What is the consensus out there, I wonder… can our dogs learn anything (positive, I am hoping) from Halloween?
I remember years back walking Laika around Halloween in Berkeley where we lived at the time. We came across a Halloween decoration and Laika took a step back. Okay, I thought perfect opportunity for Laika to learn about Halloween and “funny pictures”. Dogs interact with the world using all their senses with the sense of smell and sight as their predominant way of “making sense” of their environment.
So when a dog sees something that appears to the dog out of context, or different than the previous “picture” (representation) of that object or even perhaps something completely new to them, it is common for dogs to feel concerned or afraid since they cannot fully understand this new context.
A perfect example of these funny pictures is the quintessential plastic bag flying in the wind. Most dogs have seen plastic bags lying on the ground, on the kitchen counter, etc. But now the bag is flying… Or take, for example, another typical funny picture: someone walking with crutches. Dogs are aware that people walk with two legs and are even keenly aware of our cadence and body language. But now add the third element to the picture (crutch) and the dog has no idea what to make of it.
Dogs constantly have to adapt to our human world. And learning to feel comfortable (non-threatened) by the funny pictures that they see daily is of primary importance. I take every opportunity during walks, for example, to take advantage of the funny pictures we might encounter. To do this, I pair the viewing of the out-of-place object with something really good for my dogs. For the most part, I use a clicker to communicate to either Rio or Deuce that their choice to approach to investigate this object will gain them a reinforcer. The trick here, of course, is to make sure that the dog is the one making the choice to approach, and if so, how close. For the most part, after a few seconds of approach/avoidance – (moving away from the object) both dogs realize there is nothing to fear and they take a final sniff before we move on with one more little victory and a more confident dog.
So, Halloween is a perfect opportunity to look for those out-of-context scenarios to practice confidence building. Do not be surprise to discover that what you thought was indeed scary to your dog does not register as a “funny picture” to him or her. Do not fret, you will find one that will.
I am not much of a Halloween type of gal; the holiday has little meaning for me. But I realize that for a lot of people it is an opportunity to pass along candy to kids in all sorts of costumes. In other words: Funny-pictures galore!
If your dog is friendly to people in general but especially comfortable with children you might try and make this opportunity a learning opportunity for your pal. Here is how: Arm yourself with some super tasty treats. Whenever trick-or-treaters approach your home and your dog seems them, toss your dog a treat away from the door. Do this a few times. If your dog is an escape front-door artist, leash your dog to a heavy piece of furniture where he can enjoy the activities at the front door while he gets a freebie for hanging around all these “scary” looking kids.
However, if your dog has fear related issues towards people and children play it safe by keeping your dog in another room, while enjoying a delicious bone or stuffed Kong. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if our dogs are already super friendly to people and especially children our work is done. But when it comes to people-proofing our dogs the end is never in sight. Take these golden opportunities instead to make sure your dog is SUPER comfortable and happy about seeing people in general and especially children in all sorts of odd situations. Happy trick or treating to you all...
I remember years back walking Laika around Halloween in Berkeley where we lived at the time. We came across a Halloween decoration and Laika took a step back. Okay, I thought perfect opportunity for Laika to learn about Halloween and “funny pictures”. Dogs interact with the world using all their senses with the sense of smell and sight as their predominant way of “making sense” of their environment.
So when a dog sees something that appears to the dog out of context, or different than the previous “picture” (representation) of that object or even perhaps something completely new to them, it is common for dogs to feel concerned or afraid since they cannot fully understand this new context.
A perfect example of these funny pictures is the quintessential plastic bag flying in the wind. Most dogs have seen plastic bags lying on the ground, on the kitchen counter, etc. But now the bag is flying… Or take, for example, another typical funny picture: someone walking with crutches. Dogs are aware that people walk with two legs and are even keenly aware of our cadence and body language. But now add the third element to the picture (crutch) and the dog has no idea what to make of it.
Dogs constantly have to adapt to our human world. And learning to feel comfortable (non-threatened) by the funny pictures that they see daily is of primary importance. I take every opportunity during walks, for example, to take advantage of the funny pictures we might encounter. To do this, I pair the viewing of the out-of-place object with something really good for my dogs. For the most part, I use a clicker to communicate to either Rio or Deuce that their choice to approach to investigate this object will gain them a reinforcer. The trick here, of course, is to make sure that the dog is the one making the choice to approach, and if so, how close. For the most part, after a few seconds of approach/avoidance – (moving away from the object) both dogs realize there is nothing to fear and they take a final sniff before we move on with one more little victory and a more confident dog.
So, Halloween is a perfect opportunity to look for those out-of-context scenarios to practice confidence building. Do not be surprise to discover that what you thought was indeed scary to your dog does not register as a “funny picture” to him or her. Do not fret, you will find one that will.
I am not much of a Halloween type of gal; the holiday has little meaning for me. But I realize that for a lot of people it is an opportunity to pass along candy to kids in all sorts of costumes. In other words: Funny-pictures galore!
If your dog is friendly to people in general but especially comfortable with children you might try and make this opportunity a learning opportunity for your pal. Here is how: Arm yourself with some super tasty treats. Whenever trick-or-treaters approach your home and your dog seems them, toss your dog a treat away from the door. Do this a few times. If your dog is an escape front-door artist, leash your dog to a heavy piece of furniture where he can enjoy the activities at the front door while he gets a freebie for hanging around all these “scary” looking kids.
However, if your dog has fear related issues towards people and children play it safe by keeping your dog in another room, while enjoying a delicious bone or stuffed Kong. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if our dogs are already super friendly to people and especially children our work is done. But when it comes to people-proofing our dogs the end is never in sight. Take these golden opportunities instead to make sure your dog is SUPER comfortable and happy about seeing people in general and especially children in all sorts of odd situations. Happy trick or treating to you all...
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