ACADEMY BREAK
We are on an academy break – next one starts September 9 – a Basic Dog Training and Behavior Academy. Meanwhile, I get a bit of a breather, see some private clients, and get to host our annual family get together starting tomorrow, which means I’ve been doing a lot of housecleaning this week. Right now I’m waiting for the sealer to dry on the kitchen floor so I can apply the polish. I admit – I’m not the world’s best housecleaner. My mom always said, “There are more important things in life than having a clean house.” I may not have always followed all my parents’ advice, but I latched onto that one!
EMMA THE ROTTIE PUP
I had one private client this week: an absolutely adorable Rottweiler puppy from a very responsible breeder. This pup is super-well socialized, parents are tested for all the bad Rottie stuff (hips, eyes, etc.) – and I LOVE that Emma has her tail!!!
So if she’s so wonderful, why did she come to see me? Because she has one of the best humans ever! Mary (not her real name) and Lucy (our lead trainer and Practice Manager) noticed in Puppy Class that Emma was doing a little guarding from other pups, and she had also done a wee bit of guarding from her human. Mary wisely wanted to address the behavior before it became a big deal. Gotta love humans like that!
We know that resource guarding is a natural, normal behavior. We all want to keep our good stuff, right? I love pumpkin pie, and if you tried to take away my piece of pie while I was eating it, I might just stab you with my fork! And hey, do you lock your house when you leave for work in the morning? Do you lock your car when you park it on a city street? You are resource guarding!! Rather than freaking out when our dog tells us she doesn’t want to share, we need to convince her that we are not a threat to her valuable possessions.
Mary had already started doing Kelly Fahey’s “I Come In Peace” protocol, which helps the dog understand that a human approaching you when you have good stuff just makes more good stuff happen. (Thank you Kelly!!!) She has also begun teaching Emma our “Trade” exercise, which teaches the dog that if she gives up her valuable possession, she gets something wonderful in exchange, and then she gets her valuable thing back again – it’s a Win-Win!
(These two protocols are described at the end of this blog.)
So – since Mary was already doing all the right things, what did I have to offer her?
1. Major kudos for doing all the right things, and moral support.
2. Additional information on how to interpret Emma’s behavior with the other puppies. It really is okay for Emma to let another puppy know she doesn’t want to share, as long as Emma’s behavior doesn’t escalate. The other puppies should learn to back away when Emma asks them to.
3. We added the Chin Rest protocol. Mary was already kicking herself – at Emma’s last vet visit the tech took her pup into “the back” and forcibly restrained her for nail-trimming. Emma naturally resisted, and is now touchy about having her paws handled (she wasn’t before this experience). Mary realized right away that she had made a big mistake letting the tech take Emma, and has already started doing counter conditioning with her pup. Adding a husbandry consent procedure will also help repair the damage that was done. Mary has switched to a new Fear-Free certified vet clinic and will also be taking Emma there for Happy Vet Visits.
4. I suggested that if Emma’s guarding behavior escalated despite our efforts we might try Kelly Snider’s CAT procedure (Constructional Aggression Treatment): https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/constructional-aggression-treatment-cat-can-improve-behavior/
That – and, my clients are mine for life, so I asked Mary to report back to me in a couple of weeks, and to feel free to contact me at any time with questions, comments, concerns or brags. And we’ll be seeing her and Emma weekly in puppy class!
A large percentage of my private clients have dogs with very significant behavior challenges, and it was so sweet to have one whose behaviors were relatively mild and whose human was so on top of things. We have an excellent prognosis for this case. Thanks Mary and Emma!
I COME IN PEACE
1. Tether your dog to an eye bolt affixed to the wall for that purpose, or to a solid, heavy object. Give him a valuable chew object (not a Kong – it will roll out of his reach!), or a small bowl of food.
2. Have a good supply of toss-able high-value treats. (Chicken does not work well for this – it’s too messy and hard to accurately toss). Small bits of cheese or meat work well.
3. Walk past your dog at a safe distance. Depending on the dog, this may be six to eight feet beyond the end of the tether, or it may be closer. Or farther. As you pass him, toss several high-value treats near the bowl or chewy, where he can easily reach them. Keep walking – do not pause to toss. If your dog growls, lunges or shows other obvious guarding behavior you are too close.
4. Repeat Step 3 until, as you approach you see your dog starting to look up in happy anticipation of the treats you are going to toss. When he does this consistently, decrease the distance by a few inches.
5. Continue passing by and dropping treats, gradually decreasing distance when he is consistently happy at each new distance.
6. When he is happy with you walking past at a distance close enough to touch him, pause as you pass and feed him a treat from your hand. Then walk on.
7. When he stays happy with your pause-and-feed, gradually increase the length of time you pause and feed. The increase should be no more than 1-2 seconds. As you increase the length of your pause, start talking to him in a happy voice as you feed.
8. When you can pause for 10 seconds and he stays happy, occasionally bend slightly and drop a treat into his bowl or next to his chewy, then feed some more from your hand and walk on.
9. Repeat, gradually increasing the number of times you bend and drop.
10. Now gradually increase how much you bend over until you can touch the bowl or chewy. Remember, if you see any sign of tension you have moved too quickly. Back up a few steps and continue more slowly from there.
11. Finally, as you are pausing, bending and feeding, occasionally play the Trade game, always returning the bowl or object to him after he has happily allowed you to take it.
12. Now start the protocol over again at Step 1 with the next most reliable family member. Continue until your dog is comfortable with all family members approaching him, then repeat with trustworthy visitors, again starting with Step 1.
TRADE
1. Say “Take it!” and give your dog a low-value object. Offer your dog something he will easily and willingly give up in exchange for the high-value treat you will offer him next. (If his first instinct is to take the item and run, you may need to put a leash on him and step on the leash or tether him to something solid, so he can’t run off with the item before he realizes there are more potential benefits to this negotiation!)
2. Offer your dog some high-value treats. You may need to hold the treats close enough to his nose that he can smell them, but don’t try to push them into his mouth; anything that resembles coercion will likely increase his resistance. Make sure you have a large enough supply of the high-value treats that it will take him a few moments to eat them. If he doesn’t drop the object he has in his mouth in favor of your treats, you need a higher-value treat (think meat, not dry biscuits) and/or a lower-value item to trade for.
Notice you didn’t use a cue yet. We don’t add the cue until we know the dog will drop the item.
3. When your dog drops the item: Click your clicker (or use a mouth click or verbal marker, such as the word “Click”), and while you keep him occupied nibbling at the high-value treats in one hand, with your other hand, pick up the object and hide it behind your back. This part is really important. You must use two hands! If you let him eat the high-value treat and them try to race him back to the object, you’re likely to lose the race – and you may elicit resource-guarding. If you feel at all uncomfortable reaching for the item as your dog munches on the treats, you can sprinkle the treats in a short “Hansel and Gretel” trail, starting under his nose and leading to a spot a foot or two away from the dropped item. Engage his mouth with the treats in your hand after he follows the trail, while you pick up the item with your other hand.
4. As soon as your dog finishes eating the treats in your hand: Bring out the object from behind your back, say, “Take it!” and give it back to him. This teaches him that he doesn’t always lose the item; he can trade with you and then get the item right back. This will make him more willing to trade again in the future. He gives you his good stuff, he gets more good stuff, and then he gets good stuff back again. It’s a win/win for him!
5. When you can reliably predict that your dog will drop the item when you offer your treats, add the cue. Give your cue first (“Trade!”) and pause for a second or two. Then offer the treats, click (or say “Yes!”) when he drops the item, and pick up the item with your free hand while you keep his mouth busy nibbling treats from your hand.
6. After several repetitions, sometimes pause a few seconds longer before offering your dog treats. Your goal is to get him to drop the object when you say, “Trade!” before you offer the treats. When he will do this reliably, it means you have the behavior “on cue” – that is, he is dropping the object because he heard and understood the cue, not just because you stuck high-value treats under his nose.
BYE FOR NOW
Okay – that’s probably more than enough information for one blog – sorry! I will just leave you with this… It’s been a great wildlife week at Peaceable Paws – cool mushrooms with the much-needed recent rains, 20 turkeys and several deer on the front lawn (including a 4-point buck!) bunnies everywhere, a flock of 100-plus starlings setting off our driveway beeper, and a ***white*** skunk with a black stripe in our driveway. Peaceable Kingdom!
Have a GREAT week!!!!!
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
