Conversation with Katie

This post is the second installment on the work I have been doing with Katie. Katie is an under-socialized and very fearful Chihuahua. She especially fears meeting people at her home.  As I mentioned on the previous post, the ultimate goal is for Katie to be so comfortable with my presence first, followed by being comfortable engaging with me, so that I can teach her how to interact with other people in a manner that makes her feel safe and in control of the interaction.

One of the most important principles that I keep in mind during any work that I do with fearful dogs is to make sure they have choices as to how and if they want to interact with me.  At this point in the behavior modification plan with Katie, I am reinforcing her for any attempt at interaction with me, such as moving in my direction, standing still, instead of creating more distance when I toss cheese to her, giving me eye contact, orienting towards me, and overall feeling less afraid and a bit more confident. I can get some idea of how stressed she is as well as when she begins to feel more comfortable by carefully watching her body language. There are specific things that I am looking for.

How do I know that she is stressed? Or not ready to interact with me?  I look for what is called displacement behaviors.  These are natural dog behaviors that are taking out of context.  Some of the most salient in Katie are lip licking, yawing and turning away.  It is also very apparent that she is nervous when she scans the environment in a frantic manner versus soft eye movements in looking around.  Her body posture can also tell me that she is feeling more confident and relaxed or that she is once again not feeling comfortable interacting with me. 

Finally, I am using a clicker (a small toy that makes a noise) to communicate with Katie just prior her getting the cheese. I can be quite precise as to what sort of behaviors I want to see more often in Katie and I click for those followed always by the delivery of the cheese.

The reason I am looking into shaping some new behaviors for Katie is because as she learns new alternatives for interacting with a scary person; the chemistry in her brain is also being affected.  In doing this kind of work, we must always consider the physiological aspect of behavior.  It is as if we have a feedback loop. As the dog learns new responses to a given stimulus new neuropaths begin to strengthen. The more the dog practices these same behaviors, the stronger the connection of the neuropaths in the brain will be.


Think about it.  It does not “feel good” to be afraid or anxious but it does feel “good” when we can be relaxed and in control of the environment.  The same is true for any living organism.  And while one can never be in control 100% of the time, having any measure of agency over one’s interactions and the environment produces feelings of well-being and safety. 

In my interactions with Katie, I am hoping to establish a methodology that does exactly that: give Katie (most) control and choice regarding her interactions with me.  If Katie chooses to remain in her crate, I close the door to the crate and exit the room.  I repeat this over and over again so that it is very consistent, thus Katie can begin to notice a pattern that has been created by her own “behaving”.  If she comes out of her crate and chooses to interact with me in any way, she gets a click and some cheese for that.

She is in control as to when the interactions happen and when she needs a break by just stepping inside her crate. When she does I respond by closing the crate and exiting the room. 

Behavior is never a straight line but more a series of steps forward with some hiccups along the way. To expect a constant moving forward is really setting us up for failure and disappointment.  It is much better to instead realize that they will be set backs and that when they happen, we must learn to be creative and flexible while keeping our focus on the training plan so that we can allow the dog (learner) the space to integrate new experiences.  It goes without saying that when we “push” too hard because we are in a hurry or because we grow impatient, not only are we being really unfair to our learner, but the confidence that we are trying to build between us is begins to crumble. 

As you can see in the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvka6GsR7k

Katie appears stressed. Notice how she lip licks, trembles and her eyes and expression are not relaxed. (0:01-0:14). You can even see that she stoops down as I am approaching the crate to let her come out if she chooses to do so. Of course, I wish I had another mechanism to open the crate without getting so close to her.  However, this unfortunate forced interaction will too create a baseline for me to assess in how comfortable Katie is with my proximity.

I open the crate and Katie is conflicted about coming out (0:21). Her tail is wagging she is at the front of her crate in anticipation of having the crate open.  She vacillates and you can clearly see she is scanning the environment (0:36-0:46).

 As I exit the room and she is in her crate, (1:11-1:21) her conflict turns into curiosity and even expectation of the cheese coming her way. This is exactly what I am looking for:  Katie associating my presence with cheese which is something she loves.  Being able to “observe” her via the video confirms this expectation in her.

By our next interaction (1:23) she is more at ease and ready to interact with me.  Notice that she is in front of her crate (she has the choice of moving all the way back).  Which is a “green light” for continuing to interact with her.

Even though she is a bit more relaxed, she is still conflicted as if she is thinking: I really want the cheese, but I am still not sure about this person.  Conflict in animals is a very healthy response.  It is best to be hesitant yet safe than to prompt to interact and dead!  My goal, of course, is to set things up as best as possible so that she feels less and less conflicted about interacting.  One of the difficulties here is that I must remain as immobile as possible as any kind of movement coming from me still scares her. Katie’s startled response is very high and this might never change.  Perhaps as she becomes more confident she will startle less, but since startling is an autonomic response this might not be the case.

She chooses to interact (2:13-2:15) and by (2:26) she has had enough interaction and signals it so by going into her crate.  I “tell her” that I got her and remove myself after closing her crate.

Protocols for living with fearful dogs, part 2

As I was describing in part 1, living with fearful dogs is not an easy task.  It requires constant management of some kind, and constantly assessing how comfortable the dog is at a given moment when presented with the scary stimulus. There is so much that one can do (and I would argue should do) in order to help these dogs out, as well as to make life easier for the people involved. However, I will comment here on four really important aspects of behavior modification and management that needs to take place with the aim of teaching the dog to relax when people (if this is what scares the dog) are present in the home.

1. Predictability in how the person is introduced into the environment (the home)
2. Moving from (almost) full predictability to more realistic scenarios when it comes to approach/avoidance from the dog towards the guest, the mere presence of the guest, to a more active and thus less predictable person.
3. The dog becoming more comfortable; that is, less threatened with this particular individual to…
4. Generalization of different demographics so that the dog is now able to relax because it is not feeling threatened by a number of different people in the context of the home, and has also learned a more socially acceptable behavior to signal discomfort.

Throughout the steps above, the pet parents are learning exactly what to do, what to avoid, and to read their dog’s body language and vocalization if present, so that they can quickly make things easier for the dog.  Of course, the number one concern is always to keep the dog from feeling so threatened that it might injure someone.

I recommend folks keep their dog on a leash, and for most cases the dog must wear a head-halter.  Once the dog is comfortable with wearing one and the people have learned how to use one appropriately on the dog, this is the safest way to influence the dog’s behavior.

The more space there is between the “stranger” and the dog the better, so it makes more sense to have the dog become aware and more comfortable with the person outside the home.

In addition, the dog has learned a simple yet effective protocol by which to approach the person up close with restrain of the leash and the head-halter for a very short introduction. As the dog is successful, he is reinforced by creating more distance from the stranger and offered a high value treat. The scary person is also instructed as to what exactly to expect from the dog and what they need to do to help the dog out.

Again, what I am looking for is predictability for the dog.  Once the initial introduction has taken place we can move inside where the dog will remain at a safe distance from the visitor and on a leash.

We begin with the guest sitting down to an almost choreographed set of movements such as moving the hands, arms, legs, sitting/standing to walking. These might be all the dog can take, if this is the case, the dog can be put away in another room, in its crate with an interesting project to keep the dog not only occupied, but also relaxed.

I encourage my clients to be very diligent in not pushing the dog. They must then cut the training session short when they can tell by observing their dog that the dog (or the guest) has had enough. If this happens in the context of an actual training session with me, we give the dog or person a break, and re-assess and resume again for the duration of the training.

Once the dog and family have acquired more experience as a result of our work together, and are now more confident that the dog will be successful they can begin to work with their dog in “real” life.  Real life must however, be based on the exercises and routines that we established for the dog during the training sessions. This here is the key to success.  If we deviate too far from what the dog now considers “normal” and safe because now it is less predictable, most likely this will make the dog regress and potentially aggress.

Secondly, I would much rather the dog get five minutes of really good behavior mod. and excellent management than the folks training for the duration of the visit.  Besides, most people are really not that interested in coming to a dinner party and have to train the dog throughout the evening!  Yes, indeed I tell my clients they must get the consent of their guests prior to them arriving for dinner etc.; not only because this is fair, but because we need people to be willing and able to follow precise directions, instead of them deciding what is good for the dog.  This is a big no, no!

One of the biggest mistakes folks make is to push too hard, too soon.  Slow and well managed is always better.  Remember, the goal is to teach the dog to truly learn to relax because it is not feeling threatened, rather than the dog “keeping it together” – barely.

The most complicated aspect of teaching dogs to trust a myriad of different people and not just a few is that dogs do not generalize as we do.  So, what we need to do is to have many, many, many (I am tempted to continue writing “many”) exposures where the dog and family get to practice so that the dog learns that all sorts of people: men, women, tall, short, loud, fast moving, etc. are safe. On the bright side, over time as the dog becomes more comfortable with having people acting as people in the home, each successful incident makes the next one so much easier for the dog, and I would argue the people too. 

Stocking stuffers for your pup

Yes indeed folks the time of gift-giving is among us.  And what do you have planned for the pooch in your life?

Since I turned to a vegan eating lifestyle, I have had to experiment more in the kitchen. So as a bonus, I now have the confidence to know that I can  satisfy my eating needs as a result of  learning how to cook for myself.  

Because of this new found hobby I have also looked into some healthy, super high-value treats for dogs.  I will be sharing one of the recipes with you below. While this recipe is not one of my own, I do have permission to share it. It is one that I have made for my own dogs- (yes, it will be in there Xmas stockings this year) but I have mostly used it with my client’s very fearful dogs.  A few trials of this tasty food and those fearful dogs are thinking that I am worth hanging out with and if I can cook this well then maybe I am not one to be concerned about. Ha!

If you plan on making this delicious snaky-snack for your pup, I recommend that you only use it in training for the “big stuff”.  In other words, if there is a particular “issue” that you are working on with your dog - and of course, I am assuming that ALL of you are at least working and training your pups once a day for as little as 3 minutes, this is the time to bring out the "Tuna fudge”  or "Salmon fudge”. Say you are working on recall (come when called) or perhaps your dog is afraid of men, loud noises, traffic, chases bikes and joggers and… you catch my drift.

In other words, the Tuna fudge should not become your go to treat for everyday stuff.  It should be reserved for difficult behavior modification situations.  In addition, the reason this recipe is high value is because it is not the leanest side.  One of my favorite things about Tuna fudge is that you can make a ton of it, separate into smallish bags and freeze it; pulling out just what you might use.

You can nuke it in a pinch of just leave it outside to thaw overnight.  Also, because of its fudge-like quality, it is super easy to just take a very small amount as a reward. BTW, dogs are not that interested in getting a huge piece of goodness. For them it is all about the smell. So for this very reason, we can get away with very “smelly” treats in tiny portions.

If you don’t like the smell of fish in your home while baking, well then… you and your pup are out of luck!  Personally, I did not find that the smell was too objectionable, and now that I experienced how powerful this stuff is to warm the heart of many dogs I think it is worth a little “stink” in the home.

If you decide to make this delicious recipe for your pup, please tell them on Xmas eve as they are unpacking their Xmas stockings that I say hello.   And yes, by all means, stay tune for the next week’s blog where I will be sharing some more great ideas for Xmas gifts for your dogs.


What you need:
• 12 oz tuna in water (do not drain) or salmon in  a can which is what I have used.
• 2 eggs
• 1 to 1.5 cups flour
• Dash of garlic powder
• Parmesan cheese

How to:
• Mash tuna in bowl- liquefy in a blender- add water (or applesauce) as needed Pour into bowl- add flour, garlic powder, eggs
• Mix everything together
• Spread onto cookie sheet Sprinkle with Parmesan
• Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  It will be the texture of putty; cut into tiny squares.
• These can be frozen.

Easy and delicious add-ins:
Boiled chicken (mash in bowl and liquefy with tuna)
Applesauce (add at any step)
Banana (mash in bowl and liquefy with tuna)
Chicken stock (add during liquefy step)

Helpful hint:
Use a pizza cutter when cool to cut into tiny squares!