Mental stimulation can double as relationship-building.

Here is the second installment of our discussion on mental stimulation. As I mentioned previously, we can go beyond food dispensing toys to give our dogs a daily dosage of mental stimulation.
Some people get it right and understand the importance of a “sniff walk” for their dog. Indeed, for how we use sight to understand the world, our dogs smell it. Smell being their most reliable sense. By a “sniff walk” I mean taking your dog for a stroll where the distance covered is irrelevant in which we allow the dog to move at its own pace- taking as much time as he wants sniffing. This could be challenging for some folks because they do take their dog on a walk (yah!) but they have their own agenda. The walk must double as their fitness routine, so they just want to get it done fast. My advice to this bunch is to take their dog’s sniff walk as a bonus within their mental health.  To see this as an opportunity to experience the surroundings in Slow mo.  Wow!  What a concept!  We can also re-frame and think of our workout time as our workout time, aside from allowing it to be during the dog sniffing opportunities.

 

 In addition to the sniff or slow walk, there are other ways we can hang out with our dogs and provide a rich environment for their brain and well-being.  Here is an idea that I have witnessed to be very beneficial to dogs:  I teach owners how to do some simple TTouches on their dog as part of my Developing the Confident Dog class.

This past Saturday, every participant in the class saw how quickly their dog went from alert (and some a bit stressed) to totally relaxed, choosing to lie down on their mats to receive the benefits of their human’s touch. Engaging your dog with TTouch can teach your dog’s nervous system to oscillate from fidgety to relaxed. The more your dog experiences these different modalities, the easier it will be for your dog to recuperate from an upsetting event or just to be able to relax when you are busy at home and can't concentrate on your dog. TTouch is not a massage and is not petting either. It is its own modality that is relatively easy to learn and worth exploring. To learn more visit: www.TTouch.com.

One of my favorite things to do with my dogs is to play with them! We have all sorts of games and most of them involve an object or toy. I am defining play as any activity in which participants engage voluntarily and the only purpose is to have fun.  The topic of play has been well researched and as a result there is ample information about what constitutes “good” play. Also, quite relevant is how can we play with our dogs in a manner that they find enjoyable and not threatening.  If play is your “thing”  look up the work of Marc Bekoff,  www.marcbekoff.com - a leading authority in dog play and who has done tremendous work surrounding the emotional lives of animals.

I personally like it when my dogs invent their own games.  I mostly follow their lead when they come up with a new activity that we can do together. Here are a couple of examples:

After their breakfast both Deuce and Rio go to our long hallway just off the kitchen.  They both lie there with either one ball (more fun for Rio- perhaps less fun for Deuce) or a ball a piece.  The game consists of one of us kicking the ball so that Rio goes after it.  She gets tremendous pleasure in this. If Deuce was not that interested in balls I tend to wonder if Rio would enjoy the activity.  For this particular game, I changed some of Rio’s “rules” and I make sure Deuce has another ball to keep as his own, or we take turns tossing the ball in such a manner that Deuce gets it sometimes too- not only Rio. Being able to get to a ball that lands unpredictably is where the fun is at.

Deuce and I have our own special game that consists of Deuce taking my sheepherding cues (we actually do go sheepherding) inside our home as he “herds” a ball.  Not only is this game highly reinforcing for Deuce, but our herding practice with “real” sheep has improved tremendously.

I encourage you to be open to your dog’s definition of “games” and “fun”.  I promise you that you will also reap the benefits as you see your blood pressure drop and your breathing become more fluid. At least mine dose whenever I choose to play with my dogs.

In closing, I strongly suggest people think of mental stimulation as a dog’s ability to problem solve. Again, the activities that can promote this are truly amazing, but here I want to refer to one that is so accessible to anyone willing to invest in learning how to shape behavior with a clicker. In essence shaping behavior is teaching a behavior by approximation.  Think of it as a process similar (yet much more complex and interesting) than the popular game of “hot” and “cold” in which someone is getting clues as to the proximity of an object or a specific action it must do. To learn more visit: www.clickertraining.com

If you live in the Santa Fe area, I encourage to enroll in one of my classes. Yes, your dog will learn new skills but equally important you will learn how to adequately teach your dog to problem solve. In addition, you will learn training skills and games that you can incorporate at home as part of your dog’s mental stimulation routine.

Why mental stimulation is so critical to your dog’s well-being.

If you are at all in the dog “circle” you have unmistakably heard about mental stimulation. What I think sometimes trainers, like myself, forget to do is to explain to people a couple of important factors about mental stimulation.

 

First off, I would like to define mental stimulation.

It is any activity that your dog enjoys, can engage in, and that in some way or another satiates an innate (natural) canine need. Now, we must dive into what constitutes innate behaviors in dogs. The most scientific way I know how to do this is to consider who dogs are:

We know that dogs are predators. They acquire their preferred food (or at least they did when they were hunting since most present day dogs do not hunt for their food) by chasing down their prey, and they eat it by dissecting it.  As hunters, they do not get a guaranteed meal either so we know that they are opportunistic feeders, as well as scavengers. There in itself, we have quite a few clues as to what sort of activities we might come up with that emulates  behaviors all dogs engage in when they are hunting after a prey or feeding.

In delving into it more closely, we discover that dogs, like any other predator, are highly interested in movement because movement might mean an opportunity to eat. We also now know that they have powerful canine molars to grind and teeth to shred meat apart. Another important clue!

So here are some activities that can supply your dog the opportunity of species-specific behaviors: if we add less predictability to how we feed our dogs, we might just hit the jackpot!

Simply put, instead of serving your dog its meal from a ceramic bowl, make that food come alive.
Toss your dog’s high-quality kibble or dry treats up in the air, without much restrain, so that it spreads everywhere. Encourage your dog the first few times to find each and every one of the individual pieces of kibble as it uses it’s very powerful sense of smell. If you are feeding raw, you will not be able to do this, so please do not try this at home.

Alternatively, you can flick away each piece of kibble down a hallway while creating some really interesting motion for your dog. Now your dog has to run after every single one of them. Does this activity resembles a natural way of feeding for your dog?  Think about it; it’s the same meal but different behaviors to acquire it: chasing to eat.

When it comes to dogs dissecting their protein for consumption, we can find a myriad of manners to feed our dogs so that they have to “work” with those powerful mouths for their food.

Replace then, the food bowl for a Kong filled with your dog’s daily chow, and not just a thin coat of peanut butter.  Now you got your dog’s attention!  It might take your dog 2 minutes or even longer to extract its daily food and that definitively beats spending only 30 seconds in one of the most salient activities of the day for most modern dogs:  consuming food.  If you choose to feed your dog in this manner, you will most likely need to serve more than one Kong.  Wow! The fun just doubled. I strongly suggest feeding your dog like this at least once a day.

You can also add some spin to how your dog gets its meal.  Some really clever food-dispensing toys require that the dog makes the toy spin in order for the kibble to come out. Remember how attractive movement is for our dogs? Again, if you feed raw, then find some acceptable non-raw item that could add some much needed entertainment to your dog’s day. It could be a boiled egg, sardines or perhaps your dog is into apples. I know of a very lucky dog that gets served daily an apple in a Kong.

While all dogs are predators and engage in one way or another in typical canine behaviors, each dog is also an individual. So spending a bit of time discovering which activities your dog enjoys will pay off. Some dogs might get scared if we attempt to throw up in the air a bunch of kibble, so perhaps for this type of dog, a much more low key toy or even tossing each piece of kibble gently (this does not take as long as you might think BTW) is more appropriate. Now, it goes without saying, not because our dogs are scavengers does it mean that we do not have to provide some guidance as to how to pull the food out of a food dispensing toy. So make sure to make things easy for your dog so that he is successful in getting the food out of the toy.  Keep him in the game!  Once he can do this with some effort but still gets to extract the food, make things a bit more challenging for your dog.

Of course, there are also games that provide both mental stimulation as well as physical opportunities for your dog, which don't always involve eating. I will be exploring some of these activities in future posts. Stay tuned!

Spoil them! Why not?

I am talking to my colleague Erica about the particular concepts that we are thinking about these days. We are sharing our peeve projects and what we share with them and why we think it is important.  

We are sharing our ideas as to why one should train dogs (or any animal for that matter) and we both agree that we should train them in order to make their lives better.  That simple. That powerful.

Many people who keep dogs as pets truly are trying to fulfill the important task of making their lives better.  

These folks are making good choices for their dogs. Their dogs get to go places, they have ample opportunity for physical as well as mental stimulation, they are safe and feel safe - for the most part, they eat nutritious food that will help them thrive.  Their days are filled with games, fun and the company of perhaps other dogs and their people. 

Now here is a curious fact: Most of the world’s dog population are not pet dogs but dogs that have loose associations with humans or no association besides eating out of dumpsters created by the humans so they remain feral.

I would argue that part of training dogs to live a better life should include behaviors and management that will keep them safe of harm as humanly as possible. Also, training can help in incorporating dogs - which are yes domesticated, yet still animals in our household, where it is important that they can learn not to chew on our stuff, soil our carpets and keep reasonably quiet for our sake and that of our neighbors. These are all good reasons to train our dogs, because when the above is not in place, dogs do lose their homes. 

Of course, much more needs to be done with dogs - unlucky fellows that for whatever reason fear most or a lot of what happens in “our” world - now their world. Because once dogs learn that biting people (or dogs) keeps them safe they continue to do so if they are not taught alternative ways of dealing with the stress and fear that is part of the bargain of living in close proximity to people. 

Yes, indeed we must continue to strive to make our interactions with dogs a lot safer so that they do not have to aggress as a result of feeling threatened and potentially hurt someone. 

It goes without saying that learning about “real” dogs is the first step in understanding how to make things work for all parties.  

Now back to the importance of spoiling our dogs. Our relationship with our dogs does not escape cultural norms.  So, one must ask:  What are the cultural norms in regards to animals in general and pets in particular? Of course, cultural norms are never static but are challenged and as a result they change.  

Unfortunately, most societies still view animals as a means to an end. We are invested in animals as long as they produce something of value to us. Nothing more! Sad but very true. Little care or regard is paid to really learning about animals, their needs and their ethos.  This dreadful legacy has many roots but one of them is industrialization.  The more removed we are from animals that are the source of our food, the less the connection that these are sentient beings that are in need of our care and understanding based on who they are and not our capricious desires. 

It is tempting to think that yes indeed there is a difference between how we treat “those other” animals and our pets.  But should there be?   Great discussion for another blog entry.

Still, our relationship with our pets is bound by our cultural norms. On the one hand, (and I am now talking mainly of the USA) the pet industry with all its offerings, sees yearly earning of billions of dollars!

But the question remains:  Are our pets living wonderful lives? In many ways, yes. Just like us they are getting better health care, better food, etc.  However, there is still that “selfish” side to our cultural norms that dictate that our pets are supposed to provide us with emotional support, protection, and status.  I would argue there is nothing morally wrong with this but the question remains:  Are our pets living wonderful lives?

There is so much to gain in being in a relationship with our dogs. Our relationships with them can be one of the most valuable and nurturing of all. However, can we move past seeing our pets ONLY as surrogates for our needs?  

Can we begin to soften up to what they want, what they need and commit to providing that just because they deserve it- and not because of what they can do for us?  Can we begin to see more and more how our lives and choices impact their lives? Can we spend precious time with them enjoying their company, their antics?  What I call their dogness.  

One of the main reasons I do what I do has to do with my deep commitment to providing people that seek my professional advice with factual information about the nature of dogs. We truly must move away from debunked theories such as the Alpha/pack mentality where there are winners (us) and losers (our dogs). A theory mostly based on cultural norms of domination than facts.  Pathetic! 

And, of course, theories do exercise an impact in how lives are lived, so let’s make sure that the narratives that we subscribe to are narratives that are based on factual information, not fad, not violence for the sake of it and definitively not based in fear of being the “loosing party”.  

Let’s instead, train our dogs so that their lives are better, so that they are safe and are safe to be round but for heaven’s sake let’s also spoil them with abandonment as we commit to their needs being met so that their lives and ours - together, are truly wonderful.

Return on Investment

John and I are spending some time cleaning the leaves from the outside plants that are now living in our living room for the winter. I take a cloth with some water and I wipe off some white residue that stubbornly returns to the leaves even after we have sprayed them with some benign mix they gave us at the nursery. I tell John that it is frustrating removing this stuff for it to come back again after the “full- treatment”.

He responds by saying that in reality our plants can’t look very good because we just starting spending some time taking care of them.
 

This conversation got me thinking about how it is so true that in order to achieve our goals, whatever these might be, we must spend time and effort in reaching them. Same with our dogs, or any goal really.
 

People want their dog to behave and for him to be a pleasure to live with in spite of the little time they spent either training the dog and/or taking care of the dog’s daily needs.

 

This is one area where return on investment truly does make a difference. Areas in which being proactive with our dogs would make a world of difference are:

1.  Daily exercise and mental stimulation. Give the dog an opportunity to release some pent up energy and have something to look forward to. At least my dogs begin to get restless after they have been fed, even though the need to wait 1 hr before we engage in rigorous exercise. But yes, they do anticipate their daily routine of training and exercise.
2. Establishing clear household rules while making sure your dog can understand them- don’t assume your dog understand them just because you keep repeating them over and over again! Real learning needs to take place.
3. For example: Decide if your dog is allowed on the furniture or some furniture or not all- your choice. If your dog gets on the furniture or the “wrong” furniture, re-direct, gently by asking your dog off it and then tell your dog exactly what you want him to do instead. This drill must be repeated many, many times. Yelling or even asking nicely does not guarantee that your dog has understood what you want him to do instead of getting on the furniture.
4. Also, as important, if you think your dog is getting on your furniture to warrant some warmth or comfort, make sure you provided that for your dog. Most dogs want up on the sofa for that reason and who can blame them? Perhaps they get on the sofa also because it smells like us, so if your pup is the clingy type, provide one of your non-laundered t-shirt so that your dog can have on his bed if you will be leaving him alone. This might provide a lot of comfort. I am a very strong supporter of the idea of researching the motivation (or need) behind a behavior. If, for instance, your dog enjoys looking out the window, allow him to do so when you are at home. I don’t advise allowing this when the dog is alone if your dog is the type that will bark at anything or anyone passing by. A great part of dog parenting is exactly that to provide what our dogs need/want when at all possible.

Just saying “no” without the allowance for something else that targets the specific need: companionship, comfort, safety, stimulation, etc. is not really partnering with our dogs.

The behavior of dogs jumping up to greet is a great example of how one-sided we can be with our dogs. Most people really dislike having their dog jump on them or someone else for that matter and what they want is for the behavior to stop pronto! But wait! Have we investigated why is it that the pup is jumping? I can tell you that dogs greet by licking each other’s muzzles - a vestige of their “wolfy” past. As our companions, they extend the same greeting to us. Since we are erect they have no other choice than to jump up in an effort to reach our mouth. Now that we are aware of the reason behind the behavior, how can we provide our pup with another outlet that is not jumping up while fulfilling their requirement of engaging doggy-style in social graces?
 

Nothing makes my job more satisfying than knowing that I helped my client with their dog’s behavior and that I also found a way to satisfy what the dog wants. I invite you to invest daily in making decisions and household rules that takes your dog into consideration. Your dog will thank you for this, I guarantee! ☺

 

The Meeting Of Two Species- Success With Your New Dog At Home

A few months back I was invited by a local dog-related publication to write an article for their magazine. The editor suggested that I write something to help new dog guardians when bringing their new dog home, which I thought it was a great idea. After submitting the article and being told by the editor that she liked it and would use it in the next issue, I got an email from the editor just before publication saying the following: The editorial review committee have decided they don't want to use your article as it stands because they felt it tried to cover too much ground and didn't give enough basic "how to:" information for new pet owners… If you chose to write about the Kong feeding, we would want an acknowledgment that this is controversial and have you give the pros and cons of using this method.

Needless to say, I was surprised to receive her communication and decided not to write another article for the publication. I never found out who the “editorial review committee” is or more importantly what their knowledge of dog behavior and counseling about this topic to new pup “parents” might be. The fact that the committee finds feeding dogs via Kongs™ (or other food-dispensing toys) “controversial” really blows my mind away (and it also tells me something about how little they know about dog behavior, evolution and how to help folks with their new dog at home.)

In any event, as I told the editor, I stand by my advice to new pet guardians as spelled out in my article. Regardless, of if their new dog comes from a shelter or a breeder and if the dog is a puppy or an adult dog. Below you will find the article as I submitted to the publication. I hope you enjoy it!

What does chewing everything in sight, eliminating on carpet and hard wood flooring, digging up the flowerbed, barking when the doorbell rings all have in common? All these behaviors are normal dog behaviors. However, they may be annoying to most people since it is human nature to want our dogs to eliminate outside, bark only when truly necessary, and for our furnishings to remain intact.

The good news is that with a little knowledge, planning, and dedication it is possible for us to co- exist with this different species. The reality is that most dogs are relinquished to shelters because of problems that are not at all complicated to fix. Whether you are adopting a shelter dog or getting your puppy from a breeder, the potential problems at home remain the same.

Here are some tips that if followed closely will help you get through the first few weeks at home with your new pup, and in fairness to your dog, also take into consideration his natural tendencies.

After you have made sure that you have selected the right dog for your lifestyle and you bring him home, take into account that even though you know the rules of your household, your new pal does not.

The first day at home should really be stress free. Ideally, you should bring your dog home when you can spend a few days with him - say just before a weekend. Change is difficult for our animals too, so keep things low key initially - it will go a long way.

Preventing Problems at Home:
You want to make sure you have prepared an area that is safe for your dog to remain in when you cannot attend to him or are out of the home. By "safe" I mean that there are no power cords or plants to chew on, furniture or wooden doors that can be damaged. The ideal place could be a spacious bathroom, or a laundry room or kitchen, as long as the floor can be wiped clean. Now, it is crucial that your dog has something interesting to do while in his safe area. Teach your dog from the get-go to eat out of Kongs™ which are hollow rubber toys created for entertaining your dog, plus providing him with a legal outlet to his canine habits of chewing. In my professional opinion of all the dog toys out there Kongs are by far really designed with dogs in mind. There are other varieties of food dispensing toys which are worth trying out, so present your dog with an assortment. It is okay to mix and match. Initially you need to teach your dog how to extract food out of the toys so make sure you spend some time on this task.

Whichever toys you decide to provide it is crucial that your dog is interested in them and that he can readily extract the kibble out of them. If not, most dogs will get frustrated and forgo the toy for barking or destructive chewing. The idea here is to feed your dog all of his meals out of these toys. Eventually you can moisten the kibble so it expands which becomes harder for the dog to get out, or you can use a sticky matrix such as peanut butter, baby food, etc. to make it more of a challenge. Having to work for his food instead of eating out of a bowl, which will only take your dog just a couple of minutes, stimulates your dog mentally and addresses his natural tendencies of having to search and work for his food.

In addition to teaching your dog to eat out of food dispensing toys, I strongly recommend crate training your dog. Crate training means getting your dog comfortable in a crate of your liking. Crate training is not about forcing the dog into a crate, but slowly introducing the crate to your dog. Once your dog is really enjoying hanging out in his crate, you can use the crate as a management tool when you need it. In cases such as when you are traveling and need to leave your dog in your hotel room while you go out to dinner, or when you take a trip with your dog in the car. It's by far the safest way to take him places.

Crate training your dog will make the tedious job of housetraining a cinch. To help with the crate training process, you will set up the crate with a comfy bed, towel, etc. in his safe area. On the opposite side of the crate - and this is important - place a pad where your dog can eliminate when you cannot take the dog to eliminate outside. Please keep in mind that this set-up is just providing a safe and comfortable place for your dog to be when you cannot spend time with him. But you still must make sure your dog gets daily physical and mental stimulation. Most dogs, unfortunately, are under-stimulated and as a result dogs are bored, stressed out, and can be destructive - not a fun scenario for
either party!

Exercise and Mental Stimulation:
Every dog has different needs when it comes to exercise and mental stimulation. However, dogs are crepuscular creatures which means that they tend to be more active in the early morning and at night, while sleeping long hours throughout the day. Thus, before going to work, make it a habit of taking your dog for a walk. I am not talking about a 10 minute walk around the block! But a true opportunity to sniff and see different sites and people - this will also help with on-going socialization. Alternatively, play with him until you are sure your dog is tired enough to be left behind for a few
hours. Better yet, bite the bullet and have someone come check on your dog mid-day. Dogs are social animals, so spending too many hours alone is really hard on their well being, especially so when your dog is new to your home and routine.

Besides keeping your pup content at home and your home intact, seriously consider taking a reward-based basic obedience class or puppy class so that your new pal learns basic manners and impulse control. Polite manners and acquired confidence will make your pup a pleasure to be around for years to come, and that is not a small bone to chew on.

Jot It Down…

And see your training take place! Any good business coach would advise that if you write down what you want to get done the likelihood of that taking place would be higher.

I for one have put this to the test many times and found that it is so true.

The time has come to move onward with Deuce and his overall training now that he has had ample time to get used to his new family and surroundings. Since I have two dogs that are both active but have different learning styles and needs, I carefully plan their training sessions.

Deuce because of his personality – being the “mellow” one is "destined” to help me with my classes. He can handle being in close proximity of other dogs such as in a class setting - something Laika has difficulty doing. Because of this and because he is full of energy, I work with Deuce on very specific tasks so that I can demo  in class as needed.

We also have weekly training sessions where the focus is on either improving his loose leash manners (he was pretty awful!) to him learning to bring the ball back to me when we are playing soccer. In true Border Collie fashion, he is more interested in chasing after a moving ball than acting as a retriever. Now, if you wanted a Retriever why did you get a Border Collie - this is his question. The good news, is that (finally!) I came up with a training plan that is teaching him to bring the ball closer to me and lay down before I can kick it back again to him.

With Laika, the training sessions are more focused on mental stimulation, rehab. of her hind legs. I am adding to this list some specific training sessions where she gets to make noise and is reinforced for it. Laika is big time afraid of thunder. She can also be startled with frequency with other fastidious noises such as me trying to swat at a fly or the vacuum cleaner. The goal of these sessions is for her to learn that noises such as the ones above are not so bad. Since she can have more control over her (noisy) environment during these sessions/games she will become more confident and able to deal with noises with more aplomb.
The reality is that regardless of my goals for my dogs, they need fun and mental stimulation, less anxiety over noise, bringing the ball back etc. It is much better to carefully plan every session prior to the session taking place and to engage in them on a regular basis. The sessions are not really that long. I might play soccer with Deuce for 10-15 minutes doubling up with great physical stimulation for him, but sessions are normally 5 minutes long – which in most cases that is plenty of learning time for a dog.

Designing and jotting down the sessions on a weekly basis has worked very nicely for me and I think also for both of my dogs …. What I do is plan the sessions and writing down on Sunday what the week of training will look like. For example, this week our training calendar looked like this:

Note: depending on my workload they might get one or two “formal” sessions a day in addition to other mental and physical stimulation activities.

Monday:

Deuce and Laika: Morning hike- practice recall (come when called) with Deuce and lay down as we hike around the hills near our home.

Late afternoon:
Deuce: Whippet- impulse control and lay down on verbal cue
Laika: Foraging for her dinner and impulse control… stop chasing Deuce as he goes after the whippet!!!

Tuesday:
Laika: Breakfast filled inside Kongs in the outside a pen-adjacent to our “soccer” field.

Deuce: Soccer - work on him bringing the ball back to me and laying down before me kicking the ball again.

Laika: Leisure hike and a few rounds of cavalletti to make her gait more fluid while Deuce eats his breakfast out of Kongs.

Wednesday:
Sheepherding with both dogs!

Whippet for Deuce before dinner

Laika gets to hunt for her kibble

Thursday:
Soccer with Deuce and whippet (two of his top-ten activities in life!)

Laika eating out of Kongs - same set-up as Monday and working in her “gym”.

Friday:
Deuce goes to daycare to play as well as harasses his daycare buds Laika and I go out for a leisurely mother-daughter’s walk, which we do once a week.

Saturdays and Sundays:
We tend to take them for hikes or leashed walks plus providing some mental stimulation such as eating out of toys, playing “mouse” with kibble, a funky game of chase a cat toy or fuzz-ball soccer in the living room.

I have noticed that since I plan my training week for Laika and Deuce the following things have taken place:
1. Their training takes place – I reach my goals little by little.
2. They have rich, fun and stimulating lives. (how cool is that :)
3. I get to spend individual time with each one of my dogs and I love that.
4. I keep learning about their individual learning styles and where they need improvement.
5. I do not get stressed out or overwhelmed because I know exactly what needs to happen and when.

At the end of each day, they both lay quietly and happily chewing on a bully stick and I can chill too knowing exactly what my next day will look like and that is not too bad for a Virgo like me!