The Power of Observational Learning

I had a really nice conversation with a long time client about her new puppy.  She has three dogs, one is ten, one is almost 5 and the puppy is 3 months old.  She reached out for help and advice as she's having a terrible time getting the puppy to listen to her; all he wants to do is follow her two adult dogs around, ignoring her! This really isn't all that unusual, although I could see why she was irritated! Have you ever experienced this as well?  There's a very good reason for this and it's all about observational learning in dogs.

Dogs have the ability to learn in several different ways.  They learn by watching us, the words we use, the way we move our hands, and how that relates to their ability to get us to do what they want us to do.  So, for example, you might be teaching a puppy to sit when asked.  You move your hand in such a way that his head comes up and his bottom goes down as he follows that hand with the treat in it.  While you are doing this, you are telling your puppy to sit at the same time.  When his little bottom hits the ground, you mark the behavior in some way ("Yes!," "Good boy!," etc.) and give him the treat.  The next time he approaches you, he'll be watching you to see if you move your hand that way again, saying that word, and if he does it, he'll be looking for that treat!  Basically, the puppy learns to sit by observing you while you shaped that behavior.  Now, you could certainly try to just mark the sitting behavior any time you see your puppy do that, but that's a much harder way to get the behavior consistently.  And, watching you sit isn't effective in getting your puppy to sit as well. But, you know what is?  Your puppy watching your other dogs sit when you ask.  And that, my friends, is the power of observational learning.

If you call your adult dogs to you and ask them to sit, I'm sure they'll do it immediately. In the case of my client's dogs, they are excellent listeners; they come when called, and almost always sit before asked.  The puppy follows behind the adult dogs, watching them closely as they happily wag their tails and sit instantly.  He dances around them, oftentimes earning him a grumble or a snap from one of the adult dogs, almost as if they were saying "Sit down, goofball, and she'll give you a treat too!" Then, he plops into a sit, still watching those adult dogs, and lo and behold, they all get treats.  The next time she calls the dogs over, even the puppy sits before being asked.  The power of observational learning!  It's actually much stronger than you teaching your puppy anything.  It's almost as if puppies trust the process more if they see the behaviors in action first from adult dogs they share space with.

So why is this even a problem given that it seems like her adult dogs are doing all the heavy lifting in training this puppy, so to speak?  It's a problem because he doesn't listen to her at all!  My suggestion was simple.  Crate her adult dogs with bones or Kongs in the other room and shut the door, keeping the puppy with her.  Put the puppy on leash and reward a simple follow, dropping treats for him to pick up.  Add in his name so he looks at her, then drop another treat.  Step away from him, say his name, and offer a treat as he approaches.  Then, see if she can get a sit when he's asked, without those adult dogs around to cue off of. She kept me on the phone with her as she did this and, lo and behold, her puppy sat as soon as he approached her!  He had indeed learned the sit, AND he was able to do it without the adult dogs there to use as his guides.

I told my client that she needs to work with her puppy one-on-one several times a day so she's sure he's understanding the importance of listening to her and bonding with her.  But, frankly, her adult dogs can help her with so much of the training this puppy needs once she's got him a bit more bonded to her than he is to them.

I also told her how lucky she was as there is one big pitfall to observational learning in dogs.  What if the adult dog(s) in your home aren't all that perfect?  What if they themselves have some significant behavior problems?  What if your adult dog is aggressive, fearful, or has separation anxiety? You most certainly don't want the adult dogs teaching those behaviors to your new puppy!  So, again, the solution?  Get those issues treated in your adult dogs before you add in a puppy.  Then, be sure to work with your puppy one-on-one, away from your adult dogs, to make sure that puppy listens more to you than to his cohorts.

I've always been fortunate to have really good adult dogs when I brought a puppy into my home.  Desi raised Ozzie and Westley, and Ozzie and Westley raised Henley.  Desi was still around when Henley was a puppy, he was just quite the senior by that point and spent a lot of team sleeping rather than interacting with him.  Henley did love Desi and would lick his face or gently pull his tail, always careful not to run into Desi or step on him when he was racing around like a crazy puppy.  He saved the shenanigans for Ozzie and Westley and then tolerated a lot from Henley as they taught him the ropes.  He still looks to them even now that they are all adults together.  Why?  Because observational learning is still strong, even in adult dogs.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

I love these two pictures, taken a couple of weeks 

apart. In the first photo, Henley is mirroring Desi's 

behavior. In the second photo, he's mirroring

Westley, while Desi hangs back, something he did

more and more as Henley got bigger and more active.

It's A Whole New World!

Did you just start singing that song from Aladdin?  LOL!  It was actually what went through my head when a client's husband expressed a bit of frustration with all the suggestions I was making regarding their new dog. Their veterinarian had sent them my way because it had been about fifteen years since this couple had had a dog and she thought they could benefit from a session with me in order to get this new dog off on the right paw, so to speak.

A lot has changed since this couple had their previous dog.  First of all, that dog was raised in a home with three, active kids!  Their kids are now grown and flown, so that's a big difference; this dog won't live in a home with kids day in and day out, but he will be exposed to babies and young children as their oldest has kids of his own. What else has changed?  This couple is now living in a condominium with a small backyard and an enclosed front porch; their previous dog lived with them in a large house with an enormous backyard. Add in that they used to free-feed their previous dog, rarely walked him, and he slept in their garage at night, and you have all the reasons why their veterinarian thought talking with me might be helpful!

As you all already know, I love science and I love good research.  In particular, I love all the research being done on pets and our relationship with our companion animals.  And, obviously, I like sharing this science-based approach with all of you and with my clients every day.  As I explained patiently to my client's husband, it's not about all the things we were doing wrong before, but about how what we know now enriches their lives and makes them happier! 

So, while I understand that their previous dog was rarely walked because he had a large yard to run around in every day, we now know that dogs don't reliably use their yards for exercise; most dogs patrol their yard, chase off intruders (squirrels!), and lay around, waiting for their humans to come outside too. And while a lot of people used to free-feed their dogs, we now know it's better for their digestion and for weight maintenance to eat two to three times a day. As for sleeping in the garage:  Research shows that dogs should sleep indoors with their people, whether that be in a crate, on a dog bed, or sharing the human's bed.  Keeping dogs, particularly single dogs, separated from the rest of the family is isolating and detrimental to the human-animal bond.

OK, let's circle back to the new clients.  I encouraged them to walk their new dog twice daily, allowing sniffing and exploring, as a way to build rapport.  I suggested keeping to a fairly set schedule for those walks, as well as meal times (twice daily), and play time.  Because this dog is just under a year of age, I also suggested scheduling some naps, in the crate which he loves, to make sure he's well-rested and less of a risk for mouthy behavior and the evening zoomies, two behaviors that were getting him sent to the garage. I gave them handling exercises to do to help build trust, and finally I gave them an entire list of interactive toys and puzzles to challenge this young dog's brain and address his need for mental exercise.  Toy rotation is also a must and having the right kinds of toys for an active chewer is also needed.  Hence my client's husband stating that dog ownership seems a lot harder than he remembers!  And you know what?  He's not wrong.

We now know more about how to raise and train well-adjusted dogs than we did even ten years ago.  And much of what we were taught in the 1960's an 1970's has been put to rest as outdated and often inappropriate and cruel with respect to dogs. Personally, I think that the fact that dogs have continued to love us and thrive despite our ample mistakes is just proof positive that they are the most forgiving of creatures.  While they can survive with very little, they do appreciate being given more and reward us with their faithful companionship until their last breath.  Do we deserve dogs?  Sometimes I do wonder.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Westley loves a good puzzle.  This is one that my two dogs don't actually enjoy as the pieces are small and their noses and paws are larger than Westley's! Puzzles like this one from Trixie Dog, are something that have become more popular for mental stimulation and enrichment, based on the results of solid research into what companion animals need to be happy.

Is My Dog Mad At Me?

I've been asked this question so many times, usually by an owner who has been growled at, snapped at, or even bitten by their dog. Most recently, I was asked this question by a dog owner who felt her dog was snubbing her after she picked him up from a week of boarding. Have you ever thought that your dog was mad at you for some reason?

First of all, let's clear the air.  Your dog isn't mad at you, at least not the way other humans might be mad at you for something you said or did.  Dogs don't hold grudges like people do; what they do is express their fear, anxiety, discomfort, or frustration through changes in their behavior.  Dogs use body language cues to let us know that they are upset with a situation, not that they are mad at us, per se. If a dog makes a negative association between a human and a stress-provoking event, they will alter their behavior in a way that decreases their proximity to that human while they wait for their anxiety to subside.  Let me give you an example.

Let's say that you are clipping your dog's toenails and accidentally cut one too short, causing the nail to bleed, your dog to yelp, and yank his foot away.  When you try to grab the foot to stop the bleeding, he whirls around quickly, bumping your hand away with his nose.  When you finally get a hold of the foot to stop the bleeding, your dog won't make eye contact with you, licking his lips, yawning, and quivering, even giving you a slight lip curl when you squeeze the paw to create pressure to stop the bleeding.  Your attempts to soothe your dog with words and strokes on the head go unheeded and the moment you release his foot, he moves away quickly, tail tucked, giving you some epic side-eye as he retreats to his bed to lick his foot.  Is he mad at you?  No.  He's experiencing physical discomfort and he associates that discomfort with you.  He ultimately moves away from you because he's made a negative association: Being near you and having his feet handled equals pain.

When something like this happens, I know your first response is to try to placate and soothe your dog, however, this is the wrong course of action to take. Instead, give your dog some space and time to soothe themselves.  Again, dogs don't hold grudges.  You can make amends with your dog once he's settled down and regrouped.  If you push it, you run the risk of an escalation with your dog lashing out or doing something completely out of character for them. Your dog will forgive you, it's just going to take some time for them to change that negative association that they've made. Depending on how negative that association is, you may need to use desensitization and counter-conditioning, with brief, innocuous exposures to what created that stress and anxiety in the first place.  And, most likely, copious amounts of high value treats!

Using our same nail trimming mishap example, you might give your dog treats while the nail clippers are nearby, then build up to handling the feet with those clippers nearby.  Over time, you increase the foot handling and bring the clippers closer.  You build up to making noise with the clippers, but not on his nails.  If your dog remains calm and open to taking treats, you ultimately build up to clipping one or two nails, giving him a handful of treats, and stopping there on a positive note. This process is slow going but necessary to change your dog's point of view and negative association between you and those nail clippers.

Now, let's circle back to my client who felt like her dog was snubbing her after a stay at a boarding facility. She described the behaviors she was seeing:  Gaze aversion, tail held low, moving away from her.  He didn't want to play, be near her on the couch, or even go for a walk. If she tried to pet him, he stiffened and turned away.  While he never growled or snapped, she felt like it could happen if she were to try to pick him up, something she was smart enough not to do. I've known this dog for quite a while and all of this behavior is very much out of character.  I advised the owner to first have her dog looked at by her veterinarian.  We needed to rule out pain as the reason for the change in his behavior. Perhaps he'd pulled a muscle or slipped a disc while running around at the boarding facility.  Sure, a trip to the vet could also lead to her dog snubbing her even more, but it was necessary to make sure there wasn't something physical going on here. Once her vet had ruled out pain, I came up with a plan to get my client back into her dog's good graces, so to speak.  Here's what I told her to do.

First, do a little bit of hand feeding of special treats (in her dog's case, this was rotisserie chicken) before feeding each meal.  Hand feeding brings a dog closer to the person, often with brief eye contact.  I told her to build up to brief petting with these treats after a few days.  She also sat nearby while he ate, but not making eye contact or trying to talk to him.  She was just to be close by, a comforting presence. After about three days, her dog was approaching her, head up and tail wagging for those extra treats.  At this point I advised her to try to play a little ball with him and take him for a brief walk at his favorite park for sniffs and snacks.  By day six, he was back to his usual self, going for walks, playing ball, and cuddling on the couch.  Whew!

So, if your dog is giving you the cold shoulder, avoiding contact, and ignoring you with very obvious selective hearing, sure, he's upset.  He might even engage in destructive behavior which you don't normally see.  Before you get frustrated and try to force an interaction, figure out why this is happening.  Did you leave your dog alone too long?  Did you miss a normal treat or meal time?  Did you behave in a clingy way with them that they don't typically enjoy? Or did you not love on them long enough? Did you bathe them?  Cut nails? Or take them to the vet's office?  Any one of these things could be the reason your dog is showing discomfort and aloof behavior around you.  Once you've figured out why, get creative in your strategies to build back their confidence in you, using all of the things they enjoy, to win them back.  They're not ignoring you to manipulate you.  They are ignoring you and avoiding you because you've somehow broken their trust.  You can definitely win it back if you are patient and observant of those body language cues.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Is he mad at me?  No, Henley isn't mad at me.  He's resigned to the fact that it's bath day.  When I tell him it's time for a bath, he doesn't retreat. He heads to the bathroom, all on his own, and jumps in the tub of his own volition.  I praise him every time he does this, and give him ample yummy treats for doing so.  He gets treats throughout the bath, and especially when I'm blow drying him.  Does he love baths and blow outs?  Absolutely not.  But he does tolerate them, participate in them of his own accord, and he is duly rewarded for his efforts.  He's never snubbed me in any way following a bath.  How did we get to this point? You guessed it.  Desensitization and counter conditioning starting when he was a puppy.  Thank goodness I did because Henley has serious allergies that require weekly, and sometimes biweekly baths. I can't imagine what this would be like if he didn't cooperate in his own skincare routine.

Today's the Day!

What began as a project to keep me occupied during the COVID-19 lock-down of 2020, turned into a labor of love that took almost five years to complete, but it's done!  My memoir is not only done, but it's being published by Barnes & Noble.  Today, March 12, 2025, is the official publish date and I couldn't be more excited, nervous, or hopeful than I am right now. 

To all of you who pre-ordered your copy, thank you for being as excited as me for the book's release!  For all of you who will order copies now for yourself, for a friend or family member, or for one of your pet-loving clients, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  While I originally thought of this book as just something to print out and share with my kids, it has now become something bigger: A chance for me to tell my story, share my journey, and hopefully make you laugh a little, maybe surprise you, and perhaps even shed a tear or two.  

I'm hoping to have a book signing (or two) in the near future here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  If you are interested in that, please let me know, and I'll add you to the list of folks to keep in the loop. I'm tickled pink that a handful of you have reached out for information on how to get a signed bookplate for your book!  I have the bookplates and will be writing personal messages on them and mailing them out soon. If you are someone who wants a signed bookplate, please let me know via email, k9freud@gmail.com, so I can collect your mailing information for the bookplate.

Anyway, to all of you who've been with me on this journey (and you definitely know who you are!), thank you thank you thank you for helping me to fulfill my dream of being someone who helps animals and their people.  I couldn't have done it without you. 

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me. Actually, I'll be here working on my next book!  It's a children's picture book featuring (what else would it feature?!) a collie!

If you'd like to order a copy, here's the link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/k9freud-julie-bond/1147053202?ean=9798341883611

When Your Home Has Gone To The Dogs!

I know we've talked about multi-dog households before.  A multi-dog household is any home with more than one dog, so yes, even two dogs counts as a multi-dog home!  I say this because I had a client tell me she "only has two dogs" so she didn't think the rules and boundaries I was advising her to follow were applicable to her and her two canine family members, lol.  Comparatively speaking, one dog is easy, two is more than twice the work, and three or more can be a full-time job! Just last week, I spoke to a client who had six dogs, three of whom fought on a regular basis, and just couldn't seem to understand why I thought her home needed more structure! 

So, whether you have two dogs or twelve, rules and boundaries aren't just a suggestion but the keys to long-term success.  Just to clarify: I'm not talking about a dominance hierarchy here with one of your dogs as the "alpha."  Gosh, can I tell you how much I *hate* that terminology.  While the terms pack, pack mentality, pack hierarchy, alpha, beta, etc. have been bandied around for years, and consequently applied to dogs, this has done nothing but a disservice to dogs and their people. 

The term "alpha wolf" was coined in 1947 by Rudolf Schenkel, an animal behaviorist studying captive wolves in a zoo in Switzerland. The problem with this research lies in the fact that all of his results and nomenclature were based on a captive population.  This isn't the real world for wolves!  Wolves live in large family groups called packs, absolutely.  But there is no clear animal, male or female, who rules that pack in every situation. In fact, wolves divvy up all the tasks related to pack maintenance and productivity based on who has the skills to accomplish the job most efficiently. So, to say that wolf out in front of the pack "must be the alpha," acting as sentinel for the group as they move about, is inherently misleading. Oftentimes, the group leader on that jaunt may be out in front BUT the true leader/sentinel is that wolf at the back making sure everyone stays together and safe.  So, why am I telling you all of this?  Well, because anyone who tells you that one of your dogs is the alpha, or that you need to make one of your dogs the alpha, is someone whose knowledge is not only outdated, but invalid.  The dynamics in your multi-dog household are much more complex than that!

Let's clear the air here.  If anyone in your home is the "alpha," it's you, the human.  Period.  You have thumbs and can open cupboards, use a can opener, and pay for that Chewy delivery. Even still, I hate that term as it somehow implies that whoever is the designated alpha gets to make all the calls and that just isn't true. Packs are families first and foremost and we all know that family dynamics are fluid and ever-changing. Yes, you buy the dog food, but if your dog won't eat what you've purchased, who's really making the decision there? If, instead, you take your dog to the pet store and let him sample a couple of different food options before purchasing one, you are acting as a true pack/family; you are making the choices together that benefit you all as a group.  You don't spend money on stuff your dog won't eat and your dog gets to eat what tastes palatable to him.  That's a stable pack decision.

So, let's get back to those multi-dog households where there is discord beyond not liking the food they've been given! Dogs are competitive with each other for attention and for access to resources, meaning that they'll compete for your attention, but they'll also compete for beds, sofas, doorways, resting spots, places to poop and pee, and of course, toys, bones, and chews.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with competition as long as no one gets hurt and everyone has what they need to survive.  If your dogs push and shove to get you to pet them, for example, choose one dog to pet first, pet them as long as you like while ignoring whoever else is trying to push their way in.  This is important because if you try to be "fair," thinking "I've got two hand, one for each dog," you're actually wrong as you are helping build up resentment between your dogs!  Again, pet one dog, finish petting that dog, and move on to the next dog.  I like to step it up a bit and ask whoever is waiting for their turn for attention to sit while they wait.  This just looks so much more controlled than having dog number two (or three) dancing around in the background and/or circling the dog I'm petting first.  Bottom line?  My dogs know that pushing and shoving each other to get to my hands won't increase the likelihood that they are attended to first.  The dog waiting patiently, sitting and wagging their tail though?  Yeah, that dog is getting lovies first.  

When it comes to beds, toys, chews, etc. we all know it doesn't matter if you've got several beds, enough for every dog in your home to choose one to rest on, or enough bones so everyone has one exactly like their housemate's; each of your dogs is going to fervently desire whatever the other dog has. That's just the way it is.  Should you involve yourself in their jockeying for the "best bed," or the "perfect bone?"  Absolutely not.  You are Switzerland as far as your dogs are concerned UNLESS an actual fight breaks out.  You'll stop that and ALL parties should have consequences for not resolving their issues properly and without escalation. You see, dogs have a lot of body language and verbal communication that they can utilize to either gain that desired bed from another dog OR to hang onto the desired bed.  I've watched Ozzie issue a withering stare toward Henley for trying to get him to move off of a dog bed.  Henley will try play bows first, move on to barking, and often attempt to get Ozzie to move by offering him a toy.  If Ozzie wants to keep that spot on the bed, he does the stare, a low grumbling growl, and then turns in a circle on the bed, facing away from Henley.  Basically saying the bed is his and no amount of nonsense is getting him to move.  Henley is good about this.  He'll do a dramatic yawn and move to a different place to lay down.  But make no mistake; if Ozzie gets up off that bed for a drink of water, for example, Henley is on it in a heartbeat, claiming that warm spot Ozzie left behind. I've never seen Ozzie take offense at this at all.  If he's chosen to walk away, he doesn't care about it anymore.

So, what should you do if actual fights are breaking out between your dogs?  Get better control over those resources that they are squabbling over first and foremost.  If one dog is actively defending a sofa large enough for two dogs, then maybe the rule should be no dogs on the sofa at all since then can't share.  And it's definitely the case that furniture privileges should be removed from any dog who aggressively defends said furniture from the humans.  You bought the furniture, it's yours.  You get to choose who you share it with (or not).  If your dogs get into it over bones or chews, but you recognize that bones and chews are good mental and physical exercise for your dogs, then compromise.  Give your dogs their bones and chews in their crates, or at a minimum in separate rooms.  And if it's just one dog who is always picking the fight while everyone else can eat bones at the same time, no problem, then simply remove the aggressor.  They should eat their bone in their crate or another room and only be let out once the others have finished theirs in peace.  

And, remember, if you have to break up a fight, don't put one of your body parts between your dogs! Instead, keep some party air horns readily available and blast them to get them to break it up.  Some dogs might stop if you throw water on them, but I'm not a fan of the clean up that thrown water indoors creates!  If you've got two people breaking up a skirmish, you can each get behind a dog and grab their back legs, just above the hocks, and wheelbarrow them backwards.  They'll let go of each other as they'll be focused so much on walking on just their two front legs, giving you time to separate them safely.

You all know how much I love dogs, but I don't think I could have more than three dogs in my home at a time, and even three is a challenge for me long term.  I love having my granddog, Westley, come for a visit, but I also like it when he goes home and it's just my two, and our little established pack, in my house. My granddog is an "only child," so to speak, so he thinks everything is his.  When he stays  with me, he can be a bit demanding as he's used to getting everything first and having everything be his.  He shares nicely though and only gets a little bent out of shape with Henley when he tries to displace him from a bed or the couch.  I let them handle it themselves, however, as no one has ever drawn blood on another dog, but they sure as heck have made their point and Henley is a good listener!  He's not a beta, or a gamma, or whatever those old school folks are calling it.  He's family and family figures out a way to get along as that's what benefits everyone.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Gang's all here.  Nothing special about the order in which they are in standing.  They all went into the kitchen, with Henley in the lead, thus placing him at the rear when I walked in behind them. Does that make him the alpha and me the gamma?  Nope. It just means Henley gets there faster than the rest of us, but I'm the one with the thumbs to open the treat cupboard, which they all very clearly understand.

Attention Seeking

I received a phone call this week from a dog owner I hadn't worked with since Spring 2020 when she was raising a puppy during the COVID lock-down and needed a Puppy 101 session to make sure she was on the right track with crate training, house training, naps, etc. At that time, I strongly advised that even though she and her puppy were alone together every day, all day, she should crate him in another room for naps and alone time, and take walks or breaks without him.  I wanted to make sure that this puppy was comfortable being alone and confident enough to entertain himself.  I reminded the owner that lock-down wouldn't last forever, and if she had to be able to return to working in an office, she'd need her puppy to be able to stay home alone without being anxious. Fast forward to our most recent conversation. 

Her puppy is now 5 years old, loves his crate, and isn't anxious when she works in the office two days a week and leaves him home alone.  Sounds good, right?  Well, the problem is what happens when she works the other three days from home.  On those days, her dog bugs her constantly for attention.  He shoves on her with toys, paws at her to pet him, barks at her to get her to play, and rings his bell to go outside, just to get her up out of her chair. She thinks he's the most relentless with his attention seeking when she's in a video meeting or on a client call, though she sheepishly admitted that it may just seem worse then because she's not constantly petting him or playing with him at those times! She says she feels like a horrible pet owner if she tries to ignore him and all it seems to do is escalate the situation, resulting in him barking and her yelling, and then she feels even worse.  She wanted to know if it was too late to fix this problem.  Absolutely not!

Attention seeking behavior is something that all dogs do; some (obviously) do it more than others. You see, dogs can't talk, so if they need something, they have to play a game of charades with you to make their wants and needs known.  They need a drink of water, but their bowl is empty.  They might pick up and drop that empty bowl, bark at you and stare at the empty bowl, or they might drink out of the toilet which is sure to get your attention!  When they are hungry, they stare at you and run to the kitchen, or maybe they bring you their food bowl and stare at the clock.  When they want to go outside they stand near a door, bark or scratch at the door, or grab their own leash and bring it to you.  And, yes, when they want to play, they'll bring you a toy (or 10!) to get you to stop what you are doing and play a game with them.  All of this works great as long as you respond to them, right?  Ignore your dog and they often level up their attention seeking to make their needs known.  I've even met dogs who will pinch or nip their owners if they feel their needs are being ignored!  Is it really such a bad thing that your dog alerts you to his needs?  No, not unless they are attention seeking just for the sake of attention seeking, when no real impending need must be met.  Just because your dog is bored does not mean you need to stop what you are doing and engage them. On the contrary, if you do, you'll end up, like the client above, with a dog who cannot entertain themselves.

All behavior has consequences.  A dog who attention seeks unnecessarily needs to learn that doing so results in less attention, not more.  I advised my client to keep a leash near her desk so that she could unceremoniously leash up her dog and walk him to his crate for a time out when he bugs her, but she knows that all of his basic needs have been met.  After a few minutes, if he's quiet, she can go let him out of the crate and redirect him to an activity that will keep him occupied such as a bone, yak chew, puzzle, lick mat, or Kong. I also suggested that she be more scheduled with his walks and play time.  Instead of playing with him at random times during the day, keeping those play sessions to a schedule, much as she does with his meals, means he will learn to anticipate when it's going to be time to play, and differentiate those times from when she is working and won't be able to play with him. She can also start preemptively giving him something to do that addresses boredom and helps him to entertain himself while she's on calls or in meetings.  If he leaves his puzzle, for example, and comes to push on her with a toy, she will need to excuse herself briefly and take him to his crate, however, so he doesn't escalate to barking which is much more disruptive. He's a smart dog; I don't think it will take very many time outs for him to learn to occupy himself until it's a scheduled play time or walk time.

Ozzie has always been good about recognizing that I'm working and not bugging me at all during those times.  He might lay near me, or bring a bone over to chew on, but he's not disruptive. Henley is a different story. Henley has had to learn not to be disruptive as he will squeak toys, shove my arms, bark at Ozzie, and otherwise disrupt the flow of my workday if I didn't train him early on not to do so.  A handful of time outs was all it took for him to understand that he can be in my office when I'm working, but he has to be quiet and engage in self directed activities until I take a break.  He'll test me every now and then by squeaking a toy while I'm working only to find that doing so buys him an immediate time out in his crate in another room. Ozzie will often look at him when this happens and give an irritated growl, almost as if to say, "Dude! I told you to be quiet!"  Henley will be two years old next month, so he's still learning, and that's okay. I just have to be consistent and he'll get it, just like every other dog I've lived with has gotten it.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Here's Henley letting me know that it's time for his dental bone.  The dental bones sit on my desk and if I go more than 10 minutes past the time the dogs usually get them, he's the first to tell me I've broken the scheduling rules!

Is This My Fault?

I get asked that a lot by pet owners.  They feel anxious and overwhelmed and are afraid that they've done something that has led their pet to have a behavior problem. They express concern that they actively did something, or neglected to do something, and thus their pet needs my help.  While I understand that it's human nature to want to place the blame somewhere, so to speak, it isn't productive in the case of pet behavior problems, nor is it helpful.  In fact, spending a lot of time worrying about whether you're responsible for your pet's behavior problem is time wasted!  So, let's just clear the air right off the bat.  No.  You are not the reason your pet has a behavior problem.  You may be, however, the reason the problem persists.  Let's take a look at a couple of examples.

Let's say your dog jumps up on people.  You may tell your dog to get down or tell him, "Off!," but he persists in jumping up. You volunteer that your son encourages the dog to jump up on him, placing his big paws on your son's shoulders and licking his face! You think this is cute BUT you don't want the dog jumping on your elderly mother or your granddaughter.  So, while this is not your fault per se, you are the reason the problem of your dog jumping up on people persists.  Dogs generalize; if one person loves them jumping up, then all people must like that.  For your dog and their terminal toddler brain, the people who don't like the jumping are in the minority!  To get your dog to stop jumping up period, you will need to stop rewarding and reinforcing the behavior cold turkey.  Now when your dog jumps up, you won't bother with no, off, down, or letting him lick your face.  No. Now what you will do is turn and walk away, or walk right through them, and remove yourself and ANY form of attention, positive or negative.  It will be a rough couple of weeks, but your dog will see that jumping up is no longer what people want from him.  At that point, you can start reinforcing your dog and rewarding him for having four feet on the ground at all times.

Time for a more serious problem.  Your dog tries to bite you if you pet them when they are laying on the couch.  Someone might tell you this is your fault for letting the dog up on the couch, but that's not really true.  After 30,000+ years of co-evolution, humans have selected for dogs that don't behave aggressively toward people.  Thus, any dog who is aggressive toward people is the exception, the outlier, not the rule.  You are the source of all good things for your dog, so why would he lash out at you for showing him attention and affection? Here's the answer: Your dog is a resource guarder and your couch, and his resting spot on there, are defensible resources.  You could simply stop trying to pet your dog when he's on the couch, thus avoiding a potential confrontation, but better still, just don't let him up there anymore.  Block his access to the room or the sofa, turn the cushions up sideways so it's no longer fun to be up there, or use a tether on him that only allows him to lay on his bed or the floor, but not the furniture. You may feel sad that your dog can't be on the couch with you anymore, but truly, not having him up there is safer for you in the long run and avoids any possible aggressive outbursts.  Aggression isn't a curable problem, but this management solution will make it safer for everyone, guests included.

I hope this brings some of you a modicum of relief.  You aren't the reason your pet has a behavior problem, but maybe now you can see how your behavior has, unfortunately, helped the problem to persist and maybe blossom into a larger issue.  And that's where I come in, right?

As always, if you questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Henley is allowed on the couch because he's never tried to defend his spot from me, or anyone else for that matter, including the other dogs.  You can pet him, hug him, kiss him, or tell him to move off the couch, and he's fine with all of that.  This has less to do with me as his owner and more to do with who he is as a dog.  He understood the (co-evolution) assignment!