BARKS from the Guild March 2021

BARKS from the Guild Issue 47 / March 2021

BARKSfromtheGuild.com

CANINE Is My Dog in Pain?

FELINE The Itch to Scratch CANINE Resource Guarding or Rule Setting?

AVIAN Night Frights and Feather Plucking EQUINE Body Language and Riding Bitless

© Karolin Klinck

CANINE A New Trend in Boarding BUSINESS Creating an Online Course

The Essence of a Dog: A Free Education from a Free Choice Walk

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f r o m t h e e d i t o r

BARKS from the Guild Published by the Pet Professional Guild 9122 Kenton Road, Wesley Chapel, Florida 33545, USA Tel: +1-844-462-6473 Pet Professional Guild BARKS from the Guild BARKS on Facebook Editor-in-Chief Susan Nilson Images © Can Stock Photo (unless otherwise credited; uncredited images belong to Pet Professional Guild) Pet Professional Guild Steering Committee Daniel Antolec, Kelly Fahey, Paula Garber, Don Hanson, Kelly Lee, Judy Luther, Debra Millikan, Susan Nilson, Mary Richards, Louise StapletonFrappell, Niki Tudge BARKS from the Guild Published bi-monthly, BARKS from the Guild presents a collection of valuable business and technical articles as well as reviews and news stories pertinent to our industry. BARKS is the official publication of the Pet Professional Guild.

Submissions BARKS encourages the submission of original written materials. Please see Submission Policy Procedures for detailed guidelines prior to sending manuscripts. Please submit all contributions to the Editor.

Letters to the Editor To comment on an author’s work, or to let PPG know what topics you would like to see more of, contact the Editor via email putting BARKS in the subject line of your email. BARKS reserves the right to edit for length, grammar and clarity.

Subscriptions and Distribution BARKS is a digital publication available to all subscribers free of charge.

Print-on-demand copies are available to subscribers by special order.

Subscribers can access all current and back issues, PDF downloads and the option to order print-on-demand copies in the Members’ Area.

Subscribe here.

Please contact PPG membership manager Rebekah King for all subscription and distribution-related inquiries.

Advertising Please contact Kelly Fahey to obtain a copy of rates, ad specifications, format requirements and deadlines. These are also available here.

Pet Professional Guild does not endorse or guarantee any products, services or vendors mentioned in BARKS, nor can it be responsible for problems with vendors or their products and services. Pet Professional Guild reserves the right to reject, at its discretion, any advertising.

To be in any way affiliated with the Pet Professional Guild, all members must adhere to a strict code of conduct. Pet Professional Guild members understand force-free to mean that no pain, force or fear and no shock, choke or prong are ever employed to train or care for a pet. © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Pet Professional Guild, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please email the Editor.

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ur cover feature this month talks about “loose” dog walks, whereby we give our dogs the freedom to make their own decisions to go where they want to and do whatever they choose (within reason of course, in terms of safety). I’ve always been fascinated by this concept, and over the years have always gone out of my way to take my dogs to places where they can safely move about freely and do their own thing.

Although they were (and still are) quite happy with regular leash walks around the neighborhood, getting them out into the forest or the canyons, where there’s no one else around and we can explore to our collective hearts’ content, has always delivered a different kind of ad­ venture altogether – not to mention, it’s so much more fun for all of us.

I am particularly reminded of our dearly departed pit bull­Lab cross, Maggie May, whose personality was quite the force of nature. A child of the Hollywood Hills who was no stranger to celebrity (but, sadly, ended up in rescue nonetheless), Maggie always knew exactly what she wanted and fully expected you to go along with it – unless you could give her good reason as to why it wasn’t such a good idea. At which point she would (usually) quite amenably change course.

Every day when we would start out on our walks, we’d head to the end of our driveway, which led onto a remote farm track and then un­ touched forest. Once we got there, we’d both stop for a moment and I’d ask, “Which way today Maggie, left or right?” She’d sniff to the left; she’d sniff to the right. She’d trot a few steps one way, a few more the other. Sniff the ground a bit. Check out the tree and the rocks. She’d lis­ ten. Look around a bit. And then she’d make her decision.

With no time to waste, off she went, giving a cursory glance back at me to make sure I was following. Of course I was! She was in charge and I would go wherever she wanted. I loved giving her the autonomy to choose where we went for our walks. I loved that I could just tag along and relax, because she was the one in control. And I loved watching her decision making process, even though I didn’t always understand it.

There was no set pattern to whether she chose to start out by going left or right. Usually we went the opposite way to the day before, but not always. She had her reasons and I respected and honored them, and we always had so much fun on our walks together. Most of all, I loved how she shared her “umwelt” with me, and we discovered so many amazing places together. Umwelt, as author Kristi Benson touches on in her article, is the idea whereby the world of each animal is defined by how he or she perceives and acts on the world. We can learn so much just by observing our dogs in this way, and Kristi is now using her plat­ form as a dog trainer to encourage her clients to, safely, give their dogs more freedom in a similar way. “My clients ask for easier dog walks, and like all positive reinforcement trainers, I offer them something even bet­ ter: a dog walk that is companionable, shared, enriching, and brings joy to both parties,” she explains. “Through gear changes and training, even the most rote dog walk can become more interesting for the dog. And for those dogs who are suitable, and clients who are keen, off­leash training or even heading to wilder spaces with a long­line leash can feel like magic.” Indeed it can.

There’s so much more in this issue to talk about but already I’m run­ ning out of space after my little trip down memory lane! Quickly then, we delve into the world of dog boarding and why a focus on enrichment and education is a key component in ensuring a happy and successful stay for the canine guests; the differences between resource guarding and rule setting in canine behavior; how to identify the subtle signs of pain in dogs; the lessons children can learn from their pet dogs; training skills from the classroom applied to real life; and suggested protocols for addressing resource guarding.

In other species, we talk about the natural feline behavior of scratching vs. human expectations; equine body language and bitless riding; and examine the case study of Hei Hei, a 13­year­old male cock­ atiel who had issues with plucking behavior and night frights, as well as a reluctance to be inside his cage.

Enjoy the read and, if you haven’t already, get your free lifetime digital subscription today!

n Susan Nilso

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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contents 6

N EWS Pet Professional Accreditation Board fee waiver, new Canine Arthritis Management course, new corporate partner Fearful Dogs, COVID business support, Project Trade, 2021 workshops update, webinars, podcasts, and more

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T HE E SSENCE OF C HOICE WALK

D OG : A F REE E DUCATION

A

FROM A

F REE

Kristi Benson explores the concepts of choice and autonomy in dog walking and explains why she encourages her clients to give their dogs more freedom

22

A N EW T REND

IN

D OG B OARDING

Rachel Brix explains how and why a focus on enrichment and education is a key component in a happy and successful stay for canine guests

28

R ESOURCE G UARDING

OR

R ULE S ETTING ?

Suzanne Clothier explains the distinction she makes between resource guarding and rule setting in canine behavior, and why this influences her approach to behavior issues

32

I S M Y D OG

IN

12

22

28

34

38

44

48

52

57

PAIN ?

Robyn Lowe discusses arthritis, how to identify the subtle signs of pain in dogs, and how we can help them enjoy a better quality of life

34

L ESSONS

FOR

L IFE

Alicia Obando discusses ways of managing children and dogs together safely, highlighting the many important lessons children can learn from their pet dogs

38

TRAINING

IN THE

REAL WORLD

Anna Bradley considers the wider implications of training some of the standard, basic cues and their applications to real life

40

F ROM G UARDING

TO

S HARING

Diane Garrod discusses the ins and outs of addressing resource guarding in dogs, as well as suggested protocols for working through this common canine behavior

44

T HE I TCH

TO

S CRATCH

Andrea Carne explores ways in which cat guardians can find the balance between the natural feline behavior of scratching and human expectations

48

S TRAIGHT

FROM THE

H ORSE ’ S M OUTH

Dorothy Heffernan explains how to transition from riding with a bit to riding bitless, highlighting the differences in a horse’s emotional response to aversive vs. nonaversive gear

50

U NDERSTANDING A NIMALS Kathie Gregory explains why there is more to understanding an animal’s emotional state than body language alone

52

T HINKING O UTSIDE

THE

B OX

Sheila S. Blanchette presents the case study of cockatiel Hei Hei who had issues with plucking behavior and night frights as well as a reluctance to be inside his cage

57

A SK

THE

E XPERTS : C REATING

AN

O NLINE C OURSE

Veronica Boutelle sets out the basics to help dog trainers, animal behavior consultants and pet professionals design and create their own online courses

59

P ROFILE : D OGS L IVING

THEIR

B EST P OSSIBLE L IVES

BARKS features Beth Napollitano of Courteous Canine, Inc. in Lutz, Florida

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B OOK R EVIEW : D OGS G LORIOUSLY B EING D OGS Meg Hannan reviews How to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog

by Barbara Hodel

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

November 13 - 17, 2021

PPG’s Hugely Popular Training & Behavior Virtual Summit Presented by

The Pet Professional Guild

24 hrs/day for 5 days

Best Value In Online Education

FOR THE LOVE OF SCIENCE

All NEW Content!

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Convenient Schedule Worldwide

n e w s PPAB Extends Application Fee Waiver till July 2021

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he Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB) has extended its ap­ plication and submissions fee waiver until July 31, 2021.

Apply Today and Save: Canine Training Technician – All fees waived. Save $90 Professional Canine Trainer – All fees waived. Save $90 Professional Canine Behavior Consultant – All fees waived except the proctored online examination. Save $115 If you hold an existing credential and are thinking twice about re­ newing, now is the time to transfer it! Save the application fee of $50 and all other submission fees until July 31, 2021.

Discount codes are available in your member area. (See also ad on p.58).

CAM Launches New Program for Canine Professionals

P

PG corporate partner Canine Arthritis Management (CAM) has launched its new CAMadvocate Program with a special discount for PPG members.

CAMadvocate is taught by veterinary professionals with years of ex­ perience and every module is packed with videos, downloads, links and access to further learning. Other features include carefully composed self test quizzes after every module to cement your learning. From the moment you step into this course you will start improving the lives of dogs!

The new program is available to PPG members for just $120 – a massive $60 saving! All the details and discount codes are in your mem­ ber area.

Want to find out more? Join PPG president Niki Tudge and CAM founder Dr. Hannah Capon as they discuss the CAMadvocate Program in this BARKS Podcast.

BARKS Needs Your Member Profiles!

PPG 2021 Workshops Update

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ARKS from the Guild is looking for more member profiles to go in its popular Profile section (see pp.59‐60). All you have to do to be fea­ tured is complete this short form and attach a photo. Great PR for you, your business, and your portfolio!

D

Note: As far as is possible, member profiles will be featured in the order they are received.

The event will now take place virtually on March 8, 10 and 12, 2021 – three events with 6 hours of education!

All attendees will attend the three webinars listed below at the indi­ cated dates and times.

1. Pattern Games ­ March 8, 2021 / 5 p.m. ET. 2. Look at That ­ March 10, 2021 / 5 p.m. ET. 3. Cooperative Counter Conditioning ­ March 12, 2021 / 5 p.m. ET. All webinars will have a live Q&A at 6 p.m. on the date they are pre­ sented.

Working and auditor spots are available. Yes, if you choose a work­ ing spot, you will have the opportunity to work with your dog and re­ ceive personalized instruction and feedback directly from Leslie McDevitt (strictly limited to 15 spots ONLY)!

Remote support is also available via a Facebook Group. Recorded webinars and Q&A sessions will also be posted in this group.

All current registrants may get a refund for the original event, or apply for a transfer or a transfer and upgrade.

ue to ongoing restrictions related to the pandemic, PPG has an­ nounced new dates for some of its 2021 workshops as follows:

1. Reactive to Relaxed: Next Steps in Control Unleashed with Leslie McDevitt

2. Your PORTL to Shaping with Mary Hunter New dates are April 9­10, 2022. Attendees have the option to transfer or get a refund.

3. An Introduction to the Neuroscience of Dog Training and Be‐ havior with Dr. Kathy Murphy PPG is issuing refunds as there are currently no alternative dates avail­ able.

Please contact Sharon Nettles for further information about refunds and transfers.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

n e w s PPG Welcomes The Fearful Dogs Project as New Corporate Partner

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he Fearful Dogs Project is devoted to improving the world of and for fear­ ful dogs, including feral, "semi­feral," puppy­milled, traumatized, and other marginalized and disadvantaged dogs, by guiding people through the best practices for working and living with these often misunderstood animals.

Through its Fear Abatement Mastery (F.A.M.) program, The Fearful Dogs Project helps companion canines and the humans who care for them move beyond fearful responses so that they may enjoy their lives together with as little distress and as much joy as possible.

The Fearful Dogs Project invites shelters, rescues, trainers, behavior con­ sultants, veterinary professionals, animal welfare organizations, pet parents, and any others who find themselves living with or working around scared or otherwise marginalized dogs to join them.

Whether by supporting, learning with, certifying with, or hiring The Fear­ ful Dogs Project, you’ll get the help you need to move you from general knowledge to specific, transformational outcomes. (See also ad on p.21.)

Special Offer for PPG Members: 10% off the advanced Fear Abatement Mas‐ tery program for professionals seeking the Certified Fearful Dogs Profes‐ sional (CFDP) certification.

See the members’ area of the PPG website for further details of PPG corpo‐ rate partner and special vendor offers.

PPG COVID Support Webinars

Join PPG’s Facebook Live Sessions

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OVID is still impacting many of us, our daily lives, and our ability to conduct business. To help support its members, PPG has delivered a number of COVID support webinars. There are more in the works so keep checking listings on the PPG website for updates.

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See also webinar listings on p.10.

Check PPG Members' Facebook group for more info and join live sessions.

ould you like to join PPG president Niki Tudge and other PPG mem­ bers to discuss important educational topics on Facebook?

Just fill out this short form to get it scheduled and share your knowledge and experience.

STOP PRESS! UP YOUR BUSINESS GAME | A FREE VIRTUAL EVENT BY THE PET PROFESSIONAL GUILD ON APRIL 19‐23, 2021 We can all agree that 2020 was a difficult year and the pet industry certainly wasn’t spared. To support its membership, PPG is committed to providing a range of educational business resources to assist pet professionals successfully negotiate their way through 2021 until things (hopefully) get back to normal. So join us next month for Up Your Business Game! This FREE (for PPG members) virtual event will consist of two educational sessions each day (9 a.m. ET / 6 p.m. ET) from April 19­23 and provide some great business resources! More details and registration.

Calling UK Guardians of Dogs with Behavior Problems!

H

ave you sought advice, in the UK, for a be­ havior problem with your dog in the last 2 years? If yes, MSc student Julie Daniels PhD Dip­ CABT (RQF5) at the University of Edinburgh needs your help with some important research.

She would like to invite you to participate in a short online survey of your experience of the behavior consultation process, and the factors that led you to follow (or not) the treatment plan afterwards.

Your involvement in this study will help Daniels and her team to understand, from the dog guardian’s perspective, how to guide best practice. The study has ethical approval, and your participation would be voluntary, confiden­ tial and anonymous.

“The more participants we can enroll, the more reliable the results will be, so please do share this post if you feel able to support us in this way,” said Daniels.

The survey will close on March 26, 2021.

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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We would like to thank all the rescues and sanctuaries that have worked so hard to rehabilitate, provide veterinary care, and rehome dogs. 2020 has been a very tough year for rescues like yourselves, with an increase in abandoned or relinquished dogs and a decrease in donations. We are very aware that 2021 will probably see a rise in welfare cases, and with this in mind, we want to support rescues and their workers.

We are continuing to offer our Diploma in Canine Behaviour at a discount of 50% for anyone working or volunteering with a rescue or a charity. Come and join our wonderful global community!

Our private ISCP Facebook group is a very active and wonderfully supportive group, and it gives everyone the opportunity to share in useful online discussions with students, graduates, tutors and our ISCP affiliates. We also have a private ISCP Facebook group dedicated to rescue workers and volunteers. As part of our global community, you will also gain access to free webinars and private links to past webinars.

We have The Dog’s BFF Award, which several rescues ask their potential adopters to complete before the adoption goes through, and we now also have The Puppy’s BFF Award. Both of these awards are usually £9.99 plus VAT. Rescues can obtain these awards at a discounted price of £8.99. Adopters can download a free eBook from the website - Adopting a rescue dog, written by author and founder Lisa Tenzin-Dolma.

If you have any questions at all, or ideas about how we can support rescues please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Website: www.theiscp.com Email: secretary@theiscp.com

n e w s PPG Names November Project Trade Ambassador

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ongratulations to Jeff Dentler of Dentler's Dog Training in Pennsylva­ nia, USA for trading two shock collars, one choke collar, and one prong collar and who was named Project Trade Ambassador for Novem­ ber 2020. Congratulations too to Dawn Goehring of Animal Biz Behavior and Training in Hawaii, USA for trading one shock collar and one choke collar.

Find out more about how Project Trade can help your business in Helping Dogs, Helping Families, BARKS from the Guild, March 2017, pp.20‐25.

Project Trade is an international opt‐in advocacy program for PPG members that promotes the use of force‐free training equipment by asking pet guardians to trade choke, prong and shock collars (and any other aversive devices). Sign up today!

Jeff Dentler (above left) and Dawn Goehring (above right) collected a range of aversive training equipment under the Project Trade program last November

- Listen on the Anchor Platform

B

ARKS Podcasts are available on the Anchor platform, from where you can select your preferred app to listen any time or download. Make sure you follow BARKS Podcasts on whichever app you choose so you can stay updated with new releases. In the most recent podcasts, join PPG president Niki Tudge as she chats to: Sara Berry McLoudrey of Synergy Behavior Solutions about dog training and behavior consulting (February 19, 2021). Listen here.

Debra Millikan of PPG and Lucie Malouin of Complètement Canin about the Pet Professional Accreditation Board – navigating your new credential and what you need to know (February 5, 2021). Listen here.

Leslie McDevitt about the upcoming PPG virtual event Reactive to Relaxed: Next Steps in Control Unleashed (see pp. 6, 10 & 14). (February 5, 2021). Listen here.

Claire Staines of Lothlorien Dog Services about dog training and behavior in the U.K. (January 22, 2021). Listen here.

Veronica Sanchez of Cooperative Paws Service Dog Education about service dog certification (January 9, 2021). Listen here.

Julie Brewer of Little Tykes Dog Hub about positive reinforcement training and how to best engage and educate clients (January 8, 2021). Listen here.

Dr. Hannah Capon of Canine Arthritis Management about the newly launched CAMadvocate Program (see also p.6) (December 21, 2020). Listen here.

You can find older podcasts in the BARKS Podcasts Library and on PPG’s YouTube and Vimeo channels. If you would like to be a guest on a BARKS Podcast, please contact Louise Stapleton‐ Frappell for more details.

Shock-Free Pledge Drive Postponed

P

PG has postponed the Shock­ Free Coalition Pledge Drive until the first quarter of 2022. Further details to follow in due course. In the meantime, have you signed the Shock­Free Pledge? The Shock­Free Coalition aims to build a strong and broad movement committed to eliminating shock devices from the supply and demand chain. (See also ad on back cover.)

Support the cause by signing the Shock‐Free Pledge today!

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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n e w s Earn Your CEUs via PPG’s Webinars, Workshops and Educational Summits!

Webinars

PPG Webinars On Demand

Incorporating Pig Training and Behavior Into Your Practice.

Presented by Tabitha Davies Monday, March 8, 2021 / 2 p.m. (EST)

Listen any time!

A Virtual “Reactive to Relaxed: Next Steps in Control Unleashed.”

Presented by Leslie McDevitt Monday, March 8, 2021 / 5 p.m. (EST) Create and Send Your First Email Campaign in 15 Minutes or Less.

Presented by Tracey Lee Davis Thursday, March 18, 2021 / 1 p.m. (EDT) Classical and Operant Conditioning Approaches to Separation Related Problems. Presented by Tracy Krulik Wednesday, March 31, 2021 / 1 p.m. (EDT) Making Sense of Online Marketing: A Simple Checklist for Success. Presented by Tracey Lee Davis Thursday, April 8, 2021 / 1 p.m. (EDT) Getting Started with Instagram. Presented by Tracey Lee Davis Thursday, May 13, 2021 / 1 p.m. (EDT)

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

Workshops Your PORTL to Shaping. Presented by Mary Hunter Saturday, April 9, 2022 ­ Sunday, April 10, 2022

Educational Summits PPG Geek Week 2021 (Virtual) Saturday, November 13 ­ Wednesday, November 17, 2021 Note: All dates and times are correct at time of going to press but are subject to change. Please check PPG website for an updated list of all events, workshops and webinars, as well as discounted and on‐demand webinars.

SPECIAL NOTICE: PPG is still offering a range of services to support members and their businesses during the current pandemic. These include free member webinars, Facebook Live sessions offering business and marketing advice in the PPG members’ Facebook group, virtual PPG Social events, and more. Check listings in the PPG Members' Facebook group for event dates and times. See also the Business Contingency Planning section in the Members’ Area of the PPG website.

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c o v e r

The Essence of a Dog: A Free Education from a Free Choice Walk

© Karolin Klinck

By giving our dogs as much autonomy as we safely can, we can learn a lot about body language and social interactions from observing their behavior

Inspired by loose walks with her own dogs, Kristi Benson explores the concepts of choice and autonomy in dog walking, using her platform as a dog trainer to encourage her clients to, safely, give their dogs more freedom 12

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

c o v e r

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ne cold day last spring, snow still clinging to the ground and ced­ ing to the warm sun only on the tips of south­facing hillocks, I decided to do something new. I wouldn’t walk my dogs; nor would I walk with my dogs. I would instead be walked by my dogs. I de­ cided to simply follow my dog Mischa for our whole walk. Wherever he chose to go, well, I’d go just the same. I crawled under logs, I lumbered across frozen wetlands sinking thigh­deep into the granular spring snow, and I paused, quietly, in the lee of a large spruce tree, another secluded location where the snow had melted and the warming ground released delicious scents.

When I heard a twig snap in the distance, I activated. I ran, leaping over stumps and blown­down trees, to join my dog­kin at the base of a denuded aspen. Squirrel! Squirrel! I selected Mischa to be my guide that day, despite six other reasonable choices, for one simple reason: I could keep up with him, at least most of the time. He’s large—so visible—and a senior citizen at age 12. He trots more than he zooms, which describes me as well.

Usually, when I walk my dogs, I set out on one of our walking trails (or if I’m feeling adventuresome, I follow a random wildlife path—I stay in the same area and at about the same time every day, so we’re pre­ dictable to our resident wildlife). The dogs charge around at will, return­ ing to me to check in if they want, or if I call them—this is a paid proposition from their perspective, as I always have food on walks.

Sometimes a few stay companionably close, especially in the last half of our walk. Mostly, though, they’re off, being dogs and doing doggy things. I love it.

I’ve recently found myself thinking about behavioral choice and au­ tonomy. I’m blessed, and my dogs are blessed, to have access to beauti­ ful wooded areas to walk in. And I’ve worked hard to set the conditions up right to give my dogs a lot of autonomy: recall training, more recall training, and then a bit more recall training. But their autonomy doesn’t start and end with their daily five­o’clock jaunt. In addition to our off­ leash walks through forests, meadows, and (sadly for me, but awe­ somely from their perspective) swamps, my dogs have a dog door to a large yard filled with farm­ish delights. They have generally free choice to decide when they’ll go outside and when they’ll come in.

Working from home as I do, I find myself just as interested in their goings­on in the yard as I do on our walks together. Who hangs out with whom? Who plays, and when? Who lounges in a snow drift by the garage, watching the world go by? Who is busy busy and who is much more content to snooze by the woodstove? Watching my dogs as a part­ time canine anthropologist gives me enjoyment, but it also gives me a good sense of their preferred activities, playmates, and rhythms.

I decided to do something new. I wouldn’t walk my dogs; nor would I walk with my dogs. I would instead be walked by my dogs. I decided to simply follow my dog Mischa for our whole walk. Wherever he chose to go, well, I’d go just the same. I crawled under logs, I lumbered across frozen wetlands sinking thigh-deep into the granular spring snow, and I paused, quietly, in the lee of a large spruce tree drinking in the beauty of their worlds (them: nose, me: eyes).

But in learning this about my dogs, I stumbled upon—stumbled quite literally, as you have no doubt guessed—something else. There is a beautiful minutiae of life on our walks that I don’t normally take in, and during my follow­the­Mischa experience, I couldn’t help but see it.

One’s face is quite a bit closer to the ground when one slithers, precari­ ously, under brambles, of course.

In the words of canine behavior researcher and author Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, I think I experienced something closer to my dog’s umwelt: “The idea of umwelt, which originated with the biologist Jakob von Uexküll, is that the world of each animal is defined by how he/she per­ ceives and acts on the world.” (qtd. in Kawczynska, 2017). I focused on the ground, stopping often to examine items and places that Mischa in­ vestigated. I looked way up, into the highest branches, and stopped to smell the air or listen carefully, catching and holding my breath so even the softest of sounds could be heard. I examined the signs left behind for us from many woodland creatures, big and small: deer prints in the mud, delicate and defined. An alder sapling, rubbed bare by a passing bull elk. An explosion of feathers from a spruce grouse unlucky enough to be someone’s supper. Owl pellets with tiny, perfect, bleached bones, gently disintegrating on last year’s cast leaves.

As I followed my dogs, I saw what they were paying attention to.

When I saw what they paid attention to, I paid attention as well. And as I paid attention, I learned about my dogs.

Daily Routine Although I live on a ranch, most of my dog training clients live very much town­folk lives. Most walk their dogs in the same way that mil­ lions of dogs get their daily dose of the outside world, i.e. on leash, and according to the human’s schedule and geography. These dogs love their walks, by and large; there is nothing as joyful as a dog who is antic­ ipating heading out their front door, is there? They might bark or circle or even grab on to their leashes and tug. But once they’re out the door, and especially if it’s during the winter months, the walk might be one following a set route, relatively brief, and very much for the human’s convenience.

On the day I followed Mischa, I wanted to take things one step fur­ ther than my usual walk. I wanted to see what would happen if I let the dogs take the driver’s seat, and make the choices about where we went, how fast, and why. I’m not sure what I expected (a window into the ca­ nine soul?...no such luck), but an interesting thing happened along the way. I learned that my dogs, given the choice, do pretty much what I do.

They trot along, mostly, looking loose and happy, with minor bursts of speed and excitement. They stay close to each other, mostly, and enjoy

© Can Stock Photo / IgorSokolov

By allowing dogs to make their own choices when out for a walk, guardians can gain a unique insight into the canine umwelt

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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c o v e r

© Can Stock Photo / annaav90

By paying attention to the same things our dogs are paying attention to, we can learn so much about them, e.g. what excites them, what interests them and what unnerves them

Loose Walks Linda Green CTC is the co­founder of Unidos Para Los Animales, a dog rescue based in Guatemala. She and her team carefully prepare the dogs in their care for new homes, and they focus on setting up the dogs, and the new adopters, for success. Green regularly walks her foster dogs and other dogs in the rescue loose in a large, secure, hillside farm, strolling under a canopy of coffee trees and through rows of newly­ sprouted corn plants. What does she learn about the dogs during these loose walks?

“I learn a lot about body language, I suppose, and local enhance­ ment/social facilitation,” she said. Local enhancement refers to how dogs draw each other in, when they’re exploring something that they simply find delicious. Social facilitation is closely related. Dogs tend to do some behaviors in groups, and if one dog is doing a behavior that is subject to social facilitation in dogs, others will readily join in. This in­ cludes howling, which is adorable, silly, and enjoyable for most people, but also behaviors found on other pages in the canine ethology diction­ ary, and which can be dangerous on loose walks, such as hunting.

Karolin Klinck CTC of Team K9 LLC in Ithaca, New York hikes daily with her own dogs and her clients’ dogs. She had this to say when asked what she learns about the dogs on these loose walks: “Taking my [dogs] and my clients’ dogs for off­leash hikes provides so many opportunities to find out what makes each dog tick; what each dog truly loves to do.

Some love to take big laps, running as fast as they can, taking wide strides. Some love to follow their nose–and maybe eat some ‘treasures’ along the way. Some love playing with a buddy. Some just walk slowly and take in all the sounds and sights. And some dogs, they just do a lit­

Dogs tend to do some behaviors in groups, and if one dog is doing a behavior that is subject to social facilitation in dogs, others will readily join in. This includes howling, which is adorable, silly, and enjoyable for most people, but also behaviors found on other pages in the canine ethology dictionary, and which can be dangerous on loose walks, such as hunting.

tle bit of everything.”

This game—observing and learning from dogs granted the freedom to simply be dogs—is something that appeals to many. For example, Nickala Squire CTC of Carefree Canine in Grand Forks, North Dakota is also committed to helping her clients allow loose time with their dogs, if appropriate. “It's really illuminating to see what dogs spend their time doing,” she said. “It gives me insight into what kinds of enrichment they enjoy and what motivates them. For instance, some dogs spend their entire time searching for and scenting critters while others bounce around and run in big circles, stopping only for a particularly good scent.

I get a kick out of the dogs who spend their time collecting and compar­ ing sticks or rocks.”

Enrichment In her securely fenced farm in Guatemala, Green is free to let the dogs communicate and interact as they choose, an enriching experience for a

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c o v e r social species like dogs. “Watching them be dogs in a safe place (where I don't need to interrupt or intervene as often) makes me more conscious of how much we control almost every facet of our dogs' worlds and daily lives,” she said. “I feel like it is important for them to just run and sniff and 'be dogs,' without human micromanagement. I have learned to trust them more, even when they disappear for good chunks of time be­ tween checking in (always in the relatively safe space of the farm, of course).”

Green notices what grabs her dogs’ attention, too: “I’ve learned how incredibly 'blind' humans are to their olfactory world,” she said. “So this has led to me to ponder how perception changes, depending on what senses we are using to process the world. It makes me admire and respect dogs more. I really enjoy watching them experience the world without my intervention.” Added Klinck: “It’s the wide, free strides that you never get on leash, the free movement, and the big smile that is...just not possible on leash. It’s pure joy to see dogs do what they love in a safe way without too much of our influence. That is the ultimate mental and physical enrichment.”

Although it can feel worrisome to allow dogs the freedom of a free choice, loose walk, Squire allows the dogs themselves to ease her clients’ fears. “The first thing I learned was that most dogs really do want to be with the group,” she said. “Even if at a distance, they'll stay close enough that they can hear us and check in without prompting.

When I first encourage people to drop the leash, they're often shocked at how close by their dog stays. They're worried that given the opportu­ nity, their dog will take off and never come back.”

Free Choice My own clients often want their dog walks to be easier, and they want their dogs to be more “obedient.” They have, through either design or default, acquired the habit of the “lock­step march” style of dog walk­ ing, created and maintained with the dreaded collar pop. Some of my clients have fallen prey to the narrative that it is a moral failing of both human and canine if the dog puts their nose to the ground, an idea so infinitely disheartening that it should be immediately consigned to the history books!

My clients ask for easier dog walks, and like all positive reinforce­ ment trainers, I offer them something even better, i.e. a dog walk that is companionable, shared, enriching, and brings joy to both parties.

Through gear changes and training, even the most rote dog walk can be­ come more interesting for the dog. And for those dogs who are suitable, and clients who are keen, off­leash training or even heading to wilder spaces with a long­line leash can feel like magic.

The good fortune to be able to watch dogs on a free choice walk is, in part, what makes many trainers orient towards training safety behav­ iors like recalls (see Resources), and encouraging our human clients to

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My clients ask for easier dog walks, and like all positive reinforcement trainers, I offer them something even better: a dog walk that is companionable, shared, enriching, and brings joy to both parties. Through gear changes and training, even the most rote dog walk can become more interesting for the dog. allow more freedom and choice, where possible. Squire likes to put things in perspective for her clients: “Dogs live the majority of their lives in sealed buildings that provide very little enrichment, entertainment or exercise,” she said. “A few boring chew toys or stuffies pale in compari­ son to the variety of TV shows, books, radios, phone apps, computers and other electronic devices we have for ourselves. Then, we take them out to walk in the environment of our choosing, in the direction of our choosing, on a short leash. I can't even imagine having such little free­ dom to do what I enjoy in life. This is easier for people to understand now I think, with the pandemic. Even with everything we have access to, all that intellectual and virtual freedom, a lot of people felt really desperate when lockdowns began.”

Klinck makes use of all this technology to whet her clients’ appetites to provide more loose walks for their own dogs. “I let my clients be part of it by taking lots of pictures and videos,” she said. “The joy I see in my clients’ faces when I pick up their excited dogs bursting with happiness is priceless. Typical comments are, ‘He never smiles like this on our on leash walks,’ ‘I just love seeing all of them being so happy,’ and ‘You are his/her favorite person in the world. He loves his adventures.’”

Planning Ahead Free choice and loose walks take preparation and training, along with a new orientation. Green often prepares the dogs in her rescue for a free choice life long before they board the plane to their new homes. “For our dogs who go into adoption, we make sure to install a strong recall before they go,” she said. “Since 90% of our dogs who are adopted in the U.S. go to the Bay Area, [California], pretty much all of our adopters are very much on board with off­leash and beach hikes in appropriate areas before they ever get the dog.”

Green wants to prepare the dogs to competently handle freedom, and she wants to prepare the humans as well. “So for these guys, I ex­ plain how we teach and reinforce the recall, send handouts on fun recall games, remind people to never call their dog for something unpleasant, and so on,” she explained. “I encourage adopters to take the dog to a fenced dog park and practice recalls with high value food to get them trusting the dog, and then off they go. I know the dogs pretty well,

c o v e r Study Compares Pulse Rates of Dogs on 5­Minute Walks on a Short Leash, a Long Leash, and Unleashed

© Can Stock Photo / the_guitar_mann

© Can Stock Photo / esebene

Sniffing (left) and shaking it off (right) are common activities for dogs on walks and research has shown that that both behaviors lower dogs’ pulse rates

R

esearchers Cristina and Aurélien Budzinski (2019) conducted a study where they recorded the pulse rates of 61 dogs during three types of 5­minute walks, the first on a 1.5m leash, the second on a 5m leash, and the third unleashed. The dogs’ pulse rates were recorded during all the sessions.

The Budzinskis elected to focus on pulse rates because the pulse is regulated by the autonomic nervous system and, therefore, directly related to stress and “doesn’t lie,” according to Aurélien Budzinski.

They chose a calm forest environment so the dogs would be without distractions such as cars, people, bikes, other dogs. The forest chosen was also a new place for all the dogs, so that “mental stimulation would be the same for each dog.”

During the walks, the dogs were allowed sniff or stop whenever they wanted to, for as long as they wanted to. Their handlers walked slowly (one step per second) and did not speak to the dog or try to get his attention. The dogs were free to explore or observe as much as they liked. Once they had collated the results, the researchers found that: •

Sniffing lowers the pulse rate even if the dog is still walking.

•

The higher the sniffing intensity, the more the pulse rate will decrease.

•

When the dogs rolled, chewed grass, scratched themselves, or stretched during the walks, their pulse rates also went down; the chosen activity seemed to have a self­calming effect.

Shaking Shaking it off was one of the most common behaviors. Every time the shaking off behavior occurred after a significant increase in pulse rate, it caused an immediate drop in pulse rate. No difference in shaking off behavior was reported, whether the dog was on a short leash, a long leash, or unleashed. Average shaking off time was 2 seconds with an average pulse rate descent of 12%. Shaking off was recorded in 80% of the dogs during the walks.

Sniffing Sniffing occurred on all types of walks but on a long leash (average 103 seconds) it occurred for 280% longer than on a short leash (aver­ age 37 seconds); unleashed (average 119 seconds) it occurred for 330% longer than on a short leash.

“Using a longer leash gives dogs more freedom and time to ex­ plore,” said Cristina Budzinski. “Walking slowly and stopping when the dog stops allows him to enjoy his walk however he chooses to do so, whether it’s sniff, chew grass, roll on the ground, shake it off, scratch himself etc. All these behaviors have a purpose and contribute to the dog’s well­being; they are behaviors dogs choose for themselves to engage in – without any human influence.”

The Budzinskis reported that the results were the same whether the dog was walked every day or almost never, for all types of dogs (age, size, sex), and for dogs who do not pull on the leash at all. ‐ Susan Nilson DipCABT PCBC‐A

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c o v e r

© Can Stock Photo / konradbak

Taking note of and watching our dogs engage in their chosen activities gives us a good sense of their preferred activities, playmates, and rhythms

because we are a small rescue and have most of our dogs for a good length of time. Plus, we don't have too many runner­types like your sleddies and huskies. In my pre­adoption Zoom calls, I do make a com­ parison between parents and teachers bossing kids around, structuring every moment of their days, and how important it is to give them some unstructured time to just be kids...and how we do the same thing with our dogs. It is equally important to let them have some time to just go do dog things and roll in stuff, sniff, run, hump, and chase.”

Freedom Not all dogs and not all contexts allow for loose walks, and there are ab­ solutely ways to give dogs more freedom and autonomy in these cases. I encourage my clients to follow their dog’s lead, for at least part of their walks. It can be such a relief for them to hear that they aren’t failing their dogs by allowing them to do what they want to do in this way.

Allowing dogs to stop and seek information about their community

of peers through scent or to explore their environment as they choose is a sign that a client is a good partner for their dog. There are also gear changes that can allow dogs more freedom. Squire uses long lines to bridge the gap when it's unsafe or illegal for dogs to be fully off leash, although she does encourage off­leash activities wherever it’s appropri­ ate.

“I recognize there are risks, as there usually are with fun activities,” she said. “I start by teaching a rock solid recall [(see Resources)], adding in various distractions such as throwing high value food, then test and practice their recall in multiple environments on a long leash. Using that long leash (the 50­ft biothane is my favorite) in various environments, I get to see the dog’s reaction to a variety of alluring stimuli like bikers, dogs and even critters before they earn off­leash time. I look for proac­ tive check ins, not just a hesitant cued response. Staying aware of our surroundings is also a must, to prevent a dog from giving unsolicited or unwelcome greetings to people and other dogs (which includes calling

Usually when I walk, I stay aware of my dogs’ location and activity in order to police their behavior, even if it’s a gentle policing. I want to ensure they don’t stray far enough to go into a neighbor’s field or cross another imaginary (from their perspective) behavioral line. And although, of course, I will continue to keep my dogs safe and sound, I have vowed to give them more autonomy and freedom going forward, and to use my platform as a dog trainer to give my clients’ dogs more freedom as well.

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c o v e r As I followed my dogs, I saw what they were paying attention to. When I saw what they paid attention to, I paid attention as well. And as I paid attention, I learned about my dogs.

them back when turning blind corners or going over hills). Using natural barriers like cliff faces and rivers for nonswimmers, can be helpful for dogs new to being off leash.”

Going back to the beginning of this article, on my own free choice walk that day, I found myself exhilarated to not have to consider if the walk was long enough (the dogs decide!) and what I’d make for supper when I got back to the house (who cares about that stuff? There’s a squirrel in that tree!). Every time I paused, I found myself very aware of my canine companions, head swiveling to catch sight or sound of them, in case they came across something exciting over the next rise, and I’d be off at a gallop, following Mischa.

Usually when I walk, I stay aware of my dogs’ location and activity in order to police their behavior, even if it’s a gentle policing. I want to en­ sure they don’t stray far enough to go into a neighbor’s field or cross an­ other imaginary (from their perspective) behavioral line.

And although, of course, I will continue to keep my dogs safe and sound, I have vowed to give them more autonomy and freedom going forward, and to use my platform as a dog trainer to give my clients’ dogs more freedom as well. I wanted to share the news far and wide: there is a kind of beautiful clemency in following a dog’s pace, a dog’s curiosity, and a dog’s bliss. n

References Budzinski, C., & Budzinski, A. (2019). Dog Field Study: At the Heart of the Walk Budzinski, C., & Budzinski, A. (2020, November 13). At the Heart of the Walk [Paper Presentation]. Geek Week (Online). (n.p.): Pet Professional Guild Kawczynska, C. (2017). Alexandra Horowitz, The Canine Mindseeker.

The Bark

Resources Shao, T. (2020). Maintaining a Rewarding Relationship with Your Dog. BARKS Blog Tudge, N. (2020, May). Training Recall: A New Standard. BARKS from the Guild (42) 38-44 Kristi Benson CTC PCBC-A is a student coach and mentor and handles special projects at the Academy for Dog Trainers, where she helps to shape the next generation of canine behavior professionals.

She is an honors graduate of the Academy and is also accredited through the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives and works in the Parkland Region of central Manitoba, Canada, where she works with dogs and their human family members in private consultations – both in-person and via video chat – for a full range of dog behavior issues, from basic manners to fear and aggression. She writes extensively about dogs, for her own blog and the Academy Blog. She is also a special correspondent for Companion Animal Psychology.

The A-Z of Training and Behavior Brought to you by O is for...

One Trial Learning: A single presentation of behavior consequence resulting in changes in behavior.

Operant Aggression: Aggression that is reinforced by the removal of an aversive stimulus via Negative Reinforcement.

Operant Conditioning: There are four types of operant learning, defined as such because the behavior operates on the environment. Two of the quadrants of operant conditioning strengthen behaviors, referred to as reinforcements. The other two of the operant conditioning quadrants weaken behavior, referred to as punishments. The quadrants are referred to as a negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative punishment and positive punishment. The terms positive and negative do not describe the consequence, they indicate whether a stimulus, has been added (positive) or subtracted (negative) to increase or weaken the preceding behavior.

Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the strength of the behavior due to its consequence.

Opposition Reflex: Common term used to describe a dog’s resistance to coercion often quoted with reference to the handler pulling one way and the dog resisting or pulling in the opposite direction. Sometimes called the balancing reflex.

Optimal Foraging Theory: The behavioral economics of nature. Pets will forage expending the least amount of energy for the most amount of food.

Overshadowing: In respondent conditioning, if two or more conditioned stimuli occur at the same time, only the most strongly perceived or salient stimulus will be processed.

Overshadowing is related to stimulus salience as the strongest stimulus is the most salient one. The salient stimulus will overshadow the weaker stimulus.

From: A Lexicon of Practical Terms for Pet Trainers & Behavior Consultants: The language you need to know!

by DogNostics Career Center. Available from: dognosticseducation.com/p/store

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c a n i n e

A New Trend in Dog Boarding Based on her experience running her own boarding facility, Rachel Brix explains how and why a focus on enrichment and education is a key component in ensuring a happy and successful stay for the canine guests

© Ryan Brix

© Ryan Brix

Many dogs enjoy engaging in play, often with multiple types of toys

Relationship building is a key component in an enrichment protocol

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of these behaviors, as we continue to look to improve our dogs’ lives and our relationships with them, we must still consider their species­ specific needs and create enrichment programs and protocols to meet them.

One essential for dogs is sensory stimulation, especially the sense of smell. Additional needs include food­related behaviors such as scaveng­ ing and foraging; many dogs love to work for their food. Emotional needs include security and safety and relationship and social needs.

Agency and environment are vital for a dog’s sense of security, inde­ pendence and confidence. And dogs often love to problem solve too.

Simply put, enrichment is about engagement: actively engaging our dogs in ways that encourage their willing participation and fulfill as many of their needs as possible.

Our late, great husky mix Percy gave us our first lessons in enrich­ ment many years ago. So we designed our boarding and training facility, Percy’s Playground, to fulfill two main goals: enrichment and education.

We focus on connecting the enrichment we do with the dogs in our care with how pet parents can continue and enhance the program at home thereby improving relationships and the dogs’ quality of life. Currently

ioneered by Dr. Hal Markowitz in the 1960s, enrichment origi­ nated from a focus on zoo animals. He called zoos “concrete wastelands” (Bender & Strong, 2019) and was determined to im­ prove the animals’ lives in captivity. He first developed ethograms, or in­ ventories of behaviors, for each species; then, after determining the animals’ needs, came the task of how to meet those needs in captivity.

Our pet dogs, although not captive wild animals, still have instinc­ tual and natural behaviors. Although domestication has softened many

Our pet dogs, although not captive wild animals, still have instinctual and natural behaviors.

Although domestication has softened many of these behaviors, as we continue to look to improve our dogs’ lives and our relationships with them, we must still consider their speciesspecific needs and create enrichment programs and protocols to meet them.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

c a n i n e we offer day stays, boarding and training. The first main priority at our facility is being force­free and fear­free. To that end, our approach prior­ itizes making sure our guest dogs are as safe and secure as possible, dis­ tinguishing between the two as being free from harm and feeling free from harm, respectively.

One essential for dogs is sensory stimulation, especially the sense of smell. Additional needs include food-related behaviors such as scavenging and foraging; many dogs love to work for their food.

Individualized Enrichment To best focus on as many aspects of individualized enrichment as possi­ ble, we completely forego playgroups at our facility. Instead, each dog gets multiple one­on­one outings each day with a human, taking part in all kinds of activities, from scent work to agility, to foraging to fetch, to task training to simply sitting and getting lots of pets and tummy rubs, and many things in between.

Each dog gets to choose how they spend their time in one of our completely fenced outdoor play yards or in our indoor play area. We are a cage­free facility, and our guest dogs enjoy spaces that are 85 sq ft and 160 sq ft, which includes 100 sq ft of personal patio space. This al­ lows dogs to make choices about how they use their space and provides a comfortable respite for much­needed downtime and naps throughout the day. We can also engage our guest dogs in a variety of activities in their personal space if they so choose, especially on inclement weather days.

Relationship building with both our four­legged and two­legged clients is a major component of our enrichment protocol. As a first step in the process of creating individual enrichment programs for each guest dog we have a comprehensive profile form completed by each pet parent; then we require a meet and greet. Our dog­centered introduc­ tory meetings provide the opportunity for each dog to become familiar with us and our facility in a fun way. We also establish rapport with their

humans by reviewing their dog’s profile with them, giving them a tour and encouraging questions and dialogue. By enveloping the pet parents in the process we are setting up both dog and guardian for at­home en­ richment success.

If, at the meet and greet, we observe a dog to be nervous or hesi­ tant, we might recommend an abbreviated day stay (a few hours) and work up to longer stays. For more moderate to severe cases we recom­ mend a certified behavior consultant or even a behaviorist whereby we can partner on a behavior modification plan. In such cases we may rec­ ommend a dog stay with a friend, family member or even a pet sitter who we can refer them to. While sometimes it affects our bottom line, we would much rather see a dog happy and secure at home in a familiar environment than stressed in ours until behavior modification and train­ ing can take place. Our goal is to minimize stress, fear and anxiety.

When we meet dogs who aren’t good candidates for boarding most pet parents are grateful for the help and suggestions as the dog’s issues are, typically, not new. As such we’ve developed a niche for first­time board­ ers, from puppies to seniors, whose humans haven’t previously felt comfortable enough to leave them anywhere before. Our human clients overwhelmingly say the human interaction is their most favorite part about our facility, i.e. knowing their dogs will get lots of human interac­ tion.

© Ryan Brix

© Ryan Brix

Mealtimes are the perfect time to offer sensory enrichment so dogs can forage for their food

Pet dogs, although not captive wild animals, still have instinctual and natural behaviors

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c a n i n e

© Ryan Brix

A sandbox or digging box can provide a solution for guardians whose dogs like digging up the garden

Empowerment through Choice Once in our care, we work to quickly establish our routine with each dog. We allow for individual differences to focus on environmental and calming enrichment. For example, how the dogs enter and exit their space, how we enter and exit their space, what type of bedding they re­ ceive or what kind of water bowl they need. As an example, we had a pit mix stay with us who was only drinking out of either the hose or the bathtub at home. Because we spend so much one­on­one time with our guest dogs, we were able to help this dog choose a bowl she found ac­ ceptable and spend time training her to use it. As part of our calming enrichment we utilize dog­friendly essential oils and provide a variety of music from streaming classical to my husband playing acoustic guitar lullabies at night.

Another one of our priorities is giving each guest dog as much agency, or empowering them with choices, as we can. One of the main ways we provide choice is by allowing each guest dog to decide what they will do on any given outing. Sometimes that might be agility or the German­born activity, degility. Degility combines agility, parkour and fit­ ness and focuses on dogs who are impaired, senior, not as active as they once were or even dogs who can benefit from confidence building.

Sometimes that might be scent work activities, digging or foraging, or fun with a flirt pole.

...we had a pit mix stay with us who was only drinking out of either the hose or the bathtub at home. Because we spend so much one-on-one time with our guest dogs, we were able to help this dog choose a bowl she found acceptable and spend time training her to use it.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

A flirt pole (basically an oversized cat toy) provides an outlet for in­ stinctual behaviors such as stalking, chasing and herding (mental and physical exercise). It also allows for some additional mental exercise by way of training (drop it and get it). Tossing a treat for dogs to find for dropping it adds a smidge of scent work too. Some of our guest dogs thrive on playing fetch or tug (by the rules) and we’ve taught many dogs how to catch flying discs. All these activities can be continued by the dog’s humans once they get back home.

Admittedly, when we first opened, a lot of people were skeptical as to whether we would be successful because we don’t incorporate play­ groups into our enrichment protocols. Some potential clients even avoid our services entirely under the impression that, without playgroups their dogs wouldn’t get what they need, would be bored, or wouldn’t be tired when they got home. For us, however, even well­structured playgroups just don’t provide for the enrichment and type of interaction we want to have with both our canine and human clients.

Furthermore, adult dogs don’t necessarily always want to play with other dogs. States Antoniak­Mitchell (2013): “Dog owners often have a hard time accepting that most adult dogs don’t need or want to ‘play’ with other dogs in the same way puppies do…As puppies mature the need for this type of interaction [learning social and survival skills] with other dogs naturally diminishes. [Especially] dogs who have been bred to work alone often lose their desire to play with other dogs far sooner than those dogs who have been bred to work more closely with other dogs.”

Moreover, a lot of stress can result without proper management and downtime even if dogs are dog­social. And dogs may fall into the dog­tolerant, dog­selective, or even dog­aggressive categories and sim­ ply not thrive in playgroups. And if that’s the only option a dog has for his whole day, stress, anxiety, fear, and even flooding can result – espe­ cially for extended stays.

c a n i n e ...enrichment is about engagement: actively engaging our dogs in ways that encourage their willing participation and fulfill as many of their needs as possible.

Social Interaction Also, in our experience, social interactions seem to be the easiest and most common enrichment pet parents are already providing for their dogs, in addition to physical exercise. Many guardians already take their dogs to dog parks, on play dates, or other places where people and dogs congregate. But surprisingly, a small number of our two­legged clients actually play with their dogs; not because they don’t love them, but — in our experience at least — because they either don’t really know how to engage their dogs in play, don’t realize how important play and en­ richment are for a dog’s overall well­being, or simply think their dogs aren’t interested in toys and good­for­dogs activities.

As a matter of fact, on a surprising number of our comprehensive dog profiles, pet parents indicate their dogs don’t like toys or don’t like playing with toys. However, oftentimes we find their dogs, regardless of breed or age, really do enjoy engaging in play, often with multiple types of toys or engaging in different types of activities. Therefore, we’re able to make solid recommendations to help take the guesswork out of what dog guardians should buy or try with their dogs to help facilitate at­ home continuance of the enrichment fun.

We’ve also found a significant number of pet parents free feed and have food available to their dogs at all times. We have to feed our pets anyway, so instead of free feeding we suggest this can be a prime time to include enrichment. It’s a great way to stimulate dogs without

© Ryan Brix

Regular agility, low impact agility, or degility, tailored to the needs and preferences of each individual dog, can form an integral part of a boarding facility’s enrichment program

c a n i n e onto the kitchen counter we suggest ways to add appropriate enrich­ ment to fulfill the need to scavenge. Or propose ideas for management in addition to training, such as using a sandbox/dig box as a solution for digging in the vegetable garden.

Preferences After a visit or two to our facility, we’re able to work with pet parents to help them incorporate enrichment specific to their dog’s preferences and needs. A lot of our recommendations are cheap (or free) and easily incorporated into busy daily living. Establishing this line of communica­ tion not only helps foster great relationships with our human clients, but also facilitates making the most out of each visit with their beloved dogs. We love having clients come in and tell us they recently sewed their own snuffle mat and Fluffy can’t get enough of foraging for her supper. Or when they tell us they didn’t realize their senior dog still loved to fetch or didn’t think she could do (or would like) low impact agility or degility. Many clients have even told us their dogs overall seem happier and more energetic since coming to our facility on a regular basis.

Essentially, we view enrichment as advocating for dogs: Advocating for their well­being in our care and in their lives with their humans. All dogs benefit from enrichment, and the humans benefit by cultivating a deeper connection with their dogs. And that’s a beautiful thing. n

References

© Ryan Brix

Giving dogs in boarding the choice of what they want to do on any given outing ensures they are empowered to make their own decisions

spending a ton of extra time, which our busy clients don’t often have in abundance, so they really appreciate the suggestions of puzzle feeders, snuffle mats and scatter feeding; and with a few extra minutes even hiding kibble in boxes or around the house. Feeding is also a great time to work in short training sessions (the best form of mental exercise) to have dogs work for even part of their meals. At our facility we find that feeding time is a fitting time to incorporate training, foraging and scav­ enging enrichment. There’s no shortage of ways to enrich dogs’ lives through their meals.

Additionally, since a dog’s expression of natural behavior may sometimes be perceived as inappropriate or “bad” by their guardians, our approach affords the perfect opportunity for us to work together with the humans on a training plan whereby they can show their dogs what to do. For example, instead of the dog getting into the trash or

BARKS from the Guild

Antoniak-Mitchell, D. (2013). Terrier-Centric Dog Training: From Tenacious to Tremendous. Wenatchee, WA: Dogwise Publishing Bender, A., & Strong, E. (2019). Canine Enrichment for the Real World: Making It a Part of Your Dog’s Daily Life. Wenatchee, WA: Dogwise Publishing

Resources

Coleman, S. (2020). 5 Reasons NOT to Free-Feed Your Dog. Whole Dog Journal Degility Kelly, S. (2019). Canine Enrichment: The Book Your Dog Needs You to Read. (n.p.): Author Maple, T.L. (2013). Remembering Hal Markowitz. Zoo Biology 32 (3) Rachel Brix BSEd CPDT-KA is Fear Free certified and has been training dogs and teaching people for a combined 20 years. Also a writer and speaker, she has spoken twice at the annual APDT Conference and has been nominated back-to-back years for a Dog Writers Association of American Award. She owns and operates Percy’s Playground boarding and training facility in Eagle Rock, Missouri with her husband, who also helps her train – and spoil – their six rescue animals.

BARKS from the Guild is the 64-page bimonthly pet industry trade magazine published by the Pet Professional Guild, available internationally to Pet Professional Guild members, supporters and the general public via a free lifetime digital subscription.

Widely read by pet industry professionals and pet guardians alike, BARKS covers a vast range of topics encompassing animal behavior, pet care, training, education, industry trends, business AND MUCH MORE! If you would like to reach your target audience, BARKS is the perfect vehicle to achieve that goal.

To contribute an article, please contact the editor, Susan Nilson.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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canine

Resource Guarding or Rule Setting?

In the first of a two-part article, Suzanne Clothier explains the distinction she makes between resource guarding and rule setting in canine behavior, and why this categorization influences her approach to addressing behavior issues

Fig.1

Fig.2

T

he myriad of behaviors that we label as “resource guarding” de­ serves a more nuanced understanding. In this article, I want to consider the difference between resource guarding and rule set­ ting, an important distinction that shapes how I address these behav­ iors.

But first, the term “resource” itself turns out to be awfully broad.

What exactly is the resource? It’s beyond the scope of this article to de­ fine each type of resource but next time you hear “resource guarding” give some thought to what the resource may be. Veterinary behaviorist Joël Dehasse (2003) delineates multiple subsets of competitive­social aggression (competition for resources or privileges) as follows: • Food elicited aggression.

• Nonfood object elicited/possession aggression.

• Resting area elicited aggression.

• Social interaction/alliance­control elicited aggression.

• Space­control elicited aggression.

• Sexual­control elicited aggression.

• Other resource elicited aggression, nonspecified.

• Dueling fights.

To complicate things further, there is not full agreement in the liter­ ature about how to define resource guarding, which is often used inter­ changeably with possession aggression. Jacobs et al. (2018) defined resource guarding as “the use of avoidance, threatening, or aggressive behaviors by a dog to retain control of food or non­food items in the presence of a person or other animal.” Comparing that with Dehasse’s (2003) list, it’s easy to see that there are many nuances absent.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

Graphics © Suzanne Clothier 2004 / All Rights Reserved

Our Own Behavior Do you keep your credit cards and cash close to you when out in public?

Do you keep your laptop or cell phone near you when not home? Do you cover your coffee cup or plate if someone tries to clear the table be­ fore you are done? Chances are good the answer to these questions is “yes!” and perhaps even “of course!” Next question: why are you such a resource guarder?

Further, are there some situations in which you feel a stronger need to guard your resources, and others where you are a bit more relaxed?

If we were to assess your behavior in the uncomfortable or unsafe situa­ tions, how might that contrast with your behavior at home or in safe, fa­ miliar settings?

The simple reality is that you guard your resources in your posses­ sion because you do not want anyone to take them. Your behavior is one way to say, “Mine.” Recognize that your behavior is based in some anxiety about losing your resource.

By contrast, perhaps you’ve baked a batch of brownies, and as you’re leaving the house to walk your dog you warn your housemate, “Do not touch those!” You fully expect that there will be a full plate upon your return. Maybe you snag one of the few remaining sale items and put it in your cart, then leave your cart while you wander further down the aisle. Someone else spots the sale item in your cart, and be­ gins to edge closer, but you just look up and give them a glare and they move away.

This is rule setting. And it is another way to say, “Mine.” Rule setting behavior is based in confidence about your ability to control access to the resource even at a distance, or perhaps even in your absence. You

canine may also grant access, telling your housemate that “you may have one brownie while I’m gone” or share the resource, “Here, take half of my brownie.”

I find it helpful to categorize a dog’s behavior as resource guarding vs. rule setting, as my approach to each will be slightly different. I am particularly interested in the individual dog’s specific behavior which may be as mild and highly controlled as a hard look or escalate to severe injury or even lethality.

When we attempt to impose our set of human rules on dogs, it is at best puzzling or confusing for them, and it can escalate into threatening and scary. “Give that to me!” a guardian might demand, and – understandably – the dog turns away, tightening his grip on the item, and perhaps even adding a low growl.

Dog Law In my experience, it appears that for dogs, possession is truly 9/10ths of the canine “MINE!” law, i.e. if it’s in your possession, you have the right to retain possession. These seem to be the details of what constitutes “mine” in the dog world: • You can hold it in your mouth.

• You can eat before anyone else does.

• You can carry it away.

• You can lay on or near it.

• You can cover it with your head, neck and/or chest.

• You can control, deny or permit access to the resource.

When we attempt to impose our set of human rules on dogs, it is at best puzzling or confusing for them, and it can escalate into threatening and scary. “Give that to me!” a guardian might demand, and – under­ standably – the dog turns away, tightening his grip on the item, and per­ haps even adding a low growl. The guardian then may grow more insistent, grab the dog and/or tear away the item, leaving the dog to wonder why dog law is being utterly disregarded. Repeated interactions of this kind can be destructive to the relationship and help convince the dog that he was right to be worried.

Many times, dogs act to protect their resources without confronta­

tion or aggression, in subtle ways that go unnoticed by an unskilled eye.

This could be in the form of yielding space – simply moving themselves and the resource slightly away from another dog or person, or walking away to a new area. It may be eating a little faster, or staring at the floor, or just lowering their head over the resource until the person or other dog has passed by.

So, when does this normal behavior become problematic? To my way of thinking, the behavior can be classified as problematic when it causes distress, danger or dysfunction to the dog and/or members of the dog’s social group, which may include people, other dogs and even other animals.

Not Enough Cupcakes?

Animal behavior is shaped in part by the availability of resources. Gen­ erally speaking, in resource rich environments interactions do not lead to potentially dangerous altercations. If you can simply move a short distance and access the same resource, why fight? In resource poor en­ vironments, however, animals engage in altercations more frequently.

Indeed, among species that live in resource poor environments, there can be fierce competition for resources.

Blending heart & science for the thinking trainer

SuzanneClothier.com

canine in some situations?

Further, Marder et al. (2013) note: “The detection of FA+ [food ag­ gression] behavior via a behavior evaluation should be interpreted with caution, since a positive finding in the shelter evaluation does not consistently indicate that the behavior will occur in the home nor that a dog is unsuitable for adoption.” n

Studies in shelter dogs have demonstrated that guarding behavior during an assessment in the shelter is not predictive of guarding in the adoptive home.

In Part II of this article, we’ll have a closer look at resource guarding vs. rule setting, the zones which tell the tale, and dif‐ ferences in how to develop training and management strategies.

References

© Can Stock Photo / dariolopresti

In my experience, it appears that for dogs, possession is truly 9/10ths of the canine “MINE!” law, i.e. if it’s in your possession, you have the right to retain possession.

We all know about limited resources. Who would put down just one cupcake at a kid’s birthday party, and expect it to remain a jolly event?

More than enough cupcakes to go around? No problem. Few of us would hand a group of dogs one raw bone or just one toy.

But it is not as simple as one cupcake per child, is it? Even in what appears to be an abundance of resources, you will find dogs who are willing to fight for a crumb – or the possibility of one! – while other dogs are far less confrontational. Multiple factors are at work here: ge­ netics, individual temperament, experience, availability of resources, dy­ namics of the social context, and even the dog’s physical and nutritional status.

Individual Preference The value of a resource plays some part in how far a dog may go to pro­ tect it. Dogs do have individual preferences, so what may be just mildly interesting to one dog can be the most cherished possession or highest value food for another. This can confuse handlers who may not under­ stand that one dog might find a stray Cheerio worth defending, while another dog readily allows her entire dinner to be taken away. But the Cheerio defender might not care at all about the squeaky frog, while Miss No Dinner is willing to mix it up with anyone who dares to touch her frog.

Above all, in my experience, it is the individual differences in tem­ perament that play the biggest role in both resource guarding and rule setting. Simply put, problematic resource guarding has its roots in anxi­ ety and a lack of social confidence (with dogs, people or both) (see Fig. 1 on p.28). Rule setting, by contrast, is rooted in confidence and a lack of anxiety (see Fig. 2 on p.28).

Studies in shelter dogs have demonstrated that guarding behavior during an assessment in the shelter is not predictive of guarding in the adoptive home. (Mohan­Gibbons et al., 2012). Echoing my theory that anxiety and temperament traits play a role in resource guarding, Mohan­Gibbons et al. (2012) noted: “Guarding during an assessment could be an indicator for overall stress levels.” Remember when I asked about how you might feel the need to be very protective of your wallet

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

Dehasse, J., Braem, M., & Schroll, S. (2003). Aggressive behaviours in dogs: a new descriptive-contextual classification. Poster presented at the IVBM (4th International Veterinary Behavioural Meeting), Caloundra, Australia, August 19, 2003. Proceedings n°352, Post-Graduate Foundation in Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, p.203-205 Jacobs, J. A., Coe, J. B., Widowski, T. M., Pearl, D. L., & Niel, L. (2018).

Defining and Clarifying the Terms Canine Possessive Aggression and Resource Guarding: A Study of Expert Opinion. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 5 115 Marder, A.R., Shabelansky, A., Patronek, G.J., Dowling-Guyer, S., & Segurson D’Arpino, S.( 2013). Food-related aggression in shelter dogs: A comparison of behavior identified by a behavior evaluation in the shelter and owner reports after adoption. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 148 1–2 150-156 Mohan-Gibbons, H., Weiss, E., & Slater, M. (2012). Preliminary Investigation of Food Guarding Behavior in Shelter Dogs in the United States. Animals 2(3) 331-346 Suzanne Clothier has been working with animals professionally since 1977. Currently based in St. Johnsville, New York, she is well respected internationally for her holistic Relationship Centered Training™ approach to dogs and the people that love them. Her background includes training, instruction, behavior modification, kennel management, temperament assessment, physical assessment and conditioning, early puppy development, class curriculum development, obedience, agility, Search and Rescue, conformation, breeding and more. Since 1991, she has taught workshops and seminars on a broad range of topics throughout the United States and internationally for a wide variety of groups from training clubs to international conferences in 11 countries. An award-winning author of multiple books and DVDs, her book, Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs (2002) has received widespread praise from every corner of the dog world, including twice being included in the Wall Street Journal's list of Top 5 Dog Books. She has served on the American Humane Association’s Task Force for Humane Training, the AKC Agility Advisory board, and is currently a consultant for Frankie & Andy’s Place, a senior dog sanctuary in Georgia. She has also developed multiple assessment tools CARAT™, RAT™ (Relationship Assessment Tool), as well as puppy and adult dog tests. These tools have been used by guide and service dog organizations, therapy dog groups, AAIA organizations, shelters and rescue groups, and trainers. In her work as a consultant to guide dog schools, her Enriched Puppy Protocol™ served as the structure for the updating of their puppy raising programs. Since 2007, more than 10,000 puppies have been raised in programs built around The Enriched Puppy Protocol™. Meanwhile, with fellow trainer Cindy Knowlton, she developed CCC: Connection, Cooperation & Control™, a puzzle-based program that builds joyful relationships between handlers and dogs.

Free movement and COMFORTABLE support behind the armpits, and a SECURE fit at the shoulders

canine

Is My Dog in Pain?

Robyn Lowe of PPG corporate partner Canine Arthritis Management discusses arthritis, how to identify the subtle signs of pain in dogs, and how we can help them enjoy

D

id you know that arthritis is prevalent in around 35% of our canine population?

And that of this 35%, we know that around 80% of dogs over 8 years old suffer from the condition? The numbers are quite staggering.

As every single dog is unique and every arthritis story is different, it’s impera­ tive that, as their guardians, we learn to recognize the sub­ tle signs of chronic pain. In doing so, it will ensure we are able to act swiftly and implement modi­ fications if our dogs start showing signs of arthritic change. It is also of great impor­ tance that we take ac­ A change in behavior can be an indicator that a dog is experiencing some sort of discomfort or is in pain tion from a young age to prevent injury and repetitive strain, as well as consider other factors, are changes in the brain and spinal cord that can cause pain “wind­up” such as obesity, that can increase the risk of arthritic development. or central sensitization, causing an exaggerated pain response. The pain Some dogs are stoic and will hide the symptoms of pain for a long outlasts the normal or usual time of healing and is associated with a dis­ time, while others will show very early on that they are in pain. What ease or injury. Sadly, it serves no biological purpose and has no recog­ we do know is that dogs all experience pain differently. By that, I mean nizable end point. Because of this, it is extremely important that we that X­rays may look horrendous on one dog, but clinically they are still manage it to the best of our ability. By doing so, we can still make our fairly mobile, whereas X­rays on another may show very mild changes – dogs’ quality of life as good as possible. yet the dog clinically is extremely painful!

You may think that your dog isn’t in pain because he doesn’t limp all Subtle Signs the time, or doesn’t yelp, or show any other obvious outward signs of The take home message is that a dog suffering from chronic pain will discomfort. But this is where we need to consider the difference be­ not always cry, vocalize, or go completely non­weight bearing on a limb. tween acute and chronic pain: Dogs tend to tell us about chronic pain in The signs can be so subtle that we often miss them, or dismiss them as a very different way to acute pain. ‘slowing down’ or ‘old age.’

Chronic pain needs to be managed in a holistic and multimodal way.

Acute Pain: Is an emergency strategy to help the dog move away from Although holism is often confused – or misused – as the use of comple­ a noxious stimulus, literally run away (fight or flight) in order to protect the body. Acute pain is self­limiting and is provoked by a specific disease mentary and alternative treatments, I mean it here in the true sense of the word. This means looking at your pet as a whole and assessing all or injury. It also serves as a useful biological purpose, which is, in his physical and mental requirements. These may include medication, essence to protect the individual experiencing it. preventing further injury, home adaptations, weight management (if re­ quired), the use of evidence­based supplements and additional thera­ Chronic Pain: In contrast, chronic pain may be considered a disease pies, and mental stimulation. state. It’s something that happens over time. With chronic pain there

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

© Canine Arthritis Management

a better quality of life

canine Some dogs are stoic and will hide the symptoms of pain for a long time, while others will show very early on that they are in pain. What we do know is that dogs all experience pain differently.

Tips/Signs of What to Look for When Examining Your Dog for Pain Indicators 1)

Identifying Chronic Pain If you feel that your dog is showing any signs of chronic pain, at Canine Arthritis Management we always advise guardians to follow our pyra­ mid (see Fig 1, below).

First of all, identify. You can do this by looking out for our pain indi­ cators and identifying that there is an issue (see box, top right).

Next, get the correct diagnosis. For this to happen, you will need to at­ tend your veterinary surgery to work with your vet. A physical examina­ tion and history taking will occur. You may need to be open and financially prepared for the possibility of further investigations, such as X­rays and the possibility of long­term medication, as well as the idea of starting to implement a multimodal management plan, as discussed earlier.

Managing your expectations of the disease is important; this is now a lifelong, degenerative disease that will need to be managed. There will be waxes and wanes, which mean you will have good and bad days.

Working with your veterinary surgeon and registered veterinary techni­ cians to be in control of the pain is essential. This is exactly why pain control is at the center of our pyramid: because it is essential and cen­ tral to all other interventions that we may want to implement.

Interventions Once interventions are in place you may see a quick improvement in symptoms and behavior changes. Other changes require a bit longer to take effect as you work on rebuilding your dog’s muscle, core strength, and improve his gait. You will be happy to see that, in the months after diagnosis and starting a medication regime alongside other multimodal interventions, your dog becomes happier, livelier, wants to walk again, and asks to play with toys. You may also see that his sleep/wake cycle improves and that previous postural and physical changes will improve too.

Fig. 1

2)

3) 4)

5) 6) 7)

Change in Behavior: Has your dog got grumpier? Less toler­ ant? Training going haywire? Fear reactive? This could be a de­ fense mechanism to prevent pain. The dog may be anticipating that that big bouncy puppy is going to jump on him – and that HURTS. Changes in Routine: Does your dog not want to get up in morning? Is he not asking to go for walks as much? Sleeping more than usual?

Mood State: Is your dog more withdrawn and depressed than usual? Not greeting you at the door with a wagging tail?

Sleeping: Has your dog’s wake/sleep cycle changed? Is he pacing at night? But is then depressed and sleepy during the day?

Comfort: Is your dog moving and shuffling around when try­ ing to get comfy?

Joints: Is your dog licking his joints? Looking at a certain area?

Stiffness: Are the dog’s joints stiff or lame after walking, or after walking a certain length, or a certain terrain of walk? Are they stiff when he is getting up in the morning?

Optimal management includes the use of multiple interventions. Ex­ ercising your dog appropriately, not undertaking high impact games (such as the ‘ball thrower’ toy), implementing a suitable weight loss pro­ gram (if your dog is overweight), and undertaking complementary ther­ apies can all be considered in this plan.

From a personal perspective as guardian of a dog with arthritis, once we were following a medication regime, getting help from a phys­ iotherapist, and adding complementary therapy, my dog was: • Less grumpy and reactive, and more tolerant.

• Better at listening to cues.

• Asking to play with toys much more.

• Not asking to stop on walks.

• Less fear reactive of other dogs while out for a walk.

All these factors add up to make for a much happier dog and guardian! n

Resources Canine Arthritis Management. (2020). Chronic Pain Indicator Chart Canine Arthritis Management. (2020). Downloads and Resources Canine Arthritis Management. (2020). Has My Dog Definitely Got Osteoarthritis?

Canine Arthritis Management. (2020). Identifying Signs of Arthritis Robyn Lowe is a registered veterinary nurse who qualified at Myerscough School of Veterinary Nursing, England in 2016 and started her Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons diploma in advanced veterinary nursing in 2018. She has worked on a volunteer basis with animals since she was 4 years old. She spent several years at the Horse and Pony Protection Association and later at a local rescue and rehabilitation yard. Here, she met a veterinary surgeon who inspired her, and subsequently went for her first work experience in 2008 at their busy mixed practice. She has also travelled to Thailand to volunteer her knowledge and skills working with elephants, horses, goats, pigs, water buffalo, cats and dogs. She has supported the charity Street Paws, who help and provide preventative and medical care from homeless people’s dogs, and also volunteers for Canine Arthritis Management to help provide dog guardians with evidence-based advice.

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

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canine

Lessons for Life Alicia Obando discusses ways of managing children and dogs together safely, highlighting the many important lessons children can learn from their pet dogs

© Can Stock Photo / monkeybusiness

According to the U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook, 63.2% of pet guardians consider their pets to be family members

A

© Alicia Obando

Teaching children how to care for their dogs and how to be safe around all dogs fosters responsibility, confidence, and independence

ccording to the American Pet Products Association (2019), 67% of U.S. households now own at least one pet, which equals an esti­ mated 84.9 million homes. The U.S. Pet Ownership and Demo­ graphics Sourcebook (2012) states that, in 2011, 63.2% of pet owners considered their pets to be family members. So this means there are millions of U.S. households with pets that live in their homes as valued family members.

Many of these families also have children, or will be expecting chil­ dren at some stage. That is a lot of families who could potentially face some of the challenges that can arise when raising kids and dogs to­ gether.

Too often, I have seen pets being acquired as a spur of the moment thing with little – or even no – preparation or research. But bringing a pet into the family is a big, potentially life­changing decision that can impact everyone in the household for up to 15 years or more. It is a de­ cision that should not be made lightly. So I believe it can be immensely helpful to seek advice from a pet care professional when making such a big decision.

too, as they will be the ones ultimately responsible for his care. Not hav­ ing all adults onboard with this decision may increase the possibility of trouble down the road.

Once everyone is on board with the decision to get a dog, the family can then sit down with a pet care professional to discuss what kind of dog they want, what their lifestyle looks like, what their expectations are, and how much time and money they are willing and able to set aside for this new family member. Dogs take a lot of time and money to care for properly. An honest assessment of how much the family can give is critical to making the big decision.

Once all the information is gathered, the pet care professional can help the family come up with the kind of dog that would be a good fit based on his/her size, age, temperament, exercise needs, grooming needs and medical needs. The search can then begin. It is helpful to have the kids as part of the discussion and search process, so they can learn about the process from the very start.

Big Decision

Preparing the home for the arrival of the dog is the next step. Where will he eat, sleep, play? Who will feed him, walk him and play with him?

The family will need to buy all the necessary supplies and set up the dog areas before the dog comes home. Again, having the children partici­

First, the family needs to be all­in on this decision. The child may be the one begging for a dog, but the parents/guardians need to want a dog

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

In the Home

canine pate in this process helps to educate them on what the dog will need and gets them to buy into participating in the care of that dog.

The next important element in preparing for the dog’s arrival is for all family members to learn about canine communication and behavior.

The adults need to be aware of how the dog communicates stress so that they can try to minimize its occurrence. School­age children can also learn to use their own eyes to assess this. Learning how to identify canine stress signals and what things usually cause stress can help to prevent stressful situations. Or, as Family Paws (2020) puts it: “Ears, Eyes, Tail, Muzzle, gather the clues to solve the puzzle!”

Children should learn that you need to leave dogs alone when they are sleeping or eating. They should also learn that dogs can be sensitive to loud noises and sudden movements and that these things should also be minimized around them. Everyone should also learn the best way to pet a dog – invite them in, pet them along their side or in their favorite spot, and pause to let them leave if they are done. Giving the dog a choice whether to interact or not is essential, and whatever he decides must be respected.

Parental Supervision For families that have children under the age of 10, parental supervision is very important. And children under the age of 5 should never be left alone with a dog. It only takes a second for something to go wrong and someone to get hurt. Baby gates and dog crates can be used as manage­ ment tools to keep the dog and child safely apart, as needed.

It is a good idea for parents to start teaching appropriate touch early on. Babies and young toddlers do not have well­developed fine motor skills, so they cannot be expected to know how to pet gently. Parents will want to guide their hands while petting their dog. As the children get older, they can be taught to pet the dog along his side or favorite spot. Many dogs do not like to be kissed and hugged, so children should be taught to refrain from doing this.

Children may tend to generalize that what works in one situation should also work in another similar situation, without discerning the differences in those situations. This can potentially be dangerous when they go to a friend’s house and think they can interact with the friend’s dog in the same way that they interact with their own dog Children may tend to generalize that what works in one situation should also work in another similar situation, without discerning the dif­ ferences in those situations. This can be potentially dangerous when they go to a friend’s house and think they can interact with the friend’s dog in the same way that they interact with their own dog at home. Just because their own dog likes to be kissed, does not mean that other dogs, with whom they don’t share that same bond, are going to be com­ fortable with it. It is helpful to talk to kids about how to interact with dogs outside of their own home.

This also applies to dogs children may meet out in the community. It is important that they learn how to greet a dog that another adult is walking on a leash: 1.

Ask the adult you are with if it’s okay to pet the dog.

2.

Ask the person handling the dog if it’s okay to pet the dog.

3.

If they’ve had the right education, older kids can also use their own eyes to assess whether the dog looks comfortable and friendly.

4.

If the answer to these first three is affirmative, the involved parties can then let the dog decide if he wants to approach.

5.

Once the dog approaches, the child can pet the dog along his side or preferred spot — if the dog is still okay with it.

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

35

canine ANIMAL COURSES DIRECT

Children also need to learn what to do if they come across a dog who is loose, without a handler and not on a leash. As per Doggone Safe’s Be A Tree program, the child should stand still, ‘like a tree,’ if they see a loose dog.

Standing still with your arms close by your side and looking down at your feet is a way to appear totally boring and nonthreatening to the dog. The dog might sniff the child and then go on his way. Conversely, screaming and running away are not safe actions around a loose dog.

Such behavior may cause the dog to become highly aroused, which could lead to him jumping up, nipping, or even biting the child. If the child ends up in a situation like this, he can become ‘round like a rock,’ i.e. curl up on the ground to protect the head and torso, until an adult is able to assist (Doggone Safe, 2020).

Teaching Empathy Teaching children how to care for their dogs and how to be safe around all dogs are great ways to foster responsibility, confidence, and inde­ pendence. Another wonderful lesson that kids can learn from dogs is empathy and compassion. Caring for another living being who recipro­ cates with unconditional love is one of the best parts of living with a dog. Loving and caring for a dog can help kids love and care for other human beings as well. It can also bolster their self­esteem, as they feel the love and acceptance from their dogs.

The final, and most difficult, lesson that dogs can help teach kids is that of loss and grief. Losing a pet may be the first experience of death a child must confront. How to handle grief in a healthy way is an impor­ tant life lesson that parents can guide their child through.

From the day the dog comes home till the day he crosses the Rain­ bow Bridge, he will teach the children in the family so many wonderful lessons. While it can be a lot of work for parents to manage this long, and sometimes challenging, relationship, the bond that a child and dog form makes it well worth the effort. n

References American Pet Products Association. (2019). 2019-2020 APPA National Pet Owners Survey. Stamford, CT: APPA American Veterinary Medical Association. (2012). U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook. Schaumburg, IL: American Veterinary Medical Association Doggone Safe. (2020). Be A Tree Family Paws. (2020). Doggie Detective Activity Sheet

Resources Doggone Safe Family Paws Parent Education Good Dog In a Box I Speak Dog Living with Kids and Dogs: Parenting Secrets for a Safe and Happy Home The Family Dog Tudge, N. (2017). A Kids' Comprehensive Guide to Speaking Dog! n.p.: Author Alicia Obando is a child and pet care educator with a Bachelor’s in early childhood education and a Master’s in counseling children and adolescents. She has worked on behalf of children and families for over 30 years and in the animal welfare arena for over 15 years, recently becoming certified as a pet loss counselor. In 2015, she started her Chicago company, Pitter Patter Parenting, where she offers pet care, education and support to help families manage kids and pets together safely, while honoring the bond that people have with their pets. She works with families individually in their homes, and also teaches pet safety classes to children and expectant parents at various locations around the Chicagoland area.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

Today’s PPG Junior Members are Tomorrow’s Pet Industry Leaders

The Journey Starts Here - Join the PPG Junior Membership Program Loads of Benefits Including: Individual level member badge Membership Certificate A moderated chat group on PPG’s website FREE Participation in the Pet Dog Ambassador Program FREE Junior Member PPAB credentialing Listing in Junior Membership Directory on PPG’s website A FREE e-book – A Kid’s Comprehensive Guide to Speaking Dog Participation in the Annual Training Deed Challenge

3 Membership Levels to Grow With as You Learn - Increasing Skills, Increasing Benefits: Provisional Junior Basic (8-12 years) Provisional Junior Advanced (13-17 years) Provisional Apprentice (18-20 years)

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training

Training in the Real World Anna Bradley considers the wider implications of training some of the standard, basic cues and their applications to real life

© Can Stock Photo / ksuksa

© Can Stock Photo / RaZZeRs

Stand can be a useful cue to teach dogs, for example for dogs who like to get muddy and need regular baths, or who need a lot of grooming

A “watch” cue helps teach dogs positive engagement and is a useful background listening skill for recall, leash walking, and multiple behavioral issues

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a big dog, this is something you want to start early on because it’s no fun being thundered out of the way by a hulk of a dog. It can also be dangerous.

I’ll also take the sit outside and build up the duration, e.g. sit plus an extended amount of calm time equals a reward. This sit + settle builds calmness. I will go to places frequented by people but stay on the fringes, practice my sit and provided my dog is able to cope, will pro­ gressively work to get closer over the coming weeks. So I’m essentially working on a desensitization procedure and response substitution.

I might also work on sit inside the home in a designated area and on some location training with something like a carpet square. I can use this to work on calm greetings when people call at the house.

ew puppy guardians will often take their charges to a puppy class, not only to learn basic skills but also so their pups can ben­ efit from the positive effects of socialization. A well­run class can have a fantastic effect on a young puppy’s emotional well­being and greatly aid confidence and social interactional skills.

Sometimes, though, guardians attend a puppy course for a few weeks and that’s it. It is a personal choice, of course, as to how many classes or courses a guardian attends with their pup, but they may find themselves stopping when their dog is only just starting to really absorb things. It can be frustrating when puppies are distracted by so many en­ vironmental stimuli and this can cause guardians to switch off from training and become disheartened. But this is the nature of puppyhood and to continue is to learn, win, and succeed in later life, as well as build a better bond together.

While skills may be learned in class, real­life learning is done at home, every day. This means during play, during walks, and during every fun opportunity together – not just during that one hour in a classroom.

What we are doing is teaching our dogs a skill set. We teach them things to facilitate our lives with them, to make their lives safer and other peo­ ple’s lives around them safer. It’s about being responsible.

Let’s take ‘sit’ as an example. In addition to training the skill itself, there are also the multiple real­life practical applications of where this behavior can be useful. In reality, we’re not just teaching our dogs a sim­ ple ‘sit.’ We’re teaching them a skill that can keep them calm, ease their stress, maybe save their life, or help us negotiate a complex situation.

This is what I mean by real­world training.

Sit I start teaching young puppies sit as soon as they come home. It’s part of teaching manners around the household. I like my dogs to be polite and ask nicely for the treats they receive. I’ll start in the first week ask­ ing puppy to sit at every doorway so I don’t get barged past. If you have

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Down Working on teaching a lie down is applicable to the same types of sce­ narios as sit but because the dog is lying completely prone, they often become more settled.

In this case, I will work on building up the time the dog spends lying down. I will do it progressively because some dogs tend to find it quite difficult. If I can build a great lie down over time, I essentially have a dog I can take anywhere (assuming the dog is okay with that – not all dogs will be, so I also need to take that into consideration and make sure I am not putting him in situations he is uncomfortable with). If I want to visit places like cafés, restaurants, etc., there will be times when my dog needs to just be still and keep to himself. In such scenarios, having a great lie down is a fabulous asset. The same is true at home. Being able to cue my dog to lie down during mealtimes so he won’t beg at the table, or lie in a particular spot when I have guests, can make everyone’s lives easier.

Stay Stay can be a real lifesaver and is also great for teaching impulse control.

training While skills may be learned in class, real-life learning is done at home, every day. This means during play, during walks, and during every fun opportunity together – not just during that one hour in a classroom.

I always train stay to mean ‘stay still while I come back to you.’ This way, if my dog ever runs off, gets loose, or strays near a road, I can ask him to stay put until I get there. Stay is also good for simple close contact ‘stay puts,’ such as opening the trunk of the car so the dog doesn’t jump out.

There are all sorts of scenarios where this behavior can be applied to keep the dog safe.

’

Stand Stand sometimes gets overlooked, but it can be a really useful cue. For example, if I have a dog who often gets muddy, loves the water, or needs grooming a lot, ‘stand rocksteady’ on all four legs for a desig­ nated amount of time is a useful skill to teach. Rather than battle with a dog rolling around on the floor, a good stand will really cut down the time I spend on chores such as these.

Finish Finish, as in the dog comes around my back (or sometimes in a semicir­ cle to the side) at the end of recall, can seem like a behavior that is seen in competition but has no real practical application. However, finish is ideal for dogs who are incredibly enthusiastic with recall, or those who don’t stop, leaving you in fear of being completely bowled over. Use fin­ ish as the dog approaches to dissipate his end flourish!

Watch Dog guardians often ask me how am I going to use watch, i.e., where and when? The answer to this question is vast because watch is incredi­ bly versatile and has so many uses. For example, watch is ideal for teaching your dog positive engagement, as in ‘looking at me is so great, even better than looking at that!’ Because of this, it’s a useful back­ ground listening skill for issues such as recall, leash walking and multiple behavioral issues. It can also be helpful in lowering arousal, especially when the duration is increased. We can see how the dog relaxes and his breathing deepens.

The watch cue is also good for dogs who are very exuberant and bouncy who may lunge and leap at anything in their path. Instead of struggling with this, I can focus on what I’ve already taught the dog to do and be successful at – to listen and positively engage with me when these challenges appear. Watch can also be used in behavior change plans to reward looking at stimuli, to which a dog might potentially be reactive, in a calm and relaxed manner.

Training for Life These are just a few of the common training cues that are taught in a class situation that guardians may not always consider the wider implica­ tions of. In addition, I should note here that there is always the need to continue training, no matter what the dog’s age. In real life, training con­ tinues all the time, every day, in every context, for the dog’s entire life. n Anna Francesca Bradley MSc BSc (Hons) is a United Kingdomebased provisional clinical, certified IAABC animal behavior consultant and ABTC accredited behavior consultant. She owns Perfect Pawz! Training and Behavior Practice in Hexham, Northumberland, where the aim is always to create and restore happy relationships between dog and owner in a relaxed way, using methods based on sound scientific principles, which are both force-free and fun.

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training

From Guarding to Sharing Diane Garrod discusses the ins and outs of addressing resource guarding in dogs, presenting a basic definition for the behavior as well as suggested protocols for working through this common canine behavior

R

esource guarding is a common and, indeed, normal behavior in dogs and many other species, including humans (see also Re‐ source Guarding or Rule Setting on pp.28‐30). In scientific litera­ ture, other terms, such as possessive aggression and food­related aggression, are sometimes used in tandem with, or even interchange­ ably, with canine resource guarding “to refer to a sequence of behavior patterns that dogs exhibit to gain or maintain primary access to a per­ ceived valuable item when another animal or person approaches.” (Ja­ cobs et al., 2018). However, as determined via a survey conducted amongst experts by Jacobs et al. (2018), the term resource guarding was “less likely to be negatively misinterpreted” by dog guardians and is “easier to communicate to them,” as well as “better representing the potential for behaviors other than aggression to be exhibited during the behavioral sequence (e.g., avoidance­related behaviors).” As such, they settled on the following basic definition for resource guarding: “The use of avoidance, threatening, or aggressive behaviors by a dog to retain control of food or non­food items in the presence of a person or other animal.” (Jacobs et al., 2018).

Antecedents, Behavior, Consequences

© Diane Garrod

When first adopted, Skye (right) would guard locations, food, and his new female guardian (author Diane Garrod); in his previous home, his extreme resource guarding behavior had caused him to bite his guardian four times and the pet sitter once, hence his relinquishment

In my experience, resource guarding often starts out quite mildly, but risks getting worse if a dog is continually confronted for the resource (by a human or another dog). Understanding why a dog resource guards can help us set out a protocol to change their emotional responses to the items they consider worthy of defending.

Let’s first consider the circumstances which cause a dog to resource guard: He wants or already has a resource. He is confronted to relin­ quish the item (or thinks he is), which makes him get worried or stressed. In a nutshell: p p p

He’s going to lose the resource, an item he has in his posses­ sion and sees as important.

If he is confronted, or thinks he is being confronted, the guard­ ing behavior starts. The dog guards the item because he is worried it will be taken from him.

When confronted often, the dog becomes even more stressed and worried and the resource guarding tendency increases, possibly, eventually, to the point where a bite could occur.

Now let’s consider what the dog is getting out of the behavior. In other words, what are the consequences? p

p p © Diane Garrod

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With resource guarding, the dog is keeping an item, or keep­ ing another dog or human away from something he considers is his (another person, a dog, a location, air molecules, etc.).

The perception is the dog’s reality.

The dog has discovered he can challenge the confrontation and get to keep the item.

As professionals, we know that if we change the antecedent (what precedes the behavior) and the consequence (what the

training p

dog is getting out of doing the behavior), we change the be­ havior. Simple ABC. Changing the consequence means we trade for the item, or we do a food drop, or we leave the dog in peace, so he does not feel confronted. We can thus set him up for success.

Types of Resource Guarding Include: Tease and Guard: The dog grabs the item and teases a person or an­ other dog with it until they get too close, then chases them away and/or bares his teeth.

What does resource guarding look like, then?

Typically, the tail stiffens, freezing and/or a tensing of the body occurs, accompanied by or followed by whale eye and/or a hard stare. The dog may pick up or quickly grab the item of value and move it somewhere else to avoid confrontation.

freeze if a person or dog approaches the toy, or grab it and run away.

the whole training program and may require a tweaking of the current environment and the habits of the humans in the household. This is es­ sential because guarding resources can get worse. Why? People some­ times inadvertently teach their dog that their approach + resource = resource will get taken away. In the dog’s eyes he has no choice; he learns that he will lose his resource unless he takes action to keep it.

As we embark on our training protocol, the most important thing is to attempt to avoid all opportunities for the dog to rehearse the behav­ ior. This means:

Location Guarding: Any location can be a resource, from a hole dug in

Prevention: Make sure the environment is tweaked to keep the dog

the lawn, to a seashell on a beach, to a dog’s bed, the couch, a chair, etc.

successful and let him enjoy resources without confrontation.

Guarding of a Person: Usually the dog’s guardian or other trusted

Management: Create peace of mind for all humans and animals in the

person.

household by setting up safety zones, such as pens, baby gates, and crates, and use a muzzle(s) if necessary.

Food Guarding: A mild case may be a dog starting to eat faster at the approach of a human or another dog. An extreme case may showcase high level body language such as growls, snaps, and/or attacks over the food bowl and/or the area around it.

Toy Guarding (or What a Dog Perceives as a Toy): The dog may

A dog may only engage in one type of resource guarding, or any combination of the above. Interestingly, Harris and Prouvost (2014) had dogs observe their caregivers praising and interacting with a realistic an­ imatronic dog, as well as with socially irrelevant inanimate objects. They reported the following: • When their caregivers interacted with the fake dog, dogs had in­ creased behavioral arousal and showed aggression toward the fake dog.

• No such behavior was elicited by the socially irrelevant objects.

The authors interpreted their findings as evidence of something like jealousy (or “proto jealousy”) in the domestic dog.

Food for thought indeed, but a discussion for another day!

The Look of Resource Guarding What does resource guarding look like, then? Typically, the tail stiffens, freezing and/or a tensing of the body occurs, accompanied by or fol­ lowed by whale eye and/or a hard stare. The dog may pick up or quickly grab the item of value and move it somewhere else to avoid confronta­ tion.

As the behavior becomes more intense, there will be a definite pause and/or an evasive move often accompanied by a growl. The con­ sequence for the dog here, which is reinforcing, is that the pursuer (most likely) backs off, and the dog gets to keep the resource. The more this is repeated, the more the behavior will escalate – because it has been successful. This may include bared teeth, a snap, and/or a bite.

Watch specifically for the following (especially in food aggression, but can relate to other areas too): 1 – Lowered head/neck over the resource.

2 – Stopping of eating and sudden freeze, a very pronounced pause.

3 – Frantically snarfing down food.

4 – Running away with the resource, sometimes tail is tucked and/or the ears are back.

Practice Makes Perfect For me, the best starting points to change guarding behavior into shar­ ing behavior are prevention, management, and supervision. The less the dog has the opportunity to practice, the better. This must be a part of

Supervision: Have a person on call at all times so any possibility of practicing the guarding of any resource does not occur. This could mean a leash drag (the dog has a leash attached to his harness and drags it be­ hind him so the human can have safe access to it, if needed), knowing exactly where the dog is at all times, who is in the environment at any time, and allowing the dog to do only what he is able to do successfully.

Otherwise, prevention and management are in place.

The goal of this is to change the setting events that are causing the behavior. It also means setting up the dog for success by rearranging the environment.

At this stage we need to take into account the ABCs (antecedents, behavior, consequences), the 3Ds (distance, duration, distractions), the 3Rs (redirect, remove, relax), and the CERs (conditioned emotional re­ sponses). We also need to identify all potential triggers. Exactly what is occurring and when? Write down who is present, the time of day, the location, what occurred before the incident, and any other pertinent facts.

Lastly, we need to teach the dog to be responsive and reliable to cues. This will help the guardian redirect behavior quickly by voice control. This in­ cludes giving the dog the choice to engage in “other” highly rewarded behaviors (think, what do you want them to do instead?).

When guarding a resource, a dog keeps an item, or keeps another dog or human away from something he considers is his: The perception is the dog’s reality © Can Stock Photo / jmpaget

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training

© Can Stock Photo / pitrs

© Susan Nilson

This dog is guarding her Kong, as indicated by her stiffened musculature and freezing

Cue Development An important part of working with resource guarding behavior is releas­ ing the dog’s stress (see Canine Emotional Detox, BARKS from the Guild, June 2012, pp.36‐41). The behavior change process will also include set­ ting up the dog for success by ensuring safety is a priority. Dogs with a bite history might need a tether, for example. Have something to safely remove the item being guarded, if needed (extended tongs, rake, etc.), but the chances are you will not need this if you go through the steps and develop voice cues to guide the dog without confrontation. Note that slow feeder bowls can be helpful with food aggression cases.

Never take an item from a dog’s mouth. Instead, plan ahead and keep conflict low. If you need to get an item back, treat toss, i.e. scatter a handful of high value rewards (meatballs, liver, chicken, cheese ­ what­ ever the dog loves) far to the dog’s right or left side. As the dog moves away to get the treats, pick up the object quickly, put it away and sprin­ kle some more treats as you praise or mark the movement away from the resource.

The key is that the dog chooses to move away from item and the re­ ward is highly reinforcing to that individual dog. This is what you are al­ ways working toward. Once it starts to reliably happen, you can add cues such as, “Get it,” “Bring it,” and“Drop it.” Click the action of getting it, bringing it, and dropping it, then reward the drop. Using a clicker (or mark/reward training system) gets better precision and clearly defines what the dog is doing right. Be sure to choose high value food rewards that the dog loves, otherwise they will not be reinforcing.

If the dog is location guarding, teach an “Off” cue with treats as fol­ lows: • Start with treat scatter.

• Name it “off” when you have at least 10 trials perfected.

(First cue “off” as the dog jumps off or moves away from

As the behavior becomes more intense, there will be a definite pause during and/or an evasive move often accompanied by a growl. The consequence for the dog here, which is reinforcing, is that the pursuer backs off, and the dog keeps the resource. The more this is repeated, the more the behavior will escalate – because it has been successful.

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Dogs may guard items such as food, toys, their bed, a specific area or location, a person ­ or anything else they consider to be of value

the location toward the treats; later, proof the cue by say­ ing it before the treats are released.)

• Name “up” as an asking permission cue by teaching a solid sit/wait/stay/ask.

These can all become fun cues for the dog (see Resources).

Mechanics of Desensitization As you start working with the cues, gradually increase the intensity of exposure at levels the learner can tolerate. This is where the 3Ds come in. Keep the distance easily doable for the dog, keep the duration of the exercises short and successful, and keep distractions at a minimum. All three will be slowly and incrementally decreased or increased as appro­ priate. The first resources should be low in value. You can move up from there, but only to where the dog can be successful. You do not want to see anything more in signaling than a stiffening of the body at this point.

This stiffening is quickly dissipated as the dog learns what else to do. For example, go for a meatball tossed up and over the dog’s body instead of the resource when the cue is given.

Another technique that can be helpful is treat/retreat. Start with a one­step­at­a­time approach, toss a treat away from the coveted re­ source, and then allow the dog to make the choice to retreat from the item to take the reward. Repeat the sequence and make it a fun game that always reinforces movement away from an item and gives the dog a choice.

You know you are progressing when you start to see a friendly head lift and other welcoming, approachable body language changes. Once you are at the stage where the approach of a person or dog means good things happen (as opposed to confrontation), you are well on the way to developing trust. Always watch the dog’s body language and do not move too fast with the training. Adjust any forward movement accord­ ing to what the dog’s body language is revealing, be aware of distance increasing or decreasing signals and tailor your approach accordingly.

Reach out to a fellow trainer or behavior consultant if needed, since the desensitization process can be challenging and potentially dangerous and the stakes are so high for the dog (as with my adopted dog Skye).

Sharing As I said at the beginning, when a dog guards resources from other dogs it is normal behavior (to a degree). For example, a growl is elicited and the other dog moves away and heeds the warning. But trouble can occur if the growl is not heeded. Instead of moving away the other dog

training may decide to try to get to the resource.

The goal is, of course, to have worked through the steps, read the situation correctly and not allowed it to develop to this point. But, if it does happen, go back to prevention, management, and supervision. Set up crates, gates, and pens for safety. Implement the acclimate, tolerate, accept (ATA) process, which incorporates five stages of modified desen­ sitization and counterconditioning (see Fighting in Multidog Households, BARKS from the Guild, May 2017, pp.20‐26).

Yes, it is possible to teach a dog to share or, at the very least, to re­ linquish an item he wants. It requires a solid, nonconfrontational “Leave It”(see Resources) and supervision early on. It also requires your dog knowing he will have resources available without confrontation. Teach­ ing a solid “Go to Place” and a solid wait/stay will also help.

How long does all this take? The flippant answer is “as long as it takes.” A more professional outlook would include setting up a three­ month behavior change process, setting milestones and end goals, eval­ uating regularly, and adjusting as needed. As we all know, each dog is an individual.

Once all goals have been achieved, then maintenance is paramount.

Guardians need to be consistent and continue with their commitment to the process and not fall back into old habits. The end goal is the dog always happily releasing valuable (to him) resources and trading for highly reinforcing items. Trust builds and relinquishing items – even sharing them – becomes fun. n

References Harris, C.R., & Prouvost, C. (2014). Jealousy in Dogs. PLOS One Jacobs, J.A., Coe, J.B., Widowski, T.M., Pearl, D.L., & Niel, L. (2018).

Defining and Clarifying the Terms Canine Possessive Aggression and Resource Guarding: A Study of Expert Opinion. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 5

Resources Cook, P., Prichard, A., Spivak, M., & Berns, G.S. (2018). Jealousy in dogs? Evidence from brain imaging. Animal Sentience 117 Dog Training by Kikopup. (2009, May 30). How to teach 'leave it'without intimidation [Video File] DomesticatedManners. (2010, December 13). Teaching Your Dog to "Drop” [Video File] Garrod, D. (2012, June). Canine Emotional Detox. BARKS from the Guild (2) 36-41 Garrod, D. (2016, September). Dodging Euthanasia. BARKS from the Guild (20) 14-20 Garrod, D. (2017, May). Fighting in Multidog Households. BARKS from the Guild (24) 20-26 Horwitz, D.F., & Neilson, J.C. (2007). Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline Behavior. Ames, IA: Blackwell Jacobs, J.A., Coe, J.B., Widowski, T.M., Pearl, D.L., & Niel, L. (2018).

Factors associated with canine resource guarding behaviour in the presence of dogs: A cross-sectional survey of dog owners. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 161 134-142 Jacobs, J.A., Coe, J.B., Widowski, T.M., Pearl, D.L., & Niel, L. (2018).

Factors associated with canine resource guarding behaviour in the presence of people: A cross-sectional survey of dog owners. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 161 143-153 Nilson, S. (2014). Resource Guarding: Knowing the Signs. BARKS Blog Overall, K. (2013). Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Skye - Blue Skies from Now on (Journey of a Resource Guarder) Diane Garrod BSc PCT-A CA1 FF1 is the owner of Canine Transformations (caninetlc.com) based in Langley, Washington, where she conducts Treibball workshops, classes and private consults, specializing in canine aggression and reactivity.

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f e l i n e

The Itch to Scratch Andrea Carne explores ways in which cat guardians can find the balance between the natural feline behavior of scratching and human expectations, taking into account a cat’s individual preferences and the need to provide choices

© Can Stock Photo / galsand

© Can Stock Photo / bymandesigns

Research shows that cats prefer cardboard or rope scratchers over carpet or fabric

Offering a variety of both vertical and horizontal options for scratching (and some on angles too) in various locations around the home is ideal

R

visual sign of territory and generally make cats feel good.

Atkinson (2018, p.26) explains as follows: “Cats scratch surfaces using the claws of their forefeet and often have preferred scratching areas where the behavior is repeated. They may demonstrate an indi­ vidual preference for using either a vertical or horizontal surface or may scratch equally on both.”

As anyone in the cat behavior field knows, because scratching is a natural behavior, it’s very important that we allow cats to engage in it and do not discourage it. Discouragement of something an animal has an innate need to do can lead to frustration and/or stress and create ad­ ditional behavior problems too. Even if we can’t provide exact opportu­ nities for every natural cat behavior (e.g. an indoor­only cat needing to hunt small live prey several times a day), we owe it to their mental well­ being to at least provide alternatives (e.g. using a hunting sequence with a wand toy and a treat provided at the end).

egardless of whichever behavior issue I have been called upon to assist a cat guardian with – whether it be inappropriate toileting, aggression towards humans, or aggression between cats in a mul­ ticat household – I can almost guarantee that when I ask at the end of a consult, “Is there anything else you wanted to chat about while I’m here?”, the response will always include some variation of, “How do I get them to stop scratching the furniture?”

My first response is generally to explain that scratching is a natural cat behavior. It provides an opportunity to sharpen claws, stretch the back and legs, deposit scent via secretions from the paw pads, leave a

When it comes to scratching, as natural and important as the behavior may be, the conflict between feline and guardian can arise when it occurs on surfaces humans aren’t keen on the cats using. Sofas and other soft furnishings are often the main targets, but I’ve also seen it on soft wood furniture and kitchen cabinetry.

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Natural Behavior When it comes to scratching, as natural and important as the behavior may be, conflict between feline and guardian can arise when it occurs

...researchers found that the cats preferred vertical scratchers over horizontal, cardboard or rope over carpet and sofa fabric, and they liked the addition of catnip or silvervine over Feliscratch™. on surfaces the humans aren’t keen on the cats using. Sofas and other soft furnishings are often the main targets, but I’ve also seen it on soft wood furniture and kitchen cabinetry. Inevitably, whenever the issue arises, however, the one thing I can almost guarantee is that the guardian has either (a) not provided an alternative for the cat to scratch on or (b) if they have, have not provided an alternative that is accept­ able to the cat(s).

In my experience, the types of available offerings in pet and depart­ ment stores tend to include small, flimsy scratch posts (that are not only too short to provide a full body stretch but would also topple over if the cat attempted to stretch out fully) or small boards on string that can be hung over a doorknob (but that move too much to enable any type of effective scratching). And while well­meaning guardians may purchase items such as these for their cat(s), the result may be that their pets still need an outlet for the scratching behavior and so instead may turn to a bigger, sturdier alternative – such as the sofa.

What Cats Want How, then, do we help guardians choose scratching options that are ac­ ceptable to all parties? Well, the best thing is to ask cats what they want!

A study by Zhang and McGlone (2020) looked at scratcher prefer­ ences of adult ‘in­home’ cats. While not a huge study – only involving 36 cats – it provides some insight into what cats generally prefer and points to an overall need to treat cats as individuals, with individual likes and dislikes, and the need for guardians to provide choices.

The study was carried out in the cats’ own homes and involved three different experiments. In each, the cats were offered particular choices in scratching equipment and their response was measured in terms of the amount of time they spent with each item and the fre­ quency of their visits to same over a time period of one week. A video camera was set up to ensure as natural responses to the items were captured as possible.

The first experiment looked at vertical vs. horizontal scratching pref­ erences, the second considered texture preferences, and the third ex­ amined whether the addition of an olfactory stimulus made any difference to preference for otherwise identical scratching posts.

In brief, the researchers found that the cats preferred vertical scratchers over horizontal, cardboard or rope over carpet and sofa fab­ ric, and they liked the addition of catnip or silvervine over Feliscratch™ (a synthetic pheromone product produced by the manufacturers of Feli­ way™). In fact, the synthetic pheromone had no more effect on prefer­ ence than the scratching post which had nothing at all.

Choices So, what does this all mean? Well, it comes down to my go­to word for making cats happy – choice. Offering choice to cats – and indeed all ani­ mals – is so important. Choice in resources and enrichment gives cats a greater sense of control over their environment and reduces the per­ ceived need to compete for important items. In multicat households, of­ fering choice becomes critical in the health, well­being and welfare of the feline inhabitants.

Choice involves not only number of resources but also variety.

When it comes to scratching, the Zhang and McGlone (2020) study sup­ ports my opinion that the needs of individual cats need to be met by of­ fering a variety of scratching surfaces and equipment to meet the preferences of all. And, as Atkinson (2018) states, some cats may choose

f e l i n e different types at different times. So, the more options we provide, the happier our cats will be.

Quality pet stores and online pet businesses offer a multitude of good quality options for scratching equipment including huge, sturdy vertical poles and horizontal options in a range of textures. But there are also plenty of homemade alternatives that can be created with rela­ tive ease. A log or tree trunk with soft bark is a good option, as long as it is heavy enough and positioned well so it cannot be moved by the cat.

Cat trees can also be home made through the use of sturdy wooden poles on a heavy base with sisal rope wrapped tightly around, or card­ board or carpet, depending on a cat’s individual preference.

Offering a variety of both vertical and horizontal options for scratch­ ing (and some on angles too) in various locations around the home is ideal. Location is vital – see where the cat has already chosen to scratch and place an alternative there. As the cat begins to use the alternative, slowly move it to its more permanent location (but be prepared to ex­ periment until the cat lets you know it’s in the right spot). At the same time, make the “unacceptable” scratching surface less appealing by cov­ ering with a throw or some thick plastic sheeting just while the transfer­ ence process is happening.

Guardians should also consider providing scratching options near sleeping, feeding and greeting areas as these are all locations where many cats elect to display the behavior.

Play items, such as a wand toy, can be used to lure the cats to the scratching equipment, as can the addition of catnip or silvervine. Using a soft cloth to transfer scent from the cat’s paws to the scratcher may also help, as may prescratching a new surface with a wood screw or sim­ ilar.

In the end, cat guardians do need to let their cats scratch. It’s natu­ ral and is an important behavior that plays a role in a cat’s health and well­being. As long as it doesn’t become excessive or obsessive (which can be stress or anxiety­related and may need to be investigated fur­ ther), scratching is a behavior we need to encourage. This means discov­ ering our cats’ preferences and finding the balance between fulfilling their behavioral needs and prolonging the life of our soft furnishings. n

References Atkinson, T. (2018). Practical Feline Behaviour: Understanding Cat Behaviour and Improving Welfare. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI Zhang, L., & McGlone, J.J. (2020). Scratcher preferences of adult inhome cats and effects of olfactory supplements on cat scratching.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science 227 104997

Resources Fisher, P. (2016, July). Scratch Here, Not There. BARKS from the Guild (19) 25-26 PPG Cat Committee. (2019, September). Destructive Scratching.

BARKS from the Guild (38) 18-19 Andrea Carne is a graduate of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia where she majored in journalism and drama before, later in life, following her dream to work in the field of animal behavior. She is a qualified veterinary nurse and dog trainer and member of PPG Australia. Her special area of interest is cat behavior and her passion for it led to the establishment of her own cat behavior consultancy Cattitude, based in southern Tasmania, through which she offers private in-home consultations.

Pet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the Bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People Pet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the Bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People is a newly published book in which the authors present their views on: • •

• • •

The need for a level and model of oversight in the fields of pet training and behavior consulting and for those choosing to practice within them.

The prevalence of individuals who hold no credentials, formal education, knowledge or skills, yet who are today working across the nation with full responsibility for the well-being and welfare of their unknowing clients’ treasured pets.

The lack of consumer protection and transparency across the marketing and operations platforms of many pet-related businesses.

The inherent weakness in how pets are legally classified.

How the current lack of reported and enforced animal cruelty laws means there is insufficient protection when it comes to holding pet professionals accountable for their methods, approach and philosophies toward their craft and the pets they serve.

The authors advise on the pertinence of all these issues to the development of an infrastructure for oversight to support the professional evolution of the pet training and behavior industry while providing a complete recommended implementation model from which to do so.

"I would urge anyone interested in the direction of the industry to get a copy. It has been invaluable for a project I am involved in, and identifies and clarifies really important aspects of the industry that desperately need addressing. Even as an individual practitioner it provides a great resource for identifying best practice." - Andrew Hale, chair of association of INTOdogs "Check out this groundbreaking new resource for the pet training and behavior consulting industry written by the best in the business." - Paula Garber, owner of LIFELINE Cat Behavior Solutions and chairwoman of the Pet Professional Guild Feline Committee "Reliable, scientifically accurate behavioral information from experts in the field."

- Gallivan Burwell, owner of Upward Dog Training & Counseling

Online: petindustryregulation.com Available in print and ebook format from: Facebook: facebook.com/petindustryregulation bit.ly/PetTrainingBehavior Twitter: twitter.com/PetTrainingReg Available in pdf format from: petindustryregulation.com

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

There Is No Excuse

FOR ABUSE

It’s time to ban shock collars I would say that, as with any helping professional, your first and primary obligation is to do no harm, and we have compelling evidence that applying shock, either systematically or randomly, to domestic dogs increases their general level of stress and discomfort. So given that knowledge, there simply is no ethical rationale for using it.

Janis Bradley,

Director of Communications and Publications, National Canine Research Council

If there’s a tool which causes pain or discomfort, it has the potential of creating other problems. As animal care professionals, I feel that if we...can’t find kinder, gentler ways of doing something, then maybe we are in the wrong profession.

Ken Ramirez, Executive VP and CTO, Karen Pryor Clicker Training

“Until these devices are illegal, consumers must protect themselves and their dogs by looking beyond the marketing messages of those who profit from their sale and use. It is not necessary to use electric shock to change behavior.

It is not necessary in humans, in zoo species, in marine mammals or in dogs.”

Jean Donaldson, Author, Train Your Dog Like a Pro

ShockFree.org

e q u i n e

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth Dorothy Heffernan explains how to transition from riding with a bit to riding bitless, highlighting the differences in a horse’s emotional response to aversive vs. nonaversive equipment and training methods and why this is important

W

ith a growing interest in ‘least intrusive, minimally aversive’ (LIMA) training methods and the ‘least intrusive effective behavior intervention’ (LIEBI) model, many equestrians of today are increasingly starting to consider the option of riding their horses without using a bit.

Bits have traditionally been used to train and control horses, but few people question why this might be, or how they actually work. But there isn’t really a single answer to this “why,” because different cultures have their own ap­ proaches towards horse training. One single fact is common to all, however. A bit is a way of creating inescapable pressure in a horse’s mouth. It is effec­ tive because horses dislike it enough to want it to stop. The pressure created by a bit is aversive, and like all aversives, the horse is motivated to find ways to escape or avoid it. In this case, the pres­ sure. Even without additional pressure © Can Stock Photo / mtoome from the rider through the reins, the bit Horses can respond very reliably to cues to walk, trot, canter and jump without the handler needing to touch them sits in the horse’s oral cavity and is likely or use aversive gear as difficult to habituate to as orthodon­ tic braces in humans.

Most riders cite “safety” as their reason for continuing to use a bit. fectly safe if the horse has been trained to respond to it using positive However, since a common response when a horse doesn’t respond to reinforcement methods. bit cues to slow down and stop is to seek a more aversive bit, looking for In order to prepare a young horse to be ridden, he needs to under­ a different approach is worthwhile. stand and respond reliably to cues for “stand and don’t walk off,” Adding aversives to any situation changes an animal’s emotional re­ “walk,” “turn to the left or the right in response to a cue,” “stop walk­ sponse. Just as we see in other species, trigger stacking is the cause of ing,” and “walk backwards.” All of these can be trained on the ground many “control failures.” A horse who’s concerned about being alone, using a clicker training approach to shape (or capture and shape) the being surrounded by other anxious horses, about what their trainer is behaviors required. doing, or about sudden noises and sudden movements is not going to Training the behaviors and then adding cues once a behavior is es­ be reassured when the rider applies bit pressure. In fact, the pressure tablished is quite straightforward. Some trainers use targets to get adds to the stressors already present, and it has to be very aversive in­ movement and a “reverse round pen,” with the trainer on the inside of deed to overshadow other stimuli the horse would naturally find con­ a barrier and the horse outside. This is a great way to teach horses cerning. about different gaits. Once the horse is responding reliably, a process of successive approximations can be used to teach him that having a Bitless Alternatives human sit on his back is not only not a worrying prospect, but is a new Bitless alternatives come in many shapes and forms, and some of them opportunity to earn reinforcement. Once mounted, the already learned can still apply very uncomfortable pressure on the horse’s head. How­ cues can be generalized so that they work equally well with a rider. ever, because riders have often come to believe that they need strength Now we have a horse who will approach a mounting block, stand to to stop a horse, the very mild bitless options may be overlooked. But be mounted, move off in walk, and stop on cue. Most importantly, how­ this doesn’t need to be the case, if you start to look at why horses re­ ever, at no point has he experienced freeze or flight. A horse trained like spond to trained cues. A simple, well­fitted, sidepull bridle can be per­ this will have no urge to run to escape something aversive (often a key

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e q u i n e Just as we see in other species, trigger stacking is the cause of many “control failures.” A horse who’s concerned about being alone, being surrounded by other anxious horses, about what their trainer is doing, or about sudden noises and sudden movements is not going to be reassured when the rider applies bit pressure. In fact, the pressure adds to the stressors already present. part of traditional training, where lunging is achieved by use of a lunge whip). At the same time, there is no need for the rider to escalate aver­ sives to move the horse out of a freeze state.

At this point, the rider can begin to introduce ridden cues using a standard process of cue substitution. For movement, the rider can use a nonaversive squeeze of their legs followed immediately by the already solid verbal cue, “walk.” For halt, the rider can simply still the move­ ment of their body that follows the horse’s walk and follow it immedi­ ately with a “whoa” verbal cue. Similarly, teaching turns can be done by asking the horse to follow a target to each side, and then preceding the presentation of the target with a lift of the rein on the side of the turn.

It can be helpful to have an assistant at this point of training. The assis­ tant can give the previously taught cues from the ground after the rider gives the new cues from the horse’s back, but this is not essential.

Generalization As with training other species, once the basics are in place it is essential to start a process where they are generalized so the horse learns to re­ spond to them in situations with increasing challenge. Having a good understanding of antecedent arrangements is essential here, and know­ ing which situations are more difficult for a horse helps with planning a gradual change.

Training in a familiar location where the horse is relaxed and can see his friends is the ideal starting situation, but ultimately we want to be able to ride the horse on trails. Starting off by proofing cues on short rides with a familiar companion is the first step. When the horse can confidently respond, then consider taking a familiar human on foot as a companion. Then, if the horse is confident alone, taking him a short dis­ tance while continuing to observe how quickly he can respond is the next step. If at any point the horse has a longer response latency to a cue, go back a step and repeat the training until he can deal with the new situation.

Increasing challenges also involve different gaits. Again, this should start with the trainer on the ground and a clever use of antecedent arrangements. Have a look at liberty horse agility competitions where horses have been trained using positive reinforcement and you’ll see that horses can respond very reliably to cues to walk, trot, canter and jump without the handler needing to touch them or use ropes or sticks.

For a horse who is confident being ridden at walk, taking him to the lo­ cation where he has done groundwork involving faster gaits and then generalizing cues is a good way to use both antecedent arrangements and cue substitution to get faster gaits on cue when riding.

Offering the horse the chance to do something he would naturally choose to do can be highly reinforcing. For example, horses enjoy the chance to engage in high­speed games with friends, and cantering when out with other horse friends can be very reinforcing. Cueing canter after the horse responds promptly to, for example, a downward transition cue reinforces the downward transition cue and helps work with the horse’s natural drives and motivations. This creates a horse who can re­ main tuned into the rider’s cues even in exciting situations.

Teaching a horse to be ridden safely in a bitless bridle is, in many ways, a similar process to training him to be ridden with a bit. The trainer needs to know the steps involved, the cues need to be well rein­ forced and regularly practiced, and increasingly challenging situations need to be introduced gradually. The difference is in the horse’s emo­ tional response to the training, i.e. his motivation is not through relief and a desire for the training to end. Instead, he wants to engage in the training, enjoys the opportunities to earn reinforcement and, through classical conditioning, forms a positive association with everything in­ volved in the process. That includes a positive association with the rider.

There’s actually nothing to match a horse running towards you because you’re carrying tack: it turns traditional expectations of riding on their head! n Dorothy Heffernan is a Scotland, U.K.-based psychologist who applies her knowledge of learning, cognition and neuroscience to help horse owners improve their horses’ lives through a changed approach to management, training and environment. She uses a force-free approach to training and enjoys making science fun and relatable. Since 2013, she has written the blog Horses Under Our Skin to help people understand why their horses behave the way they do. She is an endorsed trainer of the World Bitless Association and helps horse owners transition to bitless riding using positive reinforcement techniques. In addition, she works with horse, pony and donkey guardians using an evidence-based approach to resolve behavior issues from handling, riding, transporting and husbandry problems.

She has been a chartered member of the British Psychological Society for nearly 20 years.

Premack Principle Just as in training other species, another “challenge” at this point is in­ creasing duration or difficulty. With dog training, recalls begin close to the trainer. With horses, duration of “walk” starts with a step. Strength­ ening cues using Premack reinforcers is also essential. Eventually, the re­ sponse to the (highly reinforced) cue to canter can be reinforced by a cue to trot, which in turn is reinforced by a cue to walk, a cue to halt and a food reinforcer.

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

49

e q u i n e

Understanding Animals In the first of a three-part feature, Kathie Gregory explains why there is more to understanding an animal’s emotional state than body language alone

I

f you search online, you will find plenty of examples of the main expressions of body language, such as anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and sur­ prise. But even experts question whether one single basic expression can re­ ally tell us what someone is thinking or what emotional state they are in.

Indeed, we do not always find ourselves in a single emotional state; often, there are several emotions in play and these can change by the second. This means that only paying attention to the basics may result in an inaccurate interpreta­ tion.

We all use body language to get a first impression of a stranger. We also in­ terpret it to assess what kind of mood a person may be in, and use it to see if what is conveyed matches up with what a person is saying or doing. Some of us are better than others at reading what we see. But without the underlying knowledge to correctly interpret it, there is a risk that we may get it wrong. We are even more likely to misinterpret what we observe when we are assessing someone we don't know, i.e. we generalize. We may even do it without realiz­ ing. Our generalizing can be completely inaccurate but this is how the brain works. It takes a lot of processing power to quickly assess all the stimuli and in­ formation that bombard the brain in detail, so once the brain has learned the basics it applies that knowledge to other things that look the same and fit that description, i.e. it looks for patterns.

Snapshot When it comes to animals, how, then, do we learn how to accurately interpret body language? We can start with photo. However, these only provide an in­ stant snapshot that does not give the context in which the picture was taken or tell you anything about the individual animal. We can teach people to recognize the most obvious emotion on display, but even this is just a basic guide. I actu­ ally find that it can stop people from looking more deeply to see if there are any other signs in a photo that might lead them to a different conclusion. It also means the brain does its usual thing of basing its decision on the one obvious © Can Stock Photo / lassequintus emotion, potentially ignoring other possibilities.

A horse with the ears forward generally means he is relaxed, Photos are useful to help us recognize specific poses or features and the but further forward can mean he is alert, which may indicate emotion generally attached to them. They are also useful for showing examples interest (positive) or fear (negative) of something they won’t recognize till they see it, such as a specific color. Here’s an example: In some cat breeds we can see what is called a ticked coat. This is a fault in some breeds, but is a trait in the Abyssinian cat. It's hard to describe and also hard to imagine what it looks like when someone does describe it to you. But once you've seen it, it is obvious and easy to identify.

The same is true for body language, you don't always understand what something is supposed to look like until you see it. For example, it’s easy to see what someone means when they say a horse has thin lips if you have seen an image of a horse with lips that are relaxed and fuller and are comparing that to the thinness you see when he is tense. But we need to know a lot more if we are to correctly interpret why the lips are thin. How did the move­ ment start, how did it progress and how did it finish?

It’s also easy to interpret body language incorrectly when you base your assessment on the typical reason given for a particular pose. There can be various explanations for the same pose, or the pose might be a red herring. This frequently happens when photographing animals playing. The camera clicks at the mo­ A horse with the ears angled ment when the features are in one position but the common backwards may be feeling either emotion attached to that feature is not at all how the animal angry or scared, but they may also be back when he is listening feels when he is playing. to something or eating

© Can Stock Photo / ESIGHT

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e q u i n e …to make a more accurate assessment of how an animal is feeling, in addition to body language, we need to consider other contributing factors such as vocalizations and the situation at the time. In other words, we have to look at the overall picture.

Positive vs. Negative Affect Common features of an animal in a positive emotional state include: • • • • • • • • • •

Ears forward or towards the side Mouth soft Nostrils relaxed Nostrils flared High tail Swishing tail Eyes soft or partially closed Head low Head forward Overall posture relaxed or showing interest

Common features of an animal in a negative emotional state include: • Ears back or far forward • Mouth tight • Nostrils wrinkled • Nostrils flared • High tail • Swishing tail • Eyes wide • Eyes partially closed • Head low • Head forward • Overall posture tense or showing interest Many of these features are common to dogs and cats as well as

horses, although some are species­specific. They are just the basics, how­ ever, and there are many more things to consider when building a picture of an animal’s emotional state.

Note that I have only listed general positive and negative emotional states for these poses, features, and postures and have not assigned a specific emotion. This is because the same repertoire of postures, move­ ments, and positions may be used in a variety of contexts. For example, ears forward generally means a horse is relaxed, but further forward can mean he is alert. This may indicate interest (positive) or fear (negative).

Ears angled backwards may be in pretty much the same position whether a horse is angry or scared. But ears can also be back when he is listening to something, or eating. Some postures are listed under both positive and negative emotional states, which seems to contradict the common asser­ tion that we can tell how an animal is feeling from his body language.

In fact, to make a more accurate assessment of how an animal is feel­ ing, in addition to body language we need to consider other contributing factors such as vocalizations and the situation at the time. In other words, we have to look at the overall picture to understand what is being con­ veyed – and even then it is not that simple. We still have to look closely at the nuances of each feature and its position in relation to the overall pos­ ture. This is the key to giving us the information we need to truly try to understand what an animal is feeling and thinking. n In the second part of this article, we will look at positions, features and postures in greater detail to get a better understanding of what animals are telling us via their body language.

Kathie Gregory is a qualified animal behavior consultant, presenter and author, specializing in advanced cognition and emotional intelligence. Passionate about raising standards and awareness in how we teach and work with animals, she has developed Free Will TeachingTM, a concept that provides the framework for animals to enjoy life without compromising their own free will. She has authored two books, A tale of two horses: a passion for free will teaching, and A Puppy Called Wolfie: a passion for free will teaching, and her work is currently divided between working with clients, mentoring, and writing.

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a v i a n

Thinking Outside the Box Sheila Blanchette presents the case study of Hei Hei, a 13-year-old male cockatiel who had issues with plucking behavior and night frights as well as a reluctance to be inside his cage, and sets out her behavior change plan that empowered him to make choices about his environment

H

ei Hei is a 13­year­old male cockatiel who, at the time of relin­ quishment, displayed plucking behavior. Unfortunately, however, his rescue intake sheet did not include any background informa­ tion that would help determine the cause of this. During visual review, it did appear that there were missing feathers on his back, so he was taken to a certified avian veterinarian for a complete medical exam to eliminate any possibility pre­existing medical issues.

While we waited for the test results, Hei Hei adjusted to his new setup of living in my home. Several days later the results came back: no avian diseases, no mites, and no nutrition deficiencies had been de­ tected. The veterinarian explained that Hei Hei had neurological issues in his tail and wings, but was not in pain, and that his quality of life was not affected. However, these same issues would prevent him from flying and also cause some balance issues. It was important for me to be aware of this because if he fell, he may not be able to pick himself up again. The veterinarian noted that Hei Hei was in good health, so the missing feathers appeared to be the result of a behavior issue.

During my first week observing Hei Hei, I noticed that he preferred to be outside the cage. I didn’t notice any plucking occurring at this time. At the same time, each morning I would find a few smaller feath­ ers at the bottom of the cage but could not determine if this was related to molting, preening, or plucking. © Sheila Blanchette

When cockatiel Hei Hei (above) was surrendered, he was struggling with night frights and plucking behavior and preferred to sleep on top of his cage rather than inside it (below)

© Sheila Blanchette

One night I woke up to a loud noise and banging.

I went to check on Hei Hei and determined that he was having a “night fright.” Night frights occur when a cockatiel is spooked or anxious during the night and can cause him to try to escape by flying into the cage bars or flailing on the cage floor.

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

Night Frights During the second week, more behavior started to surface. One night I woke up to a loud noise and banging. I went to check on Hei Hei and de­ termined that he was having a “night fright.” Night frights occur when a cockatiel is spooked or anxious during the night and can cause him to try to escape by flying into the cage bars or flailing on the cage floor.

This can be dangerous as the bird’s wings could get jammed in the cage bars, and was especially dangerous for Hei Hei because he could not set himself upright and may have got stuck on his back.

As a result of this experience, I started adjusting the location of Hei Hei’s cage and added a light to reduce the potential for night frights. I also started to keep a daily log to help me investigate anything that might be contributing to the night frights or the plucking.

After two months of observation, one key factor started to emerge from my notes, namely that the night frights seemed to reduce when Hei Hei was left out of his cage at night. And when I continued leaving him out of the cage overnight, in the morning I would find him sleeping quite peacefully on top of the cage with no issues. I never found any feathers at the bottom of the cage either. And so, over the next month, I rearranged Hei Hei’s cage setup so he could sleep outside safely. This in­ cluded pillows around the cage in case he fell.

After several weeks living outside the cage, there appeared to be no further plucking or night frights. Hei Hei’s back feathers grew back in and he was back to being a beautiful cockatiel. However, now that the genie was out of the bottle, so to speak, I had get him back in again. In other words, for safety and adoption purposes, Hei Hei needed to adjust

a v i a n After several weeks living outside the cage, there appeared to be no further plucking or night frights. Hei Hei’s back feathers grew back in and he was back to being a beautiful cockatiel. to life back in the cage.

Obviously, my plan did not consist of simply placing Hei Hei back into the cage in the hope he would get used to it. I still could not deter­ mine what had originally caused the plucking and, in any case, I wanted Hei Hei to choose to go back into the cage at his pace. I needed to arrange the environment carefully so as not to retrigger the plucking or the night frights.

Training Plan Up to that point Hei Hei had been enjoying four happy foster months in my home, during which time most of my focus had been reducing the plucking and night fright behaviors. The next stage of the training plan involved setting up the environment in such a way that it would encour­ age him to move back into a cage. As an aside, Hei Hei was not at all in­ terested interacting with humans, and only stepped up onto my hand when he fell and needed assistance to set himself upright. Otherwise, he would move away from hands and squawk.

To start with, I reviewed the current cage setup to see what might motivate Hei Hei to want to go back inside. Then, as I started making changes, I would use a technique I learned from occasional BARKS con­ tributor Lara Joseph at The Animal Behavior Center in Sylvania, Ohio.

This entailed counting backwards, out loud, “3…2…1” and then moving an item. By doing this, I was informing Hei Hei that change was coming.

If he squawked or lowered his body position, I stopped immediately. I quickly learned to recognize which posturing indicated Hei Hei was not comfortable with the change so I would simply stop and try again later.

Any time after my countdown when Hei Hei just watched me, I could continue with whatever change I was making at the time.

The first change I made was to position a little ladder that led into the cage and place food and water near the entrance. Hei Hei quickly got onto the ladder and approached the front of the cage where the food was, but the position of the ladder shortened the height of the door entrance opening and there was not enough head room for him to walk in. He would have had to lower his entire body to clear the en­ trance. Evidently he was not comfortable with this arrangement and he elected not to go in.

The second change I made was to lower the ladder to give Hei Hei more clearance, but he still wouldn’t cross the threshold of the cage door. He would pace up and down the ladder but never go in. Hei Hei won this battle and I gave him a break for a couple weeks. In the mean­ time, I had to take a step back and re­evaluate my approach. I gave Hei Hei a lot of bonus points here as during all the attempted changes to his environment, there were no recurrences of the plucking or night fright behaviors.

© Sheila Blanchette

To encourage Hei Hei to go inside his cage, the first change author Sheila Blanchette made to the setup was to position a little ladder that led inside and place food and water near the entrance

© Sheila Blanchette

Blanchette also introduced a new cage that was taller and more spacious, with a larger door/entrance

© Sheila Blanchette

A later environmental change involved removing the cage roof and placing the ladder inside to provided access to food and water ­ and it was this that finally helped Hei Hei feel safe enough to go inside

New Strategy: New Cage On the third attempted change, I introduced a new cage. It was a taller, more spacious cage that gave Hei Hei a lot more room. It also had a much larger door/entrance. He loved being on the top of this cage, but no matter how I set it up, he showed no interest in going to the lower part. It was as if the cage was too tall for him to venture down. And so I went back to brainstorming for a couple more days.

For the fourth change, I tried raising the food items closer to the top of cage. Once I’d done this, Hei Hei started using the ladder to move from his position on top of the cage to access his food and water that were, at this stage, located outside the cage. I then placed boxes inside

© Sheila Blanchette

Blanchette gave Hei Hei a couple of weeks to settle in and adjust to his new setup before moving forward with the next step

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

53

a v i a n Over the next couple of days, I observed and tracked Hei Hei’s behavior. He appeared to have no issues. There were no night frights and no plucking. He was moving from the top of the cage to the inside very fluently and was making the choice to go in and out himself. After just a week, he was settling into the new cage setup really well.

© Sheila Blanchette

Once Hei Hei’s environment had been gradually modified to suit his needs and preferences, his emotional state improved sufficiently for the plucking behavior and night frights to stop, and his feathers grew back

the cage to raise the cage floor, so Hei Hei could easily reach his para­ keet millet stick. It was his favorite thing of all and it was still inside the cage. But he would just sit on the ladder and look inside. He still didn’t go in and so, again, I took a break and reviewed what I was learning from his behavior.

For my fifth attempt at environmental change, I really needed to think outside of the box. I knew Hei Hei liked being on top of the cage, but there was something preventing him from going inside. This could be connected to the cause of the plucking. I wondered if there some­ thing about both cages that was aversive to him.

I created a new adjustable cage floor from cardboard that could be adjusted so it was closer to the top of the cage. As I attached my cre­ ation, the inside height of the cage was being reduced. I wondered what would happen if I removed the top of the cage to give Hei Hei the choice to go inside from the top. Up until now I had been adding ladders leading from the outside of the cage to the cage door, with no success.

But what if the ladder was already inside the cage and provided access to the food and water? It seemed like an odd approach but if it worked, it would tell me that the cage roof might be the thing causing the issues.

And so I removed the cage roof and set up the ladders inside. I watched Hei Hei check out the new setup for a while and was preparing myself to go back to the old setup and start planning the sixth attempt,

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a v i a n

© Sheila Blanchette

At the time of writing, Hei Hei’s training plan was not complete as the cage roof still needed to be added back

when it happened. Within 30 minutes, Hei Hei was in the cage and eating.

Over the next couple of days, I observed and tracked Hei Hei’s be­ havior. He appeared to have no issues. There were no night frights and no plucking. He was moving from the top of the cage to the inside very fluently and was making the choice to go in and out himself. After just a week, he was settling into the new cage setup really well.

I also made a few minor changes that increased the length of time he chose to stay in the cage area. I never forced him to go back into the cage, of course. I just let him choose which changes would help make the setup more acceptable and appealing to him, and also feel safe. All in all, the training process and learning adjustments took two months to complete. In the end, the slow adjustment approach was successful and there have been no more feather plucking or night frights.

At the time of writing, the training plan was not complete as the cage roof still needed to be added back. That is the next thing for us to work on. The lessons learned from my observations so far will assist enormously in getting the roof back on in the coming months.

Positive reinforcement, small approximations in the environment, and allowing choices at the bird’s pace can lead to amazing outcomes, as Hei Hei’s case so clearly demonstrates. I can’t wait for the next step! n Sheila Blanchette is an IAABC certified parrot behavior consultant/ trainer who has operated her own companion bird training company, Heart of Feathers Education & Training, in Haverhill, Massachusetts since 2015. She conducts in-home and online companion bird behavior consultations. Her love for birds began when she received her first red lory in 1995 and she joined the American Lory Society. She began volunteering at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and formulating her desire to improve the understanding and welfare of companion birds. She then began her study of avian behavior and applied behavior analysis and started reaching out to animal rescues in the New England to offer assistance with companion bird education and review companion bird cases. In 2017, she was named chair of the Quaker Parakeet Society Rehome and Placement Program, which includes coordinating the surrender and adoption of Quaker parakeets throughout the U.S., organizing and educating volunteers, and facilitating the foster program.

BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

55

business

Ask the Experts: Creating an Online Course Veronica Boutelle of PPG corporate partner dog*biz sets out the basics to help dog trainers, animal behavior consultants and pet professionals design and create their own online courses

Q

: Like a lot of trainers I’m doing more online these days. I’ve been doing my private consults mostly by Zoom, and have ex‐ perimented with teaching group classes that way, too. I’m get‐ ting more and more comfortable online and it’s got me thinking about all the possibilities. I have an idea for an online course that I can’t get out of my head, but I’m a little (well, a lot) intimidated by the tech side of things. Where do I even start?

A: I love that you’re thinking big and letting your creativity lead you in new directions. If we’ve learned anything from last year, it’s to be flexi­ ble, think outside the box, and stare our fears down.

The main thing you’ll need to create an online course is a piece of software called a Learning Management System, or LMS for short. It’s the platform you’ll build your class on, and the platform your students will log into to take your course.

There are tons of LMS options, which can make choosing a bit daunting. But if you Google something along the lines of “top LMS plat­ forms for small businesses” you’ll find helpful review articles to get you started. From there, you’ll want to compare pricing and features, nar­ row down to a few that look most promising, and then ask for a test­ drive. Many will give you a 30­day free trial to poke and play around inside, and some will schedule time to get on a one­on­one call to walk you through their system and answer your questions.

In terms of features, think a bit about the experience you want your students to have. For example, do you want the option of both live and on­demand learning? Will you use quizzes? Do you want students to be able to access all the material at once, or will you require them to com­ plete one section before moving on to the next (or maybe even pass a quiz to do so)? Will there be handouts or workbooks to download? Etc. As you play with free trials or sit through exploratory calls, keep your own experience in mind, too. The back end of these systems can vary quite a bit, and you’ll want to choose one that feels instinctual and comfortable to work in.

Technical Requirements As you move forward there will be a few additional tech requirements— you’ll want to make sure you have a good microphone for recording, for example, and a camera if you’ll be on screen. (You don’t have to go for expensive options for either.) You’ll also need a good way to record les­ sons you intend to upload to your LMS. (Plenty of options for this, too, when you’re ready.)

Your LMS is your biggest investment, though, and the one that will

A lot of us have found ourselves on the steep end of a learning curve this past year. It can be helpful to remember that we ask our dog training clients to have fun as they learn with their dogs. That’s good advice for any learning curve!

© Can Stock Photo / ValeriyLebedev

Dog trainers and pet behavior consultants can reach a wider audience by creating their own online courses

have the largest impact on your experience and your students’, so I rec­ ommend starting there.

One final word of encouragement and advice: Have FUN with this.

Let your creativity flow as you design your course, and approach learn­ ing the tech side of it all as an adventure. A lot of us have found our­ selves on the steep end of a learning curve this past year. It can be helpful to remember that we ask our dog training clients to have fun as they learn with their dogs. That’s good advice for any learning curve! n If you missed the open enrollment period for the dogbiz THRIVE! group coaching membership program in January, our friends at dogbiz recom‐ mend getting on the wait list now to be the first to hear about the next opportunity to join! ‐ Ed. Veronica Boutelle MA Ed CTC is founder and co-president of dog*biz, and author of How to Run Your Dog Business and co-author of Minding Your Dog Business. dog*biz offers professionally designed positive reinforcement dog training class curricula, including Open-Enrollment Puppy, Open-Enrollment Basic Manners, and short Topics classes built for retention.

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Dogs Living their Best Possible Lives In our ongoing series of PPG member profiles, this month BARKS features Beth Napollitano of Courteous Canine, Inc. in Lutz, Florida ARKS contributor Beth Napollitano is a retired nurse who devel­ oped an interest in canine behavior when she attended agility classes with one of her dogs.

B

Beth Napollitano with her dogs, Sadie (left) and Murphy

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about yourself, how you first got into animal behavior and training and what you are doing now?

A: I became interested in behavior when my first beagle was in agility classes at Courteous Canine in Lutz, Florida. [Former PPG steering committee member] Angelica Steinker was our instructor and she made learning about behavior so much fun, I became hooked. Cur­ rently I am teaching AKC Star puppy kindergarten, coming when called, Copy That!, and Basic Manners classes at Courteous Canine, Inc. Q: Why did you become a trainer/pet care provider?

A: I love learning about behavior. Dogs are so smart and interesting. I am also motivated by my desire to help my younger dog with her fear/anxiety issues.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your own pets.

A: I have two beagles, a male who is 7½ years old and a female who is 5½ years old. I also have a 16­year­old cat. My 5½­year­old beagle has some fear/anxiety issues with novel stimuli. Fortunately, her issues are environmental and she is not reactive to other dogs or people.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Playing with the puppies! Watching the clients celebrate successful train­ ing. Sometimes just getting that sit is reason for the whole class to cheer.

Q: What do you consider to be your area of expertise?

A: Puppy classes

© Beth Napollitano

Q: Are you a crossover trainer or have you always been a force‐free trainer?

A: I have always been a force­free trainer.

Q: What drives you to be a force‐free professional and why is it impor‐ tant to you?

A: It is so much fun to train dogs when they are happy and motivated to work with their humans. There is nothing like the smile on a happy dog’s face! Just because animals are nonverbal does not mean they don’t experience pain and suffering and as their caretakers, it is our re­ sponsibility to ensure that they have the best lives possible.

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p r o f i l e “Changing that “no” into a “yes” helps clients have so much more fun and enjoyment with their puppies. I love to take the stress out of training for the clients by helping them to focus on the positive and just move at the puppy’s pace. Celebrating those small training steps helps everyone feel successful, both humans and puppies.” - Beth Napollitano Q: What are some of your favorite positive reinforcement techniques for the most commonly encountered behavior issues?

A: Helping clients see that they can turn a “No, don’t do that” behavior into a “Yes, do this instead” behavior. Changing that “no” into a “yes” helps clients have so much more fun and enjoyment with their puppies. I love to take the stress out of training for the clients by helping them to focus on the positive and just move at the puppy’s pace. Celebrating those small training steps helps everyone feel successful, both humans and puppies.

Q: What is the reward you get out of a day's training with people and their pets?: A: It is so rewarding to help people figure out how to solve puppy prob­ lems with positive, force­free methods. Happy clients and happy puppies make my day! When everyone is smiling I feel like the class was a success.

Q: What is the funniest or craziest situation you have been in with a pet and their guardian?

A: There have been so many funny situations. But my favorite training exercise is a handling exercise and I have all the clients dress up their puppies in crazy infant T­shirts and socks that I provide. The clients have so much fun. [Note: this is a training exercise specifically aimed at get­ ting puppies used to handling and is conducted systematically under the

supervision of a professional, force­free trainer. Dressing dogs (or other pets) in costumes for Halloween etc. is not recommended as it can be stressful or even frightening for them – Ed.] Q: What awards or competition placements have you and your pet(s) achieved using force‐free methods?

A: I am fairly new to dog training and have only been teaching classes for four years. To date, I have never competed with my beagles.

Q: Who has most influenced your career and how?

A: Angelica Steinker. She is so much fun on the agility field and her love of learning and training is contagious. She has been my mentor for the last four years. She has directed my studies and helped me with ques­ tions about clients’ dogs and puppies. My fearful beagle has a great quality of life thanks to her knowledge and willingness to help me un­ derstand how to be a supportive caregiver.

Q: What advice would you give to a new trainer starting out?

A: Study force­free and positive training methods only. Find a mentor who is educated in force­free methods. Develop a love of learning and then just have fun. Always ask questions when you are unsure of how to train or deal with a specific behavior issue.

Q: How has PPG helped you to become a more complete trainer?

A: There are so many informative webinars on offer and I just attended a scent work workshop. PPG is a force­free organization that supports the force­free trainer in every possible way. No force, no pain and no fear really is the better way to train. n

Beth Napollitano teaches classes at Courteous Canine, Inc. in Lutz, Florida

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b o o k s

Dogs Gloriously Being Dogs Meg Hannan reviews How to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog by PPG Australia president, Barbara Hodel

H

ow to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog is written primarily with the dog guardian rather than the professional trainer in mind. The writing style is straightforward and easy to understand but, at the same time, is based on science. That is, it follows scientific principles while providing clear explanations for the layperson. Having said this, I don’t want to give the impression that the book is just a simple “how­to” guide – it is so much more than that. In fact, it contains pretty much everything I believe you need to know to get you and your dog through the teenage phase of life. Not to mention that many dog trainers would also benefit from reading it.

Throughout the book, author Barbara Hodel adopts an empathic ap­ proach to the problems dog guardians have when they realize their cute puppy has turned into a difficult teenager. When you are learning a new skill, you will inevitably find yourself – at some stage – unsure of what to do next. There is nothing more annoying that spending time scanning through pages and pages trying to find the salient point you know you read previously. So I loved that, in this book, the 10 chapters are clearly numbered in point form: Chapter 2 and then 2.1, etc. This makes it very easy to find relevant information. There is also an excellent index and reference section at the end.

The text is broken up by some lovely black and white photographs scattered throughout showing some dogs being well behaved and calm, others engaging in typical teenage dog behaviors, such as inappropriate jumping and chewing, and still others training and having fun. In other words, dogs gloriously being dogs.

Ethical Training Hodel begins the book explaining that ethical training methods can transform lives, and she reassures the reader that they will be able to survive this challenging teenage phase: “Remember: your teenage dog is not giving you a hard time; they are having a hard time! You are not alone and you and your dog can do it!”

The book goes on to explain the similarities and differences in the canine and human brains. Hodel’s explanation of adult vs. teenage

Hodel begins her book explaining that ethical training methods can transform lives, and reassures the reader that they will be able to survive the challenging teenage phase

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b o o k s brains in humans and dogs will certainly resonate with those who have children or have taught children – particularly teenagers.

Hodel also emphasizes the importance of building a strong and re­ spectful relationship with your dog, and developing the ability to per­ ceive the world through his eyes. She buries the outdated, scientifically unsound dominance theory of using coercion and force to punish dogs to achieve behavior, explaining that, “instead we need to find a way to ‘maintain social unity’.”

One of my favorite chapters poses the question, “Do dogs really have feelings?” What follows is a compelling discussion about the common practice among dog guardians of attributing human feelings to their pets. Of course, most animal lovers need no convincing that this is true, despite some scientists, in the past at least, having cast doubt on it.

Explaining R+ Elsewhere, Hodel explains what positive reinforcement is and how it is important in training behavior. She also covers the importance of good socialization and the dangers of inappropriate socialization, including how it can lead to fearfulness.

What I like about this book is that it doesn’t just theorize about dog behavior. Indeed, the second half of the book is a solid teaching guide designed to support your dog and help you teach him important behav­ iors like how to be calm and stay quiet rather than bark, as well as many other basic behaviors we all want from our dogs, like walking nicely on a leash and coming when called.

As a dog trainer, I regularly get calls from distraught guardians whose dogs are going through the teenage years and struggling with the very problems Hodel outlines in her book. And, often, the dog is head­

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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021

As a dog trainer, I regularly get calls from distraught guardians whose dogs are going through the teenage years and struggling with the very problems Hodel outlines in her book.

And, often, the dog is heading towards the shelter if the behavior can’t be improved. ing towards the shelter if the behavior can’t be improved. This book, then, has the potential to save many dogs from reaching this stage while allowing us to, as Hodel puts it, “keep our sanity and help our teenage dog keep theirs.”

Hodel ends with the lovely and memorable words that, when our dogs are grown and we have been able to put that difficult teenage stage into perspective, “… we will spend the next ten years or more in each other’s company! In the meantime, I recommend a healthy dose of patience, humor and willingness to meet your friend halfway.”

I highly recommend this book for its wonderful advice for guardians of any canine teenager. It would also be the perfect gift for anyone get­ ting a new puppy, to provide good guidance for the phases ahead of them. n How to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog Author: Barbara Hodel Green Hill Publishing (2020) 200 pages ISBN‐13 : 978‐1922337566