March – and to his owner, Laurie Ekanger in Clancy, Montana, something didn’t look right. He had trouble getting out of the car and climbing steps, was panting more than usual, and wasn’t interested in hiking. Because Dash is usually rambunctious, this was unusual behavior.
Ekanger took Dash to veterinarian Cathy Davis, who uses physical therapy, chiropractic, and acupuncture in her veterinary sports-medicine practice in Helena, Montana. To Dr. Davis, Dash looked like a dog with a soft-tissue injury. “Sprains and strains to ligaments, tendons, and muscles are extremely diverse,” Dr. Davis explains, “but all of them involve microscopic tissue tears. The degree of structural involvement is what determines the treatment.”
Dr. Davis watched Dash walk, took videos of him moving to check for subtle movement abnormalities, and examined his muscles, bones, and joints. “If a dog needs a chiropractic adjustment,” she says, “I give one as I’m going through the exam, and if I feel a trigger point, which is a painful, tense area of muscle tissue, I release it. If I feel heat or inflammation, I use a laser to make repairs at the cellular level with light energy. I work on a pulsed electromagnetic bed, so patients receive PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Frequency) treatments as well.” Dr. Davis used a laser on Dash’s left elbow and prescribed a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and a week of rest. Dash recovered and resumed his active lifestyle.
In June, Dash spent four days at a boarding kennel with an open-play environment. “I got daily pictures and reports,” says Ekanger. “He had a wonderful time and bounded into the car when we picked him up. But at home he began to limp, favoring his left paw. Two days of rest took care of that symptom, and he was fine until the day after an agility lesson, when he began to favor and lick his left ankle.” This time, Dr. Davis found mild swelling in Dash’s left ankle, gave him another laser treatment, and prescribed an NSAID and another week of rest. Dash has been running and playing as usual since then.
Is he just sitting funny or is he "scooting?" Big dogs are more capable of relieving over-full anal glands by using their strong tongues and overweight dogs who are unable to lick their anal area have more trouble relieving over-full anal glands and are more likely to "butt scoot" in an effort to relieve the discomfort
Photo Credit: Olha Lysak / Dreamstime.com
When you see a dog “scoot” on his behind, wiping his bum on the rug or lawn, do you think, “Gee, that looks like fun!”? No! The first thing you think is, “Oh dear, he must be uncomfortable!”
Why do dogs scoot? And what can we do to help them?
Most often, when dogs scoot, they are trying to relieve the pressure and discomfort that comes from overly full anal glands.
What’s in a dog’s anal gland sac?
The anal glands are two sacs that sit within the anal sphincter muscle. If you consider the dog’s anus as a clock face, the position of the glands are approximately 4:00 and 8:00.
Observing the fact that dogs routinely sniff each other’s butts when greeting, animal behavior experts speculate that the anal glands play a role in canine socializing. But today, as dogs serve mostly as companions to humans and live in our society, the glands appear to serve no purpose other than to annoy your dog and you!
Some dogs never have any trouble with their anal glands. When these dogs have a bowel movement, the passing stool presses on the anal glands and discharges some of the fluid from the glands, thus keeping the glands in a comfortable, not overfull condition.
What happens when a dog has impacted or full anal glands?
Problems arise when a dog’s anal glands do not achieve any emptying with bowel movements. The gland secretions continue to accumulate with no outlet. When the glands reach an uncomfortable pressure, the dog will scoot along on the ground, trying to relieve the pressure. Many dogs will lick incessantly at the anus with the same goal. When some dogs’ glands are overly full, the owner will periodically smell a foul, sometimes fishy odor emanating from the fluid that leaks from the anal glands.
To make these dogs comfortable, the anal glands must be manually expressed. An anal gland expression is typically provided by your veterinarian, a licensed veterinary technician, or a skilled groomer.
With a gloved and lubricated hand, pressure is applied to the glands, until the secretions are expelled through the ducts that have openings in the anus. This can sometimes be achieved completely externally, depending on the position of the gland and the angle of its duct.
When this is not possible, the index finger is inserted into the rectum, and the gland is squeezed between the index finger internally and the thumb externally. Normal anal gland secretions are liquid to pudding-like consistency and range in color from beige to gray or brown.
How often a dog needs his anal glands expressed varies. Once a month is not uncommon. Owners typically wait until their dog starts scooting again, then schedule anal gland expression. This can get expensive, especially if done with your veterinarian.
How to express your dog’s anal glands at home
If you are up for the challenge, you can ask your veterinarian to teach you how to express anal glands at home yourself. This would save you a lot of time and money. I have taught a few dog owners how to do this over the years. Not surprisingly, most of them keep coming in for anal gland expression. I mean, let’s face it, it’s not a pleasant job!
Check with your vet about symptoms of anal gland problems
It can be uncomfortable to witness your dog’s efforts to deal with the pain of full anal glands, but show some understanding and get her some help as quickly as possible, before her glands get impacted or infected, or burst. Photo Credit: Elnur/ Dreamstime.com
Disease states associated with the anal glands include impaction, infection, abscesses, and tumors. Impacted anal glands get filled with dry, hard material that is difficult to manually express. Sometimes several days of warm sitz baths are necessary to loosen up the impacted material enough to allow expression. For this, partially fill a tub with warm water and have your dog sit with his or her anus submerged for 10 minutes, two to three times daily.
It’s important to express impacted anal glands as these are likely to abscess. Anal gland abscesses occur when the gland gets infected and fills with pus. This condition typically appears as a hot, red, painful swelling next to the anus that breaks open and drains through the skin.
Treatment for an anal gland abscess includes warm sitz baths, oral antibiotics, pain medication, and medical-progress exams with your veterinarian.
Anal gland infections that haven’t been abscessed yet are usually identified during expression. Infected anal gland secretions are often green in color and sometimes bloody. For this condition, your veterinarian will insert a tiny cannula into the anal gland duct, flush the gland with saline and/or an antiseptic, and inject an antibiotic ointment into the gland. Warm sitz baths and oral antibiotics are important for this condition, too.
Anal gland tumors are typically discovered during the process of expressing the anal glands. When found, surgical removal of the affected gland and tumor is recommended. Some anal gland tumors are benign and surgery is curative. Unfortunately, malignant tumors carry a guarded prognosis for long-term survival.
You may ask, why not just have the potentially problematic glands surgically removed? Surgical removal of normal anal glands is generally not recommended. This would be an elective procedure – more for convenience than medical need –and there are risks associated with the procedure, including permanent fecal incontinence.
Try adding high fiber dog food for anal gland problems
The best way to try to help your dog avoid anal gland issues, and to minimize the necessity of manual anal gland expression, is to add fiber to your dog’s diet. The idea is that the increased fiber will bulk up your dog’s bowel movements, making them bigger and thus more likely to put pressure on the anal glands, releasing secretions on their way by.
The easiest ways to add fiber to your dog’s diet is with psyllium powder (like Metamucil) or canned pumpkin. For more information on psyllium powder, check out “Metamucil for Dogs“. For small dogs, appropriate amounts would be ¼ teaspoon (tsp) Metamucil or 1 heaping tsp canned pumpkin per meal; for medium dogs, ½ tsp Metamucil or 1 heaping tablespoon (tbsp) canned pumpkin per meal; and for larger dogs, ¾ tsp Metamucil or 2 heaping tbsp canned pumpkin per meal.
Dietary fiber will help some dogs. For others, keeping up with manual anal gland expression as needed is the only way to keep them comfortable.
My husband (back row, with Boston hat) and eight of his friends from childhood. I am so appreciative of the patience and tolerance they showed Woody, even in the face of his scary behavior.
Last weekend, my husband and I took our nearly 6-year-old dog, Woody, with us on a backpacking trip. We joined eight of his friends, all of whom he’s known since grammar school or high school; they had started a day before us and we joined them at a specific Sierra Nevada lake by prearrangement.
We left behind Otto, who, at nearly 14 years old, is no longer invited to this sort of adventure, to his deep dismay. Otto knew what was going on when the backpacks and sleeping bags and tent were taken out of their storage closet – and he kept putting himself in our paths as we loaded the packs into our car. His heart is willing, but his arthritis says, “Not this time, guy.” (His countenance cheered entirely when I drove him to my sister’s house; he loves staying there, for a few days at least.)
Woody’s agility and confidence in any footing is astounding.
We’ve taken Woody camping only once before that I can remember, about four years ago. It’s strange, because Otto has been camping many times in his lifetime, but for whatever reasons, in the past five years – most of Woody’s lifetime – we have mostly camped in National Parks (where dogs are not allowed on trails) or we camped as part of a long road trip that also involved weather that’s unfriendly to a dog in a car. And this was the first time he has been backpacking with us.
There’s an expression, “To appreciate a light, you have to take it into darkness.” I definitely appreciate some of Woody’s positive attributes more today than I did before last weekend – and am more aware of one thing that we need to work on more.
What Woody does well
This dog’s recall is rock-solid. He can be off-leash at any distance, and even if distracted with something as exciting as a chipmunk chirping from a nearby tree, will turn and RUN toward me at a hint of a whistle.
His “leave-it” behavior is terrific (I use the cue “Off”). Whether I wanted him to stop trying to lick someone on the face around camp, to stay away from some greenish water in a creek, or to ignore the barking dog who was tied to a tree in the campground where we left our car, I could say “Off!” once and he would immediately stop what he was doing and look to me for reinforcement.
His athleticism and agility are astounding. He’s utterly confident in his ability to go anywhere and do anything we’re doing, including scrambling up or down granite rock faces and finding ways around cliffs. Both Otto and my last dog, Rupert, would get whiny and shaky if the footing ever got slippery, but a slip or momentary slide doesn’t seem to bother Woody in the slightest.
Woody’s trust in me is more complete than any other dog I’ve owned. Once, during a day hike to another lake, we found ourselves on a cliff that was too steep for Woody to slide down and too high to allow him to jump off of. I climbed down first and stood on a rock at the cliff base, and asked him to inch to the edge toward me. I was able to pull him into my arms and then pass him to my husband, who lowered him to the ground. He accepted all of this without a fuss or concern about his safety. Most dogs I know would have struggled or tried to leap; he just relaxed and let us help him.
He was a champion with the other dog who was on the trip – a dog about his age whom he had never met before. The dog’s owner warned us that the dog wasn’t always “good” with other dogs, but I have confidence in Woody’s judgment and self-control; he is a better judge of dog behavior than I am! He defused and deflected every bit of slightly aggressive behavior the other dog displayed – and even better, kept up a goofy, playful demeanor that soon got the other dog to play chase games around camp.
We quickly learned that this other dog doesn’t eat much when he’s not at home – but that didn’t mean he wanted anyone else to eat his food. He would guard an area about 30 feet in diameter around his food from Woody. In contrast, my chow-hound has ZERO worries about eating in strange places or eating strange things; he absolutely knew where the other dog’s food was and would calmly go help himself to the food any time the other dog was distracted – and would just as calmly leave the area when the other dog saw what was happening and would come running back to guard whatever Woody had left behind. (Okay, this is kind of a jerk move, but what I appreciated was that as much as he likes food, and was motivated to sneak and steal some whenever it was unattended, he wouldn’t fight about it with the food’s owner.)
Once, on a day hike away from our main camp, a little dog owned by some other backpackers ran up to him in attack mode, snarling and snapping. Woody ducked and dodged and went into super goofball mode, racing about as if the dog had actually just asked him to play “chase me.” The little dog’s owners looked aghast at their little dog’s “attack” on my big pitbull-mix, but I assured them that no harm was done. I so appreciate his skills at defusing other dogs’ reactive behavior.
He sought attention and petting from every person he met, and was equally comfortable with all of them, from the ones who are self-described “dog people” to the ones who maybe don’t like dogs that much. However, this friendly reaction always comes a moment after this next thing….
Taking a day hike over granite to another lake for fishing, we had to help Woody over some steep ledges and a cliff. He accepted the help in a relaxed manner.
What Woody Isn’t Good At
I don’t need bullets for this, because there is really just one thing that Woody needs to work on:
I think he can’t see well; he doesn’t seem to recognize ANYONE at a distance, and his initial behavior at the sight or sound of an approaching human into our camp (or even on the trail) was fearful and defensive. Every time a member of our party left camp, even just for a moment’s relief behind some trees, Woody would growl at them and run toward them with his hair up as they returned. Ay yi yi! Nothing like 70 pounds of an athletic, big-headed dog to come running toward you growling! He even did this a time or two to my husband!
Fortunately, none of our friends was afraid of dogs and all of them quickly trusted that Woody wouldn’t bite them. They would each say “Hey Woody!” as he approached them – and as soon as he was within, you know, biting distance (dog help us) he would instantaneously transform into his usual wiggly, waggy self, as if to say, “OH HI! I thought you were a monster for a moment, but you are a human! How great! I love humans!”
This is a TERRIBLE behavior (the growling, hair-up approach, not the transformation into Mr. Wiggles) and I was and am embarrassed about it.
This isn’t exactly a recent development. It’s been a persistent behavior that I have worked on with Woody ever since it first appeared, when he was an adolescent. I have worked for years to counter-condition his response to the sudden arrival of strangers on our property, and I credit that work for how quickly he converts his initial alarm to a joyful greeting, once he ascertains that the arrival of the human is not a threat. At home, the behavior isn’t really a problem; if my sister or one of my friends walks through my gates and down my driveway toward my office, and he goes running toward them barking with his hair up, they know to just call to him, “Woody, it’s me!” The moment he recognizes their voices, he races off to find a toy with which to try to entice them into play. (And, of course, if it’s an uninvited stranger who comes walking through my gates and onto my property, I’m going to let the vision of Woody bounding toward them barking slow them up for just a moment before I call him back; he’s our first line of security, and they don’t need to know that he will likely jump up and lick them once he knows they are not a threat.)
Exhausted! Woody napped hard in between swims and hiking.
But out in the world, especially off-leash in our camping site in the woods, the behavior appeared as more anti-social than I want my dog to appear. So when I was close to him, I would call him back to me or say “Woody, Off!” (which would also make him come back to me), and he always responded. But there were a number of times that we were separated or I was talking to someone and another person would walk in at the far end of our camping area and I would hear another “WOOF!” followed by “Hey Woody! Good boy!”
I’ll be talking to trainer friends about what I can do to improve this response to the sight of “strangers” – or should I be consulting an optometrist?!
No dog is perfect, but we have a responsibility to the people who come into contact (or near contact) with our dogs to keep them feeling safe, and I still have some work to do on that front with Woody of the Woods.
Some people have ice cream in their freezer, but in the top shelf of the author's freezer door, there are just food-stuffed toys! On the top shelf, we see two hollow marrow bones, stuffed with food and with peanut butter smeared inside, as well as two sizes of food-stuffed Toppls. On the bottom shelf there are red Kongs - the classic, original design - as well as some black ones (meant for extreme chewers) and dark blue Kongs, which are made of radiopaque rubber and available only through veterinary retailers.
Enrichment toys for dogs are popular, and for several good reasons. They can be great boredom busters, helping to channel a dog’s energy into an acceptable activity. They can slow a dog’s habit of eating too quickly, thus helping prevent choking. And research suggests that dogs may prefer working in some way to obtain their food to eating food that’s readily available in a bowl.
One of the oldest enrichment toys on the market is the Kong, first developed in the 1970s when company founder Joe Markham discovered his German Shepherd’s love of a discarded rubber auto part. The original toy that Markham invented is now considered a classic, easily recognized by its original bright red color and hollow beehive shape. Today, Kong toys are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes – and there are just about as many ways to stuff a Kong as there are trainers to think them up!
While the Kong Company is a leader in innovating and refining more and more canine toys that can be stuffed with food, many challengers have brought other exciting food-puzzle toys to market. One of our newer favorites is the Toppl, made by West Paw. Its wide opening is more enticing for those dogs who are put off by the more difficult task of getting food out of the Kong.
Whatever toy you use to hold food for your dog to unpack, these tips will help you stuff the most fun and functionality into the toy for your dog to enjoy:
1. Get the right size. I prefer to start my puppies with whatever size they’ll use as adult dogs, to make sure outgrown toys don’t accidentally become choking hazards later on. And, for pups and young dogs,I use food-dispensing toys to feed the entirety of their meals – I only rarely put their food in a bowl. Any bit of time that they are fully engaged in a safe activity is time I can use to do something else!
The goal, then, is to find a toy of just the right size, or a combination of toys of the right sizes, to contain their meal. This takes some experimentation, and depends on the kind of diet you feed (kibble, canned, rehydrated, commercial raw, or home-prepared).
Classic Kongs come in six different sizes, from XS to XXL. Toppl comes in two sizes (small and large); the two sizes can be used as a pair, with the smaller one inserted into the larger one to create an additional challenge (the dog has to separate them before he can start getting the food out).
Here’s an array of healthy and nutritious ingredients ready for stuffing a week’s worth of food-dispensing toys.
2. Teach your dog how to get the food out – and make it easy at first! When first introducing your dog to a food-stuffed Kong, you should make the contents especially tasty and particularly easy for your dog to extract; some dogs lose interest if it’s too difficult to unpack.
Let your dog watch you add a small handful of kibble mixed with some small favorite treats. Excitedly shake the Kong before offering it to your dog. Set the Kong on the ground and gently manipulate it until a few treats fall out. Encourage your dog to interact with the toy and calmly praise his success.
After he understands that moving the toy around can make treats fall out, start adding a smear of peanut butter, creamed cheese, or canned dog food just inside the rim of the toy. Hold the toy for him and manipulate it so that he can reach all the yummy goodness inside with his tongue. Then reload it and put it on the ground for him to try without help.
As long as he’s motivated to work persistently to get the food, you can keep increasing the difficulty of the food-extraction challenge with each food-stuffed toy you offer him. Next, you might pack the toy with wet food or a mix of kibble and something like peanut butter or yogurt; these foods require a combination of licking and tossing or dropping the toy to extract.
Here are some more ways to keep ratcheting up the difficulty of the food-extraction challenge:
If using kibble or other small treats, add a few larger, oddly shaped treats (such as dried beef lung or a large piece of biscuit) that will get in the way of the small treats and require more work to extract the contents.
Tightly pack the contents into the toy. Don’t be afraid to really shove stuff in there! I sometimes use the back end of a butter knife to tightly compact the contents of the toys.
Prepare a number of food-stuffed toys in advance and freeze them for an added challenge and as a cool treat on a hot day. An advantage to freezing is that you can prepare several at once so they’re always on hand when you need one. (Pro Tip: Muffin pans, coffee cups, or ramekins work well to hold Kong toys upside down in the freezer as they set, especially when using liquid contents that might drip.)
Teach your dog to search for treats and toys and then hide the food-stuffed toys somewhere in the house.
Put the food-stuffed toys in a cardboard box or folded-up paper bag and encourage your dog to do whatever it takes to “get the toy!”
3. Be creative and change recipes to retain your dog’s curiosity and interest. Anything that’s safe for a dog to eat can be added to a food-dispensing toy. Kibble, canned dog food, dog treats, fresh fruits and veggies, meats, cheese, yogurt, canned pumpkin, mashed sardines, dry cereal, even select leftovers pulled from the fridge all make great ingredients. (Always introduce new foods in small amounts to help prevent digestive upset.) See the recipes below for some of my dog’s favorite “Kongcoctions.”
4. Make adjustments for dogs who need to count calories or who are on a limited-ingredient diet. If your Westie is watching his waistline, or your Labrador’s diet is limited, stuff their food-dispensing toys with their regular diet, with the addition of perhaps just a few low-calorie treats or tidbits that won’t trigger an allergic reaction.
Here’s a tasty way to increase the appeal of your dog’s usual kibble without adding too many calories: If your dog enjoys peanut butter, whisk a tiny bit into hot water and use the peanut butter water to coat the kibble before stuffing it into the toy.
5. Keep it clean. A quick soak in warm soapy water and an old toothbrush or bottle brush works well to address any remaining food particles stuck inside. Kong and Toppl toys are also safe to wash in the dishwasher (but use the top rack!).
Quick and Easy Food-Stuffed Favorites
These recipes are simple and easily make enough filling for multiple toys. Much like doing my own meal prep before the start of a busy work week, I set aside about 30 minutes to prepare a “flight” of food-stuffed toys for the freezer. Don’t be afraid to get creative; dogs don’t care about strange combinations. Sardines and blueberries? Sure! Chopped apples on a layer of liverwurst? Why not? Have you seen what dogs pull from the trash and eat? Their food palette is on an entirely different planet than ours when it comes to culinary choices.
Peanut Butter Kibble
Dilute one tablespoon of peanut butter with two tablespoons of hot water. Whisk until combined. Add one cup of kibble. Mix until coated and spoon into toys.
Fruit Salad
Chop dog-safe fruits of choice. (We like apples and assorted berries.) Add directly to toys or stir into a mixture of canned pumpkin and plain yogurt.
Something’s Fishy
Drain a tin of sardines (use the ones that are packed in spring water). Shred the fish with a fork. Mix with pumpkin and yogurt. Spoon into toys. Adding kibble to this mix will stretch the sardine mash a little farther. These are best served outdoors; they are stinky!
Reconstituted Dog Food
I don’t use dehydrated dog food for meals, but I do keep some on hand to use as an easy, healthy meal replacement served out of a toy.
Higher-end pet supply stores have found dehydrated or freeze-dried foods to be very popular with dog owners, who report their dogs do very well on these diets.
Freeze-dried or dehydrated dog foods have certain benefits when compared to traditional wet (canned) or dry (kibble) dog foods. Before incorporating these foods into your dog’s diet, it’s important for you to learn more about those benefits, as well as the process for making these foods, including safety measures.
BENEFITS OF FREEZE-DRYING OR DEHYDRATING
The methods used to radically lower the moisture content of rehydrated or freeze-dried foods have the following advantages over baking or extruding the foods at high temperatures:
These methods preserve the food (nearly stopping the biological activity that causes a food to decay) with less damage to the ingredients’ natural enzymes or vitamins than cooking temperatures cause.
This means the meats and other ingredients are, by strict definition, raw. For those who believe in the benefits of raw diets, this is huge. (We’ll discuss those who consider raw foods to be dangerous in a minute.)
When rehydrated, these foods are highly palatable to most dogs. It may be due to the concentration of flavor in freeze-dried food ingredients or their minimal processing. Dogs with poor appetites (like very senior or chronically ill dogs) may accept these foods when nothing else appeals.
As a generalization, the makers of these products are targeting the top end of the market and have an extraordinary commitment to sourcing top-quality ingredients
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FREEZE-DRYING AND OTHER DRYING METHODS
Freeze-dryers expose foods to low temperatures, freezing them relatively quickly, and then to high air pressure. When the pressure inside the freeze-drying chamber is high enough, small heating units are turned on, heating the trays that the food sits on, and causing the frozen water (a solid at that point) in the foods to transform into a gas (water vapor). Pumps pull the vapor out of the chamber while keeping the internal air pressure high.
Like freeze-drying, air-drying can be accomplished at low temperatures, but it takes longer and leaves meats and fats vulnerable to oxidation (spoilage); most foods are dried with temperatures of 140ºF to 180ºF. At these temperatures, the food is actually lightly cooked; the cellular structure (and thus the aroma and taste) of meats, fruits, and vegetables actually changes and the taste and appearance. In contrast, proper freeze-drying doesn’t affect the appearance or taste of foods as much.
The freeze-drying process sounds extreme, but the process actually leaves most foods less damaged than dehydration, which toughens meats and other ingredients.
RAW SAFETY
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 contains zero-tolerance policies for pet foods that test positive for pathogenic bacteria. For this reason, some of the manufacturers of freeze-dried raw foods subject their products to a “kill step” known as high-pressure processing (also known as high-pressure pasteurization, and in either case abbreviated as HPP); they don’t want to risk increased surveillance or recalls from food control officials.
The owners of some other companies, however, believe so strongly in the benefits of raw foods that they refuse to use a kill step. Instead, they rely on the quality of their ingredients and their own food “hazard analysis and critical control points”(HACCP) plans to prevent selling contaminated products. They understand that the FSMA policies are present to protect dogs and their owners, and that today’s human food supply does sometimes contain pathogens – but they also have observed that most healthy dogs can easily digest and benefit from raw foods – even raw foods that may contain some pathogens. (Few healthy dogs have trouble with Salmonella, for example, though Listeria and e. Coli are another story.) And, importantly, they engage and educate their consumers about these facts.
There are food-industry experts who feel strongly that HPP is a very safe technology, and others who worry that it may alter foods on a molecular level. We feel fine about HPP; we’ve been to HPP plants and observed the raw dog food before, during, and after treatment and have confidence that it is not harmed or made unsafe to feed. On the other hand, we respect the right of owners to feed raw foods that have not undergone a kill step – as long as they are informed about the risks to which they are subjecting themselves and their dogs.
Some of the companies utilize a “test and hold” program whereby finished products are tested for pathogens and not released for sale until results indicate the products are uncontaminated. Buying a product from companies that employ a test-and-hold program is a good way to ameliorate fears about a raw and unpasteurized diet.
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I recently fostered a litter of eight puppies for my local shelter. Every time I foster a litter, I develop a favorite puppy – and this litter was no different. The runt of the litter was half the weight of the largest pup, but she had an outsized personality, augmented by the rakish look lent to her by the sudden emergence of a single stand-up ear. She was also the sweetest, most snuggly puppy in the litter. Whereas most of the pups were more likely to greet me by grabbing my ankle or shoelaces, the little red pup would make intense eye contact and wag furiously, willing me with her direct gaze to pick her up. When I followed her command, she would burrow under my chin and lick my neck, making delicious little grunting noises, wagging her little tail nonstop. She never failed to put a smile on my face.
If I was in the market for another dog, I absolutely would have kept her, but as it turns out, one of my former foster puppy adopters – a woman who has become a good friend and frequent model for WDJ – decided it was time to adopt a second dog. Yes, I cried happy tears when Jessie called to tell me she was adopting my favorite and naming her Nyx.
Jessie has messaged me asking for information about puppy food, vaccinations, kennel cough (Nyx came down with the ubiquitous “shelter sniffles”), what to do about resistance to crating, and I forget what else. Thank goodness for 23-plus years of back issues; she’s a subscriber, and I pretty much always have a back article I can direct her to for the answer to her questions (did you know that all the back issues are available to current subscribers online?). I also receive near-daily snapshots of the latest cute thing that Nyx is doing, and these warm my heart – it’s almost as fun as having a new puppy myself! I’m looking forward to Nyx joining our small stable of regular photo models for WDJ.
Sadly, though, the number of our frequent models will stay the same. Our most senior canine model passed away on the evening before this issue went to press. When I still lived in the San Francisco Bay area, trainer Sandi Thompson of BravoPup! was my go-to model for training articles, and her landlords’ dog, Milo, who spent nearly as much time with Sandi as he did with his legal owners, was Sandi’s frequent partner as she demonstrated various training techniques for our articles. Milo was whelped in 2003 and first appeared in WDJ in 2006. He passed peacefully at home at the remarkable age of 18, leaving behind broken hearts and a record of WDJ appearances that is unlikely to ever be matched in length by another dog. Sandi, we’re so sorry for your loss. Milo, thank you for staying so long. You can go play now.
Here's the goal: A dog who walks at your pace on a loose leash, happily engaged with a handler who notices, praises, and richly reinforces the dog's polite leash-walking behavior.
The super-fun walks described in our “Walk This Way” article in last month’s issue aren’t always possible; there are times when dogs do need to walk in close proximity to their person’s side at a human’s relatively slow walking pace. When this is the case, we all too often see dogs who are either gagging and choking while being restrained on a very tight leash, dragging their humans, or looking bored and unhappy as they plod along next to their people.
There is a reason for this: Walking politely at a slow human pace is a very unnatural behavior for your dog. Dogs generally move slowly of their own volition only when they are very tired, old, ill, obese, fearful, tense, or sniffing.
The good news is that there are ways to make leash-walking at your pace a lot more fun for your dog and successfully achieve her happy participation in this necessary activity.
The key word here is “fun.” This means engaging with your dog as you walk – not texting, talking on the phone, or chatting with your spouse or friends while ignoring the dog. This process starts with taking the time to actually teach the behavior known as “polite leash walking,” and then continuing to use a high rate of reinforcement and variety of training techniques to keep your dog engaged with you while you walk, as you generalize the behavior.
TEACH LOOSE-LEASH WALKING
if necessary, hook your thumb into your belt loop or pants pocket to prevent yourself from automatically pulling up or back on the leash.
Loose-leash walking is a staple of every basic Good Manners class – or at least it should be. Here’s the basic force-free technique; no choke chains, prong collars, or leash-jerking allowed.
Keep your arm by your side and your wrist against your hip so the leash stays loose. Use a happy voice, treats, toys, and coaxing – not force. If your dog lunges forward and pulls on the leash, stop, and maintain gentle pressure on the leash. When she stops pulling and looks at you as if to ask why you have stopped, mark that behavior (with the click of a clicker or using a verbal marker such as the word “Yes!”) and offer a treat from the hand that isn’t holding the leash, next to whichever knee she normally walks beside.
If she doesn’t look back at you, wait 10-15 seconds, then invite her back with a kissy noise/happy voice. When your dog returns to you, give her the treat and start walking again, using a high rate of reinforcement (marking and giving a treat at nearly every step).
I walk my dog on my left side, holding the leash and clicker in my left hand, and feed treats from my right hand by bringing my hand across the front of my body and offering it behind my left knee. When I am walking, my treat hand is out of sight behind my right hip.
While dogs are traditionally taught to “heel” on the left side, there’s no law that says you have to. The primary reason for sticking with tradition here is if you want to compete in Obedience or Rally or other canine sports that require left-side heeling.
Start indoors or in another low-distraction environment. Keep the rate of reinforcement high – step, mark, treat, step, mark, treat. Technical note: The author teaches students to hold the leash with the hand on the same side as the dog, and to feed treats with the other hand (crossing the body,) so the treats are clearly a reward, not a lure.
When you first start teaching leash-walking, begin in a low-distraction environment, such as your living room. Decide on the cue you want to use to tell your dog to walk and use that word every time you move forward.
Use a very high rate of reinforcement and be sure to keep the leash loose! Take one step and (as long as your dog is still right by your side and the leash is still loose), mark (click or “Yes!”), and treat. One step, mark, and treat.
It can help to frequently change direction. One step, mark and treat, and turn! One step, mark and treat, turn. Use your happy-voice praise to keep your dog engaged and attentive to you.
Occasionally, pull out a toy and engage your dog in a quick game of tug before resuming your step-mark-treat routine. Alternatively, squeak and then toss a small stuffer squeaker toy for her to catch and play with (see “Rules for Playing Tug,” WDJ December 2016). Then trade her a treat for the toy and walk on (see “How to Teach Your Dog to Trade,” February 2017). A variety of high-value reinforcers, including play, will keep the walking game fun and interesting for your dog. “Fun and interesting” is the key to happy leash walking.
Keep things fun and unpredictable; surprise your dog by whipping out her favorite tug toy and initiating a game of tug as a reinforcement.
It is also useful to do this indoors sometimes without the leash, still maintaining a very high rate of reinforcement and lots of happy-voice and play. Removing the leash ensures that you aren’t accidentally keeping tension on the leash – that your dog really is choosing to walk with you; it’s not the leash that keeps her close.
Whether on or off leash, as your dog begins to stay close and attentive to you, gradually increase the number of steps you take between your mark and reward. Remember to keep her engaged with happy conversation and praise as well as your mark-and-treat-or-toy reinforcer.
TAKE IT OUTSIDE
When your dog will walk with you politely in your very low-distraction environment it’s time to up the ante – take it outdoors! Set her up to succeed by starting in a relatively low-distraction environment – your private yard, a condo courtyard at a low-usage time – not the dog park, a city sidewalk during rush hour, or the school playground during recess!
Put her back on the leash to start (and plan to keep the leash on if you’re not in a safely fenced area). Return to your initial “one step, mark, and treat” protocol until you’re sure she’s with you, then gradually reduce the rate of reinforcement, increasing the number of steps between your mark-and-treat.
Practice increasing your speed as well, doing some short jogging sessions with your dog. If you’re in an area where it’s safe to do so, graduate to off-leash walking when you feel she is ready. Remember to use voice and play reinforcements as well as your treats!
When your dog can walk politely in a quiet outdoor environment, start increasing the distraction level. Ask your child (or borrow one from a friend if you don’t have your own) to play in the yard while you walk – quietly at first, then with more and more energy. Ask a dog-owner friend to bring her dog over to walk in the yard a distance from you, quietly at first, then with more energy, gradually decreasing the distance between you. Invite other friends over for a picnic and some lawn games while you and your dog walk around them. Get creative.
TAKE IT ON THE ROAD
Now that she’s a polite-walking star in your yard, it’s time to take your dog out in the real world. Again, start at low-activity times at first as you head down the sidewalk, practice in shopping mall parking lots, walk past schools, and leash-walk outside the dog park. Each time you increase the distraction level, go back to your one-step protocol, then gradually increase the number of steps between reinforcement as she shows you that she can stay tuned in to you while you move together.
OTHER HELPFUL HINTS
Here are more things that can enhance your dog’s leash-walking success:
*Use the Premack Principle. This can be a useful option for delivering a high-value polite leash walking reinforcer. The Premack Principle says that you can use a higher value/more likely behavior to reinforce a lower value/less likely behavior. It’s also known as Grandma’s Law: “You have to eat your vegetables before you can eat your dessert.” Trainers have made the phrase a verb in training jargon, as in “Hey, you can Premack that behavior!”
For many dogs, sniffing is a much higher-value behavior than walking politely by your side. You can identify upcoming desirable sniff-targets as you walk with your dog, then Premack a stretch of polite walking with a happy “Go sniff” cue, moving forward quickly with your dog to the desired sniff spot. Be sure to stop and give her plenty of time to sniff to her satisfaction.
You can also allow your dog to “Go play!” as a reinforcement fora stretch of polite walking. This works best if you are walking with a long line, so you could let her romp around a while before asking her to walk with you again.
*Targeting. Yes, your dog’s much-loved behavior of targeting can be useful for leash-walking! (See “The Moving Target,” below).
*Putting on the brakes. If your dog stops walking and doesn’t want to move forward, you need to figure out why. If she’s worried and needs to look at something, let her look, then use your kissy noise and cheerful voice to invite her forward. Pull out your cheerful voice and toys and invite her to have a party where you are! Or ask her to target to your hand and use her happy association with targeting to get her moving forward. Then start walking again.
You can also suggest movement by briefly putting very gentle pressure on the leash, but if she resists do not maintain pressure and definitely do not drag her forward! If she happily walks when you start out but puts on the brakes when headed home, it’s probably because she doesn’t want the walking fun to end. Get in the habit of doing something very reinforcing to her upon your return so she looks forward to going home as much as she looks forward to walking.
If she continues to be reluctant to move, it could be a medical issue – be sure to have your veterinarian check her out – soon.
*Keep it short and fun. Do several short practice sessions each day at first, then longer walks when your dog is walking well. Keep the outings exciting with lots of changes of pace and direction, voice, play, sniff and treat reinforcements to keep your dog interested.
Moving Target
Thanks to Camille Funke, training assistant at The Canine Connection in Chico, Calif, for demonstrating these techniques.
Does your dog love to target? If so, nose-targeting is another useful tool in your leash-walking learning kit. Here’s how to use targeting to enhance your dog’s polite walking:
*Supercharge your dog’s “Touch” behavior by making it really fun. Reinforce with toys, play and your excited happy voice (sound familiar?).
* Teach him to nose-target to a target stick or wooden spoon (especially useful for small dogs – you won’t have to bend over to offer the target, and after he touches you can smash a goodie on the stick and lower it to him for treat delivery).
* Ask him to “Touch!” and move your target hand/stick away so he moves toward it and puts more energy behind his nose touch. Mark and treat/toy/play.
* Ask him to “Touch” and run away so he runs after you to touch the target hand/stick. Mark and treat/toy/play.
* Ask him to “Touch” when he is 10 to 20 feet (or more) away from you and run away so he really has to run after you to touch the target. Mark and treat/toy/play.
* If he’s physically able, ask him to leap up in the air and/or over a jump to touch the target. Mark and treat/toy/play.
* Now that his targeting behavior is supercharged, as he’s walking with you on-leash (or indoors off-leash, as shown in the photo below), put your target where you want his nose to be while you walk, and ask him to “Touch!” Mark and give him a treat or initiate play with a toy each time his nose touches the target, which you continue to hold in the zone where you want his nose to be.
You can use this to reinforce your dog when he is walking in his polite-walk position, to invite him back to the proper zone when he gets out of position, or to help him walk past something he’s afraid of.
Well-trained assistance dogs can open the door to increased confidence, independence, and mobility for people living with a variety of disabilities. It’s been estimated that there are more than 500,000 assistance dog/handler teams in the United States.
Within the United States, assistance dogs are not required to be trained by a professional organization, but many of them are. And most of the time, those program dogs begin their journeys toward becoming working assistance dogs in the homes of volunteer puppy raisers.
At Guide Dogs of America / Tender Loving Canines (GDA/TLC), where I serve as the puppy program coordinator, we like to say, “Puppy raisers make teams come true!” We literally can’t fulfill our mission of “transforming lives through service dogs” without the support and commitment of our volunteer puppy raisers.
Our puppy raisers spend a little more than a year raising, training, and socializing our program dogs to the big world around them. Raisers attend training classes and monthly meetings, and work to incorporate the dogs into much of their daily lives. Dogs accompany raisers everywhere they go: to the office, market, post office, dentist, on public transportation, etc. College students bring their program dogs with them to classes, and in some cases, our high school-age junior handlers get permission to bring program dogs to school.
All of this is to help ensure our puppies grow into well-behaved, confident adult dogs ready to begin learning specialized guide dog and service dog skills when they return to our campus at about 15 months old.
Puppy Pick-Up Day
People often say, “I’d love to raise a service dog puppy, but I could never give it up.” When it’s time to send your program puppy “off to college,” of course it’s bittersweet. But here’s the thing. You aren’t “giving the dog up,” you’re “giving the dog forward.” You choose to raise a program puppy to help a veteran experience relief from debilitating PTSD. You raise a program puppy so a child with autism learns communication and social interaction skills. You raise a program puppy so a person who is blind or visually impaired regains independence and stands tall and proud as they safely walk down the street – just to name a few of the specialized training programs that exist.
You raise a program puppy to transform a life.
And the best part? Most people discover it’s not just the disabled clients whose lives are transformed. Puppy raising changes lives every step of the way. From the friendships that develop working alongside fellow raisers to the intense feelings of pride when you learn your dog has been matched to a partner and you meet the new team, you’ll likely feel your life has been transformed as well.
Still not sure how you’d handle puppy turn-in day? Attend the graduation of a local service dog organization and hear from the newly matched teams themselves! You can even tune-in online on Saturday, Oct. 2 as GDA/TLC broadcasts our next guide dog and service dog graduation via the organization’s Facebook page. There’s rarely a dry eye in the house.
Raising a program puppy is a wonderful way to blend a love of dogs with a desire to make a difference. If you’re in Southern California, I hope you’ll consider raising a puppy with Guide Dog of America / Tender Loving Canines. Not in So. Cal? A quick Google search for “service dog puppy raising in AREA” will likely surface a local option. There’s *always* a need for volunteer puppy raisers.
Fostering large litters frees up shelter staff from the highly time-consuming task of keeping this many puppies clean. It's also difficult for a busy shelter to keep a close eye on each puppy in a litter; if one's appetite is poor or another spikes a temperature, it's hard for shelter staff to notice and respond quickly. Foster providers do better at this, though, yes, we do get attached in the process of closely caring for vulnerable infants and letting them go is difficult.
I’ve been fostering dogs and puppies for my local shelter for 15 years. Wow! Time flies – until I thought about it, I didn’t realize it had been that long.
Recently I was talking to another long-time foster provider, Kathy Callahan, trainer and author of 101 Rescue Puppies. I shared with her that, on the day I brought my most recent litter of puppies that I had been fostering for my local shelter back to the shelter to get spayed/neutered and adopted, someone who had seen me crying my eyes out over bringing the puppies back to the shelter said to me, “I could NEVER go to a shelter, it’s too sad!” Well, this snapped me out of that crying spell; I whisked over to “furious” in just a few seconds!
“Sad?!” I snorted. “I’ll tell you what’s sad: The fact that too many people would rather ‘rehome’ their intact dogs or ‘accidental’ puppies to other individuals, who fail to spay, neuter, or contain THOSE dogs, so the cycle goes on. It’s not ‘sad’ if puppies in shelters ALL get vaccinated, neutered, microchipped, and placed in a screened home, it’s SUPER HAPPY NEWS.” Whew! I was seeing RED.
I got hot again when recounting this conversation to Kathy, and fortunately she laughed wryly, completely understanding my emotional whiplash. She said, “I’ll tell you what makes ME see red…” and within the space of a few minutes, we had a Top Five Stupid Things People Say to Foster Providers.
We agreed that number 1 is this: “That puppy/dog loves you so much! You HAVE to keep him/her!” (Rebuttal: One of our most important jobs as a foster provider is to help the dog or puppy/puppies learn to love and trust humans. If they love me and the other people in my fostering circle, they should be able to learn to love and trust other humans, too. Plus, if I keep this one, my fostering days are likely over. You see, I have only so much time, money, and energy for my dogs. One more dog at home will max out one or more of those limited resources, but if this dog gets placed in a loving home after growing to an adoptable age/recovering medically/improving behaviorally, then I can help several more dogs this year!)
A close second: #2 is, “Those two dogs/puppies love each other so much! They HAVE to get adopted together!” (Rebuttal: Usually, when two puppies or dogs are super tightly bonded, this affects their ability to bond to the humans in a household. Tightly bonded pairs tend to look to each other for support, comfort, and direction, and avoid the less-familiar attention of the humans they just met. Separating them may seem harsh for a day or two, but they will almost always start to pay more attention to and seek attention and comfort from humans once they are separated. Only then can real work begin to get them socialized and happy with humans – a prerequisite for finding “forever homes.” It’s far, far more difficult to find families who will take two dogs than one, and almost impossible to find families who want two dogs who want little to do with humans.)
One of my longest-term fosters was Odin, who was one of seven starved, mange-covered puppies brought into my local shelter. I fostered the whole litter (though two didn’t survive their serious conditions), but I had Odin for many months, and many trips to the veterinary ophthalmology department at UC Davis, trying to save his injured eye. I would have loved to keep him; he was a total sweetheart. Fortunately, he found a terrific family who ADORES him — and I have room to keep fostering.
Number 3 is the first one that Kathy first shared with me: “I love dogs too much to foster! I would want to keep every one!” (Rebuttal: Our love for dogs is exactly why I and Kathy foster: We want to help as many dogs and puppies as possible learn the social skills they need to succeed in homes and then find good homes. The idea that someone who doesn’t foster loves dogs more than us is ridiculous. We love dogs so much that we want to see as many of them in homes as possible.)
My trainer friend Sarah Richardson, owner of The Canine Connection in Chico, California, offered #4 and #5: “You’ve put so much work and training into that dog, don’t you just want to keep him/her?” and “It seems cruel to send that dog to another home, now that he/she is so comfortable with you!”
Sarah has had some very long-term foster dogs, including one that she took on from my local shelter following an environmental disaster (the collapse of the Oroville Dam spillways). This dog was on the list to be euthanized by the shelter, likely right after all the evacuated animals were returned to the shelter – but this particular dog (and about 15 others) happened to be taken in by Sarah, who had volunteered her facility as a temporary safe space while the shelter had evacuated due to the potentially collapsed dam. The dog had massive, serious health and behavior issues – and she also loved humans with a joyful spirit that just grabbed at Sarah’s heartstrings. Sarah dedicated herself to saving this foster dog’s life, and spent literal years and thousands of dollars solving the dog’s physical and behavioral issues – and keeping her either safely away from other animals (since predation and dog-aggression were her most serious issues) and happily engaged with enriching toys and activities, to maintain her mental health.
Since Sarah has several of her own dogs, keeping a dog-aggressive dog means neither her own dogs nor the foster dog can ever be completely relaxed and comfortable – or enjoy full, free access to Sarah’s entire home. But letting the dog-aggressive dog be placed in a home with other dogs (or other small animals) sets up that dog for inevitable failure. And so it took years to find a safe, suitable, only-dog home for that dog. Anyone else would have lost hope for finding that dog a home and given up; Sarah was a superhero for holding the line at finding the dog a genuinely qualified spot, and keeping her own dogs and the foster dog as safe and happy as possible until that happened – but she did it. That dog finally found a home with people who love and appreciate her affectionate, playful, joyful spirit and perfect leash manners.
I fostered this little guy for only a couple weeks. He had an irreparably broken leg – an old injury – and had to have the leg amputated. I kept him as quiet as you can keep a five-to six-month-old puppy until his surgery date, and wept over both his giant scar and his bravery at adapting to life with just three (albeit pain-free) legs. But he found a wonderful home with a family – and I was fostering again two weeks later.
(So, the rebuttal: “When I foster, my goal is not to just get rid of the dog as quickly as possible, it’s to equip the dog with the skills and health he/she needs to succeed for the rest of her life in a home, to help find a home that can meet the dog’s unique needs, and to help the dog and the family learn to love and trust each other. When I foster dogs with significant health and/or behavior problems, accomplishing these goals can take a long time – sometimes, much longer than I had planned or hoped. But it makes no sense to settle and rush the dog into a placement that is likely to fail. And when the right adopter comes along, someone who is ready and able and excited about providing everything the dog needs, it makes all the time and money and energy worth it. And then I can go back to enjoying my own dogs full time, without guilt over the one who was euthanized because no one cared enough to put in the work she needed.”)
Do you foster? What’s the stupidest thing someone ever said to you about fostering? Or, have you inadvertently said something stupid to a foster provider? Spill it, and we can likely rebut it for you. 😊
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
