Dog Breeding - Again

Ah it seems my last blog entry ruffled a few feathers, solely (as expected), from breeders and show people feeling the need to ‘have their say’.

Points made in response to my last blog included:

1. Reminding me that I own / have owned pedigree breeds myself so therefore must agree with selective breeding and accept that all dogs would be mongrels without breeders.
2. Saying they are confused by my statement that I do not support selective breeding, but then say that work needs to be done on improving the behaviour of dogs.
3. Individual breeders taking great pains to inform me of the careful selections they make when putting dogs together, suggesting that these actions are the only way to improve the health of dogs…

Point 1: 

I own dogs, not distinctions.  I don’t give a damn whether they are a specific breed or a Heinz 57 as long as they are physically and behaviourally healthy.  If you go to my website I’m the recent proud adoptee of a delightfully odd and vigorously healthy ‘mixed-breed’.  I’m also the owner of the result of obscenely irresponsible breeding, leaving my dog partially blind and profoundly deaf.  I love and respect both of them equally and if the cost of all dogs being healthy is for all dogs to look the same, I’d GLADLY make that sacrifice.

Point 2:

I’m not confused at all.  If I had my way, all selective breeding and aesthetic dog showing would be banned.  However as that’s unlikely to happen, I at least like to point out what ALL breeders should be doing to put the health of dogs first, instead of just some of them.

Point 3:

I really don’t see the point in informing me about people’s specific breeding practices as if it’s something to be proud of.  It really won’t convince me that it’s doing the dog as a species any good at all.  If people want to practice aesthetic manipulation I wish they’d do it on orchids and bonsai trees and leave wonderful, amazing, beautiful, intelligent and sentient beings alone.

Dog Breeding in the UK

Independent Dog Breeding Inquiry

I've just spend the day burrowing into the report on the Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding by Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS, published at 10am this morning.

The report can be downloaded and read by clicking the link above so I won't discuss the whole 64 page report.  I do however want to say things about some of the findings presented as many of them I recognise as laments of those of us working 'at the sharp end' of breeders' mistakes!

Firstly, I'm happy to see behavioural welfare being a topic fairly well represented.  Those of us that work with puppies see first-hand the kind of socially unbalanced examples from breeders who either don't bother with socialisation and habituation programmes or, as the report describes... 

"...reckon that they have nothing to learn and resent bureaucratic interference"

I am no fan of selective breeding or showing for very definite reasons;  the minute either ego or money enters the equation, the worst possible side of humanity shows through.  If animals are involved, they are the innocent victims and I'm really pleased that this report is quite strongly-worded in places regarding the lack of integrity they have noted in breeders, albeit accompanied by the disclaimer that this is a generalisation and does not apply to all, of course.

I fully expect to be reading and hearing the all-too-familiar complaints regarding the feasibility of implementing the recommendations etc but for me, the whole process of the Kennel Club and breeders finally taking responsibility for their past (and present) actions has to start somewhere.  

Yes it's going to be tough-going.  

Yes it's going to involve us dog professionals keeping this ball rolling and getting passionate about it.  

Yes, it's going to take time.

Complaining about it is merely taking up more of that time!  We have got to get the Kennel Club, Breed Clubs and individual breeders to listen and learn without prejudice.  We need a common motivator such as that provided by Cesar Millan in the recent coalition of major European canine health & welfare charities and organisations to pull together and condemn aversive techniques (link below)

Welfare in Dog Training

That common motivator should be animal welfare, but unfortunately as previously said, ego and money are often the primary motivators in dog breeding and showing and I believe that these are mutually exclusive to canine welfare.  

As said earlier, the Inquiry has discovered things that many of us have known for ages.  I've been trying to change breeder attitudes for many years; here's a link to an article I wrote back in 2006.

The Breeder's Legacy - Laying the Foundation 

I'm still astounded at the sheer volume of the general public who have NO IDEA about choosing the right dog for them.  I was speaking to someone today who has bought a historic fighting breed for the first time and when I asked why they bought it, they replied that 'they just like the look of the breed'.  Yes, I'm taking them under my wing and will be helping them as much as possible, especially as this is the 20wk pup's THIRD home...

Bottom Line:  (In this the Inquiry agrees with what I've believed for years) if the public are better informed and educated, they will ask the right questions and hopefully stop buying from the breeders and other outlets that are not complying with the rules and regs which are there for the welfare of the dog.  Let's pull together as dog-lovers, professionals and enthusiasts to help the general public help the welfare of the dog.

We can't do it without them.

They can't do it without us.

The Sense of Loss...

Some really lovely friends of mine have just lost one of their dogs to old age.  They emailed me to ask whether dogs miss their doggy companions when they die.  This is what I said to them:

“I know exactly how you’re feeling right now as it’s nearly a year since I lost Gus and the pain has never lessened. 

I think that dogs do miss someone they’ve lived with for a long time, but show it in different ways.  It also depends on how much time they spent together and how close they were, i.e. whether they shared the same bed all the time, whether they followed each other around and whether they spent regular time apart and alone in the house quite happily. 

I’ve found though that the owners’ inevitable sadness at the loss of the other dog far and away is the biggest cause of different behaviour from the dog left behind.  I have absolutely no doubt that K.. is picking up on your sadness because no matter how good we think we’re hiding it – they know us much better than we think they do.  They spend their lives watching us and learning about us.  It stands to reason that when we are going through something traumatic, they will be wondering what the hell is wrong.  We can then make the mistake of thinking they are mourning as painfully as we are and trying to comfort them, which in turn will make them more anxious because our normal behaviours have changed again.

We can have more of a talk about it when I see you if you like, but you’re doing all the right things keeping up with the normal routine for her.  It’s not going to be possible to simply forget about F……. just to keep K..from seeing your pain, so don’t beat yourself up if you do need to give her a hug to help you through a bad moment.  If she starts to behave oddly, like the howling the other night, ask yourself how you would have handled it if F......... was still here and handle it the same, i.e. don’t go to her assuming she’s missing him; it’ll make your behaviour alter in her eyes and that will unsettle her all the more. 

Also, as cruel as it sounds, don’t feel sorry for her.  She may have been close to F……., but she feels closer to you and now she has you all to herself.  That’s actually what most human-orientated dogs actually want more than anything else in the world so if you think about it, this could be a good time for her!   Crazy I know but that’s just because it seems wrong to us humans not to grieve for the loss of our loved ones. Animals are far more transitory in their relationships so don’t grieve for her too and she’ll be fine.  You will all be fine – in time”

Denial isn't just a river in Africa....

I was out with Sticky & Bailey yesterday afternoon in our village fields enjoying a lovely, quiet, uneventful walk with my four-legged friends when, a long-haired GSD flew out of the bushes and lunged at Sticky’s back.  I was about 10m away which isn’t normally a problem in this normally blissfully peaceful environment, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get there for a few seconds.  I was therefore very proud of little Sticky (Lab x Dachshund) who managed a neat trick of combining just enough appeasement with just enough warning behaviour to keep things from escalating into a fight (I believe this is due to the time spent in an Irish pound having to learn these life skills…)

 

I don’t tend to panic in these situations because, well, to be honest I’ve seen some horrendous dog fights and it does a marvellous job of desensitising you to the normal ‘handbags-at-dawn’ type squabble that domestic pet dogs tend to have; it’s actually dealing with the humans involved afterwards that normally gets my blood pressure to nuclear levels. 

 

I did a couple of deep yells and then I heard the owner (previously hidden on the path behind the bushes) yelling at his dog and come crashing through waving a stick at it.  He grabbed his poor dog who by this time was beside itself with panic and literally throttled it.  I called Sticks to me and found that although he had a few tooth-scrapes in his fur and a bit of slobber on him, was otherwise physically okay.

 

“Sorry about that – I didn’t see you were there” the owner replied, holding his petrified dog so tightly I thought it was going to pass out.

“What was that about?” I asked the owner calmly as I examined Sticky. 

“Dunno” he replied blandly with a shrug.

“Has it done that before?” I said, knowing full-well that this was an established behaviour.

“Nope – never” he said, not that convincingly.

“Look, I do this for a living and work with dogs like this almost every day; that was quite an established display.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” said the owner in an all-too-familiar kneejerk reaction.

“I don’t have to – your dog has just told me all I need to know.”

 

To save his poor dog any further pain I started to walk away but as calmly as possible asked the owner to get some help for his dog before it was too late and advised him that now his dog had now ‘attacked’ another once – not to let it happen again.  We both knew this wasn’t the first time the dog had done this but I thought it might be worth pretending to be in denial as deeply he was just to get a serious message across…

 

The owner said nothing more and dragged his dog off in the opposite direction.

 

What struck me hardest about this incident was how ineffectual this owner was with his dog and how easily this kind of problem can be resolved.  Luckily the dog has good ‘ABI’ (Acquired Bite Inhibition) or we’d have had to stitch poor Sticky up like a patchwork quilt, but it seemed obvious to me that this dog is crying out for his owner to write the Rulebook and be his Referee, not let him wander around feeling anxious and lost enough to just launch himself at passing dogs.

 

As an example, once I’d released Sticky after examining him he went to trot back up to the GSD, who had by now shut down completely and was just sitting there with a glazed look in his eyes, still held far too tightly by the collar.  I merely said ‘No’ in a calm, firm voice, called Sticks back and he stopped and came back immediately, which he was praised for with a smile and a wink and a ‘Good Lad’.  Our rulebook says when I say ‘No’, Sticky stops.  Our rulebook says when I say ‘Sticks Come’, Sticky comes back.  Our rulebook says he gets a wink and a smile and even – sometimes – a treat for following the rules.  He knows I’ll enforce it if I have to.  He knows where he stands.  It’s a nicer place to be for a dog.  And an owner. 

 

I hope the GSD gets the help he needs and the incident yesterday proves to be a turning point in his life.

 

Sticky, by the way, is physically okay but a bit unsettled today.  After a bit of a shock like this and the subsequent adrenalin rush, it can take a dog a couple of days to get back to a normal maintenance state.  At least he’s in the right place for the help he needs to recover.  I find myself wondering if the poor GSD will get the same or whether his owner still thinks denial is just a river in Africa…

Nature v Nurture

I’ve been watching an interesting thread on a dog forum with pro-bull breeds and anti-bull breeds ‘discussing’ whether these dogs make good family pets.  This has been my response today…

 

Its the age-old question of nature v nurture. BOTH should be considered in the temperament of a dog (or any animal). Breeds historically (and currently, tragically) bred for fighting will have had the most 'gamey' specimens used for selected breeding and this will be a factor in their temperament down the line unless those characteristics have been specifically bred out.

However, what most people forget is that it is just as easily achieved to 'breed in' aggression with dogs that were never used for fighting, simply by naive breeders selecting for aesthetics rather than soundness of temperament. I have temperament assessed and worked with many dogs of differing breeds over the years and believe me, there are some breeds and lines of dogs previously known for their docility that are becoming more prone to display aggression, yet it's only the stereotyped breeds that make the headlines...

A game of Chicken or Dare...

I had an interesting run in today with a dog in our village that is well known for being out of it’s yard and out of control with no owners in sight.

It’s a little beagle / basset cross female who has, in the past hurtled across one of the village green areas from outside it’s house and aggressed at dogs passing by.

I’ve already had a ‘run-in’ with the owner in the past; a delightful woman who behaved much like her dog except the effect was much muted by the fact she was dressed in her pyjamas and dressing gown at 1pm in the afternoon…

Well this poor little dog was again out this afternoon as I took my two for their run up in the fields.  We spotted each other from a distance and, predictable as clockwork, she came hurtling around the corner, hackles upright and ready for action.

What she hadn’t expected was that I was standing there waiting for her.

With my (onlead) dogs BEHIND me (so they understood that I was dealing with this, not them,) I stood full square, pointed at her, glared and calmly growled “DON’T”…

I wish I’d had a video because she skidded to a halt, her tail went so far under her legs that it could have tickled her chin and she immediately dropped to the floor, turned quietly away and skulked back off around the corner.

Round one to me…

 

About an hour later I wondered if we would have a repeat performance on our way back from the fields.

As I approached ‘her’ territory I looked across and saw her sitting outside her gate, I presume still waiting for someone to let her into her yard (it was by now raining… poor soul). 

She looked at me.

I looked at her.

I raised one finger and glared at her.

She looked away calmly and stayed where she was.

 

Round two and the match to me…  

Just for owners of Dachsies & Terriers...

I was studying today (psychopharmacology) and came across this pearl of wisdom that is SO obvious it made me laugh…

“Digging may be a nuisance but it is an innate trait for many dogs.  Terriers and Dachshunds were bred to flush out prey or to locate rodents in underground areas where digging is required.”

 

No kidding!!!  Anybody that has a terrier or a Dachsie or crosses thereof will laugh as I did…  Unless they’re exhibiting their digging skills in your prize-winning begonia beds of course!

 

Dog / Dog Greetings

I was up in the woods today walking with Bailey & Sticky.  It was lovely – we almost had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours! 

We met up with a few owner dog partnerships though; some who had their dogs on lead, so I of course got mine back and held them to me quietly as they passed by, and some with offlead dogs who I assumed were offlead because they don’t present a problem in public areas.

We were walking towards a pair of Weimaraners who were offlead with their owner.  As we approached one of them came forward to approach us.  Sticky did the same thing but then hesitated.  He had sensed something not right.  He paused, gave some very clear ‘cut off’ signalling to the other dog/s and looked back at me.  I smiled at him and said ‘Good boy Sticks’ to reinforce his peaceful actions instead of flying upto them out of control. 

As we got closer he approached the Weimaraner pair and everything seemed pretty okay; lots of mutual bottom sniffing and wheeling around each other.  Sticks then pottered off peacefully.  By this time Bailey and I had caught up.  I always hold her collar quietly and accompany her up to other dogs just so that she approaches gently and doesn’t alarm them by running upto them.

I then became aware of why Sticky had paused.  The male Weimaraner was in an extreme state of arousal.  His pupils were almost fully dilated, his hackles were up all the way along his neck to the base of his tail, his movements were stiff and deliberate and his general behaviour was far from relaxed and friendly.

Instead of calmly scenting Bailey, he immediately launched himself onto her shoulders, pushing her down.  She responded by playbowing and jumping to appease him as she could obviously sense his ‘tone’ too.  Far from appeasing and encouraging to play, he became even more agitated, trying to stand over her, shoulder-barge her and pounding on her shoulders and neck again and again.  I then realised that the owner was not going to step in so calmly stood between them, helping poor Bailey out and providing a barrier for her as she had become stressed by this wildly inappropriate behaviour.  The owner then said ‘oh he does this – I have to be careful with him’, grabbed him and pulled him away. 

I said nothing more and simply trotted on with Bailey, wanting to help her recover quickly from this ‘thug-mugging’, which she did within a few minutes.

I have no doubt that that the Weimaraner was ‘spoiling for a fight’ and if Bailey hadn’t behaved in such an overtly appeasing manner, he would have picked one.  I know many dogs who would have objected to his thuggish behaviour with a growl or stiffness, and this Weimaraner would have over-reacted because he was already in a state of hyper-arousal.  Who knows why?  Maybe he was never socialised properly as a pup, maybe he was attacked by another thug when he was younger, maybe he is fed a high-protein ‘working dog’ food… Who knows?

The owner knows… that’s who.

She KNOWS there was a problem with this dog’s reaction to other dogs but instead of dealing with this situation promptly, calmly and with some authority, she allowed him to continue his mugging uninterrupted until I stepped in.  She KNOWS there is a problem with this dog but allows him offlead around others.

It’s this kind of owner that gives the rest of us a bad name; someone that KNOWS deep down there is a problem but is in denial, allowing their dog to practice their behaviour unchecked and without getting any kind of help.  It is the dog I feel sorry for.  One day it is going to mug the wrong dog, end up seriously hurt and it will be his owner, the one who should be guiding him and leading him through life, who must carry the blame – but she won’t.  She will blame the owner of the other dog.  Scary, isn’t it?

Car Safety For Your Pet

Car Safety For Your Pet

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News on Bailey...

Just to update everybody that has been following Bailey’s story…

She is starting to work through her anxiety and we’re seeing definite progress now.  She will now get up on her normal places to have a sleep as she slowly learns that  strangers are no longer going to appear in her home.  We’ve been very careful not to move too much furniture about or create too many changes (despite the place being very dusty now and us needing to change all the furniture covers and throws etc!) because re-establishing her behavioural stability is the most important thing at the moment (and it gives me an excuse to put off the massive early spring cleaning job!).  She is still showing some signs of cognitive impairment such as confusion and not recognising people terribly quickly but this could just be her being EXTRA careful about her environment in general so I’m putting off investigating pharmacological intervention for this problem for the time being.  It’s like caring for a beloved grandparent who needs a bit of extra help with everyday tasks, bless.  And it’s the least we can do for a member of our family that has given us so much love and devotion over the years.

We’ve also been noticing a very subtle shift in the relationship between her and Sticky…  He’s been with us about 6 months now and as all people in rescue know, it usually takes about this long for an adopted adult dog to finally get their paws under the table and understand this is where they are staying now.  We’ve been noticing some very subtle bed-hopping going on; this is a common way of very peacefully and passively establishing hierarchy in family dogs.  For example, as soon as Bailey vacates a bed space, Sticks will hop up and take the space for himself.  Bailey will come back, see she has lost her space but instead of standing there for a while to see if he’ll move, or getting up on the sofa beside him, she will now immediately look for somewhere else.

It may be because Sticks has sensed the shift in Bailey in being a senior dog now, especially with the behavioural ‘weakness’ she has shown lately and is doing the very natural thing of taking over the top dog spot.  It could be Sticky now realising he is here to stay and as a very confident little guy, deciding he would like to be top dog, or it could simply be because it’s getting colder in the house now and he wants the warmest spot!

It’s all been done in a very passive, peaceful way though and this, for me, is the correct interpretation of dominant behaviour in dogs; calm and gentle, without any aggression or angst.

Poor Bailey...

Poor Bailey…

Since my last blog Bailey has been through the mill a bit.

We had to have plumbers in the house for a few days last week and this disturbed Bailey greatly.  We dealt with it the best way we could, making sure that she could always see us but trying to keep our behaviour as ‘normal’ as possible while chaos ensued all around us.

The day after the plumbers left, there was an incident in the evening where we think Bailey accidently nudged or sat on Sticky while he was sleeping in the living room.  It was fairly dark in the room as I was working in the office next door so I can only assume that Bailey didn’t see him and he snapped at her.  For the next day or two after that Bailey found it impossible to rest.  She was continually anxious and couldn’t sleep properly anywhere.  She displayed extreme Hypervigilance (a known condition where dogs are so stressed that they are examining everything and looking everywhere) and was obviously very distressed.  I determined that this was probably due to the combination of the upheaval of the past few days and then when Sticky snapped at her, she probably didn’t even realise it was him and her anxiety had generalised to the point where she couldn’t relax at all.  Anywhere.

I decided to supplement her diet with an amino acid which helps to increase production of a certain neurotransmitter in the brain that induces a more relaxed state.  Within 12 hours of beginning this, she had her first deep sleep for days.  This could have been simple exhaustion taking over or the dietary assistance, but when she found the supplement in her food one morning and I found it spat out on the floor, I noticed that she didn’t rest much that day.

Unfortunately for Bailey, just as she was beginning to show signs of relaxing in her home again, the supervisor called today to ‘inspect the work’ (which incidentally hasn’t been undertaken properly and the plumbers need to return at some point).  I observed quite an extreme reaction of stress; panting, shivering, extreme fur shedding, paw and ear sweating.  This time as our visitor was wandering all over the house instead of sitting in the same room and reading or watching TV in an effort to ‘appear normal’, I tried a different approach…

I decided to act as Bailey’s ‘Guardian’ and stood at the doorway of the living room where she spends most of her time.  I made it very clear to Bailey by ‘blocking’ the doorway with my arms and legs that nobody was going to be getting in past me.  I didn’t move from this spot for the entire 40 minutes that the visitor was in the home and only allowed him past for a few seconds when he had to examine the radiator in the living room and even then put myself between him and Bailey calmly.

Within 10 minutes of me standing in the doorway, she lay down on her bed and relaxed a little.  This was a much better state for her than standing very stiffly in the middle of the living room panting.  She was still a little stressed but it was obvious to me that by taking obvious and clear action to ‘protect’ her space, she felt able to relax a little more than before, when we were simply behaving as normal.  I realised that, for Bailey at least, behaving normally when we have strangers in the house is not the right thing to do; she needs us to step up and convince her that she is safe by NOT reacting as if nothing is happening.  We need to acknowledge her fear and anxiety and show her that we will protect her.

This has introduced me to a different perspective that I’m going to investigate in the treatment of anxiety in dogs.  The standard advice is to ‘behave normally’ but there is now reason for me to think that there are dogs for whom this is not an appropriate response.  I will certainly be giving this more thought and exploring the possibility that there needs to be a change in the way that behaviourists deal with anxiety or fear in the home…

How Change can Affect Dogs...

We’ve just had a really stressful week in our home with contractors upgrading our heating system throughout the house. Poor Bailey, our deaf Great Dane has been really stressed with the appearance of strangers, furniture moving around, lots of ‘debris’ all over the place etc.

For a deaf or blind dog, normality is crucial but even more so in their home.  Being deaf means that Bailey needs to trust in her environment to be able to fully relax and so we keep it as predictable and normal as possible for her.  We don’t move furniture around much or have too many visitors in the house unless she has met them first outside and come in with them.  When she is asleep her sensory perception is obviously severely limited so she hasn’t been able to get much rest in her home with strangers ‘appearing’ out of nowhere or being there when she wakes up.

We have taken time off to make sure that we have always been near her so that when she wakes up, she sees us somewhere near.  As she’s a senior lady now she sleeps a lot so it’s been very time consuming!  We have been careful not to change our behaviour around her – we’re just doing something normal like reading or watching TV or working nearby on the laptop – because if we try and comfort or reassure her if she wakes with a startle reflex, this would be ‘abnormal’ behaviour from us and will unsettle her even more.  If she wakes and sees one of us completely relaxed and normal while chaos is going on in the rest of the place, it helps settle her more than if we actively try to ‘help’ her.

One sad side-effect of all of the upheaval is that she has become afraid of the dark.  Bailey has restricted vision, especially at night, and in the last few dark evenings, probably because of the equipment and tools left around the house and in the yard, she has refused to go into darkened areas, even if we are with her.

We’re hoping that now the work is finished in the house and things are getting back to normal, Bailey will gradually settle and sleep soundly again…

 

MORE reasons not to use aversive collars!

What beautiful sense this makes…

 

On choke chains, prong collars (also shock collars and spray collars!)…

 

“If your dog becomes so reactive over another dog or person, to the extend that he incapable of listening to you, he is in an aroused chemical state.  If… his air supply is shut off with a choke collar, or pain is inflicted with a pinch (prong) collar, you are not doing anything to help this animal to calm down!  A choke or pinch (prong) collar contributes to the arousal level by increasing the adrenaline level.”

 

Why oh why does this not make perfect sense to people still using these things???!

 

Source:  “Aggression in Dogs:  Practical Management, Prevention & Behaviour Modification”  by Brenda Aloff.

 

Some Common Sense...

While studying today I found this:

 

“… a comparison of 13,097 Swedish dogs of 31 breeds found that dogs bred for showing were more likely to display social and nonsocial fearfulness and were less playful and curious than dogs from working lines (Svartberg, 2005). 

 

This survey was no mere straw poll of a few hundred dogs… This was a MAJOR piece of research conducted with over 13,000 dogs.  When you find these kinds of numbers in a study, the results have to be taken seriously.

 

“Many breeders now understand the need to avoid inbreeding of very close relatives, but they often do not look far enough up the pedigree for common ancestry.  Unfortunately, some breeders still do in-breed as they strive for specific anatomical features as laid down in the breed standards.”

 

On many occasions I have asked owners whether they researched their new puppy’s pedigree thoroughly and they’ve said, ‘yes – the parents were fine’.  I have yet to meet anybody that researched FIVE GENERATIONS back to check common ancestry and the possible in-breeding of genetic abnormalities.

 

Source:  Rooney N.J. “The Welfare of Pedigree Dogs” Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, Volume 4, No 5, September- October 2009, p182-183

 

Obese Dogs...

I went to see a dog today that was so overweight that it found it difficult to walk. Why do dog owners look at their obese dog and see a fit, healthy one? (this owner actually thought her dog was UNDERWEIGHT!!)

It's body dysmorphia gone mad.

Just because this dog happened to be a Neapolitan Mastiff, known for it’s solid frame and lots of loose skin, the owner thought the dog had to be massive, despite the fact that this one had quite a small frame (a female).

The dog had that all-too-common sickening ‘roll’ from side to side as the the fat underneath her skin slid around as she walked. She was exercise intolerant due to the excess weight she was carrying and one of her hips was weakening, probably due to dysplasia but not helped by the inches of fat covering her hips and back.

I felt utter despair at YET ANOTHER dog owner who had absolutely no idea what a healthy, fit, toned dog should look like, no matter what size ‘frame’ they have. I have the extreme view that this is a kind of cruelty up there with starving or beating a dog. There is no excuse for making your dog fat. WE are the ones in control of their dietary intake; they are trusting US to keep a check on their weight and diet but we can’t even do that right a lot of the time. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Luckily I went to assess this kind, sweet-natured, gentle dog with a view to finding her a new home and will do my utmost to ensure that I find her one with people who know what a healthy dog looks like and will not kill their her with ‘kindness’.

**WARNING** Grass Seed Season!

I have just spent the last 10 minutes gently extracting not just one or two but FIVE grass seeds – one of them over a centimetre in length – from underneath my dog’s  eyelids after a run in the fields.

 

This is the worst time of the year for grass seeds and they are designed to grip and cling to whatever they make contact with; in this instance,  Sticky’s eyeballs!

 

I was going to post a video of me extracting them but I didn’t want to make anybody faint!  It really was horrific stuff, with the biggest seed actually making me think for one awful moment that I was pulling out a piece of eye tissue – it was that big.

 

Please please please make sure you check your dog’s eyes, ears, paws and pay careful attention if your dog seems in any discomfort.  We thought we’d cleared Sticky for seeds but they had worked their way right round and deep around the eyeball and when he couldn’t stop pawing his eyes, we knew something was wrong.

 

Obviously be careful about digging around the eyeball and if any doubt whatsoever, get your dog to a vet and keep them out of long grass for the time being to prevent it from reoccurring.

 

Obesity in Dogs...

A fascinating piece of research undertaken by Kienzle et al (1998) says the following:

 

“The results of this survey indicate that owners of obese dogs tend to interpret their dog’s every need as a request for food.  It appears that this is due, in part, to a transfer of their own health and eating habits, including a certain laziness and a lack of appreciation of the dog’s nutritional and health requirements.  In counselling these owners, they should be encouraged to respond to the dog’s requests for attention not always with food, but more frequently with physical activities, such as brisk walks or regular play sessions.  There will be benefit for both dog and owner.”

 

For me, there is absolutely no excuse for obesity in companion animals.  Even those that have an underlying physical condition can be kept at a healthy weight by good nutritional management.  I agree with the researcher’s findings above that obese animals are normally suffering from some kind of emotional displacement of their owners, including denial!

 

Loss...

No matter what anybody says, to those of us who share our lives with canine friends, the loss of one can hurt as deeply and for as long as losing a human one...

 

Never, ever belittle your feelings when feeling the loss of a dog, or a cat, or ANY friend, no matter what species it was.  It matters not how many legs it had or whether it had fur or feather; what matters is what they represented in your life.

 

My dog Gus represented unconditional love, faith and loyalty in mine and with this he gave me what no other companion ever has (and that includes human ones!).

 

I get through the days and the weeks since I last touched him as I did when he was here but every now and again something pulls the connecting thread between us taut and the pain of loss mixed with the power of the love we had for each other is overwhelming.

 

What was it today? 

 

It was something that had become so much a part of our lives that I have been living with it, walking past it every day for the past five months not even realising that it was there.  It was uniquely his.  Uniquely ours.

 

“What was it?”  I hear you ask.

 

HIS SLOBBER TOWEL!!!  Yes, still with his slobber on, it was hanging up over the door near the water as it always did and I hadn’t even realised I hadn’t taken it down.  Isn’t it funny what catches us out?...

World-Renowned Experts' Opinions on 'Dog Whispering'

QUOTES FROM EXPERTS:
World-renowned dog trainers, behaviorists and veterinarians had all warned National Geographic that Millan’s methods had the potential for disaster. Below are quotes from noted experts:

Dr. Nicholas Dodman - Professor and Head, Section of Animal Behavior
Director of Behavior Clinic, Tufts University - Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
“Cesar Millan's methods are based on flooding and punishment. The results, though immediate, will be only transitory. His methods are misguided, outmoded, in some cases dangerous, and often inhumane. You would not want to be a dog under his sphere of influence. The sad thing is that the public does not recognize the error of his ways. My college thinks it is a travesty. We’ve written to National Geographic Channel and told them they have put dog training back 20 years.”

 

Jean Donaldson, The San Francisco SPCA-Director of The Academy for Dog Trainers
“Practices such as physically confronting aggressive dogs and using of choke collars for fearful dogs are outrageous by even the most diluted dog training standards.  A profession that has been making steady gains in its professionalism, technical sophistication and humane standards has been greatly set back.  I have long been deeply troubled by the popularity of Mr. Millan as so many will emulate him.  To co-opt a word like ‘whispering’ for arcane, violent and technically unsound practice is unconscionable.”

Dr. Suzanne Hetts, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
Co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., Littleton, CO
"A number of qualified professionals have voiced concern for the welfare of pet dogs that experience the strong corrections administered by Mr. Millan. My concerns are based on his inappropriateness, inaccurate statements, and complete fabrications of explanations for dog behavior. His ideas, especially those about “dominance”, are completely disconnected from the sciences of ethology and animal learning, which are our best hope for understanding and training our dogs and meeting their behavioral needs. Many of the techniques he encourages the public to try are dangerous, and not good for dogs or our relationships with them ."

Vyolet Michaels, CTC, CPDT (Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Counselor)
Owner of Urban Dawgs, LLC of Red Bank, NJ
"Cesar Millan employs outdated methods that are dangerous and inhumane. Using a choke chain and treadmill to treat fear of strangers and dogs is completely inappropriate. Hopefully the National Geographic Channel will listen to the scientific community and discontinue production of The Dog Whisperer."

Janis Bradley, Instructor at The San Franciso SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers
Author of the book, "Dogs Bite"
"On his TV show, the main method Millan uses for aggression is aversives (leash jerks, kicks, snaps of the hand against the neck, and restraint, among others) applied non contingently. The aversives are non contingent because they are so frequent that they're not connected to any particular behavior on the part of the dog—the dog gets popped pretty much constantly. This results in a state called learned helplessness, which means the animal hunkers down and tries to do as little as possible. This is what Millan calls "calm submission." It's exactly the same thing you see in a rat in a Skinner box that is subjected to intermittent shocks it can do nothing to avoid. This can happen quite fast, by the way, shall we say in ten minutes? The dangers to the dog are obvious, ranging from chronic stress to exacerbating the aggression, i.e., some dogs fight back when attacked. This latter is the simplest reason that aversives are a bad idea in treating aggression. Even used technically correctly as positive punishment for specific behaviors like growling and snarling, aversives do nothing to change the underlying fear or hostility, so the best you can hope for, in the words of famed vet and behaviorist, Ian Dunbar, is "removing the ticker from the time bomb." Thus such methods substantially increase the risk to humans of getting bitten."

Excerpt of letter from Lisa Laney, Dip. DTBC, CPDT, CBC
to National Geographic before airing “The Dog Whisperer”:
“The intended program depicts aversive and abusive training methods - treatment for some serious anxiety and fear based issues - being administered by an individual with no formal education whatsoever in canine behavioral sciences. The "results" that are shown are more than likely not long lasting changes, but the result of learned helplessness, or fatigue, neither of which impact behavior to any significant long term degree - at least not in a good way. For those of us who are pioneering the effort to end the ignorance that drives the cruel treatment administered upon our canine companions, it is disappointing to see that this programming will reach the masses - especially on the NG Channel. The ignorance that this program perpetuates will give equally ignorant people the green light to subject their dogs to abuse. In turn these dogs will react even more defensively, will bite more people - and end up dead.”

 

From:  http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html

 

Belle

It is with great happiness that this blog entry is to detail how Belle has been doing in her new home!

Once her gut problems had cleared I could see no reason why she couldn’t start her new life with her new family so I dropped her off five days ago along with her bedding and a couple of days food.

It’s always indescribably nerve-wracking to rehome a Mastino and I am the first one to admit that I probably go overboard with instructions and guidance because it is so important to me that the dog settles as quickly as possible! However I had nothing to worry about as these owners have listened to everything I’ve told them and have the space for Mastini to be happy.

I can now reveal that Belle has gone to live with Luca, the poor dog that lived in muddy yard all his life and didn’t leave it to go for a walk for over a year. His owners did a fantastic job with him so they were the obvious choice for such an important job raising a Mastino pup! He has taken to his new Mastina friend beautifully, gently but firmly helping to teach her about manners better than ANY human could!

So far so good; everything is going well, with Belle relaxing more every day and already adores her male owner now that she knows he’s actually not a scary bloke and really quite nice!

Here are some pictures that I took during the follow up visit the other day of Belle with her new Dad and Uncle Luca! They make me very happy….

Belle - End of Wk 2

During the past 48 hours Belle’s stomach has improved greatly with normal stools and it’s a lot easier to cope with cleaning up after her now!  The other two are also absolutely fine now so all of the dogs have been mixing calmly and happily throughout the house, sharing floor space and a big mattress in the yard in the sun.  Belle is actually very respectful of the other two dogs, albeit clumsily (as a pup always is).

 

The only thing we are watching extremely carefully is her resource anxiety around water.  We have multiple water bowls throughout the house and yard and if she isn’t drinking from them is no problem but the moment she puts her head down to drink, if another of the dogs approaches she becomes very anxious and ‘freezes’.  To help combat this we’ve put water in her ‘room’ next to  her crate which is ‘hers’; the other dogs do not go into this room when there is a foster dog in, even though it’s my office!  Belle seems to understand that if she wants a drink, this is where she can go and drink ‘in peace’ without having to scan and freeze.

 

She is a still quite reactive when out on walks and when we visited her new owners again she was still edgy around the male owner but it was promising to see that if she had the space to escape from him, she always did this rather than decrease the distance and try to ‘intimidate’ him away from her (which is what she does if on a lead).

 

She’s now hitting the end of the ‘honeymoon’ period with a newly-relocated dog so we’re expecting behaviour shifts, but we also think she may be coming into season as there were a couple of blood-spots on her bed this morning so this may also be responsible for a slight escalation in anxiety or reactivity.

 

We’re now just waiting for the test results on her fecal sample earlier this week and if they’re all clear she can go to her new home and start her new life (fingers crossed!).

Aggression Breeds Aggression

Here is an excerpt of a post I’ve just written on the UKRCB forum…

 

“CM is forever saying 'This is good, this is good' when he pressurises a dog so much it smashes through it's impulse threshold. He thinks the only way to deal with aggression is to create aggression so he can 'correct' aggression.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...

He thinks that flooding and crowding dogs while forcing them to tolerate the stimulus is the way to 'cure them'.

God, so wrong!

 

I really wish that we could afford to get CM over here and face a panel of real behaviourists, televise it and make people see the fraud that he is.”

 

 

Ups & Downs

The one thing about writing a blog is so that people can follow the ups AND the downs.  I was very down this morning when there was no end in sight but today the antibiotics seem to be kicking in and things are getting a little easier to deal with on the cleaning up front!  That’s what foster care can be about and this is the worst I’ve ever felt with a foster dog.  I’d rather deal with biting and snarling and lunging than diahorrea… You don’t have to throw out all your carpets and redecorate afterwards!

 

The other nice thing that took my mind off things today was taking a day out with the Tuesday Walk Club to a nearby park with some lakes to play in and the dogs, bless them, showed us that it isn’t just ducks that love this weather!

 

 

 

Belle - Week 2

By far the worst thing that we’ve had to deal with in fostering Belle has been the gut infection she brought with her which has not only affected our own dogs but has now affected me too.  Whether it’s Giardia, Salmonella, Campobylacter etc doesn’t matter anymore.  I am utterly exhausted, dejected, disillusioned and finding it difficult to work which is now causing me terrible financial hardship too.  The sheer strain of clearing up after not one but three dogs who have uncontrollable and dangerous diahorrea is simply soul-breaking and it’s making me feel like I cannot put my family (and that includes my dogs) through this any longer so I’ve had to make the heartbreaking decision that Belle will be the last dog we foster for the time being.  We will pull Belle and everyone else through this but no more.  Foster care has finally defeated me and I will now concentrate on running the rescue and my canine behaviour consultancy (which funds the rescue in so many ways…).   

 

 

It’s just been a disastrous, traumatic, horrific time that I hope nobody else has to go through and the plea to the kennels where she came from is that if any other dog shows any signs of diahorrea at any time, PLEASE don’t just pass them on…  It can, as in this case, have catastrophic consequences.  I have taken this burden on and not passed Belle onto her new home because she will infect the existing dogs;  I wish that all kennel facilities could be this responsible.

 

Belle - Day 8

Just have to post pics of what happened today…

 

Belle and her new male owner had that magical moment (after some careful, gentle desensitisation and counterconditioning).  Everyone in rescue knows exactly what I mean and a picture (or five!) will speak a thousand words… 

 

 

 

Belle - 1 week in...

Belle today met her new owners again but to ensure that her anxiety was kept to a minimum we met in ‘her’ yard.

Strict instructions were as follows (for us all!):

1.       No bending down over her or towards her

2.      Moving as calmly and quietly as possible around her

3.      No prolonged eye contact

4.      If she jumps up, turn your body away from her to ‘block’ her

I also coincided this visit with her lunch so that she could be fed by them and start to change her emotional state around them from anxiety and mistrust to a more positive one.

Both owners complied with the instructions to the letter and within half an hour they were sitting down and feeding Belle by hand.  She even let the male owner tickle her quietly under the chin.  She was relaxed and calm after half an hour so we decided to end it there on such a good note.

A completely different outcome to a couple of days ago simply because we kept everything calm and controlled around her!

Dealing with Anxious Dogs...

An excerpt from an email I have sent to the prospective owners of Belle, the dog I've been fostering who last night lunged at the male owner because he bent down to her...

 

 

"Just a little thing that I was thinking about last night to help you realise how long it takes before you can be affectionate with a dog...  I have only just started slightly bending over Belle FIVE DAYS after living with her 24 hours a day, and even then I am very cool and controlled about it.  I’m naturally a very ‘stand-off’ person with all dogs simply because I understand that they don’t like crowding physical contact and I have never been bitten during an introduction with a new dog simply because I stand still and ignore them, making no sudden moves, keeping my hands out of the way and making no eye contact.  I present myself as completely benign to them so that they can feel okay about coming to scent me first, which is how dogs (especially anxious ones) prefer to say hello; not with eye contact, smiles, touching or talking to them.  Belle has a ‘bubble’ around her that she can only let people into that she completely trusts, and after five days of living with her almost 24/7 she’s only JUST allowing me in…"

 

Belle - Days 3 & 4

We've had a very typical week with a new young foster. Ups and downs but her baseline character is definitely coming through now and she has got a very pleasant temperament with people, showing no aggression whatsoever with lots of passive affectionate gestures. We're all treating her very consistently; not rewarding her jumping up, barking at us (or other people),jumping up at the kitchen surfaces or the gate etc and these behaviours are noticeably decreasing.

House training has been very difficult as we now think she has a stomach bug which is still giving her diahorrea so she will be off to the vets tomorrow
for a check up! Diahorrea is extremely common with new dogs but she has been drinking regularly so she's not dehydrated and isn't actually losing weight so we haven't been too worried but 3 days with no sign of improvement, even on Burns foods, is too long so the vet will hopefully be able to help her. It's been really hard work trying not to get disheartened with cleaning up so much mess for so long, but that's foster care.

She has met and been for a walk now with Bailey the Great Dane and our little dog Sticky. She has been extremely excited to greet them and has tried to play a little too roughly but has reacted very appropriately when corrected by them; she is learning to read the 'cut off' signalling that they're giving her and breaking eye contact, turning away and becoming calmer around them.

She is a VERY quick learner and more importantly, eager to learn! This has been a bit of a revelation; for a Molosser to react well to training! Her lead work and 'Sit' training is coming along beautifully but if you lax just a little bit, she does still take advantage - well she's a 12wk puppy in a HUGE body! It does make me absolutely livid that all of this basic training should have been dealt with by the age of 16-20 weeks. It's so much harder for a dog to learn after this but people just will not put the time and effort with their pups...

Unfortunately the current heatwave has rendered all of us practically housebound during the day with temperatures of almost 30 degrees. She has had a fan on her constantly and this has kept her cool and comfortable.(We're sweltering as all the fans in the house are on the dogs!!!)

Pictures of Belle

Here are some pictures of Belle taken in her bed last night.

Belle - Day Three

The first 48 hours over and the real hard work begins...

Unfortunately it's been a helluva lot worse than usual because of the awful heat at the moment - it hit over 30 degrees again today. Belle was very restless, even though we had a fan on her all day. We then swapped the fan for a larger one this afternoon and she seemed a little more able to settle.

She's not eating much but that is fairly common with foster dogs being swapped over onto another food. We've had to put her straight onto Burns as we can't feed the food that was provided because it is mostly animal and vegetable derivatives, provides absolutely no nutritional quality and is far too high in protein to help with her behaviour.

She also still has diahorrea and is sadly not housetrained so the last couple of days have been extremely difficult for me and the rest of the family as she doesn't seem to want to toilet outside at all. This is a very common problem with dogs that have come out of a long stay in kennels; they just get used to toileting wherever they want to (just another reason why
we don't like kennelling dogs!).

One of her accidents in the house today had a little drop of blood in the urine so there is a chance she is coming into season which might explain some of the restless behaviour.

She met Bailey the Great Dane female for about a minute today (supervised and in the yard). She showed absolutely no aggression but there was a high level of anxiety and tension there as she clearly displayed that she hasn't got a clue about what to do when she meets another dog. This is going to have to be a very detailed rehabilitation with very carefully selected dogs I think..

Normally we would exercise her a bit more to help her to settle when indoors but in this heat we're not able to get her out for a proper walk until the evenings although I did take her to sit outside the house on a public green for 10 minutes a couple of times just to get her out for a change of scenery.

She is still giving a couple of barks at people but I'm teaching her that I don't want her to do this by taking charge of the situation and walking her calmly and confidently around in a circle away from the stimulus, re-approaching and praising her for settled behaviour. If I were to punish or react harshly she would simply associate people with not-very-nice things happening to her and that is the opposite of what we would like.

Teaching her to sit instead of jump up for attention is going well. She's starting to realise that jumping up merely gets her completely blanked and actively ignored. If she sits or even lies down and rolls over we will immediately be happy and smiling and interactive with her.

This is all very basic puppy training stuff which we'd normally have done and sorted by the age of 16 weeks so she's a very immature, young pup in a great big body and months behind in her behavioural development. I've always understood why people have trouble coping when their cute bundle of wrinkles turns into something like Belle, but I've got no sympathy for people that didn't do their homework BEFORE getting a Neapolitan Mastiff pup in the first place....