Time to Paws Behaviour Consulting

11/07/2022

This is such a big subject to cover. Many people believe what was always said that young dogs need to be spayed or castrated to prevent later health issues, plus obviously to prevent unwanted pregnancies. However, Paediatric neutering is so damaging to dogs. Not only does it cause problems with growth into adulthood but also affects behaviour.
The post here has great photographic info as well as much needed educational information about it. Please take a look especially if you have a young dog and may even be pressured by your veterinarian to get this done early.

Neutering dogs and puppies is an emotive subject. What are the health risks, side-effects & benefits? Serious health consequences can be avoided

04/07/2022

Some interesting information here about self control in Dogs..happy reading!

Self-control constitutes a foundational aspect of human nature. Findings from a study by Miller et.al., 2010 provides evidence that self-control relies on the same limited energy resource among humans and non-humans.

We know that when we exert self-control it can involve substantial costs. Studies demonstrate that self-regulatory deficits are a consequence of previous self-regulatory effort.

Studies have shown that exerting self-control can have negative consequences for both humans and dogs. In dogs, that initial exertion of self-control can increase impulsivity in dogs, resulting in risky decisions.

Please don’t ask your dog to sit in the face of one of their triggers or worrying stimuli.

Miller, H.C., Pattison, K.F., DeWall, C.N., Rayburn-Reeves, R and Zentall, T.R. Self-Control Without a “Self ”? Common Self-Control Processes in Humans and Dogs Psychological Science Online First, published on March 11, 2010

02/07/2022

I really have very little to add to this post, other than the sooner our industry is regulated the better. Happy reading, because I found it brilliant.

Beware the self-proclaimed expert – especially those offering to board and train!

While I prefer to focus on the positives in my posts, occasionally something is brought to my attention which is too concerning to ignore. While dog training and behaviour modification remains an unregulated industry, sadly there will always be those who take advantage of the unsuspecting public and do untold harm to dogs and their people. Frighteningly, most of these experts are not deliberately deceiving the public – in fact they tend to have enormous faith in their abilities, and I honestly believe that many genuinely suffer from severe delusions of grandeur.

In the long run many of these “dog gurus” crash and burn as horror stories from their former clients spread throughout the dog community, but new ones unfortunately always pop up and by the time their popularity wanes, too many dogs have suffered irreparable harm. So, after hearing again this week of one of the most troublesome local “experts” partnering with an equally delusional individual to open a “board and train”, I felt I could no longer remain silent and needed to write a brief “warning” post which will hopefully give dog guardians some danger signs to look out for when seeking help:

1. Credible, qualified trainers do not need to boast about their popularity or status. If you come across an advertisement claiming NUMBER ONE BEHAVIOURIST IN SA, SA’s TOP DOG SPECIALIST or TOP AGGRESSION EXPERT, I can absolutely guarantee you that nothing could be further from the truth. Qualified, reputable trainers allow their credentials and their client history to speak for itself. They have no need to make grandiose claims and are not trying to impress anyone.

2. Reputable trainers and behaviour practitioners will have some form of qualification or certification and they will belong to some professional body, which requires them to hold to a code of conduct. INDIVIDUALS WITH NO EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, THOSE WHO DALLIED BRIEFLY WITH STUDIES AND THEN DECIDED THEY KNEW BETTER AND THOSE WITH NO TIES TO ANY PROFESSIONAL BODY OR SOCIETY WHICH REQUIRES PROFESSIONALISM AND CERTAIN STANDARDS of practice are usually operating in isolation for a reason.

3. Credible, professional trainers and behaviour counsellors will be able to explain their approach to helping dogs and their people in terms of learning theory, emotionality, physiology and ethology. ANYONE WHO RELIES ON VAGUE NOTIONS OF LEADERSHIP, DOMINANCE, PACK THEORY OR “ENERGY” IS MAKING IT UP AS THEY GO ALONG and likely using punishment without even understanding what they are doing.

4. CREDIBLE DOG PROFESSIONALS NEVER GUARANTEE RESULTS – in fact you will often hear us say “it depends” …. Behaviour is complex and there are no quick fixes. Dogs are individuals and we have to move at their pace an accommodate their needs. We cannot simply “whip them into shape” with our brilliance or charisma.

5. DON’T MISTAKE GOOD MARKETING FOR EXPERTISE – many self-proclaimed experts are supremely confident (arrogant) and are happy to sell themselves shamelessly to the public. They may be very good at this side of things and easily convince people that they know what they are doing, simply due to presentation of advertisements etc. Just remember that you are hiring someone to help your dog, not market a product of yours!

Finally, to address the “Board and Train” issue – please remember that your dog is a family member and whatever is happening with them is in the context of your family, your home and your relationship with them. Removing the dog to a new environment away from everything they know is immediately going to change how they feel and how they behave. Behaviour and training issues need to be worked through holistically in the context of your dog’s life with you – a dog is not a computer who’s hard drive needs cleaning or an appliance with a button that needs fixing and which can be sent away for repairs. It really doesn’t work like that. Your relationship with your dog and how you fulfil their needs must be central to working through any behaviour issue and this won’t happen if you are not there.

Even more concerning is that in handing your dog over to someone else to “fix” you have absolutely no idea what may be done to your dog and what lasting consequences this could have on their emotional and behavioural health. If you are told your dog will go away for a night or two and come back transformed, what do you imagine might be happening during that time? I guarantee it is nothing good. You would surely not hand your toddler over to some “expert” for a couple of days to be “sorted out”, so PLEASE don’t do this to your dog!

24/06/2022

Choices are important for sentient beings.
Our dogs have very little choice over their own lives. We decide when and what they eat, when they go out, where they go on their walks, whether they are allowed off lead, what toys they have and what interactions they have. Choices should be given wherever possible. Have a read through this article. I found it very interesting

Why choices for our dogs?
Human psychology suggests that the greater the extent individuals believe that they can prevent, terminate, or lessen the severity of aversive events, the less reason they have to worry about or fear them (Rodin, 1986). In humans, control is now a major concept in a number of theories of emotional well-being and happiness (Thompson and Kyle, 2000).

Research has found choices and having some control to be crucial for a wide range of animal species, including apes, rodents, birds, and fish, indicating that the organism’s desire to influence the impact of interactions with the world appears to be central to animal life (Franks and Higgins, 2012).
Unpredictability can be a cause of stress to animals (Taylor and Mills, 2007).
We often talk about providing our dogs with choices but what does that mean? A choice between two foods? A choice between two toys? It is much more than that.
A number of methods to enhance choice and control range from changing or adapting a dog’s environment, offering the choice to engage or to move away from something, providing a safe space for a dog to go to when he wants to be away from a busy household or another resident dog or managing the way humans interact with the dog, such as the type of training methods used. Dogs who find themselves in kennels for example, can be provided with an elevated place to retreat and the ability to move out of sight or be given food-dispensing devices controllable by the dogs.
We can give our dogs choice and control by listening to them – for example – giving dogs choices in their handling and listening to their requests to end something. This is one of the reasons we use fear free handling.

23/06/2022

Learn about body language in dogs if you want to actually understand what they need not what you think they want

23/06/2022

I struggle to get some of my clients to understand what working with a dog is for. Dog's aren't appliances or machines. We can't fix them like we do when our washing machine or cooker stops working the way they should. They are individual beings with individual issues, and let's be fair sometimes the pet parents' issues are more than the dog's.

We place such emphasis on having a dog that is perfect....walks to heel, friendly with other dogs....great with people in and out of our home....eats well.... doesn't counter surf....not destructive....sleeps all of the time they are at home. This dog doesn't exist. A dog's nuances are part of their personality and we need to accept that.

I love this post below, please have a read

Fix my dog!

Sadly, there is still some expectation that we “fix” dogs. We don’t!

Sometimes it is about creating an environment in which they can feel safe, be relaxed, or set up for success so they can learn. Sometimes it is about managing behaviours or preventing unwanted behaviour from happening in the first place through management. It can also be about managing expectations, managing stressors, or helping a dog to grow in confidence. Some of the time it is about being patient and appreciating the dog in front of us.

We need to shift our thinking from wanting to “fix” our dogs and work with the dog in front of us and understand WHO they are.

We need to find the answers to these questions and work with the individual dog in front of us, with no set timescale, no pressure, and no agenda.

Preventing causing further stress and anxiety and understanding the dog in front of us is often all it takes to help a dog grow in confidence.

Progress not perfection is our goal :)

16/06/2022

Please consider your dog not yourself when thinking about going for a walk in the afternoon sun

Please don't be walking your dogs in this weather folks.

Let's have some common sense prevail as we discuss this throughout every summer, if you're wearing shorts and t-shirt and are still warm, then it's too hot to walk your dog! Simples.

Oh, and if I have to tell you about leaving your dogs in hot cars I may just go insane!!

Instead, let's all share what we do with our dogs in place of walks through the super hot weather to avoid over heating our dogs and puppers!

My favourite will forever be plastic milk bottles filled with water, natural yoghurt, keifer and blueberries all mixed together and frozen. That's half hour peace right there!

15/06/2022

This is so important. How many times has someone told you when you have a pup, oh you've got to tire them out. No! We were told this stupid information when we first had our 12 year old springer boy. He is now riddled with arthritis and has been since about 8 years old. We certainly haven't made the mistake with the other 2. There are other ways of tiring your dog out - mental enrichment is the best way. Don't forget that a young dog needs a lot of sleep so teaching them that it's actually ok to not be doing anything is good too.

14/06/2022

This. Is. So. True.

14/06/2022

PREDICTABLE PATTERNS AND WHY THEY MATTER
We can help our dogs cope in our world by providing predictable patterns that they can follow, even when the unpredictable happens. This requires consistency, repetition and patience, but dogs quickly learn what to do when that behaviour creates a predictable, positive result.
Predictability lowers anxiety, allows the brain to conserve energy and creates a sense of trust and security. Like other animals, dogs are experts at finding patterns. They look for patterns in their world and in the behavior of others and just like we do, feel so much better when they can make sense of a situation rather than feeling confused or anxious when they can’t find a pattern. When we create predictable patterns, dogs begin to understand what happens and how they should respond when a specific situation occurs. The situation becomes the cue for the behaviour rather than the cue itself. We often get caught up in using cues or instructions instead of just showing our dogs that this is what they should do in this situation. Being consistent and following a pattern in all that we do with our dogs, creates trust, stability and security in knowing what to expect.

10/06/2022

We do tend to view dogs in public as community property. It doesn't help that most dogs seem willing to engage with us through their body language. Still, asking if you can approach and greet is only polite. This author shares her views on this topic of consent.

https://positively.com/contributors/consent-its-not-just-for-people/

07/06/2022

This is very relevant, more so now as the influx of foreign rescues has increased. As a parent of someone who has taken on a foreign rescue, there have been many questions directed my way, some of which I can't answer as she has only been with our family for a month and a half so we are still learning about her personality. I know of many situations that happen in foreign countries towards dogs, the Spaniards, the Greeks, both of which I have seen first hand but worst of all are the Eastern Europeans. So when these dogs are transported to a totally different environment, they struggle immensely, it's not normal to them. Often I have been asked to help dogs that have bitten (regularly foreign street dogs) and people get angry or have a complete lack of understanding as to why this has happened. Patience is a key factor as is letting the dog adjust in it's own time. Street dogs, feral dogs etc are totally different to the dogs that have been bred and grown up in our country. Please remember that should you be considering a rescue from another country.

Domestic Social Dog vs Street/Stray Social Dogs

There is a difference...

Our home bred domesticated dogs have mostly gone through the benefits of human manipulation through handling, exposure, and social structure that helps them thrive in our mostly domesticated world. We all know the importance of early rearing and the steps to take to achieve this.

As a dog trainer I've found that recent years have seen a popular increase in foreign street/stray dogs. I used to work with one every so often, now it is on a weekly basis. Many of the cases highlight social issues with other dogs or people, powerful prey drive, and fear and extreme trepidation adapting and adjusting to a new environment.

I wouldn't even say it is a new environment...as these dogs have literally landed on a different planet. That can produce immense challenges for owners.

Some dogs make a great transition and there are success stories. But many of them go through difficult times...

Some of the problems with the dogs include:

Living in a house for the first time...

Being restrained on a lead, or any other piece of equipment for the first time...

Coming through the process of capture and transportation...

Lack of freedom they are formerly used to...

Many are independent thinkers and resolve or do things their own way...it is difficult for them to rely on human guidance and direction...

That independence can influence just how receptive they may be to any training the human attempts to provide...

Living close to human habitat they will have mixed associations with humans who have both encouraged and discouraged them...

They have strong avoidance behaviours of flight response to any perceived threat or potential danger. If they cannot escape and are restrained by the human and equipment this can cause strong reactions...

Some have previously been in fights and will have strong associations in close proximity to other dogs...

Some will be very social and will show social frustration in not being able to interact with other dogs due to equipment and human restraint....(this can be common and also perceived as reactivity).

The task then is not re-socializing these dogs as they are already habituated to a world they've previously known, but in understanding them now that they have been removed from that former environment, appreciating what you may have to live with (not all behaviour can be trained away...) and how you are able to use any of your relationship building and training structure to help them adjust better.

Remember, many of them can be very strong independent thinkers and in dogs well beyond puppyhood that may well prove to be your biggest challenge.

The most important state of mind for any dog is...'Am I safe?' That feeling can override the need for food or water. Avoidance is a strong canine behaviour in any dog, but a prevalent one in street, stray, or feral canines.

Some behaviours you have to live with, others are a work in progress, others will need specific management depending on the environment. That is not to say that some of these behaviours cannot be changed or influenced, but to understand that you are experiencing the resistance of independent strong wiring that is specifically designed to keep a dog safe and make choices towards that end...

Convincing a dog to take your guidance and direction under stress when its instincts tell it otherwise and move it to a behaviour they choose instinctively by default is where most new owners can experience the struggle. It all depends on the individual dog.

There's a huge difference between the domestically social home grown dog and the street, stray social behaviour of dogs.

What are your experiences, what are or have been your challenges, and have you experienced big differences in owning both selectively bred domestic dogs and foreign street dogs?

01/06/2022

How many people are in too much of a rush, especially in the mornings to let their dog have a good old sniff when they are out on their walk? How about the evening?

It is very common to see people dragging their dog around, not allowing them to even stop let alone sniff and take in the info that has been left behind by neighbouring dogs.

I hate to see dogs being marched around instead of enjoying their time out of the house. It's their walk, it also shouldn't be seen as a chore either, it should be something to share the enjoyment of.

If you feel that you don't have enough time to give your dog the opportunity to enjoy its walk and stop to sniff then get up earlier, prioritise your canine friend and his or her needs.

I love the poster below and felt it was important to share!

LET ME BE “NOSEY”
Imagine going on a long-anticipated walk, through beautiful scenery, after you have been cooped up in the same place all day, but you have been fitted with a blind fold and are being dragged along at a quick pace. I imagine that this is how dogs feel when we don’t allow them time to stop and sniff the environment. Dogs largely perceive their world through scent and it’s how they collect and process information and make sense of the world. Taking away an opportunity for sniffing on a walk is not in their best interests and as much as physical exercise is important, the mental stimulation that sniffing provides is equally, if not more important.
Studies have shown that allowing dogs to spend time sniffing provides so many benefits – promoting calmness, lowering stress and anxiety levels, lowering pulse rates, preventing cognitive decline and providing mental stimulation and enrichment are just some examples.
Make time for a slow “sniffing walk”, where your dog is allowed to decide which direction to go and allowed to simply be “nosey” and follow wherever their nose leads them. It may take far more time and patience as we wait for them to finish smelling that blade of grass, but the benefits are well worth it.

31/05/2022

30/05/2022

Something a little different today....trigger stacking....but on the human end of the lead!
So, trigger stacking in a dog can happen quickly and be extremely evident or it may never be visible to the untrained eye.
Were you aware however that it humans to the human too? Not something I had actually even thought about. Great post below, have a read it may even sound familiar

Jen, can you do a post on trigger stacking in the human on dog walks? My fiancé said.

Here we go.

River is our special girl, you'd say she was "reactive" to other dogs and cars. She's big (doberman x GSD), very strong and her reactivity, especially with cars, is very engrained. She would get herself very injured if she was able to break free and Adam carries that risk on his shoulders with every walk. Whilst we walk her quiet places to make it as easy on us as possible in managing her, cars are unfortunately everywhere and we do come across them now and then.

River has rest days. That isn't just to ease her own stress levels, but Adam's too. The responsibility he has in keeping River safe and under threshold is huge. All of us with reactive dogs know that responsibility. We can get just as trigger stacked on walks as the dogs can. He had a nightmare walk with River the other day where he slowly got sandwiched between dogs and cars. The quiet place suddenly became busy and he was literally stuck in the middle. He identified the effects of this trigger stacking of stress is similar in dogs as people.

*His heart rate rose
*His breathing became quicker and more erratic
*He became hot and unpredictable in his movements
*His "thinking brain" to work out how to get out the situation struggled to stay dominant over the emotional brain
*He didn't leave the situation and immediately calm down. Those stress effects lingered for the rest of the walk.

With Adam in stress escalation we know for sure River was too. Dogs feel our stress, smell our stress, and this has a knock on effect to their emotional experience too. With our human world, trigger stacking may not just be what we experience in the moment either. We could be already trigger stacked before we even left the house. We could be carrying an argument with a friend, an unpaid bill, an upcoming hospital appointment and a headache. This could mean just a relatively minor situation to handle with your reactive dog could become a huge deal. Any frustration you feel at being "at the end of your tether" could be transferred to the dog, maybe even through our responses to their difficulties in the moment.

It's normal to get frustrated and that intense emotional experience can lead you to temporarily forget how to constructively handle the situation. Maybe you automatically hold the lead tighter and more forceful than you usually would. Maybe your voice is lower and more authoritarian than supportive. Maybe you forget the cue word for emergencies and resort back to old behaviours to manage these situations. These are all possibilities given our human experience.

It's ok to check yourself before going out with your "reactive" dog. Have you got the emotional space to deal with what might lay ahead of you? If not, perhaps organise a rest day indoors or in the garden. Calming but enriching activities for your dog, and perhaps some constructive self care for you too 🐾💜

27/05/2022

To follow on from my earlier post today this post goes into detail on what actually happens to a young dog when they go through adolescence. Please take a moment to read as it provides insight into their behaviour that may help you understand them

Ever wondered why a puppy's behavior seems erratic during adolescence, which occurs between six months and 18 months of age?

The neurobiology of adolescence is fascinating, with some key events that alter both the structure and function of the brain.

During canine adolescence, s*x hormones are changing which effects the animals stress responses. Adolescent dogs have a decreased ability to modulate sensory processing and subsequent behavior.

The connectivity between the frontal cortex (responsible for decision making) and amygdala (responsible for emotional processing) decreases, resulting in less behavioral control.

So what does this mean? This could mean that your dog, who used to come when called, suddenly cannot. This could mean that your dog, who didn't jump up on guests, suddenly does. Your dog that walked nicely on leash is now pulling. Or perhaps it seems like some days your dog responds to behaviors you ask of them, and some days they don't, without any rhyme or reason.

We also see increased risk taking and more sensitivity to fear.

As your puppy undergoes this transition into adulthood their inner world is intense, even chaotic. Many pet owners experience an increase in undesirable behavior and find themselves becoming increasingly frustrated. In turn, frustration and impatience sometimes cause us to act unpredictably.

This adds to your puppy’s inner turmoil. When the inside and the outside are both unpredictable it can be difficult for puppies to adjust.

By understanding this we can gain greater compassion and understanding. When we approach adolescence with patience we can help create a world that is predictable and gentle so our puppies grow up to be their best selves.

27/05/2022

Here is another great poster by Dog Decoder. We all do this with our children and our pets, but what does saying No actually achieve? As it is pointed out here no doesn't mean anything to a dog, it means even less to a pup. I used to fall with this constantly years ago with my oldest springer and, as you do with children, each one you do things different with.
I often have to stop myself from saying it and ask for a different behaviour as it is so ingrained and a learned behaviour from when I was growing up myself.
Before you go to say or shout no at your dog or pup, think what you would rather he or she be doing instead and ask them to do that. It works so much better as you are giving your dog something to do as opposed to just shouting a word out that means nothing to them.

WHAT DOES “NO!’ REALLY MEAN?
Picture this – a mom walks past her son’s room and sees that he’s drawing all over the walls with his crayons. “No! No! No! “, she screams at him. He immediately stops, looking confused and scared. Satisfied that her son has stopped this behaviour, she continues with what she was doing. A while later she walks past his room again. He is now drawing all over the furniture. Mom is now furious and just doesn’t understand why he didn’t listen. He didn’t “listen”, because he wasn’t given an alternative, acceptable behaviour. Maybe if he had been given lots of big pieces of paper or cardboard to draw on, this wouldn’t have happened and he would have understood what was acceptable and what wasn’t.
A similar comparison can be made to how we use this word with our dogs. Show dogs an alternative behaviour rather than just saying “No!”. This enables them to understand what behaviour is acceptable, helps to alleviate any potential fear, stress or confusion and sets them up for success.

26/05/2022

I am right at the start of this now and patience is seriously important.. even if it is really lacking. If you are struggling just think how much your young dog is struggling to cope with the changes he or she is going through.
Take time out and ask for help if needs be but please be patient and understanding with your young dog.

Image description: A brown GSP dog with a collar and lead staring intently behind the camera.

Text reads: Adolescence is a time for patience, not push. The frontal cortex is still developing during adolescence and so a young dog’s ability to control its own behaviour is not yet fully developed. This can be mistaken for naughtiness.

14/05/2022

Have you ever wondered how your dog(s) seems to know roughly when a family member is due home from work or when they should be going for a walk etc. There is a theory about how this happens, obviously they can't read a clock but have a way of knowing when these things are going to happen. Have a read through this really interesting article below....

I NOSE WHAT TIME IT IS !
Dogs just seem to know when it’s time for food, time for a walk or even what time we’re expected to come home, sometimes down to the exact minute!
Yes, they may know this simply from daily routines that create predictable patterns or certain cues that predict certain events, but there is far more to this ability to tell time than the obvious reasons.
One theory is that time has a particular smell. Different times of the day smell differently. Morning smells differently to afternoon or evening. As air heats up over the course of the day, air currents change and move around, carrying molecules of different odours with it. These changes become predictable and a dog’s incredible sense of smell enables these odours to become their “clock”.
One example is when you leave the house to go to work, leaving a strong scent behind you. As time passes, your scent becomes weaker. Dogs predict that when your scent becomes weakened to a certain level, it’s time for you to come home. The level of your scent predicts what time you come home. As dogs can detect both strong and weak scents and all the levels in between, it means that they are actually interpreting events across an interval of time.
Another way dogs may tell time is through circadian rhythms. Just like us, dogs have fluctuations in systems like hormone levels, neural activity or body temperature and these rhythms may help them to understand the approximate time of day - just like when our stomach starts growling when it’s nearly time for dinner or we feel tired when it's time for bed.
Dogs are not the only species that can interpret time. Animals that migrate or hibernate follow seasonal cues from nature in the form of daylight and temperature to know when it’s the right time.
Having hundreds of millions more scent receptors than us, a dog’s amazing ability to smell is a likely reason that dogs just "nose" what time it is.