Those Nagging Behavior Problems

Today I had a woman ask me about her daughter's dog, a lovely 3 year old Labrador Retriever who still submissively urinates when greeting people and jumps up on everyone. This dog is over 100 lbs, so weight is an issue as well. All of these problems are fixable; we can work on the submissive urination and jumping up. Some diet changes, including exchanging fruits and veggies for high calorie treats, and increasing this dog's exercise are also needed. Is this the kind of thing I might be able to help with, she asked? Of course!

While I do spend the majority of my time treating "serious" behavior problems...i.e. aggression, anxiety, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc., that doesn't mean that I don't treat those nagging behavior problems as well. In fact, it is often the case, that those seemingly straightforward, yet irritating behavior problems like barking, jumping up on people, and house training issues truly effect the human-animal bond in more insidious ways than those serious problems do.

Truly, I really enjoy those little, nagging behavior problems! They are easily solved, creating relief for the pet owners and more joy in life for the pets. I can feel satisfaction in a job that is completed, something I don't always feel when dealing with aggression, or fear, or serious anxiety cases where we will be dealing with the issues long term.

The woman I was telling you about was actually a bit embarrassed to be asking me about her daughter's dog. She felt like it might be a case that was "beneath me." On the contrary, there is no behavior problem I am unwilling to address and try to help with. While we all enjoy a challenge in our professional lives, being able to help someone with a seemingly small, irritating issue, can be quite rewarding as well.

The take home message? I am here to help. No problem is too big, or too small. If it is effecting your relationship with your pet, then let me know!

Staying Cool in Triple Digit Heat

Anyone who knows me, knows I keep Rough Coat Collies. I love them. I love their long noses, fluffy tails, and thick, luxurious coats. Keeping them cool in California during the summer can be a challenge, but it is doable. So, if you, too, have a heavy-coated dog, keep this in mind:

First off, don't shave your dog. Shaving a long-coated dog actually makes it harder for them to stay cool. Dogs with heavy coats shake and fluff up their coats, trapping air in between the layers which cools them. If you shave them, they will overheat faster.

Do get a kids' wading pool and put cool water in it. Encourage your dog to stand in the pool. Cooling their feet helps to cool their whole body quickly. You can also put water on their heads to cool them quickly.

Most people keep one water bowl...I keep three! Having multiple water bowls means if one is empty or the water has gotten warm, there are others to choose from.

Walk your dog early in the morning or late in the evening so that they don't burn their feet. When the air temperature is 95', the grass is 105' in the sunshine, the cement is 124' and the blacktop is a whopping 140'! Where I live, daytime air temperatures often are in the triple digits meaning walks are completely out of the question for all of us!

Offer treats that keep your dogs cool. You can make your dogs popsicles using broth or liquid yogurt as a base and adding fruit or veggies to make it even more fun. Use cut up bully sticks or carrots for the popsicle "stick" and your dogs will have a blast.

While air conditioning is great, adding fans is even better at spreading around the cool air. I use both ceiling cans and floor fans to keep the collies cool.

Cooling collars and cooling pads on their beds rounds out the routine. And I frequently find collies on the cool tiles in the bathroom or the hard wood floor in the kitchen.

Older dogs, puppies, and those dogs who are sick or immune compromised will need even more help staying cool during the summer.

So, when the temperatures hit the triple digits here, I will be sitting by the fan eating popsicles with my collies. Stay cool everyone!

But What Would YOU Do?

I get asked that question a lot....but what would you do if it was your dog/cat? I try to be upfront with people and let them know that what I might choose to do...or what their family/well meaning friends/neighbors/co-workers tell them do...should be taken with a grain of salt. As my grandmother used to say, "opinions are like noses...everyone has one." No one can make that decision for you. You are the one whose pet is effecting your life. You have to decide if modifying *your* behavior, changing the way you confine your pet, signing your dog up for daycare, or whatever the solution might be, will truly work for you, your family, and your budget. Telling someone with a barking dog that they "should" put a bark collar on the dog, crate train it, send it to daycare, etc. is not really all that helpful. I like to help people look at the bigger picture; we need to find out WHY the dog is barking in order to come up with the best possible solution. And I understand that you may not like my solution. Or it may not work fast enough to appease your neighbors. I get that...I really do. However, I simply won't just tell you what you want to hear. That's not in your best interest or the best interest of your dog. While I sympathize with you having trouble in your multi-cat household with spraying and cats not using the litter box, I don't have an instant remedy. We will need to help your cats reduce the social pressure that is leading to the marking behavior. While it will definitely help to add more litter boxes, that won't "fix" the problem.

Behavior problems are frustrating, complicated, often expensive, and potentially damaging to the human-animal bond. I sympathize as I have dealt with behavior problems in my own home. I would never recommend that you do something that I would be unwilling to do myself. However, I can't make your decisions for you. I will guide you and provide the best possible choices for you and your pets. Always.

Pool Safety for Dogs

Two summers ago, one of my collies, Desi, was staying with a friend who has a pool in her backyard. I don't think Desi had ever seen a pool before (he came to me as a retired show dog from Pennsylvania), but I never would have thought that the pool posed a risk to him as he is always careful about where he steps. So, when he inadvertently tried to walk on water and ended up in the pool, my quick-thinking friend hopped in and guided him out of the water. He was definitely flustered and quite put out about being wet all of the sudden. I just thank my lucky stars that she was standing right there when he fell in. Instead of a funny story we laugh about now, it could have been deadly.

Every year, more than 5000 pets die from drowning in swimming pools, spas, etc. The worst part about this statistic is that these deaths are completely avoidable. Fencing around a pool is the safest way to keep animals out of the water. However, many pool owners don't like the fencing because it isn't aesthetically pleasing. There are pool covers that are durable enough that they can be walked on safely. But, again, the cover will only work if it is on the pool. Probably the best option if you have an unfenced pool in your yard is to teach your dog to swim. This is a process...you can't just toss them into the pool and hope for the best! Start with a life vest and ease them into the water. Stay with them and guide them around the pool. Do a lot of short sessions with the vest on in the pool. Show your dog where the exit points are several times. For added safety, purchase a ramp that can be mounted to the side(s) of your pool. These ramps float on top of the water, are quite visible, and have holes in them that a dog can grab a hold of and gain purchase to climb out of the pool.

Some dogs will graduate out of wearing a life vest around a swimming pool while others should truly wear one anytime they are near water. The brachycephalic dog breeds (think bulldogs) are heavily boned and can sink rather than swim, quickly taking water into their lungs due to the truncated shape of their noses. And, more importantly, any dog can panic, swim around frantically, and then sink, drowning from exhaustion.

Just this week alone, I have worked with two families who have unfenced, backyard pools. We worked on teaching the dogs where the edges of the pool were, where the stairs are located, etc. Always wearing a life vest and going into the pool with the dogs so that they learn not to be scared of the water, but respectful. If you own a boat, or plan to take your dog with you anyplace where there is water, practicing water safety and teaching them to wear a life vest is a must. Even dogs who are built for swimming and love it should wear a vest in deep water, heavy currents, or if they will be in the water for an extended period of time. Always better safe than sorry.

Gotta Walk The Dog

You gotta walk your dog.  I am sure you hear this all the time. But what does that really mean? Are you supposed to walk a certain distance, a certain number of minutes, with an eye to meeting a specific number of new people? Does walking the dog include stops to sniff and use the bathroom, or does it mean moving along without sniffing?  And where is your dog supposed to walk? By your side all the time? Some of the time? Walking the dog just got more complicated!

First off, how often (how many times a day/week etc.) you walk your dog depends on the breed, age, and health status of your dog. While a young, healthy dog of most any breed will enjoy walking a couple times a day for 30 minutes or more, a brachycephalic dog (think Pug, English Bulldog, etc. with those short, snuffly noses) may not be able to do two 30 minute walks a day in the middle of the summer when it it too hot for them to breathe. And while an Italian Greyhound might also enjoy those twice daily walks, walking in the winter when it is quite chilly outside will likely require a jacket, at a minimum, and maybe even foot coverings, depending on where you live. To further muddy the waters, if you have to walk your dog in order to toilet them because you don't have a yard for them to use (or they won't go to the bathroom in your yard!), this means you will be walking a lot more often than twice daily!

While walking puppies and young dogs is about exercise AND meeting friendly, new people, you will have to pick and choose where you walk them with an eye to health and safety. Puppies and young dogs who haven't been fully vaccinated DO need to go out for walks, they just don't need to walk as far and should be walking in places where they will meet lots of new people, NOT lots of unknown dogs. Take your puppies with you to coffee, out to lunch, over to Home Depot to shop for supplies. Avoid the dog park, pet supply stores, etc. where you might run into dogs of questionable social skills or vaccine history. Short walks in your neighborhood with a friendly, healthy, well-behaved adult dog is good for your puppy. Five mile hikes are not.

While teaching your dog to heel is an important skill and one worth pursuing, it isn't the be all/end all. Having a nice walking companion is. I like to see people teach their puppies to heel with the "invisible leash" method. This means using their voice, body language, and tasty treats to encourage walking near them without a leash attached to their collar at all. If you can get your pup to stay with you without a leash, in a room full of new people and other puppies, you will certainly be able to get them to stay with you when the leash is attached! Teaching your dog to heel is useful when passing others on the sidewalk or in enclosed spaces, simply having them stay near you will work for most everywhere else. As long as I am not being dragged down the street (or conversely, dragging my dog!), I am happy. I let my dogs sniff, look around, and use the bathroom. I do bring treats with me even though I have adult dogs. Learning opportunities don't stop just because your dog is no longer a puppy.

Walking should be an enjoyable experience for you and your dog. While it is about exercise for you both, it is, more importantly, about spending quality time together. Focus less on how many minutes you walk or how far you go; make your walks with your canine companions about smelling the flowers, enjoying the view, and feeling blessed to be in each other's company.

To Rescue, Or Not...The Age Old Question

I get asked at least once a day to explain the pros and cons of going through a shelter, rescue group, or a breeder for the next canine companion. My answer is always the same...it depends on your situation and your experience. While most people think that they want to go to the shelter and save an animal, that isn't always the right choice to make. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but many of the animals at the shelter aren't suitable to homes with kids. Homes with elderly people. Homes without yards. Homes where the owners work 8-10 hour days. And the list goes on. Most of the animals in the shelter have no history or what is known about them is limited. It is very difficult to tell a prospective new owner what an animal might be like once it is outside of the shelter environment. Given this fact, rescue groups have proliferated; some are breed specific, some size specific, while others take only young dogs...or senior dogs. Rescue groups often will have additional information to provide on their animals based on the experiences of the people fostering the dog.

I have been accused of being against shelters and rescue organizations and that simply isn't true. What I am FOR is helping pet owners find the right animal for their particular situation. While a client "without children or grandchildren, living alone, and with lots of dog experience who works from home" might be able to take on a dog with significant issues and successfully help that dog make the transition to a healthy home environment, that certainly isn't true of all of my clients. In fact, many of my clients feel the emotional tug of "saving an animal" and choose a dog from a shelter based solely on the way the animal looks, hunched up in the back of a cage. They feel sorry for the animal and are sure that love is all it will take to help that animal blossom. I truly wish that were the case. However, more likely than not, that dog hunched up in the back of the cage may be so under-socialized that putting him into your busy family will cause him more anxiety and stress. While most dogs avoid confrontation, some will respond to stress by lashing out and behaving aggressively. This puts you, your kids, and your visitors at risk.

So, does this mean I think everyone should opt to get their next furred family member from a reputable breeder? Not necessarily, but I wouldn't summarily rule it out as so many people do. Breeders are not bad people. They are not the reason why there is an animal over-population problem. That is pure propaganda. Reputable breeders are interested in the welfare of their particular breed. They don't over-breed; they don't cross-breed (there are no "reputable breeders" of any designer dogs, as far as I'm concerned); and they don't ignore health or temperament issues when breeding their animals. They interview prospective new owners, ask for references on YOU, and offer you health guarantees. You may have to wait longer to get an animal from a breeder, but that is a good thing. It means you aren't making a snap decision or one based solely on emotion. You are choosing and being chosen based on research, due diligence, and forethought. Your chances are very good that you will get exactly what you were looking for and what you paid for.

No animal is free. Even that puppy that your grandparents got for you out of a box in front of the grocery store when you were a kid wasn't free. You do get to choose how much you want to spend at the outset on a new furred family member, but the bottom line is that they will all cost you money. For some people, spending more at the outset and getting their pet from a breeder is the wise choice. Please don't judge someone for doing so. We all need to feel free to make the choice that best suits our individual situation. As always, if you need guidance in taking that next step, let me know. I am always here to help.

Bark Bark Bark!

Dogs bark, that's a given. Some bark all the time, others rarely. Some bark only when someone is on their home turf, ringing the doorbell, knocking on the door, delivering mail, etc. For some dogs, it is other animals that set them off; the squirrel on the fence, the birds in the tree, the dog on the other side of the fence or the dreaded cat next door. I've met dogs who bark at the television and those that bark at the beeping microwave!  The one thing to keep in mind with respect to barking is this....it can be controlled. Just as you can teach a dog to bark on command, you can also teach them to quiet.

When your dog barks, find out why. Go outside, go to the window, etc. Don't just holler at them to be quiet...find out what it is that is triggering them to bark. Acknowledge whatever it is and THEN ask for the quiet. For many dogs, once they see that you've validated what they've discovered, they stop barking. If, however, they don't stop barking once you've acknowledged them, then you must assign a consequence for them NOT heeding your request. The consequences assigned are NOT for barking  per se. Not only can we not completely get rid of dog barking, we really don't want to; dogs are here to alert us and that's a good thing. The consequences are there because the dog did not listen to what you told them to do. Just as you expect a "sit" when you ask for it, so it is with "quiet." So, what is an appropriate consequence for not quieting when asked? I am a big fan of time outs. Put your dog in their crate, in the laundry room, etc. and have them remain there for 3-5 minutes, or longer if they persist in barking. This will not make their crate (or the laundry room, for that matter) a negative. You are not grabbing your dog, swatting them, and shoving them into the crate or laundry room; you simply put them there without any fanfare at all. The idea here is to use social shunning (time away from you and their world) as a means of getting more compliant, attentive behavior from your dog.

It is also important to interrupt your dog's barking with something other than the word "Come!" You don't want that command associated with anything negative, so calling them to come inside when they are barking in the yard will, by definition, make coming when called a negative for the dog. Instead, whistle, clap your hands, stomp your feet, or squeak a toy. When you have your dog's attention, use their name and ask for the quiet or redirect them to a toy, bone, etc. so that they have something else to do. Interrupting barking when it first occurs means it will be easier to redirect your dog to something else. The longer you let the barking persist before you interrupt it, the harder it is to get the dog to stop.

So, while I agree that it is a real pain to get up at 3 a.m. to find out why your dog is barking, it is in your best interest to do so. It could be an opossum in your yard; but it could also be your teenage son trying to sneak in the house after curfew or a burglar breaking into your car in the driveway. Dogs consider all of these scenarios worth your attention. Barking dogs are just doing their jobs. It is our job to make sure that they don't become a nuisance to the rest of the neighborhood.