couple of dogs wacthing streaming tv program , movie or series in bed cozy together
The last time a barking dog came onscreen during family movie night, did your dog perk up? Most of us have seen our dogs respond to something on TV. Maybe they stare intently at the screen for a bit or even jump up and bark. But these days, rather than waiting for the random moment to interest their pup, owners can actively seek out programming designed specifically for dogs. Some swear by it, saying it keeps their dogs calmer and less destructive. However, it’s not for every dog.
The high end of doggy viewing is “Dog TV,” a subscription service offering a library of options—from relaxing to stimulating—available 24/7. A selling point is the adjusted color and sound to suit the dogs perfectly, making it, in theory, more engaging for them. (The color looks a bit “off” to humans, as a result.) Owners can opt to show their dogs anything from a peaceful beach scene where one dog ambles along next to the surf to an active scene where many dogs are running around having a ball together.
Other dog-oriented options on the market include dog DVDs or YouTube, filled with content for dogs. However, many folks note that their dogs enjoy “regular” TV just as much. With higher voices and plenty of motion, kids’ shows seem to be a particular favorite with many dogs. Soccer games, horse races and even fishing shows also have their canine fans!
While it’s great that some dogs can enjoy screen time, there is a reason for caution. Each dog will react differently, and it’s essential to be thoughtful before leaving a dog alone with that TV on. While some owners find that the relaxation scenes on doggy TV calm their anxious dogs, others say much of the content is wildly overstimulating and often frustrating. Remember, if your dog practices barking wildly at dogs onscreen, you might expect more of that behavior in real life.
One of the best uses for dog TV can be to get your dog used to otherwise foreign sights and sounds—at a nice, non-threatening volume and distance. For example, if you’ve got a puppy but can’t get out and about to socialize him or her properly at the moment, you can carefully expose the pup to new things (the big city! a firetruck! a chicken!) in the comfort of your own home. Add treats to cement the positive feeling.
If you want to check out doggy TV, here’s the best approach: Sit with your dog as you watch together. Start with the relaxing scenes that show a dog from far away, and perhaps a bird, while lovely spa-like music plays. Does it seem to engage your pup without adding stress and intensity? Then that may be a great thing to add to your life together.
Nova (second from right) struggles with "stay." She's so intense! Tiny Sampson excels at stay – as long as he's not at risk of getting run over. Then he'll take cover, and who can blame him, with such big friends?
My very favorite part of social media is seeing photos and videos of dogs having a good time outdoors. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of snow dogs: playing in it, hiking through it, skijoring over it! It looks great! But I’m glad I don’t live in a snowy area. The winter in my part of California gets cold, but not so cold that you need special clothes to enjoy a walk outside; a regular hoody and perhaps a down vest will do!
Walking in winter – my local version of winter, anyway – is absolutely my favorite. It’s not yet hot, the rattlesnakes are dormant, and the leash restrictions for the bird nesting season haven’t yet gone on. I live at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, in the middle of the great Pacific Flyway, a major north/south route for migratory birds, from Alaska to Patagonia. At this time of year, the skies and fields are full of migratory waterfowl, including millions of snow geese and small numbers of spectacular sandhill cranes – always exciting to spot. And we nearly always see year-round residents like the great blue heron, osprey, and several species of owls and hawks.
I’m extremely lucky: I live close to the Oroville Wildlife Area, about 11,000 acres of land alongside the Feather River and surrounding man-made bodies of water fed by the river: Lake Oroville and its “afterbay,” a shallow lake where freezing cold water from the bottom of Lake Oroville is warmed slightly before being released into nearby rice fields and fruit and nut orchards. Much of this land was mined for gold in the previous century using floating dredges as long as a city block. The tailings were mined again in the late 1950s and early ’60’s for the giant earth-filled Oroville Dam. What’s left of that land, much disturbed and still distinguished by piles of rock tailings and pockmarked with ponds that have filled in the holes left by the dredges, was finally protected for wildlife and recreation. There are two types of habitat in this area: some lowland savannah along the river, dotted with ancient oaks and filled with deer; and, farther from the river, open, grassy or marshy plains (depending on how close to the afterbay you are).
Cole, my granddog, joined us for a walk near the New Year. His sit-stays are impeccable; I’m so proud of my son’s dog-training skills! Otto and Sampson think it’s too cold to sit, but they will hold a stay forever.
Dogs are allowed to walk off-leash in this area, except for during the nesting season, March 16 through the end of June. Actually, I start leashing up, or at least asking the dogs to stay on the trail, at the end of February, as some birds are already looking for nesting sites in the tall grass. When the leash restrictions go on, I generally start taking my dogs elsewhere to walk, usually on the dirt roads alongside the river in the more forested land, where nesting species are in trees, not on the ground. But, for as long as we can, I most enjoy these big-sky, open, grassy areas, and the dogs do, too.
Off-leash skills and good manners are requisite
Wherever we walk, we always practice a couple of skills that I feel are essential for any dog walked off-leash. If a dog hasn’t yet learned these skills to a pretty high degree of reliability, they don’t get to be off-leash. The two most important ones are a rock-solid recall (immediate and enthusiastic), and a good understanding of “off” or “leave it” (to forestall any interest in pursuing cattle on the other side of the wildlife area fence, or investigating that rattling noise coming from the grassy margin of the trail). We also practice a “distance sit” – parking their butts in place, either to allow someone to pass us on the trail (which happens incredibly rarely – again, I said I’m lucky to live here!) or to keep them still while I assess a possible threat (like a rattlesnake on the trail) or temptation (such as a deer crashing through the underbrush nearby). I ask them to practice each of these skills at least once per walk, and ALWAYS have high-value treats with me to generously reinforce these behaviors.
This is just one of the reasons we say Betty is a hippo-mix. Besides her predilection for mud, she’s built like a hippo!
My usual walking partners include Nova, a former foster pup who was adopted by a young woman who is now a good friend; tiny Samson and his owner Leonora, who was fostering Samson’s litter for our local shelter while I was fostering Woody’s litter (and we both kept our favorite from the litter); and sometimes my friend Loran, who adopted a middle-aged hippo-style bully-breed mix, also adopted from my local shelter. (Another friend who owns one of my long-ago former foster dogs and two other dogs recently moved out of state.)
Of course, we were recently also accompanied by my foster dog Coco, who found a lovely home in Idaho and is doing very well there.
All of these dogs, of various ages and sexes and breeds, get along splendidly with my dogs, though there are behavioral differences between them. Otto doesn’t really socialize with the others on walks. He isn’t unfriendly, just splendidly indifferent to what the other dogs are doing. The behavior is very much mirrored by the older dogs: Chaco the Kelpie-mix former foster who moved away, and Betty the hippo/bully-breed mix. These three have always kept their own counsel. If they are approached at a high rate of speed by a younger dog, they tend to step out of the way and look the other way. (Although, in his increasingly arthritic old age, Otto will roar if someone bashes into him.)
Woody, who is now five years old, has long been the ringleader of the playful puppy set. He’s always down for running and romping and leaping and chasing and wrestling with anyone else who wants to do all that stuff. He’s been the “fun uncle” for countless foster pups who came and went, as well as the trail guide for our longer-term foster pups (including Odin, the former mangey pup who had to have an eye removed, and of course hoppy, happy little Coco). He and Nova, who is now two years old, still race and wrestle with wild abandon as we walk.
At not-quite five pounds, twiggy, long-legged Samson’s goal on these walks is mostly to not get run over. He’s figured out that the best way to do that is to either stay at our heels, or follow Otto very closely; those are safe spots. Samson shines at the sit-stay; we can leave him behind, sitting, until he’s practically a speck in the road (well, he’s very small). When called, he comes as fast as his twiggy legs will go; it’s fun to watch.
Some of the fields in the wildlife area are planted with a grassy mix of native plants to create bird nesting habitat and forage. This grass will be over the dogs’ heads another month.
The distance-sit and stay is Kryptonite for Nova. At just over two years old, she’s still developing control over her impulses, and she gets squirmy and anxious if left behind, even if it’s just 20 feet or so from us. Her recall is super sharp, however. If it involves running, she’s excellent at it! Maybe these skills are age-related. Coco also never quite got the hang of either sitting or staying away from us. If she heard any cue that had once offered an opportunity to earn a treat, she’d come running and sit in front of us. Well, there are worse things!
We want our pups to live long and healthy lives, so it’s only natural to wonder if giving them a bit of horseradish with their regular diet could help them.
Can dogs eat horseradish?
Technically, yes, dogs can have horseradish, but you’ll want to file giving it to them under, “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
“I do not recommend giving your dog horseradish,” says Dr. Rachel Barrack, DVM, CVA, CVCH of Animal Acupuncture. “Most dogs don’t enjoy spicy foods, and it can cause gastrointestinal upset and irritation of the mouth, nose, throat and digestive system.”
Vets don’t use horseradish to treat anything either, but if you want a second opinion on whether or not it’s OK to intentionally give your pup any, consult with them first.
Planting horseradish in your garden? Here’s what to know if you dog eats some. Photo: CasarsaGuru/Getty Images
What happens if my dog eats horseradish?
If you accidentally drop a piece of steak with horseradish on it on the floor, chances are, your dog will be fine. It’s not toxic like other foods that dogs might help themselves to, such as chocolate or grapes. But lookout for signs of gastrointestinal discomforts, such as diarrhea, as well as allergic reactions.
“Keep an eye on your pet after they consume horseradish,” Dr. Barrack warns. Stomach issues and allergic reactions could happen shortly after consumption. “Allergic reaction signs could include diarrhea, vomiting, hives, itchiness, swelling of the face, ears, lips, eyelids or earflaps and sneezing.”
If you think something is wrong, call your veterinarian to schedule a check-up to rule anything out. Should you want to feed your dog some of your favorite foods, opt for something like pumpkin, avocado or oranges instead.
Over the past few weeks, I found myself following posts detailing the stories of two lost dogs – and the extraordinary lengths that people went to in order to find them. Yes! They were both found, and, weirdly, both were found on Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I don’t know what the odds are for all lost dogs being found, but I don’t think they are great, so these stories both made me very happy, and also, provided a great opportunity to share some pointers on what to do and what not to do when searching for a lost dog.
The first case was an 11-year-old Lab-mix named Lexi. The dog belongs to Brandi Solomon, a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut. Brandi and Lexi were visiting a friend’s farm in nearby Wilton, Connecticut, on December 7. As they walked around the farm, Lexi happened to touch her nose to an electric fence wire, and the shock made her bolt in fear. She ran quickly away and disappeared into the woods.
Since she doesn’t live in Wilton, and the dog was in unfamiliar territory, Solomon began to post “lost dog” notices on every social media site possible, trying to enlist people in the area around Wilton to keep an eye out for her dog. Fortunately, many communities today have any number of “lost and found pets” pages on Facebook, and Nextdoor.com, and for whatever reason, many people in the area got caught up in the search for Lexi. A number of Wilton residents banded together and offered their assistance to Solomon – including Pilar King, the wife of one of our publisher’s executives! King, an ardent dog owner herself and a long-time resident of Wilton, helped organize a small army of volunteers who put up “lost dog” fliers and went door to door, asking if people had seen the dog.
And many people had seen Lexi! There were numerous sightings of the dog, but every time she was spotted and people tried to call her or approach her, she would take off in a panicked run and disappear into the freezing, snowy weather again.
Lexi after being found
Finally, a group called CT Dog Gone Recovery Volunteer Network offered their help, and essentially told Solomon that while it was great she had so much engagement from the community, the people who were trying to catch the dog were going about it all wrong. Solomon was told to instruct people who wanted to help that they should not try to approach or call out to Lexi, but to take photos of the dog (if they could) so that Solomon could determine if the dog was Lexi, and try to keep the dog within sight while contacting Solomon, who would come very quickly.
They also recommended that if someone saw Lexi in a yard or near a house, to put a can of tuna or dog food or other pungent food for her outdoors and to retreat indoors. It was hoped that once Lexi realized that a particular location was a safe place to eat, she would return.
One Saturday, January 16, Jorge Velazquez, a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, was shopping when he took a flier from Robin Harrington, a volunteer from the CT Dog Gone Recovery Network, who was searching for Lexi there. Velazquez had lost his own dog for a few hours back in November and remembered how upset he was; he couldn’t imagine losing his dog for six weeks. He prayed for the dog’s return – and when he got home from the supermarket, there was Lexi in his backyard. He did what the flier told him to do; he backed away slowly and contacted Harrington and Solomon with a description of the dog. Because Lexi had been spotted nearby, traps had already been set up in Velazquez’s neighborhood. They came and set up a trap in his yard, and they baited it with a prime rib bone. Trail cameras were used to monitor that trap and the others.
On January 18, after 42 days on the run and over 100 miles traveled, Lexi entered the trap in Velazquez’s yard and began to bark in alarm. Thanks to the trail cameras, Harrington and Solomon learned of Lexi’s capture as quickly as Velazquez heard Lexi barking. Solomon came as quickly as possible – and said that Lexi recognized her within seconds and they had a joyful reunion. Lexi had lost a little weight and had some scrapes, but seemed otherwise unharmed.
After Lexi was found, Solomon asked for donations to CT Dog Gone Recovery Volunteer Network, as thanks for all their help and loan of trail cameras and traps. More than $6,000 has been donated to the volunteer group already.
Another crazy/lucky story
Lucy before being lost.
Here in Oroville, California, for the past week, I had been following another lost dog story. Lucy is a white German Shepherd Dog who had been burned in September’s Bear Fire. She had been found with burns all over her body in the fire zone by search and rescue volunteers, who took her straight to a veterinary clinic. She stayed at the clinic for months, recovering from the burns. Her owners had been found, but their home and property had been burned completely. When Lucy was well enough to be released from veterinary care, she had to spend a few weeks at a local animal shelter, as her owners were still working on making a secure place for Lucy and their other dog and temporary housing on their property for themselves.
The shelter staff saw that Lucy was responding poorly to spending time in the shelter; she was getting stressed and her condition started declining. The shelter asked the community whether someone could foster Lucy for a few more weeks, until her owners were ready and able to bring her back to their property. Chelsea Bornheim stepped up to volunteer, and was soon posting social media photos of a happy, relaxed Lucy reclining on her sofa.
But three days later, a new disaster: As Bornheim walked Lucy down her rural driveway to get the mail, two large stray dogs, escaped from a neighbor’s property, bolted out of the woods and attacked Lucy, who was wearing a collar and a harness. The foster person had Lucy’s leash attached to a fanny pack containing her phone and wallet. In the melee, as she fought off the attacking dogs (getting severely bitten on both arms), she released the leash and Lucy ran away in a panic, dragging the fanny pack and the leash behind her.
Animal control officers were summoned and the attacking dogs were found. (It turns out that they had a previous record of attacks and were supposed to have been in a locked enclosure. Following this attack, they were seized by animal control.) But Lucy was nowhere to be found. Anguished and injured, Bornheim immediately spread the word about Lucy’s escape on social media, and, as in Lexi’s case, over the following days, many people joined the search.
After someone boating on Lake Oroville spotted a white German Shepherd on the banks of the lake, a request was made for anyone with a boat who could help search miles of lake-front in the area. A local marina owner offered the use of his rental boats, for free, and a number of volunteers. Another area person who uses drones for search and rescue joined the search and spent days scrutinizing the area where Lucy had last been seen from the air. A helicopter pilot volunteered his time and craft for the search. Lucy was spotted a number of times, but in each case, she ran when she realized someone was trying to call or approach her.
Lucy after being found.
Bornheim spent all day on MLK Day searching the woods and lake shore with other volunteers, and went home that night discouraged and exhausted. She took a shower – and when she emerged, she saw Lucy at her back door. Eight days after she had been attacked and had run away, she had found her way back to her foster person’s home! Bornheim feels it’s a miracle that the dog did this, considering she had been in Bornheim’s home for only three days before the attack. (Fortunately, Bornheim had left her yard gates open, in hopes that Lucy might find her way home.)
Like Lexi, Lucy had lost some weight and one of her bite wounds from the attack was infected, but she’s been seen by the veterinary clinic that nursed her burns and they think, with some antibiotics on board, she’s going to be fine. Lucy’s foster provider and her owners are all completely over the moon.
Tips for finding a lost dog
Spread the word fast and wide. Get as many people you can get to help spread the word, too. Use fliers, and posters, but also, harness the great power of social media. Ask people to share your posts on every “lost dog” page in every online forum they know of. Give a good description of the dog and use a large, clear photo. Check the posts frequently as some people will ask questions or post news, rather than calling the search organizer. Put up new posts at least every few days, to let people know of any new sightings, so they keep looking.
Ask people if they know of volunteer organizations who can help, too. Scout groups may be willing to help distribute fliers; church groups or youth athletic groups may want to help, too.
Instruct people to not try to catch the dog. Many lost dogs are terrified and respond to the sight of a stranger trying to approach them as yet another threat. Some will begin to flee as soon as they see someone notice them. Tell people to not call the dog or approach it with intent, but to try to get photos or video of the dog (to confirm it’s the right dog).
If the dog is lost in an urban or suburban area, ask people in the community to check their Ring or other security cameras for sightings.
If the dog has been spotted and its identity can be confirmed, try to place baited traps in that area – with the caveat that someone must be near enough to quickly remove the inevitable raccoons, skunks, and other critters who may be caught in the trap before the dog is, and reset the trap.
Don’t give up! Dogs are sometimes lost for weeks and months before they are found. There were many people who were dubious about an 11-year-old indoor dog surviving for long in a cold New England winter, but Lexi was gone for six weeks and hadn’t lost a dangerous amount of weight!
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The Bucket Game is used to teach a dog to signal his consent for whatever husbandry tasks we might need or want to subject him to, such as brushing, nail-trimming, ear-cleaning, or eyedrops administration. Once dogs understand that they can control their handler's actions, that their signal to stop will be respected and their consent will be rewarded, they tend to cooperate.
My wonderful Scottie/Corgi/Poodle-mix, Bonnie, had long, fine, curly fur that tangled easily. She was relatively tolerant of my frequent insistence on combing out the tangles, except when it came to her hindquarters. When I would try to brush her there, she tensed up and sometimes even growled.
Then she learned the Bucket Game, and as a result of her learning a new way to communicate her feelings to me about being groomed – one that didn’t require the escalation of aggressive behaviors – her attitude during grooming went from tolerance to complete relaxation and enjoyment. She was a classic study in the behavioral value of giving our dogs choice and control in their world through cooperative care.
Cooperative care involves training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but also to be an active, willing participant in these experiences.
EVOLUTION OF A MOVEMENT
There is a long overdue and growing awareness in the dog-care professions of the importance of engaging our canine companions’ cooperation and giving them some control over the various husbandry procedures we ask them to endure. For far too long the attitude in the dog world has been, “You have to do it because I said so.”
Force-free dog training emerged as a movement more than two decades ago and continues to grow in popularity and availability. Some segments of the dog world – groomers, shelter staff, and veterinary hospital workers – were slower to embrace cooperative care, but this is now changing rapidly.
In 2016, “America’s veterinarian,” Marty Becker, DVM, launched Fear Free, an educational curriculum and certification program that teaches veterinary professionals to handle and treat their patients without scaring them.
Today, Fear Free offers educational opportunities and certification for dog trainers and groomers, with plans to add dog walkers, pet sitters, and more in the near future. The organization also makes Fear Free information available at no cost to pet owners and shelter workers.
In addition, the American Animal Hospital Association is nearing completion on a comprehensive book on cooperative care for veterinary practices, planned for a late spring release. And Deborah Jones, Ph.D., the author of Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry (2018), offers an online Cooperative Care Certificate course.
All dog owners need to perform basic husbandry tasks on their dogs at some point – pull burrs out of the dog’s coat, examine and clean a wound, administer eye drops, clean ears, brush teeth, and so on. To gain their dogs’ willing participation in these tasks, Jones recommends that, first, dog owners teach their dogs some basic behaviors for cooperative care – skills that will ease your way through almost any dog-care procedures that owners are likely to face. She teaches these essential skills in a specific order, so the dog learns them in a systematic and progressive way. Jones’ “10 Essentials” for cooperative care are:
1) Chin Rest (or Bucket Game)
2) Lie on Side
3) Restraint
4) Wear a Muzzle
5) Foot Handling
6) Mouth Handling
7) Taking Medication
8) Injection or Blood Draw
9) Eye Exam
10) Ear Exam
THE BUCKET GAME – A GAME OF CHOICE
There are a variety of protocols that can help your dog learn to enjoy these procedures. The Bucket Game is one of the most inventive and versatile. The Bucket Game was developed and introduced to the dog training world by trainer Chirag Patel, owner of Domesticated Manners, a training business in London. Once taught, the Bucket Game can be used for several of the 10 essential behaviors, as well as for everyday husbandry procedures such as grooming and nail trimming.
This fun and easy dog-training protocol empowers the learner, by creating an environment where your dog has choice and can communicate her willingness to participate. Using the Bucket Game, your dog can tell you:
• When she is ready to start
• When she needs to take a break
• When she wants to stop
• When you need to slow down
All you need to play the Bucket Game is a little bucket or some other container to hold treats and a lot of small, high-value treats.
STEP 1: TEACHING IMPULSE CONTROL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BUCKET
1. Start by holding the bucket out to your side. Reward your dog (feed a treat from the bucket) for looking at the bucket but maintaining some distance from it (two to four feet).
Usually, once your dog has seen you reach into the bucket, take out a yummy treat, and feed it to her, she’ll look at the bucket again, wondering what it’s all about. Be ready! When you see her glance at it, take a treat out of it and give her one. You’re on your way. Repeat a number of times.
If your dog tries to jump up or dive into the bucket, don’t admonish her; just hold it higher. It shouldn’t take long for her to realize that the best way to get more treats is to keep returning her gaze to the bucket without trying to jump up and help herself to them.
2. Put the bucket on the ground, a chair, or a table, and reward the dog (feed a treat from the bucket) for looking at it but not trying to get it. Your dog can be in any position; you are simply rewarding her for looking at the bucket. Repeat several times.
3. Gradually begin increasing the duration of her gaze, by rewarding her with treats from the bucket for looking at it for longer and longer periods. Don’t wait too long, increasing the duration too much, too quickly, as this may cause the behavior to extinguish.
Remember, this is a game of choice; your dog is allowed to look around between focusing on the bucket. Don’t call her, tap on the bucket, or do anything else to draw her attention to it. Let your dog choose to engage to participate.
STEP 2: INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF CHOICE
1. Practice until your dog is able to focus on the bucket for a duration of at least 10 seconds. Remember that it doesn’t matter what position she’s in; it could be a sit, down, or stand.
2. Choose what procedure you want to introduce to your dog as part of the Bucket Game, such as being groomed or looking in her ears. I’ll describe the steps as if we were working on brushing the dog.
3. When she is focused on the bucket and able to hold her focus for at least 10 seconds, start moving your hand toward her side (not touching her). If she continues to look at the bucket, stop moving your hand toward her and feed her a treat from the bucket. If she looks away from the bucket, probably to look at your hand or face (“What are you doing?”), just draw your hand back.
Remember, this is a game of choice. She may not yet understand that she can communicate to you that she is uncomfortable – she may have just been curious, but she will come to understand as you continue the process.
4. When she re-engages with the bucket, the game begins again. This time, don’t move your hand so fast or far. If she is able to maintain focus on the bucket, reward her with a treat from the bucket.
Repeat this process with your hand moving toward her, closer and closer, giving her a treat every so often as long as she continues to gaze at the bucket, and withdrawing your hand if she looks away from the bucket.
5. Eventually, you should be able to touch her as she gazes at the bucket. The first time you make contact with her, she will likely look at you. Just withdraw your hand, and try again after she gazes at the bucket again. She should be starting to figure out that the only way to get treats is to keep gazing at the bucket, no matter what you do with your hand. Touch her with increasing pressure at various locations on her body where you will be grooming her, rewarding her every so often. Again, don’t wait so long that she starts to think it’s not worth playing the game, but she should be able to hold her gaze on the bucket for at least 10 or 15 seconds while you touch her.
6. Now pick up her brush and repeat Step 3, this time with the brush in your hand. After several repetitions with the brush held near her, start touching her with the brush. This continues until you are able to groom your dog with her looking at the bucket.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF THE GAME
When your dog has learned the game for one procedure, you can easily generalize it to others, including ear and mouth exams, foot handling, nail trimming, etc.
However, this game of choice will only work if you allow your dog to communicate that she wishes to begin, take a break, and stop the game. If your dog looks away from the bucket, stop the game. When she re-engages with the bucket, the game continues. It’s imperative that you honor her request to stop and only use the procedure when you are able to honor her request to stop.
If you use the Bucket Game while working with other animal-care professionals, they also must be willing to stop any procedure when your dog looks away from the bucket. If they are not willing to do so, don’t use the Bucket Game with them. If they are doing a procedure that cannot be stopped once it has started, don’t use the Bucket Game with that procedure.
Below, you’ll find some links for videos on YouTube of a trainer teaching her dog some of these cooperative care exercises. Lauren Novack is an Associate Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, and Family Paws Parent Educator who is also certified in Pet First Aid and CPR. She works as a Behavior Consultant at Behavior Vets in New York City. She is also an MS Candidate in Applied Behavior Analysis at Hunter College.
In the videos, Novack can be seen training her mixed-breed dog Grayson to sit or stand still for examinations, grooming, and administering vaccinations or other injections. He’s completely unrestrained and performing these useful behavior, as Novack says, like any other trick he’s been taught.
Novack is offering a three-part webinar series on Applied Behavior Analysis for professionals in animal-care or -training fields. The series starts on January 23. For more information about different technologies for gathering information and creating plans that will alleviate animal suffering, click here.
“Chin rest” cooperative care/husbandry exercise being taught by behavior consultant Lauren Novack
Behavior consultant Lauren Novack teaching a dog to “station” for cooperative husbandry tasks.
Cooperative care: Behavior consultant Lauren Novack gives a dog a needle poke without any restraint
Cooperative care at its finest: Behavior consultant Lauren Novack’s dog Grayson receives a vaccine
Benchmarks In Cooperative Care Education
1996: Publication of The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson.
A refreshing new perspective on the relationship between people and dogs has redefined the state of the art of dog-friendly dog training. Available wherever books are sold
2009: Publication of Low Stress Handling of Dogs and Cats by Sophia Yin, DVM. With more than 1,600 photos and 3 hours of video, this book and companion DVD offers tips, tools, and techniques for recognizing brewing fear and aggression, while reducing this through specific handling techniques that decrease stress and improve patient comfort and safety. See lowstresshandling.com
2016: Marty Becker, DVM, launches Fear Free. Their mission is to prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress in pets by inspiring and educating the people who care for them. See fearfreepets.com
2018: Publication of Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry by Deborah Jones, Ph.D. From the book: “When we take the time to carefully observe our dog’s behavior, read their stress signals, and respect their communication with us, it’s just amazing how quickly we can replace suspicion with trust. Our goal is to empower our dogs and help them gain confidence in the husbandry process.” Available wherever books are sold
2020: Cooperative Care Certificate course launched by Deborah Jones, Ph.D. One of the absolute best things you can do for your dog is to help make the care necessary for his health and well-being as stress-free and familiar as possible. This course provides a virtual titling program that will help you organize and assess your dog’s readiness and comfort for grooming procedures and veterinary care. See cooperativecarecertificate.com
Past WDJ Articles About Cooperative Care
• “Touch Me, Touch Me Not,” August 2004. What to do when your dog hates being touched: A program for making your dog safer to live with and easier to examine.
• “Safe and Not Sorry,” August 2009. Why and how to condition your dog to comfortably and happily wear a muzzle.
• “Positive Pedi-Pedi’s,” August 2012. Force-free nail-trimming techniques:
Three alternative procedures to try on your dog.
• “Touching Moments,” March 2014.How to properly examine your dog: Teach your dog to not just accept but also enjoy handling, examinations, and even restraint.
•“Nuzzle Up To Muzzles,” February 2019. Why, when, and how every dog should learn to wear a muzzle.
It is critically important to your dog’s welfare and quality of life that you work with only those dog-industry professionals who will follow your wishes concerning your dog’s care and handling in all interactions. It makes absolutely no sense to spend years building your dog’s trust in humans and then turn him over to a veterinary technician who alpha-rolls him in an exam room or drags him into a treatment room as he shrieks in fear. Getting choked into compliance by a groomer, shocked by a trainer, yanked or struck by a dog-walker – any of these experiences can cause irreparable harm to his trust of and interest in humans.
It took some time to find a veterinarian who understands and respects that my dogs and cats don’t ever get taken to “the back” for routine procedures. I’m fortunate and grateful: Even during this pandemic, my clinic allows one human to come into the clinic with their animal companion.
How do you find professionals who understand and follow a cooperative care/fear-free/force-free philosophy? You can find various lists or directories for finding such professionals, and we’ve listed a few of these below. But no matter what list or directory you use, once you have contacted an individual, we recommend that you scrutinize them further. Interview them, ask for references, observe them at work to ensure that they practice what they preach, and be prepared to step in and halt procedures at any time if you don’t like what you see.
Pat Miller Certified Trainers: These are trainers who have successfully completed at least three of Pat Miller’s academies and are committed to using force-free training and handling methods. peaceablepaws.com/pat-miller-certified-trainers/
Academy for Dog Trainers: Jean Donaldson’s Academy exists to provide a comprehensive, science-based curriculum on aversive-free pet dog training, behavior and behavior modification. academyfordogtrainers.com/find-a-trainer/
Victoria Stillwell Academy Certified Dog Trainer: This academy gives students the knowledge and skill to assemble a comprehensive “trainer tool kit” as well as the confidence to be able to clearly explain to clients why positive training is the only recommended philosophy when using these various tools. vsdogtrainingacademy.com/become-dog-trainer/dog-trainer-certification/
Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partners: The Karen Pryor Academy teaches students to be skilled trainers and effective teachers using positive reinforcement training. karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer/#!directory/map
Other Organizations: While the following organizations follow the “least intrusive, minimally aversive” (LIMA) principle, their members and/or certificants do not necessarily strictly adhere to that code – do your research!
If your dog repeats a behavior that you don't like day after day, despite your efforts to punish him by yelling, scaring, or hurting him, you're not actually punishing him. More significantly, you don't have to punish him to get the behavior to stop! There are more effective techniques that feel a lot better for both of you.
“No! Get off the table!” “No! Give that here!” “No! Quit pestering her or I’ll spray you!”
All my life I’ve been around people who tell their dogs, “No!” – and I’ve done it plenty myself. I thought it was punishment. But was it? Punishment is a puzzlement:
■ The word has varied and contradictory definitions.
■ People who think they are punishing their dogs often aren’t doing so. They are merely interrupting the current behavior.
■ We humans have a strong urge to respond in a punitive way to perceived wrongs. It likely comes from having a fast-moving, intuitive brain process. We are wired for retribution!
All this can combine to get us confused and stuck in unproductive behavior patterns with our dogs. But before we can do anything about this, we need to understand and agree on some definitions.
THE DIFFERING DEFINITIONS OF PUNISHMENT
The term “punishment” is defined differently in common usage and in behavior science. This causes many problems of communication and understanding.
Two dictionary definitions of the traditional (common) meaning of punishment are:
• The infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense.
• Suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution.
These indicate that punishment is an action taken against someone who has committed some type of offense. In this sense of punishment, there is no mention of rehabilitation, and more importantly, no reference to future behavior. Punishment is simply the intentionally unpleasant action the punisher takes against the offender.
Now contrast this with the definition in behavior science. Miltenberger (2008) lists three parts to the definition of punishment:
1. A particular behavior occurs.
2. A consequence immediately follows the behavior.
3. As a result, the behavior is less likely to occur again in the future. (The behavior is weakened.)
Parts 1 and 2 are related to the common definition of punishment, or it seems like they are. But Part 3 is different and particularly hard to keep in mind because of the traditional meaning.
In behavior science, punishment has only occurred if the targeted behavior decreases in the future. That means that at the instant of taking action (Part 2 above), we can’t know whether a behavior has been punished or not. We will only know by observing the animal’s behavior over time.
Making things even more complex, there are two types of punishment defined in behavior science.
• Negative punishment: Something desirable is removed after a behavior, which results in the behavior happening less often.
• Positive punishment: Something aversive is added after a behavior, which results in the behavior happening less often.
Both punishment processes are aversive, and they both carry risks of side effects. But the use of negative punishment is acceptable to some positive reinforcement-based trainers. An example is closing your hand around a treat if the dog tries to grab it when you are trying to teach him to “leave it.”
“Positive punishment” is the process more people feel familiar with. An example is jerking on the leash when a dog pulls ahead, with the intent of decreasing pulling in the future. This type of punishment, which involves the use of an aversive stimulus, carries a great risk of fallout. Positive reinforcement-based trainers seek not to use it.
This is the type of punishment I’ll be discussing in rest of this article.
RETRIBUTION BUT NO BEHAVIORAL DECREASE
It’s common to hear beleaguered dog owners say things like, “I tell my dog ‘NO’ and shake him by the scruff but he keeps jumping on my guests!”
A person who says things like this is trying to punish her dog. She is likely not cruel and she likely loves her dog. But she is following the mores of our culture rather than the science of behavior. She is taking immediate retributive action when the dog does something “bad.”
But what she isn’t doing is reducing the dog’s jumping in the future – the dog might even respond to the scruff shake as an invitation to play! Her actions don’t qualify as “punishment” in the behavioral sense if the dog keeps on jumping.
What such action often achieves is interruption. If you yell at your dog when he barks at the mail carrier, you may interrupt his barking. This is reinforcing . . . to you! “Whew! He stopped barking!” But the next day, he’s at it again! So even though what you want is for your dog never to bark at the mail carrier, what you get is a cycle of bark/yell/relief.
It’s difficult to realize that such actions are not effective in the long term. Stopping the annoyance reinforces us in the short term. And it’s easy to confuse the interruption with training since we are changing the dog’s behavior in the moment.
RETRIBUTION FEELS GOOD
Let’s talk about that urge to take action against another being.
Psychologists who support the dual process theory (Evans, 2009) state that there are two typical human cognitive processes.
“According to dual-process theories, there are two distinct systems underlying human reasoning: an evolutionarily old system that is associative, automatic, unconscious, parallel, and fast; and a more recent, distinctively human system that is rule-based, controlled, conscious, serial, and slow.”
Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman popularized dual process theory in his book Thinking Fast and Slow (2011). He refers to the “fast” system as System 1 and the slower, more thoughtful system as System 2.
There is a lot of research showing that System 1 – the knee-jerk system – governs retributive punishment.
John M. Darley, an American social psychologist and professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University, writes:
“When a person registers a transgression against self or others, the person experiences an intuitively produced, emotionally tinged reaction of moral outrage. The reaction is driven by the just deserts-based retributive reactions of the person to the transgression rather than, for instance, considerations of the deterrent force of the punishment…. I suggest that these desires to punish are often the product of intuitive rather than reasoned processes.”
Is this sounding familiar?
If a similar internal process occurs in humans when a dog “misbehaves,” it could explain why retributive punishment can feel so necessary in that situation. (And not just to the owner; ask anyone whose dog has “misbehaved” in public how many people pressured her to do something about it!) Our outraged moral sense misfires on a creature who does not have the same cognition or morals as we do.
But whether or not our urge to punish dogs is linked to the phenomenon Darley and many other scientists have studied, we know that stopping a behavior that is bothering us is reinforcing (to us). Even if there is no future decrease of the annoying behavior, we’ve figured out how to relieve ourselves in the short term. We end up doing it again and again.
It can be devilishly hard to change the pattern of repeatedly yelling, jerking, or hitting dogs, even if we don’t want to hurt or scare them – and I believe most of us don’t. If the phenomenon Darley describes is involved, we are likely wrestling with an old and strong part of the brain when we try to break the habit.
WHY DOESN’T THE YELLING WORK?
We think we understand “positive punishment” because the action of doing something unpleasant to stop a behavior comes naturally to us humans. But it turns out that it’s not that easy to use an aversive stimulus to reduce future behavior, even when that’s the explicit intent.
To begin with, you need to go big. You have to do something that really hurts or scares the dog, not just something unpleasant. (Dogs, like humans, will tolerate an aversive stimulus if there is strong competing reinforcement for the behavior.) Here’s the catch: If you achieve enough intensity to decrease behavior, you risk installing long-term fear in your dog.
There are several other criteria to meet before the dog’s “bad” behavior will decrease through this process. Consistency and timing of the aversive stimulus are crucial. Also, the stimulus must be disassociated from the human if the goal is to suppress the behavior generally. In other words, the dog needs to learn that something bad happens when he tries to get in the trash even when the human isn’t there. Those who haven’t studied behavior science don’t have the information to plan this out. And it takes a System 2 response, rather than the knee-jerk, System 1 response, to make that plan. I’m not condoning punishment, planned or unplanned; I’m just saying that often when people think they are punishing behavior, they aren’t.
So we could repeatedly “punish” a dog in the cultural sense of the word without achieving punishment in the behavior science sense. Even though we might get temporary relief from doing it, the cycle is not fun for the human. Who wants to yell at their dog or spray them with water or threaten them all the time? And for the dog, this cycle can be anywhere from annoying to terrifying.
So what Does Work?
Effective positive punishment is much harsher than we would ever want to be with our dogs. Unpleasant interruption does little about future behavior. So what are we left with?
There is a straightforward, humane way to interrupt behavior in real life while also creating a long-term plan for behavior change. A well-trained and practiced “positive interrupter” can stop dangerous or undesirable behavior in its tracks. It’s an attention/reorientation cue trained with positive reinforcement. And if the interrupter is combined with a plan to remove opportunities for the undesired behavior, the unwanted behavior will decrease.
Note that “positive interrupter” is not a term from behavior science; it’s just a cue that is trained with positive reinforcement. But some people train a special cue for this rather than calling the dog away with their recall or “leave it” cue.
I trained a special positive interrupter with two of my dogs whose play was intense. Even though they never hurt each other during play, they would ramp up, and I felt like the possibility of aggression was always there.
I used the phrase “Cool it!” given in a pleasant, sing-song voice. I worked with each dog separately at first. I trained it just like I would train any cue to reorient to me: I paired the phrase with treats. I started in a super-easy environment, teaching them that the words predicted something yummy. Then I started using it in easy real-life situations, for instance, if they were in the same room with me but paying attention to something else, or if they were one room away but looking my way. They would need to reorient or come to me to get the goodie.
When I started using it in play, I used it during periods where they were having a breather, then worked up to interrupting full-intensity play. It worked beautifully and had the overall effect that they learned they could interrupt themselves when things got intense.
I was learning, too. It can be counterintuitive to say something pleasant to your dogs and give them a treat when you are worried and want to yell, “Stop it!” The process helped me escape that System 1, knee-jerk response, and do something that was win-win instead.
It’s best to use an interrupter in an environment where the dog has plenty of ways to access reinforcers, such as getting on a mat, sitting nicely, or playing training games. In an environment where there are easier ways to earn reinforcers, the undesired behavior will likely fade over time instead of increasing. Also, in a richly reinforcing environment, there is less chance of the dog learning the pattern of “Be naughty so I can get called away and get reinforced.”
Positive interruption is a better method than both actual punishment, with its unpleasantness, fallout, and endless cycle. And calling such a cue an interrupter can help people who are new to behavior science have a special name for an action that they want very much – a way to get their dog to stop doing that!
This article was first published in Clean Run – The Magazine for Dog Agility Enthusiasts.
Dog trainer Eileen Anderson writes about behavior science, her life with dogs, and training with positive reinforcement on her blog (eileenanddogs.com). She is also the author of Remember Me? Loving and Caring for a Dog with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. See page 24 for information.
References
Darley, J. M. (2009). “Morality in the law: The psychological foundations of citizens’ desires to punish transgressions.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 5, 1-23.
Evans, J. S. B., & Frankish, K. E. (2009). In Two Minds: Dual Processes and Beyond. Oxford University Press.
Kahneman, D., & Egan, P. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Miltenberger, R. G. (2008). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
After a walk on the beach, the author's purebred Rottweiler puppy Leela hangs out with mixed-breed rescue Timber and a client's Goldendoodle puppy, Kobe.
I got my first dog, a stray that I begged my mother to allow me to keep, when I was 9 years old. It was 1964, on Long Island, New York. I had been playing in the cul-de-sac with friends when this little black and tan puppy came bounding up to us. We became best friends, and I was hell-bent on keeping her. My parents were separated, and my mother wasn’t in the best of moods, but my siblings convinced my mother to let me keep her. We needed each other and on some level my mother knew this.
Since then, I’ve never been without at least one canine companion – usually I have two or three – and they’ve all been strays, hard-to-place dogs from a rescue organization, or given to me by a frustrated client. In more than 50 years (56 years, actually), I have never once searched for a dog; they showed up in my life when they needed a home. Heck, even my horses, cats, and chickens have all been rescued animals.
But now, at the age of 65, I did something that I’ve never done before: I bought a purebred puppy.
WHEN BUYING A PUPPY MAKES SENSE
I had a number of reasons for my purchase; it wasn’t an impulse buy. It probably surprised people who know me as a lifelong proponent of rescuing pets, but I’m actually very supportive of well thought-out and responsible purebred puppy purchasing – that is, under a set of specific conditions:
■ The buyers know what they want and are familiar with or at least knowledgeable about the type of dog they want. In other words, they’ve done extensive research on health issues, appearance and coat maintenance, temperament, energy level, and typical behavioral traits for their desired breed.
■ The flip side of this: If a person admires how a certain breed of dog looks, but isn’t familiar with and appreciative of their temperament and how this dog typically behaves, it would behoove them to do a bit more research, to make sure it fits with their lifestyle or it is certain to be a set up for failure.
■ The buyers have done the necessary groundwork for the breed they desire and will be able provide an appropriate home for the type of dog they want. They should be confident that they are well-suited to manage a dog with the breed’s typical characteristics, energy level, and temperament. This includes health issues and care and maintenance of the dog’s coat.
■ The flip side of this: The family wants a specific breed that is more than likely to fail if it only meets the criteria of looks, not lifestyle. For example, inactive people, living in a condo with no yard, who love the look of an Australian Shepherd, probably shouldn’t get an Aussie. Australian Shepherds need plenty of physical exercise as well as a great deal of mental stimulation to keep them busy and happy.
■ The buyers specifically want a puppy. They are passionate about raising a dog from the earliest age possible and are ready to alter their lives and schedules in order to accommodate a puppy’s extraordinary needs for guidance and exercise.
■ The flip side of this: The buyers are under the assumption that a puppy can be crated for many hours each day and won’t require much alteration or adjustment on the part of their daily routine. They feel that they won’t need to do much in the way of puppy-proofing their home because the puppy will be crated, which is also not considering the emotional needs of the puppy or the ability to teach manners when they are locked in a crate all day.
■ The buyers are ready for a puppy. They are equipped with puppy pens and baby gates and a wealth of puppy toys. They have a veterinarian and have pre-enrolled in a puppy training/socialization class and know that training continues through adolescence into adulthood. They have plans for puppy play dates with dogs who are well matched in size, breed, and age.
■ The flip side of this: They’ve had dogs before but haven’t had a puppy in 20 years and think they’ve got it all covered, but they haven’t found a veterinarian yet. They think their old dog’s toys will suffice. They aren’t aware of the modern, science-based changes in training theory and methods, so they don’t realize that not all trainers are alike.
■ The buyers have found a responsible and ethical breeder. This person makes appropriate placements only, taking care to match the buyers with puppies who are well-suited to that puppy’s emerging temperament.
■ The flip side of this: Buyers are unaware of what a responsible breeder is, don’t know what questions to ask, so they have been searching online, on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, or calling pet stores to find out if they have puppies. They are unaware of what a puppy mill is and think that buying a puppy sight unseen from a website is legit. They don’t know that these breeders will sell to anyone with the money to buy, with little to no concern for the welfare of the puppy or how well matched they are with the buyers.
WHEN RESCUE MAKES MORE SENSE
There is a big division in the dog community about rescuing: To those of us who work in rescue, it can seem irresponsible to buy a purebred dog when there are so many dogs waiting in shelters or foster homes, in desperate need of a forever home.
Let’s face it, money exchanges hands with both shelters and breeders. It’s takes money to care for animals. Compensation is necessary. Money drives both transactions and the onus is on us to do our due diligence in finding those who really have the welfare of the animals as their first priority.
Sometimes, a dog’s appearance matters far less to a prospective owner than an individual dog’s personality and temperament. One huge benefit of adopting a “recycled” adult dog is that his size, coat, and personality is already fairly established. (Rescued puppies are a bit more of a gamble in terms of eventual size!)
When a family is open to rescuing a dog, their list of considerations may look more like the ones below. (Keep in mind that this list absolutely applies to people who think they want to buy a purebred dog, too.)
■ Overall, will the prospect be a good fit for our family’s lifestyle? For example, physically fit, curious, confident dogs might be best for active families; quiet dogs are likely to be more content as a companion to a less-active person, perhaps living in an apartment, happy to go on daily walks and not much more.
■ Does the prospect likes children and/or other animals, including other dogs? If the adopter has children and/or other animals, this needs to be positively determined.
■ Does the dog have the fitness and temperament to participate in whatever sports the owner enjoys?
■ Is the dog a good size for the owners? For example, older people may want a dog who is small enough to lift and carry if need be and who won’t be difficult to walk even if the dog pulls (but perhaps not so small as to be tripped over). Other families specifically want a big dog.
■ Is the dog protective, a “guarding” type? Is this appropriate for this home, with children and friends coming and going?
■ If the dog has health issues, or is a breed with a strong propensity for inherited health issues, are they affordable for the family? Will the dog need a special diet to prevent allergies, daily medication for arthritis, heartworm treatment? If he’s handicapped in some way (blind, partially paralyzed, etc.), is the family able to accommodate his disabilities?
■ Does the dog have behavioral issues that will require time, accommodation, management, and/or training? Be aware that many dogs end up in shelters because of a behavioral issue that someone else couldn’t or wouldn’t deal with. Are they willing to do the training and behavior modification to alleviate whatever caused the issues?
OWNING A DOG REQUIRES WORK EITHER WAY
I am acutely aware that many dogs who have been rescued from abandonment or surrendered may require a lot of time and extra work to help them fit into our society; for the past 50 or so years and until now, every single one of my dogs has been previously owned.
But even though I’ve now bought a puppy who has more of a “blank slate” than I’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing home, I know there are no guarantees that she will develop into a healthy, perfectly well-behaved lifelong companion. All dogs require a commitment of time, money, love, and effort.
Here’s the difference: I’m aware that no matter what behavioral or health baggage dogs come with, when we enter into a relationship well prepared and with our eyes open, and we completely accept responsibility for their well being, with kindness and patience, we can not only learn to live with each other in harmony, but thrive.
MY INFORMED DECISION
I chose to get a Rottweiler puppy, and I had a few reasons for this.
First, I was down to one dog, Timber, a 10-pound mixed-breed. Previously, I’ve never had just one dog and never had a dog smaller than 30 pounds. I hike every day and haven’t felt safe hiking with just Timber, who would be no more than a little snack to predators like coyotes and bobcats. I wanted a second dog again, and a big dog, one who would be capable of being Timber’s and my protector on trails, with the stamina to do long and challenging hikes. I also live alone and having a big dog makes me feel a lot more safe.
Second: I’ve had a Rottweiler in mind for ages. About 40 years ago, I had a Rottweiler, Ninja, who was given to me. At the time, I worked closely with a therapist who worked with troubled teens and Ninja helped us immensely with those kids. They all loved playing with, grooming, and training the 125-pound goofball of a Rottweiler. They could relate to the big dog who looked tough on the outside but was meek and a bit silly on the inside. For years, I thought that when my own children grew up and I was winding down my career in dog training that I would seriously revisit getting another Rottweiler to be a therapy dog for troubled teens.
Timber and I had been alone for a year when I saw a pictures and video posts on social media of a Rottweiler puppy that a colleague was training. I couldn’t get enough of watching their training progress. I realized that I was now ready to do what I had wanted to do since Ninja died in the early ’90s.
Also, I wanted a purebred puppy whose history, genetics, temperament, and breed characteristics were known. While puppies already have a fair amount of writing on their slates when they go to their forever homes, I wanted to start with as clean a slate as possible given my desire to do therapy work with teenagers. There are no guarantees when getting a dog, whether we purchase from an ethical and responsible breeder or adopt a puppy from a shelter, but I knew that if I did my due diligence as a buyer, I’d have a better chance of getting a solid temperament and healthy puppy from someone who did their due diligence as a breeder.
THE RIGHT ONE
The author’s first purchased, purebred puppy,, Leela was chosen for specific traits that would help her succeed as both a companion and a partner in a specific career.
I wasn’t actively looking, but after being riveted by the social media appearances of my colleague’s pup, I mentioned to a friend that I wanted a Rottie puppy. Without hesitation, she told me about an acquaintance who trains and breeds service and therapy dogs – and who had a Rottweiler puppy that he wanted to go to a trainer who wants to train a therapy dog. I had to reach out.
I contacted the breeder and asked about the puppy he thought was a good therapy dog prospect. We talked for over an hour and I heard about all the work and time that he put into this litter. I realized that this was the pup for me. I was getting a Rottweiler puppy who will become my next therapy dog.
This man takes his job as a breeder seriously and has educated himself in how he can help his puppies succeed before they go to their perspective homes. And since he’s also a trainer of service and therapy dogs, I knew he breeds for temperament and provides early enrichment training and socializing that enhances the potential for the puppies’ success. For me, temperament is number 1 on my wish list, with early enrichment a close second; this litter had both.
Leela means “play” in Sanskrit and that’s what I hope my new puppy brings to those in need, a sense of play. She is now 7 months old, and I couldn’t be happier with who she’s becoming. The breeder’s great choices in selecting her parents, and the early neurological stimulation (ENS) exercises he did with the entire litter went a long way toward making her who she is today: a loving, willing, and confident dog who is very interested in people and already has a keen sense of knowing who needs her energy. I’m hopeful by the time she’s ready, this pandemic will be a thing of the past and we can begin our journey to helping heal some kids who could really use her generous, kind, and loving spirit.
Lots of us enjoy bringing our dogs to the pet supply store when we need to buy food. Buy you should really have your hands free, so you can pull bags down and read the fine print on the labels. Which nutritional adequacy standard does each candidate meet? How much fat and protein do they contain? What ingredients are they made of?
When you consider the bitter disagreements among human nutrition experts about the value of or harm from various types of diets – vegan, vegetarian, raw, ketogenic, gluten-free, paleo, organic, you name it! – it’s not surprising that there are so many myths and misconceptions about what we should feed our dogs. Not surprising, but disappointing. At least humans can choose their own diets; dogs depend on us to sort out the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. So let’s bust some myths!
MYTH 1: All “complete and balanced” dog foods that meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles offer the same amount of nutrition.
TRUTH: This couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only are the amounts of macronutrients (protein, fat, fiber) in dog food wildly variable, the micronutrient levels are, too!
In this country, the legal definition of “complete and balanced” is established by a nongovernmental advisory group, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which publishes the requirements for complete and balanced canine diets in tables called the “AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.” AAFCO makes occasional adjustments to the nutrient levels in the tables as continuing studies in animal nutrition are conducted.
Unlike the “recommended daily allowance” (RDA) model that guides human diets with target nutrient levels, the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles consist only of minimum values for all the nutrients required by dogs and maximum values for just a few nutrients that can be toxic if consumed in excessive amounts. As long as a food meets the minimum nutrient values expressed in the profiles, and doesn’t exceed the maximum values, it can be labeled as complete and balanced.
That’s why it’s possible to compare two dog foods, both labeled as complete and balanced, and discover that Food A has twice as much fat or protein as Food B, or half as much iron or zinc.
The truth is, it can take a little (or a lot) of trial and error to find foods that will fully support your dog’s health.
MYTH 2: “AAFCO Feeding Trials” are the gold standard for proving a food’s nutritional quality.
TRUTH: Actually, it’s quite possible for foods that have passed an AAFCO feeding trial to contain insufficient or excessive nutrient levels; if a food passes an AAFCO feeding trial, it doesn’t have to meet the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles criteria.
Feeding trials establish whether a food can sustain dogs for six months (at the most), which means the food may fail to maintain a dog’s health for years on end. Also, nutrient levels that depart dramatically from established minimum and/or maximum requirements for dogs can take a lot longer than six months to have deleterious effects on a dog’s health.
A true gold standard for proving the nutritional adequacy of a dog food would be something that combined both of the existing qualifiers. Doesn’t it seem like a food should have to meet the minimum and maximum nutrient levels established by AAFCO and pass a feeding trial to ensure that the food was palatable and digestible? Sigh.
MYTH 3: The best dog food is [insert the name of your favorite brand here].
TRUTH: We don’t care what brand name you insert in that myth; you’re wrong. There is no “best” food for all dogs, any more than there is a best food for all humans.
All dogs are individuals, just like all humans. While there are many of us humans who can live perfectly well on a diet of fast food and highly processed frozen and prepared foods, some of us would die on such a diet. Some people can’t eat certain ingredients – or foods that contain gluten or foods with high amounts of fat – without suffering serious consequences.
Well, it’s the same with dogs. Some can eat anything without ill effects, while others have highly sensitive digestive tracts that are in constant revolt. While we are eager to inform you about the traits of better-quality diets from reputable companies, our goal is to give you good options to choose from. You have to find what works best for your individual dogs.
Myth 4: Once you find a food that suits your dog, you shouldn’t switch.
TRUTH: You know who benefits the most from this myth? The pet food company who captured the money you spent on food when you first got your dog.
It’s true that if you feed your dog the same food for months (or years) on end and then you change that food, he will likely display some digestive upset. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change his food; it means you should change his food more often!
Dogs have evolved with extremely efficient and flexible digestive abilities – and for the past few thousand years, they’ve been eating our leftovers, whatever that may be. They thrive on variety, just like we do. And the more variety there is in their diet, the more robust their digestion becomes.
We strongly encourage owners to rotate among at least three different products from different pet food companies throughout the year. And more may be better! Why? Think back to Myth 1: No two foods contain the same macronutrient and micronutrient levels, and who is to say which ones have too much of this or too little of that for your dog?
Most pet food companies use the same vitamin/mineral premix for all of their dry dog foods, but the nutrient levels in the premix used by one company will undoubtedly be different than those in the premix used by other companies. If you feed only one food, or even several products from just one company, you are entrenching those nutrient levels in your dog’s body. Rotating among a few products (made by different companies) can supply nutritional balance over time.
The exception to this recommendation? Dogs who have proven to be intolerant of any change or allergic to a number of ingredients.
Myth 5: The more the food costs, the better it is.
TRUTH: The inverse of this statement is for sure true – the cheaper a food, the lower its quality – but because there are so many factors that affect pricing, the original statement is false.
Some companies spend much more money on marketing than other companies who make similar foods. Gigantic companies have an advantage in the economy of the scale of their ingredient purchasing and manufacturing costs, but may spend a ton on research and development. There are just too many factors involved to make a straight correlation between a high price and quality.
We don’t think you have to buy the most expensive food in the store in order to properly nourish your dog – but you definitely should not buy bargain basement food. The first five ingredients of the food pictured here are: Corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat, and soybean meal. Blech.
One thing you can do is to compare the price per pound of products with similar ingredients and macronutrient levels. There are relative bargains to be had among good foods. Just don’t go looking for bargain-basement foods; rest assured that they will not meet our selection criteria.
Myth 6: You should ask your veterinarian what food is best.
TRUTH: We wish with all of our hearts that this myth was true, but the harsh fact is, few veterinarians know that much about nutrition or are willing to discuss any foods except the ones they sell.
Don’t get us wrong: We respect and appreciate veterinarians, and we’re not accusing them of a profit motive here. In most cases, we suspect it’s a matter of familiarity and a limited amount of available bandwidth. As you already are aware, there are way too many products to choose from. Once a busy practitioner is convinced of the quality of particular pet food company’s products, whether because of a talented salesperson or an informative seminar she attended, she’ll tend to recommend those foods and eschew discussion of the rest.
The lure of “prescription” diets that have been developed to address medical conditions can’t be overstated. If you were a veterinarian who was already putting in 12-hour days and barely keeping up with the workload, would you rather have a 30-minute talk with a client about diets with lower magnesium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and fat, which are supposed to be beneficial for her dog’s urinary tract health, or just recommend a prescription diet (conveniently carried by your clinic) that has those features?
Not all vets are that interested in or knowledgeable about food. It’s always worth asking them what food they’d recommend for your dog and why. But if their only suggestion is the food sold in the clinic and there isn’t a compelling reason for that particular choice, with respect, we’d take the advice with a grain of salt.
Myth 7: Corn is poison for dogs! No, wait! It’s wheat. And soy!
A 27.5 pound bag of this prescription food, recommended by many veterinarians for dogs who are prone to any sort of urinary problem, costs around $90. Its first five ingredients are: Corn, chicken meal, pork fat, corn gluten meal, soybean mill run. (The legal definition of that last ingredient is “soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which result from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal”.). That’s crazy!
Truth: If any one of these food ingredients were one-tenth as bad for dogs as people say (allergenic! indigestible!), we’d have a lot fewer dogs today. All of those ingredients have been fed to dogs for decades.
Like most myths, though, there are fine grains of partial truths behind these allegations.
Corn, and to a lesser extent, wheat, rice, and millet are prone to Aspergillus fungal infections. Aspergillus produces a highly dangerous substance called aflatoxin, which is not only a carcinogen but also can cause deadly liver damage in dogs. Pet food manufacturers that use these ingredients, especially corn, must be scrupulous about testing these ingredients as they come into their manufacturing sites and after the pet food is made.
Soy is denigrated as an ingredient in dog food for other reasons. It’s been alleged to cause allergic reactions, reduce the digestibility of protein, cause gas and diarrhea, and interfere with the absorption of minerals like calcium and iron.
When used in pet food in minor amounts – and with proper quality control and ingredient testing – none of these or many other frequently impugned ingredients should be problematic for most dogs. Half a century ago, corn and wheat, in particular, were used in such high concentrations in dog food that it was almost inevitable that dogs who lived their whole lifetimes on these foods would be inadequately nourished. (We’re approaching a similar heavy usage/overreliance on peas and other of legumes in pet food today.)
Remember: If you change brands and formulas frequently, none of them should have an opportunity to cause long-term harm.
Of course, if your dog has an adverse response to any food, stop feeding it. Give him a different food until his symptoms resolve, then try it once more. If the problem recurs, or if it causes a similar reaction in more than one of your dogs, see if you can return it. Ask your retailer to report the issue to the manufacturer, or contact the manufacturer yourself. Note the ingredients on a calendar or your dog’s health journal so you can try to identify a pattern of problems that you can link to certain ingredients or brands of food.
Many of the people reading this have the magazine in their hands (or these words on their screen) because they once went looking for an answer to a problem they were having with their dog. They may have Googled the problem and found a WDJ article on the topic in their search results. Or maybe they asked a friend for advice, and the friend gave them a copy of the magazine that had an article on the subject – what to do about dogs who jump up or bark, or dogs with diarrhea or allergies. I’m pretty sure that in the past 22 years, we’ve had an article that has offered sound solutions for just about every problem you can have with a dog! (And lots of articles on non-problems, too, of course!)
And then, maybe they responded to a pop-up ad with a subscription offer to WDJ, or they sent back one of those cards that fall out of the issue, agreeing to look over a free issue.
If this describes you, welcome! Whichever way you came to be reading this, I’m pleased that you’re here, because you’re clearly someone who loves your dog more than most – why else would you even consider subscribing? Rest assured, you are among your people. We’re highly invested in our dogs. We’re motivated to provide the best food and health care for our dogs and interested in learning effective, dog-friendly training methods that will improve both our dogs’ behavior and our relationship with them.
One word of warning, however: If you’re looking for quick fixes to health problems that took years to develop or tips that will instantly stop your dog from displaying behaviors he’s been practicing for months, you’re probably going to be disappointed. While many of us have learned things in WDJ that made some aspect of our dogs’ lives better overnight, by and large, the sort of information we specialize in here is usually more involved than the sort of glossy “Just use these essential oils and voilà!” five-minute non-solution that proliferates in these short-attention-span times. Think about it: While a calendula tincture can promote nearly miraculous healing of a hot spot or other vexing skin problem, it doesn’t address the cause of the skin injury or prevent it from recurring. An article in this publication will not only tell you where to buy the herbs and how to make the tincture, but also how to investigate the underlying cause of the dog’s skin irritation and stop it.
We take the same approach to behavior problems. We absolutely will be able to help you and your dog – if you’re willing and able to do put time and effort into helping your dog. If you’ve come here looking for answers, we’re glad to have you, and we invite you to stay for solutions.
Paralyzed by the staggering number of choices that face you at the pet supply store? Our list of approved foods will help you winnow down the candidates.
Below, we’ve listed more than 50 companies that collectively make more than 1,000 different dry dog foods that meet our selection criteria. To think that these foods make up a fraction of the dog food sold in North America is a testament to the massive size of the industry – estimated to have sold $31 billion worth of pet food in 2020.
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Like most dog owners, I absolutely love taking pictures of my dogs and my dogs’ friends (my friends’ dogs, lol). Most of us are carrying around our mobile phones and snapping pictures of our dogs every time we are somewhere particularly beautiful, aren’t we? Or any time they are being particularly cute?
I publish some of these on WDJ’s Instagram page, @DogsOfWholeDogJournal. It takes an effort to not publish all the heavily filtered versions of some of my favorite photos that I create with a super fun app called Prisma. If you, like me, are addicted to taking your dog’s picture and you don’t already have this app, download it now! It’s free, and has about a dozen or so filters that you can play with to create artworks of your dog. If you get really excited about it, you can pay for an upgraded version that has many more filters that you can apply.
Once the app is loaded, you can take any photo on your phone and apply any filter that you like. Some apply wild colors or textures to the photo. Some turn the photo into a pencil sketch, or a heavily pixilated, almost abstract artwork. I love the ones that make the most vibrant colors in the photo even more dramatic. But you can also apply a very soft effect, just barely altering photos in a way that makes it harder to determine whether a piece of art is a photo or has been painted. (I actually used the app to create the image of Otto that has appeared in WDJ’s masthead for the past few years!)
Once the filter is applied, you can edit it, toning down the effects or magnifying them as you see fit. There are sliders for adjusting the overall exposure, contrast, brightness, saturation, vibrance, color “temperature,” and more. And you can save as many versions of the photo that you create as you like! I have no affiliation or link or interest in the company that makes this app, I’m just an appreciative user. If you are, too, go to WDJ’s FB page and look for a post about Prisma, and share an edited photo of your dog there!
The filter called “Frangipani” makes the photo into a soft watercolor.I love the softness of this one, called “Golden Hour”The original image, for comparison.
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.
A refreshing new perspective on the relationship between people and dogs has redefined the state of the art of dog-friendly dog training. Available wherever books are sold
