Give them what they want!

As part my training services, I offer board & train. For many folks this is a very interesting option because they can either travel or just take a break from their pup while I work with them.  Because the pup is going to be staying at my home, I do have certain requirements such as all dogs must get along.

Recently I had an inquiry from a potential client that needed to leave her newly acquired dog in good care while she traveled. I met with her and her dog, and based on what I learned during the Initial consult I was on the fence regarding her dog and mine being a good match. There was only one way to find out, so we move forward with the next step in the process which is to bring all the dogs together for an off leash meet & greet.

Initially both Deuce and Rio exited their crates with excitement as they always show when there is the possibility of meeting someone new - dog or person.  

My biggest concern in this meet & greet was between Rio and my client’s dog - another adult female. Perhaps you know this, but adult female dogs are very choosy in whom they choose as a close pal. And when the match is not a good one and if they get into a brawl, this can very well be an injurious one. In any case, the first part of the compatibility “test” went well so we proceed with less restricted interactions and “play”. At some point my client’s dog, which frankly did so much better than I expected, was minding her own business when Deuce approached her and began to growl at her. Clearly she was not doing anything “wrong” and Deuce was just being a putts.

I called him off without any further incident, but it was very clear by now that this was not a match made in heaven!

For whatever reason Deuce decided he was not too enamored of this new and possible playmate. As a result of this, I proceeded to explain to my client that her dog had done nothing wrong but that unfortunately the B&T was not an option. Deuce, I said, is the one that is being the problem here…. yep, I did have some egg sliding on my face, if you want to know the truth.

I could have said: “Sure, I will keep your dog and well Deuce is just going to have to lump it” but at what cost? Frankly, I do not want escalation of animosity and now have full-blown fights in my own home.  Besides, I thought: Is it fair to Deuce? After all this is his home too and even though one cannot fully understand why dogs choose their doggy playmates at all times, I chose to let Deuce have what he wanted: Peace, quiet and “things back to normal” … very high on the list of my precious and systematic Border Collie boy.

Once my client left, I kept pondering on my decision. When do we completely “defer” to our dog’s wants and when do we decide they must play by our rules or the need of the moment?
Perhaps the answer to the question above is not always the same or a simple matter to entertain.  I get that. However, the fouled interaction with this potential board & train gave me an opportunity for reflection of the choices in front of me and their consequences not only for my client, her dog, and myself but also for my dogs. This is what I find of value! Taking a step back when considering how our lives in general and our choices in particular might affect our dogs.

Opportunities like this abound: Perhaps the dog does not care for the food - the only one made available day after day. But we feed this food because it is convenient for us. Or how about a dog that is afraid of children but our best friend has "adorable” kids that would love to be friends with our dog whom until now, has not demonstrated full-blown displays of aggression towards kids but instead he hides under the table tail tucked.  

I recently met with a client who in her questionnaire she proclaimed that her dog “was fine” with visitors at the home. There was something about her responses to the questionnaire that raised a red flag for me. Sure enough when they came over to try for agility it was evident to me this dog was not “fine”. She began shaking like a leaf and did anything in her power to avoid me. I wonder, of course, if this is the same reaction guests to the home bring the same kind of response from her dog.

Now, as for my decision, it has been made folks! My dogs are family members to me. Not only that, but they are the family members that need of most care and consideration because their well-being depends on this. So as much as possible my dogs will get what I think they want and need regardless if my choices make someone unhappy or because of this I have to clean the occasional egg off my face.

In and Out Privileges

I guess it has been a Lab-month in our household since I now have Roxie - another Lab mix here for board & train.

I am teaching her how to use the doggie door that will give her access to our back area to go eliminate, sun herself and just take a walk of some sort. We try the doggie door by having my dogs coming in and out for a treat. Ah, both Deuce and Rio are on board thinking that they kind of dig having all these dogs here since they get to practice what they can do in their sleep and still get paid for it!

Roxy is going in and out of the doggie door as she hears me cheer her and slip her a treat for her efforts. Sometimes as I use the door, I ask her to try her doggie door. Once she has learned how to use it no more in and out requests…. That is the beauty of doggie doors. I personally love doggie doors and encourage my own client’s to consider them. It means freedom for both parties and it gives the dogs the ability to have more control over where they spent their hours. Of course, one has to make sure that the dog will remain safe outside if they choose to go out the doggie door when the people are away.

There is one exception to the use of the doggie door in our household. The dogs get one last chance to go outside before going to bed and then the doggie door remains closed for the remainder of the night. That privileged was lost when Deuce decided that he needed to go outside and match the coyotes in their howling. Now, we get “Animal Planet” inside the home …. Howwwwwwwwwwwwl... howwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwl.

This morning I noticed both Rio and Deuce are inside, but where is Roxie? I call her once and I see her outside through the glass door. I point towards the doggie door reminding her that she is a big girl now and she can use the doggy door whenever she wants to come in, not only out.
I walk towards the doggie door and stand there. No Roxie. So the question is: Has Roxie learned to generalize how to use the doggie door?

Remember, generalization is the third of four stages of learning per Marylin Fender PhD and published in Front and Finish (see previous blog for more on this please). At this stage, the dog has learned that the behavior at hand is relevant under different circumstances. In the case of the doggie door it means that Roxie understands that she can go out and in. And that doing both requires the same steps - just executed from a different location (inside and outside). There is, of course, more than just the ability of the dog to learn to generalize, which in case I have not made myself clear it is not an automatic process for them.

Have you ever met someone in a given context and then when meeting again somewhere else -out of the usual context - and not being able to remember the person’s name or even where (in what context) you had met them?

That is exactly what happens to dogs all the time as they struggle to generalize the learning they have recently acquired. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I cannot pinpoint where I met someone I become obsessed with wanting to put the puzzle together. This realization has given me more empathy for dogs when they are learning followed by the knowledge that I must take the time to teach dogs the behaviors in a manner that they can generalize it where I want them to use it. This is accomplished by having the dog practice the behavior in either different locations (the living room, bathroom, front yard, dog park, etc.) or in whatever other modalities we need them to perform. Jumping on the back of a car, for example, might be different from the perspective of some dogs to jumping in the back seats of the car.

I pay closer attention to why Roxie appears to come inside when my dogs come in first, but she stumbles when they are already inside to go through the doggie door. My conclusion is that she has not really solidified what it entails to lift both doggie-door flaps - this is the kind of doggie-door with two flaps, which helps with insulation.

When she is following behind Deuce or Rio she is cleverly letting them do the flipping of the plastic flap for her as she hurries thru the doggy door. As we spent more time practicing, I also noticed that my encouragement on the opposite side of the doggie door helps her gather the oomph to push the rubber insert all on her own. It will not be long before Roxie discovers that learning to use a doggie door has some very cool benefits as she decides if she wants to bask in the sun, take a pee or come in for a nap.