Dog Blog

Separation Anxiety - PREVENT IT!!

3/17/2016

'Start this work from the second your pup comes home or as soon as you notice your dog is following you around constantly !

Separation Anxiety is completely preventable and I so wish that this is something that each and every owner would do - the simple exercises on preventing this condition. Reason - its not that it is hard to change, it just take so much time from the owner and the worst factor for the owner is that the dog should never be left alone longer than it can cope with. Hard - yes - especially if you are a working dog owner! Remembering that each and every time the dog is left longer than it can cope with, the behaviour you do not want is reinforced and it becomes harder and takes longer to turn around.

Starting from when the pup comes home
It really is exciting and to me a momentous event when I bring a new puppy home - I, love it and there are many more people like me out there. What normally happens is we take time off work to settle the pup, or arrange to have the pup at a time we will be home. This is all well and good and excellent planning, however if we have been with the pup 24/7 how do you think it will cope when you return to work and its whole routine changes? It wont! We have to remember that dogs are incredibly social animals and your pup has just come from the comfort and security of it's mum and litter mates and suddenly it is left alone - not surprising they don't always cope, especially in the situation of being an 'only' pup.

Rather go the route of preparing the pup as much as possible for what the new routine is going to be and put in place as soon as the new arrivals comes home. Times you are not with your pup, place it in it's Puppy Play Pen / Crate, or safe area where it will stay when you are at work and if you have somebody at home keeping an eye on the little one, do make sure that they know the routine to follow.

What about nigh time or weekends?
What is a very common situation is that dogs get used to their owners comings and goings, however if you seldom go out in the evening or weekend or take your dog with you when you do go out, leaving it at home when not used to it can often start off separation anxiety. More common with 'only' dogs.

What about home leave?
You have no idea the amount of times I have been called in to help with Separation Anxiety which has come about due to the owner being on leave and spending a lot of time at home with their dog, especially an 'only' dog.

2, So what do we do to prevent separation happening?
First, ensure that your dog has daily walks which stimulate it and give it something else to think about rather than you being at home. These do not have to be of a long duration, a short walk with lots of opportunities for scenting and smelling will suffice most days, and then long walks at weekends when you have more time. Make sure that the dog does not become bored or frustrated and has plenty of things to keep it busy. There is an article on our Friends of the Dog website Preventing Boredom and Frustration that will give you lots of ideas.

The most important part - Alone Time Training!

Alone Time Training Stage 1 - if the dog or pup is already following you around the home or becomes nervous if you go out of the room. If this is not yet in place, then get into the habit of walking around such as this so that the dog is not used to you being in only one place and with it continually.

Here, as mentioned before, it is very important that our aim is for the dog to be able to spend time alone, away from you and anybody else in the family, and that it is a pleasant experience for the dog, so please do as much of this as possible and gradually build up the time period. However, it is equally important that you do not go too fast! You will only start to extend the time period when the dog is taking no notice of you being out of the room at all – so you may have to do the exercise 6 or 7 times in a row to make sure at a particular time period.

Another point to bear in mind here is to stagger and vary the exercise – build up to about 5 minutes, then the next time, reduce to 1 minute – perhaps then go up to 3 minutes and the next time could be 6 minutes. By varying the time and reducing the period it means that the dog will always be able to cope. Where people often fail in this exercise is that they extend the time period too fast and also do not ensure that the dog is coping happily before extending the time.

That the dog can cope when you walk out of the lounge for example for 5 minutes without stressing, does not mean that it will be able to cope if you walk out of another room for a 5 minute period, as strange as this may sound. So, where dogs are concerned if you change the exercise to going in an out another door in the home, please go all the way back to the beginning and start again. what you normally find in this situation is that because the pup has an understanding of the exercise, it will go much quicker than the first time you started.
(Summary)

Work with only one door at a time in a room.
Start by getting up from a chair and just walk out the room, close the door on the dog – turn around and then walk back in, still ignoring your dog and sit down. There is no talking or interacting with the dog at all.
When the dog is no longer reacting, repeat the exercise and very slowly and gradually build up the time period.
When the dog can handle you being out of the room about 10 minutes, start this exercise at another door remembering to go all the way back to a few seconds.
You will now just build up to doing this at all the doors at the house in the same manner, working on one door at a time - you will find it will now go much faster.

2. Alone Time Training Stage 2
Chewing on a bone while you walk all over the home – here you will get hold of a large size raw femur bone and ask for it to be cut into 4 or 5 large bones. Use one and freeze the rest. You can get these at Fruit and Veggie City or butcher and are about R12 – R15 each on average. You may also use a stuffed Kong or Busy Buddy and although dogs prefer the bones, I feel happier being out of the house and leaving my dogs 2 or 3 Kongs to get stuck into rather than leaving it with a bone - this is a personal choice. Whatever you intend to use do make sure that you inspect the chew toy / bone for small bits breaking off and then replace. This chew toy /bone is ONLY used for Alone Time training and is taken away and put away at any other time. This will help the dog to associate you being away from it as a positive experience.

Only bring this exercise in when the dog is ok with exercise 1 above and the best time to start this is on a Friday evening knowing you are going to be home most of the weekend, so plenty of time to practice.
(Summary)

Put the dog on its beds in the lounge and the bone/chew toy.
Allow dog to chew until it really get stuck in – then take the bone/chew toy away and put them in the fridge
About 15 minutes later do as above again.
Keep on doing this about every 15 – 30 minutes during the course of the evening. By then the bone/chew toy will have become the most important thing in the world to the dog.
The following morning, take out the bone/chew toy and give to the dog on its bed and ideally the bed is placed in a location where the dog can see you coming and going – at this stage do NOT put the dog away where it cannot see you moving around - this can be done at a later stage.
You then start to walk in and out of different rooms leaving the doors wide open. Only do for about 10 minutes to start with and then take the bone/chew toy away. The message is – when mom/dad is away nice things like getting bones/chew toys happens.
Keep on repeating this during the weekend and gradually build up the time period, remembering to stagger it as mentioned above. In a very short period of time you will have the dog happily chewing on their bones/chew toys as you walk around the home.
Practice this during the week in the evening as well

3. Alone Time Training Stage 3

Only after the above has been achieved to you start with this exercise.

You will use the bone/chew toy again and this time pop the dog outside in the garden or in another room with the bone/chew toy and leave it only a few minutes.
Go and take the bone away from the dog and allow it back in the home about 15 minutes later repeat above.
You will slowly and gradually build up the time period the dog is alone outside and practice this as much as you can during the period you are at home

4. Alone Time Training Stage 4

Using exactly the same sequence as above, this time you leave the dog back in its bed with the bone/chew toy and you walk out the door you normally leave by. Here go all the way back to the beginning as in walking in and out of different rooms and just build up the time period as in exercise 1.

Good Luck!

1 Comment

Non Reward and Reward Markers used instead of Punishment

3/15/2016

1 Comment

In the article yesterday ‘Punishment has no place in the teaching phase of a dogs education’ it says that - ‘As dog owners we tend to think of our dog's behavior in terms of what we don't want the dog to do; not jump, not pull, not run away. Instead, we should define what we what our dogs to do instead; sit, walk by our side, come when called. Often times because there is no clear behavior that gets rewarded, dog owners resort to punishment in the effort to get rid of the behavior they don't want’. Now by bringing in the NRM and RM as part of your daily training and interaction with your dog you will be able to immediately define what behaviour you do and do not accept - this will result in greatly improved communication with your dog and no need to use physical punishment.

When our dogs are engaged in behaviour that is unacceptable to us, we prefer the use of the options below. The options are:

Option 1 – teach the dog a completely different alternative behaviour. An example of this is that a dog that is Jumping up would be taught to repeatedly sit in front of people in a manner that it would find rewarding rather than being shouted at, pushed off, smacked, kneed in the chest etc. (which would actually encourage the dog to do it more!)
Option 2 – indicate to the dog what behaviour we do accept and what behaviour we don’t accept and this is where the use of the NRM comes into being and is combined with what is called a RM – Reward Marker.

There are various slants as to what NRM actually is, especially in clicker training where it is considered a form of negative punishment and in a way it is. However it can also be used as a means of communication with a dog – let me explain why and how and then if it makes sense to you, give it a try - you really have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

If our dog is engaged in an unacceptable behaviour such as about to jump on the table, the owner would immediately say UHUH! indicating to the dog that the behaviour was unacceptable while the dog was engaged in the unacceptable bahviour – followed immediately by ‘good dog’ in a totally non-commital tone of voice the second the dog stops the behaviour even by just putting its feet back down on the floor again. We are indicating to the dog what behaviour we don’t like as well as the behaviour we do like – in other words we are opening up excellent lines of communication and our dogs know exactly what is acceptable and what is not. If this method is used in your daily interactions with your dog, it always knows where it stands and in a way you are forming your own language between the two of you – this makes for a well behaved dogs who understand what you want.

Why don’t we use the word ‘No’?

Very often, a dog has heard the word ‘no’ so many times that it becomes white noise and the cue is totally ignored and this is why I prefer the use of a word that is not used in our daily conversation such as ‘uhuh’, poofy etc. It does not matter what word you use as long as it is not part of your daily conversation.

What is crucial is that from now on every member of the family will use this word to indicate to the dog what is not wanted and you must be 100% consistent and use each and every time the dog is engaged in an unacceptable behaviour. Additionally, we as humans tend to use sentences involving the word No or UHUH, such as “ UHUH, I told you not to jump on the bed’, from now it is just “UHUH!” – less is often more where dogs are concerned.

Timing and Intensity.

What is crucial is that the NRM is used while the dog is engaged in the unacceptable behaviour – even a second after the behaviour has happened is too late.

It is always better to talk to a dog in a soft voice and use the loud voice for when the dog has really misbehaved, and when you initially start using the NRM you want to go for maximum effect, so for the first few times I would really use a hard harsh tone of voice such as UHUH! with my face showing my displeasure as well – I call this the ‘look’. If you go in far too soft to start with, all that will happen is that you will have to start increasing the intensity as the odds are that your dog will not listen to a gentle Uhuh and will not stop the behaviour – rather go in for maximum effect and get your message across.

Having said that, if you do have a dog that does not like loud noises or raised voices, then of course you will adjust to suit your dog’s individual needs. We currently have a rescue that has been abused and my NRM is the ‘look’ combined with a very soft, but firm Uhuh – if I did more she would have run away in fear.

You will find that once the dog has understood after having done this a few times, that you will be able to moderate both the tone and volume of using the NRM. In time, you will find that you can just give the ‘look’ that the NRM itself is not always necessary, always remembering to bring in the RM of course!

Reward Marker

This is a crucial part of the exercise and cannot ever be left out – you have indicated to your dog what you don’t want, this is where you let it know what you do want.

What is also important here is the manner in which the RM is said – it is a casual ‘good dog’ – a bit like you pass somebody a glass of water and they say ‘thank you’. There is no need for a treat or going overboard with praise or even touching the dog. If we did either of these three things our dogs may very well engage in the unacceptable behaviour, just to get the praise/reward!

What is also critical is the Timing – the second the dog stops the unacceptable behaviour.

We have been using this system for years and have yet to find a situation where bringing it in did not result in a improvement in behaviour and increased understanding between owner and dog. Good luck and let us know how you go. Scotty

1 Comment

Why does my dog continually chew and destroying things?

2/21/2016

2 Comments

Unfortunately where dogs are concerned, this is not always an easy question to answer! Firstly I would have to ask you some questions e.g.

Is this a puppy?

If it is a puppy then the odds are that it will chew a lot more than an older dog simply because it is teething. What is essential is that you provide 'legal' chewing objects such as the picture of the Busy Buddy or a Kong (these are similar to Kongs just cost less. You can contact us on admin@fods.co.za to purchase). These keep pups quiet and entertained for hours on end and provide mental stimulation plus they are safer much safer and less likely to break apart - as with all things given to dogs to chew on, daily inspection is required.. Additionally, chewing helps sore gums. On our www.friendsofthedogs.co.za website which is aimed at education, you will find 50 Ways to Stuff a Kong in the Puppy Page. I would always suggest leaving at least 2 - 3 of these and take them away when you arrive home.

My next question will be - Is the dog ONLY chewing and destroying when you are not at home?

If so there is a very good change that you have separation anxiety happening, and trust me that is not something you want! If this is happening what you have to realize is that the dog is not being mean or spiteful, it is simply not coping and the destructive chewing is making the dog feel better as it is helping the dog to release stress. If this is occurring I would suggest that you get help as soon as possible from a professional behaviour consultant and do ensure that the person belongs to an organization such as the Animal Behaviour Consultants of SA or SABCAP (SA Board of Companion Animal Professionals or COAPE SA.
If you do not have anybody close to you, there is always the option of a Skype Consult - one thing for sure, the separation anxiety will get worse if not addressed.

Then I would ask you - How much physical and mental stimulation is your dog getting?

We have to remember that a dogs sense of smell is over 45 times stronger than ours and a dog that is left in the garden day in and day out is basically bored out of its bracket. By supplying daily exercise outside the home and leaving a variety of stuffed chew toys such as above - you will be supplying some of the dogs needs.

You can also stimulate the dog in the garden by using some of the daily ration of food and leaving scent trails, supplying a digging pit or even a toy hung on a rope to keep your dog busy during the day. There are also a large variety of dog toys where bits of food fall out as the toy is pushed around the garden.

Consider getting somebody to come in during the day and take the dog for a walk.

Next questions would be - Does the dog receive sufficient human compansionship?

It is not uncommon for a dog that does not receive enough human companionship, especially if an only dog left outside, to develop behaviours such as chewing, being destructive, barking etc.

So you see in order to remedy any behaviour concern a dog may have, we need to look at the reasons why it is occurring in the first place.

2 Comments

Separation Anxiety - PREVENT IT!!

Non Reward and Reward Markers used instead of Punishment

Why does my dog continually chew and destroying things?

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