I am preparing my breakfast when I hear a low growl coming from Rio who is looking outside our living room window onto the front of our property. I glanced at her and I noticed her body in attention – just looking curiously. I go over to her and I ask her what’s out there.
Sometimes its rabbits, people walking on the ridge, or our elderly neighbor who treks down his long driveway to retrieve his newspaper. Ah, its Barry I tell Rio, as I call her away from the window. She abandons her post and comes into the kitchen following me like a 3 month old-pup. I give her some pre-sliced liver as a reinforcer for moving away from her front row seat position.
A Front Row Seat to a window looking out into the big, wide world can be not such a good idea frankly. Of course, it all depends on what is at the other side of the window. I recently met with a client who mentioned as part of our conversation that “dogs need jobs… [so] let him look out the window all day”… Not so fast I thought to myself. Having a dog looking out the window as a form of mental stimulation can surely backfire. Besides, we need to get a bit more creative and get off our butts in an effort to provide real mental & physical stimulation.
Of course, much depends on the dog and on what the sights out the window are.
If you are lucky enough to live in an area where all your dog will see are beautiful tree branches gently being swayed by the wind with an occasional bird flying over and for good measure the added sound of a babbling creek… then sure, go ahead have your dog look out the window all day if you want. Most likely, when you come home you will find a dog that is happy to see you and ah, so relaxed. Now, how many of us live in such an idyllic scenario?
Most people’s windows are facing a busy "something": their neighbor’s home (where most likely their dog is peeking out the window….), a busy street that has dogs being walked all day long, or just people walking – the list goes on.
When a dog is constantly being stimulated by things such as dogs, birds, squirrels or other people that he cannot interact with freely, he finds himself in a constant state of arousal and even frustration. Have you ever worked in an environment where you were constantly being interrupted? I have yet to meet someone who welcomes constant interruptions when they have to concentrate in order to get something done. This is similar with our dogs: too much or constant stimulation and the dog is not able to relax - to keep his guard down.
It is even worse when a dog has learned to bark and growl or has bitten as a result of a stranger coming into or being in close proximity of his turf.
As I see it, the thing to do is to take a few moments scouting your home for windows which can provide some stimulation for your dog when you are away and avoid giving your dog access to windows that will reinforce chasing and barking behaviors directed at passerby's.
Besides, if your dog has been mentally stimulated and exercised before you depart, most likely your dog will be happy to take a long well deserved snooze with little interest at the window.
But even in cases like this, providing our dogs with a more quiet (less stimulating) environment will result in a dog that is able to self-sooth because he is not constantly being bombarded with stimuli. I am lucky enough to live on top of a hill, with little “bad” stimulation.
Even so, I mainly manage Rio at the window when there is something exciting waiting to happen since Deuce could care less for her “front-row-seat". Whenever I have a client coming over or one of my classes and way before all the excitement is taking place, both my dogs are laying comfortably in their crates, away from visuals that will have them wanting to go say "hi". When appropriate, both dogs are invited to come say “hello”.
We also have daily short practices where we call the dogs away from the front window, even if it is for a split second so that when I need them to peel themselves away from the window they have some experience doing this but more importantly some reinforcement for doing so.
Sometimes its rabbits, people walking on the ridge, or our elderly neighbor who treks down his long driveway to retrieve his newspaper. Ah, its Barry I tell Rio, as I call her away from the window. She abandons her post and comes into the kitchen following me like a 3 month old-pup. I give her some pre-sliced liver as a reinforcer for moving away from her front row seat position.
A Front Row Seat to a window looking out into the big, wide world can be not such a good idea frankly. Of course, it all depends on what is at the other side of the window. I recently met with a client who mentioned as part of our conversation that “dogs need jobs… [so] let him look out the window all day”… Not so fast I thought to myself. Having a dog looking out the window as a form of mental stimulation can surely backfire. Besides, we need to get a bit more creative and get off our butts in an effort to provide real mental & physical stimulation.
Of course, much depends on the dog and on what the sights out the window are.
If you are lucky enough to live in an area where all your dog will see are beautiful tree branches gently being swayed by the wind with an occasional bird flying over and for good measure the added sound of a babbling creek… then sure, go ahead have your dog look out the window all day if you want. Most likely, when you come home you will find a dog that is happy to see you and ah, so relaxed. Now, how many of us live in such an idyllic scenario?
Most people’s windows are facing a busy "something": their neighbor’s home (where most likely their dog is peeking out the window….), a busy street that has dogs being walked all day long, or just people walking – the list goes on.
When a dog is constantly being stimulated by things such as dogs, birds, squirrels or other people that he cannot interact with freely, he finds himself in a constant state of arousal and even frustration. Have you ever worked in an environment where you were constantly being interrupted? I have yet to meet someone who welcomes constant interruptions when they have to concentrate in order to get something done. This is similar with our dogs: too much or constant stimulation and the dog is not able to relax - to keep his guard down.
It is even worse when a dog has learned to bark and growl or has bitten as a result of a stranger coming into or being in close proximity of his turf.
As I see it, the thing to do is to take a few moments scouting your home for windows which can provide some stimulation for your dog when you are away and avoid giving your dog access to windows that will reinforce chasing and barking behaviors directed at passerby's.
Besides, if your dog has been mentally stimulated and exercised before you depart, most likely your dog will be happy to take a long well deserved snooze with little interest at the window.
But even in cases like this, providing our dogs with a more quiet (less stimulating) environment will result in a dog that is able to self-sooth because he is not constantly being bombarded with stimuli. I am lucky enough to live on top of a hill, with little “bad” stimulation.
Even so, I mainly manage Rio at the window when there is something exciting waiting to happen since Deuce could care less for her “front-row-seat". Whenever I have a client coming over or one of my classes and way before all the excitement is taking place, both my dogs are laying comfortably in their crates, away from visuals that will have them wanting to go say "hi". When appropriate, both dogs are invited to come say “hello”.
We also have daily short practices where we call the dogs away from the front window, even if it is for a split second so that when I need them to peel themselves away from the window they have some experience doing this but more importantly some reinforcement for doing so.
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