Issue No. 14 / September 2015

from the Guild

A Force-Free Publication from the Pet Professional Guild: By the Members for the Members

FELINEIntroductions forLong-Term Success

The Whys and Hows ofResource Guarding

BEHAVIOR

CANINE

Enrichment in a Shelter Environment

TRAINING

The Common Artof Self-Deception

CONSULTING

Channeling SalesRelated Anxiety

BUSINESS

AVIANBuilding LastingRelationships

The Ethics of UsingDecoy Dogs

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BARKS

Fight or Flight?The Emotional States

behind Leash Reactivity

http://dognosticscareercollege.com

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

As many dog trainers and behavior consultants will no doubtattest, leash reactivity is one of the most commonly re-

ported problems amongst clients. Dog owners often find the be-havior embarrassing and feel judged by others that they are not“in control” of their dog. They may be tempted to shout at thedog or jerk him around, or put him on whatever aversive equip-ment they think will “fix” the problem. Our cover story this issueinvestigates this prevalent issue and examines the many emo-tional states that may be driving the behavior, which are, ofcourse, key to being able to modify it.

Elsewhere, we come back to the important topic of enrich-ment and feature a novel approach that one PPG member hascome up with to help the shelter dogs she works with. We alsohave a host of articles covering all things canine, including the useof decoy dogs, resource guarding, pica and training a therapy dog,as well as a thought-provoking case study featuring a Boston ter-rier whose late onset deafness was blamed – largely inaccurately- for a host of behavior problems. In addition, we delve into theissue of working with blind dogs and how improving their emo-tional state can empower trainers to give the dog a more posi-tive experience, just as we would with any other dog in fact,visually-impaired or otherwise.

Another case study features terrier cross Kobe who was in-advertently sent to an aversive training “boot camp” and cameback a different dog, and not for the better. Our article details hisjourney back to “normality” which involved, amongst otherthings, coming up with an entirely new list of training cues as theoriginal ones caused him so much anxiety.

Dog bite prevention is always a pertinent topic and we have around-up of some of the insights provided at the 2015 NationalDog Bite Prevention and Behaviour Conference in the UK. Wealso explore the world of rescue which is, sadly, seeing increasingnumbers of pigs, birds and other exotics being abandoned aspeople struggle to cope with the specific needs of such animalsin a domestic environment.

We have increased our feline coverage in this issue and havetwo intriguing features, one on the pros and cons of indoors ver-sus outdoors for domestic cats, and one examining what can bedone to keep more adopted cats in their new homes, rather thanbeing returned to the shelter. Our avian section has also ex-panded and features another installment in our series on parrotenrichment, as well as a guide to preventing behavior problems innewly-adopted birds to help ensure a successful, lasting relationship.

Finally, our consulting and business section offers a com-pelling mix of articles, including an insight into the lives of mili-tary families and how we can best serve them as our clients, theart of self-deception and its role in training - both for consult-ants and pet owners, and a look at why many pet professionalsare such reluctant salespersons – and what they can do tochange their approach.

As always, a big thank you to all our contributors and read-ers. Constructive feedback is always welcome.

Susan Nilson

From the Editor

Published by the Pet Professional Guild9122 Kenton Road, Wesley Chapel, FL 33545

Tel: 41 Dog-Train (413-648-7246) PetProfessionalGuild.com

petprofessionalguild.com/BARKSfromtheGuildfacebook.com/BARKSfromtheGuild

Editor-in-ChiefSusan Nilson

barkseditor@PetProfessionalGuild.com

Contributing EditorsJan Casey, Patience Fisher, Elizabeth Traxler

Images © Can Stock Photo: canstockphoto.com

(unless otherwise credited; uncredited images belong to PPG)

The Guild Steering CommitteeFiona De Rosa, Diane Garrod, Debra Millikan, Susan Nilson,

Anne Springer, Angelica Steinker, Niki Tudge, Catherine Zehner

BARKS from the GuildPublished bi-monthly, BARKS from the Guild presents a

collection of valuable business and technical articles as well as reviews and news stories pertinent to our industry. BARKS is

the official publication of the Pet Professional Guild.

SubmissionsBARKS encourages the submission of original written materials. Please contact the Editor-in-Chief for contributor guidelines prior to

sending manuscripts or see: PetProfessionalGuild.com/Forcefreeindustrypublication

Please submit all contributions via our submission form at: PetProfessionalGuild.com/BFTGcontent

Membership ManagerRebekah King

Membership@PetProfessionalGuild.com

Letters to the EditorTo comment on an author’s work, or to let us know what topics you wouldlike to see more of, contact the Editor-in-Chief via email putting BARKS inthe subject line of your email. BARKS reserves the right to edit for length,

grammar and clarity.

AdvertisingPlease contact Niki Tudge at Admin@PetProfessionalGuild.com to obtaina copy of rates, ad specifications, format requirements and deadlines.

Advertising information is also available at:PetProfessionalGuild.com/AdvertisinginBARKS

PPG does not endorse or guarantee any products, services or vendorsmentioned in BARKS, nor can it be responsible for problems with vendorsor their products and services. PPG reserves the right to reject, at its

discretion, any advertising.

The Pet Professional Guild is a membership business league represent-ing pet industry professionals who are committed to force-free training

and pet care philosophies, practices and methods. Pet Professional Guild members understand force-free to mean:

No Shock, No Pain, No Choke, No Prong, No Fear, No Physical Force, NoPhysical Molding and No Compulsion-Based Methods.

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5 MESSAGE FROMTHE PPG AND PPGA PRESIDENTSProgress reports from Niki Tudge and Stephanie McColl

7 NEWS, EDUCATION & EVENTSPPGBI, the Summit, the Cat Committee, perks, webinars and workshops

14 THE ROLLERCOASTER OF REACTIVITYMary Jean Alsina explains how to raise a dog that walks happily on a leash, and how to deal with leash reactivity

19 RUNNING IN CIRCLES

Jane Gerard discusses enrichment for dogs in shelter environments22 THEART, SCIENCE AND ETHICS OF USING DECOY DOGS

Yvette Van Veen on using decoy dogs in behavior change programs24 A POSITIVE EXCHANGE

Cecelia Sumner examines canine resource guarding26 AGGRESSION FROM HEARING IMPAIRMENT?

Morag Heirs presents a case where late onset deafness was deemed responsible for a host of behavior issues

28 TRAINING A BLIND DOG

Miki Saito shows how improving a blind dog’s emotional state can empower trainers

30 COMPULSIVE EATINGMaureen Tay looks into the motivations for unusual eating patterns in dogs and highlights possible solutions

32 THEAFTERMATH OF „BOOT CAMP‰Amanda Ballard relates the tale of Kobe, who displayed intense anxiety following an aversive training “boot camp”

34 GREAT EXPECTATIONSGail Radtke details how to go about training a therapy dog

36 THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNINGTO READ DOG

Louise Stapleton-Frappell reports from the 2015 National Dog Bite Prevention and Behaviour Conference in the UK

39 EXOTICANIMALS AND SHELTERAWARENESS

Lara Joseph examines the rapid increase in pet birds, pigs and other exotics being abandoned at animal shelters

42 INDEPENDENCEWITH BENEFITSJane Ehrlich explains why cats are better off staying indoors

43 FELINE BEHAVIOR UNMASKED

Jane Ehrlich responds to commonly asked questions about cats 44 SLOWLY DOES IT

Patience Fisher explains the importance of slow introductions for new cat owners

47 GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR PARROT ENRICHMENTAmy Martin outlines the steps for creating an effective species-appropriate enrichment program for captive parrots

50 NEW BIRD ONTHE BLOCKVicki Ronchette explains how to introduce a new bird to the flock to ensure a successful future

53 THE PERFECT STORMAmy Martin outlines how pet professionals can gain a better understanding of military families as clients

56 LIE TO ME: SELF-DECEPTION AND DOG BEHAVIORAngelica Steinker explains how self-deception can impede training

58 HOWTO CHANNEL SALES-RELATEDANXIETY

John Visconti investigates the various fears and phobias inherently present in the typical sales process

61 MEMBER PROFILE: NOTIME LIKE THE PRESENTFeaturing Elsie English, giving “difficult” dogs a second chance

to release one educational video and one new advocacy educa-tional handout every month that you can all use in your busi-nesses. If you missed the email, you can catch up on all the newsat www.petprofessionalguild.com/Advocacy.We are always looking at news ways in which we can help

you, our members, to grow your businesses and help us to advo-cate and educate on force-free training methods and philoso-phies. It is too early to do any big reveals but I can inform youthat we are working on a few exciting projects. These include:1. Become a PPG Media Ambassador.2. A fabulous compilation of all PPG’s educational re-

sources, articles and blogs (see page 12 for more details).3. An invigorated International Day of Celebration for

Force-Free Training and Pet Care competition that will have yourunning, not walking, to sign up.4. A PPG advocacy program to help pet owners relinquish

their shock, choke and prong collars. Stay tuned for news on all this and even more exciting proj-

ects the various PPG committees are working on at this verymoment.

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

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Dear Fellow Force-Free Advocates,

This will be my last president’s message prior to PPG’s inauguraleducational Summit, which is being held on November 11-13 inTampa, Florida. It is more than a year ago now that we put to-gether the first group of volunteers to begin work on this excit-ing project. While you are all either booking flights or stilldeciding whether you will be able make it to this fabulous event,we are now busy working on all the event location logistics,which includes planning the activities for the welcome reception,the formal “Splash” dinner and all the other fun games andevening entertainment. There is still much to do, such as finalizingthe t-shirts, the event “swag bags,” the lanyards and the Summitprogram guide. There is also a growing excitement within our or-ganizing team as we are now only about nine weeks away fromthe launch. I cannot tell you how excited I am to finally get tomeet this great team I have worked alongside for the last 12months, as well as all of you who are busy preparing to speak atthe event, attend in person or support from a distance in antici-pation of being able to purchase our Summit DVD. At PPG, we are not usually in the business of guaranteeing re-

sults. I will, however, stick my neck out and personally guaranteeto each and every one of you planning to attend, that this will bea fun and highly educational three days. I am making it my per-sonal responsibility to ensure that you all enjoy it and find it tobe of the highest quality and value. We look forward to seeingmany of you there. We have an incredible educational line up (see the schedule

here: petprofessionalguild.com/Association-Educational-Schedule), but if that alone does not inspire you, then maybe ouractivity guide will. Personally, I am looking forward to challengingsome of you to “Panty Hose Bowling.” For any of you competi-tive types who would like to get in some training you can reviewthe game at www.youtube.com/watch?v=leQUZi8hv5w. Forthose of you not quite so active you can participate in our “TreatHurling” competition. I will be warming up for both these eventsby leading off our Early Risers riverside 3 mile run each morningat 6 a.m., so feel free to join me.

In other news,the PPG AdvocacyCommittee hasemailed out thefirst of its newmonthly newslet-ters. It is the goalof the committee

Results GuaranteedWhile gearing up for PPG’s first ever educational summit in Tampa, Florida

in November, Niki Tudge outlines some of the latest and upcoming

developments at the Guild

President - Pet Professional Guild

Niki Tudge

Niki Tudge is the founder of the PPG, www.petprofessionalguild.com, The DogSmith, www.dogsmith.com,a national dog training and pet-care license, and DogNosticsCareer College, www.dognosticselearning.com. Her profes-sional credentials include: NADOI – Certified, AABP- Professional Dog Trainer, AABP- Professional Dog Behavior Consultant, Diploma Animal Behavior Technology,and Diploma Canine Behavior Science & Technology.

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6 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

PPGA’s recent focus has been on theSydney Dog Lovers Show, which tookplace on August 15-16, 2015. Our maingoal was to market our training method-ology and get our name out in public. Assuch, a small team that included organ-

izer Louise Newman, assistants Jason Lau and Shelley Aukett andPeta Clarke (dropping by with a friend to lend a hand whenthings got a bit frantic) spent a busy weekend handing out PPGAflyers and training treats, donated by our sponsor Love ‘Em, andtalking, talking, talking. Around 22,000 adults and several thou-sand children attended the show and almost 500 people were in-terested enough to take a card with details of our website on itso they could search for a force-free trainer in their area. Wealso had a “Trainers’ Wall” on the stand which featured logos ofPPGA members’ businesses and generated a lot of interest. Organizer Lou Newman commented that the word “Guild”

was “well received” and that pet owners felt the perks weregreat, especially PPG’s trade publication, BARKS. People were veryinterested in the force-free message and wanted to be part ofwhat we stand for. According to Newman, PPGA represented the

only fully force-free, positive trainers at the show, with everyoneelse in attendance being ‘balanced.’ “Every time our members do not reply or volunteer then the

‘balanced’ trainers get a foothold,” said Newman. “They use posi-tive reinforcement too, but only about 60 percent of the time, soit can be difficult for the public to discriminate. We need foot sol-diers to help get the word out about real humane and force-freetraining and pet care.”Elsewhere, we are delighted to report that one of our mem-

bers, Jacqui Tourle, has stepped up to head our marketing andpublicity committee. Tourle has a formal background in market-ing, and brings great skills and professionalism to the role. Weneed to get the word out onto the streets that we are here andthis committee will play a crucial role in that. Meanwhile, thesteering committee has been busy contacting various suppliers ofdog-related products that are a good fit with our Guiding Princi-ples, petprofessionalguild.com/GuidingPrinciples, and will be re-porting several new partners in the next couple of weeks.

Steph McColl

Steph McColl PCT-A is originallyfrom New Zealand and started herdog training career in 1972 when,sadly, the only methods available wereaversive. Following her migration toAustralia in 1981, she concentratedon horses until 1996, when she gother first border collie and moved intopositive reinforcement training. Shethen completed Certificate IV in Be-

havioral Dog Training with the Delta Society Australia, andbegan competing in obedience, NoseWork and RallyO withher two current border collies. She combines private one-to-one dog-training and behavior consults with her role as chiefinstructor at Telarah Dog Training, www.telarahdogtraininginc.com, as well as owning and running a bookkeeping business.

President - PPG Australia

Message from the President, PPG Australia

The Australian RSPCA has launched the Illogical Races cam-paign nationwide to coincide with the start of the jumps sea-son. A dedicated website, www.theillogicalraces.org.au, has beendeveloped as an online resource, which is aiding the traditionaland social media strategy in conjunction with the dialogue theRSPCA has entered into with key industry stakeholders. The RSPCA led the conversation in the media following the

death of race horse, Black Moon just prior to the OakbankEaster Carnival, held in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Thiscoverage culminated in an ABC 7:30 Report appearing on na-tional television about the Australian jumps racing industry. Over a two month period, a petition which urged the Oak-

bank Racing Club to drop jumps events attracted more than9,200 signatures and hundreds of comments. Copies of the sig-natories and a selection of comments have been forwarded to

government ministers, Thorough-bred Racing SA, South AustralianJockey Club and Oakbank RacingClub committee members. The RSPCA is committed to

being a leading voice advocating forthe end of jumps racing in SouthAustralia and will continue to rep-resent the views of members of thepublic who believe that continuingto hold jumps races is not justifiedon animal welfare grounds.

Advocacy Down Under

Stop Jumps in South AustraliaTAKE ACTION NOW

www.theillogicalraces.org.au

THEILLOGICAL RACES

Louise Newman(left) and JasonLau on thePPGA stand atthe Sydney DogLovers Show

- Di EvansBSc BVMS MPhil MANZCVS

Animal Welfare Advocate, RSPCA (SA) Inc.

Maureen Tay (center):Spreading the force-freemessage via PPG Singapore

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Here is a brief update on some of the perks of being a PPGmember:

* If you are accruing CEUs for the Pet Professional Accredita-tion Board you can apply for past and future events by complet-ing this form as the attendee:www.credentialingboard.com/Apply-For-CEUs.

* If you refer a new member and they mention your name inthe application form, then you will have $10 credited to yourPPG membership account. Their membership must be approvedand fully processed.

* PPG’s trade publication, BARKS from the Guild, will soon begoing into full print production, which will make it affordable forall.

* All PPG webinars are recorded and may be accessed at anytime. If you sign up for an event then you automatically receive a

copy of the recording.* If you refer anyone to sign up for

PPG’s Summit, www.forcefreesummit.com,in November 2015 and they documentyour name in their sign-up form, then youget $35 credited to your PPG account.

Did You Know? Useful Facts for Members

PPG Launches First Educational HandoutAt the beginning of August, PPG’s Advocacy Committee re-

leased its first-ever educational handout, focusing on dogbite safety. Titled Be Safe. Dog Bite Safety and Education, the goal isto promote awareness amongst the dog-owning public that, bylearning to read a dog’s body language and facial expression,many dog bites could be prevented. Here’s a sneak preview:

Did You Know? · Half of all children bitten by dogs are under the age of 12.· Most dog bites are by the family dog or dogs known to theperson.· Most dog bites are preventable.A dog bite can happen very quickly. There are numerous reasonswhy dogs bite. For example, the dog may be unsure of the situa-tion, want space, feel scared or threatened, be protecting hisfood or toys, be feeling ill or be in pain.

Safety is paramount for both children and dogs and by fol-lowing a few tips you can reduce the likelihood of these unfortu-nate incidents. Most importantly, never put children and dogs in asituation where their safety is in question.· Be aware of the potential dangers – even if it is the family dog.· Be responsible – provide active supervision at all times.· Be aware that even supervision does not guarantee a childwill not get bitten. Dogs move very quickly and there may not al-ways be time to intervene, even if you are watching closely forsignals.· Educate yourself and others in reading canine body languageso you know when to give the dog space.

PPG has released three newadvocacy and educational

videos and one quick educationaltip. They are all availableon PPG’s YouTube chan-nel, www.youtube.com/user/PetProfessional-Guild.

The topics are:- A Call For Change –An Educational Video on Why We Should Not Be Using Choke andProng Collars. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VwCgthmX4M&feature=youtu.be.- Let’s Work Together – A Promotional Video Calling for Veterinarians,Professional Trainers and Pet Owners to Work Collaboratively Together.See www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx1HAWfk3dA&feature=youtu.be.- A Public Announcement – Education about Service Dogs. Seewww.youtube.com/watch?v=RMHnU20kiB0&feature=youtu.be.- Quick Tip # 1 – Dr. Karen Overall on the Use of Shock Collars. Seewww.youtube.com/watch?v=bdn8MaViFyw&feature=youtu.be.

Download the full PDF at: www.petprofessionalguild.com/resources/Documents/Advocacy%20Handouts/Handout%201

%20-20Dog%20Bite%20Safety.pdf

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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PPG Extends Reach in SingaporePPG has extended its reach in the Far East with the launch of

PPG Singapore. The new chapter will move forward quicklywith the establishment of its own website, local branding and allother PPG benefits pertinent to its membership base in the region.

"Setting up PPG Singapore is a huge step for a small nationlike ours,” said Maureen Tay, chief trainer at KasPup UniFURsity,www.kaspupunifursity.com, BARKS writer and one of six PPGSingapore steering committee members. “We have observed anincreasing number of pet owners who are looking for a morehumane approach to pet care. Now, we will be able to reach outto them and educate further afield, as well as support the grow-ing number of force-free pet professionals in Singapore. Dogtraining for the past 40 years has largely been controlled by “tra-ditional” trainers. Unfortunately, they are quite prevalent andmany owners still buy into the idea that dogs need to be trainedusing force and coercion. Although we may be unable to con-vince these trainers that force-free training is the way forward,what we can do is educate the public and help them make a hu-mane, educated decision.”

Tay is joined on the steering committee by Michelle Chan,Kristina Dieta, Poh Wee Boon, Jun Yeo and Michelle Chua.

“Scientifically proven, force-free, humane training methods forall animals are the futureof our industry,” saidPPG president, Niki Tudge. “Further internationalchapters are in the workswith rollouts expectedin the coming months.”

PPG Releases New Educational Videos

8 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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The Pet Professional Guild British Isles (PPGBI) has gone fromstrength to strength since its launch in April. The Steering

Committee is very pleased with the progress that has been madeand the positive feedback that has been received regarding theestablishment of this international chapter of PPG.

To date, Prof. Paul McGreevy BVSc PhD, veterinarian andethologist; Debbie Matthews of Vets Get Scanning, the MicrochipAlliance and the Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance; and CraigMacLellan, CEO and founder of Veterans With Dogs, have allbeen appointed as Special Council members.

PPGBI now offers several new vendor discount partners, in-cluding Mighty Dog Graphics and Strongdogz, which means that

professional members can access preferential rates and discountswith yet more local businesses.

Professional membership is expanding at a steady rate withmany existing PPG members transferring over to their localchapter and new members joining every week. Pet owner mem-bership is also increasing rapidly, which can only be positive newsas it means that we are able to educate more people about thebenefits of using science-based, results-based, force-free trainingmethods.

The PPGBI Facebook page has been established to keepmembers and the general public up-to-date on all the news, arti-cles, educational webinars and many other resources that areavailable to them, not just from PPGBI but also PPG, BARKS FromThe Guild and the Pet Professional Accreditation Board.

There is also a PPGBI members’ group on Facebook, whichacts as a communication tool for members to stay informedabout events, event ideas, membership benefits and generallykeep in touch with what is going on in the organization, as wellas being able to communicate with other members in a privateforum. If any PPGBI member would like to join the group theycan do so by sending their request to the membership managerby email: Louise@petprofessionalguild.com.

For more details, see www.ppgbi.com and www.facebook.com/PetProfessionalGuildBritishIsles.

- Louise Stapleton-Frappell CTDI PCT-AMembership Manager, PPG British Isles

Update from PPG British Isles

PPG’s newly-formed cat committee has held its first evermeeting and outlined its goals for the short- and long-term

future. Committee members include Jane Ehrlich (chair), Re-bekah King, Paula Garber, Patience Fisher, Amy Martin, FrancineMiller, Cynde Van Fleet, Breanna Norris, Susan Wiater, LenneaBower and Janna Light.

I was very impressed with what an incredible group of peoplewe have gathered together. Eight of us introduced ourselves atthe meeting (two sent apologies) and the enthusiasm fairly crack-led through. We have since added two more members, one fromEngland, and one from Sweden.

I suggested a short list of aims for the group: 1. Increase membership of cat specialists in PPG. 2. Provide education for both the cat- and dog-specialists

in PPG and beyond.3. Provide opportunities for educational, networking and

job optimization for PPG cat specialists. 4. Eventually, offer a PPG cat behavior conference.5. Eventually, offer full accreditation for feline behavior.In addition, the group suggested some excellent topics for

webinars, including introductions between dogs and resident cats(or vice versa), body language - differences and similarities indogs and cats; aggression - dog-cat, cat-dog and cat-cat; thestress-free vet visit; the aging cat, and many more.

We have our own committee Facebook page, kindly struc-tured by Lennea Bower, and technical and organizational prowess

from very our own talented and thoroughly indispensable mem-ber, Rebekah King. Several committee members have alreadyposted what they consider to be crucial reading matter for felinebehavior.

Meetings have been set for the first Sunday of each month at5 p.m. (MST). Off and running! At present, we have enough CatCommittee members, but if you are interested, please let usknow, and we will happily keep your name on file.

PPG Cat Committee Outlines Goals

PPG T-Shirts, Hoodies Now Available

- Jane Ehrlich ACBCFeline Behaviorist and Chair, PPG Cat Committee

www.CattitudeBehavior.com

PPG members can now help advocate for force-free trainingand pet care in a sartorial sense. There are a host of designs

and colors available. For more details and to place an order, seewww.fabrily.com/PPG. Available till September 14, 2015.

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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If you haven’t already tuned in, make a note to listen to the PPGRadio Show, www.petprofessionalguild.com/PPG-Broadcast, on

the first Sunday of every month at 12 noon (EST). There is an in-credible line-up of guests and the show is always educational andfun. Here is the current line-up (subject to change):

PPG World Service Radio Show Schedule

PPG member Green Acres Kennel Shop, www.greenacresken-nel.com, has been voted the Bangor, Maine Region’s Best Ken-

nel for the 14th consecutive year in a survey conducted byMarket Surveys of America and the GKM Independent SurveyCompany. Green Acres was also voted the Bangor Region’s BestPet Store for the ninth year in a row, the Best Dog Trainer forthe fourth consecutive year, and the Best Pet Groomer for thethird year in a row.

“We cannot thank the great Bangor community enough fortheir continued support of Green Acres Kennel Shop and ouremployees,” said Green Acres co-owner, Don Hanson. “Caringfor your pets when you go away, making them look their best,

teaching you aboutcats and dogs and howto live with them inharmony, and helpingyou find wholesomefood and quality prod-ucts at a fair price, andgiving back to the com-munity; that’s whatwe’re all about.”

Green Acres Kennel Shop Voted the Best

In Memoriam: Rebekah Louise Wright

Sunday, September 6, 2015 - 12 noon (EDT) Register at www.attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4002854910917852930.Guests include:Sally Hopkins, creator of the dog game, SprinklesJennifer Arnold, founder and executive director of Canine AssistantsDr. Lynn Honeckman, veterinarian and PPG Special Councilmember

Sunday, September 10, 2015 - 12 noon (EDT) Register at www.attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2564414426944474114Guests include: David Ryan, visiting lecturer at Newcastle University’s (UK)MSc program in Applied Animal Behaviour and WelfareBarb Levenson, dog trainer and BARKS contributorPetra Lloyd, author and teacher

Sunday, October 4, 2015 - 12 noon (EDT) Register at www.attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7855690988271500290Guests include: Nancy Tucker, Quebec-based dog trainerCaitlin Quinn, director of operations at Animal Farm Foundation Maureen Backman, Muzzle Up Project

Sunday, November 1, 2015 - 12 noon (EDT)Guests include: Gabrielle Dunne, regional coordinator for Doggone Safe, UKand IrelandKen McCort, Four Paws Training CenterJacqueline Munera, Positive Cattitudes

Sunday, December 6, 2015 - 12 noon (EST)Guests include: Morag Heirs, dog trainer andregular BARKS contributor

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PPG is greatly saddened by the loss of member RebekahLouise Wright, who passed away with one of her beloved

dogs following an accident. Rebekah had a passion for animals from a very young age,

caring for her family pets, and any injured or abandoned animalsthat found their way to her. She studied to be a veterinary tech-nician but, due to an injury, was forced to change careers. Shestarted a business pet sitting, and then worked for a time as adog trainer for a pet store. Once introduced to positive dogtraining techniques she never looked back.

Through videos, books and conferences Rebekah studied andhoned her training skills. She then added dog training to her busi-ness offerings. As her own health deteriorated, she trained Cali,her Australian shepherd, to become her service dog. Rebekahbred and raised several litters of puppies, which she scent im-printed to recognize low blood sugar, and placed many of thepuppies in homes with diabetic children. Using Skype, videos, andregular phone and email contact, Rebekah supported the familiesas they raised and trained these pups to be working servicedogs. As her own medical needs changed, Kenzie, a golden re-triever pup, joined the team. Together Kenzie and Cali worked tokeep Rebekah safe, alerting to low blood sugar and syncopeepisodes, retrieving items, providing momentum and balance sup-port, and finding help for Rebekah when necessary.

Rebekah was involved in a tragic car accident on June 5, 2015and was not able to overcome her injuries. She passed away onJuly 9, 2015. Cali also died in the accident. She and Rebekah aretogether again. Kenzie is here with us, providing comfort tofriends and family, as she did for Rebekah.

The Rebekah Wright Memorial Service Dog Foundation is

- Linda Brennen CPDT

being established to honor Rebekah and to continue her work.The foundation will provide financial assistance for service dogowner/trainers who need the help of professional trainers toreach their goals.

Rebekah Louise Wright, Jan 31, 1984 – July 9, 2015

Don Hanson (left)and colleagues with

their awards

You can submit a question for any of the guests here:www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/m37XVZeJ2cL3p0e7lD

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

S U M M I T

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Janis Bradley - National Canine Research CouncilDr. Michelle Duda - Senior Level Board Certified Behavior AnalystDr. Soraya Juarbe-Diaz - Veterinary BehavioristChirag Patel - Domesticated MannersLaurie Schlossnagle - Side By Side Dog TrainingMaureen Backman - Mutt About TownPamela Johnson - Pam's Dog Training AcademyJacqueline Munera - Positive CattitudesLara Joseph - The Animal Behavior CenterLinda Michaels - Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog TrainingDebra Millikan - Canine Behavioural SchoolNancy Tucker - Education Canine

Diana Nichols Pappert - Animal AnticsDiane Garrod - Canine Transformations Learning Center Niki Tudge - The DogSmithLisa and Brad Waggoner - Cold Nose CollegeLisa Morrissey - Courteous CanineJennifer Shryock - Family Paws Parent EducationShari Sprague - PUP Rehabilitation and ConditioningSara McLoudrey - ROOT Dog TrainingScott Baggett - Paws For JusticeEmily Cassell - Courteous Canine & The DogSmith of TampaJJ Bachant Brown - The DogSmith Florida's Gulf Coast

More Amazing Presenters:

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Karen OverallVeterinarian, Author and

Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist

ForceFreeSummit.com

S U M M I T

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015 11

See www.petprofessionalguild.com/Force-Free-Summit for more information on all the presenters, the venue, accommodation and meal options, the program, pricing and packages, sponsors and vendors

AND MUCH MORE...

The VenuePPG has secured excellent room rates with

The Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel: www.sheratontampariverwalk.comand the Aloft Tampa Downtown:www.alofttampadowntown.com.

When you contact the hotels, be sure to mention PPG tobenefit from our special Summit rates.

More details on accommodation: www.petprofessionalguild.com/Pet-Professional-Convention.

More details on meal packages: www.petprofessionalguild.com/Packagemeals.

Both hotels are pet friendly. Contact them individuallyfor more details.

PPAB,

E D U C A T I O N

PPG has launched a new online resource area, incorporat-ing every single article ever published in BARKS since its

inception in Spring 2012. Over 250 articles are currently cataloged in the archive,

with a variety of categories represented, such as behavior,training, business, PPG news, book reviews, product reviews,member profiles and opinion. If you want to search on a par-ticular species, categories currently covered are canine, feline,piscine, porcine, avian, equine, murine and leporine.

Within each category, every article has been assigned abroad range of keywords, so you can search on just aboutanything, e.g. counterconditioning, enrichment, empathy, catlitter box problems, the canine brain, harnesses, barrier frus-tration, vocal parrots, stationing pigs or clicker training, toname just a few. If you are looking for a specific author, thenyou can find articles that way too. Every entry has a directlink to the original article in BARKS for quick and easy access.

You can find the brand new Guild Archives section at www.petprofessionalguild.com/Guild-Archives.

If you are a pet care provider, aspiring pet professional, dog be-havior consultant, dog trainer, rescue professional, fosterer or atrainee in any of these disciplines, then this program will give youall the skills you need to safely practice in the pet industry. It hasbeen designed to cover everything you will need to become acertified pet care technician (CPCT) and more.

Each day participants will enjoy eight hours of classroom andLAB instruction and hands-on training with a selection of presen-ters covering a wide array of topics, including: s How Pets Learn - includes a detailed overview of operantand respondent conditioning with hands-on examples and videoanalysis.s Canine Behavior and Social Communication - learning thelanguage of dogs and understanding the canine social behavior

and communication systems; learning about af-filiative and agonistic communication andpassive and active appeasement behaviors;understanding dog bite inhibition and bite

thresholds.s Canine and Feline Anatomy and Physiol-ogy - a study of dog and cat anatomy andimportant components of their physiology.s Canine and Feline Health and Han-dling - includes common canine and felinehealth issues, vaccination protocols and im-

portant daily and emergency handling skills.s Pet First Aid and Emergency Protocols - a very detailedmodule that covers in depth the many potential emergency situ-ations you may, through first aid, need to manage prior to a petin your care being attended to by a veterinarian.s Pet Care Tools, Equipment, Toys and Supplies - learning howto identify appropriate equipment and use it safely, as well asmore practical applications, e.g. desensitization protocols.s Bonus Module: Bump Start Your Business – this module cov-ers the key and critical skills required for growth with anoverview of how to create a simple but effective marketing plan.

Certification ProtocolWorking Registrants: To achieve your CPCT designation youwill have the option to take a Certification Test online after theevent.

Auditors:You will be required to complete the test and submitseveral videos to show competency in mechanical skills acrossseveral disciplines.

Testing must be completed within 30 days

Pet Care Certification ProgramA Three-Day Workshop in Tampa, Florida

Friday, October 9, 2015 - 9:30 a.m. (EDT) - Sunday, October 11, 2015 - 6 p.m. (EDT)

Working and Auditor Spots Available

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CEUs: CCPDT 14.5 Trainers, BehaviorConsultants/IAABC 29

More information and online registration: www.petprofessionalguild.com/event-1824616

12 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

The database is a work in progress and will be updatedwith new articles whenever a new issue of BARKS is released.In time, we will add PPG blogs, educa-tional handouts, videos and press re-leases to ensure a one-stop searchingexperience for users. Another excitingfeature is the external resources cat-egory, which will gradually be up-dated with articles from othersources, such as blogs,educational journalsand scientific studies.

Remember tocheck back regularlyfor new additions and if there is anything youwould like to see covered but cannotfind, let us know.

STOP PRESS!PPG Launches Online Database for all 260 BARKSArticles

www.petprofessionalguild.com/Guild-Archives

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BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

E D U C A T I O N

13

WorkshopsLearn How to Train 16 Obedience Cues

Level - IntermediateA Five-Day Dog Training Workshop with

Angelica Steinker and Niki Tudge (Tampa, FL)Monday, September 21, 2015 - 8 a.m. (EDT) -Friday, September 25, 2015 - 6 p.m. (EDT)

Pet Care Certification Program with Rebekah King,Melody McMichael, Angelica Steinker and Niki Tudge:Three-Day Workshop to Help You Professionalize Your

Pet Care Business (Tampa, FL)Friday, October 9, 2015 - 9:30 a.m. (EDT) - Sunday, October 11, 2015 - 6 p.m. (EDT)

A Weekend Of Canine Fun - Up Your Training Game!A Two-Day Dog Training

Workshop with Niki Tudge and Angelica Steinker (Tampa, FL)Saturday, October 17, 2015 - 8:30 a.m.

(EDT) Sunday, October 18, 2015 - 5:30 p.m.

(EDT)A Four-Day Chicken ClickerCamp with Terry Ryan

(Tampa, FL)Saturday, April 30, 2016 - 9 a.m. (EDT) -Tuesday, May 3, 2016 4 p.m. (EDT) Details of all upcoming webinars can be found at:

www.petprofessionalguild.com/GuildScheduledEventsA recording is made available within 48 hours of all PPG webinars

Details of all upcoming workshops can be found at:www.petprofessionalguild.com/Workshops.

PPG Workshops and WebinarsLive Webinars

Preventing Unwanted Feline Behaviors with Patience Fisher

Thursday, September 3, 2015 - 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. (EDT)Reactive Dogs - The Science and Art of Set Ups andThe Use of Decoy Dogs to Achieve Success with

Yvette Van VeenSunday, September 13, 2015 - 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

Trade Show and Pet Business Event Management Skillswith Niki Tudge

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (EDT)Disaster Preparedness Drills and Safety for Your Dog

with Pamela JohnsonSunday, September 27, 2015 - 8 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (EDT)

What are Bridging Stimuli and How Many Types AreThere? with Angelica Steinker

Tuesday, October 06, 2015 - 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. (EDT)A More Thoughtful Approach To Shaping Creates MorePrecise Behaviors; Learn How To Improve your Shaping

Mechanics with Yvette Van VeenSunday, October 11, 2015 -12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

The Biology of Socialization with Dr. Jessica HekmanWednesday, October 28, 2015 - 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. (EDT)Learn How to Live with A Thunder Phobic Dog

with Tonya WilhelmThursday, December 03, 2015 - 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (EST)

Learn shaping, targeting and discrimination skills at our four-day chicken camp with renowned dog trainer, Terry Ryan.Why attend a chicken camp to improve your clicker training

skills? Firstly, you do not have bad or good chicken training habitsbecause you have (probably) never trained a chicken before, thusavoiding the baggage often taken to dog training workshops.

Training a chicken is a stretch and a boost to your mechanicalskills. The average chicken is faster than the average dog, givingyou a chance to improve your coordination and timing.

Chickens will freeze or fly away if they do not like the wayyou are training them. Unlike dogs, you will know immediately ifyou are taking advantage of a chicken or pushing too hard, toofast. Chickens do not give their trainers a second chance as dogsso often do. Each working spot student will be partnered withanother human and a chicken to train. You will take turns train-ing your chicken and helping to coach your partner.

Key Topics Covered:s Mechanical Skills - Drills for Coordination, Timing, Observation.s Umwelt - How Individuals Acquire, Process, Store Information.s Selection, Identification and Effective Marking (Use of Bridge)of Training Criteria.s Reinforcement: Rate/Schedule/Value/Delivery/Quantity, 80 percent Rule, Premack Principle.s Capturing and Shaping Behaviors.s Criteria Selection and Identification.s Goal Setting.sTask Analysis.s Lateral Thinking Techniques.

Chicken Clicker Camp With Terry RyanA Four-Day Chicken Clicker Camp in Tampa, Florida

Saturday, April 30, 2016 - 9 a.m. (EDT) - Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - 4 p.m. (EDT)

Working and Auditor Spots Available

CEUs: CCPDT 21/IAABC 25/KPA 21/PPG 24More information and online registration:

www.petprofessionalguild.com/event-1914871

Greta Tudge, PPG ChickenCamp faculty member and

entertainment director

of food. This makes it clear to a puppy that all of these stimulipredict wonderful things will happen. Socialization like this is crit-ical before a dog is 12 weeks old, since dogs are most sensitiveto learning what is and is not safe at this period in their lives. Ofcourse, adult dogs can also learn to walk well on leash but it ismuch simpler to instill the behavior in younger dogs, if one hasthe opportunity. The goal is for puppies to learn as early as possi-ble before any negative associations take hold.

Many dogs that are on leash go into fight or flight modewhen they spot another dog or person at a distance they are notcomfortable with. They do not, however, have a choice to flee be-cause of their attachment to a leash, and may feel left with noother option than to “fight." The lunging, barking, whining andgrowling can all be attempts to create the distance necessary toensure the dog’s safety or to keep the threat at bay. At this point,a battle ensues in the dog's brain whereby the amygdala ordersthe hypothalmus to secrete more CRF (corticotropin-releasing

14 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

C O V E R S T O R Y

The Rollercoaster of Reactivity

Leash reactivity can be one of the most common (and em-barrassing) problems dog owners deal with on a daily basis.It is also one of the most requested behavioral issues I

work on with clients. Disapproving glances from passersby, theconstant feeling of being out of control, and not having a graspon how to address the behavior are all concerns for owners ofleash-reactive dogs.

Dogs may react poorly when on leash for a variety of rea-sons, which can include fear, excitement, pent-up energy or frus-tration. Being aware of the underlying emotions and motivationsbehind the reactivity is essential to understanding it but, what-ever the cause, reactivity can often be dealt with quite success-fully through classical conditioning.

Dogs should be taught at a very young age that, when theyare on leash and see other dogs, people, motorcycles, trucks orany other stimulus that they are unsure about, they should lookup at the owner, which will result in praise and a fabulous piece

Leash reactivity is acommonly reportedproblem in dogs ©

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factor, a hormone involved in stress response) while, at the sametime, the hippocampus orders the hypothalmus to decrease pro-duction of CRF. These two differing orders given from the twoparts of the brain act to set an accurate physiological responseto what danger is actually occurring. (Lindsay, 2000, p. 109).

This is when many owners erroneously believe that they haveto “correct” the behavior with a harsh verbal cue or leash cor-rection. As a result, the dog may cease exhibiting the reactive be-havior at that moment but the correction only serves as aBand-Aid to the problem, if it serves to stop it at all. More likely,the next dog or person that approaches will be greeted with thatsame reaction, perhaps even with increased intensity. What thedog is in fact learning through the corrections and yelling is thathe has a reason to be distressed. “We are all yelling together. I dohave a reason to be worried. Get away you intruder!” he thinks.The dog views the other dog or person as a cause for concern,fear and negative associations. Clearly, this person or dog is up-setting the dog's owner and must be kept away at all costs.

Owners may then feel compelled to take another step, per-haps on the advice of friends or a well-meaning pet store em-ployee, and use a choke or prong collar, hoping this may fix theproblem behavior on the assumption that dogs will not pull orreact if doing so results in pain. While some dogs may indeedlessen the intensity of the behavior because the collar causespain, the negative associations that are being created will be thatmuch harder to undo in the long run. Not to mention the factthat nothing is being done to address the dog’s emotional state,which is the real key here. The risk is that the dog will start tobelieve that every dog or person who comes close now predictspain. In his never-ending task to keep these intruders away andavoid that pain, the dog may start to lunge and bark more fero-ciously. What may have started as leash reactivity due to excite-ment can easily turn into a type of reactivity that is nowherenear as approachable. This is a very common occurrence in theworld of dog training. Countless well-meaning owners who longfor a “normal” dog, as if that exists, take their sweet, excitableLabrador retriever to the nearest pet store and get him fittedfor whatever it takes to allow the walker to gain control of thedog. The wrong equipment risks causing further damage to thedog's body and psyche and ultimately serves only to intensify theproblem. In regards to equipment, no-pull harnesses are an effec-tive start to help gain control. The right equipment is, of course,only one step in a multi-step process, but it can help set the dogup for success when used correctly.

Because of their behavior, many dogs will appear to be ratherunfriendly when they are on leash and people may automaticallyassume they are encountering an aggressive dog. Many of thesedogs, when they are off leash, are extremely friendly. They mayonly lunge, whine and bark because the leash frustrates them.Frustrated humans may react similarly. Consider a person puttinga dollar in a vending machine and pressing C9 for Doritos. TheDoritos start to move slowly forward getting ready to drop and,all of a sudden, they stop and the machine goes quiet. The personpresses C9 over and over with increasing pressure, as if pushingit harder will make the Doritos drop down. The frustration isbuilding. The Doritos still do not fall, so the person resorts to

shoving the machine in an attempt to shake the Doritos loosebecause they are unable to get what they want. The shoving pro-duces nothing and they are as close to getting the Doritos asthey were at the beginning of this fiasco. The frustration buildseven further. Yelling may commence. This is similar to what oursocial, friendly dogs experience when they cannot get to a dogor person they desperately want to reach. The frustration soarsand the barking, lunging and other behaviors are indicative of thisfrustration.

Once a dog is fitted with the correct equipment, such as ano-pull harness, it is time to embark on a plan to improve theunwanted behavior and turn it into a desired behavior. Depend-ing on the severity of the problem, this can take a good amountof time, and the reactivity may never be completely removed.Pavlovian desensitization and counterconditioning are extremelysuccessful, scientific ways to achieve improvement for leash-reac-tive dogs.

The first step in lessening leash reactivity is gaining the dog'sattention. With the absence of attention, many over-threshold re-actions can occur. Teaching the dog a “look at me” cue while in-side the house where there are no distractions is a wonderfulfirst step. This “look at me” cue is very effective for unexpectedsituations when you need your dog's attention quickly. If you seesomething approaching that might upset your dog before he seesit, this is a very convenient way to efficiently make him focus onyou while passing the problem stimulus.

What we want the dog to comprehend is that the sight (orsound) of a dog, or whatever stimulus upsets him, means that hewill get his most favorite treats. These can include cheese, hotdogs, freeze-dried fish or so many other delicious options, everytime, 100 percent of the time. This cannot be stressed enoughbecause consistency can be the difference between success andfailure. In order to see improvement when executing this work,there are a few critical aspects that must be taken into account:distance, timing and mechanics.

DistanceConcerning distance, if a dog is too close to a stimulus thatcauses leash reactivity, he will be spending most of the time over

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015 15

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A leashed dog may beexperiencing a fearfulemotional state whendisplaying reactivity

C O V E R S T O R Y

threshold, which will accomplish nothing except perhaps tomake the behavior increase in severity. The more the dog seesthat his barking and lunging make the offending dog or persongo away, the more the behavior is being reinforced and willtherefore continue. The way to keep a dog under threshold isto provide the distance where the dog feels comfortable sohe does not feel the need to react. This is the desensitizationpiece of the puzzle. If that means walking down a driveway, analley, back into the house, doing a U-turn and walking backthe other way, or setting up in a park where distance can beeasily manipulated, then this is what is done. The goal is tohave no over-threshold reactions.

Reading body language is the key to knowing if one is ap-proaching the dog’s distance threshold. If a dog freezes, willnot take food, growls, “locks in” with the eyes, goes from a re-laxed, open mouth to a quickly-shut mouth, leans forward, orgets into a stalking position low to the ground, the distanceshould be increased to a place where these signals are nolonger present.

TimingThe next crucial piece is the timing. What we want the dog toclearly see is that the appearance of a dog, person, mail truckor whatever else stimulates reactivity will immediately predicta marker (clicker or word, such as “yes”). His favorite foodimmediately follows the marker and he continues getting fooduntil the stimulus is out of sight. Timing is critical. If an ownerwaits too long to mark, the dog can immediately start react-ing, thus solidifying another over-threshold reaction. This sameprocedure must be used every time. The main goal is for thedog to see another dog or person and make eye contact withhis handler. The dog has now made the connection: the stimu-lus that previously made him react negatively now means hewill get treats. He is developing a happy conditioned emo-tional response. The association is being made and now thebehavior can start to move in a more positive direction. Thismeans at this distance or further, the dog is becoming morerelaxed. Moving closer should not be rushed and should onlytake place inches at a time to ensure positive results and noover-threshold reactions.

MechanicsThe third piece is mechanics. Backwards conditioning canoccur if the handler does not execute the plan properly. Adog learning in a Pavlovian manner must see that the stimuluspredicts food. If the handler has the food in sight or a handremaining in a bait bag, the dog can actually start to think thefood is predicting the focus of the reactivity. The food shouldbe kept in a bait bag on the opposite side of the dog or in theopposite hand behind the back completely out of sight. Thefood does not make an appearance until another dog, personor other potential problem appears. Occasionally the handlercan play with the food in the dog's view but not give the dogany, then hide it once again, as this strengthens the connectionthat the food arrives only at the sight of the undesirable stim-ulus. The dog should also be kept on a shorter leash so the

BARKS from the Guild/September201516

A leash gives a dog no option to escape,leaving him little recourse but to behaveaggressively in an attempt to keep theperceived threat at bay

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In some contexts, the leash actsas a barrier, frustrating the dogand preventing him from goingwhere he wants to go

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BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

feeding can be quick and immediate upon sight of whatevercauses reactivity.

Once the dog is making eye contact with the walker afterspotting the focus of reactivity, it is time to start implementingoperant conditioning and the use of a differential reinforcementof incompatible behavior. In the beginning stages of working witha leash-reactive dog, the food, tug toy or preferred item which isused to classically condition is not contingent upon the dog's be-havior, but simply appears when the focus of reactivity comesinto view. But for the next step in the process, the food or toywill be contingent upon the dogperforming some type of behav-ior: perhaps a sit, down or watchwhile the person walks by.

ConsistencyIn addition to distance, timing, andmechanics, there are some furthertips to keep in mind while movingthrough this process. Consistencyis extremely critical to success be-cause again, any over- thresholdreaction can set back progress.Every person (including the dogwalker and family members) whowalks the dog should be conduct-ing the walks in exactly the samemanner or the improvement willnot continue. The type of food canalso make a big difference in how long it takes to make a positiveassociation. If a dog gets plain dog biscuits on a daily basis, inmost cases, that will not be as expeditious in forming a positiveassociation when outside. The food must be powerful. It needs tobe something the dog does not get frequently, thoroughly lovesand would do anything for.

ManagementYet another important factor is management of any situationwhich might elicit reactivity from the dog. An owner can fastidi-ously do this hard work all week for every morning and eveningwalk, yet progress can be slow. Why? The owner does not realizethat for eight hours while she is at work, the dog sits at the frontwindow and reacts to every passing dog, person or truck thusstrengthening his reactivity without the owner's knowledge.Shades pulled, blinds closed or frosted decorative window filmcan be a great help in eliminating these all-day reactions. Manyowners also use management when choosing the times forwalks. Reactive dogs and their owners can be easy to spot be-cause often they are the ones that can be seen walking at lesspopular times of the day such as 5 a.m. or 11 p.m. This is advanta-geous in controlling the environment and the amount of stimuli,but will not help much in carrying out the work necessary to im-prove. If an owner chooses to walk at off-peak hours, timeshould be allocated to set up in a spot at a park, for example, toperform the desensitization and counterconditioning work.

One of the most frustrating elements of working with a

leash-reactive dog is handling off-leash dogs who come chargingaccompanied by a misinformed owner yelling, “It's okay, she'sfriendly!” That is the last thing an owner of a reactive dog wantsto hear when confronted with this scenario. What a considerablesetback this can be for a reactive dog in training, because if theoff-leash dog comes in close proximity to the reactive dog, thefrightened dog may justifiably lash out and snap or bite to pro-tect himself. In addition, a frustrated greeter can learn that lung-ing and excitability will allow him to play with the dog that hasapproached, thus reinforcing the undesired behavior.

As an owner of a reactivedog, being prepared is a high pri-ority since we can only controlour own actions, and not, unfor-tunately, those of others. If a dogcharges or runs towards the re-active dog and the handler can-not get her dog out of thesituation, there are a couple ofstrategies to use which can be ef-fective in slowing the approachingdog. One suggestion is to loudlyyell, “Stop!” while throwing ahandful of treats in the oncomingdog's direction. This will haltmany dogs and encourage themto proceed to look for the foodon the ground which can buytime to get out of sight into a

safe environment. There are also vests for dogs that have a vari-ety of labels on them, which some people with reactive dogschoose to buy. They may state, “Not Good with Other Dogs” or“Fearful Dog in Training.” These can be helpful in a closer prox-imity but at a distance, they do not give the owner much securityfrom dogs running into their space.

Along Came CharlieAround the summer of 2013, I got a call from a charming womannamed Amy who told me she had just adopted an adorablechocolate Labrador retriever, named Charlie, for whom she wasinterested in receiving training. Charlie had had quite a roughstart in life. He and his brother, at around seven weeks old, wereleft in a driveway in a cardboard box after his other siblings weresold at a fair in South Carolina. My heart broke for Charlie whenI heard his story and I was thrilled, as always, to work with apuppy. I was also elated to be able to help mold him into thetherapy dog for which Amy had high hopes.

When I first met Charlie, I immediately fell in love. I taughtCharlie his first sit, down and many other behaviors. We devel-oped a close bond. Amy also enjoyed training him and did all theright things when it came to socialization. Charlie met a varietyof different people and Amy took him to a myriad of differentplaces. She did puppy-group training, along with the private ses-sions with me. Charlie was on his way to stardom and we so en-joyed our sessions together. Upon reaching social maturitythough, Charlie started showing some signs of reactivity on

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This dog is showing signs of anxietywhile out for a leash walk

C O V E R S T O R Y

Mary Jean Alsina PCT-A CPDT-KA MA owns and operatesThe Canine Cure, LLC, www.dogtraining-newjersey.com, inNorthern New Jersey. She has a master’s +30 in educationand is a certified pet dog trainer. She studied at The Academyfor Dog Trainers and is a regular dog training columnist forExaminer.com. She is also a member of Doggone Safe and is acertified CGC evaluator for the AKC.

18 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

References Lindsay, S. (2000). Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior andTraining, Volume One: Adaptation and Learning. Ames, Iowa:Iowa State Press.Video Charlie's Success Story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac_lbivud4U&feature=em-share_video_user

Charlie was well socialized asa puppy but started showingsigns of leash reactivity as hereached social maturity

Charlie was able to overcomehis reactivity issues with a

behavior modification programincorporating desensitization

and counterconditioning

walks that made Amy quite unsettled. One day during a trainingsession she said, “Charlie lunged and barked like crazy today at amotorcycle. Why is this happening? He was absolutely fine!”

These comments began to grow more frequent over thenext few weeks so we embarked on a plan to show Charlie thatthe growing list of people, vehicles and animals he had started re-acting to were actually wonderful for him to see. From then onAmy and I worked tirelessly with Charlie on desensitizing andcounterconditioning him to other dogs, close passersby, motor-cycles, bikes, skateboards, scooters and loud trucks. If anything,the list seemed to be growing. Amy was devastated because herdreams of Charlie becoming a therapy dog were diminishing bythe day. However, she was dedicated, focused and determined,and stayed on task.

Time passed and there were some good weeks and some dif-ficult ones too. Working with dogs with leash reactivity can be arollercoaster ride, and Amy and her husband were certainly feel-ing the crazy turns and upside down loops. I urged her to stayfocused and keep going. As a trainer, working with a leash-reac-tive dog goes deeper than simply focusing on the dog. The own-ers require an extensive amount of support and guidance alongthe way. They need coaching, positive reinforcement, helpful tipson their technique and sometimes just a shoulder to cry on.Over time, Charlie started making some steady progress and thenumber of difficult weeks began to decrease.

Because of Amy's and Michael's persistence, consistency, pa-tience and dedication, Charlie has improved remarkably and cannow walk past other reactive dogs, motorcycles, people andother stimuli that previously would have upset him. Currently hisbehavior is calm, attentive to the walker and exactly what Amyhad hoped for. It was not an easy road by any means and there

will still be days that something may cause Charlie to lunge orbark, depending on the context, but the progress he has madehas bolstered his confidence and assisted him in relaxing and en-joying his walks. This video of Charlie happily interacting with an-other dog sums up what months of hard work can achieve. Isurely would not count him out yet as a future therapy dog. De-spite the grim start Charlie had, he will most likely be able togive his love as therapy to people that need it.

Dogs like Charlie require dedication and patience on the partof both owner and trainer. Like most behavior problems, modifi-cation can take time and be very emotionally taxing, but the re-wards are well worth the effort. Amy and Michael now get aquick heads-up from Charlie as a motorcycle whizzes by. Thishealthy behavior is a reward for both Charlie and his owners forthe months of work spent helping him learn that his world whileon leash is safe. n

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

T R A I N I N G

19

Jane Gerard looks into the plight of the rescue dog and describes her methods

for training, socializing and exercising dogs in shelter environments to provide

greater mental enrichment

Some dogs that are labeled aggressive are in fact frustratedby their environment and their living conditions. They have nooutlet other than to bark furiously at the first visitor who walksby. Environmental enrichment for dogs to a lot of people meansgiving the dog something to chew on or a toy that encouragesmental stimulation but this may not always be enough. Environ-ments for dogs in general are lacking and in this case I am refer-ring to certain boarding facilities or animal shelters, and evensome dog owners’ back yards.

When we look to the zoological field and see what we havelearned about environmental enrichment - including habitat de-sign - it becomes obvious we have not applied this to dogs.

Exotic animal species in captivity in many cases are better offthan domesticated companion and farm animals. It is as thoughour familiarity born of close proximity has blinded us to whatdogs really need.

Enriching the environment stimulates and creates physicaland cerebral activity for captive animals. This is no different fordogs. Although every breed has specific genetic traits that influ-ence what is natural to them, the one thing we can all agree onthat most dogs do like interaction or play and exercise with hu-mans and/or another dog. (Hubrecht, 1995).

If an environment were designed to aid dogs’ natural devel-opment rather than hinder or even suppress it, then maybe weneed to rethink of the way dogs are housed. Standard kennelsthat are built side by side with doggie doors and runs are eco-nomical, easy to clean and allow staff to move dogs in and out

It is often stated that the relinquishment of dogs to animalshelters in Europe and the US is largely due to behavior issues(American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, 2008; Mik-

lósi, 2007). I am saddened but not surprised by this. As a trainer Ihave witnessed it many times. Perhaps around half my clientshave adopted rescue dogs and they often present with behaviorissues. With behavior modification and training these can eventu-ally be extinguished in many cases, but it takes time and commit-ment.

If a shelter is well run and adequately funded, then the train-ing and rehabilitation of dogs can save their lives. But many shel-ters struggle with a lack of funding and overcrowding.Overworked staff spend the day maintaining the routine of clean-ing, feeding and administering medications. As such, very littletime is left for training. Instead, shelter staff often rely heavily onvolunteers who struggle to walk powerful dogs with little or notraining and few social skills.

We know that training using methods based on scientific re-search shows us how dogs learn. If a dog is trained using operantconditioning, then he learns behaviors because he wants to, orthat he can “make things happen, either good or bad, by choosingbehaviors that are either rewarded or punished… [and] can op-erate on [or manipulate] his environment by his behavior.”(Miller, 2008). Knowing this (and if we are able to), we can changethe environment in order to achieve success in training. Traininglike this with an awareness of the immediate and distant environ-mental influences will determine our success rate. Changes inthe environment “affect how our dogs behave.” (McConnell, 2002).

It seems to me if we can change our dogs’ environments tohelp solve the problem behaviors, then we definitely should bedoing just that, even in a rescue environment.

In most shelters, dogs are housed side-by-side in metal ken-nels. Some have doggie doors that allow the dogs to defecate alittle distance from where they sleep. Most have no area wherethey can hide from the public. The environment can be bleak andnoisy. In these circumstances it is no wonder dogs are returnedbecause of behavior issues (American Veterinary Society of Ani-mal Behavior, 2008; Miklósi, 2007).

Other rescue groups I work with exist on a meager grant.The dogs may all be housed outdoors in square 10 feet by 10feet pens with tarps and wood siding to protect them from theelements. Many dogs live in these environments for months withlittle visual stimulation or training, and behaviors such as barking,digging, fence biting, spinning and aggression are all too common.Monetary restrictions may not allow for professional daily train-ing or environmental enrichment.

Running in Circles

Dogs are often abandonedat or returned to sheltersbecause of cited behaviorissues

20 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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without too much trouble. Note how this is typical of all our de-signs for dog housing, i.e. it is convenient for us but not necessar-ily conducive to a socially fit dog.

We need to be asking: Does typical housing used for dogscause frustration? Does it allow movement and interaction andprivacy?

When I interview my clients in the first session, I ask themwhat exercise they provide for their dog. Frequently the re-sponse is, “He has the back yard,” or “I walk her round the blockwhen I get back from work.” Many owners give excessive treatsand chew toys or bones to occupy the dog in lieu of an actualactivity. I see more dogs today on medication than 10 years agoin an effort to calm them down. Admittedly, walking or exercisinga companion dog varies greatly from town to town or state andcountry. In Europe it is common practice to walk a dog twice ifnot three times day because of the lack of space. Most people donot have large gardens or yards. In rural areas in the US the op-posite is true. In my neighborhood we still have roaming dogs,others have farm dogs or, worse yet, dogs chained outside thatserve merely to deter the intruder. In these circumstances andbased on my own experience working in these areas, littlethought is given to a dog’s needs.

In metropolitan areas sometimes dog parks are provided.Most are well-used pieces of land enclosed in a chain linkedfence of varying size. Most have no topography of any interestand all have too many dogs and not enough stimulation from theenvironment, making the dogs more likely to turn to each other.Needless to say, some have better social skills than others andfights are a real threat if the dog lacks adequate socialization.

For the professional working with economically disadvan-taged clients, thinking up ways to save the dogs and train thepeople can be exceptionally challenging. Determining what a dogreally needs is not universal knowledge. Some owners I workwith love their dogs as though they are children, yet they maystill lack knowledge on what the dog needs. Others I work withtreat dogs as commodities and abuse can be just one step away.

Many people come to me with dogs for behavior modifica-tion and training, some of which are rescued dogs adopted fromthe local shelter or a rescue group. Nearly all have the same is-sues, and have lacked exposure to the right kind of socializationearly on. Dogs who have been rescued or have behavior issuesoften need a lot of attention and rehabilitation but many ownersare simply unable to commit to this. It is labor and time inten-sive. Also, because the owner is at work most of the day, the dogis either crated or penned outside. When the tired owner re-turns from work he/she has neither the time nor energy to exer-cise the dog, much less train him. Developing a system thatutilizes the dog’s environment to reinforce desirable behaviorswould be of tremendous benefit in this all too common scenario.

In my work in local rescue, I decided I needed to find a waythat would enable people to train and socialize dogs in their re-spective shelter facilities, so I designed a training circle that is 33feet in diameter with an inner circle. The alleyway the dogs actu-ally run in is 3 feet wide. The idea behind this is that the dogs willkeep moving as there is nothing to stop them. I also designed a50 foot ring around the whole thing and draped black cloth over

Using fencing, author Jane Gerard created two circles to allow for greaterinteraction, a more stimulating environment and freedom of movement

when working with shelter dogs

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21BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

the inner fence so that the inner circle was shrouded from view.This made it more interesting for the dogs as they could not seepast the bend.

Now it is all set up, I have clients walk on the outside ringand encourage the “come” behavior from the dog on the insidering. This aids clients by helping them gain competency and confi-dence in a hands-off training approach. Targeting can be practicedby wedging a tennis ball in the fence in order to develop station-ing skills. This helps tremendously with jumping dogs and theclassic barge-through-the-gate behavior. No one can get hurtusing this system. Young children and seniors can easily workwith their dogs through the fence. If animal shelters invested inthis design, then even the most elderly or frail volunteer wouldbe able to clicker train the strongest dogs through the fence, in-cluding targeting, “walk by my side” or “come.” Moving in a con-stant circle without interruption even facilitates learning in myexperience.

If a plan like this to develop environmental influencers or an-tecedents was implemented at the beginning of the rescue andrehabilitation process, then we might see a shift in dog behaviortoo. My circle training ring also enables me to work several dogsat once. The dogs are still able to interact, but because the designis circular, i.e. a “run” that never stops, it encourages uninter-rupted movement from the dogs. Another advantage is that I canplace a dog who lacks social skills in one ring, with another dogwho is better adjusted socially in a separate ring. In this way thesocially well-adjusted dog is able to safely help the other dogthrough the fence by creating games like “chase me.” The dogsnever hit a wall or gate and do not have to stop or turn around.

I have traditional fencing too, which has corners. I observefence activity as the dogs run to the end and “hit” the right- an-gled fence that stops their forward movement. Dogs in a fencedarea that is square have a different facial expression.

We may want to ask ourselves whether we create adversebehavior from the moment of birth by using standard kenneling.Are we institutionalizing our dogs without realizing it? Are wereinforcing stereotypical behavior because of environmental de-sign? Perhaps if more shelters had training circles instead of stan-dard runs the dogs would be trained more quickly and easily gainmuch-needed social skills. This could certainly help in the adop-tion process and the ultimate goal of keeping more dogs inhomes. n

Jane Gerard CPDT-KA has worked with animals for over 30years. She has trained horses, llama, alpacas, sheep, cows, dol-phins, sea lions, seals, birds, cats and dogs in Europe, Bahamas,Mexico and the US. She built her first training and boardingfacility in Taos, New Mexico with an emphasis on the naturalenvironment for the dogs and the rescued horse. She is cur-rently working on her second facility aimed at teaching petowners the importance of socialization and training usingsuch tools as the circle training ring. She conducts workshopsand classes, has been featured in local radio shows and maga-zines and rescues horses whenever she can. See Jane Trains,www.janetrains.com, for more details.

ReferencesAmerican Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. Position State-ment on Puppy Socialization. (2008). Retrieved fromwww.avsabonline.org/uploads/position_statements/puppy_socialization.pdfHubrecht, R. (1995). The Welfare of Dogs. In Serpell, J. (Ed.),The Domestic Dog its Evolution, Behavior and Interactionswith People (p. 193). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress.McConnell, P. (2002). The Other End of the Leash. New York,NY: Ballantine Books. Miklósi, A. (2007). Dog Behavior, Evolution and Cognition. Ox-ford, UK: Oxford University Press.Miller, P. (2008). The Power of Positive Training. Somerset, NJ:Howell Book House.

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Does typicalhousing used fordogs reinforcestereotypicalbehavior?

22 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Learning to work with a reactive,anxious or fearful dog is a chal-lenging process. Dog owners espe-

cially struggle. They must learn new skillsand execute them correctly, while work-ing with a difficult, if not dangerous, dog.In such situations, owners are oftenrobbed of the opportunity to beginbasic skills with an easy dog. It is not anideal way for anyone to learn.Decoy dogs are one way in which

we, as behavior consultants, can createsome flexibility. Rather than honing skillsduring chance encounters during walks,families can practice skills in the pres-ence of a trained and predictable dog.The focus can be on the task at handand, more importantly, on the dog be-fore them.Using a decoy dog is more than sim-

ply adding a calm dog into a training ses-sion. A trained decoy dog is ahighly-skilled collaborative partner witha specific skill set. He is not an animalwe just happen upon during a walk, noris he a dog who is stalked without the owner’s knowledge orconsent. Using decoy dogs ethically and effectively takes somecareful planning.Our obligations extend to the client, their dog and to the

decoy. It is prudent to examine what each of these individuals re-quires in order to be successful.

The Decoy DogTraining and rehabilitation programs revolve around the dog inneed. However, both dogs in a training situation are always learn-ing and making new associations. What we do with one dog in-variably affects the other. We should never forget that the mostbombproof dog could deteriorate if we forget to consider thetraining program from his point of view.We need to limit our strategies to those that keep dogs

under threshold. Each above threshold response, displacementbehavior and warning sign that whispers, “I am not comfortable”is on full display to the decoy. If the client’s dog is worried orwants to leave, the decoy can clearly see this. Our training planshould not involve putting either dog in a position where theyare uncomfortable enough to want to leave. There simply is nogood reason to ask a decoy to work in those conditions. Wehave choices. We can choose to change our approach. We can

make the exercise easier. Both dogsshould want to continue.Not all dogs make suitable decoys.

Puppies require many positive social ex-periences. Do not place them in situa-tions that might compromisesocialization. Dogs with poor bounceback or who startle easily are not cutout for the job. Dogs with behavioral is-sues clearly need to have their ownproblems addressed – and not act asdecoy for someone else.Choose decoy dogs wisely. Decoy

dogs, when utilized fully, are animalswho engage in jobs that may come withsome risk. If carefully done, accidentsare unlikely. However, risk is not to beignored or dismissed.To minimize the risk, use safety

equipment as required. This might meanthe use of muzzles, leashes and perhapseven a backup tether. These tools are abackup plan, and are ideally not some-thing we ever want to use. It is likewearing a seatbelt when driving a car.

You do not want to use it and you do not drive dangerously be-cause you happen to be wearing a seatbelt. You wear a seatbeltregardless. There is no shame in having that little extra bit of pro-tection if it can help prevent an accident.Give hazard pay to decoy dogs. Do not take a decoy’s skills

for granted. Forgetting to pay the decoy for work done well canlead to weak behaviors. Take advantage of situations that lendthemselves to creating stronger positive associations. An excel-lent decoy dog wants nothing more than to participate.Most importantly, if a client ever refuses or fails to follow di-

rections, placing the decoy dog at risk – protect the decoy. Adecoy dog is not a replaceable business asset. He is a companion.

The ClientÊs DogHow and when decoy dogs are used depends on the trainingneeds of the client’s dog. For example, confusing the needs of aleash-reactive dog with an anxious dog can lead to misuse of thedecoy. That can lead to scenarios where the client’s dog struggles.The leash-reactive dog needs to learn how to focus and walk

politely on leash. Typically, we use operant conditioning to over-come the frustration that is triggered by the leash. Like any otheroperant conditioning process, we would start in a quiet place.Duration, distance and distractions are added later in the

A decoy dog can help a reactive dog overcomeany frustration triggered by the leash

Yvette Van Veen outlines how to safely and successfully use decoy dogs in behavior

modification programs

The Art, Science and Ethics of Using Decoy Dogs

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23BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

process. Adding the decoyat the beginning would belike starting loose-leashwalking in a crowded park.It is bad form and wouldset us up for failure fromthe outset.Fearful and anxious

dogs are often helped withclassical countercondition-ing. The trigger predictssomething the dog likes;usually high value foodtreats. The trigger needs to be present and noticed for this totake place. When no trigger is present, we do not give any treats.We need to add the decoy at the beginning of the trainingprocess and then adjust difficulty by changing the intensity of thetrigger.There truly are times when it is best to put the decoy away.

Using a trained decoy dog can tempt us into doing more repeti-tions – repeatedly walking back and forth past the anxious dog.We might gleefully see dramatic results from the beginning of thesession to the end. Unfortunately, this result is likely temporary.After a break, the fear is likely to return.To create strong associations, the dog needs long breaks be-

tween the end of one trial and the beginning of the next. This isthe intertrial interval. Many experiments on classical conditioningspace trials more than five minutes apart. For strong conditioningto take place, this intertrial interval should be significantly longerthan the interstimulus interval (Domjan, 2015, p. 84). As easy andas tempting as it is to do more repetitions, walking back andforth is not in the dog’s best interest. During breaks, we need tohave a safe place where the decoy dog can wait.As we move the decoy about, we need to take care that our

handling does not undermine progress. Our actions can tip offthe client’s dog. The dog discriminates between the set up andreal life. Potentially, we might condition the dog to the wrongstimuli altogether.Actions such as walking away, retrieving the decoy dog, open-

ing the crate door, using cones as visual markers – they allscream “setup!” Be predictably unpredictable. The decoy dogshould be reliable, but the scenarios should not have the appear-ance of a set up.Occasionally, walk away and return without the decoy. Use

more than one decoy dog to vary the appearance of the ap-proaching dog. Approach from a new direction. Send the decoyinto the area on a long line without the handler visibly present -but only if the decoy can do so safely. Do it all while keeping allthe dogs under threshold.

The ClientClients also need to know what to expect. The better they un-derstand what is being done and why, the more likely they willfollow instructions.Keep exercises easy so clients can develop their skills. Our

plans and decoy use should give them as much hands-on experi-

Yvette Van Veen PCT-A is dog behavior consultant andowner of Awesome Dogs, www.awesomedogs.ca. She is alsoa long-time columnist and multiple Dog Writers Associationof America award nominee, and currently writes a regular col-umn for The Toronto Star. She has worked with rescue dogsfor more than 14 years, focusing mainly on rural, roaming andferal rescue dogs from communities throughout Ontario andQuebec, Canada. She is also the creator of Awesome DogsShareables, www.facebook.com/Awesomedogsresources, aneducational meme site providing resources and training tips insmall, shareable formats.

ReferencesDomjan, M. (2014). The Principles of Learning and Behavior. Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.

ence as possible without com-promising the progress of thedog. It is really a delicate bal-ance between giving the dogthe breaks he needs and givingthe client time to practice.A trainer’s dog is an intimi-

dating thing to many owners.Our dogs are often seen asbeing easy or exceptional. Donot hesitate to point out yourdog’s journey, warts and all.Make the decoy accessible to

the client. Our dogs are not there to stroke our egos, but to helpwith coaching and to inspire clients.Our exceptional dogs need to learn how to behave like a real

dog. In real life, few dogs are calm and well-mannered. If barking ispart of the trigger, it helps to have a dog that barks on cue. If fast,darting dogs are a difficult distraction, it helps to have a dog thatwill run and dart in a limited area on cue. Dogs in the real worldsuddenly pop out from behind parked cars. A decoy can imitatethese scenarios and allow families to practice responding.On the other hand, clients need to feel safe. Our dogs need to

have strong impulse control. A decoy dog should ignore droppedfood, especially if working near resource guarding dogs. A plannedtraining session should not become an all-out brawl because twodogs bolted for the same stray cookie.Decoy dogs do not get any ribbons or medals. Yet they influ-

ence many. So many families I know forget my dog’s tricks butthey remember the firsts their dogs had with my decoys – thefirst butt sniff, the first time walking calmly past a dog, the firsttime their dog play bowed to another.Butt sniffs might not be glamorous but they certainly are spe-

cial milestones. While decoys open the possibility to many noveltraining scenarios, we need to view their use from all angles if wewant to use them ethically, effectively and responsibly. nFor more on this topic, join us for the PPG LIVE Webinar: Reactive Dogs - The Science and Art of Set Ups and The Use of

Decoy Dogs to Achieve SuccessSunday, September 13, 2015 at 12pm - 1:30pm (EDT)Register at: petprofessionalguild.com/event-1942287

For strong conditioning to take place, the intertrial interval should be significantlylonger than the interstimulus interval

A Positive Exchange

One of my general observationsabout dogs is they are not goodat sharing. From a canine point of

view, attention, food, toys, even a comfort-able resting place might be worth protect-ing from encroachment. And, theencroachers might be any species, humans,canines or even felines can be subject tothreats or attacks by a dog determined toretain a coveted item or location.

When I was a child, my parents alwayscautioned me about approaching a dogwhen he was eating. As an adult, I can un-derstand why this is good advice, if onlythe tip of the resource guarding iceberg.Many of us are surprised to find our dogsbaring their teeth over a bone or toy, yetthis is totally normal canine behavior. Nev-ertheless, it can cause huge problems in the human world.

What is a resource guarder? In this case, I am referring todog who will employ threatening signals or even bite when wetry to take an object or move him from his comfortable location.A dog may stare, freeze, growl, curl his lip and/or hover over anitem in an attempt to protect it. If a location is being guarded, thedog may also lunge to prevent being moved. Biting can occur ineither situation if the warning signals are ignored.

I could not find any definitive research about why dogs be-come resource guarders. It has been suggested there is a geneticpredisposition. It has also been suggested it is a learned behavior,particularly by the biggest and strongest pups in a large litter. Re-

gardless of the cause, resource guarding can be dangerous if notrecognized and understood. It can cause dogs to lose theirhomes and possibly even their lives.

As a part of my normal training protocol, I teach dogs toleave and drop a variety of items. I often do trades. The dog givesme an item and I either give it back or give him something betterin return. This is a game most dogs enjoy. Tug and fetch can fallinto this training category. In tug, we play, the dog gives me thetoy and I give it back so we can play some more. How great isthat? In fetch, I throw the toy. The dog brings it back so I canthrow it some more. That's great too. These games can establisha give and take routine that informally may reduce the desire to

guard. These games can also indicate an issue. If the dogdoes not view these activities as games and becomes toofocused, aroused or intense, it gives us an opportunity torealize there may be a problem.

If your dog guards objects from you, a program of de-sensitization can be introduced. As an example, my dogRio guards bully sticks. If I come over to him when he isenjoying one, he will hunch over it and do a rattlesnaketail wag that indicates trouble. To address the issue, Istarted the desensitization process by entering the room,probably 15 feet away. I tossed a few high value treats andwalked away. I did that until he dropped the bully stick andsat up when I entered the room, anticipating treats werecoming. Then, I began slowly coming closer, always tossingteats and retreating when Rio showed any signs of uneasi-ness. These can vary from dog to dog, but these signsmight include hunched body posture, growling,eating/chewing faster or picking the item up and increasing

24 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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This dog is guarding herbone and may bite if hersignals are ignored and shefeels her precious resourceis any further threatened

Cecelia Sumner examines resource guarding, such a normal canine behavior and yet one

that can cause so many problems in the human world

Objects guarded by dogsinclude food, toys, beds,

people and locations(note the “freezing”

and hard stare)

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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the distance from me. I closed the distance at whatever rate Riocould tolerate. As he grew less worried, I tossed the treat a fewfeet to his side or behind him. Rio would leave the bully stick toget the treat. I would pick up the chew and return it to him. Thislowered his anxiety about me taking objects. It was a win-win sit-uation for Rio. He got a treat and his prize was returned to him.In a rather short time, maybe two weeks, I was able to walk upto Rio, pet him, take the stick and return it to him without anydefensive behaviors appearing. This is only one of the many wayswe can treat resource guarding from people. I always recom-mend consulting with a force-free trainer when dealing with re-source guarding issues.

Dogs can guard things from other dogs too. To me, this is ac-tually more problematic. I generally use management to preventthe guarding behavior. This means I give the dog a coveted itemin his crate and keep him separate until he is finished. Or, if thedog guards food, he eats separately from the other dogs. In Rio’scase, I give him a chew that lasts quite a while. Since it takes himlonger to finish, the other dogs can chew in peace. I monitorthem to be sure they leave Rio alone until he is done. Again,there are many ways to handle this problem. My method is justone of many.

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ReferencesDonaldson, J. (2013). Mine! A Practical Guide to ResourceGuarding in Dogs. Wenatchee, WA: Dogwise PublishingMcConnell, P. (2013). Resource Guarding: Treatment and Prevention. Retrieved from www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/resource-guarding-treatment-and-prevention

www.tawzerdog.com

Cecelia Sumner CBCC-KA CPDT-KSA PCT-A is animalbehavior manager at the Humane Society of Vero Beach,www.hsvb.org, and Indian River County. She also owns BestBehavior Dog Training, www.bestbehaviordogtraining.org, inVero Beach, Florida and is dedicated to fostering understand-ing and communication between dogs and their people.

There are some good books and articles available with moredetailed information, including the book Mine! by Jean Donald-son. Another is the article Resource Guarding: Treatment and Pre-vention by Patricia McConnell. Finally, enlisting the help of aforce-free trainer is an excellent way to help you handle a dogthat resource guards. n

Aggression from Hearing Impairment?

As any reputable behavior consultant will tell you, all ani-mals presenting with a behavior problem should first bechecked by a vet. As behavior consultants, we work on

veterinary referral for a number of reasons. Firstly, we want tobe sure that the problem is not a symptom of an underlyingmedical condition and, secondly, we may need to collaboratewith the veterinary professionals if medication or supplementsare needed to support the behavioral therapy. Sometimes wemight receive a referral where the examining veterinarian has de-cided that a medical issue has caused the behavior problem, butit is always worth going through our normal case taking and diag-nostic processes to check out these assumptions.

In the case of early or late-onset deafness where the present-ing dog was not born deaf,but has become deaf due toear infections, trauma or de-terioration in old age, wemay find that a change in be-havior is attributed to thedeafness. In a previous arti-cle I explored some of thecommon myths around deafdogs, including debunkingthe notion that deaf dogsare more likely to be aggres-sive and reactive just be-cause they are deaf (see It’sAll in the Management,BARKS from the Guild, May2015, p. 35).

In fact, an interestingpaper by Farmer-Dougan,Quick, Harper et al. (2014) reported that, based on a sample of461 dog-owners, hearing- or vision-impaired dogs were lesslikely to show aggression among other undesirable behaviors.

With this in mind, I am going to present a case study of a rel-atively complicated little dog who happens to have lost most ofher hearing and was referred for aggression problems. A col-league asked me to review the case notes and provide deaf dog-specific input. The summary below is necessarily abbreviated tofocus on the most relevant details.

Case Study: Tess (Boston Terrier, Female, Six Years Old)(All names and any identifying details have been altered)Tess lives in a home with two owners, and another dog of thesame breed (male, slightly younger, some tension between thetwo dogs). The owners contacted a behavior consultant for help

at the suggestion of their vet as it was difficult to handle ortouch Tess without being snapped at or nipped. It transpired thatTess would also bark at any dogs she saw when out on walks andhad attacked three dogs when off-leash. The vet suggested thatsince Tess had now lost most of her hearing following repeatedear infections and mites, that the deafness was the reason for theaggression. Their reasoning was that since Tess was likely to besurprised by both her owners and other dogs, she was becomingdefensively aggressive.

Additional information from the behavior consultant revealedthat Tess was reluctant to have her harness and leash put on (re-sulting in nipping and snapping) and once out on a walk wouldrefuse to take treats, becoming fixated on the other dogs and

barking. The owners re-ported that Tess was okayto handle and social withother dogs prior to theonset of the deafness.

The behavior consult-ant had started the own-ers on a straightforwardplan of education in ca-nine body language tohelp them respect Tess’spersonal space, and usingfood for desensitizationand counterconditioning(to both handling and har-ness fitting). The ownerswere encouraged to walkTess at quieter times andgenerally avoid other dogs

for the moment. Good progress had been made by the secondvisit and Tess was noticeably more affectionate with the owners.So far so good.

However, little Tess was described as being “very distracted”when going out for street walks, staring at the door and then ei-ther sniffing or pulling when outside. Tess refused food at alltimes out on walks. The working prognosis thus far was that thiswas due to her deafness, Tess was now hypervigilant and worriedwhen out on walks. Since she was unwilling to take treats at allwhen outside the home (even on quiet walks) the behavior con-sultant was starting to feel rather stuck.

Time to Stop and ReconsiderAs a deaf dog specialist trainer, the behavior consultant asked formy input at this stage.

What would I do differently? Well, for me when a dog ap-

26 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Tess’s aggressive behaviorwas attributed to her late onset deafness

© Can Stock Photo/SentientPhotos

Morag Heirs presents the case of Tess, the six-year-old Boston terrier whose late onset

deafness was deemed responsible for a host of behavior issues

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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pears to be finding it so difficult to cope outdoors, my first portof call would be to encourage the owners to only drive to veryquiet areas for Tess’s exercise and avoid all street walks. Keepinga daily diary to monitor encounters with other dogs should alsohelp to get a clearer picture of the stressors.

Working at home on handling, harness fitting and making surethe owners had some simple hand signals to use for communica-tion would be the first priority. I would then want to exploreTess’s ability to eat different kinds of appealing food in differentplaces – to see whether she really could not eat at all outsidethe home. I would want to study a video of her body languageoutside the home to try and get a better sense of the underlyingemotion.

I would also want to make sure the owners understoodabout uncued or zen attention, and that Tess was really comfort-able playing this kind of focus game with them in the house andin the garden. We would want to then try and extend this to avery safe outdoor place based on where she seemed able to takesome treats. And so it would hopefully build into a successful in-tervention. (Note: For reasons of space and focus I have not outlinedmy entire process here, and would also like to acknowledge that as in-dividuals, each behavior consultant has his/her preferred approach.)

The Big But⁄.I was puzzled by the assumption that the problem behaviors(snapping/nipping owners, barking and attacking other dogs, nerv-ousness when outside the home) were all caused by Tess losingher hearing. Perhaps I am naturally suspicious, but as a trainerand behavior consultant I have learned to keep an open mindwhen hearing the words “she was fine before xyz.” Sometimesthis is true, but as I read through the notes I could not help won-dering if the little dog might have been less comfortable in allthese situations even before losing her hearing.

Repeated mite infestations and ear infections are painful, andit seems likely the infections were severe since they led to a totalloss of hearing. The treatments would have been uncomfortableand required repeated administration and restraint by the own-ers. We know that pain changes behavior in general, and itseemed to me that it was very likely Tess would start to associ-ate any hand movements near her head with future discomfortand pain. So we have an alternative explanation for the snappingand nipping when handled, and when the harness was pushedover her head.

What if Tess had been slightly less pro-social around otherdogs than her owners realized (and without historical videofootage to go back to we are reliant on owner-memory and ob-servation skills)? Then the addition of ear pain into somewhatstressful encounters with other dogs could have been enough tochange her reactions and prompt a more pro-actively defensiveresponse. Certainly deafness could result in some increasedstartle responses to a suddenly appearing dog, but it seemsmore likely that pain had influenced the emotional association.

It was unclear from the notes to what extent Tess’s very dis-tracted behavior outside on walks was a new development fol-lowing the hearing loss, so we are left wondering how much ofthis might also have been present beforehand.

ConclusionComing to the case with a slightly different set of preconcep-tions meant that I saw the deafness as a much smaller part ofthe jigsaw puzzle for Tess. Occam’s razor* reminds us that thesimplest explanation is often the best, and we should avoid over-complicating things. In this case, it seems more likely that re-peated painful experiences created an aversion to being handled,and this may also have affected Tess’s interactions with otherdogs. Noting this as a potentially significant factor would meanthat my approach would also now include rechecking the earsfor any discomfort, and introducing sensitive bodywork such asTTouch™ around those areas.

Hopefully I will be able to update you on Tess’s progress in alater article, but thoughts and comments are very welcome. n

* Occam's (or Ockham's) razor is a principle attributed to the14th century logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The

principle states that: "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily."

ReferencesFarmer-Dougan, V., Quick, A., Harper, K., Schmidt, K., & Camp-bell, D. (2014). Behavior of hearing or vision impaired and normal hearing and vision dogs (Canis lupus familiaris): Notthe same but not that different. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 9(6), 316–323. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.07.002Heirs, M. (2015, May). It’s All in the Management. BARKS fromthe Guild, pp. 35-37: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_may_2015_online_version_opt/35

Morag Heirs PhD MSc MA(SocSci)(Hons) PGCAP humanand canine remedial massage therapist, is a companion animalbehavior counselor who runs Well Connected Canine,www.wellconnectedcanine.co.uk, in York, UK. She workswith deaf and blind dogs professionally, provides training andsupport for the Deaf Dog Network and is the behaviorist forSheffield Animal Centre (RSPCA) and York & District RSPCAbranches in the UK.

The Pet Professional Guild has announced its first ever convention, to be held in

Tampa, Florida on:Wednesday, November 11 - Friday, November 13, 2015.

More details at www.petprofessionalguild.com/Force-Free-Summit

THE FORCE-FREE SUMMIT: REACHING FOR A HIGHER

STANDARDSAVE THE DATE!

Training a Blind Dog

Unfortunately, even knowledgeable and experienced train-ers sometimes hesitate when it comes to working with ablind dog. It is as if they consider the dog’s blindness an

obstacle that cannot be overcome. Since blindness cannot bechanged, this mindset can lead trainers to believe that these dogscannot be trained but this is, of course, untrue. The dog’s blind-ness does not inhibit training. His emotional state, however, maybe preventing him from having a positive learning experience.

As explained by Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz at the Clicker Expo inPortland, Oregon in January 2015, if the dog is feeling fear, he isin “escape contingency” because he is facing an unpleasant orharmful event. If he is feeling anxiety, he is in “avoidance contin-gency” because he is anticipating that an unpleasant or harmfulevent is going to happen. If the dog is feeling frustration, he is in"negative punishment” or “extinction contingency” because whathe wants is unavailable. Another possibility is that he has notlearned how to cope with the aversive state. Dr. Rosales-Ruizstates that emotions arise from contingencies; as such, the blinddog’s environment produces his fear, anxiety and frustration.

As trainers we all know that we can successfully modify adog’s behavior by changing the environment appropriately. In thesame way, we can change a dog's emotional state. Environmentalchange plus using the knowledge and skills of positive reinforce-ment can eliminate fear and anxiety, the enemies of fun training.To help a dog who is overwhelmed you need to provide a safeenvironment, as well as time and positive reinforcement. This istrue regardless of whether or not the dog can see. You just needto exercise a little more ingenuity if the dog is blind.

Safe Environment Before you invite a blind dog and her owner to your training fa-cility, you should literally crawl around on the floor so you canobserve it from the same height as a dog’s eyes. Look for sharpobjects and corners that could injure the blind dog’s eye, face or

body. If you see any, remove them or cover them with cushionedmaterial such as a yoga mat. It would be best to put your trainingequipment in one place and put ring gates or visual barriersaround it in order to prevent a blind dog’s access. If you invite ablind dog to your yard or outdoor area, check first for holes andplants. Stepping in a hole can cause serious injury. Bumping aneye into a plant can injure the cornea which causes severe pain.

Blind dogs are prone to bumping their faces and heads on thelegs of tables and chairs. Tables and chairs must be put away ortheir legs covered with cushioned material. Chair covers forweddings, which cover a chair entirely down to the floor, canmake it easier for a blind dog to be aware of the chair and pre-vent her from getting injured by the chair’s legs.

It is important to remember the three kinds of places whereblind dogs are prone to feel scared and confused: crowded, nar-row spaces; large, high-ceilinged spaces; and novel spaces. If ablind dog is in a narrow space surrounded by lots of objects, shecan feel like she will get stuck. To help her walk through a narrowspace safely, have her come between the handler’s legs and havethem then walk together. As you can see in this video, I use a ver-bal cue for moving forward together. After that I replace it with atactile cue of my leg movement, so that she was walking while Iwas walking and when I stopped, she stopped. Later on I addedanother tactile cue which involved a different leg movement foru-turns. Consequently, there is no longer a need to say anythingexcept when I invite her to position herself between my legs.This cue is very useful when I need to control my dog’s move-ments and my hands are full. It is also useful when she is con-fused and scared in large or novel places. I can help her feel safeenough to walk using this method.

The second type of place that a blind dog may need yourhelp is a large space with a high ceiling, like a gym or dance hall.Echoes occur in this type of space. The echoing of a person’sfootstep and voice or a dog’s barking makes it difficult for a blind

28 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Blind dogs need to be given thetime to explore new places so

they feel more secure

The face and muzzle are important toolsthat allow a blind dog to measure the heightof a step or define the shape of an object

Miki Saito says there is nothing to be afraid of when training a blind dog and shows how

improving the dog’s emotional state can empower trainers

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dog to determine relative distance. She will struggle to figure outthe distance to the other dog or person, as well as the numberof dogs and people. This can make her anxious.

The third is a novel place. A blind dog has a map of a familiarplace in her head. She can follow this map, which makes her feelsecure and competent. But she does not have a map of a novelplace. This makes her feel anxious. She does not know the sizeand shape of the place, where she should be more careful orwhere her safe place is. When a blind dog comes to a novelplace, she needs to have the time and opportunity to safely ex-plore, in order to create the new map in her head. To help a blinddog truly know the new place and situation, she needs to begiven enough time and freedom to "see" with her nose and ears,check around with her muzzle or face, and decide for herselfwhether she wants to explore or not. A blind dog must be giventhe opportunity to explore your facility before each of her les-sons. As I wrote in my previous article, Empowerment for a Bet-ter Quality of Life (BARKS from the Guild, May 2015, pp. 32-34), ablind dog’s muzzle and face are important tools for understand-ing the shape of an object and for measuring the height of a step.To help the blind dog create the map of your facility, you need tomaintain the same conditions. This means always putting equip-ment in the same place and not moving furniture.

Some blind dogs feel safer when on a leash, especially in anunfamiliar place. Whether it is better to have a blind dog on oroff leash when letting her explore a new place depends on thedog. A blind dog can know in which direction she should go, aswell as what distance she should be from her handler, by a tinychange in the tension of the leash. I taught my blind dog Nonomicro-leash signals and used them to help her feel comfortable walking.

I have found the following method is best to help a blind dogget up a step safely and comfortably. I walk with my dog on aloose leash. When we reach a step, I slow down and stop in frontof the step and say, “there’s a step” as a notice cue. This makesher aware of the step so that she does not bump into it andgives her the opportunity to measure its height with her muzzle.For details about a notice cue, which lets a blind dog know whatis going to happen, see my handout Blind Dog Notice Cue.

Positive ReinforcementA blind dog will learn by experience that she can get what shewants by using senses and abilities other than eyesight. The morefrequently good outcomes occur while she is using her remainingsenses and abilities, the more she will build skills to use them.This develops her confidence. Those positive experiences willhelp her adapt to her condition and cope with a difficult situation.

As Dr. Rosales-Ruiz says, "If you are feeling happy, you are in apositive reinforcement contingency." Positive reinforcement af-fects not only behaviors and skills but also emotional states. For-tunately, you have as many chances to reinforce the dog’sbehaviors as the amount of kibble in the dog’s meals. You canprovide positive reinforcement by changing the way you give themeal: subtract some of the daily meal from the food bowl anduse it to fill food puzzles such as a Kong, or to play nose gamesand do training sessions.

You can sprinkle kibble on the floor of your facility and let

ReferencesRosales-Ruiz, Jesús. The Quadrant Quandary: Clarity and Per-spective on an Icon. Presentation at Clicker Expo, Portland,Oregon, January 23-25, 2015.Saito, M. (May 2015). Empowerment for a Better Quality ofLife. BARKS from the Guild, pp.32-34: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_may_2015_online_version_opt/32Handout Blind Dog Notice Cue: www.blinddogtraining.com/resource#notice-cueVideo Blind Dog Walking with Trainer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LKSkMp8rTIVideo Chin Rest: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXAUJHonQ8Video Hand Targeting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj70C3lBDE4Video Shaping the Turn: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2N3uXB0bkVideo Teaching Sound Signals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g2XzZVer8o

Miki Saito CPDT-KA is a dog training and behavior consult-ant at Mark and Reward dog training and education,www.MarkandReward.com, in Yokohama, Japan. She is consid-ered an expert in training blind and visually-impaired dogs.Her dog Nono is the first and only blind dog who has passedthe D.I.N.G.O. Master Handler test. She shares ideas forhelping and training blind dogs on her website Blind DogTraining, www.BlindDogTraining.com, and her YouTube chan-nel, www.youtube.com/tdfn.

the dog search and eat it on a loose leash or off leash. The dog’sowner can put pieces of kibble one-by-one on the floor whilewalking backwards, encouraging the dog to follow while eatingthe kibble. If the dog manages these games easily, you can make ita little more difficult. You can cover some sprinkled kibble with apaper cup or wrap some kibble up with hand towels or handker-chiefs and put it around the room. Next, you can start to teachsimple behaviors which are prerequisites for desired behaviorsor useful tricks for daily life: turning the head or face to the di-rection of a hand-clap or the dog’s name being called; turning inresponse to being touched with the finger tips; hand targeting;chin rest; and the dog going between his owner’s legs (see page28). You can also teach a spin starting with the behavior of look-ing at the direction of the touch and then shape the turn. In ad-dition to all of this, it is helpful to teach various sound signals tolet a blind dog know where heshould go.

My aim is to show ownersand trainers that teaching ablind dog is similar to teachinga fearful, sighted dog. Bothtypes of dogs need help toimprove their emotionalstates. This approach will helpdog trainers feel empoweredto confidently work with ablind dog if they are asked. n

Positive reinforcement affects emotional states, as well as behavior

Compulsive Eating

Also known as compulsive eating dis-order, compulsive eating is a disor-der where a dog tends to eat

everything - from food items to non-fooditems. The specific practice of eating non-food, non-nutritive substances, such as woolor paper, is known as pica. Stool eating (co-prophagia) can also be categorized under pica.

Common among PuppiesPuppies are curious animals. They eat justabout anything they can find, including thingsthat are inedible. Puppies love to investigatetheir surroundings. An excellent way to dothis is for a puppy to put unfamiliar itemsinto his mouth. Puppies will chew and quitepossibly swallow anything, purely out of cu-riosity. At six months of age (this differsfrom dog to dog), most puppies will growout of this investigative behavior phase. Oth-ers may stop because of discouragementfrom the owners.

Some dogs, however, may continue toconsume inedible items after the puppy investigation stage. Thismay be the first sign of a compulsive eating disorder, or pica.

Recognizing the SymptomsYou will notice that your dog seems intensely excited to seekout and eat inedible objects, such as rocks, plastic bags, wood,clothing, leaves, paper and stool. If the dog swallows things thatare not really food, you will need to help him overcome theproblem. Compulsive behaviors are unlikely to go away withoutintervention.

Possible Causes There are two main reasons why adult

dogs eat items that arenon-consumable. It is ei-ther a physical issue or a

behavioral one.

Physical Issues: Thesemay include a lack of nu-trients in the dog’s diet. Ill-

ness, such as

digestive disorders or parasitic infections,can also cause the problem.

Behavioral Issues: Boredom is often thebiggest factor in the behavioral aspect ofcompulsive behaviors. Your dog may havebeen left alone all day and managed to findjoy in chewing and eating the rug or thenewspaper. Or he may have learned thatgoing outdoors gives him the opportunityto eat a variety of items which he hasstarted to find reinforcing.

Possible Solutions:

Medical IssuesAlways consult a veterinarian to rule outmedical issues. A digestive disorder or par-asitic infection may be at the root of thebehavior.

Mental StimulationOnce medical causes or nutritional defi-

ciencies are ruled out, stock up on chew and feeding toys such asKongs, Nylabones and antler chews to keep your dog occupied.Toys made of a harder material are not easy to disintegrate andare in turn less likely to be swallowed. Engage in fun activitiessuch as fetching, tugging and even agility. These activities help toburn off that excess energy, engage the brain and decrease bore-dom. It goes without saying there is no place for punishing thedog for the compulsive behavior. Here, as in any other case, thisrisks making the problem worse.

Another strategy is using a kibble/treat dispenser. This alsohelps with mental stimulation and it gives the dog a job to do. Ifthe dog is mentally tired, he will be much less emotionally reac-tive and will no longer have all that energy to look for somethingto do, or even feel the need to. A bored dog will most likely beup to no good. There are many brands of treat dispenser avail-able. Some even have a wifi function so you can control the feed-ing even if you are not at home.

TrainingTeach your dog to “leave it,” as well as a reliable "recall." This isso that, if the dog is off leash and manages to find an object tochew on, you can easily call him to you and away from the item.Should you be walking your dog and you spot him eyeing some

tasty leaves or rocks, you can also use the "leave it" cue. You can also teach your dog the "watch" cue so he

will learn to check in with you from time to time on

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Wool and fabric aresome of the inedible

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Maureen Tay looks into the motivations for unusual eating patterns in dogs and highlights

possible solutions and management options

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walks. If your dog focuses on you, he will not be able to stick hisnose to the ground the whole time. It is either this or that. Sub-stitute the undesirable behavior with an alternative, incompatible,preferably more attractive, behavior.

I also like to train dogs to love wearing a basket muzzle. Ifyou teach your dog to positively accept wearing one, it can be avery effective and humane tool for managing problems, especiallyif you have a dog who loves picking up anything he encountersduring a walk. A basket muzzle will still allow the dog to pant toregulate his body temperature and to drink water.

DeterrentsThere are coprophagia deterrent products on the market thatcan stop your dog from eating the stool by making it taste bad.However, I have personally experienced some dogs that havelearned to accept the taste of the deterrents and they continuedto eat inappropriate things. The best solution for stool eating isto remove the waste as soon as your dog defecates. The sameapplies if he likes to raid the cat litter tray. I do not recommenddeterrents.

As a last resort, speak to your veterinarian about the possi-bility of using medication to decrease the dog’s levels of stressand/or compulsive be-havior.

ManagementMy best advice is tomanage the behavior.Other than modifyingthe dog’s behavior bykeeping him occupied,you can also modifyyour own. For exam-ple, if you are notaround to superviseyour dog, keeping himconfined in one roomor crated can preventhim from eating thingshe is not supposed to.By doing this, you set

Maureen Tay is the chief trainer at KasPup UniFURsity,www.kaspupunifursity.com and a PPG Singpore steering com-mittee member. She is a licensed Family Paws Parent Educationeducator, a certified canine first responder and an accrediteddog trainer recognized by the Panel for Accreditation of DogTrainers, Singapore. She is currently studying to be a servicedog trainer at the International College of Canine Studies.

him up for success, which is always the goal in training. Just re-member to give him plenty of chew toys so he will not be leftbored in his confined area. Also, instead of putting letters or im-portant documents on the table where your dog can accessthem, put them elsewhere. Instead of leaving shoes on the floor,keep them in a cupboard or shoe rack. You get the idea.

Prevention is key. If you can prevent and manage the behavior,and at the same time give your dog something else to do, you areactually slowly removing the unwanted behavior. It is well worthit. Compulsive eating and pica can be life threatening, not tomention expensive. There are countless vet reports regardingdogs who have had to undergo surgery to remove rocks, safetypins and the like. It goes without saying that this is best avoided,at all costs. n

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Puppies will oftenchew almost anything, but usually grow out of the behavior

Compulsiveeating can belife threateningand result inexpensive vetvisits

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The Aftermath of “Boot Camp”

Kobe is an 18-month-old terrier cross, who is loved madlyby his person, Lizzie. My private consultation session withthem is the only one in 10 years that has moved me to

tears, right there in front of the owner. It absolutely broke myheart to witness a dog displaying visible signs of anxiety, triggeredby hearing very basic and commonly used verbal cues. Sadly, itwould not be the last time I would witness this. There is nodoubt about it: there are side-effects associated with aversivetraining methods. I do not believe, however, that owners whohire such trainers ever truly intend to harm their dogs. I feel it ismore a matter of education. Lizzie was only doing what a profes-sional trainer had asked her to do.

I thoughtlong and hardabout how toshare Kobe’scase for this ar-ticle. Would Iuse technicalterms and jar-gon, share mytraining plan,share segmentsof Kobe’s pre-consultationform and soon? In the end Ifelt that Lizziecould tellKobe’s storybest, and thatreaders couldbenefit from

learning about her perspective. The following are Lizzie’s words,based on her experience with Kobe.

“I have always loved dogs. When I was a little girl we had a lit-tle terrier and since then my heart has always had an especiallysoft spot for little dogs. After college I settled into a career andbought a house but I still felt a void in my life. I had no doubt thatwhat I was missing was a furry friend of my own.

“I first saw Kobe when I was browsing a local shelter petwebsite and I immediately wanted to know all about him. I wentto meet him and brought him home the same day because theshelter was about 45 miles from where I lived. I knew I wantedhim and did not want to make two trips, a decision I soonthought might have been rushed and impulsive. Kobe was ahyper, rambunctious terror who barreled his way into my oncevery organized lifestyle. I was terrified but loved him anyway. My

parents had never put our dog in a crate but Kobe had quicklydestroyed my couch and a few books off my bookshelf so, withinhis first week, I went out and got one. I also made an appoint-ment with a groomer friend to get him all pampered and clean. Idon’t think he had ever had a haircut. He was very unkempt.

“The groomer was part of a veterinary clinic, which also of-fered day care. When I picked Kobe up they mentioned that hewould benefit from some type of obedience training. I completelyagreed and was relieved to know there was hope for him to be a“good boy.” I did not do my homework and instead forked out afew hundred dollars and packed a bag with some of the new toyswe had picked out. He would be gone for a week. I was assuredthat, after boot camp,I would be able to“enjoy my dog.”

“When I pickedhim up from bootcamp, I watched froma window a demon-stration of what hehad learned. He re-sponded to all thecues he was given buthe seemed different. Icannot describe it.He was not thehappy crazy guy I haddropped off. His earswere back and hishigh tail was tuckedbetween his legs. Itwas like a teenagerreturning from bootcamp or military school. He had changed.

“When I was asked to come outside, he was so happy to seeme. I noticed he had a shiny collar on instead of the cute littleone he had been wearing when I dropped him off. It had sharpmetal prongs inside, which when pulled, would dig into his neck. Iwas very concerned that it was hurting him because he was sucha little guy, but I was assured by the trainer that it was very com-parable to being picked up by his mother’s teeth. I was given briefinstruction on administering “corrections” and was told to nottake the collar off for at least eight months.

“The following weeks were rough. I was taught a new way ofwalking him and it involved yanking the leash anytime he didn’t“heel.” Whenever he acted like a puppy and wanted to stop andsniff, I was supposed to yank his leash and get him to walk at mybehest.

32 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Amanda Ballard relates the tale of Kobe, the terrier cross who displayed intense anxiety

following an aversive training “boot camp,” and his journey back to emotional stability

Kobe was a changeddog when he cameback from bootcamp, completewith prong collarand fearful behavior

After his experience with aversive trainingmethods, certain words made Kobe anxious

so his owner and trainer came up with anew set of training cues for him

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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“The only timeI saw him happywas at the dogpark when theleash was off andhe could run free.His interactionswith other dogsconcerned me asthey would snip athim when he ap-proached them. Iposted on socialmedia about thisconcern andasked my friendsif anyone wouldbe willing to bringtheir dog so hecould have somefriends. That iswhen our lifechanged. A friendgave me AmandaBallard’s contactinformation andsaid she used adifferent way to

work with dogs. I just could not bear giving him “corrections”any longer. It was not in my nature. When I finally made the call,such a good feeling came over me. The things that she said wereso positive. She did not have this attitude of “I’m the boss andthe dog needs to know his place.” I loved my dog and thought ofhim as an equal. I did not want him to be scared of me. I wantedhim to be happy and have a good, comfortable life.

“The first session with Ballard was at our house. I was soskeptical that any of the force-free methods were going to workbecause of Kobe’s rambunctious nature. Ballard proved though,through Kobe’s behavior, that she had the answers we werelooking for. When he barked at her and wanted to jump up, sheignored him, waited for him to calm down and then gave himtreats. He quickly stopped jumping and barking and I became abeliever. I told Ballard that Kobe knew some cues and she askedus to demonstrate them. Kobe became noticeably anxious whenI gave him the “commands” that the other trainer had told me touse. He paced, began to spin, barked and looked for the closestobject to bite. He completely lost focus on what we were doing.That was the moment when everything really hit me. I had un-knowingly put him through a trauma he should never have en-dured. We talked about a plan to help Kobe with tears in oureyes. That night I tossed the prong collar into the garbage.

“The following weeks were filled with rewards instead of“corrections” and I watched my little buddy get better and bet-ter, even when doing very complex exercises. I am convinced hegained in confidence during this time. He could do all the tricksand was always so happy to get rewarded. We grew so much

Amanda Ballard is the owner of Halo Dog Animal BehaviorConsulting, Inc., www.facebook.com/halodoganimalbehavior,and has been working professionally for over a decade withpet parents on animal behavior modification and training, inveterinary clinics, with animal control organizations, and withrescue groups. She is owned by five “Halo dogs” who earntheir kibble by helping out with dog-dog reactivity cases.

closer, working on these kinds of homework assignments, andwere proud to show them off to Ballard when she checked in onour progress. The best part was that we successfully taught himto respond to a new vocabulary that did not cause him any anxi-ety. Sit became “park,” lay down became “plop,” and I alsolearned a new way to help with his barking.

“I feel very strongly that force-free methods are the only wayto train and bond with a dog. So much time was spent undoingthe damage that had been done in that one week. So much effortwas put into earning back the trust of my new pup. I had hurthim unintentionally, as I thought I was doing the right thing. I onlywish I would have known sooner that there were more positivemethods out there.

“Kobe and I have never been happier than we are right now. Ifinally am able to “enjoy my dog,” as they had ironically termed it,but only because I know he is truly happy and our lives are filledwith mutual rewards.” n

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Kobe’s owner had to work hard togain back the trustof her pup after his frightening bootcamp experience

Great Expectations

younger children who move quickly and make loud noises be-cause she wants to break out into chasing games. Impulse con-trol training at her young age is also a vital component. Learningto not go with her instinct and instead make different choicestakes time, and all interactions need to be planned out so certainbehaviors cannot be rehearsed and strengthened. Using the prin-ciples of positive reinforcement I can reward calm behavior andwhenever she chooses to disregard moving objects. I am fortu-nate to have my own training facility in Mission, British Columbiawhere I can set up specific training scenarios in a controlled en-vironment. Play and physical interaction is highly rewarding forGertie Mae so I use toys and play to reinforce behaviors withher; food is not always deemed to be of the highest value with a

T R E N D S

Based on her current experiences with red heeler puppy, Gertie Mae, Gail Radtke details

how to go about training a therapy dog while admitting that, ultimately, it is up to the dog

Iexpect great things for Gertie Mae, my six-month-old Aus-tralian cattle dog, as she follows in the footsteps of my latered heeler, Tawny Mae (see The Art of Teamwork, BARKS from

the Guild, July 2015, p.41-43) to become a therapy dog with theSt. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program. However, part of meis starting to face the reality that my expectations for GertieMae and her expectations for herself might be worlds apart. Ger-tie Mae is a true heeler in all her herding glory. If it moves, itmust be chased! Herding and therapy dog work do not really gotogether. As such, I have my work cut out for me if I am to stickto my plan to train Gertie Mae to be a therapy dog and evaluateher when she is two years old, which is the current required agefor the St. John Therapy Dog program.

I started training with Gertie Mae from minute I brought herhome at the age of 11 weeks. As the program coordinator forthe St. John Ambulance Therapy dog prison visitation programwith Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge,British Columbia (see Endless Possibilities, BARKS from the Guild,May 2015, p.43-45), I had the necessary access to take GertieMae into the prison with me. This gave me the opportunity toexpose her to a unique new environment and meet a diversepopulation of people in a controlled setting. Bearing in mind theprinciples of classical conditioning, I made sure to pair each ex-perience with a high value food treat or toy to make it a positiveexperience. Much of Gertie Mae’s future therapy dog work willbe in the prison program so her experience of this environmentat such a young age will be invaluable for her future evaluation.

When I am training with Gertie Mae I spend a great deal oftime teaching her how to resist moving objects. For her breedcharacteristics and instinct this can be difficult of course but I donot believe it to be impossible. Gertie Mae is wonderful withadults, but I have discovered that she has difficulty relaxing with

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Gertie Mae is a heelerto the core. Time willtell if she will be suitedto therapy dog work

Gertie Mae (left and right) and hertraining partner, Phaedra (center),

undergo exposure training to wheelchairs, walkers and umbrellas

34

playful puppy like this with cattle dog energy. In one of the recent puppy classes at my training centre I pre-

planned a number of scenarios in which I enlisted the help ofseveral friends to attend the class for puppy handling exercisesand exposure to groups of people. One of the exercises I findhelpful for the pups - including mine - is to have the helpers forma line sitting on their knees facing sideways. The helpers do notmake direct eye contact with the pups but instead hold out theirhands palm upwards with a treat in it. The handler walks the pupdown the line of people and the pup then eats each treat out ofthe outreached palms. Movement can be increased as the pupsmake a successful pass by. This is an excellent exercise for shypups (or adult dogs for that matter) to associate people withgood things.

I find another good set up for puppy class is to enlist a groupof helpers to come in and handle the pups. The helpers have highvalue treats with them and pass the pups between them, handlingand touching them each time and giving them treats. These exer-cises have been very successful in helping Gertie Mae create pos-itive associations with people.

I have also been exposing her to equipment she may comeinto contact with as a therapy dog. I recommend this to anyonewho would like their dog to become involved in therapy work. Itis essential for a therapy dog to be comfortable around wheel-chairs, walkers and physical assistance equipment, not only intheir stationary positions but also when they are moving. Assuch, setting up the training experience is important. Gertie Maeis fine with many objects when they are stationary but as soon asthey start to move she wants to herd and nip at their “heels” intrue heeler fashion. To train her, I start with the objects in a sta-tionary position and gradually move closer to them each time wepass, with treats placed near the object. I then move the treatcloser to the stationary object. As her comfort level increasesand she continues to display no reaction to the object, I movethe treat onto the object for her to retrieve. Once I have re-peated this exercise I add in a person with the object and beginagain with the systematic approach. This time the end goal is theperson and object moving past and Gertie Mae choosing to en-gage with me instead of herding them. I cannot say we are com-pletely there yet but she is definitely coming along. I amfortunate to have a friendand her shy six-month-oldfemale Mastiff, Phaedra,working with us; togetherwe can create the trainingsetups needed.

Ultimately it is GertieMae who will have thefinal say on whether shebecomes a therapy dog ornot. I do not want tochange who she is. Itcould well be that GertieMae has a few things toteach me along the way aswell, just as each of my

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Gail Radtke CPDT is a retired correctional supervisor andformer instructor of the Justice Institute of British Columbia,Canada. Gail has combined her passion for dogs and teachingand is a Family Paws Parent Education presenter and has re-cently completed her DipCBST. She is the owner and opera-tor of Cedar Valley K9, www.cedarvalleyk9.ca, in Mission,British Columbia.

dogs, past and present, has done. Maybe she will want to be outherding more than she wants to do therapy work.

If you would like to become involved in therapy work withyour dog, please check the references for the different types ofevaluations and testing done by organizations in North America.And finally, bear in mind that the most important thing of all isgetting out there and enjoying the company of your dog, no mat-ter what his job is. n

ReferencesRadtke, G. (2015, July). The Art of Teamwork. BARKS from theGuild, pp. 41-43: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_july_2015_online_version_opt_1/41?e=4452575/13892106Radtke, G. (2015, May). Endless Possibilities. BARKS from theGuild, pp. 43-45: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_may_2015_online_version_opt/43?e=0 ResourcesInternational Association of American Kennel Club: www.akc.org/dog-owners/training/canine-good-citizen/training-testingAssistance Dog Partners: www.iaadp.org/iaadp-minimum-training-standards-for-public-access.htmlCanadian Kennel Club: www.ckc.ca/en/Files/Forms/Shows-Trials/Event-Rules-Regulations/Canine-Good-Neighbour-Program-Evaluator-GuideDelta Society: www.deltasociety.com.au/pages/temperament-testing-procedures.htmlPet Partners: www.petpartners.ontidwit.com/Home/IndexTherapy Dogs International: www.tdi-dog.org/images/TestingBrochure.pdfSt. John Ambulance Become a Therapy Dog Volunteer:www.sja.ca/English/Community-Services/Pages/Therapy DogServices/Become-A-Therapy-Dog-Volunteer.aspx

The Importance of Learning to Read Dog

Some of the world’s top canine behavior experts and educa-tors gathered at the University of Lincoln, England in Junefor the second National Dog Bite Prevention and Behaviour

Conference, a national event spearheaded by PPG Special Coun-cil member, Victoria Stilwell, that is dedicated to finding practicaland workable solutions to the universal problem of dog bitesthrough education and heightened awareness, as well as provid-ing the most up-to-date information on canine behavior.

The first lecture, Not All Dogs That Bite Are Scared! Insights intothe Emotional Basis of Aggressive Behavior in Dogs, was given byDaniel Mills, professor of veterinary behavioral medicine at theUniversity of Lincoln. Prof. Mills spoke about the lack of agree-ment amongst pet professionals on the definition of aggressionand pointed out that we should refer to aggressive behavior,rather than simplistically labeling a dog “aggressive.” A greateremphasis on behavior such as this should lead us to considerwhether a stimulus is merely frustrating, or whether a dog isgenuinely fearful. As in all cases, the emotional state and motiva-tion behind the behavior is key. Even when a dog has bitten, wecannot simply classify him as dangerous, according to Prof. Mills.The bite could be accidental or, as is common, due to frustration,fear or pain. As we all know, punishment can cause frustrationand make a dog to react to certain stimuli when the same emo-tional circuit is triggered, even in what would appear to be an un-related event.

Prof. Mills also stated that one cannot assume a dog who re-source guards is aggressive, pointing out that aggressive displaysare often just a form of communication. A dog who has learnedthat turning his lip up does not result in his being left in peacemay learn to snarl instead. Or perhaps, having been punished, hehas learned that warning signs are not allowed, resulting in a dogthat bites without warning. Given that not all dogs bite becausethey are scared, we, as pet professionals, need to be systematicand objective in our analysis, to carefully evaluate aggressive inci-dents and use a systematic approach to understanding a dog’semotions. We also need legislation that makes sense, that doesnot imply that certain breeds are dangerous and others are not.The most important way to prevent dog bites is for people tolearn to read a dog, according to Prof. Mills, who reminded usthat most people have a maximum of 10 minutes a day to devoteto training so we need to keep our advice simple and precise. Iasked him what it would be if he had to give just one piece of ad-vice about dog bite prevention. His answer: “Learn to read dog.”

Kerstin Meints, professor of developmental psychology fromthe University of Lincoln, next presented on Children and Dogs –Risks and Interventions. Prof. Meints works on applied research inhuman-animal interaction, especially dog bite prevention. She isconducting a National Institutes of Health research project on

Louise Stapleton-Frappell reports from the 2015 National Dog Bite Prevention and Behaviour

Conference in the UK. The underlying message? Learn to understand canine communication

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Dogs generallygive one or morewarning signalsbefore they feelcompelled to bite

© Can Stock Photo Inc./fastfun23teaching dog signaling to children, and is also part of the interna-tional project on dog bite prevention, The Blue Dog Project.

Prof. Meints pointed out that 86 percent of dog bites are trig-gered by interactions initiated by a child when there is no activesupervision by an adult, and that children younger than nineyears old are more likely to be bitten by a dog. She said there isno relationship between a dog’s breed or size and the facial in-juries suffered by children who have been bitten, which couldsuggest that, in some cases, the dog was lying down when biting.The child’s age was also found to be a significant factor. (Khan etal., 2003; Schalamon, 2006; Hon et al., 2007).

The Blue Dog project was launched in the UK in 2006 as ameans of preventing dog bites and is now used in 21 countries. Itteaches children and adults how to correctly interpret a dog’sbody signals and facial expressions so as to avoid unsafe situa-tions. Prof. Meints stated that the most important advice shecould give parents was to never leave young children and dogstogether without supervision. She further stated that childrenshould be taught about canine body language and use that to be-have safely and respectfully.

Todd Hogue, professor of forensic psychology at the Univer-sity of Lincoln, specializes in risk, sexual offenders, and personal-ity disorders and drew many interesting comparisons betweenhis specialties and dog bites in his lecture, A Forensic PsychologyApproach to Managing Dog Bite Risk.

Forensic psychology attempts to predict behavior and manyparallels can be drawn between human-human aggression andhuman-directed aggression in dogs. The contexts in which they

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occur are often very similar. Forensic psychology delves into the behaviour and asks: Why

this behavior? Why this dog? Why this person? Was/is it pre-dictable? Was/is it preventable? Was/is it understandable? Was/isit changeable? What are the risk factors and what is the future risk?

There are many other issues to consider: the mental state ofthe perpetrator, the victim (what they were doing/how theywere interacting), the situation and the context. We need to ex-amine neuro/biological influences and the history/owner/environ-ment. Prof. Hogue pointed out that neglect can sometimes beworse than abuse. We need to examine the current situation andwhat are the future risk factors. Was the behavior actual, at-tempted or just threatened? Is the individual displaying a layeringof aggressive behaviors/a full range of aggressive behaviors or justcertain, contextual behaviors? The definition of the behavior willdrive the risk assessment. We also need to examine what thedog did not do.

Prof. Hogue stated that legislation aimed at specific breeds isdangerous because it misrepresents those breeds, is not evi-dence based and does not increase safety. He emphasized theneed to develop a relevant evidence base in an effort to predictfuture behavior. He also stated that all aspects need to be stud-ied in each case, including temperament, neglect as a puppy, ageof first bite, rehoming, failure at previous behavior training, lackof training, method of training, and the breed of dog.

Next up was David Ryan, a certified clinical animal behavior-ist. In his lecture, The Road to a Bite and How All Dog Owners CanAvoid Walking Their Dog Down It, Ryan spoke passionately aboutwhat he called “pet-ication,” i.e. the change in the lifestyle of dogsfrom workers to pets, and how this decrease in activity can bedetrimental. He stated that breeds such as the dachshund, JackRussell terrier and Chihuahua were much higher on the list ofcanine aggressive behavior than, for example, the much-malignedpit bull terrier, as stated in Breed differences in canine aggression(Duffy, Hsu and Serpell, 2008). In fact, 19 breeds were ahead ofthe pit bull when considering the likelihood of them biting astranger, while 27 breeds were listed as more likely to bite theirowner. Ryan did, however, acknowledge that not all bites are equal.

He also spoke of the importance of people selecting a dogthat was more likely to fit in with their lifestyle and the impor-tance of appropriate and continuous socialization, understandingcanine communication, and reinforcing desired behaviors. Sincewe control our dogs’ food, their activities and even their interac-tions we have many reinforcers at our disposal and should makegood use of them. According to Ryan, owning a dog is a privilege,and privileges come with responsibilities. Ryan also stressed theimportance of never leaving a child alone with a dog and spokeof the risk factors that could contribute to the incidence of adog bite: the age of the child, a new dog in the house, the socio-economic group to which the family belongs, the child’s actions,the dog’s social awareness, or an unfamiliar child visiting the house.

There were three behaviors in particular that Ryan thoughtall dogs should be taught: pay attention/come when called, sit,and relax on a bed. (The bed can be taken with you, so your dogwill always have somewhere he can safely relax.) But he agreedwith Prof. Mills that the most important thing for people to learn

is canine communication.Another speaker was certified pet dog trainer, Nando Brown,

who gave an informative presentation, Things to Do with YourGrumpy Dog. Brown spoke about six levels of dog bites, fromlevel one when a dog snaps, to a level six bite which kills.Whether we classify a dog as grumpy or dangerous depends onhow often he bites and how much damage, if any, is inflicted.

The audience was taken through the protocols that are usedto change both the emotions and behavior of a “grumpy” dog.Brown gathered members of the audience on stage to give en-tertaining, yet informative, demonstrations of conditioning, de-sensitization, and mutually-exclusive behaviors. He stressed theimportance of making sure the dog remained under threshold.He also emphasized that we, as pet professionals, should makegood use of tricks, scent work and other activities in which wecan use passive desensitization and counterconditioning.

Brown also spoke about how learned helplessness is so oftenmisunderstood and misinterpreted as the dog “behaving.” Hestressed that we need to empower owners and not blame themas it can be very scary to have a reactive dog. Again, he statedthat understanding the dog is paramount in all we do with them.

Next up was veterinary surgeon and clinical animal behavior-ist, Kendal Shepherd. Shepherd accepts both dangerous dog andanimal welfare cases. Her book, The Canine Commandments, con-tains an illustrated version of the Canine Ladder of Aggression.Shepherd gave an informative presentation entitled, Human andCanine Welfare Implications of Dog Bite Incidents - a Proposal for a'One Health' Approach to Prevention. She discussed the UK’s Dan-gerous Dogs Act and its shortcomings, such as the violent way inwhich dogs can be seized and the substandard way in which theyare housed. She stressed that the whole process seems to havevery little to do with dog bite prevention. Since 2009, Shepherdhas assessed 126 dogs who had been classed as “pit bull type.”She, however, only classed eight of them as such. Out of these126 dogs only 16 had been involved in incidents and, of these 16,many of the incidents had only taken place during the violentseizure of the dogs.

In light of the fact that the severity of dog bites varies sogreatly, Shepherd stated that the phrase “dog attacks” should bereplaced with the phrase “dog bite incidents.” She said there wasvery little evidence of dogs being trained to bite and that bitesoften occurred during episodes of human conflict and the in-volvement of welfare con-cerns. She also stated thatwe need to examine the ev-idence behind each bite byconducting a behavioral as-sessment of both the victim andthe dog, studying the medical re-ports, the social factors and thecontext of a dog bite incident.Mismanagement of dogs and pos-sible abuse or neglect shouldalso be considered. Shepherdended her presentation bystating that supposedly ‘dan-

© Can Stock Pho

to Inc./C

oleca

nstock

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

In England,all dogs

must weara collarand tag

when outin public

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Louise Stapleton-Frappell PCT-A is a CTDI (through DoMore With Your Dog) and holds force-free instructor certifi-cation from In The Doghouse DTC (Nando Brown). She isalso currently doing the clicker trainer super trainer coursewith Kay Laurence. She writes a blog Jambo - The Story So Far,www.louisestapletonfrappell.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/jambo-the-story-so-far detailing the impact of Breed SpecificLegislation on Jambo’s life and Jambo also has his very ownFacebook page, www.facebook.com/StaffyChampion?fref=ts.

gerous dogs’ are not responsible for the majority of incidents.Louise Swindlehurst, Canine Massage Guild vice chair, then

presented a different side of the coin in her informative lecture,10 Ways to Recognize when Muscular Pain May Lead to Aggression.Swindlehurst described the top 10 ways in which dogs showpain: changes in gait; posture; the position they sit or lie down in;a reluctance to be groomed; changes in the coat; skin flinching;performance issues; changes in behavior; increased anxiety; andchanges in activities of daily living. Pain can make a dog irritable,so this should also be taken into consideration when dealingwith an occurrence of aggressive behavior.

Another speaker, Trevor Cooper, solicitor and dog law spe-cialist, gave a lecture on New Developments in Dog Law. As of April6, 2016 all dogs in England will have to be microchipped beforethey are eight weeks old, unless a veterinarian certifies that itwould be contrary to their health. (Wales and Scotland will re-quire this shortly as well.) Microchip details will be registered ona compliant database in the name of the keeper. If a breeder sellsa puppy before the age of eight weeks, said puppy will need to beregistered in the name of the breeder and it will be the newowner’s responsibility to contact the database and update the details.

Cooper also informed the audience of the obligation underthe Control of Dogs Order 1992 which states that all dogs mustwear a collar and identification tag in public. The Anti-Social Be-haviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 enables local councils toenforce local legislation requiring owners to keep their dogs on alead, pick up feces, exclude dogs from certain areas, and limit thenumber of dogs walked at one time. This act is due to be re-placed by the Public Spaces Protection Orders, enabling localcouncils to introduce any legislation they consider appropriate.Cooper stated that any dog is capable of biting, and that peopleshould not assume that any particular dog is going to be danger-ous just because of the way he looks.

The conference drew to a close with Victoria Stilwell’s pres-entation, Humane Training for High Drive/ Working Dogs, in whichshe discussed some of the misconceptions about positive rein-forcement training, for example that high drive working dogs andlarge dogs cannot be trained this way. Stilwell pointed out thatpositive training methods are often poorly understood by thosewho advocate punitive training methods. Reward-based methodsactually encourage learning and lead to more confident, emotion-ally balanced dogs. At present, many military and law enforce-ment units in the US train using aversives but, according toStilwell, these should not be needed if handlers are skilled, thedog and handler work as a team, and dogs are trained to copeand operate well in stressful situations. In the UK police dogs aretrained using toy and tug rewards. Choke, prong and shock col-lars are not allowed. Although “corrections” are used, the mainemphasis is placed on teaching reliable techniques. As any force-free trainer already knows, when warning signals are punished, itdoes not change the underlying emotions. Instead, we risk teach-ing the dog not to give any warning signals before aggressing. Inaddition, relationships are damaged, learning is often suppressedand aggressive behavior can be exacerbated.

Stilwell also clarified that drive can refer to chase, prey, hunt,food, toys and sex, and that it refers to the animal’s response, in-

terest and motivation to chase something. Drive is an unknownand variable internal state. It is motivation, enthusiasm, energy,accelerated reactions and heightened awareness. It is also highlyreinforcing. Recently, Stilwell has been working with accelerantdetection canines. The dogs are rewarded with food and only fedwhen they indicate the presence of any accelerant. As such, basictraining is also feeding time.

All the presenters stressed throughout that dogs, regardlessof size, breed or temperament, need to be trained without forceand that both owners and legislators need to be educated. Therewas widespread agreement that breed-specific legislation doesnot work or protect the community. Rather, safety is improvedwhen owners train, supervise and take good care of their dog,and also supervise their children. Breed-specific policies need tobe replaced with breed-neutral policies that put the responsibil-ity on owners of all breeds. As so aptly stated by Stilwell, preven-tion is better than cure and, as such, everyone should take thetime to understand their dog. n

ReferencesThe Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014:www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/7/enactedThe Blue Dog Project: www.thebluedog.org/enThe Canine Ladder of Aggression:www.thebluedog.org/en/dog-behaviour/behaviour-problems/why-does-my-dog/ladder-of-aggressionControl of Dogs Order 1992:www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/901/article/2/madeDangerous Dogs Act: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65Duffy, D., Hsu, Y., & and Serpell, J. (2008). Breed differences incanine aggression. Applied Animal Behaviour and Science,114(3-4), 441-460. doi: www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.04.006Hon, K., Fu, C., Chor, C.,Tang, P., Leung,T., Man, C., Ng, P.(2007). Issues associated with dog bite injuries in children andadolescents assessed at the emergency department. PediatricEmergency Care, 23(7), 445–449: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17666924Khan, K., Kunz, R., Kleijnen, J., & Antes, G. (2003). Five steps toconducting a systematic review. Journal of the Royal Societyof Medicine 96(3): 118–121: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc /articles/PMC539417Schalamon, J., Ainoedhofer, H., Singer, G., Petnehazy, T., Mayr, J.,Kiss, K., Höllwarth, M. (2006). Analysis of dog bites in childrenwho are younger than 17 years. Pediatrics, 117(3):e374-9:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16510617

Exotic Animals and Shelter Awareness

As animal trainers and behavior consultants, our work canappear very appealing to pet owners and those whowork with and take care of animals. What we demon-

strate in our training is a very important tool we can use to edu-cate the public about how our work is done, its impact onbehavior and mental stimulation, and responsibility in animalcare. Being an animal trainer and understanding applied behavior

analysis, using it, and showing others how to use it is very impor-tant to me. My intention is to show the average companion ani-mal owner how it can be used with all animals and not stop atthe dog or the horse. I show people how to use the same appli-cations with fish, parrots, pigs, wildlife ambassadors, rats, zoo ani-mals and more. Pigs are very food motivated. Most can and will work for

hours as long as food continues to be delivered. When I postphotos of my pig training on social media it is very common toget comments such as, “Oh, how adorable,” and “I want one!”These comments often make me second guess my work or howI present it. I continue to present it in association with commonbehavior concerns and the importance of training, as well asoverall time spent with the animal. In working with exotic or lesscommonly owned animals, I am, unfortunately, beginning to see

Lara Joseph examines the reasons for the rapid increase in pet birds, pigs and other exotics

being abandoned at animal shelters

similar concerns with shelter statistics that the canine commu-nity has been privy to for years.I work a lot with the avian community, both psittacines (par-

rots) and raptors (birds of prey). I show people the inflight recalltraining photos I have of birds flying down from the rafters to myhand or glove. My intention is to show people how this trainingcan be done, and that we do not need to use force and capturethe birds to get them to come to us. Wing clipping is still a com-mon form of supposed behavior modification in parrots and I seeit in raptors as well. It is more common in parrots because theyare popular in the companion animal community, whereas nativeraptors require state and federal permits. It seems that it is moreshocking for people to see the wings of a hawk clipped but Iwonder why it is not equally as shocking for the parrot.Parrot shelters and sanctuaries are becoming more common,

filling up quickly and running out of space. It is not uncommon tohear of a shelter that holds over 800 parrots. One of manydilemmas for parrot shelters is the lifespan of the bird. These arenot domesticated creatures and, in captivity, some of them canhave a lifespan exceeding 30, 50 and even 80 years. I am 44 yearsold and would love to get another parrot, but I have to be realis-tic. Before getting another parrot I need to think carefully aboutwho I am going to will him to, because in another 40 years, he

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No force necessary: bluefronted Amazon parrot, Suki,demonstrates the efficacy oftraining recall with positivereinforcement

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will likely have gone through only half ofhis lifespan. As of 1992, parrots are no longer al-

lowed to be shipped into the US fromtheir native countries, but breedingthese birds is still common here as so

many of the wild popula-tions are on

the brink of extinction. One of these species is the Spix Macaw,which is extinct in the wild but there are a few research facilitiesthat maintain a small flock.I have often been asked why birds in rescue facilities cannot

be released back into the wild, instead of spending the rest oftheir lives in a shelter or sanctuary. The reason is that, in breed-ing facilities, it is still widely practiced to pull the eggs from theparents, incubate them and then hand-rear them, feeding themvia a syringe. Parrots raised this way do not get the chance to beraised by their parents and are instead imprinted on humans. Im-printed parrots can have a plethora of behavior issues as theymature and will likely not survive if released. There are severalreasons for this. Parrots raised in captivity are not raised to learnhow to escape predators, making them likely to be hunted bybirds of prey or other native predators. They also do not knowhow to look for food because they have spent their lives eatingfrom a bowl. Wildlife officials do not want non-native birds re-leased into the community, and many parrots may have acquireddiseases in captivity that may be transferred to the wild birdpopulation.There are certain species of parrots that have escaped or

have been let loose in North America and are surviving in thewild. There are flocks of macaws and other parrots living wild inwarmer states such as Florida, Texas and California. Wild flocksof Quaker parakeets are thriving in colder states such as NewJersey and Chicago. They can, however, be damaging to nativehabitation and are illegal to own if not clipped in some states.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is a documentary by Judy Irv-ing focusing on the life of Mark Bittner and his relationship witha flock of feral parrots living and thriving on Telegraph Hill in SanFrancisco. There is controversy about what to do with theseflocks of non-native parrots. The four species of native parrotsthat once existed in the US are now all extinct. Meanwhile, par-

rots in captivity can be found in abundance in the shelters, andbehavior issues such as screaming, biting, self-mutilating andplucking feathers are more common than ever.One of the many other exotics that I train are pigs. One rea-

son for this is the increasing number of behavior concerns thathave arisen since pigs have become more popular as pets and arenow living inside people’s homes. In addition, many people do notrealize that there is no thing such as a teacup pig. Pigs can fit in ateacup right after they have been born and that is about it.Within a few days they can no longer fit, yet the term “teacup”continues to be used heavily in their marketing as companionanimals.

Mini pigs and pot-bellied pigs are both gathering moreand more interest from the pet community. Mini pigs

are those who grow to be around 30-50 pounds.Pot-bellied pigs are also considered mini pigs com-pared to hogs and can range from 50 pounds up to- and even over - 250 pounds. These big animals aresleeping in houses, in people’s beds and living withhuman families.

What is the attraction? This is individualized butthere is a huge community that thinks pigs are cute.

Pigs can be cuddly and like to snuggle under blankets andlie on couches with people. The mini pigs are a big attraction be-cause of their more petite size. I have seen people polish theirhoofs, dress them up in tutus and roll them along in babystrollers. Anthropomorphism is very common in the exotic petworld as well, especially in the mini-pig community.As I mentioned on the PPG Radio Show on May 3, 2015, the

top behavior concern pet pig owners contact me about is ag-gression. Common aggressive behaviors are described as charg-ing, lunging, biting and head-swiping. Pigs are pigs. They like food.Drop a piece of food on the floor with a dog and a pig in thesame room and you could quickly be making a trip to the veteri-narian. Pigs will show any or all of the above behaviors whenfood is involved. They will also show them in the absence of food.That aside, it is very important to socialize pet pigs when theyare young so that they will accept strangers more readily in thefuture. Predictable environments can quickly create boredom andwith boredom comes destruction. Pigs have been known to up-root tile floors, eat door jambs and carpets, pull wallpaper off ofwalls and so much more. Lack of appropriate enrichment oftenaccompanies the destructive behavior and, as these behaviorconcerns rise, people are quickly surrendering their teacup pigs.Sadly, pig shelters are now peppering the US.Equally concerning amongst the pet pig community is the be-

havior advice often provided through YouTube, Facebook and vari-ous other channels. For example, there is a common “training”practice known as “move the pig.” It involves intermittently walk-ing up to a pig and forcing him to move with your foot, hand orwhatever else. The concept behind this is to apparently “show”the pig who is “in control” in the household. Pigs are seen doingit to each other so the intention is that pig owners can claimtheir “dominance” in the same way. The emails I receive request-ing behavior consultations are overflowing with people incorpo-rating the move the pig technique.

This is undoubtedly a “cute”picture but, in reality, the

focus should be on behaviorissues, training and overall

enrichment when considering keeping

exotic pets in the home

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Lara Joseph is the owner of The Animal Behavior CenterLLC, www.theanimalbehaviorcenter.com, in Ohio. She is alsothe Director of Avian Training for a wildlife rehabilitationcenter where she focuses on removing stress from animalenvironments. Lara is a professional member of The AnimalBehavior Management Alliance and The International Associa-tion of Avian Trainers and Educators.

ReferencesPPG Radio Show (May 3, 2015): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efh1X0m6iWc&feature=youtu.be onWild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: www.imdb.com/title/tt0424565

These rescue pigs are no longer “mini pigs.”Sadly, pig shelters are now peppering theUS as aspiring pig owners find it hard tomeet the animals’ needs or deal with thesubsequent behavioral issues

We are always on the lookout for interesting features, member profiles, case

studies and training tips to feature inBARKS and our PPG Blog. If you’d like to

join the growing band of member contributors, please do get in touch.

Write for BARKS from theGuild or Blog for PPG!

Email: barkseditor@petprofessionalguild.com

Recent Blogs:s Get Healthy, Get a Dogs Pet Professionals: Keeping It Objective

s What Does Citronella Really Doto a Dog?

s Confession of a Professional DogTrainer

s The Impact of Using Shock toTrain Recall

s An Open Letter to the ScottishParliament Regarding the Use of

Shock in Dog Trainings Shaping without a Clicker

which can be very challenging and inconvenient for the averagehousehold. As a result, these animals who were originally consid-ered cute and cuddly can now be seen fast filling shelters nation-wide. It is a sad situation for sure. n

What is of even bigger concern to me is the ages of the pigswho are now charging, biting, lunging and head-swiping theirowners. Just recently I was contacted by two different peoplewho have used the move the pig technique and are now dealingwith the fallout. The pigs are a little over one month old andthree months old respectively. And then I wonder about theowners who are not reaching out to positive reinforcementtrainers even though they are experiencing these same issues. Icurrently have a client who had been using a shock collar on thefamily pet pig and boarding him at dog kennels while on vacation.The increase in numbers of these exotic animals in shelters is

a cause for great concern. Exotic animal shelters will becomemore and more prolific.I enjoy sharing my life with parrots, pigs, fish, rats, dogs and

the many other animals I come into contact with but this lifestyleand the persistence in training and enrichment it requires is notfor everyone. It takes constant interaction, energy and creativity,

Independence with Benefits

have seen no data to support the idea that outdoor cats areemotionally healthier. I do not know anyone in the field of felinebehavior who has.

“Unnatural?” Nobody would sanction denying a cat’s naturalhunting instinct. The answer is to enrich your cat’s everyday lifeby providing the stimulation and the action she both wants andneeds – inside, with an extensively enriched environment. Withthis, arguments for keeping cats outdoors simply do not standup.For scratching, climbing, increased territory, safety, plus that

needed environmental control (that awareness of who is where,when, and what is going on), get six- or seven- foot towers. Notthose flimsy ones using fleece and cardboard, but sturdy, heavyones, with hidey-holes and easily accessible platforms. Cheaptowers are poorly-designed, with levels stacked so Mittens can-not easily jump from one to another. Posts should be sisal-roped,not carpeted. Rope gives a much better surface for scratching, iseasy to replace, and it is hard to explain to cats that “This carpetis fine to claw up, the one on the ground isn’t.” Put cat towers infront of windows for the best cat television. They are wonderfulfor climbing and also decrease the stress of that ‘density’ that canoccur with more than a couple of cats in a home.Speaking of climbing and jumping, add shelves - across walls,

in hallways. For outdoor exercise, introduce your cat to a leashor harness. Add a good selection of interactive toys. The CatDancer, Neko Flies (with the Cat-i-pede attachment) and Da Birdare three favorites. Introduce several play sessions a day to en-sure a good measure of play, exercise and bonding. Ribbons,paper bags, boxes, cat tracks, catnip-filled socks, balled-up paper,

F E L I N E

Jane Ehrlich explains why cats live longer, healthier lives if they remain indoors, and how

to ensure they have sufficient mental enrichment

While living in England, I often met vets andother cat-lovers who maintained that out-side cats lived healthier lives, even if they

were shorter ones. One professor at the Royal Vet-erinary College recently admonished me, “Keepingcats indoors is both cruel and unnatural. It’s a pity theUS doesn’t feel that way.” We nearly got into a scrap.The US, indeed, does not. Our cats, say US vets

and behaviorists, shelters and rescues, should remaininside. Why the discrepancy? Tradition. Fewer outsiderisks, such as coyotes, bobcats and, presumably, out-side dogs. Less traffic in smaller towns. The image ofthe great hunter stalking and racing through grassesand zooming up trees, his/her wild spirit and free na-ture unleashed, is both romantic and prevailing. Evenif the truth is something completely different.A cat’s independent nature is one of the traits we

love best. Cats get lazy and obese if they stay indoors,do they not? All that ranging territory. And that artifi-cially enormous density hassle if there are several cats in thehome. All very stressful. Better a shorter, happier life than alonger, less “normal” one, yes? No. Keep them in.It is easy to say, I know. But the fact is, cats can have ex-

tremely happy, healthy, normal lives when they are indoors. Theyare avoiding the stress (and the physical and psychological prob-lems that derive from that) that comes from chronic threats:other animals from cats to coyotes, dogs to foxes, the cruelty ofmany people, poisonous plants, traffic, illnesses from infections tofeline leukemia to rabies to FIV, drowning (a problem in irriga-tion-pipe-ridden cities like mine), being frozen, stolen, trapped,tortured... You know those arguments. Just part of the risk of being a

pet? Of being a pet owner? It should not have to be.One client recently explained, “Riley knows his limits when

he’s in the front yard.” Even if this were true of most cats, theother neighborhood animals and people may not know theirs.Or care.Would you let your young child roam like that? I doubt it. I

do not want my cats to be those who were swiped by kids for“gang initiation” (I have known of three this month, alone), bythose selling their fur, being shot or poisoned or ripped up bycar engines or tires, or coyotes for that matter. Too many clientshave told me too many horror stories.Keeping a cat safe by keeping him indoors without the tools

to exercise his instincts would be “cruel” indeed. This is not whatI am suggesting. I have seen as many cats for “behavior issues”who are outdoor cats as I have for those living strictly inside, and

© Can Stock Photo Inc./gornostaj

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

This Maine Coon is enjoyingher cat run, complete withvertical space, scratch post

and outdoor view

42

non-toxic soap bubbles, you name it. All can be excellent toys forcats. Hide the toys and hide treats so your cat has to hunt. Ro-tate toys so the cat does not get bored. Good play sessions,company to chase and play with and watching the diet ensuresno cat has to get lazy or obese. Hiding kibble behind cushions,under sofas, tucked around pillows, even scattering it across thefloor means your cat works a little for her food.You can also create a safe “outdoor” environment. This can

be a “catio” built on a slim balcony, outdoor enclosures accessi-ble by flap or window, or something more elaborate, with highchannels running across the ceiling. All of these will provide freshair and the outside views your cat needs. Look online for catiomakers or create your own, with the help of a handyperson. Addtowers for climbing, plants (catnip? oat grasses?), platforms forsunning and boxes for hiding in. Make sure that the top is cov-ered to prevent cats from climbing out or predators such as coy-otes, hawks and owls getting in. Those forever-changing smells,views and sounds all mean massive stimulation in your cat’s life.I am a big proponent of cats having other cat friends. While

some cats do need to be the “only one,” most would benefitfrom a feline companion. I am firmly convinced that cats and peo-ple have a richer relationship with each other when Fluffy is in-side. Humans are not always enough, although of course youneed to build in enough quality time with them. Cats are health-ier emotionally and physically when they have someone to be en-tertained by, to learn from, comforted by, mutually groom, curl

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Jane Ehrlich is a professionally trained Feline Behaviorist with over 27 years experience. She spent 18years volunteering with the RSPCA in both clinical and be-havior work and has her own consulting business CattitudeFeline Behavior, www.cattitudebehavior.com, in Phoenix, Arizona, although her clients are located worldwide.

than failure, as is currently happening) by giving him a more at-tractive alternative than the sofa. By using positive reinforcementinstead of punishment we can “train” him to scratch in a differentplace and eliminate the shouting and spraying for good.A cat needs to scratch - it marks his territory, sends mes-

sages if there are other cats around, tones and trims his claws,and gives good, needed stretches for back and shoulder muscles. First, what kind of scratching posts do you have? Carpet is

not that satisfying. Experiment with textures; try sisal-ropewrapped ones that are at least as tall as the cat at full stretch.Corrugated cardboard also has its feline fans. Have several postsaround the house, especially near where the cat naps, as catslove to stretch and scratch after a good doze.Are the scratchersthe right type? Cats can be picky; some like to scratch vertically,some horizontally, and some even prefer an angle. Pet stores sellall three. Put a post right in front of the clawed spot, and get thecat used to scratching there (rubbing the post with catnip can bea great motivator here). Then, only an inch at a time, graduallymove the post away from the sofa and the cat should go with it.Don’t rush it though. You can also temporarily cover the sofawith a lemon scent-misted cloth. Cats usually dislike the smelland will (usually) actively avoid it. n

Q: My cat is ripping my sofa to shreds, and despite my usingwater spray bottles and yelling at him and clapping myhands, he won't stop. I have a scratching post in our home,which he uses, so I don't know what else to do. Can you help?

A: Whatever you yell, spray or clap, that will only make him stopwhile you're there. If you are lucky. Certainly, those efforts will

ramp up any cat'sresentment orfear of you. Hewill still engage inthe behaviorwhen you are notpresent so is notreally learninganything. In addi-tion, he is notbeing offered analternative behav-ior. We need toset him up forsuccess (rather

Feline Behavior UnmaskedJane Ehrlich responds to commonly asked questions about feline

behavior problems and feline behavior in general© Can Stock Photo/BENGUHAN

Different catsprefer differenttypes of scratchposts

ReferencesWills, J., & Wolf, A. (1993). Handbook of Feline Medicine. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press

up with and have fun with. I have seen so many cats with symp-toms of frustration, boredom, aggression and depression disap-pear once these enrichments were put in place. And they do livelonger. That fact is not disputed. Much longer.Prof. Peter Neville, renowned feline behaviorist, states that

the cat “accepts the benefits of living in the family and den with-out compromising its self-determining and independent behav-iour.” (Wills & Wolf, 1993). Dr. Nicholas Dodman, head of thedepartment of behavior at the Cummings School of VeterinaryMedicine at Tufts University and equally renowned, keeps his catsinside having, by his own admission, lost several to horrific out-side events. “It’s a lot safer to keep cats indoors,” he said. “Theaverage lifespan of an indoor cat is around 12-14 years [ormore], while outdoor cats are lucky to reach double digits [morelike five or six].” n

© Can Stock Photo Inc./hannadarzy

Slowly Does It

home that had a resident cat, they might not understand whyslow introductions are needed. If they grew up seeing cats addedto the household and seeming to fit right in, or at least work itout, they will often expect this new cat to do the same. If thischildhood pet was stressed by this instant immersion but theadopter did not pick up the clues, he may be shocked if his

newly-adopted cat is aggressive or a target of aggres-sion. There is so much excitement and so much going

on during an adoption it is not surprising that anadopter does not remember what was meant by slowintroductions. The simple three-step guide I developedexplains the concept, breaks it down into small stepsand is a handy reference. I came up with the time-frames in the brochure from my personal experiencefostering about 30 cats. Since so many cat ownerswant to adopt another, I wanted to determine if myfosterswould bebest suitedfor a home

that already had a cat,or one where theycould be an only cat.My cats were veryeasy-going about ac-cepting a new cat so Iwas able to introduceabout 10 cats, one ata time, to my cats.This gave me a goodfeel for timeframesand methods in de-veloping this proto-col. My cats are nowretired from trainingfosters and enjoyingtheir later years.None of my fostercats were returnedfollowing adoption. n

F E L I N E

Patience Fisher explains the concept of slow introductions for new cat owners and outlines

why they are so important for a successful outcome

There are many challenges for shelters in finding adoptivehomes for cats. As an adoption counselor, I always found itdisheartening to have a cat returned to the shelter for not

getting along with the resident cats. During the adoptionprocess, the concept of slow introductions was explained, butupon the cat’s return we often found out that the introduction

process had been rushed. As a result, I saw a need for a very sim-ple, short, how-to brochure for introducing a new cat to a resi-dent cat. I am sharing excerpts from the brochure I wrote,entitled Your New Cat (see pp.45-46), to help other shelters, catbehavior consultants and cat owners. My focus when writing the brochure was to make it easy to

read, understand and implement. This is why it gives concretetimeframes as a guide. Of course, some cats will adjust morequickly and others much more slowly, which the brochure men-tions. The concept of waiting for a week is repeated and in boldin the hopes that adopters will at least do that much. That is alsowhy the stare and growl are mentioned as signs of stress; it is abare minimum to stop exposure when this is going on, and theseare easily-recognized behaviors. Lip licking and body posture arenot signals most people notice. I also shied away from any coun-terconditioning, since if done incorrectly the adopter could besetting themselves up for redirected aggression. I recommendeda bath towel instead of cardboard simply because everyone hasone handy. I have seen so many simple procedures not followedbecause of small inconveniences. I wanted to make this verydoable. I added a brief protocol for establishing an only cat inyour home, introducing a cat to a dog, and kitten safety.People are usually excited to let the new cat loose in their

home and to integrate him immediately with their families, in-cluding resident pets. If they have never had a cat before, theyprobably will not have a good understanding of how cautious andeasily stressed cats are. If they have never added a new cat to a

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Cats in shelters riskbeing returned fornot getting on withother cats alreadyin the home

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Slow introductions withresident animals canhelp a cat settle morequickly and easily into

a new home

Patience Fisher BS DipFBST CVA BSBIO is the owner ofWalk, Play, Learn, www.walkplaylearn.com, in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. Her focus is feline behavior consulting. She fos-tered cats and assisted with adoptions at two Pittsburgh-areashelters from 2006-2010. She is also a certified veterinary as-sistant.

© Can Stock Photo Inc./cynoclub

Congratulations on adopting a cat! This is an exciting day foryou, but quite an adjustment for your new companion. Ifyou keep in mind your cat's point of view, the transition will gosmoother, and your new cat will more quickly understand thathe has a wonderful new home. Below are the three milestonesa cat needs to achieve to truly feel he is at home-sweet-home.

1.Territory for Me (Three Weeks)Whenyou ar-rivehomeand plopyour catdown,she hasno wayof know-ingwhether or not she is going to have to fight for territory. Catsbecome socially mature between one and three years old andgradually become more territorial. It may take three weeks be-fore they lose the desire to follow their homing instinct and tryto return to their previous territory. It is imperative that youkeep your cat inside during this period. Of course, keeping yourcat indoors is always a safer option.In order to make your cat feel secure and to ensure that

she knows where the litter box, scratch post and scratch padare, you should set up a room for her, which contains all ofthese necessities. If you can keep any other pets out of thisroom for a few days before bringing your new cat home, theroom will not smell like someone else's territory. At a mini-mum, she will have to stay in this room until she has used thelitter box and scratch post or pad. If your new cat is hiding orhissing, she will have to stay in her room until she settles down.Since this may take anywhere from a week to 10 days, you willneed to put food, water bowls and a bed in her room. As theroom acquires her scent and days pass without incident, shewill become more secure and more sociable.

2. Person on My Side (First Week Is Key)Your newcat has noway ofknowing ifyou have hisbest inter-ests inmind. Hemay be es-pecially sus-picious ifyou smell ofother pets

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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or if there are lively children in the house. If you go into theroom you have set up for him and he hides, let him have a fewhours to himself. Then go into his room and talk to him. Donot try to pull him out from his hiding place. Do not stare athim. Spending time in his room daily reading or watching televi-sion is a good way to break the ice. When he stops hiding orhissing and lets you pet him, it is best to give him a full week tobond with you. If there are young children, you may try short,supervised visits before the end of the first week if he seemsrelaxed. If your new cat is a kitten, he will need to be in a kit-ten-safe room at night and when you are not at home.

3. Pet Hierarchy Established (First Month Is Key)Adult cats will set up a flexible hierarchy, with a linear or com-plex order for the other pets. When a newcomer enters theterritory, you want to make sure the fur does not fly while shefinds her spot in the social order. This is often true when mix-ing cats and dogs too. Either way, do not introduce a new catto any resident pets until the new cat has had a full week to es-tablish her one room as her territory, and trusts at least one ofthe people in the house. During this time, spend most of yourtime withthe resi-dent pets– you donot wantthemhatingthe newarrivalbeforethey evenmeether!Afterpettingher, it is a good idea to wash her scent off your hands. If there are no glaring stares or hissing (or barking) on ei-

ther side of the closed door or at you after you have visitedthe new cat, and a week has passed, it is time to see the rest ofthe house. Put the resident pets out of her sight in a room orcrate and let the new cat explore the house. She needs toknow the lay of the land and her way back to her safe roombefore the big stress of meeting the animals who claim this ter-ritory. Return her to her room when she is done exploring; ifno one was stressed, then you are well on your way to thenext step.When it is time to meet the resident cat, simply open the

door to her room. You may wish to set up a toddler gate thefirst time. Have a bath towel handy should you need to blockthe cats’ view of each other, or separate them. If the cats donot chose to meet, simply close the new cat in her room whenyou no longer have the time to watch them. Try it again later. Ifall you get is a brief hiss and an air swat, it was a successful first

© Can Stock Photo Inc./surachetmee

© Can Stock Photo Inc./RUZANNA

© Can Stock Photo Inc./JackF

YOUR NEW CAT: Science-based Manners for Cats

It takes time for a catto feel secure in her

new home

Cats need to learnthat they can trusttheir new guardians

Adult cats generally livein fluid hierarchies

F E L I N E

BARKS from the Guild/September 201546

meeting. If the cats sit, stare and growl, calmly close the door.Try it again later. When they are relaxed in each other’s pres-ence allow them to spend an increasing number of minutes insight of each other. If they fight or one cat chases the other,calmly put the towel between them to disorient and redirectthe aggressor. Keep them separated for at least a day. The nexttime they meet, go back to using the toddler gate or a slightly-opened door so they are unable to fight. When introducing a

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cat to a resident dog, use these safety measures as well as aleash on the dog to ensure the cat's safety. Whether it is the first meeting or a dozen meetings later,

once they are merely hissing without arching the back or staring,let the cats interact for 10 or 20 minutes, working up to severalhours a day. Watch them the whole time. This second stage isvery crucial to their future relationship. You must ensure thatthey are separated immediately if there is any stress or aggres-sion. You do not want fighting or aggression to become a habit; itmay only take a couple of weeks for them to establish their hier-archy. However, if you have two assertive cats, this might takemany months. Keep in mind that some cats will never be friendsor share litter boxes even after years together. They may, how-ever, have a peaceful coexistence if introductions and resourcesare handled correctly.Do not leave your new pet alone with the resident pets until

you are sure it is safe to do so. This probably will not be until atleast the third week she is living with you. Signs to look for aresleeping close to each other, using each other’s litter boxes, playingwith their ears forward or walking past each other without hissingor swatting. Be very slow to move the new cat’s resources out ofher safe room. Only move them after she is relaxed outside herroom and move the resources gradually, a few inches a day.

- Patience Fisher BS DipFBST CVA BSBIO

© Can Stock Photo Inc./ilona75

Newly arrived catsneed to find their placein the social order ofother pets in the home

Guiding Principles for Parrot Enrichment

As we discussed in the first two articles of this series (seeStimulation for Psittacines, BARKS from the Guild, May2015, pp. 48-50 and Assembling the Species Puzzle, BARKS

from the Guild, July 2015, pp. 47-49), species-appropriate enrich-ment programs for captive parrots provide many benefits. Whenused properly and regularly, enrichment for companion parrotscan enhance their well-being in captivity and as companion ani-mals.

All Parrots Need EnrichmentIt is all too easy for us to look at a parrot in our home or facilityand tell ourselves things like: “They’re fine. What they have is suf-ficient. Their enclosure and perching is adequate. They seemhappy enough. We don’t need to do all of that fancy enrichment.We don’t have any issues right now.” Truth be told, and speaking from personal and professional

experience, that is a short-sighted way of looking at things andrisks setting everyone up for failure. The problems at play for you, the parrot and his enclosure

mates may not be obvious. There could be numerous behavioraland medical issues brewing below the feathered surface. Unde-tected behavioral concerns may be compounded when left unad-dressed and can manifest into health and behavioral issues beforeyou know it. I have seen this happen when the perfect storm ofstressors occurs. Secondly, you may have a bird under your carewho is not living his or her lifeto the fullest. But you have thepower to change this.If you have parrots (or even

just one parrot) under your carein your home or at a facility orshelter, I recommend that youconsider doing the following:• Decide what type of

enrichment is best for each indi-vidual parrot.• Develop an effective

plan for enriching the life of theparrot under your care.• Develop appropriate

measures of effectiveness forthe enrichment you are provid-ing.• Ensure that enrichment

is provided consistently andsafely to each parrot.

In the third of a four-part feature, Amy Martin outlines the steps for creating an effective

species-appropriate enrichment program for parrots

Enrichment is not optional for parrots in captivity

Guiding Principles of a Parrot Enrichment ProgramIf we are going to be successful with the prevention of medicaland behavioral problems in any species of captive parrot, it can-not not be a haphazard attempt. We must consider a number offactors and implement several techniques. Some enrichment op-tions will work better than others, some options may have unex-pected negative effects, and others will be outright ineffective.We must account for all outcomes. All successful and effective parrot enrichment programs have

guiding principles. These principles help to set up both peopleand their parrots for success. These principles are adapted fromYoung (2003, chapter 4) and The International Association ofAvian Trainers and Educators Enrichment Position Statement. Whether you have a parrot in your home or your facility,

many factors need to be considered (see graphic Guiding Princi-ples of Successful Parrot Enrichment Programs below).We must move beyond generalizing parrots. If you have multi-

ple species of parrots under your care, all taxa need to be repre-sented. Design your enrichment based on the species-specificneeds of individual parrots. We need to consider the natural andindividual history of each parrot (Assembling the Species Puzzle,BARKS from the Guild, July 2015). You will also need to ensure that you have the latest, cited in-

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Enrichment provides opportunities for birds to make choices and exhibit naturalistic behaviors – IAATE

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formation about a parrot’s behavioral biology. Do not rely onopinions of others or what you believe to be true. Get the facts. We do not want to wait until a parrot is displaying unwanted,

damaging and unhealthy behaviors before we provide enrich-ment. Instead we want to be proactive in creating an environ-ment in which the parrot is less likely to display stereotypical orunwanted behaviors. There may come a time when we have to react quickly when

behavior challenges arise. Of course, going into “reactive mode”is not ideal so we need to be prepared to respond quickly andpositively to unforeseen circumstances.

An effective enrichment program should be perceived asa thoughtful and enduring process and not be comprised of

random acts. The program should be proactive, not reactiveand should be based upon the animals’ biological, social andcognitive needs. Each enrichment initiative should have a

measurable goal that allows each animal to have choice andcontrol in their environment. – Fogarty

We must encourage a parrot to have many choices withinhis/her environment. These choices can range from choosing avariety of shelter and shade and participating in training or re-fraining to making food choices. We will cover this in greater de-tail in the next article. Each parrot should have goal-oriented training and enrich-

ment. These goals can be general (like encouraging the parrot toexplore an enclosure) or specific (like preventing feather pluck-ing). You can also create multiple goals for an individual parrot ormultiple goals for multiple parrots. It is important to maintain a schedule. This should include the

type of enrichment that will be introduced to the parrot, includ-ing a specified date, time, duration, location and type.The duration of exposure to an enrichment item is some-

thing else that must be considered. What is appropriate for a parrot is influenced by a variety of factors, including the durabil-

ity of the enrichment device, the hygienic concerns associatedwith it, and the parrot’s interest in it.It is absolutely necessary to evaluate whether or not the en-

richment we offer a parrot has improved the welfare of the indi-vidual bird. This needs to be done when the enrichment is firstintroduced and then periodically throughout the year. How youassess it can vary, but the goal is to determine if a particular en-richment approach is meeting a behavioral goal and whether itcontinues to do so over time. Documenting each parrot’s initial reaction and response to

the offered enrichment is very helpful. Being able to assess thefrequency of the parrot’s normal behaviors, the frequency andseverity of stereotypical and damaging behaviors, and the fre-quency and severity of undesirable behaviors before and afterthe enrichment was offered helps enrichment options to bemaintained or redesigned for each individual parrot. This guaran-tees you are making the most out of your enrichment program.Of the utmost importance is addressing all potential safety

hazards before offering any type of enrichment. If you have familymembers or volunteers helping you, consider using some sort ofapproval process for any new enrichment ideas they have. Thisreduces the chance for accidents or injuries and ensures maxi-mum safety. It is advantageous to involve everyone in the home or facility.

Volunteers, interns and family members can assist with enrich-ment, but their roles in the program need to be clearly defined.Offer a variety of enrichment options so that you are setting

yourself and your parrot up for success. For the enrichment tocontinue successfully, you need to keep things fresh and interest-ing to keep the parrot’s caretaker (you, or a family member orvolunteer) interested and involved. Enrichment should be pre-sented on a varied schedule and in a variety of contexts to makesure the parrot does not become desensitized or familiarized tothe enrichment. We need to apply the five categories of enrich-ment (see Stimulation for Psittacines, BARKS from the Guild, May2015).

Moluccan cockatooChopin and volunteerKathleen demonstratetheir bond. Chopin is aggressive with most

other people

Rescued blue and gold macaws Sarge and Chica cannot be together (to prevent breeding) but are housed in an area that allows them to

explore their environments parallel to each other and stay mentally and physically enriched

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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Amy Martin owns and solely operates Conscious Compan-ion®, www.consciouscompanion.com/my-background.html,serves on the board of directors of the Cape Fear ParrotSanctuary, www.capefearparrotsanctuary.org and is a memberof the advisory team for Family Paws Parent Education,www.familypaws.com. When she is not consulting, writing, oreducating the public through workshops, she teaches WetlandEcology (B-WET) in the field for Prince William County Mid-dle Schools, and is a Make-A-Wish Granter for the Mid- At-lantic Chapter.

This is Part Three in a four-part series about parrot enrichment.

Enrich-ment doesnot have tobreak yourbank, andthere are anumber ofeconomicalsolutionsthat canoften becreated atlittle or nocost. Youjust haveto be cre-ative. Thinkof whatyou can dowith recy-cled or do-nateditems. Youcan evenuse natu-rally avail-ablematerials,environ-mentalconditionsand train-

ing and socialization sessions. Get help from volunteers, friends,and don’t forget to fundraise.We all have busy lives, but we need to schedule time for en-

richment. A parrot in captivity is dependent on the care from herhuman and what that person chooses to make time for in theirschedule. Daily enrichment needs only a few minutes. Setting adaily, weekly and monthly schedule is vital for a captive parrot’swell-being.

Enrichment should be considered a necessary part of every parrot guardian’s daily routine

The Right Program for You and Your ParrotIt is easy to look at all of these guidelines and feel like you can-not do this on your own but it is not as difficult as it may seem.Do not let the need to adhere to these principles deter youfrom creating your own program. You can simplify it to meet theneeds of each parrot in your home or shelter. Break down theguidelines into easy-to-use steps that make sense for your indi-vidual situation. Taking the time to create a personalized, speciesspecific parrot enrichment program will not only improve the lifeof the parrot under your care, but it will improve your life to-gether. The possibilities for fun, health and success are endless. n

ReferencesHusband, S., Mayo L., & Sodaro, C. (Updated by Fogarty, D.).(2008). Orangutan Species Survival Plan Husbandry Manual/Environmental Enrichment for the Chicago Zoological Society.Retrieved from www.czs.org/custom.czs/media /CenterAnimalWelfare/Orangutan-Husbandry-Manual/Environmental-Enrichment.pdfThe International Association of Avian Trainers and EducatorsEnrichment Position Statement: www.iaate.org/pdfs/PositionStatement_Enrichment.pdfMartin, A. (2015, May). Stimulation for Psittacines, BARKS fromthe Guild, pp. 48-50: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_may_2015_online_version_opt/49?e=4452575/12622747Martin, A. (2015, July). Assembling the Species Puzzle. BARKSfrom the Guild, pp. 47-49: www.issuu.com/petprofessionalguild/docs/bftg_july_2015_online_version_opt_1/47Young, R. (2007). Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals/Environmental Enrichment. Somerset, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.Retrieved from www.fass.org/docs/agguide3rd/chapter04.pdf

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New Bird on the Block

Over the years I have introduced sev-eral parrots into my flock of com-panion birds. During this time I have

found there are some things that should bedone early on to help shape the bird into agood companion, while also giving him timeand respecting his boundaries.

I have talked to a lot of people who weredisappointed that their new bird’s behaviorchanged after a couple of months in theirhome. Some people call this a “honeymoonperiod.” I do not use that term as I feel it im-plies the bird is purposely exhibiting good be-havior only to intentionally change for theworse. Depending on the species of bird youare bringing into your family, how you interactwith them and manage them during the firstfew months is critical. Many species of parrotscan live a very long time, so a few days orweeks is actually a fairly short period of timefor them. Compared to dogs and cats, parrotsgenerally take a bit longer to settle in and be-come really comfortable.

Take Your TimeIt is important to realize that you should always do your best notto push the bird to interact. If your newly adopted bird is shy,nervous or defensive and does not want to be handled, it is wiseto allow him as much time as he needs to get used to you. Lethim set the pace of things so that you can set up the relationshipto be one where he trusts you and understands that you respecthis boundaries and limitations. Taking your time in the beginningcan do a lot for your long-term relationship. Take advantage ofthis time to simply observe your bird and get to know him. Un-derstanding his body language will go a long way in helping youhave a strong relationship with him.

Reinforce Vocalizations that You LikeBirds can be loud. Depending on the species they can be unbe-lievably loud and this is, in fact, why many of them lose theirhomes. Some vocalizing is completely normal for all birds; there-fore, you should not try to stop all vocalization. However, con-stant screaming or loud vocalizing is not normal and can usuallybe modified. It is easier to change this behavior when it first be-gins, before a strong reinforcement history has been established.

Reinforce all vocalizations that you like. Reinforce your birdwhen he talks, whistles or makes quiet vocalizations. You can goto the cage and talk to your bird, whistle or talk back or offer a

Vicki Ronchette explains how to introduce a new bird to the flock with an eye to

a successful future and a lasting relationship

treat. The idea is that you want the bird to know that you likeand will reinforce and respond to quiet vocalizations. Sometimesbirds are quieter in new homes or environments when they arefirst checking things out, settling in, and simply observing theirnew surroundings. Take advantage of this fact and condition yourbird to remain soft-spoken.

Playing IndependentlyWhen people bring home a newly-adopted adult or baby bird itis natural for the new owners to want to hold, dote on andspend time with him. The problem with this is that they may notalways have quite as much time to spend with him later on and ifthey do that a lot in the beginning the bird is likely to get used tothat routine. It is important to teach a companion bird early onhow to play independently. This can be done by offering the birdtoys, different forms of enrichment, and foraging opportunitiesinside and outside of the cage. Have a few different play areassuch as a hanging perch (for instance a boing or a rope) and atree in addition to the bird’s cage. Load them with fun things forthe bird to do. Periodically reinforce the behavior of playing inde-pendently.

Learn the BirdÊs FavoritesSince you will want to teach new behaviors and reinforce thingsyou like, it is critical that you figure out what your bird finds en-joyable. You will use those things to reinforce desirable behavior.

50 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

A V I A N

The first fewmonths are

critical whenintroducing a

new bird toyour home

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

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51

When you offer a variety of food, see what the bird choosesfirst. You can then use that as a special treat just for training. Asyou get to know your bird you will begin to learn if he also en-joys things such as being petted or scratched, certain toys ortreats, clapping, talking or other attention from you. Take note ofthese things, as you can use them as rewards in the future.

Stationing in the CageThis is a helpful skill for all birds but particularly for those whoare defensive around their cages. Stationing simply means thatyou train the bird to go to a specific spot when you ask him to.For instance, when Joey, my White Capped Pionus, first came tolive with me he was very defensive around his cage and wouldlunge and smack his beak into the cage bars. I taught him to sta-tion on a perch by luring him with food and then giving him apiece of a grape every time he then sat on it. Once he was easilydoing this, I would say “perch” and then lure him. In no time hewas going directly to his station when I said “perch.” This allowedme to change his food and water, clean his cage and work aroundhis cage. I purposely would give larger pieces of grape so that itkept him busy for a while. One of the useful things about stationtraining is that it allows you to train easily with your bird insidethe cage, which is important when dealing with parrots who mayattempt to bite.

TargetingTargeting is simply teaching the bird to follow a target. You canuse something like a chopstick, a pen or even your finger. Once

you have chosen a target, offer a treat for looking at it. Once helooks at it easily, wait for him to move toward it and reinforcethat. Continue to build on the behavior until he follows the tar-get stick to wherever you move it.

Stepping Up When AskedIf you have adopted a baby bird or an adult bird who steps up, itis still a good idea to reinforce stepping up. I always ask a bird,“Do you want to step up?” as a question that the bird is permit-ted to say “no” to. With new birds, I find out what their favoritetreats are and then give them one every time they step up evenif they will step up without it. I started doing this when I discov-ered that so many birds step up readily at first but then stopafter a period of time. It seems that when they were unsure andthe environment was unfamiliar they were willing to do it, butonce they had settled in they were no longer willing to do so.Usually if you reinforce the behavior of stepping up by giving afood treat, the behavior of stepping up for you will develop a re-inforcement history and be meaningful to the bird. Some peoplefeel that because you are holding the bird after he steps up thatyou have reinforced him. However, I never assume that any birdhas an interest in being with me until I have spent some time de-veloping a relationship with him. Eventually, being held may in-deed be a reinforcer for stepping up, but until I feel strongly thatthe bird feels that way about me I use food to reinforce step ups.

A Flexible RoutineWhile I do have a fairly consistent routine with my birds, I am

Introducing varietyto the daily routinecan help birds bemore tolerant ofunexpectedchanges

It is importantthat companionbirds are able toplay independently

52 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

A V I A N

Vicki Ronchette CPDT CAP2 is the owner of BraveheartDog Training, www.braveheartdogtraining.com, and the au-thor of Positive Training for Show Dogs – Building a Relationshipfor Success. She is a raptor handler with Native Bird Connec-tions and lives in Northern California.

very careful to occasionally change things. Life changes and I donot want to have a routine so rigid that my birds cannot handleit or are thrown off if their routine is changed. Feed around thesame time but not exactly the same time. Use different bowls.Hold the bird at different times of the day. Make slight changesnow so he does not become frustrated or upset when things vary.

A Variety of Healthy FoodsFeeding a diet that consists of a variety of healthy foods is one ofthe best things you can do for your bird. My birds eat a combina-tion of pellets, seed or nutriberries and an ever-changing freshfood offering. I make chops and mashes, muffins and breads orsometimes just cut up fresh vegetables and fruits, pastas, rice andso much more. Baby birds who were raised on fresh foodsshould readily take to them but older birds and even young birdswho are not used to fresh foods may take some time to trythem. Do not give up: keep offering. Sometimes making muffinsor mash and sprinkling a little seed on top is enough encourage-ment. n

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53

The Perfect StormAmy Martin provides a glimpse into some of the common complexities and unique

challenges faced by military families to help pet professionals gain a better

understanding of them as clients

Few people understand the stressors that military familiesface. They deal with a wide range of issues ranging from fre-quent moves to the prolonged absence of their loved one

during both war and peacetime deployments. These issues canlast anywhere from a few months to a lifetime. This article willdiscuss some of the challenges that can arise within a militaryfamily, how they affect all living beings in the home, and how youcan recognize them during your consultations.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving What comes to mind when you think of a military family? Theidea that most people have is not always the reality. I am the wifeof a Marine. Throughout my adult life I considered myself to beself-sufficient, but there were many times during my husband’smilitary absences when I felt alone, overwhelmed and at my wits’end. I share this with you because my own challenges with mili-tary life enable me to deeply relate to the military families withwhom I consult. My personal experiences are unique to me, butthey represent issues that are commonplace in the militaryworld.

Breaking It Down Complicated does not come close to describing the military fam-ily’s lifestyle. These families are as diverse as you can possiblyimagine, coming from all backgrounds, races and religions. Whilethere are some common threads that are unique to the fabric ofmilitary life, many are the same type of things that “normal” peo-ple deal with: the need to deal with physical and emotionalstress, being young parents, working with a limited or fixedbudget, mom and dad both having to work, owning (perhaps mul-tiple) pets that have been rescued, multiple children, a sometimescavalier approach to dog training, and what is often a general lackof knowledge about dog (and cat) behavior and dog and childsafety.

Lack of ChoicesMilitary families do not have a lot of say in where they are as-signed. The military move season is one of the most stressfultimes in their lives, and they go through it every three years orso. Did you choose what kind of home you live in now? Whereyour child goes to school and what doctor you see? If you did,count your blessings. Part of the military lifestyle is accepting thefact that living it means a lack of choices when it comes to manythings like schools, health care specialists, and that other criticalservice providers are often chosen for you. Did you have to paya pet deposit for your pets? Count that as a blessing too. Most

military base housing will not accept certain breeds of dogs, andmany military families are often faced with the heart-breakingdecision to surrender a furry family member to a shelter. Havinga choice matters, and when those choices are taken away it cre-ates a tremendous amount of worry and stress.

Lack of Life ExperienceMost of the families I consult are young. That can be a disadvan-tage for them, especially when raising a family with multiple petsin the home. Many young military families are inexperienced andsometimes quite immature. This is something else to keep inmind when consulting with younger families. A lack of maturitycan lead to a lack of awareness. A lack of awareness leads to alack of security and safety in the home.

Lack of Stability If you have ever moved, then you know the stress and strife thatcomes from having to pack up everything and relocate. Militaryfamilies always feel like they are on the move, and they oftenhave to move on short notice as well. According to the MilitaryChild Education Coalition, military children move an average ofsix to 12 times during their school years. Add in the stress offinding a school or daycare for the children, a landlord who ac-cepts pets and so on. Stress accumulates and affects every livingbeing in the home.

What Deployments EntailDeployments and what comes along with them are another chal-

© Can Stock Photo/sveter

Military life can be stressfulfor dogs, just as it is forfamily members

lenge altogether. There is an emotional cycle that takes place be-fore the deployment begins, when the family gets the news that adeployment is coming. It begins with a period of intense emo-tions. Fear and anger seem to come up a lot for many spousesand children. Some families go through a period of detachmentand withdrawal. It is something that is far more common that werealize, but if we are aware of these challenges we can bettersupport the military family with which we are working.

During Deployment When a deployment is in full swing, the family members backhome will experience a wide range of feelings and pressures.These are just a few that I have personally experienced, and whatmy military friends and clients have expressed as well:

• Fear for their service member's safety• Worry or panic• Loneliness, sadness, depression• Added family duties and responsibilities• Finding a new job or restarting a personal business • Making new friends and connections• Feeling overwhelmed• Financial difficulties• Dealing with personal problems alone• The loss of family members or beloved pets• Having to evacuate due to unplanned circumstances• Being needed, loved and supported

These can all be contributing stress factors in military homeswith children, pets and behavioral issues.

The Invisible Scars When I go into a military home with children, I have often beenasked to work with the family on an immediate, pressing issue. Itis usually something that the mother needs fixed now – for ex-ample, a dog who is growling at the toddler. But I know there isso much more than the dog’s unwanted behavior that is happen-

C O N S U L T I N G

54 BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

Military homes are oftenlooking for a “quick fix” to

behavior problems, but therecan also be underlying issues

to address

As in any family, a lackof experience of dogownership can be afactor when dealingwith behavioral issues

© Can Stock Photo/Antonio_Diaz

ing behind the scenes and below the surface in the home. The effects of deployments extend far beyond the deployed

service member. Entire families are psychologically affected bythem and other compounding factors. Pregnancy depression andpsychosis, anxiety, postpartum depression and mood disordersaffect nearly 1.3 million mothers in the US alone. Mothers arenot the only ones who are suffering silently. According to a studyin the journal Pediatrics, one in four military children exhibitssymptoms of depression, and more than one in three has anxietyissues. Each new challenge can create a great deal of anxiety forevery living being in the home. In our roles as pet professionals,we must be aware of these often undetected and undiscussedscars of military family life.

„The fear of abandonment with the kids has been heightenedbecause they've been left behind so many times.‰

- Justin Cole, licensed clinical social worker, New Parent Support Program, Army Community Service

Being the Family Rock Children in the home can sometimes feel more than anxiety anddepression. They can often feel the need to assume the responsi-bilities of the deployed parent. It is just one more compoundingstress factor in the home. Often, they will hear things like thisfrom mom or dad before they leave (or will believe it withoutbeing told): “You're the man (or woman) of the house now. Youhave to take care of everybody while I am gone.” Being able torecognize this when we are consulting for a family is incrediblyvaluable. We can learn to recognize who is carrying a large load,who is taking on too much, and offer suggestions on how to helpease the stress on everyone.

Families can face new challenges when a service member re-turns home. The “homecoming honeymoon” ends quickly. Thegeneral public sees the feel-good videos of families rushing togreet each other, the dog and kids leaping into the soldier’s arms.Usually, that is the extent of what most of the world knowsabout the nature of the homecoming period. The reality is that

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

C O N S U L T I N G

This is Part One of a two-part feature

55

Military Child Education Coalition: Military-Connected Studentsand Public School Attendance Policies. Retrieved from www .militarychild.org/public/upload/files/SchoolAttendancePolicies-FINAL.pdf

References

after deployments end, new stresses begin. Things do not go backto the way they were before. People change from deployment.

“We see a lot of adjustment disorders caused from astressor. Some kids might not have a behavioral disorder, buttheir behavioral problems are a result of these difficultiesadjusting. Even infants and toddlers can have difficulties

adjusting to a new move and a deployment.” - Dr. Delano, clinical director, school behavioral

health, Child and Family Assistance Center, Evans ArmyCommunity Hospital

Reintegration to Family LifeWhen my husband returned home from his most recent deploy-ment, I saw the adjustment that he went through. His was briefand mostly without note, but he is much older than the familieswith whom I consult and he has been in for a while and has beenthrough a number of deployments (although that is no guaranteethat service members are good at handling them). But manyyounger military families may not yet have learned how to safelyand healthily manage it all. Further, they may be dealing withemotional and physical traumas caused from previous serviceoverseas. This is another factor that we need to be aware of ifwe are consulting a family who has a service member recentlyreturned from deployment.

„The first day back is just a fairy tale, of course. And thenyou have to start trying to put yourself back into the life

of your family.‰ -1st Lt. Jeremiah Lynch

Bonds That ChangeDad or mom comes home, once again. He or she has had fourdeployments. The kids and pets are growing and changing whiletheir parents are away. Now they are older and they may havelost touch with their mom or dad. A lot military homes strugglewith this aspect. Essentially, they are all getting to know astranger who has been in and out of their lives. Even infants canbe fearful when they are first introduced to the redeployed par-ent, especially if it is for the first time. The family dog can alsohave a tough time “meeting” mom or dad again after not seeingthem for a year or more. Pets and children need help reconnect-ing after deployments too.

„Even infants and toddlers can have difficulties adjusting toa new move and a deployment.‰

- Dr. Delano, clinical director, Child and Family Assistance Center

Transitions in life come with setbacks. These can create stressthat quickly overwhelm the parents, children and animals in thehome. When one (or more) family members become over-whelmed, the perfect storm is brewing. Being overwhelmed canlead to inattention in certain aspects of the family’s lives – and itoften is manifested in how the relationship between pets andchildren is managed. As consultants, we see the lack of fully

awake adult su-pervision in itsdangerous ef-fects all toooften. And sadly,unless we areable to calm thestorm, every-one ends upsuffering in thelong run.

Being awareof the manyconditions thatcreate stress inthe home is im-perative. Oncewe are aware ofthem, we canbetter recog-nize the multitude of “stress currents” below the surface. Be-coming aware of these unique challenges allows us to provideprofessional support and compassionate guidance in home con-sultations with our military families. n

Amy Martin owns and solely operates Conscious Compan-ion®, www.consciouscompanion.com/my-background.html,serves on the board of directors of the Cape Fear ParrotSanctuary, www.capefearparrotsanctuary.org and is a memberof the advisory team for Family Paws Parent Education,www.familypaws.com. When she is not consulting, writing, oreducating the public through workshops, she teaches WetlandEcology (B-WET) in the field for Prince William County Mid-dle Schools, and is a Make-A-Wish granter for the Mid- At-lantic Chapter.

Military families face a hostof stressors - departing for

deployment being just one of them

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Lie to Me: Self-Deception and Dog Behavior

We all do it. It is part of being human. It is part of life. Itis part of love. We do it every day. Part of it isnormal but it can also be destructive. I am

talking about self-deception, the most problem-atic of all lies.

When our dog and beloved familymember bites the neighbor it is normal tothink it was the neighbor’s fault, becauseour dog is a good dog. That may betrue, but the unwillingness to con-front the seriousness of the fact thatour dog has bitten a person can bedangerous. It is painful to be honest withourselves. It takes courage to face realityand many times we will color the truth.This usually involves denial, blame andother forms of self-deception.

An owner’s self-deception can bea dog’s biggest problem. Denial of adog’s reactivity issues may place adog in a position for which he is notprepared, leading to a bite. The samedenial sets the dog up for failurewhich, tragically, may lead to irre-versible consequences. Human think-ing is a tricky thing. Most of us tendto believe our thoughts. This is thefirst problem. Just because we think it does not make it true. Thisis why critical thinking is so valued and why the scientificmethod, while annoyingly slow, is the best thing we have to findtruth. Our self-deception protects us from truth which is harshand brutal. The risk of going along with self-de-ception, however, is huge for dogs. Professionalsmust work hard to choose the truth about whoand what our dogs are, and we need to lovinglylead clients to this truth also.

This is where awareness can shine a light onthe darkness of self-deception. With awarenesswe become empowered to learn, to grow andto be the best version of ourselves. Once wetackle our own self-deception we can begin tohelp our clients. Of course, it is often true thata dog is a loving family pet, but if he bites astranger so hard that it breaks her arm, thenthere is a problem. Even if it is “just” a hairlinefracture this still indicates a considerable lack ofbite inhibition. The behavior consultant shouldemploy gentle persistence to encourage the

C O N S U L T I N G

Angelica Steinker explains how self-deception - both the owner’s and the consultant’s –

can impede training

client to accept the facts while advocatingfor the dog by encouraging managementwith an additional backup safety plan at alltimes. Encourage the involvement of a vet-

erinary behaviorist. Encourage theconsistent implementation of behaviormodification. Excellent consultantsshine a light on the truth and supporttheir clients in coming to terms withreality.

Another form of self-deception is“magical” thinking. Magical thinking isthe process by which we not only be-lieve our thoughts but also believe our

wishes will come true. It is believingthat if you wish it enough it will happen.For instance, you might believe that if youwish your severely dog-reactive dogwould not put a wound requiring 20stitches in another dog, it will not happen.

Magic is not real but stitches and emotionalscars are. A simple example of magical thinking in training is

something we have all done. We give a dog a cue, thedog fails to perform and so we give the cue again

without making any environmental changes to set the dogup for success. Training is about repetition and repeating failure ispoor training. Doing the same thing but expecting a differentoutcome is magical thinking.

Trainers and clients struggle with this concept. Many ownersare misinformed and think that exposing their dog-reactive dog

56

© Can Stock Photo/lisafx

Setting a dog up forsuccess is a keycomponent in

effective training

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

Owners and trainers need tobe aware that when trying tosocialize their dog, they runthe very real risk of flooding

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to other dogs will socialize her: that somehow this exposure willresolve the dog reactivity. Most exposure training is flooding andmany times it will cause the opposite of what was intended. Theconfused owner will continue the so-called socialization whilethe dog’s reactivity becomes further conditioned and likelyworse.

As trainers, we are prone to our own magical thinking: think-ing that we are excellent trainers is an example. This belief doesnot leave room for growth. A more enlightened way of thinking isto consider how we learn from every dog and client we workwith because every dog, client and situation is different. I havetrained full time for 16 years and it seems to me that the train-ers that do not keep learning are the ones who think they al-ready know it all. This approach also creates a chasm betweenthe trainer and the client, one that the client is bound to per-ceive as overwhelming and unattainable. The trainer’s magicalthinking regarding his superiority closes the door on learning de-tails and nuances of our art. Ultimately it closes the door oncommunicating with the client.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a master. If you examine his journals itis evident how obsessed he was with learning. The master wasthe eternal student. It was only through Da Vinci’s humility thathe became the master that he was. Let us all, as trainers, find hu-mility with every client, in every training moment, so that we canstrive to be the best.

Thinking of yourself as the best trainer will choke off your

BARKS from the Guild/September 2015

C O N S U L T I N G

Angelica Steinker PCBC-A owns and operates Courteous Canine, Inc. DogSmith of Tampa, www.courteouscanine.com/Florida, a full service pet service business and dog schoolspecializing in aggression and dog sports. She is the national di-rector of training for DogSmith Services, www.dogsmith.com,and co-founder of DogNostics Career College, www.dognosticselearning.com.

Cognizant behavior consulting (CBC) is an approach that provides behavior consultants and their clients with guidelines that create

boundaries and establish ethics. CBC deals directly with the emotionalcomponents of behavior consulting. It focuses on the needs of both the

client and the dog in order to improve their emotional states. This column will present a different component of CBC in each issue.

57

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growth and close the door on the many things that you can learnfrom others. A very experienced, masterful trainer told me he at-tended a seminar and the presenter looked like she was 20 yearsold. He said he immediately thought that she would have little toteach him. It turned out that she was a neurobiologist and thatmy friend, the master, learned some information that he consid-ers some of the most useful he has learned in his entire life.

It is easy to see self-deception in others, but the real skill iswhen we decide to enter self-awareness and be honest with themost important person in our lives: ourselves. It is with honestythat we can begin the life-long process of truly mastering our art. n

Ioften wonder if a columnabout sales, as incrediblyimportant as the discipline

of selling is to the health andstaying power of your busi-ness, might be the equivalentof trying to motivate peopleto read a column entitled, YourProctologist Is Your Friend.

My guess is that there is alot of sales-related anxiety/fearbehind the lack of interest inthis subject. With an eye to-ward helping trainers hurdlethis obstacle, I conductedsome research about the mostprevalent fears in human be-ings.

Before I get started withthe ones that apply to the sales process, here are some thatjumped out at me.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – fear of longwords. No kidding. A word as long as the line at the motor vehi-cle bureau is used to label the fear of long words. Globophobia –the fear of balloons. Koumpounophobia - the fear of buttons.Omphalophobia - the fear of belly buttons. Phobophobia - thefear of everything.

But the fears that most caught my attention were those that Irefer to as sales-related fears (WillieLomanphobia?). They are:Anthropophobia - the fear of people. Telephonophobia – the fearof the telephone. Socialphobia - fear of being evaluated poorly byothers/the fear of rejection. Achievemephobia - the fear of suc-cess. Atychiphobia - fear of failure. Xenophobia - the fear ofstrangers or the unknown.

With all those sales-related fears at play, it is a wonder any-one has ever been able to conduct a sales call. To one degree oranother, all of the above fears can be experienced during thesales process.

For the purpose of this column, I would like to address howsales-related fears can lead to sales avoidance behaviors, which inturn, can lead to your potentially great dog training business be-coming a hobby. On the other hand, properly channeled andmanaged sales-related fears can lead to great success.

Fears exist in all of us. Fear can be a good thing. For all livingbeings, fear holds adaptive significance. It is fear that says, “Hey,maybe it’s not such a great idea to toss this Frisbee to that griz-

zly bear.” Fear is an emo-tional response to a realor perceived threat.Fears are common andare often normal reac-tions to objects orevents.

Fears become anissue when they preventus from doing what weneed to do or when wespend an inordinateamount of time and en-ergy engaging in avoid-ance behaviors. Whenthe anxiety a stimulusproduces is so strongthat it interferes withquality of life and our

ability to function in a productive manner, then it becomes prob-lematic.

Often, avoidance behaviors can be very subtle and difficult todetect. Let’s use fear of sales-related rejection as an example.Unlike the response one might see from a person who is snakephobic (appropriately screaming, running and relocating to ahome on Mars), fear of sales-related rejection can be much moresubtle. In fact, it can actually be masked in what appear to bepositive behaviors which are utilized to rationalize the avoidancebehaviors.

In my years 20+ years as a sales consultant, I have observedsalespeople engaging in some incredibly creative sales avoidancebehaviors, often masquerading as positive actions.

Similarly, in my sales consulting business, I frequently en-counter sales avoidance behaviors practiced by trainers whocontact me. As noted above, these behaviors are sometimes ra-tionalized as being positive. It is not unusual for sales aversetrainers to invest dollar after dollar into their websites hopingthat as a result, the website will sell their services, allowing themto avoid direct selling. While I am not minimizing the importanceof a website by any stretch, a website is not a salesperson. Web-sites attract prospective clients - selling converts them into cus-tomers. Thinking one’s website is going to replaceperson-to-person selling is like panning for gold with a HulaHoop.

I have also coached trainers who have spent substantialcoinage on brochures, new logos, business cards and something

How to Channel Sales-Related Anxiety John Visconti investigates the various fears and phobias inherently present in the

typical sales process which lead many a distinguished pet professional to engage

in avoidance behavior

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As pet professionals,if we define sellingas persuading, wepractice the salesprocess multipletimes each day

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called “branding.” I commonly coach trainers who post pricingon their websites and others who, as a rule, sell single-sessionconsultations – both practices are frequently linked to salesavoidance behaviors.

And I coach trainers who have done a great job of sellingthemselves the belief that they cannot be effective salespeople.The math there is simple. “If I cannot sell, then why bother totry?” It is the ultimate avoidance behavior and sadly, it is based ina belief that couldn’t be further from the truth.

As noted earlier, it is all a matter of degree. If the above be-haviors are practiced to the exclusion of proactive selling, thenlikely they are avoidance behaviors which are limiting your abilityto succeed. Of equal importance, they are also restricting yourchances to help dogs and their families.

What Next?To begin with, it is important to point out that no salespersonhas ever died by making a telephone sales call. In fact, getting inand out of your bathtub is more dangerous. By the way, oikopho-bia is the closest phobia I could find for fear of bathtubs. It is afear of the contents in your home.

Normalize Your AnxietyWe often normalize canine behaviors for owners by pointing outthat the actions they find troublesome are in fact, just a dogbeing a normal dog. We can practice the same normalizing forourselves regarding sales-related anxiety. Here is the big secret. Ihave been selling for 25 years and, to one degree or another, Istill experience anxiety when making a sales call. Convincing atotal stranger to spend their money on my services is not aneasy or comfortable thing to do and it is important to simply ac-cept this fact. Accepting that sales-related anxiety is normal, willactually help to decrease it.

Another aspect of normalization is to embrace the fact thatwe engage in selling every day. If we define selling as persuading,we practice the sales process multiple times each day. Have youever been involved in a Facebook debate about trainingmethodology? Have you ever tried to convince aspouse, significant other or friend to go to arestaurant that you like? Have you ever tried toexplain to the police officer whopulled you over that therewas a perfectly good rea-son you were driving at55mph on the sidewalk?In each one of those ex-amples, you are selling.

Nothing couldbe more nor-mal than sell-ing. In fact,Daniel Pinkwrote a bookabout this sub-ject entitled, ToSell is Human

and let us not forget this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson:“Everyone lives by selling something.”

Channel Your AnxietyNotice I did not suggest you should try to “eliminate” your anxi-ety. If you spend your time attempting to eradicate sales-relatedanxiety, you are going to fail. A moderate level of sales-relatedanxiety is absolutely normal and dare I say, essential to a success-ful outcome. A number of studies have been conducted demon-strating that mild-to-moderate levels of anxiety help to improveour performance. In June 2012, the Wall Street Journal publishedan article entitled: Anxiety Can Bring Out the Best - Researchers Pre-scribe Just Enough Stress to Ace Life’s Tests; Too Little Is Lazy.

Prepare for Your Sales ActivitiesPreparation is the only part of the sales process that you cancompletely control. Preparation is not all that exciting but the re-sults sure are. Yet so many trainers tend to “wing it” when sellingtheir services. Do you have a structured sales presentation? Haveyou identified five points that differentiate your business fromothers? Have you incorporated these points into your sales pres-entation? Have you practiced your presentation and, perish thethought, recorded yourself doing so? Do you have a few standardquestions you ask prospective clients in order to engage thememotionally? Have you read my book, Fetch More Dollars for YourDog Training Business?

Being prepared helps to reduce anxiety. Being prepared iscritical to the success of your business. As I often say, be pre-pared to fail if you fail to prepare.

Embrace Your ValueBuilding self-esteem by embracing the value of the services youprovide can reduce and counter the negative effects of anxiety.The more you believe in your product, the less anxiety you willfeel when selling your services. It is important to remember that

you are not selling obedience cues, you areselling quality of life for both dog andfamily – you are offering an invaluableproduct.

Focus on Helping, Not SellingFinally, this is foundational to ef-fective, force-free selling. For-get about the sale. Forgetabout the money associ-ated with the sale. Focuson helping people. Asnoted by the great salesconsultant, Zig Ziglar,“You can have everythingin life you want if you’lljust help enough otherpeople get what theywant.” You will beamazed to find that themore time you spend

Telephonophobia is a commonsales-related fear, yet getting

in and out of the bathtub is inherently more “dangerous”

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John D. Visconti CPDT-KA is the owner of Fetch More Dollars, www.fetchmoredollars.com, sales consulting for dogtrainers, Dog Trainer ConneXion, www.dogtrainerconnexion.com, business management software and Rising Star Dog Training, www.risingstardogtraining.com. He has recentlypublished his first book: Fetch More Dollars for Your Dog Training Business, a coaching guide to force free selling.

helping, the less you will have to spend “selling.”

Without Change, Progress Is an ImpossibilityAll of this brings us to the last fear I would like to discuss, thefear of change, aka metathesiophobia. Without a willingness tochange, your proverbial sales vehicle is stuck in the mud withspinning tires. Often certainty is more comfortable than uncer-tainty. That said, I have always felt that it takes an enormousamount of energy to stand in one place.

Take a moment to consider how many dog owners you haveasked to change their perceptions. From topics like dominance,

Topics may include training, ethology, learning theory, behavior specifics... or

anything else you can think of. We’ll even do some

practice runs with you to helpyou along (if you need them!)

HOST A WEBINAR FOR PPG!

We invite our members to get involved and contribute their unique skills to our

webinar program! If you would like to host a webinar for your fellow companion

animal trainers and behavior professionals, submit your ideas to: www.PetProfessionalGuild.com/PresentaPPGmemberWebinar.

pack leadership and seeing their dog as stubborn, to erro-neous beliefs about certain breeds and dogs wanting to“please” us, we are continually asking owners to changetheir mindsets.

Should we expect more of our clients than we expectof ourselves?

It might be time to change how you view the salesprocess. Certainly it cannot hurt to simply consider a dif-ferent perspective.

Until the next column, remember, you cannot helpowners and their dogs until you gain them as clients so,happy selling! n

Sales-related fearscan lead to salesavoidance behaviors

ReferencesBeck, M. (2012). Anxiety Can Bring Out the Best - Re-searchers Prescribe Just Enough Stress to Ace Life’s Tests; TooLittle Is Lazy. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303836404577474451463041994Pink, D. (2013). To Sell is Human. New York, NY: RiverheadBooks.Ziglar, Z. (2004). Secrets of Closing the Sale. Ada, MI: Revell.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS TO HELP ON YOUR PATHWAY TO ACCREDITATION

If you are an applicant in the system and on the road toaccreditation, PPAB is here to help you be successful!

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL:

s A Process Road Map with Check Boxes: www.credentialingboard.com/Accreditation-gatekeepers

s The Examination Study Guide:www.credentialingboard.com/Study-Guide

s The Case Study Template:www.credentialingboard.com/Case-Study-Information

s The Video Review Form:www.credentialingboard.com/page-18095

s The Facebook Applicant Support Group - To join, email:Niki@credentialingboard.coms ABA Dictionary:

www.credentialingboard.com/Dictionary

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Following her retirement, Elsie English decided not to sitback and take it easy. Instead, she now devotes her time toa local foster organization and helps train dogs with behav-

ior problems, with a view to keeping them alive and getting theminto forever homes.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your background:

A: My training background has been in clicker and lure rewardtraining. I completed course one of Gail Fisher's All Dogs Acad-emy Instructor School 2010 and two courses at Wolf Park Insti-tute of Ethology with Dr. Ray Coppinger and Ken McCort. I havealso attended a Posidog Canine Learning Center workshop, a PiaSilvani Adoption Option seminar and the Clicker Expo, amongstothers. Health issues stopped my training program so I currentlywork with a foster based organization, Operation Pets Alive,which fosters difficult dogs or dogs with problem behaviors, andhelping their foster parents.

Q: Why did you become a dog trainer or pet care provider?

A: In 2008, I adopted an adult intact male Canaan dog from a rel-ative. Although very sweet with me, Koda was very people anddog aggressive. I knew I had to be educated in training him or hemight have to be euthanized. Thanks to a wonderful trainer,Cinda Bishop, who helped me train Koda and learn about force-free training.

Q: Are you a crossover trainer or have you always been aforce-free trainer?

A: I started my training at the age of 64. I had really never had anopportunity to work with or own dogs prior to that.

Q: What drives you to be a force-free professional and whyis it important to you?

A: The area of Texas that I live in is full of trainers who rely onchoker chains, prong collars, shock collars, etc. I am thrilled to beable to show dog owners another way to train. Obviously, onedoes not have to hurt any dog/animal to train him/her and this isthe message I work on spreading.

Q: What awards or competition placements have you andyour dog(s) achieved using force-free methods?

A: We have not achieved any formal awards as we do not enter

In the ongoing series of PPG member profiles, this month BARKS

features Elsie English, a retired trainer who now works with a foster organization

specializing in “difficult” dogs

any competitions. The greatest achievement is my wonderfulhelper dog, Spirit, a nine-year-old Siberian husky. He repeatedlygives shy fearful dogs support as they learn to become goodcompanion dogs. He is also calm and non-reactive in the pres-ence of reactive dogs. I assist with a "reactive dog" class on Satur-days at K9 Heeler Training Center (a force-free training center).

Q: How has the PPG helped you to become a more com-plete trainer?

A: I am a new member. I look forward to taking advantage of theresources at PPG.

Q: Who has most influenced your career and how?

A: Gail Fisher has influenced my learning process, along with oneof her trainers, Wendy Bergeron. I am retired and use my trainingskills to help neighbors, Operations Pets Alive foster homes, andto personally work with foster dogs.

Q: What reward do you get out of a day's training?

A: My greatest reward now is when one of my foster dogs getsand stays adopted! When it is a local adoption I make severalhome visits and enjoy showing new owners how to work with

No Time Like the Present

Elsie English putsher retirement timeto good use, helping

difficult dogs getnew homes and

stay in them

their own dogs. I am always thrilled to receive emails from myout-of-state adopters thanking me for doing such a good job oftraining their new dog.

Q: What are some of your favorite positive reinforcementtechniques for most commonly encountered client-dogproblems?

A: I prefer clicker training using a variety of rewards... generally treats.

Q: What is the funniest or craziest situation you have beenin with a pet and their owner?

A: In 2008, my female (spayed) Canaan dog kept digging largeholes around the yard. I finally decided to stop trying to fill themin and let her do her thing. She dug a complete 6 foot tunnel intothe ground beside our deck and then made a large circular denoff to the left at the end of the tunnel. Everyone was amazedwhen they saw the pictures. This is typical Canaan behavior but

not commonly seen. For her safety we filled it in, fearing it mightcollapse on her.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: As a retiree, I enjoy the freedom of being able to work withdogs from the county shelter.

Q: What do you consider to be your primary area of expertise?

A: Working with fearful and feral dogs.

Q: What advice would you give to a new trainer starting out?

A: Be true to the cause of force-free training! nOperation Pets Alive is located in Montgomery County, Texas

www.operationpetsalive.orgTo be featured in the BARKS Profile section, complete this form:www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/4K20TaXhYd84DN03pf5s

Training Tips by PPG Members

The difference between reinforcement and bribery comesup in training sessions all the time, usually when someone

has heard or read that they are one and the same thing, andare now afraid that, by using positive reinforcement to train,they are going to “spoil” their pet.

There is, however, a difference. It may be small, but it is veryimportant. We have all known pets who will “only do [insertbehavior here] if he knows I have a treat!” Well, here is why.

Bribery is defined (by dictionary.com) as: to promise, offer,or give something, to procure services or gain influence; anypersuasion or lure.

Reinforcement is defined as: to reward an action or re-sponse of (a human or animal) so that it becomes more likelyto occur again.

Now, let’s pretend I need you to clean my bathroom.Scenario A: I offer a bribe to you as incentive for perform-

ing a desired behavior. “See this $100 bill? I’ll give it to you ifyou clean my bathroom.”

Scenario B: I provide reinforcement to you after the behav-ior is offered. “Oh my gosh, thanks for cleaning my bathroom!Here’s $100 – go buy yourself something nice!”

Sweet deal, right? Now, let’s pretend a week goes by, and Iask you to clean my bathroom again. Think about it: what

would your reaction be (other than, “why can’tyou clean your own bathroom?”)

Chances are, if youwere in scenario A

originally (the bribe)you would be thinking:

“Wait a minute … lasttime she offered me$100 for this job!What gives?!”

Reinforcement versus Bribery

Joanna Moritz Fur and Feather Works LLCwww.furfeatherworks.com

If you were in scenario B, you might be thinking: “Oooh,maybe she’ll surprise me with a gift again! Heck yeah I’ll cleanyour bathroom!”

Now, let’s pretend that you are a nice person and do choresfor me all the time, and every once in a while I surprise youwith $100 for doing a good job. How are you going to feelabout doing me a favor? Pretty positive, right? How are yougoing to feel toward me, as a friend? Now, how would you feelif every time I wanted you to do something, I dangled that $100in front of you? What kind of quality work would you do forme? How would you feel about me, as a friend?

This is what we are doing to our animals when we are train-ing them. If you routinely bribe your pet, they are smart enoughto look to see if you have the payment in your hand before per-forming the desired behavior. (He only comes when he knows Ihave a treat!)

An animal who has been unexpectedly reinforced withsomething wonderful, however, will be willing to perform allsorts of behaviors to earn his “paycheck” without checking tosee if it is in your hand first. He learns to trust that, at somepoint, it is coming.

Bribery is not necessarily a horrible thing; it gets the jobdone sometimes. It can also help an animal to understand whatyou want; luring an animal is a form of bribery. But it is not thebest option because of the unintended side effects, and so wewant to fade it as fast as possible.

This is certainly an oversimplified explanation, but hopefullywill help to differentiate between the two and ensure ownersavoid the pitfalls of “bargaining” with their pets. Bribing an ani-mal to behave is very different than rewarding good behavior. n

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Reinforcement with foodtreats in dog training is

often confused for bribery

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