The Smart Dog U Blog

Sniff Walks

I hear strange things from dog owners like:

• I was told that I had to walk in front of my dog because I'm the leader and leaders walk in front. 
• I shouldn't let my dog sniff when we're on a walk - his head should be up off the ground.
• My dog should be looking at me when we walk, not at other dogs. 

I'm not sure where or how these ideas are started (or perpetuated), but I'm here to tell you that none of these statements are true. 

The canine nose is a finely tuned, exquisite piece of machinery. Dogs' brains have more space devoted to smells than we do. Their sense of smell is keener. Just because we can't small something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It means that our olfactory equipment is inferior to our dogs olfactory equipment. 

To deny your dog the pleasure of sniffing would be like me telling you that tv was now banned. Oh, and so's the internet. And cable. And radio. 

How would you know what's going on in the world without those things? 

And more importantly, how boring would your world be without those things?

Sniffing, for dogs, is like us surfing the web. It's how we take in information, how we pass the time, and how we can keep in touch with the world around us. 

You won't be creating a monster if your dog is allowed to walk in front of you. I actually prefer my dogs to be slightly in front of me. If I want to make a turn, I don't have to worry about tripping over a dog. If your dog is pulling you, though, you've got a different problem. (Click the link for info on how to help solve the problem.)

Expecting - or wanting - a dog to walk without sniffing isn't practical. It isn't fun for the dog. Which means it won't be fun for you. And isn't that why you're walking the dog in the first place?

So give your dog time to stop and sniff the bushes. Or the post. Or the fire hydrant. To him it's like reading the paper. And perhaps the leisurely pace will offer you some de-stress and downtime as well. Now that's a win-win!

Exquisite

You've not seen anything like this. Pedigree (the dog food company) filmed a commercial using a camera that records 1000 frames a second. 

A thousand frames a second! 

Watch the expressions of these dogs. Watch their lips. Their eyes. Their toenails. 

It's exquisite.

I wish I had that camera because I'd love to see Talos' ridiculously long lips flapping in the breeze as he runs...

This Blog's In a Book!

We're a little excited here at Smart Dog U. This blog - the one you're reading right now - is featured in a new book about blogs and blogging! 

And not in a bad way! (We don't believe in the whole "any publicity is good publicity, even bad stuff." We prefer good publicity thankyouverymuch.)

The book, TypePad For Dummies, is a great resource if you'd like to start your own blog on TypePad. (TypePad hosts this blog.)

We're in the Ten Bloggers Using TypePad Well chapter. I'm as happy as a Labrador with a tennis ball!

In case you're wondering: 

• I pay TypePad to host my blog (they're very reasonable)
• I don't get paid to mention them and
• I didn't get paid to be included in the book. 

I write this blog so I can help dogs and their people. I'm spreading the word about dog-friendly training and this blog helps me do that. While I'm happy to be included in a book about blogging, my passion is with dogs and dog behavior. 

So if you've been thinking about blogging - maybe about your own dog - my advice is: DO IT! It's a whole lot of fun and you'll make great friends along the way. 

Happy blogging!

Dog Pulls on Leash? Are You Doing It All Wrong?

How many dogs do you see walking nicely by their owner's side? Just enjoying the stroll, leash dangling off the owners fingers, nary a tight leash in sight? Not often. It's more likely you see the dog dragging the owner, the dog's leash is a straight line from dog to owner, the dog is probably gagging himself, but still moving forward. 

Believe it or not, it really is possible to teach your dog leash manners. If this doesn't seem to be possible, maybe you're doing something wrong. Not in an intentionally bad way, of course, but still, maybe a few tweaks here and there could really improve your dog's leash manners. 

Mistake #1: You follow the dog when he pulls. 
Following a pulling dog is just like saying "Good dog! Keep pulling!" They get to go where they want - why on earth would they change their behavior? Watch the leash - when it gets tight, stop. Just stop. Don't say anything, don't jerk the leash. Just stand still. Wait for that leash to get a little bit of slack in it. The instant there's slack in the leash, click and move forward. If your dog is too strong and is physically capable of moving you against your will, you'll love the Gentle Leader or the Easy Walk Harness from Premier.
Solution: Don't follow the dog

Mistake #2: You use a retractable leash (a Flexi). 
Using a Flexi means your dog must pull to go forward. That's the only way to get the leash to get any longer. So when using a Flexi, you're actually teaching your dog that tension on his collar is a good thing; it's how he gets to go where he wants. Unless you're on a deserted trail, you don't need a Flexi anyway. They're dangerous to use in town where there's both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. There's no good reason your dog needs to be any more than six feet away from you anywhere except a big field or on a deserted hiking trail.
Solution: Use a six-foot leash. 

Mistake #3: You never taught your dog how to walk on a loose leash.
You can't blame the dog if you never taught him how to do what you want. If you've not taken the time to teach the dog that a slack leash is the way to get anywhere, start now! It's relatively easy: click and deliver a super-delish treat whenever the dog is within reach when you're on your walks. Honest. It's that easy. Once the dog figures out that walking next to you is (1) really easy and (2) really reinforcing, you've got it! To make it easy for you and the dog, start in a quiet, non-distracting environment. Click and treat a lot! You want to give your dog lots of chances to discover how easy it is to earn a goodie from you. So give him lots of clicks and treats. Click every step if you want! This is fun for you and your dog - it's hard to overdo this step! 
Solution: Take your clicker and treats on walks and teach your dog how to walk politely. 

Failure is NOT an Option

I spent the day with Talos at the Frederick New Media and Technology Conference. We had the honor of speaking about how businesses should use Twitter. 

Until today, I've always had the option of leaving if Talos couldn't handle the situation. Today, however, was a pressure-cooker: I had to speak. So I couldn't leave. 

Which put a lot of pressure on me. Talos didn't know about my contraints. 

I packed well. I packed four peanut butter stuffed Kongs. I packed four pork rawhides. I packed three sandwich bags of diced bologna and beef-broth-soaked kibble. I packed an 8" rolled rawhide. I was ready! 

Talos did well, overall. He got a little whiny, a little restless at the beginning of each session. (We had to change rooms about every hour.) I learned to ignore him and then he'd give up and he'd lay down. Just as he'd fall asleep we'd have to move. 

The second session of the day was ours. I had to speak. He had to behave. 

And he did. 

In true Talos form, he came through when I needed him most. The picture above is from Mary Kate McKenna, the most amazing photographer I've ever met. I thought it completely captured the "Talos experience."

I was so preoccupied with my talk that I forgot to consider what Talos was thinking. Clearly, from this photo, he was quite curious about why he was at the front of the room! 

In the end, all of our hard work and training paid off. Talos was able to handle a full day's work. And handled it just fine, thank you very much. 

He came home and totally melted down with the other dogs. He was letting off steam. Like so many of US do at the end of a hard week. It was good to see. 

Until now, I'd been confident that his temperament suited him well for service work, but I wasn't sure of his ability to settle. Now I know he can settle. In one of the talks, I had to keep prodding him because he was snoring so loudly! THAT'S a relaxed dog! 

Thanks to everyone at the conference - and everyone in general - who not only puts up with, but accepts, a service dog in training with such open arms. It's not always perfect. It's not always easy. 

You have no idea the training value you're providing. Many thanks to you for graciously allowing a snoring, whining, slobbering dog in your midst. The training value of the event today is not to be underestimated. His future "new person" thanks you for your help. 

And to T - you did a fabulous job today, my Great Dane friend. Excellent work. My heart swells with pride. You will change someone's life. 

Paths in the Snow

 Cooperatively, the dogs and I blazed some trails in our snowy backyard (aka the Arctic Circle). The blizzards brought more snow than we've seen in years. It's over the dogs' heads - yes, even Talos'!

The dogs were having trouble getting anywhere, and consequently, the area close to the house was, well, their bathroom. 

In an effort to:

1. relieve some boredom
2. ease my stir-craziness
3. have fun with the dogs
4. get some cardiovascular exercise and
5. move the doggie bathroom further from the house

I layered up and ventured into the snowy tundra. 

The dogs were excited when they saw me put my snow boots on. A walk, a walk! 

Well, kinda.

I trudged around the backyard like the Abominable Snowman, lurching forward one step at a time through feet of snow. 

Tango, the handsome yellow Lab, loved this new game. On my heels (literally!) with every step, he was my right-hand-man. Or should that be right-paw-dog... Anyway, he liked it. 

The longer-legged dogs, Nemo and Talos, found it easier to get through the snow. While still an effort, they could - if they got up enough momentum - leap through the snow like deer and forge ahead of me. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure which of us enjoyed that more - the dogs or me. I liked it because they blazed the trail for me when the lurched ahead. They liked it because, well, I'm not sure why, actually. It looked like a lot of hard work to me. But trust me, they loved it!

Anyway, the cooperative effort worked. I did relieve my boredom, I did ease my stir-craziness, I did have fun with the dogs, I definitely got my cardiovascular exercise, and I did move the doggie bathroom further from the house. 

But best of all, the dogs and I found a new way to enjoy this snow and each other. I loved watching them cavort and sniff, run and jump, and especially follow my tracks inquisitively, as if we were discovering uncharted territory together. Life is much more fun with dogs to share it. 

Four is Good, Five is Hard

Everything's relative. People who don't have any kids (me) wonder how families with even two or three kids can manage. I think it's the same with dogs.  

We have four dogs. I run in dog-people circles - four dogs isn't considered a lot to dog people. But if you don't have a dog, four can seem unlivable.

We've temporarily added a fifth dog. Just for a week. Rocky, the very first service dog we raised, is back for a visit/vacation. It's always wonderful to see him - it's dreadfully hard to give up a dog you've raised for two years, so we love having him back for visits. 

Adding one more dog, however, makes more of a difference than you might imagine. It's not just the extra dog - that part's easy. What's one more dog when you already have four?

The hard part is trying to divvy up your attention so each dog gets all the love, attention, training, and playing they need. Two of the dogs are used to going with me every time I leave the house: Talos, the service dog in training, and Rocky, the working service dog. 

Believe it or not, it's those little things - deciding who gets to go - that makes five dogs harder than four. I love having them all. And if I thought I could bring more into the house (and still have a husband), I'd do it in an instant. What can I say, I'm a dog-lover...

Brought to You By the Blizzard

We're smack in the middle of a full-fledged blizzard. Which came on the heels of a storm that brought us 30" inches of snow. Which was right before we had 22" of snow. To say that we're up to our ears in snow would be an understatement.  

We're lucky because we still have electricity. Many houses lost power in the second storm and are still without it. 

Which got me to thinking: what would WE do if we lost power?

The county set up emergency shelters. BUT...no pets allowed. Which means I wouldn't go. I'd rather freeze and/or starve than leave my dogs behind. 

Remember Hurricane Katrina? Those people on their roof with their dogs and who refused to leave without their dog? That'd be me. I couldn't, wouldn't leave. 

I don't know if the authorities could even physically remove me. I may not be big, but I'm scrappy! I'd definitely put up a fight!

Before the storms came, I stocked up on dog food. I also got lots of canned goods and stocked up on the basics like bread, milk, beer, and brownie mix. (Brownies just came out of the oven, as a matter of fact!). We've kept our cell phones plugged in. We've stockpiled water in the bathtub (to flush toilets if we lose power). We've got lots of blankets. We brought up an entire rack of firewood. Our vehicles have fuel. We'll be fine if we lose power. That's good because I wouldn't leave here without the dogs!

So if we lost power, I guess we'd eat brownies, drink beer, and huddle under the blankets with the dogs around the fireplace. And watch the snow pile up around our windows. All snug as bugs in rugs...

My Dog Growled! Now What?

Your dog growls. You don't want your dog to growl. You yell "No!" and swat him on the nose.   

That ought to do it, right? Wrong!

Unfortunately, what makes perfect sense to us, means something drastically different to the growling dog. 

Dogs growl for a lot of reasons. Not all of them are bad, either. Take a look at Nemo on the left. He's politely telling Talos (but a mere pup at the time) to back off. Perfectly appropriate. 

It doesn't look particularly pleasant - Nemo's pearly whites on display for everyone to see. But that's exactly why he's done that! He wants Talos to take note of those teeth. And to back the play down a notch. 

Why such a display? Because this visual display is a much kinder, much easier way for Nemo to get his point across. This beautiful display didn't work, though, as I remember. Not 15 seconds after I snapped this picture, Nemo gave a menacing growl and got up and walked away from Talos. Game over!

Here's the trouble with punishing our dogs for growling. Growling is just a symptom. There's a whole lot more going on than "just a growl." Growling is one way that dogs communicate. If we punish them for trying to tell us (or another dog)  to back off, we've just dug ourselves a mighty big hole. 

Because I'm betting that we, the "superior species," aren't going to take the time to figure out why the dog is growling in the first place. Maybe it's because the child is squeezing the dog too tightly, or because the dog is scared that his toy will be taken, or that he'll not be able to get away from the reach of another dog... 

The point is this: your dog is growling  for a reason. If you don't stop to figure out why -- and to fix the underlying problem -- you're setting yourself up for trouble (and very possibly a bite) down the road. So instead of smacking the dog when he growls, examine the situation. Was another dog too close? Did your dog seem scared or nervous? Take a look at his body language: where was his tail when he was growling? Where were his ears? Was he crouched down? Or was he standing very tall? These are all very valuable signals. 

Punish a growl and you will only get rid of a very important warning signal. Punish a growl and you're much more likely to get bitten. If you take away your dog's ability to say "back off, I'm a little nervous," he'll then have to go a step further to get you to back off. Instead of a growl, he'll go to snapping. If that gets punished, he'll bark and snap. If that gets punished, your dog has no choice but to bite. 

Your dog has no choice but to bite. 

That doesn't even make sense, does it? It may not be intuitive to us, but it's the truth. And if you take the time to look at why your dog is growling, and then use dog-friendly training to help your dog over his fear or dislike, you're much more likely to have a happy, pleasant dog. 

So while your first reaction may be to correct your dog for growling, I urge you to smack yourself instead. Smack yourself and then take a good hard look at the entire situation and figure out how you can better equip your dog to handle the situation better. (Hint: the solution may be to avoid that situation completely until you talk to a positive reinforcement trainer who can help you make your dog more comfortable.)

The Aftermath of Blizzard 2010 - Talos and Tango [Video]

The Mid-Atlantic has been hit with some serious snow this winter. I hate winter, but I love snow. I figure if it's got to be cold, we might as well have lots of snow. And this year, I've been a happy camper. We got about 30" of snow over the weekend and the dogs turned into puppies again in the snow. And we're expecting 10" - 20" tomorrow. When did I move to the Arctic Circle?!

Talos, naturally, had the easiest time getting around in the snow because he's the tallest. But Tango could keep up if a path had already been created. Here's a little bit of video of Talos and Tango playing in the snow.