A bill has been introduced into the Washington State Legislature to limit long-term, unsupervised tethering of dogs in the state.  Specifically, the current form of the bill (and these bills change frequently before final passage, so this is just the latest that I understand) seeks to: ban outdoor tethering of dogs for more than 10 hours in any 24 hr period and between the hours of 10PM and 6AM, require tethered dogs to have constant access to shelter and water, ban the use of choke, prong, shock or pinch collars in tethering, and limit the size and weight of tethering equipment.  This bill, in one form or another, is in hearings before the legislature right now (Jan 2012) and will hopefully come to a vote in the current session.

I was asked to submit testimony in support of this bill, which I was, of course, happy to do, as I strongly support these efforts, here and in other states.  It was interesting, as a scientist and one who explicitly advocates for the use of science, not hearsay and old wives’ tales, in training and dealing with behavior problems, to be placed in the position of not having good science to back up my position.  Is long-term tethering really bad for a dog?  As described below, there really is no science that directly addresses that question.  But it illustrated for me the degree to which people, even myself, can sometimes OVER-rely on science as an answer: sometimes common sense is enough.  While I was disappointed at the lack of good science in this situation, it seems obvious from so many different angles that long-term, unsupervised tethering of a dog is not good social policy.  And I am happy to add my voice to the many that are working hard for passage of this legislation.

I thought that the readers of Behind the Behavior might be interested in my thoughts on the topic, and so I reproduce my written testimony here.  Let me know what you think!
—-
Statement on Tethering Bill
James C. Ha, PhD, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
University of Washington and Companion Animal Solutions, LLC

I am a research biologist, university professor, and certified applied animal behaviorist, one of only about 22 in the country at my level of training and education.  My world is about science, facts, experiments and data.  I approach my research, my teaching, and my work with some of the most dangerous dogs in the Pacific Northwest, from the basis of science, and I ignore the hearsay, the “common knowledge,” and the popular opinions which are so often contrary to the facts.  Animal behavior is a well-developed science, with a rigorous methodology, appropriately intense peer review process, and long-standing professional organizations, standards, and professional research journals.

So when I am approached to express an opinion on a topic that clearly relates to animal behavior, like long-term tethering of dogs, my inclination is to head for the library, to search the databases of scientific literature to find out what we know about the effects of tethering from scientific studies.  In this case, I was disappointed: the only publication that refers directly to possible involvement of tethering in aggression is an in-depth analysis of 16 severe attacks by dogs.  In 8 of these 16 cases, the dogs had been tethered.  While indicative and thought-provoking, this does not constitute science: how many tethered dogs were not involved in a severe attack?  If half the dogs in that part of the world were routinely tethered, then this finding tells us nothing.  But it is concerning.

So can I say that there is hard science which clearly points to the negative effects of long-term tethering on dog’s psychological well-being, health, and safety?  No.  Is that a real need in the scientific literature? I think so.  But we need to address this issue here and now.  My scientist side was disappointed.

But then, as I thought about this issue more, I began to realize that at some point, common sense has to be involved in all such human issues.  Science cannot substitute for all human intuition and understanding.  I realized that it was obvious that long-term tethering was not only harmful to the dog, but to society in general.  Long-term tethering of dogs clearly does not protect them from the changing weather conditions, does not prevent pregnancies in the case of reproductively intact animals, does not prevent children or other dogs from encountering a dog that is unfamiliar to them, and potentially aggressive.  There are even more obvious reasons to limit tethering: while outside on a tether, the dog is not under human control or supervision and can suffer physical injury and death, can be deprived, even accidently, of water and food, and may suffer from lack of stimulation and social contact, both among the most common causes of behavior problems in dogs.

Further, tethering is obviously a form of restraint, and there is a well-developed scientific literature, in mice, rats, primates, dogs, and humans, on the effects of long-term restraint.  Long-term restraint, or prevention of access to stimuli, can also include dogs which live their lives behind fences, or worse, in crates (as in puppy mills).  This is well-documented to produce various forms of arousal and eventually, aggressive behavior.  While this has not been documented specifically for dogs on long-term tethers, it is my professional opinion that we can safely extrapolate from the wide literature relating to this type of restraint.

In summary, I strongly support legislation to limit or eliminate the use of unsupervised tethering, especially for long periods.  I believe that the elimination of this type of dog handling will reduce animal abuse, decrease unwanted canine pregnancies, and make for a safer environment for dogs and people alike.  Tethering dogs outdoors for long periods is a form of neglect, and animals deserve better from their caretakers.  I hope that the Washington State Legislature can pass this bill and place Washington State among the more enlightened states in our country that have passed similar legislation.

I welcome questions, and would be happy to provide more information if needed.

Dr. Kari Johnson, DVM

Many of the medical treatments that have been available to human patients are more commonly becoming available for our pets. In fact, some research being done at veterinary schools like Purdue and research centers in veterinary oncology are furthering human research and treatments. When I got curious about water therapy and physical rehabilitation, I reached out to my referring veterinarians. I was lucky enough to meet and interview Dr. Kari Johnson, DVM. Dr. Johnson is on her way to becoming Certified as a Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner. I met with her in her office at Animal Surgical Clinic of Seattle and she explained her work while I observed her working with a Boerboel Mastiff client whose owner brought her dog for underwater treadmill rehab post knee surgery but was continuing with the therapy because of the ongoing benefits.

When Dr. Johnson introduced herself to me, I noticed two things: her calm, warm demeanor when she introduced herself and that she was wearing a bait/treat bag. Any of you familiar with our work at Companion Animal Solutions know how much we love seeing positive reinforcement being used with pets! While Dr. Johnson filled the treadmill tank with warm water with her client dog inside the tank, she began educating me about veterinary rehabilitation therapy:

When is veterinary rehabilitation indicated for dogs?

Some of the reasons veterinarians refer to rehabilitation specialists include: recovery from surgery, osteoarthritis, soft tissue injury, intervertebral disk disease or even weight loss and sports conditioning for hunting and agility dogs.

How do you condition dogs to relax around rehab equipment?

The equipment I saw in Dr. Johnson’s therapy room was the same as what you would see in your own physical therapist’s office. I was especially curious about installing a positive conditioned emotional response in a dog to a tank that is slowing filling with warm water. Dr. Johnson explained that when she begins work with a new dog, she gently introduces the dog to the environment and equipment using treats. If she sees the dog shake off, yawn or stop taking treats, she drains the tank and ends the session. The dog I observed during her underwater treadmill session displayed no stress signals: no lip licking, yawning, or stress panting. In fact, the only time the dog displayed any stress signals was when I changed her routine by keeping her in the room while continuing to talk to Dr. Johnson. She was ready to head back out to her owner after her session.

What is post surgical recovery like, how long are sessions and how many sessions are normally required?

After surgery, Dr. Johnson recommends that dogs only take potty walks for the first 10 to 14 days. Though physical rehab exercises can begin immediately after surgery under the guidance of a practitioner, underwater treadmill sessions usually begin 10-14 days after surgery to allow the skin to heal. Sessions are about 30 minutes in duration. Dr. Johnson feels that 8 to 12 weekly sessions are ideal but she can normally accomplish a lot of her goals with a dog in as little as four sessions.

How do you know if the therapy is working?

Dr. Johnson sets quantifiable metrics for her patients’ recovery so how she evaluates success depends on the goals she has for the dog and the goals her owner has for their dog. She measures degree of lameness, assessment of pain, range of motion, humorous growth and muscle density. She tracks each patient’s metrics so that she can adjust her sessions accordingly. In cases of sports conditioning or weight loss, her metrics are the same but also include weight loss, gait evaluation, heart rate, and overall movement.

What about canine aquatic centers?

Dr. Johnson recommended that only dogs that are 100% healthy be taken to non-veterinary canine aquatic centers. She recommends that owners and aquatic center personnel be especially careful of entry and exit into the pool since this is where most injuries occur.

I hope that this article inspires all of those owners out there who want to help their dog’s recovery along with physical therapy but honestly, I see so many bored, under-exercised and over weight dogs in my practice that I fervently hope that upon reading this article, owners with “healthy” dogs will consider a diet and exercise plan with a veterinary professional like Dr. Johnson. I came away from my experience with Dr. Johnson full of respect for her compassionate and scientific approach. Now, if I could just get my own personal trainer to consider that under water treadmill thing!

Have you taken your dog to rehabilitation therapy? What was your experience? If you’ve never heard of this type of therapy, do you have questions? We’ll happily pass them along to Dr. Johnson.

We know that outdoor cats live shorter lives subject to disease and injury, yet many cat owners believe that their cats cannot be happy unless they go outside. I think one of the reasons people believe this is that many cats suffer from environmentally deprived environments without their owners even knowing they could be doing more for their cats. The added benefit is that spraying/marking, aggressive behaviors, excessively rough play and scratching of furniture and walls which are common complaints from owners of indoor cats can be helped or eliminated by following our recommendations.  Try some of these  ideas and see if they don’t make you and your cat happier:

Climbing/Viewing: If you live in a multi-cat household, providing vertical territory is especially important. Providing climbing opportunities can help alleviate cat/cat aggression and spraying/marking problems. Cat window perches, towers and condos allow your cat to jump and climb, which is especially appreciated near a window.  If you shop around, you might be surprised, cat trees have come a long way. For fashion conscious owners, we recommend installing floating shelves in a stair step pattern. Shelves can be purchased to match any decor. When you bring a new cat tree into the house or install shelves, spray them with Feliway to help your cat relax around the new item. You can further encourage your cat’s use of trees or shelves with catnip or treats.

Exercise: Cats thrive on engaging their predatory instincts.  Toys that mimic small prey (mice, bugs, birds) via their material or movement patterns encourage running, pouncing, stalking, appropriate scratching and climbing. Most cats love fishing pole toys with feathers or a fuzzy toy at the end of the line.

Clicker Training: Cats respond very well to positive reinforcement and can be trained to sit, lay-down, wave, etc. just like dogs! If you’re interested in getting started with clicker training your cat, search for ‘clicker training cat’ on YouTube and you’ll get results that will keep you viewing for days.

Working for Food: Teach your cat to hunt for his meals by hiding food around the house or use “Work to Eat” toys, see some of our suggestions here. You don’t have to buy work to eat toys, you can make your own. Check out our article Work It Kitty for home made work to eat toys and video.

Scratching Items:  Scratching products indulge your cat’s need to stretch, scent and groom their claws. Made from natural (sisal, cardboard) and synthetic (carpet) materials, vertical posts, towers, door-hanging or flat floor designs are widely available.  Place in high traffic areas, and particularly near prohibited scratching objects such as your furniture!

“Play Alone” Toys: Toys such as the ‘Fling-ama-string’ offer animated movement to encourage play while you’re unavailable to assist. An internet search on ‘motorized cat toys’ will give you plenty of options for toys your cat can chase and interact with.

Bringing the Outdoors Inside:  Consider providing your feline with ‘cat-grass’ or catnip.  Cat-grass is sprouted oat or wheat grass, which you may grow or purchase pre-potted at a pet/health-food store.  Cat-grass inexpensively provides chewing, dietary fiber, and nutrients and may discourage houseplant eating.  The natural plant chemicals in Catnip produce excitable rolling and play behaviors in some cats. Many individuals are highly attracted to its scent. Many cats love running water so what better addition than a fountain? You can purchase a fountain or why not get creative and make your own? Search on ‘diy cat fountains’ and you’ll find instructional videos and plans.

Outdoor Options For the Indoor Cat:  An internet search search on ‘cat enclosures’ produces an array of outdoor cat-habitats of various sizes, complexities and costs.  These may be home-built or purchased, so long as they are secure.  Inclusion of a variety of safely attached toys, tree branches, scratching posts and non-toxic plants provides mental and physical exercise.  One of our favorite sites to purchase enclosures is Canada Cat Enclosures. If you’re the DIY type, we found Catio Designs which sells plans for different types of enclosures.

Going For a Walk: Purchase a harness made specifically for cats. We like the Come With Me cat harness made by Premier. Go slowly and allow the cat to sniff the harness. You can then start pairing the harness with treats. Once your cat is wearing the harness, attach the leash and let your cat walk around the house until the cat is comfortable (don’t forget the treats). When you’re ready to go outside for the first time, go at your cat’s pace. Remember, this experience is totally new for your cat so give them time to acclimate and move forward when they’re ready. You can try luring your cat into a walk with treats. Walking your cat is good for you, good for your cat and you’re sure to get smiles and waves from passersby.

Chasing: Toys that move in unpredictable ways (either with your help, or by motor/magnets) allow your cat to run and perform seek-and-catch behaviors. Ping pong balls are inexpensive and fun.

Homemade Cat Toy Ideas:  To inexpensively expand your cat’s toy collection, consider creating enticing objects from items around your house.  Your cat might enjoy:

• Hidden Objects:  Stash a small, safe object or favorite toy underneath an overturned cardboard box.  Cut holes in the box just large enough for your cat to peer and/or reach inside.  Favorite toys often become more enticing when obscured by a sheet of noisy, dig-able newspaper.
• Cat Caves: Overturned boxes or paper shopping bags (without handles) provide a crinkly, dark place for your ever-clever cat to hide within.  Drag a toy past “his door” for even more excitement.
• Prey: Create ‘mice’ by filling a sock-toe with catnip or crinkly material, and tying it off.

Providing environmental enrichment can be as fun for us as it is for our cats. What things do your cats enjoy? Does your cat have an “unusual” toy or activity they enjoy?

First impressions count. This is as true for dogs as it is for us. Taking some time to think through how to introduce dogs appropriately can mean the difference between dogs learning to be friends or ending up in a situation where you’re trying to overcome distrust and fear when the dog/dog greeting goes wrong.

Off Leash Introduction
I prefer off leash greetings if at all possible since all dogs are more reactive on leash than off leash. Off leash introductions alleviate two potential problems:

1. When dogs are confronted with a situation, person or other dog they don’t know and even the most minor thing goes wrong, they have two options: fight or flight. Leashes take a dog’s flight option away which makes an aggressive display much more likely.
2. Barrier frustration is a form of behavioral thwarting. When a dog sees another dog, they want to investigate. The leash makes this impossible. See my article What Is a Reactive Rover?

I recommend finding a location that is neutral to both dogs. Don’t conduct the greeting in one of the dog’s territory. If both dogs have a good history of interacting with other dogs, just find a safe, neutral location, get the dogs as far apart as possible and turn them loose. If either of the dogs has a spotty history of meeting other dogs, put the dogs on 20 or 30 foot draglines, do not hold onto the leashes, let them drag. That way, if either dog gets snarky, you can grab the draglines at the same time and reel both dogs in. Once the dogs are either playing or sniffing around, you can take the off draglines.

On Leash Introductions
If finding a safe area to introduce the dogs on draglines is not an option, here is how I like to do it:
Again, find a neutral location. Start with the dogs on opposite ends of the street and on opposite sides of the street. Walk towards the other dog. Every time your dog looks at the other dog, mark it with a click or “yes” and give the dog a treat. If at any point, one of the dogs begins to react, u-turn and move further away. Once you’ve completed two or three “drive bys” with neither dog reacting, have the handler with the less confident dog, walk behind the more confident dog. If one or both of the dogs just can’t walk by one another, even with a street in between them, you’ll need to find a safe location where the dogs can greet off leash. I would also recommend fixing the dog’s leash reactivity.

When everyone is calm and ignoring each other, gradually move into position for a parallel walk. Make sure there’s as much space between the two teams as possible and then move gradually closer to one another. Once the dogs are walking together, either find a safe location and drop the leashes or walk to your fenced yard and drop the leashes. Use the leashes as draglines so that if a scuffle breaks out, you can grab the draglines off the ground and pull the dogs apart. If you have a scuffle, end the session and separate the dogs. If butt sniffing breaks out, wait for the introduction to end or for play to break out. When both dogs have had enough, walk into the house together.

What other ideas do you have for helping dogs greet one another? Have you tried any of my suggestions for introducing dogs? What happened? I know there are as many techniques for introducing dogs as there are owners and dogs. We’d love for you to share your ideas and experiences!

Do you dread trips to the veterinarian with your dog or cat? Do you wonder if the veterinarians and vet techs dread your visit as much as you do? The veterinary staff needs to be able to perform thorough examinations, provide treatments and perform procedures. How can they be expected to do their best work if they’re fighting your pet every step of the way? It’s stressful for everyone but it’s also unfortunate because it doesn’t have to be this way. With some preparation and training time, you can dramatically lower the stress experienced by your pet, you and the veterinary staff.

Cats

Most dogs love riding in the car but most cats only ride in the car when they’re going one place, the veterinarian. Since safely transporting a cat in the car involves putting them in a carrier, preparing some cats for a trip to the veterinarian can require a bit more preparation.

Love the Cat Carrier

Here are some ideas for teaching your cat to love being in their carrier:

1. Start with a hungry cat and a cozy carrier.
2. Feeding your cat near his carrier can help him get used to it. Keep feeding your cat near his carrier until he seems relaxed or better yet, he gets curious and inspects the carrier on his own.
3. The next step is to feed or give treats just inside the rim of the open carrier and let the cat approach the food voluntarily. We want the cat comfortable going in and out of the crate. Playing games with a ball or fishing pole toy can make going in and out of the crate fun!
4. Slowly move the bowl closer and closer to the back of the carrier until he is fully inside. When the cat finishes his meal inside the carrier, give him a few treats at the door of the crate to encourage him to stay inside instead of darting out.
5. Gradually increase the time the cat stays in his carrier. Work to Eat toys and stuffed Kongs can be useful, first with the door open a few sessions, then with it closed but with you near by. Gradually increase the time your cat is in the carrier with you in another room or out of the house on a 30-minute errand.

Love Car Rides

You’ve been working hard but in short sessions so now you’re reading to prepare your cat for car rides. Use similar steps with car rides as you used with your carrier work: providing irresistible treats and building on short, happy experiences. First near the car, then near the car with car on, then in the car and then in the car with motor running, etc.

1. Move the car down the driveway for a few sessions, then down the street, then down the block gradually increasing the amount of time spent in the car.
2. When going places either go home (safe/familiar environment) or to visit the vet (only to get treats or attention) and finally to the vet office for check ups when the pet is relaxed in these situations.

Tolerate Handling

Some cats do not like being handled, not even for petting. If you have a cat who tolerates some petting but will not tolerate having their heads, ears, tail or paws handled, you’ve got work to do:

1. Begin with a hungry cat, during a time of day when they’re calm and sleepy. Gently stroke the part of your cat’s body that is most sensitive and pair this touching with treats.
2. For example, touch your cat’s ear gently and for just a second. Pair this with a treat. Keep these sessions short, say 30 seconds.
3. At each session, increase the duration that you’re touching the body part.
4. Once the cat is tolerating a gentle touch for 30 seconds, you can begin increasing the intensity of the manipulation of the body part.
5. When your cat will tolerate you handling their ears, paws and tail, begin asking friends and family to stroke your cat gently while feeding treats.

Dogs

Many dog owners are not off the hook when it comes to body handling. Use the same steps described above for getting your dog comfortable being handled. Don’t push; keep the sessions short (before your dog starts pulling away) and positive.

Leash Reactivity

The problem many dog owners experience during a veterinary visit is their dog barking and lunging at other dogs in the lobby or going in and out of the exam rooms. If your dog barks and lunges at other dogs when on walks, this will only intensify in the confined area of the vet’s office. You can register for one of our Reactive Rover classes to learn how to keep your dog calm on leash around other dogs. In the meantime, if you know your dog is going to go off at other dogs or cats:

1. Leave your dog in the car when you arrive at the veterinarian’s office.
2. Go inside and sign in with the receptionist, explain your dog’s situation and wait by yourself in the lobby.
3. When the vet tech is ready for you, go out to your car and bring your dog inside for his visit.

Veterinarian = Party Time!

Our most important piece of advice for dog and cat owners is to randomly make visits to the vet for positive experiences in between actual appointments. Stop into your vet’s office once a month for a treat party. Stay for a minute or two and give your dog/cat treats and ask the veterinary staff if they’d like to give your pet some treats. This will make arriving and getting through an actual appointment much easier.

The emotional state of your pet during a veterinary exam is extremely important. If your pet is stressed and fearful, anything that happens to them can become forever intolerable. Over time, even the simplest non-confrontational restraint or handling can become difficult, which can resort to more aggressive or even pharmaceutical means of restraint. With some preparation and training, veterinary visits can be a lot less stressful and if we’re doing it right, even fun for your pet!

Are you a Veterinarian or Vet Tech? What advice would you give pet owners about visiting your practice? If you’re a dog or cat owner, what techniques have worked with your pet in making vet visits less stressful?

I chose to devote my career to working with anxious, fearful and aggressive dogs. If you read the articles I post here and in our newsletter that include Why Dogs Bite, What Is a Reactive Rover, Dogs Biting Children, well, you get the idea. I know many wonderful trainers who also work with fearful dogs and when we get together, we bemoan how clueless people can be when approaching a dog they don’t know. We spend an unbelievable amount of time coaching owners of fearful dogs on how to protect their dogs on walks. Some of our suggestions have included body blocking, using the crossing guard ‘STOP’ hand signal, crossing the street and telling strangers that their dog has a contagious skin disease (thanks Nicole Wilde). So when I saw a post on Facebook about a new product called the CAUTIONWALKER Safety Leash, I was on that web site in a matter of seconds to check it out. When I emailed the CAUTIONWALKER Safety Leash company, Matt Cunningham replied back to me and he sent me one so that I could try it for myself.

The first thing that impressed me about this leash is the quality:

• It’s made of really thick nylon. Their web site says “Same sturdy construction as truck cargo straps” and they are not exaggerating.
• The stitching is well done.
• It has a sturdy handle and swivel clip that attaches to the dog’s collar.
• The CAUTION tape look is completely authentic. It’s large enough and bright enough to be seen at a distance.

The price is very reasonable at $17.99 with free shipping and they offer “Bulk discount for vets, pet stores and dog-training professionals”. Their web site is clear, easy to read and addresses the issue of child safety. Do you really want strangers approaching your kids if they’re walking the dog?

My only minor criticism of this new product is that the leash is just over two feet long. I understand why they made the decision to keep the leash short. My owners are so nervous that they’re clutching the leash and reigning the dog in as close to them as possible but that’s part of what we try to get them over: “relax”, “nice loose J in the leash please”. That being said though, there’s no reason you couldn’t buy a splitter or extender if you really want the additional length.

I was a Senior Quality Assurance Manager before changing careers to dog training and animal behavior which means it takes a lot to impress me with any new product and the CAUTIONWALKER Safety Leash impresses me. I LOVE this new product and can’t wait to start using them with our clients.

In my post Control Your Dog’s Barking, I discussed the most common reason owners complain about their dogs barking, Alert Barking. In this post, I wanted to talk about some of the other reasons that dogs bark and how you can stop the barking as effectively as possible.

Separation Anxiety/Distress
If your dog is barking all day while you’re gone, that’s a type of separation anxiety. While it may be tempting to use a bark collar (spray or shock) to simply shut off the behavior, we strongly recommend that you do NOT do that. Separation anxiety/distress is a type of panic disorder so using aversives or pain to simply shut it off can cause more damage to your dog in terms of behavioral fallout (increased anxiety and fear).

If you’ve received a neighbor complaint about your dog barking “all day”, it’s time to set up a web cam and observe your dog’s behavior remotely. Neighbor reporting is sometimes unreliable as one hour of barking can seem like all day if you’re the neighbor having to listen to the barking. If your dog really is barking all day, that means your dog is suffering. The first thing you can try is to stop feeding your dog out of a bowl and put their food in puzzle toys. Let them eat their meals while you are gone. You can see our favorite work to eat toys here. If  your dog will not eat while you’re gone, it’s time to call a professional to help you counter condition your dog’s panic disorder. If you want to know what protocols work for treating separation anxiety, we recommend I’ll Be Home Soon by Patricia McConnell, PhD, CAAB or Don’t Leave Me by Nicole Wilde.

Fear Barking and Conflict Behavior Barking
Dogs bark when they’re trying to tell a person, other dog or thing to go away. It’s a display that says “I’m not comfortable so back off!” Sometimes though, dogs are anxious and conflicted so they will bark as a way of gathering information about the situation in which they find themselves. These dogs are conflicted. They are curious about the person, other dog or thing but they’re also anxious and uncertain. This is a type of conflict behavior but can be helpful to the dog when they’re trying to figure out what type of social interaction they’re about to have. We often see these dogs engage in approach/avoid behavior. They will approach barking but then back up.

If your dog is fearful or conflicted, we recommend that you take your dog further away from the person, other dog or thing they’re reacting to. Things are always scarier or more exciting the closer they are. If you move away, you are NOT reinforcing their fear. Instead what you’re teaching your dog is that you hear them and they don’t have to escalate their emotional reaction further to make their point (lunge or bite). If your dog is fearful, anxious or conflicted they are suffering. Call a qualified professional to help you. We also recommend the book titled Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell, PhD, CAAB.

Demand Barking
Some dogs bark because they want your attention and you know what? This almost always works for most dogs. Owners respond by saying “quiet!” There are two ways we recommend you handle demand barking:

1. You can simply ignore them until they stop. This method is called extinction. What we’re teaching the dog is that this type of barking does NOT work any more. Using this method is painful for owners either because they’re concerned about their neighbors or family members being annoyed or because the extinction burst that happens right before the barking behavior stops drives them to distraction. An extinction burst is what happens when the behavior becomes suddenly, horrifically worse. This is the time to hold firm because it’s an indication the behavior is about to extinguish for good.
2. If you can’t survive the extinction process, then it’s time to teach the dog that the barking gets them the opposite of what they want. Leave the room and close the door behind you. You can also use “time outs” for this type of barking as well but in our experience, it doesn’t work as well because even timing them out is attention.

Frustration Barking
Does your dog bark at squirrels? Does you dog bark at your neighbor’s dog on the other side of your fence? Does your dog L-O-V-E other dogs off leash but when your dog sees another dog on leash the barking begins? If so, you know all about frustration barking. Most often, the cause of this type of barking is barrier frustration. Barrier frustration is a form of behavioral thwarting which means your dog sees someone or something they want to chase or investigate and can’t because of a leash or fence. We also see this type of barking in dog training classes when the dog is trying to figure out what will make their owner click/treat. When they can’t figure out what they have to do to get the click/treat, they will bark out of frustration. If your dog is barking at other dogs while on leash, you need to figure out why your dog is barking/lunging. My article What Is a Reactive Rover might help you figure out why this behavior is happening. If you’re in Seattle or Vancouver/Portland, we offer classes to fix this problem. We really like a book/DVD set by Kim Moeller called Reactive Rover.

What other types of barking does your dog engage in? What techniques have you used to keep the barking around your house to a minimum?

13212 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98005

The Seattle Humane Society is conducting the 6th annual Catapalooza event in the Factoria neighborhood of Bellevue, Washington on August 13th and 14th. We’re excited to be participating again this year along with other cat behavior professionals. If you’re interested in cat behavior, speakers will be giving presentations on everything cat:

Saturday, August 13th

11:00 How to Make a Happy Home for an Indoor Cat by Dr. Cori Gross, DVM
12:00 Cat Behavior and Mis-Behavior by Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA
1:00 Litter Box by Wailani Sung, DVM
2:00 First Impressions Count! Cat/Cat and Cat/Dog Introductions by Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA
3:00 Clicker Training for Cats by Wailani Sung, DVM
4:00 Tellington Touch for Cats by Emily Keegans, CTC, CPDT-KA

Sunday, August 14th

11:00 Environmental Enrichment: Reducing Behavior Problems and Saving the Environment by Christine Hibbard
12:00 Kitten Basics: Litter Box, Appropriate Play, Socialization, Handling by Jennifer Schneider
1:00 Litter Box by Wailani Sung, DVM
2:00 Tellington Touch for Cats by Emily Keegans, CTC, CPDT-KA
3:00 Clicker Training for Cats by Wailani Sung, DVM
4:00 Tellington Touch for Cats by Emily Keegans, CTC, CPDT-KA

It’s not all serious topics though. There are plenty of fun activities for the entire family!

• Face painting, cat-toy making and education stations for kids
• Cat-centric art, treats, leashes, collars and more!

You can read more here. Come on out and see us!

I recently gave a presentation on applied animal behavior to a wonderful animal advocacy group on the Micronesian island of Guam.  I was on the island on behalf of my wife’s (Dr. Renee Ha, UW Psychology/Animal Behavior) research on the endangered Mariana Crow, and I offered to meet with the local shelter group, GAIN (Guam Animals In Need) to do a little education… and ended up getting an education myself.

I started out talking about the principles of animal behavior, and of learning, and of treatment of anxiety in the shelter environment, and all of the information that is so widely useful to my clients and audiences (speaking and blog, in-home and shelter-based) here in the States.  But that’s not what they really wanted to talk about… they had different issues, like how to lay their hands on the animals in the first place.   We had to talk for a while before I realized what we were talking about: truly feral dogs.  These are not household pets that had escaped, and were running loose for days, or weeks, or even months.  These were not the offspring of family pets that had been dumped for lack of energy or motivation to find homes.  These were multi-generational, wild-living dog packs.

Now, we should be clear about our terms when it comes to these sorts of animals.  Wild dogs would refer to species not yet domesticated, living in the wild, like African Wild Dogs, wolves, and so on.  At the other extreme are free-ranging household pets.  In between these two extremes falls two groups recognized by wildlife experts (these terms apply to any formerly domesticated species but we’ll stay focused on dogs here): feral dogs and pariah dogs.  Pariah dogs, as an ecological term, was coined by Lehr Brisbin, a biologist in Savannah GA many years ago in his work on abandoned dogs at a Federal facility in the area (nice article about him here.  The term Pariah Dog has now been adopted by a number of breed groups as a name for a type of dog formerly occupying the “pariah niche” in ecology-speak, and now returned to domestication (human controlled breeding).  But the original pariah-type in ecology referred to dogs who were breeding freely, without human intervention but reliant on humans for food (and probably predator avoidance and reduction too).  Many areas of our country have resident pariah dog packs, groups of varying social composition, dependent on human handouts and refuse, and protection from their physical and biological surroundings.  Feral dogs, on the other hand, are truly wild packs, able to fend for themselves in the wild, no longer dependent on humans at all.  These packs are much less common, and what appears to exist on Guam.

Now, this issue of pariah groups consisting of loose and dynamic, let’s say, aggregations of dogs, as opposed to feral, not dependent on humans, reproductively stable dog packs is interesting from an ethological perspective.  It is in these pariah groups that canine aficionados opposed to the concept of social hierarchy among dog find the lack of a social hierarchy like wolves.  And this makes sense, since the social structure is quite different: in wolf packs, or packs of truly feral dogs, the pack is an inter-related extended family group, whereas in pariah aggregations of dogs, there are no, or few, close genetic relationships.  And as we know from ethological studies, kinship is a major force in the determination of social organization and hierarchies.  So it would be fascinating to study the social organization of these (fairly unusual) truly multigenerational, feral, reproductively-stable groups of dogs.  Based on the existing literature, I predict we would find strong male and female social hierarchies as we do in wolves and most other canids.

Aaah, so many interesting research studies, so little research money!!  And eventually we come back to the issues of the GAIN volunteers of Guam.  Truly feral dogs are wily, smart animals (you don’t survive in the jungles of Guam, exposed to other predators like large monitor lizards, venomous brown tree snakes, and most critically, other feral dog packs, without becoming very reclusive and cautious, like, say, wild wolves and coyotes!  What could I tell them?  These were not the black labs, pit bulls, and Yorkies that I am used to treating.  These dogs all knew, or were learning quickly, exactly where their next meal came from, and all knew exactly where they were sleeping that night, and for whom capture meant holding out a treat and grasping them firmly by their collar!  These folks needed to know how to set live-traps in the jungle, and how to deal with truly wild canids when they were found injured or hit by a car.  So they had fascinating academic questions here, but they needed real, practical help.

So I switched gears, began to think more about my training as a wildlife biologist, and about how to deal with the very most extreme cases that I have seen in shelter animals, dogs raised in environments with a total lack of socialization (rare, in our world, thank goodness), and hopefully, was able to provide some suggestions that might help.  It was a wonderful meeting, an enlightening one for me, and I promised the GAIN team that I would remain in touch, and look for possibilities to fund some very exciting research in their world.  I’ll be back to the Mariana Islands later this summer, and if I can make it to Guam, I look forward to interacting with all of them again!

Wally was a nine-year-old male Persian.  His owner was dismayed because he had recently begun urinating in the house.  He was destroying her carpeting.  Wally had not only missed the litter box several times, but had urinated on the owner’s bedspread, her clean clothes in the laundry basket and the rug in front of the sofa.  Wally was about to get a one-way ticket to dreamland.

House soiling is an unacceptable behavior.  It is one of the most common reasons for owners seeking behavioral advice.  So, what should we do?  Confine him to a room with a vinyl floor and a litter box? Put him on meds for a marking behavior?   Catch him in the act and squirt him with a spray bottle?

All of these things have been suggested for cats with inappropriate urination.  Some of them might make a difference.  The trouble here is that we do not yet have a diagnosis.  A behavior is a sign, not a diagnosis.  We cannot know what to recommend until we have more information.

A behavioral analysis would consist of asking questions to differentiate between a marking behavior and an elimination problem.  What is the volume of the spots?  Smaller spots could indicate a marking behavior.  Larger puddles could mean he was voiding his bladder and thus indicate an elimination problem.  We could go further and ask about time of day, litter box habits and whether he was declawed, but none of these questions would get us very far with Wally.

The key question we need to ask is whether this is a new behavior.  Has he been using his litter box consistently until recently?  The red flag for me is his age.  He is an adult cat.  And either this is a new behavior or the owner has put up with it for seven or eight years.

Any adult animal with a new behavior is a reason for a veterinary visit.

Shall I say that again? Any adult animal with a new behavior is a reason for a veterinary visit.  All the behavior modification in the world won’t help a pet with a physical problem.

A visit to the vet was mandatory for Wally.  The next step was to obtain a sample of his urine.  But, “Here, Wally, pee in this cup” wasn’t going to work.  How does one get a urine sample from a cat?  It can be a tricky procedure to do at home.  One way is to replace the litter in the box with something that will not absorb liquid.

Then, after the cat has used the box, pour the urine into a clean container and refrigerate it if you can’t get it to the vet immediately.  This may be hard to do if the cat is not using the box.  And the sample will not be sterile, so your veterinarian may want to have you bring the cat in to the clinic for a full exam and to obtain a sterile sample.

When we got a urine sample on Wally, it gave us all the information we needed.  Wally had diabetes.  Many signs of diabetes are easy to miss.  Increases in appetite and water consumption are hard to gauge if there is food and water out all the time.  Weight loss can be hard to see on a furry animal.  But inappropriate urination is hard to ignore.  And a simple urinalysis can let us know whether we are dealing with a medical cause of Ruined Carpet Syndrome.

That said, it is also important to remember that patterns of urination and defecation are based on learned habits.  Even if a cat or dog is treated medically for inappropriate elimination, the pet may have learned that it is much nicer to pee inside where it is warm and dry than outside in the rain.  Or he may have developed a preference for nice soft material rather than hard, prickly litter.

I learned this on a very personal level when I lived in a cabin in the woods for two years.  We had an outhouse, which was decorated with pictures and even had a heart shaped seat.  Not too bad.  I liked communing with the birds in the morning.

I realized the power of habits when I visited my parent’s house.  After dinner, I went to answer the call of nature and found myself heading not to the bathroom, but to the front door.  Even though I had eighteen years of experience using that bathroom for that purpose, it only took a few months to alter the habits that led me to automatically head for the outdoors.

So once the medical problem is addressed, be aware that there may be some retraining needed to reestablish good litter box habits.  Let me say here that sticking their nose in their mistake or squirting them with water teaches them nothing about where they are supposed to eliminate.   Make sure their box is in a peasant place and is filled with something they like to dig in.  Maybe even give them some pictures or a heart shaped seat.

If you neglect this, all I can say is “Urine Trouble”.