Jenna & Snickers » training and behavior

Interview with Dog Trainer Colleen Safford

jenna — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:52:23 +0000

About a week ago, Snick posted about how he spends his days and of course he included how much he loves to go to daycare to play. That led to a discussion a couple days later about the pros and cons of doggy daycare. To round out the topic, today we’re interviewing dog trainer, Colleen Safford, of New York Walk & Train.

Jenna: Colleen, you have extensive experience with dogs, including in daycare/boarding environments. Do you feel doggy daycare is recommended for all dogs?

Colleen: While it’s lovely to see more options available for “spoiling” our pups, a responsible owner will take time to consider whether daycare is a healthy and safe option for their dog. Unfortunately, this decision is often made based on a guilty conscience. Often owners feel guilty for leaving their pups home during the work day. Ignoring your pup’s personality however is unfair to both your pup and other guests of the daycare.

Dogs are equipped with a full range of personalities, and not all personalities are suitable for daycare. Shy and fearful dogs may be overwhelmed when left for numerous hours in a stimulating facility. Over excitable and easily agitated dogs may also find this environment hard to settle into without incident. There is a lot of coming and going in daycare facilities and this tends to keep canine adrenaline running high.

As a general rule, if you feel like you are working overtime emotionally or physically each time your dog interacts with other dogs on the street or in the dog run, you should probably think twice.

As much as we love our dogs (quirks and all), if your dog exhibits excessive humping, barking, rough play or extreme shyness it is a bad idea to send him/her off to daycare.

The ideal daycare candidate is a dog who socializes well with dogs of all sizes, breeds and temperaments. This dog can “speak Dog” effectively and without incident. He understands when another dog wants to play and also knows when to back off. In the reverse he is capble of communicating his desire to play and to rest calmly.

Jenna The ideal daycare candidate is one who socializes well… Would you suggest sending a puppy to daycare as a socialization tool? What about a shy or aggressive puppy?

Colleen: There is no doubt that early socialization is crucial to a developing a healthy pup. That being said, a responsible puppy parent will want to play a key role in the socialization process. It is up to the owner to expose a puppy to new settings and dogs. A full day at daycare is likely TOO much. Puppies need exercise, but also have high sleep needs (something not easily done in most daycares).

In the younger months, gaining socialization through training classes and play dates is the more advisable route. Most daycares will not except pups under 5.5 months of age.

When getting started with daycare, drop your pup off for only 1-3 hrs.

Jenna: What tips do you have for doggy parent’s trying to find the right daycare for Fluffy or Fido?

Colleen:

Research – Give yourself time to visit a few facilities. Ask for a tour of the entire facility. Find out where your pup will eat and rest during her/his time there.
Assess the Environment -
- Does the environment seem clean?
- What are the the sound levels like (lots of barking?),
- Do the play spaces seem of adequate size (or do they seem crowded?)
- Is the staff engaging with the animals in a calm and proactive manner? A good daycare attendant gives ample attention, but also keeps the group calm.
Ask Questions – What is the human to dog ratio? How is your staff trained? What emergency plans plans do you have in place if my dog becomes sick or injured? How will my dog spend his day here? How do you handle dog fights? What happens if a dog is suspected of being sick?

Jenna: What do you see as the top three benefits of sending a dog to daycare?

Colleen:

Exercise!
Socialization for appropriate dogs.
Alleviates scheduling conflict for owners

Jenna: I really like how you think – exercise and socialization first, the owner’s convenience after. (LOL) So, what are some possible drawbacks to daycare?

Colleen:

Allows an unsuitable dog to practice undesirable behaviors that turn into bad habits!
Over stimulating environment may deprive a dog of necessary sleep.
Untrained staff may inadvertently reinforce undesired behavior (impulsive behaviors like barking and jumping)

Jenna: Colleen, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Colleen: If you decide to send your pup to daycare, I advise a rotational schedule. Two to three days at daycare and two to three at home resting.

If you feel the need to send your pup to daycare daily, I would suggest asking the daycare to give your pup a period or two each day of rest. This will allow your dog to restore for the next big play session.

About Colleen Safford
Colleen Safford is a dedicated dog owner; a formally educated dog trainer; and the owner of New York Walk & Train, a NYC dog walking, boarding and training business. Colleen received a degree in Psychology from The Ohio State University. She is dedicated to using training methods based on the principles of learning theory to ensure that training is simple &amp fun for both dogs and their humans.

Colleen was certified by the Delta Society as a Pet Partners Team Evaluator and Instructor. In addition, she has served as the Chairperson of the Sponsorship Committee for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). Colleen teaches puppy classes, private lessons & therapy dog class with Andrea Arden Dog Training. She is committed to raising awareness about animal shelter over population, and is a volunteer with the Animal Haven Adoption Center. Colleen is proudly owned by Luna, a rescued boxer!

Discussion: Doggy Daycare Pros and Cons

jenna — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:43:40 +0000

Having grown up in the rural south, the first time one of my New Yorker friends mentioned doggy daycare to me, I was astounded. Why would you pay for such a thing??? Heh. Little did I know that in a few short years I would be doing exactly the same thing! (See Snick’s recent post about how he spends his days for more info on that.)

Shibas being Shibas, I’ve met a lot of people over the last few years who were surprised Snick goes to daycare, but HE LOVES IT! His daycare in Chelsea called him "a party animal" because he would come in the door non-stop energy and keep it up till I showed up to get him 11+ hours later. He had just as much fun at his daycare in Indiana too. I was worried the first day I took him… he’d grown up at the daycare in Chelsea, but I wasn’t 100% sure how he would react to a room for of new dogs in a new place. I shouldn’t have worried. Snickers = PARTY ANIMAL at daycare apparently. I went out of my way to take him to daycare occasionally there, even though I was home all day. He enjoys it!

I feel like going to dog runs and to doggy daycare was an important part of Snick’s socialization and part of why he’s so good at handling different situations. On the other hand, I realize what I first thought about “they’re pack animals, they should play in groups” doesn’t necessarily fly. Throwing a bunch of random dogs together in an enclosed space (run or playroom) is about as non-pack-like as you can get. A pack is like a family with a cohesive structure, rules and hierarchy. A playgroup may work out some quick and dirty rules, but nothing long term. I wonder if everyone other than the extremly self-confident dogs must feel very overwhelmed in situations like that. I’m not really sure and it makes me wonder if daycare may be right for a much smaller percentage of dogs than I originally thought. (Case in point: Secret is uneasy at the dog run and would most likely HATE doggy daycare.)

So, what do you guys think about doggy daycare?

Do you use a daycare?
Why or why not? How often?
Do you think your dog enjoys it or do you only do it out of personal necessity
How do you handle vaccination requirements?
Do you worry about aggressive dogs at daycare?
Do you check in on your dog a lot or just let him party?

Do tell!

The Importance of Teaching Bite Inhibition

jenna — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:05:05 +0000

Sometimes a topic for a blog post has to jump up and down in front of me waving its metaphorical arms, before I realize I need to write it. This was apparently one of those times. First, someone on Twitter asked Snickers (@snick_the_dog) about puppy nipping and teething, which we did cover in Dealing with Puppy Biting and Chewing. Then someone on Yahoo Answers, asked How to teach a Shiba Inu Bite Inhibition? Lastly, it came up briefly on my favorite breed-specific mailing list, Shiba-L.

What Exactly Is Bite Inhibition?

Pups usually learn bite inhibition – as it pertains to other dogs – from playing with their litter mates and their mother. They learn from their interactions how much force is too much and they learn to make a conscious decision to limit the force of their bite. They have to learn to translate that desire not to injure others to humans as well.

Bite inhibition in companion dogs is much too important to leave to chance. I am fairly convinced though that many dog owners do exactly that. Of course, they are surprised when the dog eventually bites someone and then it is the dog who pays the price for their negligence. Too many people don’t respect how much damage a dog can do. Even a small dog! If our companions are not raised to have a STRONG inhibition to bite humans, they can inflict serious pain while reacting instinctively.

Two Examples of Inadequate Bite Inhibition

I evaluated a Shiba for rescue last summer who was being given up AFTER SIX YEARS because she bit her owner in the face. The problem was, it was the owner’s fault. The dog was a great dog with a nice temperament and even came from a good background. The owners, however, had not socialized her with other dogs and treated her like a human, not a dog. Consequently they didn’t know anything about dog body language. The owner startled the dog and then leaned over her in a threatening manner. The dog reacted by biting and then looking horrified that she had bitten her beloved owner. The damage was done though – the owner was never comfortable around the dog again and gave her away.

A less drastic, but still frustrating, example of poor bite inhibition happened to me a few days ago. I was at the local dog run near my new apartment. There was a super overweight lab there who kept jumping up on my daughter and me. When I put my arm out to try to block the dog, he grabbed onto my wrist and hand with his mouth. He only barely scratched my skin, but his intention was clearly to hold onto me with his mouth. So COMPLETELY unacceptable. His owner was unfortunately clueless about how bad his dog’s behavior was.

An Example of Excellent Bite Inhibition

Even when Snick is snuggling with me, I’m careful not to startle him awake. I was incredibly grateful for his bite inhibition a couple weeks when he was surprised in his sleep. I walked into my bedroom and he was curled up sleeping on my bed. I bent over to give him a kiss. At exactly the same moment, Secret launched herself onto the bed and LANDED ON HIS TAIL. He jolted awake all fangs and fury only centimeters from my face. Yikes! Luckily, his reaction to seeing me so close to his teeth was as immediate as his displeasure at being stepped on and he stopped himself before accidentally biting me. Nasty facial scar avoided.

Tips on Teaching Bite Inhibition

One of the best pieces of advice anyone gave me when Snick was a puppy was regarding how to teach him not to bite and play so rough with my daughter. He thought of her as a litter mate – an equal instead of a superior – so we used that to teach him. Whenever he played too rough and bit her too hard, she would YELP like a hurt puppy and then turn her back on him and ignore him for about 10 seconds. It worked like a charm. His puppy brain completely understood and he totally stopped biting her in about a week. What I didn’t know at the time was that this great advice was based on the excellent training method of Dr. Ian Dunbar. Dr. Dunbar’s wonderful article, Puppy Biting, explains the reasoning behind the method.

In addition to self control, dogs need to learn self confidence. Many dogs bite to defend territory or because they are afraid. Raise a confident, well-socialized dog and he is a lot less likely to ever feel the need to bite.

Bond with your dog. If your dog sees humans as his key pack members, he is more likely to understand that biting humans is undesirable.

Don’t put your dog in any situation he can’t handle. Protect your dog from having to defend himself. If your dog is confident that you will take care of him, he won’t feel like he needs to protect himself and is less likely to bite out of fear.

Don’t startle your dog – or let anyone else startle him – especially when he is sleeping. If he’s going blind or deaf, pay special attention to how you interact with him.

Read your dog’s signals. Most dogs communicate multiple warnings before biting and will only bite as a last resort. Are you paying attention to what your dog is "saying" when he or she is stressed or in an unusual situation? Have you learned enough about canine communication to send your dog calming signals so he doesn’t worry as much?

Be your dog’s defender, his teacher, his advocate and his friend.

One Question Interview with Andrea Arden

jenna — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:35:43 +0000

To kick off our new series of "One Question Interview" posts, today’s interview question is answered by Andrea Arden. Stay tuned over the next few days for more answers to the same question.

Question: If you had the opportunity to communicate and teach one concept to all dog owners everywhere, what would it be and why?

Answer from Andrea Arden, Dog Trainer and Author

I would hope to help people understand that we often do a great disservice to our canine companions by "killing with kindness." That is, inadvertently allowing dogs to indulge in behaviors that are ultimately to their long term detriment. Some examples are: over feeding, over coddling (resulting in a dog with fear and/or separation issues), not using tools wisely and kindly (such as a crate and a feeding and watering schedule) to help our dogs become fully housetrained, and allowing a dog to greet them frantically when they return home (and then reprimanding the dog for jumping on visitors).

From my experience, most people feel uncomfortable setting clear rules and boundaries for their dogs because they feel some underlying guilt for an almost endless list of reasons (i.e. Having to leave their dog when they go to work or school, not finding the time to take their dog for as many fun outings as they might like, not having a big enough apartment, etc.).

One of the kindest things you can do for your dog, other than providing them with adequate mental and physical stimulation, great nutrition and veterinary care, and of course much love, is to be a great teacher to them in regards to all they need to know to be able to enjoy their life to the fullest. Teachers of all sorts have to set boundaries to help their students. In the case of our dogs, start with a list of all the ways you imagine your dog might best enjoy his or her life. For example, getting to go for lots of walks, getting to play with visitors in your home, getting to go with you on trips and stay in other people’s homes, getting to play with other animals. Then make a list of how a dog would need to behave in each of these scenarios (for example being housetrained in your home and all other indoor environments, being well socialized with all sorts of people and animals, walking nicely on leash, greeting people by sitting, being calm when left alone, etc.). Then teach him or her everything he or she needs to know to have the best life possible! In this way you are truly being a kind and loving pet parent.

About Andrea
Andrea is a dog trainer and author in New York City. Her training philosophy emphasizes developing a loving, cooperative relationship between you and your dog.

Andrea has written four books including Dog Friendly Dog Training (IDG, 1999), Train Your Dog the Lazy Way (Macmillan, 1998), The Little Book of Dog Tricks (Howell, 2002) and On the Road With Your Pet (Fodor’s, 1998). She is the behavior columnist for The New York Dog magazine, has been the behavior columnist for Dog Fancy magazine and is a contributing writer for numerous other dog magazines.

For more about Andrea, visit andreaarden.com.

Dealing with Puppy Biting and Chewing

jenna — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:51:30 +0000

This morning one of Snick’s "anipals" (that’s what the animals on Twitter call themselves), who also happens to be a Shiba puppy, asked:

@Snick_the_Dog what did your parents do to help you get over your nipping and teething phase?

This was not a question that Snickers or I could answer in 140 characters or less (not to mention that I was at work and Snickers doesn’t actually know how to type without my help). I knew I’d answered this question before, so I searched both blogs, but I couldn’t find it. Then I searched my GMail. Ah ha! Luckily for me, this blog entry pretty much wrote itself.

My response:
Shiba puppies are SO MOUTHY. More so even than most pups. Snickers drove me insane as a puppy. He played so rough with my daughter – practically chewing on her – that she almost started to hate him for awhile there. It was a bad scene. To make it worse, when we weren’t there for him to chew on, he chewed on the walls, the baby gates, his toy box, the furniture, etc…

Luckily, he didn’t bite ME much. When he did, I gently grabbed his muzzle or the scruff of his neck, gave him a little (very little) shake and told him no (very firmly). That didn’t work for my daughter though, because he didn’t respect her enough to listen to her correction. We had to come up with a way for an "equal" to stop him; he thought of her like a littermate, so our solution was for her to act like one! Whenever he bit her, she would YELP like a hurt puppy and then turn her back on him and ignore him for about 10 seconds. It worked like a charm. His puppy brain completely understood and he had totally stopped biting her in about a week.

Unfortunately, the teething was much harder to deal with. The only real solution – especially when we weren’t home – was to protect everything that we could and give him plenty of safe things to chew on. If he chewed up something important to us, that was our fault for leaving it where he could reach it. (The crate is your friend when you can’t be there to supervise.)

One good aspect about the chewing… it really calmed him down. I found LOTS of good things for him to chew on – bones, tendons, rawhide – and he would chew them like a baby uses a pacifier. Whenever he needed to calm down, he chewed! He still does actually.

The Alpha Roll

jenna — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:00:39 +0000

A couple years ago at a Shiba meetup in NYC, there was a young, female Shiba. She was a bit overwhelmed by the other dogs in the run. From what I remember, she was communicating appropriately with the other dogs… giving calming signals so they knew she wasn’t a threat, but also some warnings to keep them from crowding her. Another dog pounced on her anyway and she snapped at him and a tussle broke out. The female’s owner yelled at her, then ran over, grabbed her, flipped her on her back and held her down, staring into her face. The other dogs were still right by them – over her – which must have made her feel extremely vulnerable. Her owner said something to the effect of her being aggressive and needing to respect him.

If she’d been mine, I would have stepped between her and the other dogs, to let her know I was there to protect her and to break the attention of the dogs that were in her space. Hopefully, that would have given her some time to get accustomed to the situation and the confidence to explore without feeling like she had to protect herself.

I think the primary difference between her owner’s take on the situation and mine was that he saw her actions as aggressive while I saw them as defensive. Was rolling her the right response if he was right? I don’t know. Did her owner do it right? I don’t know that either. I’m also not sure what he really taught her that day, but I’ll bet it wasn’t that she could count on him to protect her.

I think about this incident every time this training method comes up in conversation. I’m not a dog trainer, so I’m not qualified to offer recommendations on how other people should train their dogs. It’s frustrating though, to see people misusing techniques that they see on television, hear about at the dog park, or read about online.

So, back the present… a couple weeks ago, someone posted to a mailing list I’m on that their otherwise friendly ten month old dog was becoming overly aggressive with their other dog and had bitten that dog and a couple of human family members during fights. There was no other information given about what was happening before the fights or about the other dog’s behaviour. One lister’s response was "I would put her on the floor and put your hand on her chest and don’t let go until she stops struggling to let her know that you are in charge."

This seemed like dangerous advice to me. My thoughts were that if a dog is not actually aggressive (like the one I remember in the dog run), rolling it would be uncalled for and frighten the dog, which would damage the owner/companion relationship. If the dog is truly aggressive, the alpha roll might be effective but if the human doing the rolling didn’t know what they were doing, they could probably get bitten in the process.

The dilemma stuck in my head, so I emailed Pete Campione of Kindred Souls Canine Center in New Jersey and asked for his thoughts on the alpha roll. Pete is an experienced dog trainer who teaches owners how to socialize their dogs and communicate with them. I’ve found Pete to have a special insight into aggression cases and I have a lot of respect for his ideas. This is what Pete had to say: "The Alpha Roll is a viable and integral part of canine communication and ritual. It has many versions hence ongoing debates. The Alpha Roll, like many canine rituals, must be done correctly and it takes time to learn as it requires a good "read" of canine body language (this means many people dismiss it rather than take the time to study the nuances of how to use it effectively). It is also done differently on puppies vs adults. The key to the "Roll" is in the release (loads of praise and precise timing) and the key to proper release is recognizing submission in the dog. Done correctly it is highly effective. But it must be done specific to the dog."

I guess I’m one of the people who has dismissed the alpha roll instead of learning about it. Funny… this post started off to be about how evil it is, but I guess I’ve learned along the way that isn’t the case. I’d like to learn more about it now – when it’s useful, when it’s not, how to do it correctly. The thing that REALLY bothers me though is that most people won’t learn those things… they’ll either dismiss it or use it incorrectly.

I wonder how often that happens with other training ideas?

And why does it seem that there are always more questions than there are answers?!?!?

To learn more about Pete Campione and his training philosophies, visit the Kindred Souls Canine Center online.

Doggy Etiquette, Midwest Style

jenna — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:39:28 +0000

Snickers and I went to our first Indiana meetup last weekend. It wasn’t a Shiba meetup, unfortunately, because I haven’t yet figured out where we’re going to hold those. It was a general meetup, but with a twist. It’s a new group in Indianapolis called the Downtown Dog Walk, which gets together every Sunday night and walks along the canal or through downtown to a bar or restaurant with outdoor space and then hangs out outside.

You know how people say New Yorkers are rude? And, of course, we New Yorkers can’t figure that out because we’re SO NICE. We think the tourists are rude because, well, they’re always in the way. And GEEEEZ they take FOREVER to do or say anything. Clearly, if you look at what I just said objectively, you can see that it’s just cultural. New Yorkers are speedy and efficient. Outsiders think that’s rude, while we think you’re being rude when you slow us down.

Apparently doggy etiquette has regional differences also!

I’ve always been proud of how well socialized Snick is (for a Shiba). He had tons of friends at our dog run in Hell’s Kitchen and a ton more in our Shiba Meetup group. He’s never been friendly with random dogs on the street, but it didn’t matter too much because New Yorker’s have pretty a pretty strict code of sidewalk etiquette for dogs… Most dogs in NYC are kept on a short leash under close control of their humans. Sidewalk greetings are controlled, if they are allowed at all. Most people I know accept this as normal, as is the fact that dogs aren’t that comfortable greeting each other on leash anyway. Leashes restrict their movement and therefore their body language. They can’t follow the proper routines for meeting and getting to know each other and they also cant fight or flee if necessary. Therefore many dogs are defensive when meeting for the first time on leash and they get snarky with each other.

Imagine my surprise when I walked up to the meetup last weekend and people were standing around letting their dogs run all over the place! Some of them had a good 10 feet of leash and none of them were under control of their owners. A couple of them dashed up to Snick as soon as we got there and, of course, Snick tried to put the smack down on them for being so brash. Honestly, I was little taken aback when no one apologized to me for not controlling their dogs. I took a few steps back away from the group though and assessed the situation. "Hmmmm…." I thought. "These dogs are all running around willy nilly. These dogs are pretty much getting along with each other this way. Do all these dogs know each other already? Doubtful. These dogs have learned to meet and greet on leash! This is normal for them!"

So… I found myself in a position of explaining to people that, although Snickers is quite a social boy, he’s not at all used to being around other dogs on leash. Once the group started walking, Snickers did much better (although he did want to walk up front). We walked with the group organizer and his very friendly dog. Snick was clearly happy and comfortable to be walking on sidewalks, between buildings, and around cars again. The rest of the meetup went fine and I learned that doggy etiquette rules can be different in different places, just like human etiquette rules are!

And, yes, we’re going back this weekend. After all, we need to practice our on leash behavior!