Following Pip's Pawprints

Leave It

2011-12-02T20:49:00.001-06:00

There's a traditional exercise that many trainers use to teach a dog to ignore or turn away from something in the environment that they don't want the dog to interact with. Years ago, in the dark ages of dog training, this was taught with a leash correction. The dog went to check out the object on the ground and POP goes the leash. At the same time, the handler was usually yelling "LEAVE IT!".   The dog soon learned that "leave it" meant that a neck jerk was forthcoming and didn't even try to approach the object.

The kindler, gentler way to teach Leave It came around about the same time as clicker training was gaining in popularity. The person held treats in a fist and let the dog mug the hand. As soon as the dog backed off or looked away, click and treat - usually from another source than the hand holding the food. Once the dog got the idea that to get what he wanted, he had to give up what he wanted (a little doggie zen), the verbal cue to "leave it" was added. My experience has been that owners still end up yelling "LEAVE IT" and threatening the dog away from the object on the floor.

Pip and I recently took a class in preparation for therapy dog certification. The trainer was a lovely woman who still used some old school methods, especially for skills she felt critical for the dog's safety in a hospital. Before I realized what was going to happen, I let her take Pip for a demonstration of "leave it". As soon as Pip looked at the cookie on the floor, she got a leash pop and a solid command to "leave it". To that point in time, Pip had never, ever had a leash pop. Her ears went back, her tail tucked, she slunk low to the ground. Since then, those two words cause similar reactions even when I said them.

I wanted to find a different way to teach Pip to ignore something on the ground unless I gave her permission to get it.   This had become a problem during our last scent training lesson when she was scouring the floor for crumbs leftover from a previous class in the building. She needs to learn to ignore those distractions while she's doing searches.

I just signed on to Susan Garrett's Recallers 3.0 class and one of the first core exercises is something called "It's Yer Choice". This game teaches the dog self control and emphasizes that all good things come from the handler and not from the ground. Perfect for us! I read up on it, watched a couple of videos and adapted the technique for our use. Don't take this as the golden way to do the Garrett technique. This is what I feel comfortable with and I am pleased with the results so far.

I videoed our first session because I wanted to go back and watch Pip's body language and be sure she didn't have any negative associations with the process.   Only once did I notice her ears go back and that's when my foot was moving to cover the biscuit.

Pip knows "yes" as a marker as well as the click, so I used this instead. Just not enough hands to hold the treats, feed the treat and click, too.  When you hear hissing in the video, it's me saying "yesss!". At the start of the session, my fist is is full of steak and cheese. When she exhibits self-control, she is rewarded.

Pip is a fast dog. During the part of the session when we were working with the biscuit, she could have easily beat me to it and snatched it away before I could even move my foot enough to protect it. I was very happy with the amount of impulse control she exhibited.

I really like this way of teaching the "leave it" skill. I like not having to yell at the dog. I like that the dog is freely choosing what to do and gets rewarded for it.

Dog Play

2011-11-03T10:07:00.001-05:00

When a single dog household adds a new member, whether it be a new puppy or an older dog, owners are sometimes concerned about how rough the dogs play. They might worry if what they are seeing is really play or actually low-level aggression. Should they stop play when they think it's getting too rough? How do you know when to stop it? Or should they just let the dogs play without any interruption and hope for the best?

At Distinctive Dog Training, I'm lucky to be able to offer a Puppy Day Camp and watch dogs play at length. Pip, who is 20 months old now, plays well with all the puppies, adapting her play style as necessary. She will quickly put an overly rambunctious pup in his place and will invite a shy pup to chase her.

Introductions between dogs who are new to each other, or dogs that haven't seen each other for a while, begin with mutual sniffing. This sniffing shouldn't last more than 3 seconds in any one place and body postures should be soft and not too stiff or erect. Interrupt when one dog immediately tries to stand over or put a head or paw on the other dog's shoulder.

Pip allows Murphy to get his sniffs in

If sniffing goes well, there should be an invitation to play come from one or both of the dogs. This could be a play bow with some prancing and vocalizing. Owners will come to recognize the difference between a play growl and a growl with aggressive intent.

Murphy says "play with me!"

Chasing should go both directions so that one dog is not always being the pursued. When more than 2 dogs play at one time, often one dog ends up being victimized in this way. This is time to interrupt and re-evaluate. Herding breeds will also play using stalking-type behaviors. This is fine, but again, the other dog shouldn't always end up being "prey".

Who's stalking who?

Once play is ongoing, there will be role reversals so that each dog has a turn playing the "victim" and the "attacker". Dogs that are comfortable playing with another, willingly offer their bellies during wrestling play.

Help! There's a labradoodle attacking me!

Play may look ferocious at times with lots of teeth showing and growling. Mouthing and play biting are all part of the game. A bite that lands too hard will cause the other dog to stop playing, so they learn quickly to inhibit their bite strength.

Lots of teeth and whites of eyes, but all part of the game.

Dogs who play well with others will self-interrupt when things get too intense. You'll see dogs shaking off as if they are wet, sneezing, or possibly just disengaging and sitting for a moment. The other dog will read these signals as an indication that it's break time.

Pip calming Murphy by physical restraint or just cuddling??

So, when should you interrupt play? Watch for signs that one dog is not happy - closed mouth, ears back, whining. When a dog comes to you for protection and doesn't return to play quickly, it is time to end the session. Mounting or humping (which is a normal part of dog play) that lasts a bit too long for the other dog's comfort should be interrupted. Teach the dog to come when called during play, reward her, then allow her to resume play if she chooses. Don't allow your dog to bully another dog or get so out of control that she don't respond to her name.

If all goes well, dogs will end play when they are tired out. However, watch for signs that when they get to that point that they don't get too cranky while over-aroused (like a toddler needing a nap). Good dog play is beneficial to teach puppies bite inhibition and to communicate with members of her own species. It's great entertainment for us, too!! Who can't smile while watching dogs have fun?!

Two tired pups after a great play session

If you're interested in learning more about the Puppy Day Camp, visit the Puppy Prep Program webpage for details.

Toys

2011-10-12T18:49:00.000-05:00

Many of my clients with new puppies ask me what toys they should get for their pup. I tell them not to spend a lot of money on fancy things from the pet store. What usually happens is that the dog is interested for a day or two, then never picks it up again. I've found that the best things to entertain your dog can be found right around the house.

The big box pet stores have racks of stuffed toys for dogs. If they last an hour with the stuffing intact, it's a miracle and the $10 toy is now in shreds. I go to the Goodwill store and go through the soft toy shelf. I look for toys that are filled with stuffing (and not little beans), toys without hard plastic, toys that will stay together at the seams if I try to pull it apart and those that are appropriately sized for the dog. Sometimes I just take it home and let the dog tear it apart, pick up the stuffing and then let her have the outer body back. I truly believe the dog gets most of her pleasure by shaking it and watching the guts scatter. As long as your dog doesn't ingest the stuffing, you'll just have some mess to clean up - and you have a twice-recycled toy. If your dog does tend to want to eat the stuffing, just unstuff the toy yourself and toss the innards away before giving it to the dog.

Pip and half-stuffed Snoopy with a serious head injury.

I don't recommend tugging for young puppies, but once they have all their adult teeth in, the best tug toys are homemade. Tear the bottom off an old T-shirt, put some knots in for gripping and you're ready to go. Much better than those rope toys that fray.

Pups also love chomping on plastic water bottles. Just be sure to take it away when you start to see it come apart, then recycle!

I love this semi-homemade toy. It's a lunge whip from the feed store (around $9) with anything the dog will be tempted to chase attached. I've got an old sock tied on right now, but I've used unstuffed toys and rags in the past. This is an interactive game that requires minimum effort on the owner's part, but maximum exertion for the dog. Stand in the yard and tease the dog by dragging the toy or rag attached to the end of the whip along the ground. Once the chase is on, change direction frequently, go in circles, make it go airborne, and occasionally let the dog catch the prize. Have a short tug session, work on "drop it" and reward by going back to play. You can tire out even the most active pup in 15 minutes.

Chase sticks can cost between $25-30 online. Make your own for under $10.

Never leave your dog unattended with a new toy until you know how they will interact with it. Anything that could possibly be ingested should be closely monitored. The only chewies that I am comfortable leaving alone with a dog are deer antlers. I get them here: www.petexpertise.com/barbgadola. Of course, if you know a hunter, get them directly from the source!

Things Dogs Want

2011-09-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

In my previous life in the telecommunications industry, everything had an acronym, even if the acronym was more complicated than the words it represented. So, keeping with that weird tradition for the purposes of this article, "TDW" stands for "Things Dog Want".

So what DO dogs want? In order to survive, dogs need food (and water), so we'll put that on the top of the list. Even if they don't know they want it, somewhere in the back of the little doggie brain, they know that it's important. Even dogs that don't appear to be very food motivated have to eat, or they would be dead dogs.

Other TDW, in no particular order and not all inclusive:

To be part of a social structure that may include humans and/or may include other dogs. They may seek attention from humans to feel included in that social structure. Interactive play with humans, praise and petting would be included in this category.
If they are not altered, they want sex.
Shelter
Assuming all their basic needs are met, they may want toys to play with.
The opportunity to engage in activities that may be instinctive to them - chasing, herding, digging, sniffing, guarding
To feel safe and have the opportunity to escape from things they are not comfortable interacting with.

So how many of these TDW do humans control? If dogs live with us, we can control all of them. How many of these things can be used to our advantage when training dogs? That narrows the list a bit.

If you read my last post about using the right reinforcer for the task at hand, I talked about using high value food rewards as necessary to teach or strengthen skills. However, food is not always what a dog wants.  It may also not be readily available when you want to reinforce a behavior, so it's good to have a variety of things your dog wants that you control.

In order for a reward to be effective as a behavior increaser (reinforcer), it has to be delivered quickly - within 2-3 seconds of the act you want to reinforce.   Even if you use a clicker, you still have only that short window of opportunity to deliver the primary reinforcer (from the TDW list). So, food still tops the list of TDW, but social contact - petting, praise - can also be effective "IF" the dog enjoys it and if it's not doled out indiscriminately.

Notice the big "IF" in the last sentence. Some dogs don't enjoy petting, especially the way humans deliver it. Pats on top of the head aren't pleasant for the dog. (Try it on your partner. See how long it takes for the head to move away.) If you want to use physical contact to reward your dog, find out where he likes to be touched. Most often it's on the chest area or on the side of the face below the ears; sometimes it's on the back at the base of the tail. Most dogs get pretty bored with repetitive touching quickly, so as a reinforcer this has limited usage.

Toys can also be delivered pretty quickly after a behavior, but in order to be really valuable to the dog, he'll want to play with the toy for a while. If you're trying to get multiple repetitions of a behavior while training, playing with toys can greatly delay the training process.

Same is true of the instinctive behaviors - chasing, digging, etc. And once he's engaged with one of these behaviors, the probability of wanting to come back for more training is slim.

I've had people tell me that their dog should work for them for praise alone. Verbal praise alone will rarely maintain a behavior. It's just not that high up on the list of TDW. They hear our voices all day long; it's just not something that's valuable to them.   However, praise is something that can and should be used in combination with most all the other TDW - this will help build value for praise. Teaching a new behavior with praise alone would be frustrating. If I have someone tell me they train their dogs with only praise, my suspicion is that the dog is actually working in order to escape punishment. "If I don't do what he says, I'm going to get popped on the leash". Remember, one of the TDW is to avoid unpleasantness and to feel safe.

That leads us back to food. You want food to be valuable to the dog. If you free feed (leave food out all day), food will not be valuable. Can you imagine having the Golden Corral buffet in your kitchen?  I think that would get pretty boring after a while, (if not disgusting)! Something that's always there and can be had 24/7 doesn't have value in the dog's eyes. Make food special.   Feed in puzzle toys, make the dog hunt for his food, at least require him to sit/stay before the bowl is put down. Better yet, let him earn his food through training! Don't give away a most valuable resource for nothing.

So, use a variety of reinforcers from the TDW list, but use them wisely and be certain that you control them.

Using the Right Reinforcer

2011-08-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

I was reminded this week of the importance of using an appropriate reinforcer for the task at hand. Had a client with a nice young pug and we working on leash walking. Dog wasn't crazy bad on leash, but definitely was not interested in the human she was trying to drag. As I do with all clients, I was having the owner click and reward when the dog was in the proper "heel" position. The owner was carrying regular soft dog treats - something that the dog had enjoyed earlier in the house while training. However, it wasn't enough motivation to keep her interest outside. The chance to pull in all directions on leash and sniff everything she could reach was more reinforcing to her than the treats.

So, I decided to pull out the hard stuff - grassfed Texas longhorn steak, leftover from a past meal and kept for times like this. The next time she was in position to earn a click, she got a tidbit of beef as a reward. The pug then decided her owner was the most interesting person in the world, and not just dead weight holding her back at the other end of the leash.

Now she was paying attention, staying in position on his left side and earning more clicks and treats.   We started clicking every 2-3 steps and worked up to 5-6 steps maintaining a nice duration of loose leash walking. Then I had him begin mixing the regular dog treats in with the beef and she continued to do well, never sure whether a dog treat was coming or the really good stuff. We ran out of the beef and she maintained the nice heel position just using the original treats as a reward.

When we work on a new skill in a very distracting environment, it's important to know what reward your dog really enjoys and use it to your advantage during training.   Kibble and dry dog treats aren't usually the best thing to use outside, unless your dog is exteremely food motivated and not at all concerned about the environment. However, in the house with fewer distractions, kibble might be an excellent reward to start with. I like to think that the harder the job is for the dog, the better her paycheck should be.

Examples of a variety of reinforcers for most dogs. Your mileage may vary.

Low value reinforcers = praise, petting, kibble, dry biscuit-type treats, Cheerios
Middle value reinforcers = soft, smelly dog treats
High value reinforcers = beef, chicken, cheese, hot dogs, chasing a ball, playing tug

I love when I can take an experience from a client's session home with me for use with my own dogs. For the last couple months, I've been working with Pip so that she'll alert me when my kitchen timer goes off. She comes to me wherever I am and bumps my knee with her nose. She was at about 80% reliability with that. If she was distracted with something else or if I wasn't in the same room with her, she didn't always come find me when she heard the timer cue.

So that I could set her up to succeed, I kept her in the kitchen with me and set the timer. When it went off, she came and bumped my knee. I opened the fridge and give her a piece of the steak leftovers. Woo-hoo! Since then she's been coming to find me every single time the timer goes off. She was playing with one of her favorite toys in the living room today and when she heard the timer, she dropped it, raced to find me and gave me a solid bump. She doesn't get steak each time - just often enough to keep the behavior strong for right now.

Whenever we need to give an extra boost to a known behavior that's gotten sloppy, or teach a new behavior that's challenging for the dog, the value of the reward can make all the difference.  Get to know what your dog really enjoys - sometimes it might not be food, but it should be something that can be delivered quickly after the desired behavior happens. After all, it's the dog who ultimately decides whether what you deliver as a reward is actually reinforcing.

Waking at Night

2011-07-17T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've recently had quite a few people ask me about their dogs who are waking up in the middle of the night. Some dogs are new in the home, but some have been in the home for a while and just recently started to get up in the middle of the night and need to go outside or just want to pace around the house and/or the yard. Interestingly, Pip decided she needed to go out at 3 AM this morning, which is REALLY unusual for her. Even when I have to get up and use the bathroom, she normally sleeps right through the night.

Here's my theory. It's so stinking hot here (over 2 weeks with daytime temps over 100 degrees) that dogs just aren't getting the physical exercise that they normally would. They don't want to be out in the heat, they aren't getting their walks, they want to lay around the cool house all day and only go out when absolutely necessary. I know Pip isn't running around the yard with the other dogs as much as she did a couple months ago.

So, the lack of physical exercise causes them to be restless at night, which could explain the pacing and desire to be outside when it's cooler. When dogs don't get the usual amount of activity, they need less calories. We should be adjusting the amount of kibble based on how much the dog is doing during the day. A dog that's sleeping 22 hours a day probably doesn't need the same amount of food as when they get 2 long walks a day or a nice play session with their buddies. Their bellies are full, calories aren't being burned, they have to eliminate more often, including in the middle of the night.

I've also been away for a few days and Pip hasn't had any training time; no mental stimulation to speak of. When a dog can't get physical exercise, training can help burn energy as well as puzzle games and food dispensing toys for mealtimes.

So today I took some time to start training Pip on something brand new. I want to teach her to pull my socks off. This is a service dog task that many dogs perform for owners that can't do it for themselves.

I took one of my hubby's big tube socks to start with so that it would come off my foot pretty easily and let Pip have some early success. I shaped her for touching it, for putting her mouth on it, then for pulling on it. Within just a few minutes, she was able to get it off my foot.

We'll fine tune this skill by transitioning to a smaller sock that fits tighter on my foot and teach her to gently nibble at the toe instead of grabbing.

Short training sessions, shaping sessions just for fun, hide and seek games, working to get meals from toys can all help relieve the boredom when the dog can't get the outdoor time they need.

Spay Day

2011-05-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Pip just turned 15 months old a few days ago. Her puppyhood flew by without major trauma - no real fear issues (although she's still wary of cats), no aggression to people or dogs, no reactivity to speak of. I feel so blessed to have this girl. Dog trainers usually end up with problem dogs - not because they go looking for them, but because they can't turn down a dog in need. This is why we have Louie, our territorially aggressive greyhound; Buster, our American Bulldog who was close to being put down through no fault of his own; and Meg, our crazy greyhound who was too active for normal households.

Pip was the result of excellent breeding (her daddy is a Lock-eye) and early puppy stimulation (shout out to Cathey and her Lone Star Border Collies!), more socialization once she came to our home as well as exposure to many different situations and people during her first 4 months, which is the critical period for puppies.

I wasn't sure I was going to have her spayed. I was even considering breeding her because of the great traits she could pass onto her pups. But the thought of dealing with another heat cycle and all that accompanies it was enough to make up my mind. She was due to come into her second cycle at any time now, so she had her surgery yesterday.

There are lots of reasons to consider keeping a dog intact. More and more research is surfacing that is making people think twice about the automatic spay/neuter before 6 months of age. If you're interested in reading more about this, Google this paper: Behavorial and Physical Effects of Spaying and Neutering Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) by Parvene Farhoody.

The house really felt empty all day yesterday with her gone. She's my shadow, always hoping that I'll take a break and get out the clicker to do some scent work or Treibball training. I was happy to get her back home in the afternoon.

About a week before surgery, I started to have her wear her post-op collar that's designed to keep her from licking. I put it on for a couple of hours every day. I wanted her to get used to it so it wouldn't add to her stress after surgery. Bad enough not feeling good, let alone wearing a new gadget around your neck. I definitely didn't want one of the plastic cone (Elizabethan) collars. I hate those things as much as the dogs do. They bang around the house into furniture and your legs and they can't get through dog doors with them.

This collar is called "Protective Collar Inflatable" by 21st Century and I got it at Petsmart. So far, it's keeping her from licking her incision site and she doesn't seem to mind it. She's already acting like she's feeling better, so I know it's going to be hard to keep her activity level down for the next 10 days.

Dig that Dirt

2011-05-07T17:53:00.000-05:00

While she's not a compulsive excavator, Pip certainly enjoys digging occasionally. Today it was the fact that Chet planted a rose bush in the backyard near Nikki's grave. (Nikki, our 12 year old Siberian Husky, died last Monday from kidney failure.) The fresh dirt must have smelled good and felt great under Pip's toes.

Pip and Nikki, May 2010

Another reason dogs dig this time of year (at least in the south) is that it's a way to cool off. Getting down into the soil by digging a small ditch or trench to lay in will lower the dog's body temperature.

If young dogs are left unattended in the backyard, chances are that there will be some digging. Boredom is a big culprit and some dogs just like to bury things. Sometimes it's a stress reliever. Sometimes it's an escape attempt. Once in a while it's an attempt to get to an underground critter - terriers are great at this!

Dogs DON'T dig out of spite or because they want to dominate your yard :-) If you can determine the cause of the digging, you may be able to find an acceptable solution.

Be sure your dog gets plenty of exercise and has a variety of toys to relieve boredom. Rotate toys frequently.

Don't leave your dog in the yard unattended for long periods of time. Go outside with her and if you see signs she's beginning to dig, redirect her to a toy or spend some quality play or training time with her.

Dedicate an area where she's allowed to dig. Add some fresh soil to the area. Have her watch while YOU bury some bones or toys for her. Encourage her to get them.

Don't punish digging after the fact. If you catch the dog in the act, you can certainly interrupt the behavior, but scolding long after the hole has been dug is too late.

Pip May 7, 2011

Busy Pup Update

2011-04-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

Wow, I never thought leaving my day job would keep me so busy. I am finding more time to do training with Pip, though, and that's a bonus!

I wrote earlier about our scent class and how she wasn't having much fun with the spoon and the clove scent. She got to a point where she would touch and down (her "found it!" signal) if I was holding the spoon in my hand, but she wouldn't do it if I laid the spoon down on anything else. She knocked it off a shelf once and it startled her. I could see she was worried about that happening again.

After our second class last week, Terri recommended moving on to placing the scent in a container on the floor. This has been working out much better. I've got a cotton ball with a few drops of clove on it in a Glad plastic container with holes poked in the top. I added an identical container with an unscented cotton ball in it and she was doing pretty well picking the right one - when she was actually sniffing. Some of the time she was guessing and I could tell she wasn't really doing the scenting work.

Our breakthrough came when I added a third "dummy" container in the picture. I could see her sniffing each container and finding the one that had the scent. It was like a light bulb went on for her - "oh...you want me to find the one that's different". She got 6 out of 6 trials, no matter how I arranged the containers.

Our other newest learning experience is Treibball (translated from German means "drive ball"). My friend Traci, from Shape a Pup, is teaching a new class here in the area. I believe it was originally developed as a way for herding dogs to practice their instinctive skills without needing livestock. The dog "herds" a group of balls into a goal. Here's a great video: http://www.youtube.com/user/sandydiego#p/a/f/1/QBJ9DVp9dyM. You don't have to understand German to see that the dog is having a ball - 8 of them actually!

Pip is loving this. I got 3 big toy balls and she's happily rolling them from one room down a hallway into another room with her nose. Besides just pushing the ball, the dog has to learn self control and directional cues from the herding world. Can't wait for our next class tomorrow night!

Sniff, sniff

2011-03-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my last day in corporate America, hopefully forever. My tax return this year will say "dog trainer"! While I'm hoping to do this full time, I am also planning to set aside time for training with Pip and taking care of the farm, garden, alpacas and chickens...oh, and housecleaning and cooking, too. I think I'll manage to keep busy.

In celebration of my new-found freedom, I've enrolled Pip in a nose-work/scent class. Last night was our first class at my friend Terri's Taming the Wild Side training facility. We got a bottle of clove oil and a wooden spoon as training props. A drop of oil is placed on the spoon and our homework is to teach the dog to touch the scented spoon and perform a behavior immediately following, like a sit or a down. Since Pip's default behavior is a down, I'm going with that. This is to eventually become the signal that the dog has found was it was told to search for.

Pip did well in class last night, although the clove oil was bothering my nose a bit. This morning I got our props out to review some things we learned in class. I presented the treated spoon (still with the scent on from last night), asked her to touch, then lie down. She did what I asked, but not with much enthusiasm. She'd come close but hesitated to touch. After a couple of trials, she just approached it and layed down automatically without touching. After about 5 minutes, the clove smell was making me nauseous. If it was bothering me, I can understand why Pip didn't want to put her nose on it.

So, right now the wooden spoon is outside, hopefully airing out a bit. We'll try again later when the smell isn't so strong. She's avoiding me now. I really want this to be a fun thing we can do together, so I don't want anything about it to be aversive.

Scent work is great for those dogs who "need a job" and it mentally tires them out. I'm planning on using this with clients who need a way to positively interact with their dogs without a lot of physical activity required. Dogs are always sniffing, smelling and identifying things we can only imagine. In a pet dog's life, he's rarely asked to use his nose for a purpose. Asking him to utilize something he's already good at (sniffing) a dog can build confidence and learn to concentrate on a task at hand (practicing self control).

She's not a Baby Anymore

2011-02-23T12:30:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure where the common thought comes from that once a dog gets to be a year old that she's not a puppy anymore. Did Purina make that up? Pip turned a year old yesterday, Feb 22, 2011. And while I believe she's reached full size and she reached sexual maturity at 10 months old, I don't think of her as an adult dog yet. My previous 2 Border Collies acted like puppies until they were almost 4 years old.

There are a lot of references out there about "social maturity" that supposedly comes around between 18-36 months. That's a big time frame and what exactly does that mean? I've not been able to find a good scientific definition of this, but have found articles about how reaching social maturity involves defining a dog's place in the pack and in her interactions with the outside world.

I don't think Pip has defined her final place in our pack yet. I think when she does, it's not going to be at the bottom. I've seen signs of her being a bit bossy with Buster the bulldog, getting between him and my hubby for attention and, on occasion, giving him "the look" when he's too close to her chewy. She doesn't automatically walk away when another dog wants something that she has possession of. On the other hand, she doesn't often try to take something directly away from any of the other 4 dogs, either. So, right now, we have a nice balance and she seems to know her place, whatever that might be at a certain point in time.

She's developed into a beautiful dog. She's about 30 pounds and just shy of 21" at the shoulder. She's 17 pounds lighter than her biggest brother from the litter - definitely the Pipsqueak of the bunch.

We've had a busy first year, attending the Academy and having lots of fun training many different skills. I'm hoping that in the upcoming year, I'll have more time to get serious with a sport or activity that we can concentrate on. More to come on that!

This is a Test of the Emergency Response System

2011-02-23T09:19:00.000-06:00

I was reminded this morning of the importance of having some really solid cues in the toolbox to use in case of emergency. These are cues all my dogs know and will respond to immediately.

I fed the dogs first thing in the morning, as usual. And, as usual, Nikki, our 11 year old Siberian, didn't eat all her food. On a normal morning, when we leave the house to go to the cubicle farm, her food gets picked up after about 15 minutes. However, I'm spending today at home and didn't pick up her food right away from her dining area on the patio. She spent a couple of hours standing guard over her bowl so none of the other dogs could finish it off for her. The younger dogs are all very respectful of Grandma Nikki and would never dare approach her food bowl while she's near it.

When I realized the food bowl was still full and Nikki wasn't eating and still standing there, I picked it up from her raised feeder and clumsily spilled it on the patio. Now, while all the other dogs are respectful of Nikki's food bowl, food on the ground is a whole 'nother matter. It's every dog for himself. Unfortunately, "leave it" is NOT one of the emergency response cues that ALL the dogs know well enough to walk away from a cup of wet soggy dog food in a heap on the patio.

Nikki immediately went into full guarding mode and of course, Miz Pip being my constant shadow, was directly next to me when the kibble hit the ground. Pip is pretty good with "leave it" and she was conscious of Nikki being right there as well. She responded to my "leave it" and backed off a bit. However, Buster the bulldog and Louie the greyhound came to investigate as well. This had the potential for major disaster as Buster and Louie fought, almost to Louie's death last fall, over food.

I began to pick up the soggy food with my hands and toss it out to the yard. All of my dogs know "Go Find It" really well and they have a long history of reinforcement for moving away from me into the yard and putting their noses down to sniff for something. With some repeated tosses, I was able to scatter kibble around the yard for all the dogs to have their own space for sniffing and picking up Nikki's leftovers. No one even looked sideways at another dog because their noses were all down looking for food.

Even if you don't have a multiple dog household, it's always a good idea to have some emergency cues available that your dog will respond to, no matter what the circumstance. When developing a conditioned reponse, you'll practice many, many times until the response becomes automatic and provide great reinforcement during training. Begin to teach the cue with few distractions, then once the dog has the behavior on cue, start to practice in different locations so that the dog responds no matter where he is or what's going on around him.

"Find It" is a pretty easy skill to teach. Scatter some kibble on the floor when the dog is not in the area. Bring the dog into the room and tell him "find it". Usually they will spot the kibble on the floor and will get it all by themselves. This is one of those cues I like to repeat as the dog is performing the behavior. If I know there is still something to be found, I will verbally encourage the dog to "find it" while he's searching. Once the dog understands the cue, make it harder by hiding kibble in the grass or behind furniture. The goal is for the dog's head to drop and the nose to start sniffing whenever you give the cue to "find it".

Try it! This is a great skill for dogs to have and there are lots of practical uses for it, besides breaking up a potentially dangerous food fight.

What now??

2010-12-31T09:50:00.000-06:00

Pip and I successfully completed the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer course this month.   She was a fantastic partner and she learned lots of cool new things that puppies aren't usually trained to do at such a young age. She can give me her left or or right paw, depending on which I ask for. She can turn her head to the left or the right on cue. She can walk backwards, spin, bow, target with her nose or her paw, work at a distance from me, and probably many more things I've already forgotten, but she hasn't.

The are also some tasks we started, but didn't have enough time to perfect. For example, we began working on Pip finding my car keys. We got to a point where she would go and target them as long as they were within her field of vision. The goal of the exercise would be to use her scenting skills and find them even if they were out of sight - under the bed or in the sofa. Another complex task was alerting me to a particular sound, as a hearing service dog would do.

So, where do we go from here? The new year is here tomorrow and I'd like to set some goals for us. I'd really like her to be solid with her basic stuff - great stimulus control on all the cues she already knows.  I'd like her to automatically sit to meet visitors or strangers. That means taking her places and practicing with lots of different people. I'd like her to have a rock solid recall and "stay". She doesn't really understand the concept of "stay" and there's a couple different theories on teaching it. I think I'll work on that as one of the primary new things to train. Watch for details in future blogs on how we will approach teaching a "stay".

I also want to work on a reliable retrieve - not just bringing me back a toy to throw, but a directed retrieve where she goes out, picks up what I ask, brings it back and drops it in my hand.   This is a complex behavior chain with many steps involved. I already have an outline of a plan for this, so I'll add this to my list for the new year.

Pip's almost full grown now. At 10 months old and just 30 pounds, she's going to be a petite Border collie. (Her littermate brother is 47 pounds now.) We've almost made it through the adolescent months with very few issues. I'm not sure why I've been so lucky - good breeding, lots of training and socialization at a young age? The only thing I'd like to change at this point is her fear of cats. We have stray cats around the farm and Pip is terrified. She can't respond to cues when she sees them and if she has the chance will run as fast and as far away as she can. The cats are pretty bold and seem to enjoy stalking her. It's a bit funny to see a herding dog racing away from a kitty, but I don't want her to be afraid to walk around the property with me. We'll have to do some classical conditioning to change this fear response, so watch for details on this, too.

Learning Lots and Growing Up

2010-12-12T16:06:00.001-06:00

This weekend was our final workshop in the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Program. This has been an intensive 6+ month course which involved online work, hands-on training with our own dog as well as training another species (an alpaca in my case). The focus is on force-free methods to train animals and learning to use the precision of the clicker to teach new behaviors. During the 6 months, we've had 4 weekend workshops to demonstrate what we've learned and put into practice with our dogs. Our KPA instructor was Debbie Martin from New Orleans.

I've been doing clicker training for over 10 years now, but didn't use it exclusively. There were some situations I didn't feel it was the best way to teach something and I felt there were some clients that weren't well-suited to using a clicker. I have to say that this course has changed my mind. The clicker is a very powerful tool and if used properly can be the fastest way to teach a new skill to an animal. Communicating information to the animal using a clicker is an amazing process, especially when you see them "get it". In some cases, it's the first time they truly understand what you want them to do.

This course has demanded a lot of effort, training time with Pip, and a bit of stress as we worked to complete the goals for each workshop. This weekend was especially nerve-wracking as we had to prepare our final training assessment in which the dog had to perform 10 unique skills in a row, with only a single click and treat at the end of the sequence.

Part of our final training assessment behavior chain

To add just a bit more to my anxiety level, Pip came into heat this past week. She's just a week shy of being 10 months old and I knew it was coming, but I was really hoping it would wait until after Christmas. She's been more distracted lately and I'm sure it's the hormones affecting her. So, we'll take a well-deserved break from formal training for a few weeks since we have no more deadlines. I'll be on pins and needles for a few days until I hear whether I've passed all the tests and able to be certified in the Karen Pryor program.

This is why we don't have nice things

2010-12-04T20:04:00.002-06:00

I'd been involved in greyhound rescue for many years in Tucson and one of the things we told adopters was to be prepared to lose something of value. This can be applied to any new dog of any age that you bring into your household, and it's pretty much up to you what you'll lose. Personally, I've lost 3 pairs of slippers, 2 pairs of shoes, a couple of seat cushions and a grill brush. Whose fault is that? Mine, of course.

When you leave a newly adopted dog or puppy free range of the house (or yard) and you're not around to supervise, they are going to get into whatever is available to play with. Don't assume they understand what is their toy and what is not.

My third pair of slippers was destroyed today and one of my favorite pair of Simple Shoes was found outside covered in mud (at least I hope it was mud). Of course I was angry, but I couldn't be angry at her, could I? Well, maybe a bit.

To punish her after that fact is pointless. It would be better to roll up the newspaper and smack myself on the side of the head - "bad human". Punishing the dog is useless because she's already received her reinforcement as she had her playtime with slipper and got pleasure from chewing it up. Now, if I would have caught her taking the slipper or shoe from under the bed, I could have interrupted the behavior and sternly told her "NO, mine".

Management is key when you have a new dog in the house: Put everything that a pup could possibly destroy out of reach; close doors, put up baby gates and don't allow the pup to free range in your home unless you're there to supervise. Have a variety of chew toys available and rotate them so that there's always something different for the dog to play with. Keep in mind that puppies like to chew even after their adult teeth come in. It's a way to release energy, frustration and sometimes anxiety. Make sure they have sometime to release that energy on, and it's not something irreplaceable to you.

I'm off to buy a new pair of slippers that will hopefully last all winter - either on my feet or behind a closed door.

Training with Distractions and in New Places

2010-10-27T18:39:00.003-05:00

When you do most of your dog training sessions in one place and your pup is doing really well there, it comes as a surprise sometimes when you take her somewhere new and it seems like she has no idea what you're asking.

Pip and I are doing most of our training in my shop now. We have few distractions there (great for teaching new skills) and more floor space than anywhere else in the house. We'd been working on a few advanced behaviors - left paw, right paw; signaling me to a ringing phone; and some other skills required for my Karen Pryor Academy course.

She had been getting the left paw, right paw behavior at almost 100% accuracy and I was so excited that I wanted to show Chet that Pip knew her right from her left. We went down to the house with our prop and set up the show. I cued her touch the target with her left paw, and she promptly smacked the target with BOTH paws. I gave her the cue again and she touched it with her right paw. Chet wasn't impressed. He wisecracked (in the most affectionate way possible, of course), "maybe you should hire a dog trainer". Sigh.

Dogs do not generalize well. Behaviors they know in one situation don't easily carry over to new environments. When moving to a new training location, be prepared for a breakdown in the behavior. Make the task easier and/or have better reinforcers (liver as opposed to kibble). You may even have to start from scratch and retrain the behavior in the new place. It shouldn't take long, though, to get back to the level you were at. Have patience with the dog during this time. She isn't deliberately disobeying, she's just confused and/or distracted and can't focus. Do some really simple behaviors, or simply click and treat for attention or eye contact to get the dog in thinking mode again.

I could have also added some distractions in our original training location by having Chet come there or invited another dog into the shop during our training. She might have been better prepared then to perform her skills once we went to a new place.

When you're training new skills, take them "on the road". Practice in the backyard, front yard, on walks, to stores that allow dogs, and help the dog learn to generalize. Once you do this with some basic skills, it will be easier as the dog learns more behaviors.

"Left paw, please!"

Dog Food

2010-10-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

Pip is 8 months old now and we're making the change to an adult dog food. There is no set-in-stone time that you have to move to an adult food, but it's most accepted that when the pup reaches 80-90% of its expected adult weight, it's time to start to transition to an adult food.

We'd been feeding her Nutri-Source small/medium breed puppy food and the pieces of kibble are very small. They are nice when filling some of her puzzle toys that she eats from, but I believe she's ready for something bigger to chew on.

I try and rotate my adult dog food a few times a year. It's good for the dogs to be able to adapt to a new food and gives them some variety in taste - as well as a change in nutrients and protein sources.

The Whole Dog Journal puts out an issue every February, giving their recommendations on good dog foods. Basically, a good food won't contain fillers (like corn) or by-products. It will have a protein source (chicken, beef, lamb) as one of the first couple ingredients.

There are some dog food that are formulated for both puppies AND adult dogs. I think these foods would be excellent for that transition period or anytime after the baby puppy stage.

Flint River Ranch is one of these foods for both puppies and adults. It's a premium kibble that all dogs seem to like, even picky eaters. I'm a distributor for this food and you get it delivered to your door via UPS. With the quantity of dogs I have, I like not having to lug big bags of food home from the store. You can order this food online or by phone. If you need help placing your first order, contact me.

To Spay or Not to Spay and When to Decide

2010-10-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my previous blog that I'd share some information about when I'm going to consider spaying Pip. The contract with Pip's breeder says that I can't have her spayed until she's at least 9 months old - and that's fine with me. There are a lot of considerations to take into account when deciding to spay a dog. There are a couple of very compelling reasons to wait. One comes from a recent longevity study of 119 Rottweilers. Basically, it found that dogs that were spayed later in life (after 6 years of age) were more likely to live to 13 years old than dogs spayed at a younger age. I lost my previous Border Collies at 10 and 12 years of age. They don't begin to calm down until they are about 4 years old. The time with them with their brains fully engaged isn't nearly long enough!

Another consideration is the timing of the spay in relation to the closing of the growth plates. The hormones associated with puberty tell the growth plates when to close. If there is no puberty, the dog continues to grow. Dogs that are spayed at an early age tend to be taller than dogs spayed after puberty or not spayed at all. This article by veterinarian Chris Zink gives more details and other reasons to think about when deciding if and when to spay.

On the other side of the debate, there is a greater increase in the chance of mammary cancer once a dog has her heat cycle. That's a big factor to take into account.

If you have another intact female in the house, I recommend spaying before the first heat cycle. Some of the worst dog fights are between 2 bitches (next worst are littermate sisters, spayed or not).

For Pip, I'm going to wait until after her first heat cycle. She's very leggy and I don't want to increase the chances that she'll continue to grow because her growth plates didn't close when they should have. I also want her bone structure to be solid when we start to do agility and jumping.

I'm also not 100% certain that I'm not going to breed her. She's a fabulous, friendly, smart dog. I don't know whether she'll go on to win any championships or awards in agility, herding or be shown in conformation, and I don't want to make that decision right now when she's still a youngster. She could be an excellent candidate to pass along great genes and a great temperament.

I'm very well aware of the pet overpopulation problem. I've volunteered in shelters and been involved in rescue for many years. I've seen the result of puppy mills, bad backyard breeders and uneducated pet owners who allow their dogs to breed indiscriminately. I understand why early spay and neuter is promoted so heavily.

If you are a responsible pet owner and your girl is secure in your house and yard with no chance of being impregnated by the local free roaming Casanova dog, I would encourage you to consider all aspects of the spay debate and educate yourself on what's best for your dog and your family.

Want some whine with that puppy?

2010-09-23T23:46:00.000-05:00

In the past few days, Pip, who just turned 7 months old, has started to whine. She's whining during training, while she's being petted, and just while she's walking around the house. She's not as responsive during training sessions and she's not thinking before responding to even the most basic cues. I'll tell her "sit" and she'll back up. Where did THAT come from?

Behaviors like whining get ignored, hoping that the lack of reinforcement (attention) will cause the behavior extinguish on its own. However, I'm worried and wondering WHY she's whining and why now? She's healthy - eating, eliminating, running, playing; nothing seems to hurt. Is she worried about something - is she worried because I'M worried?

I'm hoping by writing this down, I'll get some ideas on how to handle this. If a client presented this problem, I'd probably be able to rattle off a whole list of things in order to get to the bottom of it. Here's what I'd ask a client:

1. Are you sure she's feeling well? (My initial answer is yes, but I'm keeping a close eye on her)
2. Has anything changed in her environment? (Well, kind of...I'm spending more time in my office away from the house and we're doing training sessions there instead of where we used to.)
3. Has her diet changed? (No)
4. Has the household routine changed? (No)
5. Are you fussing over her because she's whining? (Well, maybe initially because I thought she might be sick.)
6. Your dog is 7 months old now. Are you aware of the physical and mental changes that happen during this time? (Uh...geez, I hadn't thought of that. Hitting myself on the head now.)

Yes, my puppy isn't a baby anymore. Is she hitting adolescence? Yep - if not, she's awfully close. Her hormones may be starting to take over. She could even have a heat cycle before too long. She is NOT spayed yet. I'll wait as long as I can before doing this. My contract with the breeder says it's not to be done before 9 months and I may wait even longer. Reasons for this will come in another blog.

She could even be having a growth spurt right now. Hard to believe she could get any taller without filling out any more, but I guess it's possible.

This age in puppies correlates to the pre-teen years in humans. Personalities can begin to change. They can become more brave or more fearful or even reactive. Relationships with other dogs in the pack can change. The puppy license to be silly has expired. Tolerance level for puppy antics among the adult dogs in the pack can go WAY down once a puppy reaches this age. I haven't seen that yet here, but I'll be watching for it. Things that she could get away with a few weeks ago (jumping up on the other dogs and biting faces) may not fly anymore.

My plan for dealing with this is to have patience. She's not being stubborn or disobedient or even (gasp) dominant. She simply can't think right now. I'm giving her a few days off from serious training and just working basic sits for clicks and treats. If I see she wants to do something, we'll play free shaping games where I can click her for just about anything.

I'll plan on getting her out and having some more positive socialization experiences like we did when she was younger. If I see any signs she's fearful or reactive to people or other dogs, we'll know what to start working on.

Stay tuned. Hopefully the next time you read my blog the only wine I'll have is in my glass.

Face Wrap - Thumbs and Paws Up!

2010-09-17T19:31:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned before that the only really behavioral challenge I have with Pip is her barking. She barks when she's excited and she barks for attention. I've had a lot of success reducing the excitement barking when we get home from work by having her grab a tug toy in her mouth as soon as we walk in. I try and keep one near the door so that I can toss it for her right away. The attention barking gets ignored at home and we don't have near as much of that anymore.

Last weekend was our 2-day Karen Pryor Academy workshop where Pip had to remain in her pen for a good part of the day while the human students participated in activities without the dogs. The last time we attended the workshop, Pip barked off and on during the day. It wasn't awful, but it would have been better if she could have laid down quietly like the adult dogs did. She's almost 7 months old now and it's harder for her to settle for very long, but she tries.

I had heard good reports on this product called The Face Wrap. One of my colleagues had video of a barking Pom who magically quieted after the Face Wrap was put on. I had actually tried it with a client's dog who was a fearful barker and didn't have a lot of success with it, but I believe it's because the dog was already over his threshold when we put it on.

I have to report that it worked like a dream with Pip. A couple days before the workshop I desensitized her to it by feeding a liver treat whenever it appeared. Then I had her touch it with her nose and get a treat. Finally I laid it over her nose and fed her through the loop. When she was happy about seeing the Face Wrap come toward her, I criss-crossed it under her chin and snapped it behind her ears. Lots of treats then. She didn't fight it as much as I thought she would. When she laid down calmly with it, she got treats. When she fussed about it, I walked away.

During our workshop sessions when the dogs were crated, I alternated having her wear it and go without it. There was a definite difference when she had it on - she was calm and laid down during the sessions. When she wasn't wearing it, she was sitting up, staring at me and barking.

The dog on the packaging looks a little sad, so I wanted to take a photo of Pip wearing it happily!

She can play with her toys, eat, drink and pant wearing it. She can even bark wearing it, but chooses not to!!

So The Face Wrap gets a thumbs up from me. It's inexpensive and made by the same company that makes the Anxiety Wrap. Not every product works on every dog, but this is something that's definitely worth a try if you have a dog who loves the sound of his own voice.

Chewing

2010-08-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

Pip is just a few days shy of 6 months old and she's taken up chewing like I've never noticed before. Maybe it's because I just had oral surgery and every time I hear her gnawing a bone I cringe and my own mouth hurts even more.

I'm really glad I have a supply of these deer antlers. All my dogs have liked them to an extent, but Pip just adores them. My dogs don't guard or try and protect them like they would rawhide or a bully stick. They don't smell, either! Each one is unique - some are smooth, some are nubby - and they are hard and don't break off into small dangerous pieces. They don't wear down fast. In fact, I probably have had some of these for 3-4 years.

You can find deer antlers here: Pet Expertise . Also on this website under Chew Toys are Himalayan Hard Cheese Chews. Pip enjoys these as well. These are edible, but very hard and last a long time, too. I save these for special occasions when she has to be crated during the day.

So far, Pip hasn't decided to chew on anything inappropriate in the house. I'm sure it's because she's got such a variety good chew toys to pick from. I've never had much luck with Bitter Apple or similar bad-tasting products that you would apply to woodwork or furniture if your dog does tend to chew, but that's always something to try.

The best way to deal with unwanted chewing is management - crate your dog when you can't supervise - and give her lots of options of interesting, appropriate dog chews.

Uncontrolled Urination

2010-08-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

Uncontrolled wetting when meeting new people or other dogs is very common with young puppies. Sometimes this even carries over into adulthood in dogs who are very timid or dogs who have been punished for doing this.

I think there are 2 different kinds of uncontrolled wetting. The first is from pure excitement. The pup is so happy to meet someone that she loses control of her bladder and usually ends up peeing all over someone's shoes or legs as she jumps up to greet.

The second type is a true appeasement behavior. The body posture is very submissive - rolling over on the back or squatting or making themselves really low on the ground. The message to the person (or other dog) is "please don't hurt me".

Unfortunately, Miz Pip exhibits both types of uncontrolled wetting. When she greets Meg, our greyhound, for the first time each morning, Pip does a little dance around Meg's face and if her bladder is full she empties it at Meg's feet. I manage this by not allowing Pip and Meg together until Pip has gone potty in the yard. Notice Pip's submissive posture along with the tongue flick in the photo below.

Pip also wets when meeting someone new. She loves everyone and is so excited to greet that she dribbles when she says hello. Very embarrassing, especially if it's a total stranger who just wants to pet the cute puppy.

The best thing to do is to ignore the behavior and manage the situation so that the chances of uncontrolled wetting are lessened. If your pup does this to you when you come home from work, ignore the dog totally until she calms down. Once the dog is calm, ask for a sit and toss a treat or a toy.

When strangers meet your dog, ask them not to bend over to pet the dog. Teach the dog a "touch" cue so that she can greet people by targeting a hand without jumping up. If you have people come to your house, have the dog meet them outside to avoid ruining shoes and pants. Ask them not to face the dog straight on and avoid direct eye contact.

Punishing uncontrolled wetting will only make it worse. Dogs will usually outgrow this behavior unless there are other behavioral issues that need addressed.

Freedom

2010-07-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

I believe we finally have a handle on housetraining - no accidents for at least 2 weeks and Pip is going out through the dog door on her own now without prompting from me. So, for the last couple days I've been allowing her to have more freedom in the house without me following her around. Well, she was running at full Border Collie speed yesterday. She was everywhere. Blink your eye and she was gone, blink again she was back. During one of her disappearances, she made off with my flicker brush (used to clean alpaca fleece before carding or spinning). Beautiful wood handle, incredibly sharp curved teeth. She must have bit down once on the metal teeth and decided it would be more fun to destroy the wood handle. I guess I should be glad it wasn't totally destroyed and that she didn't cut her mouth. Enough was left to salvage it with some electrical tape to cover the splintered wood.   If I would have caught her taking it, I could have interrupted the behavior and taught her that snatching things from my work area is a no-no. However, I found the evidence outside and the damage already done. No one to scold but myself. Bad human.

It reminded me, though, that puppies (and adult dogs) have to earn the freedom to enjoy free roam of the house and prove they are reliable about not jumping up to get things off the counter or end table and running out the dog door with them.  Owners have to do their part, too, and puppy-proof the house! No sense setting the dog up for failure.

Same goes with off-leash freedom. When you have a small puppy, she's very happy to stay near you and doesn't want to stray very far away, so not being on a leash isn't usually a problem.  When dogs hit 5 months or so, though, they move into that stage of development where they have to begin to explore their environment on their own to learn what's safe and what's not - just like human adolescents. Once they get to this point, if you haven't done a lot of successful recall work, it's time to put the leash or the long line on the dog and do some training. Don't allow the dog to practice bad habits like ignoring you when you call them or worse yet, chasing joggers or cyclists going past your house. Keep your dog safe and under control and train a reliable recall as early as possible.

So, the moral of the story is: Puppy proof the house, set the dog up for success, be sure she's earned your trust to be free in the house or off leash anywhere. Otherwise, you might end up with a teenager who gets her kicks from cheap Pennsylvania beer.

Grad Night

2010-07-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

Pip graduated from Petsmart's Puppy Education Class last night. We took this class so I could get her working around other dogs and still be responsive to me. She already knew all the basic skills - sit, down, leave it, recall - but it's great to be able to take them "on the road" to practice with distractions. We also had some success reducing the amount of barking when she spies something or someone new.

Tomorrow, we have our first workshop weekend with the Karen Pryor Training Academy. We'll spend all day Saturday and Sunday in a learning environment for the both of us. It will be a long day for her away from home at the training facility. She'll have a lot of down time while the human students work, but she'll be participating as well. I'm sure we'll have an very educational experience.

Housetraining Part II

2010-07-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

My first blog about housetraining was when Pip was 11 weeks old. She'll be 20 weeks tomorrow and we've had a bit of a learning curve with housetraining. At first, of course, I was extremely watchful of her every move and was determined not to let her make a mistake. She went out after every nap, after play, or every 20 minutes when I was home. She started to use the doggie door and I was really happy that I wouldn't have to stop what I was doing and take her outside so often. As she got older, she was going potty less frequently, too.

Trouble started when I got a bit lax in the past month and started to give her more freedom than she was able to handle. If she was playing hard in the house or distracted with something, it seemed like she forgot where she was supposed to go when she had to pee. She'd get back on track for a few days with no accidents, then it would happen again. My fault entirely. She's so quick to learn everything else, that I was giving her too much credit for realizing she had to go outside on her own to do her business. During this time, I was also doing a lot of prompting to go outside and potty. I stayed with her while she went and rewarded her afterward. I knew she'd have to pick this up on her own - and I hoped it would happen really soon.

Today, she went outside to pee and poo without any prompting from me. I was working at my desk and she left me to go outside on her own. I went to look out the window and there she was - doing all her business! I did a little happy dance, then called her in the house to give her a treat.

I'm going to continue to be watchful of her, of course, but I'm crossing my fingers that we had a milestone event today and we can move forward with no more accidents. I tell clients that dogs need to go 2 weeks without pottying in the house before you can assume they understand. I'll be heeding my own advice now.

Fireworks!

2010-07-03T19:34:00.000-05:00

If this is your first July 4 with a new dog, please consider staying home to be sure your dog is going to be OK with all the noises associated with the July 4th celebration.

DON'T take your dog to picnics or parties where the day is going to end with fireworks. They'll be tired and stressed already before the loud noises even start.

DON'T leave your dog outside by himself. Shelters are overrun with dogs who escape from their yards on the evening of the 4th. When these dogs enter the shelter, they take up space and dogs who are already on death row will be killed at a faster rate.

DO keep your dog indoors. Close the dog door, play some calming music and toss some treats every time the dog alerts on the loud noises.

DO give them access to a safe place - a crate, closet, bathroom or your lap. You cannot reinforce an emotion like fear, so don't worry about giving them comfort when they need it.

DO check with your vet about medications that may help for storms or fireworks. Acepromazine should NOT be on the list, but there are other drugs that can be given short term that can help with the stress associated with loud noises.

All these tips are good for dogs with storm phobias, too. My greyhound, Louie, is storm phobic and has made great progress in overcoming his fears using many of these techniques. Please email if you'd like more information - Barb@DistinctiveDogTraining.com

Aikiou - Update and Thumbs Up

2010-07-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

Gotta give an update on the Aikiou from my original blog about it a couple weeks ago. I gave a less than enthusiastic review, but I have to say that I've changed my mind. I'm really liking this food puzzle. Pip will spend about 15 minutes working to get her food out of this - about the amount of time it takes me to do my hair and face to get ready for work in the morning. She can solve all the Ottoson food puzzles in a lot less time, which means more time running around the bedroom seeing what she can get into.

It's held up well - there are no bite marks from either Pip or Louie, my big greyhound. I still wouldn't leave it out for a dog completely unattended, but with normal use I haven't seen any damage. Pip still can't get every little piece of kibble out of the deep cups, but she keeps trying.

Another Food Puzzle/Bowl

2010-06-22T12:31:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing these Aikiou's everywhere for the last few weeks. (It's pronounced "IQ" - cute, huh?)

It looks like cheap plastic (it is) and it's made in China. Normally that would have stopped me from buying it right there, but I was interested in this, not only for Pip, but for Louie, my greyhound as well. Louie inhales his food without chewing and it gives him some pretty fierce gas. I've been able to slow him down a bit by feeding him from a pizza pan so that the food is spread out a bit. I didn't know whether this gadget would hold enough food for him, but I found out that it does hold 3.5 cups - plenty for the Lou.

It works by putting dry kibble in the slots in the upper circular part and in the bottom sliding cups as well. The dog gets the food by rotating the grey plastic piece on top and by moving the rectangular sliding pieces on the 8 bottom cups.

I let Pip try it first, and being the puzzle pro that she is, she was moving the pieces around in no time flat. The problem for her was that either her snout was too big to fit in the cup or her tongue was too short to reach the food. She managed to get most of the kibble out, but she got pretty frustrated not being able to reach the couple pieces that remained in the bottom.

I let Louie have a shot at it next and he had no problem at all with it. His tongue is about six feet long anyway, so he was like a frog catching flies. When Louie worked it, unlike Pip, he had it all over the room. Every time he went for the thing, it slid across the tile floor. I put a small rug under it, but it didn't slow it down much. I didn't have a solid wall to put it up against, but that might have helped.

It cost $24.95 + $9 something for shipping. I got mine at store.clickertraining.com. This is definitely not something you would ever leave the dog with unattended. I could see this being destroyed in a matter of minutes when it's empty and the dog is left alone with it. It all comes apart for cleaning and is supposedly dishwasher safe.

If it sounds like I'm on the fence about recommending this, I am. I like to have a variety of ways to feed and this is definitely unique, but the cost and the cheap feel of it makes me hesitate to give it a definite thumbs-up.

What do you do .... when your puppy eats poo

2010-06-18T20:40:00.001-05:00

Technically called cophrophagia, this is a disgusting habit that we really don't want our dogs to have.   The thing is - it's only disgusting to humans. In the dog world, this isn't an abherrant behavior at all. It's very normal for the dam to clean up after the pups by eating their feces.

There are lots of theories out there as to why other dogs participate in this activity, but we'll never really know for sure. I know that Pip does it because she's in the puppy stage where everything has to go into her mouth. She doesn't always ingest it, sometimes just carries it back to her "nest" outside (see her nest below).   I have seen her eat it, though, so I want to try and discourage this as best I can without drawing too much attention to it. I don't want her to think that whenever she spies a tasty pile that she has to quickly eat it before I can stop her.

With 5 dogs and a HUGE backyard, it's hard to keep it picked up at all times, but I'm trying my best!   If I see her near a pile I've missed, I'll cue her to "leave it".    She's learning that "leave it" means look back at mom and get a click and treat. I want her to learn that she never gets what I've asked her to leave. This has lots of practical applications around the house (dropping dinner on the floor) and on walks (dead snakes in the road).

If I do catch her with it in her mouth, I'll toss a ball or give her a cue to do something else so that she loses interest in it. What I DON'T want to do is make a big deal about it and scold her. I don't want to make it a forbidden prize that she's always yearning for and racing to get whenever she has the chance.

Most puppies outgrow this, although I've had clients with adult dogs that continue this throughout their life. It's an almost impossible habit to break once it's established in an adult dog. There's lots of things you can try - meat tenderizer, tabasco sauce, changing the dog's diet - but I've personally never seen anything work other than immediate clean up.

16 Weeks 16 Pounds

2010-06-15T20:40:00.001-05:00

Pip has fully recovered from her bout with kennel cough. She's back to full Border Collie puppy activity level, which I'm really glad to see. We went to the vet today to get her final shots and re-check on the respiratory issue. She weighed 16 pounds - up a couple from about 3 weeks ago. If she hadn't have lost her appetite for a few days, she'd probably weigh a bit more. She's very leggy, but the vet thinks that she'll start to fill out now rather than continue to get taller at the same rate. She's also got 2 brand new front teeth!

Sixteen weeks is a milestone of sorts in the behavioral development of a puppy. This marks the end of the Environmental Adaptation and Social Dominance phases of a puppy's development. Up until this time, a normal pup readily accepts meeting new people and new things in her environment without much fuss. That's why it's important that she's introduced to a variety of places, people and things in a positive manner. I estimate that Pip's probably met about 100 different people so far.

Social dominance refers to learning her place in the pack and resolving any questions about leadership. We have a large doggie pack and Pip has readily accepted her place at the bottom of the list. It will be interesting to see if that changes as she gets older.

The next upcoming stage is the Flight Instinct period. This comes right around 5 months old when the puppy decides that other things are much more interesting than you. If you've been able to have the pup off leash and she follows you everywhere, this is when that is likely to change. She'll become more independent and want to wander off on her own to check things out for herself. I've started to see this just a bit with Pip when I'm gardening out front and she decides she wants to see what's on the side of the house. Since we've been working on a name recall since she's been here, she responds very well to her name and gets a click and treat for returning to me.

Overall, I'm really pleased with what she's learned so far. She's a blast to train and we're having lots of fun. We still have the barking issue and will have to get busy working on that. I feel really lucky to have her and I think she likes it here too!

Sick Pup Update

2010-06-09T20:25:00.001-05:00

Pip had a couple of rough nights, but she's doing better. She's had 3 nebulizer treatments for the respiratory infection and she's on antibiotics. She spent the day at the clinic today and the tech said she was barking at things, so I know she's getting back to her old self.

Today was the first day that I've gone without seeing her for about 10 hours. I swear her legs got longer and her ears have straightened out. Previously, she had these silly puppy ears that sort of folded together on the top of her head.

Just 3 days later, her ears are looking like a normal dog's! And look how long those legs are. She better stop growing soon. Her sire and dam are both small Border Collies, so I'm hoping she follows suit.

Sick Puppy :(

2010-06-07T18:54:00.000-05:00

It's been very hot and humid here in Ft. Worth for the past couple weeks and humans and dogs alike don't want to do much outside unless they have to. So when Pip started acting a little lethargic over Memorial Day weekend, I wasn't overly concerned. She was running a low grade fever one night and I put some ice packs on her belly and groin and she was better the next day - still not up to Border Collie activity level, but at least would participate in play, training and mealtimes.

Two days ago, she started coughing and last night had a fever of 103.6. The high end of normal range for a dog is 102.5. She was very listless and lethargic and for the first time, didn't want to eat without some encouragement. I called the vet first thing this morning and was able to drop her off before work. They gave her medication to reduce the fever and started her on an antibiotic for kennel cough. I'm thankful it's just a mild case and because she had her bordetella vaccine it won't develop into something more serious.

I can only guess at where she picked up the infection - either Petsmart or the vet's office - but because I believe socialization is so very important, I don't believe in sequestering puppies at home when they are young. The benefits of meeting new people and going new places outweigh the risks of serious disease - as long as they are up to date on their shots. This mild case of kennel cough will keep her home for a couple weeks, but because we have lots of visitors here at the farm, she can still continue to meet and greet visitors.

Is there anything more pathetic than a sick puppy?

When I was in ICU for 3 days with a rattlesnake bite a few years ago, Chet bought me a stuffed Border Collie puppy to keep me company since I was missing my dogs. I gave it to Pip last night when she was feeling bad.

We finally have some play action

2010-06-02T11:29:00.001-05:00

Buster is a big American Bulldog. I think he weighs about 90 pounds. He plays well with other dogs, but hadn't found a way yet to play with little Pip that didn't frighten her. When he starts running and bouncing around the yard, she goes and hides. So, he found another way to engage her in play and teach her about bite inhibition at the same time. They roll around the yard and mouth each other. I caught them on video yesterday and when I watched it back, I was pleased to see him giving Pip "signals" that she needed to play in a less rough way. Her puppy teeth are razor sharp and I'm sure they hurt his sensitive facial area.

When you view the video, look for these "calming signals" - tongue flicks, turning head away, checking his genital area, sniffing, sneezing. I noted a couple of them on the video itself so you can watch for them. This was taken at the very end of a long play session on a 100 degree day. I think Buster could have been done playing quite a while before, but Pip was persistent. He is always incredibly patient with her, but toward the end, he does mouth her a little hard and she cries. It's funny to see him say "sorry!". It obviously didn't hurt her badly because she came right back for more.

Learning to Settle

2010-05-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

My kitchen is generally a disaster area, except when I'm preparing to cook, then it has to be clean and organized. I knew I'd have to spend about an hour this morning in the kitchen to get it ready to make dinner today. I used the time to help Pip practice her "settle" behavior. It's great for times when you want the dog to be in her own place rather than under your feet while you're cooking, during mealtime, or when you have guests that don't want a dog bugging them.

Settle means to go your place (rug, towel, bed, mat), lie down and relax. I teach settle by bringing out a rug and clicking and treating any time the pup puts a paw on the rug. I then click for each additional paw on the rug, tossing the treat OFF the rug so she has to reposition herself to go back on the rug for more reinforcement. I slowly raise the criteria for a click, from an incremental number of paws, to a sit, then to a down. At no point during this process do I give a cue for the sit or down. I want the dog to figure out for herself what makes the click happen. This is a shaping exercise and it's a fantastic way to teach a dog to think for herself and try new things.

After I have a down on the rug, I reinforce every few seconds by tossing a treat between her paws on the rug. Gradually I increase the duration of time between the treats and she learns by staying on the rug, good things happen. The rug is portable and I pick it up when we're not actively practice the settle cue. So, whenever the rug comes out, it becomes a cue in itself that Pip should go lie down.

Today, I made sure she was tired out before we started in the kitchen. It's a very hot day and Pip seems to tire easily in the heat so it didn't take long. I brought the rug out and she immediately layed down, I rewarded her and gave her a special chewy, a Himalayan Hard Cheese Chew (from the website in the post below). Until she got interested in the chew, I tossed her kibble as long as she stayed on the rug. I was able to work for about 45 minutes before she got restless and I was very pleased she did so well. Next...how to get her to help clean up ;-)

Puzzle Toys

2010-05-26T22:08:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of puzzle toys for dogs. I think mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise, especially for puppies. If you can get a puppy who problem-solves at 13 weeks old, the sky is the limit to what you can teach them.

The photo below is of the Dog Brick, a Nina Ottosson toy. You put kibble or treats in the shallow cups and cover them with the sliders. The dog has to nose or paw the slider to get the food. Amazon has the best prices on these toys that I've found.

Pip has become an old pro at it and I've ordered a couple different ones for her that should be more of a challenge. She works for all of her kibble either through training or in Kongs or these types of toys.

The Ottosson toys can be a bit pricey, especially the wooden ones that are more durable than the plastic versions. However, there are lots of inexpensive toys on the market that are just as much fun and equally challenging. Here's a link to some that I recommend: www.petexpertise.com/barbgadola

13 Weeks Old

2010-05-26T20:50:00.002-05:00

The 12 week milestone came and went last week with a visit to the vet for her rabies shot and what I thought would be her final set of puppy shots (parvo, distemper, etc.). Not so, one more booster to go.

Anyway, she did great at the clinic. I took some yummy treats along and she was really good during the exam and the shots - no fear of the table, the tech or the doctor. We had already practiced being up on a table at home and responding to cues to lie down while elevated. She was also used to being handled everywhere, especially the ears, mouth and tail area. She weighed 14.3 pounds and after a conversation with her breeder, it sounds like she can still claim status as the runt of the litter. She has a brother at 18 pounds and a sister at 15 pounds.

We didn't meet quite as many people this week. I was at a seminar for 3 days and we didn't get out much. She was introduced to the lawn mower, walked along a busy street, and learned all about a Frisbee. I'm going to let her decide which sports she wants to play, but she definitely liked retrieving the Frisbee. Now, I just have to learn how to throw one properly. Do they have classes for that??

Puppy Class Week 2

2010-05-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

Just 3 dogs in class this week, the little chihuahua mix and a large Yorkie mix. Not much chance for a lot of socialization, but Pip got to spend a little time with the chi-x owner while I greeted the Yorkie-x who is reactive to people and dogs - but only when his owner is holding the leash.

Pip was unfazed by the Yorkie-x barking and lunging at her outside and in the aisles of the store. I'm hoping that's a good sign that she's going to remain calm even if other dogs are reactive. Of course, she got lots of treats and praise for looking back to me instead of barking back at the other dog. With all the excitement barking she's been doing this week, I was surprised that she didn't bark in this situation. I try and keep enough distance that she notices the dog, but doesn't get too focused or stressed about it.

Our skills to learn this week were the sit and loose leash walking. Since I want her default behavior to be "down", we haven't worked a lot on sit. She usually heads straight for a down.

Pip is usually everywhere once she's on leash - crossing in front of me and pulling. We've got to nip that in the bud right now. She's pretty receptive to walking next to me as long as she's getting rewards every couple steps. I want her to be able to explore things so we'll have to balance that without allowing her to pull on leash. I don't think she's mature enough to understand Penalty Yards yet (you pull toward something, we back away from it). I think that would just frustrate her and cause her to bark. I'm going to work on using my hand target and rewarding her for being in "heel" position. I also like to walk backward with puppies so they are moving toward you. You can then turn and walk in the same direction for a few steps. You've got to keep it interesting with pups - there are so many new things they want to check out.

Cows Moo, Ducks Quack, Dogs Bark

2010-05-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

And yes, little Pip has quite the bark. It's that shrill herding dog yip that the shepherd can hear from miles away. Pip barks when she's frustrated, when she's excited and when she wants someone's attention. It's unreasonable to expect a dog to not bark - it's a way they communicate. So, my challenge is to find a way to teach her an acceptable alternative to barking.

When she's barking to get my attention, I turn and walk the other way. I don't try and have a conversation with her or scold her. That would give her exactly what she was demanding - my attention. The consequence for rude, attention demanding barking is mom leaving her.

It's harder with strangers because they don't usually turn and walk away. I've got to be prepared for the bark and give her a cue to do something else instead. I'll try and redirect her attention back to me with a "touch" cue, which means to touch her nose to my hand, and then I'll reward her with a treat. If that doesn't work, I'll create a greater distance from the people she's barking at. She doesn't seem frightened at all of people, she just wants them to pet her.

For the excitement and frustration barking, I'm going to start to teach "quiet" - clicking for the silence between the barks and giving a treat. At that point, I will try and redirect her away from whatever it was she was barking at. She's responding to about 8 cues now so I have a variety of things I can ask her to do instead of bark.

She's been here for 2 weeks now. She's gaining more confidence. I think that definitely correlates to the increase in barking that we're seeing. She met about 11 new people this week and went to 4 new places. She was able to meet a lady in a wheelchair, see a big noisy bus up close, a fire truck with sirens going, kids on bicycle and scooter, and met a horse up close. The only new thing that frightened her this week was the alpacas. The pacas were very curious about what I was holding and kind of surrounded us. I guess I might be scared, too, if I'd never seen anything like that before!

First Day of School

2010-05-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

We attended our first puppy class Monday night at the Heritage Trace Petsmart. Actually, it wasn’t strictly a puppy class. There were older dogs there as well, but 3 of the 5 dogs there were of puppy age. Pip was the youngest at 11 weeks, by far. My goal for this class is socialization and being able to respond to cues with distractions around. The best place to teach a new skill is at home with a minimum of other things going on, so being in a group class trying to learn new things isn’t the best way to go, in my opinion.

I know that Petsmart advocates positive reinforcement and teaches clicker training, which is great. My main reason for choosing this class, though, was the starting date. I wanted to get Pip into a class with other dogs ASAP. The experience with the Pomeranian on Saturday and her fear reaction worried me. I was prepared to step out as necessary if she had strong negative reactions to the other dogs in class.

I needn’t have worried, though. She was great with all the other dogs in the store and in class. While we were waiting, there was a barking, snarling, lunging Chihuahua walking about the store reacting to all people and other dogs he saw. Of course, I didn’t let her interact with the dog or get close enough to see what would happen. I spoke happily to her and carried her away. She seemed unfazed.

The training area itself in the store is pretty small, but with just 5 dogs, we were able to spread out with about 5 feet between the dogs. We sat next to a very calm and polite 5 month old Terrier mix just about her size. Pip noticed him, but wasn’t too interested in going to meet and greet. He sat nicely on his dog bed and Pip settled on her rug.

Most of the class was spent talking about positive reinforcement and the clicker, so Pip was bored. I reinforced her for lying quietly on her rug and gave her a chew toy to gnaw on. We when finally got clicking as a class, Pip was up and ready to work. Our first skill assignment was attention/eye contact. Great choice. If you don’t have your dog’s attention, you can’t do too much else. We had not worked on this specifically at home and I found that Pip was more focused on my food hand than on my face. So that’s something we’ll work on in the week to come. I’m using the verbal cue “ready” for this mainly because it’s what I’m saying to Buster in our Canine Freestyle class. Too hard to remember different cues for different dogs!

Housetraining

2010-05-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

The goal in housetraining is to prevent all accidents indoors so the dog can learn that her potty place is outside. That means confinement and strict supervision when the dog is allowed to roam about the house.

Pip has a dog crate that she sleeps in at night and she goes in willingly each night because there's always a yummy treat in the back of the crate. She'll be 11 weeks old tomorrow and she's only wet in her crate once, so I know she's capable of holding it for about 7 hours. That's a long time for a pup and wouldn't dream of expecting her to do that during the day.

During the day, she's confined to a portable exercise pen. I've never used one of these before, but I love it. I can move it anywhere in the house and expand it or contract it as necessary.

I have it in the middle of the living room here so she can be a part of the daily comings and goings of the humans and other dogs. She eats her Kong meals in here, takes naps and has a couple good chew toys rotated through all the time. As soon as she wakes up from a nap, she goes outside.

The only time she's allowed any freedom in the house is immediately after she's emptied her bladder outside. Then I'll close doors to all the bedrooms and let her run around the house a bit as long as I have time to watch her. If I have to be distracted for even a minute, I'll put her back in the x-pen or outside.

I had to go back to work last week, so that meant Pip had to be in the x-pen for about 4 1/2 hours at a time. I'm able to come home for lunch and let her out to potty and run around a bit. Both times I came home on Friday, the pen was dry. Yea!

We got some rain overnight and when I took her out first thing this morning, she didn't want to walk on the wet grass. She peed on a dog bed on the dry patio instead. Whoops. I should have been ready for that. So, I picked her up after she was done and walked her to the far end of the yard. I had some kibble in my pocket (of course!) and we did some walking in the grass for treats. Next time it's wet, I'll be sure to take her into the grass first thing rather than allow her to choose a dog bed for her toilet.

It's Been a Week

2010-05-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a week now since we brought Pip home from her breeder in Austin. She interacted with about 25 people this week and went somewhere new 6 of the 7 days she's been here. Last night we went to what I thought was going to be a small concert at the Lone Oak Winery. Turns out there were hundreds of people there. We sat in the back away from most of the crowd, but she did get to meet some people and kids, too.

We went out today to the monthly auction in town - before it started to scope out the goods. We met a man with a friendly Pomeranian wearing a shirt. Pip was fearful, tucked her tail and backed off as far as she could go. I didn't push her, but I didn't walk away either. This was a very nice dog and showed all good, friendly dog signs. Perhaps she was too pushy and that's what scared Pip. She did calm down a bit and did take food from my hand, but she definitely didn't want to interact with the Pom. This is definitely something I'll be watching for in future interactions.

Petsmart has a puppy class starting on Monday night, so we'll have some more chances to meet other dogs her own age (and size, hopefully). I've been working with her on various skills this week and she responds well to about 10 cues now. She's even responding when we're "on the road". She's got a nice solid nose touch - actually a bump, that's how solid it is. She will target objects with her paw as well. We're working on name recognition as a precursor to a reliable recall and, of course, sits and downs. I'm concentrating on the down more than the sit as I'd like the down to be her default behavior. When she's not sure what to do, I'd like her to lie down. I can see this being important if we do herding in the future.

Still no signs of play between Pip and the adult dogs. It's funny, but she tries the hardest with Louie (the greyhound in the photo above) to get him to notice her. He's our biggest dog in the house and she has to jump up just to reach his mouth. Louie is the least likely of all the dogs to play with her, but she keeps trying.

Will Work for Food

2010-05-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

Since she's been here, Pip has not eaten out of a food bowl. Not because she won't, but because she's earning all her kibble through training or working to get the food out of a treat toy.

Every night I portion out her food for the next day in a container. The dog food bag says she should be eating about 2 cups for her age and weight. From that container I stuff 3 Kongs, add a little water and put them in the freezer. These are for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We also have this red puzzle toy with a weighted bottom and a hole near the top. You put kibble or treats in it and the dog has to knock the toy around for the kibble to fall out. It's a Nina Ottosson Pyramid Toy.

To teach Pip how to use it, I let her sniff as I put the kibble in it. Then I put it on the ground and waited for her to touch it with her nose or her paw. When she did I clicked and tossed a treat on the ground near the toy. Being clicker-savvy after only 4 days, she quickly learned that touching the toy meant good things and was banging it around with her paw in no time and getting the food out on her own.

I wasn't long before she had the thing almost emptied. Smart puppy Pip! The cool thing about this is that she doesn't get rewarded every time and she has to keep trying different ways to hit it in order to make the food fall out. It also is intermittent reinforcement which creates very strong behaviors (think slot machines).

I'm really happy with our training progress so far. She's a fast learner, which I expected, but I've been blown away with how many different things she's been able to pick up on. More on that to come.

Play with me!

2010-05-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

It's Day 3 and everything's going exceptionally well with Pip integrating into the household. She's sleeping well. For the past 2 nights she's cried at midnight and I took her out to potty and then went right back to sleep in the crate until our alarm went off at 5:00.

The only thing that hasn't happened yet is play with our other adult dogs. Over the past 5 years in Arizona, we were constantly fostering or boarding dogs in our house. Our Siberian, Nikki, always was the first one to play with the newcomer. Nikki is an excellent teacher dog - always calm and knew just how to play with each dog, no matter the size or the age. Nikki is now 11 years old and deaf. She doesn't play much any more, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she doesn't want to play with the new pup.

Buster, the American Bulldog in the photo above, always played well with visiting dogs, too. He's not as adaptive in play style as Nikki. However, I did expect him to respond to play invitations from Pip. As you can see in the photo above, she's trying desperately to get him to respond - "please play with me!". I've seen one brief tail wag that indicated he might be receptive and he did try once, but he scared her. She keeps coming back for more, though, so I'm hoping that in the next couple days I'll see some doggie play.

Socialization

2010-05-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

In the past 2 days since Pip has been home with us we've been to Home Depot, a Sno Cone stand, a feed store and the vet's office to get her daily quota of new experiences and socialization opportunities. The only place she wasn't allowed out of my arms and on the ground was the vet's office. Why? She doesn't have all her shots yet and the worst place to pick up germs is a vet's office!   The dog park is probably a close second, but I don't like dog parks at all and wouldn't even consider it for a puppy.

From our excursions, we've learned that Pip loves kids and actually seeks out their attention. This is huge for us. Most dogs merely tolerate kids and to have a dog that really enjoys them is pretty rare, in my opinion. (Have I mentioned Pip had an AWESOME breeder?)   The important thing about socializing the pup is that the experiences be positive ones. I wouldn't take her to a kid's birthday party or baseball game. I want to be able to control the situation and not allow her to be overwhelmed and possibly frightened. So if I ever see signs that she's a bit hesitant, I'll give the stranger some kibble to hand feed her. If she won't take food, then I know she's too stressed and we'll back off. We haven't had that happen yet!

Pip wasn't the most outgoing and fearless dog in the litter and she didn't exhibit a high play/prey drive for a Border Collie. This was OK with me as I don't plan on any competition herding or agility. Whatever sports we do will be for fun (dancing) or practical usage (like herding alpacas). So, while I wasn't looking for the the ultimate driven BC, I did want a dog that could be bomb-proof. This is a dog who can face a variety of novel and possible frightening stimuli and recover quickly, a dog who can remain calm if another dog is reactive.   I believe with the exceptional early upbringing she's had, good genes, and continued socialization that we'll do together for the next couple months, that Pip can be that dog.

I'm looking for a puppy class for us right now. Not necessarily for teaching skills, but for more chances for interactions with different dogs her own age and practicing what she's learning at home in a new situation.

Bonding and Separation Anxiety

2010-05-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

I totally understand now how dogs can become overly attached to their person - and vice versa. When you bring home the cutest puppy in the world, all you want to do is love on her, cuddle with her on your lap, sleep with her and take her with you everywhere you go. People LOVE that their new dog wants to be with them 24/7. The trouble is that most people eventually have to go to work or leave the house for some reason. If the puppy has never learned to be alone, it's a recipe for disaster.

There's a fine line between bonding with your pet and creating a puppy who can't live without you. Most dogs will bond with their owners naturally - the human that provides the food dish and all the other good stuff is a cool friend to have. I've seen many shelter and pet store/puppy mill dogs, though, that are so thrilled to finally have a person of their own that they don't want to be separated from them.

It's important that the new dog be comfortable being alone. Pip has 2 confinements areas - a crate for nighttime and a portable exercise pen for daytime. When she goes into her x-pen I make sure she has a good chew toy and a Kong that contains some kibble. She cried the first time I put her in there, even though I was in the same room. However, just like she did in the crate last night, she calmed down pretty quickly and started in on her Kong. I can now leave her in the pen and move around the house without much fuss. I went out to the barn a couple times today and I did hear her cry briefly, but it didn't last long.

She's also comfortable being out in the yard by herself or with the other dogs. She's too small to use the dog door and can't come and go as she pleases yet. (Which is a good thing because she hasn't earned free roaming privileges in the house until she's solid on the potty traning.) She's never barked or whined to come in the house even if the other dogs have come in through the dog door. She seems to be content to curl up outside and take a nap all by herself. Yes, I consider myself very lucky!

I'm hopeful that these are good signs that she's going to be OK when I have to go back to work later this week. I'll work on gradually leaving her alone longer each day so it's not a shock when I'm gone for 4+ hours at a time.

Separation anxiety can usually be prevented in a young pup. Shelter and puppy mill dogs are much harder once they start to show distress. Dr. Patricia McConnell has a great little booklet called "I'll Be Home Soon" which gives ideas on how to prevent it and what to do if your dog has developed it.

She's a Pip!

2010-05-02T05:59:00.000-05:00

The litter was named after Texas musicians and the only black and white girl in the litter was named Holly (after Buddy who was from Lubbock). Chet always has great ideas for dog's names and came up with Peggy Sue, but it didn't seem to fit after we met her. His second thought was Pip, and I agreed, so Pip it was.

She cried for a minute or so after the car started moving, but then settled down for the drive home. On the way, we stopped for fast food in Waco and ate in the parking lot while Pip explored a small grassy area. She was able to meet and greet a boy in a baseball uniform and a homeless woman with one eye. Got to take those opportunities for socialization whenever possible!

Meeting Buster, our American Bulldog, was a concern for me. Since he had been terrorized by a small black and white dog just 4 months ago, would he be OK with this little girl? Turns out, at least initially, he's very comfortable.

She was very respectful meeting boss dog, Nikki, the Siberian. All introductions went well, although no one played together yet. I think Buster tried to initiate some play, but his bounciness startled Pip and she took cover between my legs.

Our first day came to an end with Pip in her crate in our bedroom. She fussed and barked for a bit. Any time she took a breather, I hummed Brahm's Lullaby to her and she went to sleep after only 5 minutes. I was shocked. I expected to be up half the night. I guess she was tuckered out after her big moving day.

Good Breeders

2010-05-02T05:26:00.000-05:00

I felt so fortunate to find Lone Star Border Collies in Austin. Even though it meant a 3 hour drive, I felt confident after talking with Cathey that she did all the right things as a breeder - especially early socialization - and that we would find a well-adjusted puppy when we got there. According to Dr. Ian Dunbar, puppy training expert, there is a window of opportunity for human socialization that closes at 12 weeks of age. By that time, a pup should have met all ages, sizes, and colors of people. Dr. Dunbar recommends meeting 100 people before the dog is 3 months old. When they were old enough, Cathey was able to take the puppies to work, where the dogs were able to meet and interact with a variety of people. She also does early neuro-stimulation with the newborns.

I have to thank Kim Hastings of Visions Border Collies for referring me to Cathey. Kim also understands the importance of early socialization and does temperament testing with her litters as well. As of this writing (5/1/2010), both breeders have puppies available and I would highly recommend either of these ladies.

Expectations and Outcomes

2010-05-01T20:04:00.000-05:00

I've had 2 wonderful Border Collies in my past - Bonnie who passed away in 2004 and Kate who died in July 2009 of cancer. Because of a move from AZ to TX last fall, I knew I needed to wait until we were all settled in before thinking about a new dog.

At Christmastime last year, my husband surprised me with an adorable little male BC from the shelter. Rex was full grown, wasn't neutered and was aggressive toward our resident American Bulldog, Buster, to the point they couldn't be in the same room together. Rex picked a fight with Buster, who was 3 times his size, and beat him up pretty badly. Our tough bulldog wouldn't or couldn't fight back. Hubby got bit trying to break up the fight. Sadly, Rex had to go back to the shelter. I've never had to return a dog before and we both felt terrible.

I decided that I'd like our next Border Collie to be a puppy; one who I could train from the start and install good habits and behaviors and be sure it was socialized well to people and dogs. I planned for a summer puppy and found a breeder in the area who produced some nice working and good-looking dogs. The insemination took place in mid-March and would have me taking home a pup in early July - perfect! Well, it wasn't meant to be. I found out last week that the female didn't get pregnant - so no summer pup for me.

So, I started shopping around for another breeder. Long story short - I found Cathey Roberts in Austin, Lone Star Border Collies, who had a litter of 9 week old pups ready to go home. She had a black and white girl - just like we were hoping for. I wasn't quite prepared for a pup so soon, but it didn't take me long to get ready!

This blog will follow our new girl's training and development. I'll try and document our success and failures along the way and maybe help someone else following the path from puppyhood to a behaviorally healthy adult dog.