Connie Swaim Canine Behavior Services

12/21/2024

Do you have a plan for how to help your dog survive the holidays? It isn't too late to set up some safety protocols to ensure your dog and your family have a festive time together.

The holidays are fast upon us, which often means traveling, having people visit, and generally a disruption in normal routines. Many people become stressed during the holidays due to all the change…

08/29/2024

I am proud to be one of the sponsors of this program!

08/24/2024

Come out today and visit. I will be here until 3 pm.

07/31/2024

Do your part to help dogs have fun in public.

There is a lot of peer pressure involved in having a dog. If you are out walking your dog and someone says, “may I pet your dog?” and you reply “no,” you are often met with a version of “oh, is he …

07/06/2024

Always ask your dog if he or she wants to be petted by visitors or strangers before just letting it happen.

Imagine you are walking down the street, just taking in the sights, sounds and smells when suddenly a stranger rushes up and starts shouting, “OMG, I love your hair, that is so soft looking, I must…

04/06/2022

Wonder why your dog "gets" you when he looks at you? It's all in the eyes.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/05/health/puppy-dog-eyes-wellness-scn/index.html

Don't blame your dog for his pleading puppy dog eyes. Blame your human ancestors, who bred that characteristic into dogs during domestication.

02/25/2022

Sniffspot is having a contest for the best positive trainers and I was nominated. Once votes are cast, Sniffspot will be creating lists of trainers in various cities throughout the US.

If you would like to vote for me the list is alphabetical by first name. But, also check the list for other trainers you may know.

https://form.jotform.com/220466155218049

Please click the link to complete this form.

01/23/2022

Meet Fievel, a 6 year old dog adopted last year from IndyHumane. Before I get into why I was seeing this dog; please take a moment and look at his ears. Someone did this to him. They cut his ears, most likely with scissors or a knife. It is not uncommon to see this in bully type breeds. I doubt if any of you who follow my page would ever do this; but if you meet people who talk about it, explain how painful this is. If someone absolutely feels they must crop a dog's ears or dock its tail beg them to have a veterinarian do it.

Fievel has a lot of anxiety issues. While there is no way to know what is causing his anxiety; I doubt having his ears cut helped him.

But, luckily for this dog; he showed up repeatedly at IndyHumane as a stray and the staff was able to get his owners to relinquish him. He spent a long time at the shelter; was adopted and then unfortunately returned due to his anxiety issues. He spent more time at the shelter. Off and on he spent about half of his life in a shelter waiting for his home.

He now has an awesome home with an owner who loves him very much. She takes him to a fear free vet who recommended that she contact me to see if some of Fievel's anxiety issues could be worked with through behavior modification vs. just putting him on medication.

Fievel does a lot of paw licking but he does not have allergies. He also cannot leave guests alone and has to push them, jump on them, lick them, paw them, etc. to get attention and he can't settle when visitors are in the home. He just has to be the center of attention. He also has issues when he sees other dogs on walks and he gets anxious.

Now when visitors come over Fievel's owner is going to give him something else to do such as eating his kibble out of a frozen Kong; or hunting for kibble in cardboard boxes. While I was there I started tossing treats into two different rooms. At first Fievel just wanted to paw at me, but after a few minutes of getting nothing from me he went to eat the treats; then I tossed treats into a different room and soon he was traveling between the two rooms looking for treats and not bothering me. Even if there weren't always treats to find he began using his nose and heavily sniffing to see if there was something he had missed.

Outside we worked on helping him understand he could stop and smell the roses so to speak. Instead of being hyper alert to his surroundings, we tossed treats into the leaves on the ground and let him hunt. This is still a work in progress as the outside world is difficult to ignore when the dog feels he has to be hyper vigilant.

At the end of my visit, Fievel was relaxed enough he could settle on the couch rather than constantly seek attention from me.

Brain games and hunting games are wonderful ways to help dogs with anxiety.

Thanks to the great staff at IndyHumane who worked with this dog to give him the chance he needed to find a wonderful home. Thanks also to his amazing owner who looked past his breed and his ears to see the dog inside who is loving and gentle.

01/21/2022

This little cutie is Toby. He is six years old and super adorable. Believe it or not; he was found on the streets covered in fleas and missing most of his fur. He still has a lot of places where fur isn't growing back; but he is now a happy, healthy fellow and has landed a wonderful new home.

However, little Toby makes a noise that sounds like a banshee when he sees other dogs on a walk. He stands up on his hindlegs and screams at the other dogs.

Toby used to do the same behavior when he saw people on a walk; but his owner has been working with him on giving him treats when he sees people and now Toby is doing better when he sees people.

Toby is fine off leash when he has interacted with dogs. But, on leash he is definitely freaked out when he sees dogs on a walk.

Instead of spending a lot of time wondering "why" is Toby like this; we decided to spend our time seeing if we could change his behavior.

Toby's mom was already using freeze dried chicken, which is a super high value treat. But she was still having a difficult time getting Toby to respond to her and not to the sight of the other dog.

We started with Toby far away from my fake but realistic-looking dog Dusty. I had Toby's owner walk Toby just close enough that Toby noticed Dusty and then immediately turn around and toss some treats on the ground for Toby to find.

One issue was Toby wasn't getting rewards quickly enough. This is a common training issue. Dogs need treats to come really quickly, which means having treats in a baggie in a pocket when it is cold and everyone is wearing gloves slows the treats down. I worked with Toby and offered the treats more quickly and he did make progress. However, I also decided to try a different reward. We got out some cooked ham slices and it turns out little Toby was a big fan.

We went from screaming dog to chuffing dog and then turning around and looking for pieces of ham on the ground.

We also worked with Toby far away from Dusty. He was definitely not ready for a close up.

When working with dogs who are worried about things they see on a walk; the trick is to teach them they don't actually have to get closer to it right away. They can look at it from a distance and then turn around and walk away. Dogs quickly learn that when they are on a leash they have no control and some dogs are very frightened by this concept. So, teaching Toby that he doesn't have to go closer until he is ready is helping boost his confidence.

In this instance giving the treats more quickly and then changing the treat to something higher in value helped begin to change Toby's behavior.

Toby's person has a family member with a dog that they will now use to slowly work with Toby on getting used to seeing dogs (and geese) on a walk.

What an awesome little dog this is! Good job Team Toby.

01/19/2022

This is Zeeba, a 7.5 year old dog who was adopted six weeks ago. Zeeba has some anxiety about the world around her, especially people who come into the home and who she sees outside on walks. She is especially stressed when she sees other dogs while on a walk and will pull and whine. She does great in the dog park though.

Zeeba has already come a long way in the six weeks she has been in her home and she loves her new family. They wanted to ensure Zeeba has a happy life and wanted to help her feel more comfortable in her new surroundings.

We talked about working with dogs that are fearful or anxious. I totally ignored Zeeba while I was there except to toss her treats and allow her to sniff me to her heart's content. She came into the room barking and plastered herself to the leg of her owner, but after 30 minutes of tossing some treats and letting her now I wasn't going to interact with her if she wasn't ready for it; she decided she could lay down and watch me. She even came over repeatedly to sniff me.

As humans we want to "love" fearful dogs and let them know they are safe with us; but often our version of love is terrifying to the dog. We make direct eye contact, we want to touch them or hug them, we hover over them and we constantly want them to come closer to us. All of these can make the already anxious dog more worried about us.

I want the dog to know it doesn't have to be my friend. It just has to be ok with me in the room. Dogs don't need to be friends with everyone who comes into your home. How would you feel if everyone who entered ran right up to you and hugged you; even if you didn't know them very well? It would be uncomfortable for most of us and could be downright terrifying for some of us.

If a dog comes up to me an solicits attention, then I am happy to interact with it, but if it wants to ignore me; then I'm happy to accommodate that.

We worked on Zeeba understanding people can come in and toss her treats and let her choose how comfortable she would be in the room.

We also worked on teaching Zeeba that seeing scary things outside could be a great opportunity to win a reward. The trick is keeping Zeeba far enough away from the scary thing that it is barely a blip on her radar and then gradually allowing her to decide if she can get closer.

Many dogs have anxiety; especially when they have just moved into a new home. If your dog growls or lunges; don't tell it "bad dog." We want dogs to let us know they are stressed. Instead; take it as a sign your dog is worried about something and work with a trainer who uses positive, reward-based training methods to help the dog not be so stressed. If we punish dogs for growling or letting us know how stressed they are, they could decide to honor our wishes and the next time they get that stressed they may bite instead.

I love working with anxious dogs; they often just need to know humans have their backs and won't force them into scary situations. Well done Team Zeeba.

01/15/2022

Dogs jumping on guests as the guests come through the door is an issue for many people.

This is Muggs and Butters and their wonderful mom Faith Leininger. Muggs and Butters are learning to sit at the door when they hear knocking rather than jump up. In the past when they heard knocking they would bark and leap at the door and anyone walking through.

Faith is teaching the dogs that the sound of someone knocking is the cue to sit. We started by working with only Butters as working with two dogs at the same time is difficult. We started knocking on random objects not associated with the door and then immediately cueing "sit." After 10 repetitions we knocked and did not say "sit" and Butters (brown dog) sat. This tells us we are beginning to transfer the cue of "sit" to the sound of knocking.

We then moved the training to the front door and worked first on knocking on the inside of the door, then worked on having the door open and the dogs seeing Faith knocking.

Because this is a work in progress, we do not want the dogs to continue jumping on people while they learn their new behavior. So, we also incorporated management, meaning the dogs won't be at the door for the short term while they master their new greeting behavior.

The first step in changing many unwanted behaviors is to ask yourself "what did I want my dog to do?" The second step is to then ask yourself, "did I ever train my dog to do that?" Dogs won't change behaviors if we don't teach them what we did want instead of only reacting to them when they do things we don't want.

Big gold stars for this family. Both dogs were adopted from Indianapolis Animal Care Services.

01/05/2022

A new year is always a time for reflection it seems. In looking back over 2021; I worked with 50 dogs from various rescues and animal welfare organizations. These are dogs that were on the brink of being surrendered or whose owners needed help to ensure the dog stayed in its home.

Of all of the work I do; these dogs are among my favorite clients. These are people who love their pet enough to reach out for help and if I can assist then this is a dog that will not be going back to a shelter. Many people cannot afford a trainer with behavior experience. But it is much less expensive to pay a person who specializes in canine behavior to step in and help than to have the dog come back to a rescue or a shelter.

I applaud these forward thinking organizations.

In 2021 I assisted Indy CARES, Indianapolis Animal Care Services, Love of Labs, Indiana LOLIN, Canine Castaways Rescue, Inc., ARPO, Brown County Humane Society, Creekside animal rescue, Boxer rescue, a schnauzer rescue and a sheltie rescue.

If you are an animal rescue or shelter; reach out to the training community in your area and consider fund raising to pay for a trainer to go into people's homes and help them keep their pets. Always find a trainer who uses reward based training. I am proud of the City of Indianapolis for writing into its contract that trainers they use must use positive training methods.

While I was not successful in keeping all 50 of these dogs in their original homes; I was able to keep many of them in place and was able to provide information for the dogs that had to be returned to help them find a better placement in the future.

Attached is a photo of a cat I helped keep in its home when the resident dog wasn't a huge fan in the beginning.

This post is not a kudos to me post; but rather I want people to understand how this concept can work to keep dogs in their homes and encourage you to donate to organizations that look for ways to keep pets in their original homes even if the owners need some financial assistance. The real heroes are these organizations who work hard to keep the pets where they belong: with someone who loves them.

12/20/2021

This is 6-month-old Levi; this week's Rock Star pupil. He is the first dog his owners have had as adults and also the first puppy. Levi has been having fun teaching his human parents his favorite games of Run and Chase and Bite your Toes. Levi was having more fun with the games than his owners.

Levi is a bright young fellow and he had a great time learning to entertain himself with a Kong, some toys and most fun of all a tiny piece of paper towel. I gave him the paper towel piece and he ran with it, threw it up in the air, batted it around the floor and then shredded it to pieces. He had a blast and he was not annoying Mom and Dad. They were delighted when Levi decided on his own to just lay down on the floor on his own; a first they said.

Levi has amazing owners who too lots of notes and who were happy to know Levi is a perfectly normal (even if some of what he does is annoying) puppy.

Good Job to the entire family.

07/23/2021

This is Milo. His owner's main goal for training was to help her dog pay attention to her in public settings. He did great listening to her in non distracting situations; but not on walks in the park or similar situations.

This photo was taken on the last day of Manners 101 class and it was a can of green tripe for the win. Milo needed a little extra incentive to help him drown out all the excess information he was processing when he was outdoors. After a few licks from a can of green tripe; he suddenly said, "hey, my handler is asking me to do something for her. I can do that!"

Well done team Milo.

04/29/2021

Physical exercise is important for dogs, but mental stimulation is equally important (and for some dogs more important). This dog was exhausted by her last night at Manners 101 class. We didn't do anything physically taxing. But, she had to do a lot of thinking such as: do I pay attention to my person or do I look at the other dogs in class. She ended up rocking class (as did all the dogs on the last night).

If you are looking for group classes, many are now opening back up after long Covid-related shut downs. I am teaching Manners 101 at Youngblood's Natural Animal Care Center & Massage in Wilkinson, Ind.

04/02/2021

Listening to your dog means you can avoid serious conflict issues down the road.

I just got an email from a person whose dog bit him when he pointed at the dog's food bowl and gave the dog a cue to eat the food. He thought he was helping as the dog is a picky eater, but in reality the dog is worried about people being near its food so when the finger pointing and commands came out; the dog felt even more threatened and decided to bite.

Obviously, your dog does not speak a verbal language but he is constantly communicating. I was reminded of this yesterday when I bent down to pick up my 11-year old chihuahua mix, Harley. Harley wants to snuggle into my side when I work from home, but he has a hard time jumping up into the chair now that he is older. If I see Harley struggling to get into the chair I often bend over to pick him up.

He obviously wants in the chair so he wants me to pick him up right?

Maybe not. Yesterday I noticed Harley back up, turn his head away from my hands and do a big yawn. He then flicked his tongue out of his mouth a few times. All of these can be a way for a dog to indicate he is stressed, anxious, conflicted, (insert a word) but bottom line is Harley was telling me something about me bending over to pick him up was making him unhappy.

What's the deal? He needs me to pick him up; he loves snuggling into me when I work from home; so I just need to pick him up right?

Wrong. I need to listen to Harley. He is older. He has a bad back knee and he has allergies and I know he has a skin irritation under one of his front legs. Maybe I was picking him up in a way that was hurting something I didn't realize. Just because Harley wants to be in my lap doesn't mean I get to force something that is making him uncomfortable.

I sat back in my chair and Harley faced me. He stopped yawning and licking. I bent down and put my hands down a few inches in front of Harley. He didn't move, so I sat back in my chair; waited a few seconds and did it again. I did this until Harley moved forward on his own and touched my hands. Then I was more careful in the way I picked him up.

I did this all day yesterday (we get in and out of the chair a lot). By the end of the day Harley had learned I would not pick him up unless he moved toward me when my hands were outstretched. No more just reaching out and grabbing him.

This took me a few extra minutes in the beginning but today as soon as I put my hands down he walks right into them. I am also being more careful how I pick him up.

Our dogs are always communicating with us. It is up to us to take a moment and hear what they have to say.

03/24/2021

When you give your dog a treat matters. Make sure when doing something that may cause your dog concern that you let your dog have a choice in participating.

https://connieswaimcaninebehaviorservices.com/2021/03/24/please-dont-make-me-do-the-scary-thing/

I am afraid of storm drains. You know the kind at the edge of the street where storm water runs into the dark. One day you decide to help me get over my fear of storm drains; and you ask me to come…