Category: Problem Behavior

Meeting Tad

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

I love a good story of redemption.  That’s probably why I’m drawn to dogs we commonly call fearful or aggressive.  They’re the barkers and growlers and lungers and biters.  They walk a hard path and are often misunderstood. They are the hard cases with no guarantees for anyone involved.   Few have walked a path more difficult than Tad, my newest client.  A young woman named Tiffany found him along the side of a country road in Montgomery, Texas late last March.   Tad was eaten away by mange and malnourishment, weak and wounded.  The veterinarian at the clinic where Tiffany works wondered if Tad would survive the night.  He did.  As he grew stronger, though, his behavior grew worse.  Tad started barking and growling at visitors to the clinic.  Then he bit Tiffany’s father who had the double misfortune of falling and frightening Tad in the process.  That would have been the end of the line for some dogs.  But not Tad.

It turns out Tiffany is a storyteller, and a good one at that.  She began blogging about her Abandoned Dog the day she found him.  She posted  pictures and videos of Tad, and before too long he had a worldwide following (nearly 5,000 fans on Facebook as of this writing).  When Tad needed money for expensive veterinary care, hundreds of people responded.  And when word came that he needed a trainer, more help rolled in.  It only took a phone call for one of his followers to find me.

I liked Tad the minute I saw him.  He’s smaller than he looks in pictures and video (about 55 lbs).  He’s also loose and wiggly most of the time, a young dog coming into his prime.  We met outside of The Fundamental Dog near The Woodlands.  I like to meet dogs like Tad on neutral territory, outdoors if possible.  The idea is to make it easy for the dog to make the best choice possible.  If Tad didn’t like me, he had plenty of room to move away, an easier choice than barking or lunging.  This wasn’t his place, so there was no pressure on him to make me go away if I looked like bad news.  Fortunately, he trotted right up to me.  He seemed pleasantly surprised when I pulled out my “secret weapon:”  Cheeze Whiz (Tad’s favorite).  It wasn’t a bribe.  If you come to my house, and I want us to be friends, I’ll offer you a snack.  It’s good manners.  Of course, there’s good behavior science behind it too.

I won’t take too much time talking about the science of dog training.  Most people already know I depend exclusively on well tested and verified behavior science in my practice.  Very little (if anything) of what I teach is based on folk wisdom or popular consensus.  That’s my bias.  If there isn’t a body of data to support a training protocol, then I’m not teaching it.  More importantly, I don’t use any methods that frighten or hurt a dog.  Tad’s been frightened and hurt enough.  What he needs now is to learn that people are safe, and that good things happen for him when new people show up on the scene.  I got to be one of the first to teach him that.  Tad liked me and my colleague Marie.  It made my day.

This is about as geeky as I’ll get.  Tad is learning that every time he sees a new person (or even an unfamiliar person he’s seen before) tasty bits of food soon follow.  Some of these people may actually choose to hand Tad the food themselves.  This is called Classical Conditioning.  Person predicts Yummy food.  In addition, we’re pairing up the sound of the door chime at the veterinary clinic with lovely snacks as well, because the chime is also associated with new people coming in.  Chime predicts Yummy food.  Right now chimes and people are  associated with increased heart rate, shallow respiration, dilated pupils, elevated cortisol (most likely), and piloerection (hackles up) – in other words, fear.  In order to change the association, we’ll need to be careful to protect Tad from repeated full-on exposure to the scary stuff (new people).  He’s going to meet his new friends much the same way he met me, in a controlled and calm setting.  The rest of the time he’ll be away from the hustle bustle.  Tad never has to be afraid again.

Was Tad abused?  The physical evidence clearly points to that.  The behavioral evidence, interestingly enough, is less clear.  Many dogs display behavior similar to Tad’s without any history of abuse.  Lack of experience with a wide variety of human beings can lead to what we call “socialization deficit.”  Dogs who behave in ways related to fear and aggression often didn’t have enough positive exposure to human beings early in life (5-16 weeks of age).   That lack of experience is enough to create serious problems down the line.  We trainers see it a lot in puppy mill dogs, and even in some dogs who come from  so-called reputable breeders.  This is precisely why well-designed classes for young puppies are so important.  A lot of street dogs, like Tad, have a very mixed bag of early socialization.  Regardless, remedial socialization in canine adolescence and early adulthood can help turn things around.  That’s what I’m hoping for with Tad.

Tad’s not all that unlike a lot of the dogs I see day-in-day out.  Maybe that’s what  makes him special.  Being a dog is quite enough, thank you.  He doesn’t have titles or ribbons, and his coat is still pocked with mange.  He’s just a dog from a country road in rural Texas.  But His story of survival against great odds touched us nonetheless, thousands of us.  Tad is one dog who stands for so many other dogs, too many who are left to suffer and die young.  Perhaps that’s what gave so many of us pause, and made us reflect on the better measures of being human.  People failed Tad, but it was also people who lifted him up, thousands of people.  There’s a story of redemption being told here – not just his, but our own.

Sit Happens – No Problem

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Good dog trainers know we don’t teach dogs to do anything they don’t already know how to do.  That may sound like nonsense, but it’s true.  Your dog already knows how to walk beside you, and come to you.  He also knows how to stay put and lay down.  He knows how to sit too.  The trick of training your dog is to teach him to do those things a lot, in all kinds of situations, when you ask for the behavior.

StewieSo yes, it’s true, sit happens.  It happens all the time.  In fact, most of my students have already taught their dog to sit on a verbal cue by the time they meet me.  But here’s the rub.  The dog will sit when asked so long as we’re inside, and the person is facing the dog, and (by the way) nothing much else is going on at the time.  The question we really want to ask isn’t does your dog know sit? It’s how strong is your dog’s sit, and in what context? There’s the rub indeed.

Sit can be used to remedy dozens of problems, including jumping on people (he sits instead), bolting outdoors (the dog is sitting not running), stealing things off counters (can’t do it if he’s sitting), and chasing your kids (impossible if you’ve asked him to sit instead).  Achieving these goals is very doable, but we need to start with the basics.  Never give your dog the final exam before you’ve taught him the material.  That’s just not fair.

It’s not about the word.  Start teaching sit by temporarily taking the word out of your vocabulary.  Instead, every time you see your dog sit say “yes” and give him a delicious bit of healthy food.  Once he sits, take a few steps backwards and see if he follows you and sits again.  Say “yes” and treat him again.  This is called capturing, like catching a bit of action on film (behaviors are actions).  Do this over and over, so that your dog gets hooked on sitting.  Every time he sits, after all, something great happens.

Name it. When your dog is thoroughly addicted to sitting for you, name the action.  That’s right, when you are 95% sure he’s going to do it anyway you are going to cue your dog to “sit.”  This seems backwards but it’s not.  Verbal cues (they used to call them commands) are not directions to do something; they are permission to do something.  Your dog is already begging to sit for you.  Now the word is going to give him the green light.  Say it once.  Your dog can hear you, so repeating the word sit is not useful.

Take the show on the road. Now you can start using sit as an antidote to more troubling behavior, but take it slow.  Ask for sits in gradually more difficult situations, but not so difficult that your dog fails.  Remember the rule about not giving the final exam too early.  The best way to teach your dog is to set him up to succeed, raising the bar of difficulty a little at a time.  Since your dog is working at a game he can win, he will be excited and energetic about sitting.  “Yes” and treat enthusiastically.  This is going to give you the opportunity to teach quick sits in more distracting settings.  Forcing sits by yanking a chain or pushing on hips is less exciting and slows the process (it can also hurt your dog).

Let your imagination guide you to further challenges.  What else can you teach your dog to do that is the opposite of bad behavior?  Look back and notice the things your dog is already doing well.  Capture that behavior and use it to crowd out the stuff you want him to stop doing.  Dogs who walk calmly on leash (good behavior) don’t lunge and pull (bad behavior).  Dogs who eliminate outside (good) don’t do it inside (bad).  Dogs who lay quietly on their beds with their Kong Toy (good) don’t beg at the table (bad).  You get the picture.  It’s all a matter of replacing the bad with the good.  Add to that, it’s a great way to build a relationship with your dog.  And isn’t that why you got a dog in the first place?

 

Helping a Fearful Dog

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

(from All Things Dog blog)

Dear Michael:

My wife and I have a very sweet, intelligent, food-loving, 2 year old female Rough Collie.  She is great on a leash, eager to please, and generally very good in public.  I grew up with Collies and am familiar with the common tendencies of the Herding Breeds, but am having trouble succeeding with some of her training.

Lady gets very nervous when guests come to the house, especially strangers.  She does the typical barking and herding, but also has trouble relaxing for hours when other people are in the home.  She will nip at our guest incessantly when they walk around the house.  I know that she has watchdog qualities, but I worry that she will snap when we have guests (especially children) over to the home.

We have had her since she was 12 weeks old, and we have always had visitors.  She does not seem to be adapting at all.  How can we exorcise this nervous energy and enjoy having people over again.  Thank you for your help!
Bill H.

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Dear Bill:

First, I commend you for asking good and thoughtful questions on Lady’s behalf.  I work with a lot of fearful dogs here in Texas.  I also know a lot of my training colleagues work similar cases around the world.  You are not alone; and yes there is hope for Lady.

Despite our best efforts socializing our dogs and familiarizing them with the quirky ins and outs of the human world, sometimes it’s just not enough.  As our dogs grow up, we begin to notice their developing sensitivities and phobias.  It’s important that we address these fears intelligently and immediately, but also gently.  You are correct to be concerned that fearful behavior can sometimes develop into offensive (aggressive) behavior.  That doesn’t always happen.  Nevertheless, the time to act is now.

I often recommend hiring a qualified behavior consultant at the end of my blog posts.  This time, I’m recommending it up front.  You don’t have to do this alone, and you probably shouldn’t.  Use the link above to find a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant in your area.  I also recommend you visit fearfuldogs.com and download the e-book, Guide to Living with and Training a Fearful Dog.

Certainly, my response here will not take the place of working with a qualified dog trainer / behavior consultant in person.  Still, I want to offer my thoughts and input.  Your goals with Lady when it comes to interacting with visitors are twofold.  1) Teach her how to behave when people come over.  Which skills you teach are up to you.  Sit, coming when called and stay all play a role in proper greetings.  I exclusively recommend reward-based training, and with good reason.  I’ll expand on that below.  2) Teach Lady that new people in general, especially in her home, are good news for her.  Something amazingly good should happen for Lady every time a person comes to your home.  The way to a dog’s heart really is through her stomach.  I often suggest visitors give my clients’ dogs “welcome gifts” when they arrive (New person = cheese or chicken).  Giving her a delicious stuffed Kong Toy when visitors are in the house is a nice approach as well.  Here is where your reward-based training comes in as well.  If you are using food to teach your dog basic manners when people come over, then she is also learning that it’s good news for her when people come over.  Training starts and the treat bar opens.  Win – Win!  The dog knows how to behave and loves every second of it.

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