Subscribe

The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

Home Blog Page 198

8 Easy Ways To Teach Your Dog How To Play

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
-
1

Tug. Fetch. Chase. Search. Most of us love to play with our dogs. Whether we’re tugging, tossing a ball or a stick, or playing some other game, one of the great joys of sharing our lives with canine companions is the opportunity to engage in mutually enjoyable activities, i.e., play. However, for dogs, playing with humans is a learned behavior. Dogs who don’t have the opportunity to play with humans early in life may grow up with a play behavior deficit – one that can interfere with their ability to connect with the two-legged members of their family in a way that’s important and meaningful.

Unfortunately, a significant number of dogs grow up play-deprived. These may be dogs from puppy mills who spent the first formative months of their lives in cages at the mill, and then at the pet store. They may be dogs who were “kennel-raised” by a breeder, with minimal play interaction with humans. They might even be dogs who were purchased as pups by humans with good intentions, but who ended up in the backyard, or in the home of one or more play-deprived humans who just didn’t understand the importance of frolicking with Fido.

If you share your world with a play-deprived dog, the good news is that you can teach your dog how to play with you, and have fun doing it. Read on to find out how. As you do, keep in mind this one very important caveat: It is vitally important that you not use verbal or physical corrections in your training program. In order to let his guard down to play, your dog needs to know he can trust you to not to hurt him. Dogs trained with positive methods learn that it’s safe to offer new behaviors – and that’s exactly what play will be for your play-challenged dog – a new behavior. Dogs trained with punishment or corrections often learn that the safest thing to do is … nothing! A dog who is already inhibited about play will be quite content to do nothing, and never engage in play, especially when he knows you could turn violent if he makes a wrong move.

1. Teaching Play

There are a number of techniques you can use to get your dog to engage in dog-human play. Make note of any times where your dog seems particularly cheerful or lighthearted – these can give you clues as to how he might best be prompted to play. Food can often encourage a dog to play, since all dogs have to eat.

Experiment with the play-training techniques described below, and see which ones start to capture your dog’s interest. Remember, go slow, and control your own excitement. Rein in your natural impulse to celebrate your dog’s first small play efforts so you don’t accidentally intimidate him.

As you experiment, remember to watch for, appreciate, treasure, and gently reinforce even the tiniest bits of play behavior. These might include:

  • A flip of the head
  • A flirty sideways glance
  • A quick bounce
  • A sudden paw movement
  • A brief lowering of the head,
  • chest, and shoulders
  • A short step forward, sideways,
  • or back
  • A dip of the head
  • A bark
  • A sniff of a toy or other object

Make a note of what might have elicited that behavior, and try to recreate it. Be casual; if you’re too obvious or deliberate, your reluctant canine player may shut down.

The following are some other ways to help your dog learn how to play.

2. Build his Desire to play

You can sometimes convince a reluctant dog to play by creating interest and desire in a toy. Start by preparing a toy that can be “jazzed up” by the addition of some food. You can can do this by cutting a seam in a stuffed toy and pulling some of the stuffing out, cutting a slit in a tennis ball, or purchasing a “food toy” with a Velcro opening designed for this purpose. Place the toy somewhere that the dog can see it but not reach it. Several times a day, go to the toy and play with it: tossing it in the air, letting it fall to the floor and grabbing it, and letting your dog watch you put treats in it.

When your dog is starting to show interest in the toy and your activities with it, create interaction. (It works best to do this when he’s somewhat hungry.) Sit on the floor and let your dog see you stuff the toy with treats. Toss and catch it a couple of times, then let it fall, or drag it around the floor.

If your dog approaches the toy at all, open up the toy and let him eat all the treats, telling him what a good boy he is.

Repeat two more times, then put the toy away, out of reach but where he can see it. You can even feed your dog all his meals this way for a week or so.

Gradually be slower and slower to “help” your dog by opening the toy. You should see your dog begin to take more initiative himself – perhaps touching the toy with his nose or paw, eventually picking the toy up in his mouth or trying to rip it open to get the treats. Continue to open the toy for him as he becomes more motivated to interact with it, until he’s enthusiastically interacting with it.

playful dog

3. Teach him “Find it”

This is a simple behavior that even play-challenged dogs can perform with relative ease. It’s tons of fun! And it also has useful applications, such as finding your lost keys, the TV remote, or even a missing pet or person. “Find it” capitalizes on your dog’s natural desire to eat food – especially high-value treats. Here are some tips for teaching your dog the “Find it” game.

Basic version: Start with a dozen yummy treats and your dog in front of you. Say “Find it!” in an excited voice and toss one treat off to the side. Be sure he sees you toss it. As soon as he eats that one, toss another in the opposite direction and say, “Find it!” again. Keep doing this, tossing treats back and forth, until your dozen treats are gone. Most dogs, even play-deprived dogs, can learn to happily dash after treats in no time.

As you toss treats back and forth in this part of the game, watch for small signs that he’s loosening up and enjoying himself. Toss a couple more treats and then stop – remember to end when he’s enjoying the activity, and don’t overwhelm him with your enthusiasm.

You might even start the game when you’re not really thinking about play, but perhaps just sitting on the sofa watching television. Toss a few treats from time to time, and don’t worry if your dog thinks of it as play. When you start to see a little eager anticipation in his eyes as he waits for the next toss, you know you’re on the right track.

teach your dog to play

Now leave your dog on a “Wait!” or “Stay,” toss a treat 10-15 feet out, and release him with an excited “Find it!” Repeat this a half-dozen times, then leave him on a wait or stay while you walk 10-15 feet out, place a treat on the floor, return to him, pause (so he doesn’t think your return is the cue to release) and release him with your “Find it!” Repeat a half-dozen times.

Introduce hidden things to find: Next, let him watch you hide treats in easy-to-find places, such as behind a table leg, on a chair seat, or under a paper bag. Each time you hide a treat, return, pause, and release him with your “Find it!” cue to go get the treat.

When he’s doing very well with that step, make it more difficult for him to see exactly where you hide the treat, by blocking his view with your body as you hide it, or hiding it where a piece of furniture impedes his view. Now he really has to start looking for it. This is the beginning of the real fun. Remember to keep the tone of your “Find it!” cue happy and excited! Your dog will start using his incredible sense of smell to find the treat, and you’ll get to watch and learn how to read him when he’s “on scent.”

During this part of the game, you may be tempted to help him find the treat if he doesn’t find it right away. Be careful! It’s okay to indicate the general area, but don’t find the treat for him – he may learn to just wait for you to show him rather than working to find it himself. If your dog has started to show interest in the “stuff the treat in the toy” game, you could also hide that toy as part of your “Find it” game.

Increase the difficulty: As soon as he’s figured out how to find the hidden treat using his nose, you can increase the challenge by putting him in another room when you hide it. Wipe the object on a clean gauze pad first, and then hide it. When you bring your dog back into the room, hold the gauze pad in front of his nose and say, “Find it,” and then let him look. (Again, you can indicate the general area at first, if necessary, to help him get started, but don’t help too much!) Allowing your dog to sniff the pad tells him what scent he’s looking for.

Alternatively, you can name the object prior to this stage and use the name to tell him what he’s looking for, as in “Find the cow hoof!” The gauze pad method gives you more flexibility to have him look for new objects in the future that you haven’t pre-named for him. When he’s good at finding one treat or object you’ve hidden, hide several while he is out of the room, then bring him back to look.

4. Other “finding” games

There are limitless ways to use of the “Find it!” cue; here are just a few games that you can play with your dog.

Find and destroy – Put a few treats in an empty cardboard container destined for recycling, such as an oatmeal cylinder, FedEx box, paper towel tube, layered cereal boxes, etc. Have him wait or stay and show him the container, shaking it with drama, “Oooooh, what’s this? What do I have here?” Have him wait while you hide the container in another room, then return to him, pause, and tell him to “Find it!” Follow him and have fun watching as he finds and then gleefully shreds the container to get the goodies inside. If he’s reticent to shred, you can help him, once he’s found the box. Remember – don’t overwhelm him!

Caution: If your dog eats cardboard you may choose not to encourage this behavior, or at least you will want to retrieve the cardboard shreds before he ingests them after finding the treats.

Find Treats in Tub – This one’s as simple as it sounds, and is great for keeping your dog busy for a while as well as teaching him how to play. Put all his toys in a tub (a small child’s swimming pool works well for this), then toss a handful of treats in with the toys (mix them all around to make it harder) and let him search for them.

Dig It – Digging is another natural dog behavior that lends itself well to teaching play. You could call it “Find it” in the sand. Fill a child’s wading pool half-full of sand and let your dog watch you bury treats and/or toys. Then tell him to find them. Dig in the sand with him to make it a “playing together” activity.

teach your dog to play

5. Hide and seek

There are several ways to play this game. You can have your dog wait while you hide from him, or just duck behind a bush or tree when he isn’t looking. If your dog is very connected to you, or has a little separation distress, he may start looking for you as soon as he realizes you’re out of his sight. If not, you can jumpstart the game by calling him to “Come!” after you’ve hidden yourself. When he finds you, have a celebration – make a fuss (a small one if “fuss” will intimidate him) and feed him some yummy treats. Gradually fade (stop using) the “Come!” cue to encourage him to look for you on his own without being called.

Alternatively, you can have your dog stay with you while someone else hides, and tell him “Find (insert appropriate name here)!” When he finds the person, have her celebrate gently with your dog, and then send him back to you, where you reward him with treats. Teaching him to return to you after he finds someone is useful if you ever want to try your hand at search and rescue work, either informal or formal.

When your is dog good at finding people in simple hiding places, you can make it harder by hiding in a shower stall, crawling under the bed, climbing up a tree, and so on. Be creative!

Caution: Unless your dog has a really reliable recall, play this game only in a safely enclosed area. Also, some dogs panic when they can’t find their humans. If you’re hiding from your dog outdoors, keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t take off on a journey through the woods in his panic to find you.

6. Physical Play

Remember that different dogs have different natural play styles and play interests. A dog who is intimidated by or simply not interested in playing with a toy may be more amenable to play that involves body contact. Touch him only gently and playfully at first, building to more active contact games over numerous sessions (weeks, maybe months!) as he warms to the game concept. Experiment with touch on different parts of his body to see what might elicit a tiny play response. Some dogs get excited if you softly touch their paw, ear, nose, or belly; just don’t use too much energy and frighten your dog with your touch.

7. Shaping Play

Shaping lends itself perfectly to teaching remedial play skills. The very definition of shaping – breaking a behavior into tiny pieces and reinforcing the pieces until you build the complete behavior – is exactly what’s needed for many play-deprived dogs or those who are just reluctant to play. Remember that you need to look for the tiniest pieces of behavior to click and treat so your dog wins a lot and can enjoy success. Even if it doesn’t look like play to you, the more you get your dog to freely and happily offer behavior, the sooner the behavior will start to look like play. (For more about shaping, see “The Shape of Things to Come,” WDJ March 2006.)

8. Capturing Play

All but the most unsocialized, fearful dogs will occasionally offer some spontaneous play behavior, even if ever so briefly. If you have conditioned your dog to a reward marker – the clicker, or a verbal signal such as the word “Yes,” or whatever marker you chose, you can teach your dog to play by capturing and rewarding those spontaneous moments.

Watch your dog for the tiniest of play behaviors: a quick bounce, a flip of the head, a sideways flirt. The instant you see anything that even vaguely resembles spontaneous play, click your clicker or utter your verbal marker, and toss your dog a high-value treat. Praise gently; remember not to overwhelm your dog!

Because all living creatures repeat behaviors that are rewarding to them, when your dog realizes he gets rewarded for play behaviors, he will offer them more frequently, and, over time, with increased enthusiasm. In time, your dog will play with you for the sheer joy of play.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor.

Download the Full November 2015 Issue PDF

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0
Download The Full November Issue PDF…
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
If you are logged in but cannot access this content, a) your subscription may have expired; b) you may have duplicate accounts (emails) in our system. Please check your account status here or contact customer service.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Whole Dog Journal

With your Whole Dog Journal order you’ll get:

  • Immediate access to this article and 20+ years of archives.
  • Recommendations for the best dog food for your dog.
  • Dry food, homemade diets and recipes, dehydrated and raw options, canned food and more.
  • Brands, formulations and ingredients all searchable in an easy-to-use, searchable database.

Plus, you’ll receive training and care guidance to keep your dog healthy and happy. You’ll feed with less stress…train with greater success…and know you are giving your dog the care he deserves.

Subscribe now and save 72%! Its like getting 8 issues free!

Already Subscribed?

Click Here to Sign In | Forgot your password? | Activate Web Access

Research the Breed!

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Why do people get certain types of dogs, dogs who were bred to have very strong behavioral tendencies, and then try everything they can to discourage those behaviors?

I’m talking about people who want a small dog but hate barking, German Shepherd Dog lovers who despair of their dog’s predatory urges, and fans of Vizslas or Weimaraners who don’t have time to run their dogs enough to make them tired. I’m talking about hound owners who go bananas when their dogs bay, and Australian Shepherd owners who hire trainers to try to make sure their dogs don’t try to herd or nip the neighbor’s active, outdoor children.

When you are considering getting a purebred dog, make sure you aren’t falling for just a certain appearance or coat, without also being ready to embrace the behaviors that the coat usually covers.

And when you adopt a dog of unknown parentage, one that strongly resembles a certain breed, take the time to research those breeds, even if there isn’t any guarantee that the dog is for sure descended from that lineage.

It’s unfair to adopt a dog whose very cells are calling out do perform certain behaviors – as in sighthounds, herding breeds, protection dogs – and then punish or eliminate all of those behaviors.

Don’t forget to research the health problems that commonly affect the breed of dog that you are considering. You shouldn’t be surprised when that Golden or Flat-Coated Retriever gets stricken with cancer at age 3, or that Boxer is diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.

When Cancer Strikes, It’s Hard to Not Panic

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

 

I received an email from a reader the other day. His 12-year-old German Shepherd has just received a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the anal sacs. The dog received surgery, and now the owner and his wife are being presented with a number of further treatment options. The husband wrote, “We are continuing with traditional medical treatment but are looking to supplement his treatment with potential complementary and alternative medicine options – or even ‘high tech’ traditional medical options such as monoclonal antibody or immunotherapy.” They wanted to know, did I have any further suggestions?

Ah, I wish, I wish, I wish I had a great answer for them – a prescription for the most effective treatment, a phone number for the specialist, a link to a study being conducted on that specific type of canine cancer. Why isn’t there a roadmap for treating cancer? It seems like there ought to be a database, with every type of cancer for every companion animal species, with lists of what therapies have been tried and the success rate of each, with the side effects listed… And then you could just select the course of treatment that’s had the best results with the least side effects – and feel good about your choices.

But in my experience with cancer, you almost never feel great about the choices that you make. Even when treatment is successful, most people I’ve known with cancer, and most pet owners who have had their pets treated for cancer, have been left with niggling doubts. When the patient died, their loved ones all second-guessed their treatment decisions: should we have gone with this approach instead of that one, should we have declined treatment altogether and focused on quality of life instead of making the patient sick with chemo or radiation, should we have started the nutritional and complementary treatments sooner?

And even when the patient lives, whether it’s for a few weeks, months, or even years past the original prognosis, I’ve heard people wonder:  Was that surgery really necessary? Could I have stopped chemo sooner with the same result? The patient had such side effects from the radiation; is the life she’s leading now worth all the suffering?

Another awful question: Is there a study going on somewhere that is testing a treatment for my loved-one’s cancer? Have I not looked hard enough for someone, somewhere in this country, who may have found the treatment that could save my beloved?

For me, a person who likes clear-cut answers, the lack of clarity and the second-guessing that one does, is almost as torturous as being stricken with cancer oneself.

All I could do for my reader is to encourage him and his wife, by saying that whatever they are able to do for their dog is a lot; it’s a hard thing to deal with, especially with an older dog. I also told them to check out the book, The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. It contains a lot of basic and encouraging information.

We did a series on cancer in WDJ a number of years ago, but they contain good information. Here is a link to an article that contains links to the entire series in the first few paragraphs:

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/canine-cancer-therapy-update/

One article I would strongly recommend is: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/anti-cancer-diets-for-dogs/

And last, I told them, best of luck, and let us know how you and your dog are doing as you journey through the unfamiliar land of cancer.

What advice would you give someone who was facing cancer with their dog?

 

Pat Miller Was Here

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

I’ve been working with Pat Miller for the past 17 years. She’s had an article in all but one issue of WDJ in that span of time – and that one issue that was published without an article from her was my mistake, not due to her missing a deadline. She’s a gifted trainer, a lifelong learner who continues to read research articles and pay attention to new discoveries in animal behavior and animal cognition, and she has a consistent, calm, compassionate voice that advocates for well-reasoned training methods applied with kindness and patience.

I met Pat when she wrote some articles for the publication I worked for prior to WDJ, a little magazine called The Whole Horse Journal! She wrote an article about clicker training for horses with extreme fear-based behaviors, and used her off-the-track Thoroughbred mare as a model for the article. When our publisher asked me to be the founding editor of WDJ, and I was rounding up writers to form the nucleus of our core contributors, someone mentioned to me that Pat, whom I knew only as “that clicker horse trainer,” was actually a dog trainer. I didn’t know much about dog training at the time, or maybe I would have known that already. I contacted Pat and asked if she’d be interested in writing for WDJ, she said yes, and she’s been writing for us ever since. Further, she was absolutely instrumental in helping me develop WDJ’s all-positive voice and mission statement – and completely convincing me of the countless benefits of force-free training.

In the 17 years that I’ve known her, however, I think I’ve actually spent time with her * in person * maybe three or four times. I’m sure about three of those times, because I have photographic evidence: The first time was at her last home in California, ages ago. That was fun, because I got to meet and photograph her whole pack of dogs. I got to hang out with her a little at an APDT conference in upstate New York in 2000, and she had two of her dogs with her, so we took photos for future WDJ articles. And two years ago I was able to squeeze in a visit to Peaceable Paws and Pastures, the dog training and horse boarding facility she and her husband run in Fairplay, Maryland. When I was there, we didn’t take photos for any specific future articles, but I spent a couple of hours shadowing her around her beautiful facility, taking pictures of her interacting with her dogs, barn cat, horses (boarders and her own), and Sturgis, the family’s potbellied pig.

There’s a first time for everything, though, and Pat Miller was recently HERE, at my house! For only about 90 minutes, but it was a treat even so! Pat recently presented some workshops in Placerville, California, for the Hangtown Kennel Club, and was spending another day visiting a relative about seven hours from there. Oroville, California, where my home and office are located, is right on the way! She was able to stop just long enough to meet my dogs, for me to prepare a nice vegetarian lunch for us to share, and for me to take a few pictures of Pat with my little pack. I was so happy for her to meet Otto! — and happy to report he was a perfect gentleman, even treating her to a performance he usually reserves for his long-time friends, a sustained “Wooooooooo!” of greeting.

 

 

 

 

 

(When Pigs Fly #3) Finding Time to Train Your Dog

By
Jane Killon
-
0

You do have the time to train your dog. Whether you realize it or not, you already are spending a lot of time training your dog. Every minute you are with your dog you are training him. Your everyday interactions with him are the most powerful training tools you have.

Your dog depends entirely on you for all of his needs. If he wants to eat, you feed him. If he wants to go outside, you open the door. If he wants to come out of his crate, you let him out. If he wants his toy, you get it our and throw it for him. Everytime your dog wants something, that something can be a reinforcer for something that you want him to do. If you are going to give your dog something he wants or needs, that is an opportunity for you to ask for something in return. Head scratches, belly rubs, play sessions, treats, and walks are all things that you dispense to your dog and they all represent training opportunities. Since you do all of those things everyday for your dog anyway, you can train your dog without taking anymore time out of your day than you are already giving your dog.

Remember these two concepts:

1. If you do things for your dog without asking him to do something for you, you have trained him to not work to get what he wants. You have trained him that he is free to ignore you until you signal that you will be gratifying one of his desires.

2. If you ask him for a behavior in exchange for doing things for him, you have trained him to work for you to get what he wants. You have trained him that he had better pay attention to you because you never know when a reinforcement opportunity might arise.

Anytime your dog wants to go out or come in the house, you have a golden opportunity to train something. He wants something that only you can give him. Why not get a little something form in return? Ask your dog for a sit before he rushes through the door. You should work on door etiquette, where your dog sits and stays before the open door until you release him.

When you train with the methods in this book, just being with your dog becomes a dialog. You will find that it is incredibly easy to integrate dog training into your life. Once you have taught the basic foundation behaviors, you never need to have a formal training session with your dog again; just being with your dog will shape him into a model citizen.

For more advice on training impossible (and not-so-impossible) dogs, purchase Jane Killon’s When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs from The Whole Dog Journal.

4 Ways to Be a Better Dog Owner

By
Stephanie Colman
-
0

dog owning etiquette

While it may be difficult for us to imagine or remember, many people aren’t comfortable around dogs. For those people, behaviors that dog lovers find charming might be seen as an assault! Even among dog lovers, opinions vary widely when it comes to the behaviors that we find acceptable from our own and other people’s dogs.

Dogs and dog owners can lose access to enjoyable places due to the thoughtless actions of others. As dog lovers, we share a responsibility to be ambassadors for thoughtful, responsible dog ownership. Practice polite dog owner etiquette and be mindful of the following.

1. Control your dog.

If good fences make good neighbors, leashes can help make good dog walkers! It’s important to understand that not everybody wants to meet your dog, no matter how friendly he is. Even leashed dogs, large or small, can be seen as a threat by people who are afraid of dogs.

A dog who is leashed but who appears agitated or stronger than his handler, or who is being allowed by his owner to wander across the sidewalk at the end of a long leash (or, horrors, one of those retractable leashes that allows him to extend his reach to an unpredictable distance), may appear as a terrifying threat to a mom who is taking her newborn baby out in a stroller for the first time, or an elderly person who is fragile or already having trouble with balance.

Some owners may feel justified in allowing their super-friendly, calm dogs to accompany them in public off leash. People should not have to deal with an off-leash dog, no matter how friendly, who has invited himself to their lakeside picnic or was drawn to greet their bike-riding child. Loose dogs can be especially frustrating for fellow dog owners who are out with their leashed dogs. Dogs on a leash often react unfavorably to greetings from loose dogs, specifically because they are on a leash and lack the ability to respond as they see fit to the incursion.

Keep in mind that, often, a leashed dog is leashed because he doesn’t get along well with others! The unexpected and/or uninvited approach by a loose dog can instantly create a major (and completely unfair!) training setback for that dog and his owner, and in extreme cases, puts everyone at hand at risk for a bite.

Even if the leashed dog isn’t offended by the visiting dog, many dogs become overly excited by the unexpected encounters. This creates a situation that is difficult for the owner to manage, and the dog-to-dog contact inadvertently rewards the leashed dog’s over-excited behavior.

What you can do: Abiding by leash laws is the best way to ensure that your dog does not invite himself into situations where he is not welcome. When your dog is off-leash, either because you’re in an open area where off-leash activity is allowed, or because you’ve turned a blind eye to posted leash laws (and we’re certainly not advocating for the latter, but we see it happen), it is your responsibility to make absolutely certain that your dog does not approach, chase, or in any way become a nuisance to any other human, canine, or area wildlife.

Call your dog to you as people with leashed dogs (or dog-less people) approach, and have him wait calmly as fellow outdoor enthusiasts pass by. If you see that your dog’s off-leash activity is creating a difficult distraction for someone with leashed dogs, consider moving to another area, taking a play break, or leash your dog. Simple courtesy goes a long way toward helping dogs and dog owners develop and maintain a shining reputation.

2. Pick the spots where Spot marks.

It goes without saying that picking up after your dog is a basic tenet of responsible dog ownership. But “bagging the business” is just the beginning when it comes to polite toilet practices while in public.

What you can do: First, if you have a yard of your own, encourage your dog to eliminate at home before heading out on a walk.

When enjoying a suburban neighborhood walk with your canine companion, consider limiting his potty-area access to the strip of dirt or grass often found between the street and the sidewalk. Refrain from letting him wander freely at the end of his leash on front yards and any other private property. (I’ve watched owners watch their dogs venture on retractable leashes all the way up to someone’s front door!)

Diligently pick up all solid waste. I like to accumulate good “poop karma” by occasionally bagging a stray poop when I’m out with an extra bag. Yeah, it’s gross, but it helps prevent all dog owners from getting a bad name, and cashing in on “poop karma” makes it slightly less mortifying when the time comes that your dog offers up a third poop on the day you’re out with only two bags and there is no reasonable alternative in sight. (Which seems to happen to everyone at least once!)

When it comes to pitching the poo, think twice before tossing it in the nearest trash can, especially if that can belongs to your neighbor. In my opinion, curbside cans are fair game on trash pick-up day, but empty cans are off-limits. Your neighbors shouldn’t have to spend the week with your dog’s poop in their can. Believe it or not, your dog’s poop stinks, and dog-less neighbors will be even less appreciative of the “deposit.” Carry it home or dispose of it in an appropriate public dumpster.

Finally, consider this: Male dogs should not get a free pass to hike their legs anywhere and everywhere. Consider employing a “no man-made surfaces” rule when it comes to elevated pee-mail. Allowing a pee-a-palooza on public street signs, trash cans, storefronts, newspaper boxes, mailboxes, and public structures is inconsiderate. As former emergency dispatcher Linda Blackwood Coogan of Minden, Nevada, points out, even fire hydrants—often considered the ultimate pooch pee place—have to be serviced by city workers who would likely appreciate a pee-free experience.

3. Make the bark stop here.

Dogs bark for many reasons: as an alert, as a warning, in excitement, out of boredom, etc. Controlling a dog’s tendency to bark is an important part of responsible dog ownership.

If your dog is left home alone for long stretches at a time, consider occasionally checking in with neighbors to get a “read” on your dog’s vocalization when you’re not home, and manage your dog’s playful barking when you are home. This is especially important for apartment dwellers (and renters in general), as “nuisance barking” is often cited by property owners as a key reason they are reluctant to rent to people with dogs.

What you can do: If your dog barks at predictable situations, remove his access to his triggers, or be ready to turn them into training sessions.

For example, many dogs bark excessively at the sight of dogs and people walking past the house. Closing the blinds or otherwise restricting access to the locations where he can see people walking past often reduces the barking. Home-alone hounds often bark out of boredom, in which case, getting up a little earlier to squeeze in a walk or play session before work, coupled with breakfast dispensed via stuffed, frozen Kongs and other enrichment toys (rather than being fed from a bowl) can often provide the mental stimulation needed to reduce or eliminate boredom barking.

If you’re home when your dog sounds the alarm, redirect his attention to a more appropriate activity. Resists the urge to yell for him to “BE QUIET!” Otherwise he may think, “Great! Now everyone is barking!”

Instead, call him to you and ask him to sit, then reward him for sitting. You might need to gently draw him away from the trigger zone in the beginning, but he should quickly learn that leaving the bark-spot and coming to you is definitely worth his while. As a bonus, this also helps desensitize dogs to whatever triggered the barking in the first place, making future outbursts less intense in noise-level and duration. In many cases, the power of the former trigger is reduced and then eliminated over time.

4. Train your dog.

We’re dog lovers and we get along best with those who also love dogs, but that doesn’t mean we love being subjected to especially pushy or untrained dogs. It’s not okay to allow your dog to jump up on, bark or shove spitty fetch toys at, or drape himself across guests as they sit on the sofa. Be respectful of other people’s personal boundaries.

Basic training helps create harmonious interactions between our two- and four-legged friends and family members. Visitors are exciting for dogs, and the excitement often brings out unwanted behaviors. Rather than embarrassingly admit that, “He always does this!” as your guests attempt to politely ignore unwanted advances, help manage the situation, or even better, use it to your advantage.

What you can do: If your dog is especially excited by visitors, attach his leash before you open the door. Grab a handful of tasty treats and reward your dog generously for keeping four feet on the floor as people come in. Mature dogs and dogs with previous training might be able to handle sitting for treats as people enter. Or better yet, for social dogs, keep treats on the porch and instruct visitors to grab a handful before entering, but not to feed the dog unless he’s standing or sitting politely.

If your dog is toy-motivated, teach him to grab and hold a toy as you head to the front door. Many dogs are less likely to jump up when they’re holding something. For dogs who love to retrieve, consider a bucket of tennis balls on the front porch. Similar to the guests-with-treats technique, your visitor enters, asks for a sit, then lobs the toy into the house. As the dog races off to retrieve, the guest can enter the house.

Once guests are inside, consider asking your dog to “stay” at your side or on his bed if he seems overly interested in visiting with guests. If your guests are enjoying the interaction, they’ll let you know it’s fine. If they say nothing as you wrangle up your dog, they probably appreciate the break.

It’s up to you to help your dog make good choices. If you don’t feel like playing “dog trainer” during a particular visit, that’s okay, but rather than leave your dog to his own devices, where he’s likely to practice bad habits, manage the situation by crating him away from company with a stuffed Kong or other enrichment device.

It’s Worth the Work

As a trainer, I regularly travel with a group of dog enthusiast clients on twice-yearly adventures to a nearby coastal and mountain community. One of the highest compliments we’ve ever been paid was by a property manager who said it didn’t even feel like we had dogs. Yes, he saw them when we were out and about, but he rarely heard them or us (no nuisance barking, and no frustrated owners shouting at untrained dogs), and we left no evidence of their stay by not just meticulously picking up waste, but also by covering cabin furniture with our own sheets before inviting the dogs up to cuddle.

Simple acts like these can go a long way toward maintaining, and hopefully increasing, the general public’s willingness to welcome our dog friends.

Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Los Angeles. 

Extended Ed

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

dog on the roof

See the photo? That’s the house where my office is located. I use two rooms downstairs, and my husband and I usually rent the bedrooms upstairs to students at a local trade school. Only, recently, we’ve had some family members—and more recently, a family friend and her two dogs—in crisis and in need of a dog-friendly place to live. So, the owner of that dog on the roof—see the dog on the roof?—needed a place to stay, and not just any place, when you have a dog like that.

That dog has been through three homes already, and he’s only 10 months old. My friend, his current owner, is in the middle of a sudden, traumatic divorce, but before her life blew up in her face she agreed to take that dog from a friend who couldn’t handle him, who had in turn agreed to take him from the first person who couldn’t handle him. My friend, his fourth owner in 10 months, is committed to that darn dog—despite the fact that her life is suddenly in turmoil, and the dog has separation anxiety, budding dog-aggression, zero recall, terrible manners, and a voice that would wake the dead.

I’m drawing on 17 years of wisdom from the pages of WDJ to help my friend handle that dog—as well as my friend’s other dog, a two-year-old high-octane Vizsla, who also has separation anxiety (but not so severe as to make her push through a screen and jump out onto a second-story roof).

We’re employing long lines, a head collar, healthy treats, counter-conditioning and desensitization, a new diet, Kongs and other food-dispensing toys (featured in this issue—a happy coincidence), massage, T-Touch, Flower Essences, baby gates, and anything else I can think of to increase their chances of being safe and sane dogs at some point in the near future. Wish us luck!

Letters From Readers: October 2015

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Whole Dog Journal

I just finished reading your pet insurance article in the September 2015 issue and have to agree how important pet insurance is to have. We just lost our precious little Beagle, Rascal, to meningeal encephalitis at 101/2 years old – a horrible thing to see your pet go through. We were willing to do everything we could to save him.

Rascal started “circling” and we went to our vet, who sent us to a neurologist at a veterinary specialty and emergency clinic that is out of town. We paid more than $4,800 there, for the neurologist, MRIs, blood work, spinal tap, and overnight care. We went home with a bag of medicines and low hopes of saving him.

A week later we went for check up, more fees. We were told that the swelling in his brain was going to cause him to have a mental disability. As long as he was comfortable and able to function we didn’t care. We have a handicapped son, so having a handicapped dog wouldn’t be a problem. We had another ER visit due to seizures, and then traveled to the University of Florida veterinary teaching hospital to see what treatment they could come up with. More medicines; I’m still adding up those fees. We went back to the neurologist. More medicines.

In between these trips we saw a little bit of our Rascal’s personality. There were periods in which he would stop his circling, respond to his name, and eat. There were times I carried him because our tile floors were difficult for him because of weakness on left side. We were determined to try as long as he did.

He was having a good day when we took him to the neurologist the last time; he even trotted out to our vehicle. On this trip we dropped him off for the day and hung around town for five hours. When we got back, the neurologist came out to lobby and told us to come quickly into a room. After the MRI Rascal’s temperature spiked and it wouldn’t go down and they couldn’t get him to wake up. We went back to see him and after laying with him, crying, telling him I love him and I was so sorry this happened, I made the decision to let him go. That day trip alone was another $4,100.

All in all we paid out well over $12,000. I don’t really know the exact amount because it doesn’t matter, we were in it until the end. I was told I put good money after bad, because we lost him anyway, but I had to give him a chance. Can we afford to spend that money? No. Especially since we are trying to start building a new house.

Bottom line: If we had insurance I would have saved a lot of money and not broken the bank. But would I have done anything else differently? No.

Name withheld, via email

We’re so sorry for your loss. What loving owners you were to Rascal!

I know that in some cases pet insurance can be a lifesaver but as you pointed out in the article, people should know it varies widely. I purchased insurance when I brought my pup home at 8 weeks. He had all clearances from a reputable breeder. I thought that by purchasing the insurance for him right away I would have it for years to come and not have to worry about pre-existing conditions.

When my pup was 9 months old, the vet discovered a very serious heart condition, which ultimately required life-saving surgery only available at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. My pup had the surgery – successful! – and today, at 10 years old, is still living a healthy, happy life. But the insurance company denied my claim for reimbursement for the surgery, all associated diagnostics, and after-care, because the policy I had bought excluded coverage for congenital conditions. This was not genetic; many plans will exclude genetic conditions. His heart problem was something he was likely born with but was not detected in the puppy cardio exam, but they enacted the exclusion and denied coverage.

This is just a cautionary note; it’s wise not to rely on it being there without question. I believe for accidents the coverage is more reliable.

In spite of the fact that I purchased the top plan that the company offered at the time, I thought their payments were such a small percentage of the office visits that it was hardly worth it. I thought I was purchasing pet insurance for a catastrophic illness, but when one happened, the company was not there for me.

Mary Sullivan, via email

We’re glad your dog is still alive and well, so many years after serious heart surgery! As author Cynthia Foley warned in the article, owners have to look hard at the exclusions in the policies they buy, and ask company representatives exactly what the exclusions would mean in the case of various events. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and no one can predict what might happen with dogs! I’m guessing you filed an appeal for your claim? Foley also strongly recommended that owners appeal (and appeal again) if they think a reasonable claim has been denied – because often, these appeals actually work.

I have bought pet insurance for my pets as long as I have known about it – 20 years!

As a shelter volunteer, shelter dogs adopt me, and along with the adoption comes 30 days’ free pet insurance with 24 PetWatch in combination with the microchip registration.

My last two dogs died from cancer. One had melanoma, and radiation treatments prolonged her good life. My other dog developed lung cancer. The cancerous lung was removed and he gained seven more months of good life before cancer developed in the other lung. Both dogs had good quality lives and were happy until the end.

Fortunately, with pet insurance, I was reimbursed for 80 percent of what I spent on them, and my pets experienced the best life they could have.

Judy Van Fossen, via email

Help With Door-Crazy Dogs

By
Nancy Tucker, CDBC, CPDT-KA
-
0

dog training

In my capacity as a dog trainer and behaviour consultant, I sometimes need to delve deeper into the creativity well to help a client solve a particularly difficult behaviour problem. This is actually an element of my work that I love. I enjoy puzzles and brainstorming and engineering custom-made training plans.

Sometimes, preparing and executing such a plan can involve a lot of time, effort, and coordination. On very rare occasions, the universe hands the whole thing to me on a platter before I even get a chance to sharpen my pencil and get to planning. The following is an example of such an occasion.

I was about a half-hour into a consultation at a client’s house. We were working on the problem of her two small dogs barking, lunging, and snapping at people who entered the house from the main door. We had covered some basic exercises over the previous weeks and we were now ready to put things into practice with actual strangers entering the home.

The client asked me, a little concerned, “So, I’ll need to find people the dogs don’t know and ask them to knock on my door and come in?”

I replied, “Well, yes. Is this something you can do?”

The client frowned, looked at the floor and thought for a moment. We stood together quietly, and then, almost on cue: Ding-dong! The doorbell rang.

Opportunity Rings

We glanced at each other and smiled. Ha! What were the odds of that happening at that exact moment? It was too perfect! We quickly got into position to immediately begin working with the dogs. The client opened the door, and there stood two elderly ladies, a little afraid of all the hooplah created by the dogs who were behind a small barrier near the door.

My client spoke loudly to the ladies over the noise and asked them to step inside. We had no idea who they were, but they were quickly recruited to help with the exercise. I instructed them on the fly: “Look this way, not directly at the dogs. Please stand still; take these treats in your hand and toss them when we say . . . .”

They obliged kindly. One was trying so hard not to look at the dogs (as instructed), that she was looking straight up at the ceiling and was tossing the treats willy-nilly. We quickly rectified this. The dogs were doing great! They calmed down faster than they ever had before.

We were now ready to go to the next step: Having the ladies move their feet, but only when cued by us (moving feet were an issue for the dogs). They obliged again, and the exercise was going swimmingly! We had them practically doing the hokey-pokey in the entrance.

The dogs were now having so much fun that the exercise lasted 30 minutes! The ladies were asking questions about the process and were tickled to be learning about dog training. They hadn’t expected that today.

At the end of it all, we thanked them and they were gracious as they leaned forward to hand a booklet to my client. They were Jehovah’s Witnesses! Without missing a beat, my client asked if they could return on occasion to practice, and they said yes!

When they left, we had a good belly laugh. The dogs burped and took a nap.

Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA, is a full-time trainer, behavior consultant, and seminar presenter in Quebec, Canada. She has written numerous articles on dog behavior for Quebec publications focusing on life with the imperfect family dog.

Debunking the Dog’s “Guilty Look” Myth

By
Linda P. Case, MS
-
0

[Updated December 26, 2018]

I just talked to a potential client who is interested in bringing his 7-month-old Golden Doodle to train with us at AutumnGold. His dog, Penny, has the usual young dog issues – jumping up, a bit of nipping during play, still the occasional slip in house training, etc. Penny also raids the kitchen garbage bin, removing and shredding food wrappers, napkins, and any other paper goodies that she can find. The owner tells me that he is particularly upset about this last behavior because he is certain that Penny “knows she has done wrong”. He knows this because . . . wait for it . . . “Penny always looks guilty when he confronts her after the dreaded act.”

guilty dog myth

If I had a nickel . . . !

Like many trainers, I repeatedly and often futilely it seems, explain to owners that what they are more likely witnessing in these circumstances is their dog communicating signs of appeasement, submission, or even fear.

And, also like many other trainers, I often feel as though I am beating my head against the proverbial wall. But wait! Once again, science comes to our rescue! And this time, it is a darned good rescue indeed.

The guilty look is a difficult issue to study because it requires that researchers identify and test all of the potential triggers that may elicit it, as well as the influence the owner’s behavior and his or her perceptions of their dog may have. Tricky stuff, but lucky for us, several teams of researchers have tackled this in recent years, using a series of cleverly designed experiments.

Is it scolding owners? The first study, published in 2009, was designed to determine if dogs who show the “guilty look” (hereafter, the GL) are demonstrating contrition because they misbehaved, or rather are reacting to their owner’s cues, having learned from previous experience that certain owner behaviors signal anger and predict impending punishment.1

The study used a 2×2 factorial design, in which dogs were manipulated to either obey or disobey their owner’s cue to not eat a desirable treat, and owners (who were not present at the time) were informed either correctly or incorrectly of their dog’s behavior. The box below illustrates the four possible scenario combinations:

guilty dog scenarios

Study 1

Fourteen dogs were enrolled and all of the testing took place in the owners’ homes. All of the owners had previously used “scolding” to punish their dogs in the past; an additional one in five also admitted that they used physical reprimands such as forced downs, spanking, or grabbing their dog’s scruff. In addition, all of the dogs were pre-tested to ensure that they had been trained to respond reliably to a “leave it” cue and would refrain from eating a treat on the owner’s instruction.

During each test scenario, the owner placed a treat on the ground, cued the dog to “leave it,” and then left the room.

While the owner was out of the room, the experimenter picked up the treat and either (1) gave the treat to the dog or (2) removed the treat.

Upon returning to the room the owner was informed (correctly or incorrectly) about his or her dog’s behavior while he or she was away. Each dog was tested in all four possible combinations. (For a detailed explanation of these procedures and controls, see the complete paper listed in “Cited References” at right). Test sessions were videotaped and dogs’ responses were analyzed for the presence/absence of behaviors that are associated with the GL in each of the four situations.

The Results – Two important results came from this study:

1. Scolding by the owner was highly likely to cause a dog to exhibit a GL, regardless of whether or not the dog had eaten the treat in the owner’s absence.

2. Dogs were not more likely to show a GL after having disobeyed their owner than when they had obeyed. In other words, having disobeyed their owner’s cue was not the primary factor that predicted whether or not a dog showed a GL.

First nail in the coffin: The owner’s behavior can trigger the GL.

What about dogs who “tell” on themselves? Joe next door, who happens to know a lot about dogs, says, “How do you explain my dog Muffin, who greets me at the door, groveling and showing a GL, before I even know that she has done something wrong?”

Not to worry; the scientists got this one, too.

Study 2

Experimenters set up a series of scenarios involving 64 dog/owner pairs.2 The testing took place in a neutral room with just one dog, the owner, and one researcher present. After acclimatizing to the room and meeting the experimenter, the dog was cued by the owners to “leave” a piece of hot dog that was sitting on a low table. The owner then left the room.

In this experimental design, the experimenters did not manipulate the dog’s response. Instead, they simply recorded whether the dog took the treat or not. But before calling the owner back into the room, the treat (if not eaten) was removed.

The owners then returned to the room but were not informed about what their dog did (or did not) do in their absence. The owner then was asked to determine, by his or her dog’s behavior whether or not the dog had obeyed the “leave it” cue. In this way, the experimenters ingeniously tested for the “dog telling on himself” possibility.

The Results – Just as the first study found, a dog’s behavior in the owner’s absence was not correlated with showing a GL upon the owner’s return. Corroborating evidence from independent studies is always a good thing!

The researchers also found that when they controlled for expectations, owners were unable to accurately determine whether or not their dog had disobeyed while they were out of the room, based only upon the dog’s greeting behavior. In other words, the claim that dogs tell on themselves and therefore must have an understanding that they had misbehaved was not supported.

Second nail in the coffin: Dogs don’t really tell on themselves; it’s an owner’s myth!

The most recent study, published in 2015, parsed out a final two factors that could be involved in the infamous GL: the presence of evidence as a trigger and guilt itself.

If indeed, as many owners insist, a dog’s demonstration of the GL is based upon the dog having an understanding of the “wrongness” of an earlier action, then this would mean that the trigger for the GL would have to be directly linked to the dog’s actual commitment of the wrongful act, correct?

Likewise, if the dog herself did not commit a misdeed, then she should not feel guilty and so should not demonstrate a GL to the owner.

It is also possible that the mere presence of evidence from a misdeed (for example, a dumped-over garbage pail) could become a learned cue that predicts eventual punishment to the dog. In this case, a dog would be expected to show a GL in the presence of the evidence, regardless of whether or not he or she was personally responsible for it. This last study tested both of these factors.

Study 3

Using a similar procedure to those previously described, the researchers created scenarios in which dogs either did or did not eat a forbidden treat in their owner’s absence. They then either kept the evidence present or removed it prior to the owner’s return to the room. Owners were instructed to greet their dogs in a friendly manner and to determine whether or not their dog had misbehaved based only upon their dog’s behavior.

The Results – Owners were unable to accurately determine whether or not their dogs had misbehaved based upon their dog’s greeting behavior, and the dog’s actions did not increase or decrease the inclination to greet the owner showing a GL. A dog’s inclination to demonstrate a GL was also not influenced one way or the other by the presence of evidence.

The second finding suggests that the presence of evidence is not an important (learned) trigger for the GL in dogs. Rather the strongest factor that influences whether or not a dog exhibits a GL upon greeting appears to be the owner’s behavior.

Third and final nail: Neither engaging in a misdeed nor seeing evidence of a misdeed accurately predict whether or not a dog will show a GL.

Take Away Points 

These studies tell us that at least some dogs who show signs of appeasement, submission, or fear (a.k.a. the GL) upon greeting their owners will do so regardless of whether or not they misbehaved in their owners’ absence. We also know that an owner’s behavior and use of scolding and reprimands are the most significant predictors of this type of greeting behavior in dogs. These results should be the final death throes of belief in the GL. Good riddance to it!

Now, all that needs to be done is that trainers, behaviorists, and dog professionals everywhere work to educate and encourage all dog owners to please stop doing what the owner is doing in the photo!

Cited References

1. Horowitz A. Disambiguating the “Guilty Look”: Salient Prompts to a Familiar Dog Behavior. Behavioural Processes 2009; 81:447-452.

2. Hecht J, Miklosi A, Gacsi M. Behavioral Assessment and Owner Perceptions of Behaviors Associated with Guilt in Dogs. Applied Animal Behavior Science 2012; 139:134-142.

3. O stojic L, Tkalcic M, Clayton N. Are Owners’ Reports of Their Dogs’ “Guilty Look” Influenced by the Dogs’ Action and Evidence of the Misdeed? Behavioural Processes 2015; 111:97-100.

Linda P. Case, MS, is the owner of AutumnGold Consulting and Dog Training Center in Mahomet, Illinois, where she lives with her four dogs and husband Mike. She is the author of Dog Food Logic and many other books and publications on nutrition for dogs and cats. See her blog at thesciencedog.wordpress.com.

Why All Dog Diets Should Meet AAFCO Nutrient Guidelines

By
Mary Straus
-
0

AAFCO dog food guidelines

The long-term goal of this column is to teach interested dog owners how to formulate safe and wholesome “complete and balanced” home-prepared diets for their dogs. We will eventually cover raw and cooked diets, diets that use raw bone as a calcium source, and diets that use other sources of calcium, as well as diets that contain grain and diets that are grain-free. The one thing that all of these diets will have in common is that they will all be “complete and balanced” as defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Why would we suggest using nutritional guidelines developed for commercial pet foods, when the whole reason we want to teach people to make their own pet food is so they can provide their dogs with diets that offer better safety and nutrition than commercial foods?

The short answer is that these standards, imperfect as they may be, are better than no guidance at all. Many books and Internet articles make the preparation of home-prepared diets sound as easy as pie. But the truth is, it’s astonishingly easy to feed (or even overfeed!) your dog while simultaneously starving him of nutrients that he needs in order to live a healthy, long life. Most recipes we’ve analyzed are deficient in critical nutrients. We consider the AAFCO nutrient guidelines for pet food to be a good starting point—the bare minimum of what should be provided to our dogs.

Providing All the Nutrients Your Dog Needs

Most dog owners feed their dogs the same food, day in and day out, often for years at a time. Even people who feed a home-prepared diet are prone to fall for the convenience of a recipe that they replicate daily or weekly without variation. It’s more important than ever that a diet meet at least minimum nutritional guidelines when dogs are fed in this way!

Human diets and recipes are rarely formulated to provide 100 percent of the nutrients determined to be essential for human health. But humans rarely rely on a single recipe or unvarying diet; most of us eat a wide range of fruits, vegetables, grains, various protein and fat sources, and other foods, plus we have the opportunity to respond to our body’s cravings when something is missing.

In contrast, our companion animals are completely reliant on us to put everything their bodies require into their food bowls. If we feed them the exact same diet every day, and that diet fails to provide adequate amounts of certain nutrients, or provides a potentially dangerous surplus of other nutrients, or even an imbalance between certain nutrients, we may well cause the development of disease. When feeding our dogs the same food every day, it’s all too possible for us to meet their caloric needs without properly nourishing them over time.

When you feed the same food or recipe every day, the importance of the food or recipe meeting AAFCO guidelines becomes magnified.

In last month’s installment of this column, “Cold, Raw Truth,” we were concerned that most high-fat commercial raw diets do not actually meet AAFCO guidelines when their nutrients are properly reported on a caloric basis. But if you combine commercial raw diets with other types of complete diets or recipes, particularly those that are lower in fat, you greatly reduce or even eliminate the issues we found, especially if you also vary the meats you feed.

Our goal with that article was not to say that you should not feed those foods; only that you should be cautious about feeding them exclusively, especially to the most vulnerable dogs, which include growing puppies, pregnant and nursing females, and older dogs who eat less than they once did.

Nutrient Guidelines for Dogs

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for humans were first published in the U.S. in 1943. They were intended to reflect the best scientific judgment on nutrient allowances for the maintenance of good health and to serve as the basis for evaluating the adequacy of diets and preventing diseases linked to nutritional deficiencies, such as rickets, scurvy, beriberi, pellagra, and goiter. As knowledge of nutrition advances, these recommendations are modified.

It wasn’t until 1974 that the National Research Council (NRC, the research arm of the National Academy of Science) published its first nutritional guidelines for pet food. Of course, the major players in the nascent pet food industry had been researching pet nutrition for a few decades before this, but much of the research had been directed at determining what pets could and would eat. The NRC’s Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats has been updated a couple of times since then; the most recent version was published in 2006.

The nutritional guidelines used by pet food regulators in this country, however, are not the NRC’s; instead, state feed officials (pet food is regulated on a state-by-state basis) use a set of guidelines produced by AAFCO.

The AAFCO nutrient guidelines have been characterized as being more friendly to the pet food industry than NRC’s pet food nutrient guidelines, but AAFCO would likely describe the differences as acknowledgment of the realities of pet food ingredient sourcing and pet food production. The NRC guidelines are often based on studies using highly purified ingredients, with near-perfect availability and digestibility.

But “uncompromised” availability of all nutrients cannot be assumed or guaranteed in diets comprising typical commercial pet food ingredients. AAFCO puts it like this:

“The AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles were designed to establish practical minimum and maximum nutrient levels for dog and cat foods, formulated from non-purified, complex ingredients. These levels differ from the values developed by the NRC… Values for specific nutrient concentrations were added or modified where indicated and supported by recent scientific publications, practical experience, and unpublished data.”

The values were also modified based on known effects of ingredients and processing and the potential for lower digestibility in some products.” As a result, AAFCO minimum values are generally higher than NRC’s.

Neither AAFCO nor the NRC directly conduct nutritional research; rather, their respective guidelines are developed by committees comprised of (volunteer) animal nutrition experts who study all available relevant research on each nutrient. The experts compare studies, looking for consensus in the data and trying to reconcile major differences in research results. Their goals are the same: to try to find results that support the establishment of minimum (and, in some cases, maximum) values of every nutrient needed by dogs of various ages and reproductive stage to maintain health and prevent disease.

Though we will sometimes reference the nutrient values recommended by AAFCO to those suggested by the NRC (and even the ones recommended by the European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF), our diet recommendations and formulations will be crafted with the AAFCO guidelines in mind, for consistency and to be certain that they meet the most rigorous standards.

Criticism of the AAFCO Guidelines

The AAFCO guidelines aren’t perfect by any means. Just a few of the more salient criticisms of them include:

The organization is painfully slow to adopt changes that reflect newer research; the current guidelines date back to 1995! They have been arguing over and delaying implementation of changes based on the 2006 NRC updates for more than eight years now.

The guidelines are incomplete. As just one example, the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in dogs have been recognized for quite some time, but they are still not included in current AAFCO nutrient guidelines. Proposed changes recently approved and due to be implemented in 2016 will include, for the first time, a minimum requirement for EPA and DHA (the omega-3 fatty acids found primarily in fish and other animal products) and ALA (the omega-3 fatty acid found primarily in plants), and a maximum ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.

Current AAFCO guidelines include maximum values for nutrients that can cause very serious adverse effects at high doses, such as iron, copper, and zinc. But the new AAFCO guidelines have removed many of these maximum values due to questions about bioavailability of different sources, and lack of research on exactly how much is too much. When maximum values are provided, several are more than 30 times higher than minimum values.

As a result, some “complete and balanced” foods may contain excessive and potentially dangerous amounts of some nutrients, such as copper in diets that contain beef liver, as we discussed last month. Most people (including many veterinarians) consider all foods with the designation “complete and balanced” as equivalent, unaware that, without maximum values to limit the range of what can be qualified as within the guidelines, or even with maximum values that allow a very wide range, the difference between nutrient levels in one product and another might have serious effects on a given animal’s health. For this reason, we also refer to European (FEDIAF) legal limits when analyzing recipes and diets.

AAFCO guidelines rely heavily on the use of synthetic supplements and may not apply well to nutrients derived from whole foods. But without adequate research on whole food diets, there’s no way to know for sure which nutrients may be acceptable at lower levels, and which will lead to deficiencies that affect a dog’s health or longevity.

Conclusion

Steve Brown, one of the contributors to this column, is a proponent of what he calls an “ancestral diet” for dogs (he wrote a book about it, called Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet: Healthier Dog Food the ABC Way, 2010 Dogwise Publishing). Drawing on the research of five scientists who studied the diets of wild canids (mostly wolves), Brown analyzed the nutrient levels in a wide variety of reconstructed wild canid diets. In a strange sort of confirmation of the work of the AAFCO nutrient guideline committees, he found that his re-created ancestral diets met essentially all of the AAFCO nutrient guidelines, particularly when it came to minerals (see Table I below).

There are many people who feed a variety of diets (with and without bones, organs, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, etc.) to their dogs in an effort to replicate their own versions of a “biologically appropriate raw foods” or ancestral-style diet, ignoring standards from AAFCO, NRC, and FEDIAF, because they think those regulatory guidelines are not important or relevant. Brown has analyzed hundreds of home-prepared diet recipes and found that they frequently fail to reach many of the nutrient guidelines developed by AAFCO, NRC, or FEDIAF, particularly those that use high-fat meats or exclude vegetables.

People who feed home-prepared diets to their dogs often rely on recipes or guidelines they got from books or on the Internet, or on incomplete mixtures of ground meat, bone, organs, and sometimes vegetables that the manufacturers have assured them contain everything their dogs need. But unless the diets have been analyzed and found to meet – at a minimum! – the AAFCO guidelines, they may actually harm the dogs they were meant to nourish, especially when fed exclusively.

All of the above is why, when we begin sharing recipes with you for home-prepared diets, in contrast to many other sources of homemade diet guidelines and recipes, they will be “complete and balanced” diets as per the most recent AAFCO nutrient guidelines. The AAFCO guidelines may not be perfect, but when met, they can protect dogs from nutrient deficiencies that can cause serious disease. We think these guidelines are ignored at your dog’s peril.

Karen Becker, DVM, practices integrative veterinary medicine at the Natural Pet Animal Hospital in Bourbonnais, Illinois. She is also the author of Dr. Becker’s Real Food for Healthy Dogs & Cats, and creator of Dr. Becker’s Bites.

Steve Brown is the founder of Charlee Bear dog treats and Steve’s Real Food for Dogs (but is no longer affiliated with either company), and is author of two valuable books on canine nutrition, Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet and See Spot Live Longer. Brown lives in Oregon.

Mary Straus is a retired software engineer with a deep avocation for research in canine nutrition. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, and shares her discoveries about canine health and optimum nutrition on her website, DogAware.com.

1...197198199...390Page 198 of 390

Latest Blog

When are you too old to adopt a dog or other pet?
Blog

Too Old to Adopt?

Nancy Kerns 27
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.
© Belvoir Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved.