Cupid Smiled
May 1, 2012 | 
Author 
You can never predict when and how your efforts to help dogs might benefit their chances for a long and happy future in a lifelong loving home.
Training Tails
Cupid Smiled
By Marilyn Wolf, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Several years ago, I was volunteering in a shelter. The puppies were in an area separated from the older dogs. There were about ten kennels with at least one pup in each. The wall toward the hallway was block on the bottom and glass on the top so the puppies were visible from the hallway.
I was working with socializing the puppies and introducing them to a collar and leash. The day I was working, there was a litter of Australian Shepherd X puppies only about seven-eight weeks old. Fat, fuzzy, cute, and wrapped around each other sleeping. In the kennel next to them was a four-month-old Weimaraner puppy who recently had surgery on her thigh to repair a broken femur. She was healed, but her fur had not grown back yet. She was bouncy, noisy, and pushy.
When a potential adopter came in, I had to put all the pups into their kennels to keep them safe. A young man came in and was looking at the puppies because he wanted to get one as a Valentine’s Day surprise for his wife. As he walked around, I was offering small treats to the pups, who were awake, and quiet. The man walked over to the Aussie pups and wanted to see one of them so I opened the kennel and he bent down to pet them. They were really sleepy so they did not interact much. He would pet them a little while, then stand up and look at the other pups then pet them some more.
Since the Weimaraner was in the kennel beside them, I gave her a treat from my pocket every time she was quiet, and she stopped barking. Then I gave her a treat when all four feet were on the floor and she stopped jumping. Then she started sitting for more treats. Then she gave me eye contact and earned more treats. The man noticed what she was doing because I had not been talking to her at all. I could tell he was beginning to consider her, too.
He decided he needed to step out of the puppy area to call his wife and talk to her about the pups he was interested in. As he walked down the hallway, I saw him put his phone away and smile really big. His wife ran into his arms and they gave each other a big hug. They had both come to the shelter to adopt a puppy to surprise the other for Valentine’s Day.
Almost immediately, she began sitting quietly. The woman was impressed. This is when I knew the man had been paying attention because he began to describe how quickly she “got it.”
Since they lived in an apartment, they were concerned that this pup would have too much energy for their home. We talked about a regular exercise schedule including playing ball, taking long walks, and using Kongs™. Before long, they decided to go to the office and fill out the adoption paperwork. They took her home that day. Cupid smiled.
DON’T Hug Your Dog Day
Beneful dog food, made by Nestle’ Purina, declared April 10, 2012 National Hug Your Dog Day. It’s a thinly veiled ploy to sell Beneful treats. The marketers who put this concept together must have no idea who dogs actually are, or don’t care. Most dogs don’t like to be hugged. There are so many ways to enjoy your dog that hugging does not need to be one of them. Here are some examples of dogs getting hugged from youtube.
The baby and dog are face to face. The dog is displaying discomfort by looking away, licking his lips, moving away from the hug, yawning, and pinning his ears back. When the dog moves away from the child, he doesn’t go toward the dog until the adult taking the video encourages it. The adult is teaching the child to ignore the dog’s communication. This is a recipe for a bite to the face.
Again, this baby is being encouraged to handle the dog inappropriately. The baby grabs the dog’s face near its eye and no one does anything about it. Then he grabs a handful of lips and chews on the dog’s nose and everyone laughs. The dog leans away from the baby and licks its lips. The dog is being encouraged to be “tolerant” of the baby but at some point may choose not to. This will be one of the times everyone will say, “But they grew up together! I just don’t understand it!”
The dog is obviously uncomfortable. It’s trying to get away, licking its lips, turning way. When it’s being handed to the child multiple times, the ears are back and the weight distribution is away from the child. The child is holding it by the neck which gives the dog a negative association with children this size. Then he leans over the dog and gets in its face. The dog is leaning away, turning away, licking its lips and everyone is laughing.
Mango is being hugged by a worker at the day care. He’s trying to turn away from her face. It looks like he might like being on her lap but doesn’t want his head hugged and she ignores him. My dog wouldn’t go to this day care.
This appears to be three young adults in a dog park petting and hugging strange dogs. Some dogs display appeasement behaviors by leaning away, licking their lips, actively trying to escape, and some are seeking attention. Because of the number of dogs involved, it’s good to watch the whole video. The dogs that come over for attention on their own and are not restrained in any way appear to enjoy the interaction. Because these people don’t know the dogs, it’s a really bad idea to put their faces near the dogs, though.
This dog is NOT enjoying this! Lip licks, showing teeth, lumpy whisker bed, growling, dilated pupils. Even if the dog does come back for more, it has been taught that the owner will ignore all warning signals of discomfort. The only thing left for this dog is to bite, if it truly wants to get out of a situation.
This man has trained his dog, Baxter, to come for a hug. The dog comes on cue and is able to leave when it wants. If you must hug your dog, this is a good example of how to do it.
Posted in Animal Husbandry, Education | 
Tags: babies and dogs, dog, hug your dog day, hugging your dog, stress signals | 
5 Comments »
Playing with your Pet
I was introduced to Barnga at a communication seminar many years ago. Just as planned, it became frustrating. The game is built on a card game played at multiple tables in groups of four. However, each table has a different set of rules. The lowest scoring person at each table has to move to the next table at the end of each round. With the exception of the first round, there is no talking. The longer we played, the more confusing it became. Some of us thought it was funny and just things develop, others became hostile in their body language. The purpose was to force participants to consider different perceptions and different rules for what seemed to be the same task. Have you ever considered that your pets go through the same thing with you?
Just because you intend to play doesn’t mean your pet will perceive your actions as a game. Grabbing a dog’s face and going nose to nose may not be play for the dog. However, because of communication problems he may not be able to tell you. Just because he tolerates it, doesn’t mean he enjoys it. Shaking a plastic bag at your horse because you like to see her run isn’t play for the horse. Animals have different social rules than humans do and they try to figure ours out when interacting with us. We should offer them the same courtesy. A few simple rules for playing with your pet will allow it to be a full partner in games, which includes the option to play, or not.
Consider the following:
— Either side can begin the game, pet or person.
— Just because one side wants to play, the other is not required to engage.
— When one side backs off, the game is over.
— Teeth (or beak) on skin game over.
— Don’t let either side get so aroused it will have a hard time stopping.
— Avoid the genital region of your pet.
— Play for awhile. Stop and calm down. Play. Stop.
— Always try to end on a positive note.
As long the rules are enforced, both sides should be able to enjoy the game.
Posted in Education, General Stuff | Tags: dogs, horses, parrots, pets, play time, playing | No Comments »