In the past two months, I’ve received calls and or emails from two different shelters asking me for advice on training a dog who is both blind and deaf. There are terrific web sites for training blind dogs and for training deaf dogs, but I’m not aware of a web site devoted to training a dog who is both. I thought that publishing some ideas here (ideas I have gathered from many other sources) would not only help other rescue workers, but I’m hoping that it will generate a dialog on how to best train these dogs who not only have the misfortune to find themselves deaf and blind, but homeless as well. Let me be clear, I’m not stating a position on whether these dogs should take up precious rescue resources when plenty of “able bodied” dogs are euthanized every year. That’s a debate for another time. The reality is that some rescues will take these dogs, do their best, and try to place them (or not). So, how do we train these dogs?

Work to Eat: It can be incredibly difficult to exercise a dog who is both deaf and blind so environmental enrichment is absolutely necessary to lower anxiety and tire out the dog’s brain. Don’t feed any food out of a bowl and make sure all the dog’s calories come out of toys or by hand in training. There are an amazing array of work to eat puzzles on the market now.

Stay on a Mat: An excellent way to position (and keep track of) a blind/deaf dog is with a mat. You can reinforce him every time the dog finds the mat. You can make it easier for the dog by scenting these surfaces. According to many people, lavender is the “relaxation” scent. Make sure you dilute the scents with water and spray them on the surfaces. If you can smell it, it’s probably way too strong for the dog. Finding the mat and staying there is the first thing I teach these dogs. Safety first! Giving a dog frozen stuffed Kongs on the mat will help build the dog’s duration on the mat. If the dog rolls the Kong off the mat, lure the dog back to the mat with the Kong (hopefully he doesn’t guard Kongs).

Follow the Carpet: Make paths out of carpet runners or other substrate material and teach the dog to walk on the path. Following the path keeps the dog safe and out of trouble (hopefully).  Again, you can scent these paths to help the dog along.

Condition a Marker: You’ve got to come up with a touch somewhere on the dog’s body to let him know he’s getting it right and that’s why he’s getting the food. Decide on a body part (I like the neck for this). Touch the dog in exactly the same way and in the same place each time (decide if you want to use a tap, short touch, long touch, or stroke). Condition this marker just like you would if you were charging a clicker. Touch/food, touch/food as randomly as possible (try not to fall into a pattern). I’ve used vibration collars with deaf dogs to get their attention so I can give them the “thumbs up” but they can be pricey and frankly, any piece of equipment has the potential to be lost or broken. I’ve had trouble convincing owners that they want to have that big remote handy at all times. If you do use a vibration collar (I would use it to train the dog to find his mat), make sure to introduce it to the dog carefully. You want the “page” to predict a treat, not startle the dog into a panic.

Target Train: Teach the dog to touch a target with his nose. Scent the target so that he can find it. I like using something sturdy like a wooden spoon because you can tap it on the floor and the dog should pick up on the vibration. This is an excellent way to lead a dog around so you don’t have to be hauling him around by his collar all the time.

Training Behaviors: With a dog who is both deaf and blind, I think that lure/reward training is the way to go since shaping can be next to impossible if your “clicker” is a touch to the dog’s body:

1. Lure the dog into a sit.
2. When his butt hits the floor, touch him in his “clicker spot” to let him know he got it right.
3. Give him the treat.

Once he’s offering sits voluntarily, you can add the cue. I like a tap on the butt for this, it seems a natural to me. You insert any cue whether it’s verbal, a hand signal, or a touch in the same way:

1. Tap him on the butt.
2. Wait a few seconds (at first he won’t know what it means), then lure him into the sit.
3. Touch him on his “clicker spot” to let him know he got it right.
4. Give him a treat.

Over time, he’ll figure out that the tap on his butt means “if I sit, I’ll get a treat”. You can repeat this with any behavior you want him to learn as long as the behavior can be lured.

Anyone out there with “special needs” dogs? Are there dog trainers reading this with experience training dogs who are both blind and deaf? I’d love to hear all the creative ideas out there!

You’re out on a relaxing walk with your dog when you see another owner walking towards you with their dog. The owner says to you, “can our dogs say hello”? How do you decide whether allowing your dog to greet a strange dog on leash is a good idea? After all, some of these greetings go beautifully with both dogs and owners parting company with a smile. Other greetings with dogs on leash go horribly wrong with both dogs and owners leaving the scene upset with pulses racing. What went wrong?

If you’re not sure how your dog will react to an unfamiliar dog on leash, my advice is simply don’t do it. You owe it to  your dog to be their advocate and enough scary encounters with other dogs can result in your dog developing negative associations with other dogs. That’s something none of us wants to happen.

But what if your dog loves other dogs? How do you decide if that unknown dog will enjoy meeting your dog? After all, how many times have we said “yes” to the “can our dogs meet?” question and had the encounter go wrong? Here are some tips for making this dog/dog greeting decision and some tips on keeping the encounter a pleasant one.

How is the other dog looking at your dog? Is the other dog staring at your dog silently without looking away? Just say “no”. Polite dogs look and then look away, look and look away, they don’t stare. Is the other dog avoiding looking at your dog completely? Just say “no.” Some dogs won’t look away from your dog because they are anxious or fearful and there could be other reasons they can’t look away. Regardless, it’s still a “just say no” response to a dog/dog greeting.

Do you feel comfortable reading the other dog’s body language? I won’t go into a full blown description of dog body language here, but if the other dog seems uncertain (tail tucked, ears back, won’t look at your dog) then that other dog is afraid and regardless of whether that owner is trying to “socialize” their dog on leash, for your dog’s and the other dog’s sake, just say “no.”

Is your dog, the other dog, or both dogs dragging their humans toward one another? Some owners think this is a sign that their dogs will love meeting one another. This is a circumstance in which I always say “no.” Dogs are sensitive to barrier frustration (seeing another dog but not being able to get to them) and that combined with their oxygen supply being choked off if they’re on neck collars can cause the initial contact between the dogs to be too heated. Even if both dogs love other dogs, the level of excitement when they first meet can cause a scuffle between the dogs.

So, you see a dog on a loose leash coming towards you with relaxed body language,  looking at your dog and looking away, ears up and rotated out. You decide to go for it and let your dog meet another dog on leash, now what?

Keep it brief. All most dogs want by way of a greeting is a a quick butt sniff. (Isn’t talking about dog behavior fun?) If both dogs go nose to nose (how rude!) one should veer off for the butt sniff. If one dog’s head goes above the other dog’s head, either play will break out or a scuffle will break out. If you’re lucky and play breaks out, drop the dogs’ leashes (if it’s safe to do so.) When dogs get tangled up and feel their escape route cut off, they can get afraid and play can tip to a scuffle. Again, keep it brief, thank your playmate’s owner and enjoy the remainder of your walk! If you want to talk with the owner of the other dog, separate the dogs after their initial greeting and put them on a sit next to you.

Do you have other tips for successful on leash greetings? Please take the time to share your knowledge and experience!

One of the most commons calls we get at Companion Animal Solutions is from an owner whose dog barks, growls, and lunges at other dogs when on leash. Often, the owner is baffled because their dog loves playing with other dogs at the dog park or dog daycare. There are several reasons why dogs act so differently on leash than they do off leash. I thought it might be helpful to explore some of the more common reasons.

Dogs are highly social animals and when a dog sees another dog, they’re biologically programmed to head on over and investigate with a quick butt sniff. If a dog is on leash, their intense biological drive to investigate the other dog is being thwarted. This reaction is called barrier frustration. Even the most dog friendly dogs in the world are prone to barrier frustration around other dogs. In fact, the most difficult dogs to stay calm around for many dogs are other friendly dogs.

I worked with a Great Dane client who was enormous, black, and the belle of the ball at the dog park. In 2 years she had never gotten into the tiniest little scuffle at the dog park. How good was her dog/dog body language and manners?! When she was on leash and would see another dog in the distance (and I do mean distance), she would begin to whine and jump straight up into the air. In the beginning, I could walk her by another dog who was giving her hard eye or a dog who was ignoring her, but if the dog walking towards us started throwing play solicitation body language, look out! I call these dogs “Woo Hoo’ers” as in “Woo Hoo! I love other dogs so turn me loose to meet them!”

Some dogs react aggressively on leash because of fear. They’re afraid of other dogs. They react by barking, growling, snarling, and lunging at other dogs. This is just their way of saying “I’m not comfortable. You need to go away”. When a dog encounters a person or another dog they’re afraid of, they’ve got two choices; fight or flight. When the dog is on leash, we’ve taken away their flight option. It stands to reason that any dog is going to be more reactive with their flight option removed.

There’s another category of dog that it took me more experience to be able to identify. I call these dogs my Anxious Woo Hoo’ers. By in large, these dogs do just fine with other dogs off leash but they tend to be reactive in general and not super confident around other dogs. Not being confident around other dogs isn’t a problem until that pesky flight option is taken away. These dogs are highly conflicted. They’re super curious about the other dog but anxious at the same time. In my experience, these dogs are the quickest to react on leash towards another dog meaning they react at long distances. Often, it takes the longest amount of time to counter condition these dogs’ reaction.

We always have a Reactive Rover class going on at Companion Animal Solutions. Our classes are unique because of the one on one personalized attention each student receives and because we work outside where the problem is happening. If you’re interested in learning more about our Reactive Rover classes, check out the Companion Animal Solutions web site. If taking a class seems too inconvenient, we can always work with you privately on this problem behavior. Contact us and we can discuss which option is right for you and your dog.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but dogs bite because they’re dogs. It’s what dogs are biologically programmed to do. Every dog has the potential to bite, no matter how well socialized or friendly. I thought it might be useful to explore the different reasons why a dog might bite.

Fear Aggression: Humans never cease to amaze me in how they approach unfamiliar dogs. In my work with the clients of fear aggressive dogs, one of the topics we have to discuss is how to keep strangers from approaching their socially fearful dog. Most people assume that a dog wants to meet them. Nothing could be further from the truth with some dogs. If a dog wants to meet you, believe me, that dog will approach you.

If you can’t tell whether an unleashed dog is interested in meeting you, the best course of action is to just wait. Don’t reach out for the dog. Don’t look the dog directly in the eyes. Simply stand there like the dog doesn’t exist and wait. Even if the dog decides to approach and sniff you, don’t immediately reach down to pet the dog. Let the dog investigate and only if the dog actively solicits your attention should you reach down and pet the dog. If the dog is on leash, please ask the owner before approaching their dog and if they say their dog is fearful or aggressive, believe them. Thank that owner and wish them a good day.

Redirected Aggression: Even though human beings engage in redirected aggression all the time, people often misunderstand this type of behavior in dogs. Have you seen athletes get into a fight and the people who try to break up the fight end up getting hit? That’s redirected aggression. If a dog “has lost his or her mind” over someone coming to the door, treeing a squirrel, or fighting with another dog and you grab that dog, you run the risk of being bitten. I recommend that if possible, you just wait for the dog to calm down before grabbing it. If you need to break up a dogfight, try not to use your hands. Use a loud noise (air horn) or a can of Spray Shield, a product that sprays citronella about 10 or 12 feet.

Possession Aggression (resource guarding): Does your dog growl or snap if you go near their food bowl, try to take their bone away, or get them off the furniture? This is possession aggression or what most dog trainers call resource guarding. We humans guard our resources fiercely. We put locks and alarms on our possessions, guard the food on our plates (especially if it’s extra tasty), and resent someone sitting in our chair or place on the sofa. Some dogs guard their resources as fiercely as we do. If your dog is guarding their resources, I highly recommend hiring a professional to assist you in performing “resource exchanges” to teach Fido that if they give something up, they get something better. You can try the macho, tough route of simply out aggressing the dog, but you run the chance of being bitten and the dog’s behavior getting worse.

Pain Aggression: Often I get a call from a client because their dog has suddenly begun acting aggressively for the first time. This is a huge red flag that the dog doesn’t feel well or is in pain. In my experience, pain issues are the most under diagnosed causes of dog aggression and dog bites. Sometimes I’m told that the dog has arthritis or hip dysplasia and when I ask what medication the dog is on for pain, I’m told none. In both of these cases, I recommend a trip to the veterinarian as quickly as possible.

Territorial Aggression: This aggressive behavior is why so many mail carriers, delivery people, and utility workers get bitten. Often, what people consider “guarding their territory” is actually a fear response when an unfamiliar person comes onto your property. Barriers such as gates or tethers make this aggressive response much, much worse. If a dog is behind a fence and you need access to someone’s property, call the person you’re visiting on the phone and have them put their dog in the house or escort you onto the property.

Dominance Aggression: While many people believe that dominance is the root of all dog behavior problems, including aggression, science doesn’t back up this view. Dominance aggression is actually incredibly rare. Dominance aggression can be identified when a dog tries to control social interactions. I’ve seen cases where the dog attacked family members whenever they tried to leave the house. I’ve seen cases where the dog nips or bites when a pleasant interaction ends (play or training with food).

There are other types of dog aggression, but the ones I’ve described above are the ones of main concern to owners. If you have questions about dog aggression, you can always contact me at christine at companionanimalsolutions.com. I’m happy to direct people to books, DVDs, web sites, or other resources to help people understand dog behavior better. Has a dog bitten you or has your dog bitten someone? Please take the time to tell us about it. Discussing dog aggression is one way we learn about it!

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers has declared January to be National Train Your Dog Month.  Too often, owners relinquish their dogs to shelters because an untrained puppy is no big deal, but an untrained dog begins exhibiting behavior problems if the unwanted behavior is allowed to continue. How many phone calls have I received from owners complaining that their dog is attacking people at the front door or won’t come when called resulting in the dog getting into all kinds of trouble? When I ask these owners if they’ve taught their dogs what to do instead, I often hear a description of punishment for bad behavior instead of a description of how their own dog training efforts failed.

Now we know that if you’re reading this blog, you’re a responsible dog owner. You walk your dog, provide lots of environmental enrichment for your dog and train your dog. In fact, the best environmental enrichment for most dogs is training. When I ask owners what environmental enrichment they provide for their dogs, the first thing most owners mention is exercise. I know, I know, a certain famous dog trainer has convinced dog owners that they must exercise their dogs into the ground to be a responsible owner, but I’ve got good news. Domesticated dogs need 30 to 45 minutes of vigorous exercise per day, just like us. Have you ever seen wild wolves exercising? Geez. What dogs are missing in their daily, domesticated lives, is the opportunity to analyze, decision make, and act. You know this is true if you’ve ever tried getting your dog’s attention when he’s stalking or chasing a squirrel. January is a great time to think about exercising your dog’s brain. What better time to tire out our brains than when the weather is bad?

Owners don’t train their dogs for any number of reasons: I don’t have time, I don’t know how, training is boring, my dog is fine the way he is, etc. Well, let’s take these excuses one at a time. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 10,000 times, if we all just trained our dogs for 5 minutes a day, we’d have beautifully behaved dogs. Trust me, 5 minutes a day will get you the best trained dog in town.

If you don’t know how to train dogs, that’s OK. I don’t know how to fix my car, repair my plumbing, or remodel my house. If I had the inclination, I could buy books, DVDs or take classes to learn how to do these things, but I choose to hire professionals. That’s why we offer Day Training services to our Companion Animal Solutions clients. We train our clients’ dogs for them and then we conduct hand off sessions with our clients to teach them how to maintain the training that we’ve installed. Once most owners see how smart their dogs are and how quickly they learn, they become excited about training their dogs. Some even sign up for dog training classes to learn more.

If you’re the “do it yourself” type because of temperament or budget constraints, check out our Book and DVD Recommendations on the Companion Animal Solutions web site. If you want to take a class, search for classes that use positive reinforcement based training and don’t forget to look for fun classes like agility, fly ball, tracking or tricks.

Now for that pesky “dog training is boring” excuse; Of course dog training is boring if all you ever do with your dog is sit, stay, come, and heel. Try some trick training instead! Trick training is incredibly fun while you’re doing it but it’s also fun to show off your dog’s trick repertoire to your friends and family. If you want to learn how to teach your dog tricks, I highly recommend the 101 Dog Tricks book/DVD set. I also love the Take A Bow Wow DVD.

Lastly, the old, “my dog is fine the way he is” excuse; Well, yes, your dog is wonderful but your dog would be so much happier and the bond you share with your dog would be so much deeper if you communicated with your dog for 5 minutes a day. Training a dog (or any animal) is communication, pure and simple. It’s such an exhilarating feeling when you see the light bulb of understanding dawn on a dog’s face. You wouldn’t expect your relationships with your family members or co-workers to be sustainable without at least 5 minutes of communication a day, so why expect a truly good relationship with your dog to exist with less?

And for all of you cat and parrot owners out there, training is wonderful environmental enrichment for your pets too. Many cat owners are stunned when I recommend clicker training for their cat’s increased environmental enrichment (or to solve a behavior problem). Don’t let those cats fool you. They are highly trainable. Check out our Cat Behavior and Training Recommendations on the Companion Animal Solutions web site. I especially like the Clicker Training Cats kit for beginners. Let’s not forget the owners of our feathered friends either. We have Parrot DVD and Book recommendations for you too.

The same principles of training and learning apply whether you’re training a dolphin, horse, parrot, cat, or dog. So at Companion Animal Solutions, we’re declaring January to be Train Your Pet Month. Please send us your stories and videos of your training experiences. We’d love to share your journey of learning and bonding with your pets. We hope that one of your New Years Resolutions will be to get clicking!

I see many, many new dog behavior cases each year and I love my work, but sometimes, I need to branch out and learn about the behavior of other companion animals. My partner in Animal Behavior at Companion Animal Solutions is Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB. Jim sees all of the cat and parrot cases that we take. I’ve been privileged to learn about animal and bird behavior by riding along with him on his private behavior consultations with our clients. The ride along opportunities that I enjoy the most are the parrot cases. I love cats, don’t get me wrong, but the parrot cases fascinate me. When I first embarked on my parrot behavior and training research, I was disappointed at how difficult it was to find quality information about parrot behavior and training. The internet is rife with dog training information (some of it excellent and some of it awful and downright harmful), but information about parrot behavior is harder to come by. After some time consuming research, I began to compile a list of resources that include the most respected researchers, veterinarians, applied animal behaviorists, and trainers. I wanted to share what I’ve learned with our readers interested in parrot behavior and training.

For those of you who live in the Seattle, Washington area, your first stop for finding like minded people should be the Northwest Exotic Bird Society. When I attended my first meeting, I was surprised and thrilled to discover that many of the people attending the monthly meeting brought their birds with them and many of those birds were getting the opportunity to socialize with one another and fly freely around the room! The members of NWEBS were very knowledgeable as well as being friendly and welcoming. I was hooked! I went right home, logged on to the web site and joined. Once you’re a member, you can attend the monthly meetings at the Lawn Bowling building at Greenlake, receive their informative newsletter, and gain membership to the yahoo group. Members of NWEBS also belong to the Northwest Avian Flyers. The Northwest Avian Flyers conduct “indoor free flight” sessions twice a month. The Northwest Exotic Bird Society’s website is full of scientifically correct and practically useful information about caring for, living with, and training your feathered friends.

The next stop on our parrot learning tour is Barbara Heidenreich, owner of Good Bird Inc. Barbara is a leading authority on parrot behavior and training as well as being a huge proponent of clicker training and learning theory based training for parrots. I was shocked to learn that there are “dominance” and “punishment” based training proponents in the parrot world too (so sad). Barbara is a voice of reason and practical alternatives to those outdated and harmful proponents. If you’d like to learn about modifying your parrots behavior or clicker training your parrot, Barbara Heidenreich is a necessary resource in your toolkit. If you’ve spent any time on the Companion Animal Solutions website, you know that we highly recommend Barbara’s books and DVDs. I’m a enthusiastic subscriber to Good Bird Inc magazine which now comes in electronic form (PDF) as well as the traditional paper copy. If that weren’t enough, Barbara writes a blog and produces Wings ‘n Things podcasts available on Pet Life Radio. Barbara just released a new DVD titled Get Your Bird Back! about what to do if your parrot flies away. This DVD contains a wealth of resources such as lost bird flyers, lists of people to contact and a variety of parrot calls.

When I contacted Barbara about listing her books and DVDs on our web site, I asked her if she had recommendations for other authors and she was gracious enough provide me with more resources. Here are some of Barbara’s picks for books, DVDs, and blogs: Happily Ever After with Parrots (DVD) by Ellen Cook, DVM,  Captive Foraging (DVD) by Scott Echols, DVM, DABVP, A Parrot for Life (Book and Blog) by Rebecca O’Conner, and bloggers Sid Price, and Linda Rasmussen.

Susan Friedman, PhD is a professor at Utah State University. Dr. Friedman’s specialty is behavior analysis and she offers online workshops for veterinarians, animal behaviorists, and trainers. The Behavior+ Works website contains useful information on parrot behavior, behavior analysis, and learning theory, just download the free PDF files.

Another nice online community for parrot owners and advocates is the Nationwide Parrot Place Organization. You can become a member of this 501(C) non-profit organization for an annual membership fee of $12 per year. A new online resource for beginning parrot owners has recently come online called The Parrot Forum. This is an online forum where owners can ask questions and learn important information about Health, Nutrition & Diet, Housing, General Parrot Care, Parrot Species, Basic Training, Trick Training, Recall Flight and Indoor Freeflight. As with any forum dedicated to helping people and their pets, please be polite at all times and thank people for the time and effort they spend answering questions.

I informed via the Northwest Exotic Bird Society group that Chris Biro will be presenting at their meeting on Thursday, November 19th at 7:00PM. His topic will be Parrot Training and Free Flight. This will also be the first time that a presentation will be webcast so that viewers can watch from home. The webcast includes a chat feature so that Internet viewers have the ability to submit questions to the speaker. The webcast can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chris-biro

That brings me to the end of my list of resources for parrot owners. Do you have other resources for parrot behavior and training you’d like to share? If so, please post a comment.

The city council of Bothell, Washington is considering enacting breed specific legislation that would ban residents from owning certain breeds of dogs. All of us at Companion Animal Solutions believe that Breed Specific Legislation is the wrong approach to making our neighborhoods and ourselves safe from vicious dogs. We believe that well written, well enforced dangerous dog legislation betters serves us all by protecting us from dangerous dogs and irresponsible owners without making criminals or victims out of safe dogs and responsible owners. Andrea Kilkenny recently wrote an article for us titled Fun Activities For You and Your Dog and Andrea has participated in them all… with her bully breed dogs. I’m please to present here the letter that Andrea sent to all members of Bothell’s City Council.

Dear Legislator,

Please reconsider your proposed law to ban the American Pitbull Terrier and related breeds, such as the American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  As an owner of three bull breed dogs, a Humane Law Enforcement Officer, and a dog trainer, I urge you to please read the information below as it may provide you with some facts you are unaware of.

There are many reasons why breed bans should not be enacted; and why, instead, legislators should focus efforts on dangerous dog laws that are not breed specific.  Legislation that encourages responsible ownership – and which also results in effective and enforced consequences for violators – would help solve many of the problems communities face with reckless dog owners.

From a logistical standpoint, breed bans are difficult to enforce.  One problem is the correct identification of breeds.  Many shelters and animal control facilities currently struggle with this task, and often mislabel dogs.  Often, shelters label any muscular, stocky, or wide-headed dog as a bull breed or bull breed mix, and incorrectly so.  There are many current cases in which DNA tests were conducted to prove a dog’s heritage, and animal control facilities and municipalities have been sued for misidentification. In addition, animal control personnel would be faced with the insurmountable task of having to remove, house, re-locate, and/or euthanize the dogs within a given region.  I have worked for many years in the shelter world, and served many more than that as a volunteer, and still do.  Shelters are already overwhelmed with conducting their day-to-day tasks with limited time, staffing, and resources.  To impose a ban, imposes a burden on them as well.  Best Friends Animal Society, a national welfare organization, has a fiscal calculator which helps estimate cost to cities if they enact breed discriminatory legislation.  According to their calculator, the city of Bothell would spend an estimated $44,000 per year to enact a breed ban.  Couldn’t this money be better spent on dog bite prevention programs, spay/neuter initiatives, and enforcement of animal related ordinances that encourage responsible ownership?

Irresponsible and reckless owners should be targeted, not a breed.  Owners should be held accountable for their actions.  There are many responsibilities that come with maintaining a dog; one of those responsibilities is following local animal ordinances such as those that guide proper containment, vaccinations, identification, leash laws, etc.  Most owners follow these and should not be unduly penalized for the actions of a few.  In addition, there are many responsible owners who have bull breed dogs who are more than just pets.  I am speaking of those owners of bull breed dogs, which provide valuable services to the community in a working capacity:  search and rescue, drug detection, animal-assisted therapy, and humane education.  They, too, should not be jeopardized for the actions of others.  To give you just a few examples of great working dogs that are bull breeds:

Popsicle, a recently retired drug detection dog, is also a rescued pitbull.  He was found – near death, in a freezer – when his owner’s premises were being investigated for illegal activity.  The puppy went from surviving trauma as a dogfighter’s baitdog to becoming one of the top drug detection dogs in our country.  Popsicle won a significant seizure medal when he helped federal Customs agents seize 3,075 pounds of cocaine.

Dakota, also a pitbull, is another fine example of a working dog.  Dakota and owner Kris Crawford have been involved in some of the nation’s high-profile search and rescue efforts including the Columbia mission and the Laci Peterson case.

In Columbia, Ohio, U.S. Customs Department recently “hired” a new recruit – Pete, also a pitbull.  Our own ferry system here in WA utilizes trained pit bulls for the purpose of narcotics and explosives detection.

Pitbulls excel in the areas of detection, search and rescue, pet therapy, and other working fields because of their high intelligence, affection and loyalty towards humans, and strong work ethic.  The United Kennel Club notes in their description of the American Pitbull Terrier (APBT) breed characteristics:

The essential characteristics of the American Pit Bull Terrier are strength, confidence, and zest for life. This breed is eager to please and brimming over with enthusiasm. APBTs make excellent family companions and have always been noted for their love of children.

The APBT is not the best choice for a guard dog since they are extremely friendly, even with strangers. Aggressive behavior toward humans is uncharacteristic of the breed and highly undesirable. This breed does very well in performance events because of its high level of intelligence and its willingness to work.

Similar characteristics can be found in the American Kennel Club breed description of a related breed, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier:

Its character is one of indomitable courage, high intelligence and tenacity. Coupled with its affection for its friends, and children in particular, its quietness and trustworthy stability make it an all-purpose dog.

Another fact to consider is that renowned and reputable animal organizations, such as the American Kennel Club (AKC), The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) all do NOT support BSL.  Each of these organizations encourages dangerous dog legislation that is not breed specific.  Information about writing humane law, including dangerous dog laws, can be found on each of these organizations’ websites, or by contacting their national or regional headquarters.  In a 2001 journal article published by AVMA, their Canine Aggression Task Force suggest that community-wide dog bite prevention programs, not Breed Specific Legislation, is a better solution to preventing dog bites:

“An often asked question is which breed or breeds of dogs are most “dangerous?”  This inquiry can be prompted by a serious attack by a specific dog, or it may be the result of media driven portrayals of a specific breed as “dangerous.”  Although this is a common concern, singling out 1 or 2 breeds for control can result in a false sense of accomplishment.  Doing so ignores the true scope of the problem and will not result in a responsible approach to protecting a community’s citizens.”

In addition, please consider the idea that irresponsible owners will find another breed to train and handle for illegal or undesirable purposes when the current fad breed – the pit bull – is banned.  We are already witnessing this occurrence here in the States.  While the APBT maintains its popularity, there are a growing number of larger-sized dogs such as the Mastiff, Dogo Argentino, and Presa Canario being sought and even imported by irresponsible people.  Banning a breed does not solve the problem.  Historically, in our nation, different breeds have been wrongly generalized as ‘dangerous;’  the German Shepherd, the Doberman, and the Rottweiler have all been previous victims of media hype.

Furthermore, an increasing amount of research demonstrates that breed is not a defining characteristic in reported bites.  Instead, some identifiable commonalities seem to be:  intact dogs – of various breeds, including “unsuspecting” breeds such as the Golden and Labrador Retrievers, unsupervised situations involving children, and chained dogs.  Studies reported in the Journal of Veterinary Medicine Association, Pediatrics, and Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program clearly illustrate that there are identifiable and preventable circumstances under which any dog can bite.  In my many years of experience employed at a shelter in Iowa City, we saw dogs of all breed types who had been involved in bites.  No one breed should be singled out.  Each dog should be looked at individually and judged individually for its actions.  Those animals with aggression problems or bite histories that pose a threat to the community should be euthanized to prevent further injuries and to maintain a safe community.  Currently, the National Canine Research Council (NCRC) has done an outstanding job of documenting bite statistics, and providing information on the factors identified in bites.  Consider the difference between family dogs and ‘resident’ dogs as outlined by NCRC.  Resident dogs are yard dogs, dogs obtained for guarding purposes, dogs that are chained or kept outside; these are not family pets, and are often the victims of abuse, neglect, and mismanagement.  Family dogs would be unduly punished if breed specific laws are enacted.  Please consider visiting Karen Delise’s site for accurate, data-based materials on dog bites and dog bite prevention:

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/

Lastly, as a responsible owner of two rescued pitbulls and one purebred Staffordshire Bull Terrier, I respectfully appeal to you on a personal level.  My dogs are well trained, supervised, abide by city laws, and are ambassadors for their breeds.  One of them competes in organized dog sports and competitions for flyball, disc, and agility.  All three of them have appeared regularly on a local TV show in Iowa City, aired on public access, providing dog training tips and humane education on a show created to foster adoption at the city’s shelter we used to work at.   My Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Rumble, and I are registered with the Delta Society as a Pet Partners team; he and I have participated in therapy, demos, and humane education at facilities for the elderly, schools, and neighborhood centers.   I think it is unfair that I, and other responsible owners, should suffer the consequences due to the inappropriate and often, illegal, actions of others.  Rumble and I are part of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club of Puget Sound which has members in Bothell, and we have competed in disc dog events in your city.  A ban would prevent us from being able to do so in the future.

I fully support efforts to create safer communities for both dogs and humans and I believe that non-breed specific/vicious dog legislation, when properly written in the law and enforced, can help achieve that aim.

Sincerely, Andrea Kilkenny

I live with Mojo. Mojo will be 9 soon, and shows no sign of slowing down. I have to say, he’s better than when he was oh say, 2, but at almost 9, if it weren’t for his graying face, you would not know he is a senior dog. I love my Mojo, but I also realize that many people would find him extremely frustrating, and I often wonder had I not adopted him, if he would have stayed in one home or been shuffled around from one exasperated owner to the next, or been returned to the shelter. Coupled with his energy level are some other factors that make him a challenging dog: high intelligence and strong determination. Put that in a sporty, lean, muscular high energy package, and you could have a recipe for disaster.

Over the years, and with the help of many great dog sport friends and trainers, I found I was able to better my communication and relationship with Mojo, and to find outlets for his energy. Here are some things that work for us:

Workout! I aim for a big 60+ minute walk daily, but I may not always get that in, and that is okay, because we have other options. Vary where you walk to keep things stimulating. The scents, sights, and sounds on a walk are mental stimulation. By changing your path or location, you can make the walk have that much more ‘bang for the buck.’ I like to try different parks.

Take a hike! Buy a backpack for your dog. Mojo sports the Ruffwear backpack – a gift from our friends Julie and Laurie at Leash On Life in Iowa City. I let Mojo carry all our stuff: extra leash, camera, water bottles, collapsing water dish, keys, cell phone, etc.

Get a weight pull harness and let him pull! You don’t have to enter a competition, you can have him pull for fun. Sled pulling has been a great energy burner for Mojo in those long Iowa winters. We recommend CDPits Harnesses. Tell ‘em Mojo sent ya!

Photo by Justin O'Brien

Work to Eat! I rarely feed from a bowl. Some of our favorite toys include Kongs, Premier Waggle, Premier Tug a Jug, Everlasting Treat Ball, Lucky Dog rubber turkey leg, Buster Cube. These toys can be stuffed with kibble and treats – we use a combination of both. Some additional tips: vary what you put in the toy AND vary which toy you give your dog. I rotate them to keep things interesting!

Have some class! Enroll your dog in an obedience class that uses positive reinforcement methods. Now, some of you with excitable dogs worry about what your dog will be like in class. My suggestions: talk with the trainer first, see if there is a smaller size group, and find out the trainer’s experience with excitable dogs. Over the years, I have found there are two types of trainer reactions to dogs like Mojo: instructors who don’t know what to do with a dog like him, and instructors who EMBRACE him.

Find a sport! Agility, flyball, disc, and tracking are just some of the fine dog sports out there. I have taken Mojo through a number of sport classes or club practices for the mental and physical stimulation. Again, do not feel your overall goal should be to compete; my Mojo has never stepped into a ring. We have taken classes for fun, to keep him learning new things, and for the exercise. Often times, people feel pressure when in sport classes, as if they must work towards a competitive level. Not the case. There are many instructors and training clubs out there who will let you work with your dog for fun.

Track! I was amazed after my first few tracking sessions with Mojo. Watching him work and focus on the scent, and seeing the change in his behavior from bouncy boy out of the crate, ready to work, to calm relaxed dog post-track was awesome! There are great books about tracking, and a fun beginner one we like is Fun Nosework for Dogs by Roy Hunter.

Very Tricky! Mojo is about the most non-retrieving dog I have ever met. Watches tennis balls and things sail over his head. Using a clicker, I taught him to retrieve a tennis ball, and gradually we shaped this with other objects, such as a dumbbell and even a frisbee. When I don’t have time for a big walk, we practice retrieves. He also has developed a rather large tricks repertoire, which are fun for him to show off and also for those of you with bully breeds, nothing breaks fear or stigma like a pit bull with cute parlor tricks. A few or our fave tricks are: take a bow, pray for the pit bulls, sit pretty, gimme your nose, etc.

Go Cruisin’, K-9 Cruisin that is! The K-9 Cruiser is a bike attachment that allows your dog to safely run alongside. I bought one for Mojo when he was about 6 or 7, and I almost cried during our first ride. He was grinning, and seemed to be saying, “this is the speed I’ve been wanting to go all my life!” I wish I knew about that handy invention when he was 2!

Swim! Find a canine pool (if you live in Seattle, I recommend Spawz and Bow Wow Fun Town) and get your dog paddling!

Let’s Play! Playdates with doggie friends or walks with doggie friends.

Wait for It! Practice self control exercises and focus work. We love Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt and In Focus by Judy Keller.

Please visit our Youtube site to see Mojo in many of the above activities:
www.youtube.com/pitzncatz

Do you have favorite activities you like to engage in with your dog? Leave a comment and tell us about it. Got pictures of your dog hiking, pulling, swimming, participating in dog sports, or just having fun? Submit them to us at info@companionanimalsolutions.com.

The writing has been on the wall for years. First came the September 2007 citizens committee report calling shelter conditions in King County “deplorable”. If you’ve followed the KCACC oversight committee education work being done at kcaccexposed.org, you know that the staff that works at Animal Care and Control and at the shelters are doing everything they can within a broken system. Many critics of the way KCACC has been run claim that the $1 million dollar one time allocation to fix the system wasn’t enough because of tragically bad management and failed oversight at KCACC. Now I’m reading the announcement on the Metropolitan King County Council web site dated September 24, 2009 that is titled Council member commends Executive for implementing their call to get King County out of the shelter business. What does this mean exactly? Well, as with all governmental issues, it means several things. (click on the image above to see video of the KOMO Problem Solvers’ story on this issue).

For one, it means that because the county is facing a $56 million budget short fall, it’s going to look for a private organization to fulfill the county’s public safety function of Animal Care and Control. “Last year, we stated publicly that the King County Animal Shelter system was so broken that it could not be fixed and asked the Executive to consider a new system. I commend him for taking decisive action to implement our request,” said Council Chair Constantine. “King County has been failing in its obligation to provide humane care for the animals in our custody. This solution will shift sheltering services to a proven community provider.” The problem is that our interim Executive is not implementing a solution. He’s simply shutting down the shelters, without an alternative solution in place, and he’s doing it soon.

When this happens (and the Kent shelter is scheduled to be shut down on November 1st), the Seattle Animal Shelter, the Seattle/King County Humane Society, and every private rescue group in King County is going to be literally over run with homeless animals and all of these organizations are inundated already. The county has been talking to the Humane Society for years about taking over these responsibilities for the county, but how is the Humane Society supposed to pay for the services the county wants them to provide? If a $1 million infusion couldn’t solve the problem, how is a non-profit organization supposed to step up and solve the problem over night, with no additional funding?

Some county employees, volunteers, and animal advocates argue that the animals of King County would be better served by turning over Animal Care and Control and sheltering services to a private organization. I’m not disagreeing with this position. Across the country, we’ve seen privatization of the Animal Care and Control function handled well and we’ve seen it handled poorly. Really, no matter who takes over this responsibility, isn’t about having a plan in place before any decision is made? Isn’t it about transparency in the system? After all, we’re making decisions about a population that doesn’t have a voice, the animals.

If you think that this problem is only about treating stray animals humanely, that’s only part of the story. This is a public safety issue. If you want to see what happens when a county agency is stretched too thin and given too many mandates, read the Seattle Times article Dog attack victims wait days or weeks for response. Too often, when a county or city’s Animal Care and Control responsibilities are handled poorly, we see elected officials respond with harmful, unfair, and expensive Breed Specific Legislation which we believe is the absolutely worst response to the problem.

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering what you can do about this situation. I’d like to make a few suggestions:

Our King County Executive is only serving in an interim capacity. Get involved and make the candidates for this open seat state their position on Animal Care and Control. Do either of these candidates have a plan? Contact Susan Hutchison and Dow Constantine and find out before your cast your vote.

You can donate money locally to the organizations who will be handling the problem that King County is throwing over the wall to them. Donating your money to the Seattle Animal Shelter or your local Humane Society means that the money will be used locally.

Lastly, if you can’t donate money, you can volunteer as a foster home. Both the Seattle Animal Shelter foster program and the Seattle Humane Society foster program need your help. Space is critical when it comes to saving the lives of homeless animals until they can be placed in their forever homes.

Please let us know your thoughts about King County Animal Care and Control being eliminated as a county government funded function. If you contact our candidates for County Executive, let us know what their responses were. Do you live in a community where this function was privatized? What was the experience like in your community?

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.

What Is Noise Phobia? Don’t Dogs Just Get Over It?
According to Karen Overall, VMD, PhD, ACVB, “Noise phobias are best defined as a persistent, excessive fear response to a sound or escape from the sound [Shull, 1994].”1 Notice the words persistent and excessive. Dogs don’t just “get over it” with time and enough exposure. In fact, we have documented cases where dogs got continually worse over time and even began generalizing their fear to other stimuli. An example of this is a dog who is thunder phobic that over time becomes afraid of rain. The best article I’ve ever read about storm phobias was written by Karen Overall in 2004 and can be found at the dvm360 website. The synopsis for this article is ” So, for all the pets who suffer, here’s the take home message: Storm and noise phobias are emergencies.”

Why Does My Dog Suffer from Noise Phobia?
We don’t know why some dogs exhibit noise phobia and others do not, but this condition is currently being studied. Some scientists believe that there is a genetic component to noise phobia. At the University of California San Francisco, Dr. Steven Hamilton, MD, PhD, is searching for the genes related to panic and anxiety disorders in dogs. You can read about Dr. Hamilton’s genetics work in a ucsfToday article titled Dogs Guide Search for Genes in Panic and Anxiety. Dr. Hamilton is a co-leader along with Dr. Overall of the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project. You can learn about this group’s work by visiting the Canine Behavior Genetics Project web site.

As with any behavior, there’s a genetic as well as learned component to its cause. We’ve had client dogs that learned to associate noises with “scary” things and “scary” things with noises.

How Can I Help My Dog?
There are a number of things that you can try to help your dog through the 4th of July fireworks display:

Medication
According to Dr. Karen Overall, “pharmacological intervention has been more successful in controlling a phobic response to noise than has flooding or desensitization.”2 So how do you have this discussion with your veterinarian? First of all, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to discuss your dog’s reaction to fireworks or thunderstorms. Your veterinarian should always be your first line of defense in improving your dog’s behavioral health. Understanding what medication your veterinarian prescribes for you and how to use it is very important since not all veterinarians are as experienced in prescribing for behavior as others. If you have one in your area, contact a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist. If you don’t have one in your area, ask your veterinarian if they have a PhD in Animal Behavior or know of a veterinarian who does. Most of the veterinarians that we work with at Companion Animal Solutions are not certified in veterinary behavior and don’t have PhDs, but they handle prescribing medication for behavioral issues brilliantly.

To be on the safe side, you might want to print out and take the following paragraph with you when you visit your veterinarian: “Acepromazine is not recommended for treating aggression or for home use in tranquilizing anxious, agitated or aggressive dogs.  It provides chemical restraint and is not an anxiolytic.  Acepromazine can also increase reactivity to sound and so may be particularly inappropriate for anxiety induced by sounds such as thunder, fireworks, large diesel engines, etc..  Benzodiazepines are considered safer for reducing situational anxiety.”3

Counter Conditioning Noise Phobia
Executing counter conditioning exercises for noise phobia helps many, many of the dogs that we work with at Companion Animal Solutions (including my own dog). You can start out by downloading sounds of thunder or fireworks. You can find just about any type of sound on the internet or through iTunes. Begin playing the sounds very quietly on your stereo or sound system over a number of days or weeks (if your dog reacts, you’re playing it too loud). You must play it softly enough to allow desensitization to take place. Over a number of days or weeks, you can slowly increase the volume (remember to keep it below your dog’s reaction level). You can also begin pairing a scary sound with food. Keep something in mind though, fireworks and thunder are accompanied by other stimuli such as vibration and light.

When my neighbors begin setting off fireworks, I get out my clicker and spray cheese, liverwurst, chicken, and hotdogs. The split second a firecracker goes off, I click and give Conner a treat from his favorite food list. When I first started this two years ago, I was only able to work with him for a minute or two before he just couldn’t take it anymore and would stop taking food. Now I’m able to work for a good 20 to 30 minutes before the stress panting takes over and we head downstairs to the quietest room in the house.

My 4th of July Strategy
I’ve got a diazepam (Valium) prescription that I use for my dog Conner. I start giving it to him the day before the fireworks get going. I make sure that I have plenty of stuffed Kongs, bully sticks, and raw beef rib bones to keep him busy in the “quiet room” when I can’t be working with him with my trusty clicker. Always remember that extinction is a huge part of behavior modification so keeping the dog from panicking is critical in seeing a decrease in fear over time. Keep in mind however, this is just what I’ve learned works best for my personal dog and his noise phobia. You should consult with your veterinarian and do what is best for your dog.

There are many homeopathic remedies that some owners swear by (Storm Defender Cape, Rescue Remedy, Melatonin, etc). If you own a noise phobic dog, you want all the help you can get. Please share your noise phobia experiences in our comments section.

References
1 Overall, K., Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, 1997, p.236.
2 Overall, K., Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, 1997, p.237.
3 Overall, K., Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, 1997, p.304.