Success Just Clicks

DBPM–Numbers aren’t the whole story

Tena_successjustclicks — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:38:34 +0000

With the increasing number of publicized dog bite incidents (fatal or not), there are many people spewing out factoids and numbers blaming certain breeds for being man-eaters. These people will quote any number of “studies” and Center for Disease Control statistics that say certain breeds are dangerous. Other people quote other “studies” that say that other breeds are responsible for more bites or that there are no specific breeds more likely to kill/maim/attack than other breeds that it’s all about individuals. So what’s the deal? What’s the truth?

Well, I think the truth lays somewhere in the middle. Are there some dogs who, if they decide to bite could easily do more damage than others with a single bite–sure (this isn’t to say that a small dog can’t do some serious damage). Are there some breeds of dogs who are more likely to show some type of aggression than others–probably (I mean protection, aloofness, and guarding can all be found in breed descriptions or standards).

I won’t sit here and quote statistics and numbers from various studies or publications because I think the vast majority of them are extremely flawed and biased.

How are they flawed and biased, you might ask. Well, I think there are a few big problems with dog bite statistics (not studies).

1. There are a large number of bites that are never reported. These are often bites from small breed dogs that do not require a visit to the emergency room. These bites may result in wounds but are not serious enough for people to visit a doctor. I also think that many bites that happen within a family are never reported. I know none of the dog bites I sustained during my life (from childhood on up) have ever been reported. With many bites going unreported and so many of them likely being from small dogs, the ‘data’ we do have is likely quite skewed.

2. Breed identification inaccuracies are ridiculously common (and deciphering mixed breed dogs is not a science). Let’s be honest, even animal control officers–professionals–have problems properly identifying breeds let alone a lay person. There are so many dogs that are mislabeled as being “pit bull type” that it borders on the ridiculous. There was a bite incident locally a few years back where a purebred Rottweiler was labeled as a pit bull in all the news stories and the initial incident reports (it was later corrected in a two sentence “correction” in the newspaper). When people file reports at the ER or with the CDC, they offer breed labels that are often far from accurate. So when researchers reference the hospital reports, CDC reports, police reports to collect data for their study, they are getting false data and drawing conclusions based on false breed IDs.

3. The vague definition of dog bite. A dog scratch that breaks the skin can be reported as a bite. A puppy nipping can be reported as a dog bite. Any incident where a tooth or a nail breaks the skin of a person can be reported as a bite to most public health and animal services. So if a big Lab scratches a child it is going to ‘look’ the same as if a Doxie latches on to a child’s face when people look at the data. The individual incident report may have the circumstances explained but the data will still look like a dog bite.

So what the heck does this have to do with preventing dog bites? Well… regardless of the fear mongering done by the media, regardless of what some cities/counties/states may say with their breed restrictive legislation, and regardless of the flawed/biased studies that people may cite…. ALL dogs are capable of biting. ALL dogs can leave some serious wounds on a person. People mistakenly believe that only a few breeds of dogs can be aggressive or are willing to bite so they don’t think twice when interacting with other breeds. When walking a friend’s rottie mix I’ve had people cross the road, people snatch their children away, or ask if he bites–his looks and breed make people wary of him. Meanwhile with my small border collie mix, I have to stop people from trying to pet her without even asking, they rush up behind her to pet her, or lean into her face to say hi–because of her breed mix and appearance, people just assume she’s friendly and don’t think when interacting with her…they are lucky she’s no longer terribly fearful and is tolerant (and lucky that I’m generally polite and nice when I tell them what they did was dangerous or tell them to stop bothering my dog).

People need to learn to respect dogs–all dogs. The best way for people to prevent bites with any dog (regardless of breed, age, sex, and state of reproductive organs) is to make good choices in how we choose to interact with dogs. Getting caught up in deceptive statistics, fake numbers, and fear inducing claims is not helpful and will not prevent dog bites.

DBPM–How Dogs Say No

Tena_successjustclicks — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:45:42 +0000

This is another body language post that I wrote last year for dog bite prevention week. This looks at a variety of ways that dog say no besides very obvious growl, bark, or aggressive tooth display. Even non-dog people can read those very obvious signals but it’s the less obvious ones that are often missed, even by life-long dog owners. Knowing how dogs say “NO” is an important part to preventing dog bites.

How Dogs Say No–A Translation Guide

Aside from some Nordic and Spitz breeds, most dogs are not capable of verbally saying NO (okay so they don’t really say “no” but they can Arooo in a way that sounds like it)! They use their own physical language and rely on us to understand it–or at the very least have a rough working understanding. They also rely on their handlers to advocate for them–if your dog looks uncomfortable don’t let people approach and pet.

Unfortunately there are way too many dog owners who have very little working knowledge of dog body language and cannot effectively advocate for their dog. This lack of awareness of canine body language absolutely leads to dog to human bites and even fights between dogs. It really is of the utmost importance to educate ourselves and other dog handlers how to read some of the most basic canine “phrases.”

I’m going to post and give a little blurb about a variety of photos that show how dogs “say no” both to humans and to other dogs. Learning to recognize these postures/actions can help you prevent a dog bite. Look at the photo before reading the analysis and ask yourself, is this a dog you would pet if the pet owner said “sure, you can pet him.”

Dogs do NOT like hugs!
Heidi is being embraced by an adult female and is clearly stressed out. How do I know? Heidi is yawning, her ears are back and to the side (or they are mid flick), and she’s leaning away from the embrace. She is also mid blink and an increase rate of blinking is a sign of stress (can’t tell the rate of blinking from the image though).

GET BACK!
Willie is sending very clear, get back signals. He has a very hard eyes, intense stare, has some whale eye it looks like (hard to tell w/ the blue), his ears are quite forward, his whiskers are forward, has an aggressive tooth display, his body is cocked back ready to strike, and his tail looks to be flagging (a staccato-like wagging motion).

I’m not comfortable!
Neither girl is particularly comfortable in this photo. Risa is offering quite a few appeasement gestures: low head, curved approach, and I think she licked Shayne’s muzzle. Shayne responded by dropping her head, licking her lips, looking away and giving a whale eye (barely visible in photo).

I do not like this!
This pup is being hovered over by a handler while having his collar grabbed. His ears are pulled back, he’s crouched a little low, he is licking his lips, and his weight is shifted backwards (just waiting to flee).

His tail is wagging…but does he look happy?

Not okay, please go away!
Risa is very uncomfortable here. Her ears are pinned back, she has a huge whale eye, her commissures are pulled forward, and her brow is furrowed slightly. She may also be about to roll on her side, which is a cut off behavior (remember Shayne’s belly photo from yesterday?).

Can I run away yet?
Chloe, is very uncomfortable and given the chance, would probably flee in an instant.

Chloe’s ears are back and to the side, her mouth is tightly closed, her brow is furrowed, her tail is very low (shadow indicates), she’s walking a little “low” and her weight is backwards. If she was stationary, the raised paw also indicates concern.

I’d rather you didn’t pet me…
She is doing a very strong look away, her ears are pinned back, mouth closed tightly, face is tense, and whiskers are pushed forward.

This is the look that many dogs give when they don’t want pet, yet handler and stranger have no clue what the dog is saying. For a dog with a low bite threshold, this could be all the warning you get before a bite happens.

I’m pretty uncomfortable…
This dog is not smiling and relaxed. He is showing multiple signs of being quite stressed and if it were the “wrong” dog, it could be enough of a warning to bite.

His ears are pinned back, he is avoiding eye contact, has moved as far away from the camera as possible, his eyes are dilated, his face is tense, and he’s panting (unsure of whether that is weather related).

UH OH!
Okay, aside from the photobomb by Tas, this picture makes me so uncomfortable!

Not that you can tell, but what’s going on in this photograph is both slow/no movement and then a momentary freeze by Shayne. Both very ominous signs of bad news. Risa (the darker dog) is offering some calming signals along with some stress signals (she’s a little confused), her ears are pinned back, her head is lowered and curved (calming) but her whiskers are pushed forward, her mouth is tightly closed, and she is staring (yet looking away). Shayne is not doing a good job at communicating. She is very stiff, ears forward, mouth tightly closed, yet her weight is backwards. These two girls got in quite the pickle in this interaction… they got too close and neither felt comfortable enough to know how to get out of it (though part of Risa was trying to make Shayne comfy… yet the other part wasn’t LOL). As soon as I saw the stillness, I called Shayne away because a scuffle would have happened if someone didn’t break the tension–again just looking at this photo I can feel the tension.

How many of these dogs would you have approached if the owner said “SURE!” ? All of these dogs are giving signs/warnings that they are uncomfortable. While some or more subtle than others, all are communicating stress/discomfort. For some dogs, these are the types of warnings that are given before a bite (though I would venture that most dogs will give more warning than the subtle ones here). Not all dogs will growl loudly or give an impressive aggressive tooth display… many will give a whale eye, yawn, lip lick, blink and look away before they choose to go in for a bite if the person continues to get close/pet (a bite is often a more physical communication that they want you to back off).

So, what does this mean? Dogs who bite don’t always look aggressive to the naked eye but they all will give you some signals. So before you pet a dog or allow someone to pet your dog, ask your dog–what is he/she saying through their body? Are they comfortable? Do they want to engage? Or, do they want to get the heck out of Dodge? Even if a person says you can pet their dog, if the dog is giving off uncomfortable/fearful/anxious type body language, take the safe route and admire from afar.

Photos are still captures, it’s very hard to catch some of the warning behaviors like slow or little movement, paw raises, pacing, freezes, dogs who aren’t eating, and hyper vigilant behavior. Also there is a stress behavior that is actually pretty common that I couldn’t find a photo of (for good reason) . Dogs who are stressed will often break the tension by sniffing or licking their genitals or butt. Shayne does this with her tail, if she’s stressed, she’ll plop down and nibble the base of her tail.

Thank you to Crystal and Jamie for the use of their fantastic photos!!

**Just an aside, photos caption just one instance in time, these photos may not represent the actual nature or behavior of the dog… it just captures about 1/120th of a second in time and in that 1/120th of a second the dog was displaying those behaviors.

Wordless Wednesday and contest announcement!

Tena_successjustclicks — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:35:59 +0000

Alright, for the wordy part of my Wordless Wednesday post…

Announcing the Dog Bite Prevention Month Contest

I will be hosting a contest at the end of May through the beginning of June focusing on posts and topics having to do with Dog Bite Prevention. There will be multiple ways to gain entries including “liking” Facebook pages, commenting, answering questions and more.

There will be one grand prize winner that will win a prize package that includes rabbit jerky dog treats, Through A Dog’s Ear music, tug toys, and more.

So keep an eye out for the contest to be opened!

And now for the Wordless Wednesday…Rio’s agility run from this week’s class!

DBPM–To Pet or NOT to Pet

Tena_successjustclicks — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:32:49 +0000

Here is a repost of a very popular Dog Bite Prevention Month post from last year. Keep and eye out, we will be having sponsoring a contest at the end of this month in honor of National Dog Bite Prevention Month! We have some great prizes for the winner!

To Pet or Not To Pet

Yesterday I wrote about the rules that we has humans (and especially children) need to follow when interacting with dogs to keep things as safe as possible. One of the rules is to Ask first, Ask twice; the second part of that is to make sure you ask the dog if he/she would like to be pet. The question then is, how can one tell if a dog would like to be pet, or would not like to be pet.

I want to first just throw out a few examples of body language that is often confused and misunderstood. When you see them beside one another it helps in being able to see the subtle differences.

There are many many people who would say that when a dog rolls on his back/side and shows his belly that he is being friendly and wants a belly rub. Unfortunately, there are many other people who can tell you that when they pet a dog who was showing his belly that they were ultimately bitten. Let’s take a look at these two photos for a moment….

Which dog do you think wants a belly rub?

Dexter, on the left, has bright eyes, relaxed face, relaxed mouth, upright ears, relaxed tail, and looks like his body is pretty loose.

Shayne, on the right, has a tightly closed mouth, a slight whale eye, dilated pupils, her ears are pinned back,tail is slightly tucked, and she’s completely looking away from me.

Of these two dogs, Shayne’s body language says that she is much more likely to bite someone. In her photo, Shayne is really saying “please no, I do not want, just leave me alone.” If someone were to pet a dog who looks like Shayne, there is a reasonable chance that the person would get bitten.

Now, I know I’ve spoken about a submissive grin when I wrote about Denver the Guilty Dog. So what is the difference between a submissive grin and an aggressive tooth display. Just so happens a friend, Crystal has a great picture of her dog Sally to compare.

Which dog is more likely going to bite?

Denver is showing a full display of teeth, commissures (corners of mouth) pulled back a little, whiskers look like they are aren’t pushed all the way forward, soft eyes, avoiding eye contact (looking away from person), and ears pulled back.

Sally is showing a full display of teeth, commissures pulled in forward, whiskers very forward, hard eyes, furrowed brow, very forward posture, and a very strong stare at Toby (the other dog).

Of these two dogs, Denver is giving a submissive grin and Sally is giving a very toothy warning to Toby who apparently licked her as she had a toy. Denver’s body language is very defensive “oh please don’t hurt me, I don’t mean any harm” and Sally’s body language is saying “lick me again and I’m going to rip your face off” (only she’s all threat no follow through).

With such subtle differences, it’s important to be picky about what dogs you start petting, if you are at all unsure what the dog is trying to say, DO NOT PET.

I want to show some examples of “pet me!” vs “Do not want pet!”

PET ME!

Rio is sitting (not that you can see that part), he has a very relaxed face, ears are up but not super forward, eyes are soft, mouth is open and smiley, not panting, and is interested but not crazy focused on the person approaching (ie me with the camera).

PET ME!

Shayne is laying down, with very soft almond shaped eyes, ears forward but not intensely forward, relaxed facial expression, slightly open jaw, with no panting.

Do not want pet!

Shayne really does not want to be pet. She is giving a very prominent whale-eye (the whites of her eyes showing), she’s looking away from the camera, her whiskers are pushed forward, her commissures (corners of her mouth) look like they are slightly pushed forward, and she has a furrowed brow. She’s not asking to be pet

Do not want pet!

Risa here has a tight jaw, is licking her lips, is giving a moderately hard stare to Rio (who is causing her discomfort), ears middle of the road pulled back (for her), with a moderately tense face, and forward whiskers.

Pet Me!

Luke is sitting, relaxed brow, ears neutral, relaxed sit on one hip, interest but not staring at oncoming person, relaxed jaw and soft eyes (for a BC)–slight panting was related to the weather

Do not want pet!

Murphy is turning away from the oncoming person, avoiding eye contact, and is licking his lips (and possibly about to yawn).

Do not want pet!

Baby Girl has a low hung head, is showing a whale eye, her eyes are dilated (may be because of dark room), ears back and to the side, her back is sort of arched, and her weight looks like it is backwards ready to run.

PET US!

Delta and Doc are sitting, soft eyes, neutral ears, closed but relaxed jaws, relaxed facial muscles, looking (not staring) at the oncoming person, both are in a solid sit–not leaning forward like they want to advance or backward like they want to flee.

Do not want pet!

Leila has a tightly closed jaw, is showing a slight whale eye, her head is low, she is avoiding eye contact, and her ears are back–she doesn’t want pet.

Pet me!!!! (who could resist this cute face?!)

Cuba is sitting calmly, is very interested in the person who is in front of him but is not straining to get to the person, he has very soft eyes, relaxed face, slightly open and relaxed mouth, ears are HUGE–eh i mean, they are neutral in position.

Pet Me!

Risa has perked up (but not intense) ears, soft eyes, relaxed face, is looking toward the person with interest, and an open and relaxed mouth (no panting)

.

Do NOT Pet!

Tena_successjustclicks — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:34:13 +0000

Last year I wrote two popular photo blogs about reading doggie body language. I’m going to re-post these this week on this blog while perhaps adding additional images along the way because I think they are important and include great examples of body language. Finding ways to expand but not simply re-hash those posts is a little challenging but I THINK I’ve found an angle.

So we’ve talked a lot about reading dog body langage and learning how dogs say no but there are many instances when the dog shouldn’t have to be pushed to ‘say no’. Some of the most common bites happen when dogs are in positions where they should simply not be pet.

Never let people pet a dog who is injured or sick!

A few years ago after an unfortunate accident Shayne had a trip to the ER vet to get 5 staples to close a deep and scary laceration on her on her face. Although she was a real champ who did GREAT with this at the vet and didn’t seem to be in much pain, I was extremely careful about petting her anywhere near her injury. I was also very cautious abou letting anyone pet her until the staples were out. Although she didn’t appear to be in any pain and was acting completely normally–it would have been really risky to allow someone to pet her. What if they accidentally touched her staples and it hurt, what if she the injury made her feel more anxious about being pet and she bit, or what if she there were secondary bruising to the injury that I wasn’t aware of and someone pet her on a bruise and she bit because it hurt.

Dogs who are in pain or who are not feeling well are much more likely to bite. People are the same way–when we don’t feel good or are in pain we are often more snappy. Often times people who are sick are very ‘touchy’ about being touched… they are too hot, they are queazy, they ache… just “don’t touch me.” They can als be really short tempered. I know when I’m sick, it’s not the best time to play a joke on me or to push my buttons because my fuse is often shorter than normal. Dogs are the same way. There are many things you could get away with doing to a dog when they feel good that they would likely snark about if they don’t feel good.

Long story short if you know or suspect a dog is injured (whether or not they “look like” they are in pain) or know or suspect a dog is sick (whether or not they are acting any differently)–be very cautious in your handling of the dog and I would suggest not letting people pet/interact with the dog.

Leave sleeping dogs alone!

This has got to be one of the most common “tried to bite” incidents that I encounter. Look, it’s simple–do not walk up and pet a dog who is sleeping and certainly don’t approach and roughly shake/poke/nudge/pick up a dog to wake him/her up. It really is that simple… just don’t do it. Dogs do have self preservation and if they are woken up from a deep sleep by a physical touch, they may be startled and dogs who are startled are more likely to bite. For all the dog knows you could have been a threat or they could be in danger and flashing a big open scary mouth and growling is their attempt to protect themselves from an unknown threat. This is exacerbated by dogs who are anxious, fearful, stressed out, dreaming, new to the home, or in a home with big recent changes.

This is something that has to be taught to kids because they often want to curl up WITH Fido on his dog bed–which could be a disaster waiting to happen if litte Bobby scares Fido while trying to snuggle up to the already sleeping dog. When dogs are sleeping they are best left alone OR woken up with a sound before being touched, moved, picked up, etc.

If Fido falls asleep on your lap while you are petting him there is certainly less chance of him being startled by your touch. I know when Shayne curls up with me and I rub her neck/chest that she will fall asleep and I’m not worried about continuing to pet her while she rests…but I wouldn’t walk up to her while she has been sleeping/dreaming on her dog bed and pick her up or poke her to wake her up. This type of dog bite or “almost bite” is so preventable.

Don’t touch a dog who is eating

This is something I harp on all the time but it’s important. Do not try to pet Fido when he is eating or has a chew. Do you want someone rubbing all over you as you try to enjoy your meal? People think they are preventing food aggression by being able to pet Fido while he eats, well I’m here to say that you can create food aggression by not allowing Fido to have a safe place to eat his meal. YES, you want it to be safe for people to walk past Fido when he eats… YES, you want it to be safe if someone accidentally bumps into Fido while he’s eating but you don’t need to give your dog a rub down while he dines to make those things happen. Kids (yes even toddlers) can learn rules regarding dogs and food/chews. If a dog is eating, they shouldn’t be touched. Leave them alone to eat their food in peace.

Besides not petting dogs–food bowls are not toys to play with. If a dog is eating from their bowl, don’t put your hands in there and mess with the food just to prove a point. Yes, you want to be able to take his bowl if there were ever some sort of emergency regarding the bowl/food/dog…but just shoving your and in there while he’s eating is asking for trouble–there are safe ways to teach fido that hands near his bowl is a good thing that don’t risk the health and well-being of your 10 fingers!

DBPM–What Say You, Fido?

Tena_successjustclicks — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:56:22 +0000

Dog Bite Prevention Month
Learning to read canine body language is a big factor in preventing dog bites. We’ll talk about canine body language quite a bit in future posts. But, perhaps MORE important, besides just knowing how to read canine body language, is doing something about it.

It’s incredibly important to pay attention to and acknowledge your dog’s body language by making a change to a situation if your dog is becoming increasingly uncomfortable or agitated. I’m not perfect… sometimes I’m so focused on one aspect of something that I “see” and acknowledge a behavior and know it’s not a good thing but it doesn’t register until later (hindsight is 20/20) but I really try to make sure I make changes when I see a stressed dog.

This is really important because while some dogs will make their feelings more and more apparent through increasingly obvious stress signals, others are much quicker to growl, snap, or bite. With some dogs you can get away with not noticing multiple low-level warnings of discomfort and other dogs, not so much.

A few weeks ago in class we were working on classically conditioning good feelings about strangers handling a dog’s ears, feet, and tail (for the CGC test). Handlers would feed their dogs continuously as my assistant or I would gently rub their ears, or their feet or their tail. I always make a habit to ask if any dogs have issues with this type of handling so I know to go slower–but no one mentioned having a dog that had any concerns.

As I was making the rounds petting the dogs’ ears while the owners fed them, I approached a student’s dog and knelt down next to him. I frist rubbed his chest and worked my way to his ears. As soon as i started petting his ears he started moving away from me. He continued to eat but was moving as far away as possible. I was so distracted by the “goal” of the task (and the fact that he continued to eat) that I didn’t make a change based on his body language. Now, he wasn’t so over threshold that he stopped eating (not even close) but he was uncomfortable and I KNEW that but still didn’t change my behavior. After about 15-20 seconds, the interaction was over. The next time I approached to pet (whatever body part, I can’t remember), I was able to touch his chest but as soon as I moved to pet something else, he gave a “tap out” or rolled over onto his side/back. As soon as he tapped out I stopped. I needed a bigger signal than moving away while still eating, to show how much pressure I was putting on him.

If he had been a different dog, my ‘ignoring’ of his first stressed body language could have resulted in a warning snap or growl. I KNEW his body language was concerned….but didn’t DO anything about it because I was so focused on the task at hand (and with him still eating didn’t think he was over threshold). AS soon as I saw the tap out I immediately responded by giving him what he wanted, which was space. It was a great opportunity for me to explain and SHOW the class what a ‘tap out’ looks like and explain why the dog did NOT want a belly rub.

KNOWING canine body language is only 1/2 the battle. DOING something about it (when possible) is the other half.

I am happy to say the following week at class the dog who gave me a tap out was friendly and outgoing with me–probably more so than he had been previously.

Wordless Wednesday–Video, Tugs, and Mud

Tena_successjustclicks — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:28:53 +0000

Ineffective Punishment–pt 4

Tena_successjustclicks — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:08:46 +0000

I’m gonna go back and finish up our discussion of ineffective punishment from last week. There are lots to be said, but it’s taxing writing about such ‘sad’ topics.

Do not punish out of anger
I wish I could say that this wasn’t the case but the vast majority of people I see who are using corrections are doing so out of a place of anger or frustration. Their punishments have many of the “ineffective” features I’ve written about in this series but they are also often based in emotion and that the level of correction is so very over the top and the timing so poor that the dogs have no idea what they did wrong.

Unfortunately, these over the top corrections are very rewarding for the person. The dogs are often scared into stopping or suppressing any/all behaviors they were doing when corrected–at least for a little while. So the humans are rewarded by the dog stopping the behavior (mostly temporarily). A second reward for the human is that they often blow off some steam by physically correcting the dog so they get are reinforced for the behavior in that sense (like how people who are really mad will go to a gym and spend time on a punching bag to ‘let go’ of that anger/frustration).

I see this a lot with owners of reactive dogs. The dog is pushed over threshold and starts barking, lunging, screaming, spinning, and snapping at other dogs. While the dog is reacting, the person maybe trying to get Fido to sit, walk away, may be pulling on the leash, or possibly giving some leash pops. Once the other dog is gone and their dog has stopped, the handler is totally embarrassed and probably frustrated. What I see frequently is that when the dog finally STOPS reacting the handler is so emotional and angry/frustrated that they give a few harsh leash pop to punish the dog for the reaction or sometimes I’ll see the handler alpha roll the dog after the event. These punishments are not about the dog’s reaction but about making the handler feel better by trying to do SOMETHING about the unwanted behavior (often I think there are social pressures in this regard–the handlers don’t want to seem like they are doing NOTHING to punish the dog [because they feel the public would be judging them for not doing anything to fix the problem] so they give big corrections to look like they are trying to fix the behavior). These emotional and over the the top behaviors are not doing anything to fix the problem (they are just hurting the relationship between dog/handler). They are often way too over the top in severity and are so poorly timed that the dog is learning nothing other than the handler can be wildly unpredictable (aka reactive).

Punishment Callus
I mentioned it in an earlier post about how punishments need to be unexpected. If the punishment becomes part of the norm it loses effectiveness. The dogs become numb to the punishments because they happen so frequently so they no longer are effective. This is called a punishment callus and I have a theory that they are the reasons that some people really do believe that their dogs “need” harsh physical punishments. When punishments are over use, the dog becomes acclimated to the low-level pain and will start to ignore it resulting in the handler using higher and higher levels of punishment with the dog. This is something I’ve had students who previously used e-collars talk about. Their training methods were based around lots of physical punishments. They started out using very low level shocks on the collar and it seemed effective but as they continued on the dog “needed” higher and higher levels of shock for the punishments to be effective. The owners got to the point where they knew they were hurting their dog because of the high level of shock being used. The low level of shocks weren’t effective… it’s NOT because their dog “needed” the high level because he/she was bull-headed or stubborn or dominant. The human handlers created a dog who was so used to the low level punishments that they stopped being effective.

This punishment callus is why I try to caution about using training that is based heavily on punishments. When punishment becomes the norm, the level of punishment required to curb behavior increases. Why start down that path? It doesn’t have an enjoyable ending. Instead, focusing on positive reinforcement allows you to build the behavior and keep punishments meaningful, even at ‘low levels’, because they are few and far between.

DBPM–Keep Kids Safe

Tena_successjustclicks — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:38:21 +0000

Dog Bite Prevention Month–pt 3

You invite some friends over for a movie night and your dog is resting nicely on the floor when one of your friends jumps up and down right next to your dog. She then drops to her knees and lays over your dog and rolls around a bit. She puts her face into the dogs face making noises while pulling on the dogs ears. Then, for no explicable reason, she screams in the dog’s ear. I don’t know about you but I would be FUMING mad if someone did this to my dog–that is totally and completely unacceptable.

What scares me is how many parents allow their children to do those exact things to the family dog over and over again. These same parents laud the dog’s tolerance of the child’s mistreatment, “She’s great with the kids, they can tug on her and pull on her and she doesn’t do anything.”

I am here to say that it is a mistake to put blind faith in a dog’s tolerance. It only takes ONE ear pull for a dog to finally stop tolerating it and to growl, snap, bite, injure, or even kill a child. I am of the opinion that if you wouldn’t allow an older child, teen, or adult do something to the dog, you shouldn’t allow your young child to do it.

Now children, particularly toddlers, need to be taught how to interact with their pets. They need to be shown how to play with their dog, how to pet their dog, WHEN to pet their dog, and how to be respectful of the dogs. We humans do not come out of the womb automatically knowing how to be humane to our canine pals but children can certainly learn how to treat their pets. Sure, kids will make mistakes and will have moments of poor impulse control and bad decisions but it is critical that parents teach their children the ground rules to minimize these moments and stop relying on the tolerance of dogs.

I am so saddened and upset by what seems to be a rising trend of dogs severely injuring or killing familial children. I feel as though a month doesn’t go by where I do not hear about some horrible ‘accident’.

Let’s be clear, infants should never be left unattended with dogs–particularly if that infant is accessible. They shouldn’t be left on the floor in carriers, on a floor play-mat, in a swing, in a bouncy seat, on a bed or other areas where they can be accessed by dogs. Infants cannot protect themselves and can make some very exciting, new, or scary noises, or could be kicking feet, flailing arms, or be, themselves, bouncing/rocking in a device that can kick up a dog’s curiosity. When dogs explore things, they often do so with their mouths and their feet–this could easily lead to a baby crying or squealing and could lead to disaster. I say this as a child who spent her youth being babysat by an English Bulldog named Ginger and whose parents allowed lots of snuggling between doggie and infant. I love that i have tons of baby pictures like the one to the left–and I love that I had such a great friendship.

Many of the other bites or attacks, particularly with toddlers or young children, I hear about are from dogs who “never even growled” or who “never seemed bothered by the ear pulling.” The child had grabbed the dog’s fur/skin and pulled themselves up many many times without any issues but this last time maybe the dog was sore, maybe it was tired, maybe it felt sick, or maybe it was just tired of being hurt by the toddler and the dog reacted (the reality is the dog probably gave dozens of warnings previously that went unheard). Preventing bites like this is really all about teaching the child how to treat the dog (and being there to supervise), creating rules about how to interact with the dog and being a vigilant parent who can be a referee to make sure everyone stays safe by stepping in and ending play if the child or the dog becomes inappropriate.

Parents should also model appropriate behavior with the dog–they should be gentle when handling the dog, refrain from waking a sleeping dog, should not hit the dog, should not grab the dog’s muzzle or ears, and should not alpha roll the dog. This seems obvious, but young kids will repeat what they see done–both good things and bad things. I once watched a 5 year old pretty much alpha roll the family dog (a shih tzu/terrier type mix) while at a park because it was barking–I was so afraid for the child because the dog was clearly uncomfortable but the parents just watched and laughed. I don’t know how many times the dog will tolerate this before hurting the child… but it’s scary to think about.

Besides just modeling appropriate behavior it’s really important to teach children when is it not okay to approach or pet the dog (when the dog is eating, sleeping, on her bed, or in her crate) and how should the child pet or interact with the dog (use gentle hands and soft voices, don’t chase fido, etc). Like I said, kids aren’t born knowing how to safely interact with dogs–they need to be taught in order to prevent dog bites.

Dog Bite Prevention Month–Be your dog’s voice.

Tena_successjustclicks — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:07:54 +0000

For my first post in my DBPM series, I want to talk about something that seems so obvious but is somehow often overlooked.

It must feel like I harp about this but it has again reared its head–BE YOUR DOG’S ADVOCATE. Yep, it’s that phrase again.

If more people made decisions with their dogs in mind and ‘checked in’ with their dogs during various situations, many dog bites could be prevented. Instead, there are many people who set their dogs up to fail by putting them in situations where the dogs feel uncomfortable. Dogs who are not comfortable in a situation are more likely to bite compared to their comfy counterparts.

It’s OKAY if your dog is not perfect, it’s OKAY if your dog is concerned around men, it’s OKAY that your dog is afraid of kids on bikes. You don’t have to hide your dog’s ‘issues’ by pretending they don’t exist and letting anyone pet your dog or taking him/her to places that they don’t like. It’s okay to have a dog who is not perfect–this is NOT to say that the issues should go unaddressed but that pretending the issues don’t exist is dangerous.

If you know that your dog is uncomfortable around children, do not put him/her in situations where he/she will have to interact closely with children. If you know your dog is not comfortable around other dogs on leash, perhaps going to doggie events with hundreds of other on-leash dogs isn’t right for you.

I went to a large dog event once and while I was there, I happened upon a dog who was wearing a grooming-style muzzle (the tight fitting nylon muzzle). The dog was fighting it tooth and nail and it was a warm day so I was concerned about the dog’s risk of overheating. I try not to offer unsolicited advice, but in this case, I felt the safety of the dog was at risk wearing that type of muzzle in the heat. So I approached the family and apologized for the unsolicited advice but mentioned they may get better results using a wire basket muzzle because it allows the dog to pant and to drink and is generally more comfortable for the dog. Anyhow, through our conversation they mentioned that the reason he was wearing a muzzle was the he “didn’t like” men or children but they wanted to bring him so he could ‘socialize.’ I mentioned that maybe a good trainer would be a place to start to help him get over his fears. I was drawn away by someone at my booth but watched as the family walked away with the dog scratching at his face trying to get the tight muzzle off.

I saw the dog a few hours later with his muzzle off mingling in the crowd–the dog was tolerating the experience but not loving it as long as no one was really paying him any attention. I got an eerie feeling in my gut about the situation and sure enough, a short while later there was a commotion across the way and this dog had bitten a child. Now, I didn’t see the incident but I heard that they allowed the child to pet the dog because, “he was doing so well” and the dog bit. This bite was 100% preventable had the family made decisions in the best interest of their dog and advocated for their dog’s wishes instead of making decisions based on their WANTS, the bite would never have happened.

There was a highly publicized bite incident last summer in my area. A family brought their Rottie (falsely reported as a pit bull) to a fireworks display and at some point during the night a child in a stroller right next to the dog put his hand in the dog’s face and the dog bit. Do you think the Rottie, with very sensitive ears, wanted to be at the fireworks display? Do you think it was a low-stress environment? Do you think the BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM of the fireworks made the rottie feel comfortable? If the family had thought about how their dog would like (or not like) the fireworks display, they would have prevented a dog bite. I applaud them for wanting to include Fido in more parts of their lives but they failed to really consider him in their decision making process–what did HE want?

Don’t be afraid to tell people that they cannot pet your dog, don’t be ashamed to say that you cannot bring Fido to the doggie parade because it would overwhelm him, don’t be afraid or embarrassed to keep your dog muzzled or secured in another area when people come visit. These are problems that should be addressed with the help of a skilled trainer or behaviorist–flooding a dog and putting them in situations they are unprepared to handle is dangerous for everyone involved.

By advocating for your dog you are keeping him/her safe and keeping the people around him/her safe.