​I moved the bed to another position and within a day Willow was lying on it.

Mojo is a sensitive Boston terrier who is timid and easily scared. Zen is her vivacious, outgoing sister. It’s easy to tell them apart; not by their physical appearance but by their different behaviour. I visited for a training session expecting to the teach the Boston sisters to stay. During the week,  however, Mojo had an experience that left her fearful of her collar and harness.

It was the usual routine: the girls were called into the office, each sat in front of the chair to have her chest harness put on followed by the collar. On this occasion, Mojo’s ears flattened to her head at the same time as the buckle was clipped together, pinching her ear. She yelped in pain and despite the ear being released immediately and lots of reassurance and cuddles, she was visibly affected. For the next week Mojo would run away at the sight of the harness which wasn’t even the ear-pinching culprit. During the assessment her caregiver reported that Mojo usually flattened her ears when the collar was put on, and that’s how the ear got caught. This is a significant piece of information. Ears back are often a sign of stress; a signal that a dog is worried about something. Mojo may have had concerns about the collar being applied in the past but tolerated the procedure because she likes treats and enjoys the walks that the collar predicts. The painful incident may have tipped her over the edge so that something she didn’t particularly enjoy now became something she earnestly wanted to avoid.

She had to be physically lifted into the office where she would roll over onto her back in a desperate appeasement gesture to prevent the impending harness ritual. The harness had always been the precursor to the offending collar being applied, so it had now become part of the signal that the collar was coming next. This is very common whenever a painful or unpleasant event occurs. Dogs remember many of the aspects of the environment that were present during the traumatic event and these then become salient signals of impending doom in the future.

The harness and collar could be put on if Mojo was gently restrained but given the choice, she would rather flee. Once the collar was on she seemed uncomfortable or distressed, trying to remove the collar. On the walk she finally appeared back to normal. But each day it was the same escape response at the sight of the harness. Adding treats didn’t improve her behaviour; she simply ate and ran. This is because treats were given before the harness was produced. Treats had become one of the signals that the scary apparatus was next to appear, so get out of Dallas now! When using food in training it’s not all about the food that gets results. It’s the way food is used. This knowledge was used as part of the plan to help Mojo overcome her fear. Food must not come before the harness or collar.

I observed Mojo’s reaction in order to assess the different parts of the procedure and to devise a behaviour change plan for her. It was obvious that she was an unwillingly participant whose modus operandi was to avoid the office, harness and collar. But avoidance wasn’t working for her and instead of getting used to the process she was scared every day.

Her caregiver had used food to make it more pleasant, but for the reason I’ve already mentioned, this wasn’t working. She’d also tried to help Mojo get used to the clicking sound of the buckle by sitting on the couch with Mojo and repeatedly making the clicking noise. Mojo would startle each time and it didn’t change her avoidance behaviour at the sight of the harness. This is a common approach adopted for helping dogs overcome fears: present them with what they are trying to avoid (or part of it) over and over and they should get used to it. It doesn’t always help dogs. It can backfire and can intensify a dog’s fear. It’s also an unpleasant process for the dog to go through whether it works or not. There are effective alternatives that avoid the distress this process may cause to the learner.

I aborted my observations at the point where Mojo was restrained and rolled over in a tense appeasement gesture. It was clear that the harness could be put on despite her attempts to communicate her stress and I didn’t want to risk slowing down the training that was coming next by ignoring her body language.

I created a new plan to introduce the harness and collar in a carefully choreographed way.

1. I left the office behind and started in the living room. Remember those salient environmental factors that dogs associate with a fearful event? The office may well be part of this because every time the harness and collar are put on it is in the office. The painful event occurred in the office. The office is not a safe place as far as Mojo is concerned – a biting collar could pop up at any time. The living area is large, open and she can see what’s going on. No surprises will pop around the corner.
2. Mojo was not restrained. I did not run after her or pick her up. She came when she felt comfortable and she could increase distance when she needed. If she pulled back or rolled over, I stopped what I was doing. (In the accompanying video you will notice that I didn’t totally respect this part of the plan and clipped up the harness while she was lying down. Ideally I should have continued to touch and move the harness in small increments until she showed no signs of escape or avoidance. I recognized this and spent a minute or so reinforcing her for simply remaining with me, no pressure or touching, before continuing with the plan. I was trying to demonstrate as much as I could in a short amount of time for the caregiver to continue with. But, that’s really no excuse, is it Mojo?)
3. The harness was presented in stages and she received food each time it was shown. The harness disappeared behind my back and no treats came. It is only when the harness appeared that food magically arrived. This order is very important. Harness first signals food is coming rather than the food predicting the scary harness is coming. Reversing this order can make the whole process ineffective.
4. The harness was shown to her first from a small distance. If there was little or no sign of avoidance like tensing, flinching, ears back, leaning away or moving away, the next step was taken.
5. The harness was shown to her at a closer distance.
6. The harness was placed beside her.
7. The harness was slipped over her head, followed by a treat and her behaviour was observed to see if she would escape. I took my time at this point rather than immediately putting her front leg through the harness or doing it up. She needed to be comfortable and show no signs of running away. I wasn’t physically restraining her and I didn’t want her to go running off with a harness half-on, half-off.  I was ready to slip it off if she looked like running away. I kept giving food since the harness was still present.
8. The harness was touched and wiggled while it was on, followed by food.
9. The harness was clipped up followed by food. (This is where I went too fast.) Despite my haste, Mojo stayed with me and accepted food. This was a good sign because later in the procedure, when a step was too much for her, she would run away without taking food.
10. The collar was introduced in a similar way to the harness; shown first from a distance followed by a treat, then the collar disappeared and treats stopped.
11. The collar was shown to her at a closer distance.

It was at this point that I started to introduce another process. So far I had been using respondent conditioning where a simple association is being made that one thing predicts another. So the collar predicts treat and treats are good. This good feeling bleeds back to infect the collar, so now the collar is good! I like to introduce operant conditioning as soon as I can so that I get the benefit of two types of conditioning (or learning processes). Operant conditioning simply means than now I am going to make treat delivery contingent on her performing a certain behaviour. The collar will still appear but now she also needs to do something to get the treat. She will be making a positive association with the collar and a behaviour will be reinforced at the same time. I made sure the behaviour was so darn easy that she couldn’t fail because she was already doing it. All she had to do was stay when the collar was presented instead of running away or rolling over. If she had not been staying already and still overly concerned with the collar, I would have waited longer to introduce this part of the training. I now used a clicker to mark the behaviour of staying still whenever I presented the collar.

1. The collar was placed beside her and the tags jiggled. She stayed, I clicked and reinforced with a treat.
2. The collar was placed under her chin and jiggled. She stayed and the behaviour was reinforced.
3. The collar was held with two hands and placed under her chin. (It had been held in one had prior to this.) This is where she backed away and then ran away without taking a treat. Holding a collar in one hand is very different to the collar being held outstretched in two hands that are reaching for her neck.  This is valuable information and lets me know I have progressed too quickly.

When Mojo showed signs of stress, I stopped what I was doing and went back to the previous step until she was ready for the next level.

I then added her caregiver to the plan. I’ll remind you again of how dogs will be making associations with many things that are in the environment when they experience something unpleasant. Mojo was able to come up to me despite me holding the harness and collar whereas she ran away when her caregiver held them. One of the reasons for this difference may be that Mojo and I have no negative history, or any history, relating to the harness and collar. I spent the time proving to her that she had nothing to fear from the harness and collar before moving on to the scenario more similar to real life: her caregiver sitting in a chair. Remember that the collar is usually put on from a chair, so this is an important environmental aspect to add. We ran through the steps above with the collar that I had demonstrated. Then we progressed to touching the collar under her chin for a second.

That was enough for one session. I left instructions for future steps:

1. Wrap the collar around her neck for a second. Reinforce for staying.
2. Wrap the collar around her neck for 2 seconds, then 3 seconds, then 4 seconds etc and reinforce for staying.
3. Wrap the collar around her neck and make a clicking sound with the buckle without doing it up and immediately reinforce Mojo for staying. I predicted this would be a hard step because the buckle sound came immediately before the pain. It was important to make sure she showed no signs of stress with many fake clip-ups before moving on to the next step. This is so the collar can be removed quickly if she startles in the early stages. If it’s done up and she runs off, she takes the offending collar with her!
4. Wrap the collar around her neck and do it up. Reinforce her for staying.
5. Have a party with her now the collar is on. The collar is fun. Ask her to do her favourite tricks or the easiest tasks she knows and reinforce.
6. Then take the collar off and the party is over. This makes her look forward to the collar going on again.

This training was to be done about two to three times a day for up to 20 minutes at times when there was no need to go for a walk so that it was not rushed and there was no stress for the trainer or trainee. If Mojo had to be walked during this time it would be best to take her to another part of the house or into the car and place the harness and collar on in there, to protect the training where it needed to occur. It would be best not to put the collar on but it is a legal requirement when out in public for the identity and registration tags. I predicted it may take a few days or maybe a week to get the collar on without escape behaviours. Whether it transferred to the office easily would need to be assessed at the time she was ready.

I was elated when I got a message the next day from Mojo’s mum which blew my conservative estimation out of the water:  “Just got the collar on and she is happy - thank you SO MUCH. Did it a bit this morning and let it go and then 20 mins this afternoon and she was right.  I will continue doing it for a bit yet until she is absolutely comfortable but she was fine when I clipped it on and is running around playing.”

The challenge now is not to go too fast and ignore the ears back. Ideally this game should continue until Mojo comes running expectantly, keeping her ears forward as the collar is put on. Then we know we have helped to a point where she is more confident than when she originally started having the collar put on.

This is not a how-to article, it’s more of a synopsis on how to approach and problem-solve the escape and avoidance behaviour of a particular individual in a particular circumstance. The principles can be transferred to other individuals. I hope it highlights how going slowly in very small steps is not painstaking but is quicker in the long run. Mojo was not improving until she was assessed and a plan was designed specifically for her. What makes a successful behaviour change plan is also its implementation. Her caregiver was committed to helping her overcome her fear and this was key to a successful behaviour change programme and, no doubt, to the breakneck speed of improvement. She wasn’t in a rush and already had a strong, positive relationship with Mojo. Despite the incident, Mojo still trusted her so the damage done by this single painful event was minimal. Mojo will most probably always be a sensitive wee soul but if her fears are approached with care and patience, she will gradually develop more resilience.

Thanks to her caregiver for allowing me to share her story and video footage. Here is the link to Mojo's video for email subscribers: https://youtu.be/wuhlbOwJtCI

A lot of people teach their dog to wait before getting fed. The dog is usually asked to sit and wait as the bowl is put on the ground. Then after a second or two, the dog is released to eat din dins. The guardian is usually standing alongside. This is what the dog may be learning: to sit and wait while the guardian stands alongside and lowers a food bowl, wait four seconds, then eat as the guardian walks away. 

Change any part of the routine a little and the dog may seem to forget what the guardian  intended wait to mean. The change could be waiting longer before releasing and the dog starts to eat before the verbal release. If one waits the same duration every time before giving a verbal release cue, the dog may be learning wait is specifically for four seconds and then he may eat. The guardian is assuming that it's the release cue the dog is using as the signal to eat. If one varies the time of waiting at each meal, the dog is more inclined to wait for some other cue to release. Another change could be that the dog can wait while someone stands next to him, but not if they walk away. This can occur if the dog is learning the pattern includes that walking away means it's OK to eat. So when one walks away before releasing, the dog is reading the physical signal that it's time to eat. (Who knows, maybe he thinks the trainer simply forgot to release!?) Pretty clever really. After all, he's always happily eating when you walk away. It could be any part of the wait routine that breaks down, even using a bone instead of a bowl; to the dog, wait may mean wait for "bowl" not bone!

The sad thing is, the reluctance to wait is often misinterpreted as a dog being wilfully disobedient, showing dominance or just plain old stupid. In fact it's usually none of these. It's more often a deficit in training and a misunderstaning between two individuals who don't speak the same language. One is trying to teach the other. Have you ever tried to communicate with someone from another country and they totally misunderstood your gestures? It can take a while to get the message across.

Teaching wait in every scenario may seem daunting and endless! The great news is that if you teach your dog a few differences (wait for longer, wait while I stand away from you, wait while I go out of sight, wait while another dog eats) they get better and quicker at generalizing what you mean each time. They get better at learning how to learn.

I enjoy training Zuri to wait before eating, at doors, at gates and before getting out of the car. I train at home and then I like to test if Zuri has understood it in a new, more demanding environment or context. Especially in more life-like set ups. I set up training sessions that replicate (or as close as possible) what might happen unexpectedly in the real world. For example, if she can wait while she is in the middle of eating something at home, I have a better chance of getting her to wait if she is eating something stinky on the beach. If she can resist bolting out of the car to greet and play with her favourite friends at the beach, there is a better chance of her waiting if a car unexpectedly drives past in the carpark as we are disembarking. If she succeeds during the test, brilliant! If not, it's not a failure. It's valuable information of what I need to work on in order to help her understand what I would like her to do in future. 

Here's a video showing how I test to see what Zuri understands wait to mean: ​https://youtu.be/NYxoO8NhKpI

​​I was dismayed to read a negative comment on both videos. It went a little something like:
 
I came here to see how to train my dog not to chase birds. My dogs go crazy at the sight of birds. All you are doing is showing how good your dogs are. No one cares about that. Waste of time.
 
Always one to take on board {constructive} criticism in an attempt to improve communication, I went back to review the videos. Had I not made it clear that I was actually teaching? Reviewing the videos I realized that to anyone new to dog training or used to added punishment or forceful techniques requiring unpleasant {aversive} stimulation, it did indeed look like I was doing nothing and just showing off how the dogs didn’t chase the birds. The dogs didn’t even seem to want to chase them.
 
This set me to pondering; how I could get the message across that a viewer was actually watching a carefully planned training session? That I was actively involved in changing the behaviour of these two dogs from the moment the video began. Maybe I should have shown a “before” shot of the dogs going crazy and chasing the birds. My train of thought stopped dead in its tracks right there!
 
One of the most important principles when changing behaviour is preventing the undesired behaviour from occurring in the first place. Any behaviour that is practised and reinforced gets stronger. In a practical sense it means if a dog is given the opportunity to continue chasing birds, no matter how infrequently, it will make changing this behaviour a little harder than if it had been consistently prevented. I make a conscious decision to only get “before” footage in any or a combination of the following situations:
 
* It is safe to do so.
* I need a baseline that I have never seen before.
* I need to test a hypothesis of whether intervention will work.
* I am prepared to work a bit harder during training to counter the consequence of this rehearsal of the undesired behaviour.
 
For these two dogs, chasing birds was highly reinforcing. I wanted the best chance of getting good results so I chose not to put them in a situation where chasing would occur. Another consideration I had was that I had worked lovingly and consistently to gain the trust of the Willie Wagtails. I was now able to use them to help me during dog training. Being chased by a crazy dog is very stressful. I did not want to undo the wonderful progress I had made getting them to come to me on cue, nor did I want to cause them any undue stress. Hence – no “before” footage. It also means I'm not prepared to deliberately let each dog fail {chase the birds} by making it unnecessarily challenging early during training in order to demonstrate that they really want to chase! Viewers will just have to picture Zoe, the Cocker Spaniel, launching onto the outdoor table to chase the Willie Wagtails. Likewise, my reports of Scout, the Black Lab puppy, lunging and barking like a banshee after birds will have to suffice.
 
You may be wondering about the title of this blog by now. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with surfing!
 
The training in the videos certainly looks like two dogs who didn’t chase birds in the first place. It was Zoe’s first session and Scout’s second. In terms of effectiveness, no barking and chasing ticks the box. In regard to ethics and humane practice, the lack of physical or psychological intimidation, another tick. This is due to being a teacher who S.U.R.F.S with dogs (and other animals).

From the moment I decided to help the dogs stop chasing birds, I was formulating a plan to give them the best possible chance of succeeding quickly and without frustration. The plan went something like this:

 * Prevent all bird chasing at any time, not just training sessions. Keep dogs inside when Willie Wagtails come to visit. Check for Willies before letting the dogs out the back. Have the dogs on lead when going out the front. Be constantly vigilant, ready to run the dogs inside if I see the Willies before they do.
 
* Choose an alternative behaviour to chasing, lunging and barking at birds. For Scout this was to look at me or look at the birds in place of chasing them. For Zoe it was to stay on a chair. It needs to be easy. Too hard and it makes chasing the birds the chosen option. A behaviour that is already in the dog’s repertoire can make training quicker. Scout was used to looking at me for reinforcement so this was a head start. Zoe chose the chair and was more relaxed there, so I utilized this.
 
* Choose a reinforcer that will be more reinforcing or at least of equal reinforcement value to the birds. This was really interesting and challenging and one of the reasons I made Zoe’s video. Scout would work for dry kibble. Zoe wouldn’t touch roast chicken when birds were around but she would stop everything for a scratch and a silly word! Go figure. It’s the individual who tells you what they find reinforcing at any particular point in time.
 
* Set up the environment {antecedent arrangement} to achieve immediate success. In Zoe’s case, she could resist the birds for longer if she was sitting in a chair. If she was standing, it was a very quick transition to chasing. For Scout, she needed the lead on at first and I needed to stand close to her, even blocking her view as soon as the birds were present and asking for her to look at me. The environment includes the birds: they need to be further away at first. It’s easier {more economical} to get reinforcement from me than run the distance after the birds. Dogs do what works and will choose the easier of two options if the reinforcement value is comparable.
 
* Choose a high rate of reinforcement at first to make it worthwhile to just watch the birds. I’m talking once every three seconds. I’m talking reinforcement for just glancing at the bird for a microsecond. I’m talking, if I see your ear prick up towards the sound of the bird, I’m reinforcing. If I waited too long and was stingy with food or scratches, both dogs might as well try to chase.
 
* Change the environment and increase difficulty of the task when the dogs demonstrate they will succeed. A stationary bird 10m away is easier to resist than a stationary bird right in front of a dog’s nose. A moving bird is often harder to resist chasing than a stationary bird. I stopped using the lead almost immediately with Scout and had it loose just for safety. Eventually I used a 10m lead so she could walk away from me and choose to come back instead of chasing the birds. For Zoe, having her sit on the ground instead of the chair was making it harder for her. Then having her stand would be making it more difficult. Each subject will let you know what they find harder or easier. It is the teacher’s role to tailor the plan to meet the learner’s needs at any particular time.
 
* Keep the rate of reinforcement high when making the task more difficult – or I may lose the dog to the original reinforcer. This doesn’t mean I will always need a high rate of reinforcement. Once I have trained the dog to a high level, the reinforcement can be changed. This may mean I still reinforce continuously but can use lower value reinforcement. For example, I can praise Scout now when she looks at birds and give her a pat and she responds to this. In the early stages of teaching, this would not have been the case.
 
* Maintain the behaviour. Give refresher training sessions. Randomly reinforce excellent behaviour with an unexpected, high value reinforcer. Continue using more natural reinforcers in everyday life e.g. attention, praise, play, physical contact, access to sniffing. This keeps the behaviour going. However, if I consistently ignore the dogs when they look at me or the birds, eventually they may revert to another behaviour that does pay off. Probably barking and chasing again.
 
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I didn’t make a movie depicting a riveting, edge-of-your-seat, battle of wills fight against two crazy dogs straining to tear after birds. Instead I shared a moment in time of thoughtfully planned training devoid of frustration. No frustration for the trainer, trainee or the feathered helpers. It was also two snapshots that filled me with joy: to have the birds engage without fear and the dogs succeed so quickly.
 
Enough of my musings! Now that I’ve given a backstory to what is going on, what do you see happening in the videos?

I've included a third video showing Scout's progress and how she responds to verbal cues to come away from the birds and shows little interest in them now.

Video links for email subscribers:
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDwN2ZtgbAY

Turbo the greyhound came to stay as a foster dog. One of the first tasks was to introduce him to Zuri. As far as introductions go, dogs are a lot like people. They each have individual communication styles and personal preferences about which dogs they wish to spend time with and those they’d rather pass on by.

First impressions can have long lasting effects, so taking the time to plan the first meeting is a high priority. If an initial meeting goes badly it can take a lot of effort to reverse the detrimental psychological effects, let alone repair any physical injuries.

Here are some suggested guidelines:

1. Have one handler per dog.
2. Meet in a neutral environment first, not one of the dog’s homes.
3. Choose larger areas, not confined spaces.
4. Allow ample time, don’t rush or force introductions. Let the dogs got at their own pace and allow an avenue of escape or retreat.
5. Let each dog investigate the environment first for an extended period, away from each other, before bringing them into contact.
6. Introduce relaxed dogs, not highly aroused dogs.
7. Use loose leads rather than tight unless required for safety and to remove dogs from each other.
8. Intervene only if required and distract quickly if needed.
9. If in doubt: DON’T introduce. If you have no idea how either dog will react but fear one may bite or attack, don’t introduce them or seek professional assistance. If you really don’t think they will get on, ask yourself, “Why am I introducing them in the first place?”

Please note that the guidelines suggested are exactly that: guide-lines. With more experience and a history of the two dogs, one has a better chance of predicting if two dogs will be fine to greet on their first meeting. If there is any doubt, however, you will need some sort of backup plan such as leads to allow safe separation of the dogs should things go pear-shaped. Ideally, seek the help of a behaviour professional if you are unsure or nervous.

Avoid advice which refers to dogs as having dominant personalities to explain behaviour and encourages using aversive stimuli/punishment to introduce dogs (eg. choker collars, shock collars, leash jerks, yelling). Dominance is not a personality trait and has no practical application when dealing with introducing dogs safely. Furthermore, most aggression in dogs is driven by a desire to escape (which is prevented when on lead) or a desire to remove a source of fear by scaring it away. Having on-lead meetings with short, tense leads and anxious handlers tugging and yelling can actually create conflict that might not have otherwise occurred. I only recommend muzzles if the dog wearing the muzzle is already accustomed to and happy to wear one. If not, placing a muzzle for the first time on a dog and then introducing a strange dog may create a negative association with the new dog. That’s not setting the scene for a good introduction! It is important to be confidence and calm before even considering an introduction. It is so important, I’ll repeat: If in doubt – DON’T. Seek assistance.

Here’s an example of introducing dogs for the first time.

Scout, the six month old black Labrador puppy, came to stay for a while. Her integration into the household relied heavily on Zuri’s reaction to having a new housemate. I wrote about how Zuri’s behaviour changed when Turbo the foster greyhound came to stay. Turbo and Zuri just didn’t hit it off. No fights. No major stand offs. Zuri never relaxed during his stay. After nine weeks, they still had not played.

The minute Scout arrived, I set about choreographing daily life to give Zuri and Scout the best possible chance of getting along. Scout is a wiggly, in-yah-face, barky, playful ball of exuberance. At all hours. In all places. Zuri is calm, respectful of space and prefers to observe before making an acquaintance. Good Lordie, what was I thinking trying to bring these two together? I was counting on past experiences and knowing that Zuri does enjoy the company of other dogs – given the right circumstances. Once she feels confident (safe?), she plays with joyful gusto.

So our dance began:

* Baby gates.

* Closed doors.

* Separate feeding.

* Tethering Scout (whilst I was present) to prevent unwanted advances on Zuri.

* Occupying Scout with alternatives to accosting Zuri (treat dispensers, Treat and Train, carrots to chew, training sessions, car rides, shopping trips, one-on-one time).

* Routines, routines, routines. For example, when coming home with Scout, leaving her in the car while I greet Zuri first minus a bouncing puppy, then bringing Scout inside on lead.

* Avoiding situations where Scout-the-Ninja would come out of nowhere to an unsuspecting, sleepy Ridgeback (especially in hallways, doorways and any transition areas).

* Reinforcing for any pro-social behaviours Zuri showed around Scout e.g. looking at Scout, simply entering the room if Scout was already in there, coming outside if Scout was there, standing still if Scout began sniffing her. It was a most vigorous schedule of Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO) behaviours, instead of avoidance and escape. It had no other outcome but to make hanging out with Scout a cool idea. Zuri even started coming out the back on Scout’s toilet stops.

* Reinforcing any ‘polite’ behaviours Scout showed towards Zuri e.g. looking at her briefly (instead of staring or nose bopping), coming away immediately when called, waiting patiently while Zuri was fed a treat before getting hers. Again, a really high rate of reinforcement for a wide variety of desired behaviours. This was also done on lead at first to prevent Scout practising unwanted behaviours and to protect Zuri, giving her no need to seek escape or take other action. The lead was removed when Scout became more reliable.

We had some accidents. Zuri was dive bombed by a Kamikaze puppy in the narrow, dark hallway when a door was opened. Zuri's sleep-in was rudely interrupted by a whirlwind of puppy playfulness bombarding the bed. I learnt from these incidents to be more careful with the ‘zones’ and to prevent incidents rather than go into damage control after the fact.

After eight days, no signs of reciprocal play were in sight. The longest it had taken Zuri to play with a new house guest in the past had been four days. I tried to think of all the things in the environment that may have been different with these other dogs compared to Scout (and Turbo). One difference was that the other houseguests, except for Turbo, had slept in their crate in our bedroom. Maybe a simple change in the environment, bringing Scout from the laundry into the bedroom to sleep, might have an effect. So I tried it. 

Did all this have any effect? On the 12th day, after four nights sleeping in the bedroom, Scout and Zuri broke into spontaneous play out in the front yard. Maybe it was just the extra time. Or maybe it was actually precipitated by the sleeping arrangement: Zuri being able to see, hear and smell Scout in a relaxed environment for a prolonged period with no chance of ambush. Was a positive association being made in a safe environment? Maybe it was the ample space out the front. Maybe it was a combination of any or all of these, or some I haven't even thought of.

I hadn’t planned the play and was simply teaching Scout on a long lead while Zuri was wandering around getting her random treats for being in the presence of the crazy black dog. I was ecstatic! Mutual play is an excellent sign that two dogs are going to get along. It must be mutual. Many dogs look like they are playing when in fact one is trying to escape or avoid the contact of an insistent partner. What was even more impressive was how beautifully Scout modified her play style to suit Zuri’s preference. It meant she was listening to Zuri’s signals and adjusting. Scout is a barker and a head banger: every time she barked or banged her nose into Zuri, Zuri turned away, looked away or paused. Scout soon realized that play was more continuous if she didn’t bark into Zuri’s face or bulldoze her. They both loved to chase and run, to play bitey-face with well controlled bite inhibition and to wrestle. They both took breaks and mirrored each other with a shake off. Scout was actually better at being recalled from play than Zuri. I must work on that!  Email subscribers can watch here.

The interesting thing was that Zuri would still not engage in play out the back or inside. There could be any number of reasons for this. I focused on continuing to create positive associations (especially in these areas), reinforcing for desired behaviours, keeping Scout sleeping in the bedroom and providing deliberate opportunities for play out the front once or twice a day. The next video shows that it was pretty tense in the lounge room initially.

On day 19 they broke out into play in the back yard. Only for a few seconds, yet my heart leapt. The breakthrough came later that day inside, when Scout’s play stares were answered with a play bow from Zuri and it was on. It was cautious at first, with Zuri looking at me often when Scout was getting too rough – which melted my heart because it seemed as if she was seeking my assistance. I helped settle things in a light-hearted way rather than by yelling or saying “no” – I wanted them to enjoy play, not superimpose the threat of anything aversive from me when they were playing. So I would pause the play with a recall or by distracting Scout with a butt scratch or by throwing a toy, or simply letting Zuri hide behind me until she was ready to resume. The whole experience needed to be as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. Email subscribers can watch here.

I set up opportunities for inside and outside play every day at times I knew would be most conducive. Not first thing in the morning. Scout is a morning puppy. Zuri likes a sleep-in. Each play session became less cautious and lasted longer. I still felt the need to supervise. Any play between dogs can be very arousing with the risk of tipping over into aggression. Scout gets very excited and sometimes doesn’t stop when Zuri tries to disengage. Since it was early days, I wanted to referee until they had more practice self-regulating. They even let me join in sometimes. How cool is that? Scout was back in the laundry after ten days of bedroom privileges. There was an added advantage to the time in the bedroom that transferred to the laundry. I’ll save that for the next blog.

All in all, I was overjoyed to witness them playing – even if the lounge looked like a pillow cannon had gone off! Compatible play bodes well for a more relaxed cohabitation in a two-dog household. Scout seemed calmer. She even chewed less. Zuri seemed less tense and was around more. It also meant that if I couldn't be bothered taking them for a walk, I could palm them off with, "Go play with your sister!"

I recommend everyone with a dog should teach their dog silly dog tricks. I don’t think they are silly at all. There are so many reasons to teach tricks.

1. Your dog doesn't know the difference between a trick and any other training task. To your dog, “sit” and “stay” are no more important than “shake hands”. So teaching tricks gives your dog more practice in how to learn. It makes teaching the important tasks easier due to this history.

2. If it makes learning easier for the dog, it also makes the trainer a better teacher simply by providing more practice in training the dog. Hopefully practice improves technique and creates more efficient results.

3. The really neat thing is that when people train tricks they are usually happier and less stressed than when they are teaching the important tasks. Think, “stay” on your bed while we are eating and stop jumping on us. How frustrating can that be? Or to stop pulling on lead? Compare this to "roll over" or "speak". When the teacher thinks it’s fun, it’s more fun for the dog. A relaxed, calm teacher who is smiling and patient is so much nicer to learn from than the frustrated, “you have to learn it now because it is very important” instructor.

4. Time spent training tricks is invaluable time to create a connection between human and dog. If this time is positive and rewarding for both participants, this is an investment in a positive relationship. The same is true of time spent frustrated or resorting to punishing techniques. This depletes the relationship bank balance.

5. Training tricks stimulates the dog’s mind and is one way to provide stimulation. It’s part of providing an enriching environment for the dog and reducing problem behaviours that result from boredom. Dogs who are satiated don’t have such a pressing need to amuse themselves.

6. Dogs who can’t exercise due to illness, poor exercise tolerance or anxiety benefit greatly from the time spent teaching tricks. It fills a void and can be a way of providing carefully monitored and safe exercise.

7. I've saved my favourite for last. Teaching tricks using positive reinforcement can open up a wonderful world of communication between the guardian and the dog. Communication the dog is empowered to initiate.

I emphasize the way training takes place because using techniques involving aversive stimulation, which are unpleasant things, results in avoidance or escape. They seldom lead to increased motivation to interact. Dogs will usually only do the minimum required to escape punishment or avoid pressure. In contrast, dogs taught with positive reinforcement of desired behaviours tend to continue to offer behaviours with increased vigour compared to just offering enough to remove pressure and bring back the status quo.

Communication is a two-way street. It requires interaction between both parties. That’s why a dog who has learnt to interact with fun methods and then chooses to interact spontaneously is well on the way to communicating.

Zuri has shown me how teaching simple tricks can morph into a language where she conveys her wants or needs at a particular time.

“Get yah collar” Trick:

I’ve taught Zuri to find and retrieve her collar for me when I say, “Find collar.” I hide it in various places and ask her to find it and bring it to me. This became very handy. I could ask her to, “Find collar” before we went for walks or went outside. Then a very poignant moment occurred.

I was sitting at the computer working away. Zuri came and sat behind me. Every now and again she would give a soft whine. 

“Yeh, hang on. We can go out soon.”

An hour later she was still patiently waiting. Then I heard the sound of something dropping behind me. I turned. Zuri had gone searching, found her collar and dropped it behind my chair. Wow. When one way of asking to go go outside didn't work, she problem solved and predicted the outcome of finding and bringing me the collar: I would put it on and take her outside. That’s exactly what I did immediately! I wanted to reinforce her ingenuity.

It doesn’t stop there. Zuri now uses the collar to let me know when she wants to go out the front at various times of the day. When she wakes up, she goes to get her collar wherever it is and brings it to me so I can let her out the front to sun bake. It doesn't matter where I am either. I can still be in bed or in the kitchen. Most recently she was waiting outside the bathroom. The collar can be lying around in full view but she only brings it to me when she wants to go out the front. Pretty neat communication huh? 

Watch Zuri bringing me her collar to communicate that she wants to go outside (for email subscribers).

“Trade an empty for a full one” trick:

I feed Zuri her usual meals by stuffing Kongs. I’ve taught her the trick of bringing me the empty Kong and I will trade it for a full one. Did I mention that tricks can be useful and save leg work and searching for toys too? I usually give Zuri four Kongs. Have you ever wondered what your dog would do if presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet? What if I had a never ending supply of trade Kongs? Would she just keep bringing the empty one back for the full one - until she exploded? The trade trick became a means of communicating how hungry she was. The number of times she brought the Kong back for more was between two and six. It varied depending on the day. When she has had enough, she doesn't bring me the empty Kong. I was particularly impressed with the time she only wanted three Kongs, since I originally suspected I may have conditioned her to expect four simply because of routine. I was particularly relieved that she only wanted seven on one occasion.

So this is why I feel tricks play an important role, not only in enriching the dog's life, but also enriching the relationship between dog and guardian. 

Have you been surprised at how a trick spontaneously turned into a way for your dog to let you know his/her needs?

Zoe came to stay. On her first day here, she was very excited and then rather unsettled. She sniffed every corner of the yard. Then every corner of the house. Then she went back and sniffed it all again. When I left her outside, she stood at the door, mournfully looking in and whining every now and then. Zoe is used to being outside at home, and she’s stayed here before and made no protests when left outside for short periods. Normally I would simply let her in on her first day, but I needed to know she would be alright outside because the next day I was going out and that’s where she would be.

I didn’t want her to fret for too long, so I brought her in and she soon settled on the kitchen floor as I pottered around. “Oh, how sweet”, I thought, “She wants my company.”

I noticed that she would intermittently look towards the kitchen bench. All I could see of interest was her harness and lead. My brain ticked over. I wonder what she’d do if I picked up the harness and moved it? I know she gets very excited when her harness and lead are presented – so much that she has difficulty thinking of anything else and this makes training difficult. I was pre-empting some training to help her level of arousal decrease when the harness and lead was presented. So I picked it up and moved it to a chair in the dining room. Zoe got up and did her bum wiggle of delight and followed me, watching as I hung the harness over the corner of the chair. Not her usual exuberant jumping but definitely interested.

I went back to the kitchen. Zoe settled down quickly near the chair.

Mmmmm. Is she going to stay there? Isn’t it my wonderful, witty company she desires? 

It must be my company. She’s only a couple of metres away and can hear me clunking around. But, maybe I’ll just do another little experiment and move the harness and lead again. Just to another chair….and see what she does.

Zoe got up, did the happy butt wiggle and then settled down next to the new harness parking spot by another chair. Then sprawled and had a snooze.

I really appreciate my dog. Her funny wee behaviours have challenged my preconceived ideas of how a dog might see the world. I wanted to share my ponderings on what often happens on our walks together.

We go for walks in our neighbourhood and I often take her lead off in the quiet areas. Being the dog trainer I am, it has become natural for me to combine teaching with just about anything we do together. Walks are no exception. I have a treat pouch pretty much growing out of my hip. Which is not such a bad thing because many times I never use it. That fact alone has meant it hasn’t become the motivator for getting behaviour. Just because I’m wearing a treat pouch doesn’t mean what we are doing is any more special or urgent than when I am not wearing one. It’s not even a guarantee of treats. It means I don’t have a dog who goes nuts every time they see the treat pouch going on. Zuri doesn’t go into “train me” mode at the sight of a treat pouch. It’s a neat thing.

So, our walks are usually meandering investigations of the streets, parks and beaches of our local area with little requests of certain behaviours thrown in from me. One of my favourites is the “wait” at every roadside curb. It started with planned training and has now progressed to a point where I don’t ask her to “wait”, she does it automatically without clicker or food reinforcement. The continuing walk has become the reinforcement. Here’s how we started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4qgQabhYKs

I let her know it’s time to cross by saying “OK”. I like to fool around and mix it up a bit by waiting different lengths of time before saying “OK”. I say random words like “red”, “blue”, or numbers just so she doesn’t cross at the first word I say or at the sound of my voice. I sometimes stop and say “OK”, I sometimes keep walking and say it. Sometimes I face her, sometimes my back is to her. It keeps me thinking creatively and it teaches her a really, really solid “wait” no matter what until she hears that one word.

Then something unusual began happening on our walks. She would wait at the roadside while I crossed but when I said “OK”, she wouldn’t cross. She just stood there looking at me. It even happened when I called her into a park. She loves zoomies in the park. What on earth was going on? I tried to prompt her, made it look really exciting. Nothing.

Now this is where perception – that is, how we view our dog’s behaviour – can have a huge impact on our behaviour and our relationship with our dog.

I don’t know what’s going on in Zuri’s head. I can only see her behaviour and make assumptions on what may or may not be going on inside. There are many ways I could view this behaviour of not coming across the road when I say “OK”. Here’s a few (you could probably come up with others);

*    She’s being wilfully disobedient. She knows what I want and is deliberately disobeying me. If I believe this, what do you think my subsequent behaviour will be? I would probably give her a few more chances to come, then go back and put her lead on and force her to come across the road.

*    She’s asserting her dominance and testing me to see if she can rank higher. Well, she’s not going to get away with that! If I thought that, I’d probably force her to do what I asked.

*    She doesn’t want to go to the park. She wants to walk somewhere different today. I guess I can choose whether what she wants trumps what I want and behave accordingly.

*    She’s being cheeky. She is getting a bit a giggle out of seeing how long she can just stare at me before I come back. I guess I could chuckle along with her or get a bit annoyed.

What I think is going on in her head really could be what is going on in my head, not necessarily what is going on in hers. It can change the way I feel about her, whether I feel closer to her or annoyed. It’s actually not very helpful to try and get too far into a dog’s thoughts.

This behaviour made me curious. What would she do if I walked back over to her and walked in a different direction. So I did it. She trotted happily along when I started moving in the direction she had previously looked a few times. I tried crossing the road again to the park and she wouldn't come. When I returned to her, she was happy to continue along the footpath.

Most times, she comes. Sometimes she doesn't. When I go back to her she is happy to go another way. Could it be that dogs have likes and dislikes? Could they have preferences on different days as to whether they’d like a zoomie in the park or a sniff of the side-walk? Could all the training she has been given have opened up a way to have a dialogue with me that I might understand, so that she can convey these preferences at certain times? (Yes, it sounds like I'm getting into her head, but stick with me here).

Interestingly, she is off lead, so if she wanted to go a different way, she could just….well….go. She doesn't have a history of punishment for running off, so there’s nothing to be scared of if she just blew me off and walked where ever she wanted. The worst that would happen is that I’d follow and put the lead on – well, I guess technically that is punishing! She looks at me, waits for me and then follows when I step off in a certain direction. Now you can have a bit of insight into my head, because I feel she is communicating with me. I think she is letting me know what is reinforcing for her on particular walks.

The other interesting thing is that if I don’t back down, she will come where I have indicated without any force required.

Here’s what one of our recent walks looked like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK2cKI3zVyc

What I do know is that I appreciate this behaviour very much. I appreciate that she doesn’t run away without me if she doesn’t want to follow. I appreciate that she will seem to put in her veto of the direction I am travelling, yet still acquiese to my desire in the end if I persist. I only need to persist gently. I don’t have to drag her or get angry. She simply responds to my voice. I appreciate that this behaviour reminds me that we’re on this walk mainly for her, not just for me to drag her around where ever I want.

Back to perception. I feel closer to her, I appreciate her and I even feel that she likes my company because of the way I perceive this behaviour as communication rather than disobedience. I enjoy trying to figure out what she is attempting to convey. If I felt she was being stubborn or status seeking, I wouldn’t have such feelings. I might even feel annoyed and a sense of disliking her on these occasions. I may feel the need to compete with her for leadership rather than the sense of being a partnership.

It may seem like I’m contradicting myself by saying don’t try and get into a dog’s head and then I seem to get into my own dog’s head by talking about her preferences on walks. If it causes no harm and has the potential to enhance the human-dog bond, I’m not as pendantic as those instances where the dog may suffer as a result. If the dog suffers, the relationship usually suffers.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s walk. I wonder where Zuri would like us to go.

Dogs are often labelled “dominant” or “submissive”. An internet search will reveal an extensive list of tell-tale signs to alert you that your dog is dominant. This will be followed by another huge list of remedies to assert you as the dominant leader. The methods described are usually adversarial in nature. They seldom recommend fostering a relationship built on understanding another species and what actually motivates their behaviour.

This “them and us” mentality is detrimental and it’s usually the dog who suffers more as a result. Just ask Zuri. Before I researched the notion of dominance in more depth, I carried out a simple test which was recommended to determine if Zuri was dominant. It was also the way to eliminate dominance in my dog if she proved to be so inclined.

Before I go any further, don’t try this at home folks! It may create a dog who is scared of you and apprehensive of your approach. The powerful methods I subsequently applied, based on behavioural science, enabled me to teach Zuri to enjoy this type of handling. It reversed the damage done and has nothing to do with dominance.

I was to wrap both my hands firmly around Zuri’s muzzle, essentially keeping her mouth closed and controlling movement of her head. If she struggled to remove my hands from her muzzle, she was dominant. The degree of dominance she possessed would directly correlate with the amount she struggled to get free and the length of time she tried. To assert my dominance over her, I was to maintain this firm hold no matter what, until she no longer struggled to escape.

I cringe as I write this. Zuri passed this “dominance” test and would probably rank Alpha bitch to the nth degree. She tried to break free immediately, shook her head, tried to toss my hands off, pawed at my hands, started to vocalize and was about to roll her body on the ground to seek release. To describe it subjectively, she appeared to be panicking and it was not enjoyable to witness.

My dog was scared.

I was touching Zuri in a restrictive way she had never been touched before. She was desperately trying to escape – she was not exhibiting dominance. I released my hands very quickly and she ran away. She was wary of my hands moving towards her muzzle now. I felt sick to my stomach.

This is an example of how insidious the “dominance” label can be. My gentle dog would be labelled dominant on the basis of this test. The way to fix her dominance would actually create more fear and essentially undermine a relationship based on trust.

I now set to work fixing the fear resulting from this one event. I used a totally different approach and got Zuri to enjoy her muzzle being touched. Now I can wrap my hands around her nose, making it a game. I’ve taught her to let me hold her muzzle for longer and longer. She no longer flinches or avoids my hands coming towards her nose. You can watch the video footage below or use this link if you are an email subscriber:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIEB1LqwjiE

There is no need to be continually vying for supremacy over your dog. For a start, the notion of dominance commonly used in dog training is not based on the definition used by scientists when discussing animal relationships. Thus, the description of dominance used is essentially flawed. It’s not actually describing what it says it is describing. Have you ever watched the movie “The Princess Bride”?  This classic quote from the Spanish swordsman, Inigo Montoya, applies perfectly to the commonly used term "dominant” dog;

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means!”

I couldn’t agree more, Inigo.

Interested in learning more about dominance and dogs? Here’s some reliable links. 

http://www.ava.com.au/public/about-pets/polite-pets-month/resources/debunking-dominance-dogs

http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-the-RSPCAs-view-on-dominance-dog-training_475.html

http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance?/dominance.php

http://avsabonline.org/uploads/position_statements/dominance_statement.pdf

http://www.associationofanimalbehaviorprofessionals.com/whats_wrong_with_dominance.html

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/new_study_finds_popular_alpha_dog_training_techniques_can_cause_more_harm_t

In response to a rather odd behaviour exhibited in front of me by a dog, I've often been heard to say, "There's always a reason."  When a dog fails to respond to a request that they would normally perform immediately, you'll hear me say it again.  If a dog does something and the guardian exclaims, "He's NEVER done that before", can you guess what I'm thinking?

Dogs are sentient beings.  They feel.  They have emotions.  If you live with one, you are nodding your head in agreement as you read this.  You may have even sighed one day and said, "Fido's having a bad day."  I think dogs do have good days and bad days.  Days where they feel more active and respond quickly and days where they seem sluggish, or unwell, or simply can't be bothered!

Sometimes I think I know the reason behind a behaviour.  I stress the word 'think' because I can't get into a dog's head to know what is turning those cogs.  I can guess.  However, no matter how much I would love too, I will never really know without a level of uncertainty. 

Here's an example Zuri taught me.  She showed reluctance to go out the back door for the final toilet stop before bed time.  No amount of begging, luring with tasty treats or making the outside look so exciting she'd have to join me was working.  It wasn't raining, it wasn't cold and I knew, oh yes I knew she needed to go because it had been hours since the last pit stop and this was our ritual. I was getting frustrated and on the verge of labelling Miss Zuri a stubborn wee mule!

That was until I heard the tinkle of a cat bell behind me and Zuri's arch nemesis, Bede, the fearless ambusher of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, sprang from his hiding place behind the fence.Obviously tired of preparing to pounce on Zuri as she came through the door, he could wait no longer.  She knew all along that Bede was there.  Sorry Zuri.

There's always a reason.

See if you can spot some of the reasons in this short video I compiled in an attempt to show some examples of why dogs may be doing the things they do.