Who is ruling the roost?

Driving home after a day of training I thought about the dogs I had seen. Two were little fear aggressive terriers that had bitten houseguests. Another bigger dog was leash reactive, lunging and barking at dogs, cats, squirrels, or anything else that moved. Needless to say his owners had no control over him when he saw something in the house through the window or outside. The fourth dog just didn’t listen. She helped herself to whatever she desired; couch pillow, loaf of bread on the counter, $100 shoes. Didn’t matter, whatever struck her fancy at the moment was hers. Or so she thought. All four of these dogs lead their owners when walked, charging ahead and acting as if the person on the other end of the leash didn’t exist.

These owners are good people who love their dogs. All have one thing in common. Their dogs rule the roost. They love their dogs unconditionally, allowing them full run of the house and provide no structure or rules of behavior. Nothing is earned and the dogs do not have to work for anything. Affection is given indiscriminately and frequently. The dogs see their people as soft and weak and are making their own decisions because no one is doing it for them.  What these dogs need is guidance and less unconditional affection. I asked all of them to do one thing this week besides the individualized homework I had assigned. I asked them to withhold affection for the week and to ignore the dog when they are not training, feeding or taking bathroom breaks. No belly rubs, no baby talk, no cuddling. The dog stays off furniture. Just for one week. I suspect that the dogs will begin to learn to stop taking their owners for granted and will become a bit more attentive to them. 

How we live with our dog 

determines the dog 

we ultimately get

Training Vent

I believe training dogs is as much an art as it is a science. To deny this is to deny the uniqueness of the dogs we work with. There is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ method of training. The more we understand what motivates an individual dog’s behavior the more apt we are to achieve success. Relying on more than one tool in our training toolbox is key when addressing the various temperaments and behaviors of the dogs we are training.  For some dogs, focusing on the behavior will also change the motivating emotional component for the better, for others, dealing solely with the emotional component will cause a positive behavior change, and for still others, dealing with both the emotive and the behavioral will lead to a successful outcome. Do food rewards work in training? Absolutely when teaching and rewarding new behaviors. Do aversives play a role in training? Absolutely, with most dogs all of the time and with some dogs some of the time. If someone tells you otherwise, rest assured that they are not doing right by the dog. All dogs need to learn what is acceptable and what behavior simply won’t be tolerated. The point is to have enough tools on hand to gage what is working and what is not, and to have the knowledge and skill to switch gears when necessary without letting rigid ideologies get in the way of doing right for the dog and his owner.

Hyperarousal is a sign of stress

Stress is the cause of many unwanted behaviors. A calm body is a calm mind. If your dog often displays these signs of hyperarousal help him learn to calm down by teaching a few simple exercises to alleviate his stress.

I promise your dog will thank you.

Why won’t my dog stop barking?

A dog that barks incessantly is a real nightmare for its owners. This type of barking isn’t done to annoy you, though it is annoying, but is your dog’s way of trying to communicate a message to you. Understanding the message is the key to stopping this unwanted behavior.

 

There are generally 4 reasons why a dog barks continuously. They are boredom, fear, confusion and belligerence.  These are triggers that all owners can learn to recognize. Once you understand why the barking is occurring it becomes easier to eliminate it.

 

Is your dog bored? Is he getting enough long walks with time to sniff and explore?  Have you taught him to play fetch or tug, with rules to learn and adhere to? Often we leave our dog home alone for 9 or more hours while we work. We return home tired and stressed, let them out in the yard to do their business and because we are tired from a day of working, we expect them to lie quietly at our side in the evening before we retire to bed. From your dog’s perspective, he has done nothing but experience the same boring routine for hours, days and even weeks on end. The old adage “a tired dog is a good dog” is true. Mental and physical stimulation along with structure and routine are key for a well-balanced dog.

 

Does your dog bark at the vacuum? How about at other dogs when out for a walk? Could be he is afraid. He will benefit, (and so will you!), from a program of desensitization and counter-conditioning to help him overcome his fears. You don’t know what that means? Give us a call. We’d be glad to help.

 

There are dog’s that bark out of a sense of confusion. They see something they are unsure of. Is it friendly, is it going to do harm?  He may simply not know how to react. It is our job to take the lead and show him by being calm and in control the proper way to behave. Praise calm behavior and interrupt the unwanted behavior as soon as it begins, (or better yet, as soon as you sense a change in your dog’s demeanor indicating he is about to erupt).

 

Then there are those demanding dogs that bark because they feel entitled to more of your attention or a share of your food. We call them spoiled! They are use to getting what they want and have no tolerance for “no”. Often owners of this type of barker give in, if only to quiet them, creating a vicious circle by reinforcing the very behavior they want to stop. It’s never too late to start teaching your dog self-control as well as letting him know his behavior will not be tolerated.

 

There is no overnight fix for constant barking, but with consistency and the help of a trainer, nuisance barking can be stopped. In as much as you find it annoying it is most unhealthy for your dog’s well being. For his state of mind, and for yours, it is worth the time, effort and expense to show him a better, healthier way to live.

A few truths I've learned... By Sean O'shea

-Leading dogs makes them happier, more secure, less stressed, better behaved, more fun, happier.
-Correcting bad behavior is the way to change bad behavior. Make bad behavior uncomfortable and good behavior comfortable.
-Redirecting and offering alternatives doesn't stop bad behavior. It only does what it says.
-Sharing consequences for poor choices is your job and responsibility, whether you enjoy it or not.
-Positive reinforcement is awesome for teaching what you want, not so awesome for teaching what you don't.
-99% of dog issues come from permissiveness, allowance, softness, doting.
-People treat dogs like glass. They're hearty, robust creatures. Their minds and bodies are more resilient than we give them credit for.
-E-collars and prong collars, although terribly named, are typically the most effective and easiest tools on the dog.
-E-collars and prong collars, although terribly named, are typically the most effective and easiest tools on the owner.
-Dogs, like kids, will resist structure, leadership, and guidance. And just like kids, they'll either thrive because of them or suffer in their absence.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Why do dogs like to lick our faces?

— by Roger Abrantes

Dogs like to lick our faces, a behavior that is disturbing for many dog owners and particularly non dog owners. Yet, this behavior is a demonstration of friendliness, an attempt at pacifying us and themselves, a hand (though not literally) reaching for peace. It’s a compliment a dog gives you, “I like you, you can be my friend.”

The behavior originates probably in the neonatal and juvenile periods. Pups lick everything as a way of gathering information about their world. Licking our faces may give our dogs much more information about who we are and how we feel than we probably can imagine.

Pups also like to lick one another, a behavior which seems to make both donor and recipient relax because it is a pleasant and undemanding activity. Grooming and self-grooming also include licking and are again undemanding and bonding practices.

Canine mothers lick their pups, a way not only to keep them clean, but also to stimulate physiological processes as urinating, defecating and maybe even digestion.

When the pups become a bit older and begin eating solid food, it is common for them to lick the lips of the adults, a behavior which should elicit their regurgitation of recently intaken food, a good source of nutrition for the youngsters. Even though not as common as when our dogs were closer to their wild ancestors, this regurgitation behavior is still widespread among our canis lupus familiaris if we give them the opportunity to live a relatively normal dog life.

Pacifying behavior is, in general, behavior that originally performs essential functions related to survival and well-being, and that in latter stages assumes these same functions, though in different areas and with different outcomes: licking produced food regurgitation, licking produces friendly behavior.

Next time a dog licks your face, don’t be too alarmed or disgusted. Just close your eyes, yawn, and turn your head away. This shows in dog language that you accept its offer of friendship.

By the way, don’t be too afraid either of the bacteria you may be given when your dog licks you—they are not much worse than those we get from kissing one another—and we’re not going to stop kissing, are we?

Only the beginning...

Too often this is the case. Learn when to start eliminating the treats so that your dog is obeying your commands, not for food, but simply because YOU SAY SO. Call Ain't Misbehavin' to discuss your training needs. Our goal is to teach you how to make your misbehaving dog a well mannered pet!

From Science Daily

---

Can walking the dogs show who's the leader of the pack?

Date:

January 23, 2014

Source:

University of Oxford

Summary:

Dogs' paths during group walks could be used to determine leadership roles and through that their social ranks and personality traits, say researchers. Using high-resolution GPS harnesses, scientists tracked the movements of six dogs and their owner across 14 30-40 minute walks off the lead. The dogs' movements were measurably influenced by underlying social hierarchies and personality differences.

Credit: Zsuzsa Ákos

Vizsla dog with GPS harness.

Dogs' paths during group walks could be used to determine leadership roles and through that their social ranks and personality traits, say researchers from Oxford University, Eötvös University, Budapest and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS).

Using high-resolution GPS harnesses, scientists tracked the movements of six dogs and their owner across fourteen 30-40 minute walks off the lead. The dogs' movements were measurably influenced by underlying social hierarchies and personality differences.

'We showed that it is possible to determine the social ranking and personality traits of each dog from their GPS movement data,' said study author Dr Máté Nagy of Oxford University's Department of Zoology, formerly of Eötvös University and HAS. 'On individual walks it is hard to identify one permanent leader, but over longer timescales it soon becomes clear that some dogs are followed by peers more often than others. Overall, the collective motion of the pack is strongly influenced by an underlying social network.'

The study, published in PLOS Computational Biology, demonstrates the power of path tracking to measure social behaviour and automatically determine dogs' personalities. In future, one possible use of the technology would be to assess search and rescue dogs to see which dogs work best together. As dogs are ideal models of human behaviour, the same methods could be used to study social interactions in humans such as parents walking with their children. The study is part of the European Research Council project COLLMOT led by Professor Tamás Vicsek (Eötvös University and HAS) which aims to understand the collective motion a wide variety of different organisms in nature.

How dogs behave during walks reveals a lot about traits such as trainability, controllability, aggression, age and dominance. Dogs that consistently took the lead were more responsive to training, more controllable, older and more aggressive than the dogs that tended to follow. Dogs that led more often had higher dominance ranks in everyday situations, assessed by a dominance questionnaire.

'The dominance questionnaire tells us the pecking order of dog groups by quantifying interactions between pairs,' said Dr Enikő Kubinyi, senior author of the study from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 'For example, the dogs that bark first and more when strangers enter the house, eat first at meals and wins fights are judged as more dominant. Conversely, dogs that lick other dogs' mouths more often are less dominant as this is a submissive display.'

Pack leadership is well-established in wolves, where packs are typically led by a single breeding pair, but there is still much debate as to whether groups of domestic dogs have a social hierarchy.

'These dogs have no breeding pair,' said Dr Kubinyi. 'However, there are dogs who take the lead more often than others. On average, an individual took the role of the leader in a given pair in about three quarters of the time. This ratio is of similar magnitude to the case of wild wolf packs with several breeding individuals. Using this qualitative data over longer time scales allows us to see the more subtle relationships that might otherwise be missed. Of course, hierarchies are likely to vary across breeds and individual groups, so we hope to use this technology on other animals in future to investigate further.'

The dogs used in this study were of the Vizsla breed, a Hungarian hunting dog known for their good-natured temperament and trainability. It is interesting to note that the leader-follower relationships were always voluntary; dogs chose who to follow and the leaders did not compel other dogs to follow them.

The technology used in the study could be applied to other dogs used for search and rescue to provide quantitative data allowing handlers to compare how different dogs work together and pick those with the highest compatibility. Each device weighs only 14 grams and further sensors such as gyroscopes could be used to determine what each animal is doing at a given time.

---

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Oxford. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Zsuzsa Ákos, Róbert Beck, Máté Nagy, Tamás Vicsek, Enikő Kubinyi.Leadership and Path Characteristics during Walks Are Linked to Dominance Order and Individual Traits in Dogs. PLoS Computational Biology, 2014; 10 (1): e1003446 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003446

---

Cite This Page:

• MLA
• APA
• Chicago

University of Oxford. "Can walking the dogs show who's the leader of the pack?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 January 2014. .