Thinking about giving a shelter dog a home?
(by Scotty Valadao – Canine Behaviour Consultant (ABC of SA™) TTouch Practitioner)
Offering a home to an adult shelter dog, is to me at least, one of the most rewarding experiences that a person can have. Not only have you got yourself a wonderful new companion, you have taken a dog from a stressful situation, and perhaps even saved it from an untimely end, and I have nothing but utter admiration for those that take this route. However, are you really prepared for this new arrival?
When we take a pup into our homes, we are presented with a clean slate, and it is how we interact, socialize and train that pup which will produce the end result. Yes, there is always the aspect of nature (personality, genetics, etc) interfering in our nurturing attempts, but overall the possibility of a successful outcome is high if we do our side of things in the correct manner.
An adolescent or adult shelter dog is a totally different kettle of fish, as the saying goes. The dog may have ended up in a shelter due to its owners relocating, downsizing etc, but so often the dogs I have worked with that were rescue dogs, ended up in the shelter due to a myriad of behavioural problems. What makes this especially sad is that if the owners had more knowledge of their dogs and how to handle them, so many of these abandoned dogs would have become well behaved members of the family rather than end up as a statistic. This is one of the main reasons that I decided to create the website, Friends of the Dog – to give people the knowledge they required and to assist new owners with the integration of the new dog into the home.
My own experience of working with a shelter dog is that when it first comes to the new home there is what I refer to as the ‘twilight period’. This is a time period of approximately 3 weeks wherein the dog seems to settle well, is reasonably well behaved and the behaviours that caused it ending up in a shelter seem to either be put ‘on hold’ or have disappeared altogether. So often after the 3 week period is up, these dogs slowly and surely start to exhibit the unacceptable behaviours that ended them in the shelter in the first place, and this is when the trouble starts occurring.
I believe that as we have the 16 week opportunity of teaching our new pups absolutely everything and anything we can think of, so too do we, as owners of rescue dogs, need to put as much effort into the initial few weeks/months that the dog is with us as possible, to make the transition easier and reduce the chances of problem behaviours occurring.
If we bear in mind that this dog has already had its own experiences, some of which may not have been pleasant, has ‘learned’ behaviours, often developed to cope with its previous home, is definitely traumatized to some degree by being in the shelter, then we can look at the dog with a new appreciation and understanding.
So, what do we do?
General - Combined Human-Canine Hierarchy
In a human/canine household it is imperative that the owner or ‘pack parent’ is the pack leader in addition to every other member of the family. The main reason that we are going to embark on the regime which is discussed later is to ensure that the owner (and all members of the family) are the highest ranking members of the pack. Dogs have an extremely well developed social system which results in order within the pack and leadership is of extreme importance.
In a dog pack, it is the leader who will determine where a pack will travel, playtime, when to rest and when to hunt. We, as humans, have at our fingertips all the resources a dogs requires - we determine where and when they eat, when they receive exercise, where they sleep, when they receive attention and how much, their access to different areas and even if or when they are allowed to mate. The majority of behavioural problems/concerns arise when the dog does not view the owner (and the rest of the family) as proper pack leaders. If we are not fulfilling that position properly, then the dog will simply try to take over itself, often leading to disastrous results. Although our dogs have developed and changed enormously in appearance over the years, the dogs’ (Canis familiaris) ancient ancestor was the wolf (Canis lupus) and the one thing that has remained constant is that there has to be a leader, an alpha dog/dogs, or pack parents which I prefer.
Being a leader also implies that it is you who decides when you award attention to a lower ranking pack member. This has to be the same for the whole family with their interactions with their dogs so that the dog realizes exactly where their position in the family actually is.
The Alpha in a pack is the dog that is the strongest, most intelligent and best fitted dog all round to lead the pack. The Alpha dog is not the dog that barks, fights (unless with a rival) and creates havoc – he is the dog that is calm, respected, looks after his pack, provides food, and ensures that his place is maintained by exhibiting these virtues. It is in the middle ranking of the pack that the ‘wannabees’ (I want to be the leader but have not learned how) are seen. These are the dogs that squabble amongst themselves, jump up, demand attention etc; they would never dare show this type of behaviour to the Alpha – it would simply not have been accepted. Now in a family situation, every member of the family has to be higher in hierarchy than the dog. There are several easy ways to achieve this and these need to be incorporated into your daily life. If your dog feels that you are ‘losing your grip’ it will try to take over the top positions. Of course there will always be a degree of dissention, that is always the norm, as in families, but if basic House Rules are laid down and adhered too, the process will be so much easier and any upsets dealt with.
Communication – NRM – Non-Reward Marker
So many of the problems that occur between people and their dogs are simply the result of a lack of understanding between the different species. We have all been exposed to Calming and Stress signals over the last few years, but what about the signals we are exhibiting ourselves? Our dogs are absolute masters of observation of our own actions and facial gestures and how we use our bodies, and we can take advantage of this to help them adjust and cope.
So often we tell not just our kids, ‘NO’, we also tell our dogs the same thing, but what are they meant to do instead? As easy as a child will understand that it can’t sit on the sofa because you have just washed it, a dog will not understand. It is absolutely impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, you have to give them something different to do (sit instead of jump up) or let them know what behaviour makes you happy. A dog, especially a dog deprived of attention, is an absolute glutton for attention, and even negative attention, in the way of us shouting and screaming can be deemed attention to an attention deficient dog.
In order to achieve this, you put in place the Non-Reward Marker, otherwise known as the NRM. The use of the NRM is wonderful, as by using a cue such as ‘uhuh’ you are being consistent with what you don’t want. This one simple word can be used in a soft gentle tone to indicate to your dog that you don’t like the way it sat squinty in front of you when training, or at the top of your voice when your sweet little dog suddenly turned into a hunter and decided to attack the cat from next door.
Now, what is extremely important here is not just let your dog know what you don’t want – tell it what you do want! How? Simply saying ‘good girl/boy’ when the dog stops the undesirable behaviour in a non-committal tone of voice. The dog then thinks “ok, got it – uhuh means no, but I am rewarded with attention ‘good dog’ when I stop’. Now how easy is that – you have opened up lines of communication in such an easy manner!
I do suggest using a word such as ‘uhuh’, because ‘no’ could well have been used over and over and not achieved the desired result and has become white noise to the dog. What is important however is that this new cue is to be used consistently, by all members of the family and remember to praise the dog the second the undesirable behavior stops. Doing it only spasmodically will only achieve confusion for the dog.
Basic House rules
The basic House Rules addressed here which are aimed to place you and the family in the combined canine/human pack are:-
1. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home, then calling, asking for a sit.
2. Ignore all demanding attention. Attention is given on your terms or not at all.
3. Work to earn – no more freebees!
4. Food Bowl Exercise and Wait.
6. Furniture/Beds
1. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home; - This exercise to be carried out in silence until the dog has a total understanding of what you expect. Thereafter, the use of the NRM, mentioned above can be used, if need be. A dog will watch and react to our body language more than the spoken word.
Your dog would not bound up to the leader of the pack and jump all over him and demand attention, so why should your dog do this to you? Granted pups do have a certain time of ‘puppy licence’ where the behaviour may be allowed but this is not behaviour that would be tolerated in the long term. If we relate this situation to human terms, would you allow your child to come up to you and say “I want it, give it to me now” – I hope not! – You would probably say something along the lines of “when you can ask me in the correct manner and say please, we will see what can be done’ or similar. We teach our children to be well behaved, well mannered members of society, so why then do we not teach our dogs the same thing? Simple, we just haven’t thought about it that way and you did not have the skill to ‘speak dog’.
By walking into the house and totally ignoring your dog (or coming downstairs in the morning, moving from room to room etc), you are giving the message that you are in control – attention is given on your terms, or not at all. Interestingly, I find that this exercise is the hardest one for owners to adhere too and it is one of the most important one’s – if you do not carry this through correctly, you are immediately limiting your chances of success. The importance of human/canine interaction is to be consistent, otherwise you are reinforcing the behaviours you don’t want and totally confusing the dog.
As you walk in ignore your dog, do not look at it or speak to it, and if necessary utilize your own body language to get the message across – turn your head away and even fold your arms which shows that you do not want your own personal space violated. Your dog may initially think you have gone mad and the behaviour will worsen (a bit like a child throwing a tantrum) and it will try to jump up more or demand attention. Simply push the dog gently off you remembering not to look at (this signals either aggression or that we want something from the dog) or talk to it. After a time the dog will settle down, walk away or find something else to do. Allow it this time out to digest the change in circumstances for a few minutes, then in a happy cheerful voice, call the dog to you, and ask for a sit and praise. It is impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, what we are doing instead, is showing the dog what behaviour we do expect i.e. sitting quietly and waiting to be greeted.
I do recommend that when teaching this new behaviour that praise and a treat is forthcoming – this will just reinforce the new behaviour as well as make it rewarding for the pup to perform this new behaviour. When teaching a new behaviour you should reward on a continuous schedule – 100% - once the dog has a firm understanding you can start to fade the reward.
2. Demanding Attention – This exercise to be carried out in silence until the dog has a total understanding of what you expect. Thereafter, the use of the NRM can be used, if need be.
In a dog pack, demanding attention from the pack leaders, and indeed, any dog higher in the pack, would simply not be tolerated. If a higher ranking member wanted to play or interact, it would be that particular dog that would initiate the interaction.
We are not always aware how often our dogs do demand attention from us; they often do it without us realizing it. It may be a case of the dog jumping onto the chair and sitting on our lap or next to us, bringing a toy to be played with, insisting on a tummy rub, nudging us, mouthing us, pawing us, barking or whining for attention etc.
When your /dog exhibits the demanding behaviour, ignore the dog completely. If you are sitting on the chair and the dog comes up and tries to interact with you, turn your head and body away. If the dog becomes persistent and tries to jump up, without looking or talking to it, put it gently back on the floor. If it continues, stand up and move to another chair where it can’t jump onto.
If the behaviour continues, do what is called a Reverse Time-Out. This simply means that you walk out the door (without talking too or interacting with the dog (stiff body, arms folded and not looking at the dog). Close the door, wait 10 seconds and then walk back in. If the dog continues to pester, repeat.
3. Work to Earn
As we all have to ‘work for our living’ so to does your dog from now on. If we relate this to pack behaviour, every single dog has a job, or combined jobs to perform – looking after the pups, guarding the pack, cleaning the den (faeces), hunting for food etc. So if you look at it that way, why not have your dog working for its living? The more you take control of all the resources, the more your dog will view you, and the rest of the family, as the pack leaders and will be more likely to relax knowing you are in charge and not try to take charge itself. This will result in good behaviour and less likelihood of bad habits developing.
With our 10 fingers we supply all our dogs needs – food, walks, play, petting, exercise etc and this together with our voices gives us excellent tools with which to work to control our dogs. At the risk of repeating myself for about the 3rd time, it is always important to be consistent when working with dogs.
Here are some ideas you can incorporate. The list is really endless and the more you do the more your dog will listen and regard you (and all family members) as being in charge: -
a. Sit – One of the most important! This can be done several times in a row and it really does reinforce the desired behaviour of sitting for greeting and stops the bad habit of jumping up on visitors or when you have your white trousers on. You can call your dog to you, ask for a sit, reward with a treat, take a step backwards and reward again. Gradually you build up the amount of steps and when your dog is proficient in this exercise, you can start to fade the reward. I have put notes on fading at the end.
b. Wait – Again an excellent exercise to have your dog proficient in. You can start the wait exercise with the food bowl exercise below and then start incorporating it in all different places. Remember that if you have a 30 seconds wait at the food bowl; only ask for a few seconds at doors etc.
A good place to incorporate the wait exercise is to start insisting that when you open the car door, the dog is requested to wait. This will stop accidents such as the dog jumping out into the road, towards other dogs etc. Additional areas where the wait can be useful is at doors, gates etc.
c. Recall – too me at least, this is one of the most important exercises and all my dogs are excellent at it – why, because I practice on a daily basis. To have the facility to call your dog back when out for a walk, in a dangerous situation etc, will make all the hard work worthwhile. There are further notes below on the Wait and the Real Reliable Recall further on.
4. Food Bowl Exercise
This is another area where we have total control of our dog’s lives, so take advantage of it to raise your own position in the hierarchy. I prefer every single member of the family to do this exercise, both singularly and as a group. If children are to be taught this exercise, firstly ensure that the adults have perfected it, then start the children doing it, always under strict supervision. You are acting out your position of being the Alpha dogs and providing food for your pack. By doing this we are showing the pup that all members in the family are above them and this will also help the pup to feel more secure. If you have multiple dogs, work with one dog at a time and when they are all doing it perfectly you can do them together should you wish too. Start to prepare your pups meal at the normal time, but if you have the habit of always doing this in the same place, change the location. When we are teaching a dog something new such as this, it is always helpful to change the location so that it becomes a totally new experience.
a. Have a biscuit (or several if doing a group exercise) next to the bowl and as you are finished, pretend to take the biscuit out of the bowl and eat it slowly. Make sure your dog is looking at you so it gets the full impact of what you are doing and do this when the dog is hungry. Only when you have finished the biscuit do you put the food down for the dog – the message – the Alpha dog always eats first, which is exactly what would happen in a pack situation. Many behaviourists do not believe that eating before the dog makes a difference and I, indeed, was one of them. However, while doing a workshop in Ireland a few years ago, I spoke to a behaviourist who does believe in this (not that you eat supper at 5pm. and the dog at 7p.m., but rather that when feeding the dog you eat first). She suggested that I try this method on every second client over a few months and then make a decision. Well, the short and long of it is that after two weeks, I changed all clients only this system – it definitely brings around a quicker change in the overall behaviour. The eating the biscuit can be dropped after about a week and continue with the rest of the exercise.
b. Stand in front of your dog and pretend you are eating the biscuit out of the bowl. Really smack your lips and act as if this is best food you have ever tasted. Some dogs will even start to drool! When you are nearly finished the biscuit, show the dog that you are dropping the last of the biscuit into its bowl
c. Stand side wards to the dog.
d. Hold one hand out to the side, with your hand help up in the ‘wait’ hand signal position towards the dog. This is like a policeman telling you to stop. Put your hand right in front of the dogs face initially.
e. Your other hand is held out sideward’s away from the dog, and holds the food bowl.
f. Ask the dog to wait (repeatedly saying wait) and slowly start to lower the bowl towards the floor. If the dog tries to move, lift up the bowl immediately to your starting point, saying ‘uhuh’ and start from the beginning.
g. As you get to the floor level and place the bowl down, request the dog to wait a few seconds and then say ‘get it’.
h. Slowly extend the wait period till the dog is waiting about 30 – 60 sec for its food. This is an excellent way to start teaching your dog the wait exercise. Remember that when starting the wait exercise in different locations, to start with a few seconds wait and gradually build up the time.
5. Furniture
When it comes to whether or not a dog is allowed on furniture and beds, it is very much one of personal choice. For example, my own dogs are allowed on the couches and bed, but only by invitation!
If the dog is not going to be allowed onto the furniture when older, simply keep it off right from the beginning and supply a bed or area where the dog can lie down on.
If you have a situation whereby you have a multi dog household, I would recommend that dogs sleep on the floor, as this is an area whereby reactive behaviour can happen. When one dog is higher up than the other, it may well be reactive to the dog approaching it.
Additionally, another reason why reactive behaviour occurs is simply because the dog starts to regard the bed/couch etc as its own territory and resource guarding can become a factor.
The one area that really causes me concern is when there are young children in the family, or visiting. If a dog is on a couch and a toddler approaches, its face may well be on the same level as the dog on the couch and a bite can occur. Up to you!
Fading
One of the biggest complaints from owners is that they need to have food on them all the time in order to get the dog to do anything and this is the main reason why people say the lure and reward method does not work. This simply occurs due to the owner not being taught the correct manner to fade the reward. Once the dog is proficient in the behaviour, the fading should start immediately. Remember that when you are training an exercise in a new location it will be harder for your dog, so don’t fade the reward to five sits inside, for an example, and then go outside and do the same, it is doubtful that it will work. Rather start at the beginning again outside, rewarding after every successful try and then fade in the new location.
When teaching a dog a new behaviour, the sit for example, the owner often holds the treat in their hand so that the dog can see it. Instead, change hands, put it in your pocket, put the treats in a moon bag sometimes, other times have the treat close by where you can just reach out, pick it up and then give it to the pup, hold it behind your back etc. Some owners who use moon bags, or similar for training, end up with their dogs only performing the behaviour when they are wearing the moon bags!
To fade the reward, simply stop rewarding every single time with food, rather give vocal praise and then start to reward with food every third time, then perhaps every fifth time. Every so often reward after the first successful sit. This will encourage the dog to work harder for the treat.
Also, remember to quit when you are ahead – don’t make your dog bored, rather work in small increments throughout the day than have one 15 minute training session.
TTouch
When, after a session of TTouch, a dog that a short while ago, had been exhibiting fear behaviour, or jumping up, barking, chasing its tails etc, suddenly goes limp, emits deep sighs and I see the body start to relax, the absolute magic of this simple modality never seems to amaze me, and I know a barrier has been crossed.
This is the beginning of a wonderful bond being developed between you and your new dog. So many rescue dogs have received punishment in the way of the previous owner being ‘heavy handed’ or handled roughly, and this may be one of the first times in its life that a dog has been touched by a hand of love, rather than a hand of anger or disdain. And, not only are you touching with hands of love, the effects of TTouch have been shown to work on the nervous system, minimizing, or even stopping the release of adrenalin, balancing the serotonin (happy hormone) levels, affecting brain wave patterns etc. So what is actually occurring is that you are activating self healing, lowering anxiety and apprehension and giving both of you a chance at a brand new start. Given that TTouch is accumulative, a few minutes of working on your new dog daily, will make your chances of success even better.
I don’t always show all my clients how to do TTouch, many of my consults are based on behaviour modification, but what I always do is to give them the two following simple tools to help them.
Noah’s March: Starting at the head area, slowly and with a pressure much like you would use to apply face cream (if any men reading this, ask the lady in your life to show you the pressure!), stroke the dog all around the head and neck area, paying a lot of attention to the mouth area, both inside and out. The inside of the mouth is connected to the Limbic section of the brain which influences our emotions and is the seat of all learning. Do a lot of stroking on top of the muzzle, over the top of the head and between the ears as well. This area contains many acupressure points which help to calm a dog down. Continue with long strokes down the back, on the sides and the tummy area, down the legs, as in the diagram below. What many of us don’t realize is that just by doing these simple strokes, you are working on all the meridians and acupressure points and helping your dog in a profound manner.
If you have a dog that is sensitive in any given area, don’t ignore these areas, stroke next to them even softer and occasionally give a ‘mistaken’, very soft and light stroke over the sensitive area using the back of your hand rather than the palm (this is much less invasive). This way we are slowly desensitizing the dog to being touched in this area.
Don’t do too much too quickly. You may find that the dog will tolerate 2 or 3 strokes and then walk away – leave it! The dog will soon come back or you can try later, and do a bit more. Very often with dogs that are stressed, less is more!
Ear TTouch: Is one of the most important things you can do for your pet. Even a few minutes working on the ears can be beneficial. The ears (and base) contain over 200 acupressure points one of which will help to prevent a pet or human from going into shock. Also helpful for relaxation, stress, digestion, fatigue, circulation, car sickness.
How To: This can be done in several ways. First gently stroke from the base of the ear to the tip. Supporting the head with one hand hold your thumb on the outside and bent fingers on the underside and stroke outwards towards and over the tip of the ear.
Noah’s March:
Noah’s March: Starting at the head area, slowly and with a pressure much like you would use to apply face cream (if any men reading this, ask the lady in your life to show you the pressure!), stroke the dog all around the head and neck area, paying a lot of attention to the mouth area, both inside and out. The inside of the mouth is connected to the Limbic section of the brain which influences our emotions and is the seat of all learning. Do a lot of stroking on top of the muzzle, over the top of the head and between the ears as well. This area contains many acupressure points which help to calm a dog down. Continue with long strokes down the back, on the sides and the tummy area, down the legs, as in the diagram below. What many of us don’t realize is that just by doing these simple strokes, you are working on all the meridians and acupressure points and helping your dog in a profound manner.
How To:Follow the contours of the body with your hands and held flat covering all areas of the body and starting from the head towards the tail and don’t forget to include the legs and tails.
If you have a dog that is sensitive in any given area, don’t ignore these areas, stroke next to them even softer and occasionally give a ‘mistaken’, very soft and light stroke over the sensitive area using the back of your hand rather than the palm (this is much less invasive). This way we are slowly desensitizing the dog to being touched in this area.
(by Scotty Valadao – Canine Behaviour Consultant (ABC of SA™) TTouch Practitioner)
Offering a home to an adult shelter dog, is to me at least, one of the most rewarding experiences that a person can have. Not only have you got yourself a wonderful new companion, you have taken a dog from a stressful situation, and perhaps even saved it from an untimely end, and I have nothing but utter admiration for those that take this route. However, are you really prepared for this new arrival?
When we take a pup into our homes, we are presented with a clean slate, and it is how we interact, socialize and train that pup which will produce the end result. Yes, there is always the aspect of nature (personality, genetics, etc) interfering in our nurturing attempts, but overall the possibility of a successful outcome is high if we do our side of things in the correct manner.
An adolescent or adult shelter dog is a totally different kettle of fish, as the saying goes. The dog may have ended up in a shelter due to its owners relocating, downsizing etc, but so often the dogs I have worked with that were rescue dogs, ended up in the shelter due to a myriad of behavioural problems. What makes this especially sad is that if the owners had more knowledge of their dogs and how to handle them, so many of these abandoned dogs would have become well behaved members of the family rather than end up as a statistic. This is one of the main reasons that I decided to create the website, Friends of the Dog – to give people the knowledge they required and to assist new owners with the integration of the new dog into the home.
My own experience of working with a shelter dog is that when it first comes to the new home there is what I refer to as the ‘twilight period’. This is a time period of approximately 3 weeks wherein the dog seems to settle well, is reasonably well behaved and the behaviours that caused it ending up in a shelter seem to either be put ‘on hold’ or have disappeared altogether. So often after the 3 week period is up, these dogs slowly and surely start to exhibit the unacceptable behaviours that ended them in the shelter in the first place, and this is when the trouble starts occurring.
I believe that as we have the 16 week opportunity of teaching our new pups absolutely everything and anything we can think of, so too do we, as owners of rescue dogs, need to put as much effort into the initial few weeks/months that the dog is with us as possible, to make the transition easier and reduce the chances of problem behaviours occurring.
If we bear in mind that this dog has already had its own experiences, some of which may not have been pleasant, has ‘learned’ behaviours, often developed to cope with its previous home, is definitely traumatized to some degree by being in the shelter, then we can look at the dog with a new appreciation and understanding.
So, what do we do?
General - Combined Human-Canine Hierarchy
In a human/canine household it is imperative that the owner or ‘pack parent’ is the pack leader in addition to every other member of the family. The main reason that we are going to embark on the regime which is discussed later is to ensure that the owner (and all members of the family) are the highest ranking members of the pack. Dogs have an extremely well developed social system which results in order within the pack and leadership is of extreme importance.
In a dog pack, it is the leader who will determine where a pack will travel, playtime, when to rest and when to hunt. We, as humans, have at our fingertips all the resources a dogs requires - we determine where and when they eat, when they receive exercise, where they sleep, when they receive attention and how much, their access to different areas and even if or when they are allowed to mate. The majority of behavioural problems/concerns arise when the dog does not view the owner (and the rest of the family) as proper pack leaders. If we are not fulfilling that position properly, then the dog will simply try to take over itself, often leading to disastrous results. Although our dogs have developed and changed enormously in appearance over the years, the dogs’ (Canis familiaris) ancient ancestor was the wolf (Canis lupus) and the one thing that has remained constant is that there has to be a leader, an alpha dog/dogs, or pack parents which I prefer.
Being a leader also implies that it is you who decides when you award attention to a lower ranking pack member. This has to be the same for the whole family with their interactions with their dogs so that the dog realizes exactly where their position in the family actually is.
The Alpha in a pack is the dog that is the strongest, most intelligent and best fitted dog all round to lead the pack. The Alpha dog is not the dog that barks, fights (unless with a rival) and creates havoc – he is the dog that is calm, respected, looks after his pack, provides food, and ensures that his place is maintained by exhibiting these virtues. It is in the middle ranking of the pack that the ‘wannabees’ (I want to be the leader but have not learned how) are seen. These are the dogs that squabble amongst themselves, jump up, demand attention etc; they would never dare show this type of behaviour to the Alpha – it would simply not have been accepted. Now in a family situation, every member of the family has to be higher in hierarchy than the dog. There are several easy ways to achieve this and these need to be incorporated into your daily life. If your dog feels that you are ‘losing your grip’ it will try to take over the top positions. Of course there will always be a degree of dissention, that is always the norm, as in families, but if basic House Rules are laid down and adhered too, the process will be so much easier and any upsets dealt with.
Communication – NRM – Non-Reward Marker
So many of the problems that occur between people and their dogs are simply the result of a lack of understanding between the different species. We have all been exposed to Calming and Stress signals over the last few years, but what about the signals we are exhibiting ourselves? Our dogs are absolute masters of observation of our own actions and facial gestures and how we use our bodies, and we can take advantage of this to help them adjust and cope.
So often we tell not just our kids, ‘NO’, we also tell our dogs the same thing, but what are they meant to do instead? As easy as a child will understand that it can’t sit on the sofa because you have just washed it, a dog will not understand. It is absolutely impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, you have to give them something different to do (sit instead of jump up) or let them know what behaviour makes you happy. A dog, especially a dog deprived of attention, is an absolute glutton for attention, and even negative attention, in the way of us shouting and screaming can be deemed attention to an attention deficient dog.
In order to achieve this, you put in place the Non-Reward Marker, otherwise known as the NRM. The use of the NRM is wonderful, as by using a cue such as ‘uhuh’ you are being consistent with what you don’t want. This one simple word can be used in a soft gentle tone to indicate to your dog that you don’t like the way it sat squinty in front of you when training, or at the top of your voice when your sweet little dog suddenly turned into a hunter and decided to attack the cat from next door.
Now, what is extremely important here is not just let your dog know what you don’t want – tell it what you do want! How? Simply saying ‘good girl/boy’ when the dog stops the undesirable behaviour in a non-committal tone of voice. The dog then thinks “ok, got it – uhuh means no, but I am rewarded with attention ‘good dog’ when I stop’. Now how easy is that – you have opened up lines of communication in such an easy manner!
I do suggest using a word such as ‘uhuh’, because ‘no’ could well have been used over and over and not achieved the desired result and has become white noise to the dog. What is important however is that this new cue is to be used consistently, by all members of the family and remember to praise the dog the second the undesirable behavior stops. Doing it only spasmodically will only achieve confusion for the dog.
Basic House rules
The basic House Rules addressed here which are aimed to place you and the family in the combined canine/human pack are:-
1. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home, then calling, asking for a sit.
2. Ignore all demanding attention. Attention is given on your terms or not at all.
3. Work to earn – no more freebees!
4. Food Bowl Exercise and Wait.
6. Furniture/Beds
1. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home; - This exercise to be carried out in silence until the dog has a total understanding of what you expect. Thereafter, the use of the NRM, mentioned above can be used, if need be. A dog will watch and react to our body language more than the spoken word.
Your dog would not bound up to the leader of the pack and jump all over him and demand attention, so why should your dog do this to you? Granted pups do have a certain time of ‘puppy licence’ where the behaviour may be allowed but this is not behaviour that would be tolerated in the long term. If we relate this situation to human terms, would you allow your child to come up to you and say “I want it, give it to me now” – I hope not! – You would probably say something along the lines of “when you can ask me in the correct manner and say please, we will see what can be done’ or similar. We teach our children to be well behaved, well mannered members of society, so why then do we not teach our dogs the same thing? Simple, we just haven’t thought about it that way and you did not have the skill to ‘speak dog’.
By walking into the house and totally ignoring your dog (or coming downstairs in the morning, moving from room to room etc), you are giving the message that you are in control – attention is given on your terms, or not at all. Interestingly, I find that this exercise is the hardest one for owners to adhere too and it is one of the most important one’s – if you do not carry this through correctly, you are immediately limiting your chances of success. The importance of human/canine interaction is to be consistent, otherwise you are reinforcing the behaviours you don’t want and totally confusing the dog.
As you walk in ignore your dog, do not look at it or speak to it, and if necessary utilize your own body language to get the message across – turn your head away and even fold your arms which shows that you do not want your own personal space violated. Your dog may initially think you have gone mad and the behaviour will worsen (a bit like a child throwing a tantrum) and it will try to jump up more or demand attention. Simply push the dog gently off you remembering not to look at (this signals either aggression or that we want something from the dog) or talk to it. After a time the dog will settle down, walk away or find something else to do. Allow it this time out to digest the change in circumstances for a few minutes, then in a happy cheerful voice, call the dog to you, and ask for a sit and praise. It is impossible to tell a dog to do nothing, what we are doing instead, is showing the dog what behaviour we do expect i.e. sitting quietly and waiting to be greeted.
I do recommend that when teaching this new behaviour that praise and a treat is forthcoming – this will just reinforce the new behaviour as well as make it rewarding for the pup to perform this new behaviour. When teaching a new behaviour you should reward on a continuous schedule – 100% - once the dog has a firm understanding you can start to fade the reward.
2. Demanding Attention – This exercise to be carried out in silence until the dog has a total understanding of what you expect. Thereafter, the use of the NRM can be used, if need be.
In a dog pack, demanding attention from the pack leaders, and indeed, any dog higher in the pack, would simply not be tolerated. If a higher ranking member wanted to play or interact, it would be that particular dog that would initiate the interaction.
We are not always aware how often our dogs do demand attention from us; they often do it without us realizing it. It may be a case of the dog jumping onto the chair and sitting on our lap or next to us, bringing a toy to be played with, insisting on a tummy rub, nudging us, mouthing us, pawing us, barking or whining for attention etc.
When your /dog exhibits the demanding behaviour, ignore the dog completely. If you are sitting on the chair and the dog comes up and tries to interact with you, turn your head and body away. If the dog becomes persistent and tries to jump up, without looking or talking to it, put it gently back on the floor. If it continues, stand up and move to another chair where it can’t jump onto.
If the behaviour continues, do what is called a Reverse Time-Out. This simply means that you walk out the door (without talking too or interacting with the dog (stiff body, arms folded and not looking at the dog). Close the door, wait 10 seconds and then walk back in. If the dog continues to pester, repeat.
3. Work to Earn
As we all have to ‘work for our living’ so to does your dog from now on. If we relate this to pack behaviour, every single dog has a job, or combined jobs to perform – looking after the pups, guarding the pack, cleaning the den (faeces), hunting for food etc. So if you look at it that way, why not have your dog working for its living? The more you take control of all the resources, the more your dog will view you, and the rest of the family, as the pack leaders and will be more likely to relax knowing you are in charge and not try to take charge itself. This will result in good behaviour and less likelihood of bad habits developing.
With our 10 fingers we supply all our dogs needs – food, walks, play, petting, exercise etc and this together with our voices gives us excellent tools with which to work to control our dogs. At the risk of repeating myself for about the 3rd time, it is always important to be consistent when working with dogs.
Here are some ideas you can incorporate. The list is really endless and the more you do the more your dog will listen and regard you (and all family members) as being in charge: -
a. Sit – One of the most important! This can be done several times in a row and it really does reinforce the desired behaviour of sitting for greeting and stops the bad habit of jumping up on visitors or when you have your white trousers on. You can call your dog to you, ask for a sit, reward with a treat, take a step backwards and reward again. Gradually you build up the amount of steps and when your dog is proficient in this exercise, you can start to fade the reward. I have put notes on fading at the end.
b. Wait – Again an excellent exercise to have your dog proficient in. You can start the wait exercise with the food bowl exercise below and then start incorporating it in all different places. Remember that if you have a 30 seconds wait at the food bowl; only ask for a few seconds at doors etc.
A good place to incorporate the wait exercise is to start insisting that when you open the car door, the dog is requested to wait. This will stop accidents such as the dog jumping out into the road, towards other dogs etc. Additional areas where the wait can be useful is at doors, gates etc.
c. Recall – too me at least, this is one of the most important exercises and all my dogs are excellent at it – why, because I practice on a daily basis. To have the facility to call your dog back when out for a walk, in a dangerous situation etc, will make all the hard work worthwhile. There are further notes below on the Wait and the Real Reliable Recall further on.
4. Food Bowl Exercise
This is another area where we have total control of our dog’s lives, so take advantage of it to raise your own position in the hierarchy. I prefer every single member of the family to do this exercise, both singularly and as a group. If children are to be taught this exercise, firstly ensure that the adults have perfected it, then start the children doing it, always under strict supervision. You are acting out your position of being the Alpha dogs and providing food for your pack. By doing this we are showing the pup that all members in the family are above them and this will also help the pup to feel more secure. If you have multiple dogs, work with one dog at a time and when they are all doing it perfectly you can do them together should you wish too. Start to prepare your pups meal at the normal time, but if you have the habit of always doing this in the same place, change the location. When we are teaching a dog something new such as this, it is always helpful to change the location so that it becomes a totally new experience.
a. Have a biscuit (or several if doing a group exercise) next to the bowl and as you are finished, pretend to take the biscuit out of the bowl and eat it slowly. Make sure your dog is looking at you so it gets the full impact of what you are doing and do this when the dog is hungry. Only when you have finished the biscuit do you put the food down for the dog – the message – the Alpha dog always eats first, which is exactly what would happen in a pack situation. Many behaviourists do not believe that eating before the dog makes a difference and I, indeed, was one of them. However, while doing a workshop in Ireland a few years ago, I spoke to a behaviourist who does believe in this (not that you eat supper at 5pm. and the dog at 7p.m., but rather that when feeding the dog you eat first). She suggested that I try this method on every second client over a few months and then make a decision. Well, the short and long of it is that after two weeks, I changed all clients only this system – it definitely brings around a quicker change in the overall behaviour. The eating the biscuit can be dropped after about a week and continue with the rest of the exercise.
b. Stand in front of your dog and pretend you are eating the biscuit out of the bowl. Really smack your lips and act as if this is best food you have ever tasted. Some dogs will even start to drool! When you are nearly finished the biscuit, show the dog that you are dropping the last of the biscuit into its bowl
c. Stand side wards to the dog.
d. Hold one hand out to the side, with your hand help up in the ‘wait’ hand signal position towards the dog. This is like a policeman telling you to stop. Put your hand right in front of the dogs face initially.
e. Your other hand is held out sideward’s away from the dog, and holds the food bowl.
f. Ask the dog to wait (repeatedly saying wait) and slowly start to lower the bowl towards the floor. If the dog tries to move, lift up the bowl immediately to your starting point, saying ‘uhuh’ and start from the beginning.
g. As you get to the floor level and place the bowl down, request the dog to wait a few seconds and then say ‘get it’.
h. Slowly extend the wait period till the dog is waiting about 30 – 60 sec for its food. This is an excellent way to start teaching your dog the wait exercise. Remember that when starting the wait exercise in different locations, to start with a few seconds wait and gradually build up the time.
5. Furniture
When it comes to whether or not a dog is allowed on furniture and beds, it is very much one of personal choice. For example, my own dogs are allowed on the couches and bed, but only by invitation!
If the dog is not going to be allowed onto the furniture when older, simply keep it off right from the beginning and supply a bed or area where the dog can lie down on.
If you have a situation whereby you have a multi dog household, I would recommend that dogs sleep on the floor, as this is an area whereby reactive behaviour can happen. When one dog is higher up than the other, it may well be reactive to the dog approaching it.
Additionally, another reason why reactive behaviour occurs is simply because the dog starts to regard the bed/couch etc as its own territory and resource guarding can become a factor.
The one area that really causes me concern is when there are young children in the family, or visiting. If a dog is on a couch and a toddler approaches, its face may well be on the same level as the dog on the couch and a bite can occur. Up to you!
Fading
One of the biggest complaints from owners is that they need to have food on them all the time in order to get the dog to do anything and this is the main reason why people say the lure and reward method does not work. This simply occurs due to the owner not being taught the correct manner to fade the reward. Once the dog is proficient in the behaviour, the fading should start immediately. Remember that when you are training an exercise in a new location it will be harder for your dog, so don’t fade the reward to five sits inside, for an example, and then go outside and do the same, it is doubtful that it will work. Rather start at the beginning again outside, rewarding after every successful try and then fade in the new location.
When teaching a dog a new behaviour, the sit for example, the owner often holds the treat in their hand so that the dog can see it. Instead, change hands, put it in your pocket, put the treats in a moon bag sometimes, other times have the treat close by where you can just reach out, pick it up and then give it to the pup, hold it behind your back etc. Some owners who use moon bags, or similar for training, end up with their dogs only performing the behaviour when they are wearing the moon bags!
To fade the reward, simply stop rewarding every single time with food, rather give vocal praise and then start to reward with food every third time, then perhaps every fifth time. Every so often reward after the first successful sit. This will encourage the dog to work harder for the treat.
Also, remember to quit when you are ahead – don’t make your dog bored, rather work in small increments throughout the day than have one 15 minute training session.
TTouch
When, after a session of TTouch, a dog that a short while ago, had been exhibiting fear behaviour, or jumping up, barking, chasing its tails etc, suddenly goes limp, emits deep sighs and I see the body start to relax, the absolute magic of this simple modality never seems to amaze me, and I know a barrier has been crossed.
This is the beginning of a wonderful bond being developed between you and your new dog. So many rescue dogs have received punishment in the way of the previous owner being ‘heavy handed’ or handled roughly, and this may be one of the first times in its life that a dog has been touched by a hand of love, rather than a hand of anger or disdain. And, not only are you touching with hands of love, the effects of TTouch have been shown to work on the nervous system, minimizing, or even stopping the release of adrenalin, balancing the serotonin (happy hormone) levels, affecting brain wave patterns etc. So what is actually occurring is that you are activating self healing, lowering anxiety and apprehension and giving both of you a chance at a brand new start. Given that TTouch is accumulative, a few minutes of working on your new dog daily, will make your chances of success even better.
I don’t always show all my clients how to do TTouch, many of my consults are based on behaviour modification, but what I always do is to give them the two following simple tools to help them.
Noah’s March: Starting at the head area, slowly and with a pressure much like you would use to apply face cream (if any men reading this, ask the lady in your life to show you the pressure!), stroke the dog all around the head and neck area, paying a lot of attention to the mouth area, both inside and out. The inside of the mouth is connected to the Limbic section of the brain which influences our emotions and is the seat of all learning. Do a lot of stroking on top of the muzzle, over the top of the head and between the ears as well. This area contains many acupressure points which help to calm a dog down. Continue with long strokes down the back, on the sides and the tummy area, down the legs, as in the diagram below. What many of us don’t realize is that just by doing these simple strokes, you are working on all the meridians and acupressure points and helping your dog in a profound manner.
If you have a dog that is sensitive in any given area, don’t ignore these areas, stroke next to them even softer and occasionally give a ‘mistaken’, very soft and light stroke over the sensitive area using the back of your hand rather than the palm (this is much less invasive). This way we are slowly desensitizing the dog to being touched in this area.
Don’t do too much too quickly. You may find that the dog will tolerate 2 or 3 strokes and then walk away – leave it! The dog will soon come back or you can try later, and do a bit more. Very often with dogs that are stressed, less is more!
Ear TTouch: Is one of the most important things you can do for your pet. Even a few minutes working on the ears can be beneficial. The ears (and base) contain over 200 acupressure points one of which will help to prevent a pet or human from going into shock. Also helpful for relaxation, stress, digestion, fatigue, circulation, car sickness.
How To: This can be done in several ways. First gently stroke from the base of the ear to the tip. Supporting the head with one hand hold your thumb on the outside and bent fingers on the underside and stroke outwards towards and over the tip of the ear.
Noah’s March:
Noah’s March: Starting at the head area, slowly and with a pressure much like you would use to apply face cream (if any men reading this, ask the lady in your life to show you the pressure!), stroke the dog all around the head and neck area, paying a lot of attention to the mouth area, both inside and out. The inside of the mouth is connected to the Limbic section of the brain which influences our emotions and is the seat of all learning. Do a lot of stroking on top of the muzzle, over the top of the head and between the ears as well. This area contains many acupressure points which help to calm a dog down. Continue with long strokes down the back, on the sides and the tummy area, down the legs, as in the diagram below. What many of us don’t realize is that just by doing these simple strokes, you are working on all the meridians and acupressure points and helping your dog in a profound manner.
How To:Follow the contours of the body with your hands and held flat covering all areas of the body and starting from the head towards the tail and don’t forget to include the legs and tails.
If you have a dog that is sensitive in any given area, don’t ignore these areas, stroke next to them even softer and occasionally give a ‘mistaken’, very soft and light stroke over the sensitive area using the back of your hand rather than the palm (this is much less invasive). This way we are slowly desensitizing the dog to being touched in this area.
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Ear TTouch: Is one of the most important things you can do for your pet. Even a few minutes working on the ears can be beneficial. The ears (and base) contain over 200 acupressure points one of which will help to prevent a pet or human from going into shock. Also helpful for relaxation, stress, digestion, fatigue, circulation, car sickness. How To: This can be done in several ways. First gently stroke from the base of the ear to the tip. Supporting the head with one hand hold your thumb on the outside and bent fingers on the underside and stroke outwards towards and over the tip of the ear. |
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Noah’s March:
Noah’s March: Starting at the head area, slowly and with a pressure much like you would use to apply face cream (if any men reading this, ask the lady in your life to show you the pressure!), stroke the dog all around the head and neck area, paying a lot of attention to the mouth area, both inside and out. The inside of the mouth is connected to the Limbic section of the brain which influences our emotions and is the seat of all learning. Do a lot of stroking on top of the muzzle, over the top of the head and between the ears as well. This area contains many acupressure points which help to calm a dog down. Continue with long strokes down the back, on the sides and the tummy area, down the legs, as in the diagram below. What many of us don’t realize is that just by doing these simple strokes, you are working on all the meridians and acupressure points and helping your dog in a profound manner. How To:Follow the contours of the body with your hands and held flat covering all areas of the body and starting from the head towards the tail and don’t forget to include the legs and tails. If you have a dog that is sensitive in any given area, don’t ignore these areas, stroke next to them even softer and occasionally give a ‘mistaken’, very soft and light stroke over the sensitive area using the back of your hand rather than the palm (this is much less invasive). This way we are slowly desensitizing the dog to being touched in this area. |
Exercise and Stimulation
Even though you may have a large garden, to a dog this is a very restricted area as they live via their noses, and need the additional stimulation that a walk entails as their sense of smell is in the region of 45 times more developed than us humans. I read an article several years ago wherein it was estimated those 15 minutes of mental stimulation was the equivalent of an hour’s physical exercise for a dog.
Additionally, if a dog does not get regular walks, the only thing it has to look forward to is feeding and their people coming home and it is often at times like this that latent behaviour issues will arise, especially in a multi-dog home.
Assistance
If you feel that a problem with your dog is getting out of control – call for help! You can always get in touch with us via our Ask the B ehaviourist section and we will do all we can to help you, or if necessary, put you in touch with a professional.
There is nothing wrong with getting in a professional to help you out. This does not show any weakness on your part, rather that you are a committed, caring owner. Think about it, you wouldn’t go and teach yourselves to Scuba dive, you would get the assistance you need to become proficient.
There are no hard and fast rules as to when to call in a professional and every persons ideas of what is out of hand will be different, but a good rule of thumb is when you feel you can’t cope, if there is reactive behaviour, or an excess or lack of what you consider normal behaviour, then get help.
Good luck!
Even though you may have a large garden, to a dog this is a very restricted area as they live via their noses, and need the additional stimulation that a walk entails as their sense of smell is in the region of 45 times more developed than us humans. I read an article several years ago wherein it was estimated those 15 minutes of mental stimulation was the equivalent of an hour’s physical exercise for a dog.
Additionally, if a dog does not get regular walks, the only thing it has to look forward to is feeding and their people coming home and it is often at times like this that latent behaviour issues will arise, especially in a multi-dog home.
Assistance
If you feel that a problem with your dog is getting out of control – call for help! You can always get in touch with us via our Ask the B ehaviourist section and we will do all we can to help you, or if necessary, put you in touch with a professional.
There is nothing wrong with getting in a professional to help you out. This does not show any weakness on your part, rather that you are a committed, caring owner. Think about it, you wouldn’t go and teach yourselves to Scuba dive, you would get the assistance you need to become proficient.
There are no hard and fast rules as to when to call in a professional and every persons ideas of what is out of hand will be different, but a good rule of thumb is when you feel you can’t cope, if there is reactive behaviour, or an excess or lack of what you consider normal behaviour, then get help.
Good luck!