Let me just start with the moral of this story first: If you have a dog, keep some nice, fresh hydrogen peroxide on hand, won’t you?
Last night, I’m feeding my three-year-old grandson dinner, and he wants to simultaneously play with these little wooden cubes at the same time. The cubes are about a quarter-inch cubes, and have a tiny magnet glued on one side; they are supposed to be arranged in various artful ways in the accompanying metal tray. Because he’s actually a little young to play with this particular toy, and is more fond of just scrambling them around, I tell him, “You can play with them for a minute, but make sure they stay in the tray, okay? I don’t want them on the floor.”
Of course, within a minute he’s done something that caused several of the cubes to leap out of the tray, and a few fall to the floor – and as they do, my current foster dog, a young coonhound, leaps for them. I yell, “Hey!” trying to stop her forward momentum, but she manages to snatch one up; I hear it clinking on her molars. And just as fast, she runs from the room.
I run down the hall after her, into the living room. She’s happy with this game. She leaps onto the couch and faces me, panting happily. Her mouth is empty. I look around the room; she’s dropped no cubes in there. I retrace our steps; no dropped cubes in the hall. I carefully pick up the ones on the kitchen floor, from under my grandson’s chair, feeling them to see if they are wet with dog spit. Nope, they are all dry.
Crud. Is one missing? As quickly as I can, I arrange them by color in the tray. There are supposed to be 10 of each color. I start with the dark colors – 10, 10, 10, 10… – and work myself up to the brightest yellow, the last color. NINE. Crud crud crud. That’s when I started looking for the hydrogen peroxide, to make that coonhound vomit. CAN a quarter-inch cube make it through the dog without harm? I’d rather it come out how it went in, and now.
But guess what? We are all out of peroxide.
And my next door neighbors are not home.
And my sister is not home at her house, several blocks away.
At this point, I turn the three-year-old over to my husband, put the coonhound in the car, and race to CVS, race home with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and give her the first dose. Within 10 minutes she starts looking restless and unhappy, and drinks a bunch of water, but after 10 more minutes, hasn’t vomited, so I give her some more. About 10 minutes later, she vomits. The first round is grass and a little food and water. The next bit is watery bile. The last one is tiny, just a bit of watery bile. No cube.
I consult with the veterinary technician from my shelter, the one that I am fostering the hound for. She is unfazed. “Meh, give her some food, maybe some canned pumpkin, watch her, I’m sure it will go through,” she tells me.
Meanwhile, my husband is looking under the sofas and beds, in every room the cubes have been played with. Because the cubes have been spilled out of their tray before, many times, he’s certain the set wasn’t complete to begin with, though he agrees that it’s weird that just ONE is missing. “I thought there were at least four or five missing,” he says.
The hound ate dinner with gusto. And breakfast this morning.
As I write this, it’s lunchtime. No poop yet, though I will be examining it when it happens. I won’t be letting her out of my sight for a while. And, truthfully, if I know myself, I will most likely end up bringing her to the vet for an x-ray, even though the shelter vet tech says it’s not necessary. I just hate not knowing whether or not she actually swallowed one – AND I hate the feeling I have that if I had been able to make her vomit immediately, I would have known for sure whether she had swallowed a cube or not.
I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, check your hydrogen peroxide supply, won’t you?
A note on the dosage mentioned in the linked article: You will find other Internet searches that recommend 1 teaspoon per TEN pounds of body weight, with a maximum dose of 3 tablespoons, no matter the dog’s weight. Our veterinary sources recommend the more assertive dose of 1 teaspoon per FIVE pounds of body weight, but still suggest no more than 3 tablespoons no matter the dog’s weight.
Have you ever had the experience of getting incredibly “stuck” with your dog, unable to teach him a certain new behavior? And then an experienced trainer steps up, and has your dog happily performing the behavior again and again within a minute? At that moment, part of you is happy because your dog “got it,” but part of you may be seething, too. What the heck, dog?
That scenario was running through my head as I sat and worked in one room, while in the next room, someone was trying to coerce a willful three-year-old through dinner, a bath, pajamas, story time, and bed. The adult kept threatening various punishments (a time-out, not getting treats the next day, having a favorite toy taken away), but never quite delivered on any of them. I was dying to go in there and give advice (or even take over), because I knew I could make it all happen, and without threats or a raised voice, tight with exasperation. I know this because I’ve finessed the same toddler through the same routine without eliciting his tears, anger, and frustration. But unlike a human student and her dog in a training class, this person didn’t sign up for my advice. So I just sat there unhappily, wishing I could put some “dog training” to work.
For the 19 years that I’ve been editing WDJ, I’ve been studying animal trainers – mostly dog trainers, but other trainers, too. I’ve watched them work (in person and on video), photographed them, interviewed them, read what they’ve written, and taken lessons from them. I’ve learned a ton about influencing the behavior of other animals, and successfully used what I’ve learned on my own dogs, foster dogs, shelter dogs – and yes, I’ve even used what I’ve learned to help “train” my son. He’s 23 now, long past needing any intervention to change his behavior, but I have to say, what I learned from all the animal trainers I’ve studied worked with him, too! He’s a great dog – um, successful young man!
What have I learned? For starters, I’ve learned that a good trainer doesn’t yell at or physically menace her pupil, intimidating or threatening him into compliance. Because – what if the dog still won’t do the behavior? Then what?
A dog trainer also knows that rewards need to be palpable and immediate. If a handler fails to reward – or even notice – the behaviors that a dog does after being cued to do them, and they are behaviors that are not particularly enjoyable in and of themselves for the dog – why should he keep doing them? Failing to reinforce good behavior with something that is valuable to the training subject is a sure-fire way to get that good behavior to stop.
As I sat there, listening to the parent/toddler struggle in the other room, I was dying to jump in and “train the dog.” And then it occurred to me: This must be exactly what it’s like for dog trainers when their human students struggle to get their dogs to do something that is ridiculously easy for the trainer to accomplish. They must also be thinking, “Why doesn’t this person just do it like this?”
And so, like any of the really great trainers I’ve met and admire, what I really need to do is figure out how to reach out and teach the “amateur handler,” not the “dog.” I need to notice and reinforce the things she’s doing right, so she not only learns a better way to get the behavior she wants, but enjoys the process, too.
Every year we asked WDJ’s contributors for their recommendations for “things they can’t imagine living without” in their dog-care kits – their favorite dog toys, training tools, and treats. Here are some of the products that made their lists of things that they must have for their dogs. Scroll down for full reviews.
Of all the products featured here, this is my favorite. I can’t walk even a single block at night without someone calling out from the opposite sidewalk, a porch, or a passing car, “What a cool light!” or “Hey, look at that dog!” – or “Please tell me where you bought that!” The attention itself isn’t something that appeals to me (though Otto seems to like it!), but the fact that I am 100 percent confident that anyone who goes by can see him, even on the darkest, rainiest night, makes me deliriously happy. The Lighthound was developed with help from Kickstarter funders, who, by all accounts, are thrilled with the product they helped into production!
Noxgear was founded “with a mission to deliver innovative, well-designed gear to all nocturnal athletes” (they make products for humans, too). Its Lighthound is a lightweight harness, made of durable, washable Cordura, with 3M Scotchlite microreflective piping (which reflects in headlights at distances greater than 1,000 feet). Both the strap that goes around the dog’s neck and the one that goes around the dog’s girth are highly adjustable. The Lighthound has no leash attachment; it’s meant to be worn by your dog in combination with whatever other gear he’s wearing.
Here’s the fun part: With the press of a button, the Lighthound can be lit up with your choice of six different solid colors (aqua, orange, lime green, pink, red, or yellow) or one of six flashing modes. There are slow and flashing modes, and some great color-changing modes that cycle through different colors (check the WDJ Facebook page for a video of this). Highly visible, beautiful, and fun! The rain-proof unit that illuminates the vest can be easily removed so the vest can be washed – and get this: the rechargeable lithium battery that powers the unit is charged via a USB connection, and keeps the vest flashing or glowing for 12 hours! – Nancy Kerns
Nite Ize Nite Dawg Collar and Meteorlite LED Ball
Fewer hours of daylight do not deter my two young, high-energy dogs from action; they are ready to run, sun or none. After years of crawling through bushes with a head lamp searching for lost balls, only to emerge and wonder where the dogs wandered off to (always inches past my light, giggling, I’m sure!), I discovered the Nite Ize LED dog products.
The Nite Dawg collar comes in red or orange and houses a flexible, light-transmitting polymer core that illuminates when the collar is turned on with a firm press of a button (orange offers the longest-range visibility). The collar has two modes, flash and steady glow. By far, it beats any light-up collar attachment that you can only see when your dog is facing a specific direction, which mine seem to never do. It’s powered by a long-life, easily replaceable battery; one usually lasts all fall/winter on my dogs.
Nite Ize sells other light-up products for dogs, but this collar is my favorite, closely followed by the Meteorlight K-9 LED Ball, another must-have during the dark days of winter. It’s endlessly entertaining to watch the nighttime game of fetch (especially in light-up Disc-O color) and great exercise given that the ball is made of durable, extra-bounce rubber. This ball is beloved by all the four-legged fetch nuts at our house, which may be why we’ve had to replace these batteries more than once per season of darkness. (Note that because of these batteries, the ball is for fetching only; no chewing allowed!) – Kathryn Socie Dunning
Sexy Beast Leather Dog Collars and Leashes
My mom used to have two sets of towels – “one for show, and one for blow.”
I have a similar ethic about dog collars: Some are fancy enough that you want to save them for special occasions.
The irresistibly named Sexy Beast makes beautiful, limited-edition leather dog collars and leashes – and crafts absolutely gorgeous, custom collars and leashes to your exact specifications. The craftsmen owners of the company started this unique business in 2009 to raise money for cancer research after losing both of their Rhodesian Ridgebacks to that disease.
Among their fashion-forward designs: “Candy Heart,” inch-wide latigo leather studded with colorful cabochons, crystals, studs, and a heart concho (seen here), and “Dragonfly,” completely hand-tooled, dyed, and painted with your choice of color scheme to bring these pond-flitters to life. There are a variety of closure styles available, most of them variations on the martingale, which is designed to prevent a dog from slipping his collar. All of Sexy Beast’s cow and bull hides are sourced in the United States, and are cut, beveled, and conditioned by hand. Every design can be customized – you can choose the width and type of leather, as well as add a soft leather lining and nameplate, which is also a one-of-a-kind creation. Be patient; the wait time for the custom creations can be lengthy, but the product, we assure you, will be worth it. – Denise Flaim
Doggie Tail Toy
I’m not sure the Doggie Tail has the best name – it looks more like a faceless rabbit head with one ear. But dogs don’t care, especially when it is in their mouth and it’s making their entire head vibrate.
This unique poly fake fur-covered ball with an 8-inch tail contains a mechanism that produces frenetic motions: a hopping scurry when on a flat surface, or, when held, a robust vibration. It moves! And makes noises, too: a small-dog-like bark, followed by a whine. These activities are initiated whenever the ball’s power switch is turned to “on,” and then when the ball is bumped. The sound and movement features last about 10 seconds, and then the toy goes still. Until your dog whacks it and it goes off again, and again, and again… keeping him entertained and (I hope) not driving you crazy.
While toy-savvy dogs usually love the Doggie Tail, the very nature of the toy – a simulation of a small, noisy, furry, moving creature – would not be appropriate for dogs whose interest in prey has been something you have been trying to dampen. It might also be a bit scary for sensitive or fearful dogs, so use care when introducing it for the first time.
The Doggie Tail should always be enjoyed with supervision and you should never allow your dog to chew on it. While it is sturdy, it is not indestructible and it does contain batteries; inspect it frequently and throw it away if it is damaged.
Finally, it does not come with the three AAA batteries it requires, and the battery compartment is difficult to access in the 4″ diameter ball. And it requires a screwdriver to open! But knowing dogs, I’m glad for that. – Barbara Dobbins
Pet Tutor
Whether human or canine, it’s easy to get addicted to the Pet Tutor, the newest high-tech treat-dispensing system on the market. After hearing all the buzz about it from several of my trainer friends, I purchased the device a few months ago, and after a quick, easy setup, my dog, Cody, was addicted to it in less than three dispenses (and so was I)!
The Pet Tutor from Smart Animal Training Systems is a patented, smart, wireless training, feeding, and game system for your pet (dogs, cats, birds, or other animals) that gives you new and innovative ways to remotely reward your animal for any number of desired behaviors. Need to teach your dog to love her crate? Stop barking? Help your dog go to a mat and stay there? Slow down your dog’s pace of eating? Provide more mental stimulation for your animal? Pet Tutor to the rescue.
Lightweight, very well made, and durable, the Pet Tutor bridges the gap between positive training and high technology. Developed by Wes Anderson, an electrical engineer and a passionate positive dog trainer, the device is amazing in its multiple capabilities, and the company has excellent customer service. Here are only a few of the attributes of this amazing new device:
– Can be triggered manually with the remote or programmed automatically to dispense food at specific times or intervals.
– The feeder can be turned on its base to either dispense food to the floor or into the tray on the base. If you think your dog might spend the day trying to destroy the device to get the food out, you can put it up on a counter or high cabinet, and turn the dispenser so that the food rolls out onto the floor rather than into the tray. You can also put the device on top of a wire crate and have the food fall directly into the crate.
– The feeder holds up to five cups of food and is nearly jam-proof. All manner and sizes of treats easily move through the dispensing unit, including odd shapes and various sizes of kibble, but also moist things like bits of hot dog or chicken.
– There is a silent dispensing mode for animals sensitive to sounds.
– It’s easy to take apart to clean and is dishwasher safe.
– You can hang it from above, stand it on any flat surface, or mount it on a crate or kennel door with the optional crate attachment.
– You can trigger multiple devices via one remote control.
– The remote control contains movement sensors (tilt mode), enabling it to be placed into a toy (such as a Kong Wobbler). Movement of the remote triggers the base to dispense a treat, so the dog is rewarded each and every time she interacts with the toy. (Once your dog understands the game, you can position the toy at greater and greater distances from the base, so your dog has to travel back and forth to get his treats!)
– The remote also contains a microphone, and can be fastened to the dog’s collar or placed on top of the crate; as long as the dog is quiet, the Pet Tutor will dispense treats at random moments, but if the dog barks, the remote senses the sound and withholds treats until the dog is quiet again for at least five seconds.
– The Pet Tutor is available with customizable computer software; it’s also iPhone and Bluetooth compatible.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the Pet Tutor’s capabilities with my own dogs. No matter your level of skill or ability, you’ll find the Pet Tutor a welcome addition to your home for training and feeding or playing games with your dog. But its price might limit its sales to professional trainers, exceptionally motivated owners, and owners of dogs who have separation anxiety (its uses for keeping these dogs occupied are limitless). – Lisa Lyle Waggoner
Earth Rated Waste Bags
Goodbye, plastic grocery bag. Earth Rated’s green-hued poop bags contain an additive that helps them break down in landfills, and they smell nice, too – the company uses a formulation of “spice plants, flowers, and fruits” to make for a pleasant olfactory experience. (They also have unscented ones, if you’d prefer.)
Scooping for a big-un? Earth Rated has a bag with handles that opens wider for bigger messes, and can accommodate kitty litter and pick-me-ups from multi-dog households. Picking up a lot of poop, more than your average bear? Earth Rated sells a 300-bag roll that dispenses nicely out of a recycled cardboard box.
Even though its business is “waste,” the company takes its environmental impact and good citizenship seriously. Excess production material is recycled – reused for future production.
And finished products that don’t meet its standards are donated to shelters.
Though they’re more environmentally friendly than plastic, technically the bags aren’t “biodegradable” because, the company explains, “they cannot be proven to break down within a regulated time frame in every type of landfill environment.” If you want to totally allay your landfill angst, Earth Rated also sells white, unscented bags that are made out of a vegetable starch base. These can be disposed of in municipal compost environments where pet waste is accepted. – Denise Flaim
The Turdle Bag
We’re really going to have an entire page devoted to poop? Yes, I’m afraid so. But, look – we all have dogs, so we all have to deal with poop, and we may as well have the best gear available to deal with it. Agreed?
The Turdle Bag is genius because of its name alone! Even better, though, is the concept behind it: a dog poop bag carrier. I want to buy a bunch and give them to fellow hikers with dogs while enjoying one my favorite dog-friendly open spaces. The hiking trails there have become littered with filled dog-waste bags. And while I’m thankful that the trail hazard has been minimized, these “trail markers” are unsightly and environmentally unfriendly. I know that most people have good intentions, and think they will retrieve the bag on their way out, but rarely do they exit by the same trail, and so the poop remains.
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I don’t know how many times the items in my pack have shared the same space as odiferous dog poop, but it was just the price I had to pay to pack it out. Now the poop has a bag of its own! Available in red, forest green, and navy, the 8 1/2- by 6-inch bag is small enough so as not to be a burden to carry, and large and sturdy enough to handle a large and stinky deposit.
The top of the bag is wide, making it easy to receive a full bag. Then it rolls down, becoming smaller, and buckles to close, keeping odors trapped. A strap on the back secures the bag to a leash, belt, or pack. A handle on the bottom of the pack makes it easy to dispose the contents into a garbage can. A pouch on the front stores a supply of pet waste bags. And it can be machine washed and dried! – Barbara Dobbins
Polar Bowl
It’s a bit ironic that I’m writing about products that keep things cool as I try to stay warm. But it wasn’t that long ago that the temperatures were soaring over 100 degrees. My Border Collie, Duncan, was never an avid drinker of water and even less so when his water was warm. But he didn’t like ice cubes. What’s a dog mom to do to encourage hydration?!
Get him a Polar Bowl! This stainless steel bowl by Neater Feeder (Neater Pet Brands, LLC) features double-walled stainless steel surrounding a non-toxic gel core and comes in three sizes:
small = 14 ounces
medium = 28 ounces
large = 58 ounces
Simply place the empty bowl in the freezer for a few hours, remove, and then fill it with water. The frozen gel core keeps the water cold for hours. For outings and traveling, I freeze one and keep it in a cooler. It’s dishwasher-safe, but the same element that keeps it cold (the gel core) will also retain heat, so use caution when removing it from dishwasher. Made in the USA. – Barbara Dobbins
Paw Pudding
Developed and tested through the seasonal extremes found in the western Rocky Mountains, Paw Pudding promotes healing of the inevitable cracks and splits that arise from all canine adventures, big and small, in the great outdoors. Whether you and your hound head out hiking in the hot and dry summer months or skijoring in the wicked cold of deep winter, this non-toxic, preservative-free goodness will keep paws happily on the move. It’s also free of chemicals and artificial colors, making it perfectly safe for your four-legged friend to have a lick, should she be so inclined.
Paw Pudding is made by The Scent Project, a small, Montana-based business. Their products benefit both dogs and people; this one works wonders on hard-working hands, too! Rub some on after a long day digging in the garden or pounding nails building Fido his dream home. It’s made with anti-microbial and anti-bacterial lavender and calendula, as well as olive oil.
Small, hand-blended batches are made to order, and since a dab will do, a small jar will last a long time. All the paws, palms, heels, hands in your home deserve it! – Kathryn Socie Dunning
Invincibles Snake
All the toys made by Outward Hound are high-quality, well-made toys, though the Invincibles Snake is the number one “go to toy” for our own two high-energy Australian Shepherds.
The Snake is made of super-tough fabric and contains large, special squeakers that make two different sounds – one sound when the squeaker is depressed and another sound when released, quite different from a traditional squeaker. The Snake also features a special inner lining the company calls “Dura-Tuff” and double-layered seams. The squeakers are designed so that even if punctured by a hard chewer, the toy will continue its wonderful noise-making capability. The Snake comes in a three- or six-squeaker option.
The Invincibles Snake entered our home eight years ago, and our dogs have played hard and tugged together with this toy between them time after time with no damage to the toy. It’s provided years of enjoyment for them and a ton of laughs from me. – Lisa Lyle Waggoner
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I am thankful that I’m from a family that loves dogs.
My sister hosted Thanksgiving this year. Her husband recently retired and they moved to my town – across the street from my office/house! They have three little dogs: perhaps 10-year-old Bo, a scruffy Terrier-mix they adopted from a friend whose life was too much in flux to keep him; Daisy, a 2-year-old Jack Russell-mix adopted from a Jack Russell rescue; and Dinah, the ?-year-old “mommy dog” that I fostered (along with her puppy) last summer. (My sister dog-sat for me when I was traveling and ended up falling in love with soft-coated Dinah, her first non-terrier!) Daisy is the most social and well-adjusted with guests, jumping into anyone’s lap for petting and play, but the other two both spent a fair amount of time on the laps of the people they knew. It was nice to be able to reach out and pet a dog in any room we were in before and after dinner! To keep the chaos level low, we made sure that they were the only dogs in their home.
My brother-in-law and his wife and their dogs stayed at my office/house for a few days, and tehn my son came and stayed a few days with his dog, so I had days and days of dog walks in my local open spaces. My sister’s cooking was phenomenal, but the off-leash dog walks out in nature, with mostly well-behaved dogs, were the highlights of my week.
My in-laws brought their Boxer, Rosie, whom they adopted from a Boxer-rescue; and Oliver, an older foster from the same group. Oliver is smaller and sweet, with a long tail. Rosie is a handful, and tends to “lock on” to small dogs (and other small animals), so I coordinated their movements in order to avoid unmanaged moments between Rosie and my Chihuahua Tito, who will snarl at, rather than run from, any dog he perceives as a threat to his well being. He is not one of those hysterical small dogs who will start trouble with a big dog, but he won’t exactly back down, either.
Tito and my big dog Otto stayed at my home most of the time. My son arrived to the party well after dinner and spent a couple nights with his amiable 2-year-old coonhound-mix, Cole. It seemed like Otto used to regard Cole as a big pest, but he always seems happy to see the playful dog now. He usually greets Cole with a ferocious growl (paired with a wagging tail), to which Cole responds by ducking into a play bow and then taking off at a crazy-legged run; then, the chase is on. They grab toys and take turns playing “keep away” from the other. Tito grabs a tennis ball and plays by himself, trying to stay out of the way.
When the in-laws came over to my house with the Boxers, I put Tito in a crate to protect him. When people are busy catching up with each other, it’s not possible to make sure that the dogs aren’t crossing paths or swords. Better safe than sorry. Tito didn’t complain once, even though he normally would protest with some whining or a few barks if he’s locked up in the middle of the day; I think he felt safer in there, too.
Though I’ve come to rely on Otto to help me socialize and train ill-mannered juvenile foster dogs in the past, he made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with helping manage Rosie’s behavior. She’s a big, strong dog, with a very assertive presence. Here she was in his house, in his yard, and she’d greet him by walking straight up to him, staring straight at him, with a stiff, forward body – very rude canine behavior. If it had been coming from an adolescent, Otto would have likely pounced on her and demanded some sort of show of submission. As it was, he very calmly just looked the other way, every time. He’d hold his ground, changing not one bit of his posture besides turning his head in an “I don’t even see you!” sort of gesture. And it worked! After a moment, Rosie would seem to get bored and move on to something else.
They were all fine when we were out on walks together, though. Rosie and Oliver mostly hung together on the trail, and Cole and his “Uncle Otto” were almost always within a few feet of each other; Tito mostly stays closest to the humans. The tactic keeps him from getting run over, and he’s ready in case anyone wants to give good little dogs a treat.
We had only one naughty dog incident in four total days with dogs out on the trail. We were in a densely wooded area, near an algae-covered pond, checking out a small, overgrown cemetery that dates back to the early 1860s. All of a sudden, we heard rhythmic crashing sounds in the dried leaves and underbrush – a deer who suddenly discovered that there was a pack of dogs nearby, and who decided to run for it. Otto and Cole were closest to her, and both of them knew exactly what those crashing sounds were. They took off after her. The other dogs, closer to us, immediately responded to our urgent calls, and stayed by us. We rewarded them quickly and extravagantly, and leashed them.
Otto was the leader, and closest to the deer. I was appalled that he failed to respond to my cues of “Off!” and “Come!” but the temptation was too great; the deer was only about 50 feet ahead of him when she started running. Cole was maybe 100 feet from her, and he actually stopped and turned back for a moment when he heard my son’s calls – but then he succumbed to the double temptation: Running deer! And running Otto!
Otto isn’t very fast, though, and though it’s clearly a blast for him to strike up a chase, he’s not so “gamey” as to chase anything for very long. He circled back and galloped back to us in less than a minute, eyes shining and very pleased with himself. But without Cole.
My son and I both called for a few minutes, listening between shouts for sounds of the deer or the dog. Then we heard more crashing sounds, and here was Cole – 100 percent soaked, from the tip of his tail to the top of his head, and covered with tiny green plants. In his haste, he must have run right “onto” the pond, mistaking the green surface for solid ground, and landing hard enough to carry him completely under the surface of the water. He shook and shook for the rest of the walk, trying to get all the water out of his ears. I’m most sorry to report that we didn’t get a picture of him covered with the little green specks; he looked sort of like a space alien. He just would not stop shaking and sending the green specks flying.
We kept a much closer eye on the dogs from then on, calling them back to us again and again, and rewarding them with the ample treats we brought along. We saw a lot more deer, including whole herd of them trotting a few hundred yards away, but by then, all of the dogs were clearly more motivated by the treats and praise than the prospect of another chase, and we had no more incidents, on that or any other walks.
Four days, five dogs on the trail and three different ones by the Thanksgiving dinner table, and no further incidents . . . it was a wonderful holiday.
This happened to two couples I know – one, very recently: They adopted a dog who turned out to have some “issues.” Each couple hired a trainer to help them manage and change the dog’s behavior. The trainers started out with teaching them very dog-friendly basic training techniques that helped them get their dogs’ attention, improved basic obedience and cooperation, and generally encouraged the couples that there was hope for their dogs. But then, when progress wasn’t being made fast enough – at least, in the eyes of the trainers – the trainers started using (and encouraging the couples to use) punitive, force-based methods. In both instances, my friends contacted me to ask for a reality check, like, “Is this okay? Is this what we should expect?” In both cases, my answer was, “Oh heck no!”
In the first case, my friends had adopted a small dog who was so reactive on leash, that he would suddenly lunge and snap at passersby. He didn’t actually manage to make contact with anyone’s flesh, but he bit shopping bags, coat and skirt hems, and the leg of someone’s pants, despite the best efforts of his very dedicated owners to keep him away from other people, and especially other dogs, when they walked. On my advice, they hired a trainer who advertised that he used dog-friendly methods, and was an alumni of a prestigious dog-friendly trainer academy, for private lessons.
The trainer taught them to ask the dog to look at them on cue, to look at other dogs or people and then choose to look back at them, to sit and stay very reliably when someone was approaching or passing when they just could not avoid this (they live in a large, busy city), and the dog was making great progress. They were dedicated to training him, and generally happy with his progress, but the hardest nut to crack (so to speak) was the unpredictable lunge-and-snap behavior. I kept encouraging my friends, because it seemed like they were getting somewhere and were highly invested in the dog – and they even took the dog in for several extensive veterinary workups and blood tests, to make sure there wasn’t a physical problem or thyroid imbalance that would help explain his hard-to-predict aggressive behavior.
But around this time, it seemed like the trainer grew frustrated with the persistence of the dog’s lunge-and-snap behavior. He brought a choke chain to their next few sessions, and showed my friends how to “pop” the dog if it looked like he was about to lunge. They saw that the trainer’s method was successful in (at least temporarily) controlling the dog, so they tried it, with a little success. Maybe all the positive stuff had to be balanced with a little discipline, they thought.
In very little time, however, the dog’s aggressive behavior started to increase, and he began to behave aggressively in more situations, many of them unpredictable. And while he had seemed to improve in the first few sessions in which the trainer had “popped” him, he abruptly started getting worse, growing much more dramatically aggressive when subjected to the things that triggered him (people and especially other dogs passing by). My friends discontinued their lessons with the trainer after one session in which the trainer appeared to lose his temper repeatedly, yanking the dog repeatedly with the choke chain, at several points lifting him off the ground, and yelling at him loudly.
My friends consulted with another trainer, who witnessed the behavior and had some minor suggestions, but admitted she didn’t have any significant answers about what else could be done.
Some weeks later, when one of my friends was sweeping their front sidewalk, and his partner opened the front door to tell him something, the dog bolted out the front door and ran like a lightning bolt next door, where their neighbor was also sweeping, and without a second of premeditation, attacked the neighbor, biting him in the leg. With great sadness, they decided they could not keep an animal that was this sort of unpredictable liability, and they returned him to the shelter he was adopted from. After an evaluation by the shelter, he was euthanized.
This is a story I will tell over Thanksgiving to my in-laws, who have a lovely adopted Boxer, and are fostering another one – and who are dealing with the first dog’s mild reactivity to other dogs when walking on leash. They, too, hired a trainer who advertises as “dog-friendly” to help them, and the lessons have paid off in spades. Their dog now knows to “look at” them on cue, and to sit calmly when cued, ignoring the passersby and their dogs, too. Yet, while I haven’t yet heard why, the same trainer also insisted that they buy and use a prong collar on the dog when walking. “Should we use it?” my sister-in-law asked me. “No!” I responded. Instead, I’ll help them when they come to stay in my office/house for a few days over Thanksgiving, and we go out for walks every day. And I’ll be sure to tell them the sad story of my other friends’ dog.
Folks, read our back articles. Pain-based, force-based, intimidation-based, fear-based, and even discomfort-based methods all tend to make aggressive behavior worse over time. You may be able to intimidate a dog into behaving better in certain circumstances, but unless you seriously and systematically address his stress – the things that get him anxious or aroused – the behavior will continue to pop up from time to time, and pretty much always when you least expect it and least wish for it to happen. You have to improve how he feels when he’s exposed to his stressors – and leash pops and yelling certainly won’t make him any less anxious or defensive about them. And next, you have to teach him a more rewarding response, something he should do (as opposed to telling him all the things he should NOT do) when he sees one of his stressors. The process takes time and commitment, but it can be, and has been, done time and time again. Usually, with people who are working with trainers who have lots of tools in their training “toolbox,” and who don’t give up on the dog-friendly stuff when they get stuck.
What’s your definition of a “well-trained dog?” For many people, a well-trained dog is one who knows how to perform a variety of behaviors. However, there are many dogs who will sit, lie down, stay, heel, and show off a few fun parlor tricks at home – but who look completely perplexed when asked to perform the same behaviors at an outdoor café, while visiting relatives or friends, or perhaps even when entering the ring at a dog show!
If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “But he does it at home!” while wondering why your dog fails to respond correctly when working in a new environment, you have acknowledged that your dog has not yet generalized the behavior to all contexts, and lacks fluency.
In dog training, generalization means that your dog can apply a concept to many situations; he knows that “Sit!” means he should sit whether he’s home, on a loud, crowded sidewalk in the rain, or in a grassy park with squirrels chattering in the trees. Fluency means the dog performs the desired behavior correctly, smoothly, and without hesitation.
When we train a behavior, we often do so with the unspoken expectation that the dog will perform the behavior anywhere, anytime, so long as the correct cue is given. It’s important to understand generalization and fluency because a dog’s failure to perform is often seen as the dog’s deliberate choice to not comply. In reality, the dog’s lack of compliance usually means he doesn’t know the behavior to the extent you believe he does. That’s a training problem; the behavior wasn’t generalized and taught to fluency.
As a trainer, my definition of “well trained” has less to do with how many behaviors my dog knows; it’s much more about whether he can correctly perform these behaviors in many unique circumstances, a feat that is necessary for him to live harmoniously within my lifestyle.
Out of Context
Dogs have dozens of wonderful qualities, but unfortunately, an ability to quickly generalize is not one of them. Dogs are contextual creatures. Learning to sit for three seconds in the kitchen when the house is quiet is not the same as sitting in a crowded outdoor shopping center. When dogs fail to comply in new settings or in the face of distractions, they aren’t being stubborn, willful, or dominant, as many people believe. In reality, they are struggling to meet the demands placed upon them in that moment, and they need our help to become successful.
In order for a dog to truly know a behavior, we must take the time to specifically train for the many types of situations we are likely to encounter with our dogs. It’s not just about more practice – it’s about strategic practice. Taking the time to train a behavior to fluency helps ensure that the behavior works whenever and wherever you need it. It’s the difference between a dog who can come when called when you leave him in a sit, walk away, and call him, and a dog who can still come when called while in the middle of chasing a squirrel down your driveway toward traffic!
The better your dog is able to respond to your cues, the less you are likely to be frustrated by his behavior. Even better, dogs who are reliable in their skills are more likely to be found accompanying their owners on adventures away from home. It’s more fun to hit the town with a well-trained dog!
We typically associate fluency with language, but it’s just as relevant to any acquired skill. Think about when you first learned to drive a car. You probably started in an empty parking lot or on a quiet road where you were unlikely to encounter other drivers; you needed to work in an area free from the distraction of other drivers. In the beginning, it took effort to remember each of the important steps that make up the behavior of “driving safely.” You relied heavily on the guidance of a driving instructor. As your skill level and confidence increased, you practiced on busier roads, in different weather conditions, and maybe even behind the wheels of different cars. Over time, you became so well practiced in the art of safe driving that it now appears effortless. The skill of operating a car has become generalized and fluent.
The following are methods that help dogs generalize behaviors and become fluent.
1. Start by clearly defining the behavior you want.
When you teach a behavior, it’s important to have a clear picture of what you want the finished behavior to look like. Does “heel” mean that your dog should match your pace and stay even with your left leg, or does “heel” mean your dog may stay anywhere on your left side so long as the leash stays loose? Does “on your spot” mean your dog should run directly to his mat and lie down with his entire body on the mat, or does it mean he should run to his mat and lie down with most of his body on the mat?
You should also have an idea of how quickly you want your dog to perform the behavior – both in terms of the time it takes the dog to start the behavior after you deliver the cue (latency), and the time it takes to perform the behavior from start to finish (speed).
There are no right or wrong answers. As the owner and trainer, you get to decide what’s most important to you, but you do need to think about your overall expectations in order to develop a training plan to support them. If you don’t have a clear idea of what you want, how will your dog know? Many of us begin training a behavior without clear expectations, only to suddenly decide the behavior we’ve been rewarding isn’t really what we want.
For example, think of the “puppy sit.” It’s not uncommon to have clients ask how to get their now 8-month-old dog to sit square on his hips after months of rewarding the puppy for slouched sitting. To fix it, we have to stop rewarding “sloppy sits” and work to re-train the behavior. Ever have a boss criticize you for failing to follow a procedure change nobody bothered to tell you about? It’s frustrating to be told you’re wrong when you’re doing exactly what was expected of you in the past. I suspect our dogs might agree.
2. Wean your dog off of lures and prompts.
A critical step toward your dog’s fluency is to get rid of common training aids such as food lures and assorted prompts as quickly as possible. If your dog lies down only when you say “down” and point to the floor with a cookie in your hand, he doesn’t truly understand that the word “down,” by itself, means he should move his body to the floor. If he turns to look at you only when you say his name while patting your leg as encouragement, he doesn’t actually know that you want him to orient himself to you when he hears his name.
To eliminate your dog’s dependency on lures and prompts, try warming him up by asking for a behavior two or three times in a row, using the known lure or prompt. With this short pattern in place, quickly ask for the behavior again, but without the obvious food lure or prompt. When he’s successful (which is likely, due to the patterned warm-up), surprise him with a celebratory jackpot. This is an important step toward weaning your dog off of the lures and prompts, teaching him to show up for work by responding to cues in order to earn food rewards versus food and prompts as training wheels that help create behavior.
3. Be clear and consistent with your cues.
It’s important to be mindful of how you taught a behavior, and what part of your cue might be most salient to your dog. For example, many people teach “down” by saying the word while luring the dog into position with a treat. Next, the dog learns to follow the same hand signal (pointing to the floor) without needing a treat on his nose. In this case, even though you say “down,” food on your dog’s nose, and later, the same hand that once held food, is likely the most noticeable piece of information, not the word, “down.”
If your goal is for your dog to lie down with only a verbal cue, don’t use verbal and physical cues simultaneously. Be sure to say the word “down” before you begin bending or pointing toward the floor. Allow your dog a brief moment (one second) to hear and consider the newer (to him) verbal cue, and then, if he doesn’t respond, follow the verbal cue with the physical cue that he understands. Soon, he will realize that the verbal cue consistently predicts the physical cue and will perform the behavior upon hearing the verbal cue alone.
It’s also important to be consistent with the delivery of your cues. If your verbal cue for sit is “sit,” be careful to not say, “sit down,” when asking your dog to perform the behavior. If your gestural cue for your dog to lift his left paw to “shake” is the presentation of your right hand, don’t be surprised if he struggles to perform correctly when you suddenly reach across your body with your left hand. These may seem like subtle differences, but they can easily create confusion in dogs, who are supreme masters when it comes to recognizing body language.
4. Make training a way of life.
Positive reinforcement training is all about teaching a dog that desired behavior brings rewards. We often use food treats as rewards, but we must be careful to avoid creating a dog who wants to work only when he sees that you have food, or has good reason to believe that you might have food. It’s great to have formal practice sessions where it’s completely obvious you are training the dog – you have your treat pouch, maybe he’s on leash, and you’re working in your usual training area. But it’s also important to make training a way of life to help your dog understand what’s expected of him all the time, not just when the overall picture looks like training.
To accomplish this, be aware of your dog’s behavior throughout the day and “catch him in the act” of being good. Consider stashing a portion of his daily kibble in one or two plastic cups around the house and randomly toss him a piece when he offers a behavior you’d like to see more of. This takes some of the formality out of training, gives him many opportunities for practice that support eventual fluency, and helps your dog realize there’s always an opportunity for reinforcement.
Using “life rewards” (such as opening a door to let the dog out, throwing a favorite toy to fetch, attaching a leash for a walk, or inviting the dog to join you on the sofa) is another meaningful way to reinforce a dog for correct behavior away from a formal training session. It also helps us develop a long list of ways to reinforce our dogs besides just treats.
In many cases, the potential life reward is, in that moment, even more valuable to the dog than an offered cookie. Ever see a dog refuse a treat, or take it and then spit it out as he sits transfixed by a squirrel? For that dog, getting the “Okay!” to race out the door and chase the squirrel across the yard after he sits when asked is way more powerful than an offered cookie.
5. Systematically generalize the behavior.
An important part of achieving fluency with a behavior is to help your dog generalize the behavior as needed. Just as you get to decide what the finished behavior should look like, you also get to decide under what conditions you need the behavior to hold up.
Will you ask your dog to perform the behavior in the presence of distractions? What kind? Will the dog need to perform the behavior at a distance from you? How long will he be expected to perform the behavior? Do you need the behavior only at home, or in a variety of locations? Do you prefer that the dog respond to you alone, or do you need him to respond to the cue if it is delivered by other people?
You don’t need to specifically train for every scenario you can imagine, but the more you train for, the greater his generalization will be. The more time you invest in specifically training to help your dog generalize, the greater the odds that he will be successful when you suddenly encounter something different or unusual. Once, while I was leading a group of city dogs and their owners on a training walk through a mountain resort, I ran into a man walking a goat. None of the dogs had ever seen (or smelled!) a goat before, but we had previously worked sit-stays around so many different types of distractions, all of the dogs were able to successfully control themselves as the goat strolled by!
Training for generalization is like asking, “Can you do the desired behavior if:_?” Think about your lifestyle and your expectations, and make a list of the different ways you might pose the question to your dog. Then set out to teach your dog how to meet the different challenges. For example, your dog might be able to hold a down-stay on his spot if you’re standing right next to him. But can he do it if:
There’s delicious food on the table? The cat saunters into the room? The kids are running nearby? The doorbell rings?
Someone other than the primary trainer is working with him?
You’re at an outdoor café near a busy sidewalk and another dog walks past? What if the dog is barking? What if the dog is pulling somebody on a skateboard?
Don’t be afraid to get creative and challenge your dog to perform under circumstances that seem unlikely. Can your dog sit if your back is to him when you ask? If you cover your face with your hands while delivering the cue? If you’re standing on a chair? If you’re lying on the ground?
He might need help at first – and that’s okay! As you introduce new challenges, be mindful of your dog’s emotional state. Meeting a new challenge should be a fun way to build confidence, not an overwhelming experience. Choose situations that your dog is realistically able to handle. As he works through a variety of challenges, he will realize he can perform successfully even when the training picture looks different from what he’s most used to – like when you’re asking him to sit at a busy sidewalk café versus sitting at home in the kitchen.
6. Break things down.
It’s important to break full behaviors into smaller pieces during training. Say your idea of a perfect stay is a dog who can maintain a sit for 10 minutes, while you stand 30 feet away as others run past your dog squeaking toys and bouncing tennis balls. It would not be fair to immediately set up such a scenario and expect him to work through it, especially if he’s a relatively inexperienced dog. Instead, concentrate on one element of the behavior while lowering your expectations for the others. If you’re asking him to stay for 3 minutes when he’s used to shorter stays, don’t practice this piece (duration) while you’re also standing far away or in a distracting environment.
Knowing the right time to raise criteria (make something harder) is an important part of successful training. A rule of thumb is to ask for more only when your dog has easily met your expectation of the easier task 80 percent of the time. If he wasn’t able to perform the behavior correctly three times in a row, the current task is too hard; find a way to make it easier. Struggling to meet the challenge isn’t failure – it’s information!
7. Most importantly, keep it fun!
As you work with your dog, be careful to not put too much pressure on yourself or your dog. Be mindful of your dog’s body language. Yawning, excessive sniffing, lip-licking, avoidance, or hyper or “fooling around” behaviors are all signs that your dog is feeling distress. Focus on meeting your goals through a series of baby steps rather than a few giant leaps. Keep training sessions upbeat and fun; there’s no need to “drill” a behavior. Remember to breathe and smile at your dog, and stop if you start to feel frustrated. Nothing will shut down your dog faster than your own frustration.
Pieces of the Training Puzzle
Element:
What it means:
Special considerations:
Precision
Can the dog perform the behavior accurately? For example, if “on your spot” means lie down with your entire body touching the bed, does your dog meet that criteria, or does he lie down near the bed, or with only part of his body on the bed?
To train for precision, you must know what you want the finished behavior to look like. Break complex behaviors into smaller parts to ensure that each piece can be done correctly. For example, if your vision for a formal retrieve includes a quiet hold on the object (no mouthing), don’t be in a hurry to throw the object until the dog can pick it up and hand it to you in a way that meets your criteria.
Latency
The length of time it takes for the dog to initiate the behavior after perceiving the cue. How long is acceptable to you?
High latency can indicate a lack of understanding on the dog’s part or a lack of motivation. Make sure your cues are consistent to help avoid confusion, and consider what you might change to make the behavior more rewarding (motivating) for the dog.
Speed
The amount of time it takes for the dog to execute the behavior from start to finish. Is your ideal “spin” one where the dog twists in a circle in a rapid, flashy manner, or is a slower rotation acceptable?
Be mindful of physical/breed characteristics that affect speed. A Mastiff physically cannot sit as fast as a Border Collie. Define your goal based on what is realistic for your dog. Use high-energy rewards to increase speed (toys, energetic personal play, the opportunity to chase a thrown food reward) and calm rewards (quiet praise, massage-like petting, calmly delivered food rewards) if you’re trying to encourage a less exuberant performance.
Distance
Where, in relationship to the handler, will the dog be asked to perform the behavior? Holding a stay next to the handler is easier than holding a stay with the handler across the room. It’s easier to sit when your handler is right in front of you than when he asks for the sit when you are 10 feet away from him.
It’s important to consider your dog’s emotional state when adding distance to behaviors. Dogs who are fearful will typically find it more difficult to work away from their handlers. Reward generously to help build confidence and form a positive association with the increased distance. Be especially careful to not overface your dog (to give him a greater distance challenge than he can handle).
Duration
How long will the dog need to perform the behavior? A 5-second sit-stay is easier than a 3-minute sit-stay. Some behaviors require more duration. Loose-leash walking is challenging for most dogs because of the duration required, i.e., the length of the walk.
When training, raise criteria slowly and avoid always asking for more. For example, when working on stays, sometimes surprise your dog with a reward after just a few seconds of an especially nice stay, even when you know he can stay longer.
Distractions
What distracting conditions are most relevant to your needs with your dog? Some possibilities: working around food, toys, other dogs, other animals, strangers, adored family members, urban distractions. Decide what you need and create a plan to help your dog learn to work around a variety of distractions.
Be reasonable in your expectations and set your dog up for success. The goal is not to trick your dog into doing it wrong. Rather, you want to introduce distractions in such a way that your dog enjoys success. Success builds confidence, and confident dogs are better able to work around myriad distractions. Plan to progress via baby steps and be ready to make the challenge easier when needed.
Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Los Angeles.
I was looking for a photo for a highly fearful dog, to go with Dr. Jessica Hekman’s article, “Canine Anxiety: The Neurochemistry of Dog Behavior.” The most chronically fearful dog I’ve ever laid hands on was one of my former foster dogs, a little American Cattle Dog-mix I called Diamond. I have hundreds of photos of that little lump of coal (diamond in the rough), because I fostered him for months – as did one of my good friends, trainer Sarah Richardson. We traded custody of the perennially afraid, formerly feral dog for nearly a year, but eventually, a shelter volunteer that I had trained overheard a couple at the shelter say they were looking for a Cattle Dog-type, and she thought of Diamond. She had helped me when Diamond was first brought into the shelter by animal control, and she fostered (and then adopted!) his less-feral younger brother from the same mother. She put the couple in touch with me, and somehow, they weren’t scared off by Diamond’s deep fear of the world, and they gave him a loving home. Ah, a photo search that recalls a happy ending!
That search took me through my digital folder of “foster dog” photos, and made me remember a few more foster dogs I had a hand in finding homes for. It also helped me realize that this has actually been a productive year in placing foster dogs – which is a little bizarre, because 2015 has also been a trial for me and my family. I lost a beloved brother to cancer. I lost another close relative to drug abuse, and though this relative isn’t dead, his addiction has him on the street and out of touch. My husband and I are helping raise this person’s toddler son. It’s felt like one crisis after another.
And yet, this small thing, looking for a photo of a dog I helped three years ago, took me into a folder where I saw photos of other dogs I helped this year – this “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad” year.
There was Val, a Greyhound-mix I pulled from the shelter and placed with one of my son’s coworkers on Valentine’s Day. She goes to work every day with her owner, my son, and my son’s dog (also pulled from this shelter, a year prior!).
In May, I needed a photo of a tiny puppy for an article. I messaged the vet tech at my local shelter, and she confirmed they had a mama dog with a tiny puppy that I could photograph. I couldn’t stand to see the little mother so stressed, trying to raise her teeny single pup in a cage at the shelter, and brought them home. The girlfriend of one of my husband’s friends saw the puppy’s photo on my Facebook page, and now the puppy has a wonderful home – and I get to admire photos of her on my new friend’s Facebook page!
The mama took months longer to place; like Diamond, she was very afraid of people. When I traveled to Nebraska in September to visit the Nature’s Variety production facilities (article about that coming soon), my sister dog-sat “Mommy” for me – and fell in love! Another dog placed.
Keeping an eye out for a suitable dog for another one of my son’s coworkers, I pulled a nice hound from the shelter. She didn’t work out for him, but I placed her with my sister-in-law’s next-door neighbor! And found my son’s friend a nice little Aussie instead!
Five dogs who needed help, stayed with me a while, and found nice homes – thinking about them, I just realized how much they helped me, too.
Cats may rule the Internet, but in the world of book publishing, dogs are in charge. With more than 150,000 dog-related titles on Amazon.com, it can be hard to decide what to read. Even the discriminating website Dogwise.com offers nearly 500 choices. If we had limitless time and funds, we could spend months, even years, reading nothing but dog stories. But time is short and every purchase an investment, so here’s an overview of recommended dog-related books published since 2010. Titles are listed alphabetically.
All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me (That I Didn’t Learn in Veterinary School)
by Jessica Vogelsang
Dreamstime.com
Dr. Jessica Vogelsang’s memoir of her life with dogs, from childhood through vet school to motherhood and a busy professional life, entertains and informs. The dogs are Taffy, the fierce Lhasa Apso of her childhood; Emmett, a goofy Golden Retriever who was her best-ever dog; and Kekoa, the elderly Labrador she adopted after Emmett died. All three were problem dogs and the chaos they created made us laugh out loud.
Emmett found his forever home after a client (one of several problem-causing owners who arrive at the clinic in these pages) brought him in at age 2 to be euthanized because of poorly managed flea-bite dermatitis. His behavior was poorly managed, too. Oddly shaped, sad-sack, unadoptable Kekoa looked so defeated at the shelter that Vogelsang took her out of pity and then had to deal with her incredibly vocal separation anxiety (indistinguishable from alarms and sirens), destructive pantry-raiding, flatulence, and growing incontinence. But all three dogs were worth the effort, and Vogelsang developed strategies that made their lives rewarding for all.
Vogelsang’s dogs helped her deal with elementary school bullies, postpartum depression, child-raising, exhausting clients, and life. We meet her resourceful husband, Brian, and their kids. Then there’s her husband’s closest friend, who is in the title because when Vogelsang explained to her two-year-old son that beloved Emmett had gone to heaven, he thought she said he’d gone to Kevin.
It’s been 40 years since James Herriot published All Creatures Great and Small and other veterinary adventures, and he’s been missed. While Vogelsang’s focus is different, she brings her patients to life with similar skill. Anyone interested in becoming a veterinarian (she describes her education) or managing a veterinary clinic (never an easy task) will appreciate her perspective. Vogelsang’s dogs are more than her family’s companions – they are (for a while, anyway) ours as well.
Beware the Straw Man: The Science Dog Explores Dog Training Fact and Fiction
by Linda P. Case
Linda Case, who writes “The Science Dog” blog (thesciencedog.wordpress.com) and occasionally contributes to WDJ, takes a critical look at beliefs about dog behavior and training.
In science and philosophy, a “straw man” is a logical fallacy, an argument based on a misrepresentation of a theory or proposition. As Case observes, politicians can be masters at engaging in straw man arguments, which, she writes, “in addition to being logically invalid, function to keep people from paying attention to the evidence.” Her goal is to help readers make sense of canine research and apply its findings to real life.
In 32 chapters, Case examines science, behavior, training, and the relationships dogs have with humans. One section examines the effectiveness of dog-bite prevention programs and finds that parental behavior is a key factor. (The chapter ends with an “Up on My Soapbox” description of appropriate child/dog/parent interactions.) Another examines the effect that music has on dogs. Studied dogs tended to sleep more when exposed to classical music than when exposed to heavy metal, commercial relaxation music, or no music. Conventionally recorded classical music outperformed “psychoacoustically arranged” music marketed for pet use.
A study of dogs who licked everything found that compulsive lickers were likely to have undiagnosed gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, and most stopped licking when those disorders were treated. (In other words, incessant licking may not be a behavioral problem.) Another study found that GI treatment also helped dogs who engaged in fly snapping (biting at imaginary flies), which is often considered a behavioral problem, a form of epilepsy, or OCD.
Beware the Straw Man will appeal to science fans and those who recognize themselves or their dogs in the examples Case sites.
Decoding Your Dog: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Dog Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones
by American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
This book is a community project, a collection of essays by members of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists. As dog trainer and TV host Victoria Stilwell (“It’s Me or the Dog”) explains in the foreword, “The debate about training methods is over, and positive, force-free, reward-based training has been validated as the most effective, long-lasting, and humane choice by an outstanding scientific behavioral community that is made up in part of the very people who have contributed to this book.”
Chapters include learning to “speak dog,” how to select your new best friend, understanding how dogs learn, housetraining made easy, safe and humane training tools, getting the most out of training classes, fixing common nuisance-behavior problems, combining kids and dogs, how to keep your dog mentally active, understanding canine aggression, separation anxiety, sound phobias, OCD behaviors, and more.
This book addresses common behaviors that are considered problematic by many owners with up-to-date recommendations and strategies. The chapter includes a glossary of terms (intermittent reinforcement, reinforcers, dominance, attention-seeking, mental and physical stimulation) and then reviews the facts (“Is That Really True?”).
Then come management techniques, consistent training interactions, training solutions, and physical and mental stimulation to improve just about any annoying behavior. Helpful tables, photos, training schedules, and detailed reviews complete the chapter.
A project this ambitious, with so many authors, is bound to result in some repetition, but the book is well edited and offers useful solutions for readers at all levels of training experience. An index would have been helpful, but the book is easy to navigate. It will be most useful for those new to dogs, getting a new dog, or looking for solutions to problem behaviors.
(Note that a hardcover version of the book was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014.)
The Dog Lived (and So Will I): The Poignant, Honest, Hilarious Memoir of a Cancer Survivor
by Teresa Rhyne
Animals rescue their human companions from broken lives, broken relationships, and broken health all the time, but only a few of their stories go to #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists. This one did.
When attorney and Beagle-lover Teresa Rhyne opened a law office and settled down with a new dog and new man, all seemed well – until Seamus, the Beagle, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and developed behavioral problems. Then Rhyne discovered her own lump.
The details of overlapping canine and human cancer treatments, especially when both patients are assertive Type A personalities, would be overwhelming if it weren’t for Rhyne’s humor and writing skill. Her younger, working-class, supportive boyfriend, Chris, is as important as Seamus in this funny but serious memoir.
Rhyne eventually realized that she had won an important prize, the prize of choosing the right things in life, surviving, and living in the moment. She writes, “Seamus had taught me this before. I needed to remember the very important lesson: sometimes you just need to focus on the cookies.”
An update from the author’s website, teresarhyne.com: “Our very beloved and diabolically cute Seamus passed away on March 19, 2013. We were beyond devastated but have taken comfort in seeing his story travel the world as The Dog Lived (and So Will I) has been translated into six languages. His legacy lives on, helping and humoring others, and that makes us happy.
How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain
by Gregory Berns
Mention animal research and most of us cringe. But Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns, MD, PhD, designed studies that challenged and amused his canine subjects, gaining their enthusiastic cooperation while amazing his colleagues and graduate students.
“Callie’s excitement was infectious,” he writes of his shy, skinny Terrier-mix. “Everyone in the lab wanted to see the experiment we were about to perform, mostly because nobody thought it would work. Could we really scan a dog’s brain to figure out what it was thinking?”
Training Callie to climb into a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine took time, hot dogs, ingenuity, and patience. Berns presents a model of what animal research can and should be like. His dogs were never punished or forced to do something they didn’t want to do. He designed head cradles to hold their heads steady, but it was the dogs who put themselves in position and were rewarded for holding still.
He also dealt with the university’s risk-management lawyers, safety regulations, liability concerns, and regulatory compliance issues, all of which were complicated by his insistence on using community-owned dogs (that is, pets rather than dogs bred for research) and on having his subject’s owners sign a consent form. “Ever since I started running a research laboratory,” he writes, “I have operated under a simple ethical principle: Do not do any experiments that you wouldn’t be willing to do on yourself or a loved one.”
As the Dog Project continued, Berns realized that his ability to communicate with Callie had completely changed. She was always a mystery to him but now, after hours of gazing into her eyes as she figured out the brain scan business, he felt so connected that he seemed almost able to read her mind. His descriptions of this connection are among the book’s most exciting.
The Dog Project eventually expanded from Berns’s own dogs to other subjects, selected through tryouts that tested dog/human teams for their ability to learn new tasks, like entering the MRI and wearing earmuffs. Having glimpsed the inner workings of the canine mind, his goal is to continue answering important questions like: Do dogs miss us when we’re gone? Do dogs bond more with other dogs or humans? Do dogs feel empathy?
Notice that Berns never asks whether dogs can think. That old debate has long been put to rest, but if any behind-the-times scientist doubts the claim that dogs do think and that their brains work much like ours, How Dogs Love Us offers detailed evidence.
Marty Becker, DVM, is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and also at the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University and the University of Missouri. He practices at North Idaho Animal Hospital, and serves as the chief veterinary correspondent for the American Humane Association. Dr. Becker is also a prolific author, having some 22 books to his name as well as countless columns for the nationally syndicated newspaper feature Pet Connection, Dogster, Catster, and on Vetstreet.com.
Dr. Becker is in the process of developing The Fear-Free Initiative, an innovative movement that will, in his words, “take the pet out of petrified and get pets back into practices.” The Fear-Free Initiative will be expanded by Dr. Becker with leading board-certified veterinary experts in partnership with additional industry sponsors, partners, and an advisory board. Fear Free will educate and certify veterinary professionals in the creation and delivery of Fear Free visits to Fear Free practices. In Fear Free practices, “taking the fear out of visiting the veterinarian will become a priority; veterinarians and technicians will treat the pet’s physical well-being as well as their emotional well-being.” The initiative is for vets, techs, and owners, in an effort to make annual checkups and unplanned veterinary visits less stressful for everyone involved. Some quotes from Dr. Becker:
“My goal is to promote the idea of practices adjusting their methods to create fear-free visits, and also to educate pet owners about how they can help make the experience more tolerable, or even downright enjoyable.”
“We do a great job of vaccinating against disease, but we don’t inoculate against fear and anxiety.”
“In the search to make veterinary visits Fear-Free for pets, one of my favorite tools is a package of deli-sliced lunch meat.”
In recent years, medical marijuana use has grown exponentially in the United States: Some two dozen states now permit the use of cannabis for pain relief, and a handful of others allow its recreational use. Could the advent of pot for pets be far behind?
Several companies are already marketing cannabis-derived products for dogs, banking on the idea that marijuana’s pain-relieving qualities translate to dogs, too.
Treatibles (treatibles.com) contain 40 milligrams of cannabidiol, or CBD, as it’s called for short, which is a non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. Another company founded by two veterinarians, Canna Companion (cannaforpets.com), uses a blend of hemp strains raised in Washington State; Seattle-based Canna-Pet (canna-pet.com) also uses industrial hemp in its biscuits and capsules. To be clear, these products are not made with actual medical-grade marijuana baked in, but rather use a variety of hemp strains that contain little to no THC, which is the compound that creates the marijuana “high.”
There are currently no double-blind studies providing the efficacy of marijuana-derived supplements in dogs, and there are no clear guidelines about safe therapeutic dosages. Veterinarians cannot legally prescribe marijuana for animals.
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I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
