Rescuing a Worried Dog

My little black foster scottie is making great progress in my home.  While he was a door dasher when he arrived, he has learned to wait and ask permission to go outside.  He has also learned to sit for affection, food or a treat.  I find it hard to believe when I work with an older dog that does not know how to sit when asked.  At six, this boy seems to love other dogs and is happy to be at someone's side.  He is learning the rules of tug, to lie down, and walk on a leash.  He is already good at riding in the car and just waits patiently in my seat while I run errands.

His biggest improvement is that he has warmed up to my husband and son which is really rewarding to see, as he seemed very worried about men when he arrived.   Because I have seem many men pet this little fearful dog with no more growling, I believe he was worried about "the" man he lived with, not all men.  This has become apparent over time and I am so thankful I took the time to ask him to show me what he was capable of.  He has made such progress in the last 2 weeks, I am confident I will find him the right home.

Show Me

While many of us this week have been  hugging  and  holding our children and grand children tighter as a result of the horrible shootings in Newtown CT., many of us have also sought to hold and love our pets.  Our desire to keep all those we love feeling safer has increased dramatically in light of the recent tragedy among the young and innocent.

stiff response to touch

Yet, when I reach to comfort my new 6 year old foster dog he growls and moves away from me. My desire to befriend and offer safety to this frightened dog is way more than he can handle at this point.  The more I try, the more he withdraws.

A new approach is clearly needed to earn the trust of with this little guy, so based on the many insights shared by Karen Pryer, I will play a series of "show me" games.  This is a game many new horse owners play when they buy or ride a new horse, if I do this what will you do?  Applying pressure with your hand or leg on different parts of a horse should be met with a behavior from the animal, hence, the relationship begins.

Knowing that petting this dog's back, would earn a "growl" verbal response as well as a stiffening of his body, I tried the back of my hand on his side for about 4 seconds then stopped.  What I got this time was a look in my direction and a bit of a lean into my hand.  So I continued to rub his side with the back of my hand and stop, allowing him to walk away or ask for more. This went on for 10 minutes at which point I needed to move myself as my back was ailing me.  I should also mention that in this time, I noticed his eyes soften, his ears seemed floppy, his breathing slowed, and he licked his lips multiple times and at one point laid his head on my leg.  I was thrilled!  I slowly got up and moved away, happily knowing he was wanting more of this friendship to continue. 

With so much uncertainty in our world, it is reassuring to give comfort and safety to an uncertain or defensive person or pet, even if for just a brief time.  Knowing when to reach out and when to just be present is a fine line, one that is always changing but certainly always rewarding.

Learning How to Cope without Frustration

I find myself saying this to many clients, "your dog is barking because he is frustrated."  Many young pups and adolescent dogs become spoiled and then frustrated when they are not able to get to something or someone all the time.  You might think we could be discussing children, this emotion is very similar and difficult not to reward.

This behavior is apparent in many dog training classes, when an owner is playing with her dog using a toy, another dog will bark at them as if to say "I want that toy or I want to play too".  Motivating your dog to focus on you is a good place to start while in your own home where there are no distractions.

Leash Frustration

What about when a new dog enters the room?  Many dogs will bark and pull towards the new dog as if to say "I want to say hello."  If during the first 5 months of your puppies life you always let him pull you to new dogs you encounter, then your dog will be incredibly frustrated when you decide it is not a good idea to let him drag you around.  When a behavior has been rewarded repeatedly, then the reward is removed for the same behavior, frustration will certainly follow.

Picture a puppy that jumps on his owner then sits and is reward multiple times in his first few months of life.  When the puppy is about 45 lbs and is no longer rewarded for this jumping, the puppy will often jump higher or with more force, if this intense jumping does not work, then barking usually follows.  These puppies do not understand why their behavior suddenly is not working?  "I always get my owners attention by jumping and then get a cookie for sitting!"

Frustration enters the picture when punishment is applied or when he finds himself in a no win situation.  Asking any alternative behavior and rewarding it is so much better than just saying "no" which only increases the frustration.    Dogs can learn to cope with change and avoid frustration if they are rewarded for another behavior.

Helping your dog learn to live in a human world without becoming frustrated is a process, one that should begin the day you bring him home!

Puppy Play

Baden gaining confidence in play.

While many of us watch dogs play, we often wonder if the dogs are having as much fun as we think.

I believe it is important that both dogs are chasing, being chased and sharing time on top equally.  If not, stepping in and creating pauses in the play will be beneficial to the less experienced dog.

When a play session is one sided, meaning one dog is constantly on top of the other, this is not equal play.  While you may not hear any growling, one dog may just be coping and not enjoying the play.

Try taking the collar or harness of the dog on top and gently pull him away.  Now, see what happens?  Does the dog on the bottom run away in need of a break?  Does he lunge or run back to the dog on top as if to say "come on, let's play"!  This simple test will give you confirmation that everyone is feeling okay about the interaction.

Baden a young pup playing with Pablo

Interrupting the play with short pauses will allow the dogs to lower their arousal and have a brief conversation about their intentions.  Watch as they look at each other or away, kiss faces, move closer or farther away.

In the photo to the right, Brady the 5 month old pup was a bit worried to play with a bigger adult dog.  Pablo began to "handicap" himself getting lower and lower to encourage Baden to play with him.  I asked Pablo to take many breaks as I could tell his type of play was a bit over whelming for Baden.

Before long these two were in constant motion and I was reassured each time I removed either dog, the other one came at us wanting more.  Knowing the play was fun for both dogs was a win win!

Canine Body Language Seminar

Mia greeting me with her back for safety.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Canine Body Language Seminar held at Poetic Gold Farm in Falmouth this past Sunday!  I believe, from all the positive feedback I have received, we accomplished our goal of helping everyone see that our dogs really do speak with their body movements.  When we take time to observe our dogs stance, their weight distribution, what their ears, eyes, tail, mouth, brows and tongue,  are doing as well as their over all body firmness, we can learn a great deal about our dogs emotional state.  With just a bit of practice we can understand what our dog is feeling given the situation they are in and how to help them if they are fearful or stressed.  As you can see in the above photo, Mia was not comfortable greeting me for the first time facing me, instead, each time turned and gave me her back, with ears down and back, tongue flicking up and out.  She clearly has a bit of hesitation when greeting someone new, but she did quickly warm up and roll on the ground in a relaxed goofy manner.

We certainly all agreed that when it comes to a dog greeting a strange person or new dog, the dog always has an opinion.  Rather than asking "can our dogs meet", we should all be asking "do our dog's want to meet" the strange dog or person.

Pablo is fearful of people and has begun to ground sniff.

Knowing how your dog is feeling in different situations will help you set him up for success.  Note in this photo, Pablo is sniffing the ground, he is uncomfortable with all the humans looking at him and has resorted to ground sniffing as it is comforting to him.  Knowing he was stressed I had my daughter play a game of "find it",  he happily ate the treats and kept a safe distance from the observers.

Bella is avoiding Pablo by sniffing in the grass.

As you can see from this photo taken a few weeks earlier, these two dogs having just met are not comfortable entering each other's space and therefore are demonstrating some avoidance.  Note Bella sniffing the grass and Pablo has a high tail and fairly stiff gate. This is the dogs way of keeping themselves safe, as neither dog invited the other dog into a friendly greeting, rather are clearly ignoring each other.

Bella greeting Buddy in a soft manner.

Here, you can clearly see how floppy Bella's body is in greeting Buddy.  Buddy began inviting her into his space by getting low and play bowing numerous times just after walking together for about 20 minutes. Their body's became soft, tails flat, joints soft with lots of movement, eyes were soft with no direct staring.   These two dogs played very well in a 50-50 manner having just met 30 minutes ago.

In summary, keep in mind that your dog will have an opinion about what he wants or needs to feel safe when faced with a new person, dog or environment.  Take it slow,  and practice understanding your dog when he is happy and relaxed and also when he is stressed or anxious.  Knowing how your dog is feeling will help you understand how to help him through situations when he needs you most!