If you're happy and you know it praise your dog!

Once or twice a week I work at Dog Tag's Doggie Daycare. On any given day there are 9 of my favorite dogs that I love as if they were my own. Some of these dogs jump up on people, some bark to get attention or bark at other dogs, and some dogs have so much energy--they're turned up to eleven.

My days have often been filled shushing the barking dogs, putting my hands up or turning away from the dogs jumping on me at every turn, and the overly-excited dogs...woof. In a pack setting hyperactive dogs can cause problems, like someone yelling, "Fire!" in a movie theater. I was often frustrated chasing the dogs' bad behaviors all day.

So operation Catch 'em doin' something good and Ignore 'em when they're bad--started. In psychology mumbo-jumbo they call this: positive reinforcement and negative punishment.*

I started with the "barkers." I would catch them when they weren't barking, say their name, walk over and give them praise and pets (positive reinforcement). If they started barking because of the excitement of being petted, I'd simply turn and walk away (negative punishment). This is big in dog world where the pack is everything.

If the dog walked up to me barking for attention, I'd turn and walk away. The only way I would give them attention was when I found them being quiet and calm--and I actively sought them out. If they barked I never looked at them or corrected their behavior, I just did an about face and walked away.

After only 15 minutes I noticed a marked difference. After an hour--practically cured barkers! No barking at me for attention. A decrease in barking overall. Since barking tends to be a mirrored behavior*, the entire pack was more quiet.

I worked with the "jumpers." These dogs LOVED the negative attention they were getting, all the, "No Dewy! Off Dewy!" and the touches and pushes were just more reward. I would call them to me. As usual they would jump on me, so I would turn and walk away.

The jumpers stopped jumping and calmed down. Some took longer than others. They had practiced this jumping behavior for a loooong time and getting attention for being calm was a new behavior to practice.

I'm sure you're getting the idea now...I did the same thing for the hyperactive dogs, searching them out when they were calm--which was tough to find them when they were calm and praise them without their getting worked back into a frenzy. But it worked.

The best part came at the end of the day when an owner came to pick up her dog and usually the dogs bark at the fence line as their dog friend leaves. Instead they stood there silently.

"Wow, they're so quiet," the owner said. The energy of the entire pack was calmer. I was calmer. It was achieved by merely actively praising what behavior you want and ignoring the behavior you don't want.

Catch your dog doing something good today!


Suggested readings*:
Your Dog is Your Mirror--Kevin Behan
The Well-Adjusted Dog--Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman

To pet or not to pet, that is the question.

As I was waiting for my daughter to finish her guitar lesson, a high school student sat with me in the living room of the guitar teacher's home. The guitar teacher has one of the friendliest cats I've ever met named Banshee.

However, on this day, as the high school student started petting Banshee, the cat started flinching at her touch (first warning). The student kept petting. Then Banshee started flapping her tail heavily (second warning). The student kept petting. Finally, Banshee gave the student a warning nip that barely missed her hand (third warning). Instead of heeding all of these warnings, the student said, "Stop that Banshee or I won't keep petting you," and continued to pet the very perturbed cat until Banshee got up and walked away.

I've seen this time and time again with dogs. People approaching a dog that looks mortified, yet they're "dog lovers" and they want to pet the dog. They'll even try to pet a growling dog--if it's a small one--knowing their pet has a magic soothing elixir.

It's like old Auntie Thelma when you were a little kid that crushed you in her hugs and wet kisses. She pinched your cheeks, grabbed your arms so she could pull you back for another hug after assessing how much you've grown. The sweet smell of her perfume mixed with the medicinal arthritis cream making you gag. No matter her good intentions, you dreaded having to see her.

Think about it--everyone in this dog's life is THAT relative, never giving them a choice, always invading their space.

Without giving a dissertation on animal body language, I've got a simple tool to help you figure out whether or not you should approach and pet a dog. Simply ask yourself: Am I petting this dog to fulfill my needs or will petting this dog fulfill it's needs?

Take a look at the dog you're approaching with that question in mind. Look at it's body language. Is he all over you like butter on toast or hiding and unsure, licking his lips, or even worse, growling? Being a true animal lover is being a wise selfless person first and not demanding, "LET ME LOVE YOU!" from every animal.

Sit Ubu sit!....Good Dog!

If I could pick one suggestion for dog owners, whether they have dogs who are driving them nuts, or they have pooches who just need a little tweaking. I'd start with "Sit for Everything." *

It's just like it sounds: Your dog doesn't receive anything until he does the basic command "sit." And I ain't talkin' about, "Sit....sit....Sparky, siiiiit....SIT!" I'm talkin' about, "Sit." And if you don't get a nice sit within 3 Mississippi's, you walk away. No second chance. No getting frustrated. No, "UGH! Bad Sparky! I'm trading you in for a CAT!" Just turn and walk away, cooler than Bogart strutting away in the Casablancan fog.

In the world of psychology this is called Negative Punishment. It's not negative because it's bad, it's negative because you're taking away something that has value. For example, you have a bowl of dog food in hand and you say, "Sit," nice and firmly. Sparky looks at you and doesn't do anything.

(1 Mississippi.....2 Mississippi....3 Mississippi...).

So you simply take away the food that has value to him by putting it on the counter and walk away ("Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful...leadership.").

If Sparky were a ten year old child, this would be like saying, "You didn't clean your room so I'm taking away your Xbox." Those of you who have kids near this age know that Xbox has HUGE value and the room will be cleaned faster than they can finish their Halloween candy.

If Sparky follows you around whining, or barks protesting--no food until Sparky is calm for quite some time. No feeling bad for bad behavior! Once back in the kitchen, at least 20 minutes later--hold the bowl, look at Sparky and firmly say, "Sit." Recycle above if Sparky doesn't sit.

Before Sparky can go outside, whether leashed or going out in the back yard, he needs to "sit." Ask once and make him think about it. This makes an overly excited dog really have to calm down and think, a dominant dog feel the shift in leadership, an anxious dog calmer because someone is in control. If after 3 Mississippi's he's not sitting--you walk away.

***I find it's a lot easier for people who are frustrated with their dog's behavior to stay calm when they can just walk away instead of demanding a behavior. However, consistency is the only way to make this work.

Sparky walks up and wants to get some attention? "Sit." Sparky wants to get into the car? "Sit." Before the car door closes? "Sit." After the doorbell rings Sparky wants to see who's there? "Sit." Sparky wants a treat? "Sit." Sparky wants to watch The Bachelor on TV? We need to have a consultation about what you are allowing your dog to watch.....

Once Sparky's sitting for everything, hold the sit. Make Sparky wait and calm down. Make sure to give him calm praise when he does sit.

REMIX:

• Sparky has to sit before getting anything.
  
• Walk away if Sparky doesn't sit after 3 Mississippi's. No reward for no sit.
  
• When Sparky does sit he gets rewarded by getting what he wants--and make sure to give him lots of verbal and praise when he does get the hang of "Sit for Everything" (positive reinforcement).

*If your dog doesn't know the command "sit" you have to train that behavior before this method works. Otherwise you'll merely be barking a command like, "Cartwright!" and your dog has no clue that the word is associated with an action.

Obedience training? That ain't me, babe.

I'm surprised how many times I've heard a dog owner tell me how they're opposed to telling their dog what to do. They've heard about "bossing" their dog around and being the "leader" and bossing their dog around all day is just too strict for their style. With that said, their dog has behavior issues and would like me to address those annoying behavior issues.

It's like a plumber coming in to fix a leak in the ceiling but not being allowed to go upstairs where the problem might be originating. First of all I think we need to address what it means to be a leader of your dog. If you were a bully and bossy, demanding or inconsistent, I think we would all agree those are horrible attributes for an effective leader. I'm thinking more along the lines of confident, caring, clear, concise and someone who communicates effectively.

If you had a job where on the first day your boss said, "We're so glad you're here, just mill about and figure out how it all works. We're all equal here, man." You'd be cool with that at first. You are the luckiest employee on the planet. A paycheck for doing whatever you want!

But then you notice your boss is frustrated with you and he says cryptic things like, "Ugh, you didn't file that report? I really wanted you to come in early today!" And storms off. He never told you anything about a report, ever! He's never told you to do much of anything, let alone to come in early. He's usually just friendly. Now you start feeling anxious. You ask him what you should be doing and he says, "No big deal, you're fine." and then a couple days later he's mad at you again out of the blue. You become more anxious. You start fighting with coworkers because you're moody. You never know when your boss is going to be mad at you over something you did or didn't do. This perfect job isn't so perfect.

If your boss would just tell you what he expected from you and communicate clearly when you were on the right track and fairly explained to you when you were going in the wrong direction, you wouldn't feel so scattered.

This is what a dog without boundaries or guidelines feels like in it's home. Rules are put into place so we can communicate clearly with our dogs what we want and expect from them.

For thousands of years dogs and humans have worked together--the key word here is "worked." Dogs thrive when they are working. I've had clients who were opposed to "obedience training" and then watch their dog come alive once I start training very basic commands. Their dogs were hungry for clear communication and direction. It's also FUN. Their brain is engaged. The dog was bored, meandering around the house without direction and the suddenly someone is breaking through the anxiety and frustration, making it so easy to succeed and the dog can tell that everyone is happy with what he is doing.

"I don't want to have to have food in my hand for my dog to behave." I agree completely. That's why you start with food/treats to effectively mark, "Yes, that's what I want you to do," and then use food less and less until you no longer need it. I intermittently substitute praise once the behavior I've captured is strong enough.

If you are looking to improve your dog's well-being and yours by communicating better, there are plenty of options--here are some: obedience training classes, agility classes, urban herding classes, or even private lessons.

Pack Balance