When Vinnie was an adolescent dog he began to counter surf in earnest. As soon as no one was looking, he’d rear up on his hind legs, put his front paws on the kitchen counter and start sniffing. Somehow he managed to jump and stretch his muzzle farther than we could imagine and in the blink of an eye, he’d help himself to food on the counter. He scored quite a few yummies in this way including a third of a freshly baked pan of cornbread, a handful of cookies, a few hunks of cheese, a piece of chicken, and a burger.

This has got to stop, I thought. But the first order of business wasn’t training. It was management.

Early attempts at counter surfing

Management, a cornerstone of just about every training or behavior modification plan I can think of, means taking steps to prevent the dog from doing the undesirable behavior while training is under way.

When dogs are rewarded for behavior, the behavior becomes stronger in intensity and frequency. In Vinnie’s case, counter surfing had paid off big time in the way of uber-delectable food rewards. The more he scored food from counters, the more likely he would be to raid them in the future. The best laid training plan would have been ineffective as long as he was still able to nab food from counters, even if only occasionally. Preventing him from getting food on counters went a long way to stopping the behavior because it ceased to be rewarding for him.

Here are some common examples of management as compared to training:

Cody loves to rush the front door when guest arrive and jump and slobber all over them.

• Management: Strategic placement of baby gates to prevent Cody from rushing the front door until his greeting manners improve.
• Training: Teach Cody to stay on a mat while guests arrive and enter the home, then to hand target guests to greet them.

Sylvie growls and snarls whenever Rex, the other family dog, approaches her when she’s gnawing on rawhides, bully sticks and bones.

• Management: Separate Sylvie from Rex in another room behind a closed door whenever it’s chewie time.
• Training: Desensitize & countercondition Sylvie to have a positive response to Rex’ approaches when she’s eating chewies or bones.

Fergus pulls nonstop whenever he goes for a leash walk.

• Management: Prevent Fergus from pulling on leash by walking him on a front-clip anti-pull harness.
• Training: Teach Fergus to heel and/or walk on a loose leash.

Vinnie counter surfs in the kitchen every chance he gets.

• Management: Never ever leave food on kitchen counters.
• Training: Teach him to stay on a mat when food’s being prepared and to get down from the counter when asked to do so.

Like good training, effective management requires consistency on the part of dog guardians. Lapses in management enable dogs to engage (again) in undesirable behavior and to self-reward for doing the behavior, which in turn makes the dog more likely to repeat it.

If your dog is doing something you don’t like, think first about how to change the environment to prevent him from engaging in the behavior. Once a solid management plan is in place, train him to do another acceptable behavior instead. When his manners have improved through training, it’s time to relax management.

Many people find that effective management works so well, they don’t do training to address the undesirable behavior. If that works for you and your dog, wonderful.

I see it every day, far more often than I care to remember. Someone walks down the street with a dog on leash, yanking and jerking the leash as they go. The dog pulls ahead of the human, the human responds with a swift sharp jerk on the leash. The dog doesn’t sit when asked to, the human pops the leash. The dog stops to sniff a hydrant, the human yanks the leash.

What’s wrong with this picture? Plenty. Leash popping hurts the dog by tightening collar pressure on the dog’s neck. Over time, leash popping can injure the dog’s trachea. Add a choke chain or prong collar into the mix, and the short term pain is worse, and risk of tracheal damage even higher.

There’s more. Leash pops and other painful/forceful tactics don’t teach your dog want you want him to do. Assuming the timing of the leash pop is spot on – and that’s a big “if” as I’ll explain later – the pop might teach the dog that you don’t want him to pull ahead, but doesn’t teach the dog what you want him to do instead.

Imagine learning to ballroom dance for the very first time. Though the instructor hasn’t spent time teaching you the correct moves, she tells you to go ahead and dance. Every time you make a misstep, she yells, “Wrong,” or worse, slaps you.

Would you learn how to do the foxtrot with that kind of training? Unlikely.

Would you feel confident about dancing? Hard to imagine.

Would you have any desire to dance at all with that sort of “instruction?” Probably not.

What exactly would you like Rover to do when you take him on a leash walk? To maintain a strict heel position, walking glued to your left side? Is it OK if he pulls ahead at all? Is it OK if he lags behind? Is it OK if he walks at your side but 2 -3 feet away from you? Is it OK if he stops and sniffs a tree? It must be incredibly difficult if not impossible for Rover to figure out exactly how and where someone wants him to walk on leash when all he gets is leash pops as feedback.

Let’s talk about timing. Consequences must occur within 1-2 seconds of a dog doing a behavior in order for the dog to connect the two. This basic training principle is true for the timing of rewards and punishments. But humans are notorious for sloppy timing and inconsistency when delivering consequences. Rarely are humans skilled at popping the leash at just right the moment and in time for the dog to understand what behavior is being punished. Given humans’ inconsistency and poor timing, as far as Rover is concerned, sometimes he’s punished for pulling on leash, sometimes he isn’t punished for that, and sometimes he’s punished for walking quite nicely on leash. Confusing and unfair, don’t you think?

Leash pops are good way to build frustration, fear and anxiety in a dog. Wearing the leash becomes a predictor of nasty things for the dog. Depending on when the leash pops occur, the pain may become associated with whatever’s in the vicinity at that moment.

Let’s say Fred jerks the leash whenever Fluffy pulls towards others dogs. The sight of other dogs when Fluffy’s on leash would easily become a predictor of pain for her. Soon Fred may find himself walking a dog who turns into a snarling, lunging, barking mess whenever she sees another dog.

Thankfully, there is a humane effective alternative. Instead of leash popping or giving Rover other forceful, painful and unkind corrections, your time is far better spent training him to do what you want him to do using positive reward-based methods. If you want Rover to maintain a heel position on leash walks, train him to do that and reward him for doing so. If you want Rover to sit at every street corner, train him to do that and reward him for doing so. Behaviors trained in this way become stronger and more frequent, and a lovely side effect of positive training will result. Rover will want to do the things you’ve rewarded him for! I suspect if he could talk, he’d thank you for taking the time to teach him those things.

If your dog’s an ardent leash puller, enroll him in a positive training basic manners class, a leash manners workshop or consult with a qualified positive trainer. No doubt, training leash manners takes lots of time, practice and patience, but in this trainer’s humble opinion, that’s infinitely better than inflicting pain and confusing a dog every time he goes for a walk. To reduce/prevent pulling on leash while your dog is learning better leash manners, read my post, A Better Way to Walk Your Dog.

There’s a pet store in my neighborhood where the kind staff gives all doggy visitors free treats. Naturally it’s one of Vin’s favorite destinations. If he’s within a half-block of the store in any direction he tries to pull towards it. If we walk by the storefront he always wants to go in. I usually give in.

For a long time Vinnie would pull furiously towards the pet store on night time walks especially when his papa stopped at the convenience store a few doors down from the pet place. I worked on training stays with Vin while we waited outside the convenience store but he always had pet store fever and wouldn’t give up on pulling in that direction.

A few months ago I decided to give up that battle. If Vin wanted to go the pet store at night, I let him. I’d stand there silently as he pawed and nosed the door, waiting for him to turn away and leave.

Last week we had a first. During a night time stroll, hubby stopped at the convenience store but Vin did something different. Instead of pulling to the pet store he stayed right next to me waiting for his papa without so much as a glance in the pet store’s direction.

What changed?

Extinction! Extinction means withholding reinforcers for a behavior that’s previously been maintained by reinforcement. The behavior goes away because it no longer works – it’s no longer rewarding to the dog.

Going to the pet store at night had ceased to be rewarding for Vinnie. Every time he’d visited at night the store was closed and the human treat dispensers were away.

Dressing Vin in costumer - a behavior he'd love to extinguish!

Extinction is one method positive trainers use to get rid of unwanted behavior. When used correctly, extinction is a powerful tool. The key is 100% consistency – never rewarding the unwanted behavior.

Vin made a total of 8-12 night visits to the pet store over a period of 4-5 months before his breakthrough. During that time he continued visiting the store during the day and scoring treats. If that hadn’t happened night time trips to the store would have stopped sooner.

Extinction can be used to get rid of behaviors like attention barking, counter surfing, jumping up and mouthing. If you decide to use extinction, make a plan and try to be as specific as possible:

• What behavior do you want to extinguish?
• How is the dog currently being rewarded for the behavior? How has the dog been rewarded in the past for the behavior?
• What’s your plan to remove all reinforcers for that behavior?
• Can you and everyone else in the family realistically commit and follow through with the plan? Is your plan workable for you?

Follow through is crucial. In fact, if you can’t realistically follow through 100% of the time, an extinction plan is a waste of time. Why? If the dog is rewarded even just occasionally for the behavior, it will become more resilient instead of going away!

Follow through needs to continue as long as the dog is doing the behavior, particularly if there’s an extinction burst – a sudden temporary increase in the behavior that sometimes occurs after the start of an extinction plan. Remember, the flare up is normal and temporary, so just dig in and stick to your plan, or you’ll end up with an even stronger more resilient behavior.

Extinction is useful for stopping a variety of behaviors such as attention barking, counter surfing, mouthing and jumping up. My strong preference for getting rid of unwanted behavior is a two-fold strategy: removing all rewards for the undesirable behavior, and training the dog to do another acceptable behavior. (Read more about that here.)

Chances are you’ve got one in your neighborhood – the backyard dog that seems to bark all day and night. There’s one down the street from me and another a couple of streets away. No matter when I walk by those houses the dogs are barking, one from a garage, the other from a backyard. Bad dogs? No. Bored dogs? Yes! . . and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.As a shelter worker I counseled many people who were considering adopting a dog. I always asked where the dog would be living most of the time. Most people said in the home, at which point I breathed a silent sigh of relief, and began discussing potty-training and house manners training.

Some people said they had garages or backyards that would make “great” homes for a dog, day and night. That answer prompted a different discussion – why backyard/garage living isn’t a good idea.

Dogs are tremendously social critters. That’s one reason they make such great pets and companions. Dogs don’t just like social interaction, they need it. Banishing them to an isolated existence in a backyard or garage is inhumane and bound to result in a cornucopia of unwanted behavior. Dogs living in isolation are lonely, sad, anxious, frustrated and bored out of their minds. When they are permitted to be around humans, the dogs so starved for companionship, their behavior’s out of control.

Dogs - an incredibly social species

Dogs who live in solitary don’t get training in house manners, or if they get it, don’t get a chance to practice those manners on a regular basis. As a result, if and when the dogs are allowed inside, they don’t do well and are again relegated to yard or garage.

It’s a vicious cycle. The dogs’ behavior justifies their banishment to the yard. The longer they live in the yard, the more desperate they are for attention and interaction. The more desperate they are, the worse they behave when around humans. The worse the dogs behave, the less the humans want them in the house.

Dogs in solitary confinement will very likely develop frustration and boredom-based problems such as digging; destructive chewing of outdoor furniture, decks, fences and siding; fence-fighting with people and animals passing by; and excessive barking and howling. Backyard dogs are also at risk for developing obsessive-compulsive behaviors like nonstop tail-chasing, shadow or light chasing, fly snapping, and self-mutilation. In addition, because they’re not around humans or other dogs, they’re often severely undersocialized to dogs, people and the sights and sounds of everyday human life. Undersocialization leads to fearful and aggressive behavior. All of this spells disaster for the dogs. They’re more likely to be surrendered to a shelter and to be euthanized.

Besides the ill effects on behavioral wellness, backyard dogs are at risk for health problems. Dogs may be too hot, too cold, wet with no place to dry out, dehydrated, dirty and matted, or attacked by wild animals. Small dogs have been attacked by raptors. Minor illnesses can become major before anyone notices.

What’s the solution?

• First and foremost, don’t get a dog if you don’t want or aren’t prepared for him to live inside with you.
• Dog need daily mental and physical exercise, and ongoing socialization and training. If you don’t have time for those things, get a low maintenance species of pet (like fish and some reptiles) instead of a dog.
• If you leave your dog outside while you’re at work, don’t tether or chain her up. Doing so severely restricts dogs’ movements and can cause neck injuries, strangulation, and anxiety or frustration-based behavior problems. The dog should have shelter from the elements, s warm dry place to sleep, safe chew toys, and lots of fresh water. The yard should be securely fenced – high enough that she can’t jump over the fence, and deep enough that she can’t dig under it. Opaque fencing reduces the chances of fence-fighting and barrier barking at other dogs and passersby. Bring her in when you come home and let her sleep inside at night. Make sure she gets daily walks and aerobic exercise.
• If you have a backyard/garage dog, you’re missing out on the many benefits of having a dog. Get to know your new best friend and roommate starting now! Move her inside and start a positive training program right away. It’s our responsibility to teach dogs how we want them to behave. Enroll in a basic obedience class or read one of the books suggested below. Be patient and set consistent limits. Don’t expect her to learn how to behave in a human home overnight.
• If you know someone with a backyard/garage dog, try to educate him/her about the dog’s sad predicament. Suggest a local positive training class or one of the books below. (All great reads, they’re loaded with useful information and clear instructions for training basic obedience and preventing and dealing with unwanted behavior.)

The Power of Positive Training, Pat B. Miller
How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks, Dr. Ian Dunbar
Good Dog 101: Easy Lessons to Train Your Dog the Happy, Healthy Way, Christine Dahl

On January 14, 2011, the GGNRA released its Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) and proposal to drastically limit dog-accessible areas throughout the Bay Area. Beloved leash-free areas like Fort Funston will limit unleashed dogs to small patches of land and beach, require dogs to be leashed on most trails, and ban dogs from the majority of the park. Other areas will ban dogs altogether.

Like many Bay Area dog guardians, I’m very upset about the proposed changes. Fort Funston is one of the few spots in the City where dogs can roam leash-free outside the confines and inherent challenges of an enclosed dog park. Funston is a unique option for dogs who don’t do well in cramped and often crowded dog parks. At Funston, dogs get terrific exercise and have plenty of room to negotiate the amount of space between themselves and other dogs.

Fort Funston, aka, Doggy Heaven

The loss of dog-access to GGNRA lands presents negative environmental impacts for Bay Area dogs and humans. Clearly, the restrictions will seriously hurt dogs’ quality of life. Our dogs live in a congested urban environment, frequently in small homes and apartments with no back yards or open space in which to exercise. Adequate off-leash exercise is crucial to dogs’ behavioral wellness and quality of life. A dog that isn’t getting enough exercise is a dog that will in all likelihood develop behavior problems ranging from destructive chewing and boredom barking to anxiety and aggression. Sure, the City has many off-leash dog parks, but they’re already often too crowded to be safe. The GGNRA’s planned restrictions will result in even worse overcrowding, less room for real exercise, and higher risk of dog fights.

The proposed restrictions won’t just harm dogs. The restrictions will result in negative environmental impacts on dog guardians and their neighbors. According to a 2007 estimate, there are 120,000 dogs in San Francisco – more dogs than kids, and approximately 1 dog for every 7 human City residents. A bored dog’s incessant barking disrupts his human family and anyone else within earshot.

Off-leash fun at Ocean Beach

What’s to be done? I have a few suggestions:

Woof up or forever hold your peace! The GGNRA will accept public comment on the Study through April 14, 2011. There are several scheduled meetings to which the public is invited to comment. Written comments can also be submitted to the GGNRA in writing. Go to the GGNRA’s site for information on meetings and to submit comments on the DEIS.

Make sure your comments are of the type that count. It’s not enough to simply protest or voice your displeasure. The comments should be related to the environmental impacts of the proposed dog restrictions, and the potential environmental effects that GGNRA is concerned about. SFDOG.org has put together a detailed and cogent list of suggested comments on the DEIS, and welcomes everyone to incorporate them into written comment letters to the GGNRA.

Contact your local political reps (congressional reps, senators, state senators and in San Francisco, the supervisor for your district), communicate your position on the issue and find out how they plan to address this. Let them know this is an issue that affects all of us, not just a handful of dogs or dog walkers.

Be a dog ambassador. Keep Fifi healthy, up to date on vaccines, and licensed. Pick up poop. Train her to be a model canine citizen on and off-leash. Keep her out of areas designated as dog-free zones, and don’t allow her to chase or disturb wildlife. Snappy recalls, leave its and off-leash stays are essential. So are polite human greetings. Off-leash heeling comes in handy for walking Fifi past distractions and keeping her close to you and out of wildlife protection zones.

Spread the word.
You’d be surprised how many people don’t know about this.

For more information on this important issue, visit www.SFDog.org, www.crissyfielddog.org, and the GGNRA website.

It’s that time again when the new year stretches out shiny, new and full of promise. January also happens to be the APDT’s second annual National Train Your Dog Month (TYDM), which is a wonderful coincidence because training your dog the positive way promises to yield happy results for you and your pooch.

Whether you have a newly adopted dog, a bouncing –off-the-walls adolescent dog, or a senior dog, ongoing positive training is essential for polite doggy behavior. Teach your new dog good manners from the get go, polish up Rover’s rusty recalls and other important behaviors, take a class, or train your dog to do a snazzy trick.

Reward-based training is easy and fun for you and your dog.  And that’s not all. It builds doggy confidence, ensures that your dog will engage more often in behaviors you like, gives her mental exercise and helps prevent boredom.

Love your dog? Then train him!

Who cares if your dog is bored? Well, it’s a good bet that your dog does. Being perpetually bored is no way for a critter to live. (I don’t know about you, but boredom drives me positively bonkers.) Aside from the fact that boredom is a serious drag, a bored doggy is very likely to get into mischief like chewing up your stuff, digging in your houseplants, or barking all the time.  

Problem behavior that could have been prevented or resolved through positive training is one of the leading causes of dogs losing their homes and ending up in shelters. If you love your dog – and I know you do – and you want a long happy life together, a lifetime of positive training is one of the best gifts you can give her and yourself.

Check out the TYDM website for free training tips or to enter this year’s Photo/Video contest. And check out my blog for upcoming posts on useful and cool stuff you can teach your dog.

Happy New Year! Happy Training!

What do good manners and playing with your food have to do with one another?

Everything . . . if you’re a dog!

One of the best and easiest things you can do to enrich your dog’s life and lay a foundation for polite dog behavior is encourage him to play with his food. Food puzzle toys abound – nifty contraptions into which you stuff food or treats, and give to your dog to “solve” so he can eat what’s inside.

Kong, Tricky Treat Ball, Tug A Jug (L-R)

He might have to chew on the toy to get the food out (as in the case of Kongs and Busy Buddy toys); nose, bat and roll the toy around to get at the yummies inside (e.g., Buster Cubes, Tricky Treat Balls); manipulate puzzle pieces (Nina Ottoson’s interactive toys); or come up with a combination of moves to work the puzzle (e.g., Tug a Jug). The point is he’ll need to use his brain and sometimes his brawn to devise a winning strategy.

Feeding your dog from food puzzle toys has many advantages over bowl feeding. Working food puzzle toys:

• Is fun! Not every food puzzle toy is a hit with every dog, but with the wide variety of available toys there are sure to be a couple that get your dog’s groove on.
• Helps dogs eat more slowly than if they were gulping food from a bowl. Eating more slowly helps avoid bloat, a serious and often fatal ailment.
• Staves off boredom. Boredom breeds undesirable behavior like excessive barking, fence fighting and destructive chewing. Besides, living in a perpetually or mostly bored state must be a serious drag for a dog. Food puzzle toys gives dogs mini mental workouts and are a good antidote to boredom.
• Burns doggy energy. Don’t you wish you had your dog’s energy? Without daily outlets for that energy, dogs find other things to do with it. All too often, those things are activities humans don’t appreciate. Interactive toys provide outlets for some of dogs’ mental and physical energy.
• Satisfies the urge and need to chew. Many interactive toys require chewing action to get the food out. Chewing keeps teeth, gums and jaw muscles healthy and is a natural behavior that many dogs really love, especially pups and adolescents. Directing dogs towards acceptable chewies – like food puzzle toys – is essential when teaching dogs to keep their teeth off of your stuff.

If your dog is already a food puzzle wiz, mix up the types of puzzle toys he plays with. Some puzzle toys (like Kongs) can be frozen after stuffing to make solving them tougher for dogs ready for more of a challenge.

Get creative with food stuffings. You can layer different ingredients; alternate wet food with dry; mix wet food with dry dog food before stuffing the toy; or mix an extra special treat with the rest of the food (like the prize in the cereal box).

Does your dog have a favorite food puzzle toy? Do you have a favorite “recipe” for food puzzle toy stuffings? Please feel free to share in a comment.

If I let my dog on the furniture or sleep on my bed, he’ll think he’s dominant over me.

I’m sounding the Mutt Myth Alert!! Let’s bust this myth one piece at a time.

First, no one can look inside a dog’s head and read his thoughts. My dog Vinnie sometimes sleeps in my bed. When he’s snoozing there he looks peaceful and comfortable, but I have no idea what he’s thinking. Neither does anyone else.

“Dominance” is a term that’s misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused rampantly in discussions of dog behavior. In ethology (the scientific study of behavior), dominance refers to “priority access to a limited resource,” and is dependent on context and the distribution of resources. This is not what most people have in mind when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them.

In my experience, what folks usually mean when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them, is, Fido isn’t doing what I want him to do, or, If I let Fido do X, he’ll try to control me.

Let’s take a common sense look at this notion of “dominance as control.” As expert dog trainer and founder of the SF-SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers Jean Donaldson points out, humans control everything dogs need and want in life – food, water, playtime, walks, medical care, companionship, affection, access to other dogs, shelter, sleeping spots, and ultimately, life and death. Given that, who’s dominating whom? Who’s really in control? Here’s a hint – it’s not the dogs.

Though we can’t read dogs’ minds, we can observe their behavior. What’s more, we can manipulate the environment, resources, and consequences to get dogs to behave in ways we like and want to see more of. Simply put, dogs can be trained, undesirable behaviors can be changed, and at the end of the day, much of our dogs’ behavior is up to us.

Sleeping on a human bed is surely far more comfortable than sleeping in a crate or on the floor. When Vin lounges on my bed, he’s rewarded immediately by softness and comfort. Because sleeping on the bed is inherently rewarding to him, every nap on the bed sets him up to nap on the bed more frequently in the future.

There’s no scientific evidence showing that bed snoozes will make Vinnie want to control me, nor that they cause dogs to behave badly. Dogs do behaviors that work to get them what they want. I’d bet lots of money that Vinnie likes sleeping on the bed because it feels good.

Even if he secretly wants to be my boss, the reality is that he’s only allowed on the bed if it’s OK with the humans in the home. Each dog guardian gets to decide what behavior is acceptable from her dog. Some people don’t care if their dogs pull on leash. Others don’t mind if their dogs beg under the table during dinner. I don’t mind if Vinnie sleeps on my bed; in fact, I like it.

Comfy or trying to seize control?

If I were to decide that Vinnie could never again be on the bed, I could implement that change easily. I’d manage the environment to prevent him from getting on the bed – i.e., keep the bedroom door closed or install a baby gate across the door.

I’d also make his sleeping spot more attractive and comfortable. I could put blankets and a crate pad in his crate, or get him a nice plush dog bed.

He’s already trained to get off of beds and furniture when we ask him to, so if I were to find him on my bed, I’d ask him to get down and direct him to his comfy crate/dog bed.

With consistent practice, he’d learn that whenever he gets on the bed I’m going to ask him to get off and go to his own bed. Dogs are economical in how they spend their energies and creatures of habit; in time, he’d stop getting on the bed as often and instead, go to his own bed.

I suppose Vinnie could be plotting to dominate me. He’s a clever guy. When he wants to play tug, he brings his toy to me, drops it rather dramatically at my feet, and sits there and stares at me for a while. If I look at him, he picks up the tug toy and tries to put it in my lap. Sometimes after all that, I get up and play tug with him, but that’s when I feel like it, when I have the time and the energy, and according to my rules. When we’re finished, he likes to go to my bed and take a nap. I see him, smile, and think he looks adorable.

* * *

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some dogs behave possessively around furniture and sleeping locations. This sort of behavior, known as resource guarding, is normal dog behavior, and doesn’t arise from letting dogs sleep on beds. It’s a common behavior that many dogs come pre-programmed with and is an advantage in the wild. Dogs that guard food, sleeping locations, and other resources have a better shot at surviving. Resource guarding presents safety risks for humans; fortunately, it’s a behavior that can be changed through positive training. If your dog growls/behaves aggressively when you approach him when he’s on the bed, on other furniture, or when he’s eating or playing with toys, punishing or trying to “show him who’s boss” is dangerous and will make his behavior worse. Instead, consult with a good positive reinforcement trainer as soon as possible.

It took me a LONG time, much diligent training and careful management to teach my Kelpie mix Vinnie not to chase my cat Ted, and to get a tug toy instead when he gets the cat-chasing urge. We enjoyed a lengthy stretch of peace at home; dog and cat could both chill out in the same room in close proximity to one another without problems.

Vin Settled With Ted Nearby

I was overjoyed. There’s almost nothing I like better than the company of both my critters at the same time. And the dog-cat harmony at home was no small achievement. Vinnie is a herding mix with high energy and an intense desire to herd moving critters.

But that was then.

Lately Vinnie starts whining in frustration and his eyes light up in that, “I’m dying to chase you now!” way whenever he sees Ted. Vinnie has also taken to following Ted so closely, he’s practically standing on top of him. Ted is not amused.

At first I was puzzled about the change in Vin’s behavior. Then I remembered that of late, our garden has been overrun with feral cats. There always seems to be at least one feral kitty lurking in the shadows. (I don’t leave food or garbage out there. A well-meaning neighbor has been feeding the ferals daily and ever since, the surrounding yards have become a feline playground.)

No wonder Vin’s interest in Ted has revived. Vinnie’s had plenty of recent opportunity to chase the feral cats outside. And chase them he does!

For Vinnie, chasing cats is a self-reinforcing behavior. Chasing cats is tons of fun for him. He’s rewarded powerfully whenever he does it; chasing and herding cats must feel incredible to him. Herding is after all, what he’s hard-wired to do.

Animals aren’t static entities or robots. They’re living organic creatures who respond and react to their environments. In other words,behavior changes. It can change for a host reasons such as an illness, a health problem, or as a result of natural development and maturing (transitions from puppyhood to adolescence to adulthood to the golden years).

Ted

Behavior can also change as a result of environmental factors. These run the gamut and include changes in diet, in amounts and types of exercise and mental stimulation, in life routines, a move to a new home, the addition of a new pet or family member, or the death of a loved one to name a few.

Vinnie’s in perfect health and the only recent change in his life has been the feral festival in our yard and the many opportunities he’s seized to chase those cats. Behavior that’s rewarded increases in intensity and frequency. The more Vinnie chases cats — a rewarding behavior to him — the more he wants to chase cats, and the more he wants to chase cats, the more he chases them. This explains his changed behavior and attitude towards Ted.

One of my instructors at the SF-SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers always said, “If you want the animal to change its behavior, change your behavior.” So true.

If I want to curb Vinnie’s desire to chase Ted, I need to change my behavior. Relying on my pre-feral cat training plan won’t suffice. I need to manage the environment to prevent Vin from chasing the outdoor kitties.

I can’t block them from my yard and it doesn’t seem fair to suspend Vin’s yard privileges. My management plan is to go outside and get any feral cats to skedaddle before Vinnie is allowed into the yard. I also need to ramp up the training – more recall and leave it practice away from Ted, lots of practice calling Vinnie to come inside from the back yard, and stupendous rewards for those behaviors.

If your dog’s behavior has changed suddenly and it’s not to your liking, try to figure out what may have caused the change. If it’s not due to maturing, rule out any physical problems with a vet exam.

If there are no health issues, consider whether there have been any changes in your dog’s life or routine. If he’s been getting less physical or mental exercise, increase it. If the environment has changed, depending on what’s changed and how intensely it’s affected your dog, he may just need some time to adjust.

If you’re concerned and/or your dog’s behavior doesn’t improve, it’s best not to let the undesirable behavior continue as it will most likely worsen.

Do your best to prevent your dog from doing the behavior and consult with a good positive reinforcement trainer. Deciphering behavior puzzles and crafting a plan to address them is what dog trainer geeks like me relish.

A new client dog who I’ll call Misty is very fearful girl with multiple fear triggers. Misty has growled, snarled and lunged at people in certain situations but hasn’t bitten anyone. Misty’s human definitely has her hands full. “I don’t want her to be the type of dog that bites,” she said when we first met.

I know what the woman meant but I explained to her that actually, all dogs are “the type of dog that bites.” Given the right circumstances any dog can bite.

Biting and other forms of aggressive behavior most commonly arise from fear. Dogs typically avoid engaging in physical combat including biting, because fighting is expensive behavior for the dog from a survival standpoint. In combat, dogs risk being killed or seriously injured. Rather than do battle when faced with an upsetting, threatening or scary situation, most dogs flee or use ritualized forms of aggression to diffuse the conflict and avoid fighting. In other words, most dogs try to get the heck out of dodge, or do things to get the scary thing to go away. Barking, lunging, snarling, and growling are some of the more obvious behaviors that in dog language mean, “Go away. Back off. You are seriously freaking me out.”

I think of bites as a dog’s last line of defense. It’s unusual for a dog to leap frog over warning signals and proceed to biting. Usually long before biting, the dog has been communicating his fearful upset state using subtle warning signals. Well-meaning humans are frequently unaware of the dog’s warnings. Humans don’t notice the signals or don’t know what they mean. But ignoring a dog’s warning signals is a good set up for a dog bite.

All dogs have bite thresholds – points beyond which they are likely to bite. Because every dog is a unique individual, bite thresholds vary from dog to dog.

A dog can be pushed over his bite threshold when multiple fear triggers are presented simultaneously. Think of each fear trigger as a rock. Exposing the dog to fear triggers is like putting rocks in a paper bag. The bag might stand up to the weight of one rock, maybe two, possibly even three. But the more rocks you put into the bag, the bigger the risk the bag will rip apart.

Misty is afraid of men, loud machinery, and strangers who reach towards her head. Misty could easily bite if a strange man tried to pat her on the head just as a noisy street cleaning machine was passing by.

Besides stacking several fear triggers together, another set up for a dog bite is to present a single trigger at a sufficiently high intensity. This is like “growing” the rock into a boulder and putting it in the paper bag. The bag may very well break. In the case of Sam who guards his bones from humans, Sam is fine if a human is 6 feet away while he’s gnawing on a bone. Put the human 4 feet away from Sam and he growls. Put the human 1 foot from Sam and it’s boulder time — Sam bites.

To avoid bites, take the time to “learn” your dog. Identify her fear triggers and pay attention to her body language and warning signals. Avoid putting her in scary upsetting situations in general, and avoid pushing her beyond her bite threshold at all costs. If your dog is showing signs of fear, listen to what she’s saying and get her out of the scary situation as quickly as you can.

Getting a dog out of an upsetting situation may calm the dog in the moment but doesn’t resolve the problem. Fears don’t dissipate on their own. Without positive training interventions, fear-based behavior often gets worse. An experienced positive reinforcement trainer — along with an owner’s diligent follow-through on training instructions — should improve the dog’s emotional response to and behavior around the trigger.

I’m opposed to punishment-based training, period. But I can’t emphasize this enough: punishment-based methods should never be used with a fearful dog, or to address fearful behavior. Punishment-based training will most likely to escalate the dog’s underlying fear and the resultant behavior.

Some excellent resources to address fearful dog behavior include:

• Help For Your Fearful Dog, by Nicole Wilde
• Click to Calm, by Emma Parsons
• Debbie Jacobs’ Fearful Dog Blog