Are Two Better Than One?

I have, over the last year or so, had several clients who have taken on the ownership of two puppies. These pups are usually siblings. The reasons are either that the family had two or more children and thought that each child should have his or her own puppy, or they simply thought that two pups would “keep each other company.”

The few times that I am contacted before the decision is made, I try to discourage the practice of raising two puppies at a time. There are several reasons for this.

Two puppies, especially siblings, will usually bond up so tightly that they really don’t need people for much. It’s not that they don’t like their people, but they have another pup to play with and cuddle with, so other than putting down the food bowl on a regular basis, you aren’t quite as necessary to them.

This tight sibling bonding can cause problems later in life. If the pups are left together all of the time and are never separated, they can become very co-dependant. They will often bark, cry and otherwise carry on when separated, sometimes to the point of making themselves sick or hurting themselves trying to get to the other dog. If, heaven forbid, one dog dies, the other will often pine away, not eating and becoming depressed.

Two teething puppies can ruin your house in a heartbeat! Large sections of rugs can disappear in minutes, legs of chairs and tables may shrink at an alarming rate, and parts of TV remotes, cell phones and glasses will often appear in piles of puppy poop. All of this destruction can happen with one puppy, but having two just doubles the potential for ruin.

Housetraining two pups at once is also a bigger challenge. Seldom, in the first few months, will both puppy’s bowels and bladders be on exactly the same schedule. Even when you are diligent with scheduling and management, the prospect of finding “a present” on the floor is twice as great.

You will have to make twice as much time for teaching the pups basic manners. You should work with one pup at a time to teach sit, come, stay and leash walking, and don’t forget, twice the tuition for puppy classes.

And, of course, the obvious - two of everything, collars, toys, beds, crates, leashes, bowls and vet bills.

My advice has always been, get one puppy and raise it right. Once you get that pup to the “good dog” stage, get a second puppy. The younger one will learn a lot from the older one and you can concentrate on raising and enjoying one great puppy at a time.

If you are really determined to get two pups at once, put them in separate crates from the beginning, be prepared for “double trouble” and don’t forget to socialize and train them well. Just because they have each other doesn’t mean that they don’t need to learn how to get along in the world.

On Being an Advocate for Your Dog

Our dogs depend on us for almost everything. Food, water, shelter and companionship all depend on our generosity. A dog’s safety and well being are also in our hands, and sometimes, we have to be an advocate for our dog to protect him or her.

The definition of advocate is “one that supports or promotes the interests of another” or “a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc.”

As your dog’s advocate you work with your vet to insure that your dog has good health care. You choose healthy food and treats. You teach and train your dog so he/she can be a valued member of your family.

I want to talk about your role as an advocate when it comes to the last part - training. Over the years, there have been many cruel and hurtful things done to dogs in the name of training. With an awareness of how well positive methods work, many of those methods have fallen by the way. However, there are still a few die hard trainers who hang on to archaic and cruel methods because “they work.” Just because something works, doesn’t make it right.

And, just because you pay a person for their expertise, does not ensure that you will get good advice. There are a couple of instances that keep popping up in my experience that I want to talk about.

The first involves underground fence companies. I have heard one too many stories about cruel so-called training methods used on dogs by underground fence installers. I have heard about their so called trainers using multiple collars and putting collars on dog’s backs and private parts. The advice of some of these people has caused fear and pain to countless dogs.We trainers often see the fallout of this cruel "training". We are the ones who are called when the dog refuses to leave the porch or to even go into the yard at all. We are called when the normally nice Golden bites the neighbor child because he tried to follow little Jimmy home one day and got shocked. In my book, allowing a fence installer to "train" your dog is like asking your  yard man to tutor you kid in algebra.

The second involves trainers who counsel their clients to employ severe jerking on choke chains (corrections), picking dogs off the ground by the choke chain (hanging), and pinning or slamming the dog to the ground (the Alpha Roll) to establish dominance over him/her. At the very least, these methods will severely erode the relationship between dog and owner. And, in many instances, they will increase aggression and may lead to the dog being euthanized for “incurable aggression.” Sometimes using these methods will temporarily stop the behavior - growling or barking at another dog or a person - but they don't make the dog feel any better about why he's growling or barking. If you try to stop aggressive displays with punsihment, you are simply supressing the behavior. Sooner or later it will resurface - usually worse than before.

My advice is this; if at ANY TIME, you feel even a little uncomfortable with any method of training used on your dog, stop it immediately. Tell the person that you will not treat your dog that way, and that you will not permit them to do so either. You do not need to argue the merits of the methods. And remember that even though this person is supposed to be the expert, you, as your dog’s advocate have the final say about what happens to your animal. You have hired this person so they work for you. If you are not happy with the way they are treating your dog, fire them!

Hyper Dogs

I often have people tell me that their dog is hyper. Usually, this is code for high energy and sometimes just normal young dog behavior. In any case, the prescription for hyper-dog is pretty much the same, more exercise and give him a job.

Dogs are a moving species. Most breeds were specifically bred to move over lots of ground for long periods of time. Think Border Collies, Retrievers and Setters, Huskies, and Hounds. Many of the popular pet breeds fall into one of these groups.

And, when you think of these breed groups, most of them were also bred to do a job. Herding, hunting, and pulling sleds required dogs that could keep moving for long periods of time, sometimes with short bursts of extreme speed.

If you have a dog whose ancestors were bred for a marathon job, do you really have to wonder why your dog is hyper when he only gets one or two thirty minute walks a day? And, do you really have to wonder why he eats your couch or digs up your yard when he is left alone without anything constructive to do for 8-10 hours while you are at work each day?

Your dog isn’t hyper, he is under-exercised and not mentally challenged. So, what’s a hyper dog owner to do? Well, luckily for you there are lots of things that you can do to make your dog happier and more relaxed.

Begin with training. Spend a little time each day working on basic obedience exercises. Using a clicker is a great way to stimulate your dog’s mind. Clicker training challenges your dog to think and thinking is tiring.

Do not EVER feed your hyper dog out of a bowl! There are lots of good toys that can hold treats and food. You can put your dog’s meals in them. You can even use empty, clear water bottles (take off the labels and any plastic cap rings), fill them with kibble and let Fido figure out how to get it out. Hide several small stashes of kibble around the yard for Fido to find and eat. Make a game out of mealtime.

Give him a tire to tire him out. Depending on the size of the dog, you can suspend a bicycle inner tube or a car tire from a sturdy branch for your pup to play tug with. Some dogs like to drag tires around the yard. That works too.

Give him a place to dig. Build a sandbox out of landscape timbers or use a plastic kiddie pool. Fill it with play sand and bury a few toys, bones or other treats. Encourage your dog to find his buried treasure.

In the summer freeze special treats like pieces of hotdog or cheese in ice cubes or several pieces in a margarine tub full of water.

The idea is the keep you dog occupied with interesting, fun things so your house and yard can stay intact.

Would Lassie be the same dog today?

I grew up watching Lassie on a black and white TV. Lassie and Timmy lived on a farm and spent most of their time running across the countryside getting into trouble. The only time Lassie was aggressive was to the bad guys and mountain lions.

I often wonder why dog aggression problems have become so common today? Is it just that the news media picks up on these stories, or are there simply a lot more aggressive dogs than there were years ago?

When I was a kid, back in the 50’s, many families had dogs. Most moms were stay at home moms, so there was someone around the house most of the day. There were no leash laws (for dogs or children) and kids roamed neighborhoods freely, running through back yards in packs from one house to another. The family dogs usually followed this pack of kids, becoming socialized to the noise, actions, and behavior of lots of children of all ages, and with the other family dogs. These dogs were outside running with the child-pack whenever the weather permitted. When evening came, they were happy to collapse and sleep under the kitchen table or in front of the fire in the winter.

Fast forward to today. Most dogs live in homes where the owners work full time. Consequently, puppies spend hours alone in crates or laundry rooms. Their exhausted owners come home from work and simply want a little down time. So, the puppy gets a cursory walk and comes back in the house. In a few hours, the pup is put back in his crate for the night. They may have a fenced yard but too often they spend the majority of their time in the yard alone. The children are busy with soccer, little league, music and karate lessons. When they get home they sit in front of the computer or the Wii, they have to do homework and go to bed.

This difference in lifestyle means that most puppies do not get the socialization that the neighborhood dogs of my childhood got. They do not get the exercise either. Many of the more popular breeds are descended from working dogs. The retrievers, collies and terriers were all originally bred to do a job. Few dogs today have jobs. So, we have an abundance of under-socialized, under-exercised, bored dogs. The frustration and fear that these dogs experience will often surface as aggression.

If Lassie lived on a cul-de-sac with an underground fence, and Timmy’s mom was a corporate executive, and Timmy played soccer, baseball and took flute lessons, I wonder if she would be the same dog? Besides, they would now have city water, so all that barking wouldn’t be to tell the family that Timmy fell in the well, it would just be annoying.

Waiting Until the Last Minute

I got a call yesterday from a woman who wanted to know how much I charge for training. I asked her to tell me a little about her dog. It turns out that the dog in question is a 1 year old Labradoodle. She told me that she has begun to keep him outside because he is ruining her house.

She works long hours and her child is in school. The dog is not completely house-trained and was also chewing up things when he was left alone all day. As we were talking, she said, “I don't know if I should try to train him or if I should just give him away.”

My heart broke. Why do people wait until they are at the end of their rope with a dog to seek help? All of her problems are workable. Most of her problems could have been avoided if she had called me when the puppy was 3 or 4 months old. Now this dog may end up in the shelter, he will pay for his owner's ignorance.

I spent about 30 minutes of my time talking to her about her dog. Telling her that this is a young, high energy dog and that while I realize that she works all day and her son is in school, that they will need to make some time each day to work with and exercise the dog. They will need to provide some mental stimulation for him during the day when they are not home. I can help them get the dog house-trained and work on manners.

I explained my program and the cost. She told me that she will have to talk to her family and they will decide if they want to work with the dog. Now I am angry. I wish I could call this woman back and read her the riot act! You got a puppy for your kid, you took this dog into your home and you didn't bother to teach it anything. You didn't seek help with house-training him. You didn't seek help in teaching him how to be a good dog. You didn't take him to puppy class. You probably didn't do any research about breeds because you bought a high energy dog knowing that you work full time and nobody is home most of the time. What did you expect this puppy to do all day?

I don't expect to hear back from her. I imagine that the dog may end up in the pound or “on a farm.” I just don't understand why people wait until the last minute.

Dog Trainers are Magic!

I watch dog training shows on TV. And, for the record, the best one out there is It’s Me Or The Dog. Victoria Stillwell uses dog-friendly methods which are endorsed by Veterinary Behaviorists and those who study dog behavior scientifically. She doesn’t rely on intimidation methods like some of the other TV trainers.

I watch the other guys too, it's research. As Cesar and Brad become more popular, people think that their methods must work. After all, they have TV shows. They wouldn’t put them on TV if they didn’t know what they were talking about! Wrong!!!! But this isn’t about questionable training practices.

I want to talk about what I see happening in my own practice over and over again. And, I see it happening with the TV trainers too. The trainer walks in and with a few words and a little body language, Spot is amazingly transformed into a model citizen!

When the trainer demonstrates an exercise, it only takes a couple of tries and the dog performs it beautifully! I would like to think that in my case, it is my years of training experience and perfect timing that makes these little miracles happen. And, to some extent that is true. If anyone could do it the first time, you wouldn’t need a trainer.

However, there is another factor that makes it easier for a trainer to take a strange dog and transform his behavior in mere minutes, that is history. Dogs operate in our world by sizing up the family dynamics and watching their people. They process routines and see what is and isn’t allowed. They are constantly checking to see what they can and can’t do. So, almost all of a dog’s behavior is a product of how a person lives with that dog. The dog has a history of reinforcement either for doing “good” things, or, in the case of problem behavior, reinforcement (often unintentional on the part of the people) for doing “bad” things.

When a trainer comes in, the dog has no history with that person. So, the dog begins watching and sizing up the new person. What behaviors will be rewarded? What behaviors will be ignored? What behaviors will be stopped?

Let’s look at dogs that pester guests. When I go to a new appointment, usually the first thing we do is sit down and talk about why I am there. Many dogs will want to check me out. After all, I have lots of good doggy smells on me and treats in my bag of tricks. But, some of these dogs will take it a step further. A dog may jump up on me, or climb on the chair with me. What do I do? My usual reaction is to pretty much ignore the rude behavior. I will continue talking to the owner and simply remove the dog when he is inappropriate. I don’t talk to him or pet him until he settles down. I will begin to give rewards for any calm behavior.

In most cases, the dog is sitting quietly within a few minutes. Owners are usually amazed that Fido becomes so good so fast! But, Fido didn’t know what to expect when I came in. So, he began his usual routine of being obnoxious because it generally works. This time, it didn’t work and because he had no prior history with me, he didn’t quite know what to expect. So, he started to back off and watch this strange new person. When he realized that he could get rewarded, either by attention or treats for sitting still, that’s what he did! Smart pooch.