Behind the Behavior

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT

If you’ve read some of my other posts here, you know I’ve mentioned my Australian Shepherd named Conner. He is quite the remarkable dog; lots of natural herding instinct, loves kids and men, and a born dog/dog communicator who helps me diagnose and treat dog/dog aggression cases. Conner has one problem though, noise phobia. This time of year sends him into fits of barking, stress panting, and pacing. We’re lucky in one way though, his symptoms are mild to moderate. Our clients report that some of their dogs hide (in bathtubs, closets, under the bed), shake and drool. This phobia is difficult to treat because it’s difficult or impossible to control the stimuli: thunder, fireworks, gunshots, cars backfiring, etc. Thunderstorms are even more difficult to deal with because thunderstorms are more than one stimulus: change in barometric pressure, metallic smell, wind, rain. Read the rest of this entry »

Miles Bensky, BA, CTC

Summer is a beautiful time in Seattle, and as the warmer weather approaches, many of us find ourselves spending more time outside. Recently, I have taken up running, completing my first half-marathon in March over on Whidbey Island. As I have continued to train outside, I notice more and more people walking, jogging, skating, and biking around town. Being a dog lover, I can’t help but notice an increase in the number of dogs enjoying outdoor activities with their owners. Therefore, I thought it would be a great time to discuss some important points that dog owners should consider when thinking about exercising with Fido.

Exercise is an important component to having a well-balanced dog. An article published in The Journal of Nutrition estimates that obesity rates range between 18-44% of the dog population and exercise is critical to their health as well. All dogs need some level of daily physical activity in order to stay happy and healthy. Lack of exercise can contribute to behavioral issues such as Destructive Chewing and Leash Reactivity. Having an overweight dog can lead to various health complications such as Heart Disease, Hip Dysplasia, and Diabetes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT

I adopted two adult, male Aussies named Conner and Flynn from Australian Shepherd Rescue so now I’m a volunteer. A little over a week ago, I got a call from Seattle Animal Care and Control notifying me that a purebred, female Australian Shepherd puppy had been surrendered. Once the puppy’s hold period was up, I went off to evaluate her and bring her into Aussie Rescue.

I’d love to know the back story on this girl since she’s perfect, never been mistreated that I can see, and perfectly healthy (including negative fecal float). She’s up to date on shots and has a microchip. I’ve named her Maebh (pronounced may + v). This name is from an old Irish name Madb, “the cause of great joy” or “she who intoxicates.” I know she’ll probably end up with a name like Oreo, but I thought I should give her a predictive name… it’s a shot. Read the rest of this entry »

Carly Loyer Davis, CPDT

It’s more than mildly ridiculous that a dog trainer would not have a dog. Unfortunately, living in a Seattle apartment is very rarely conducive to dog ownership/parentage. Similarly, college, working multiple jobs, and driving a lot don’t lend themselves to being an ideal dog owner. As a result, this dog trainer has had to make do with adoring client dogs and spoiling the bejeezus out of her parents’ two dogs, Hobbes and Gracie (really, they’re family dogs, so they feel like ‘my’ dogs even though I don’t get to live with them on a day-to-day basis). However, I am finally in an apartment that allows dogs and has a convenient place to exercise and enjoy them, and I finally have a job that is flexible enough to allow me to provide sufficient attention for a dog, and I have a husband who is ready and willing to help care for and spoil a dog. What does that mean? It’s time to go dog shopping! Read the rest of this entry »

James Ha, PhD, CAAB

I have expressed my concern about confrontational behavior modification techniques in earlier blogs: the use of “positive punishment” or dominance and pack theory-based techniques, especially in the hands of untrained users, has been shown to be ineffective and to produce negative side effects.  Hiby and colleagues demonstrated that positive reinforcement techniques produced a significantly better response to obedience tasks than did positive punishment techniques (see references below).  Blackwell and colleagues showed that dogs trained using positive reinforcement methods were less likely to exhibit later behavior problems while dogs trained using punishment were more likely to exhibit later fear-related behaviors (see references below).  These are just some examples: there is an expanding literature on the significantly greater effectiveness of positive reinforcement techniques as well as the lack of effectiveness of aversive or confrontational methods, methods which are related to incorrect ideas about the role of dominance and pack theory in dogs. Read the rest of this entry »

Greta Kaplan, CPDT, CDBC

I teach puppy classes.  It’s a weird category, and people have different expectations from a class called “puppy class” or “puppy kindergarten.”  If you take my flyball class, you expect to be taught how to do flyball and help teach your dog to do flyball.  If you take a class in competition obedience, you know you’ll be learning, among other things, how to teach your dog to heel, front, finish, sit, stand, down and stay.  What is puppy class for?  Doesn’t your puppy already know how to be a puppy?

Yes – in fact, for many, that’s the problem!  They want help in teaching their puppy to be clean in the house, not bite them with that mouthful of needles, and not play tug with their pants leg.  Also, it would be nice if the pupper didn’t scream when put in his crate.  But at the same time, puppy owners’ last class was often a more traditional obedience class, and perhaps without thinking about it, they expect to do some sits, downs, stays, and heeling. Read the rest of this entry »

Carly Loyer Davis, BA, CPDT

In Part Two of this blog, I talked about some obvious health risks imposed by the proposed City of Seattle breed-specific legislation.  I do, however, see some portions of the law that impress me at first glance.

Under Seattle’s version of BSL, owners must complete a dog training or owner instruction course “that impresses upon owners of fighting breed dogs their responsibilities to properly socialize, supervise, and care for their dog, and which teaches them practical knowledge and tools to help their dog be a good canine citizen.” This is fantastic, and I wish that it were required of all dog owners, not just the ones whose dogs may have an element of a “fighting breed” in the mix. As any behaviorist or dog trainer worth their salt will tell you, and as our consultants at Companion Animal Solutions often explain when working with aggressive dogs, socialization can make a huge difference in the life of a dog.  Severe lack of socialization can produce a dog who appears to have been physically abused. Dogs that don’t learn to handle and enjoy a variety of environments, people, dogs and experiences when they are young will not know how to react to those situations later in life, which can result in dangerous fear aggression. My only beef with this portion of the law is that, while it does say that the Director will “vet and pre-approve” the programs that fulfill this requirement, it does not specifically state the training techniques that will be used in these programs. Read the rest of this entry »

Carly Loyer Davis, BA

Part One of this article pointed out that the proposed breed-specific legislation for the City of Seattle is ambiguous and uncertain in designating which dogs it should apply to.  But even if the City works out this knot, the legislation creates further problems.

Some of the restrictions on these breeds present potential health issues. The bill’s purpose is ultimately to eliminate these breeds (or their mixes) in Seattle, mixed or purebred; accordingly, if this law passes, all mixes or purebred dogs affected by the legislation must be sterilized within seven days, “with the exception of immature dogs.” Puppies will be exempt until they’re 13 weeks old if female or 9 weeks old if male. I’m not a vet, but my puppy class students and Companion Animal Solutions‘ clients tell me their vets advise waiting to spay or neuter until the puppy reaches at least six months old.  One reason: to make sure that lack of hormones doesn’t adversely affect the puppies’ growth. Sex hormones regulate bone growth and early neutering can change some joint angles in an unhealthy way, possibly contributing to hip dysplasia or CCL rupture. Additionally, sex hormones help regulate bone density, and dogs that are spayed or neutered prematurely often have lower density. Read the rest of this entry »

Carly Loyer Davis, BA, CPDT

Companion Animal Solutions believes that breed bans are a bad idea for a number of reasons. Instead of discussing this broad topic in a general way, I decided to get a copy of Seattle’s proposed breed ban legislation. I found so many vague and problematic issues with Seattle’s proposed legislation that I’m breaking my article into three parts. This is the first of those three parts.

Recently I’ve noticed bumper stickers and posters popping up with sweetheart pictures of stocky dogs or small children or both, either in support of or in opposition to breed bans. In many dog communities, breed-specific legislation (BSL) has become a prominent topic of discussion and debate, resulting in a variety of websites and groups centered on promoting or preventing laws restricting ownership or breeding of “pit bulls” among other breeds. One article can neither fully explore the numerous perspectives on this delicate, emotionally loaded topic, nor discuss the rationale (or lack thereof) behind all of them. This series of blog entries will focus on the local situation: the practicality of proposed legislation that has recently been circulating in Seattle. After reading the proposed law from beginning to end, I’m convinced that the writers missed out on a few very important facts about dogs, beginning with their designation of which dogs this law would affect. Read the rest of this entry »

Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB

The modern science of animal behavior, which we call ‘ethology’, has come a long way in the past few decades, from a largely observational, descriptive science to a modern, quantitative science based on solid foundations of evolutionary biology and quantitative methodology.  One of the most common situations in which I realize this is when I see, read, and hear old, out-dated animal behavior concepts and ideas and long-ago-rejected hypotheses used by pet animal behaviorists.  Many trainers and veterinarians received whatever animal behavior education they might have gotten long ago, and often have not stayed up to date.  As a professional and academic ethologist, I of course have the time and professional need to peruse the latest journals, read and review the latest textbooks, and make sure that my university courses are up-to-date.  But when I enter the world of companion animal behavior, I am often taken back to a time long, long ago, to terms presented even to me in my long-ago introductory courses as historical concepts, mistakes, or simplifications used only for pedagogical purposes. Read the rest of this entry »