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Leashes, Collars, Harnesses: Best Gear for Positive Training

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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[Updated January 31, 2019]

BEST LEASHES AND COLLARS FOR TRAINING: OVERVIEW

1. Consider your own training philosophy. Be clear with yourself about how you want to train your dog. Writing it out can help you formulate and make a commitment to a cohesive training mission and program.

2. Analyze the tools and methods you currently use. Are they congruent with your philosophy? If so, give yourself a big click and treat! If not, determine where you need to make changes.

3. Be a critical thinker. Filter all tools and techniques through your own training philosophy and mission before adopting them for use with your dog.

Dog Training Equipment

We’ve presented many articles in Whole Dog Journal that explain why we promote positive training. The risks of using aversive techniques are many, and these can include the types of tools you use to train. All dog guardians will need to own a leash, and some kind of body restraint tool – a collar, or harness. The types of tools you use in training your dog will shape the nature of that training. You have to decide what techniques and tools are right for training and handling your dog, based on your unique training philosophy.

To help you analyze which tools are most likely to help you without hurting your dog, I’ll share my professional opinions about the tools most commonly recommended by positive trainers, always with an eye to whether their intended function is neutral, reinforcing, or aversive, and how they may be, in fact, perceived by the dog.

[Editor’s Note: The July 2018 issue of Whole Dog Journal includes a new review of a hands-free leash system that works quite well. It includes a leash that we think is adequate, but also allows you to clip any leash.]

Leads and Leashes for Dogs

Positive Dog Training

Basic Leashes

Cotton, leather, and nylon leashes are designed to be neutral, and most dogs appear to perceive them that way, at least initially. If your dog makes a positive association with the leash (leash means walk – YAY!) then it can be used as a reinforcer. Your dog can learn to work (sit) for the leash if he learns that “sit” means the leash appears, which makes a walk happen. If the leash is used as a tug toy (as widely practiced by some agility trainers), then the positive association is “leash means play!” and leash-play is a reinforcer for good or excellent behavior on the agility course.

A leash can also be an aversive, if a dog makes an association between wearing the leash and being punished during training or while walking.

For some dogs, the positive associations of going for a walk or training can outweigh the negative associations of aversive tools sometimes used in walking or training. The dog may still enjoy the activity, although perhaps not as fully as if the aversives weren’t in use.

Stretch Leashes

Stretch Leashes

Some dog leashes have built-in elastic pieces; others are comprised of a length of stretchy rubber tubing. The elasticity is meant to absorb the impact that occurs when your dog hits the end of the leash with his body weight. Used carefully, this feature might minimize or prevent damage to your dog’s trachea.

However, these leashes are usually marketed as a way to decrease your dog’s pulling behavior. If it does succeed in doing that (which may be doubtful) it does so by working as a mild aversive. This is confirmed by makers of the products; we found the following statements in ads or packages for products of this type:

“Made from latex that will stretch to more than six feet in length; this stretching continuously, gently corrects your pet.”

“As your dog pulls, the leash stretches, and the resistance your pet experiences teaches them [sic] not to tug anymore.”

“While softening the shock against the dog’s neck, reducing the risk of throat and spinal injuries, the leash delivers an effective correction and release.”

Note the use of terms such as “correction” and “teaches them not to” (our emphasis). These are your clues that the intent of the product is to teach the dog what not to do (not pull) rather than to reinforce the desired behavior and thereby teach him what to do (walk politely). Remember that this is the basic philosophical difference between positive training and training with aversives.

Long Lines for Dogs

Many long-line products are available, from light lines (thin nylon cords) to long lines (flat cotton or nylon) that range in length from 10 to 60 feet or more. Long lines are neutral tools that can be given a reinforcing or aversive association for your dog, depending on how they’re used.

In general, the purpose of a long line is to give your dog more freedom while still maintaining control – very useful when you’re working to generalize a reliable recall, or just to give your dog more exercise. When used with proper safety precautions, I find they fit nicely into my training philosophy. My cautions include:

    • Long lines should not be used where the line might pose a tripping or tangling danger to other dogs or humans.
    • Be careful not to let your dog run full-speed into the end of a long line for fear of injury to his spine.
    • Don’t let go! If your dog runs off into the woods dragging a long line, he can get tangled and trapped.

Retractable Dog Leashes

The retractable leash is commonly seen on trails, in dog parks, and on city streets. Invented in Germany, the leash consists of a plastic handle in which a spring-loaded cord is stored. When the dog moves away from the owner, the cords unreels anywhere from 15 to 30 feet, depending on the model; when the dog moves toward the owner the cord retracts into the handle. The owner can lock the leash at any time by pushing a button on the handle.

While it is neutral by design, as a tool, the retractable leash can be detrimental to training a dog to display polite leash manners. It teaches a dog that pulling against the tension of the spring-loaded cord frequently gets reinforced with greater freedom. A handler can eliminate this inadvertent reward by locking the button, preventing the leash from paying out more cord – then he may as well use a regular leash!

Retractable leashes also send the dog confusingly mixed messages: sometimes you have to stay close; sometimes you can go 30 feet away. This plainly encourages dogs to pull frequently to test the distance allowed at any given time. I don’t recommend their use.

The concerns mentioned above about long lines also apply to retractable leads. Here are some additional caveats:

    • If the line does get wrapped around dog or human, the narrow cord can cause serious injury – burns, cuts, even amputation of digits.
    • Unlike a long line, which must constantly be managed, it’s easy for an owner to be inattentive to the retractable leash, since it manages itself. Inattentive users may inadvertently allow their dogs to do inappropriate things, like rudely approaching other dogs and people.
    • The handle can be cumbersome to hold and is easily dropped. When dropped, the clatter can frighten the dog, and if he bolts, he is chased by the loud, clattering handle. This can pose a disaster for a frightened dog!

Dog Collars

Flat Collars

Buckle or snap; nylon, cloth, or leather; this is a neutral, inoffensive tool. Its primary purpose is for hanging ID tags; providing an attachment for a leash is its secondary use. Of course, “the fool” can misuse a flat collar, but it’s not intended to be used aversively.

The potential for misuse of a flat collar includes forgetting to adjust it as your dog grows (shelters around the country come upon dogs with ingrown collars from time to ti

me – grounds for cruelty charges); yanking on the leash to “correct” your dog; and adjusting it too loosely around your dog’s neck so that he can back out of it and escape.

Flat collars may cause real physical damage to chronic leash-pullers if used for being led. See, “Can a Collar Damage a Dog’s Thyroid?” for more information.

Any collar poses a risk to dogs who wear them in certain situations where they can become entangled, such as while playing at the dog park.

Limited-Slip Collars

Limited-Slip Collar

Also called a martingale or Greyhound collar, the limited-slip collar is a flat collar with a loop incorporated into the product so the collar tightens around the dog’s neck if he tries to back out of it – a maneuver that some dogs are quite skilled at performing. Properly adjusted, the collar tightens just to the size of the dog’s neck, and doesn’t cause choking.

Limited-slip collars are especially useful for dogs with narrow heads, who can easily slip out of even a moderately tight collar. I recommend them to some of my clients, and we use one on our Australian Shepherd, who came to us with a well-practiced collar-slipping maneuver in her behavior repertoire.

Head Collars/Halters

Head Collars

Hailed as a positive training tool when it first arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s, the head halter has stirred much discussion among trainers. This tool works like a halter on a horse; it controls the dog’s head, and where the head goes, the body must follow. Some halter proponents suggest that it also mimics the sensation of a mother dog carrying her puppy by the scruff, and that this function calms the dog wearing the halter. I’m not convinced, and I haven’t seen any studies to support this hypothesis.

To the human perception, the head halter appears much more positive than a chain, prong, or shock collar around a dog’s neck. To a significant number of dogs, however, the halter seems to be at least mildly (and in many cases greatly) aversive. Most dogs need to be desensitized to a head halter prior to actual use. If you put it on without a gradual introduction and lots of association with a reinforcer (treats!) you’re likely to get lots of resistance from the dog – pawing and clawing at the halter, bucking against the leash, and attempts to rub it off. Many dogs, even when they’ve accepted it, will still try to rub it off if given the opportunity.

In addition, the head halter tends to suppress behavior and subdue the wearer. People often mistake “subdued” for “calm.” If your dog’s whole personality changes – his tail droops, his eyes lose their sparkle – then you’re looking at a subdued dog, not a calm one. There may be times when that’s useful, but a positive training program generally avoids behavior suppression and encourages the dog to offer behaviors that can be reinforced. There are a number of different models of head halter. Each new design that comes on the scene purports to be more easily accepted by the dog. That tells you something!

This is one of the tools that positive trainers disagree about. I still have head halters in my supply cabinet and may find a rare occasion to use one, but I generally encourage clients to consider other options. Other trainers rely heavily on head halters, and report very little problem with acclimating their clients’ dogs to them. As always, your dog is the one who should decide. If he tells you he finds it aversive, listen.

One of the concerns about head halter use is the potential for injury to the dog’s spine if he lunges at the end of the leash and the halter pulls his head sideways. Until recently, the inventor of the original design stoutly asserted that there were no proven cases of injury related to head halter use. In 2007, one clearly verifiable incident was reported of a dog suffering injury to the nervous system as a direct result of the head halter. The dog recovered.

Dog Harnesses

Walking Harness

A well-fitted walking harness presents little in the way of aversive application. It’s an excellent option to prevent pressure on and damage to the trachea – useful for dogs who have suffered tracheal injury, as well as dogs in general.

Because it is so comfortable, a walking harness can actually contribute to the reinforcement of pulling behavior, especially if the human on the other end of the leash allows the dog to move forward while pulling. Because th

e harness straps distribute pressure across the dog’s chest, discomfort is mild, if it exists at all, and it’s easy for the dog to pull. That’s why they use harnesses for sled dogs!

Another consideration is that the leash usually attaches to a ring on the harness at the middle of the dog’s back, which gives the human very little control of the dog’s front end. Properly used in training, with reinforcement for appropriate leash behavior, a walking harness can complement a positive training program.

Some walking harnesses offer a ring in front, at the dog’s chest, similar to front-clip control harnesses (below). That may be a good choice for the dog who does well in a walking harness but tends to pull.

Take a look at our 2018 Best Dog Harnesses Review if you decide a harness is best for your dog. Get background information on harness types and uses by reading, “Choosing the Right Harness for Your Dog.”

No-Pull Squeeze Harness

No-Pull Squeeze Harnesses

This type of harness has straps that tighten around the dog’s front legs when he pulls. There are several different brands, but they all function similarly. This tool may be mildly aversive, or simply provide a novel sensation that causes the dog to slow down. Either way, in order to be effective, the trainer must reinforce the improved leash behavior provided by the dog’s response to pressure, or the dog tends to fairly quickly learn to pull despite the pressure.

In the models I’ve seen, the leash attaches to a ring on the dog’s back, again giving little control of the front end. Dogs don’t seem to find them particularly aversive, but I’m not sure they’re particularly effective.

Front-Clip Control Harnesses

Front-Clip Control Hanresses

This training tool offers one significant advantage over most walking harnesses: the leash attaches to a ring at the front of the dog’s chest, providing better control of the dog’s front end. The majority of dogs accept this tool without protest, and for many, there is an instantaneous and significant decrease in pulling and increase in owner control. Combined with reinforcement for polite walking this is my positive tool of choice for dogs who pull.

That said, it’s not the right tool for all dogs. A small percentage of dogs do object to the harness. Also, some dogs are difficult to fit, and others experience chafing under the front legs where the straps can rub. Attaching your leash to the front ring of a regular walking harness (some have it, some don’t – shop carefully!) may be a better choice for dogs who have trouble with the front-clip control version.

What’s Best for Your Dog?

Again, you have to decide which equipment best suits your dog. Keep the pros and cons of each training tool in mind, be true to your training philosophy, listen to and respect your dog, and let the sun shine.

Green Tripe for Dogs

By
CJ Puotinen
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Liam (Cnoccarne Carrowmoragh), a four-year-old Irish Wolfhound owned by Jeanne Patterson of New York, was weaned on tripe and has not stopped loving it, says Jeanne. Photo by Steve Surfman, courtesy of Jeanne Patterson.

Eeeewww! What’s that awful smell?

If your dog thinks it’s the most exciting thing you’ve ever put in a bowl while you gag and hold your breath, it’s probably green tripe – raw, unprocessed stomach tissue from ruminants such as cows or sheep. Tripe fans claim that this smelly meat has multiple benefits for dogs who are lucky enough to have it regularly fed to them.

Mary Voss knows the fragrance well. Twenty years ago, she and her husband, Peter, lived in the Netherlands, where they bought their first dog, an Afghan Hound.

“All the old-time breeders there fed their dogs green tripe,” she says. “It was sold in stores and was easy to find, so that’s what we fed our dog, too.”

But after moving back to the United States, she found that the only tripe sold in markets was white honeycomb tripe that had been bleached, scalded, and deodorized. Her growing canine family did without until local butchers put her in touch with farm slaughterers who agreed to sell her tripe fresh from the cattle.

Raw Diets For Dogs
A Place For Paws sells many types of raw diets for dogs, including ground tripe (in the container at far left). A Place For Paws grinds the fresh “green” (raw, unprocessed) tripe (the two tissues at right) with fresh cow blood (for consistency). Photo by and courtesy of A Place For Paws.

“The first time I brought a cow’s stomachs straight from a farm,” she says, “it was a hot day, the drive was over 100 miles, and the container in the back of my truck stank to high heaven. When I finally got home, the dogs went berserk. They couldn’t see the truck, but they were so excited by the smell they were screaming.”

From that day on, Voss kept her dogs supplied with fresh tripe, which is called “green” even though it’s really brown, because the tripe of grass-fed cattle has a greenish tint. The terms “green tripe” and “dirty tripe” refer to the raw, unprocessed meat (not the contents) of a ruminant’s stomachs.

In 1997, Voss wrote “No Guts, No Glory,” an article about green tripe, for the Afghan Hound Review. In it she described how her dogs, who were already on a well-balanced raw diet, experienced immediate improvements in coat, skin, energy, teeth, and digestion when they switched to a diet comprised mostly of green tripe. One of her rescues, a 12-year-old whose teeth were so terrible that she had trouble eating and who was so weak that she could barely walk across the backyard, thrived on tripe and lived to be 17. “She could still run with the pack, discipline the ‘young and restless,’ and had the most beautiful set of white teeth without ever having a dental cleaning.”

For a while, Voss collected stomachs from farm-slaughtered cows and cut up the huge (60- to 100-pound) organs herself, wearing rubber boots, rubber gloves, and a heavy duty butcher’s apron while wielding a hose, two buckets, and a large, sharp knife. For convenience, she eventually started a co-op that distributed raw frozen tripe from other sources to dog lovers. However, quality was always a concern, so five years ago, she opened her own small factory in Hollister, California. “We started in a 1,000 square-foot building,” she says. “Now we’re in a 6,000 square-foot building. The word has definitely gotten out.” Every week, Voss ships 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of frozen, raw, green tripe from pasture-fed cattle to dog lovers across the country.

Thanks to industrial equipment, the work of turning cow stomachs into ground, frozen green tripe is now easier, but most of us would still consider it daunting. In June, Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s program “Dirty Jobs,” visited Voss’s facility for an episode that will be broadcast this fall.

It’s international
Tripe may be an unfamiliar dog food in the United States, but not in other parts of the world.

Gerry Briffa, who has supplied raw meat for zoos and pets since 1960, has met and spoken with breeders in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and around the globe who swear by green tripe.

“They all say the same thing,” he says, “that it keeps the dogs healthy, is easy to digest, and it helps dogs live longer.”

Katrina McQuilken was raised in Russia, where she says everyone fed raw tripe to their dogs. At the Ridgewood, New Jersey, pet health food store that she runs with her husband, Karl, McQuilken finds that demand for tripe is increasing. “We have always carried raw meat dinners for dogs,” she says, “but now we need extra freezer space for all the green tripe that customers order. Customers who grew up in Poland, Hungary, Germany, and other countries in Europe tell me that this is what their dogs at home ate.”

Knocknarea Irish Wolfhounds, near Sligo, Ireland, is owned by Ika Peiler and her husband, Ulli, who have raised Irish Wolfhounds for more than 25 years. “Once a week,” Ika says, “Ulli goes directly to the source, a medium-sized slaughterhouse. The meat is for the local market, so the animals are all young heifers under 24 months. We also collect the stomachs of lambs.

As the complete digestive system is removed in one piece, Ulli Peiler first separates the tripe section from the intestines, liver, and spleen. He trims off excess fat before opening and emptying the stomachs, turning them inside out and rinsing them, which he does not for hygienic reasons but because sand and soil that animals pick up while grazing cling to their stomach linings.

Once home, the bellies are chilled for a few hours, then sent through an industrial meat grinder. For years the Peilers cut tripe into fist-sized pieces, but that was such hard work that they invested in grinding equipment. Red meat and hearts are ground separately. Liver, which is not suitable for grinding, is cut into pieces. The week’s supply is refrigerated, with any surplus frozen in bags.

Diets Comprised Mostly of Green Tripe
Jade is a six-year-old Irish Wolfhound, belonging to Ika and Ulli Peiler, of Sligo, Ireland. The Peilers have raised Wolfhounds on diets comprised mostly of green tripe for almost 30 years. Photo by and courtesy of Ika Peiler.

“We fed nothing but tripe to our own dogs in the early years,” says Ika, “but we encountered fertility problems. Our bitches would not conceive. We read two studies that a veterinary student in Germany conducted for his doctoral thesis and learned that tripe lacks the amino acid tyrosine, which is apparently needed to kick-start the pituitary gland and the process of conceiving.” Red meat contains tyrosine, and when the Peilers began adding it to their dogs’ tripe diets, healthy puppies soon followed.

Dogs who board with the Peilers eat only fresh raw tripe. “It’s convenient,” says Ika, “and the dogs eat it right away. More importantly, the dogs do exceptionally well on their all-tripe diet.

Note that feeding green tripe alone, as a sole ingredient in the diet, does not constitute a complete and balanced diet. Tripe is a terrific supplement, and may even be used as a major component of a home-prepared diet, but it is not nutritionally complete by itself.

The Peilers’ own dogs eat mostly tripe with occasional organ meats, red meat, and bones. Ika Peiler says, “They don’t need or crave anything else, except that pregnant bitches go off their tripe and prefer muscle or organ meat and meaty bones toward the end of gestation, and they dig into carbs after whelping. That is the only time we give carbohydrates, in the form of raw crushed oat flakes in milk. It is a great way to stimulate milk production, and the conversion from carbs to milk is much quicker than from fat to milk. Once their milk production is in full swing and there is a constant supply of food for the dam, she won’t want oats any more and we can cut them back.”

Tripe’s benefits
Reports from tripe enthusiasts make it sound as though green tripe can bring dead dogs back to life, and that’s not much of an exaggeration. Mary Voss began to appreciate tripe’s benefits when a friend involved in all-breed rescue asked her to help save a litter of infant Rottweiler puppies that had been abandoned in a carport in winter.

“There were nine in the litter,” she says, “and they split the pups among three of us. Our job was to bottle-feed and wean the pups, then bring them back at eight weeks for adoption.”

Voss started weaning her charges at four weeks and gradually added green tripe. “When we brought the pups back together again, the three I raised were bigger, stronger, and more robust,” she says. “Their coats glistened and their eyes were bright and alert. Most of all, their personalities were confident, fun-loving, and just good-natured. The other pups were smaller and sickly, their coats were dull, and they were not very alert. Their temperaments were also questionable because they seemed too shy to be Rotties.”

When asked to describe the benefits of feeding green tripe, the breeders and dog lovers we polled all mentioned improvements in health, appearance, and disposition. Puppies thrive while avoiding bone growth problems, older dogs become more lively and active, digestive disorders vanish or improve dramatically, skin problems disappear, coats shine, coat color improves, eyes brighten, muscles become toned, teeth look terrific, stool size diminishes, and endurance and stamina increase. Dogs with behavioral problems become calmer, some chronic illnesses or conditions improve or disappear, dogs with breeding problems successfully reproduce, pups raised on green tripe excel at everything, elderly dogs resume their careers and win competitions, and the list goes on.

Of course, not every dog will respond dramatically to green tripe, but enough have to make it seem like a cure-all.

Several analyses show that tripe’s calcium-phosphorus ratio is 1:1, which is considered ideal for dogs. Its overall pH is slightly acidic, which aids digestion. The protein content of raw tripe is 10 percent and its fat content is about 5 percent. Tripe contains the essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic) in their recommended proportions as well as magnesium, potassium, B-complex vitamins, the amino acid taurine, other amino acids, about 4 percent fiber, and trace amounts of other minerals and vitamins A, C, D, and E. Green tripe is approximately 78 percent water or moisture. The protein level of dehydrated tripe is about 21 percent.

A Place For Paws
Five-foot-tall Erica Rice, a production manager for A Place For Paws, displays an entire cow stomach before it is cut and ground up for dog food. Photo by and courtesy of A Place For Paws.

“We were surprised to find that tripe contains large amounts of Lactobacillus acidophilus, the lactic acid bacteria that is the main ingredient in probiotics,” says Voss. “Green tripe is also loaded with gastric enzymes, other gastric “juices,” and amino acids. The same gastric juices that help cattle with digestion aid the canine in digesting and efficiently utilizing food, and the amino acids are necessary for muscular development. As a bonus, coarsely ground tripe works like dental floss and is one of the best cleaners for a dog’s teeth.

As with any dog food, the right amount depends on the dog’s age, metabolism, and activity level. Couch potatoes don’t need much, while dogs working in adverse conditions require thousands of calories per day.

In Orange County, New York, Jeanne Patterson lives with three Irish Wolfhounds, two 155-pound males and a 105-pound female. “I learned how to feed tripe from the Peilers when I got a puppy from them,” she says.

About two-thirds of Patterson’s dogs’ diet is raw green tripe, with the remainder an alternating assortment of raw red meat, heart, liver, whole chicken, and an occasional green vegetable. How much they eat depends on how active they are, which means less in summer and more in cool weather, usually three to four pounds per dog each day.

Patterson buys frozen ground tripe, which she thaws in cold water. “It’s almost as easy as feeding kibble,” she says. “I just put it in a bowl, and they love it.”

Patterson credits tripe for her dogs’ long lives. “I’ve had five Irish Wolfhounds,” she says, “and the first two lived to be nine and almost twelve. In the U.S., their average life span is six and a half years.”

Almost everyone we interviewed for this article mentioned that dogs fed green tripe tend to live longer, have fewer injuries and health problems, and have cleaner, whiter teeth than dogs fed other foods.

“Even if they don’t live forever,” says Voss, “they are more likely to have an active old age with fewer aches and pains than they otherwise would. My Afghan Hounds have lived to be as old as 18, and the five living with us now are going on 15 and 17. Green tripe has to be one of the easiest and least expensive health treatments we can offer our canine companions.”

Green tripe is exceptionally easy to feed because even finicky dogs dive right in. Tripe is the one food most dogs respond to even when they refuse everything else. It is also well tolerated by many dogs with allergies and food sensitivities. Some breeders and suppliers report that dogs who cannot eat beef do well on beef tripe, and many dogs with seasonal allergies and skin conditions like hot spots, lick granulomas, and rashes have improved after switching to tripe.

“What we find really amazing,” adds Ika Peiler, “is that our hounds do not lose interest in their food although it is the same day in and day out. They always get very animated come feeding time and cannot wait to get their dishes put in front of them. They usually empty their bowls in five seconds flat – and if they don’t, I know there’s something wrong.”

The fragrance
To call green tripe odoriferous is an understatement. This stuff really stinks.

Some dog lovers just hold their breath. Others say they get used to it or don’t notice it at all.

Katrina McQuilken recommends keeping tripe frozen until the last minute, then thawing it just enough to remove the desired amount, returning the package to the freezer while placing the still-frozen serving in a bowl.

Cold temperatures reduce tripe’s odor, and so does the speed with which dogs consume it. Once it’s in your dog’s stomach, it won’t be scenting the house.

Of course, if you have a fenced backyard or large porch, even better. Your dog can enjoy his favorite food while you breathe comfortably.

Trends in tripe
The newest tripe products include dried or freeze-dried tripe treats as well as fresh frozen tripe from animals other than cattle. Some distributors sell lamb, sheep, goat, venison, or bison tripe. Lamb tripe is far less odoriferous than beef tripe, and when freeze-dried, it makes an almost odorless treat that you can comfortably carry in your pocket. Dried tripe strips are perfect canine toothbrushes.

Some frozen food manufacturers mix green tripe with meat, organ meats, vegetables, or other ingredients for nutritional balance or variety. At GreenTripe.com, Inc., Mary Voss sells three basic products: coarsely ground green tripe, green tripe ground with collagen-rich trachea and gullet (the natural source of condroitin sulfate and recommended for dogs with hip and joint problems), and Xkaliber, a blend of green tripe, muscle meat, heart, tongue, trachea/gullet, and ground bone, which is recommended for young dogs and serious working dogs because it helps build muscle and stamina.

Another trend is for seriously motivated dog lovers to contact local butchers or pasture-fed farms and ranches in order to purchase whole cow stomachs straight from the farm. Check with local farmer’s markets, meat markets, and food co-ops.

One advantage of working with local suppliers is that they can sometimes prepare special orders. For example, dogs with kidney failure, kidney disease, or blocked kidneys should avoid the amino acids methionine and cysteine. The omasum, or third stomach, is extremely high in collagen and low in protein and its amino acids. Some suppliers set this tripe aside for dogs with special needs.

CJ Puotinen is a frequent WDJ contributor and freelance writer living in New York. She is also the author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care and many books on holistic health care and herbal remedies for humans.

How to Help With Separation Anxiety in Dogs

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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Compulsive scratching at doors can indicate separation anxiety in dogs which is causing them to act out.

Have you ever had the misfortune of walking into your house to find overturned furniture, inches-deep claw gouges on door frames, blood-stained tooth marks on window sills, and countless messages on your answering machine from neighbors complaining about your dog barking and howling for hours on end in your absence? If so, you’re probably familiar with separation anxiety in dogs – a mild label for a devastating and destructive behavior.

Thirty years ago the phrase was uncommon in dog training circles. Today it’s a rare dog owner who hasn’t heard of separation anxiety in dogs, experienced it with a one of her own dogs, or at least had a friend whose canine companion reportedly suffered from this difficult disorder. Separation-related behaviors seem more common these days, and sadly, can also result in human frustration and anger – and sometimes even the euthanasia of an offending dog when a despairing owner reaches her wits’ end.

In her excellent book, Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Dr. Karen Overall defines separation anxiety as, “A condition in which animals exhibit symptoms of anxiety or excessive distress when they are left alone.” The most common separation anxiety symptoms in dogs include destructive behavior, house soiling, and excessive vocalization. Many dogs with this challenging behavior also refuse to eat or drink when left alone, don’t tolerate crating, pant and salivate excessively when distressed, and go to great lengths to try to escape from confinement, with apparent total disregard for injury to themselves or damage to their surroundings.

It’s natural for young mammals to experience anxiety when separated from their mothers and siblings; it’s an adaptive survival mechanism. A pup who gets separated from his family cries in distress, enabling Mom to easily find him and rescue him. In the wild, even an adult canine who is left alone is more likely to die – either from starvation, since he has no pack to hunt with, or from attack, since he has no pack mates for mutual protection. For this reason, signs of separation anxiety in puppies is somewhat expected.

Given the importance of a dog’s canine companions, it speaks volumes about the dog’s adaptability as a species that we can condition them to accept being left alone at all! We’re lucky we don’t have far more problems than we do, especially in today’s world, where few households have someone at home regularly during the day to keep the dog company.

There was a time in our society when fewer dogs were left home alone – Mom stayed home while Dad went off to work every day – so dogs had less exposure to the kind of daily isolation that contributes to separation anxiety behavior. Some behavior scientists theorize that experiencing a fear-causing event when a young dog is already mildly stressed about being alone can trigger more intense “home alone” anxiety behaviors.

Two dogs resting on a couch with subtle signs indicating unease.

In today’s world there are a significant number of dogs who are afflicted with some degree of separation distress. The best solution for how to break a dog’s separation anxiety depends largely upon the dog’s situation and anxiety triggers. Fortunately, many dog owners these days are willing to seek solutions to behavior problems rather than just “getting rid of” the dog. As a result, behavior professionals are likely to see canine clients with separation distress disorders.

Symptoms of Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Another reason separation anxiety seems more prevalent today than a few decades ago is that it is misdiagnosed with some frequency by laypersons. With an increased awareness of the condition has come an increase in misidentification of behaviors that resemble separation distress behaviors, but really aren’t.

For example, house soiling can be related to anxiety, but there are many other potential causes. These include incomplete housetraining, lack of access to appropriate elimination areas, unreasonable owner expectations (expecting the dog to “hold it” for 10 hours or more), fear, excitement, marking, submissive elimination, or physical incontinence.

Destructive behavior may be a result of separation anxiety, or it could be normal puppy behavior, play, reaction to outside stimuli, and/or an outlet for excess energy. Separation distress could be the cause of excessive barking and howling, or the dog could be stimulated to bark by street sounds (traffic, people talking), trespassers (i.e., a mail carrier, intruder, Girls Scouts selling cookies), social facilitation (other dogs barking), play, aggression, or fear.

It’s critically important that a problem behavior be correctly identified prior to the implementation of a behavior modification program. It does no good to try to modify separation anxiety if that’s not really the problem.

If a dog pees in the house when left alone as well as when the owner is home, it’s more likely a housetraining problem than a separation issue. However, a dog urinating in his crate when the owner leaves the house, but who is fine holding it through the night, is an example of possible separation anxiety. Separation-related destruction is usually directed toward escape efforts – chewing or clawing at or through doorframes, windowsills, and walls. If the destruction is more generalized throughout the house, it points toward one or more of the other possible causes, rather than an isolation issue. A strategically located video camera or sound-activated tape recorder can help identify possible outside stimuli, such as visitors to the home or unusual noises, that might trigger what otherwise may appear to be separation-related behaviors.

Isolation Distress and Separation Anxiety: What’s the Difference?

Distress over being left alone is not always a full-blown separation anxiety problem. First, a dog may suffer from a mild distress to a severe anxiety disorder. “Distress” indicates a lower intensity of stress behaviors when the dog is alone, while “anxiety” is an extreme panic attack.

The distinction between “isolation” and “separation” is equally important. Isolation distress means the dog doesn’t want to be left alone – any ol’ human will do for company, and sometimes even another dog will fill the bill. True separation distress or anxiety means the dog is hyper-bonded to one specific person, and continues to show stress behaviors if that person is absent, even if other humans or dogs are present.

Our Cardigan Corgi, Lucy, suffers from moderate isolation distress – she doesn’t like to be left alone outdoors. Before we realized the significance of her behavior, she managed to injure herself badly, falling off a stone wall onto cement steps eight feet below in her persistent attempts to reach us through a window. Indoors, her isolation distress is milder. She may bark briefly if we leave her alone downstairs, but quickly calms and settles.

Missy, on the other hand, demonstrates true separation distress. The eight-year-old Australian Shepherd had been in at least four different homes prior to joining our family last fall. As is sometimes the case with dogs who have been rehomed numerous times, she attached herself to one of her new humans (me) completely and almost instantly.

If our whole family is in the barn, and I go back to the house for some reason, Missy could care less that my husband is still with her in the barn; she becomes hyper-vigilant, watching anxiously for me to return, ignoring Paul’s attempts to reassure her or engage in other activities. Fortunately for us, her stress level is mild; other than some scratches inflicted to our kitchen door on the second day of her arrival to our home, she’s done nothing destructive; her level of stress over my absence is low, and tolerable, and consists primarily of pacing, whining, and barking. But it may explain why we’re at least her fifth (and final!) home.

Case Study: Misdiagnosis of Separation Anxiety

Lexi was a five-year-old spayed female Husky/Greyhound mix in rescue, presented by the foster mom as having separation anxiety that manifested as destructive behavior. Lexi had been in several prior foster homes, none of which reported destructive behavior.

As we discussed Lexi’s behavior during her behavior consultation, the dog paced almost constantly, and displayed numerous other signs of general stress, including whining, attention-seeking, and exploring doorways, even though her current human was sitting quietly in a chair in the center of the room. Her behavior did not change significantly when her human left the room.

The foster parent mentioned that she had noted a heightened anxiety when Lexi heard “mystery electronic beeping” in the house – probably fi’om a watch hidden in a drawer that the owners were unable to locate. She also reportedly reacted badly to the beeps of other watches, cameras, and other electronic devices.

I concluded that while Lexi did, indeed, have anxiety problems, they were not separation-related, but rather a more generalized anxiety. While we have no way of knowing for sure, I surmised that at some point she may have been contained in an underground shock fence, and the beeping sounds that caused her heightened anxiety were similar to the warning beep of the fence. For a dog who has been trained to such a fence, the sound of the beep, through association with the shock, can be every bit as aversive and stress-causing at the shock itself.

We implemented a behavior modification program for generalized anxiety that included partnering with a veterinarian for the administration of anxiety-relieving medication, and the foster parent made sure not to leave Lexi alone with access to the room where the mystery beeping occurred (the kitchen). Lexi was eventually adopted and is doing well in her new home, where her owners are continuing her behavior modification program.

How to Treat Separation Anxiety in Dogs

There are a number of steps you can take to resolve your dog’s isolation- or separation-anxiety behavior. The program spelled out under “Preventing Separation Anxiety” below can also be used to modify an existing isolation/separation condition. However, you will progress much more slowly through the steps of the program with a dog who suffers from separation-related behaviors; your dog’s strong emotional response to being left alone will make this a much more challenging proposition.

Here are some other avenues to explore, to complement your modification work:

  • Exercise your dog well before you leave. A tired dog has less energy with which to be anxious and destructive. End exercise sessions 20 to 30 minutes before you go, so he has time to settle down.
  • Five minutes before you leave, give him a well-stuffed Kong to take his mind off your imminent departure.
  • Make your departures and returns completely calm and emotionless. No huggy/kissy “Mummy loves you” scenes. If he gets excited and jumps all over you when you return, ignore him. Turn your back and walk away. When he finally settles down, say hello and greet him very calmly.
  • Defuse the pieces of your departure routine by also doing them when you are not leaving. Pick up your car keys and sit down on the sofa to watch TV. Dress in your business suit and then cook dinner. Set your alarm for 5 a.m. on a Saturday, then roll over and go back to sleep.
  • Mix up the pieces of your departure routine when you are leaving, so his anxiety doesn’t build to a fever pitch as he recognizes your departure cues. We are creatures of habit too, so this is hard to do, but can pay off in big dividends. Eat breakfast before you shower instead of after. Pick up your keys and put them in your pocket before you take your dog out for his final potty break. Put your briefcase in the car while you’re still in pajamas. Make the morning as unpredictable as possible.
  • Use a “safe” cue such as “I’ll be back,” only when you know you’ll return within the time period your dog can tolerate. As suggested in Patricia McConnell’s wonderful booklet on separation anxiety titled “I’ll Be Home Soon,” this helps your dog relax, knowing he can trust you to return.
  • Explore alternative dog-keeping situations to minimize the occasions when you do have to leave him alone – doggie daycare may be suitable for some dogs, but not for others. You may be able to find a neighbor or relative who is house-bound and might appreciate some canine companionship.
  • If you are considering adoption of a second dog, try borrowing a calm, stable, compatible dog from a friend, to see if that helps to relieve your dog’s distress.
  • Try using Comfort Zone (DAP) plug-ins and sprays in his environment to help ease his anxiety.
  • Remove as many other stressors from your dog’s world as possible to help him maintain his equilibrium in your absence. No choke chains, shock collars, physical or harsh verbal punishment (especially in connection to his anxiety behaviors).
  • Consider working with a behavior professional to be sure you’re on the right path – and to help you explore the possibilities of using anti-anxiety medications to maximize the effectiveness of your modification efforts.

Fixing separation anxiety is hard work. It’s all too easy to get frustrated with your dog’s destructive behavior. Remember that he’s not choosing to do it out of spite or malice – he is panicked about his own survival without you, his pack, there to protect him. It’s not fun for him, either; he lives in the moment, and the moments that you are gone are long and terrifying. If you make the commitment to modify his behavior and succeed in helping him be brave about being alone, you’ll not only save your home from destruction, you will enhance the quality of your dog’s life immensely – as well as your own – and perhaps save him from destruction, too.

Preventing Separation Anxiety in 10 Steps

The most important ingredient in a successful separation anxiety prevention program is to set your dog up for success. When you bring a new dog or puppy home, implement a program to help him be comfortable with being alone for gradually increasing periods. This will help to assure him that it’s not necessary to panic: you haven’t abandoned him; you always come back. Be sure to exercise him well before you practice; a tired dog is a much better candidate for relaxation than one who’s “full of it.”

Here are the 10 steps of a two-day program to create a dog who is comfortable being left alone. Note that if you are modifying an already existing distress or anxiety condition
you will need to work through the steps of the program much more slowly.

1. Bring your dog home at a time when someone can spend a few days with him to ease the stress of the transition.

2. Prepare a quiet, safe space in advance such as a playpen or puppy pen, or a dog-proofed room such as a laundry room.

3. When you bring your dog home, give him a chance to relieve himself outdoors, and spend 10 to 15 minutes with him in the house under close supervision. Then put him in his pen and stay in the room with him.

4. Stay close at first. Read a book. If he fusses, ignore him. When he’s quiet, greet him calmly, take one step away, and then return before he has a chance to get upset. Speak to him calmly, then go back to reading. You’re teaching him that if you leave, you will return. Other family members should make themselves scarce during this time: your dog needs to learn to be alone.

5. Continue to occasionally step away, gradually increasing the distance and varying the length of time that you stay away, so that eventually you can wander around the room without upsetting your dog. Each time you return, greet him calmly. Every once in a while say “Yes!” in a calm but cheerful voice before you return to him, then walk back to the pen and feed him a treat.

6. After an hour or so, give him a break. Take him outside to potty and play. Hang out for a while. Then go back inside and resume his pen exercises.

7. Begin again, staying near the pen until he settles. More quickly this time, move along steps 4 and 5 until you can wander around the room without generating alarm. Now step
into another room very briefly, and return before your dog has time to get upset. Gradually increase the length of time you stay out of the room, interspersing it with wandering around the room, sitting near him reading a book, and sitting across
the room reading a book. lf he starts to fuss, wait until he stops fussing to move back toward him. Teach him that calm behavior makes you return, fussing keeps you away.

8. Occasionally, step outside of the house. Your goal for the first day is to get your dog comfortable with you being away from him for 15 to 20 minutes; it’s usually the first 20 minutes of separation that are most difficult. Vary the times so he doesn’t start anticipating your return. Remember to give him plenty of potty and play breaks: every hour for a young pup, every one to two hours for an older dog.

9. On the second day, quickly repeat the warm-up steps, until you can step outside for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, interspersed with shorter separations. On one of your outdoor excursions, hop into your car and drive around the block. Return in 5 to 10
minutes, and calmly re-enter the house just as you have been during the rest of the exercises. Hang out for a while, then go outside and drive away again, for a half-hour this time.

10. Now it’s time for Sunday brunch. Be sure your dog gets a thorough potty break and playtime, then give him 15 minutes to relax after the stimulation of play. Put a Kong stuffed with delightful treats into his pen, round up the family, and calmly exit the house for an outing of a couple of hours’ duration. When you arrive home to a calm and happy dog, drink an orange juice toast to your graduation from separation anxiety prevention school.

Time Alone for Dogs: There is a Limit

It’s unfair to ask a young dog to stay home alone for 5 to 10 hours; he needs to get out to relieve himself midway through the day. If you force him to soil in the home, at worst you can cause stress-related behaviors, at best you may create house-training problems. Options may include taking him to work with you, having family members come home on their lunch hour, arranging for stay-at-home neighbors to take him out, hiring a pet walker to walk him and play with him, or sending him to a well-run doggie daycare environment. (Note: The daycare option is not appropriate for a very young pup.)

If you set up a routine to help your dog succeed, he’ll someday earn his Master’s Degree in Home Alone, and be trusted with full house freedom. lt may be too late for some dog owners to say they’ve never had a dog with separation anxiety, but it’s never too late to say “never again”!

DOGS WITH SEPARATION ANXIETY: OVERVIEW

1. Take steps to prevent separation anxiety in your new dog by conditioning him to accept being left alone.

2. Assess your dog’s anxious behaviors (destructive behavior, vocalization, and inappropriate elimination) to determine if the behaviors might have a cause other than separation anxiety.

3. Understand that your dog’s difficult behavior is not deliberate, and that punishment is ineffective, inappropriate, and will only exacerbate the behavior.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog, and the brand-new Dog Play: How and Why to Play With Your Dog.

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Fun Dog Activities

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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0

[Updated February 5, 2019]

ACTIVITIES FOR YOU AND YOUR DOG: OVERVIEW

1. Play with your dog more!

2. Buy some new toys and invite your dog to play new games with them; don’t just hand them to the dog and go back to work.

3. Make sure that you take breaks from training and enjoy relaxed but engaged time with your dog.

4. Look for dog-safe community activities you can enjoy with your dog, such as quiet street fairs, rather than loud parades or firework displays.

Sometimes we can get so focused on behavior and training that we forget to have fun with our dogs. I realized some time ago that I had become a behavior addict. I took the premise to heart that “any time you are with your dog one of you is training the other,” and became so caught up in reinforcing desired behaviors and preventing reinforcement for undesirable ones that I forgot how to just be with my dogs. While positive trainers have become quite adept at incorporating fun into their training programs, there is value in letting go of the behavior stuff occasionally and just having fun for its own sake.

Fun Dog Activities

Fun comes naturally to dogs and humans. Just watch a litter of puppies at play – or class of children romping in a kindergarten schoolyard – and you’ll be quickly convinced that fun is a primary (innate) reinforcer for dogs (and kids). The wise dog owner/trainer takes advantage of this, using play (not just food!) to reward desirable behaviors in training sessions and in real life, and giving canine-human interactions a positive classical association to help create a strong relationship between dog and owner.

The dog-human social contract is all about our relationship with our dogs. Play builds relationships – hence the importance of play. As children, the friends with whom we form lifelong relationships are likely to be the ones with whom we have the most fun sharing mutually rewarding and enjoyable activities. Play. Play for its own sake, just because it’s fun, and helps us remember what we love about our dogs.

As we mature, we tend to get serious about life – perhaps too serious. Hence the new-age sometimes-appropriate advice to find your “inner child.” Your dog is the perfect companion to accompany you on your journey to find more fun. Here are some ideas to help you remember how to play with your dog.

Out on the Town

If your dog has sufficient social skills so that you can safely take him out into the world, make it a point to do so! If most of your time with your dog is spent at home, you may discover an entirely new and enjoyable side of him off his home turf. After all, there will be completely new sights, interesting sounds, and best of all from a dog’s point of view, novel smells for him to experience.

Take a Hike

If you’re fortunate enough to live near a place where dogs are allowed off-leash, and your dog has a reliable recall, go for a long hike. I mean a long hike. When we lived in California I used to take Keli, my Kelpie, for an occasional all-day adventure in the Mt. Burdell Open Space Preserve near the Marin Humane Society where I worked. With a daypack full of provisions, a tatami (lightweight woven mat that rolled up for easy carrying), and a couple of books, we’d hike a while, climb on or jump over fallen trees, relax a while, play in the pond, watch redtail hawks soar, stop for lunch, fetch tennis balls a while, pretend to herd a few cows, hike a while, and finally head back to the car, tired, relaxed, and happy.

For a variation on the theme, sometimes several friends and co-workers would join us for a dog-pack hike. Occasionally we loaded up the cars and headed out to Pt. Reyes National Seashore for a change of scenery. The dogs didn’t care where we went, as long as we had fun. If off-leash isn’t allowed in your local parks, or you’re still working on that recall, you can do the same thing with a long-line to keep Rover in sight. Maybe not quite as much fun, but almost.

Have a Dog Pal Party

It’s a special occasion – your dog’s birthday, or the anniversary of her adoption, or the recent arrival of a new canine family member. Throw a dog pal party! Invite all your dogs friends from training class, offer the canine guests some FrostBite, Chilly Dawg, or Frosty Paws (ice cream treats created for dogs), and pupcakes (healthy homemade goodies in muffin papers), and organize games like Bobbing for Hotdogs. (Use sliced “pennies” of hotdog in just a few inches of water for small dogs, a bit more for larger dogs. And make sure dogs play just one at a time.)

Holidays offer theme-based party opportunities. Talk to your friends about a party rotation plan, where one person hosts a spring-themed party (how about an Easter egg hunt, substituting dog treats for the eggs?), another does Independence Day (no fireworks please!), and someone else takes Halloween. Costumes. Oh, costumes! If you’re ethically opposed to making dogs wear costumes, have the humans wear costumes that complement their dogs. The Border Collie owner could dress as a shepherdess; the Lab owner could come as a duck . . .

Fun Dog Activities

While the dogs play dog games with each other, you can play human games, like Dog Trivia. Google “dog trivia” to find challenging canine questions, or make up your own. Unleash your creative side, and see how many great party ideas you and your friends can come up with.

Go to the Dog Park

If you’re fortunate enough to have a good dog park in your community, take advantage of it. Check it out first, to be sure it’s clean, well-run, and securely fenced, that canine bullies aren’t allowed, and small dogs have a separate area where they can’t get run over by bigger play pals. Make sure you’re comfortable with the rules, which may include a requirement that dogs be spayed or neutered and currently vaccinated for rabies; a prohibition against food, to reduce the potential for resource-guarding fights; and a request to keep small children outside the fenced area.

Playtime at the dog park doesn’t have to be limited to dog-play. At Remington Park in Sausalito, California, regular users used to hold an informal Friday evening wine-and-cheese party at the park for the humans while their dogs romped.

Attend a Pool Party

Every year at the end of August, when the community pool closes here in Hagerstown, Maryland, the city and the Washington County Humane Society jointly host the Potterfield Pool Pooch Plunge.

For one afternoon, dog owners can bring their dogs to the pool and play with them in – or out of – the water. Hugely popular, this event is in its fifth year here, with nary a serious unpleasant incident despite more than 100 dogs in attendance. Event planners have a veterinarian present to monitor dogs so no one gets too tired or waterlogged. They also arrange a few lighthearted contests for the party-goers, awarding prizes for the best trick, the best tennis-ball catcher, the longest tail, the best bark, and more.

If your community doesn’t already offer this delightful doggie diversion, put a flea in someone’s ear at your humane society or parks and recreation department and see if you can get the ball rolling. Your dog-friends will lick your hand in gratitude if you’re successful.

Support a Good Cause

Animal shelters across the country sponsor a variety of events as fundraisers for their animal care and protection causes. You might find – or organize! – any of these events or others in your community: 

• Dog Walk-A-Thon
• Bark in the Park
• Polar Bear Plunge
• Flea Market
• Pooch Parade
• Canine Games

Many of the events welcome dogs, and often include games, vendors, and food for dogs and humans. You can meet other dog folks, play, eat, and buy dog stuff. What better way to have fun and support a good cause all at the same time?

Explore Your Town

Once a week (or more!) hop in your car with your dog, and drive to a different part of your community for each outing. Park and walk around. Look for dog-friendly shops, outdoor cafes where you can dine with your dog, little-known parks, and serene hiking paths.

Stay-at-Home Fun

You don’t have to go somewhere to play; there are plenty of activities you and your dog can enjoy in the comfort of your own home, indoors or out.

Find It!

You can play this game inside, outside, or both, and create your own variations. Start with your dog in front of you. Say “Find it!” in an excited tone of voice and toss a treat to one side. As soon as he gobbles down that one, toss one the other direction and say “Find it!” again. After a half-dozen tosses, have him sit-and-wait while you place a treat 10 to 15 feet away in plain view. Return to his side and tell him to “Find it!” After a few of those, start “hiding” the treat while he watches you – behind a chair leg, under a pillow, around a corner. Then return and send him to find it. Make the hiding places harder and harder, so he actually has to start looking (with his nose) to find the treats. Most dogs (and their humans) adore this game; those canine noses are so talented, it doesn’t take a Bloodhound to sniff out yummy treats.

Fun Dog Activities

You can also play “find it!” using a favorite toy. Variations of the game include:

• Find and destroy: Treats are hidden in an empty cardboard container taped closed; your dog must shred container to get treats (don’t let him eat the cardboard!).

• Find the human: Your dog waits while you hide, or you can just duck behind a tree when he’s not looking. Give him a “Find me!” cue to let him know the game is on. Or, your dog stays with you while someone else hides. You tell him, “Find (insert name here).” The person hiding can make noises if necessary to encourage your dog to find them. Give your dog treats and praise when he finds the missing person.

Fun with Toys

Of course, there’s the ever-popular “fetch the ball” and “catch the Frisbee” kind of fun with toys. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with those, today’s generation of dog toy play possibilities goes way beyond a simple game of fetch. There’s a wide range of various interactive toys now available, just waiting for you to get silly with your dog.

These are not toys you just hand to your dog and go back to work while your dog plays – these are toys that you and your dog do things with together. There are a host of different tug toys: Wubbas, Udder Tugs, bumpers, and fleece tugs – and tug toys with a zing, like the “Chase-N-Pull,” that has a square of fleece attached to the end of a rope on a pole, that you swing around for the dog to chase, grab, and pull. There are interactive stuffed toys, such as the “Hide-A-Toys” and “Egg Babies,” where smaller stuffed toys are hidden inside larger ones for your dog to pull out, so you can stuff them back in again, so he can pull them out again.

And there’s the new genre of wooden puzzles – the Nina Ottosson toys, guaranteed to make you and your dog think. These puzzles are a great activity to include in your dog parties!

Finding My Inner Child

When I realized that the fun part of my relationship with my dogs was suffering as a result of my addiction to the principles of behavior and learning, I started making a concerted effort to turn off that part of my mind at least some of the time when I’m with my dogs.

Now, when we hike around the farm, I sometimes take a book along, and we hang out a while at the picnic table by the creek, in the shade of the trees. I worry less when one of them takes an excursion out of my sight into the woods. They never go far, and they always come back quickly, without getting into trouble; our 80-acre buffer is good insurance that they won’t wander over to the neighbor’s house. It’s second nature to me by now to have treats in my pockets, so they still get some reinforcement for desirable behaviors, even when I try to have my training brain turned off. But I no longer let it take center stage all the time when we’re just in “relax and hang out” mode. Sometimes it’s good to just be with your dogs.

Note: Dog Play

Parts of this article are adapted from my book, Dog Play: How and Why to Play With Your Dog, due for release from Dogwise Publishing in June. The book is packed with information about dog play, including more games and activities you and your dog can have fun with and tons of tips on how to play with your dog. There’s also a chapter on the “play-deprived” dog – so if you have a dog who’s forgotten how to have fun, you can re-introduce her to the joy of play.

You’ll be able to order the book at dogwise.com starting in June, or get signed copies from me at peaceablepaws.com.

Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dod Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; and Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog.

Positive Dog Training Styles

By
Nancy Kerns
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Training the family dog can be difficult and trying at times, but it’s important to stay positive, have fun, and keep practicing, says Tacoma, Washington-based trainer Kathy Sdao, an associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) who has worked as a full-time animal trainer for the past 23 years.

As a graduate student at the University of Hawaii in the 1980s, Sdao (pronounced suh-DAY-oh) was part of a team that trained dolphins to solve complex cognitive puzzles. After receiving a master’s degree in experimental psychology, she worked for the U.S. Navy to train dolphins for defense-related open-ocean tasks. Next, Sdao worked as a marine mammal trainer at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington. There she expanded her training skills by working with beluga whales, walruses, porpoises, sea lions, polar bears, and otters. Years later, Sdao and another zookeeper left their jobs to create Tacoma’s first dog daycare facility, Puget Hound Daycare. This is where Sdao began teaching group classes for pet owners.

Positive Dog Training

Photo by Jon Smith

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Since leaving Puget Hound in 1999, Sdao has been lecturing throughout the U.S. and Europe on operant conditioning, sharing her passion for the science of training and the awesome power of clicker training. Sdao lives in Tacoma with two rescue dogs.

I first met Sdao a decade ago at one of the Association of Pet Dog Trainer’s annual conferences, where she was presenting a talk about the use of positive training and enrichment for rehabilitating aggressive animals. She talked about dogs, but also gave a detailed case history of her work with an aggressive juvenile walrus named E.T. at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Her video footage of E.T.’s transformation from a ton of very reactive, dangerous muscle and teeth to a well-behaved, affectionate walrus was astounding. Positive techniques, Sdao says, are incredibly powerful.

I asked Sdao if she could contribute to our special section this month on training fun and games. Here is our conversation about making training more enjoyable for dogs and people.

What can people do to make training more fun for their dogs?
For one, they can stay positive, and avoid doing anything that is punishing for the dog that is, painful or even just annoying enough to cause behavior suppression and anxiety. Even a small amount of aversive things mixed into an otherwise very positive training program can poison a dog’s willingness and interest in training. Training can be negatively affected by even very infrequent leash pops or verbal reprimands. A simple unhappy sigh or scowl which even positive trainers will do from time to time can affect training, even if they are fairly mild.

These aversive things can also decrease the value of your reinforcers, which has more serious consequences to your training program. You can inadvertently turn your reinforcers into punishers if you’re not careful. We generally think of food, toys, and praise as being immutably reinforcing for dogs but you can actually wreck that by associating those things with punishment. Once you have a dog who no longer trusts food or praise, you’ll find that your training really slows down . . . and it’s easy to blame the dog for this, instead of the fact that your reinforcers are not so reinforcing any more.

How can this happen? A good example is when food is followed quickly by something the dog finds scary: e.g., peanut butter is used to lure a dog into getting his nails trimmed; liver treats are thrown into a crate to lure a dog in (where he will spend the next eight hours); cookies are used to coax the dog onto a teeter in agility. These experiences of reinforcement (food) followed almost immediately by a punisher will cause the food to be suspect. It’s as if the food starts to have strings attached. (Then students will tell me they have a dog who isn’t motivated by food . . . Sigh.)

How can a person tell when they are presenting something that is aversive for the dog?
Aversives are easy to identify in the behavior laboratory: the rat runs out of the Skinner box (its real name is operant conditioning chamber) when shocked by an electrified floor grid; the chimp looks for ways to leave the cage if threatened. In training, when our dogs are on leash with us and they can’t physically leave, they often mentally check out.

I see lots of dogs who look confused, or show low-level signs of stress, by turning away from their handlers, licking their lips, sniffing the ground. Detaching from their trainers tells us that the training is really not that much fun for them or it might even be quite icky for them. It doesn’t indicate that they are stupid or that they are just not paying attention. Frustrated handlers will often say “My dog is not paying attention!” The dog may not be paying attention because he would prefer to be somewhere else.

Sometimes, though, this is less about the handler being aversive and more about the rest of the dog’s environment being so much more appealing than the handler. When people say, “My dog is so easily distracted, it’s really not about a distractible dog; it’s actually a symptom of something bigger. It’s about the handler not being very reinforcing.

Norwegian clicker trainers Morten Egtvedt and Cecile Koeste, owners of Canis Clickertraining Academy and very successful obedience competitors, recently put it this way: If you are not paying well enough, your dog just might take a job with another firm that is offering a better rate of pay. Dogs are going to do whatever is most worthwhile for them, and if you are not more fun than chasing a squirrel or investigating something smelly, you just might lose that canine employee.

What are some things people can do to make themselves more enjoyable for their dogs?
One thing that marine mammal trainers do a lot, to great effect, is to intentionally build up the list of things that can serve as secondary reinforcers. Food is a primary reinforcer; animals don’t have to be taught to like food. But if you have only food as a reinforcer if food is the only thing that motivates an animal you have nothing to work with if the animal is not hungry or is sick.

Positive Dog Training

jonsmithphotos.com

Marine mammal trainers intentionally develop a number of other things that the animals enjoy: certain toys, certain types of touching or scratching, having a stream of water sprayed on their tongues. These things may not start out as inherently enjoyable or reinforcing in and of themselves, but if you consistently, in a careful way, associate them with other reinforcers, you can transform them into reinforcers. Then you have even more things to use to motivate your dog to learn and to behave how you want him to.

What about a handler’s body language, posture and facial expressions? I see many people who frown or get stern when they work with their dogs . . .
I heard someone else say this, and I like to repeat it: Train like no one is watching you. I find that when people are alone, they are much more relaxed, they are looser, their shoulders are down, they breathe evenly, the leash is loose . . . but as soon as they realize that another human is watching whether it’s an instructor, co-trainer, family member, friend they really tense up, which makes it difficult to stay in the moment with the dog and observe and respond to him.

Worrying about who is watching us is a natural primate thing, but it’s counterproductive in dog training. Allow yourself to relax and remember that it’s really about teaching the dog, not performing for whomever is watching you. I reinforce students in my classes for laughing when they are having fun. Most of my students have to be encouraged to be more animated and relaxed.

That said, you don’t have to dance around and cheer to be a good trainer. There are very good trainers who are quite still and quiet. And there are some trainers who are very animated and would seem to be very exciting for their dogs, but who have such bad timing or are so distracting to their dogs that they actually make it harder for the dog to learn. It’s a fine line. The most important thing is to really watch your dog and reinforce as quickly and appropriately as you can.

What are some other things people can do to keep their training sessions enjoyable for the dog?
I try to teach people to keep their expectations reasonable. You shouldn’t expect to be able to get your dog to make giant changes in his behavior in any one training session.

It’s sort of like going to the gym and doing a set of curls. How much do you expect your biceps to change in each session? Do you really expect them to look different when you come out from when you went in? Not much. But you do understand that after lots of short sessions of doing curls at the gym you’ll have nice biceps.

Understand, too, that your dog may improve only negligibly in any given training session. I’ll test my students on this by asking, “What’s your goal for this training session?” If they answer some big chunk of behavior change “I’d like to teach him to come and sit straight in front of me!” I tell them that their expectations may be too high; it may not be real fun. Let’s do something more reasonable, or it’s going to be a real grind for the dog.

I use the gym analogy to illustrate the importance of short sessions, too. You wouldn’t do curls continuously until your biceps grew visibly! No, you do a set until your muscles are just beginning to be fatigued, then you take a break and drink some water. Then you do another set, and then do something else. You slowly build strength over time. Dog training should be just the same: frequent, short, fun sessions. Over time, you’ll see great improvement.

Another thing: Many people suggest that you should try to always end a training session on a good note. I don’t think this is always a good idea. Many of us start a training session, and things start out well. But then we hit a point where things start going awry. If we persist in an effort to end on a good note, oftentimes we just make things worse.

If the dog starts showing signs of checking out and getting frustrated, sometimes it’s better to just stop the session. I’d suggest stopping not angrily, just stopping putting the dog safely away somewhere, and trying to figure out what went wrong, rather than persisting in a session that, to any objective observer, is not going well.

I hear owners say things like this: “Positive training is all well and good in my backyard, but what about using it in the real world?” Can we ever really be more interesting and motivating than all of the distractions out there?
I would love to promote the Premack principle and its uses. Few trainers really understand the full power of its potential and it’s been so incredibly powerful for me as a trainer in real-world situations. The concept is that high-probability behavior will reinforce low-probability behavior. It’s so dry, but it’s also so practical. Let me explain:

Just about all the behaviors we want our dogs to do could be considered low-probability behavior. That means that the things we want them to do walk or sit quietly at our sides no matter what is going on around them, ignore other distractions in the world and pay attention mostly to us are things that they would be fairly unlikely to do on their own, if there were no leashes and no fences.

All those things that dogs would like to do most at any given moment go sniff that pole, pee on those bushes, run and look for squirrels, greet that other dog  those are high-probability behaviors. If you took off the leash, the probability is very high that your dog would go do those things. We ordinarily call those things distractions. But consider this: Those things are also by definition reinforcements. The dog really enjoys them and wants them; they could be amazing jackpots in our training, if we structure our training really well.

Approached the right way, you can transform distractions into reinforcers. All you have to do is show the dog that if he does a little bit of your low-probability behavior, you will let him go sniff that pole, go pee on those bushes, run and look for squirrels  whatever that dog is most apt to do right then.

We want dogs to pay attention to us and ignore everything else. I tell people to stop trying to get their dogs attention and, instead, to brainwash the dog into realizing that the way to get access to all the things he wants is to pay attention to you. I don’t even teach my dogs to pay attention and make eye contact with me anymore; I found it redundant after I realized that if I just gave frequent, consistent, meaningful reinforcement, my dogs will naturally pay more attention to me. They aren’t going to ignore me, because I have convinced them I am the way to get to the things they want in the world.

Many people, even very experienced trainers, knock their heads against the wall when they are trying to figure out how to get dogs to walk away from chasing a squirrel. I tell them, let’s figure out how to use squirrels in your training program. It takes some creativity; I know that. But if you can do it properly, it expands your ability to reinforce so much; it can take you so much farther than that cookie you have in your pocket.

Interactive Dog Toys

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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Only rarely does a totally new genre of dog toy appear on the market, and it almost never happens that a new genre of toys is introduced with more than just one or two representative products.

This rare event was recently engineered by Sweden’s Nina Ottosson, with the introduction of her Zoo Active Games, a line of 10 novel interactive dog toys (and a few cat toys!). As a huge fan of interactive toys for dogs, I was eager to get my paws on as many of the toys as I could, and see if they were as fun for dogs as they looked!

The Zoo Active toys are available in the United States from only a select few distributors, including Paw Lickers Bakery and Boutique, owned and operated by Marianne Gage and her son David in Greenfield Center, New York. Fortunately for me, when Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns contacted David to inquire whether we could test the toys, he generously offered to send me seven of the products to try out. I’ve been introducing the toys to my own dogs for a few months, so I knew they had great “fun potential,” and looked forward to an opportunity to try them out on a bunch of other dogs, too.

Interactive Dog Toys

The human participants in our Paw Lickers Puzzle Party and Test had a blast watching and helping the dogs solve the puzzles, and comparing how the different dogs approached each task.

So it was with great anticipation that I planned a Paw Lickers Puzzle Party, inviting friends to bring their dogs to test and review the intriguing interactive puzzle toys.

The night of the party finally arrived. We had seven toys to test, and seven canine players came, so we set the dogs up around the room. We also set up dividers between them to reduce distractions and the potential for resource-guarding. Each of the dogs was accompanied by an owner/handler, and we had four trainer/observers taking notes on the dogs’ interactions with the toys. We allowed each team 10 minutes per puzzle, then passed each toy to the next dog in line. If a dog emptied the toy quickly, it was reloaded so the dog could continue to play.

Dog Tornado

The Dog Tornado

Pieces of the puzzle
With one exception, the Zoo Active puzzles are made of wood and particle board and didn’t look like they’d stand up to heavy abuse. It is clear they are intended to be interactive – not to be left for dogs to play with them unattended. I was curious to see how they’d hold up to normal, supervised abuse.

By the end of our puzzle party, there was unanimous agreement that a good time was had by all. Five of the seven puzzles won several canine and human fans; one (the “Dog Trigger”) had some logistical problems but was workable, and only one (the “Dog Box”) was judged by all present to be a “dud.”

Interactive Dog Toys

Willow used as much of her anatomy as was needed to empty treats from the Dog Tornado. She also figuredout the “pattern” to the puzzle.

    • I had invited friends with a variety of breeds, of different ages and sizes, to give the toys a thorough test. All the owner/handlers and observers were Peaceable Paws Academy graduates and/or trainers that I knew well. They were instructed to help their dogs as much as they felt the dogs needed to be successful with the toys. The partygoers were:
    • Gretel, a young adult spayed female German Shepherd-mix, and her owner/handler James Latonick of Martinsburg, West Virginia.
    • Merlin, a senior neutered male Jack Russell Terrier, and his owner/handler Karin Fellers of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
  • Molly, a senior spayed female Cocker Spaniel, and her owner/handler Katie Ervin of Hagerstown, Maryland.
  • Willow, an adult spayed female Collie/Shepherd-mix, and her owner/handler Penelope Brown of Washington, D.C.
  • Truman, an adolescent neutered male Golden Retriever, and his owner/handler Beth Adamec of Windsor Mill, Maryland.
  • Allie, a senior spayed female Golden Retriever, and her owner/handler Susan McCullough of Vienna, Virginia.
  • Jamie, a senior spayed female Border Collie-mix, and her owner/handler Roz Ferber of Alexandria, Virginia.

Our observers were: Shirley Greenlief of Martinsburg, West Virginia; Jeanne Klink of Meyersdale, Pennsylvania; Hedda Garland of Washington, D.C.; and Tim Sandusky of Silver Spring, Maryland.

Interactive Dog Toys

Merlin used his paws on the Dog Smart, but most dogs had more success removing the pegs with their mouths.

Our results
Here are the toys themselves, and the results of our testing party, in order of highest (four paws) rated to lowest (zero paws):

The Dog Tornado ($46) consists of four layered discs, three of which have round slots for treat placement (the fourth is the “lid”). The human places treats in all the slots, rotates the layers to hide the treats and lets the dog begin; you can show the dog a treat in the slot to get him started if necessary. The dog moves the layers with his or her paws and nose to reveal – and eat – the treats.

All the dogs figured this one out and emptied the Dog Tornado of treats within five to six minutes. Jamie required a little help at first; this was her first toy, so she wasn’t sure what was going on, plus, in general, she seemed to offer less behavior with the toys (thus needing more help) than the other dogs.

The other dogs varied in technique. Truman used lots of enthusiastic foot action. Allie loved it, and moved it across the room with her energetic efforts. Merlin bit it and flipped it upside down.

An owner comment from Penelope Brown: “The Dog Tornado was fantastic. Willow used everything – paws, nose, and chin. She even figured out that when one hole on a layer was open, the opposite one was also.”

The Dog Smart ($42) is a disc with eight round slots around the perimeter and one in the center, looking somewhat like the face of a clock. A hollow round peg sets in each slot, with a treat hidden underneath. The dog must pick up the pegs with his mouth or dislodge them with nose or paws to gain access to the treats.

This one was also a favorite of most of the dogs and humans. It was a little harder than the Tornado, and some of the dogs eventually lost interest. After five minutes of effort yielded only two treats, Allie began offering other behaviors to Susan in hopes of earning rewards. In contrast, Gretel found all nine treats in two minutes, and when James placed the pegs back without treats, Gretel continued to remove them. Willow also enjoyed the toy even after the treats were gone; she continued to play with the pegs, and even replaced some of them in the slots herself!

Dog Pyramid

The Dog Pyramid

James Latonick’s comment: “Gretel’s favorite toy of the evening was the Dog Smart. She loved taking the pegs in her mouth, and caught on to this game fast.”

The Dog Pyramid ($22) is the only one of the seven toys we tested that wasn’t made of wood, but rather of sturdy, bright red plastic. Shaped like a beehive with a weighted bottom and one hole on the side near the top, the toy is intended to be loaded with treats and pushed around by the dog to make the treats fall out. It’s similar to other treat-stuffed toys such as the Buster Cube and Molecuball, but the weighted bottom makes it unique; every time the dog pushes it over, it rights itself again.

This one was very popular with our party crowd as well. It was Allie’s favorite, and Truman had so much fun with it he batted it across the room. Gretel, on the other hand, only got one treat out in three minutes and lost interest due to the low payoff, and Jamie got bored with the toy after getting a few treats out and deciding they were too low-value to be worth her attention. (As a treat dispensing toy, the Pyramid was loaded with dry kibble, as moist treats would stick to the inside.) Willow, creative as always, not only pushed it around vigorously, but also picked it up in her mouth and shook it to make the goodies fall out.

Dog Spinny

The Dog Spinny

Susan McCullough’s comment: “Allie stayed with the Dog Pyramid for the full ten minutes. The rolling motion of the toy seemed to fascinate her as much as the treats she was able to ferret out. This toy definitely seemed to be her favorite.”

The Dog Spinny ($37) is a simpler version of the Tornado – a flat disc with only one layer for treat placement (plus the lid). The dog must spin the lid to find the eight treats underneath. All the dogs emptied the Spinny easily – but none of the humans enjoyed it much. The Tornado was just as much fun but more of a challenge for the dogs with its additional two layers.

Jamie found three of the treats within 10 seconds, and didn’t want to stop even when the Spinny was empty. Truman got very excited and worked extremely hard to get the treats – scratching, pushing, digging, and spinning the lid at a high rate of speed. Almost all the dogs emptied the toy within five minutes, and got a reload. Penelope Brown’s comment: “The Spinny was fun for Willow. She figured it all out; she spun the disc with her chin and paw, even experimented with picking it up and dropping it (on my broken finger – ouch!).”

The Dog Brick ($47) is a flat rectangle with four oblong cutouts, each of which has two round slots into which treats are placed (one on each end) and two square sliding pieces that cover the treats. The dog must move the squares to find the treats. This toy works best with paw or nose action; dogs whose behavior choice is biting were at a disadvantage.

Dog Brick

The Dog Brick

The Brick had fewer devotees. It was the favorite puzzle of only one dog: Merlin, probably because the behavior options were more limited. Merlin was the most adept at manipulating the squares; he retrieved all eight treats within four minutes.

Gretel also did well, finding all the treats in six minutes with a little help from James. Molly lost interest and walked away after four minutes, but Katie encouraged her to come back and try again, and she eventually found seven of the treats. Willow got five treats in three minutes – and became much more motivated to look for the remaining ones when Penelope switched to a higher-value treat. Karin Fellers’ comment: “Merlin is a food hound and is relentless with the trash can at home, so this was really fun for him. He especially liked the Brick, where he could paw the sliding square to get the treats out.”

The Dog Trigger ($46) is a flat, arrow-shaped puzzle with semi-circles cut from each side and the bottom. There are nine holes for treats, with a round peg in each hole that protrudes from the front of the Trigger. The dog must push each peg with his nose or paw to make the treats fall out of the back of the trigger, and collect them from the floor through the bottom semi-circle. The side cut-outs are for the human to hold the trigger between her legs.

This toy has some design flaws. While the concept is interesting – and significantly different from most of the other puzzles – the execution is somewhat lacking. None of the dogs really figured this one out in the allotted 10 minutes; most of them failed to make the connection between pushing in the peg and finding the treat on the floor. Owners found it awkward to hold the Trigger between their legs, and dogs kept trying to go behind the toy and just eat the treats from the holes instead of pushing them out with the pegs.

Interactive Dog Toys

Again, Merlin did well with this toy by using his paws. Dogs who mostly use their mouths grew quickly frustrated.

The Trigger has some potential, but would require more training for the dogs to understand the concept of “push the peg, find the treat on the floor.”

Roz Ferber’s comment: “The Trigger was somewhat awkward; it must be held, and Jamie didn’t notice the fallen treats.”

The Dog Box ($44) is a cube with a removable top, no bottom, and a square insert that slides in and rests at an angle, with two narrow strips of foam attached to the surface. One wall of the cube has a five-sided opening cut from the bottom.

There are three options for the top piece – one with a large hole, one with a smaller hole, and one with an oblong-shaped hole just slightly larger then the accompanying round peg. To get a treat, the dog is supposed to push the peg, and eventually pick it up and drop it through the top opening. Treats balanced on the foam strip them fall out the bottom cut-out for the dog to eat.

Neither the dogs nor their handlers liked this toy. It fell apart easily, and didn’t set the dogs up for success. Our testers tried to poke their noses through the top opening or the bottom cut-out for direct access to the treats; none of them were able to figure out the concept of pushing the peg into the hole to make treats fall out the bottom. Merlin had the most fun with it, as he enjoyed knocking the box around and sticking his head through the openings, but he didn’t have any more of a clue than any of the other dogs as to the intended goal for the toy.

Susan McCullough’s comment: “The Dog Box was a dud. Allie only wanted to stick her head in the hole to get the treat. When she couldn’t do that, she lost interest.”

Dog Trigger

Dog Trigger

General comments
• Beth Adamec: “I noticed that as we went from toy to toy Truman became increasingly excited to try the next thing.”

• Katie Ervin: “Molly and I had a lot of fun playing with the toys at the party. She especially liked the Dog Smart and the Tornado.”

• Roz Ferber: “Overall I like the toys, and think they will provide great stimulation for smart, bored dogs.”

• Karin Fellers: “Merlin got to the point where he was waiting for the next toy with anticipation. I think he liked them all.”

• James Latonick: “This was a fun exercise for us; we got to play with some cool toys! I think the particle board construction isn’t ideal for all the toys where exposure to moisture (dog spit) is certain to have a destructive effect over time.”

Puzzling conclusions
The Nina Ottosson puzzles are truly a new generation of interactive dog toy – unlike any I have seen before, and well-designed for today’s new generation of positively trained “thinking dog.” Most of the toys provided challenging and fun entertainment for our test dogs and their owners, some of whom left after the party with full intention of acquiring one or two of their favorites for their dogs to play with.

We did not explore any of the variations described in the instructions that are intended to make the toys even more challenging, such as placing the round pegs in various slots, thus requiring the dog to remove the peg before sliding other parts and exposing the treats. This would add another dimension of interest when the dog became so adept at the original puzzle that the challenge faded.

The toys are costly, to be sure, partly as a result of shipping from the European source. The particle board construction is somewhat of a concern, although after 90 minutes of concentrated dog-attention, none showed significant wear. Some of the pegs bore minor tooth marks from enthusiastic players, but nothing that would interfere with their function for the next round of play.

It’s important to remember that, with the exception of the Pyramid, the puzzles are only intended for use with the owner present and supervision; they are not “leave with your dog to play with while you’re away at work” toys. We also suggest making sure they are thoroughly air-dried after each use to minimize deterioration of the particle board from moisture.

That said, we enjoyed the toys immensely, and look forward to more hours of fun playing with them with our own dogs, perhaps to scheduling future Pawlicker Puzzle Parties. We’d like to pass along a last comment from Gretel’s human, James Latonick, and direct it to Nina Ottosson and the people at Paw Lickers Boutique and Bakery, “Thank you for a great time!”

Evade These Potential Dangers to Your Dog

By
Nancy Kerns
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Having recently read “Why Vinyl Stinks” (Whole Dog Journal April 2008), I wonder whether polyethylene rubber toys (i.e., Jolly Balls) are safe products for dogs. The manufacturers say they are completely safe, but I would expect that to be their position regardless. I hope you can clarify this for me. My puppy Rufous thanks you in advance.
Jeanette Robertson,
Via e-mail

Author Susan Weinstein responds:
Environmentally concerned scientists believe that both polyethylene (recycling codes HDPE #2 or LDPE #4) and polypropylene (PP #5) are among the least toxic plastics available at this time. (Both are plastics, not rubber.) They offer toughness, durability, and flexibility, and don’t need additives the way vinyl does to attain these qualities. My Bouviers, who are great chewers with powerful jaws, love to play with their Jolly Ball and I feel it’s one of their best and safest plastic toys.

Healthy Dog

288

 

Thank you for the excellent article “Why Vinyl Stinks,” which alerts consumers to the hazards of vinyl toys and products for dogs. As a professor of interior design, I am very aware of the problems associated with PVC and many of the products that are made from this plastic. PVC is a prevalent material in our world and it is used for a multitude of things that we use every day, many of these things we may have direct contact with. As the author points out, most PVC is fairly stable and may or may not present a hazard to the user. Primary hazards for end-users are the softening agents that are added to it or if it is burned.

A main concern that I have is for the factory users who work with PVC directly. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (atsdr.cdc.gov) states “The US Department of Health and Human Services has determined that vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen. Studies in workers who have breathed vinyl chloride over many years showed an increased risk of liver cancer, brain cancer, and lung cancer. Some cancers of the blood have also been observed in workers.” There have been well-documented cases of bone reabsorption in workers who continually touch this chemical and cases of chemically induced scleroderma.

I highly recommend two documentaries that cover this topic and associated problems. “Blue Vinyl” covers the PVC industry in this county and Italy, and the PBS Bill Moyer’s documentary “Trade Secrets” focuses on a chemical industry cover up of the hazards of PVC.

Your article also mentions “outgassing” (or offgassing) of PVC. This can occur with many types of products and different chemicals when those chemicals evaporate from the product. Indoor air quality has become a major concern for both people and pets today. For anyone interested I would recommend aerias.org as an excellent resource about indoor air quality and the hazards of chemicals in our world.
Nancy Chwiecko,
Associate Professor, Interior Design
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY

The article on vestibular disease (“Tales of the Lost Balance,” Whole Dog Journal May 2008) could not have been more timely. My 14-year-old very healthy Miniature Schnauzer recently woke me at 1 am vomiting and staggering. Both eyes were rapidly moving back and forth! It was a horrible, frightening first-time experience for me.

Of course, I immediately took her to the emergency vet who at first glance said “She has old dog disease” – vestibular disease! She has had one more, but fortunately milder, attack since the first attack a month ago. My vet prescribed antibiotics for inner ear infection the second time, which seemed to help tremendously. She is also on an herb prescribed by my holistic vet.

Thanks for the excellent article, which helped clear up all my confusion about this mysterious, very frightening disease. I shall not panic should my little gal have another attack.
Betty Whiteaker,
Fredericksburg, VA

I am a licensed physical therapist who is also certified in canine rehabilitation.

It was with interest that I read the article in this most recent issue on vestibular disease. I know that in the veterinary training there is the belief that peripheral vestibular disease is idiopathic. In human medicine there is an identical condition that is termed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The signs and symptoms are the same as what we see in the canine patient.

It is recognized that this condition is precipitated by the movement of the crystals in the semicircular canals in the ears. There is a treatment protocol that is used very successfully in humans. Several physical therapists and veterinarians that are certified in canine rehab are now using a similar technique to alleviate the symptoms in our canine patients. In addition to the positioning techniques to address the movement of the crystals, we also employ specific manual therapy techniques to address the residual head tilt. I wrote an article about this topic, with several references, that was recently published in a Canadian physiotherapy journal.
Margaret Kraeling PT, CCRT
Physical Therapist, Certified in Canine Rehabilitation Therapy
Alberta, Canada

Spending Time Together

By
Nancy Kerns
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0

When I was a kid growing up in a farming region in Northern California, there were very few kids my age to play with – just two within a few miles. My more reliable and ever-present playmates were my family’s dogs – and what a lot of dogs we had! We had five females deliver at least one litter of puppies (and a couple of them had more than one litter) when I was between the ages of five and 14. It’s embarrassing to admit now, but in those days it was highly uncommon to own a spayed or neutered canine. And my parents, bless them, knew practically nothing about responsible pet ownership other than keeping animals well fed.

Children and Dogs

288

For a dog-loving child, though, it was heaven. It was only occasionally sad – when we found homes for my favorites; we were always on the lookout for friends or relatives who wanted a puppy, and somehow always managed to find homes for all the “accidental” mixed-breed pups. But even with the puppies coming and going, I always had a built-in pack of friends, confidants, co-conspirators, and followers. The pack would greet me when I got off the school bus, and I spent just about every minute with the dogs until I went to bed each night.

As the youngest child, I loved bossing the dogs around (since I couldn’t boss anyone else), but, knowing next to nothing about training, and lacking leashes and collars, all my “dog training” was based on the dogs’ utter complicity. If they didn’t want to do what I wanted them to do, they left. If I wanted their company – and I did! – I had to hold their interest. I did that with play and exploring. I was forever making up games to play with the dogs, wandering with them through our neighbor’s orchards or up and down the bed of the creek that flowed by our house, swimming with them in the creek, crawling under the blackberry bushes with them to try to collect eggs from our free-range (read, escaped) chickens, and so on.

My family regarded me as the designated animal trainer. But the fact is, I totally took it for granted that my pack of friends would always come when I called them, and mostly behaved as I told them to. Looking back, I see now that it’s not that I had a special gift for training; it was the bonding that we did while hanging out for hours and hours each day that made our dogs enjoy my company and offer me their genial compliance.

We have three articles in this issue that discuss how spending more fun time with your dog can improve both his training and the bond between you. It’s something I know to be true from the bottom of my heart.

-Nancy Kerns

Commercial Frozen Raw Dog Foods

By
Nancy Kerns
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2

We have long maintained that an intelligently formulated diet, made in a dog owner’s home out of fresh, wholesome ingredients, is the ideal diet for optimum canine health. The tens of thousands of dog owners who make their dogs’ food at home agree. Their dogs enjoy their food; look, smell, and feel terrific; and enjoy vibrant good health.

However, some people who would really like to feed their dogs this way don’t feel capable of routinely shopping for and preparing their dogs’ food. Others worry that their dogs might suffer from a nutritional deficiency or imbalance if they don’t formulate the diet just so. These folks are the target market for the products featured in this article: diets made of fresh ingredients (mostly meat) and frozen for convenience.

There is a lot of variation within this product category, however. Some of the companies offering frozen, meat-based diets for dogs include raw ground bone as a natural, healthy source of dietary calcium; others incorporate eggshell or another calcium source. Some include grain in these diets; most do not. Most (but not all) contain at least a small amount of organ meat, fruit, and vegetable matter.

Commercial Raw Dog Food Diets

288

Some of these products contain a pre-mixed vitamin/mineral supplement, to ensure that the diet is nutritionally “complete and balanced” as per the nutrient levels recommended by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Others meet these nutrient levels (and thus earn the right to make the complete and balanced claim) through their food ingredients alone – without the addition of a vitamin/mineral “premix.”

Still other products are meant for “supplemental” feeding only, with the idea that the owner will continually vary the diet in order to provide nutritional “balance over time.” Companies that sell supplemental products generally offer a wide array of frozen, raw ingredients – as well as guidance on how to mix and match these to provide a complete diet.

 

Quality varies
Just as with every other type of pet foods, including kibble and canned, the ingredients used in these diets vary in quality. Some use only human-grade ingredients, meats that come from free-range, grass-fed animals, and local and/or organic fruits and veggies. Others use less-expensive ingredients. The difference here, though, is that almost all of the ingredients in these products are higher in quality (and price!) than those used in most kibbled or canned foods. Fresh, wholesome, and natural are the watchwords for this category; it’s expected that resulting food will look and smell fresh and appealing when thawed.

Presentation and packaging varies within a small range in this category. Some companies grind their food ingredients into a very fine “mush” that, when thawed, resembles canned dog food. Others use a coarse grind, enabling the pet owner to identify various ingredients by sight. Products may be formed into cube-like “nuggets” or hamburger-style patties, packed into plastic tubs (like cottage cheese), or pressure-packed into plastic tubes generally referred to as “chubs.”

As to availability and shipping: Most of the companies that sell frozen diets offer direct shipping, via overnight service, right to your home. This practice is incredibly convenient – but also increasingly expensive and quite unkind to the environment; it takes a lot of Styrofoam, and sometimes a lot of dry ice and cardboard, too, to ensure these products are still frozen when they are delivered to your door.

Most of the companies sell the bulk of their products through pet supply stores that are equipped with freezers. This is most advantageous for owners who live in close proximity to one of these stores (or veterinary offices), since they don’t have to pay for shipping and can take the products directly home and put them in their own freezers.

Commonalities
So what do all these diets have in common? They all contain fresh, raw meat: muscle meat, fat, and connective tissues. They are all based on the concept that uncooked animal proteins offer the most complete array of amino acids required by canines, providing the most important building blocks of the natural, evolutionary canine diet.

This concept was championed in recent decades by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst, who sought to bring back the vibrant health he remembered seeing in the dogs of his youth, before commercial foods were widely used in Australia. But Dr. Billinghurst sought to replicate the evolutionary diet of the dog, where any raw meat the dog ate would come wrapped around bones and organs of the dog’s prey; he called this sort of diet “BARF,” which alternately stood for “bones and raw food” or “biologically appropriate raw food.”

Dr. Billinghurst saw the consumption of raw bone and organ meat as an integral part of this type of diet, but others who followed in his footsteps found that the raw meat was the key to the diet’s success. They use other calcium sources rather than raw bone in their formulas and feel that the diet is just as beneficial.

Be forewarned: The arguments between the people who feel that raw, meaty bones must form the basis of these diets and those who think the raw meat itself is the key absolutely resemble the arguments between believers of related but divergent religious sects. Each is certain that only they know the light and the way. Our opinions are ecumenical. If a diet is mostly comprised of fresh, whole, raw meats; contains all the nutrients known to be required by dogs; and your dog thrives on it, it’s okay by us. We suggest that newcomers to this style of feeding start out by feeding a variety of complete and balanced products, keeping a record of the results in each dog they feed, and ultimately going with the diet style that works best for their dogs’ individual needs and tolerances.

A few good foods
On the following pages, we’ve listed a number of makers of commercial raw diets. To assist those who are new to this style of feeding, we’ve separated the “complete and balanced” diets into the chart on pages 6-7, and the “supplemental feeding” products offered for more experienced raw feeders into another chart on page 8 (some companies will appear on both charts).

Commercial Raw Dog Food Diets

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As with any type of commercial diet, we suggest contacting the manufacturers for more information about their products. Ask them how their products can help you meet your dog’s needs; they have a wealth of experience and a vested interest in helping to demonstrate the benefits, not the pitfalls, of this method of feeding healthy dogs.

The more questions you ask, the more opportunities you’ll have to ascertain what their level of commitment is to providing clear, credible guidance for feeding your dog in an optimal way. We also suggest that you ask about the following:

 

  • Information about their formulation. Is it complete and balanced? Does it require other supplementation? Who was involved in the product formulation? What are that person’s credentials in animal nutrition? If you have a very technical question about the product’s nutrients, can they refer you to a nutritionist or vet with advanced study in nutrition?

    •  

  • Information about the nutrient content of the products (more information is better than a minimal report). Does the company offer only the “guaranteed analysis” (which is required to detail only the protein, fat, moisture, and fiber content of the food) or a complete analysis that lists all of the values for the product’s vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids?

    •  

  • Information about ingredient sources. Where does the company get their meats and other ingredients? Can they provide documentation to confirm the provenance of the ingredients?

    •  

  • Information about the company’s food safety program. What sort of tests and/or food safety steps does the company take in order to ensure that the product is as free of potentially harmful bacteria as possible?

    •  

  • Information about shipping. Most of the companies that direct-ship products do so only early in the week so there is no risk of frozen product getting stranded on a weekend and thawing before delivery. Nevertheless, before you order any frozen product, question the maker as to the company policy on shipping mishaps. Who will pay for meat that arrives at room temperature? Because you don’t want your dog to eat it!

Canine Acupressure to Calm High Energy Dogs

By
Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis
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These are too-common refrains of guardians of dogs who are bouncing off the walls: “She has way too much energy!” “This dog is out of control!” “I’ve had enough of this crazy dog, he’s a maniac!” You can love your dog to pieces, but if his behavior is unruly, it can be very hard to live with on a steady basis. One of the most common reasons dogs are released to shelters is because they are out of control. Hyperactive dogs are frequently difficult for their owners to enjoy. Surviving this situation may stressful for you, your family, guests – and the dogs themselves. The first step is to have the dog evaluated by your trusted holistic veterinarian, to determine if there is any underlying medical condition.

Hyperactivity, also called “hyperkinesis,” actually can be the result of a medical condition that is characterized by frantic behavior, incessant movement resulting in exhaustion, a consistent elevated heart rate, panting, loss of weight, vomiting, and increased appetite or loss of appetite. Canine compulsive disorders such as tail-chasing, self-mutilation, and other nonproductive, repetitive behaviors are usually considered forms of hyperactivity.

Acupressure Techniques to Calm Your Dog

There are many reasons that may contribute to a dog’s overactivity. Some young dogs have a lot of energy by nature; others may lack proper training or may be frequently exposed to too much stimulation. Some holistic practitioners speculate that artificial preservatives and/or coloring in commercial foods can contribute to overactivity; others point fingers at grain-based diets, and still others at diets containing excessive amounts of protein.

Insufficient exercise, a lack of personalized attention, and chronic stress are frequently to blame. Any combination of these factors may worsen the hyperactivity. It may be difficult to figure out exactly why your dog is excessively active since it is often a combination of factors, but there are many resources available to help you deal with the problem. Once you have consulted your holistic veterinarian and are following a regime he or she has recommended, you can turn to other sources for support in managing your dog’s behavior.

Acupressure for Dogs

Acupressure can be an ally and an adjunct to medical intervention and positive, professional training assistance. It is a safe, noninvasive, deceptively gentle, and extremely powerful resource for the high spirited, overly excited dog whether the behavior is a physical disorder or a training issue. Acupressure offers the added value of enhancing the emotional bond between you and your dog.

Like acupuncture, acupressure is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acupuncture uses fine needles to stimulate specific pools of energy called “acupoints,” which are located along pathways running throughout the dog’s body. To use acupressure, we use the soft tip of our thumb or index finger to administer light pressure on the acupoints, and to achieve a similar effect. The intent, when applying pressure on acupoints, is to allow the body to balance the flow of energy along the pathways (also called “channels” or “meridians”) so that the animal’s energy flows harmoniously. When energy is flowing harmoniously, the dog’s physical and mental state is in dynamic balance and he experiences good health and a sense of well-being.

Since acupressure is noninvasive, dog guardians are able to perform a session with their own dog. Complete novices can work with their animals with good results. Trained acupressure practitioners are able to select the most effective acupoints to resolve a specific issue.

The Acupressure Points of a Dog

A general canine acupressure session can help with getting the dog’s attention, enhance the focus needed for training, and provide calming and grounding. Dogs having a propensity for being high energy will benefit from working with the acupoints described below.

Yin Tang Point

This acupoint can be used to help a dog with focus, especially when his attention seems to be scattered. It is good to work this point just prior to a training session so that you can get his attention more easily. The Yin Tang point is located between and slightly above the eyes in the “third-eye” position. 

Yang Tang Point

This point is best utilized when the dog is too intensely focused on something other than you, and you are not able to get his attention. The Yang Tang point is known to disperse mental energy so that you can direct the dog’s attention to you during training. This point can be used when a dog has experienced (or you anticipate that he may experience) a strong fear reaction. (Note: Do not attempt an acupressure session in the midst of a stressful event! Remove the dog to a calm, quiet area, and proceed only when you feel it’s safe to do so.)

There are two indents on the side of the dog’s eyes just beyond the bony prominence of the outer canthus of the eye. Press these indents very lightly with your index fingers and make little counter-clockwise circles to dispel the dog’s intense focus. You can work both Yang Tang points on each side of the dog’s head simultaneously.

Stomach 36 (St 36), Leg Three-Mile

In Chinese medicine, Stomach 36 is considered the most powerful grounding acupoint. High spirited, high energy dogs need to be more securely earth-bound and stimulating this point can help the dog feel as if he belongs on this earth. Stomach 36 is known to bring the flow of energy down. This point is located on the outside of both the hind legs, just below the dog’s stifle (knee) toward the front of the leg.

Bai Hui, Heaven’s Gate or Point of 100 Meetings

The Bai Hui Point is a classic animal acupoint that has many benefits. It can be used to help clear the animal’s mind and provide an overall feeling of well-being. It is often used to enhance the dog’s ability to “tune in” to himself. Many dogs with excessive energy issues do not know where their body ends and the rest of the world begins; the Bai Hui point can draw the dog’s awareness back to his own body. This point is located on the sacrum right on his midline.

Heart 7 (HT 7), Spirit’s Gate or Shen Men

This point is known to calm the spirit, reduce heat, dispel anxiety, and clear the mind. Heart 7 is a key acupoint for calming overly active dogs and can be used in every acupressure session. It is located on the outside (lateral side) on both front legs, in the deep indent created by the tendon just above the dog’s wrist (carpals) toward the back of the leg.

Offer your dog an acupressure session every third or fourth day, using the acupoints above. Over time, you will most likely see a shift from being wild and crazy to being happy and possessing more self-control, especially when the acupressure is combined with good training practices and holistic veterinary support. Life will be better for all concerned. Remember to tell your dog what a good boy he is when he is a pleasant companion.

Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis are authors of The Well-Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure; Acu-Cat: A Guide to Feline Acupressure; and Equine Acupressure: A Working Manual. They own Tallgrass Publishers, which offers instructional meridian charts and acupressure DVDs for dogs, cats, and horses. They are also founders of Tallgrass Animal Acupressure Institute, offering hands-on and online training courses worldwide, including a practitioner certification program. For more information or to find a certified canine acupressure practitioner in your area, see their website.

Download the Full May 2008 Issue PDF

By
Nancy Kerns
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