When is resource guarding between dogs not a good thing

Resource guarding of anything that a dog considers valuable is normal dog behavior. It goes back to- you guess it, evolution. Dogs are opportunistic feeders and scavengers.  In other words, in the wild, dogs do not know when their next meal will appear so they eat when food becomes available. In addition, they are scavengers which means they can feed off of other’s left overs.  This is, by the way, one of the main traits that apparently got dogs and people together in the first place.

For our modern-day dogs, or better said, for dogs that live life as pets in the comfort of someone’s world with pretty much meals around the clock, guarding might be not that relevant. But try to tell that to the dog that covets food, toys, bones or any other item such as a bed, and even a person. Yes, indeed, dogs are complex beings. Besides genetics, dogs are learning all the time so it is possible that the guarding is a result of learning.

Say, for example, that a dog learned that when he is enjoying chewing on something of interest someone comes by and forcefully removes the item.  Now, the dog decides that what is his is his and he will fight for it because otherwise it will be taken away from him.  What a slippery slope!

When it comes to dog & dog guarding the scenario is very similar to the above.  Sure, dogs often want different things at different times; after all they are individuals.  But what happens when more than one wants the same stuff?  Here is where problems might arise.

Ideally dogs have not been reinforced either by a person or by the environment itself for guarding to the point of escalating displays of aggression or full fledge aggression. Also, ideally dogs learn to diffuse conflict instead of going all out because they want something now!  If you have dogs that jump the gun at any provocation, you are in for a lot of fighting, my friend!

The trick, of course, is to know when the guarding is “appropriate” that is; no-one is getting injured physically or even bullied emotionally- in the case of another dog and when it needs to stop before things get very ugly.

There are several things people can do to make sure their dogs or their dog and a visiting pal don’t get into trouble.

1. Manage the heck of resources that are typically desirable. This includes: anything edible and toys.
2. Make sure there is ample to go around.  So, that the message the dog gets is that he too will get the goodie thus no need for competition.
3. Teach your dog manners!  You have no idea how long this strategy will go! Dogs need to learn that pushing their weight around is not the way to get what they want. You will be surprised how quickly they can learn this if you are consistent in delivering consequences for poor behavior such as bullying another.
4. Supervise around coveted stuff until you learn if there are any such items that the dogs will compete over. If so, just deliver these individually.  Good news is the time alone with a favorite toy or chewy is an excellent way for your pups to spend some “alone” quite time.

Some dogs are quite good at sharing certain things as in the case of my two dogs.  However, things can change quite rapidly so it is important to keep this in mind and make any necessary changes to keep the peace at home. Sigh.

When it comes to dog guarding a location, say a sofa, or your bed, you could just teach the dog (in short sessions used for this purpose) to get off the furniture on verbal cue.  Again, I urge you not to physically force your dog off stuff.  Adversarial approaches do have consequences and most of them are exactly what we do not want. Instead teach this in the form of a game by tossing treats on the floor that your dog gets to have when you say off and he complies.  Also, this can double for a nice round of cardio when the weather is not nice to go play outside!  “Up, off, up, off, up, off”… you get the picture. So, whenever your dog guards a location you ask your dog to get off as he just lost the privilege of a comfy place.


Paying attention to how your dogs relate around resources are one of the most salient and easy things you can do to avoid most fights in your home.  If your dog is already a compulsive guarder do not label your dog as a “bad”, dominant or even a stubborn dog because he is just responding as a dog. Instead, pay attention to the items that are at the center of the problem and teach your dog (s) that waiting politely for goods is the best way to access them.

If the guarding or even posturing continues, c-a-l-m-l-y escort your dog outside.  The goal here is to teach your dog consistently yet gently that manners matter and that if he cannot be polite he misses out. That is all.  One of the best kept secrets about dogs is that they do what works. Period. They are savvy creatures that have perfected - if you will, the art of staying alive and thriving. If you teach your dogs what you want them to do in order to access resources you will see your dogs following your lead.


Finally, if your pups are already fighting over resources, please get professional help. Find someone that has experienced with aggression and behavior modification.  Equally important- avoid, avoid at all costs harsh methods to “fix” the problem or you just made the situation much worse for everyone involved.

Sharing Popcorn

I am about to make some popcorn – one of my favorite snacks - as John is out walking with the dogs. I pause to think of what to put on the popcorn. Not so much because I am undecided about what I want, but because I normally share the bag of popcorn with Deuce and Rio. And John has never thought of popcorn as a great snaky-snack.

I settle for some olive oil, turmeric and garlic powder, all delicious, and stuff the dogs can eat with no concerns. It got me thinking: What does it mean to share something with our dogs? Is sharing just doing stuff together? Or is there more to this?

When we take them for a walk, how are we really sharing with them? Are we actually sharing? How about when in a training class - regardless of why we are participating? Or just hanging out at home?

As I ponder these questions, I try to define for myself what sharing with my dogs really looks like. The short answer is that sharing is being aware of their needs in the specific activity and being present with them. Forgetting for a minute the email we need to send (yes, people please put the freakin’ phone down!) and I will guarantee that your time with your pups will be more peaceful and more harmonious.

Being present also means paying attention to the pace our dogs need or want when on a walk or doing any activity such as playing Frisbee, tug, etc. It is also about slowing the heck down so that we can learn a bit about their likes and dislikes. For example, if you move a toy around with the intention of having your pup turn in a semi-circle after the toy, does she prefer to go clockwise or counter-clockwise? Is there a part of her body that appears less flexible? Now you know something else about your dog and this builds relationships.

What about the food we serve them? Is it the same old boring kibble day in and day out? Think about it, how would you like to eat the same thing day after day after day - regardless of how delicious it is. Yep, variety is the spice of life and this is true for the dogs as well. In this department I also try and drop in their bowls what I call “little-surprises” such as some leftover baked eggplant, which they LOVE, or cooked broccoli, a smallish piece of cheese, or an old time favorite, etc. I rotate their protein as well.

For me, sharing my life with my dogs implies inventing new games to play and using the same toys in different ways. Not only does this keep our learning and cognitive skills challenged, but it requires that I am fully there with them. Being in the moment has the much-added bonus of calming the Sympathetic nervous system; thank you dogs for providing me ample opportunities for doing just this.

A friend of mine asked me the other day: 'If you needed to share one message about dogs what would that be?' I said my message would be; 'That we exercise more empathy for them. Empathy in understanding how they truly learn, what they need and desire and that we commit to revisit this as many times as needed, to recognize when an interaction or an activity is not desired or when they are not able to cope. To recognize their need for more mental or physical stimulation or perhaps less. To be aware of and not exposing them to cold temperatures without a coat or shelter or leaving them behind in a dangerously hot car. To me, empathy means the ongoing conversation we have with them just like we do with a trusted dear friend.'

Sharing with our dogs is at the heart of the message that I will continue to divulge in hopes that others will take it to heart. After all, what is the point then of having these amazing creatures in our lives if we do not commit to sharing by being present and empathetically with them?

 

Redirecting

It is early in the morning and I am still in bed. My eyes are closed, yet I can still feel a pair of eye staring at me.

Then I hear a tiny whimper; and now I am pretending to be asleep. I keep my eyes closed for that effect and try hard not to crack a smile. Seconds later another little whimper and this time, I give in. Hop up, Rio, I tell her, and in an nanosecond I have a flying dog lying next to me on the bed.

Now I am fully-awake and engaging with Rio. This is one of the sweetest moments of the day for me; just hanging out on the bed with the dogs as I contemplate what’s on my plate on that given day.

Rio begins to lick my hands as her tail wags fast. I remove my hands in an effort to have her stop licking which I don’t like. This works for a minute. She goes back to licking my hands. I
now have my trainer’s cap on and I ask her instead to go get a toy. She jumps off the bed and she is gone for a few seconds. Ahh, she might not come back at all – I think. But here she is again! Jumping almost vertically on to the bed and missing me by a few inches.

In her mouth is a very “dead” alligator that has lost its inside a long time ago. Together we begin tugging at the gator and having some fun.

Redirecting our dogs to engage in a more “appropriate” behavior to have them stop one that we do not want is one of the best kept secrets of successful trainers. It gives the animal an equally (or sometimes even more) reinforcing behavior to engage in as well as preventing the frustration people feel when their dog is doing something they don’t like.

Redirecting, however, comes with a few rules:
1. We cannot ask our dog to do something that the dog has not learned yet. For example, asking the dog to go to his bed when no one has taken the time to teach the dog what that really means.
2. The alternative must be something that dog wants to do as well as (i.e.) finds the redirected behavior as reinforcing as item #1.
3. It must be very specific.
4. It must be reinforced.

In my bed situation with Rio, I asked her to go get a toy (her choice) because this is something that she has learned to do in the context of us coming in the front door after a lengthy absence. In the past she would get super excited; she would whine (she still does) jump either on us or up in the air - Kangaroo style. Now we ask her to go get a toy and she gladly complies because she has learned that we will engage with her either by tugging with the toy that she selected or we will throw it for her if it is a ball. She also got what she wanted which was social interaction. We have now translated that behavior to the morning-bed routine and again it works for both parties.

Another aspect that I consider important about protocol like the redirect or in behavior/training parlance a DRI (differential schedule of incompatible behavior),  Rio can’t lick me if she is holding a toy in her mouth :) It's in fact that it slows us down to engage with the dog. We are having an engagement instead of just reacting and yelling impatiently at the dog STOP THAT NOW!!!!

And as a result of our yelling, we now have a dog that either is confused because he has no clue what to do instead or worse, a dog that is scared of us due to our over- the-top reaction. Voids are difficult for dogs. That is why they also get into trouble! They don’t know what to do with their “free-time,” with the person knocking at the front door, etc.

Whenever I use a DRI with my own dogs or I suggest and train my client’s dogs to an alternative, I feel very good about myself and the situation because I recognized that now the dog is getting something that he wants and it is something as well that the person can live with.

Try this at home: Next time you want your dog to stop some “obnoxious” behavior, suggest to him that he does something he can do and will want to do and go about feeling really good about yourself too!

What Dogs Really Want for Xmas (and beyond)…

If you are like me, you take the Christmas holiday as an opportunity to gift your favorite canine pal. I bought some stuffed animals for Rio and Deuce in Ikea when I was in the Bay area. Ikea has some great kid’s toys that are perfect for dogs. They are cheaper than your average dog toy, better made (no parts that the dog can eat) and they are super cute. Yes, my dogs also got some comfy beds for the holidays. Myself like almost everyone I know that has pets buys them stuff because they love them but also because it makes them feel good. Nothing wrong with that I say!

Beds and toys make great gifts for our dogs because a comfortable and safe place to sleep and the opportunity to engage in natural dog behaviors such as dissecting to such unrecognizable pieces that cute toy they just got for Xmas is part of what makes dog’s “happy”.

I don’t know about you and your household routine, but in my household I follow certain “protocols” to ensure my dogs not only sleep in comfort, but that they also have a “crack” in life as dogs in our human world.

So for instance: everyday in the AM our dogs get an opportunity for mental stimulation (either an individual training session - and believe me there is always something we can work on) or engagement with a food-dispensing toy. Secondly they have something that addresses physical stimulation be it sheep-herding for Deuce with Rio either playing with a favorite pal or coming along with Deuce and me for a “country outing”.

Other days we play soccer and tug in a very structured way doubling up the play session with some basic obedience and impulse control routine.

My goal for my dogs and those of my client’s is to make their training as imbedded in everyday life activity as possible. Everyone wins!

So… besides creature comfort, opportunities for new learning and burning some mental  and physical steam, what do dogs really want?

• Dogs need to feel safe.
• Have the choice to escape unnecessary pain, discomfort and threats (yes we do need to trim their nails and brush their teeth – and indeed there are humane ways of doing this BTW).
• Daily opportunities to engage in gratifying social contact with other dogs as well as daily opportunity to engage in social contact with their humans.
• Daily opportunities for play and exercises (both mental and physical).
• Some control over their environment (where they sleep, to meet guests, to get petted or not at a given moment, etc.)
• The right set of circumstances to engage in species-specific behaviors such as chewing, digging, barking, chasing, eliminating, etc.

It goes without saying that dogs, just like us, are individuals with preferences and dislikes.

For an under-socialized fearful dog the idea of meeting people is at least an aversive and at worst very scary. It is also our job to acknowledge our dog’s temperament, age and physical condition so that we can best provide for them the above opportunities.

Sock Monkey

Last week I had with me a board & train named Scout. She and my dogs became fast friends, especially Rioja and Scout… talk about making a BFF in a matter of seconds! One of their many favorite activities was to either:

A. Play tug with a toy.
B. Lay together while dissecting “intact” toys, almost as in a competition as to whom may destroy the toy to pieces first.

For the most part, I am cool with dogs destroying their toys. I rotate them often to keep that: OMG look what is in my basket this morning- feeling. I also buy very cheap safe toys for them. My expensive training toys are safely put away in a drawer and they only come out when I am playing/training with the dogs.

Now check this out, as I encountered laying on the floor the remnants of a very cute toy, I felt sadness. Why this one? I began to debate if it was okay for the “Bobbsey-twins” to destroy all the toys in the basket, including the cute ones or if I should establish some sort of hierarchy:

No, this toy is to play nicely with because Aunt Deb gave it to you just two days ago or, this is one of my favorites. Just look at the cute face of the monkey (the sock monkey- no dog should ever go without one :).

This line of thought made me realize that my own needs of keeping cute toys intact where my needs and it had nothing to do with Rioja or Scout’s needs. What matters for them is how much they can pull on a toy without hurting their teeth, the toy’s give, texture, and yes even smell (the grosser the better). Of course, having a toy come alive is truly at the top of many canine's list.

I have encountered in my line of work plenty of times people’s needs collided with their dogs. Sometimes to the point that a person’s preferences results in a dog having a not-so-good-quality of life: i.e.: dogs should live outside, they are dirty. :(

Living with our dogs and parenting them requires that we are brutally honest. That we take a close look and at least accept the truth that we have biases. Biases that affect our dogs daily. Not always in a bad way. As a result of this, I put together a list of situations that I think clarifies making sure that my needs (as well as other dog parent’s) are clearly identified for what they are, and as such that I (we) consider very carefully when my (our) need are in juxtaposition with my dogs needs or even their wants - heck!

Parenting Your Dog

Parenting a dog means learning and understanding their nature and attending to their needs. It also means being an advocate for our dogs. Advocacy begins by recognizing and acknowledging their individual limitations. Be it their inability to be in close proximity with other dogs, surrounded by people at a public event, etc. By truly seeing our dogs with their challenges we can be fair to them in our expectations as well as make better choices for them.

However, I am NOT advocating giving up on your dog. Instead, help your dog become comfortable within his/her environment and social interactions. How one can achieve a balance between their safety and trust in us without excessively hindering their existence is a decision-making dance that we need to embark upon daily. Hopefully, the ideas below can give you some guidance.

When possible give your dog a choice.

• The choice to approach someone or not to approach them.
• Choice of several kinds of toys to play with.
• To engage with dogs in play or not.
• Having access to more than one resting place in the home.
• To leave the room, if he is noise sensitive, just before you are going to vacuum.
• Observe their body language. Assess if your dog is happy, mildly stressed, or outright fearful about a given situation or an interaction and act accordingly to protect your dog, etc.

Enrich his/her life

By engaging your dog’s Seeking System with mental as well as physical activities that they enjoy. (Dissecting and feeding games, training-especially clicker training where they can execute more control over their environment)

See with new eyes

If you have two dogs (or a past dog that you loved) remember that every dog is an individual. Instead of wishing your dog was different or more like your other dog, acknowledge their differences.

Your needs or your dogs?

• Be aware of your personal needs as separate from your dog’s! For example:
• Does your dog really want to go to the art-fair? Or bringing her along is your need?
• Is your dog truly enjoying participating in agility, etc.? Or you feel that agility is good for her so you decide to put her thru the class, trail, etc.?
• Taking the time to evaluate your needs and your dog’s is critical especially when the welfare of your dog is at stake.
• Be consistent with expectations and consequences for your dog.

Make sure your dog understands your rules. For example, sometimes you feed him scraps from the table, but you get upset if he begs when you are having dinner. As you can see, this scenario is confusing and not fair to the dog. If you do not want him begging, do not feed him from the table.

Bring some structure into their lives

Dogs thrive when their lives are structured sprinkled with novelty here and there. For example, engage your dog in a daily activity, but try and vary the activity often. One idea is to keep meal times somewhat consistent but vary how he/she must get the food. Sometimes use a food dispensing
toy, other times make them “hunt” for their food, etc.

Engage in daily play that is fun for both of you!

Let your dog win often to increase his self-esteem. Remember that when dogs are playing they cannot be fearful or concerned -this is how their brains are wired.
If your dog is not keen in playing with you please invest some time and energy in finding some sort of game that you both enjoy. If this sounds like mission impossible to you, get some professional help.

Do not assume you are helping your dog...

• In the words of horse/clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland, “Just because you are using positive reinforcement (no aversive), it does not mean the animal is having a positive learning experience."
• Commit to Building a Relationship with your dog
• Spend quality time with your dog.
• Making ongoing efforts to see things from their perspective, keeping them from harms way and engaging in mutually enjoyable activities are measures at the crux of developing a relationship.

The truth is that I get tremendous amount of pleasure in seeing dogs just being dogs.

But I am still left wondering…. Why the monkey with the cute face…?