CLIENT #1 – REMY, A NON-DOG-SOCIAL LABRADOR RETRIEVER
It’s not very often that you come across a Labrador Retriever who doesn’t like to play with other dogs, but Remy is one of those rare exceptions. She and her human came to see me this week. Remy, now 4 years old, a spayed female, grew up with a couple of Lab friends that she got along with quite well and one that she still plays with regularly. One moved away but came back to visit recently, and shortly after they were reintroduced, Remy launched into a scuffle with Susie and they had to be separated. Not too long after that, Helen, Remy’s human, had to go out of town and when her pet sitter came over to stay at the house she brought her blind senior Pomeranian with her. Remy definitely wanted to do the little dog harm.
Helen told me that Remy had been “fine” with other dogs up until now – she takes her to the dog park and Remy happily chases her toys. But (and here’s the big clue) she doesn’t ever play with the other dogs. She generally avoids them.
As my Academy students will tell you, I always put “Fine” in finger quotes. To me – when a dog is truly “fine” they are calm, relaxed and happy. But most of the time when a dog’s person says the dog is “fine” what they mean is that the dog isn’t over threshold (acting out) – but in reality much of the time the dog is quite far from “fine.” In fact, much of the time the dog is still tense, stressed and worried – perhaps even shut down, but is nowhere near calm, relaxed and happy.
Avoidance isn’t “fine” either. Avoidance is sending a very clear message that the dog is not comfortable with whatever stimulus she is avoiding, and if that stimulus (dog or whatever) gets too close or tries to be too social, our avoidant dog is likely to become aggressive to try to get them to back off. I believe this is what happened with Remy. And since she has now found a successful strategy for making those dogs go away, she’s likely to resort to it more often.
So – kudos to Helen for seeking help before Remy has a long history of practicing successful “go away” behavior.
STUFFED DOGS
I don’t often used stuffed dogs – I think most dogs are savvy enough to realize pretty quickly that they aren’t real, and if anything their artificial stiffness can make dogs even more uncomfortable. But I tried it with Remy – I wanted to watch her body language when she first saw the other dogs, and to see what she did when released (which I wasn't about to do with a live dog!). I just happened to have a life-sized/lifelike stuffed Labrador and a life-sized lifelike stuffed Pom.
Remy was barky with both stuffed dogs from a distance of 70 feet (one at a time). When we released her leash to see what she would do she ran up to the Lab, sniffed his posterior, sniffed around a little more and then, realizing it wasn’t real, moved off to greet a nearby person.
When we let her approach the Pom she was much more suspicious – didn’t come up and sniff, but eventually realized it was stuffed and started playing with it like a stuffed toy.
So then we did some counterconditioning/desensitization (CC&D) with my Kelpie, Kai. As expected, she barked at him at first at 70 feet, but was easily kept below threshold as Helen let Remy look at Kai and then immediately fed her chicken. Remy quickly started offering CERs (conditioned emotional response looks) – glancing at Kai and then looking back at Helen for chicken – and Remy clearly began to relax. We gradually decreased distance and all went well until we were about 15 feet apart. Although Remy had seemed to be tolerating the decreasing distance well, she suddenly tensed, gave several aggressive barks and lunged toward Kai. We calmly increased distance, Helen continued with the CC&D, and Remy quickly settled back down.
PROGNOSIS
Most dogs, even those who aren’t overly social, can cultivate a small circle of intimate friends – and that is what we hope for Remy. I am also optimistic that with enough CC&D work she can be socially appropriate in the presence of other dogs, as long as we don’t expect her to interact with them. Our own Scottish Terrier, Dubhy (who is no longer with us) was initially quite dog reactive/aggressive, and over time we successfully and peacefully added several new canine members to our family. (And yes, he really did play the piano...<G>)
Helen committed to at least 3 CC&D sessions with Remy per week, and after spending some time with her I’m pretty sure she’s the kind of person who will absolutely fulfill her commitment and then some. She did agree, for safety reasons, to stop taking Remy to the dog park, other than perhaps to hang out outside the park for CC&D opportunities, and I provided her with an article on doing careful introductions to create that small circle of intimate friends: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/care/proper-dog-to-dog-introductions-in-the-home/
I do think this one will go well!
CLIENT #2 – SPARKY, THE REACTIVE AIR BNB PIT/STAFF
Sparky, a 1.5-year-old spayed female Pit/Staffie mix, is about as cute, friendly and social with humans as they come (those ears!!!). That is, when she’s not at home in her house, which is the location of her humans’ Airbnb business. Sparky pretty much loses it whenever a car comes in the driveway, and if guests (some with dogs, some without) are walking the grounds around the house. Once she is introduced to the humans she is quite friendly with them, but her response to the initial arrival (delivery people too) is quite alarming. She did have one very significant incident when Dylan had her outside, off-leash, unaware that a guest was walking with their dog. Sparky went after the guest’s small dog, and the guest was bitten several times while protecting his dog from Sparky. Fortunately, the guest was very understanding and forgiving, especially after Dylan and Sharon comped their 3-day stay and offered them another free 3-day stay if they should want to come back for another visit.
We took advantage of Sparky’s reactive barking to sounds in the adjoining office to practice some CC&D. Sparky responded and settled with lightning speed – which gives us cause for optimism, although I did tell her humans that it might not work quite as quickly in her own home environment where she has a history of reacting. Also in the plus column – other than her over-the-top-reaction times, she is actually a very calm, laid back girl most of the time – so not a candidate for long-term anti-anxiety medication, although I did suggest to Sharon and Dylan that they ask their vet about short-acting meds that they could give when they know they have guests arriving.
OUR PLAN
Here are Sparky’s commitments:
Behavior Modification Protocols/Minimum Commitments (more is fine/better):
1. CC&D – At least 3 times per week, 15-20 minutes or more per session (when possible with friend-set-up) and be prepared for/take advantage of anticipated guest arrivals.
2. Find It/Search – At least 5 times per week, 5 minutes or more per session – (easy one; more is fine)!!
3. Scatter Meal – Once per day (evening meal, weather permitting) – the more widely scattered the better!
4. Nose Games – At least 3 times per week, 5-10 minutes or more – and more is fine – I suspect you will all love this one… ENRICHMENT!
5. Walk Away – At least 3 times per week, 5 minutes or more per session – to be able to move her away from arousal-causing stimuli - remember that in order for this to work you need to make it a FUN PARTY!!!
My prognosis for Sparky was still positive, but a little more guarded. It can be significantly more challenging to modify behavior when the dog’s exposure to stress-causing stimuli in the environment is harder to manage. Sharon and Dylan will need to commit to serious management as well as the modification protocols if they want to help Sparky learn to be calm about guests on the property.
WORKSHOPS
In case you needed more motivation – here is a list of our upcoming workshops:
Cooperative Care with Lucy McKnight: April 5-6
The Shape of Things to Come with Pat Miller: May 24-25
Equine Clicker Training with Sam Steckel: May 31-June 1
Brain Candy/Cognition with Pat Miller: August 23-24
Rowdy to Refined/Impulse Control with Lucy McKnight: September 20-21
You can sign up here: https://peaceablepaws.com/workshops/ or contact us for more information.
Don’t wait too long, everything is starting soon!!!
SUNNY HELPS WITH PIG CPR
No, Freddie didn’t really need CPR. Freddie, like many pigs, will flop down and lie on his side when you scratch his tummy – so I invited Sunny to step up on his pig brother. And Freddie's enjoying it. (Kai declined the invitation...) Cute, eh?
Supposed to be 60 degrees Wednesday – I think maybe I’ll ride a horse!!!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
