walk « How Many Dogs?! Creating Harmony in a Multi Dog Household

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Mythbusters, the Dog Training Edition: “Some Breeds Need a Firmer Hand”

Breed specific enthusiasts can have a narrow view on some aspects of their chosen breed. This is not limited to any one breed. I see it among many breed enthusiasts. Everyone wants to believe that their breed is more special than any other breed. So they say things like the above phrase to set their breed apart and in doing so, themselves as well. After all, they can handle this breed so they must be special too.

In truth, all dogs are special. There no need to make any one breed seem tougher than any other breed. To do so invites abuse of that breed in the name of training. This is unnecessary at best. It is a crime at worst.

Behavior is behavior. Modifying a behavior can be done with reward based methods regardless of the breed. Breed only matters in knowing where some behaviors MAY come from and in how to redirect them more effectively. Plenty of breeds were bred for a certain job. But that never guarantees that every member of that breed has that working instinct. It very much depends on the individual parents. But knowing what that job trait may be and how certain behaviors fit into such a trait are important considerations for behavior consultants. That doesn’t however, change the methodology that one should use to modify errant behaviors that are unwelcome. There are plenty of choices on how to implement reward based behavior modification.

No force is needed to handle these two Cane Corsos.

In fact, using punitive methods on strong confident dogs can create a time bomb waiting to go off. At some point, said strong confident dog will get sick of being forced and choose to fight back. Is this the kind of relationship that you want to create with your dogs? I sure don’t. All of my confident dogs have flourished when I finally got a clue about how to inspire them effectively.

Status breeds can often the choice of some people who want to use the perceived status of their dog to elevate how they are viewed by the world at large. Being able to “control” such a “tough” dog makes them tough. So they use methods popularized by a certain TV “trainer” with little education in dog behavior. These old fashioned methods have proven to be detrimental to having a trust based relationship with one’s dog. They also often create more aggression and a defensive state of existing in the dogs in question.

Among the fallacies I have heard are that Pit Bulls have necks so strong that they can’t feel prong collars and their jaws lock so that you have to be forceful with them in order to prevent that. Of course this kind of false information creates an adversarial situation with a breed group that is already in a precarious position in the public eye right now. The truth is that this is one of the breed groups that is the softest with humans. They are often eager to please and take to reward based training very quickly. Thankfully most Pit Bull rescue and advocacy groups operate with modern methods these days, although sadly not all do. Do your research before supporting a Pit Bull rescue and choose the ones who choose to train with their brains. Without that reassurance, you can inadvertently support very old fashioned methods that rely on abuse and call it training.

Dobermans and Rottweilers are two more breeds where you often see a heavy slant towards the old fashioned methods among their fanciers. Progressive owners choose positive rewards-based methods because they work better, without a need for manhandling one’s dog. Merlin introduced me to the Doberman world and fortunately for him, I wound up on the path to reward-based training. I wish I could say the same for most Doberman fans.

Fortunately for Caucasian Ovcharkas, Kenzo’s breed, the original breeder in this country who wrote the book on the breed, was ahead of her time. Reward-based training and even capturing, is mentioned in her book on the breed. Unheard of that decade, this is a boon to the breed. This breed tends to be the picture that shows up on the internet if you google aggressive dogs. Large and powerful, yet perfectly easily trainable with reward based training, once again.

The same is true of all breeds. Behavior is behavior. Expecting to have to be forceful with your chosen breed sets up an adversarial relationship from the start. This causes defensive behavior on the part of the dog and resentful behavior on the part of the human. If you choose to see believe that you have to use a hammer, you will see everything as a nail. Build a relationship, not a battle. If you have a breed perceived as “tough”, feel free share your reward based training path in the spaces below.

Tags: abuse, behavior, breed, Cane Corso, canine, confident, dog, dominance, exercise, fight, force, household, inspire, many, modification, multiple, positive, relationship, rescue, reward, social, training, walk

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Balancing Acts: Work, Play, Dogs, How Do You Fit It All In?

Recently it was made clear to me that I had been neglecting my dog’s playtime. I had a friend come over to put my window air conditioners in and we had to go upstairs to my finished attic to get one of them. This also happens to be the location of my dog’s playroom. When that door opened, they were all up there in a flash. Even Siri, who often had to be persuaded and cajoled when we made this a daily event. I was chagrined.

It had been weeks, if not a month, since we had made the trip up there. Don’t misunderstand, we had most definitely played, but in the yard and in the living room. Those venues don’t generally invite the same intensity of play. And of course, we walk on a daily basis. But the attic playroom is where they are permitted to wrestle like idiots. They had clearly missed this time and I felt like a horrible dog mom.

I made sure that we headed up to that room two days later for a good hour or so of no holds barred play. Even Siri joined in and it had been a couple of months since she had shown an interest in joining in. She usually chose to lay on a dog bed next to me while watching. We stayed up there so long, that eventually Kenzo ran downstairs to get a drink. That was a rarity! I chose that as our cue to call it a day. I vowed then to not let life get in the way of play again. My dogs are only here a finite amount of time. I want to make that time memorable.

I see so many clients who confess to me that they rarely walk their dogs. But they make a point in telling me that they play with their dogs for hours in the yard. That’s great. But it’s not a substitute for getting their dogs out of their element. I wrote a blog about the importance of that, that you can read here in this website. My point here is about balance. Spend some of that playtime walking your crew outside of your own property. One method of stimulation isn’t enough. Playtime is aerobic exercise depending on how you are playing. Walking may be physical but it’s the mental factor of it that is important to your dog.

The crew in their playroom.

The playing portion is engagement with you as well as physical. I can see on my dog’s faces how happy they are when they get to really engage with one another and play unfettered. My mistake was trying to force that interaction daily. I was deluded into thinking they were no longer interested because I tried to enforce play daily. The true story was that they didn’t need it daily, Maybe your dogs do, maybe they don’t. I am certain that my dogs need a daily outing, away from our element. I need this as well. But they don’t need to wrestle like idiots daily. Younger dogs probably do. When Merlin and Kera were alive and younger, the crew played almost daily. But Kenzo is a low activity two year old. And Trent is nine going on ten and Siri is twelve and a half.

The message here is look for what your own individual crew needs. Look for balance. Make time for what they need. The time they have with us is limited. It’s not nearly as much as with the humans in your life. Before you know it, it’s gone. Life is hectic for most humans in this day and age. But I cannot think of a better way to slow it down than to force yourself to live in the moment for your dogs for some portion of every day. Take a realistic look at them and what their needs are. Carve that time out on a daily basis, some days more, some days less. You will be happier and so will they.

Feel free to share how you balance your dog’s lives. We all need fresh ideas.

Tags: balance, behavior, dogs, exercise, happy, hectic, household, how, intensity, many, multiple, needs, physical, play, positive, social, training, walk

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Admire From Afar: Appropriate Interactions with Strangers on Walks

Vehicles need repairs periodically. It’s a sad fact of life. Recently, I spent a day off from working getting mine repaired. While this is not an earth shattering event, one of the areas of my life that is affected if my vehicle is gone all day, is that my dogs and I have no method of transportation to our usual walking locales. So it is a bit earth shattering to me.

Image of the dogs on a calm nature walk.

What the dogs look like on a calm nature walk.

Oh, you are no doubt shaking your head at this point. Walk the neighborhood, right? I have and it’s challenging with multiple dogs, so I stick to short walks or longer walks during snowstorms that shut the city down. My dogs and I like peace when we walk so we drive to peaceful places. I am a nature lover living in the city. Fortunately, this city has a lot of available close by nature. Literally across the street, for one.

As I mentioned, I live in the city, in a neighborhood best described as transitional. Mixed incomes and education makes for a colorful place that sometimes offers more activity than I would prefer. So having no options aside from waiting until I got my vehicle back much later that day, I opted to give the neighborhood walk a shot. The crew was throwing expectant glances at the door after breakfast and Kenzo had begun his occasional whining of anticipation. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

Armed with treats and poop bags, we made our way down the hill to a busier street, intending to head towards the quieter streets once we had crossed. We had no sooner rounded the corner in front of my house when a passing car stopped in the middle of the street and waited. I stopped my crew, intending to wait until they moved. There was only about three to four feet for us to pass them and with three dogs as large as mine together, it wasn’t a practical thing to attempt. The passenger window rolled down and a woman said that they wanted to “see the dog when he walked by.” I am sure that they meant Kenzo, though the entire crew was with me. Kenzo is larger than the average dog so that attracts attention. Most people are more polite than this when they address me about Kenzo.

I was only about ten to fifteen feet away so they could see him already just fine. I told them that the dogs would possibly bark if we were that close by. They said that was okay. But it’s not okay with me to set them up to fail. And it shouldn’t be okay with you either. I silently stood where I was until they went on their way, after telling them this.

If I had been walking with human children and this happened just that way, it would be considered creepy. I think it equally creepy to have interactions like this with my dogs. There is a wonderful blog that was written a few years ago about dogs not being community property (read Dogs Are Not Public Property from dogster.com). It is so important for the public at large to understand that point. Parents would be very upset to have their human children be the focus of attention in that manner. I am equally upset to have my beloved dogs treated like side show acts. It’s impolite at best.

Some people are interested in being social when they walk their dogs. If one attends dog parks or interactive outings with one’s dog, then social interaction is the expectation. But walking around in public doesn’t mean someone is interested in being intruded upon, particularly just because of appearance. In the world of human interaction, that would be highly inappropriate.

Before you judge me as cranky, I have been politely asked from afar many times what breed Kenzo is or been given compliments about all of my dogs. I always light up with a smile and thank them and answer brief questions. The key word here is politely and the even more important word is from afar. Few people have expected to zoom right in the middle of my world when walking. Those who have, were politely but firmly redirected immediately.

Why is this a multiple dogs issue? Dogs feed off of each other’s energies. Multiply the quantity of dogs, multiply the energy of interaction. I choose to never interact up close with strangers when walking my dogs. My dogs have always been mostly of guarding breed lineage and as we live in this “transitional” neighborhood, I want to keep my dogs safe from harm, which includes not having to make split-second decisions about people they don’t know. We interact with people known to us on walks and that works for us.

I am also a huge fan of polite interactions with strangers. Like with dogs, I try very hard to not reinforce inappropriate behavior of any kind. That applies to humans as well. My dogs and I value our time in nature. It centers my soul. I see the same reactions in my dogs. I will keep that time sacred. When we want to interact, Kenzo goes to dog socials. He loves it as do I. But if you see us on walks and you are not personally known to us, please admire from afar. We will respect and thank you for that. And I will be eternally grateful for that gift.

Tags: behavior, dog, dogs, energy, household, interactive, many, multiple, neighborhood, parks, positive, respect, safe, social, streets, train, walk, whining

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Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine? Kenzo’s Impatience Problem

I have a 140# toddler. Those very words could cause alarm in many circles but in this case, I am referring to Kenzo. At the still very young age of not quite two, Kenzo is probably less toddler, more teenager. But the whining that occurs within both age groups is quite similar most of the time. The rebellion is less teenage than toddler so I am sticking with that age group for the explanation to the whining.

Kenzo whining as he waits.

So back to the whining. What prompts it? Anything that he can’t have as fast as he wants it. This could and does include dinner, heading downstairs to prepare for a walk, arriving at large dog social, attention from favorite people. Note that I excluded breakfast. That is because I don’t think Kenzo is a morning dog. He is far happier barking at the deadly porch outside my back door before he gets his breakfast than whining. Sort of like humans are cranky before their morning coffee.

So of course being the professional trainer than I am, I don’t ever reinforce this whining. But it doesn’t necessarily go away with the extinction approach either. For now, I will trust that with maturity, my big toddler will become more patient.

Tags: behavior, dinner, dog, dogs, exercise, force, household, multiple, puppy, rebellion, social, training, walk, whine, whining

Posted in: Projects

On the Road Again: Getting Out and About Makes for a Happier Crew

Environmental enrichment has been a buzzword in the animal shelter world for some time now. Programs designed to keep the dogs that are in shelters from going stir crazy from monotony are well respected by behavior professionals. Shelters whose staffs consider the facilities state of the art, are conscientious in practicing the proper enrichment protocols for animals in their care. Volunteers and staff are well trained to keep the animals engaged.

This is all wonderful news for the dogs searching for homes of their own. But what about the dogs already in their furever homes? Are their humans remembering that they also need their own environmental enrichment? Living in a wonderfully loving home does not in any way guarantee appropriate environmental enrichment. Surprising, right? Not really. If you are stuck on your own property for days on end, no matter how much you enjoy your property, are you satisfied or are you yearning for outings? I am guessing the latter. [Edited to add: Covid-19 has made us all painfully aware how stressful it can be to be forbidden our regular outings, am I right?]

Several weeks ago, I got stuck in my house for most of the day, literally. There was a water main break on the street that I park on and my car was encased in several inches of ice. In addition to that, my gate was iced closed and I was unable to free it for most of the day. When I was finally able to open my gate, I was still unable to leave because of the ice and then the large quantities of water rushing down the alley. It was almost the end of the day when it was declared safe to exit my house. I couldn’t leave fast enough, dogs in tow of course.

The dogs pause for a photo before heading out.

I suspect that this is how dogs feel when they are sentenced to life on their own property most of the time. It was immensely freeing to finally leave my house. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my house but I need to get out daily or I will lose my mind. Dogs need to get out too.

My dogs go somewhere every single day. It is rare that a day is missed and when it is, you can guarantee that it was because of an emergency or I because I am out of town and someone else is caring for them. I don’t allow others to walk my crew so they stay on my property when I am away, but that occurrence is so infrequent that it’s a non-issue to them.

Back to my dogs’ outings…even if I am sick, they go somewhere. Even if it is pouring down rain, we go somewhere. The dogs may only hop out of my SUV briefly in that case, but the fact remains that they still went somewhere that day and that helps their state of mind. It is enrichment. This insistence on my part hit home very much in the last month when so many things were going on in my life, that it was chaotic. Yet, despite the chaos, every single day, my crew had that part of their routine (among others) to rely upon. It’s that important to me that they have that. It should be that important to you too. Stress relief is as important to dogs as to people. Outings that involve smells that don’t occur on one’s home-plate are the dessert of your crew’s existence.

Now I am a realist. I understand that many people are not going to commit to getting a multiple dog household out and about daily. However, any outings are better than no outings, so start slow. If your crew can’t all walk together, then rotate who goes. Aim for a couple days a week, with a goal of a few more days a week. Start a routine. New routines takes repetition to become second nature. But once they become second nature, you will be surprised that you ever lived without it. Seeing the more relaxed look on your crew’s faces will be worth the effort. If you are an exerciser, you understand this more. If you want to become an exerciser, there is no better walking companion than your own crew.

Get out and enjoy the outdoors and see the difference that a change of scene makes! Feel free to use the spaces below to share how you give your own crew a change of scenery.

Tags: dogs, engaged, exercise, many, monotony, outing, rain, relax, routine, run, shelter, sick, walk, weather

Posted in: Projects