mbc1963

I had a huskie mix (RIP) who, I noticed one winter, was eating TONS of snow, and drinking out of every stream and pond. I was afraid she had diabetes. But then I realized that her water dish was never going down. She had gotten a new, large, stainless steel dish for Christmas, and something about that dish (her reflection, maybe?) scared her so much that she stopped drinking water in the house. A quick switch of the dish, and she was back to normal. Dogs are weird. Mary

Oh, I'm so glad. Your new dog sounds a lot like my dog used to be. I look forward to hearing about his progress. I do hope a lot of his issues came from simply being in the shelter environment. Mary

Hmm... I certainly understand both sides of the issue. I walk a mostly-not-reactive-anymore dog in a park, and I keep my eyes and ears open all the time, ready to leash Buddy and get him off trail if I see or hear a bike coming. With enough distance, he's fine and calm, and everything goes well. On the other hand, I've been on a trail in the middle of the woods and had a biker almost land on top of me and my dog - bouncing down a hill, assuming that anyone in his way would be able to jump aside in time, which was not necessarily true. Had I been elderly or handicapped, there could have been a problem! I think we ALL need to be aware enough of our surroundings to react safely. That includes me walking my dog and keeping him where he and bikers won't have a problem, but it also includes bikers' keeping their eyes open and being aware that everyone - human and dog - needs a bit of reaction time before they can move out of the way. There's a park near me that has wonderful rules, I think. Walkers have right of way over horseback riders, who have right of way over bikers. And, my favorite part, dogs can be off leash BUT no one should be approached by an animal unless they WANT to be approached by an animal. I've never had a problem at this park. If I see a stranger without a dog, I just call Buddy to heel until they've passed safely. Mary

My dog used to be really reactive upon meeting humans - especially large men with deep voices. Over time, though, he's gotten pretty comfortable being around people, and hardly gives strangers a second look. They can walk past, jog past, talk to me, and he just goes on with his business. We walk every morning with the same woman, and Buddy loves her. She has a 20-something daughter who has come to the park maybe three times. Every single time, Buddy has been really freaked by her: regressing into his old-time growling, barking, circling, nervous behavior. It takes about 10 minutes of walking behind this girl before Buddy will calm down and acknowledge that she's not a threat to him. Again, this is weird because Buddy doesn't react in general to strangers we meet. Last Friday, my friend (the one Buddy loves) borrowed her daughter's rain jacket for our morning walk. Buddy approached her with his usual happy gait, expecting his treat, but when he got close, he reacted to her the same way he reacts to her daughter: suspicious circling, growling, and loud barking, at 5:15 in the a.m.! So... what do you think is up with this? My completely random theory is that something about these two confuses Buddy: the daughter smells like the mother, only not quite right, and it rattles his brain? And maybe the mother wearing the daughter's coat created the same disconnect? Anyone else ever experienced anything like this? Thanks, Mary

Terrible situation! My sympathies! I can't offer any good advice with dealing with this particular bit biker, but do have a bit of experience with the bike reactivity. My dog used to be really freaked out by running humans and bikes, too. Bikes are still a sore spot. I had to do a LOT of on-leash work: making him sit, rewarding when calm near bikes, etc.. It helped to have him in the little park where small kids ride their bikes: we could walk behind very slow kids with training wheels so he could get used to the whole machine. He's pretty predictable now when he knows a bike is coming, and can sort of plan or get himself ready for it. But he still goes into growling/barking mode if he's surprised. Even waaaay out in the woods, where we're far from any streets and houses, we still occasionally get bombarded by mountain bikers barreling down hills, seemingly from out of nowhere. Good luck! Mary

Hmm... My dog knows the command "roll over" (sort of) but absolutely HATES to do it. He hates to go belly up for any reason, especially out in public where anyone might come along at any time. He was 1 - 2 when I got him, so the days of holding him upside down and giving treats were over. I guess this is a refusal to give up control in this particular situation, but he will surrender treats to me, stay when I tell him to, lie down when approached by a big scary dog... so I don't worry too much about his not wanting to flip himself. Mary

Yummy yummy treats! I found the website of the little retail store that opened in my town: http://www.caninesnackshack.com/index.html See the very pretty, delicate cakes and cookies they make? It's like walking into an Italian bakery! Plus... you can order them by phone and they'll ship FedEx. Still no recipe, though. Mary

My trainer talked about dogs who had to have the windows covered until they stopped the self-reinforcing behavior. I know he mentioned actually nailing wood to the window frames, which I was reluctant to try! Buddy did tear up one windowsill in my house when I first had him. (Lead paint, which was scary!) I had to start keeping Buddy in the back of the house when I wasn't home, because the front room was too stimulating. The neighbors tell me he doesn't bark anymore when I'm not home, so I think he adjusted to the noise and commotion and just sleeps during the day. But the initial move from wherever he was (not many humans) to this environment (humans going by his windows, within 6 feet of him, constantly) was stressful in the beginning. And in spring, when the windows come up again, the new noise still gets him more agitated than usual. What about putting plywood OUTSIDE the windows to block his view? I'm not thinking anything permanent - just some pieces of wood leaned up against the lower part of the window so he can't see out at the stimulating view? He won't be able to get at the plywood to rip it down. Good luck! It's tricky!

This is odd for my town, which is a slightly-down-on-its-luck former mill town with a strong middle class and strong new-immigrant base, not a lot of money all around. But a woman recently opened a homemade, gourmet dog treat shop here. I've been in twice, for cuiosity's sake, and it smells like HEAVEN in there. And... I'll admit it... last time she gave me some sample treats for Buddy, and I tasted one. And it was DELICIOUS. It would make a perfect breakfast biscuit, with some nice tea. I wish I could get the recipe. However, I'm pretty sure it must include lard or butter or some other deeeelicious fat that we're supposed to avoid! I'd also love some homemade treat recipes. Mary

Ohh... good points! Also, consider this: Before I got my dog, I had no experience dealing with the kinds of issues he has. Now, after a crash course and two years of experience, I'm much more confident about reactive behavior. And next time I adopt a dog, I think I'll probably use my experience to take in another dog with similar issues, specifically because I've gotten so much on the job training with this one. So, newbies who end up with these dogs might eventually end up as experienced handlers who help more dogs. Mary

It is frustrating... and I think perhaps not all the faults of us adopters! I deliberately turned down adopting a little dog who had been adopted out and bit a kid. This dog was pound-centered, and had decided that the rescue/shelter she was in was her home. I knew she was too much for me. Buddy, on the other hand, was "sweet," I was told. Just shy. I wasn't told that he could be aggressive with men and other dogs. I signed a paper swearing to work on whatever behavior problems he might have. The shelter "contract" said that they gave me the dog without making any promises about him, and that it was my job to try to fix him. I took my "vows" very seriously! But for the first couple weeks I had him, I thought I might have to have him PTS, because I knew if my quiet, calm, 1-person, female home couldn't help him, probably there wasn't a better place waiting. I also think there's a societal message that we hear from the time we're babies: LOVE and KINDNESS can fix anything. After teaching 8th grade long enough, I think that's probably not true with humans who've been through too much, too soon. And why should it be any different for dogs? I was lucky that my guy was still young enough to relearn trust of humans... but four or five years down the line, it probably would have been very different. Mary

I agree - find a behaviorist who knows what he or she is doing! Someone who's worked with dogs like this before... not someone who will tell you to flip the dog over or yank his chain. Staring in the eyes is rude in dog language. When I first got my dog, I had to tell everyone to just not do that. I still have to tell them that if they're big people, or wearing strange glasses. The best person who ever greeted my dog early on squatted down, facing away from the dog, and held her hand out behind her. Buddy immediately went to her with glee. She took away all the scary things - eye contact, face-to-face greeting, quick approach. Take things slowly. Don't force the dog to do anything right now. My behaviorist walked with us, and trained me to watch for calm behavior from Buddy and to reinforce it with treats and a practiced "good job" happy phrase. Something that worked really well with Buddy early on was walking 10 - 15 feet BEHIND strange people and dogs. He doesn't feel scared or threatened when he's behind, and once he knew and trusted the shape/smell of someone, he could be near them without reacting. Read "Bringing Light to Shadow," and all of Patricia McConnell's books. Good luck! Mary

I agree - BABY STEPS! My dog was really dog reactive when I got him (human reactive, too)... and the best advice was to go really slowly. Walk the dog FAR from other dogs at first - where he can see them and still be far enough away to not react. Reward for calm behavior when other dogs are in sight. Then move the radius closer and closer. My dog does best if I make him do a "lie down" when he meets a big, new dog on his "turf." Flooding my dog with too much, too soon only made him worse. Correcting him with leash jerks just seemed to make him even more angry to be near dogs and people. I think Donaldson and McConnell are the best ones to read. Their advice helped more than any "corrective" advice, or dominance theory. Making the dog associate other dogs with GOOD things seemed to be the magic trick. Mary

It may be an age thing. My dog will tolerate almost ANYTHING from puppies until they're about 6 months or so. But after that, he has this incredibly intense need to put adolescents in their place. He's completely intolerant of anything "in your face" dogs do between the ages of about 6 months and 12 - 18 months. He will pin them to tell them "NO!" Perhaps not remarkably, he only ever has to do this a couple of times per dog, and they learn to give him a 5-foot radius of personal space. After that, we all get along fine. Buddy will even play rolling tumbling wrestling with the young dogs, as long as they know boundaries. Mary

My dog has almost exactly the same issues. He is fine 90% of the time, but any long eye contact or tense motion during a dog-dog meeting, and he will get snarly with the other dog. It's MUCH worse with bigger, male dogs. Much easier with smaller, female dogs. Buddy still likes to play with some dogs - he'll roll around and chase and whirl. Most of the time, though, he's concentrating on sniffing out who's been at the park before him. The first few minutes in a park, he won't even notice other dogs are around, because he's too busy doing his job. So I'd agree that a lot of dogs just don't need that much dog-dog social time. I don't worry much about not letting Buddy play much, because I don't think he cares. I did train a pretty solid "LEAVE IT" with Buddy, and most of the time, I can get him to stop going after another dog with that command. The other day, he started running to join in a dog fight... and he actually stopped midway, turned around, and came back to me. MAJOR progress! I'd say just do lots of training, teach him that the aggressive reaction is not OK with you, and maybe give him another behavior to replace it. My dog knows he's supposed to lie down rather than charge when he sees another scary dog at a reasonable distance. (NOTHING works when the other dog charges us - I can't control Buddy then! Aiiee!) Good luck! Mary

Hmmm... I don't think the treats will reinforce the staring behavior IF you give them only when Freckles exhibits the behavior you want - coming AWAY from the cat and paying attention to you. Good luck! Mary

My dog used to be kind of like that - because he was so afraid of everything. A guy ran at us once, and Buddy literally tried to hide between the curb and a parked car, shaking and cowering. Sudden movements by dogs or people - especially on bikes - would freak him out. Sudden movements by strangers still startle him a bit. I think what worked with Buddy was the old standby: gradual, slow desensitization with rewards (clicks if you like) for calm behavior. The first few weeks, I flooded Buddy WAY too much, and he reacted constantly with barking, growling, and fearful breakdowns. Then I got smarter, and kept him far enough away from the scary things to avoid letting him have a breakdown. We did lots of walks in the woods, where very few people went, and I would take him off the path and have him "sit" as people did go by. Having something to do (sit) when he saw a fear stimulus seemed to help him a LOT. After just a very little while - a few weeks? - he started taking himself off the path and doing a "sit" when he saw scary things. What a smart boy! So... that's my experience. Hope it helps! Sounds like your dog might not be scared, like mine, so maybe there's another trick someone else can give you. Mary

Quirky, but not uncommon, I think. I have to work a lot with strangers coming into my house. They have to sit, give my dog treats, etc. before he stops barking. He will get calm with them, begging and letting them pat him, but then if he walks into another room and returns, it's as if he's forgotten who the stranger is, or that he made friends. Same thing happens if the stranger changes posture suddenly - stands from a sit, most commonly. Or moves into another room. I think it's a contextual thing. The big thing I've learned having Buddy is that dogs don't generalize well. So, if Buddy knows a guy is safe and friendly in the living room, it doesn't necessarily mean he knows the guy is safe and friendly in the kitchen, or back yard. Safe sitting doesn't necessarily mean (to Buddy) safe standing. Once the dog knows someone really well, he'll let them turn themselves inside out without reacting. But it takes a long time for him to really trust someone. Maybe this person your dog reacted to had a certain smell or look, and each time he met it in a new context, he reacted to it? Mary

I teach kids who are 14... and I can say that I do think it's likely that she's that age, and not an adult pretending. Or at least her posts sound like ones that would be made by someone of that age. They don't have a lot of sophistication or emotional maturity, and don't show any ability on her part to discern how her actions appear to others. Adolescent egocentrism. It's in the psych books. I've often run into this on the 'net - that kids post strange stuff, misrepresent themselves, and when adults call them on it, the adults are accused of being bullies or overbearing. I've never quite figured out why. In the "real world," when kids pull this stuff, they are disciplined by the responsible adults around them. Fact is, lying is lying. I knew kids who were liars when I was 14, and I know adults who are liars now. I don't support it or accept it in a person of ANY age - it's the ultimate wrong, in my opinion. And I really, really think that this kid's father is completely unaware of what his kid is caught up in, which makes me very concerned. She's posting her name and address all over the 'net, and presenting herself as a grown adult. That's a dangerous situation for any kid. Having said all that, I suspect that a BIG chunk of this is, subconsciously, a fantasy world this kid is trying to create. Still dangerous for her and the dogs, but a different kind of problem, maybe. --Mary

I think people in both camps are using their chosen methods, effectively, to do the same thing: create a common language between dog and human. I don't do clicker, but I did prime Buddy with a sing-song "Good Job!" when I first got him home, and this lets him know when he's doing something I want. It works pretty similarly to clicking... he knows when he hears that particular phrase that it's a GOOD thing. On the other hand, he also came home knowing what "NO!" meant, and that has been a wonderful, wonderful tool. So I can tell him when he's doing what I want, and I can tell him when he's doing what I don't want. "No" makes him stop. Meanwhile, I use tons of hand signals and all kinds of body cues to show him what behavior I want to attach to a word. I don't wait for him to do something and then reward with a "good job." I point or gesture or lead him, and then reward. But in the end, he's told when he's doing what I want. For those who imply that +R dogs are only doing things for clicks or treats... couldn't we just as easily say that dogs trained by adversives are only doing things to AVOID the adversives? In neither case is the desire to run through the tunnel a reasoned decision on the part of the dog. Both of these methods are ways of communicating to the dog that it's in his best interest to do what the human says. I've never understood the certain level of derision that exists about "bribing" dogs with clicks when compared to "bribing" them with the promise of no leash tug. ::Shrug:: I think this whole discussion parallels very neatly with the "spank or no spank" debate society has followed. All our grandparents were spanked, and they ran the world at least as effectively as we run the world. Yet I wouldn't choose to spank, because it seems as though there are other things that are equally effective as spanking, without the potential negative fallout. I'm guessing that good parents, even in the old days, based most of their discipline on factors other than spanking, just as good parents do now. Spanking was just one tool in their repertoire. I think the key is choosing a method and being consistent and fair - that whole "calm assertive energy" thing agin. Mary

LOL! I have long been saying that this is true of human society, as well! My theory is that it's genetically programmed in some people to seek exterior rank through high positions in jobs, politics, etc.. But the real control of society lies in the hands of mothers, secretaries, teachers, and folks like that. Those people grind away day after day, setting the tone of a home, a community, or a workplace more directly than upper management or politicians ever can. Since I've been working, I've watched the "big bosses" come in, lay down new (often silly) mandates, be largely ignored by everyone in the trenches, and then disappear. Meanwhile, the job goes on, dictated by the masses who work and do their jobs well (or poorly), day in and day out. I've never spent much time worrying about studies that show women have less chance of reaching power positions in politics and business, because I think the "power" of those positions is largely made up of puff and show, rather than substance. I'd love to see a study of human society and social dynamics done by an outside species - say, some superintelligent, single-sex aliens. Mary

Hmm... I watched many episodes of "TDW" on DVD, about 8 months into owning my reactive dog. Discussing them at the dog park, someone pointed out the controversy surrounding Milan, so I googled that and read the opposing viewpoint. Here's MY take: Cesar is right about the PEOPLE in the families. You can tell on a lot of the shows that the people are neurotic, overpermissive ninnies. It's like watching "Supernanny," where the kids have no manners because the parents are afraid to teach them manners. I agree with Cesar that calm, assertive ENERGY is necessary to train a dog. Panicky hyperventilation, smothering, and obnoxious permissiveness will create bad dogs, just as they create bad kids. And just as a 5-year-old wants structure and boundaries, so does a dog. Failure to provide those things leads to neuroses. I also agree with Cesar that the dog needs exercise, exercise, exercise. I think a lot of dog problems in our houses come from dogs who are ignored until they become coiled springs. They have no way to use up their energy! I see a few people at the dog walking area who clearly have watched a lot of Cesar Milan. At the least pull towards another dog, they do the ZHHHT! sound and a collar tug. Honestly, their dogs behave exactly the same, week in and week out. I haven't seen any progress in 2 years. (I think in both cases, the dogs are ignoring Cesar's and most trainers' #1 rule: give the dog enough exercise! The poor animals NEVER get to run loose to burn energy.) Some of the dogs who were allegedly "cured" on the show looked really, really scared to me. The dog scared of linoleum didn't look unscared at the end - he looked terrified. Maybe flooding does work for some dogs, but I don't think it works for all of them. My sensitive dog used to be extremely reactive when meeting other dogs and humans. I tried chain yanking and such for maybe 3 weeks after I got the dog - but it was obvious that it was making him angrier and more lunging, rather than less. He'll now happily do a down/stay if a scary dog is approaching us, with no lunging or barking. That's a replacement behavior - I think he thinks it makes him safe. I taught the behavior with nothing but rewards and positive reinforcement. People actually compliment me on what a good dog I have - and I think his calmness comes from his trust that I'LL be calm to him. (It took a lot of months to build that trust, and at that point in time, any physical corrections I used would have made us go backwards, rather than forwards.) I'm guessing that calm, assertive energy from the trainer would probably work wonders combined with any positive training program, at least for sensitive dogs. My gut is that the dogs on the show react to the energy or self-confidence that Cesar's putting out ("I'm in charge. You let ME make the decisions now...") as much as they are to the chain yanks and such. Mary

Hi, I can take food away from my dog, but I'm not sure others could. Since I live alone with him, I haven't really been able to practice letting other people take food. BUT... My trainer had good success with his dog, who is an Akita who started out reactive and ill-socialized, if I recall. The man has a grandchild, so needed to get the dog rock-solid on allowing peple near his dish. He practiced "trade" a lot. He would trade the food bowl for some high-value treat like chicken or hot dog. Then he'd put the bowl right back. Eventually, he'd have the toddler walk up to the bowl and drop the high value treat right in - so the dog came to associate the approach of anyone to his food dish with happiness and high expectations of good things. I'm sure there's more to the system than I can remember. The trainer has a website with advice columns he's written for the local paper. The section on general aggression talks several times about food bowl aggression. http://www.1gooddog.com/training_advice/ag...food_possession Hope that helps! Mary

Hi, Dana, I just did a quick search of the Canidae website, using the town listed under your username, Greeley, CO. According to Canidae, they sell out of these stores: Country Corner Feed and Pet 970 351-0868 711 28th St Greeley, CO 80631 J & T Country Feeds, INC 970 378-0240 6380 W 10th St # 1 Greeley, CO 80634 Tail Waggers 970 353-3736 3618 W 10th St Greeley, CO 80634 Pet Spot 970 351-7387 2146 35th Ave. Greeley, CO 80634 I'm not sure if you're actually in that town - but there do seem to be a number of dealers all over CO who are selling the Canidae. http://canidae.com/company/storelocator.html Good luck! Mary

Yeah... the thing that reassured me was the fact that they don't use ANY gluten in their food, and that they don't import ingredients from overseas. ::Crossing my fingers:: Buddy does so WELL on that food. Mary