Behavior Help in the Veterinary Environment

So I've been working at Animal Health Center in Rochester for 2.5 years now. I started out just shadowing Dr Allard and Dr Hoisington

and then decided that I would love to work there part time. I really love being there. Sure, there are a lot of frustrations but I enjoy learning new things and even more than that, I love feeling useful. Recently, I have started offering official behavior consults there. Now, mind you, these aren't full consults but rather these are mini in-office consults that help people get started on the right track and they help us determine whether a full in-home consult is the next step. I just can't do a full helpful evaluation in the veterinary office where the pets are already stressed and out of their home environment. However, if there are financial constraints or you want to get a feel for my methods, or you have problems that are specific to coming to the vets office, then I certainly think that's a great starting point!

Even more recently, I have started putting together presentations for the staff. Sure, I've been teaching them things here and there and hopefully they've been able to listen in on some of the tips I've given owners but what better way to feel like I have an important skill than to pass what I know on to people who work with your pets every day and people whose advice you trust. 

For example, many people have asked about giving anti anxiety meds to their dogs. This is something that is misconstrued as being a "fix" for fearful or aggressive dogs. There have been many studies to prove that you can not just medicate your dog without behavior modification. This is something that is important for the staff to understand. Puppies with housebreaking issues. Staff who are all on the same page... helpful, right?

Most importantly, in my opinion, veterinary staff who can read subtle body language and who know how to go about decreasing stress in practice. I find that to be the best thing I could ever teach them. It not only avoids injury but it allows them to help your dogs behaviorally as well as medically. If you don't think this is important, ask how many dogs are euthanized for biting, house soiling, or running away from their owners and getting hit by a car. Behavior is JUST as essential as all other medicine and I know that has been overlooked.

Just recently, we started putting towels over cages of stressed cats (and dogs), we have started giving cats hiding places under towels for their exams, we have asked more specific questions about pet behavior when getting a history, we have used calming caps, we have started playing calming music in our kennels for patients who need to hang out with us for a while, we have put towels and mats on our metal tables (which can be scary in themselves), we have started approaching pets differently, we have used more treat rewards for well visits and vaccines, and too many other things to list. 

Next week, we are going to start tracking whether these new methods are working and we are going to set up a schedule for owners of dogs who need extra help overcoming their fear of the vets office in general.
If every time I went to a specific house or store or environment, something scary or threatening or even just unfamiliar happened, I would hate it there too. I would avoid going in and I would probably bite - wouldn't you?! We forget that our pets think very differently and what seems like no big deal to us is in fact the biggest of deals to them!

Lots of good stuff to come at our practice!

Puppy Social: April 21st

Calling all puppies!!

May 2013 Classes

Separation Issues

Separation Issues

By Laura Gendron, Miss Behavior

A dog that jumps all over you when you come home?

A dog who tries to get out the door with you when you leave?

Chewed up pillows, floor, door frame?

Neighbors who tell you your dog has been barking all day?

Drool all over the crate?

The gift of pee or poop somewhere in the house when you get home?

A dog who follows you around like a shadow when you are home?

How many of the above questions can you answer yes to?

Separation issues are very common and can be very frustrating to work with. There are many levels of separation issues in dogs, ranging anywhere from separatING issues to clinical separation anxiety.

SeparatING issues usually consist of behaviors such as trying to get out the door with you, barking or even nipping at you as you leave, jumping up on the couch to see you go, but then sleeping the day away or lounging around while you're gone. Then when you get home, you have an excitable dog but he/she calms down within 5 minutes or so. That is a dog who has an issue with you leaving without him but is okay while you're gone - followed by excitement when you come home because you are pretty awesome! Sure he wants to go with you, but he can also handle being home alone. One easy solution: Offer him a stuffed Kong or some sort of treat dispensing toy a couple of minutes before you leave. Before you know it, he will be eager to get you out the door! Of course, there are further methods for this but that's a good starting point

In a second scenario, you have all of the above, but your dog chews things up while you're gone or gets into the trash... Well, that's fair game. Your dog is probably bored, has energy to spare, and if the trash is handy and you're not home... well, that's fair game. Why not? PLEASE keep in mind here that if this is something you come home to but you did not literally catch your dog IN the act, there is nothing you can do. Your dog does not remember that HE was the one who caused the mess, even if he does look like the most "guilty" dog in the world. dogs do not feel guilt the way we do. Dogs create associations. Trash on the floor, mom walks in the door... uh-oh.. last time things looked like this, mom yelled at me (for some reason). Dogs learn by experience that this scenario is bad so they can "look guilty". However, they don't actually know WHY you are mad. Ok, that's me spiel on behalf of dogs there... Exercise your dog more and leave him with something to do, or crate train him (properly) and leave him with an interactive toy or two in the crate. And if he doesn't eat the food until you come home, see the next scenario as that can be indicative of actual anxiety.

Then there is separation anxiety. Simplified, anxiety is "the fear of" and separation = "being alone" so separation anxiety can be defined as the "fear of being alone". That being side, there are many degrees of separation anxiety, ranging from very mild to very severe. Dogs with separation anxiety tend to be generally insecure, follow you around like a shadow (often even into the bathroom) and are hyper-aware of your leaving cues (anything from kids eating their morning cereal before school to shoes going on, keys picked up, coat put on,  etc). They also are extremely worked up when you come home and have a hard time settling quickly on their own. You might come home to pee or poop near a doorway or chewing of the door, door frame, or crate. Barking, howling, or whining all day is also very common, along with many other signs.

Each dog is different so unfortunately, there is no cookie-cutter training method for this behavior. What I can tell you without knowing your dog is that you need to increase his confidence, give him a routine, leave him with a yummy stuffed Kong (even if you come home to it not being eaten, keep offering it. It will be a huge breakthrough day when you finally come home to an empty Kong as overly stressed dogs will often not eat), leave some soothing background noise on (Through a Dog's Ear is great), and most importantly teach him to cope with being alone even when you are home. Don't let him follow you into the bathroom, or go to the mailbox with you every time. Gate him into a separate room or shut a door behind you. Every time you are going to do this, leave him with something yummy to chew on.

Now, all these methods may not work easily with all dogs and because there is a LOT more to separation anxiety, I do highly recommend that you consult a qualified professional, and be ready to make some lifestyle changes. Keep an open mind to learning your dog's perspective and you will be much more successful. If you get stuck in the idea that your dog "needs to deal with it" or "will get over it", you won't get anywhere. Remember that anxiety is a fear response so it is not a behavior he is choosing. He can't help it, but you can help him to slowly learn to cope. It's can be a long process but if you get to it early, results should be quite a bit faster. Good luck! Visit APDT.com to find a Certified Behavior Consutant near you

Recommended Book: I'll Be Home Soon

Puppy Play

A quick clip of puppy play during my Learn Your Manners Class.

See if you can pick out that missed opportunity for reward in here!

Mental Stimulation for Your Dog

Alternative Exercise: Mental Stimulation for your Dog

Just because the snow is coming and the weather is getting colder doesn’t mean your dog needs to get any less exercise. While continued walks and romps in the snow are ideal for physical exercise, there are also a lot of ways to mentally tire your dog out inside your home! As is often reported after a group training class, or a private in-home session with clients, the mental work training requires is exhausting for dogs! Dog’s stamina quickly adapts to routine physical exercise but their brains rarely ever adapt in the same way to learning something new.

Here are a few relatively simple ideas:

Try training new behaviors. This will both mentally exhaust your dog and it sure will come in handy in the future! Some both physically and mentally exhausting ideas include: Go to bed, Come when called, and Leave it. Clicker training can also be a really fun way of teaching new behaviors! If you don’t know how to train these, please contact a positive trainer in your area or check out my shortened list of recommended resources at the end of this article.

Even more fun than teaching obedience, both for guardian and dog, is teaching tricks. Tricks are exhausting but also more motivating than “commands”. Technically tricks and commands are the same thing, but our attitude towards teaching them and showing them off seems to be different. Some relatively simple examples to try include: Roll over; Touch; Spin; Bow; Dance; High Five/High Ten

Find it games can also be a lot of fun. Start of by having your dog by your side, having a few treats in your hand, toss the treats down to scatter on the floor as you say “find it”. Graduate this to having your dog either do a sit-stay at a distance while you toss the treats down and realease them to “find it” or have a helper hold your dog while you toss the treats before telling them to “find it” and releasing them. From there, you can either be sneaky and hide a tasty treat while your dog is elsewhere, call them in the room and tell them to find it (encouraging them along the say) OR have a helper hold them out of sight and do the same thing. Find it games are great because they also use their sense of smell to their advantage! Exhausting!

           

Meeting new people, places, or other dogs is a great idea to wear out your dog. Socializing can be exhausting (this also holds true for people)! Plus, meeting new people, other dogs, or going to new places really stimulates their mind and increases their social circle (of course, this is assuming you have a dog who enjoys the socializing)

Treat dispensing toys and puzzle toys are great ways to both feed your dog breakfast or dinner and really make them work for it, tiring them out in the process. What I’m talking about here are not so much stuffed kongs, but rather toys that need to be pushed around in a certain way in order to get the food to be pushed out. See my specific recommendations at the end of this article.

Similar to the toys just described, bones and stuffed toys (such as Kongs or marrow bones) are great too. Ice toys are a great alternative, especially for crate time. Ice toys are very simple to make and basically consist of kibble in a Tupperware bowl. Add in a couple of cookies, carrots, globs of peanut butter, safe toys, and/or whatever else you think your dog might enjoy (really get creative here!), then add an inch or two of water (depending on the size of your dog and their motivation to get to the food). Freeze it all overnight and the next day, pop it out and let them have at it! Chewing tends to be very relaxing for a dog so giving them something to really work on for a while can really calm them down and of course keep them mentally and physically busy!

Those are just a few ideas for simple ways to really give your dogs some mental stimulation as well as the slightly harder to come by physical stimulation during the winter months. Please feel free to contact me if you would like specific ideas for how to teach your dogs any of the above behaviors or see the following resources:

YouTube.com – Look up “dog tricks” and you will get all kinds of good ideas!

Books:

101 Dog Tricks: Kyra Sundance

The Culture Clash: Jean Donaldson

Quick Clicks: Mandy Book & Cheryl Smith

Play With Your Dog: Pat Miller

Favorite Treat Dispensing Toys:

Tricky Paw

Bob-A-Lot

Also, please check out my Amazon site for a list of recommended products:

http://astore.amazon.com/missbeha-20

Don't nag your dog! How to build a healthy relationship

Imagine you are in a relationship. For the sake of argument, let's just say you are married and since this is from my point of you, I will call the significant other your husband, but it can be anyone. Husband, wife, mom, dad, girlfriend, boyfriend, close friend.

Tell me which relationship is healthier, stronger, and built around more positive associations:

Scenario 1:
You had a long week of work. 
On Day One, your husband complains because the dishes are piled up. You left the back door open, letting the cold air in while the heat is on. He didn't notice the fact that the laundry was done, the kids were fed, bathed, entertained, and put to bed. Dinner was cooked. He just made a comment about the dishes being piled up and you letting all the cold air in. 
The next day, you make sure the dishes are in the dishwasher by the time he gets home, all doors and windows are closed, the kids are fed, entertained, and bathed. Dinner is made. But by the time you did all that, the kids toys are still out. Your husband makes no comment on any of those things. The night comes and goes.
Day Three - Windows are closed, dinner is made, laundry is done, the kids are set, but you're a bit behind on housework and your husband walks it and says "what's that smell??" Ok, so maybe the dogs are overdue on baths or maybe you haven't vacuumed in a few days but c'mon now - look at everything else you've done, just since being home from work? Of course he didn't notice the good...


I realize this is stereotyping or maybe I'm reversing it but work with me here. Husband #1 uses very little praise, doesn't act grateful, doesn't really give any positive reinforcement and quite frankly, only has complaints to give when commenting. He doesn't think anything of it, but how do you think the wife feels? Sure, to avoid hearing the complaints, she may do the dishes on day 2. She may freshen the home's scent on day 4, but what do you think her emotions are toward her husband? I tell you what, if it were me, I wouldn't be thinking happy thoughts about him. Things would be tense. If I were the type to avoid conflict, I may get a little passive aggressive. If I didn't avoid conflict, we might openly argue about it.

Okay, so scenario 2. All of the above happens on each day but this time, instead of complaining, your husband thanks you for remembering to shut the windows/doors on day 2. If you were to do it again, he may mention that you left them open but he doesn't say it to make you feel terrible because it's your first known offense and clearly you didn't do it on purpose but he does want to make you aware. On day 2, he also compliments dinner, which makes you very happy. He might even read to the kids before bed so you can relax for a few.
On Day 3, he doesn't comment on the smell of the house because he can see everything else you did. Instead he thanks you for picking up (since the night before he had noticed things being in disarray). So, in this husband's methods, not only is he rewarding you (verbally) for improving on the day before or on a dinner well made but he is creating a better relationship with you. You have positive emotions toward him.

Ok, I also realize this may not seem entirely realistic on a daily basis but a significant other who can get in the habit of acting grateful, thanking you for what you have done, complimenting you (even if to buffer a later reference to something not so great)... overall, it creates a stronger relationship, not one built around learning due to avoidance of nagging. Does that make sense?

Now, you may be asking why I, as a dog trainer, am blogging about this? It's because I need to stress the importance of not nagging your dogs. Praise the good. Notice the right choices. Don't just tell them what they did wrong, thereby punishing the behavior. If the latter is all you do, they may learn and they may do it but they won't have any positive emotions about doing it. Let's teach our dogs to work for us because it's worth the praise, the treats, the petting, the reward. That's not to say that you can't ever give consequences to your dog but when you do so, it will be more significant, more noticeable. If all you ever do is nag them, get in their face, hover, tell them no, then who cares if you have to tell them No one more time? They're used to it. And like you less for it. What fun is that kind of person to have a relationship with?

And who says we can't TRAIN our husbands, wives, kids, etc?