DIY Puzzles & Games

This has been a rough year for a lot of my clients here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Between the tariffs, skyrocketing grocery prices, and cutbacks at work, many of my clients are worrying about the holidays and gift giving even more than usual.  I'm a big fan of homemade gifts.  I think those lovely, one-of-a-kind items speak volumes about how much we care for the people in our lives receiving those handmade treasures. Even our pets appreciate homemade gifts and they really don't know the difference between an expensive toy, treat, or puzzle bought at the pet store, and one we made for them ourselves.  And this year?  Homemade pet gifts are the way to go.  Here are some of my favorites:

For the dog who loves a good puzzle:  Take an old beach towel, hand towel, or wash cloth (size of the towel depends on the size of the dog) and lay it out flat; add small treats or kibble and roll the towel up tightly.  Once you've got it rolled up, tie it in knots, creating a yummy smelling puzzle for your dog to untangle, roll out, and discover all the fun inside.

For the dog who likes to take stuff apart:  Collect four to six boxes of different sizes that you can nest inside each other.  Cut holes in the boxes of differing sizes to allow treats to drop out.  Place treats inside the boxes and then seal the seams of each box as you nest them one inside the other.  If you are giving this gift right away, you can make it even more fun to destroy by adding a small smear of nut butter to the outside to get your dog started. Yes, they will make a cardboard mess of all of this, so supervise them much as you would supervise a toddler opening gifts!

For the dog who always wants a snack:  Take sweet potatoes, carrots, or zucchini and thinly slice them (I use a mandoline), placing them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Make sure there is space between the pieces so that they'll cook evenly. Bake at the lowest possible over temperature (I do 170 degrees) or use a convection oven to reduce moisture efficiently and evenly. You want the vegetables completely dried and a bit crispy in texture which will take a few hours in a regular oven. I just periodically check on mine, testing for crispness. Once they are dry and crisp, remove from the oven and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container for your dog to snack on. Healthy treats you'll both love!

For the dog who loves soft toys: Look for flannel or fleece fabric remnants at the craft store or simply pick up some flannel sheets or large flannel shirts at the second hand store.  Cut the fabric into strips and tightly braid them together creating a homemade tug rope for your dog (see the photo below for an example).

And if you happen to drive past a yard sale, stop and see if they have any durable kids toys like backyard playhouses, slides, or tunnels.  These are fun for dogs as well, creating obstacles to go over, around, and through.  You can even hide treats in the playhouse or under the slide for your dog to find when they go exploring on their own.

I love making and receiving homemade gifts and I truly believe our dogs appreciate whatever we give them, so why not make their gifts yourself this year?

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

Several years ago, this puppy did a week of boot camp at my house following his neuter surgery in December.  That was the year that my friend, Molly, made rope toys for my dogs for the holidays.  Well, this innocent looking puppy had the audacity to steal this toy from Ozzie and then growl when Ozzie tried to take it back!  Needless to say, that sheepish look on his face was for me when I took the toy away and asked him for a polite sit and stay.  It was boot camp after all!

Attention Seeking & Manipulation

Many of you have heard me say that dogs are terminal toddlers.  Toddlers are smart, agile, and independent, but they are also self absorbed, impulsive, manipulative, and prone to outbursts (tantrums).  For many dog owners, that definitely sounds like familiar territory.  Fortunately, toddlers outgrow this phase (hopefully) becoming successful, productive, compassionate children and adults.  Dogs?  They are stuck in this phase, for better or for worse.  It's our job as dog owners to guide our pups so that they minimize the negative aspects of toddler-hood in favor of those more positive attributes.  If you don't provide your puppies and dogs with structure, rules, schedules, and consistent consequences, however, you may end up with a canine tyrant in your home.  I meet a lot of those dogs.

We all seek out attention for ourselves.  It might be a brightly colored shirt we love to wear as we always get compliments when we do.  Or, it might be giggling and spinning around with your arms wide open as you know when you do, your bestie will do the same and give you a big hug.  Seeking attention in and of itself is not a bad thing.  Where it goes awry is when it becomes disruptive and potentially dangerous. Here's an example.  A smart dog might bark at the backdoor as he's realized that doing so gets your attention and causes you to open the door for him, allowing access to explore his outdoor territory and maybe relieve himself in the process.  Some dogs take this a step further and bark at their owners any time they want something.  Hungry?  Bark at the owner until they cave and give you a snack.  Bored? Bark at the owner until they stop what they are doing and throw the ball.  Frustrated?  Bark at the human for ignoring them and then escalate to pawing, grabbing clothing, biting at hands, and jumping on them snapping teeth in their face.  That sure gets the human's attention, right? Now, if you are like most of my clients this type of negative attention seeking takes you by surprise.  You might jump up and try to calm your dog, or redirect them to something more appropriate.  You might even put them outside to "cool off."  Doing any of these things, however, has the potential to backfire, resulting in your dog persisting in those behaviors that got him the undivided attention he craved.  And that, my friends, is manipulation.

So, what should you do if you think you are being manipulated by your canine housemate?  Respond appropriately.  Don't give them what they are demanding and instead attach a consequence that they won't particularly enjoy but can, begrudgingly, understand.  Barking for no reason?  Time out in your pen, crate, or the laundry room.  Persist in barking?  Stay there until you can calm yourself.  If you can't safely move your dog to the time out, then remove yourself to another room and close the door! Removing yourself serves the same purpose; your dog can't demand attention from you, or escalate their manipulation, if you've removed yourself from that narrative. If your dog, starts grabbing your clothes and snapping at your hands and face the minute you sit down on the couch, then don't let them be near you on the couch.  Tether your dog away from the couch, confine them to an x-pen, or use a crate.  Give them something to do while you are on the couch and they are effectively confined; we aren't punishing them, we are establishing boundaries.  If they bark when tethered or confined, despite having something to do there, remove them to another room for a time out, or remove yourself. 

Now, I know you are tired and you just want to enjoy your evening, but handing a dog a bully stick, a bone, or actually stopping what you are doing (relaxing) and playing with them or trying to bribe them into leaving you alone is only going to backfire.  They always want more and sometimes, just like human toddlers, they don't even really know what they want.  They are frustrated!  You can't reason with a frustrated toddler or dog.  Remove them, let them calm down and rest, and then give them something appropriate to do at that point.  

It is true that I see a lot of bored dogs as well.  Remembering to provide daily challenges for your dog in the form of physical and mental exercise is important.  If you get too busy to walk them or too lazy to fill the food puzzle, then you can expect them to act up and act out later.  Bored dogs are frustrated dogs and boredom and frustration lead to negative attention seeking, manipulation, and in some dogs, escalating aggression.

You are the adult with the thumbs to open the fridge and the back door, the car keys to get them to the park, and the credit card to order their treats, food, and toys. Your dogs KNOW all of this.  They will absolutely try to manipulate you if they think they can or if they've been successful with that strategy in the past.  If your response is always to calmly remove them (or yourself) for a time out, the result is a dog who begins to curb their own behavior to avoid that time out.  Now, this doesn't mean you can ignore those barks to let them outside, delay mealtimes, or forget that you always do two walks a day and play fetch afterward.  Dogs like predictable schedules and too much variation causes undue stress and anxiety.  We all have a responsibility here.  We need to be predictable and trustworthy caretakers and our dogs need to be well-mannered toddlers. 

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

When Zelly was about six months old, she really started boundary testing.  She'd bark at you anytime she didn't get her way; she'd also chase after the other dogs biting at them and barking in their faces as well. My response to this was always the same:  Time out.  Nine times out of ten, she'd fuss for a few minutes and then fall fast asleep.  A reminder of just how important those naps are for puppies and for the rest of us who are living with them!

Petsitters & Dog Walkers

I get asked all the time what to look for when choosing a petsitter or a dog walker, or if I actually know someone that I can recommend.  I appreciate that pet owners trust me with the mental health of their pets and that they also trust that I will know qualified people who can help them with the other needs of their furred and feathered family members. On the flip side, I've also been asked by pet lovers to advise them in how they can build a petsitting or dog walking business for themselves. I think that it's important to understand what you, the pet owner, should be looking for in a petsitter or a dog walker, and by reviewing what you should look for, this should also provide a good foundation of the skills needed if you are considering either profession for yourself. 

Petsitters need to be more than just animal lovers.  They need to have the ability to accurately read animal body language and react/respond accordingly.  Petsitters need to know what stress and anxiety look like in our pets so that they can respond in ways that reduce those emotions.  Good petsitters will ask you for a detailed schedule of your pet's day, including feeding times, exercise, play, grooming, sleep patterns, and any quirks they might have, as knowing your pet's behavior and routine in a very detailed way reduces stress for your pet and for you.  For example, if you always feed your dog right at 5 p.m., it will be important for the petsitter to do so as well.  Pets who aren't fed on their usual schedule often become anxious, and some pets get more anxious about food and feeding times than others. It's important for you to tell the petsitter where your dog sits on the couch, especially if the petsitter sitting in that spot will make your dog upset.  You need to tell them *if* your dog resource guards and *what* they resource guard.  If you know your dog will growl and snap if their food bowl is picked up before they've chosen to walk away from it, you need to tell the petsitter that important information!  If a petsitter will also be walking your dog, share with them your usual route(s), what to do if they encounter other dogs, cats, squirrels, kids, etc. You want the petsitter prepared to avoid encounters or adjust their own behavior at the other end of your dog's leash. And if your petsitter will be medicating your pet while you are gone, walk them through every specific step you take to do that safely whether it's using pill pockets, wrapping the pill in lunch meat or cheese, or simply tossing the pill into your pet's bowl. No detail about your pet's daily life is too small to include in the outline for the petsitter because this is about safety and comfort for your pet and for the petsitter.  Because safety is important, I believe petsitters should be trained in animal CPR, just in case. There are classes and certification in first aid for pets and anyone interested in a career in petsitting should have that certification, in my opinion. 

While some dogs could truly be walked by anybody, many of my clients have dogs with very specific needs: A need to avoid encounters with other dogs; predatory behavior around cats, squirrels, etc.; fear of wheeled objects like bikes, scooters, and skateboards; or noise sensitivities to loud vehicles, backfiring cars, alarms, or sirens. If you know your dog is a handful on the leash, you cannot in good conscience hand them off to a neighborhood teen for daily walks; you will need to seek out a professional dog walker. Professional dog walkers should also be good at reading dog body language and understanding how to diffuse a volatile situation. They should come prepared with the tools to insure their safety and the safety of your pet.  I always recommend that dog walkers carry air horns with them, just in case.  Make sure the dog walker you've chosen also asks about your dog's typical walking behavior, the route you usually take, how much leash you allow your dog to have, if you allow your dog to sniff, if they are they allowed off leash at all, and if they are allowed off leash, what command do you use for them to come back, and do they know leave it and drop it, if they pick something up on the walk that they shouldn't. I'll never forget talking to a dog walker years ago at a conference telling the story of how she was having a terrible time getting a client's dog to come back to her at the dog park.  She tried everything she knew, but nothing worked until someone else at the dog park who knew the dog told her, "his mom just hollers cookie, cookie, cookie and he comes running!" Would have been nice if the dog's owner had told her that when she agreed to be the dog walker.  

I think one of the most important steps in choosing a petsitter or dog walker for your pets is determining if the person you are interviewing shares your views on animal care and keeping.  If you are a soft spoken pet owner, your pets are used to that style.  Bringing in a loud, boisterous, somewhat over enthusiastic petsitter is not going to work, no matter how qualified they are.  Same goes for the dog walker:  If you don't use harsh corrections with your dog on the leash, you certainly don't want to use a dog walker who routinely uses prong collars, e-collars, and firm leash snaps with the dogs he or she walks. And if you are hiring a dog walker to walk your dog alone, make sure that you stipulate that request as many dog walkers walk multiple dogs at one time which is beneficial for them financially and for time management purposes, but may not be what is best for you or your dog.

For people who are interested in careers in petsitting or dog walking I advise them to collect as much information as they can at the outset, meet with the owner and pets together well ahead of time, AND do a dry run, meaning babysit the pets for a single day or a weekend before committing to a longer petsitting gig.  For dog walkers, collect all the information on the dog ahead of time AND go for a walk with the owner and the dog so you can see what they actually do, which may not be the same as what they told you! Always make sure the situation feels safe and feels like something you are capable of doing.  Don't sign up to care for an animal you feel uncomfortable around and don't offer to walk a dog whose behavior is risky for you.  It's always better to side with caution.  Finally, get insurance to cover your business; having insurance shows you are a professional and take your job seriously, but it also protects you if something goes awry.  You are working with animals after all and animals can be unpredictable.

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

I'm lucky.  Anytime I need a petsitter or a dog walker, I can call on my daughter to jump in and do it.  I'm also the person who walks her dog two to three times a week when she's at work and I babysit when she's out of town.  Our dogs are comfortable with this because they are with familiar people in a familiar environment and all of their needs are met the same way regardless of whether I'm providing the care or my daughter.  Find someone you trust and your pets will thank you for it.

Crash Course in Crates

I had a wonderful visit with a new client and her puppy earlier this week.  She's never had a dog of her own before, though she grew up with dogs.  Like many of the young people I meet, she was never responsible for anything with regard to those family dogs, other than love, attention, and an occasional walk!  Because she wants "to do everything right," she decided to meet with me in person for a "Puppy 101" appointment.  I've talked about my Puppy 101 appointments before; I basically give you a crash course in puppies, their wants and needs, the importance of establishing good routines early, boundaries (literal and figurative), selecting the right toys, leashes, and bedding, etc.  One of the main things I go over right off the bat is the value in having a crate (or two) in your home. 

Believe it or not, crate training a dog isn't something new. The first dog crate was patented in the early 1900's and they were used extensively with police and military canines. Using crates to recreate denning behavior and help with house training, for example, really took hold during the 1980's as an emphasis on positive training practices rather than aversives was emphasized. Popularized by Dr. Ian Dunbar in the mid-80's while he was teaching volunteers and staff at the San Francisco SPCA, crate training puppies and dogs became more of a standard of practice and widely accepted as a helpful tool in the pursuit of happily house trained dogs.

Crate training isn't a complete no-brainer, however.  You do need to put some thought into the style of crate you use, the size, the placement, amount of time you use it, and what you use it for.  I prefer crates to be placed in a bedroom where at least one of the humans sleeps.  That bedroom can easily be a kid's bedroom, as long as said child is capable of being responsible for responding to a puppy who indicates it needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!  Puppies gain social time with us even when we are asleep when they snooze in our bedrooms with us.  Crates in bedrooms are also ideal for those very important daily, scheduled naps.  Most of us don't use our bedrooms during the daytime making them ideal locations for puppies to nap and learn that it's okay to be alone for a little while every day.  You will want to establish good sleep rituals from the get go, closing curtains or blinds, and using fans, white noise machines, or music as background noise to make resting during the day easier for your puppy. I'm not a fan of putting covers on crates as I think they restrict air flow. Instead, I suggest a soft, durable bed for the crate, a crate pad, or a cuddler bed that will curl up around a small dog or puppy for stress relief and comfort. I love wire crates as again, good air flow.  Plus, they often come with dividers which allow you to adjust the size of the crate as your puppy grows.  I know people who swear by airline style crates, and some who love nylon, tent-style crates.  For me, airline crates in my house are icky to look at and since I use crates on and off for my dogs' entire lifetimes, I don't want something ugly in my home!  I love nylon crates for travel, but I just don't find them durable for long term use indoors, especially for puppies who like to chew on the zippers and seams for fun!

So, you might be asking, how long can a puppy be in a crate?  A good rule of thumb is one hour in the crate per month of life, plus one.  So, a three month old puppy like the one I saw this week could be in the crate for up to four hours at a time.  Given that most puppies nap two to three hours at a time, this works great.  They do that nap in their crate, come out for a bathroom break, play time, a snack and some training, and then head back a couple hours later for another nap. Don't worry about that three month old puppy crating for longer than four hours at night.  That rule of thumb applies to daytime sleep primarily.  Adult dogs can crate for longer, but really a dog should not be in a crate during the daytime for longer than eight hours. If your work schedule has you crating your dog for more than eight hours, consider doggie daycare for them instead, or a dog walker who can come in and break up your dog's day in the crate with exercise and a bathroom break. 

And, yes, your dog's crate can also be used for time outs.  This will not make the crate a negative, on the contrary, their crate is their safe space.  As long as you aren't punishing your dog (yelling, grabbing them, shoving them into the crate roughly), then putting them in their crate for a time out won't change the positive way they view their crate.   However, the key to time outs for puppies and dogs is to be able to put them into their time out immediately following whatever happened that earned them that time out in the first place.  So, if your dog's crate is upstairs, in a bedroom, and the infraction was committed downstairs, then the crate might not be the optimal spot for the time out.  Which brings me to exercise pens.

Exercise pens (x-pens) are wonderful for homes with puppies, in particular. You can set up an x-pen (or for smaller puppies and dogs, a doggie playpen) in the common room of your home, that is the space where your family spends most of their time.  Your puppy can be put in that pen anytime you can't supervise them, but they are awake and active. You can put toys, puzzles, etc. in the play pen area with them and know that they are safe.  Exercise pens are perfect for time outs as well since, again, they are centrally located.  Just remember to pull out those toys, bones, and puzzles before placing your puppy in there for a time out.  Any parent will tell you:  A good time out means no TV, video games, phones, or books!

One more often overlooked use for an x-pen is in your yard.  You can set up an x-pen in the area where you'd like your puppy to toilet, creating a well-defined bathroom area.  You can make sure the zone you use is safe,  meaning free of sprinkler heads, rocks, bark, acorns, and mushrooms before you place your puppy in there.  The safety of the pen allows you to walk away, if you need to, knowing they won't wander off and hurt themselves.  Once they've toileted in their designated potty area, you can return to praise them and let them out for some free time in the yard, supervised of course, since you never leave a puppy unsupervised in your yard ever!

My client lives in an apartment, so she doesn't have a lot of free space.  We opted to use two crates for her puppy, placing one crate in her bedroom for naps and night time sleep and one, slightly larger crate in the corner of her kitchen for awake playtime and time outs, much as I described above for the x-pen or playpen, neither of which she has space for.  Having two crates allows my client to reap the rewards of crate training despite her small living space.

We went over a lot more beyond crates during our Puppy 101 appointment, but I wanted to begin there because getting her puppy off to a great start with his house training and nap schedule was paramount to his success as a house dog and her success as a new dog owner!

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

I have a crate in my office for Zelly when she's hanging out with me for the day.  She'll go in there on her own when she wants to rest, as you can see, but it's also where she naps when I'm gone seeing clients.  Here she is in her crate, using Desi's favorite crate pad and resting her head on Westley's favorite sleepy bear toy as a pillow.  I feel like comfort pours out of those two things, straight from the lovely dogs who used them before her.