Working with a dog who behaves inconsistently — walking well on leash one day, exploding in fury at the sight of another dog another day, for example — can be frustrating, to say the least.

Having success one day and not another is pretty typical when dealing with complex issues such as reactivity. Many variables affect behavior, including the dog’s mood, recent events, environmental stimuli, even diet.

So I advise my clients to expect this type of inconsistency, especially when working with fearful or anxious dogs.

It’s important to work with the dog you have now, in this moment; not the dog you had yesterday (or last year), or the dog you think you have (or hope to have), or even the dog you expect to have in the next moment.

And that dog can change moment to moment — for the better if you’re doing things well and for the worse if your timing’s off or you’re not reading the dog well or external factors intrude.

So observation and flexibility are key.

Analysis of past sessions is also key — if you take a look at what you were doing, how the dog was responding, what changes there were in the environment, etc. you’ll be better able to set future sessions up for success.

Learn to read the body language and emotional state of the individual dog you’re working with really well. This will take some education on your part. There are some good books and videos out there on learning to “read” Dog. I’ve reviewed a couple on my website although I have several others I haven’t reviewed yet that are also really good: http://yourdreamdog.com/wp/category/recommended/canine-communication/

But mostly it will take practice. Observe your dog (videotape is great!), but also observe every dog you come across.

And by “observe” I mean put on an ethologist’s hat, noting behavior and body position but not trying to put a label or interpretation on it at first.

Train yourself to notice things like lip position and relaxation or tightness, breathing, facial expressions and the minute changes in facial muscles, minute changes in eye shape and especially pupil shape and size, and other really tiny signals.

But also pay attention to the overall picture — the center of gravity (is body weight shifted forward or back, or centered), whether the dog’s straight lines and right angles or curves and soft angles and bent joints (especially elbows), etc.

And all those shift from moment to moment.

Once you get good at actually seeing those things, able to focus on specific body parts but also see the picture as a whole, you’ll begin to be able to make judgments about the dog’s emotional state of mind and possible thought patterns.

That may sound difficult, but it’s not really — it just takes education and practice.

For that, I recommend using the “Dog Body Language 101″ information from the Dog Scouts of America: http://www.dogscouttroop107.com/BodyLanguage101.html

Record a session of “The Dog Whisperer” and watch it with the sound turned off, focusing on the dogs.

Make liberal use of the “pause” and “slow” buttons.

Note down every behavior & body posture & expression that you can match with anything from the Dog Scouts’ Dog Body Language 101 list.

Also note down anything in the environment that you can see that may be affecting or causing that particular behavior/body language. Pay special attention to where the dog’s focus may be. (And sometimes that “focus” is actually the very thing the dog’s trying studiously to ignore or tune out.)

Since Cesar Milan works with so many different dogs with so many different issues, his show is great for learning how to read dogs — especially confused, stressed, anxious, fearful, frustrated, or angry dogs.

When you’ve “translated” the dogs’ narration of one or two of his shows in slow motion, try doing it at regular speed.

If you can make these observations without getting yourself all stressed out (this will get harder the better you get at reading the dogs on Cesar’s show, as you’ll become keenly aware of the stress some of his techniques can cause), it’s a good idea to “translate” as many segments with different dogs as you can.

Then start doing the same in real life situations (observing your dog and other dogs) — although of course you’re not likely to have a “slow motion” feature.

This will help you develop the ability to “read” dog body language on a conscious level while educating your subconscious mind as well. With enough practice you’ll stop noticing the “left brain” logical, detailed observations and start feeling the “right brain” intuitive observations — which is when you can truly make real-time observations with an educated “gut feeling” that is probably the closest anyone can come to truly understanding what dogs are “saying.”

And then, if you need to (as I often do with clients), you can point out the specific postures, expressions, movements (or lack thereof) and behavior that led to your conclusion.

“Conflicted” dogs are difficult to read, because some of their body language says one thing while other body language says something entirely different. These are the dogs that you really need to be flexible with, dancing around the line of their conflicts, reinforcing the body language you want (which will affect emotion) and trying to change emotions to something closer to what you’re hoping for (which will affect the body language and behavior).

Once you’re good at reading the dog, you’ll be able to easily tell when it’s time to raise criteria (decrease distance or increase distraction or whatever):

When the dog’s easily handling the current situation.

And don’t be afraid to take a step back if you overstep and raise criteria too quickly! Shifting back immediately will be far more productive in the long run than trying to “push through” the next step if the dog’s not ready for it.)

An oft-recommended approach to handling a multi-dog household is to reinforce the ranking hierarchy — to feed the “alpha” dog first, the middle-ranking dog second, the low-ranking dog last; to greet or pet the “top” dog first, and so on.

But behaviorists are moving away from that technique, and most now advise reinforcing appropriate behavior without taking hierarchy into account. As scientists explore more about dog cognition and social behavior, we’re discovering that dog hierarchies are a lot more fluid and complex than the straight alpha - beta - omega designations once used for wolf packs might suggest.

In my experience, the average pet owner rarely understands dog behavior well enough to really know who the “top dog” is. Most think that the dog who fights and snarks at the others the most is the “top dog” — they’ve never even heard of “alpha wannabe’s” (dogs who are status seekers but are not confident enough to actually fulfill the role of “top dog”). So the wrong dog gets reinforced.

Dog hierarchies are also subject to change — especially when other dogs enter the mix (whether that’s adding a new dog to a household or simply having other dogs visiting).

I advise my clients that it doesn’t matter who’s “top dog” within the dog hierarchy, as long as they all defer to the humans in the house, and those humans have the ability to direct and control those dogs (whether that’s through management or good training).

Need some guidelines for good management and training for multi-dog household situations? I recommend “Feeling Outnumbered?” by Karen London and Patricia McConnell. (more…)

Thanksgiving weekend, I attended the Darkover Grand Council Meeting — an annual science fiction/fantasy convention. One of the panel discussions was titled “Flying Cats and Talking Dogs: Creating believable animals in SF&F.” I brought up the question of how authors can make sure they’re getting it “right.” As a dog trainer who’s studied canine behavior (including wolf behavior), I often find it jarring when I’m reading a story that features dogs or wolves – simply because the author got it “wrong.” This is especially true of fantasy novels that include wolves – or werewolves – because there’s so much misinformation ingrained in our “common knowledge” of wolves.

One of the panel members asked what it was that authors so often got wrong about wolves, and I replied “Alpha wolves and wolf hierarchy.” There wasn’t time to go into the details of just how wrong the “common view” of wolf culture is. I left it at “A wolf pack is actually a family unit, with Mom and Dad leading their offspring” and invited anyone interested to email me for more information.

Margaret L. Carter, author of “The Shadow of the Beast” (a werewolf novel) was there, and she recently took me up on that offer.

This was my response (edited for clarity and accuracy after I re-read the articles I suggested to Margaret as good sources of information): (more…)

(There’s a slightly condensed version of this post available in .pdf format in my Downloads category, feel free to download, print out, copy, and share….)

You’ve probably heard about the pet food recall. But unless you’ve been actively seeking out more information, you may not realize just how extensive the problem with our pets’ food supply is, and that it’s far from over.

I’ve been following the pet food recall news closely, through two websites that have been doing a stellar job digging up information and reporting it quickly and clearly, with updates as soon as anything new is known:

http://petconnection.com

and

http://itchmo.com
Thursday, April 26th, while the FDA was assuring everyone at a press meeting that they weren’t expecting any more recalls of pet food, several more companies recalled some of their canned products. (more…)

This is a question that comes up a lot with people who are exploring the uses of positive reinforcement and clicker training: “When can I stop using food?”

And my response is: “When can your boss stop paying you for the work you do?”

I know, that’s a bit facetious, but I think it gets the point across. (more…)

Yesterday, the sun came out, so I took Brandy and Nico for a walk in the Blue Hills Reservation. I took the video camera with me so I could get some video of them, especially Nico (who’s recovering from his panniculitis, although he’s still weak).

Being a weekday morning, I didn’t expect many people to be out and about. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. There were other cars parked along the edge of the reservation, although none in the little turn-around where we usually start our walks.

But the walk started off well, with no one else in sight. I had Brandy on a training lead (a 30′ leash), which I was letting her drag. Nico was off-leash. (Confession time: dogs are actually supposed to be leashed when on the Blue Hills Reservation lands, but lots of people let their dogs off leash. Nico is pretty reliable, and comes back to us whenever he sees someone, so he’s allowed off-leash. Whenever we see or hear anyone else about, we call him and put him back on-leash until we’re alone again.) I got some good video of them, although they were both staying closer than I expected them to so some of the shots were real close-ups and others were of the empty trail ahead of us as they were right next to me. (more…)

I taught a “Positively Perfect Patients” workshop at the Randolph Animal Hospital on March 10th.

When I was planning the workshop, one thing I hadn’t planned on was the opportunity to practice all of the skills I intended to teach – over and over again, with a dog who once had to be sedated for anything more than the most basic of vet exams. (more…)

Midnight on Friday saw Paul and Nico and me down at the Animal Emergency Center in West Bridgewater, MA.

Nico has been pretty sick lately (we thought we’d have to put him to sleep a few weeks ago). It turns out he had Idiopathic Sterile Nodular Panniculitis — inflammation of the subcutaneous fat tissues, with no known cause. (The “nodular” part of the disease presented as swellings all over his neck and sides, some of which necrotized and burst.) (more…)

I’ve been thinking about positive reinforcement and how learning to train dogs primarily by reinforcing the behavior I want (and ignoring or redirecting behavior I don’t want) has literally changed my life.

Becoming a positive trainer (especially for those of us who started out with traditional methods using punishments and rewards, choke collars, and the like) requires a paradigm shift. Positive training isn’t just a different way of training — it’s a different way of looking at the entire training process, at the dog/human relationship, and at the world itself. (more…)

It seems that everyone has heard of Cesar Millan, host of the popular dog training show “The Dog Whisperer” shown on the National Geographic cable TV channel. When learning that I’m a dog trainer, a new acquaintance will often exclaim that they watch Cesar Millan and just love his show! I cringe inside while I try to calmly and politely explain just why Cesar Millan is bad for the dog training profession and very bad for our dogs.

While Cesar Millan does promote some good ideas concerning our relationships with dogs (I can agree with him that exercise and leadership are paramount!), his methods of fixing problem behavior rely heavily on using punishment and “flooding” — forcing a dog to face its fears until it “submits” (which may result in “learned helplessness,” a state of depression and helplessness in an animal that appears to the untrained observer to be calm compliance). Taken even a little bit too far, some of his methods are downright abusive.

(more…)