Your dog’s impulse control and my customer service

I have had a cutie of a pup staying with us for B&T for a couple of weeks now.  This pup, while young, has one of the most wonderful temperaments I have so far encountered.  She is friendly to people and dogs, very respectful of her adult dog companions, yet full of zest and confidence.  She is also a bit mischievous which is really okay in my book.

One trait that I noticed needs a bit of work is her lack of impulse control when it comes to being able to remain quietly in her crate after finishing her meal or the nightly chewy.  As soon as she is done she wants out! Period.  Don’t get me wrong, she can sleep comfortably in her crate for the night so it is not that she finds that the crate is aversive. The best way I can describe her behavior is a lack of impulse control which is often seen in young animals. Also true, some adults of all species may also lack impulse control.

Impulse control is like a muscle that needs to be made stronger by multiple repetitions.

As I approach her crate one morning, I find her sitting patiently. She has learned that sitting and waiting politely for a couple of seconds without barking is the key to that crate being opened.

I look at her and I smile because she is indeed flexing that muscle!  For some reason, thoughts of how I respond poorly in certain circumstances such as when talking to customer service or tech support, flood my mind.  Yes, indeed, there are areas where I too can flex the impulse/polite muscle a bit more- it is not only this young pup.

The point I am trying to make is that behavior and its motivation is so freaking complex. For example: an individual dog can exercise some awesome self-control under certain circumstances but not others.

I would say that it is more a practice than a temperament trait. Yes, indeed, some temperaments in dogs are more prone to easy arousal, while others appear to habitat the world as if they had no cares.

Being mindful that impulse control in young animals is something that needs not only our attention but also our understanding makes the process of teaching it more benign. We can appreciate that dog “x” is really good at waiting politely for the Kong now filled with their daily chow be delivered. This same dog waits at the door instead of rushing out with little regard as who’s toes they might step on, etc. However, he struggles with walking on a loose leash.

Rio, is a perfect example of this.  Her walking politely on leash is something we are still working on. However, this girl gets an A+ in not eating anything from the ground while we are cooking and while she waits (patiently- ever so patiently) for us to reward her with a tasty bit. There you have it. Two perfect examples of the same dog scoring high in some areas of self-control and not being so successful in others.

So here is my message to you: Observe carefully what your dog’s behavior is.  Don’t label your dog!  Instead, choose to see him by appreciating that they are complex beings and not automatons. They have better days and bad days, the have moments of brilliancy and moments of failure.  They can be taught to be patient, polite in all sorts of circumstances but above all they are alive and as such their behavior will be ever changing. Adapting to their surroundings just like we are.

Inspiration

It is Friday afternoon and I am wrapping one more work-week. I turn my attention to my own two dogs. What can I teach them next? My inspiration in working with my own dogs might vary slightly to what I do day in and out with client’s dogs. It is true that on occasion I too have to tackle a behavior “problem” (Problem? According to whom?) from my own two dogs, but for the most part, I just continue to reinforce what I want them to continue doing; making for smooth sailing the norm instead of the exception.

As such, we spent our days playing just to have fun! The games we play all contain elements of what is important for me in our day-to-day interactions. Lots of practice of coming when called, staying in place when asked to do so, impulse control, body awareness, etc.

These training sessions can be quite structured or a bit more loose and on the go. Like anything worth doing in life and training, my own dogs are no exception, there is repetition, fear of not reaching my goals, the inertia to not work with them because it is too hot, too cold, I am feeling sick with allergies or I am just plain tired. There is no escaping drudgery and even self-doubt.

I am, however, deeply inspired by the possibility of what they can learn. By their enthusiasm in learning new stuff and even problem solve. I am deeply inspired by what other people have taught their dogs. At the center of it all, I am inspired by the notion of making their lives richer.

 

More Training at the Front Door

For some dogs impulse control at the front door is literally mission impossible.

Rio is one of those dogs! Her impulse control in other circumstances such as waiting to be released to go after a toy is superb.

The reason behind the lack of impulse control at the front door could be for a myriad of reasons, but I am guessing that it boils down to interest in going to say hi. This genuine interest in interacting with a guest can also be intertwined with our dog’s predisposition to alerting when someone has entered in their perceive territory.

Either way, what we must ask ourselves is: What would I rather my dog do instead of dashing out the front door full speed? In my case, I want Rio to learn to be released AND then to proceed to meet the guest by walking towards them versus running towards them. Yep, I have my work cut out for me on this one! I should have had this protocol in place on day one after acquiring Rio… now she has a few years of practice that I need to undue.

So I designed the following training plan for her. I want her to begin by lying down close to the front door, but not so close that she is encroaching on my personal space as I get to the door. After being released with “go say hi” I want her to lie down on our front porch one more time before proceeding calmly towards the guest.

The training plan above requires of Rio multiple behaviors, executed one after the other and as such they all must be very reliable before I can even attempt to use them in the presence of a real guest. I begin by asking her to lie down as I reach for the front door. I treat her with really high value stuff, as I want to make an impression on this girl. She does this beautifully for a few trials so I progress to releasing her from the front porch to lie again next to me as I proceed to reward her again. We now have this combination down pat with no distractions present. Distractions for Rio will include Deuce, and of course, a real visitor outside.

After practicing this routine a few times and her being successful, I began to make it more realistic by walking around my living room and sometimes the adjacent kitchen area and  saying: Go say hi! Again, a more realistic situation.

Once by the front door I wait for her to lie down without me asking her first to do so. She does it
immediately- good girl Rio! And we end the session here.

The following morning I incorporate Deuce into this part of the exercise. Rio has also the bad habit of rushing out the door without even considering if she is stepping on Deuce at all! A bad case of Bull in a China shop.

For this exercise on impulse control, I ask both dogs to either sit or lay down. The verbal cue given after their names so that each dog is clear about what they are suppose to do. Once in place, I reward them when they get into position at once. I then ask Rio to stay in place as I release Deuce out the front door in chase of a treat.

Rio, of course, gets rewarded handsomely for staying put. This is much harder than we sometimes give it credit. I repeat a few more times. Sometimes Rio gets released first while Deuce remains in place, other times Deuce goes first.

I will continue to add the second part of my training plan, which is: Rio walking slowly once she is released from the down on the front porch. This is easy - when there is no one to greet. I manage the situation by throwing treats on the ground for her to locate. She is busy with this task, which keeps her from dashing forward at full speed.

As we progress with Rio being successful, I will add more distractions such as her favorite ball at the end of the front porch. If she walks down the front porch instead of rushing down while she can see the ball at the end of the porch I will let her play with the ball.

Once we have mastered walking slowly towards the ball and she has been rewarded many, many times it will be time to set up mini-training sessions with guests. My goal is to teach Rio that exercising some much needed self-control at the front door will result in tasty treats and even saying hello to whomever is here to visit.

How To Stop My Dog From Chasing Squirrels

Question:

Zora, my 16 month old Husky/GSD mix, is very well-behaved MOST of the time. However, when we go for walks, she spots squirrels, birds or cats well before I do. With no warning, she good-naturedly, yet violently lunges towards the prey. When she does this, I make her sit to calm herself, but when we resume walking she again lunges at the next animal she sees. I am afraid she will catch me off guard, pull away and run into traffic. I use a back-looped harness and this seems to encourage the behavior. I used a choke collar, but she pulled so hard I thought she would hurt herself. What is the best way to make our walks more pleasant and safe?

Many thanks!
Amy

Answer:

Greetings Amy,

Your situation is not uncommon. Zora’s predation is normal dog behavior. All dogs are predators, yet some appear to have the predation gene - more “developed” due to their breed (s) and/or because chasing - be it cars, rabbits, etc. - has been a possibility in their lives and they have found the activity very reinforcing.

Zora’s breed combo- Husky/GSD presents a double whammy in this regard as both her breeds are high on the predation/movement response scale.

I am afraid that your situation does not allow for a quick fix; if any. However, there are things that you could try to do in order to get her to focus on something else while on your walks with hopes of re-directing some of her predatory urges. Notice that I did not say, “get rid of” her predatory behavior because this is truly impossible - it comes pre-wired. :)

First off, I would ONLY walk a dog like Zora who has a strong predatory inclination with a head-halter. Anything else such as harnesses or collars will not allow you to influence her movements enough where you can exercise some control over them, and as a result you might get injured or as you pointed out she can get free and run into traffic.

In order to walk her with a head-halter you first need to get her used to wearing it comfortably. There are many brands out there and they differ on how they must be fitted so read the instructions carefully to make sure that the head-halter is fitted correctly.

This will ensure that it's comfortable for Zora and to make sure she cannot break loose. If you send me a follow up email, I can send you a training plan to help with desensitizing her to the head-halter.

Secondly, I am on the fence about having her sit after each chase attempt for a couple of reasons, and since you have not had success with this strategy I would encourage you to abort that and to try something different. My recommendations are below:

I do not know if Zora is keen on playing tug with you. If she is, play regularly with her daily, if possible. This should only take but a few minutes with added benefits besides curtailing chasing behaviors. However, make sure you only play with her by the rules in order to keep her arousal levels in check and to teach her some needed impulse control.

If you search my blog you will find a post on this. If she is not keen on playing tug I would also make this a priority. The advantage of playing tug often (while following some rules) with dogs in general, and particularly with dogs with high prey drive, is that we give them a legal outlet to practice some of the same behaviors involved in predation.

Other alternatives for substitutes of predatory impulses are using a whippet toy, (similar to playing tug but with a longer range) again I have written about this on my blog and to some extent ball tossing/chasing.

In addition to the above, I would suggest you walk Zora when she is EXTREMELY hungry (have her skip dinner or even two meals - she will not starve, before walks) so that you can have her re-direct her attention to you and the goods you are giving out- try this at least while you are trying to instill an alternative to chasing.

Do keep in mind that the more she is allowed to pull and lunge the stronger (and more permanent) the behaviors will be. So preventing her by using high-value food with a hungry Zora while you teach her an alternative behavior is my recommendation.

The goal here would be to teach Zora a specific behavior such as a U-turn instead of pulling and lunging after what attracts her.

The U-turn is your dog pivoting on the spot and turning around (on or off leash) on verbal cue so that you can more readily have her change the direction you are walking. In your case (and once very solid under easier distractions) when YOU spot the possible target for pulling.

You need to begin training her first in a non-distracting environment (say your living room) and only adding distractions as you find that she can respond to the verbal cue at least 9 out of 10 times under current distractions.

Wildlife or any moving object such as cars, if she also chases them, will be the very last criteria.

I like to train this behavior as a game by using an enthusiastic approach and paying with high rewards.

I recommend practicing this behavior once Zora has learned it not only in the presence of the high distraction but at times when there are no distractions so that the dog does not begin to associate the behavior – the U-turn with the presence of a high-level distraction such as a prey.

You mentioned that she pulls hard “without warning” I am pressed to tell you that there is even the tiniest behavior (s) that she is offering just before pulling. Perhaps it is small and to the untrained or distracted person difficult to spot. For this, I recommend that when you are walking her (with the head-halter as discussed above) you pay very close attention to her body language, especially pay attention to the position of her head and ears.

Most likely she is lowering her head just before lunging forward, or staring in the direction of the prey.

The goal here would be for you to be able to anticipate her lunging by watching for any visual antecedent to the lunging so that you can better re-direct before she is pulling and/or lunging.

As I said earlier this is a difficult behavior to work with so do not expect “miracles” too soon. In addition, consider suspending walks where the highest level of distraction/lunging occurs until you get some of the techniques mentioned in place. In order for any new and better alternate behavior to “stick” she needs to be successful so that you can reward (reinforce) many, many, many times! The more she gets reinforced for an alternative behavior (s) the higher the chances you will have in re-directing her lunging habit. I hope the above suggestions help.

Good luck!

My Dog Lunges To Meet Other Dogs and Human Friends

Question:

Hi Almudena, To get to her destination quicker, my dog Jessie pulls, lunges and wants to run towards a dog and/or person she knows while on leash. What can I do in order to help her meet her friends in a calmer manner?
Thank you,
Diane

Answer:

Hi Diane,

Thank you for your inquiry. Ah, don’t you love having a dog that is eager to meet people and dogs? That is the upside of your situation. Unfortunately, not all dogs feel comfortable or even desire to interact with people or dogs which makes their lives less enjoyable and limited to in worst case scenarios a living hell.

Now, more specific to your question. First off we need to do a little detective work and see if we can ascertain Jessie’s motivation. It appears by your writing that because she already knows these people and /or the dogs that her motivation is indeed to go say “hi” in a rush. In other words, social interaction is her motivation.

Dogs, just like us, need to practice impulse control. The more they practice in the specific context and the more successful they will be when we need them to do so.

Here are my recommendations:
Whenever you come across a person or a dog that Jessie is eager to meet, you can… use a non-reward marker (NRM) in other words a “you blew it” verbal cue such as: ahh, too bad, Bummer- or any other short phrase or word that will roll easy out of your mouth. Initially Jessie has no idea what this means but it will only take a few trials of using the NRM paired with the consequence of not meeting the person or dog for her to put it all together.

Once you have given her the NRM, you will turn around and walk with her (you might have to coax her in a happy tone to move her along without having to drag her) in the opposite direction of the people/dog she wants to interact with.

After a few seconds of facing or walking on the opposite direction try again to move towards them. If you try say twice or three times and she is not able to stop the lunging or pulling walk away for good from the interaction.

If possible, you want to let people know what you are trying to do with Jessie. If this is not possible I suggest you focus on the work with Jessie and not worry about what people might think. You can always explain later when you are not trying to work with her - this is a recipe for failure.

Last, once Jessie is able to contain herself even for a bit, say she stops pulling for three steps and is able to focus on you, rush to the person or dog as a reinforcer for polite manners.

As she learns what she needs to do in order to earn her reinforcer: social interaction, you can begin to expect more self-control until she learn that the only way she will get to say hi to her pals is by calmly walking, or at least no lunging or pulling towards them.

Do keep in mind that you must remain cheerful and not use a harsh voice or leash “corrections” when you are moving her away from the subject.

If you don’t most likely you will create tons of frustration in Jessie with the possibility of a negative association with people in general, dogs in general or the specific subject she wants to meet.

In order for this to “work” you must practice this every single time she lunges or pulls to greet - consistency is key here. Depending on other factors such as how long Jessie has been engaging in the pulling and lunging behaviors, how long it will be before you see a positive change in her.

In addition to the above recommendation, walking her hungry with VERY high value treats will give you a leg up at least initially when you must move her away without dragging her.

Last, I am not sure what kind of “equipment” you are using on Jessie when you are walking her. My recommendation is to desensitize her to a head-halter which will allow her to influence the direction of where you want to go with much more easy than a front clip harness or any type of collar.