Pat Miller on Teaching Bite Inhibition

Another great article by Pat Miller, on teaching bite inhibition to puppies and to older dogs.  This is a very important part of a dog's education.

Going to the vet's office

A great article about what a vet visit might be like from the dog's perspective, as well as ways you can make the experience better for your dog.

Dr. Yin and tips for the dog park

Here's another great article by Dr. Sophia Yin about dog parks.  The question she initially answers is whether it is safe for big dogs and little dogs to play together at the dog park, but she also includes tips on how to manage the dog park experience.

Fairy Tales - Behaviour myths by Jean Donaldson

A great article from 2008 - Jean Donaldson on the top ten dog behaviour myths.  Sadly, these myths are still out there, alive and kicking, although hopefully we are making some progress in debunking at least some of them.

The Myth of "Normal" Dogs

Here's a great article on the myth of "normal" dogs.  What a great discussion of normal dog behaviour (and normal dog owner behaviour!).

From the article:
"While no dog is perfect, realizing that virtually everything we expect of dogs is unnatural for them highlights the need for training.  Part of what makes dogs so wonderful is the fact that they are generally more than happy to exchange behaviors which are rooted in hundreds of thousands of years of instinct for an owner that will spend a few minutes a day training them to offer alternative, incompatible, and socially desirable behaviors."


Dogs are truly wonderful, and I wish everyone would first think about what normal dog behaviour is (and is not), and then would give the dogs in our lives credit for all the unnatural things they do for us.

Teaching Your Dog to Come When Called

I am a huge fan of Dr. Sophia Yin.  She has another brilliant article at The Huffington Post today.

Your recall (in other words, getting your dog to come when called) is one of the most important cues that your dog will ever learn.  You never know when your dog will be heading for something dangerous, and you really NEED your dog to come, the first time you call and as soon as the words leave your lips.  Imagine that your dog is racing toward a highway -- you want to yell, "Rover, come!" and have your dog immediately whip around and race back to you.

You can teach your dog to do this, but first you have to commit to a couple of things yourself.  First, read Dr. Yin's great article.  Second, you must never call your dog if you're planning on punishing your dog when he gets there.  Remember that punishment is in the eye of the beholder, so it's what your dog thinks is punishing that matters here.  Don't use your recall cue when you want to cut your dog's nails, or you want to pull burrs out of his coat, or it's time to put the leash on to leave the dog park.  You can have a cue that means "come over here" that you use in those circumstances, but if it's the same cue that you want to use in dangerous situations, you're really diminishing the chance that Rover will come when you really need him to.

In other words, if Fido thinks that "come" means that the fun is over at the dog park, or he has to get his nails cut, or that pain is going to happen when you pull burrs out of his tail, he is more likely to ignore you.  Even if those things happen only sometimes when he hears "come", that's enough to poison the cue for the times you really need it to work.

For those situations, use another word.  It can be "here", or "zoodle", or whatever you want it to be.  But don't ruin your recall by using it when bad things are coming.  You can also choose a different word than "come" for your recall if you want.  The goal is that your dog thinks that wonderful things will ALWAYS happen when he hears the recall cue.

Third, when you use your recall word, sound like it's going to be a fun thing for your dog to come to you.  As Dr. Yin puts it, don't use a voice like they'd use at roll call on death row.  Don't use a harsh tone, don't sound like the voice of doom.  Sound like you are THE MOST FUN THING ON THE PLANET!  Why would your dog want to leave something stinky he wants to roll in, or stop chasing a squirrel, or leave off playing with other dogs to come to someone who sounds like doom personified?  He wouldn't.

You've got to make it fun, each and every time your dog comes to you.  This can mean that your dog gets an absolutely amazing treat, or gets to play a really fun game, or both.  It has to always be a great experience, so that whenever your dog hears that recall word, his automatic response is, "Oh, I have to get over there as fast as I can, because something good is going to happen!"

With my dog, I use "come" as his recall word.  I don't use it unless I'm prepared to have a party with him when he gets to me, which means he ALWAYS gets a treat, and usually several.  If I'm just calling him over, for instance to wipe his paws after he's been outside, I use "c'mere".  (We think those two words mean the same thing, but to dogs, they sound different and they can mean different things if that's what we teach them.)

For other tips on teaching your dog to always come when called, read Dr. Yin's article!  It's really worth spending a few minutes reading the article, and then thinking about how to make sure your dog comes when you really need him to.

Another great article - dogs and fear of strangers

Another great article by Dr. Sophia Yin -- this time, on dogs and fear of strangers.  Great analogies to the human fear of spiders, and good advice on how to help a dog feel more comfortable.

How dog bites are like Tetris

Here is another great article, this one by Casey Lomonaco, "How Are Dog Bites Like Tetris".  This is a great way to look at trigger stacking, which is at the root of most (if not all) dog bites.

When you take a situation apart, you can see how several triggers (or stressors) accumulate, pushing the dog over his/her bite threshold (the point at which a dog will bite -- and ALL dogs will bite, given the right circumstances).  One trigger on its own probably wouldn't result in a bite, but several triggers together are just too much.

For example, if a dog is made anxious by several things (night-time, children, strange noises, people carrying long stick-like things, events that happen suddenly, and men), and more than one of those things happens at the same time, then the likelihood of a bite substantially increases.  Imagine our example dog, out walking at night past a man shoveling snow and making that scraping noise that shovels often do.  Then from beside a car, a child in a puffy snowsuit carrying a toy shovel suddenly appears.  This situation is a recipe for disaster, because of the accumulation of triggers that make the dog anxious.  Any one trigger, on its own, might have been fine -- the dog would have been anxious, but probably wouldn't have been near his bite threshold.  But all of them together are too much for the dog, and he may snap, snarl or try to bite, depending on where his bite threshold is.  The more triggers there are at once, the more likely a bite becomes.

In her book, The Culture Clash, Jean Donaldson gives a wonderful explanation of how trigger stacking works, complete with diagrams.  It's well worth the read!

Is your dog a good daycare candidate?

This is a great article by Pat Miller about dogs and doggy daycare -- how to determine if your dog is suited for daycare, and if he/she is, how to choose a good one.  Daycare isn't appropriate for all (or even most) dogs.  The same thing can be said about dogs and dog parks -- most dogs are actually not going to have that good of a time at the dog park, even though their people might think they should.  (I will write about this in more detail soon!)

If you are considering doggy daycare for your pooch, be sure to read this article!

Polite Dogs Get What They Want

Inspired by a lovely Dobie in one of our classes...

Dogs do what works.  If jumping up on people gets them attention, they will continue to jump up.  If they get the treat out of your hand when they are “sharky”, they will continue that behaviour.  If they get to go where they want to go by pulling on the leash, they will keep pulling.

One of the ways to train your dog to be polite is to make sure that you don’t give him what he wants if you don’t like what he’s doing.  Sounds simple, but sometimes it’s a challenge.

Think about what your dog wants in any given situation.  Is it a food reward?  Attention?  Petting or affection?  To move forward?  Then think about what he is doing to get it.  Sharking your hand to get at the treat?  Jumping up on you when you greet him?  Grabbing your hands in his mouth?  Pulling on the leash?  If you don’t like the behaviour he is doing, then you need to make sure that your dog never gets what he wants unless he gives you a behaviour that you want first.

For example, if you want to stop your dog from jumping up on people when he greets, ask yourself what your dog is getting out of that behaviour.  He is probably getting attention, even if that attention is negative.  That attention is reinforcing (that is, it means something to the dog and increases the likelihood that he will repeat the behaviour, in this case jumping up).  The way to train your dog not to jump up is to take away the reinforcement for the behaviour, in this case the attention.  Do not look at your dog, don’t scold him, don’t push him off with your hands – all of this is attention, and will make it more likely that your dog will keep jumping up.

Instead, cross your arms across your chest, turn your back and ignore your dog.  Only give your dog attention when he has four feet on the floor.  It will take many repetitions of this response to change what your dog does – think of how many times your dog has jumped up and received attention for it.  You have to un-do all those repetitions with your new response to the jumping up.  And your dog might go through something called an “extinction burst”, where he sees that what worked for him before isn’t working now, so he tries even harder.  Stick to your new response, and it will work eventually.  Changing behaviours takes time, commitment and consistency.

This process will work faster (and better) if everyone in the dog’s life follows the same rules.  So if your partner lets your dog jump up but you don’t, your dog is getting conflicting messages.  Everyone has to work with the same rules, it’s only fair to the dog.

Remember that dogs do what works.  If your dog keeps repeating a behaviour you don’t like, then he is getting something out of it.  Try to think like your dog to see what he’s getting out of the behaviour.  Then, stop letting him have it.  Easy, but not simple.  Persevere and you’ll teach your dog that polite dogs get what they want, and rude dogs don’t.