Rush Hour

Clear the area. Get out of the way. It happens every night. He’s been good all day but now he turns into a manic. He runs through the house, jumps on the furniture, and doesn’t listen. Nothing can slow him down, its Rover’s rush hour.

Dogs, as I’ve said, can sleep sixteen hours a day. Most of the time, if we’re not interacting with our dogs, they are resting. It’s not uncommon for them to have a couple of times when they are most active. Typically there is a period in the morning but the most common time is in the evening. Rover has been sleeping all day and now that everyone is home he’s ready for action.

It’s probable that dogs would hunt or scavenge during those periods of high energy. Most of our dogs no longer have to provide their own food or perform the jobs that they were originally bred for, such as herding, hunting, or guarding. They are just our companions. They don’t get as much chance to burn all that pent up energy and it does need to be released somehow.

I’m often told that even correcting Rover at this time is ineffective. It only seems to feed his frenzied activities. He’ll steal something and race around, sliding on the floor or banking on the turns. It can be frustrating trying to get him to calm down during his explosive race through the house. Is there anything that we can do to slow Rover down at these times?

The first thing to do is take notice of when his period of explosive energy takes place. For arguments sake let’s pick seven o’clock at night and it’s pretty consistent. At a quarter to seven start working Rover. Walk him around playing follow the leader, with you being the one in front. Change direction often and encourage him to follow you. Practice all the obedience commands he knows. These activities will engage his brain. You can play find the toy or treat. If he can’t focus, work with him on leash.

While these activities might not be physically taxing, they are mental challenges. They make Rover think and making him think WILL tire him out. Have you heard the phrase a tired dog is a good dog? It’s true and you can tire him out with a little mental exercise. Try it and let me know how it goes.

Physical vs. Mental Exercise

I was speaking with a woman the other day about her dog. She said her dog just wouldn’t settle down. She seemed to have an endless supply of energy even after running around all day. I asked if she was stimulating her dog’s mind at all and she told me she didn’t know.

This is an area where there is a parallel between dogs and people. If I have a mentally stimulating day where my brain really gets a workout I’m usually really tired and ready to just veg out, but if I don’t have any mental stimulation I have much more energy at the end of the day. The same holds true with Rover.

Have you noticed that a physical workout energizes you? The physical conditioning builds more stamina. It’s the same with dogs. There is a point where the exercise will tire them, but it takes a lot! Dogs can run and run for hours and still be ready for more, but ten to fifteen minutes of making them concentrate and THINK is exhausting and they’ll be ready for a nap. Just as the physical exercise will give us and our dogs physical stamina, exercising the brain will build mental stamina and we want Rover thinking and concentrating don’t we?

So, how can we exercise Rover’s brain? Obedience training is one great way. Making Rover sit and stay, correcting his mistakes and praising him for the right behavior is a great way of stimulating his brain. He needs to think about what he’s doing and he needs to concentrate. He doesn’t want a correction. He wants to be praised, so he has to think about what he’s doing.

A very slow walk making sure he is right next to you is another brain stimulating exercise. The slower you walk the more Rover has to think about what he’s doing. We’ve seen, over and over again, very high energy dogs crash as soon as they come back from a very structured five to ten minute walk. A “power walk” will give them more energy, just as it does us.

Puzzles are great way to mentally stimulate Rover. Take one of his favorite treats, let him sniff it and then hide it and let him try to find it or tie it inside an old towel and make him figure out how to get it out. Buster Cubes are also great puzzles for dogs.

Scatter feeding is another great mental game. Rover will have to search for his supper. This is also a great idea if he has a tendency to wolf down his food. We’ve never met a dog who didn’t love this game.

The more we exercise Rover’s brain, the happier and calmer he’ll be. He does need physical exercise, just as we do, but he also needs mental stimulation.
Dogs who are bored are more likely get into trouble.

If Rover is digging or chewing inappropriate items or if he’s running all over the house out of control, look at the mental side of the equation. A mentally stimulated dog is a tired dog and a tired dog is a calm dog. A calm dog is a happy dog and we all know about happy dogs; don’t we?

Dealing with Thunder Phobia

Summer is coming and along with summer come thunderstorms. Some dogs, Rover included, don’t seem to be concerned about the noise or flashes but many other dogs are. The booming thunder and bright flashes can send some dogs into a panic.

We worked with a family last year whose eight year old Golden Retriever was terrified of the storms. She would start panting and pacing as soon as she became aware that a storm was coming. As the storms got closer her panic grew. They typically left her out in the house when they left for the day, but she had become destructive. She completely destroyed a couch by digging through it and she was unable to control her bowels and bladder during her panic attack. Even heavy doses of prozac were not enough to keep her calm. While she was extreme in her panic, Maggie’s situation is by no means unique.

Summer is a time of year that a lot of dogs run away or get lost, become destructive or even hurt themselves as they panic in reaction to the storms. Most can learn not to react but it takes time and patience. Here’s a process we’ve used.

First it’s important that Rover has a safe place in the house. It might be a crate or a closet or a bathroom. Its best if the place is in the interior of the house and not on an exterior wall. The darker and quieter the safe place the better. You can have quiet music playing there. Classical music or a cd such as “Through a Dog’s Ear” can help Rover relax.

It’s also important that Rover is viewing you as the leader of the pack. He needs to take his cues from you and if he’s not doing that when everything is calm and relaxed, he’s not going to when he’s excited or stressed. If he isn’t responsive to you, work on your leadership skills first.

Get a good recording of thunder. We’ve used “Suburban Thunder” which we bought from http://www.f7sound.com/. I’ve also been told that it’s available to download from Itunes. It was recorded here in Tampa, the thunderstorm capital of the world and it is amazing how realistic it is. They also have a recording of fireworks. Typically if a dog has thunder phobia he’ll also react to fireworks.

Start the process when things are calm and quiet. Teach Rover to go and stay in the “safe” place when there is nothing going on. He needs to be comfortable spending time there by himself. You can leave treats or a favorite toy in the safe place for him. When he goes in there, don’t interact too much with him. You can give him a calm, quiet “ Good boy” when he goes in there but the idea is to get him used to going in and relaxing by himself.

Start playing the thunder recording at very low volume, slowly increasing the volume. Watch Rover, as soon as you see him start to react, lead him to the safe place and tell him to stay. Again don’t interact with him too much, get him settled down and then just stay near by. Don’t talk to him and DO NOT try to comfort him.

Comforting, which is our natural tendency, will make things worse. Rover won’t understand the words; he only knows the tone of voice. “Don’t worry Rover its ok” is the same thing as “Good Boy your right to be worried”. Just stay near by, ignore him, and go about your business. If he’s still nervous and won’t settle down give him a quiet correction to let him know he’s being silly. Don’t escalate the correction as that can increase his distress. If you can’t get him to settle down you may need to lower the volume or work more without playing the recording at all. You may also need to reevaluate your relationship with Rover. Is he really looking to you for guidance and listening to your instructions?

Once you are able to get him to settle down in the safe place, work on increasing the volume of the recording. Each time he starts to react, lead him to the safe place and get him to settle down. This needs to be done over and over until he goes to the safe place without you directing him and you can play the recording at full volume.

This process can sometimes be fairly quick, a matter of days, or it may take much longer. Again, only give him praise when he’s calm and relaxed. If he’s nervous you can try a quiet correction, but its best not to acknowledge him until he settles down.

Once he is going to the safe place on his own and remaining calm with the volume all the way up, then you need to work on separating from him or not going near there. Work up to going outside. He will be home, by himself, when the thunderstorms come. So you need to replicate as much as possible the actual situation.

The best time to work on this is well before the storm season begins so you have more control of the storms via the recording. Start the process now, don’t wait until the summer storms are here. The only time you can teach Rover is when you are there. There is no magic wand for changing the way Rover feels when the storms happen. Patience, consistency, remaining calm and taking the time to teach him is the best solution.

Most dogs can learn to not react to the storms, but Rover will only take his directions from you if he views you as his leader. This is where you need to start the process.

If you need help, contact us. We’ve guided numerous people and dogs through the process. Don’t let Rover’s thunderstorm phobia continue. Typically won’t get better on its own but it often does get worse. Help him learn that it’s just noise and nothing for him to worry about. When he learns to relax and remain calm, you can relax and not worry about what he’s doing when you’re not home. We all know the results. . .

Happy Dogs = Happy Families

Canine Communication – Body Language

Dogs have perfected the use of body language as a method of communication. In fact body language is their first means of communication. They use it to “talk” to other dogs and animals and they use it to talk with us.

When Rover comes over and nudges our hand is there any mistaking what he wants? No. We know he wants to be petted. When he drops that ball next to us and then looks from the ball to us do we know that he wants to play? Of course we do. There is no mistaking this communication. Both of these examples are ways that Rover talks to us using his body language.

When Rover meets his friend Max, his front end hits the ground, his rear is up and wiggling and almost immediately Max is chasing Rover. Why? Rover used his body language to indicate his desire to have a play chase. Max understood the message and the games started.

Dogs use their entire bodies when communicating, the head, eyes, mouth, tongue, ears, stomach, back, legs and of course the tail. Posturing is an important part of the communication process. By reading each other’s body language dogs can learn a great deal from each other. Rover knows if Max wants to play, or be left alone. He knows if Max is sociable or aloof. He also knows about Max’s personality, whether Max is confident or a little shy. The body language, to Rover, is unmistakable.

Dogs are great observers of our body language. They use this skill to learn about us and our world. Observing us helps them to communicate effectively with us. Why does Rover get excited when you put on that old pair of sneakers? He’s watched you, and learned that those shoes mean he’s going for a walk. Can you tell from his body language that he wants to go? Sure you can. His whole body is expressing happy excitement.

Watching and learning Rover’s body language can help us communicate with him more effectively. If Rover likes to jump up on people who come to visit the most effective time to correct him is before he jumps. By watching and learning his body language we can learn that he will squat into almost a sitting position before he springs up. If you correct him at this point you’re telling him “Don’t even think about it!”

If Rover likes to jump on the couch we have a lot of opportunities to correct him before he jumps up, if we’re reading his body language. First he’s going to look at the couch. Next he’s going to turn toward the couch. Then he will move toward the couch and finally he’ll jump on the couch. You can stop him at any point in his progression. The least effective time to issue a correction is after he’s already on the couch.

Learning Rover’s body language can be fun. With practice you’ll be able to almost know what he’s thinking, which helps when you are trying to “talk” to him. If you want to learn how to communicate in a non-physical way with Rover so he understands, give us a call.

Bark Busters can teach you a new language …Canine. Contact us to find out more about learning to speak canine.

Trust and Being Physical

We all want to make sure that Rover is not afraid of our hands. We want him to trust us. We use our hands to love and pet Rover but are we also using them to take away his ability to make decisions? Getting “physical” does not just mean smacking Rover but it is anytime we “physically” make him either do something or not do something.

Rover is outside playing and we want him to come in. We call him but he doesn’t come, so we go out grab his collar and drag him inside. We just got physical. We violated his trust. The next time we call him he might come within arms reach and then bolt away.

The door bell rings and Rover rushes to the door; we know he’ll either bolt out the door or jump all over our guest so we grab him. We just got physical. The next time he might bark or even growl when the doorbell rings.

We have to go out. We need to get Rover in his crate. We don’t have time to entice him so we drag him over and put him in the crate. What did we do? We got physical and violated his trust. The next time he might hide under the bed when he’s told to get in his crate.

Rover doesn’t understand when we get physical and he certainly isn’t learning anything other than hands make him do things he doesn’t want to do. Often times if we “force” Rover he starts to avoid our hands. We think he’s playing an annoying game, but he’s telling us, in his way, that he doesn’t trust our hands.

Anytime we jowl, grab, drag, pull, scruff, pick up or hit Rover we get physical and usually that action takes away his ability to make decisions. It always violates his trust. How would you feel if someone grabbed you every time the phone rang or pushed you into the car every time you had to go somewhere or smacked you as you greeted anyone? Would you start to resist?

There are ways to get Rover to do what we want without getting physical. We were at a client’s home and their dog didn’t like going into the bathroom to take a bath. She was happy bathing, but getting into the bathroom was a problem. Why? The owners had met resistance and overcame it by dragging the dog in there. So when the owners went in the bathroom, the dog would go the other way. We showed them how to get their dog in the bathroom without using their hands at all. It did take a little while, that time. Once the dog got there she got lots of love and praise. The next time was easier.

We were at another client’s home and getting the pup in the crate was an issue. The pup would run and hide anywhere it could to avoid going into the crate. Why? His owner was picking the pup up and forcing him into his crate. He was happy in the crate, but wouldn’t go on his own. We worked on getting the pup into the crate without using hands. Again it took a while the first time, but it got easier. The pup got lots of praise and love when it went in on its own.

If Rover did something wrong and we call him to us and then punish him we violate his trust. The next time we call him he’ll think twice about coming. No matter what he’s done, it’s important that he ONLY receive love and praise for coming to us. No matter how mad we are.

It’s important that our dogs trust us. With trust comes responsibility, just like with people. If we are Rover’s leader and don’t violate his trust it’s easy to get him to do what we want. If we violate his trust by forcing him to do things it becomes much harder. Rover wants to please us but he needs to trust us. If we use our hands ONLY for loving and praising and never for forcing or punishing, we will have taken a big step towards having a happy, trusting dog, and we all know what the result of a happy dog is. Just in case you forgot,

Happy Dogs = Happy Families.

Canine Civil Disobedience

What? Rover is carrying a protest sign and chanting “No More Sits, No More Stays, Not without a treat today!”? No what I’m really talking about is Passive Dominance.

Passive dominance is really the foundation of Canine Dominance. It can be thought of as almost like civil disobedience for dogs. Rover passively refuses to do what we want. He doesn’t make a fuss about it but, unless it’s on his terms, he just refuses.

We find his favorite ball and try to entice him to play fetch. “Come on Rover let’s play… Come on boy.” We bounce the ball, toss it up and catch it and try all kinds of things to make it exciting and what’s Rover do? He yawns, looks bored and says “I don’t think so. I’m really busy pondering this spot on the wall.” A little while later, when we’ve given up, Rover comes over happily wagging his tail and drops the ball at our feet. This is usually as soon as we get involved in something else and are NOT paying attention to him.

He knows all the commands; sit, stay, come, down, but will he do them? Maybe if there’s something in it for him, like a treat. Rover’s family will find him a bit frustrating as he knows all the commands, but just won’t do them.

He has his own tricks too. He’ll lie someplace, like a doorway or the bottom of the stairs, where we have to either go around him or step over him in order to get where we need to go. He’ll tell us he needs to go potty and when we get up and open the door he just turns around and goes back and lays down. Or, he goes out and then wants to come right back in without having done anything. He knows this one will get us because we certainly don’t want him to have an “accident”.

He might even seem aloof at times when we want to pet him. Then later he’s very affectionate; nudging for loving and even rolling over on his back for tummy rubs. He won’t do this when we ask him, but if we’re involved watching our favorite show, or reading a book or newspaper all of a sudden he’s the most affectionate and loving dog in the world. Hmmmm.

In each of these situations Rover is actually training us, passively. He’s getting us to respond to him and if we’re responding to him, guess who’s in charge? That’s right; Rover’s civil disobedience has a purpose. He will use it to subtly train us without our even realizing it.

The good news is that once you learn the secrets of Canine Civil Disobedience (passive dominance) you can use it to your advantage and train Rover quickly and easily. Want to learn these secrets and more? Call us. We’ll help you end his protest without a protest and change his chant to “Sits and Stays, He Obeys, He will do them everyday!”

Happy Dogs = Happy Families