Dog ownership

Robert the Bruce’s words resonate with me when I think about how we help and train our dogs. Far too many dog owners try a bit and then give up when their pooch isn’t rapidly getting everything right.

I, all too often, hear reasons why an owner never lets their dog off the lead for proper exercise and socialisation. ‘He runs off”, “he’s bad with other dogs”, “he’s frightened”. The list goes on. Every time I get into conversations with dog owners like these it becomes apparent that they have not done a lot to help their dog. Often telling me “I tried training my dog in recall, ‘once” or similar ‘excuses’ for not getting any success with their pooch.

Well, here’s the thing. If you really want to develop a good relationship with your dog from a behavioural and training point of view, you must be prepared to work at it. There is no magic bullet or switch that turns your dog into the perfectly behaved pooch you crave.

All dogs are different; they learn at different speeds and they have individual personalities. So, don’t be surprised when your pedigree mutt behaves entirely differently to the same breed of mutt your friend has.

It is, simply, not good enough to try a couple of times with whatever you are trying to achieve, be it recall or walking calmly on a lead. I suggest that you seek out a good trainer or behaviourist if you need one. Take time doing this and look for trainers who work closely with you and employ reward based practises.

Don’t be overly impressed with multiple memberships of important sounding ‘professional’ organisations. Qualifications count for nothing if the trainer or behaviourist displays little empathy for you or your dog.

The bottom line here is that every dog owner carries the responsibility of making sure their canine companion is trained, behaves properly and is allowed to live as a dog. This means, plenty of time of lead, exploring, meeting and socialising with other dogs and people.

Do not give up when the going gets a little tough. You must persist and be consistent — this applies to everyone who interacts with your dog in the family. If you shrink from these responsibilities you must take a close look at yourself and question whether a dog is for you. Remember, they are sentient beings and deserve the best life they can have.

Keeping them on a lead all the time, for whatever reason, is failing your dog.

I have talked about punishing animals before and have made my views plain. I was prompted to return to this subject by an experience while walking with my rescue dog, Ziggy.

We were at our favourite spot by the water, chatting with the owner of two elderly labradors, a couple of Ziggy’s buddies. While we were talking a golden retriever appeared and promptly sat in the water. After a few minutes it was apparent that the owner was nowhere to be seen. There were no sounds of shouting or a whistle being blown to summon the dog.

I approached the dog in the water, he immediately backed up and was clearly nervous. Normally, most dogs will come to me, particularly if offered a tasty treat. I was intending to get the dog on the lead and to search for the owner.

The other owner took of with her dogs in the direction the new dog had come from. Perhaps she would happen upon the owner? As I waited with Ziggy, I could see a man approaching. I called to him and asked whether it was his dog. He shouted back ‘Yes, and I’m going to give him a good hiding when I get him!”

I now understood why the dog was so nervous and unprepared to approach me. My first response was to suggest not hitting the dog. This fell on deaf ears. This guy was in his sixties and clearly thought this was fine to treat his dog in this way. I was now concerned for the welfare of this dog, I followed this idiot back to the water.

The dog backed a little further away into the water when he shouted at it to come, again saying he was going to give him a hiding.

I told him, in no uncertain terms not to hit his dog. He, of course, became aggressive and told me to mind my own business, it was his dog and he’d do as he liked. That wasn’t going to happen. I firmly told him that it was abuse and that I was not going to let that happen. I stepped a little closer and watched. Clearly, this made him rethink, however grudgingly, his planned action.

The dog, eventually, under sufferance went to the man who put him lead on and walked away, without hitting him. I made sure to watch him for some distance before going on my way with Ziggy. This little vignette suggested to me that this dog was regularly subjected to physical abuse when his owner felt it appropriate.

There a a number of points to make here. Firstly, it is never appropriate to hit your dog under any circumstances. It is an extreme act of cowardice and abuse, making you liable to prosecution under the Animal Act 2006. Secondly, the dog will not understand why it is being hit. Thirdly, do you expect a dog to come back to you knowing it will almost certainly be physically punished for doing so?

You may also find that a dog that is regularly abused with physical punishment will become difficult to train, fearful and even aggressive.

I would implore people, with due regard to your own safety, to not stand by and let this sort of casual abuse happen. Step up and do something about it.

Image credit: Shutterstock

I recently looked at a few ‘dog training’ websites and happened upon an American site with an extensive article, written by a horse/dog trainer (an interesting combination. The article was a detailed account of how to train a dog to ‘mush’.

‘Mushing’ means attaching your dog to your bike and getting it to pull you along, similar to the principle of a Husky team (bred for that very purpose). The trainer in this case actually states that “if your dog tries to pull your arm off when on the lead, they are perfect for mushing”.

There seems to be a proliferation of people forcing their dogs to drag them along on their bikes.  I suppose, these individuals think that their dog is being properly exercised by this, ill-informed, practice. But, in this case there is a very important point to make about the impact this type of ignorance can have on a dog’s behaviour.

Just consider the comment the trainer makes above. He is basically saying a dog with a pulling on the lead problem should be encouraged to pull even more. If you follow this advice, you a going to make the lead pulling much worse.

What you should do in this situation is to train your dog NOT to pull on the lead. Failing to do this gives the dog no chance to develop the right behaviour while on the lead. After all, how can he be expected to know the difference between pulling his owner along on a bike and, walking on the lead.

Let me also be clear, a dog is a major responsibility.  It is encumbent on the owner to care for the dog and to make sure it gets all it needs to live a well-balanced, enjoyable life.  Dragging it along attached to a bike or and owner, while running does NOT meet the dogs’ needs for proper exercise and socialisation.  So, if you wnt to ride or run, do so.  However, when exercising your dog – make that your priority and, do it seperately from ypur other exercise. That is the right thing to do for your dogs’ wellbeing and quality of life.

So, you have a dog, adult or puppy, that is proving challenging to train. It may run off and have poor recall or, it may not respond to commands as you would wish. You are at your wits end, perhaps not have the knowledge or experience to deal with the situation. The next step is, usually, to find professional assistance. At this point stop and think carefully before choosing a dog trainer. Be prepared to seek clarity about there approach. Many trainers recommend the use of shock collars.

These shock collars are in common use throughout the UK (in fact, there is a staggering number sold to dog owners — with little, or no useful guidance on how to use them); these devices should never, be used in my opinion. Anything that inflicts pain to elicit a desired behaviour should be avoided. Unscrupulous and ill informed trainers push these awful devices for anything ranging from stopping barking, keeping the dog with home boundaries or anything else they can think off.
How does the shock collar work? The clue is in the title. an electric shock is delivered (the intensity is variable — from very low to quite extreme and painful levels). Trainers will, often, demonstrate on a client with the lowest setting ( a little discomfort) but, then make sure the setting is much higher for the dog to ensure the desired response.

In anyone’s hands, let alone the untrained, these collars can cause significant pain and resultant behavioural problems for your dog.

Because of the use of such devices, a dog can quickly start to display learned helplessness. Lindsay (2000, p.253) states that under conditions where aversive stimulation (in this case, the shock from the collar) is used on a non-contingent basis, this can result in a number of devastating interference effects called ‘learned helplessness’. This impedes the dog’s normal escape and avoidance learning (owner’s often describe this a the dog ‘shutting down’). Learned helplessness was first described in 1967 with Seligman’s experiment of dogs (Seligman and Maier, 1967). Put in simpler terms, the dog experiences pain that it cannot get away front — they, eventually, just give up and stop responding to the pain inflicted.

• An example of learned helplessness is the dog owner who uses a shock collar to prevent the dog from running away. The dog is shocked when the owner thinks it is getting too far away, the shocks continue, even when the dog is returning to the owner. Clearly, the dog is unable to get away from the pain of the shock — eventually, it does not know how to respond, so it either, just stops or keeps running.
• To retrain a dog who is suffering in this way, I would recommend:
• stop using the shock collar, immediately
• introduce the dog to a ‘normal’ collar — this should be done slowly and gently (the dog will have associated the collar with negative experiences) — this should be accompanied by positive reinforcement using treats and a calm, gentle approach and praise (primary and secondary reinforcers)
• when the dog has associated the new collar with a positive experience, the next step:
• teach sit / stay — this should be done using positive reinforcement:
• on successful sits — use a primary reinforcer, a treat and a
• secondary reinforcer, ‘well done’ verbal praise
• use the same for the stay
• when the sit / stay is reliable and reproducible, proceed to
• recall training (this may take time — the dog has strong, negative associations with this)
• using a long lead ◦ put the dog into sit and retreat a few feet. Call the dog (an alternative to ‘come’ may be appropriate, if the dog is already used to ‘come’ with a shock) using ‘here’ — positive and with some excitement
• when the dog comes, reward with a special treat, praise the dog ‘well done!’
• repeat until the dog is able to sit/stay at the full length of the lead (maybe, 30–50 feet, or so)
• now repeat the above with the dog off the lead, starting short and then increasing the distance
• I would also use visual signals and for longer distances a whistle

This training should be fun for the dog, yanking on the lead to get compliance will not help with this dog. All of the above steps should have been done in a secure location (a large garden, for instance).

Finally, take the dog to a more open area, perhaps a park and repeat the steps above. This process, will probably be a long one.

This method of training and behavioural modification relies on kindness and positive reinforcement for the dog. ANYONE that eschews the use of kindness based techniques and promote the use of shock or prong collars should, be avoided at all costs.

References
Lindsay, S. (2005). Handbook of applied dog behaviour and training. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press.
Seligman, M. and Maier, S. (1967). Failure to Escape Traumatic Shock. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(1), pp.1–9.

Dogs and water — a marriage made in heaven?
I’ve rescued quite a few dogs — all of which have not been, particularly, bothered about going in the water. All of these dogs came to love being in the swim. I’ll return to how this happened a little later.
So, why is having a splash so good for our dogs. First and foremost, it is HUGE fun for them. There is nothing quite like seeing a dog swimming, splashing and, generally, mucking about in the water. Add a human element and, it just gets better for them — doggie nirvana!

Swimming is also great for a dog’s health — it is a fantastic form of exercise. In fact, as your dog gets older and perhaps develop some degree of arthritis, swimming takes the weight of the joints and enables your dog to get relief from their pain, together with having some fun, to boot.

Now, we must accept that some dogs just do not like water — period. Well that’s OK as well. Although, in my experience over many years, there are not too many who don’t enjoy a romp in the wet stuff.

The question is how do we introduce our dogs to the pleasures of water?

As in all things, there is a right way and the wrong way. The wrong way — throwing a dog into the water or forcing it to go in by dragging it by it’s lead. Only fools and insensitive owners adopt this approach. This is, in my view, the best way to instil fear into a dog, for life with regards to water. This approach, simply, makes water a frightening place for your dog.

The right way/s. Here’s an example of learning, by accident, an effective approach. One of my earlier rescued dogs (described by my son as one of the goods guys) was Bert, a Labrador Cross. Bert was around eight years old when we rescued him. Bert would not put a paw in the water; he did, however, love to chase a stick. One day I waded into a deep stream to recover a stick for Bert. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and, there was Bert doggy paddling right behind me.

Bert enjoying a dip

Bert, for the rest of his long life, thoroughly enjoyed the water. He was happiest when swimming after a stick; he also loved the sea.

I have used the lesson I learnt from Bert with not only, his successors but, with other peoples dogs over the years. Readers of my ramblings will already know Ziggy, my current canine charge. Again, like Bert, she was not interested in water at all. I followed the approach taught to me by Bert with Ziggy. So, shorts on and into the water (me that is). After a couple of days of doing this and allowing Ziggy to gain confidence with water, in her own time; she is now a fully fledged water baby. There is, of course, one potential gotcha here — Ziggy loves me to be in the water with her! Well, hell, it’s fun — so what’s a bit of trench foot between friends?

Ziggy in the sea at  Holkham beach in Norfolk

Ziggy now enjoys the water so much, part of her daily routine is a visit to the river for some fun with Dad (me).

Another, effective way to help a dog get to know the water. Take a small treat in an open hand. Let the dog see it and step back a little into the water. The dog will, usually, pluck up the courage to paddle to you for the treat — praise the dog a repeat a few times, going a little deeper each time. It’s important not to overdue this and push the dog too much. If your dog is starting to show reluctance — stop. Go back another day — you will be amazed how effective this is.

Believe me, there is nothing quite like getting in the water with your dog and having some fun — I’m nearly 60 and I love it!

A word of caution — take care with where your dog goes in the water. Watch out for strong currents and potential dangers below the water such as sticks and branches that might impale a dog. Make sure the water is flowing — still or stagnant water can be a health hazard.

Taking care and applying your common sense will keep you and your canine buddy out of trouble but, it will allow you to give you dog some serious fun throughout it’s life with you.

Dogs are descended from wolves, right? So, they should eat what wolves eat in the wild, right?  This is the basic tenant believed by those who support a raw diet for their dogs.  This is a highly contentious subject and, one that generates strong views.
A leading proponent of raw diets for dogs is Dr Ian Billinghurst, a vet who promotes the BARF diet (Bones and Raw Food) based on the theory that wolves eat raw meat in the wild so dogs should too.

Unfortunately, his arguments are based on no scientific data, at all. He, and the supporters of BARF argue that wolves don’t eat dry food. That’s true but it ignores that the domesticated dog is long separated from the wolf in evolutionary terms.

Both sides of the argument make spurious claims, making it difficult to decide on which side of the fence to sit.

BARF proponents argue that all commercial diets are inadequate and unhealthy for our dogs. In fact, Billinghurst claims that most degenerative diseases in animals are a direct result of commercial foods. That’s again based on zero clinical research.

A huge range of conditions in dogs are blamed on the horrors of feeding commercial food to them by BARF advocates.

The other side of the argument, discussing the risks of and reasons to avoid raw diets, is put forward

by Brennen McKenzie –  ‘Raw meat and bone diets, it’s enough to make you barf’.   Again, this is not without its’ flaws and unsubstantiated claims.

McKenzie claims that “wolves kept in captivity live longer than wolves in the wild. And what are captive wolves fed? Commercial dog food. Evidence suggests captive wolves fed raw diets suffer from poor nutrition and health. Wild wolves often die because of disease, parasitism and malnutrition.’  Some of this is true – wolves in captivity do, indeed, live longer. However, a review of some of the institutions that keep captive wolves, reveals that they are, generally, fed a raw diet, similar to what they would eat in the wild.  Commercial food is used, sometimes, to supplement the diet.

The assertion that ‘ wild wolves often die because of disease, parasitism and malnutrition’ is plausible. It could be argued that the ‘raw’ meat elements of their diet could be the sources of parasitic and other diseases, contributing to mortality.

BARF proponents argue that commercial food lacks nutritional quality and is unsafe. That’s also wrong — commercial food production is strictly regulated unlike the raw diets, and is based on extensive nutritional research and testing for digestibility and nutritional content.

Commercial dog food is accused by BARF fans of making dogs sick, being indigestible because of grain content, lacking nutrient content and, most crazily, of being made from dead pets! None of these claims are substantiated by research.

Many raw diets have been found to contain pathogens including E.coli and Salmonella which are harmful to our dogs and us. For me, this is the major source of concern.  In my, humble opinion, from a common sense perspective, it seems logical to cook meat before feeding it to our dogs.  Why take risks?

The bones contained in raw diets have been known to cause intestinal obstruction and perforations. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned pet owners against feeding bones to their dogs.

There appears to be no evidence for BARF diets. They are not based on sound research. I would go as far to say that feeding dogs on RAW foods is tantamount to playing Russian roulette with their health.  I am open to this view being challenged when there has been proper clinical research into this area.

This, of course, is a personal opinion based on my medical knowledge gained while serving in the medical branch of the Royal Navy, an understanding of food hygiene and, most importantly, applying some common sense.

Image credits: Shutterstock

Walking with Ziggy again. We met a chap with a 5 year border collie — a lovely dog, if a little lively.

A typical collie, he was focused totally on his ball, to the exclusion of anything else (not a good thing). I would recommend taking the ball for specific periods of play / exercise and, then to put the ball away and allow the dog to socialise with other dogs and people. Dog’s that are fixated on one thing can develop bahavioural problems (this one was showing a little protection aggression — common in dogs fixated like this one).

However, the dog was a nice animal; he just required more informed handling and some additional training.

This is the nub of this piece. The collie’s owner had taken the dog to a trainer and had been told ‘the dog is untrainable’. Wow! Here we have, again, an ‘expert’ who dismisses a dog in such an offhand manner. My advise for anyone that is told this — about turn and get as far away as possible from said ‘trainer’.

Most dogs can be trained — it requires commitment and effort; sometimes it is far from easy. There are too many ‘trainers’ out there that, clearly, aren’t very good.

The owner is now taking advice from another trainer. This one extolls the virtues of the ‘clicker’. However, as with all forms of training, if the clicker is used properly, it can be effective. This chap, clearly, did not really understand how to use it — so, he was clicking at inappropriate times and confusing his dog.

Again, any ‘trainer, worth their salt will take time to make sure an owner understands, fully, how to use any form of training aid. Not to do so is irresponsible and counter-productive.

A thought regarding dog intelligent. We have all heard ‘my dog is very intelligent, more than other dogs…’ — this owner thought his dog was tricky because of it’s higher level of intelligence than other dogs. Well, here’s what research tells us — dogs all have, pretty much, the same level of intelligence. The important point here, is that some dogs (breeds) are easier to train than others, particularly if you focus on training geared to what they have been bred for (Hart et al, 1985; Scott et al, 1971).

Finally, a take home message. When looking for a dog trainer — choose them with care. Ask around, find out what other people think, quiz your trainer about methods, experience and satisfied customers. As for the trainers out there who write dogs of because their skills aren’t up to scratch— ‘shame on you’.

(Hart, B. and Miller, M. (1985). Behavioural profiles of dog breeds: a quantitative approach. JAVMA, 186(11), pp.1175–1180).

Scott, J. and Fuller, J. (1971). Genetics and the social behavior of the dog. Chicago-London.

So, here we are again at Ziggy’s (you should know who she is by now) favourite woodland and water walk. This is where she gets to meet lots of mutts and people, and — she gets to run in the woods and play in the water — pretty much doggie heaven!

After having had a good stomp through the woods, plenty of chasing squirrels in the undergrowth (never get’s anywhere near them), we get to Ziggy’s best place — the doggie water spot. Lots of fun here leaping in and fetching sticks; too exciting for words (barks).

We are joined by a couple of other dogs and their owners — more fun now.

Soon, a large group of people with their dogs arrive — all on the lead (15–20 or so, dogs). One owner comes and stands next to me. She has two beautiful dogs — a ridgeback puppy and a labrador — both on the lead. Both very excited — I suggest letting them of for a romp in the water. She tells me she is out on a group walk — dogs have to be kept on the lead — the walk is under the guidance of a local ‘dog trainer’. She frowns upon letting them off the lead.

Really?

Let me be clear; we are in a fantastic place for dogs. To keep them on the lead is tantamount to cruelty, in my humble opinion. Dogs are social creatures and, deserve to be allowed the chance to do this as much as possible.

Keeping a large group of dogs on a lead is NOT SOCIALISING them — it is stopping them from being a dog!

Quite a few of these dogs were, clearly, excited, some were, obviously distressed — they NEEDED to be of lead and enjoying the fun of playing and interacting with their own kind.

This, unfortunately, is another example of a so called ‘dog training professional’ displaying a breathtaking lack of understanding of what dogs NEED.

A couple of the walkers stayed at the pool while the rest moved on under the ‘guidance’ of their ‘trainer’. These dogs were then let of the lead and, hey presto, their demeanor changed completely — they relaxed, socialised nicely and had a romp in the water with the other dogs.

The take home message here is, group walks are good, but, for goodness sake, if you are in a place where the dogs can be off lead, enjoying their own company — THEY SHOULD BE. Treat ‘professional trainers’ who do not encourage this with caution.

Out on my daily walk with my dog Ziggy, I came across another example on what not to do with your dog.

All dogs need to be given the opportunity (every day) to ‘be a dog’; this means allowing them to socialise properly with people and other dogs, in different environments. Failure to do this amounts, in my view, to a form of cruelty.

We came across, in open woods, and parkland (a form of doggie heaven) a beautiful chocolate labrador and it’s owners. Unfortunately, this dog was on an extending lead (an awful lead that is dangerous and should never be used — the premise that the dog is under control is wrong — it simply can’t run off).

The owners actively restrained this dog, who was extremely excited to see another dog — the owner did not stop, but pressed on. I was going in the same direction and asked them, did they let the dog off the lead — answer — never (the dog was 5 years old!).

Their reasoning — it would run off because it had no recall. Had they tried to train the dog — yes (very briefly) but, it was untrainable. Of course, this is utter rubbish. It is more likely, that this required some effort and, clearly, these owners were not prepared to do it properly.

Let me be clear, all dogs need to be able to meet their, often breed specific, needs. In this case, the dog needs to be allowed to stop and socialise, it needs to be off lead enjoying it’s environment and the company of other dogs.

This dog was like a bottle of pop, full of energy and bouncing around like a lunatic. This is because, the ‘exercise’ it was allowed was woefully inadequate and it was not being socialised.

My message is: If you want a dog, you must be prepared, and willing, to train the dog, understand and meet it’s needs — particularly exercise, socialisation and letting it ‘be a dog’.

So, please think about your life style and whether you can really give a dog the life it DESERVES. If you have any doubts that you can’t — DON’T get a dog. PERIOD.