Holiday time

The holidays are now upon us; that means that there will be more hustle, bustle and changes.  Decorations will go up, you will be out shopping, friends may be over and time may be at a premium.  This time of year can be tough on dogs so it is important to make them a major priority.  Dogs don't understand the holidays; they just know that things are different.  There are many dogs who just go with the flow; change doesn't bother them.  But there are those who are upset by just one change, let alone a whole pile.  So depending on who your dog is will factor in on how much extra you must take to assure their comfort in the whole holiday season.

Exercise is one of the most essential ingredients for a happy dog.  Take that away and you can have a dog with too much pent up energy.  It is important for a dog who is accustom to a great deal of energy outlet to continue to get that same amount.  This will eliminate the stress of energy build up and keep their bodies feeling the same as always.

Along with not enough exercise is too much stimulation.  Like us, dogs need their sleep and if they don't get enough; things can go very wrong.  Your dog can display fall out behaviors from not enough sleep.  Lack of sleep can cause all sorts of issues so make sure that your gets enough sleep and rest.  Especially if they are use to a lot of it. 

There will be all of that extra food that is around as well.  Some will be dangerous for your dog; make sure all the goodies are up and out of reach.  Things can get left out when you are super busy or have a houseful of people; so keep an extra thought to the goodies.  Check, double check and check again that everything is picked up.  Children are notorious for leaving things around; make sure that there is no chocolate of other things laying around that your dog can get into.

If you will be away or traveling; make sure to consider your dog is comfy and safe.  Spending the Holidays with our dogs is just the best.  Pre training and pre holiday planning are the best tips. 

This is my absolute favorite time of year; I love it.  Enjoy it with a dog by your side. 

Let the Holidays begin.

Feedback

 

They await guidance via feedback. 

Feedback.  It's all about feedback.

Feedback - a reaction or response to a particular process or activity. 


Living with dogs is all about feedback.  From the moment your dog joins your family and throughout your life together; feedback should be a part of it all..  "I don't like telling him what to do," is a common phrase heard when discussing training a dog.  Some people link obedience or training with cruel control.   The whole process of learning to live in our human world requires feedback, constant feedback.  Our dogs cannot learn how to act appropriately all on their own, they need assistance.   If you have offered appropriate feedback as your dog learns the ins and outs of living in our world; the need for feedback typically lessens over the years. 

Rules, regulations and living side by side in a human world all require feedback.  When a dog offers an unwanted behavior; it is our job to give feedback.  Yes, I like that; no, I don't like that.  Tweaking behaviors or altering them in a large way is our job.  Without feedback we leave our dog standing alone to try to figure it all out by themselves.  That is not a good thing for a dog; our dogs need guidance every step of the way. 

Feedback is not mean, cruel or bad.  Feedback is good; our dog's need help to maneuver through it all.  Do you offer your dog enough feedback?  Are you helping them to figure out this whole human world of ours?  When you offer your dog feedback on a regular basis; they will tend to look to you for more.   Feedback can come as vocal sounds or physically stepping in.  Once a dog understands a particular vocal sound that means "not acceptable" it can be very easy to share the knowledge.   It is simply a required reaction to an action which supplies important information. 

I have had to step in and give feedback myself when owners have not stepped up.  If it concerns my dogs and someone else's dog I will most definitely offer what is needed.  Like parents who offer no feedback to their misbehaved children; unruly dogs receiving no feedback are just as obnoxious.  Feedback, give it to your dog. 

Drive

The drive to retrieve is okay, as long as it is within a safe environment and under control.  

Drive: an innate, biologically determined urge to attain a goal or satisfy a need.

Prey drive, we've all heard the term and although it does come from the genetically hardwired behavior to chase a moving object; I prefer to call it just that, chase drive.  Many drives have nothing to do with prey as in animal killing.  Most of it is just the simple desire to chase something moving.  There are many different types of drive in our dogs today.  I saw this big difference when Penny was at our house.  Penny is driven by glimmers, it is becoming a problem.  She is most definitely obsessed and cannot stop unless she is physically removed from the room.  Every night when I would empty or fill the dishwasher as the sun was setting she would go off by the glimmers created.  I had to kick her out of the kitchen; obsessive drive is not something you want to fuel in any way, shape or form.

Elsa and Luke on the other hand are driven by things that they can get; lizards, crickets, balls, frisbees, etc.  Their desire to chase has not moved to the constant need to chase.  I had one of those and one is just fine with me.  Tilley, she had OCD and it was all about shadows.  She started very young; at four months of age we noticed her following butterflies.  Thinking that it was adorable we watched and watched until we noticed that it was not the butterfly that she was chasing but the shadow.  At the time I didn't realize that this was a problem; I thought she was a smart girl to find something that gave her a sure thing to chase daily.   No, it was a problem in the making.

OCD (Obsessive, compulsive disorder) is not a good thing; especially in dogs who we cannot sit down and explain to.  Her desire to chase shadows quickly moved to any shadow, anywhere.  It was not until one day that she chased the shadow of a crow into the street that I realize the dangerous implications of her problem.  So what do you do with a dog like this?  We transferred her desire to chase to objects; so that we could control the chasing.  She was given error feedback if she tried to chase a shadow outside of our yard and she learned quickly.  She became an amazing disc dog and would literally chase and retrieve anything that you threw for her.  We redirected her drive.

It may seem cute in the beginning but an obsession on something that cannot be caught is a bad one.

Obsession:  a persistent preoccupation, idea or feeling.  The act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed.

Not good in any form.  Obsession should be dealt with immediately.  Elsa cannot figure out what Penny is doing when she starts with the glimmers.  Penny cannot figure out what Elsa is doing when she is after a lizard; different, very different.  One is drive, the other obsession.  You can see Penny waiting for a glimmer when she stands transfixed, staring at the wall.  It needs to end there but it must also be redirected onto something else; something that is controllable.  Just ending it will be nearly impossible.

Positive reinforcement/association

Reaching down to grab the very wet and disgusting ball out of Elsa's mouth I realized how far she has come.  She never use to want me to have the ball because that meant that our game was over.  She would turn her head but eventually hand it over.  She of course still does not want the game to end but when I say "drop" she gently opens her mouth for me to take it.  Why the change?  Because she gets a treat.  That and because she knows that I might just start the game up again at any moment. Positive reinforcement is so vital to canine behavior and keeping it...well, positive.  It is all about association; the link between two behaviors.   I take the ball in the end, but she gets a treat for giving it up.  Plus I make sure that I throw the ball again at some point during our walk.  That way the game hasn't truly ended until we leave the park or as they say, the fat lady sings.  :)

Positive reinforcement or association can be added easily to your day to day.   Elsa trots along nicely by my side once she gets her ya ya's out.  She knows that when she walks by  my side that treats will appear.  They don't come out often but it is worth her while to hang out there for when they do.  This is positive reinforcement. 

Positive association is a bit different but the same, sort of.   I have used association for nails.  Neither Luke nor Elsa enjoy having their nails done;  not too many dogs do.  But when I bring out the grinder, both circle with excitement.  They know that treats follow nails and I will continue this always.  As soon as their nails are done they get treats; not just one, but a few to make good and sure that it remains a positive.

Positive reinforcement is the act of linking a behavior to a reward.  This, ups the possibility of the behavior being offered again.  Once the behavior is learned you put the reward system on a random delivery schedule.  Perhaps you wait for the best or fastest behavior that your dog offers to reward.   Then you cut it back further to just every so often.  Complete elimination is up to you.  Depending on the behavior is how I factor that in.   Some behaviors should be rewarded once every so often, others don't need to be.

Positive association is creating a positive feeling around a negative activity, like nail cutting or grinding.  There are many things that dogs can baulk at throughout the day so you need to choose which of those need a positive association to.  Positive association can be done with our own behavior; you don't need treats for all associations.  Sometimes your  positive behavior to a situation can turn it around.  Take a little yapper (small dog) for example; who is going off on yours as you walk by.  You can either fuel a negative by pulling your dog away and getting upset or you can create a positive by chirping away happily while you pass them.

Plucking ears (for those who have hairy ear breeds) is another negative activity.  Treats are a must for this one unless your dog is not into treats of course.  Teeth scraping, bathing and the weekly physical; when you have a good look see.  Almost anything can be turned from something your dog doesn't want to do; to an activity that they tolerate due to the reward at the end. 

Don't get frustrated, associate.