All About The Dog

18/12/2024

I listened to this Podcast by a Veterinary Behaviorist called Separation Anxiety-To Crate or Not to Crate. I felt it is important to share since so many people do believe that putting a dog into a crate when they are showing signs of anxiety, which might be diagnosed as separation anxiety is the solution. I have even heard advice to buy a stronger crate if the dog attempts to escape the crate which can result in injury to a dog that is at a high level of anxiety. Separation Anxiety is a team effort and a discussion with your veterinarian is the first step towards a diagnosis and solution. After you take a listen to this short podcast and find it useful, please share it with anyone who you may know who has a dog who might be suffering with SA.

Episode 53 – Separation Anxiety – To crate or not to crate, that is the question   Welcome to the first episode in this second year of The Pet Behaviour Chat Podcast!   This episode was inspired by a Facebook post I saw in one of our local dog groups where an alarming number of people ...

18/12/2024

This is so important when assisting a family who has a dog who is sensitive to their environment. We live in an instant gratification world with all of the technology we have. To give our dogs and other animals the time to process, observe, as we wait patiently is difficult. For their and your sake take a breath and watch them recover from the triggers that are around them. If you want to learn more, we are here to guide you.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀

If we go at our dog’s pace we will get where we need to go faster than we think. On the other hand, if we rush we can make mistakes or misread what our animals need from us. Breathe and be led by your or dog.

If in doubt slow down, wait and observe. Speed increases anxiety (Feldman et al,2020,Fenner et al,2019)

If you repeatedly put your dog into situations they are not ready for you run the risk of increasing their sensitivity to other dogs, people or situations. This is called sensitisation and will prolong the process .

Reduce exposure as far as possible by taking sniffy walks in quieter spaces like graveyards , industrial parks or secure fields.

If none of this is possible map islands of safety on usual walk and make use of bins, large trees or drive ways you can retreat behind.

References

Feldman, M. J., Siegel, E., Barrett, L. F., Quigley, K. S., & Wormwood, J. B. (2022). Affect and social judgment: the roles of physiological reactivity and interoceptive sensitivity. Affective Science, 3(2), 464-479.

Fenner, K., Mclean, A. N., & McGreevy, P. D. (2019). Cutting to the chase: How round-pen, lunging, and high-speed liberty work may compromise horse welfare. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 29, 88-94.

I apologise I do not know where the original quote came from.

©️ Jessie Sams (2024) Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service

16/12/2024

This is good to remember, especially during the holiday season. It applies to us as well. Thank you Good Guardianship.

Have you ever had one of those days where things just seem to happen, one after another, until you just can’t take any more? Welcome to the concept of trigger stacking.

This is perhaps even more important to understand at this time of year, when there is so much activity and things going on, with lots of different people, smells, etc.

To explain how trigger stacking works, here’s an excerpt from my book Fight or Fright:

“Imagine a scenario for me. You are in the supermarket and get into a queue to pay for your shopping. You may not have much, and anticipate getting out of there smoothly, without hassle. Someone cuts in line in front of you. It is annoying, but they only have a couple of items and give you a big friendly smile. It really is not that big a deal, so although it could be considered annoying, you leave it and avoid the aggravation.

Let us rewind now to earlier in the day…

• You walk out of the house to see that you have a flat tyre. How annoying!
• Someone cuts you up at the roundabout. Clearly they are an idiot but no damage done.
• Every traffic light seems to go red as you are on your way. This ‘quick trip’ to the shop is taking forever.
• In the car park, the only space left is on the far side of the car park, next to someone that cannot park their car properly within the lines so it is hanging over into your space. This means that you have to squeeze in very carefully and just hope you will be able to get back in your car when you come to leave.
• You start making your way around the shop and it becomes clear that you have ‘that’ trolley – the one with a mind of its own and absolutely no intention of being steered anywhere meaning your back and shoulders are getting really sore.
• Then, to cap it all off, someone cuts you up in line and gives you this big over cheerful smug grin as they do so. That is just the last straw and you explode at them.

Anyone looking on would likely say ‘They just went off on one out of nowhere!’

Welcome to the concept of trigger stacking. Any one of the things that happened on the way to the store or during your shopping trip is annoying to have happen, but add them all together and it is just too much. Every one of those things that has caused you some annoyance lingers in the system for a little while, and that means that the effect is building up. One or two of those occurrences before the queue jumper at the store might have meant that you were left irritated but did not fly off the handle at the person barging in, but the added effect of all of them took you beyond what you could stand without losing it – it took you beyond your reaction threshold.

Dogs are no different.”

It’s not just negative things that can lead to trigger stacking. Over excitement can also result in a dog bubbling over and not being able to cope. Anything that raises the dog’s (or our) arousal levels can all accumulate until the point where it’s just all too much.

This is why it is so important to be able to recognise the signs of increased arousal so we can tell if our dog needs a break and a chance to calm down so they don’t reach that threshold point and life stays calmer for both them and us.

15/12/2024

Safe spaces for our dogs during the holiday season as well as other times throughout the year depending on the needs of your dog. The double gate, one on top of the other is very worthwhile. Even an exercise pen around the door with the gate at it to keep curious children from putting fingers through the gate. Doing what needs to be done to keep everyone safe.

14/12/2024

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14/12/2024

Thanks to Tracey McLennan for this excellent article on predatory, hesitant to use the word aggression. She does define her use of the word in the blog.

Learn to identify signs of dog predatory aggression and take appropriate actions. Discover strategies and tips to manage and prevent harmful behaviours in your canine companion.

12/12/2024

This is something that those of us who work as trainers or behaviour consultants encounter a lot. A client will come to us because there is a behaviour or group of behaviours that they want to stop happening.

This is fine for some behaviours. Destructive chewing can result in injury to the dog, either damage to their teeth or, in some cases, swallowing inedible items that can cause an emergency and require surgery. Chasing cars out on a walk could result in a dog managing to get into the road and run over. Pulling on the lead can make walks difficult and potentially painful for dog and human (particularly dangerous for dogs walking using collars around then neck as there are many delicate and important structures in their throats just as in ours).

The essential first step in working with any behaviour is to think about why it may be happening.

Is the dog chewing because they are young and teething? Give them something appropriate to chew and redirect them to that if they start to chew something else.

Are they destroying things when they are left home alone? They could have separation related issues, in which case it's important to work with a qualified and experienced force free trainer to reduce their anxiety.

Are they given enough opportunities to chew on a regular basis? Chewing is a natural behaviour (as is digging) and it's vital we give them plenty of opportunities to carry out natural behaviours.

Are they chasing cars because they are scared? Or is it because they are a breed that reacts to fast moving objects, like herding dogs, sight hounds, or terriers? In each case here, working with a force free trainer will help, as will finding out activities we can do with our dogs to let them chase appropriate items or control movement as they have been bred to do.

Pulling on the lead is perhaps one of the simplest (and most common) of issues and one very simple reason it happens is that dogs generally move faster than humans, and they need to be taught to match our pace. Switch to a harness to keep their neck safe and reward them when they are in the right position. Again, working with a force free trainer is a great idea as they can show the best way to mark and reward when the dog is in position and how to keep the lead loose.

Another thing that helps greatly with this is to use a longer lead and let them have more length to explore when it is safe to do so, so they can sniff and investigate their surroundings - sniffing is another natural behaviour and probably the one that is easiest for us to let them do, as we can simply let them sniff while we are out walking together.

For any behaviour that humans can find problematic, before anything else, we need to understand why it is happening and, if it is a natural behaviour, our responsibility as caregiver to make sure our dogs are able to do these things safely.

11/12/2024

The differences between training and behavior modification explained. Having your dog hold a sit (trained to do so) when faced with a situation that is causing them to have big feelings about the trigger will not change the emotional reason, the why, for those feelings.

10/12/2024

This time of year can be very unpredictable for our pets. Strangers in the house, decorations everywhere, new smells some which may not be as nice as we think they would be for their sensitive nose. As much as you can keep their PPP's, precedent, predictable, patterns and create new ones when necessary. Such as the precedent of a stranger coming over, the predictable pattern might be going to a room with dog friendly music playing and a nice enrichment bone given. Ideally this would have been a pattern established before it is needed. Thanks to Crimson Hound Training

Celebrating the Season with 31 Dogs Days of December
Day 10: Keep It Predictable

Dogs thrive on predictable patterns that they can depend upon in their day to day lives. If you have family and friends spending the holidays with you, your dog will be stressed by the new and varied individuals and personalities. You can minimize your dog's stress by maintaining as many daily patterns as possible.
- Keep to your daily walk/play schedule
- Don't move your dog's bowls and bed to make room for holiday decor
- Keep to your daily feeding schedule - same time, same place
- Make sure your dog is getting enough quiet nap time throughout the day

Whether you have concerns about aggressive behavior, are struggling with puppy issues, need advice on how to help your fearful dog or just want to set your dog or puppy up for success, I am here to help. Contact me today at [email protected] or visit my website at https://www.crimsonhound.com.

08/12/2024

Danette was a past client who I met when she brought Arlow through class in 2020. The devastation she, family and friends are going through is beyond grasping. Do what you can how you can.

Hi there, I am Jessica Klopfenstein. The Stewarts have been like a second f… Jessica Klopfenstein needs your support for Danette's Loss: Home and Beloved Matt

07/12/2024

04/12/2024

This new service for our pet loving community of Fort Wayne IN and surrounding areas. None of us want to think about when it is time to lovingly give our pet their final peace from their time with us. Peaceful Passing is here to be with your family in your home during that time. There are other post which show the locations of travel and contact information. Take a moment to review this page, keep it for the future and pass it on to others who might be in need of compassionate care.

When pets are euthanized at home or another familiar location is it truly a much more peaceful process for them. For the families, their whole attention can be on their pets as they share their bond in their final moments together.
Fees for this care are as follows:
*Euthanasia only (no cremation)-$325 Includes travel, time spent in the home, sedation to ensure a peaceful passing, and the euthanasia. Family will make arrangements for aftercare.

*Euthanasia and communal cremation (ashes are not returned)-$425 Pets will be respectfully cremated with other beloved pets and ashes are spread over a beautiful, private wooded area in Southern Michigan.

*Euthanasia and individual cremation-$550+ Pets are respectfully cremated individually and ashes are contained in an urn of your choosing. Ashes can be picked up or shipping is available for an additional charge.
All cremations are handled by Nature's Way Pet Aftercare.
Please call or text Dr. Stresemann at 260-222-4332 with any questions.

03/12/2024

THE PERILS OF PUNISHMENT

It’s easy to stop or suppress a behaviour by using punishment, force or pain and say that it really works, so why even bother to do it differently?

Punishment based methods may well “fix” the behaviour quickly, are far easier, require far less effort, less knowledge, less education, or even just be based on traditional belief, but these methods come at a great cost - destroying trust, creating insecurity, fear, anxiety, provoking aggression, causing dogs to shut down or feel helpless and prevent dogs from learning an alternative, more acceptable behaviour.

There is so much modern, scientific evidence to support force free, positive reinforcement methods as being the most effective and successful way to modify behaviour.

There is nothing admirable, ethical or intelligent in physically or emotionally forcing any sentient being to comply.

Take the time and make a commitment to understand and learn about positive, force free, science-based methods.

02/12/2024

Management is so much easier then attempting to change something a dog finds intrinsically or naturally reinforcing to a dog.

ARE YOU MANAGING?
Are you managing your dog’s environment to prevent or improve unwanted behaviour?

As people, we tend to prefer and look for the more complicated solutions to problems. This tendency is termed “complexity bias” - the tendency to prefer complicated explanations and solutions instead of looking for the simpler ones.

Surely a complicated, time consuming, detailed solution has to be more effective, superior, impressive, or correct?

Complexity bias is so relevant when it comes to changing a dog’s unwanted behaviour. We often get so stuck on trying to modify behaviour through counter conditioning, desensitization or detailed training plans when sometimes the simplest solution to the problem lies in simply managing the environment.

Dogs will do what dogs do – when an opportunity arises to help themselves to food left on a table, to bark at the gate at anyone passing by, to have a drink from that big water bowl at the perfect height, that we call a toilet, to running off with irresistibly smelly dirty underwear, to rummaging through bins in search of anything that may or may not be edible, to running out an opened door in search of adventure - the list is long - dogs will be dogs.

Parents of little children use management all the time without giving it much thought. Baby locks on cupboards, covers on electrical sockets, valuable or dangerous items put far out of reach, fences and locks around pools, etc.

We wouldn’t just train a toddler not to stick their fingers in an electrical socket, not to open cupboards, not to touch a hot plate – it’s far safer, simpler and logical to first manage the environment, to prevent potential incidents.

The same principle should apply to managing a dog’s environment to prevent unwanted behaviour.

The more a behaviour is practiced the more difficult it is to prevent. The more a behaviour is rehearsed the better dogs become at it.

Preventing the behaviour from happening in the first place by using management is the logical, simple and effective way to address it.

Be a good manager – it’s far less stressful, for both us and our dogs.

01/12/2024

Ethics. Those of you who aren't in the dog training world may not be aware that the word ethics is recently being used. As I read these statements and posts, I questioned what does that mean? Are you an ethical trainer? The conclusion I came to was ethics, like everything else, is determined by our own personal definitions, our self. I went to Google for a definition of ethics which told me: Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Another definition; principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
After reading these definitions and really rolling them over in my mind and outside of my mind with some friends, I decided to create this graphic of how I view my ethics of assisting others with their dog or puppy. Knowing that my view has shifted in the past three years as I learned more, although I never caused harm. Learning even as I entered my 75th year. I state my age for those of you who may be in the arena saying “it has always been done this way” to look within and see if there is room to learn and unlearn. Even though my years have me slowing down I believe I still have a lot to share. When you reach out to me or All About The Dog (a name which was brought forward in 2014 and even has more meaning today) you will find what I believe is right and wrong. My ethical right begins with safety, from the dog or puppy point of view. Knowing through their body language what they might be saying about how safe they feel. Agency, giving them the freedom to make choices and decisions. Reinforcing those decisions and behaviors for repetition. The two courses which really changed me were Laura Donaldson’s Slow Thinking is Life Saving for Dogs® and Kim Brophey’s Family Dog Mediation. The reason I found them was because of Harmony/Zarah who came to me three years ago and is in the picture. She had experienced trauma in her first year of life. Even though I was a certified trainer I knew she did not need what some think of as training, she needed emotional support. She is a great teacher since she not only brought into my life these courses and others, she also brought more empathy. Empathy for what some of you may have felt with a dog who you love so much and brought you to tears on some days. However, never to the point of doing what I have on my ethical wrong list. The use of pain, tools which cause pain, fear or intimidation. This takes me back to the S of L.E.G.S., the self. Each individual will have their own ethics in life. My wrong will not be the wrong of someone else. My right will not be the right of someone else. It will be up to you who to contact to help with your dog or puppy. Ask questions of the people you contact. Will they be able to tell you what their ethics are in helping you with their dog? I invite you to join in the paradigm shift. I AM grateful to all the teachers and others who have brought me to this point. And all the friends far and wide I have met through the courses who stand with me.

25/11/2024

Sensory overload. Put your dog suit on for a moment and feel the feels a dog must have being in our world. Many times without the choice to leave. This holiday season think about them from their point of view. They do not need to go to every party you are invited to. Tis the season to keep them safe from sensory overload. Thank you Laura Donaldson for this reminder, which really is for all year long.

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24/11/2024

Anyone else clicking on the sign up link? Holistic approach with our dogs at no cost. Just say yes.

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