Fearing that dogs bite kids
There are many facets to dog signals. For one, it takes a long time to see them. While most people can see them, when they know what to look for, in pictures and slow motion videos, in real life they're most of the time missed. Not because we're not good at seeing them, but because we're not focused on that. Further, it is difficult to know what we see – an easy check that I do on myself and others is predicting what signals the dog will do few seconds down the road, based on the present signals.
This brings me to multi-tasking. We're not good at this, in fact we're not so good at keeping up with a busy dog, let alone doing something else and paying attention to all the fleeting signals dogs do. Case in point the video where the police dog bites a reporter in the face http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHLnjiISsOo There are about 8 seconds during which the dog tried to avoid the outcome. Many things went wrong there, one being the officer multitasking; another one is the officer assuming- without any practice. Trouble is that even if he had practiced he would've seen nothing; the explanations of that bite are troublesome.
Back to the difficulty of knowing what we see. Dogs lick their lips if stressed- that's something that many people know. However, dogs lick their lips in anticipation of getting a treat- some dogs also adopt an appeasing demeanor, identified as stressed in some cases. When a dog comes to a person who firmly, not violently, calls the dog back, the dog licks her lips. A dog will do the same behaviour when called for a treat, with an almost identical demeanor. First picture here, very common for dogs to lick kids- who very commonly have food traces all over them http://www.liamjperkfoundation.org/stress.html While it is difficult to say exactly what is going on there without seeing dog’s behaviour prior to this picture, dog’s relaxed body position doesn’t suggest stress.
To conclude this long post, it’s important to look for chained signals, periods of time (seconds) in which the dog doesn’t revert to her happy self- that is as clear as it gets that things will get ugly soon. In addition, I'd be worried if a dog cannot relax in the presence of a child- fleeting moments of anxiety are normal, but prolonged discomfort is not. Further, knowing that dogs read our emotional state, and assuming that we're anxious when dogs and kids interact, to say the least, we're influencing dog's behaviour without intending to do so. Lastly, being able to read dog's body language is important, but I’m afraid we should focus as much if not more on preventing a dog from sending those signals through practice - showing the dog what is expected in each situation, with us being in the right mood 
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Not enough time for training?
I want to start by mentioning that is MUCH easier to establish rules than to correct certain behaviours.
This topic comes up very often when talking with clients. Here’s a quick example of how to work on many aspects without spending almost any time.
I do not put aside a specific amount of training time per day for my dogs. Most of the training is being done during feeding, grooming, and walking. Specialized training for various tasks sometimes requires a specific environment, but this is outside of the topic of regular training.
Hence, here’s a brief inside into Daia’s training- she is a 26 weeks old Laekenois. As a side note, yesterday someone actually recognized the breed, big day.
Training is present everywhere, from sleeping to waking hours. Daia sleeps wherever she feels comfortable- so she’s able to wake me up whenever she pleases if she chose to do so. However, that’s not something that I’d enjoy on a regular basis, so we agreed to sleep through the night. That was done by ensuring that she’s tired before going to bed, and that she ate few hours before that. Her efforts to engage in play during the night were ignored. The result is a dog who doesn’t bother me during the night- occasional barking is normal, after all she’s a dog.
When going out in the morning, now that she’ s out of the woods house training wise, she is supposed to wait patiently to go out, sometimes in a Sit position, sometimes not (it’s easier to have the dog do one thing, but I prefer to give them as much freedom as possible). The goal is having a dog who doesn’t bolt out the door, one who can wait if told to. Before going out, I practice her stays in various positions, or retrieving objects by name; after all I have to get ready for the winter weather while she doesn’t- plenty of time for training.
Once out, she alternates between sniffing and heeling. The latter is done every now and then, and every time we pass by someone (although now that she’s a bit older she is encouraged to walk by people by herself) - training again. Working on her pray issues with cars, birds, and animals is training once again. A walk could actually be considered a training session- even walks at off-leash training parks.
At our last outing at such off-leash park we worked on recall while she was heavily engaged in play (if she can do it then she can do it anywhere/anytime)
on stays- much easier to get this pose after few minutes of wild running around
on dog interaction- there's good and not so good interaction. Here's an example of a bad one, a dog who nipped Daia twice- the good part is that she doesn't bite (more on benefits and negatives of off-leash parks here). As previously mentioned, Daia's a pushy little thing personality wise, hence socializing is paramount. Well, this is a what not to do case...
That incident was a singular one, the other interactions were either great or neutral
In addition, we worked on paying attention to me, on heeling off-leash among other dogs- basically on self-control in a very exciting environment.
Grooming is another good time for training- teaching Daia to wait patiently for her paws to be cleaned, nail trimming, coat brushing, teeth check, etc. All this routine relies on training, because very few puppies will not mouth/bite the hand with the brush or clippers.
Handling is another important aspect- one should be able to pick-up the dog from the ground at all times, without the dog fighting against this. Daia learned that being picked up doesn’t mean only vet shots and bad stuff- in fact she wasn’t picked up for that stuff, just for rewarding activities, such as car rides, putting the leash for walks, etc. The result is a dog who can relax while being picked up and carried too with one arm- she’s a light dog after all, but is also a dog who trusts that nothing bad will happen to her in that position.
Feeding- training again; training not to take another dog’s food, training to wait if need be while the food is prepared, training not to grab food from countertops or other areas.
In conclusion, while it seems like a lot of training, everything can be done during regular interaction with the dog, requiring no extra time.
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Starting from scratch, 2 month summary
Well, it’s been hectic, and not because of Daia- well, not entirely because of her. I shall mention that she’s 6 months old now, although she doesn’t show it- she acts more mature, and physically she seems more coordinated. And no, it’s not because it’s mine, I am trying to be as objective as possible.
So, let’s see- since last update, many things changed. I’ll enumerate what I can remember, having this blog comes in handy to see her progress.
House training- almost perfect, as in over the last month or so Daia’s had one or two accidents, overnight; except a silly one, during the day, which I do not fully understand.
Her relationship with her roommate, the bull terrier, improved to the point of sharing chewing bones. The sharing is unidirectional though, as in Daia taking and not giving back. It took a while, but now Daia can play tug-of-war with him. The issue was that Daia did not have enough power to pull, hence was considered a non-worthy playmate.
Here they’re together, but doing different things- Daia’s tired from playing, he’s sunbathing.
Dogs wise, huge progresses- she’s been playing with so many dogs I lost track and also lost interest in taking picture of their play. Notably, she’s been attacked by two cocker spaniels, few weeks apart, go figure. The good news is that she’s not traumatized, and the dogs were different colours so I hope she’s not going to avoid similarly looking dogs.
The work on pulling back instead of pushing over dogs who are not willing to play, seems to pay off. In the recent week I’ve noticed her starting to respond to the cues of other dogs. Not perfect, but still good.
She’s still a pushy thing, except she’s not little anymore. She had a bit of a grow spurt the last few weeks. She’s not aware though, still trying to fit in my arms while driving- do not try this at home, professional driver on closed circuit.
Here’s a rare picture of her, at exactly 5 months of age, sleeping- she doesn’t seem to do this during the day, always has an eye open.
Environment wise, she still has a thing for cars, but she’s able to control this much better now. We worked on this initially by going against the traffic, in order to allow her to see the cars coming, and gradually moved towards going with traffic. I worked on this a bit differently, through flooding. In other words, we started on busy streets, instead of streets with little traffic. The reason is that little traffic would elicit a stronger reaction from a dog.
People wise, she’s doing fine, now she’s getting a bit protective, which is good and bad. Is good because it’s normal, but is not so good when she decides that certain persons need to be kept at bay. Recently had her barking at two people in an off-leash park. Hint for those reading- if you see a dog looking suspiciously at you, do not try to call the dog by flapping your arms and making all kinds of funny sounds; all it does is make the dog even more suspicious.
The secret to a
happy and healthy life, for me, is keeping her tired and busy. The following picture is of her discovering that documents can be shred to pieces, after all someone skipped a walk a she needed something to do. She knew about plants before that, there is a poor plant that all dogs seem to hate, Daia’s no exception.
To conclude, we get along just fine- she’s a very affectionate pup, she learned to pick up objects by pointing and by name, she’s on track for search and rescue, working with adults for now, children later, and she’s doing quite a few other things, such as shedding- although it’s not too bad…
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Anxiety disorder
Dogs are social creatures - they are not hard-wired for being alone. However, after the puppies are separated from their littermates, we expect the little thing to know how to entertain herself when left alone for hours with not much to do- fair expectation on our behalf, but...
One could argue that dogs in the past, when they had jobs, for example outside guarding, had something to do due to the ever-changing light, smells, things to see and attend to while outside. While these activities did not replace human presence, it might have provided the necessary distractions to make the time go by faster. Indoors however, the environment is mostly stall- especially for the unfortunate puppies who are locked in bathrooms when home alone.
I hear quite often of people resorting to locking the dogs in bathrooms- in some cases the intentions are not bad, such as allowing the dogs some room to roam, or blocking the noise made by their barking. However, the flip side is that the anxiety level of dogs skyrockets due to being cut-off from their usual stimuli in their usual environment, as well as due to being cut-off from natural light, in some cases.
Given that dogs are not prepared for dealing with this separation on their own, as in not stressing about, it is paramount to teach them that some separation is normal, that us and them will separate and reunite several times during the day.
For those thinking of getting another dog in order to provide the present dog with a playmate, I suggest seriously considering the added expenses, time requirements, training, travel constraints and lastly but not least the match with the existing dog. In my experience, dogs of opposite sex from same breed seem to recognize and enjoy their company more than being with a dog from different breed.
Back to the topic of anxiety, as mentioned, dogs are social creatures. Suddenly being alone results in a certain amount of stress- some dogs overcome this separation easily, others whimper for a while and then settle down, others remain agitated for a very long period of time, while others resort to destroying walls, furniture, personal belongings, and eliminate all over the place.
As anything else in dog training, prevention trumps fixing the issue. Special care should be given to adult dogs who went through multiple families/shelters/foster homes. Some of these dogs have been traumatized by the inconsistencies in their environments, or have not been trained to respond properly to being alone.
While it is in our nature to overwhelm the new dogs with attention the first couple days/weeks, it is also important to clearly structure the interactions with them in order to have them understand that they will have time alone, and time with us. The time alone shall be used for sleep/naps, which takes quite a good chunk of a dog's day, especially as they age, and the time with us shall be used for games, walks, activities as well as parallel activities (e.g., chewing a bone while the person is doing something else in an adjacent room).
In addition, the dogs need to go through training for time alone, such as teaching them to be comfortable in a space next to us, having them comfortable being separated from us by a close door, leaving and coming back- initially for very short periods of time to longer periods. It is helpful to tire the dogs out prior to practicing being alone. Other helpful props are leaving a healthy dose of toys, food puzzles, a pillow/stuffed toy that can be torn apart but only if the dog doesn't ingest its contents, as well as leaving a radio on (radios set on FM waves are best due to being richer in dog sounds; TV's are poor in dog sound frequencies). A radio at a medium low level will muffle sudden/loud noises (e.g., fireworks, thunders, loud car exhausts) that might startle the dogs, and in some unfortunate cases even sensitize the dogs.
Most importantly, do not hesitate to seek professional help from someone nearby- waiting for the problem to go away backfires all the time. Further, it is harder to teach a dog that everything is going to be fine once the established behaviour is panic when left alone.
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Alpha vs Family member
This post is an attempt at clarifying one of the biggest misconceptions regarding dogs’ behaviour, the one about dogs seeking an "alpha" status.
In my opinion, and the opinion of most if not all of the research community, the view that dogs’ agenda is to gain the “alpha” position is false. The “alpha” term commonly signifies a status position, the first (i.e., the most respected). The fact that this position is endorsed by some TV personalities does not make it correct. On the contrary, it perpetuates a false story to the detriment of dogs in general.
The “alpha” myth was based on studies of captive wolves. Because dogs descended from wolves, it was mistakenly assumed that wolves’ behaviour will shed light on dogs’ behaviour. While dogs do descend from wolves, they separated ways a long time ago, and the present wolves are nothing like their predecessors, which makes comparing the two a waste of energy.
The studies of the captive wolves erroneously inferred that dogs live in packs and fight for supremacy. This is similar to suggesting that the interactions between prisoners are similar to the interactions between humans in general- while ideally these interactions should resemble each other, they do not due to the artificial conditions existent in prisons.
According to the believers of the “alpha” myth, dogs have to learn that the human is the boss, because otherwise the dogs will try to climb to the top position and therefore take control of everyone else around. This is very, very far from the truth.
Dogs, as any other living being, will do what they can to fulfill their needs, and arguably wants. HOWEVER, they will not try to take control of everyone else. For example, a dog growling at a human who tries to take his food does not mean that the dog is the “alpha”, but that the dog either learned that in order to survive she has to guard her food, or that one way to keep away humans is to growl at them. Similarly, a dog who brings a toy, or one who pushes her body against a human is not bossing the human around, but learned that humans are a great source for playing and petting. From a biological point of view it makes sense to look for the easiest way to exist, but this does not imply that dogs try to gain a better social position.
Lastly, if one were carefully observing dogs’ behaviours, it would become obvious that dogs’ relationships are fluid, they do not try to be the “alpha” in a relationship, they just want or do not want to interact, and signal this to the other dogs or other animals.
For example, this is a play bout between Daia, my puppy, and another puppy- 
in this instance
they do not try to impress each other, they just want to play with each other.
This interaction resulted in a good play chasing
In a different example, the interaction between Daia and a Boston, did not result in play. 
In this picture they investigate each other from a safe distance, and decided to go on separate ways- and it definitely was not because they could not figure out who the “alpha” was, but rather that the Boston was not interested in the antics of a young puppy. If the “alpha” theory were true, their interactions should have resulted in Daia being “dominated” by the Boston, who then would decide at his will what to do with Daia, or vice-versa.
Somewhat recently in the Western culture, more so since dogs started to lose their utility (e.g., hunting, guarding, herding), dogs are incorporated in human families more than before. If in the past the dogs were primarily considered as helpers and secondarily as companions, now they are considered as family members/companions first, while their utility is less obvious. However, I would like to argue that given the shift in humans’ needs, away from utilitarian chores and more towards emotional needs, the dogs maintained their relevance, although from my experience they did not fully adapt to these changes. Due to the human influence on the breeding of dogs, the blame for the lag in adaptation falls on humans, not on dogs. More is needed in ensuring that breeders (i.e., true breeders are concerned firstly with the temperament and health of their dogs and secondly with their aspect) need to think long term, and respect ethical guidelines in breeding dogs.
The trend in considering dogs as family members is more in line with dogs’ biology. Dogs, as a species, are social creatures. Unlike most other animals, dogs can form bonds, sometimes very strong, with animals outside their species- including humans. While other creatures, like birds for example, can form very strong bonds to other animals trough imprinting, this is not a deliberate choice, but rather a genetically imposed one. However, dogs do make a conscious decision to socialize with animals outside their own. Being social creatures means that dogs thrive in a social environment- how extended is the environment depends on both the actual environment in which the dogs live, as well as on the personality of each dog. While some dogs want and like to interact with as many other dogs/humans/others as possible, other dogs prefer less interactions or prefer to interact more with a certain group.
In a family system, dogs function based on the family rules, dogs' personality, genes, and training or in some cases lack of training. While their behaviour is influenced both by their genetic information and their training, it is definitely not influenced by their desire to become number one. Further, in my experience, dogs thrive in families in which the family members are cognizant of dog behaviour.
Knowledge of dog behaviour is paramount in correctly interpreting dogs’ actions, as well as in correctly training the dogs in order to function with us harmoniously (compromising on our behalf is also required). Dogs are very good at reading our body language, as well as our emotional state- this is good and bad for us. Being able to read us better than we can read them, dogs sometimes are able to express themselves in ways that fulfill their needs, but annoy us to no end. However, this is due to us not understanding their language, not vice-versa- the truth is in their actions.
If we were to pay closer attention to dogs’ behaviour with the goal of understanding them as well as they understand us, we would benefit more from their presence, while the dogs would benefit as well. It is a win-win situation…
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Mouthing and off-leash parks
Before getting on topic, I just wanted to mention that Daia's been here for 5 weeks now, and she's grown quite a bit 
A while back I mentioned not having problems with mouthing- Daia wise. However, things changed, and as usual with a puppy, they changed fast. There were no issues for her and I, but now that the in-laws are here, things have regressed- talking about Daia here, things are great between us J.
Some trainers suggest not allowing the dog to make any contact with hands or human skin. However, I prefer to have dogs who know how delicate and sensitive that skin is, hence I play and encourage them to explore, but with a LOT of restraint. However, given that winter is here, dogs have a bit of difficulty learning that the hands are inside those bulky mitts or gloves, hence mouthing/grabbing them too vigorously sometimes. Similar to playing with bare hands, once they know to use a gentle mouth things are back to normal. However, the difficulty lies with the folks around due to not providing consistent and correct feedback.
Now, concerning off-leash parks, these are a great outlet for dogs, but they’re not free of downsides. I’ll mainly focus on these because the benefits are obvious- for example teaching Daia to run only by using her front paws
One of the common results of mostly frequenting these parks is that walking on a leash is not learned, or in some cases it regresses due to the dog being always free to run around. One suggestion is being aware of this pitfall, and counter it by practicing leash walking prior, during, and after the off-leash park. Another issue is not practicing the recall, due to always allowing the dog to run in an enclosed park. One suggestion is to practice the recall several times while there, always madly rewarding the dog for coming. For Daia, she is still doing great, the only squeaky area is when she gets excited (read mad because some other dog doesn’t allow her to push him/her around). 
But we’re working on it, and she’s better each day- she’s also registered in an anger therapy course J While she’s a great overall dog, Daia has a strong personality and she doesn’t take lightly being told off by other dogs.
However, for all those downsides, off-leash parks provide a great environment for dogs to socialize, expend lots of energy running with others, etc. In addition, these parks provide the perfect environment for proofing your dog on stays, self control, recall, and attention to you- but all these skills need practice in order to flourish...
Merry Christmas!
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Starting from scratch- after one month
Well, Daia’s 5 months old on the 19th. It seems like she’s been with us forever, but it’s only been a month.
I was asked by a friend yesterday if I finished the Christmas decorations inside- there's no need, Daia's took upon herself this simple chore- apparently all one needs is a pillow...
She went through numerous changes during this short period of time- personality wise she’s the same pushy little thing, one who’s not afraid to stick to what’s hers. And when it comes to what’s hers, she’s like a 3 years old kid- what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine also.
However, she gained more confidence, but now she’s going through a developmental phase where she’s more aware of the environment around her hence her confidence seems shaky, although it’s not. This period is important for dog guardians, because it might seem that the dog regresses, or doesn’t respond to instructions as well- this is the time to understand, guide, and prevent the dogs from getting in situations in which they might respond undesirably. Further, some dogs may become skittish- care should be taken if using corrections, while others may become bully-ish, care should be taken to avoid encouraging those behaviours.
If there's more than one dog in the household, I suggest ensuring that each of them is treated fairly- I do not endorse the view that dogs have a hierarchy among them. Their interactions are fluid and what looks like a dominant dog at on time is going to look differently in a different environment. However, I suggest practising all kinds of instructions in all kinds of environments in order to teach the new puppy how to respond in each situation.
Daia’s better now at:
- staying on sidewalks and on the appropriate side of bicycle pathways
- following hand signals for direction
- refraining from chasing objects and animals
- knowing how to do long stays with distractions around (e.g., dogs running, bouncing balls)
- having a perfect recall (i.e., it’s almost perfect because she’s not being recalled yet all the time from intense playing sessions with other dogs). One common mistake is expecting the dogs to have a perfect recall without gradually explaining them what that is
- spending time on her own (i.e., in a kennel, unsupervised in the whole house, alone in a car, with people she doesn’t know well)
- being able to interrupt intense play (e.g., playing the chase game, stopping and doing nothing for a short period of time, then resuming the game, then interrupting)
- relaxing without toys
- using her mouth- while most people suggest not allowing dogs to use their mouth, I prefer to teach them to use a ‘gentle mouth’- for example when playing, Daia can use her mouth but only if she’s not putting any pressure. This ensures that she enjoys the games as much as I do, and also that she knows what is permissible and what’s not
- searching – given Daia’s natural ability to do this, because not all dogs are good at it, she is working towards becoming a search and rescue dog. She has the tools for this job, it’s up to the weak link to do his part J
- retrieving and carrying objects- things have improved exponentially, but it’s not perfect yet
- the obedience commands are not something I value much- I am more interested in a solid Stop and Stays.
- conformation shows work- didn’t work yet in a real life setup, just worked on attention and other required instructions
- lastly but very importantly, house proofing- ignoring food on tables, objects other than her toys, house training. Daia’s great, one of the very few dogs who didn’t do much, if any, damage to our house- hopefully things will remain the same. According to the rules, her record is still clean- the pillow she just dismembered was one of the dogs’ pillows
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Fetch- more than just a game
My previous, and others, research suggests that human satisfaction with a specific dog is dependent on dog’s characteristics. More importantly, knowledge of dog behaviour moderates this satisfaction, perhaps by presenting dog’s abilities in a more realistic way, all the while providing one with the tools to modify dog’s behaviour in the desired direction- to a certain degree of course.
Case in point, Daia’s fetching- while not everyone is passionate about this, I find it very valuable. Some go as far as saying that one can select a good service dog based on her ability to retrieve, in a loose way, objects at few weeks old. As previously mentioned, Daia wasn’t too keen on doing this- especially outside. Outside she preferred to grab the object and run circles, or run and chew on it. Therefore, we worked on this inside- fewer distractions ensure that her attention is on the task at hand/paw, plus we have a better controlled environment.
Side note- I seem to choose the harder way most times, so I encouraged Daia to play outside with sticks/whatnot- as in grabbing them and running with them. It is easier to teach a dog to bring stuff to you by not doing this. However, I prefer to have dogs to express themselves the way they see fit- then work harder to explain them what I want.
Few factors are very important for this game, beside puppy's inclination- puppy’s emotional state, location, and our emotional state.
Somewhat recently, researchers have started to acknowledge, some not yet, some grudgingly, some gladly, that dogs and other animals do have emotions. Here’s a neat example of presence of emotions, albeit with rats J The emotional state is important for the dog has to be in the mood for doing this. In addition, it's also important to recognize when their interest diminishes- otherwise you’ll end up retrieving the object yourself…
Location is important: place yourself between two rooms/hallway- the reason being that the dog has to come back through that opening.
I will get in more detail about how our emotions influence the dogs in a future post- until then, I suggest observing the changes in dog's behaviour based on one's emotional state.
I suggest getting the dog worked up a bit with a specific toy, preferably some plush toy, or some toy that the puppy prefers.
DO NOT use tennis balls- they are commonly used because they’re readily available, but that texture is abrasive, and dogs who use them a lot develop dental problems- enamel issues. I prefer soft-ish rubber balls that have two openings, good for tying a rope, putting a stick through for water work, and they also make a certain noise which catches dogs' attention.
Once the dog display interest in the toy, the toy’s thrown few feet away - always with the arm extended downwards. While this is a small detail, it makes a huge difference because the puppies are not used to look up- if the toy is thrown with the arm extended above the shoulder. At this stage I encourage the dog to go get the toy. After she grabbed the toy, I encourage her to come back, and also walk away from her- while keeping an eye on, as usual. Once the pup starts to follow, I go back towards to her to close the gap and to prevent the pup from dropping the toy/wandering away/stopping and chewing/etc- carefully though, because a sudden movement may startle the puppy. This is why meeting the pup in an opening between two rooms helps, because the dog has to come back through that opening.
Once this works, same principles are applied outside- the difference outside is that I use markers for telling the dog what’s not a good idea (i.e., sounds/words that signify don’t do this). While these markers seem similar to positive punishment, they’re not. The markers prevent a behaviour from happening, while the positive punishment ensures that the dog receives a painful experience of sorts after a specific behaviour occurred. Another difference is that after the use of such marker, the dog is praised enthusiastically in order to clearly “tell” what’s right and what’s wrong. For example, if I sense that the dog will stray away from the most direct line between us, I use a marker before that happens, and then praise her for making eye contact and coming towards me- usually even faster than before due to the praising. 
Next optional step is having the pup do a stay while the toy is thrown- release her after a brief moment. This step increases puppy's self-control- it ensures that the dog doesn't start chasing any flying object, which is especially important for a pup with high prey-drive.
There are many applications for this skill, such as learning to retrieve diverse objects by name, bringing people- children especially like this, retrieving dropped objects, etc.
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Starting from scratch – Third week review
Research suggests that the older we get the faster the time goes by- at least that’s our perception. It must be that I’m older than I think I am, because I am falling behind on updating.
Many things happened in Daia’s life- the most notable is related to her perception. She started to perceive depth (e.g., fear of bridges). The change I like best is her retrieval, finally we can talk about retrieving things J She even started to get the notion of retrieving objects I point towards- not perfect, but we’re on the right track. Similarly, today she got closer to placing found bottles in the recycling bin.
What’s constant is her enjoyment in playing with other dogs- although her play is still strictly monitored in order to prevent her from returning to the old habits
Daia's one fast puppy- very coordinate for her age, and with a very good stamina...
I would like to highlight the need to familiarize with the developmental stages of a dog in order to be able to support the puppy through these changes. For example, Daia started to show her newly found depth perception 2 days ago, while crossing a bridge. Please keep in mind that the rate at which a dog develops is fast, while we, as people, are used with slow changes. Hence, most dog guardians are caught by surprise by these changes. As in the example above, not understanding why Daia is tentative on bridges, could result in wrongly reacting to dog’s behaviour.
Another aspect I would like to mention is the need to AVOID the use of training pads. While it seems that dog guardians seem to benefit from the use of these pads, the winners are the manufacturers, and the trainers who later on will deal with house training issues.
In a previous post I mentioned starting her nose work this week- this has been delayed. Well, she’s doing great without any outside help. Thus far she’s found and in some cases retrieved countless apple cores, banana/orange peels, one dead squirrel, and a zillion of other things. She does have the natural inclination for searching, that’s good news.
For a dog with prey-drive (i.e., tendency to investigate/chase moving objects/animals), there are several exercises that teaches them how to self-control this tendency. The following pictures try to present an exercise using two different “distractions”- Daia’s favourite ball, and a toy that she is encouraged to chase (i.e., only on cue, and stops on cue as well).
PS- hard to believe, but there's no snow mid-December...
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
Starting from scratch- Third week, ups and downs
As mentioned before, life with a puppy is predictable in its unpredictability… Kidding aside, the changes they go through are quite rapid- won’t go in developmental stages because there are many books out there on this topic. I would recommend anyone looking into getting a puppy to read one or more just to know what’s in store down the road.
Back to Daia, a week or so ago I mentioned that she’s not a mouthy girl- well, I was right, she wasn’t. But she is now- luckily she’s lost all but two of her puppy teeth. Everybody around a puppy must be celebrating such event, after all those puppy teeth are so sharp and pointy. One way to accelerate this process is using chewing toys, or go old school with real bones- much more pleasant to the dog, but messier for us. Another tip is tug-of-war ropes- prefect for extracting those pesky sharp teeth.
Another change is that she’s into chasing now- and she didn’t start small, she went straight for cars. The faster they go by, the more she likes them. Can’t say I feel the same, we’re working on keeping this under control, for the sake of both of us. It took me about 2 days to figure out her excitement on certain streets- she was anticipating the cars, and thus reacting before there was any car in sight. Smart girl - bad luck for me J
Note: picture taken while charging a dog, not a car...
Yet another change is her newly found independence. With her newly found confidence, she engages with other dogs much more intensely now, so responding to my cues suddenly became a chore. Luckily I experienced this chapter many many times before, so we’re patiently working on it- responding is a skill, hence practice, practice, then practice some more…
Cosmin
~listen to your dog~
