Coronavirus problems for dogs and puppies

Whilst we're all struggling with the Covid shut down, what's happening with our dogs and puppies?

Help for dogs and puppies during the coronavirus

What else could I write about this month but the coronavirus situation! On the one hand, we might think that all of our dogs will be overjoyed at having their family staying home with them; on the other hand, how on earth can we hope to socialise new puppies? And how can we possibly walk our dogs safely without accidentally coming within the two metre safety zone? Here are some ideas to help.

Avoiding new separation issues:

It’s very common for dogs to develop separation issues after the Christmas & New Year Holidays. They’ve really enjoyed our company and when we go back to work we come home to come home to find the lino’s been ripped up, for instance. Try to avoid this eventuality by keeping some of the day-to-day routine the same & by leaving them at home alone when you can (if that’s safe).

Helping existing separation issues:

Usually separation issues are extremely difficult to resolve because, for best results, it is crucially important that the dog isn’t left alone until they can actually cope. What a great opportunity we have here then to resolve this issue! Why not join our online separation group to help you through the steps.

Exercise:

It’s probably safest to keep your dogs on leads for all walks just now, even if just to prevent potential issues arising.

New puppies

Usually it’s critically important to gently and safely expose our puppies to all the sights and sounds and people and animals that they’ll need to cope with in their lives. Of course, we simply cannot do this right now. It’s not even safe to take them to a doggy play area and let them romp about with other puppies. Just consider how we get them to come back to us without having to go and pick them up or even to untangle long lines. Puppy parties are cancelled and all puppy training classes are moving on-line.

Some ideas to ameliorate the situation are:

·      Use puppy socialisation mp3 downloads (available free from the Dog’s Trust) to get them used to noises, sights and sounds

·      Work on training whilst there’s a doggy programme on the TV. 

·      Play-act: Imagine the aspects of people that a dog might meet: wearing hats, wearing glasses, different perfumes, walking sticks, cycling, jogging etc. Set up some safe situations around your home and garden and introduce your puppy to these “pretend” people.

In the mean time, we are doing video help sessions to ensure that we pre-empt problems arising and also take the extra time we have just now to resolve  existing problems. For more information, please see www.PawsAbility.co.uk

Fisrt Published in The Northern Times, Mar 20

Help, My Dog is Obsessed with Food

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Some dogs seem to be more greedy than others – or are they? Just have a wee think back to the first time those lovely brown eyes gazed at you. Our first thought may have been:  “Hey Molly, what is it that you want, do you want out?” We go to the door and open it and they simply continue to look at us. Next thought – oh you must be hungry – let’s get you a wee snack.

And hey presto! Our dogs have trained us to get up from our TV programme, go in to the kitchen, open the cupboard and feed them. They get a treat and we get a) relief from the pressure and frustration of guessing and b) a feel good factor from making our dogs happy.

Now, of course, some dogs are indeed more foodie than others. What happens with those greedy dogs? Why are they always on the hunt for food? Well science is uncovering many new reasons regarding why some people seem to need to eat more than others; why some get more joy from eating; and why some put on weight whilst others don’t. And guess, what – it’s the same for dogs. There are indeed genetic and other inherited aspects. But our brains and our dogs’ brains also develop habits.

That very first time our puppy gazed lovingly at us and we thought – oh let’s get you a snack – was the first step towards a foodie habit.

Just think. What if, instead of reaching for the cookie jar we did a little training, or played a wee game, or took them for a walk, gave them a pat or taught them to go and lie down in their bed. How would that have affected the puppy’s experience with food?

After all, it is much easier to never let a habit form than to change habits later.

So, for puppies, during their first few weeks and months (and for newly rescued dogs), simply keep temptation out of the way and don’t presume that they’re always looking for food, or get them into the habits of getting more extra treats than they need.

There are of course some dogs who do seem food obsessed. Keeping food out of reach works for them too, helped by distracting them onto other mentally stimulating activities.

Obesity is one of the top preventable diseases in dogs. Fat dogs aren’t just fat, they suffer from all of the other related medical issues that we do: joint problems, heart stress, diabetes and so on.

There's an excellent chart on measuring dog thin-fat levels here - Is my dog fat?

Is your dog bored? Look here for motivational ideas.

For help with greedy or fussy dogs or puppies or for any other behaviour problems, please do just get in touch at PawsAbility.co.uk.

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What the heck is dog socialisation anyway?

I MUST Socialise my Puppy!

I MUST Socialise my Rescue Dog!! 

Em, yes, well, but.... please take care to ensure that your pet doesn't become frightened or overwhelmed by the experience. 

Socialisation is NOT forcing your dog or puppy to go to a training class where they bark, whine, lunge at other dogs or hide under the seat.

Socialisation is NOT making sure that everyone holds your puppy.

Socialisation is NOT impossible before the puppy vaccination period is passed.

Socialisation IS probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of dog behavioural needs.

And, I’m thinking that socialisation may be something that new xmas pet owners are thinking about just now. Unfortunately, this term is one of those mis-understood aspects of dog ownership. Most tend to think that socialisation is about getting dogs and puppies out and letting them loose to play with each other.

Unfortunately this can all too frequently go wrong. Yes of course we want dogs to meet up with each other. But what’s most important is that we ensure that we organise these meetings so that we don’t expose any dog or puppy to any fear or indeed over-excitement. Canine introductions really need to be handled very carefully to ensure that we don’t introduce any unwanted behaviours or expose our dogs to a situation where they may feel cornered and may become aggressive or bolt away from you. In fact, this is exactly what has happened to many of the dogs we see on the lost dogs listings.

First, if we think about puppies, socialisation is much broader than just introducing them to other dogs. They need to be carefully exposed to all sorts of objects, noises and other animals and people in a calm and careful way to help them learn to ignore noises and to be calm and happy around people and animals.

We also need to take care considering socialisation for many rescue dogs and especially imported rescues. Many dogs will be quite anxious and need some time simply to adjust to their new environment and learn to trust you. Even if you do want them to meet other dogs straight away, always keep rescues on lead for a while until you can be sure that they won’t bolt away from frightening situations.

The third confusion is when pet owners want to socialise a barky or aggressive dog at a training class. Unfortunately, this can be the worst thing to do. Indeed, barky dogs may calm down after a few weeks at class (after disrupting the others). But highly excited or scared or anxious dogs are not able to actually focus on learning what you want. The best approach here is to get some 1-1 help and help and to build their confidence through training and behaviour exercises and with various mentally stimulating games. Then they will be more likely to be able to cope in more distracting environments like classes.

There’s lots more information and detail on socialisation on Pawsability.co.uk. It’s also one of the topics discussed in the book Dogz Thinkz Differentz (available on Amazon) which clarifies many confused areas of dog behaviour including dominance and stubbornness. Read more about Dogz Thinkz Differentz here.

As always,  please do just call or email anna@pawsability.co.uk for help with your dog or puppy training and behaviour questions, especially if you live in the Scottish Highlands. Otherwise, please contact ICAN International Certified Behaviourists for help

For help from a dog behaviourist in Scotland, from Aberdeen to Inverness and the Highlands, please contact www.PawsAbility.co.uk

First Published in the Northern Times, Jan 19

Author - Anna Patfield 

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Changing Dog Behaviour

It’s funny how things inter-link. I took a day out the other day to attend a wee workshop. It had nothing to do with dog behaviour. However, a common factor sparked in my mind: the need for change.

One of my favourite quotes is “Changing Nothing, Changes Nothing”.

To explain - One aspect of resolving dog behaviour issues requires consideration regarding how to change the dog’s access to particular triggers. Sometimes this needs a great deal of thought. Sometimes changes are easy. For instance, consider a dog running in the garden, barking aggressively at people passing by. Our ultimate goal is to teach the dog to be nice and calm or simply lie down or play with a ball. We may choose to persevere with shouting at the dog each day. Nothing changes. Indeed, the barking frequently ends up generalising to other areas too, such as on walks. Consequently, it occurred to me (at 3am one morning, as these things do!) that “Changing Nothing” isn’t entirely accurate. Perhaps a more accurate phrase would be: changing nothing… well, makes things worse!

Instead, we will progress much more quickly if the problematic fence running is prevented for now, by keeping the dog inside more. This change helps to break the present habit and provides time for the new training to settle in.

Generally, troubled dogs do many things that we’d rather they didn’t. Considering how to manage them differently is frequently one of the main starting points to the overall behaviour process. And funnily enough, it’s not the dog that has difficulty with the change; it’s us humans! Our own doggy habits have become entrenched and are truly difficult to alter. It’s us that needs to stop leaving the door open or letting the dog out off the lead or to stop shouting at them as they bark. It’s us that needs to stop leaving food on the table to be opportunistically stolen. It’s us that need to pop a lead on when visitors arrive to stop Molly jumping on them.

So here’s a top tip for just about any dog behaviour issue. Sit down with the family and determine some beneficial new house rules that will stop exposing Molly to the troublesome situations. Review and discuss these changes every day and make sure that we’re not creating new problems or additional stressful situations.

Of course, we can’t stick right there. It’s only a starting point. We need to move on to some training and other exercises to help Molly learn how to improve her behaviour.

For help with figuring out the best behaviour changes and developing complete behaviour programmes, please do get in touch. Pawsability.co.uk. Or look at ICAN

More on changes:

It's always interesting to have a wee look to add some links to other articles on the same topic. So, I had a wee google. It seems that most of the articles published using the word "change" and about changes in dog behaviour (rather than "chang-ing"). Of course, that's not surprising. They look at why behaviour changes in dogs and many particularly consider behaviour changes in older dogs. These articles then are also about change, but from some different viewpoints.

Further Reading:

Karen Pryor's view on the top 10 reasons for dog behaviour changes 

The American Kennel Clubs's view on behavioural change in older dogs

Dogz Thinkz Differentz - How to Thinkz like a Dogz

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The next article on "change" will be more about the dog behaviour business and why that needs to change.

The basis of this article was 1st published in the Northern Times, Oct 2018.

Author - Anna Patfield , www.PawsAbility.co.uk

For help from a dog behaviourist in Scotland, from Aberdeen to Inverness and the Highlands, please contact www.PawsAbility.co.uk

Food and Dogs and Behaviour (Microbial)

Are you having problems with dog or puppy behaviour? Have you ever stopped to wonder whether their food may be having an impact on their behaviour?

Over two thousand years ago, Hippocrates considered that the things that we put into our bodies could affect our health. Now, at the time even air was considered to be a "food" and medicine was far from what it is today.

Indeed, where would we be (or ... would we be) without Alexander Flemming's discovery of penicillin. Amazingly he made this discovery only in 1928! Not even 100 years ago.

Did anyone ever say, "Discovery is discovery itself". Does that sound strange? When we think about the time line of medicine, it's truly astounding how far we've come in such a short time. But, once a concept is available to us, our little grey cells drive us to new adventures and revelations.

And that's how we encountered the Microbiome (the term used to describe the good and bad bacteria in and on our bodies). So, from 1928, let's get in the tardis and zoom forward to 2003 when the human genome mapping sequence was declared complete. This scientific breakthrough has accelerated our ability to understand what's going on in our bodies. Up until then, yes, we knew that our bodies had good and bad bacteria and in 1930 Yakult became available, proposing to feed our good bacteria.

However up until recently, we actually knew very little about our body bacteria. We needed the human genome mapping to complete and the further advancement of technology to enable scientists to uncover the trillions of bacteria existing in our guts. Up until then, only bacteria that were easily grown in petri dishes were known about. Now, we can relatively easily and cheaply identify many more.

And why is that important?

Well, the writings on body bacteria and how to fix microbial balance are prolific. Unfortunately, much of what is written seems to have rather stretched the truth of the matter. Now, perhaps I am wrong. I'm always the first to question anything I hear or believe (believe me that's a nightmare in itself - but that's another story!). But so far as my investigations can tell, we are only at the beginnings of the revelations that will arise from continued study in this area.

Whilst we are all led down many a path encouraging us to get on some train or other and believe in and buy miracle products, the scientists are beavering away trying to keep us safe. They now know the questions to ask and the new experiments and studies to undertake and have the technology to help. So, whilst we gaily go out and buy our probiotic yoghurts and supplements, scientists are looking into

• the effectiveness of different methods aiming to change our microbes (many don't survive life on the shelf, nor the acid in our stomachs)
• the side effects of proactively increasing some microbes (can we overdose?)
•  the actual benefits and functions of each individual microbe (it's not a one size fits all thing)

Buy hey, why is a dog behaviourist even interested in this topic? Well, it transpires that our microbes don't just affect our health, but they also seemingly affect our emotional wellbeing. 

Our microbial balance is now thought to be related to not only IBD and Colitis but also Autism, ADHD, Depression and Anxiety. WOW!! Eat bugs and fix depression!! (No, don't do this please...). But just imagine a future without the need for Flemming's discovery. Instead of treating illness with penicillin we can look forward to a future of various microbial treatments.

But, here's a thought.... Just imagine if the next significant breakthrough was made on the 28th February 2028. That would be 100 years to the day since the discovery of penicillin. The discovery of the bugs to awaken the bugs that the original bug killer killed!! (Antibiotics kill more than bad bugs - that's side effects for you - and why we need to take care.) 100 years to the day - what would my numerology friends have to say about that I wonder?

Anyway, in the mean time, we need to continue with the use of our current medicines and antibiotics - thank goodness that we have these treatments available to us. Absolutely necessary. But we can also endeavour to keep ourselves happy and healthy by eating the right foods.

The brain is indeed a complex organ and as if that wasn't enough, we actually have 2 brains. The gut brain and our head brain. Both need looked after to help with our health and happiness.

The Good Dog Diet

To hear more about the effect of food and behaviour, the gut-brain axis, the epigenome and our dogs, and more on behaviour and nutrition, please sign up to the RSS feed to this blog.

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Author - Anna Patfield , www.PawsAbility.co.uk and www.TheGoodDogDiet.com - a book which clearly and simply explains food and behaviour in dogs.

For help from a dog behaviourist in Scotland, from Aberdeen to Inverness and the Highlands, please contact www.PawsAbility.co.uk

Warning - 7 things not to do to fix your dog's behaviour problems....

It's sad, but one of the most emotional moments when helping people with their dog's behaviour problems is when I say.... but really, it is ok to cuddle your dog and to speak to them when you come home.... Sadly, they've been putting their dog in the 'dog house' and ignoring them, and what's probably worse - emotionally hurting themselves into the bargain because they think they're being cruel to be kind.... Thank you then for picking up the phone and finding a 'new-age behaviourist!!'

Unfortunately, a lot of behaviourists and dog trainers that are out and about in the world are following the concepts of the dark ages. They're using way outdated methods and no scientific knowledge to aim to fix problems. 

I guess it's really not all that surprising. I'm currently reading a book on the history of the study of the brain and how we got to where we are now. Even to this day, there are some brain-ologists who are discounting alot of scientific proof in their rationalisation of how emotion and the brain work.

Anyway, to get on with these 7 top tips on things not to do to fix your dog's behaviour problems.

Remember these are DO-NOT's.... not DO's

1. Do not continue putting your dog into the very situations that cause the bad behaviour. 

2. Do not eat before your dog (well, unless it happens to be handy for you)

3. Do not stop cuddling your dog (well, unless they really don't like to be touched - but we can fix that)

4. Do not yank your dog's lead to stop them pulling

5. Do not use choke chains, check chains, electric dog collars, or even spray collars. These really most often make the problem worse.

But here are the most important points.

6. Do not roll your dog over or pin them to the ground aiming to dominate them (there's more on how to fix your dogs dominance here) 

And 

7. Please do not browse around on forums, read random books, read things on web sites, search on amazon for an anti-bark collar....  and try this and that and the other. I know a lot of the information on the web is great. But you can't believe everything that's on there. (Ha ha - can you believe this either??...). Unfortunately, all the inconsistency thats freely available most often (unless you're lucky) ends  up causing more confusion for your lovely dog or puppy.

So, what to do? 

Please contact a qualified behaviourist. They'll be happy to chat and either set up an appointment to  help you with your dog - to follow a consistent, positive, psychological approach, or if that's not in your  interest at present, at least you'll be pointed towards the right books.

For help from a dog behaviourist in Scotland, from Aberdeen to Inverness and the Highlands, please contact www.PawsAbility.co.uk

Canine Sound Sensitivities

 Is your dog sensitive to sounds and noises?

Given that there are many medical terms used to label the many types of hearing issue in humans, and given that we consider dogs’ hearing to better than ours, it’s kind of surprising that we frequently overlook hearing sensitivities in dogs. Of course we recognize deafness and fireworks fears, but we frequently don’t consider sound sensitivities relevant to other behavioural issues, such as reactivity or separation issues. 

We could for instance use the term, phonophobia (fear of particular sounds) regarding fireworks fears. Or misophonia (hatred of particular sounds) to explain the situation where dogs attack hoovers. But could dogs suffer from hyperacusis? (An unusually low tolerance to normal environmental sounds.)

(Oh dear, here I am using labels when I’m usually arguing against that! But in this case, perhaps examining the different terms allows us to consider wider possibilities.)

A fundamental aspect to consider, however, is that in humans, all the different types of sound sensitivities frequently increase stress levels. Stress frequently reduces tolerance. Could this therefore be at the root of your dog's problems?

Unfortunately we can’t ask our dogs – all we can do is observe. Fortunately, however, the resolution for noise fear or hatred is actually the same: a carefully applied desensitisation and counter-conditioning programme. Here, we work through a plan that carefully and gradually exposes the dog to quieter then louder sounds whilst keeping them occupied with chewing a tasty chew, for instance. Of course the process doesn’t work for all dogs. Perhaps the reproduced sound isn’t good enough. Perhaps other environmental factors are involved with the emotional behavioural response. Or perhaps other behavioural issues are keeping stress levels too high which impacts on learning ability.

Read more on Helping dogs with fireworks fears here.  (This page is being published in June - the best time to start on a fireworks desensitisation and counter-conditioning programme. Why? Because it helps to break problems down into smaller parts and by doing this in summer we remove the connection with dark nights and stormy weather (well mostly)).

Anyway, given that we're talking about the medical terms for sound sensitivities, you might ask why a behaviourist interested in noise sensitivity? Well, two reasons. First, that behaviour therapy techniques can help and second, that many times noise sensitivities are stress related. It may be that other behavioural issues have exacerbated the noise issues or that the noise issues cause the other behaviour problems to increase. Working on a holistic behaviour therapy programme would help either way. We humans tend to just cope with our dogs barking at various noises. We think that's ok. But, please do just stop for a moment and think about how your dog is feeling when they are barking at noise or indeed hiding away.  These types of issues are so very frequently overlooked when considering aggressive dogs, for instance.

One final point to consider though, is that there are several medical conditions associated with noise sensitivity in humans, including lyme disease. So, if your dog’s sensitivity to noise changed at some point in their lives, then again, please speak with your vet or a behaviourist and ask them about these specific issues.

And a further final consideration: We can help to avoid noise sensitive problems arising in dogs by careful and gentle socialisation when they are puppies, and by including exposure to noises such as fireworks, gun shots, thunder, lorries, tractors etc. There are plenty of CD's available and even free downloads now to help with puppy noise socialisation. Have a look at the Dogs Trust site here for Sounds Scary and Sounds Sociable downloads.

Please note too that myself and some colleagues are working on a wee project looking at noise sensitivities. If you would like to be involved, please do get in touch. We are especially keen to hear from behaviourists working with clients with noise issues. Thank you.

First Published in the Northern Times, June 18

Author - Anna Patfield , www.PawsAbility.co.uk

If you like, you can link to this blog using this link - Canine Sound Sensitivities.

Dog Behaviour Ingredients

We’re all so well informed these days about reading food labels? Particularly of course when it comes to food. It strikes me as rather amusing then, that there are 2 conflicting pieces of advice regarding dogs and labels: Read the food label but ditch the "dominance" or "protective" label or whatever....

But here's a thought. Perhaps it would help, if we applied an "ingredients" list approach to labelling our dogs? Labels are good, but only if we know the content. 

After all, long are the days where our manufactured food simply said "bread" - the list of ingredients in bread is breath-taking! And equally, simply labelling a dog as reactive gives us very little information about what's truly going on.

Read The Food Label!

Do you actually know what’s in your dog’s food? Most of us have only just started to read the labels on our own foods and become conscious of the levels of salt and sugar etc. Would we even think about our dogs or pets?

Indeed, when you have a look, it may come as a surprise that you are still none the wiser! There may well be ingredients such as meat and animal derivatives, by-products and certainly a whole pile of “E” numbers. Surprised? Shocked?

Interestingly, it’s not necessarily ALL bad. Manufactured dog food is created to ensure that every mouthful is nutritionally balanced. It’s not like our “ping” food where we only expect that to be one meal, balanced out with our 5 fruit and veg over the rest of the day. But, perhaps a look at the label may stimulate some questions.

Ditch The Behaviour Label!

Labels can compartmentalize our thoughts. Some may label a particular dog “aggressive” or perhaps the softer “reactive” term. Some even say their dog gets “over-excited” or are not “aggressive” – “just afraid”.

If does of course help to “name” things. The trouble is that there can be so many different “ingredients” accumulating to create the reactive or fearful or aggressive behaviour. With that one label, we limit our ability to consider what’s actually going on in the dog’s mind. They may bark aggressively at people. They may strain on the lead and start to become aggressive – simply because they want to run and play (but have become so frustrated that they are truly angry). The root emotion of each of these behaviours is obviously completely different. Further, these dogs may well have other issues in their lives such as fireworks fears or separation issues or indeed boredom.

So, how about a dog behaviour ingredient list?

Reactive Dog: aggressive to people; scared of traffic noise; doesn’t like the lead being put on; barks at the postman; loves food; loves to play with owner.

Isn’t that more helpful?

For more information on dog behaviour and on food, have a look at PawsAbility.co.uk for information on 1-1 help, workshops and talks.

First Published in the Northern Times, March 18

Author - Anna Patfield , www.PawsAbility.co.uk

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About Dogs and Play

Pure joyful play is so very important for our dogs and puppies. They have a natural inclination to play – just like children. Perhaps as adults we don’t perceive play as important – but how good do you feel after hearty laughter?

During the holistic behaviour process, play is one of the areas that is reviewed when considering the balance of day to day life. Here’s why.

Many (of course not all) dogs and puppies don’t play if:

• They are anxious, stressed or fearful
• They’ve been told off for stealing socks
• Another dog in the house always steals their toys
• Another dog in the house always wins the fetch game
• Another dog bullies them
• They’ve been bullied as a puppy
• They’ve not had good quality contact with people when young
• They’ve not had good quality contact with dogs and puppies when young
• They’ve become depressed from spending time in rescue or perhaps even from having lost a favourite person or dog
• They’re ill or are in pain
• They are not allowed toys because they destroy them
• They simply never had toys as a puppy so don’t know what to do
• They don’t get the opportunity to play with you (perhaps they’re a bit mouthy…)

Perhaps you are beginning to understand the importance of play? And why analyzing lack of play helps with the diagnostic process. (Ironically, some dogs are too playful – email me if you’d like the blog link for hyper-social dogs).

So does it matter? Well, that depends on how you think your dog or puppy is feeling. Are they happy? Hopefully. Could they be happier? Possibly. Reviewing the quantity and quality and improving their play can do wonders to help with all sorts of behavioural problems – including reactivity. (There will be more on this at the Reactive Workshop on the 31 March).

However, for those who don’t play, we need to take things slowly to help them to understand that play can be enjoyable. If we do too much too soon (just as with any other dog or puppy training or interaction), we can put them off.  They can become confused or frustrated or scared.

So, 8 top play tips

1. If your furry friend is a little timid, then start off encouraging play just for literally a few seconds. Use a big soft toy or raggy. Be happy and joyous with them  - but be calm. Repeat several times a day.
2. Don’t ignore your dog or puppy when you come home. It’s natural for them to have a playful greeting. Set things up so that you can have “hello” interaction with them.
3. If you have more than one dog, make sure that you have some personal time with them, playing with just the one dog / puppy on their own.
4. Build play into your training sessions. Have a little play, and then a little training.
5. Destroying toys is fun. Dogs are not deliberately breaking toys – they’re just having some fun. Make sure the destroy toys are safe and get a needle and thread!
6. Rough and tumble play is great fun for many, but always use a toy and don’t put your hands into your dog’s mouth.
7. And finally, of course before your start playing with toys, you may need to teach “Give”
8. And finally, finally, don’t chase your dog – encourage them to chase you.

Of course these are only tips and tips are not always appropriate nor as easily introduced to all dogs and puppies. So, if you’d like to chat about this more, then please get in touch via PawsAbility.co.uk.

First Published in the Northern Times, March 18

Author - Anna Patfield 

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