What is a High-Stress Environment for a puppy? Part 2

Last month, we discussed the basics of skill building and managing your outings based on the puppy’s needs. This month, I want to talk about interpreting stress responses and helping the pup to cope, as well as general expectations and timelines. 

Stress does not mean “scared”

Sometimes it is easy to misread a dog’s response if they aren’t tucking their tail or hiding. Dogs that appear “happy” can still be under stress, simply from an overload of information or adrenaline, or because they are overwhelmed but aren’t showing it in “traditional” ways. This is just as concerning as a dog who is hiding or shivering. What you really want to look for is a change from the dog’s normal state of being.

Let’s look at some examples. 

A golden retriever at 10 months old gets ambushed by a group of children. She wags her tail downward rapidly, grabs the children’s sleeves, and frantically licks their faces. When the handler walks her away, she is walking faster than she was before the encounter.

A 6 month old Labrador meets a maltese. He drops to the ground, then lunges, causing the maltese to snarl. The Lab play-bows and barks, while hopping side to side, keeping about 2 body lengths between him and the small dog. When the handler walks him away, he starts sniffing and picking up sticks and acorns.

A 4 month old Goldador arrives at a meeting and the AC comes up to greet her. She pins her ears back, squints her eyes, and squats, dribbling a little urine. When the AC turns away, the Goldador leaps onto the AC’s back.

All of these dogs are exhibiting arousal. They are having a physiological response to stress or stimuli. All of these responses are out of the dogs’ normal states of being. They can add up! 

The golden may seem “fine” with children, although is “behaving badly”. The handler may teach her to control herself but if the dog has frequent meetings with children that cause that kind of arousal, she may associate children with a feeling of being overwhelmed and want to avoid them in the future. 

The Labrador may have seemed like he wanted to play, but he was actually in emotional conflict. “Play bows”, when a dog lowers his front end and puts his rear into the air, can have many uses and meanings. It generally is meant to signify, “I am not a threat”, which is why it is so useful for play: if play gets very rowdy, socially intelligent dogs will frequently stop play and bow, even subtly, seemingly to keep play from escalating too far. However, in the case of the Labrador and the Maltese, the Maltese was giving clear “back off” signals. The initial dropping to the ground shows that the Lab is not socially confident around dogs, even though it was followed up by a forward lunge. His “play bow” while the dog was growling, along with his bouncing around, demonstrates a dog who is partly frightened of the tiny dog’s rage and also unsure of what the next move is. His displacement behavior after the encounter of eating sticks and acorns is a direct result of the stress he was just under. It is important for this dog to have positive interactions with other dogs to help build his confidence. (An aside: as silly as it sounds, the little dog’s feelings absolutely are not funny and should be respected; I don’t like seeing any dog in distress, and I always tell people to imagine that it’s a Mastiff-sized dog growling.) 

The Goldador is exhibiting what is often termed “submissive urination” or “excitement urination”, which are actually two different things. “Excitement urination” would be a dog that is leaping wildly or starting play and happens to dribble; this seems to be more common in males who are coming into puberty. “Submissive urination” is usually present at an earlier age and is paired with a still body, a squatting posture, folded back ears, or even a squinty-eyed “smile”. Like the Labrador in the last answer, it is a social confidence issue, but this time with people. The Goldador’s wild leap when the AC turned her back (and thus became less threatening) also supports the confidence issue. She is in conflict and wants to greet, but finds face-to-face greetings intimidating.

These are things to be conscious of, not only for the sake of making sure the pup has a positive interaction and being able to redirect the puppy’s behavior ahead of time, but also to make sure that the puppy gets some time off from these bursts of arousal. Even if the puppy seems “happy”, the raising experience can quickly become unpleasant if the pup associates outings with frequent or constant states of arousal. Give the pup frequent “time off”, move away from stimuli when you start to notice a reaction, and set the pup up to have lower-level exposures to the stimuli so you can train a calm, appropriate response.

Square on their feet?

There is a very quick observation you can learn to make as a handler to tell if the puppy is feeling composed or if he is aroused. Dogs that are in control and relaxed are square on their feet and appear “balanced”. Dogs that are not are often leaning one way or another, have a paw raised, or have their weight unevenly distributed. (Hint: this is also a good way to tell if you tend to tighten the leash; the dog should not appear to be leaning forward all of the time)

Here are some examples of square, balanced footing versus unbalanced footing. Please note that these are just snapshots of behavior; I do not know what happened before or after the photos were taken. Also, please disregard the outdated equipment in some of the older shots.

 

Even at a young age, you can see square footing. Instead of leaping for the cookies, being poised to spring, or expressing uncertainty at the person standing in front of them, these pups have all of their paw pads square on the ground.

Observe the front legs and feet of this sitting pup. She is off balance on her first bus ride. She has leaned her weight off of her front feet and onto her haunches. While a dog's physical structure has to be taken into account as well, this dog is also showing concern in the tense facial muscles, flattened ears, and tongue-in-the-mouth panting.

Here is the same dog sitting again. See the difference in her front legs? She still sits back on her haunches a little, which is probably her structure. But this is much closer to her normal baseline; her paw pads are square to the ground and she has a very relaxed expression as well.

By contrast, here is a pup who wants something very badly. He is pushing off of his back feet, but also notice his front toes. Dogs who walk on their tip toes are experiencing arousal (this can be seen even if there isn't something they desire in front of them).

Compare this puppy's stance with the baby puppies above, as well as the dog that wants the ball. Her rear feet are behind her, but so are her back feet and her tail is low. She may be leaning forward to sniff the mascot, but she is unsure. The pup that wants the ball is ready for launch and is making himself bigger; this pup is ready for a possible quick retreat and is making herself smaller.

  

Here is a side view of a similar reaction. She is sniffing the taxidermied owl but still has a lean, a low tail, and is ready to retreat if necessary. Her stance is unbalanced on her initial exploration; even though she is sniffing the owl, she is not yet comfortable.

Continuing in "adventures in taxidermy", here is a sibling of the above dog having a  different reaction to taxidermy. She is investigating but her very square stance and mid-level tail indicate she is comfortable with the wolf (who, in this case, also to have a nice, square stance; some dogs react to taxidermy in aggressive stances but not to "passive" taxidermy - fun fact). If she were on her tip toes and her tail were held high, she would also be experiencing arousal in the other direction, but she is balanced and calm.

 

Here is a dog in conflict. She is very fixated on something (the ball I would guess), but check out her front and back legs. She is pulled away from it slightly in the front, but the pull away in her back legs is pronounced. Sometimes we see this in a dog who is afraid they will get in trouble for pursuing the ball, but the reason isn't really important; this is still a dog who is experiencing arousal and internal conflict. I would guess that any added tension on the leash would make her spring for the ball, but that it would take a little bit of time for her to come up with the courage on her own, without outside input.

 Finally, here is a more subtle one. This dog is lying down, but is leaned away from something. He is over on one hip, but his front end is not relaxed; there is tension in his left front leg as he pushes himself slightly away from something. It is at a low level at the time of the picture taking, but if you have a dog that tends to get distracted and fixated frequently, this is a good time to calmly redirect while the arousal is at a low level.

Checking balance, weight distribution, and foot placement is a simple way to check in with the puppy and decide if he’s feeling comfortable or not. Despite the variety of signals pups throw at us, this one seems pretty consistent. If you have trouble identifying this while the pup is next to you, have someone take pictures or even film you! I have someone film all of my obedience competitions with my personal dogs, as well as some training sessions, because it is a lot easier to see the areas that need work from a third-person perspective.

Thanks to Tampa AC Jan Williams for taking the photos and allowing me to use them for educational purposes.

Suggested general timeline

So in conclusion, as usual, the progress you make with the puppy you’re raising should be very dependent on how the pup is feeling. As you can see above, even dogs from the same genetic pool can express different reactions to the same stimuli. 

Keeping that in mind, here is a GENERAL suggested timeline of outings and things to work on with the puppy in order to build gradually and keep stress to a minimum. Obedience expectations should be re-tooled every time you go somewhere new, and work on achieving some success before moving on. As always, your mileage may vary and be sure to adjust as necessary.

10 weeks to 16 weeks:

• House manners
• Small neighborhood walks
• Office/work environment
• Quiet outdoor café
• Light traffic
• Short car rides

16 weeks to 6 months:

• Automatic doors
• Parking lots
• Drug store
• Grocery store at a quiet time of day
• Light to moderate traffic: allow pup to watch from a distance frequently
• Quiet restaurant

6 months to 10 months:

• Large store on a quiet day (Walmart, mall)
• Food court
• Louder restaurant
• Farmer’s market
• Small downtown area

10 months to 12 months:

• Crowds
• Revisit all areas: manners have probably declined with puberty
• Mall IF puppy can behave
• Louder traffic/downtown areas
• Warehouse stores

12 months and up:

• Puppy should be able to accompany you to most places within reason
• Some things may never be a good idea for most puppies: big malls at holiday time, rock concerts, NFL games, massive state fairs, etc.
• Don’t forget the NEVERS: theme parks, fireworks displays, zoos, riding escalators or moving sidewalks, revolving doors, dog parks.

What is a High-Stress Environment for a puppy? Part 1

How do you determine whether an outing is appropriate for the puppy you are raising? How do you know when the puppy finds things too stressful?

As is usually the case in dog training and puppy raising, it depends on the individual puppy, the current state of the environment, and previous experiences. But there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind to determine if the pup should go or stay home.

Skill Building

Puppy raising is about skill building. You start laying the basic foundation of training and experiences for the puppy. Then you gradually build on those skills. So if your pup is well-behaved in Walgreens, and has a good established history of walking through the drug store on a loose leash, without scrambling across the linoleum floor or shrinking away at the automatic doors, great! You are ready to try Publix!

But what if you get to Publix, and it’s the shiny new Publix with the parking garage, elevators, and a large crowd? Maybe when you get out of the car, the puppy exits slower than with his usual gusto, and he is looking all around the parking garage, then jumps slightly as the automatic doors slide open.

That’s the point where you want to stop, take a note of the puppy’s reaction, and honor it by proceeding slowly. Walk around the parking garage with some treats, working on basic obedience. Go through the sliding doors to the main entrance, and play some fun obedience games. Even if the puppy appears “fine”, that may be a good time to call it quits and go home. The puppy has just had to deal with a lot of stimuli. Try looking at it from his point of view: the parking garage echoes, condenses the sounds and smells of vehicles, and may have dimmer lighting. The puppy is already on alert, and as you shut your car door, it sounds louder than it ever has before. So now maybe he is hyper-aware of all of the changes around him. Then you approach an automatic door, and while he’s seen the Walgreens door, he’s never seen THIS door, and the smell inside of the store is different than Walgreens. Plus, maybe a large family is exiting as you are getting ready to enter.

That is a lot for a puppy to take in, even a very confident and brave puppy! Spend 15 minutes socializing, doing fun obedience, and having a positive experience in the quietest part of the entrance you can find, and send whoever else you are with up to get any groceries you might need (many of you have heard me give this piece of advice: if you’re going alone to the grocery store with plans to actually shop, leave the pup at home… grocery store outings with the puppy should be about the puppy). Then go home.

The next time you visit that Publix, your pup will remember it as a place where some potentially scary things happened, but he had fun! And the scary parts didn’t last that long… so maybe this time, he is ready to try the elevator.

Ideally, a pup should not have an experience if he hasn’t learned the basic elements leading up to it.

“Exposures” is a mis-leading word

The purpose of taking a pup into different environments or introducing him to different stimuli is NOT to help him get used to it. Socialization really ends at 16 weeks; we complete a LOT of socialization in the puppy kennel, with a very carefully designed program. There are times in a puppy’s life (4 – 6 weeks of age) when they are naturally very curious and have little to no startle/fear response, so we break down the elements of important guide dog exposures and build a reference library for the puppy of sights, smells, sounds, and textures.

So during the age of 10 – 16 weeks, we’re looking to have raisers do some socialization with people, with household living, and small neighborhood exposures. The puppy can be a little more sensitive and likely to startle during this time, so keeping things positive, light, and fun is extremely important.

“Exposures” (I actually prefer the word “outings”) are really opportunities to gradually teach the puppy to behave and develop good habits, as well as to ascertain if the puppy shows any areas of concern.

Outings for the puppy should be gradual and based on his behavior. It is so important to be focused on the puppy when you are out and about because it is all about them. Bad behaviors can become habits very quickly; we cannot stress enough how important foundation behaviors and a good behavior history are. It is impossible to expose a guide dog puppy to every single thing that they might encounter as a guide dog. So let’s say you can’t get the puppy you’re raising onto a plane, maybe because you aren’t traveling anywhere that you could bring the puppy. If he has a history of being taught to walk nicely in crowds, focusing in spite of loud metal noises, settling nicely when riding on public transportation, and being obedient even when people try to talk to him, he is very likely going to handle his first airport as a guide dog just fine.

By the same token, if you are raising a puppy who gets overwhelmed by crowds, tucks his tail or startles at loud noises, or is unsettled on bus rides, that doesn’t necessarily mean he is out of the running to be a guide dog; however, that is important information to find out on your outings with the puppy, so the trainers can make an appropriate match later on. If the dog has that information recorded in his puppy history, they will not match him with someone who travels regularly on airplanes.

So “exposures” are really not about making sure the puppy gets around certain stimuli in order to “expose” him; it is actually about teaching him all of the basic behaviors, and also about gathering information.

Coming next month: What is a High-Stress Environment for a puppy? Part 2!

One thing at a time

Dogs are always learning. They tend to be very aware of actions and their consequences, good and bad, and will repeat behaviors that work for them. The good news is that a dog’s tendency to learn new things is what makes them great working partners. The bad news is that bad habits can take hold very quickly, without us even being aware of them. Dogs are being trained all of the time, whether it is by us or by the environment.

So that means that every time a pup pulls on the leash while the handler follows behind, the pup makes a mental (unconscious) note that pulling on the leash got him what he wanted (increased speed towards a distraction). The more “success notes” the pup collects, the more ingrained the behavior becomes.

On the other hand, if the raiser is very conscious of the pup’s tight leash and stops just about every time the pup surges forward, and changes direction if the pup is very persistent, the pup makes a note that pulling did not succeed in getting him to his destination faster.

Keep in mind that most of the behaviors we are asking our pups to learn don’t necessarily make sense to them, or even come naturally. So stopping when the pup pulls on the leash is great for preventing habit formation, but you will also have to teach him what you DO want. It often does not occur to pups to walk calmly and nicely on a leash even if they are excited, so we have to help shape that behavior.

But what about the times when you just need to get somewhere, and don’t have time to stop and work on leash manners? Proper leash manners are one of the core foundation behaviors that can and should be worked on at home, consistently, in low-distraction environments before true “outings” start. If the puppy you are raising doesn’t know how to walk nicely on the leash in a quiet neighborhood, he is not ready to try a grocery store.

When you are raising a guide dog pup, there are a ton of commands and expectations outlined in your manual. It is important to start with the basics though, and build slowly. Start at level 1 of leash walking: practicing in a quiet neighborhood with lots of treats and toys, for 5 – 10 minutes at a time, a few times a day. Leave with the pup wanting more. After a few sessions, try level 2: take a longer walk or try a different part of the neighborhood. Eventually you should get to level 3: reduce the treats and rewards, and maintain the good habit. When you feel confident that the pup has a good understanding of how to pay attention to you and respond to the leash, then try for an actual “outing”. Be prepared to go back to level 1, because of the new and exciting environment! It’s not fair to start training in a very distracting environment; instead, we want to lay a strong foundation at home or in quiet places. Then, when you and the pup arrive in a challenging environment, it won’t take long to establish those same good habits.

This same type of training structure can be applied to “problem behaviors”. I get questions year round about scavenging problems, but it seems to reach a frenzy right around acorn season. If the puppy you are raising tends to scavenge on leash or in coat, whether it is food or acorns, continuing to take him out without directly addressing the problem causes the habit to build quickly. Often, we tend to correct and then move on. But the problem tends to persist when no direction is given; remember that dogs make mental notes, and if scavenging occasionally works out for them, they will continue to make attempts. By the same token, if you spend all of your time scolding the pup and pulling acorns out of his mouth, he may start to get hand-shy or avoidant of you when he has gotten hold of a “prize”.

So take the pup on a walk around some acorns. When he starts to lunge for them, stop and wait; be sure that the pup cannot actually grab the acorns. When the pup looks at you (or at least stops trying to get the item of his desire), reward him! Then walk away and try it again. Eventually, build up to changing directions a few times before he gets the treat; then try to walk past the acorns. Then end your training session. Repeat this same sequence later in the day. Don’t take the pup on long walks in areas densely populated with acorns until you have worked on this skill. Frequent short walks that are heavy on the mental workout (in this case, acorn avoidance) do actually make a dog tired, and they help to establish the foundation for good habits. There is no quick fix; it takes some work to teach a retriever that everything doesn’t belong in his mouth!

You can do this same exercise with food, socks, tissues, crumpled up papers, or any other number of things that the pup is tempted by. But be sure to remove the opportunity for failure as much as you can. If scavenging at restaurant tables is a problem, stop taking the pup to restaurants until you work on the problem at home, with your own table and purposely dropped food. When you decide the pup is ready to try a restaurant again, go out to eat with the mindset that this is a training session; you eating warm food may have to be secondary until the pup settles. If your puppy steals socks out of the hamper, physically limit access and make sure that all socks are picked up, so that you can lay out deliberate set-ups. It isn’t about “catching the dog in the act”, but rather giving them a clear choice and showing them the right answer. It is not fair to correct a dog if he hasn’t been made aware of what the appropriate behavior should be.

Martingales and collar response

Martingales may be new to us as a standard collar, but they have been popular in the dog training world for years. There are several benefits to martingale collars: they are nearly impossible to put on backwards, they are very adjustable, a puppy cannot back out of them, and best of all, they are very safe and comfortable for the dog.

The Greyhound world popularized martingales, because the Greyhound’s sleek build made it easy for them to slip out of traditional buckle collars, but chain collars could easily cause discomfort or injury to their slender necks. Now, martingales have increased in popularity and are usually easy to find. Also known as a “limited slip collar”, martingales hang loose until pressure is applied; with pressure, the collar tightens to a limited degree. A “slip collar” (the chain training collar), will continue to close until it hits resistance (the dog’s neck). The thick width of the martingale creates a more comfortable and safer fit for the dog than you would find with a slip collar.

Martingales have a main loop that goes around the dog’s neck and a secondary loop that the leash fastens to, allowing for loosening and tightening. The secondary loop can be made of fabric or chain. It is personal preference as to which you use. A properly fitted martingale, when tightened, will have a small space between the two rings. There should not be a gap between the collar and the neck. A pup in our program can wear this collar as early as 16 weeks old. Size of the puppy should be taken into account when deciding to switch to a martingale. Pups with delicate necks may benefit from wearing a buckle collar longer.

It’s important to remember that one of your jobs as a handler is to work on leash management and collar response. Puppies and dogs tend to respond to a tight leash by pulling harder. The following exercise can help teach a pup to respond to a tight leash with attention, rather than hard pulling. It takes practice and repetition, and is best started at a young age.

1. Leash the puppy and start your walk. However, the walk should NOT start if you have an over-stimulated puppy. If you’re trying to get out the front door, and the puppy is sitting but ready to launch, wait until the puppy settles before releasing him to go outside. This may take time; patience is important! If he launches out the door, stop and redirect him to come back inside and try again.

2. Starting and stopping can be a very powerful motivator. Dogs want to continue walking, so often just stopping and becoming boring can help. When the leash goes tight, stop and wait. When the puppy loosens the leash, either by accident or because he’s turning to look at you, praise him happily and start the walk again.

3. Stopping and starting using praise alone will work well for a lot of puppies. However, with a particularly excited puppy OR in a very distracting environment, the pup may entertain himself by sniffing or scavenging when you stop, instead of worrying about the leash. In that case, shorten your leash so the puppy cannot self-entertain, and stop and wait. When the puppy, accidentally or deliberately, loosens the leash, use your marker word (“Yes!”) and give a treat.

4. After several repetitions, you should notice the puppy quickly looking up at you every time the leash tightens. Reward this every time initially. You should not initially be picky about the puppy’s position; in front of you is fine at this point.

5. Begin weaning off of frequent treating; deliver the treat after the puppy has looked up at you, then has walked on a loose leash for several steps. Now you only want to reward the puppy when he is at your left side and walking or standing.

This technique can be done in just a few minutes at a time, and is useful in many environments. The goal is to install a quick response of attention when the leash tightens. Start in a low distraction environment, and then “warm up” in new, distracting environments by starting over with this technique. The puppy should learn to generalize and have an improved response to the tight collar. It may seem like you use a lot of treats in the beginning, but initial frequent use of treats followed by a gradual weaning off helps to “set” the behavior. Once you have shown the puppy the “right answer”, commands and expectations make more sense.

Verbally marking success

Humans are a very verbal species. We are chatty and communicative, using words and descriptions to get our point across.

Dogs are equally as communicative, but are not so verbal. Their primary way of communicating is through body language and scent. So they have to learn to focus on our verbal output for information. 

 

The use of your voice in raising and training a guide dog is important to be aware of. It can be easy to talk too much at certain times, and too little at others. It’s common to witness raisers (as well as pet owners!) cheerleading a puppy through an obedience exercise, giving a constant stream of praise and information, only to switch to radio silence and reliance on the leash when the puppy is distracted on an outing.

So there is a fine line between talking too much and giving too little information. The downsides to too much “cheerleading” are that the dog learns to only pay attention if you’re constantly chattering, and/or he learns to tune out your voice. Then when you find yourself in a real-life scenario where you need the dog’s attention, he fails to comply either due to the lack of verbal encouragement or because he has learned that what you say is not of importance.

Praising and encouraging the puppy is, of course, a good thing, but there is a little trick that can add clarity to training. Use of a short marker word, such as “Yes!” or “Good!”, the moment the pup is successful is a clear and concise method of teaching. After the marker word, you can heap on the praise.

Establish the marker word by pairing it consistently with a treat. So if you tell the puppy to “sit”, mark the moment his rear touches the ground with a “Yes!” and immediately deliver a treat. What is so wonderful about establishing a strong response to “yes” is that if later you are delayed in delivering the treat, or if you don’t have treats on you, that marker word still allows you to give very clear information to the dog.

I often use “yes” when the dog just makes a conscious choice that I like. So if we are at group obedience, and the excitable puppy I’m handling stands by my side watching a dog go by instead of lunging, I’m going to tell him “yes” and possibly deliver a treat.

Some things to be careful of when using treats:

• The marker word doesn’t mean anything other than “you were successful and that behavior will likely result in a treat.” It is not used to get his attention or to get a specific command, such as sit.
• If the puppy changes positions after you say “yes”, do NOT give the treat. For example, it is very common for a puppy to default to a “sit” in order to get a treat. So if the puppy was laying down or standing at your side when you say “yes”, do NOT deliver the treat if he moves into a sit. Either wait until he gets back into the desired position or give him another cue. This is EXTREMELY important for guide dogs, as we do not want “sit” to become a default behavior. This can result in sitting at curbs or at obstacles, which is not good guide dog behavior.
• For lower energy dogs, a perky, excitable “YES!” can be a good choice to help boost them up. For higher energy, distractible dogs, keep your “yes” low and steady.

When you have established a marker word, keep it in mind when you are out and about. If you find that the puppy is misbehaving and that you are struggling to control him, be sure to give a clear, concise command and use your marker word if your dog makes any effort towards the behavior you want. Do not keep nagging or repeating commands. Give a command, pause, and see what the puppy does. Give him help if necessary by moving him away from the distraction, or even take a deep breath to calm your own energy. When the pup turns towards you, relaxes the leash a bit, or slows his efforts, mark that with a quiet, calm “yes”. It can be akin to playing the “hot and cold” game; the “yes” lets the pup know that he is on the right track.

Excusing behavior

We all know that every one of us is raising the best, smartest, and most talented puppy in the world.

Excusing behavior is an easy habit to fall into, especially when dealing with behaviors that are perceived as negative for a potential guide dog to exhibit. It’s important to remember that we are not making judgments on the quality of the dog as an individual; if he doesn’t make it as a guide dog, he is not a failure or a “bad” dog. He just isn’t a match for the type of work guiding requires.

One common scenario is the fearful or uncertain puppy. It can be tempting to try to pinpoint a particular event as the cause for fears. However, fearful tendencies don’t just appear out of nowhere. A single event might be enough to bring out the more obvious signs of fear and may intensify future responses, but the foundations for a fearful response were already present, and the previous signs may have been more subtle.

The leash commonly masks concern or uncertainty, especially with a dog that is particularly willing to please his handler. So a dog may walk into a crowded mall dozens of times and appear to be okay. However, his pupils may be dilated, his breathing increased, and he may have a change in pace (slowing because of uncertainty, or speeding up in a “panic pull”). He also may change his personal space boundaries, either by staying close and constantly touching the handler, or wanting to keep a steady distance. He may curl up into a tiny ball when you stop to sit on a bench, or he may have trouble settling. All of these are subtle signs of discomfort. So when the puppy later has a mall exposure that results in him fleeing from a sudden noise, it can be easy to attribute it to that single noise event. But in reality, that noise was just the final straw that resulted in a more obvious behavior response. 

While not every startle or jumpy response from a dog is cause for concern, be careful not to dismiss it either. Try to take notice of the dog’s behavior, posture, and movement before and after the “scary” event. Many dogs who end up afraid of loud noises, children, or other common “canine concerns” show early signs but soldier through the discomfort; often, it’s because they rely heavily on the handler for confidence. This becomes a problem (and often surprises raisers) when the dog is asked to make decisions without handler input and lead as a guide dog. Without immediate feedback, the dog’s stress increases and they choose avoidance or flight.

Negative responses to people or other dogs are often blamed on single events as well. This is most commonly seen in rescue dogs (“He was clearly abused by a bearded man in a hat, because he is afraid of bearded men who wear hats.”), but we hear similar assumptions in the raising world as well. Dogs will react to strange or novel silhouettes simply because they haven’t had exposure; however, their temperament will determine how fast they recover, if at all. If a puppy spooks at a bearded man, watch for the puppy’s entire reaction. If he will approach for a treat and then leans in for a snuggle, he is probably recovering well. If, however, he streeeetttches in for a treat, keeping his feet planted at a distance, and then retreats, he has not recovered. He may accept petting or an approach, but if he is not soliciting attention or willingly approaching, he has not recovered. This is important to note and modify future greetings to offer the puppy support and a positive experience.

It also can be confusing if a puppy presents as confident, bold, and feisty most of the time, but then has a few incidents where he appears fearful. Remember how some puppies “activate” in the presence of stress? Don’t excuse responses that concern you just because you are used to a revved up dog.

I’m not immune to this type of excuse-making, so don’t think I am excluding myself here! My border collie Scorch and I encountered our worst nightmare on a walk when four dogs burst out of a house and attacked him. It makes it easy to dismiss his fearful, snapping responses to dogs, especially of a certain breed. However, the event did not CREATE his fearful response to certain dogs. As he became an adult dog, long before the attack, his tolerance for pushy, in-your-face dogs was very low. He inherited that tendency from his father, who was also a dog with little tolerance for “rude” dogs.

In contrast, a graduate that I trained encountered a similar situation, where her dog was attacked on a route. He was always stable and extremely tolerant of other dogs. After the attack, he remained tolerant and stable. The incident was enough to briefly slow him down or make him hesitate, but he remained friendly and confident.

So if you are seeing a behavior that concerns you, or if you want to see how your puppy is reacting to a particular exposure, there are a few ways to verify what you are seeing: 

• Start training yourself to observe behaviors, NOT interpret behaviors. “He loves children” calls up a different image than “he approaches children with a low-wagging tail, lowering himself to the ground and crouching, then leaps up, rapidly licking at their faces.”
• Bring in an objective eye: have another raiser handle the dog while the AC observes. Adding the stress of an unfamiliar handler will often uncover hidden behaviors and responses.
• Handle your dog on a long leash. Give the dog the option to approach or leave from the exposure. Do not correct or try to direct the dog. For example: if the puppy has spooked at men, have a male neighbor approach you on your walk. Give the puppy enough leash to back up or move forward. Shake the neighbor’s hand and have a conversation and ignore the dog. Then have the neighbor offer a treat. It will be the puppy’s choice to approach, without the leash or handler influencing him.

Recording the dog’s reaction effectively allows us to come up with a plan for helping the dog to progress. It also allows you to keep a log of reactions, and possibly identify a common trend. The dog may react to sudden movement, or loud noises, or crowds. Understanding who the dog really is can help you and your AC manage an exposure schedule for the puppy to set him up for success.

The Power of Negative Language

Within the dog world, there are a few words and phrases that just refuse to expire. Many of you have heard me lament the use of the words "dominance" and "alpha"; my issue is that the terms are usually misused, and do not necessarily describe what is actually happening.

But I have another word that I would like to see eliminated from our vocabulary when talking about dogs: STUBBORN.

The dictionary definition of stubborn is "unreasonably unyielding". I have been uncomfortable with the use of the word to describe dogs for some time, but when I actually came across the definition, it became clear where my discomfort stemmed from. Describing a dog as "stubborn" implies that the dog is "unreasonable" in his failure to comply with your commands.

As I've discussed before, there are numerous reasons why a dog may not comply with a command you've given: he doesn't understand it fully, he doesn't understand it in context, he is distracted, he is overstimulated, he is stressed, he is hot, he is irritable, he is tired... or he just plain doesn't feel like it at that precise moment. None of that sounds particularly unreasonable to me, especially since many of our commands are extremely unnatural to dogs. How many dogs do you know that freely walk along the sidewalk in a straight line, without pausing to sniff or socialize? Or who wait patiently and quietly at doors?

 

This morning on my way to work, my attention wandered and I drove through a questionably yellow light. I know that the intersection has a red light camera, but I did it anyway. Now I am worried about the potential consequences (an expensive ticket in the mail); however, that was clearly not enough to deter me from making a poor choice at the time. I had the briefest moment of "should I slam on the brakes or chance it?" I took the chance. Sound familiar? A dog may "know better", but when faced with a choice and having only moments to decide on an action ("Do I lunge and try to play with that dog, or sit here quietly?"), it's not "unreasonable" that a dog will impulsively choose a behavior that lines up more with his instincts.

So when someone tells me that their dog is "stubborn", that does not give me very much information as a trainer. A better description might be, "He has a hard time following commands when other dogs are around." Or, "He doesn't like to be 'drilled' in obedience and will get bored after several commands in a row." Or, "He's going through adolescence and he's more interested in checking out the environment." Or, "When his nose hits the ground, he tunes me out." None of this is "bad" behavior. It just means you have to get more creative with your training. The traditional use of consequences may not be enough to convince a dog to ignore his instinct to get excited when a stimulus presents itself.

Understanding this is an important step in training a dog effectively, and with understanding. Give the dog a clear choice, but make the decision a bit easier for him if you can. So if you're practicing "stay", and you know your dog is distracted by tennis balls, don't try for a long "stay" all the way at the end of the leash while tennis balls are being bounced. Practice a brief "stay" with the pup at your side, so you can give effective feedback. GRADUALLY introduce duration and distance, rewarding the dog for successful efforts. If the dog breaks the "stay", make it a little easier, rather than correcting repeatedly. The dog isn't stubborn; he just finds bouncing tennis balls to be highly exciting and it is hard to concentrate on something as boring as a "stay".

If your dog gets "stuck" on smells, he may have a genetic predisposition to find smells extra-fascinating; he is not stubbornly ignoring your commands. Instead, he is so absorbed in odors that he forgets that he is attached to a human. Get his attention off of the smell when you can, and practice a heavily-rewarded "Let's go" around the scent-y area. Simply correcting him and moving on will not convince him not to smell next time; walk back and forth a few times in front of the odor to teach him what TO do instead. This will take a lot of repetition before he understands that he cannot be driven by odor alone, but through fair, consistent training, he can learn to turn his attention elsewhere.

If your dog looks at you blankly after the fifth "sit" command he's had to do, he may simply not see the point. Some dogs will go through commands 500 times, but others grow bored of repetition and don't find it particularly enjoyable or rewarding. For a dog like that, make obedience a game. Weave obedience and play together, giving the dogs lots of breaks and interacting in a way that the dog finds enjoyable. Use a toy or encourage the dog to chase you a short distance. Pat him on his side or roll him over for a fast-paced belly rub. Let him get a little worked up, then try some obedience again.

But above all, try to avoid thinking of your dog as "stubborn". Try to get to the root of why the dog is behaving the way he is, and modify your training technique to help the dog succeed. If I can't be trusted to be perfectly behaved at traffic lights, I'm not going to expect my dog to always make the best choices. Because of my mistake and it's consequences, I am going to be very conscious of my approach at traffic lights from now on... but will I eventually slip back into some yellow-light-running habits? There are certainly enough people with multiple speeding tickets who clearly didn't learn their lesson the first time. It's unfair to hold dogs to a higher standard than we hold for ourselves. In order to train a dog, we need patience, consistency, and rewards, not judgmental, unhelpful labels.