If your dog has learned to scratch at the door to get you to let him in or out, he can easily learn to do some other behavior – one that’s more acceptable to you – to communicate his need to enter or exit. This time, you will teach him what behavior will get him the result he wants.
DEMAND BEHAVIORS IN DOGS OVERVIEW
– Reframe your thinking about “demand behaviors” so that you can value your dog’s attempts to communicate with you.
– Teach your dog a more acceptable “ask” behavior to avoid frustration for both of you.
– Teach your dog a “That’ll do” cue so you can communicate clearly to her that it’s time to stop asking – for now.
Your dog wants another treat. She barks at you, her shrill voice grating on your ears like fingernails on a blackboard. You’re typing at your computer and your dog wants you to toss her beloved tennis ball. She nudges your arm persistently with the treasured yellow orb clenched firmly in her jaws, and paws at you when you ignore her nudging. Your dog needs to go out, and you hear her scratching at the back door, adding new gouges to your recently repainted door frame.
These are demand behaviors, often regarded in the dog world as annoying and inappropriate. But what if we looked at them from a different perspective?
A dog’s demand behavior is her effort to communicate her wants and needs to you. Her demand behaviors increase in intensity because she is frustrated when she doesn’t get what she wants. Imagine how frustrating it would be to keep asking for something and have someone deliberately ignore your requests. No wonder she gets frustrated!
When you think about it, it is a true marvel of our unique relationship with the canine species that they are able to communicate so effectively with us, and we with them. Rather than spurning this gift, perhaps we should value and appreciate our dogs’ attempts to make the world work for them – a world in which they often have very little choice or control.
“The power to control one’s own outcomes is essential to behavioral health.” This compelling quote is from Dr. Susan Friedman, faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. (See “Training a Dog to Make Choices,” November 2016.) Susan is an outspoken advocate of changing behavior through facilitation rather than force. With this quote in mind, I propose we reframe our perception of demand behaviors in order to give our dogs more power to control their own outcomes. Instead of calling these behaviors annoying, we could look at them as invaluable communications with potential to enhance the behavioral health of our canine family members, and figure out how to facilitate those communications.
Does that mean we have to always give our dogs everything they ask for? Not at all. It means that we need to give our dogs an acceptable forum for communicating their wants and needs. And we must also be clear about when we are not willing or able to give them what they want, in order to teach them to stop asking when we have signaled “Not right now!”
Let’s look at how this communication could work for demand behaviors like scratching at the door, pawing, nudging, and barking. Then we’ll discuss how to install the “off” switch.
Scratching at the Door
Many dogs learn this behavior as a way to communicate to their humans that they need or want to go outside. It’s important to make a distinction between the two.
Years ago, I had dinner with a friend whose blue heeler, Ranger, scratched at the door to go out – or come back in – literally every three minutes throughout the entire dinner. There is no way this dog had to eliminate that often, but to my friend’s everlasting credit, she calmly got up and let him out – or in – every time he asked. Annoying indeed, but my friend never raised her voice or refused her dog’s request. After dinner, he settled calmly on the living room rug as we chatted.
Some years ago, the dog training world came up with the idea of teaching dogs to ring a bell when they wanted to go out, thus saving thousands of door frames from potty-request damage. Humans who teach their dogs this behavior can now proudly boast of their dogs’ brilliance and bell-ringing prowess. That alone, however, would not have forestalled Ranger’s frequent door requests. Some humans know their dog’s elimination schedules, and just don’t respond to the bell when they know the dog is “playing” them to go out. That risks frustration on the dog’s part, as well as the possibility of human error, with a serious consequence of not letting the dog out when she really does have to go.
What if, instead, you taught your dog two different cues – one that means “I have to go to the bathroom,” and one that means “I want to go out and play”? They are, after all, two distinctly different behaviors!
You can stick with the bell-ringing behavior as your dog’s potty-break cue, and use a different mechanism altogether, such as a buzzer or talking button (such as the Staples “Easy” button), for the play-break cue. Or simply acquire two bells that look and sound very different, one for potty and one for play. To make it easiest for your dog, you could install the potty bells at one door, and your second sound device – let’s say a buzzer – at a different door.
Staples sells a touch-activated button that all but very small dogs can press to make it exclaim, “That was easy!” in your choice of 12 different languages. Tiny dogs have better success with a classic “call bell” – the sort of thing you’d find on a hotel’s front desk. Wireless, battery-operated doorbells are an even better choice if your house is large; you can stick the adhesive-backed button literally anywhere that’s convenient to your dog, and put the ringer in a central part of the house, so you can hear it from anywhere.
First, teach your dog how to activate each sound device by shaping her to touch them with a nose or paw. (For more information about shaping, see “Shaping Your Dog’s Behavior,” January 2017, and “Methods to Produce Better Behavior,”August 2014.) Then add your verbal cue – a different verbal cue for each sound device.
Say, “Want to go potty?” (or whatever phrase you plan to use), and encourage her to ring the bells. A jingle gets a verbal marker and an escorted trip outside to her favorite bathroom spot. (I use “Yes!” as my verbal marker – but you could say “Click!” if the word “yes” creeps into your vocabulary too often, which could weaken its power as a marker.) When your dog eliminates, click, treat, and praise, and take her back inside.
When she is doing this easily, hang the bells at her potty door, and gradually ask the question from farther and farther away, until she gets the idea of going to the bells herself from anywhere in the house to ask to go out.
Meanwhile, add your cue for the play buzzer, by saying “Want to go out and play?” and encouraging her to activate the buzzer. When she does, give your verbal marker and take her out for a round of her favorite game – fetch, chase, dig, or whatever she loves. Sometimes you can just let her out to play on her own, assuming you have a safely enclosed yard.
Again, when she is doing the behavior easily, attach the buzzer near the play door and gradually increase distance until she will go to the buzzer on her own to ask to go out.
Now you’re ready to add the “off” switch. (See “Install an ‘Off Switch’ on Playtime“.) If she buzzes to go out to play, you can let her out to play or, if it’s not a good time or you think she’s been out enough, use your “That’ll do!” cue to let her know that there’s no point in asking again. You can also do this with the potty bells, but only if you are absolutely sure she doesn’t really have to go out. Err on the side of generosity with this one, but if you routinely take her out, wait for her to go, click, treat, and then bring her back in, she’s less likely to give false signals with the potty bells.
Barking, Nudging, and Pawing
Dogs bark for a lot of reasons, but when they are barking at you with “that look” in their eyes, it’s usually because they want something from you. This behavior can be particularly unwelcome because the repetitive barking can be quite annoying – to your neighbors as well as to you. Persistent nudging and pawing tend to not disturb neighbors, but can still be bothersome when you are trying to focus on something else.
Nudging for attention can be quite annoying, especially when you’re engaged in some other activity that involves your hands, like typing on your computer, drawing, painting, or embroidery. Reinforce your dog generously for performing a behavior that is incompatible with nudging. Photo by Pat Miller
As with scratching at the door, your first line of defense for these behaviors is to teach your dog a more polite way to ask for what she wants, whether that’s a treat, a toy, or your attention.
If you want this to work, you will need to be sure to be observant so that you see and can reinforce the new “ask” behavior a good percentage of the time. If you don’t, she’ll likely revert to the old barking, nudging, and pawing – because those almost always work to at least get your attention. It’s hard to ignore a dog who is barking in your face, or putting long scratches down your arm! Here are some more acceptable behaviors that you can teach your dog to perform in order to “ask” for your attention:
- Go lie down on an “ask mat” provided specifically for this purpose.
- Nose-target to a plastic container lid attached to the wall. (One in each room, for easy communication.)
- Pick up a specific designated “ask toy” and drop it at your feet.
- Lie down and roll over or play possum (lying on back, tummy-side-up).
- Push a talking button provided for this purpose.
- Stand with front paws on a stool provided for this purpose.
You can see that the possibilities are endless – pick a favorite behavior or teach your dog something entirely new to be her “ask.” Then, anticipate and preempt her barking, nudging, or pawing by cueing her “ask” behavior when you see her heading for you with intent in her eyes. Be sure to reinforce the behavior when she does it! Also, watch for her to offer her “ask” behavior, and reinforce her when she does.
Meanwhile, studiously ignore any inappropriate barking, nudging, or pawing so these behaviors can extinguish. Be aware that when you extinguish a behavior by removing all reinforcement, the behavior may get worse before it gets better. This is called an extinction burst, as the dog tries very hard to obtain reinforcement for a behavior that’s worked well for her in the past.
Be careful! If you inadvertently reinforce your dog during an extinction burst, you will have taught your dog that the increased intensity level of behavior gets reinforced, and she will go there more quickly next time. (Note: If you have neighbors who will be inconvenienced by your dog’s barking during the extinction process, I strongly recommend you let them know you are working on it – and provide a dozen home-baked chocolate-chip cookies when you do.)
Finally, be sure to use your “That’ll do” cue when you end your reinforcement for the “ask” behavior; then, avoid reinforcing any “ask” behaviors that your dog engages in after your “That’ll do.”
He Can’t Always Get What He Wants
The bottom line here is that you get the behaviors you reinforce. If your dog does things you don’t like in her efforts to communicate her needs and wants, help her to learn how to communicate more effectively, thereby reducing frustration for both of you. It’s up to you to find a more appropriate way to help her control her own outcomes and be behaviorally healthy. You’ll both be happier for it!
When a dog is this cute, it’s hard to resist his attempts to get you to play – at least, until you’ve had to change your clothes twice before going to work, as he slimed your slacks or muddied your Manolo Blahnik’s with a dirt- and slobber-encrusted ball he wanted you to throw. But you must resist once you’ve given the “All done!” cue. If you give in after you’ve given your cue, you are in for a lot more of the same.
I adopted my first Australian Kelpie in the mid-1980s. This is a breed I cheerfully describe as “Border Collies on uppers” – and I quickly realized that my ball-crazy Keli was going to drive me crazy if I didn’t teach her an “off switch” cue.
I used her favorite toy – a tennis ball – to teach her that “All done!” meant there was absolutely no point in continuing to ask me to throw the ball. This then translated easily to other situations where I needed to tell her that we were done with whatever activity we had been engaged in – whether it was play, training, or casual interactions.
Here’s how you can install an “off switch” in your own dog:
1. Start with a long play session – long enough that it’s reasonable to expect that your dog will be able to end the game and relax.
With Keli, sometimes tossing the ball in the yard for a while was enough; sometimes it took climbing to the top of a steep hill and tossing the ball down the hill for her to fetch – over and over and over again.
The goal is to have him more or less ready to quit on his own – at least when you start teaching “All done!”
2. Give your “All done!” cue, and put the toy somewhere your dog can no longer see it – in a cupboard or in a backpack – and ignore any of your dog’s efforts to re-engage with the toy.
3. Notify any other humans in the vicinity to also ignore your dog’s attempts to get them to play.
NOTE: Training humans to ignore your dog’s attempts to get them to play fetch might be the hardest part of this! You have to be very assertive with them! Alternatively, you can just leash your dog and move away from the most insistent dog lovers.
4. Watch your dog, so you notice and can reinforce him for any appropriate behavior that is not attention-seeking. If your dog stops staring at you and, instead, retreats to his bed, go to him and praise and pet him calmly (assuming he likes petting).
5. Make sure to give your dog plenty of opportunities to engage in ball-chasing and other favorite activities daily. You don’t want your dog to feel deprived after you tell him that you are done for the moment, but confident that he will have another opportunity later.
6. Generalize your “All done!” cue by using it in other training situations and recreational activities, so that your dog will realize that the cue means the end of whatever he is doing when he hears it. For example, you can use the cue when you’ve allowed your dog-who-loves-to-lick to kiss your face several times and then you’ve had enough.
Herding dog trainers commonly use “That’ll do” as a “off switch” cue – and the expression was popularized by the movie “Babe.” (Remember? It’s when the talented swine was told: “That’ll do, Pig!”)
You can, of course, use whatever cue you want. But stick with it! Trust me, you will find it well worth the time and effort it takes to teach your persistent dog that enough is enough when you say it is.
If your dog is a purebred, or is a mixed breed dog that greatly resembles a specific breed, look into the historic origins of the breed to determine what sort of work the dog was developed to perform.
Give your dog the opportunity to use his inherited gifts during recreation or work. For example, allow dogs that are known for scent work to smell, and dogs who were bred to herd or work to run (a lot!), whether at the dog park or on a jogging path.
Look for opportunities to train your dog for activities that harness the skills and predispositions of his breed or type.
No one knows whether dogs chose humans or humans chose them, but whatever the case, we’ve been partnered for a long time. We welcomed canis lupus familiaris into our fold – and then much later began carefully and strategically breeding them to produce dogs who would readily perform various specialized tasks. They helped humans hunt, gather, and retrieve game, rid us of vermin, herded and guarded our flocks, and protected us from dangerous interlopers. Even the smallest toy breeds were ratters by day, and lap warmers by night.
Our liaison was one of mutual convenience. We provided food, warmth, and shelter, and in turn, they performed services we needed – but their work didn’t preclude them from acting on their instincts and expressing behaviors that came naturally to them. It was a great working partnership that still exists in some parts of the world.
In this country, though, few pet dogs have any sort of job to do. Seem like a nice gig? Free food and lodging, with almost no expectations? Well . . . except for the fact that they have to give up the right to act on their instincts and may no longer express many behaviors that come naturally to them. For a dog, it’s maybe not such a good deal after all.
As a dog trainer and behavior consultant, I feel that it’s no wonder that many of the “problem dogs” I’m paid to work with are expressing undesirable behaviors; they’d likely be perfectly fine if they were living in a different time and circumstance, able to perform the work and do the things they most enjoy doing. The simplest prescription? Adopting a program of training and activities that suit dogs of their background can greatly enhance the dogs’ lives and enable them to live more successfully in our world.
Why Do We Choose Certain Dog Breeds?
Many people choose their canine companions based on aesthetic reasons; they like dogs who are a certain size or color, or who have a certain type or length of coat. Some will admit they chose their dog because it looked “just like” one on TV or in the movies, or out of nostalgia for a childhood dog, conjuring fond memories of times gone by. They may have read or heard that dogs of a certain breed are “good with kids” or “hypoallergenic,” or make “great apartment dogs.” But how many people select their dogs based on what that type of dog was originally bred to do? Very few!
While the majority of dogs in the U.S. are mixed-breeds, the rest (an estimated 40 to 45 percent) are purebreds. Not all purebreeds are recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC), but the AKC is the largest registry of purebred dogs in the U.S. It recognizes around 200 breeds, which it organizes into formal “groups,” based on the work that the dogs where originally bred to do. According to statistics based on AKC registrations, among the current top 20 most popular breeds, five are working breeds; three apiece are in the sporting group, herding group, toy group, and “non-sporting” group (this is merely a catch-all group for dogs that don’t specifically fit in any other category); two are in the hound group, and one is in the terrier group. It’s safe to say that the majority were bred with specific characteristics and behaviors that helped make them more efficient at their jobs.
Specific characteristics and a predisposition to certain behaviors are also inherited by mixed-breed dogs; the more genetic contribution a mixed-breed dog receives from a purebred gene pool, the more likely he is to act like his purebred ancestors.
Why does this matter? Knowing what drives and motivates a dog’s forebears can inform his owner as to what is most likely to motivate him, lead to greater harmony and training success for that dog.
This is not to say that every individual dog within a breed should be expected to behave the exact same way. However, there are some distinctive breed-typical characteristics that have been selected and concentrated throughout that breed’s history that could very likely affect behavior.
Sporting Dog Breeds
Sporting breeds – Pointers, Retrievers, Setters, and Spaniels – were bred to work alongside and help the hunter on land and in water, with a strong prey drive and the strength and stamina to hunt and swim all day if needed. Does this mean all Labradors will be natural swimmers? No. Or will all Pointers and Setters be “birdy”? Not necessarily. However, most that I have met through the years have been full of energy – and when that energy is not directed toward productive activities, it can manifest in a host of undesirable behaviors such as reactive behavior, destructiveness, excessive barking, and hyperactivity. The result can be the dog being deemed as stubborn and untrainable, which couldn’t be farther than the truth.
These breeds were specifically bred to follow cues and direction, making them extremely biddable – when their physical activity needs are met, which isn’t always easy. A walk around the block or a 20-minute game of fetch when you come home for work just might not be enough.
This doesn’t mean you must take up hunting! You can simulate that work by participating in field trials and hunt tests. These sports train your dog to use his instincts to point to, flush, and retrieve game. There are fewer things as exciting as watching a young dog’s instinct kick in! A baby Irish Setter who’s never seen quail before “pointing” at one hidden in the brush without ever being taught is a sight to behold.
Agility, bikejoring, fly ball, cani-cross, dock diving, and scootering are some of the other sports and activities that can provide both physical and mental exercise for active breeds. They also promote team work between dog and owner, and help the dog’s build confidence.
Barbara Long of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has shared her life with Gordon Setters for quite a few years and currently has two. “If they get enough exercise, they can be quite calm in the house,” writes Barbara. “Mine have been biddable but outwardly directed, independent, and persistent, which is pretty characteristic of the breed.” Barbara regularly participates in rally, tracking, and canine freestyle with her dogs.
At this writing, there are more than 24,000 Labs and Goldens alone listed for adoption on petfinder.com, and thousands of other sporting breeds and predominant sporting breed-mixes. I wonder how many of those dogs could have had been more successful in their homes if they’d had access to these types of activities?
Working and Herding Breeds
Working breeds, such as Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Boxers and Great Danes, were bred to be keepers of the castle and ward off trespassers, so it never surprises me when I receive a call from a worried owner of a 10-month-old Mastiff who seems wary of strangers. It starts to make even more sense when I learn the dog has never been to a group training class and rarely leaves the house or yard.
While all dogs need and benefit from early socialization, anyone choosing a working breed should expect to socialize, socialize, socialize; and when they think they’ve done enough, socialize some more! Dogs of working breeds should be introduced to new people and places regularly – while young, and through adolescence and adulthood. Group training classes are a great place to accomplish this. The dogs will have the opportunity to meet new people and dogs of all kinds in a controlled, predictable environment.
Sports and activities that involve thinking and problem solving, such as tracking, scent work, competitive obedience and rally obedience, are great to try with many of the working breeds. Of course, many of the working breeds are used in the specific activities for which they were developed, such as water rescue (Newfoundlands, Portuguese Water Dogs), drafting and carting (Saint Bernards, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, Leonbergers), and sled pulling (Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes).
Jill Greff of Ottsville, Pennsylvania, has had Bernese Mountain Dogs since 2001. “I have done obedience, rally, agility, and herding with my Berners. Mostly I found they respond best to positive reinforcement and are both food- and praise-motivated,” says Greff. “Berners do things in their time. It may look like they are moving slow, but in their mind they are hurrying! Patience is key.”
Primarily bred to herd sheep and cattle on working farms, today most herding breeds in the U.S. rarely live that lifestyle. Instead they live in metro areas and suburbs, and occasionally in townhomes, condos, and apartments.
How does that work? Well, one thing is certain: if there is herding instinct there, they will still find a way to express it, often by herding the children, family cat, or worse, by chasing cars and any fast-moving object, which can be very problematic and dangerous. The challenge is finding activities that can help satisfy that urge safely and constructively.
Treibball is a great sport for herding breeds. Created in Germany a dozen or so years ago, this sport requires a dog to “herd,” or gather and drive large exercise balls into a soccer goal. It is a skill that does take quite a bit of precision training, but herding breeds tend to be very quick learners. Additionally, many herding breeds excel at dog agility and competitive obedience and rally as well.
Hounds, Terriers, Toy, and “Non-Sporting” Breeds
Both hounds and terriers were bred to work independently of man – meaning, rather than directly follow our cues and directions, they followed their own instinct and drive. Hounds use their noses to locate everything from fox, rabbits, raccoons, wild pigs, and bears (and then use their keen sight and speed in pursuit). Terriers go to ground, using their powerful claws and shoulder muscles to dig for vermin and rodents.
This is important to know when training one of these breeds, as it can save your hours of frustration when they don’t seem to be listening and become easily distracted! I’ve found it most successful to first use the highest-value rewards to motivate them to work with you, and then shape the desired behavior by rewarding increasingly close approximations of that behavior until you get the behavior you want. This can help keep a dog motivated when they otherwise might be distracted.
Most hounds and terriers have a strong prey drive, so take extra care when they are around small animals. Many toy breeds have terriers and other working breeds in their backgrounds, so one should never be surprised when a strong prey drive pops up.
A catch-all for a variety of breeds that don’t specifically fit in any of the other groups, the “Non-Sporting” group is quite a misnomer, as quite a few of the breeds so categorized were bred to be working dogs. Dalmatians are a good example of this, and a breed that is near and dear to my heart. I currently share my life with two of them, and they are the greatest Dalmatians most people meet, so I am told.
There’s a reason for that! Originating in Croatia, the Dal has performed various work through the years. They were war dogs that guarded the borders of Dalmatia, and were used to hunt vermin and wild boar, and as gun dogs, trail hounds, circus dogs, and, most notably, as carriage and coach dogs. Affectionately known as “firehouse dogs,” Dalmatians were trained to run alongside fire carriages to protect the horses and guard the firehouse.
It takes a lot of energy and stamina to run with horses for miles, and many today still have that same energy and stamina. Unfortunately, many are not given adequate outlets for that excess energy; my dogs do receive lots of daily exercise, and that’s likely the reason I receive so many compliments. I train them in competitive obedience, rally, and agility, tricks, and even coach-dog training. My dogs run with horses! And when I can’t do this, they run alongside my bike. In addition, they have an opportunity and environment that allows them to play so hard, it’s likely the equivalent of running several miles. These are the necessary activities that result in not only “the most well-mannered Dalmatians” many have ever seen, but also, the most content and happy ones, too!
Get the Dog You Want, Work with What You Get
When it comes to dog selection, it’s similar to picking your significant other: “The heart wants what the heart wants.” Regardless of what breed or type of mixed-breed dog you choose, you can enhance both of your lives if you acknowledge the instincts of his ancestors and focus on constructive ways to work with them, rather than trying to change your dog. Only then can we stop thinking something is “wrong” with our dogs, and start looking for ways to help them become the dogs their genes are telling them to be.
Canine education specialist, dog behavior counselor, and trainer Laurie Williams is the owner of Pup ‘N Iron Canine Fitness & Learning Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you that life with dogs is highly emotional. Our canine companions can make us laugh hard and cry hard, sometimes on the same day! But I, for one, wouldn't trade my time with them, even the difficult ones, for anything else in the world. I've learned so much from working with them - and there is always more to learn. This month, I'm taking Training Editor Pat Miller's article on "demand behaviors" to heart in order to deal with a budding problem with Woody's newfound attention-seeking behavior. I feel just like any other dog-training student as I fail, again and again, to ignore his repeated efforts to engage me; he's just so cute!
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A friend just posted an article online about the launch of a brand-new pet treat manufacturing company in California – that is, a California-based subsidiary of a Chinese pet food manufacturing company, Gambol Pet Group. The company is already the largest provider of private-label pet treats for Walmart in the U.S. and Canada.
This is bound to set off a predictable avalanche of negative comments about Chinese manufacturers of dog foods and treats – which I, myself, strenuously avoid, due to concerns about lax controls over the food industry in China. However, this U.S.-based subsidiary will have to follow U.S. laws and inspections, and, in our opinion, really shouldn’t be regarded with any more or less suspicion than any pet food or treat manufacturer.
That said, I’m not a big fan of any private-label treats; in fact, the only dog treats I’d ever buy are from well-established companies with a long-standing perfect record of safe manufacturing. I look for companies I know and trust – and scrutinize the ingredients list, anyway, for any low-cost or “filler” type ingredients, artificial colors and flavor, and sugar and other palatants.
Truth be told, I don’t like buying treats at all; I use real food as treats, instead. Most dogs strongly prefer this, anyway, and will work far harder and more enthusiastically for tiny cubes of roasted or canned chicken, cheese, hot dog, roast beef, ham, etc.
But the treat industry is so huge, people must really like buying them, for reasons that escape me. So many treats – virtually all the ones you can buy in big-box stores and supermarkets – contain sketchy ingredients and loads of artificial colors. Fake bacon? Why not . . . bacon?
Do you buy commercially made treats for your dog? Why?
My son’s dog – my granddog – just stayed with me for three weeks, while my athlete son was traveling for his sport. Cole, an all-black Black and Tan Coonhound, is about four years old now. I personally selected him for my son from my local shelter when he was only about four or five months old, and he’s stayed with me many, many times. He has *perfect* manners, gets along well with both my dogs (goofy adolescent Woody and serious senior Otto) and my cats (both the super-shy one and the one who swats the dogs daily). I absolutely adore this dog – and yet, I was glad when my son returned from his travels and Cole went home. As much as I love dogs in general and Cole in particular, for me, three dogs is just a bit much.
Two dogs is just the right number for me. Three (or more) get a bit chaotic; it seems like one of the three has always just vomited or had a runny poo, or is coughing or something. With three or more, it feels like I can never get the house clean; as fast as I vacuum all the hair, muddy footprints appear somewhere behind me. The water bowl is always empty (or full of slobbery backwash), with drips on the floor in a 10-foot radius around the bowl.
My sister has four little dogs, each of whom, individually, is a nice little dog. Collectively, though, it feels like a circus to me – especially since none of them are trained in any way. Bark, bark, bark, bark! Yikes!
In contrast, having only one dog is a bit intense. It feels almost too intimate, like being on a date, as opposed to going out with the whole family. Does that even make sense?
I guess this is why I like short-term fostering only; I try to avoid fostering any dog that might need months and months of training and behavioral rehabilitation because after a few weeks, it feels more like a burden and less like fun.
What about you? What’s the right number of dogs for you?
My husband, who is not at all what I would call a dog person, nevertheless makes some uncannily good observations about dog behavior sometimes. He’s the one who, about a year ago, stated that he thinks Woody is going to be our best chance at having a non-neurotic dog. And darned if he’s not right.
Otto, who will be 10 in November, is, by and large, a content and confident dog, but he does have fears and concerns about certain things, including floors that he suspects might be slippery. He lights up at the sight of a tennis racket, because that means a game of fetching tennis balls, but runs from the room if you pick up a fly swatter, because fly-swatting . . . well, I don’t know why fly-swatting is so terrifying. He could not care less about gunshots; several of our favorite places to hike are within easy earshot (pun not intended) of a shooting range, but fireworks? Well, every single year, he gets more and more reactive to the sound of fireworks.
This year, fireworks were being set off all around town starting days before Independence Day. Every time we could hear one pop off close by, Otto would come to me and park himself by my chair, shaking and panting. For the actual holiday, I sent him to my sister’s house; she lives out of town, where fireworks are strictly illegal due to the fire hazard. He spent a very restful afternoon and night there, thank goodness.
My town actually welcomes fireworks – it’s a much safer place for them than anywhere in the outskirts, where any spark poses a huge threat of wildfire in the tinder-dry grass, tall from last spring’s record rainfall. People from outlying areas all around us come to town to light their fireworks. Every parking lot in town, I swear, was sparkling and crackling all afternoon and well past midnight, when I finally fell asleep.
Woody could not care less. Not about the booming ones, the crackly ones, nor the ones that sound like a missile is shrieking down toward our house. He slept through them all. Ah, that’s nice.
How did your dogs do? I’m particularly interested to hear how many of you tried the new medication Sileo on your dogs this year, and how it worked – particularly because I think I’m going to be trying it on Otto soon enough.
Warnings about pets and fireworks are so ubiquitous on social media today, that it seems like repeating the obvious to warn pet owners that they should take extra steps to secure their pets for the holiday. However, there are some fine points to consider that I’d like to add to the suggestions that are most commonly shared.
The warnings all discuss taking various precautions to prevent your pet from being traumatized or escaping on the July 4th holiday. Actually, you had better ramp up those preparations NOW, since many people who buy fireworks start celebrating days in advance! With the holiday on Tuesday this year, I would expect to hear lots of snap, crackle, and pops this weekend.
Every pet safety warning says to make sure your pet is wearing identification. I’d add that you should check – right now! – your dog’s tags to make sure they are still legible. The engraving on many tags gets rubbed off (by the other tags on your dog’s collar) over time, and may not be readable. Also check to make sure that the tag has your CURRENT phone number! Along the same lines, if your dog has a microchip (and why wouldn’t he?!), check with the chip registry to make sure it has your current contact information.
Make sure whatever social plans you have in place for the 4th take your dog’s needs into consideration. If you are going out and leaving your dog at home (very likely the safest and most comfortable and familiar place for him to be), double-check all the doors and windows to make sure they are securely fastened. Consider turning up the TV or stereo to help cover the sounds that your dog might hear. But if your dog has exhibited a serious fear of fireworks in the past – to the point where she has escaped or caused damage in your home – and you won’t be home, she may be safer and more comfortable if she is boarded at a veterinary clinic or kennel (preferably, one with 24-hour staff). It’s rather late to make these reservations, however, so…
If your dog has exhibited extreme fear of fireworks (or gunshots) in the past, though, you may be better off staying home with her and helping her through the experience. Close the doors and windows tightly, and turn up the TV! Some people say that you shouldn’t “coddle” your dog when she’s exhibiting fear, in case you reinforce her fearful behavior. But most animal behavior experts today agree that it’s a good idea to comfort a dog who is shaking or panting in fear. Bring her up on the couch with you, cover the two of you with a heavy blanket (with a fan on you, if necessary!), and turn up the sound of your stereo or TV as loud as you can handle it during the peak fireworks hours. Feed her some tiny, super-delicious treats (if she’ll take them).
Again, if your dog has a past history of dramatic reactions to fireworks, I hope that you have already discussed this with your veterinarian, and received and filled a prescription for an appropriate behavior-modifying medication, such as Sileo. (I’m going to assume that you all know that while veterinarians used to commonly prescribe a tranquilizer, Acepromazine or “Ace”, for treating dogs with fear of fireworks, we now know that this can actually make the dog’s fear worse. Ace sedates the dog but doesn’t reduce his anxiety; he may still be terrified, just unable to move in a coordinated fashion! Many people have reported that their dogs get worse after being treated with Ace while exposed to fireworks.)
If your dog is young, and either hasn’t been exposed to fireworks yet or last experienced them as a very young puppy, you may not even know whether she will be fearful until the day approaches. Arm yourself now with treats – tiny cubes of cheese, canned chicken, roast beef. Any time you hear fireworks popping off in the days before the 4th, try clicking a clicker or using an excited, happy verbal marker such as “Yay!” and run to give your dog a treat. In this way, you can build a happy association between the sound of the explosions and receiving a treat and praise.
Finally, don’t take it for granted that your older dog, who may have never responded negatively to the sound of fireworks before, will keep his cool in the face of the booming or cracking sounds for the rest of his life. A dog’s hearing changes as he ages, and he may register the sounds very differently as a senior dog than he did in middle age. Senior dogs with cognitive losses, too, may be less composed on Independence Day than they once were. Take all the precautions for these precious seniors that you would for a dog with a long history of firework phobias.
Happy 4th! Like most dog owners, I’ll be glad when it’s over!
Not quite a year ago, I told you about Ruby, a Cardigan Corgi I fostered for my local shelter three years prior. She had found a home, but was being returned to the shelter, and I had decided to foster her again, to try to assess what had gone wrong.
When I first fostered Ruby, I had observed that she was a confident, tough little dog, who would freeze and give a “hard eye” look at other dogs when they crossed her in some way, but I never saw her display any overt aggression. Also, she responded to a verbal reminder – even just a mild “Hey Roo-bee . . .” – with a tail wag and a return to a loose, relaxed posture. Eventually, Ruby found a home with a relative of a friend.
A few months after she was adopted, I received a couple of calls from her new family. It seemed she had apparently caused (or at least, had been an active participant in) a number of dog fights and dog-aggressive events. In each of the two incidents that her owners called me to discuss, I pieced together a clear case of “trigger stacking” – wherein the dog is put into a situation that contains several stressors, and after more than the dog can handle, acts out aggressively to put some space between himself and the stressors.
In the first case, her owner took her on an evening walk that suddenly turned rainy. The owner took refuge at a friend’s house. The friend didn’t want a strange dog in her house, as she had a small Poodle who was fearful of other dogs, so the owner left her in the friend’s yard while she visited with the friend indoors. Ruby started panicking and trying to get into the house, and fell into a fishpond, and couldn’t get out! Her owner and the friend had to help her get out, and then, feeling bad for her, they let her into the house and started drying her with a towel and hair dryer. I lost count of the many potential stressors by this time in the story. When Ruby caught sight of the Poodle, she launched herself out of her owner’s lap and “without warning” attacked the Poodle, leaving several punctures that required emergency treatment.
I walked the owner back through the story and explained the many ways she had given Ruby more to handle than she was capable of dealing with. I suggested that, since she had left deep punctures when she bit the other dog, her owner needed to consider that she would be likely to do damage if she was ever in a stressful situation with another dog. I recommended she avoid other dogs unless she muzzled Ruby, and not take her to other people’s homes where there were other dogs (and not allow other dogs in her own home). I also recommended that the owners consult with a local trainer, and reminded them that they could always return Ruby to the shelter if they were in over their heads with her aggression.
The next call I got was regarding another fight. This time, the owner was walking Ruby during pre-dawn hours at a beach where dogs were allowed off-leash. Ruby was on a leash, but was approached by an off-leash dog. The owner shouted for the other dog’s owner to get her dog, but the other owner couldn’t call the dog off in time, and Ruby dove in and started a fight. Once again, she bit the other (bigger) dog badly and the dog needed emergency treatment.
At this point, the owners did consult with a trainer. They also decided they wouldn’t take her to any other places where they were likely to encounter off-leash dogs. They loved Ruby at home, and said she was very affectionate and funny and well-behaved there. They were just a little sad to be unable to take her out without worrying about a dog fight.
But last year, the owners divorced. The wife kept Ruby, and moved into an apartment without a yard. A runner herself, she started jogging with Ruby before it was light out, to make sure Ruby got enough exercise. But after yet another fight (initiated by Ruby when she was approached by another off-leash dog), the now-single woman owner decided she couldn’t handle or manage Ruby anymore, and she returned the dog to my local shelter.
I believe that dogs who are a danger to humans and other dogs and animals don’t belong in mainstream society. I also don’t believe that a dog-aggressive dog should be warehoused in some sort of “sanctuary” for the rest of his or her days; I think social isolation for these aberrant individuals is cruel, not to mention costly. Given that so many behaviorally normal (and certainly harmless) dogs are being euthanized in shelters, I accepted the hard fact that after three years and a number of traumatic events wherein Ruby seriously hurt other dogs, she may well end up euthanized by my shelter as unadoptable. But I also wanted to see Ruby for myself. I could see so many reasons for the stress that would cause her to act out, and wondered if she could be placed in a less-stressful home safely.
I met Ruby and her owner in the parking lot of my local shelter. She was just as cute and engaging as the last time I saw her. I was waiting for the moment when she saw another dog to see if, after three years of inadequate management and “practice” with aggression, she would immediately show signs of tension, anxiety, or aggression. We took Ruby into the shelter, where her teary-eyed owner signed the surrender paperwork. Within a minute, someone else brought a dog through the shelter lobby on a leash, and I, holding Ruby’s leash, watched Ruby carefully. Her eyes flicked to the other dog and then away. Her demeanor didn’t change. She was wagging her tail and her body was loose.
I had spoken with the shelter director earlier in the day, and had asked if I could again foster Ruby, even just for a couple of days, to observe and evaluate her behavior again, just to satisfy my own curiosity. I had a theory that Ruby might be just fine if she was placed in a home with someone who was familiar with signs of stress and anxiety in dogs – someone who could interrupt and redirect her, and certainly manage her proximity to other dogs (with gates and crates, etc.) if these signs were observed. And I thought that her dog-aggression may have been exacerbated by all the classic triggers that a dog-aggressive dog living in an urban area with people who are not particularly dog-savvy are often exposed to: daily walks in close proximity to other dogs, a tight leash, a tense owner, hours of inactivity and social isolation for long working days, and no opportunities, ever, to run outdoors off-leash.
If Ruby had responded to the sight of that other dog with immediate signs of aggression – pulling toward the dog, having an outburst of growling and barking, etc. – I would have left her at the shelter, and let the shelter conduct their own assessment, come what may. But now I was curious: Were all of Ruby’s past aggressive encounters with other dogs avoidable, through good management, acute observation, and a reduced stress level?
I had Ruby signed back over to me as a foster dog again, just for a few days, so I could investigate further. I hated to think that I had made a terrible mistake when I had evaluated her three years before; was she actually a dangerous dog who I had helped place into a good home, setting everyone up for disaster? The converse was also awful to consider: Was she basically a good dog, put into a bad situation with clueless owners, who routinely exposed her to far more stress than she could handle?
I first took Ruby to the house where I have my office, two blocks from where I live. I had left all my dogs at my home. I wanted the Corgi to have a chance to re-familiarize herself with the house and the backyard, and all of its dog-smells. I wanted to see how she would respond to the dog who lives on the other side of the backyard fence, and to the sight and sound of dogs walking by the front of the house. In both cases, I could see her notice the other dogs, and get a tiny bit more alert or tense, but she immediately responded to any sort of verbal interruption – calling her name or a warning: “Ah ah, Ruby…”. She would instantly look at me, wag her tail, and return to a nice, loose posture.
Over the next few days, I watched Ruby like a hawk while I introduced her to my dogs (one by one, starting with large, experienced, dog-savvy Otto; then a large, wiggly, doofus adolescent Woody; and then small, “don’t tread on me” Tito). I was most cautious about her with Woody and Tito, for different reasons.
I was worried that Woody, who tries hard to get every dog he meets to play with him, would push past Ruby’s boundaries and trigger her aggression – and I didn’t want to set him up for a bad scene. I am doing everything in my power to make sure I am helping to mold him into a perfectly socialized, non-anxious, non-aggressive pit-mix. But Woody didn’t seem very interested in Ruby, and when she gave him a hard look, he left her alone.
I was more worried that Tito, a 10-pound Chihuahua-mix, would give a hard look of his own to Ruby. Tito had a chronic back problem that hurt him at times, and though he usually just got out of the way when other dogs were around, he often growled and snapped at other dogs if he thought he might get stepped on or knocked over, in an effort to make some safe space for himself.
I used gates and crates and lots of treats to keep everyone separated and yet loose and “normal,” without tension or tight leashes. Ruby did fine.
I took all of them (first Ruby and the two big dogs, and then the next day, Ruby and all three of my dogs) to a local open-space area where we took long, off-leash hikes alongside a lake, where they could also swim to their hearts’ content. Ruby was so happy; she ran and swam and stuck right by me, just as she had three years ago when I fostered her the first time. I saw her do the momentary freeze/hard look thing a couple of times, when one of my other dogs crossed her path, and each time she immediately responded to me calling her name by looking at me and wagging her tail. I rewarded her with a treat each time she redirected her attention from them to me.
After a week of this, I was confident that Ruby was an adoption candidate – with some restrictions. I didn’t think she should be placed in a house with small dogs. Though she had been involved in fights with dogs of all sizes, she had bitten and badly punctured small dogs in each of those those incidents. And while I thought she would be best placed in a home with NO other dogs, she would probably be fine in a home with a larger dog and a person who was very experienced with dogs and observant of their behavior. I thought as long as someone was paying attention and managing her behavior, and reinforcing her for turning away/softening every time she so much as thought about getting stiff or confrontational, she’d likely be ok. At least, that was what I reported back to the shelter. They would want to do their own assessment, of course. But I felt I would be able to promote her to friends and try to find her a more appropriate home than her first one. A ranch would be perfect – with room to run, little if any time on a leash, and only big, well-socialized, familiar dogs to hang out with. In my part of the state, a home like this shouldn’t be hard to find for a cute, smart, tough little dog. I resolved that on Monday, I’d take Ruby back to the shelter so they could assess and hopefully place her.
On Saturday evening, I loaded up Ruby and my three dogs, and picked up a friend and her little dog, and we went to the lake. There is a spot I know where there are rarely other people, and if there are other people we could get far away from them with our pack of dogs.
When we got out of the car, I had Ruby on leash at first, so I could see how she responded to Samson, my friend’s tiny (4-pound) dog. She did glance at him – but she was more interested in the water. Nevertheless, we were super careful to keep Samson and her far apart; he’s just so small. It was Samson’s first exposure to a body of water, and my friend was having fun encouraging him to wade and then swim.
My big dogs took turns fetching a toy I threw for them in the lake. Ruby was having a blast by herself, alternately running up and down the shore of the lake and swimming, biting at the waves caused by the wake of ski-boats hundreds of yards away. Tito was wading at the edge of the water and playing with a tennis ball by himself, dropping it into the water and “catching” it again and again.
We had been at the lake for about 30 minutes when it happened. My friend and her dog were on shore about 50 feet away. I was standing waist deep in the water, with Tito onshore about 10 feet from me, and Ruby swimming near me. Tito was momentarily without his ball; I think he was watching the big dogs, who were swimming out in deeper water. Ruby swam by me, and waded out of the water, and, as she passed by Tito, she suddenly just pounced on him. There was no warning from either dog. Tito, who can growl and bristle at other dogs, didn’t. He was distracted, and not paying attention to Ruby. She just grabbed him across the back of the neck and shoulders, and started shaking him like she was killing a rat.
My friend quickly picked up her little dog. I took three steps and grabbed Ruby by the collar and scruff of her neck, actually lifting her off the ground – but she wouldn’t let go of Tito. He was yelping – screaming, really – and she wouldn’t let go. She wasn’t growling or vocalizing, she seemed quite calm, she just wouldn’t open her mouth. Still holding her off the ground with one hand, I started pounding her on the head with my other fist, but I was looking around to see if there was a stick or something I could use to pry her jaws apart. And then she just opened her mouth and let Tito go. He took off running, screaming, for the car, which was parked about 100 yards away.
For a long moment, I considered drowning Ruby on the spot. I was shaking, of course. Mad. Upset. My friend ran after Tito, crying. I don’t know where Otto and Woody were when the whole thing happened, but they had come out of the water and were standing about 20 feet away, frozen, fearful.
I carried Ruby, still by the scruff, to where my leashes lay. I clipped a leash to her collar and walked her to the car. She was calm, wagging her tail and behaving a little deferential to me (given that I had just been pounding on her). She didn’t seem aroused at all.
Tito saw us coming and retreated under the car. I put Ruby in the “way back” of my car, and tied her there, so she wouldn’t be able to jump over the seats into the main part of the car. I lay on the ground and called to Tito, who was whimpering in pain and fear. I couldn’t see any blood on him, which I could barely believe. He crawled toward me, but screamed when I tried to touch him. When I opened the car door, he jumped into the car, on the front passenger floor. We put a towel over him; he was all wet from the lake, and though it was super hot out, he was shivering.
We got everyone else back in the car. I tried to be calm while driving home, though of course my friend and I were discussing and recounting what had happened as we drove. Neither one of us could believe how fast Ruby’s attack was, and how calm. It was exactly as if Ruby had seen a rat and tried to kill it – a purely instinctive thing.
On the way to the emergency vet hospital, I dropped off my friend and her little dog, and dropped the other dogs at my office (with Ruby locked into a room by herself). At the hospital, they admitted Tito immediately, giving him something for the pain right away. They used an ultrasound to see if he had any internal bleeding; they didn’t see any. They took x-rays, and nothing was broken. But he did have some punctures, hard to see under his wet coat (he never shook off, he was in so much pain), so they were going to put him under anesthesia, and clip and clean the wounds, and insert drains. They said they were busy, so it would be at least an hour or two before he was ready to go home.
I texted a dog-trainer friend from the vet’s office, and she said to come over. We sat for an hour in the dark on her front lawn, discussing what happened. She told me some of her war stories about dog-aggressive dogs. She told me not to blame myself – but of course I do.
The vet called and said she wanted to keep Tito overnight because he was in so much pain. For the same reason, the next morning, they gave him both a shot of another pain medication and applied a Fentanyl patch that would time-release strong pain-relieving medication to him for the next five days. I picked him up at about noon the next day, Sunday, with antibiotics and an oral pain medication to start him on Monday.
I sent a message to the shelter director, explaining what happened. I sent the same message to Ruby’s former owner. I recommended that she be euthanized, and both her owner and the shelter director concurred. Her owner messaged me back: “I am sad, but I agree that she should not be allowed to do this ever again.”
The shelter director said I could bring Ruby to the shelter that day (which was a Sunday, and the shelter was closed), but I didn’t want her to be punished by a day or days spent in the shelter; she had been there for weeks before I fostered her the first time and I knew it would be highly stressful for her. I said I would keep her separated from other dogs until the shelter was open.
I was working through Sunday, so I had Tito in my office, on a comfortable bed on the floor by my chair, and Ruby gated in another part of the house with access to the backyard. My big dogs were at home. Tito was quite sedated with all the pain meds. He sat up once in the early evening and drank a lot of water that I offered to him. But I was concerned about how quiet he was. At about 10 that night, I called the emergency vet again and asked how long they thought he would be so quiet – how long the pain meds would have him so sedated. They asked about his breathing, and I told them it seemed normal, neither fast nor slow, regular. His gums (capillary refill time) seemed fine. He would wake and focus his eyes on me if I called his name and told him he was a good dog, but he didn’t wag or try to get up. I was told that he would likely be quite sedated until the morning, but of course I should bring him in if he worsened in any way. I kept looking at him as I worked.
At some time after midnight, I heard a noise. Tito was still lying on his side, but his legs were paddling like he was running in a dream. I called his name, but he wasn’t sleeping. His eyes were open, unseeing. He was having a seizure. I scooped him up, bed and all, and put him on the front seat of my car. I started driving to the emergency vet, crying, saying, “Oh Tito, please, I’m sorry, hang in there, Tito.” As I was driving onto the on-ramp to the freeway, perhaps four minutes after I first saw him seizing, his body gave one final convulsive jerk, with his head up and backward, and then all movement stopped.
I think his death was caused by internal bleeding and/or a blood clot. I didn’t continue the drive to the vet, so I don’t know for sure, but it’s the most likely explanation.
And it was all my fault. For bringing Ruby home. For exposing Tito – and my friend’s tiny dog, oh my word – to Ruby. For failing to anticipate that happyexcitement might also trigger her dog-aggressive behavior. For not taking Tito to the vet earlier that night, when I was first growing concerned about how quiet he was.
I drove home, sobbing. I transferred Tito’s body to the back of my car, petting him and apologizing uselessly. Early in the morning, I buried him in the backyard, with some of his tennis balls and a handful of treats.
Later that day I took Ruby to the shelter. I had messaged them about Tito, and told them I didn’t want Ruby to suffer, but I thought she should be euthanized. I showed them the text that her former owner concurred. They agreed. They allowed me to be present, as an owner should be, in my opinion, during euthanasia. I stroked her head and said what you can’t help but say while a dog is being euthanized: that it’s okay, and she’s a good dog, and I’m sorry.
And I am. I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am.
I admire, respect, and appreciate the work of owners and trainers who work to manage and rehabilitate dogs who have bitten people or other dogs, but I don’t think I’ll ever be trying again. And for this, too, I’m sorry.
Lessons from Fostering an Aggressive Dog
Many of you will be shocked by this decision. Some of you will disagree. Some of you might say that she could have been rehomed somewhere without dogs, or sent to a sanctuary somewhere. All I can say is, there are many dogs who have never attacked other dogs and could use a chance to show what good dogs they are, and I thought this dog had all the chances she deserved.
I’m sure that some of you will judge me. Don’t worry, I have spent the better part of this past year judging me. But if recounting my mistakes will prevent anyone else from making the same ones, Tito’s death won’t be in vain.
1. Ruby was a smallish dog, so I didn’t think she could be so deadly – that was stupid. Any dog who bites, and especially those with a demonstrated tendency to puncture when they bite, can kill or fatally injure another dog. Given her past attacks, wherein she bit other dogs (with punctures), I should have had, at the very minimum, a muzzle on her around other dogs – and realistically, she shouldn’t have been around other dogs at all. And I never should have allowed my friend to have her small dog present. If there is anything I am grateful for, it’s that Ruby didn’t attack Samson. I’m also grateful that I hadn’t yet helped Ruby find another home somewhere else, where she may have had the opportunity to attack another dog.
2. I thought that because I was so close to Ruby, and watching her carefully, I would be able to prevent any aggressive act she might contemplate. In retrospect, that, too, was dumb. I was RIGHT THERE. But she was just so fast. My friend and I have discussed that moment dozens of times since it happened, and we both agree: she showed absolutely no premeditation.
3. Because I had thought that almost all of Ruby’s past attacks had happened when she was leashed, I thought that leash frustration and stress about being leashed was a huge contributor to her aggression. I thought that as long as she was off-leash and happy and (it seemed to me then) unstressed, she wouldn’t do anything aggressive – but that was badly misinformed.
4. I had always thought Ruby’s aggression was tied to stress, and that she had acted out aggressively when she had been put into stressful situations that were past her ability to handle. But, I’ve since learned that I was terribly wrong about two major concepts having to do with canine stress:
I thought of “stress” as only unpleasant things. It was clear that she was stressed when around other dogs when she was on leash. It seriously never occurred to me that a dog could become physiologically aroused by happily running, swimming, and playing fetch – and that this biochemical state of that arousal might be nearly identical to a dog in a “fight or flight” situation. One might call it “good stress”, but its effect on a dog’s behavior may be no different than the unpleasant kind of stress.
I also thought of “stress” as having an influence on a dog that same day. I did not know that it can take days for a flood of stress chemicals to completely leave a dog’s body. And it never occurred to me that the months and weeks and days prior to the incident would have a bearing on the events of that day. Her owners’ divorce, move into an apartment, perhaps even the daily jogs on leash (in proximity to other dogs), being sent to my house . . . all of those things could have been working to keep Ruby in a state of physiological stress.
I discussed this whole incident with Whole Dog Journal Training Editor Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA. Pat was incredibly kind and empathetic, but she also helped me see where I had made mistakes. I asked her if she would write about dog-aggressive dogs for WDJ, and we talked about various angles for an article. The article she eventually wrote appears in the July issue of WDJ (now online and in print). In the article, and another past article referenced in the current issue, Pat explains how dog-aggressive dogs need to be managed, and how that can be accomplished, if their owners are willing to try.
I’m sorry that I personally wouldn’t be willing to try to manage a dog-aggressive foster dog again. The potential cost and trauma is too great. If one of my own dogs ended up being aggressive, I’d of course do anything in my power to keep him or her safe – and all other beings safe from him or her. I now know that I would have to do much more than I actually did. I’m sorry for that, too.
Double fencing, with at least a few feet between the two fences (more is better), can go a long way to-ward preserving the peace between two dogs who have to be kept apart. Without the gap between the two fences, feuding dogs will almost always start barking and fence-fighting, adding to their stress.
HOUSEHOLD DOG AGGRESSION MANAGEMENT: OVERVIEW
1. Manage, manage, manage. Without management, tension between your dogs will likely increase, making modification exponentially more difficult.
2. Eliminate as much stress from your dogs’ lives as possible.
3. Implement an appropriate behavior modification plan to improve your dogs’ relationships with each other.
4. Engage the services of a qualified force-free behavior professional if the aggression is serious, and/or if you have any doubts about your ability to keep everyone safe as you work with your intra-family aggression challenges.
This extra-tall, permanently installed (not pressure-mounted) gate keeps the senior dog safe from being annoyed by the adolescent dog – and both of them safe from being hurt in the fight that can ensue if no one is there to notice just how annoying the teen dog is being!
I cringe a little whenever I get a call from a prospective client regarding aggression occurring in the home between their own dogs, but in the past year, I’ve gotten increasingly sensitized to this situation. The number of families who have contacted me for help with intra-family canine aggression has spiked – and this number includes three families who called me because one of their dogs killed another of their dogs. In the prior 21 years Peaceable Paws has been in existence, I had never gotten this call. To have three of them in the span of a few months boggles my mind.
This behavior is sometimes called “intra-pack” aggression. But in recent years we have moved away from the concept of canis lupus familiaris as true pack animal, toward an understanding that a collection of multiple dogs – whether running loose as “street dogs” or cared for in a home – is most commonly a loosely organized social group of unrelated canines, not a real “pack.” Members of your family, yes, for sure. But a true pack, as in a group of closely related canids – mom, dad, and several juveniles who haven’t yet struck out on their own . . . no. Hence my new term, “intra-family aggression.”
Whatever you choose to call it, it’s not fun to live with. Until a few years ago when old age took our 13-year-old Australian Shepherd Missy from us, our life was a constant management challenge. When we first adopted Missy at age eight, our then five-year-old, very assertive Cardigan Corgi Lucy took exception to Missy’s excited greetings when I would come in the back door, and fights would ensue. We managed this by gating Lucy in my office when I went out so I could greet Missy at the door, then greet Lucy once Missy had calmed.
Even prior to Missy joining our family we had already made a habit of giving our dogs high-value chews only when they were safely shut in their crates, and high-value toys only under direct supervision, as Lucy had shown at an early age a strong penchant for fierce resource-guarding. Though our other two dogs defer to Lucy most of the time, we still carefully manage and monitor mealtimes to make sure no one offends her by trying to play musical food bowls.
It can be exhausting to micro-manage the dogs’ every movement – but it’s critical for a peaceful existence in a household with one or more dogs likely to do harm to each other.
You Must Manage Dog-Dog Household Aggression
If you do nothing else about the aggression between your dogs, you must scrupulously manage their movements and activities. Every time your dog successfully engages in a behavior that you don’t want her to exhibit, it makes it that much harder to convince her that it’s not a useful behavior strategy. Every time your dog aggressively communicates to another canine family member, it increases the potential for unresolvable aggression between the two and serious injury to one or both.
In this case, management means using leashes, tethers, baby gates, crates, closed doors, and kennels to control the dogs’ movements and access to each other. Some households even have segregated floors, with Dog A restricted to the first floor, Dog B to the second floor, and Dog C in the basement.
Whatever management tools you choose, it’s important to prevent escalating tension between dogs. If your canine family members are snarling at each other from opposite sides of a baby gate, or one is defensively aggressive because she’s trapped in her crate while her tormentor dances around the outside, it’s not going to help your quest for world peace.
Behavior-altering medications for your dogs might also help. Consultation with a veterinary behaviorist or a behaviorally knowledgeable veterinarian will help determine appropriate medication(s) and purpose – whether to calm the aggressor, reduce stress of the victim, or otherwise alter the mindset and behavior of one or both. Absent access to one of these professionals, your veterinarian can arrange to do a phone-consult with a veterinary behaviorist; many of them offer this service at no charge to other veterinarians.
Management is Critical But Imperfect
You may choose to manage your dogs while you work to improve their relationship with behavior modification, or you may simply choose to manage behavior for the life of one or both dogs. Lifetime management can be a perfectly reasonable choice. Either way, there are a couple of things you need to know.
Some trainers warn their clients that management always fails at some point. I prefer to say management has a high likelihood of failure at some point. If you are considering management as a long-term solution, you need to consider two things: the likelihood of failure to successfully manage your dogs, and the consequence of failure.
There are several conditions that increase the likelihood of management failure:
• Children in the home. From small children to teenagers, children are generally less attentive to and more unreliable regarding ability and willingness to comply with management protocols.
• Non-committed adults in the home. Adults who are not interested in the welfare of the dogs may not pay attention to your management protocols, or worse, if the adults are in any way resentful of or irritated by the dogs, may actively undermine management efforts.
• Lots of visitors. It’s not reasonable to expect visitors to comprehend and comply with your management protocols. If you have frequent visitors, consider things like hasps and padlocks rather than just closed doors. If you rarely have visitors but are having family staying for a week over the holidays, consider boarding for one or more dogs.
• Persistent or particularly strong dog(s). The more dedicated one or more of your dogs is to doing harm to the other, the greater the chance that management will fail. The dog who constantly looks for the opportunity to push through a door, knock down a baby gate, or jump a fence is far more likely to breach management than one who just takes advantage if opportunity presents itself.
If one of your squabbling dogs is small or weak, and the other is bigger and stronger, it will take perfect management to protect the more vulnerable dog.
What about the consequences of failure to adequately manage your dogs? How you answer this question may suggest how you choose to proceed with your squabbling canines. If there’s just a little (or a lot of) sound and fury but no blood, then management may be a reasonable long-term option. For example, in a home with two dogs of a similar size and weight and good bite inhibition, even if there’s a management glitch, there’s no serious harm done.
At the other end of the spectrum of seriousness, however, is a home where there is a big difference between the size and strength of the dogs, or where one dog exhibits poor bite inhibition – that is, when he bites, he always does serious damage. In cases like this, where a management failure in your family of dogs means that someone will likely end up in the emergency clinic (or worse!), your management has to be scrupulous and infallible, with all family members on board, and you need to make a serious commitment to a behavior modification program that will ease tensions between dogs.
A Sample List of Common Dog Stressors and Strategies
Here are some examples of things that might be on your dog’s list of stressors, and strategies that are most appropriate for each one. There are many other possibilities; my clients’ lists usually contain between 10 and 20 identified stressors. Be sure to include even those things that may cause your dog to be even mildly stressed; the more stressors you can remove, the better.
STRESSOR
Change dog’s opinion of the stressor with counter-conditioning and desensitization
Teach the dog a new behavioral response using operant conditioning
Manage the dog’s environment to minimize exposure to the stressor
Get rid of the stressor
Live with it (most appropriate for low-level stressors)
Note: Intra-family aggression can be a complex and difficult behavior to manage and modify. For purposes of this article, we are discussing dogs who normally get along reasonably well, and for whom aggression occurs only under certain circumstances. Dogs who consistently and seriously aggress at the mere sight of each other are a whole different challenge, and definitely require the guidance of a qualified force-free behavior professional.
There is actually a wide variety of canine behaviors that behavior experts would describe as “aggression” – or more accurately, “agonistic behavior” – but most dog owners are aware of only the most dramatic ones, such as growling, lunging, snapping, biting, and fighting. More subtle agonistic behaviors such as a freeze, a hard stare, or even a lack of eye contact, may go unnoticed and unaddressed. It’s hugely helpful for an owner to learn to recognize the subtle signs of aggression, perhaps with help from a canine behavior professional, so that management and modification can be put into place well before the aggressive acts result in injury (or worse).
It’s also important for owners to understand that aggression is caused by stress. Dogs who don’t have a worry in the world have no need to behave in an aggressive manner! They use aggressive behaviors to change the conditions that contribute to their stress, in order to reduce that stress.
For example, it’s stressful to be fearful or anxious about the approach of a strange person or dog; a dog may exhibit aggressive behavior in an attempt to put more distance between themselves and the person or dog she perceives as a threat. It’s stressful for some dogs to be concerned about having a toy or chewie taken away, or to worry about losing access to the most comfortable bed or proximity to a favorite human is being threatened; some of those dogs may try to mitigate their stress by aggressively defending their valued commodities.
The more stressors that a dog is subject to, the more at risk he is for behaving aggressively. And because it’s impossible to predict which stressor might push him over his stress threshold into hurting another dog or person – stressor Jenga! – it’s particularly useful to identify as many of his stressors as possible and eliminate as many of them as you can. (For an article that explains stress thresholds in depth, see “Understanding Aggression in Dogs,” October 2010.)
Try to list everything that you can think of that stresses your dog; the list of potential triggers for intra-family aggression is endless. The solution to eliminating each stressor will depend on what it is, but there are five major approaches that can be used on just about any of them; see “A Sample List of Stressors and Strategies” in the table above.
While you are doing that, consider appropriate steps to modify the behavior, depending on what your dogs’ triggers are.
Here are eight of the most common triggers for intra-family aggression, and what you can do to manage and/or modify the behavior:
Trigger 1: Competition for tangible resources – food, treats, toys, etc.
Management: Restrict access to guardable resources. Dole out treats and toys in controlled circumstances (crated, or one-on-one interactions) rather than leaving them lying around or tossing treats indiscriminately. Some dogs are okay if you feed treats directly to each mouth, others may aggress in that situation.
Modification: Use carefully controlled counter-conditioning to convince dogs that the presence of the other dog makes more good stuff happen. Note: This can be tricky with dog-dog resource guarders! (See the resource guarder Counter-Conditioning Procedure below.)
Alternatively, consider a Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) procedure, using negative reinforcement (dog’s behavior makes a bad thing go away) to help your dog be relaxed about the presence of another dog near valuable resources. (See Constructional Aggression Treatment, also at the bottom of this page.)
Trigger 2: Competition for attention
Management: Separate dogs during high-competition times such as humans returning, sofa-cuddling time, etc. Be sure to make time to give dogs adequate individual attention.
Modification: Use negative punishment (dog’s behavior makes a good thing go away) when one dog acts inappropriate in response to the approach of the other. Use a neutral or cheerful no-reward marker such as “Oops!” and walk away from the dog who is inappropriate.
Trigger 3: Space-guarding – beds, passageways, kitchen, etc.
Management: Restrict dogs’ movement in guarded areas, making sure only one dog at a time has access.
Modification: Teach a solid “go to place” response so you can send dogs away from each other as needed. Use counter-conditioning or CAT procedure to help dogs be more comfortable in these spaces.
Trigger 4: Social tension – one dog’s perception that another is behaving inappropriately
Management: Identify and avoid situations where one dog is offended by the other dog’s social behavior. These are most often situations where Dog A believes Dog B should defer, and Dog B does not.
Modification: With the aggressor on a leash, counter-condition in the presence of the other dog’s social behavior. Alternatively teach Dog B to perform deference behaviors on cue (lower head, look away) and then cue those behaviors when needed.
Trigger 5: Pain. This may involve actual pain caused by the other dog, pain perceived to have been caused by the other dog, or the anticipation of pain that might be caused by the other dog.
Management: Treat with appropriate pain-relief medication after consultation with vet. Treat as appropriate any medical conditions that cause the dog stress, pain, or discomfort. Prevent physical contact between dogs until condition is under control.
Modification: May need to do counter-conditioning to undo pain-related associations even after pain/discomfort is treated/under control.
Trigger 6: High arousal. Too much excitement can spill over into aggression during play, especially if you have a dog who functions as “fun police.” This is often a herding dog (like my dog Lucy) who has a strong genetic propensity to want things to be under control at all times.
Management: Monitor all interactions between dogs, and interrupt play for a time-out if dogs are getting too aroused. Remove “fun police” dog from play arena so other dogs can play appropriately.
Modification: Interruptions of play is actually a form of negative punishment. Over time, dog(s) may inhibit their own play in order to avoid the time-out.
Trigger 7: Redirected aggression. This is often a result of “fence fighting,” when a dog is being aggressive toward a neighbor dog or a stray on the other side of the fence, and turns on his hapless canine companion, but it can also result from other manifestations of arousal.
Management: Prevent the situations from occurring the lead to this kind of arousal and frustration.
Modification: Teach a “walk away” cue that invites both dogs to quickly and happily move away from the arousing stimulus before they reach the level of aggressing.
Trigger 8: Aging. As a senior dog loses vision, hearing, and mobility, he may become less aware of a younger dog’s signals, and less able to respond quickly.
Management: This is primarily a management situation. You simply must protect your senior dog from the younger dog’s aggression. Keep them safely separated when you are not there to intervene, and when you are there, be very aware of any interactions that could result in aggression, and be prepared to intervene proactively.
Modification: Teach a “walk away” cue that will invite the younger dog to quickly and happily move away from the senior when you see any sign of tension. (The “walk away” behavior is explained in “How to Teach Your Dog to Trade,” in the February 2017 issue.)
Dog-on-Dog Aggression is Overwhelming
I understand if you feel hopeless or overwhelmed – especially if you have been told by other people that you should rehome or euthanize your dog.
In my 20-plus years of practice as a canine training and behavior professional, I have not once told a client that they needed to rehome or euthanize their dog for behavioral reasons. What I do say is this: “Here is what we need to do in order to keep your dog(s) safe, and your family and community safe from your dog(s). I will do everything I can to help you with this. And if, at some point you decide that you are not able or willing to do these things, I will support your decision to rehome or euthanize your dog.”
I then go on to discuss why rehoming is often not a realistic option for a dog with significant behavioral challenges, and that there is a significant risk that the dog could be mistreated in a new home at the hands of an owner or professional who still uses old-fashioned, coercive, pain-causing methods. I have had only a very few clients over the years opt for either of these hard choices; most are remarkably committed to helping their dogs stay in their homes.
Intra-family aggression modification is not for the faint of heart. It often requires the assistance of a knowledgeable, experienced professional to guide the program to success. The more intense the aggression, the more challenging the behavior is to modify. This will be a long-term project, and you must go slowly and manage well. As my trainer friend Gwen Podulka said to me recently, “Think crock pot, not microwave.” However, with excellent management and careful modification, most dogs in this difficult situation can live long and happy lives with their human and canine family members.
Counter-Conditioning Procedure for Dog-Aggressive Dogs
Counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) involves changing your dog’s association with an aversive or arousing stimulus from negative to positive. While the easiest way to give most dogs a positive association is with very high-value, really yummy treats, this presents a significant challenge when dealing with resource guarding. You must very carefully manage the dogs’ proximity to each other as you present the high-value treat. I recommend tethering the guarder (Dog A), and having a second handler approach with Dog B on a leash to prevent him from coming too close to Dog A.
Here’s how the CC&D process works:
Determine the distance at which Dog A can be in the presence of Dog B and be alert or wary but not aggressing or nearly aggressing. This is called the threshold distance.
1. Have Dog B approach to the threshold distance with your handler-helper, and start feeding your high-value treat to Dog A. (I like to use chicken, canned, baked or boiled.) Pause, let Dog A look at Dog B again, feed again. Repeat several times. (Handler can also feed treats to Dog B during this procedure.)
2. Have your handler move Dog B away, and stop feeding Dog A.
3. Keep repeating Steps 1-2 until the approach of Dog B at that distance consistently causes dog A to look at you with a happy “Where’s my chicken” smile on his face. This is a “Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) that tells us Dog A is now associating the approach of Dog B with good stuff, rather than seeing Dog B as a threat to his good stuff.
4. Now you need to increase the intensity of the stimulus by having Dog B come a step closer. When Dog A alerts, feed chicken as in steps 1 and 2.
5. When you have consistent CERs at the new distance, bring Dog B another step closer, and continue. I recommend you put a barrier such as an exercise pen between the dogs, especially when distance decreases to possible contact, in order to avoid an incident if you should misjudge the dog’s behavior.
The Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) Procedure
The CAT procedure utilizes negative reinforcement to change your dog’s behavior. Here’s how it would work for dog-dog resource guarding:
1. Have one person holding Dog A (the resource guarder) on leash in proximity to a guardable resource, while a second person approaches with Dog B on leash.
2. When Dog A shows any sign of tension, have Dog B stop. Mark that spot.
3. When Dog A relaxes because he realizes Dog A isn’t coming any closer, turn and walk away with Dog B. You just told Dog A that relaxing makes Dog B go away.
4. After a 15-second “breather,” return to with Dog B to your marked spot. Wait for Dog A to relax, and leave.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until Dog A shows no sign of tension when Dog B arrives at the marked spot.
6. Come one step closer with Dog B, and repeat steps 1-5.
7. Gradually work your way closer with Dog B. Ideally you will start seeing affiliative (come closer) behavior from Dog A, as he becomes more and more relaxed about Dog B’s presence near his valuable object. I recommend you put a barrier such as an exercise pen between the dogs, especially when distance decreases to possible contact, in order to avoid a possible incident should you misjudge the dogs’ behavior.
Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. Miller is also the author of many books on positive training. Her newest is, Beware of the Dog: Positive Solutions for Aggressive Behavior in Dogs.
1. Quickly clean up after your dog, whether at home or while on a walk. Consider racking up some good “poop karma” by bagging the occasional “stray poop” left behind by less-conscientious owners to help control the possible spread of disease.
2. Be leery of “weasel words” such as “biodegradable” when shopping for earth-friendly dog waste bags. Instead, look for products adhering to well-defined standards such as ASTM’s D6400 standard specification for labeling of plastics designed to be aerobically composted in municipal or industrial facilities.
3. Consider asking your local dog park to explore options for on-site composting.
Many people aim to be good stewards of the environment. We reduce, reuse and recycle whenever we can, and it goes without saying that we always pick up our dogs’ waste. Some of us even use extra bags to pick up stray waste left behind by less-considerate dog owners.
And our poop bags? Lots of us go out of our way to look for biodegradable bags. After all, we want to be earth-friendly in as many ways as possible. Who wants to think of their dog’s poop festering away in a traditional polymer bag designed to survive a zombie apocalypse?
Unfortunately, the term “biodegradable” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Truth is, when it comes to dog waste bags, it’s not easy to be as “green” as we’d like to be.
The Green Guides
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a U.S. government agency tasked with protecting consumers from deceptive marketing and advertising claims. The FTC publishes the Green Guides, a resource designed to help marketers avoid making environmental marketing claims that are unfair or deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The guidelines are created based on research showing how reasonable consumers understand claims. The publication offers guidance and specific examples for a variety of environmental marketing claims including general environmental benefit claims, non-toxic claims, ozone-safe and ozone-friendly claims, and, specific to consumers of disposable dog waste bags, claims related to product degradability and compostability.
The term “biodegradable” is defined in the dictionary as, “being of a substance or object capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.” This definition offers no parameters as to how long it will take to achieve decomposition.
Section 260.8 of the Green Guides addresses degradability claims, suggesting that marketers making unqualified degradable claims should have “competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire item will completely break down and return to nature (i.e., decompose into elements found in nature) within a reasonable short period of time after customary disposal.” The Green Guides also suggest, based on consumer research, that “it is deceptive to make an unqualified degradable claim for items entering the solid waste stream if the items do not completely decompose within one year after customary disposal.”
The key words here are, “after customary disposal.” Our society predominantly utilizes landfills for waste management. A landfill is essentially a controlled underground storage facility for solid waste. “They’re built to exclude air, light, and water, so things that are in there will be there for lifetimes,” says Bob Barrows, a waste-policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. In other words, even if a pet waste bag is capable of decomposition, unless it can do so within a year of disposal, it should not be marketed as “biodegradable” or “degradable” since it simply cannot degrade in our common landfill environment.
When it comes to compostability, the Green Guides recommend marketers clearly and prominently qualify compostable claims “if the item cannot be composted safely or in a timely manner in a home compost pile or device,” and that they should avoid potentially deceiving consumers by stating a product is commercially compostable, “if such facilities are not available to a substantial majority of consumers or communities where the item is sold.”
Historically, many marketers have struggled to abide by these guidelines. In early 2015, the FTC sent letters warning 20 manufacturers of dog waste bags that their claims of bags being “biodegradable” and “compostable” may be deceptive.
“Consumers looking to buy environmentally friendly products should not have to guess whether the claims made are accurate,” says Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It is therefore critical for the FTC to ensure that these claims are not misleading, to protect both consumers and honest competitors.”
According to the FTC Office of Public Affairs, there have been no further public actions related to pet waste bags following the issuance of the warning letters.
In a similar effort to protect consumers against misinformation about the post-disposal environmental impact of plastic products, California enacted legislation making it illegal to sell any plastic product labeled “compostable” unless it conforms to the ASTM D6400 standard. ASTM is a voluntary standards organization whose members create consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services. A product can be manufactured in conformance with an ASTM standard, as well as certified to meet the standard by a third-party organization. Specifically, D6400 looks at what is required to determine if plastics and products made from plastics will successfully compost, which includes biodegrading at a rate comparable to known compostable materials. The standard also requires that the degradation of the material will not diminish the value or utility of the resulting compost.
Alternatives to Putting Dog Waste in the Garbage
METHOD
COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
INFO/CONSIDERATIONS
In-ground waste disposal system
Doggie Dooley From $35 (best prices in pet supply stores and online, not from manufacturer)
Works like a small-scale septic system for un-bagged dog waste. Uses proprietary enzyme product to speed-up degradation time. Sensitive to soil conditions and ongoing water levels.
Disposal system utilizing existing sewer or septic clean-out trap
Doggie Doo Drain About $50 from manufacturer, stores, and online
Simplicity itself; device screws into existing home sewer or septic clean-out trap. Allows users to essentially “flush” un-bagged dog waste directly into sewer line outdoors. Requires water to help move waste through the system. (Obviously, only homes with easy access to sewer clean-out pipe can utilize this solution.)
Made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and designed to degrade in water. Requires owners bring waste indoors, and bag must remain untied. (Tying-off the bag creates a balloon in the toilet!)
Burial
N/A
Mixed opinions among environmental experts. One EPA fact sheet lists burial as an acceptable option, provided the hole is at least 12 inches deep and away from food-growing plants. Others say population density issues create environmental concerns.
Home composting
N/A
Can be challenging for the average dog owner. May require a significant quantity of waste and a delicate balance of nitrogen and carbon to achieve proper temperature. Check out The Pet Poo Pocket Guide (2015, New Society Publishers, available in book stores and Amazon.com) by Rose Seemann to learn more.
Compostable is the New Biodegradable
Because of the regulatory challenges associated with labeling pet waste bags as “biodegradable,” many manufacturers of high-end, “earth friendly” bags now highlight various compostability claims instead.
For example, BioBag, a manufacturer of a wide range of compostable bags, lists three different composting-related certifications on its website. Its packaging also notes that the products conform with the ASTM D6400 standard, and acknowledges not all areas will have access to appropriate commercial composting facilities.
Poopbags.com offers three product lines, one of which is plant-based, and notes its plant-based product line is safe for composting in a commercial facility. Earth Rated also offers multiple product lines, one of which is marketed as a vegetable-based product “that can be disposed of in a municipal compost environment where pet waste is accepted.”
People often wonder if they can toss a compostable bag of dog waste into the green yard trimmings bin if its contents are headed to a commercial composting facility. Most likely, no!
According to Richard Crockett, a general manager with Burrtec Waste Industries, some facilities don’t fully process the trimmings, creating a coarse mulch product instead. Without full processing, there’s no way to kill existing pathogens. Additionally, experts say the introduction of the bag itself is often the biggest barrier, as compostable bags don’t degrade at the same rate as the bulk of the trimmings.
Even when green waste is fully processed into compost, the introduction of pet waste negatively impacts the organic certification of the compost, affecting aftermarket sales of the end product, explains Lily Quiroa of Waste Management, an environmental solutions company serving 21 million municipal, commercial and industrial customers in the United States. For this reason, Waste Management facilities are not permitted to accept animal waste.
While some areas have designated bins for manure pick-up, they, too, will likely exclude pet waste since, in many areas, “manure” is defined as accumulated herbivore or avian excrement, and, again, the addition of the bags is likely to slow the composting process.
Pathogen reduction is a significant concern, one that potentially keeps commercial composting facilities from embracing the seemingly untapped pet-waste market.
“Bottom line, if you were going around with a truckload of bagged dog waste, you would be hard-pressed to find even one composting facility that would willingly or knowingly accept it, and you would have to pay a lot (for the service),” says Robert Horowitz, environmental scientist supervisor with CalRecycle’s Materials Management and Local Assistance Division. “Yes, the heat of the commercial piles will kill just about any of the many pathogens in dog feces, but who wants to take that chance?”
Poop is Difficult to Compost (But Not Impossible)
While traditional composting facilities aren’t jumping at the chance to add “pet waste” to their roster of acceptable feed streams, a handful of forward-thinking entrepreneurs and conservation-minded citizens’ groups are successfully implementing pet-waste composting programs to help reduce the carbon footprint of man’s best friend.
EnviroWagg in Aurora, Colorado built an entire business out of composting dog feces, compostable bags and all, by partnering with a local residential dog waste cleanup service and several area dog parks. The composted waste becomes Doggone Good Potting Soil, available online and in select Colorado retail locations. Owner Rose Seemann even wrote a related book, The Pet Poo Pocket Guide: How to Safely Compost and Recycle Pet Waste, (2015, New Society Publishers, available in book stores and online).
Similarly, a handful of dog parks and open space areas throughout the United States have started composting programs, including Williamsburg River State Park in Brooklyn, New York.
According to Leslie Wright of the New York State Parks Department, response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. Dog-owning park guests contribute to the enclosed pile using available scoopers or rapidly degradable paper waste bags, or they can dump waste from a plastic bag into the pile and dispose of the bag in the trash. Sawdust is added to create the correct carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and the compost pile is carefully attended to and monitored by park staff to ensure a consistent temperature required to kill existing pathogens. The resulting fertilizer is used only on ornamental plants and flowers throughout the park, and, as an added precaution, away from children’s playground areas.
What About Composting Pet Waste at Home?
The success of any compost pile largely depends on achieving the correct combination of carbon, nitrogen, air and water. Dog waste supplies the nitrogen, while materials such as leaves, grass clippings, shredded newspaper, or fruit waste can provide the carbon.
According to the USDA National Resource Conservation Service’s eight-page, step-by-step guide for successful dog waste composting, the ideal recipe for a high-temperature compost (designed to kill pathogens) will use two parts dog waste (nitrogen) to one part carbon-rich materials in a minimum volume of three cubic feet.
For the average dog owner, that might mean collecting and saving waste for an undesirable amount of time before composting can begin.
“The fewer animals, the more difficult it will be,” says Ann Rippy, a practice implementation specialist working with the National Resource Conservation Service. Unlike the Environmental Protection Agency and the various environmental experts we spoke with, however, Rippy says the risks associated with potential pathogen exposure resulting from composting at lower temperatures (as would likely happen in a typical backyard compost pile) might not be as worrisome as they are often made out to be.
“We’re all familiar with dog behavior. We know what they tend to do, and then they go and lick your face,” Rippy says. “If your dog is healthy and you compost responsibly, and use the end product responsibly, it’s not so risky. Every individual must decide in life which risks they are willing to take. In our experience, composting pet waste is a low-risk activity.”
Families considering venturing into composting as a method of pet waste management should not take the idea lightly. “It does require knowledge, caution, and dedication. You need to be well-informed,” Rippy adds.
Are Dog Owners Left Holding the Bag?
Despite a desire to contribute less overall product to landfills, it seems the most realistic option for safe pet waste disposal is still putting it in the trash.
“For the health and safety of my family, my friends, and my community, I’m going to bag the poop and send it to the landfill, which is specifically designed to contain pathogens and prevent the spread of disease,” says Jessie Payne, water-quality communications manager with the State of Washington Department of Ecology. Every ecology expert we spoke with felt the same way.
While it’s disappointing to think of our pet waste bags lingering in landfill, Payne encourages people to look for other ways to lessen their impact on the environment such as recycling newspapers, composting organic food waste, and reducing energy usage.
However, that doesn’t mean the high-grade compostable pet waste bags are without merit. Companies making the effort to produce waste bags that conform to standards for compostability are, in general, striving to be earth-friendly in all facets of the business. Using sustainable raw materials in a plant-based waste bag is still more eco-conscious than producing a traditional polymer bag. For many consumers, even if the compostable bag fails to degrade while trapped in an anaerobic garbage tomb, the earth-friendly manufacturing still justifies the higher price tag.
“It’s a voluntary market differential piece,” says Allison Fick, manager of standards development at ASTM International. “It’s the demonstration of sustainability and being good stewards of the earth. Not only are dog owners being good stewards of the earth by picking up the waste, but they’re making good consumer choices by picking a bag and supporting a company that practices good stewardship.”
Want more ideas on how to be a more eco-friendly dog guardian? Click here!
Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Southern California.
“I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it, those first two weeks,” says foster provider Nancy Kerns. Buffet, formerly known as Muppet, was surrendered to a shelter by his owner. He was emaciated, and had become gravely ill in the shelter from kennel cough – an infection that rarely debilitates otherwise healthy adult dogs. He had also apparently been kept confined excessively; his muscles, tendons, and ligaments were so unconditioned that he couldn’t stand fully upright on the pads of his feet. Instead, when he walked, he padded along on his “wrists” – the back part of his legs. And he was uncoordinated; he was unsure of how to navigate his world.
That was the bad news. The good news was that he wanted to try – to try to explore the world and make new human and dog friends. And he was adorable, with a sweet, enthusiastic personality. If his body could recover from whatever it had been put through in his first year of life, it would be easy to find him a home.
Nancy nourished him in body and mind. He needed two rounds of antibiotics to kick the respiratory infection, lots of high-quality, high-protein food to gain weight and energy, daily off-leash walks to gain strength and coordination. Soon enough, he was feeling well enough to require lots of supervision to keep him from chewing things he shouldn’t! In roughly six weeks, he was walking almost upright, recovered from his illness, gaining weight, and was almost ready to find a home. Nancy wrote about some of Buffet’s time with her in the Whole Dog Journal blog.
Some of my friends had asked me to keep an eye out for a candidate to be their next dog. When I heard about Buffet, I thought he’d be a perfect match. I made arrangements to foster Buffet for another month or so, so I could assess his needs in order to provide support to my friends after they brought him home.
Fostering = Setting Up Dogs for Success
In my opinion, foster or rehabilitation caregivers do not just nurse dogs back to health if they are ill and give dogs temporary shelter before they are adopted out. They are also responsible for bolstering their emotional state and mental well being. Setting up a dog for success is a big challenge but should be the goal for foster caregivers.
Emotional Dog Rescue
What does it mean to set a dog up for success? Initially, success is meeting the emotional and physical needs of our new charge. This means that we must learn how to read dog body language, so we can understand their emotional state.
If we know when a dog is stressed, fearful, or anxious, we can help to alleviate his anxieties and help him gain confidence, which makes him more adoptable. When a dog is relieved of stress, his ability to learn increases, which also makes him more adoptable. It behooves all foster caregivers to learn how to “speak dog” if our goal is to be the bridge to their forever home. Remember, if we can’t communicate, we can’t bond!
Many dogs in foster homes have come from shelters, so by the time they come to a foster home, they have been in a minimum of three previous homes: One, where they were born; two, their first home away from their litter; and three, the shelter. The foster home is at least number four – and all of these changes can be traumatizing for any dog.
This kind of trauma is often responsible for breaking the human-dog bond. It manifests in stress behaviors such as barking, whining, jumping, mouthing, separation anxiety, and even aggression towards humans and other dogs or animals. If a dog’s first two years of life are interrupted by displacement, illness, or abuse, he will suffer emotionally. It’s our job as foster providers to help alleviate this stress by making our wards feel safe and secure; without this, dogs are unable to learn and thrive, thereby making the return rate to shelters and foster homes higher than need be.
Dog Fostering Phase Two
Buffet came to me already much healthier and thriving, thanks to his first foster provider. His joie de vivre wasn’t permanently destroyed by his his poor health. He was a happy, goofy, gangly, one-year-old puppy, ready to roll. But he also displayed a lot of anxieties.
My goal for Buffet was to make him feel secure in himself and in the world around him, and that process started with observing him without expectations of his behavior, and trying understand his emotional state. He’d been through a lot and still had a very sweet and willing disposition, and I didn’t want him to lose that.
Dealing with his anxiety was the first order of business, however. He had been transported to my town in a car with several other dogs who were being moved across state lines to new homes, and even though his part of the journey lasted only about six hours, he had been stressed enough in the car that when he got out, he had diarrhea and a loss of appetite for a couple of days. (I checked with Nancy, who reported that usually he was a voracious eater and had not previously had loose stools.)
courtesy of DogDecoder.com
There were lots of other clues that Buffet was quite anxious. He frequently barked and whined for attention, “counter surfed” (restlessly looked for items to eat or chew from the counters), chewed any clothing he could get hold of, and humped his bed in an effort to settle himself before he’d sleep. Nancy had reported that he had displayed some of these behaviors early in her time with him, but most of them had faded over the six weeks she had him.
The barking was perhaps the most obnoxious stress signal – but it’s important to understand that he wasn’t being bad; he was anxious, and barking helps relieve an anxious dog’s anxiety. It’s a coping mechanism – albeit not a very useful one, given that many people yell at or punish a dog for barking, which just increases the dog’s anxiety!
Buffet barked when he was frustrated or wanted something, because he didn’t know what else to do, and had never been taught a more polite way of getting attention from humans. He barked at the dogs to get them to play and he barked at me when he wanted something from me. If I left him in the house while I went out to my car to get something, even though he could see me the entire time through a window, he would bark with anxiety, worried that I might leave him behind. He would also bark when I asked him to do something that he didn’t want to do, like “sit” on cue.
I ignored the barking; again, if someone punishes this stress-based behavior, it often worsens the situation. Within a few days, he stopped barking at me, and barked at my dogs only when he wanted them to play, or when I was giving them loving attention and he wanted to be a part of it. As he began to feel safe and secure, the barking diminished and vanished by the end of our month together.
Another major indicator of his stress was his inability to settle himself. When I would sit down on the couch or at my desk, he would often hump his bed in an anxious frenzy. I knew that I had met his needs for exercise with walks, play, and short training sessions. I knew he wasn’t hungry, didn’t have to go potty, and that he indeed wanted to rest but couldn’t.
I watched his behavior without reaction or words, and with each passing day, the humping became less and less frequent until he didn’t do it at all. Keep in mind that this is not sexual and not a bad behavior; it’s just an anxious behavior. It was his way of winding down in his unfamiliar world.
Buffet stopped the humping behavior completely while living with me, and started it up again after he met his new guardians and stayed with them in a hotel when they came to my town and stayed for a couple of days of visiting and getting to know him. When he got to his new home, the humping ceased within a few days.
Remember, correcting anxious behaviors is wrong. It perpetuates the anxiety and/or makes the dog shut down. It’s our job as foster caregivers to build confidence and trust, not shut down the dog’s emotions. Most anxious behaviors go away by themselves when they are responded to with little to no reactive energy, as long as the dog has opportunities to have his emotional needs satisfied with love and affection.
Teaching Foster Dogs Positively
As a dog trainer, I of course want to further my foster dogs’ education, but not at the expense of his confidence or enthusiasm. So I aim to keep all teaching sessions short and fun, and use games and yummy treats. In this way, I was able to build Buffet’s self-assurance while helping him overcome his anxieties.
It helps to relieve a dog’s stress if you make learning fun and rewarding, by doing short sessions – only five minutes each maximum, and ending on a positive note, about four to six times a day. I teach one cue or trick at a time, and if the dog gets at all “stuck,” I don’t try that trick or behavior again for a day or two. Then, when I do go back to it, the dog usually has it down and is willing to give more and with much more enthusiasm.
That said, I always take the time to teach my foster dogs cues in real life situations – because it’s real life that will be happening when they go to their new homes! For example, I always teach dogs to “wait” at doors and gates, in the car, and while hiking or in safe public places.
I also teach them to “sit” if they want a toy or treat; it’s a dog version of saying, “Please!”
I take my fosters to the vet clinic for a weight check and treats from the staff, so that going to the vet is a fun time, not anxiety-producing. I practice low-stress handling methods for grooming and vet visits, so my foster dogs are comfortable being touched, positioned for ear checks, blood draws, nail trims, and being brushed; this goes a long way in reducing stress. I teach these things slowly and with treats to make it enjoyable and rewarding for them. I also keep these sessions short and positive, and allow the dog to have a choice in how fast I go.
For example, when I took out a brush to groom Buffet, he initially backed away and bit at the brush. He was playing, but underneath his play was an undertone of anxiety about being brushed – or perhaps being forced to tolerate brushing.
I stopped immediately and, instead, walked over to a training mat, prepared with brush and treats. (I use a fuzzy sort of bath mat, which gives the dog a comfortable place to sit, stand, or lie down, while also providing a sort of boundary of where I’d like him to remain while we work. I reinforce the dog heavily while he’s on the mat, and soon he is happy to remain there, without being forced to do so.)
Buffet followed me to the mat, and I showed him the brush and gave him a treat. Putting the brush behind my back and treat ready in the other hand, I brought the brush out front again, and when he sniffed it, I immediately offered him a treat. After about five repetitions of this, I touched him gently with the brush and gave him a treat. I repeated this about five times. Then I did one brush stroke and gave him a treat. I repeated the same sequence with longer brush strokes (brush, treat; brush, treat), until I was able to brush him without biting the brush or moving away – and all this took only about 10 minutes.
Spending just a few minutes each day on this type of positive reward teaching and low-stress handling in real-life situations helps a foster dog build confidence and trust in you. What better way to bond with a dog, but especially an anxious, fearful, or stressed dog! While you’re in these teaching sessions, pay attention to the dog’s body language and emotional state. It will help you to know when to stop, slow down, or keep going.
Canine Stress Relief
Teaching a dog some tricks is a blast – and they don’t have to be complicated! A simple “high five” or catching a toy or treat in the air is fun and rewarding. Watching how a foster dog processes new tricks and games gives you more information that you can offer his new guardian, who can then see how fun and easy teaching dogs can be and how much dogs love to learn. Tug of war is another great game, because while playing you can teach a dog to both take (“take it!”) and release (“drop it!”) the toy.
Buffet learned tricks before I taught him any formal “good manners” behaviors, because I saw that the leash highly stressed him. When I attached a leash to his collar, he would bite at the leash and bark at me; if I took the leash off, he was eager to learn. I recognized these “bad behaviors” for what they really were – anxious behaviors – and understood his emotional state; it was more important to alleviate his anxiety than to worry about the barking and grabbing at the leash. Once he caught on to the teaching process and became enthusiastically engaged, I could put the leash on without him getting anxious and his progress soared.
Four to six short (five-minute max) training sessions a day adds up to 30 minutes. I would venture to say that many people spend far more time trying to correct so-called bad behaviors, which ultimately is detrimental to their relationships with their new dogs.
In contrast, short, fun teaching sessions help to alleviate the dog’s stress while building a stronger bond and a foundation of trust. This kind of foundation truly helps prepare a dog for his or her new family, as it’s more important that they are happy, healthy, and willing and able to trust and connect with new people than it is to be perfectly “trained” in conventional “obedience” behaviors. If more attention was paid to foster dogs’ emotional state from the minute they were taken into foster care, I think their placements would go much more smoothly.
Another Happy Ending
When Buffet left me to be with his new family, he was a more confident dog and able to manage stressful situations with ease. He had the confidence he needed to mature into a well-mannered, well-adjusted adult dog.
Just as important, his adopters took the time to learn to be aware of his emotional state, recognize his signs of stress or anxiety, and and respond appropriately to those signs in order to help him regain confidence any time he got overwhelmed.
We’ve been living with dogs for thousands of years and yet it’s a relatively new idea to learn how to read dog body language to better understand their emotional state. By getting better at speaking dog, we can help to reduce their stress and fear so they can behave “better”- which, in turn, will help them stay in their original homes, instead of being surrendered to shelters.
If we took this education to heart, I daresay that homeless dogs, dog bites, and surrendering dogs to shelters would not be the huge problem that they continue to be today.
Trainer Jill Breitner has been training dogs since 1978 and is a body language expert. She is the developer of the Dog Decoder smartphone app, which helps people identify and “de-code” their dogs’ body language for a better understanding. She is also a certified Fear Free Professional and certified in Animal Behavior and Welfare. She lives on the west coast and uses Skype for dog training consultations all over the world.
