Coddling is not comfort

A friend posted a comment over on the RC FB page in response to yesterday's post about comforting fearful dogs. Basically, she said that comforting one of her fearful dogs in pretty much the exact same way as she did with her other dog actually makes her dog worse. My initial response was, "Nope, wrong, comfort is awesome," but I've internet-known this person for years and years, and I know she's sincere.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized that comfort is a lot like that saying, "One man's treasure is another man's trash." In other words, it's subjective. We all find different things comforting, so yeah, actually, comforting one dog the same way as you might another is not always going to be successful.

Here's a personal example:

I have PTSD, a mental illness that sometimes causes me to have panic attacks and depressive thoughts. I'm a lot like our dogs, actually. If someone were to sit down with me when I was in the midst of one of these episodes, touching and hugging me, feeding me chips and jelly beans, I would enjoy it. I would appreciate their efforts to comfort me, and I would LOVE all the attention (and food). But I don't think it would make me feel better. I tend to be easily sucked into self-pity, which usually leads to a downward spiral for me.

What does make me feel better is spending time with my friend Laura. Laura is incredibly practical and no-nonsense. I cannot even TELL you how many times she has literally drug me out into the woods to go hiking when all I wanted to do was lie in bed. She's not a touchy-feely person, and I can count on one hand the number of times she's hugged me. She doesn't spend a ton of time talking about my problems with me. She does not "comfort" me in the traditional sense. In fact, she might even appear cold, distant, or callous.

She's anything but. My friend Laura has consistently given me an amazing gift: the gift of her presence and her time. She has made a lot of sacrifices in our friendship, and she knows that "comfort" is not coddling. It's not catering to my every emotional whim. It's not treating me with kid-gloves or being excessively careful.

Instead, she knows that comforting someone is not about what you do, but instead about the end result. Comfort should soothe someone's soul and reassure them that they are loved. Above all, comfort should express a sense that we are in this together. Yes, life is hard sometimes, but no, we do not have to face it alone. And that's what my friend Laura does for me. It makes me feel better every time.

So... don't get caught up in what you're doing with your dog when he's scared. My dog is not your dog; what each one needs when they're upset is going to be different. Don't think about comforting them in terms of any specific action. Instead, offer your dog your love and presence in whatever way helps him most. You know, like Laura does.

Does comforting a scared dog actually reinforce their fear? (Answer: who cares?)

There was a thunderstorm here last night, an event that doesn't really merit comment here in the Midwest, especially since it was a pretty mild storm. Not windy, no loud thunder booms, just your run-of-the-mill storm. But of course, when you have a thunder-phobic dog, there is no such thing as a small, run-of-the-mill storm.

When Maisy first developed her thunder phobia three or four years ago, I put a lot of time and missed sleep into the problem. I spent many nights awake and feeding her everything from deli meat to potato chips in an effort to counter-condition thunder. I also used situational anxiety meds to reduce the amount of panic she felt so the training could work better.

Overall, it was worth it, because Maisy rarely has the full blown panic attacks that she used to have when a storm would roll in. Most times she's mildly uncomfortable, choosing to stick closely to me or my husband for comfort, and we ride it out with meds, food, or missed sleep.

Last night's storm started about an hour before bedtime. Although Maisy was not panicking, she was a bit restless. She kept walking back and forth between the bedroom and the living room, where my husband was watching TV and I was reading the DSM5 as a bit of light reading homework. We invited her to sit with us several times, but it was clear that she did not want to be near the big picture window with its view of all the lightning.

I finally gave in and went to bed early. Maisy followed me into the bedroom, hopped up on the bed, pressed herself as close as she could to my side, and... fell asleep. No panting, no pacing, no panic, just sleep. All she needed to get through a scary situation was a bit of comfort.

Think about that for a moment.

I know there is a lot of talk about how comforting a dog who is scared is "reinforcing fear" - as if that's a bad thing! I personally don't believe that you can reinforce an emotion, and even if you could, I cannot imagine a living being that would volunteer to be truly scared in order to get a cookie or a hug. Of course, there are those too-smart-for-their-own-good dogs who figure out that if the act scared, they get good things. It may appear that fear (or more accurately, fearful-looking behavior) is being rewarded in those cases, and honestly, so what?

Now, I believe that Maisy was actually scared last night, and I do not think that going to bed a bit early to provide her some comfort was that big of a sacrifice on my part. But let's pretend for a moment that her behavior was a calculated attempt to get my attention. WHY IS THAT A BAD THING? Seriously, all my dog wanted was some affection! She wanted me to show her a bit of love! She wanted to be comforted! Isn't that actually a GOOD thing? Don't we humans get dogs because of the unconditional love they show us? Don't we enjoy being able to lavish all kinds of love on them in return? When it comes down to us, don't most of us say that we love our dogs more than we love most people?

How about, instead of getting all wrapped up in questions about whether or not our dogs are manipulating us, we look at their behavior as communication instead - and respond to that in a loving, caring, affectionate manner.

Scaredy Cat, Part 3: From Fear to Friend

My fiance's dog Lola is scared of cats. I have a cat. This presented a problem when we decided to move in together, especially when you consider that we live in a relatively small space with few places for either of them to escape. The relationship needed to be fixed.

We've already talked about the need for management. Management is an ongoing thing that really can't stop. This is especially true when you have a large, powerful, or tenacious dog. Dogs can and do kill cats. As you read today's post about changing emotions, keep in mind that management needs to continue happening alongside this training.

The way we change emotions in non-human animals is through classical conditioning. I've written about classical conditioning before (see here), and you can also click on the "classical conditioning" tab at the bottom of this post and in the side bar to the right. The TL;DR version: we are going to teach our dogs that cats are awesome creatures who bring delicious foodstuffs like chicken and bacon and potato chips. We do this by letting the dog see/smell/hear the cat, and then giving her something super delicious.

Before I go any further, this post is about dogs who are AFRAID of cats. Some dogs don't get along with cats due to predatory behavior. If this is the case with your dog, strict management and a consultation with a professional trainer is in order. And then more strict management, likely for as long as they are both alive.

Doing behavior work with cats can be difficult because cats aren't crazy about being restrained. Most cats are not leash trained or crate trained, cutting out two major ways we tend to restrain pets. But, even for those who are, I don't think it's fair to restrain the cat. Not only has my kitty lived with me longer than the dog has even been alive, kitty knows that he is smaller, and therefore more vulnerable, than the dog. I don't ever want my cat to feel unsafe. Not only does that create acrimony, but it also predisposes the cat to go on the defensive and attack the dog... kind of defeating the purpose.

Rule 1: The cat must always feel safe.
Rule 2: The cat must always have a choice about whether or not to participate.
Rule 3: Management always happens in parallel to training.

Thankfully, we have a very easy way to start the classical conditioning process without stressing the cat out: through smell. The first thing I did with Lola was to rub a cloth all over my cat to get his scent on it. Later on, when the cat wasn't around (because we weren't all living together yet, but also because management, remember?), I presented the cat-cloth to Lola to investigate. After about five seconds, I put the cloth behind my back, gave her an amazing treat, and then brought the cloth back out for her to smell again. I repeated this process until Lola was no longer interested in the smell and was instead demanding cookies.

I repeated this sequence several times, and each time we did the exercise, Lola was less interested in the cloth. At this point, you may want to use a new/different object to hold the cat's scent so that you are actually conditioning your dog to the smell, and not the cloth. I didn't do this, but wish I had.

The next step happened when we all moved in together. We created a "safe room" for our kitty. This room had his litterbox, a water dish, his food bowl, a comfy bed, and some cat nip. I always do this when I move with a cat; it seems easiest for them to adjust if they only need to see one room at a time. However, this gave us the bonus of allowing Lola to be able to smell and hear the cat - but not see him. This is important because it helps keep the dog under threshold by limiting the amount of cat stimuli she's exposed to. Then we just fed them on the other side of the door from each other to help create good feelings.

You'll note that I said that both animals were being fed during this process. Classical conditioning should be done for both animals whenever possible. For our kitty, being barked at was pretty unpleasant, and we wanted to minimize any stress or grumpiness on his part.

Rule 4: Condition both animals to reduce stress on the cat.

The next step was to allow the animals to be in the same room together, feeding and praising them both for calm interactions. For the safety of the cat, the dog should be wearing a leash. If you aren't holding the leash, you should be able to reach it quickly in order to intervene. If you're at all worried that the dog will grab the cat and you'll need to break up a fight (or worse), you're moving too fast. Slow down, take a step back, and then come back to this step when you don't think your dog will eat your cat.


Rule 6: Don't take chances. Cats are small and vulnerable to a physical attack. Move slowly. 

You can gradually increase the amount of time the two spend together, keeping in mind that good management should be going on when you aren't present either physically or mentally. You should continue to tell both animals how amazing they are (and back that up with deliciousness whenever possible) for a long time. Classical conditioning needs to happen for a long time in order to solidify a strong positive emotion.

At some point, though, you will want to begin introducing some operant elements- some purposeful commands that you can give (the dog; cats are trainable, but it's such a pain to do it) that will help direct the dog on what to do. This can be used to get out of some tight spots, or when mistakes happen (and they will). I'll talk about that in my next post.

Worse Than I Expected: Napi's First Reactive Dog Class

Friday night, I took Napi to his first reactive dog class. I knew going into it that Napi is reactive; I've seen him bark and lunge at people. I've also suspected that he might be a bit anxious, as he seems to have trouble settling. When he and Pyg play together, Pyg will want to take breaks. Napi doesn't. More than that, it seems like he can't. My overall goal for the entire session is to evaluate if he would benefit from medication.

For the first night of class, my goal was to get him settled on a mat – even briefly- and to teach him about the clicker. We did not accomplish these goals. Instead, I had to revise them to simply eating treats in class.

Napi is a lot more fearful than I thought. Upon entering the building, he immediately piloerected (hair on his back stood up), and tucked his tail. As soon as he saw the instructor, he started barking and growling. I scooped him up, stuck him behind a barrier, and started offering him bits of bacon and turkey. It was a no go. He was not interested in eating.

Hiding behind me, but eating!

I switched to using soft praise and petting. Napi liked this, and for the rest of the hour, whenever something scared him, he would hide behind me and press up against me. I was really happy to see this because I believe reactive dogs need to see their person as safe. Since we don't live together yet, I wasn't expecting to see this.

Napi did eventually start eating treats, although he would occasionally refuse them if things got too overwhelming. He never did go on his mat (he seemed scared of it, actually), and he never really did settle. In fact, it might not even sound like we did anything. It's true that I didn't teach him any exercises or introduce him to the clicker. But we actually accomplished a lot. I began the long process of counter-conditioning. I established myself as a safe person. I learned about the kinds of foods Napi likes and doesn't like – info that will be invaluable in coming weeks.

I also learned that although he could make a lot of progress with just training, it will not only be easier but also be more humane to start him on medications. Napi's fear response was extreme, far worse than I remember from Maisy. He was louder and more intense in his reactions. He was difficult to distract, even with food. He was slow and stiff in his body movements, and there were times he just shook from head to toe.

It's true that these reactions appeared worse because I took him out of his comfort zone. It's also true that this could be avoided by not “forcing” him to go to class. But the truth is that simply being in a new place does not change a dog's underlying personality and response to the world. The fact that he was terrified says a lot about what he's experienced and who he's become as a result.

That is no way to live. Even if Napi has carved out a little part of the world where he feels (mostly) safe, all of that anxiety and fear are still underneath. Leaving a living being to suffer like this is not kind, not when I can do something to help.

CPDT Study Session 4: Puppy Development

5 months old and venturing off on her own.

I'm currently starting the two weeks I've set aside to study ethology, and I decided to tackle the section that I felt weakest in: puppy development. I went through every book in my personal library that looked like it might have information on this topic and read through the relevant sections. As it turns out, this website was probably the most useful. (I also looked at Coaching People by Terry Ryan, Off-Leash Dog Play, by Bennett and Briggs, Dogs by the Coppingers, and Successful Dog Adoptions by Sue Sternberg.

In all this reading, I discovered a sneaky truth: there are no hard-and-fast timelines, nor even agreement on what each stage is called. The first part wasn't really a surprise, but I was a bit taken aback by the fact that there are so many ways to break down a puppy's development. I'm going to try to synthesize this material into something cohesive, but you should keep in mind that these periods can overlap, and that the breed of the dog will influence the timelines.

 Neonatal Period, birth to 14 days
The neonatal period is rather boring, truth be told. In this stage, a puppy's eyes are closed and he is functionally deaf. He is completely dependent on his mother, and researchers have found little to no classical conditioning happening at this stage (at least, not in a way they could use). The puppy's task at this time is to develop some basic mobility and sensory awareness.

Transitional Period, 14 to 21 days

The transitional period begins when the puppy's eyes open and ends when he startles at noises. This usually takes place between 2 and 3 weeks. The pup's eyes will be a hazy or cloudy blue color, and will remain that way until 6 to 8 weeks. The teeth begin to form this point, and the sensory capabilities continue to develop.

Socialization Period, 3 weeks to ?? weeks
During this period of time, which most sources agree starts around 3 weeks, the puppy's brain develops rapidly. Although a puppy is born with basically all the brain cells he will ever have, the brain volume increases greatly due to the synaptic connections that are being physically formed. The Coppingers did brain scans and found that when a puppy is born, his brain volume is 8 cubic centimeters. By 2 months, it's 50 cubic cm, 80 cubic cm by 4 months, and 100 cubic cm at 12 months, which tends to be its final amount.

The connections that are being formed are due to socialization. This is where the puppy basically learns safe vs. not safe. If he encounters novel people/dogs/animals/surfaces/objects/sounds/etc. and has a good experience, that thing becomes classified as safe. If he encounters something and has a bad experience, that thing becomes not safe. If he doesn't encounter a certain thing at all, it will default to the not safe category. This is where behavioral problems like fear or aggression can come from.

 The socialization window ends anywhere from 10 to 16 weeks. Dehasse says that studies have shown that between 3 to 5 weeks, a puppy will investigate just about anything without much hesitancy. At 7 to 9 weeks, the puppy needs more time to overcome his uncertainty (Dehasse uses the the word “fear”) and investigate a novel person. At 12 weeks, the puppy can overcome his fear, but only with “active manipulation” from the person. At 14 weeks, Dehasse says that socialization to people is nearly impossible if the dog hasn't already experienced them.

 The Coppingers assert that by 16 weeks, a dog's personality is set for life. If he's timid at 16 weeks, he'll be timid at 3 years. They acknowledge that training and behavior modification can change the dog's personality, but are quick to say that the dog will have a social “accent” for the rest of his life. I really, really like that phrase, because it's a great way of describing how a dog can change yet still have lingering effects from the past.

Other things that happen during this stage:
At 3 weeks of age, the puppies begin to play with one another. From now until 7 weeks, they are developing bite inhibition. This is why it is so important that puppies stay with their litter for at least this long.

 Mother dogs tend to initiate weaning at about 5 weeks. She does this by growling or snapping at her pups, especially when their sharp little puppy teeth hurt her teats. In response, the pups will roll over in deference. A puppy who is force weaned by being separated from his mom tends to show a reduction in appeasement behaviors; he has literally not learned how to do them. This can create issues in social hierarchies down the road.

 House training happens during this stage as well. In the neonatal period, Momma Dog stimulates elimination. Around 2 to 3 weeks, elimination becomes spontaneous on the part of the puppy, and very soon after, the puppy will leave the bedding area to eliminate. By 8 weeks, the puppy will have developed substrate preferences for elimination. This is why it is so hard to house train a mill or pet store puppy; he has literally learned to pee where ever he is at the moment.

Fear Periods Multiple, but first one 7 to 12 weeks
This is probably where the biggest variation between puppies occurs. Although puppies will go through several fear periods- defined as a time when the puppy is especially sensitive to bad experiences- they vary in timing and number. Dehasse argues that the first fear period begins when the socialization period ends; around 12 weeks. The Coppingers, on the other hand, suggest that the first fear period starts around 7 weeks.

 The owner's job during this time, whenever it happens, is to prevent or minimize bad experiences as much as possible. Bad experiences tend to be traumatic at this time and has a lifelong impact on behavior. There is at least one more fear period (and sometimes more than one) between 6 and 14 months, which roughly correlates with puberty.

Hierarchy and Status Development, 3 to 4 months
Bennett and Briggs were the only ones to label this as a separate developmental period, although Dehasse did allude to it. During this time, dogs start to figure out who they are in relation to other dogs. They also begin teething during this time as their incisors come in.

Flight Instinct or Exploration Period, 4 to 8 months
Puppy develops some independence during this period. He changes from the sweet shadow that follows you everywhere to no longer needing the immediate protection of his owner. This manifests itself as a desire to explore territory, and he will venture further and further away. This is the period where dogs begin to “blow off” their recall cues and find being chased a grand game!

Puberty, 6 to 12 months
During this time, pups begin to figure out all things sexual. An unspayed female will go into heat for the first time around now. Dogs will also begin to show wariness of the unknown. Dehasse says this isn't so much a behavioral fear as it is a cognitive process.

Social Maturity, 1 to 3 years
Social maturity very much depends on the breed, with smaller dogs tending to enter social maturity before bigger dogs. During this time, we see the effects of the earlier periods, and especially the results of our socialization efforts (or lack thereof) and experiences during the fear periods. This means it's when reactivity or aggression tends to rear its ugly head.

Except When You Can

In my last two posts, I told you that you can't reinforce fear. Which is all well and good, except... sometimes you can. Perhaps my last posts would have been better titled “Will Giving My Dog Treats When He's Scared Make Him Worse?” and “Why It's Okay to Comfort Your Dog.” It's not that I was lying to you so much as drastically oversimplifying the answer. And since we all know I love the complexity of dog behavior, here is a deeper look at the question of reinforcing fear. 

While we think of fear as an emotion, behavior does come along with that. We can't ask our dogs how they feel. We can't have in-depth conversations or provide them with counseling. We can only make guesses about how they are feeling based on how they're acting. We know our dogs are scared when they have, well, behavior... and behavior can be reinforced.

That's the sneaky thing about classical counter-conditioning: it doesn't happen in a vacuum. In the classes I teach, we tell students to feed their dog when another dog barks regardless of what their dog is doing. The goal is to change the dog's association with other dogs, but if the student's dog barks or lunges every time before he gets a cookie, he will probably start barking and lunging more. (This is why we are so careful to keep dogs under threshold in class.)

I actually had this happen with Maisy. I did a ton of counter-conditioning with her, and it did change her emotional state about other dogs; she will now solicit play from other dogs. Unfortunately, I wasn't very careful about keeping her under threshold in those early days, and so she got a lot of cookies for lunging. There was a period of time there where Maisy would happily bounce to the end of her leash, bark once, and then rush back to me with a huge grin on her face, clearly expecting her cookie for doing her job. She wasn't upset about the dog, she just thought lunging was a neat trick that would earn her cookies. It was a pain to get rid of that behavior, let me tell you!

Something I see more often is an increase in fearful body language when the dog's person is tense, nervous, or scared. I'm not sure if the dogs are picking up on their body language, if they are emitting some stress smell that only they can detect, but it's not uncommon. As a result, I work hard to help the PEOPLE relax, because that is often the first step to getting the dog to relax.

Going back to yesterday's example, if I find my friend hiding in the closet, scared about the zombie clowns, and I anxiously pat her back and chant “it's okay it's okay it's okay” while barely breathing myself... well, she's not likely to believe me. In fact, chances are pretty good that she's going to take my behavior as a sign that she was right to be upset.

Many dogs take cues on how to act based on how their people feel. Maisy is incredibly sensitive to moods, to the point that her veterinary behaviorist has compared her to a “canary in a coal mine.” Maisy's behavior is directly linked to how the people around her feel. This can be a vicious cycle, one that I see regularly with my students. If their dog reacts, the person tenses up, getting ready for the next outburst... which tells the dog he was right to be upset. It can really spiral out of control.

Another thing I see happening doesn't really have anything to do with the cookies or the comforting per se, but rather, how those things are given. People who do frantic treat delivery, shooting the cookies at their dogs with fast, jerky motions, tend to have dogs who continue to be worked up. 

So yes, technically we are reinforcing fear; the behavior is increasing. But are the dogs actually feeling more fearful? Well, we can't know for sure, but in her TEDtalk, Amy Cuddy tells the audience that our body positions can and do change the way we feel. Science has shown that the physical act of smiling can make a person feel happier. And who hasn't experienced taking a deep breath and then feeling more relaxed? So even though we'll never know for sure, it's entirely possible that by increasing the dog's fear-behaviors, we're increasing their fear-feelings. It's like emotional contagion.

Ultimately, while I think it's okay to soothe our dogs when they are upset, we really do need to be careful that we are actually comforting them, and not enabling their fear. While it's good to relieve misery, creating dogs who are overly reliant on their humans is not helpful. We can't be there for them all the time, so they really do need to learn to stand on their own four paws.  

Anyway, this is probably just scratching the surface. I would love to hear from others on ways they have done something that seems to have reinforced fear. I'm sure there is a ton of complexity to this topic that I simply don't understand yet!

Why You Can't Reinforce Fear

Okay, I'll admit it. I thought my last post was hilarious. But at the same time, it was also absolutely serious. Here’s why:

Technically speaking, the definition of reinforcement is “increasing the frequency of a behavior.” Note that last word: BEHAVIOR. That’s important because fear is not a behavior. It’s an emotion. So, no matter how many cookies, pets, or praise you give your dog, you will never be able to cause him to feel that fear more often. It’s simply not possible.

What you can reinforce is fear-related behaviors, like cowering or whining… but it's highly unlikely. Fear-related behaviors happen because the dog is scared. If you reduce those fearful feelings, you will naturally reduce the fearful behaviors. One of the best ways to reduce fearful behavior is through counter-conditioning. If you do it correctly, you will see a reduction in both the feelings and the behaviors of fear. If you do it incorrectly, you might have no impact, or in rare instances, you might make things worse. This is why you should have an experienced behavioral consultant help you when you’re trying to modify behavior. But to say you shouldn’t comfort a scared dog because you’ll “reinforce fear” is simply not true.

Imagine that something terrifying has just happened to you. Maybe someone tried to break into your house in the middle of the night, or maybe you were chased by an army of zombie clowns leading a pack of carnivorous garden gnomes. Or something else you find terrifying, even if I think it’s completely ridiculous to be scared of that.

Now let’s say that your best friend has just found you hiding in your closet, tears streaming down your face while you chant, “Can’t sleep, clowns will eat me,” over and over again. Being an amazing, caring, wonderful person, your friend would probably throw her arms around you. She might rub your back or gently stroke your hair while she tells you it’s going to be okay. She may even offer you your favorite cookie. (Or better yet, coffee! The lifeblood of life.)

Because there’s safety in the power of numbers, this will probably help you calm down. But even if it doesn’t, you will feel loved and cared for. What won’t happen is exactly what some people say will happen with dogs; your friend’s comfort is not going to cause you to start hiding in closets. You aren’t going to break down in tears or be hysterical more often as a result.

Is it possible that some people and dogs will use such behaviors to seek attention? Yes. I see this sometimes with my social work clients. In my experience, true attention-seeking behavior often comes about when the person or dog feels like they’re not getting enough attention. Or, maybe they don’t know how to request attention in an appropriate manner. Both of these things can be addressed by changing how you interact with your loved one.

I also see behavior that is labeled as “attention-seeking” that actually isn’t. When you go through a harrowing experience with someone and they respond in a caring manner, you are likely to trust that person more. As a result, the next time you’re scared, you will probably turn to her for support. It’s not that her comfort has increased your fear, it’s that her comfort has taught you that she’s a safe person to go to when you’re scared. Personally, I want my friends (and my dog!) to know that I am trustworthy. I want to be there for them, and I don’t want them to suffer alone.

Maybe that’s just me… but I don’t think so. I think the vast majority of us want to help the ones we love. We want to be the ones that they turn to when they’re sad or scared. We want to comfort them. So go ahead and do that. It’ll be okay. I promise.

Can You Reinforce Fear?

No.

The Dentist's Gift

 
I am a dentalphobe. For as long as I can remember, I have hated going to the dentist. I know, I know- everyone says that. But I mean it. The dentist terrifies me, so much so that once I left home after high school, I did not go to the dentist again for ten years. (Side note: this is a seriously bad plan that will likely end up requiring scary things like root canals, which will take three years to pay off. Thank god for sedation dentistry and Care Credit, that’s all I have to say.)

I have been going to the dentist regularly again, and despite the fact that my dentist is a fabulously kind and gentle man who makes every effort to help me feel comfortable, I’m still kind of scared. Even though he offers me anti-anxiety medications, this post is not about how wonderful drugs can be when dealing with fear. No, this post is about my dentist’s best quality: he tells me what he is going to do in advance.

The fear of the unknown is really the scariest part of the dentist for me. I know something unpleasant is going to happen, but I don’t know when. By telling me what he’s about to do, my dentist removes the startle factor. I’m not taken by surprise, and let’s face it: things are much scarier when you don’t expect them.

We really ought to extend this same kindness to our dogs. All of them would probably benefit from a little warning, but for the ones who are generally fearful or anxious, this is doubly important. These dogs already view the world as an unpredictable place. Scary things happen without warning all the time for them.

By warning our dogs before something scary happens, we can reduce the unpredictability of their lives. This has the added benefit of lowering the intensity of the trigger by removing the startle effect- that sudden rush of adrenaline that your body releases when confronted with a fear-inducing event.

Plus, by giving them some advance notice, they have the opportunity to make a choice on how to behave instead of simply reacting in panic. This is useful not only for teaching them appropriate responses, but it also gives them a sense of control. In turn, this leads to increased confidence, which further reduces their fear and anxiety.

Debbie Jacobs wrote about this recently in a blog post about putting distance seeking behavior on cue. Since fearful dogs often try to get away when humans move, she has found that telling them to move away in advance results in less stress for the dogs. This allows her to practice more effective behavior modification.

Another great tool for this is Look at That, introduced by trainer Leslie McDevitt in Control Unleashed. There are many benefits to playing Look at That, and one of them is the warning system it provides. When a handler sees a potential trigger before the dog does, she can cue him to Look! This helps prevent the dog from being taken by surprise, while simultaneously giving the dog information on how he should act.

I have taught my dog that certain words mean something unpleasant is going to happen so that she can prepare herself. The one I use the most is probably “up!” which means that I’m going to pick her up. Considering how short she is, a sudden lift into the air would be very scary if it happened without warning.

In this same vein, a trainer friend of mine has a dog who hates having his nails done, so she uses context clues (specifically, a sheet on the ground) to let him know when it’s going to happen. This prevents him from having to worry about a random clipper attack, and contains his general anxiety.

Although we should always do our best to protect our dogs, the world can be a scary place. Just as I couldn’t avoid going to the dentist forever, we’ll never be able to completely prevent scary things from happening to them. When I go to the dentist now, I know that he will help me through the experience by giving me warnings and allowing me to take breaks when needed. This lets me face my fears with courage. I still don’t love going, but it’s tolerable now. And honestly, I think my dentist is a pretty great guy for it.

Will you do the same for your dog?

Patricia McConnell Seminar: Behaviors with a Genetic Influence

The Labrador’s desire to retrieve. The Great Pyrenees and his devotion to his flock. The Border Collie’s infamous eye. There is no doubt that each breed of dog shares more than physical similarities: they also share behavioral tendencies, a fact which clearly demonstrates that a dog’s genetics contributes to the way he acts.

But beyond breed-related predispositions, what other behaviors can be inherited? Patricia identified five, although she freely admitted that two of them are based on personal speculation alone. The other three have some science that show they tend to be pretty stable over time.

The first, and possibly the most researched, is shyness. Shyness is not the same as docility. It has nothing to do with submission. And it doesn’t really tell you how the dog will act. Shyness, scientifically speaking, has to do with fear of the unfamiliar.

This behavioral trait is actually a continuum, with shyness at one end and boldness at the other. It is influenced by the level of cortisol, the HPA axis, and the activity of the amygdala. A study by Goldsmith and Lemery demonstrated that it is surprisingly stable through an individual’s life. They discovered a correlation between a child’s cortisol baseline and his mother’s, and found that the baseline level taken one and a half years before a child started school could predict a teacher’s evaluation of inhibition at age seven.

In other words, shyness is strongly linked to genes, and is incredibly easy to pass on. This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint: the child (or monkey or rat or cat- all have been studied) who runs from something new and unfamiliar stands a better chance of surviving than the one who boldly investigates strange and potentially dangerous things. It also makes sense then that shyness is expressed early in an individual’s development. Patricia shared that Margaret Seary Young found it was the only trait reliably predicted on puppy tests.

Reactivity is “mediated by physiology,” Patricia told us, and it is therefore logical that it would be influenced by genetics. Reactivity here does not refer to the bark-growl-lunge type of behavior problem that we dog people usually define it as. In this case, it simply has to do with how quickly and how much a dog responds to its environment.

Reactivity can be desirable in certain contexts- a herding dog that doesn’t have a short reaction time probably won’t be very good at his job. On the other hand, there are times where you need a “bomb-proof” dog who doesn’t really notice, much less respond to, what’s going on around him.

It’s also important to know that reactivity is separate from the shy/bold continuum. A very bold dog might notice and respond quickly to his environment, although he will probably do it in very different ways than the shy dog does.

Another behavioral trait that seems to have a genetic influence is frustration tolerance because it is mediated, in part, by the amygdala. However, there also appears to be a strong environmental component to frustration tolerance as well. Who can’t relate to being more irritable when tired, hungry, or in pain?

A dog who is having difficulty tolerating frustration is more likely to act out aggressively. Interestingly, aggressive dogs typically show lower amounts of serotonin and higher concentrations of cortisol, which also suggests there's a link to genes.

The last two behaviors are the ones that don’t (yet) have any scientific research to back up: predisposition to use mouth and status seeking. Both of these traits are things that Patricia has observed enough to believe they are genetically inherited. For the first, she says it just makes sense. Australian Cattle Dogs, for example, would need to use their mouths in order to herd cows. As for status seeking, Patricia said there seem to be puppies that are interested in controlling resources at a very early age… but more on that soon.

It’s clear that there are a number of behavioral traits that have at least some genetic influence. They go beyond just breed-related tendencies, and help explain why two dogs of the same breed can act quite different from one another. Of course, we already know that the environment is an important factor, too. In my next entry on the seminar, I’ll tell you about some of those factors, including in utero experiences, early stimulation, and socialization.

If You Want to Know More

• Linking temperamental fearfulness and anxiety symptoms: a behavior-genetic perspective, an article by Goldsmith and Lemery
• The genetic contribution to canine personality, by Saetre et al This study found that shyness/boldness has a strong genetic component.
• Shyness-boldness predicts performance in working dogs, by Svartberg
• Blood concentrations of serotonin, cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone in aggressive dogs, a study by Rosado et al
• Breed Differences in Canine Aggression, a surprising article by Duffy, Hsu, and Serpell
• Behavior Problems in Dogs, by William Campbell, the book which introduced the concepts of “passive defense reflex” and “active defense reflex.”

Clicker Expo 2011 (Chicago): Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh- Let's Make Some Noise!

Maisy hates things that move under her feet, and she's not too fond of strange noises, either, so when I heard about this session on building confidence in dogs by using noise and movement, I knew I had to go. At the same time, I was also a bit skeptical. My general experience has been that when dog people talk about building confidence in dogs, it's in mildly worried dogs, not the truly terrified ones. I'm often left with the feeling that, yes, that might work... but not for my dog.

I did not leave Eva and Emelie's presentation feeling that way. To the contrary, I felt like they really, truly get what an anxious dog is all about. I believed that they have met dogs like Maisy and worked through their issues. They did a great job of breaking down the concepts, explaining ways to make it easier, and offering alternative solutions. I was super impressed with them, their presentation, and their ideas.

Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh are agility people, and their book, Agility Right From the Start, has received a lot of positive buzz. So naturally, they are concerned about dogs learning to love noise and movement because of the agility obstacles, especially the teeter. However, they were quick to say that their session was about more than just agility, and that noise and movement is not simply a distraction to overcome. Our lives are full of noise and movement, and if a dog doesn't learn to enjoy it, his quality of life suffers.

Although they did discuss applications to agility, and used agility-related videos, as a non-agility person, I did not feel this detracted from the presentation in the least. They did a great job of presenting the concepts of noise and movement as something people like me could use to help their non-agility dogs. Again, I was so impressed.

Eva and Emelie shared that there are several ways to approach noise and movement with dogs who are cautious or fearful of it. The first is habituation, in which the dog simply ceases to respond to the stimuli. When a trainer helps a dog to habituate to noise or movement, the goal is for the dog to not mind or not notice when it happens.

The second method is to teach the dog to like the noise or movement through classical conditioning. This isn't a bad approach, and in fact, Eva and Emelie said you need to do this step before you can move on to the next one. Basically you teach the dog that when they hear a noise or feel something move, great stuff will happen. It's not contingent upon the dog's behavior; the dog is simply experiencing awesome treats and super fun games and toys as a result of noise or movement.

Eva and Emelie shared that this is a great thing to do for all agility dogs, even the ones with a solid temperament. If they love noise and movement, they'll be eager for it to happen, and you'll get a far more enthusiastic performance from your dog. For the worried dogs, though, it's vital. When you are pairing the noise and movement with good things, you'll need to gauge whether your dog was simply cautious or whether he was truly scared. Depending on where he's at, you'll need to adjust your training. Dogs on the cautious end of the spectrum can receive relatively low-value treats and work for many quick repetitions. Dogs on the more fearful end of the spectrum, though, might only be able to do one or two trials a day, and will need the awesome thing- whether treats or play (and they prefer play because it's a higher energy activity that results in a better, happier response)- to happen for a very long time.

With conditioning like this, it is vital that you get the order correct. The noise or movement happens first, then the awesome thing. This is especially true if your dog dislikes noise and movement and you do it the other way around, you'll associate the treat or the toy with bad feelings. They called this “backwards conditioning,” and said it will cause you far more headaches in the long run.

Another suggestion for truly worried dogs, is to be sure that you never use noise or movement as an aversive. Don't say “ah-ah,” don't make “sst” noises, don't yell “no!” Doing so will work against you. Your goal is for noise and movement- any noise and movement- to predict great things, not punishing things, no matter how small that punishment might be.

The third method- and the one Eva and Emelie prefer- is to teach the dog to create and then demand noise and movement through operant conditioning. While classical conditioning is controlled by the handler, operant conditioning gives control to the dog. Since worried dogs often feel like the world is out-of-control, giving them the power to exert influence on their world can be transformative.

They start by simply teaching the dog how to create the noise through the handler. They do this by treating the noise or movement as a secondary reinforcer, just like a clicker. They will shape behaviors using a noise or some movement in the place of the click. You can use any noise- jingle some keys, or hit two spoons together, or shut a cupboard door- and then follow it up with a treat. Using movement is a bit more difficult, but they recommended having the dog on a very small wobble board or even in your lap, and just moving slightly in place of the click. This results in a dog who wants the noise or movement to happen. It also lets him control how often the noise happens. They did say it should be offered, voluntary behavior, because if you use a cue to get the behavior, it can both wreck the cue (because the cue will predict something scary), and it takes away the dog's choice.They demonstrated this concept with pretty simply behaviors- turning, raising, or lowering a head, for example.

Next, they teach the dog how to create the noise and movement on his own. They shape the dog to do things that like knocking over a book or a soda can, putting metal spoons in metal buckets or on baking trays, etc. Start small- knocking a book over onto carpet is a fairly muffled noise- and build up to larger noises, like knocking over huge stacks of pots and pans. You can choose to click either the dog's movement or the product of his movement (ie, the noise/movement). Eva and Emelie said it doesn't really matter which, as long as you are consistent.

Finally, they work towards having the dog demand the noise and movement. This is really just another level of “create,” but it's a more intense, active version. During this phase of training, you will make creating the noise or movement more difficult by adding resistance. For example, if you're teaching him to shut a cupboard noise (which will both move and bang when it closes), you might hold it lightly so that the dog must push it with more intensity.

No matter which level you're working at, you want to keep your sessions very short, with very slow escalation in the amount of noise or movement. They recommend doing 1 to 3 reps at a time. Any more than that and the dog's brain starts to produce adrenaline because of the fear reaction, which makes it harder for him to learn from the process. They also recommend varying the intensity. The first rep might be very easy, the second quite hard, and the last somewhere in between.

Always watch your dog's expression as you start a session. Eva and Emelie said that the way a dog approaches a session tells you more about how he's feeling than the way he reacts during the session. That said, if you see any signs of worry during a session, do a very easy rep, and then take a break- a long one. They recommended taking breaks of a few days to a few weeks long so the dog has time to forget that it was scary. Remember the goal is to make noise and movement fun for your dog, not simply something to tolerate. Always make it a fun, easy game.

These are some pretty cool ideas, and I know my words do not do their concepts justice. How can you boil down 90 minutes of brilliance into a thousand words? Like I said- I walked away really believing that this would work with Maisy, and that doesn't happen too often! Their video was amazing, and really helped clarify how to use these concepts.  Still, I hope that this at least gives those of you with cautious or fearful dogs some ideas of how to proceed. I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried these ideas!

Maisy Jane: Agility Super Star

Maisy has a long history of being afraid of objects. She especially hates stepping on objects that move, even if it's only a very slight movement.

Which is why, despite the fact that these two videos are probably pretty lame to those of you who are real agility super stars, I'm super excited about them.

Video by Robin Sallie.

The second one is my favorite, if only because it combines scary objects with children (also scary, although not this one). Oh, and also because when we showed this to my trainer, her jaw literally dropped.

Good with Puppies

Because she's reactive, I always assumed that Maisy didn’t really have very good social skills. I mean, why else would she act like such a jerk to other dogs? (For the record, I don’t actually think Maisy is a jerk, but at the risk of anthropomorphizing- again- I imagine other dogs think she is sometimes. Lunging, barking, and growling when the other dog is acting appropriately isn’t very nice, after all.)

It turns out I’m wrong. She’s actually got decent social skills, barring the barking and lunging, of course, and she’s quite good with puppies! I found this out when my friend Robin got a German Shepherd puppy named Via. Robin’s philosophy on socialization is to introduce a puppy to as many stable adult dogs as possible. Personally, I don’t know that I’d call Maisy “stable,” but Robin apparently trusts her enough to expose Via to her, and I trust Robin (she also teaches our reactive dog class).

So the girls have been playing together. Well, maybe not together, but definitely in tandem. I’ve got two videos of them playing to share. They were taken a couple weeks ago, when Via was about 10 weeks old. The first was taken during the first five minutes or so of the play session:



Now, what I love about this video is how calm and relaxed Maisy is, despite the fact that Via is a bit exuberant at times- Via loves to play with her paws and Maisy… doesn’t like that so much. You can see that Maisy tends to look or move away when this happens- subtle communications which say, “Puppy, that’s too much.”

When Via inevitably ignores that (she’s not much for subtlety yet), Maisy does a very nice job of escalating the warnings, first with a small snap, and then with a larger snap and lunge. She's actually quite patient, and puts up with a lot more from Via than she does from adult dogs. In addition to that, Maisy doesn't go over the top. She makes her point quickly, then moves on, making these corrections not only appropriate, but quite fair, as well.

This second video was taken about 15 minutes later:



As you can see, Via is getting tired. She’s begun barking, and in response, Maisy becomes stiffer and a bit quicker to snap at Via. Even so, Maisy remains fairly patient with Via, and prefers to de-escalate the situation by disengaging from her. We ended the play session shortly after this happened because Via was getting overly aroused, and Maisy was getting stressed, which isn't good for either of them.

Interestingly, Maisy’s corrections never quite work. Via usually momentarily stops what she was doing, but generally comes right back to swatting at Maisy with her paws, or biting her tail (oh, that tail is just too much temptation for a Schutzhund-bred puppy), or whatever naughtiness earned her a correction. I suspect this happens both because Via is very confident and because Maisy just isn't- she'd rather avoid a confrontation if she can.

I’m very curious to see how their relationship develops as Via grows older (and bigger!), especially since Maisy tends to be the most reactive towards large, dark-colored, prick-eared dogs. I’ve always suspected that Maisy’s reactivity is due to fear and anxiety, although I wasn’t quite sure what she was scared of.

Based on her interactions with Via, I’m beginning to think it’s because Maisy just doesn’t have the self-confidence needed to defend herself at close range. She could be a lot firmer with Via and still be appropriate and fair, but she just doesn’t seem to have it in her. Maybe she’s decided that the best defense is a good offense: if she can keep the scary dog away from her, she’ll never have to worry about defending herself.

At any rate, Maisy is good with puppies, and that makes me very happy.

Why, yes, she does.

Recently, I wondered if Maisy might have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. As a result, I scheduled an appointment with a board-certified veterinary behaviorist to find out. The short answer is yes. But the long answer is probably more interesting…

So, Maisy had her appointment with Dr. Duxbury yesterday. Before I go any further, let me just say that I really enjoyed working with Dr. Duxbury. Since she has so much education and experience, I was nervous that she might be one of those ego-driven specialists you run into from time to time, but nothing could be further from the truth! I really felt that Dr. Duxbury took the time to listen to what I was saying, and she was very respectful of me and the work I’ve done with Maisy. If anyone in the Twin Cities metro area needs a veterinary behaviorist, I would highly recommend her. It was an expensive appointment, but it was worth it.

The actual appointment was about 90 minutes long. Dr. Duxbury complimented me on the pre-appointment questionnaire I had sent in advance; I gave enough details that she had a really good picture of who Maisy is. This ended up saving a lot of time because she didn’t need to take much history from me. In fact, apparently I described things so well that she didn’t even review our behavior logs! Instead, we jumped right into watching videos.

I had about an hour’s worth of video that I had taken at home, in class, while on walks, and even at trials. I really enjoyed watching the videos with her, mostly because she found them so interesting. In fact, she ended up copying all of the videos I brought in so she can use them with her advanced students. She said Maisy is an excellent example of a “complicated case,” and that it will be very helpful for her students to see the video.

I think the video she liked best was the one below. It’s long- 10 minutes- but this is a very typical snapshot of Maisy “relaxing” at home. (The action starts around two minutes in.) Dr. Duxbury was especially interested in the interactions with the cats you see towards the end of the video, especially the stereotypic tail chasing.



Dr. Duxbury’s assessment of Maisy, after viewing the videos, and interacting with her in person, is that she is “functionally anxious.” Dr. Duxbury complimented me on the work I’ve done with her, and said that Maisy might not have been functional at all had circumstances been different for her. Here’s what she wrote in her report:
You have done a wonderful job trying to help Maisy learn to relax and to not react to other dogs and other environmental stimuli. Her continued reactivity and vigilance even in her 'safest' environments (e.g. at your home) suggests that she is generally anxious. This is likely related to her very limited early environment.

I also appreciated that Dr. Duxbury saw Maisy’s good qualities. Most people are quite charmed by Maisy when they meet her- she’s cute, of course, but she has a personality that just doesn’t stop. In fact, it is sometimes hard for people to see that she has issues because she is so functional. Dr. Duxbury described her as “outgoing and social and very eager to play and to work on training, but at the same time she seems overly attentive to subtle stimuli in her environment and reacts… to other dogs.”

Ultimately, Dr. Duxbury diagnosed Maisy as follows:

• Fear related aggression (lunging, barking, growling only -- no bites) to unfamiliar dogs and certain unfamiliar people.
• Resource guarding - directed towards the cats.
• Generalized anxiety - increased sensitivity to environmental stimuli, exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance, long recovery after arousing events.

The main component of the treatment plan was, as I’d hoped, medication. Dr. Duxbury prescribed paroxetine (also known as Paxil). She said she’s had really good results with paroxetine for dogs like Maisy, and felt that it would be the best choice for her given her particular set of issues. The only downside to paroxetine is the dosage- Maisy will be taking 8mg a day, and it generally comes in 10mg tabs. Since that would be very difficult to split accurately, it will need be ordered from a compounding pharmacy, which increases the cost. (Of course, the upside to that is that it will be salmon flavored, which will make it much easier for us to give!)

Dr. Duxbury didn’t have any further suggestions for types of behavior modification. She said that about the only thing I haven’t tried is BAT, which she didn’t feel would be helpful for Maisy (although she didn’t rule it out for the future). She said that I should continue to do what I’m doing, including my classes with my current trainer, Robin Sallie.

She did have some suggestions on how I carry out the behavior modification. These suggestions are relatively small changes to how I do things, and probably things Robin has told me to do a million times before (in fact, I actually asked her if she’d talked to Robin in advance, it sounded so much like her!). Despite being fairly minor revisions to our training, I suspect that they will, in conjunction with the medication, make a huge impact on Maisy. Because of that, I’ll dedicate a separate post to the topic.

Anyway, Maisy will start her medication as soon as it arrives from the pharmacy. We probably won’t see any changes in her behavior until she’s been on it for 4-6 weeks, so she’ll have a recheck with Dr. Duxbury in about 8 weeks. At that appointment, we’ll discuss the medication, the dosage, and whether or not we want to add a second med to the mix (something which Dr. Duxbury said may be needed for Maisy). While I don't believe Maisy will ever be "normal," I am pretty excited to see how this will help.

Suzanne Clothier Seminar: Answering the Questions for Maisy

In my last entry, I detailed what the questions are, but I really didn't personalize them. (Seriously, folks, I'm already pretty long-winded for a blog anyway, can you imagine how much worse it would be if I didn't break these things down?) Anyway, today I want to post a bit about how answering these questions have changed my perspective on Maisy.

Question 1: Hello?
Due to our long association with one another, this one is easy. If I say Maisy's name, or any one of her nicknames (and there are many; I have no idea how she understands they all refer to her), she wags her tail. Immediately. Every time. She'll often do this when someone else says her name, too. It is safe to say that Maisy is quite willing to interact with me.

Question 2: Who are you?
and
Question 3: How is this for you?
I've combined these two questions because I think they're pretty bound up in one another, and I think my post would be far more disjointed if I didn't combine them.

For a long time, when I described Maisy, I described her as "fearful" and "reactive." Those are the two adjectives that came out of my mouth most often, though I often followed it up with "extremely soft." The problem with these descriptors are two-fold. First, they're primarily negative, and second, I'm not sure they're really all that accurate.

I've been watching Maisy's responses lately, and she's surprised me. A lot. For example, I've always thought she's fearful because she's a bit jumpy and startles easily. An unusual noise or unexpected event will make her jump backwards and perhaps tuck her tail and slink a little bit. But her resiliency is amazing; she'll often come back to that scary thing quite quickly. I've written before about Maisy's response to a wobble board. It initially startled her, but she came right back to it, and continued to interact with it. Is this what a fearful dog would do?

And in the past week, I've seen countless examples of her jumping in surprise, and then immediately calming down or returning to work. I'm beginning to think that a better descriptor for her is sensitive. The way I react to something will predict the way she reacts. Lately, I've been paying attention to Maisy's triggers, and making a huge effort not to stiffen up (this was the direct result of Suzanne's seminar, and I'll write about it in more detail soon). When I remain loose, Maisy might look at the trigger, and even take a few steps towards it, but when she sees I'm fine, she relaxes. When the trigger also startles me and I gasp or start breathing differently, or if I tighten the leash or tense my body, then she's far more likely to lunge, growl or bark. Interesting.

She is very sensitive to her environment, and to me.

I've also talked about Maisy as "not liking children," but I'm not sure that's true, either. Yesterday, she actually asked to go say hi to a strange child. We were out in the front yard, and I had Maisy off leash to work on heeling (the reward was throwing her ball), when I saw a mother pushing her toddler in a stroller. I called Maisy to me, put her back on leash, and as they came close, the mother asked if her toddler could say hi. I started to say no, reflexively, but then I looked at Maisy: She was loose, wriggling, and had a "helicopter tail." She wanted to say hi.

The important question of asking "How is this for you?" is about asking it every time the situation comes up. Will she always want to greet a child? No, but sometimes she will.

Some other descriptions of Maisy: she's funny, and loves to play. She's incredibly snuggly, and it's a rare morning that I don't wake up with a dog in my arms. She follows me everywhere, but is quite content to stay with other people she knows. In fact, although she can be a bit shy with people she doesn't know, once she meets someone, she's incredibly friendly. She's very visual, and I sometimes wonder if her sight isn't a stronger sense than smell. She's biddable, smart (too smart, sometimes!), and very willing.

And she's mine.

Question 4: May I...?
Generally, yes, I may. Although Maisy is pretty clear that she hates being groomed. Nails, brushing, baths, all of it. I try to make those times worth her while with lots of treats, but even so, she'd rather not, thank you.

Question 5: Can you...?
Most of the time, yes, she can. Intellectually, she's very smart. She learns quickly, which is both a blessing and a curse. If she's not understanding something I'm trying to teach her, it's pretty much always my fault. We used to really struggle with left pivots, until I began to hold my shoulder slightly differently. Then she nailed them every time.

Emotionally, she's getting better. She still does have some of that reactivity, but it's improving all the time. I'll have to do a separate post on this soon, but I'd say we're down from having a reactive outburst every time we're in public to about 20% of the time.

Physically... well, some days are better than others. She does have some back issues, and she sees a chiropractor and canine massage therapist who does massage, acupressure and reiki every month. These things help a lot, but even so, there are days where she's reluctant to jump. I'm learning to assess her before I ask her to jump, because if I ask, she'll do it, even if it hurts.

Question 6: Can we...?
Yes. We can. Maisy will always try for me. I am, however, aware that my reactions will affect her, and so when she fails to do something properly, I try to always look at myself first. I think our biggest obstacle to trials is my nerves, not the environment, and so I'm starting to work through those issues as best I can so that my half of "we" actually can do it.


I've learned a lot by stepping back and asking the questions on a regular basis, especially "How is this for you?" I've made assumptions that weren't true, like with the child yesterday. Have any of you guys tried asking your dog any of the questions? If so, what did you learn? Was it surprising, or just as you expected?

The Year in Review, Part 2: Skills and Attitudes

Earning titles and ribbons is fun, of course, but Maisy and I learned a lot, too. This is the second of three entries reviewing how Maisy and I spent 2009, and in this entry, I’ll talk about the skills we’ve developed, and the way Maisy’s attitude has changed.

Obedience wise, Maisy and I worked on many, many things. I’m really proud of how far her heeling has come. Just over a year ago, loose leash walking was still pretty tricky for us. Now, Maisy has a decent heel position. She can heel on and off leash with a lot of attention (although that depends on the distraction level, of course). She has learned to find heel position with either a hand cue, a verbal cue, or my body position.

In addition to improved heeling in straight lines, she’s really improved her ability to stay in heel position while I move in odd directions. The halt-left pivot 90 degrees was the most terrifying thing to me when I signed up for our first trial, but now she can left pivot 360 degrees even with distractions! She can also do the halt-sidestep right-halt and remain in a pretty good heel position.

I’m thrilled with her ability to heel past the distraction of a food bowl with treats in it! Although she has a momentary lapse now and then, she usually doesn’t even look at it anymore! I’m especially proud that I was able to teach this without using the words “leave it” excessively.

Maisy’s heeling has probably improved more than mine, but this year, I have learned about walking at a brisk pace and improved my foot work. I’m better at walking in a straight line (which is harder than it sounds), too.

Maisy’s fronts, while still not where I want them, have improved a great deal. In fact, they are nearly perfect at home! Not only does she come in centered and straight, she’s getting much closer! One thing I had to improve while working on fronts was about treat delivery. Once I took the bait bag off my hip and became consistent about giving the treat in the center of my body, her fronts improved a lot.

I introduced a lot of new concepts to her as well. Although we have a lot of work to do to finish these behaviors, Maisy and I have started working on jumps, retrieving a dumbbell, using a pivot board, and backing up.

I also successfully desensitized Maisy to a Dremel for her nails (although I wouldn’t say that I’ve fully counter-conditioned her- she doesn’t love it, but it’s better than using a nail clipper), and really improved her eye contact and attention behaviors through doggie zen. I’m also really proud that I finally figured out how to legally use treats in the APDT rally ring!

On the reactivity front,I think that one of the biggest areas in which Maisy developed skills this year is her ability to relax. In January, we started our first Control Unleashed style class, which is a class specifically designed for reactive dogs. A big component to CU style classes is teaching the dog to relax and be calm in the face of triggers. One method to accomplish this is through mat work, which may be combined with massage and TTouch. Maisy really struggled with this. She seemed very uncomfortable, and wiggled all over the place in an effort to get away from me when I first started massaging her.

The instructor also encouraged me to reward calm and relaxed behaviors at home. This is harder than it sounds; when your dog is lying quietly and being good, you tend to take them for granted. This year, I really had to learn to look for and reward calm behaviors. It was a weird experience for both of us. Back in January, I wrote the following in my journal:

THIS IS SO HARD. I tried doing this [rewarding relaxed behavior] today- I gave her verbal praise for lying nicely in the living room and she just looked at me like “what the hell? I’m not DOING anything.” A couple of times she’s gotten up and run away.

These days, Maisy is very comfortable on her mat, and I see her relaxed around the house a lot more often, and while she doesn’t love massages, she does appreciate a few well-placed pets. Not only is she more willing to relax by stretching out in the house, she has become more snuggly with me. She often chooses to curl up next to me, which is incredibly endearing. I also think this is a sign of our improved relationship due to all of the work we’ve done together.



Maisy’s fear has also decreased. Over the last year, she has learned to go through agility tunnels (on her own terms, not on my cue), and sit in a canine-eating hula hoop. She is also generally more willing to interact with objects. Although she has no interest in stepping on an A-Frame or a teeter, she is quite willing to go sniff them for a treat. This is huge for her!

Another neat way her fear has decreased is her willingness to move things. Maisy has a lot of fear of movement, and until recently, she wouldn’t even nose aside a door to retrieve her beloved tennis ball. Now, though, she is not only nosing aside doors but actively pushing her way in to the room where I feed the cats, and escaping from her crate. For three years, we’ve never once latched her crate at home- we knew she wouldn’t try to open it. Recently, however, we’ve found her out and about when we get home. Most people would probably be upset by this, but honestly, I’m just thrilled that she’s become so brave! I also like that it offers her the choice of remaining safely inside her crate or leaving on her terms while we’re gone.

Her reactivity has fluctuated a lot this year, and it’s hard to know where we stand on that front. Still, I think it’s improving. It seems like her reactivity has become less emotional and more of a habit or learned behavior, which truly is a good thing, even if it is still frustrating. I’ve identified a lot of her triggers, and am becoming better at both preventing reactivity and interrupting and managing it, and Maisy’s become better at seeing a trigger and offering an alternative behavior (usually frantic eye contact) in the expectation of a treat. Good dog!

Overall, Maisy has become a very easy dog to live with. I probably wouldn’t even know that she’s reactive if it weren’t for the fact that I want to go to obedience trials. She’s genuinely mellowed out and become less anxious at home. She’s also pretty good in low-pressure environments. Although we still have the occasional issue while on walks or at a pet store, she’s usually good in those environments, too. People tend to look at Maisy with admiration, and once, a lady in a pet store looked at Maisy, and then looked at her dog and said, “Why can’t you be more like that dog?” Since I have thought that endless times, I was so thrilled that Maisy was finally the “other dog.”

Maisy's reactivity

A four month old Maisy and the elliptical. Although you can't tell from the picture, she was barking and lunging at this scary new thing.

In my last entry, I told you a bit about reactivity in dogs. I think the easiest way to sum it up is in an equation:

anxiety + poor impulse control = reactive behavior

Today, I’m going to tell you how that applies to Maisy. Let’s start with the first component: anxiety. This is probably the largest contributor to Maisy’s reactivity. I’ll talk more about this in the future, but I believe her anxiety is the result of both genetic and environmental factors.

Anyway, Maisy was always a fearful puppy. Although I didn’t know it at the time, there were several incidents during her early puppyhood that I now recognize as warning signs of what she would become. I wrote this in my journal when she was four months old:

Maisy isn't a barker at all, but once in awhile, something will totally get her going. For example, a soda can. Seriously, there's a soda can next to the bathtub (left over from my hot bath), and that totally freaked her out. Also, the elliptical. That scared her so bad [the first time she saw it in use] that she refused to go in the living room for several hours.

When she took her Canine Good Citizen test at 10 months old, she passed all of the elements with flying colors. However, the evaluator wrote in one comment: “Seems a little worried.”

These days, she tends to be worried about a lot of things, but she has two main “triggers”: sudden environmental changes, and new or unfamiliar things. The latter is likely due to insufficient socialization as a puppy. The former, though, is something that has always been with her; that incident with the soda can is a classic example of an environmental change (which likely seemed sudden to her, since it wasn’t there when she left the room, and it was when she returned).

Sudden environmental changes are one of the hardest things for her, probably because it is difficult to prepare her for them. With new or scary things, I can give her the space and time she needs to get used to them (and I’ll discuss how I do that in a future entry). But when things suddenly change, there isn’t much I can do to prepare her. Some of the things which might startle her include people or dogs “appearing out of nowhere” (typically coming through a doorway that she hadn’t noticed), or loud and unexpected noises.

The second component is poor impulse control, which is a classic hallmark of reactive dogs. Maisy has this as well, but it’s gotten better with time. Unlike genetics and a lack of socialization as a puppy, I can fix my mistakes a bit easier. We spend a lot of time working on relaxation and impulse control.

Because Maisy is a corgi mix, almost all of her impulse control issues are about movement. More specifically, it’s about wanting to chase something that is moving, and being unable to do so, resulting in frustration. Typical things that makes her want to give chase include bicycles, skateboards, children playing with balls (she loves balls), and selected other dogs.

When you put these two things together, the end result is reactive behavior. Maisy’s reactivity is very typical: She will lunge, growl and bark at things. The interesting thing is that I can usually tell if her reaction is coming from a place of anxiety and fear, or if it’s an impulsive, frustrated response.

When Maisy is reacting out of fear, she tends to freeze first. This is often a very quick thing, making it easy to miss, with almost an air of uncertainty about her. It’s like she’s trying to decide what to do. Once she does, she almost always chooses to lunge towards whatever is scaring her. If she’s on leash, she will hit the end of it, but if she’s off leash, she will lunge towards the scary thing while keeping a safe distance- usually 10 to 15 feet. Depending on how scary the thing is, she will either growl or bark. If you rank things by how scary they are, for the least scary thing, she will lunge and give a soft “wuff” as a warning. For scarier things, she’ll lunge and growl. For the scariest things of all, she’ll lunge and bark loudly and repeatedly.

It’s a different story when she’s reacting due to frustration and impulsivity. It may seem like a fine distinction, but instead of lunging, she’ll rush forward. If she’s on leash, she’ll strain and pull, but if she’s off leash, her reactivity diminishes (probably because there’s less frustration involved), and she will give chase. Either way, she may growl, but it takes on a different sound, becoming more playful in tone. And, she’s quite likely to bark, perhaps more likely to bark than growl.

Interestingly, other dogs seem to fit in both categories for her. Some dogs are scary for her, and while it’s hard to predict which dog is going to evoke a fearful response, they are often large and dark-colored. They may have erect or cropped ears, as well. And, regardless of size, any dog (or person, for that matter) that stares at her is guaranteed to provoke her. But some dogs intrigue her, and she will want play with them, which is evident by her use of play bows and/or a “helicopter tail,” my term for a tail that goes in wide, loose circles. These are also very brief signals that can be difficult to see.

When I set out to write this entry, I knew that both anxiety and impulse control issues were contributing to her behavior. What I find fascinating is how her behavior differs depending on the emotion behind her response. The differences are very subtle; so subtle, in fact, that I wasn’t fully aware of them until I began writing. Previously, I’ve always responded the same way, regardless of what was going on. But, upon further reflection, it does seem that I can either prevent or interrupt her behavior easier depending on why she’s reacting.

Going forward, I will be very curious to see if I can identify her emotional state during the heat of the moment, and then adjust my responses in a proactive and ultimately more helpful manner. This is why I'm so excited about this blog- writing tends to help me organize my thoughts, think through what's going on, and come up with new ideas. Kind of like training, I guess. Anyway, I'll keep you updated on our progress!

So, what is reactivity, anyway?

In my previous entry, I told you that Maisy is “reactive.” What I didn’t tell you is what I mean by that. The short answer is that a reactive dog is one who overreacts to stimuli, usually by barking, growling or lunging. To a dog geek like me, though, the long answer is much more interesting…

When a dog is confronted by an experience, whether it’s something the dog has seen a million times before, like other dogs, or whether it’s a novel stimulus, such as the sudden appearance of a man carrying helium balloons, the dog must decide how it’s going to react.

Some dogs, the so-called normal ones, are relatively unconcerned by the stimulus. They may or may not be interested in whatever it is, but either way, their internal process can be described as, “Oh, another dog. I’ve seen those before. No big deal.”

Another dog might be momentarily unsure, especially if it’s a new experience, or a sudden change in the environment, but will recover quickly and go about his business. “Woah! What’s that? Oh, it’s a guy carrying balloons. Well, that’s a bit odd, but I guess it’s okay.” These dogs are also what we might call normal.

Reactive dogs, though, are the ones that overreact. “Holy crap!” they shout, “I’ve never seen that before. I think it’s going to eat me!!” Of course, dogs don’t actually shout, so what you and I see is a dog who is growling, barking and lunging.

"But wait!" I can hear some of you thinking. "Isn’t that a sign of an aggressive dog?"

It can be. If you encounter a strange dog who is growling, barking and lunging at you, it can definitely look aggressive. But where the aggressive dog actually means you harm, the reactive dog typically just wants you to go away. The aggressive dog is probably reacting from a place of confidence, or acting offensively, while a reactive dog is usually reacting from a place of insecurity or fear, and thus acting defensively. 

Author's update, April 2011: In the two years since I originally wrote this post, I've come to believe that reactivity and aggression are more like a continuum or a spectrum. Most experts I've spoken with don't use the term "reactivity," and instead call it "fear aggression." Indeed, much of what I've read since posting this suggests that the vast majority of dog bites are due to fear, not confidence. As a result, I no longer differentiate the terms based on the dog's emotions.

This shouldn’t be surprising. Dogs, like most animals, including humans, have a fight or flight response. The aggressive dog chooses to fight. The fearful one would rather pick the flight option. Unfortunately, our dogs so often don’t get to make such choices. Stuck behind fences or on leashes, they get backed into metaphorical corners. Since they cannot escape the scary situation, they may try to intimidate whatever they’re scared of, in essence saying, “See? I’m big and scary. You should be afraid of ME instead. Go away!” It’s an act of bravado; last thing the reactive dog generally wants to do is actually fight. (Don’t think this means the reactive dog is safe, though. If he feels threatened enough, he may bite.)

Not all reactivity comes out of a place of fear, though. Some dogs, especially young ones, get very excited when they see other people or dogs. When this happens, they may rush forward, eager to greet a potential new friend. When they find they can’t, either because they’re on leash or behind a fence, they often become frustrated and bark. “I want to come see you, but I can’t!” they say. What you’re seeing is a lack of impulse control on the dog’s part. Reactive dogs almost universally have issues with self-control.

Of course, we owners don’t like this behavior. If we perceive it as the dog misbehaving- after all, he knows better than to pull when on the leash- we might discipline him by yelling or giving a leash correction. And while some dogs understand that their person is telling them, no, don’t pull and rush toward that other dog, others get the message all mixed up. “Wow, I tried to be friendly to that other dog, and my neck ended up hurting. I don’t like that dog.” The dog may decide that other dogs are a Bad Thing to encounter, and will begin to bark and growl the next time they see another out of anxiety and fear that it will happen again.

On the other hand, if we are simply embarrassed by the dog’s over-exuberant and rude behavior, we might become worried, tense, and tighten up on the leash in our attempts to control or contain him. Dogs are very sensitive, and can discern even the smallest change in our body language, and may begin to wonder if they misunderstood the situation. “Wow, my person really doesn’t like that other dog. Maybe I shouldn’t, either.” Again, the dog might begin to overreact in anticipation of our response.

Thus, we can see that reactivity can be both an emotional reaction and a misdirected frustration response or lack of impulse control. No matter why the reactivity started, though, the dog continues the behavior because it worked. Maybe they got the scary thing to go away. Maybe you loosened your leash and released the pressure. Maybe it was something else that we can’t figure out, but the bottom line is: behavior only continues when it has been rewarded. It then becomes a pattern, an almost-instinctual way to respond. This habit is reactivity.

Genetics and early experiences (called socialization), greatly affect whether a dog is one of those normal ones or not. The way we react, or don’t react, also influences the dog’s responses.

In future entries, I’ll tell you about Maisy, what her reactivity looks like, and how it affects our lives. I’ll tell you what I did right, and perhaps more interestingly, what I did wrong so that you can learn from my mistakes. I’ll tell you what I’ve done to help Maisy overcome her fear, and how I manage her environment so that her fear doesn’t get the best of her.

Until then, enjoy your dogs!