Doggy Heaven...

Our walking field in the village. How pretty is this?

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Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Here's some shots of Belly at the Molosser Fun Day today after the classes had finished. I'll blog more about the day tomorrow but he was an absolute star. He made his Auntie Mummy (me) very proud.

Belly (Formerly Vincent) - Foster Dog Blog - 5 weeks

I took a few photos of Belly during a habituation session last week.  He still suffers from a slight anxiety around new stimuli but has habituated to 'our' half of the village which is generally much quieter so I thought it was time to take him to other, busier parts of the village to get him used to light traffic, a bit more social activity etc.

He was nervous at first but this junction in the middle of the village has lots of space and is not busy at all.  It has no lorries or fast vehicles going through it and rarely any pedestrians so within 10 minutes, Belly was relaxed enough to lie down and watch the world go by, which was very encouraging.

We then continued our walk to the local kids' playground, just 5 minutes up the road.  Again, I left lots of space for him to gently habituate to the activity but there were only a few families in there.  I made sure to sit down with him to show him that I was relaxed enough to 'chill' so he very quickly chilled with me!

His anxiety around children is still interesting to me as he apparently lived with a family of young children for the first 3 years of his life but as I've mentioned before - I don't think this was a pleasant experience for him so I make sure he knows I will 'protect' him and give him lots of space if he needs it.  Luckily we didn't need it on this occasion, even though children were running about and even came out of the playground to play cricket nearby, Belly remained happy to sit by me and relax.

Good stuff.

Peaceful Co-existence

Just to show that, with patient, consistent handling, peaceful co-existence can be possible after an argument (and this wasn't set up - I had my mobile on me to take the pic!)...

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

4 weeks on and things have settled down beautifully again after the incident at the weekend. Close but relaxed monitoring have restored peace.

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Poor Belly. This is an example of his skin problem. We'll be back at the vet this week...

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - 3.5 Weeks

Well at last... He's shown he IS a true Mastino after all!

It's a little later than usual for a Mastino but today Belly (formerly Vincent) charged one of the other dogs in a definite dominance showing.

I'd observed over the last 24 hours that he was getting a little more 'clingy' than before - not wanting to settle in his half of the house at night, wanting to stay by my side at all times during the day, following me about etc. and assumed that this was just the normal bonding process for a new dog, but especially a Mastino, who form very strong emotional bonds with their chosen human if allowed to.

Yesterday I was in a very lucky position to be able to record him jumping towards another dog on the TV!  See here:

Again this gave me a clue that he was 'getting his paws under the table' and becoming more confident.  Watching his body posture but in particular his tail carriage, this wasn't 100% play either...  It has to balanced by the fact that the dog on the TV wasn't behaving in a balanced way however and I would expect most dogs to react the way Belly did in the presence of such an unbalanced dog!  What I was pleased about was the way he very quickly came back to me on command.  (Watch the vid a few times to catch all the important points!).

Then this morning...  Aha!

My 17yr daughter, Rachael, was sitting on the floor next to Bailey, our 10.5yr Great Dane.  Bailey was doing 'the Dane thing' of sitting with her bottom on the sofa and her front feet on the floor, getting some attention from Rachael.  Belly was sitting on the other side of Rachael.  The two dogs were facing each other and about 3ft apart.

Suddenly Belly lunged across Rachael and pinned Bailey to the floor with lots of noise and bluster.

I quickly and calmly got up from across the room, took Belly's collar and pulled him away from Bailey.  There was very little resistance from him, no redirected aggression, no frustration.  He immediately deferred and I took him out into the kitchen and put him behind the gate.  I was very careful not be angry or upset with him and just treated it as a completely normal act.

We checked Bailey over and - this is important - there wasn't a mark on her.  Not even a drop of slobber demonstrating that this was a gesture; a show of bluster and dominance from Belly because he wasn't happy that Bailey (for once) hadn't deferred and moved away from him in appeasement - something she always does normally.

The analysis of this between my daughter (herself an accomplished dog and horse handler) and myself was that the catalyst was her sitting on the floor between the two dogs.  Because she was stroking Bailey, she had distracted her from her normal behaviour of appeasement and moving away from Belly to keep him calm.

In fact, in Belly's eyes, Bailey was probably being exceptionally rude and almost challenging him in not giving him the space he's come to expect from her.

We are actually extremely pleased that we've seen this behaviour in him because it fills a missing piece of the jigsaw for me, i.e. why this Mastino apeared so benign and unchallenging!  The massively important aspect of this for me was that - although we would never have set this up deliberately - we know that he does not use his teeth to make his point.  Bailey was completely unmarked and unmouthed.   

N.B. A very important point to make is that we immediately went into 'happy mode' with Bailey, smiling at her, patting her cheerfully as if nothing had happened, to help her to 're-balance' again.  The temptation was to go into 'oh you poor thing...' mode as humans but DOGS DON'T DO THAT and dont understand our behaviour when we do it!  By being completely normal, cheerful, matter-of-fact with her for the next 10 minutes, she bounced back to being completely herself again...

Now we go back to square one.  As all of the dogs will have had a surge of adrenaline and may therefore be a little more reactive and 'on-edge' for a while, we'll have a couple of days of Belly being kept separate for things to calm down and more importantly, for senior dog Bailey - who is also deaf - to be able to relax in her own home.

Then we'll return to keeping him onlead in the living room again, making sure that we respect the hierarchy that THE DOGS have chosen, i.e. helping Bailey to give Belly the space that a typical Mastino demands and needs and ensuring that he doesn't slip into bullying or intimidating behaviour towards her.

It may be that we can never allow them unsupervised access together.  That's just a fact of life and we'll deal with it without 'belly-aching'!

We cannot enforce dog hierarchy.  We must help and support them while they are sorting it out and ensure and encourage that it is done as peacefully as possible and ensuring that no dogs actually get hurt (emotionally as well as physically).  While that must always mean that we are still in charge, no matter how many dogs, no matter how they organise themselves, it's important to understand that if we try and interfere too much, we actually put more pressure on them.

As an example, if we had punished Belly by alpha-rolling him, pinning him to the floor and insisting that he defer to Bailey - our oldest dog - it would have not only caused him utter confusion but would have caused Bailey stress that she doesn't want in that she is HAPPY to defer to him; she doesn't want us to make her top dog!  In the past she has been very passively dominant, but as she's got older she has been very happy to defer for a peaceful life.  Painful as it is for us to watch - our beloved dog who has been with us for years slipping down the ranks - it's the way dogs (and many other social animals) do things.

It was absolutely spot-on for a Mastino that he didn't give any warning signals like staring, growling, freezing, stiffening, standing up etc before losing his cool.  This is why they do not make ideal pet dogs for the unexperienced dog owner.

I feel that Belly has never had to deal with a dog like Bailey before and doesn't quite know how to deal with her.  He lived with a fairly passive male Basset Hound in his first home.  Bailey is bigger, is female, and, on this occasion didn't move away (which was totally our fault of course for letting OUR guard down).  He IS a typical Mastino after all... 

Lastly, and very interestingly, only a few seconds before Belly lunged, Sticky calmly moved himself off the floor and up onto a sofa away from everything.

Concidence or did he sense Belly was getting agitated?... Food for thought...

Life is Just Too Hard...

Sometimes its just all too much, isn't it Sticky?

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - 3 Weeks

Well it's been 3 weeks today and while I would normally have done a 2-week report as one of the main guideposts in a new dog settling down, Vincent has settled in so seamlessly that the anniversary slipped by without me even noticing!

As you can see from the photo, he has settled into the family home wonderfully, has adopted a 'baby' (a soft toy which he merely carries about in his mouth from time to time) and has become the perfect family pet.

Behavioural issues that we are monitoring:

• Slight anxiety with novel stimuli 
• Some basic impulse control training to stop him barging through doorways and people!

His health is still a cause for concern in that he has severe hip dysplasia, very weepy eyes and chin skin and ears that need almost hourly cleaning!

Luckily he is exceptionally patient and tolerant for a Mastino and as long as he is getting a constant trickle of liver cubes he allows me to clean him, even when it's invasive or painful for him.  The hip dysplasia is altogether more serious and means that for the rest of his life, he will be on limited exercise.  He is only 3 years old and if we want to get him to double figures, we have to act now.  It's bitterly sad to not be able to take him for long walks, but every step he takes is deteriorating his hip joints and it would simply be cruel to allow him to walk for miles when this will eventually cause him extreme pain and ultimately end his life.


Luckily we live in a rural area with fields of interesting smells and sights and sounds only 5 minutes away so we don't have to go far for him to have stimulating walks, and he absolutely adores them.


He's also been put on Glucosamine HCL, Chondroitin and Cod Liver Oil to help with the regeneration of joint tissue.  This will be lifelong and very expensive.  In addition, to help with his digestive sensitivity he is on Acidophillus Lactobicillus (sp) which has worked incredibly well in settling his digestion.  Mind you, he is fed exclusively on Burns foods...


His foster dog blog will cease now as he's gone past the critical 2 week phase but I will post again if there are incidents or issues that might be useful for others to read about.


Oh, and the name Vincent just didn't suit him so he has been renamed 'Bellini'... Or just 'Belly' for short!


If you have enjoyed reading this blog or perhaps even learned something from it, please consider giving something to Neapolitan Mastiff Welfare towards his lifelong care.  Please click here:
 
Neapolitan Mastiff Welfare Website


Even a few pounds helps...

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - 12th Day

Well it's been a week and a half since Vincent joined us and it's been one of the easiest settling-in periods we've ever had with a foster dog.  We are still monitoring him closely in all situations but the trust is building and he is starting to relax when outside, even looking back to check-in if he is unsure about something, which is a very good sign.

As I type, the bin-men are outside making a hell of a racket emptying the wheelie bins  (usually a time for guarding breeds to raise the alarm) and as he rested at my feet, he merely lifted his head to look at me to see what I was going to do, then laid back down to relax when I completely ignored them.  This was of course quietly reinforced with a 'good lad' and a gentle tickle with my toes!  If I had got up to close the door or went to grab his collar to prevent any guarding behaviour, I would probably have created the very problem I wanted to avoid by changing my own behaviour as a response to the outside stimulus.


As I always tell clients when they get a new dog, these first couple of weeks are ESSENTIAL to get desired patterns of behaviour in place from the get-go as it's a lot tougher to modify behaviour once it's become established.

 

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Seven - Peaceful Co-existence... Or was it?!

However, just two minutes after this photo was taken this morning, Bailey the Great Dane left the bed.  She returned five minutes later but Vincent had occupied her spot so she stood there for a minute or so wondering where to go.  I thought that the extension of the bed space might be a good idea so they had more space between them all.  

I went and got the bed that Vincent has been using and the minute the bed came out, Vincent snapped at Bailey.  It was over in the blink of an eye, Bailey moved away immediately and the moment was over, but it's not clear whether it was because Bailey was a little close to his feet or whether it was something to do with his bed coming out.

Nobody overreacted - I merely put the bed back out of sight and calmly monitored things for ten minutes, making sure I was in the middle of the group as it settled again.  Although there was no further sign of problems, as I had to go in and work, I brought Vincent in to rest indoors with me while the other dogs stayed outside.  When they got too hot and came in 20 minutes later, I did a swap and allowed Vincent access outside and this continued throughout the day.  The mistake would have been to assume things would return to normal and not keep an eye on things between the dogs as this is exactly when things can escalate; a minor incident creates a bit of tension which causes a slightly more intense incident, which creates more tension etc etc...

We have now made sure that Vincent's bedding is in my office and away from the other dogs and they will still all be supervised whenever they are together.  While in the living room, Vincent is not allowed on any of the sofas (unlike the other dogs) and does not have his own bed.  He is happy to lie on the floor and this is how it should be for the time being.  Not giving him the opportunity to become anxious about resources such as bed spaces or food will allow us all to become more relaxed in this early period. 

It's still very very early days and Vincent has made incredible progress but today's little incident (and photo) demonstrates that tension can be just under the surface and careful supervision is still necessary,

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Five

11.49

Very interesting occurence...  The dogs are all vying for a hotspot out in the yard in the sunshine.  A very subtle shift in the hierarchy has been observed; Vincent picks his spot, right on Bailey's favourite cushion and sits there very upright, very relaxed, not making eye contact but not settling either.  Bailey approaches, waits to see if he will move but within 5 seconds realises he will not defer so walks away again. 

This would not have happened in the house, where she displays the same ultra-calm, confident-dominant behaviour towards him when she's on 'her' sofa...

Fascinating to observe.  Peaceful negotiation and resolution.

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Evening walkies...

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Four

Day Four - 18:45

First signs of separation anxiety in the last 12 hours.  Nothing major, just when he is put in his 'half' of the house behind the baby gate (after his last meal, if we need to go upstairs and leave dogs unsupervised etc) he sits there and whines and grumbles for a while.  Rather controversially perhaps, with this type of dog who isn't truly anxious, just would rather be with the rest of the group, I don't automatically ignore the behaviour, but just give a stern 'Enough!' in a low, calm tone of voice without actually getting up and going to the dog (my house is small enough to do this!).  This is just to let the dog know there's no point in whining for company - I'm not actually in a very good mood and he might as well go to bed!

Works really well for a dog that is just 'objecting' and not truly anxious about being left alone.

'Sentry' behaviours are now surfacing as well.  I don't like the term 'guarding' behaviours because it implies the dog will defend territory.  I feel most dogs simply want to raise the alarm, hence the term 'Sentry'; blowing the whistle (barking) for someone else to come and deal with the situation!

Because he's not left unattended outside, I've been doing the 'Enough' command after the first bark and immediately coming out and getting him in (within 3 seconds).  Again, very calmly but firmly so he knows I'm not playing or happy with the behaviour.  This makes him confident that there is someone backing him up so he doesn't have to become overly anxious about people outside, and also that excessive barking does not invoke a pleasant reaction from me.

Subsequently, this afternoon when there were children outside, he barked once and then immediately came inside.  This, I rewarded... 

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Three

Vincent loves watching the HD TV, and Auntie Bailey sleeping!

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Three

09:45

Dogs all fed and settled, resting in the living room.


One thing missing from yesterday's 48 hour report was perhaps one of the most important; that Vincent is extremely settled when left alone.  However now he is integrated into the group, it is going to be more difficult for him to settle back in his room and out of sight of his new family.


This morning he initiated play with little Sticky, our Dachshund x Lab.  Sticks has displayed very passive dominance with Vincent so far, refusing to engage in play, lots of head-turning, lip-licking and active ignorance.  For the first time today Sticky engaged in a little play indoors but wasn't completely at ease with 90kg Vincent bouncing around him like a baby elephant and ended the play very clearly by sitting down with his back to Vincent.  We had to help Vincent a little to understand this as he was quite excited by standing beside Sticks and blocking Vincent but he then understood immediately.


Vincent has never, ever tried to interact with Bailey, our 10yr Great Dane female.  She displays very clear calming signals which Vincent very respectfully and calmly responds to.


It is very clear to Vincent, through ultra-calm, peaceful dominant gesturing by the other dogs, that his place is at the bottom of the hierarchy.  We are supporting this by ensuring that whenever the other dogs are around, they get attention first and we actively and calmly block Vincent, making him 'wait his turn'.


Feeding time is strictly controlled by us.  All dogs eat in separate corners of the house and are kept separate until all food has been consumed and the bowls lifted.  Vincent is always shown that his bowl is empty before it is removed to minimise resource anxiety (being worried that we are taking food away from him).

Vincent - Foster Dog - 48 Hour Report

Finally integrated into our home group...

The above picture shows how quickly Vincent has integrated into our home group.  it's only been 48 hours which is extremely quick for a Neapolitan Mastiff. 

48 Hour Report and Observations:

Behaviour
No aggressive behaviour observed, even during examination and treatment of ears, eyes and skin etc.  Anxiety and slight over-vigilance when out on walks, even in daytime.  This is more pronounced at night, possibly due to sight restriction caused by excessive facial skin.  Behaviour at the vet surgery was very anxious but again no aggression displayed.  Is very respectful of other dogs and displays excellent calming communicative behaviours.  He has only been introduced to my own calm, socially-balanced dogs.

Shows slight neophobia; example was today during a walk when he was fearful of a stream of water flowing from a broken water main.  Was eventually okay with walking through it but initially displayed strong avoidance.

Also displayed anxiety and avoidance around a 10yr child and scooter.  It is unclear whether it was the scooter or the child that caused the reaction.

Some signs of behavioural polydipsia were observed yesterday but there have been no signs today.  The weather has been very different today - much cooler - so this may have been the main reason for a change in Vincent's behaviour around water.

Health

The most pressing health problem are inflammation of Vincent's eyes and skin.  He is under veterinary care for this and may need to go under prolonged antibiotics.  Regular cleaning of the eyes is definitely helping (4-5 times a day) and keeping his chin clean and dry, along the gentle application of a medicated barrier cream is also helping enormously.


His ears may require deep cleaning after years of neglect.  Veterinary advice will be sought regarding this.


The most serious long-term issue is severe hip dysplasia.  He movement is extremely limited and will only worsen in time.  Exercise will need to be restricted.  He will be starting life-long glucosamine, chondroitin & MSM, possibly with natural anti-inflammatory herbal or homeopathic supplements pending advice from our vet.

Vincent eats well and shows no resource anxiety with either a bowl of food or a high-value treat such a chew.

His stools are a little loose but this is normal for a few days after a diet / environment change.

Conclusion

The first 48 hours have been much easier than expected.  So far Vincent has been emotionally stable and is starting to bond with his group, displaying some play behaviours, which again is unusual for a Mastino (this quickly).   





 

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog - Day Two

8:45pm
Taken earlier this evening on our walk... He really loved the fields, much more than being in the village.

On the way back as we walked through the village we saw a 10yr old boy riding around on a scooter at a distance of about 15m.  Vincent became very anxious, with his hackles raised and dancing around on the lead, giving short, breathy, low woofs.  I took charge and gave him some more space (about 10 more metres) and he relaxed a little but found it very hard to relax while the child was around.  Need to watch this.  It was still light at this point so I don't put it down to night anxiety.  This surprised me a little because he lived the first few years of his life with small children.  I can only summise that this wasn't a positive experience for him.



Another note tonight is his drinking pattern.  Once he starts drinking he seems to find it difficult to stop unless distracted.  This needs watching as GDV (bloat) is a real risk with this breed but in this hot weather he needs to keep hydrated.  I don't think this is true behavioural polydipsia because he CAN be distracted and it isn't necessary to remove the water from his presence.

A neighbour came around today and we saw the guarding, gobby side of the breed!  Not aggressive at all, just raising the alarm when he heard a knock on the door and he was easily restrained and controlled.

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Day Two - 20:00

It's been a very hot day here so we've just been chilling out around the house.  I had to go to hospital today for a while but he was absolutely fine with my daughter while I was away.

We've been working on more invasive care such as cleaning his eyes a little deeper and putting powder in his ears.  He is definitely one of the most tolerant Mastini I've ever known - he just lays down and accepts it but I am EXTREMELY gentle and am not forcing him to do anything; we have to build up trust first and if he learns to trust that if anything I do hurts him, he can move away, then he will never need to bite.

He is just waiting for his supper and then he will rest for an hour or two quietly before going on his last walk once the sun goes down and it's cooler. 

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Here's Vincent out on his morning walk today.  His claws need some filing down so we'll try and give him a good 30 mins a day on hard ground, which will be good for his pasterns and leg strength too.  Met some workmen in fluorescent jackets and allowed him to simply look at them for a while as he was a little anxious.  When he'd relaxed we walked on.  He's wearing a Halti Harness to make him feel a little more secure as he's a bit anxious in this new environment.

12:17

He's having a nice rest in my office by my chair as I catch up with some work.

Vincent - Foster Dog Blog

Thurs 17 June: 7am

No problems overnight.  Vincent slept soundly and peacefully.  Got up and let him out in the yard to mooch about.  Checked his eyes, skin and ears.  Skin absolutely fine, no inflammation but quite dry so applied some cream (kept cool in the fridge!).  Slight discharge from eyes but easily cleaned up with some cotton wool soaked in cool water.  Went for a walk at 7:30am.  Walks lovely on a lead without distraction.  Fed at 8:30 after a rest.  Ate with gusto! 

Foster Dog Blog - Vincent

Well another foster dog blog starts... 

I’m going to try different format with this one and keep it as brief as possible.  The reason being that I’m hoping to include it in my book ‘The Foster Carer’s Handbook’ when I eventually publish it!

Vincent is a 3yr neutered male Neapolitan Mastiff (Mastino) who has been returned to welfare because of recurring skin, ear and eye infections (common for this breed) and the associated prolonged costs of treatment, often costing upto £5 per day.

Wed 16 June – 15:15

Met owners at the vet, handed the dog over with signed paperwork.  Took dog for veterinary visit.  He was wary but did not show any aggression or strong avoidance.

15:45

Got home and allowed him to potter throughout his ‘area’ of the yard, kitchen and office. He drank freely and allowed me to dry his face and chin gently.  Other than this, I didn’t make a fuss of him at all, just sat down at my desk and started to work quietly.  (My own dogs were away in the other half of the house out of sight)  Within 5 minutes Vincent had laid down behind me and had fallen asleep. 

16:45

Got up and without any fuss, just left him behind the gate in the office while I did some housework in the kitchen, making a point of disappearing and appearing frequently for at least 20 minutes (putting away the washing up, sweeping floor, cleaning worktops etc).  Radio is on (classical music).  He sat watching me at the gate for about 5 minutes then went back down to sleep.

17:15

Left the kitchen and went into the living room (next door but out of sight) to watch some TV, spend some time with my own dogs and have some dinner.  Every 10 minutes came into the kitchen without speaking to or looking at Vincent.  He was still resting and calm.

18:00 – 20:00

Came back into the kitchen to check on Vincent and without speaking to him, quietly opened the gate to allow him to potter about outside in the yard.  He seemed affectionate and pleased to see me but did not follow me around.  During this time I gave his eyes a clean and merely looked in his ears (I’m looking in his ears whenever we have contact to get him used to having his ear flaps lifted but deliberately not doing anything else to worry him).

During this time I put him behind his gate in the office again and let my own dogs out for 10 minutes in the yard to smell where Vincent had been and to give them some food.  They showed no interest in him nor he them.  I also gave Vincent a handful of food in his bowl in the office.

The first few hours have been very calm, very quiet, very peaceful.  As little interaction as possible – I am merely ‘a presence’ which comes and goes and he seems to be happy to spend time on his own.

Trainers, Behaviourists... Unite! (Please!)

I've been a fan of the internet now for over 15 years and have watched it grow and develop exponentially.

I've been involved in dogs for over twice that long and watching the two fields merge has been an eye-opening experience.

I use the internet for research, for education, for updating knowledge and for simple amusement and many of the sites I regularly visit are dog-orientated.  In recent years I've observed a sinister turn in the way that dog-people interact with each other on the internet, particularly when it comes to the dog training and behaviour industry.

I'm told that the 'divide' between dog trainers and behaviourists is non-existent these days; however I've just had to close down a discussion page on the topics related to these fields because of narrow-minded and childish retorts attacking the work of professionals involved in canine behaviour modification.

I am really disappointed at how people attack things they do not understand.  I have ENORMOUS respect for dog trainers (I was one for many years!); their skills, their knowledge, the hard work required to  teach dogs to do amazing things.  However, when trainers do not reciprocate that mutual respect for behaviour consultants and the work we do it saddens me greatly.  We all work for the same thing, to improve the life of The Dog, and the energy used to attack others could be so much more usefully used...  There are good and bad examples in ALL professional fields; the wise realise that the way forward is to work together with colleagues from all fields in the dog training and behaviour industry with a sense of mutual respect, not suspicion and contempt.

In my ideal world, professionals like myself who devote their time to the analysis and modification of behaviour would work seamlessly and without prejudice with their canine training professional colleagues.  Trainers would work with behaviour professionals in the same way, acknowledging the years we spend in academic research, studying the way the canine brain works in order to have a better insight into problems such as aggression and anxiety.   I can honestly say that when I moved from dog training into behaviour, I was simply blown away by the sheer amount of stuff that I simply didn't know.  I did a good job with dogs and had many successes training dogs with the experience that I'd gained and applied, but learning WHY dogs behave the way they do, from the problems caused by hormonal imbalance to learning now neurotransmitters affect emotion, gave real depth to my work.

The division currently appearing in the UK regarding the regulation of dog training and behaviour roles is a representation of everything that saddens me as a professional in this field.

Yes, there ARE differences between the roles of dog trainers and dog behaviourists, the same way there are differences between a dentist and an orthodontist!  What I simply cannot understand is why individuals cannot simply accept and respect each other's professional fields.  

What is often mentioned is the difference in the fees charged to owners.  Well, if you have proven academic qualifications, have spent thousands of pounds on gaining them, given years of your life in studying for them, it is generally accepted that clients must accept this is what they are paying for, in ANY professional field.  I do accept that with the lack of regulation in this country, it is worrying that people with academic qualifications but little hands-on-experience are practising as behaviourists, but there ARE professionals out there who have both - and they aren't THAT difficult to find.

I have to risk touching a nerve and suggest that there is an element of jealousy in non-qualified people questioning the validity of academic qualification in dog behaviour and training.  If you feel yourself recoiling and reacting with an emotional reaction to this suggestion, just try halting yourself and think about WHY you have reacted that way...  Be honest, even if only to yourself.  If you are reacting out of a fear of academics taking your livelihood that you have spent 20 years working on, then own that reaction and think how about positive actions you can take to stop that happening before slamming out an angry email from an instinctive defensive posture.  If it's because you are doing a great job with your clients and their dogs and don't see why behaviourists are needed, ask yourself whether there's a slight chance that one of your client's dogs has an issue that could be explained by someone who has studied how the biomechanics of the brain affect emotion and behaviour? It doesn't lessen the work you do.  It doesn't take anything away from your own credibility... 

You never know, it might just help the dog, and isn't that the ultimate objective here?

It's an enlightening experience to step out of an automatic reaction to something and look at yourself objectively.  And it makes you a better professional.

Behaviourists are not 'better' than trainers, its a different role, that's all.

My plea to ALL people involved in helping people with their dogs is to put aside judgement and open yourselves to the possibility that other professionals with other talents, either learned or borne, just may be worth shaking hands with...

The 'D' Word as explained in my coursework!

I just got back my marked module for 'Application of Theory' for my Advanced Diploma in Canine Behavioural Management.  I thought it'd be interesting to post it here (including the tutor's comments) as an example of my level of study at the moment and also as it encapsulates my theory on 'The 'D' Word'.

"Module question 10.10 - What are your views on human and dog hierarchy? Do you think dogs that are allowed to sleep on beds or other furniture, or are fed before the family, or that rush through doorways are likely to become aggressive? Justify your opinions.

I have fairly open and flexible views about human and dog hierarchy.

I do not believe that dogs that are allowed to sleep on beds or other furniture, or are fed before the family, or that rush through doorways are ‘likely’ to become aggressive.  The reason for this is because in my home, all the dogs that have ever become part of our family throughout my entire life have done all of the above and I have never owned a dog that has ‘become’ aggressive.

However, I believe that if I were to regularly approach a sleeping dog that was on my bed or on the sofa and become agitated or aggressive myself in order to move them, or I reacted to a dog rushing out of the doorway first by hitting them or losing my temper, I would probably initiate some aggressive response, probably on a predictable basis and my dog would ‘become’ aggressive. Tutor Comment:  yes, this is quite likely.

The word ‘Dominance’ when applied to dogs has become synonymous with conflict and this is very unfortunate.  I am dominant over my dogs, and my children (grown up as they are now!) in most situations but this does not mean I am forceful or adversarial with them.  Dominant behaviour can be calm, peaceful and gentle.  As an example if my dog is sitting on a place in the sofa where I want to sit (usually in the best place for watching the TV) I will gently and calmly give the dog a ‘Move’ command and then proceed to sit down, whether they have moved or not.  On the first few occasions they didn’t move, I calmly sat down so close to them it that became uncomfortable for them to stay there so they have subsequently made the decision to relinquish that spot whenever they hear the ‘Move’ command – and often before hearing it.  The reward for this is that if they give me enough room, they will get to lie curled into my body for warmth and close social contact and even have their head stroked! Tutor Comment:  this is a good example of how you can be ‘the boss’ without aggression and force.

In wolves, aggression does NOT equal dominance.  In a two-year study on a wild population of wolves the following was noted:

“…involvement in aggressive and agonistic encounters did not show a strong relationship with rank order in either 1999 or 2000.”  (Sands, et al., 2004)

Even David Mech himself has discounted his original theories from thirty years ago where ‘Alpha’ males and females fought for dominant positions in the pack.  He now believes that this is achieved much more peacefully, by “…merely mating with a member of the opposite sex, producing a bunch of offspring which are the rest of the pack.”  (Mech, 2008)

To specify this reasoning in human / dog relationships O’Heare (O'Heare, 2003) questions the use of the term ‘dominance’ when describing aggressive behaviour:

“Why not simply say that a particular dog is intolerant of being controlled or that he has a relatively low threshold for aggression?  The dominance alternative is to postulate that the dog believes he is dominant in the relationship.”

In my professional work if owners have already allowed some ‘negotiation’ to take place and dogs are standing their ground and defending their resource successfully in the form of growling or snapping, I will still advocate peaceful, gentle, calm dominance in the form of a houseline of about 3-4ft attached to the dog’s collar or harness so that the owner can give a gentle but firm command (not  a request!) and then enforce it by using the houseline to move the dog.  As long as there is a reward for the dog for relinquishing their ‘resource’; a ‘point’ to the exercise from the dog’s point of view, I have found that peaceful resolution can be easily achieved.

Peaceful co-existence must surely be the goal of all social groups, whether they consist of conspecifics or not.  While linear hierarchy may be necessary at times to sustain order, I believe that this is best achieved through calm, cooperation and negotiation and a more ‘fluidic’ state of hierarchy rather than a strict linear one at all times. Tutor Comment:  well done, this is an excellent answer.

References

Mech, L David. 2008. "Alpha Wolf"? YouTube.com. [Online] 15 February 2008. [Cited: 11 October 2009.] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtFgdwTsbU.

O'Heare, James. 2003. Dominance Theory and Dogs. 1. Ottawa : DogPsych, 2003. p. 35. Vol. 1.

Sands, Jennifer and Creel, Scott. 2004. Social Dominance, Aggression and Faecal Glucocorticoid Levels in a Wild Population of Wolves, Canis Lupus. Animal Behaviour. 2004, Vol. 67, 3, pp. 387-396.

A New Club

One of the nicest opportunities that presents itself in this job is to watch dogs 'blossom' behaviourally...

A lovely client of mine who lives in a very rural, remote area of Kent has offered her secure paddock to dogs who need somewhere safe to run and be free so I offered to help organise a small group of new friends for her and her dog.  Our first meeting was last week and it was wonderful to see 7 dogs all of different breeds and temperaments (a Lab x Collie, Lab x Dachshund, Lurcher, terriers x 2 and a Springer) simply enjoying the company of each other during sessions of play, rest, sniffing, running, drinking etc.  

They formed a wonderful, natural social group with fluently transient roles depending on who fancied a chase game or scenting exercise or simply chilling out in the sun or taking some shade.  

 There were no fights, no squabbles, no panics.  Once they all got acquainted and learned how to observe each other's personal rules (i.e. Indie the terrier was NOT prepared to tolerate rough play and enthusiastically enforced this, while Sticky the Lab x Dachshund made it quite clear he'd happily entertain anybody that wanted some ruff stuff!). 

I'm going to be blogging on these play sessions with photos, video footage and commentary.  It's going to be sheer joy for me to simply watch dogs being dogs...  I consider it an honour to be able to observe these wonderful animals demonstrate such beautifully simple and subtle ritualistic behaviours.  Yes, I may sound like I'm talking more about dolphins or some other rarely encountered animal, but to me, dogs are as fascinating and awe-inspiring as the most rare whale or tiger - we've just stopped realising it.

The Best Secondary Reinforcer of All...

I haven’t had a chance to blog for a while (Question of the Day:  When did ‘blog’ become a verb??) but I have been dying to talk about what trainers & behaviourists call ‘secondary reinforcers’.

(I’ll try and make this comment brief because if you’re like me, this is just one of a L-O-N-G list of training and behaviour blogs you want to read today!)

When I rescued my first deaf dog, the secondary reinforcer had to be something visual instead of my normal verbal one.  With deaf dogs it’s usually a hand signal such as a thumbs-up or some other obvious hand movement.  To cut a long story short, after a while I noticed that my dog was starting to show less and less interest in the secondary reinforcer, and even in the primary reinforcer (in this case, food).  I just couldn’t understand what was going on; my timing was good, I was being consistent.  Perhaps the withdrawal into an intermittent reward schedule was too quick?  So I upped the schedule and to my surprise my dog ignored me even MORE!  

What the hell was going on?

Then I noticed something… My dog had stopped looking at my face.  She had almost no interest in me whatsoever when there were distractions in the environment, no matter WHAT food I was offering as a reward.  Another thing I noticed was that if we were playing a game without offering any rewards, she was much more engaged and animated..  The penny dropped.  I had become so reliant on my thumbs-up as the secondary reinforcer I had stopped saying ‘Good Girl’.  

When I had stopped saying ‘Good Girl’, I had stopped smiling.

My deaf dog was denied a smile when I was rewarding her with food, simply because I'd fallen out of the habit.

Within a couple of days of reintroducing the bright and shiny ‘Good Girl!’ with a bright and shiny smile, she was as keen as mustard again.

I thought this was just a deaf dog problem… Oh if only.

Over the years since I’ve been watching the development of positive reinforcement training with joy; just so thankful that we have evolved beyond pain and coercion to shape behaviours (well, some of us anyway…)

Gradually I started picking out a pattern where secondary reinforcers such as clickers and verbal markers were not always motivating the dog; in fact with some dogs it looked as if they were thoroughly fed up of them.   

Then I spotted it; or rather couldn’t spot it…  It hit me like a waft of wiffy kippers!

Where was the EMOTION?  Where was the smiling eye contact?  The bright shiny voice?  The physical animation from the handler?!

The clicker / verbal marker / hand signal had somehow suppressed the emotional response from the handler!!  Suddenly I was seeing this all over the place – dogs switching off because their handlers had become emotional vacuums when in ‘training mode’.  The trainers were on automatic pilot and weren’t even aware that their faces, voices and bodies had become devoid of emotion and more importantly, joy.

It made so much sense to me;  we expect our dogs to be happy to work with us, to show enjoyment, to have wagging tails when we’re training, especially now we’re on the positive reinforcement train (yes, pun intended), but where was OUR joy?  But how on earth were our dogs supposed to be joyful when their role models (us) had become as emotional as your average yard broom??!

So I’ve been testing this theory, ‘geeing’ up handlers that haven’t even noticed that their faces, voices and bodies have become emotionless, making them skip, jump, hop, smile, laugh as well as give their normal markers.  I’ve been working on them injecting the joy back into their training and BOY is it making a difference!!  We’ve got dogs GALLOPING back to their skipping owners!  We’ve got owners finding the children in themselves again and rediscovering the JOY in being with their dogs!  It’s simply awe-inspiring to see the happiness flooding back into people’s faces, voices and body language and this being mirrored in the responses of their dogs.

So, I’m hoping the take-home message here is that the best secondary reinforcer of all is Joy.  Don’t let a clicker or a ‘Good Dog’ ever replace it.

Teddy's Blog - Day 5

Another horrible rainy, cold day so lots of short walks instead of a nice long one where I can really let Teddy run about a bit!  

The barking at external stimuli is developing now that he's getting a bit more confident.  Where it was initially more nervy it's becoming more bold now. I've found this can be a pretty common development after the first few days in a new home!

It's not aggression, actually more of a sign that he's beginning to trust us by raising the alarm that he can hear something he wants us to know about.  Really frightened dogs don't dare do that in case they have to deal with the situation themselves.  

I'm dealing with it by acknowledging this 'job' he's taken on and telling him calmly 'that'll do' and sending him back to his bed.  If the stimulus has gone (i.e. people walking outside the house or sounds next door) then he's happy to do this because he's done his job and got my attention. The important bit is not making a big fuss of it so there's no point in him continuing to bark unless the 'problem' is still there, in which case I'll remain with him until it's gone.  Ignoring it or merely telling him to 'be quiet' would only tell him that nobody else can hear the sounds so he has to continue barking! 

Oh, and he discovered the delights of stuffed Kongs and carrots today too!

Teddy's Blog - Day 4

Houston we have a problem...

This dog is the worst sock /slipper stealer I've ever known!!!  (and I've known a few, believe me.)

And you thought I was going to say our Teddy had turned into some snarling monster... Have some faith, people!

Yes, like a lot of dogs he LOVES cheesy socks, shoes and slippers.  There's a very good reason for his; these items are intensely saturated with our scent more than just about anything else, other than underwear (let's not go there, eh?).

The fantastic thing about Ted though is that he learned in about two instances that if he picked something up and brought it to me, I would exchange it for a small piece of food.  By the end of the day he was picking up random items, bringing them to me with a 'Sit' and releasing them on command.  No conflict, no chasing him to retrieve the odd sock or dropped piece of paper out of his mouth, no pulling jaws open or holding him down.  I've never fostered a gundog before and it's honestly been a joy to live with a dog that has such an intelligence about his mouth; working with mastiffs is a WHOLE different ballgame!

Last night some idiot was talking right outside our gate and Teddy became quite anxious and barked for a while until said idiot moved away.  He has barked a few times at outside stimuli and the odd knocking from next door.  The easiest thing to do with this 'There's-someone-outside-come-quick!' barking is to simply appear in their presence completely unperturbed and do something banal such as fetch a glass of water to show the dog that you aren't bothered by the stimuli, they don't need to be either.  Ignoring the dog completely isn't the best thing to do as it makes them more anxious, but giving their anxiety attention in the form of talking to them or telling them to shut up isn't a good move either as they soon realise that's a button they can push to summon you if they're bored...

The weather has been utterly pants all day so we haven't had a chance to get out for a long walk but I then just split the walks into 10 minute excursions and he's been out for about 4 of those today and one more to go before bed.  

We've been playing fetch with a toy indoors but somewhere along the line Teddy's been taught to tug for competition.  Such a shame because he'd have so much more fun retrieving and releasing but he hasn't learned that yet.  We'll work on this a bit more but the best thing to do with a dog that refuses to give it up is drop your end of the toy.  Repeatedly and immediately he pulls on it.  Poor Ted was a bit confused as he is used to the human end of the toy being a bit more obstinate and competitive!  

He's had another very quiet day chilling in his bed while I work a few feet away in the office but he's equally as happy to chill even when I'm not in sight, which is perhaps the most important thing to teach a dog within the first 48 hours - to be happy on their own.

More tomorrow, Teddy fans...

Teddy's Blog - Day 3

Was woken up by Mr Ted at 7:30 this morning with him whining.  I knew there was something wrong - the sounds he was making weren't just attention-seeking.  When I came down to him he'd been a little sick in his bed so it was cleaned up and bed changed without fuss.

So then a very frosty early morning 10 minute walk and toilet.  A couple of hours rest and then breakfast.  2min toilet break and then straight to bed for a couple of hours sleep.

In the afternoon we had another lovely 40min walk around the village.  Teddy is a lovely dog to share a walk with.  Just SO happy to be out and about, scenting, seeing, listening. He's bright as a button.  We've encountered all sorts of stimuli including bird scarer bangs, heavy traffic, noisy motorbikes, kids playing football, other dogs running about etc. His obedience in the form of 'Sit' and 'Heel' commands excellent for an 11mth pet dog.

He's VERY keen on cats... Don't actually know what he'd do if he caught one but he's not so gamey that I don't think he could be trained to accept them.  Birds on the other hand... Well, let's just say it's a good thing my little family of hedge sparrows have a quick take-off speed...  Well he IS a gundog!

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on getting him enjoying being handled with more TTouch.  As he's quite mouthy I've been working on relaxing his muzzle area and he is LOVING this.  I now have absolutely no qualms about bending down over him, next to him, putting my face next to his etc.  He was even nibbling my ear this afternoon!   He's actually got a very soft, sensitive mouth with excellent bite inhibition... When he is CALM.

That's such a critical point with this dog.  If you wind him up with lots of fast movement, noise, activity, then he loses impulse control.  He's a working breed - it isn't rocket science.

He's a wee bit jittery on night walks but confident, calm handling and a 'Walk On' command, that's all he needs

Hoping that he will give me a bit more of a lie-in tomorrow...

Oh, and I promised ya'll some pics, didn't I?

 


Simply beautiful, isn't he?

Teddy's Blog - Day 2

I had forgotten how tiring having a foster dog around can be!  Especially a young, lively pup!

Shall I cut this short?  Teddy is a wonderful dog and someone is going to be very lucky.

== End of blog ==

Okay, okay I’ll elaborate a little with our day today:

Day Two:

Ted went into his crate after a final short walk and toilet break at about 11pm the night before.  He was snoring so loudly by midnight I could hear him upstairs!

Not a peep out of him until 8am when he heard some people outside and gave a few woofs.  He went out for a short walk and toilet break.  Great dog for this – he toilets on the grass immediately he gets out.

Breakfast at 9am and he ate well (loves his soaked Burns Chicken & Rice!).

Allowed a short toilet break in yard and then straight to crate for a couple of hours rest – this breed like many others are at risk of bloat so I take NO chances.  A good, long sleep after a meal!

I went out but my daughter was in the house working upstairs so could monitor him while on his crate rest.  Not a peep out of him for over 2 hours.

When I got back we went for a really nice 40 min onlead walk.  Now this is where I saw some magic…  He picked up ‘Heel’ and ‘Wait’ within 10 minutes.  He has obviously had some obedience training because he wouldn’t walk on the right (in rural areas where there are single track roads and no safe pedestrian areas, it’s sometimes necessary to put a dog on the right for safety) so I worked with what he knew and he picked it up with lots of positive reinforcement and smiles.  We had a lovely walk together, exploring things, showing each other interesting possible scents (what a great tracking dog he’d be… what a nose!).  I gave him a 3m line to have a bit of freedom on the village green and we played for a little while, playing fetch and ‘seek the stick’.  This is where I saw the boisterous adolescent come out with a bit of excitable mouthing but absolutely no aggression and he soon learned to stop on command.

That same excitability and lack of impulse control is evident around other dogs as he has met mine and he displayed some typical adolescent behaviours – jumping, landing paws on them etc.  However again there is absolutely no aggression and he responded to my guidance when I blocked him with my leg.  He has obviously got away with some pretty boisterous play and if I didn’t know better I’d say he’d been living with another dog of the same age, possibly a littermate, all his life with little supervision.  It’s just that full-on!

He had his first massage session with me this evening where I applied some TTouch to his body and he l-o-v-e-d it.  It had possibly the biggest calming effect I’ve seen on any dog.  He literally melted into my hands.  It was obvious he’s never experienced any handling like this before and it was a really nice bonding session.  He allowed me to touch him all over and even to lean over him and hug him (which was apparently the situation in which he bit someone and was given to rescue and I have to assess while he's with me).  

A very positive day with massive progress made in that the nervous, twitchy little guy I saw hiding a couple of days ago is now a confident, boisterous adolescent simply after a break in quiet, calm environment with some sensitive one-on-one handling.  If only rescues had more help so that dogs like Ted could get out of kennel environments and have the chance to simply chill out and get their bearings.  Volunteer to help your local rescue now!!!

More on Ted, with hopefully some pics, tomorrow.

Foster Dog Blog - Teddy

When I got up this morning, I didn’t think that at 9pm this evening I’d be fostering a skittish, nervous, hyper-aroused 11mth Viszla boy whose future is at risk because he had bitten the face of a child.

Long story short, I work as a behaviour assessor for a local rescue and when I was in there yesterday, they mentioned this little lad who nobody could get near.  Cut it even shorter, I realised that what he needed was a peaceful, quiet, uneventful environment without any foot-traffic, children, phones ringing, dogs barking etc.  I realised that’s what I could offer for a short while.  The rescue is so keen to save this dog, even though it’s bitten, that I offered my help.  Just how could I refuse?

Does this look comfortable and peaceful enough?  (This is my quilt off my own bed in there… it should be).

So I’m going to run a mini-blog on Teddy (as I have named him).  I always rename rescues that are relinquished for anxiety or fear just in case their existing name has negative associations.

Here’s the first blog:

17:00 – 18:00

Journey with Ted very uneventful once he was in the car.  Was extremely reluctant to get in but allowed himself to be picked up and placed in.  He didn’t whine or pace in the car and simply sat there.  I left a front window open so that cold, fresh air was flowing back to him (always helps dogs).

18:00

Got him back in the house, unclipped his lead and allowed him to simply pace about in the kitchen and office (we divide the house in half with a tall dog-gate and this is the ‘foster dog’ area).  He was very aroused, with dilated pupils, stiff, jerky body movements, tight tail & ear carriage and ‘skull skin’.  He gave a couple of slight ‘freezes’ at me, usually if I moved a hand a bit too quickly.  So I simply stood in the kitchen pretending to read the paper for 10 minutes, ignoring him totally.  He then started to slow down so I left him in this area and went to the other half of the house.

He whined for a few minutes.  When he stopped I came back into the kitchen, got myself something out of the fridge and then walked straight out again.

This procedure was copied for the next couple of hours with me merely popping in and out but not in response to any whining.  I didn’t pay him any attention, give him any eye contact or talk to him.  Gradually he got so bored at me coming through the gate and ignoring him that he didn’t even get up out of his bed to see what I was doing.

20:00

17yr daughter Rachael came home from being out with friends.  We met up with her outside.  Teddy behaved as if he’d seen a long-lost friend and jumped up to her.  Very sociable, excited and happy – lots of loose tail-wagging.   Rachael remained very calm with him and we all went for a short walk on the green where he toileted without prompt.  Rachael entered the house first so Ted could see she lives there too and we stood in the kitchen calmly to chat for a while.  Ted reverted back to his aroused state for a while so we hung out in the kitchen until Ted got bored with us and we went through to the other half of the house without talking to  him or looking back at him.

Ted went straight back to his bed without a murmur.

21:00

Seems very hungry (hadn’t been given afternoon feed so that he wouldn’t be travel sick and also to motivate him with food if necessary) so gave him some soaked Burns.  Left him alone completely to eat and then rest (concern about bloat).

Will blog about his first night here tomorrow – watch this space…  May be able to write more about his history too if I can get it.

This is the only pic I dared take of Mr Skittish tonight

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