Growl Classes Will Be Added!!

Do you know what it means when your dog growls at another dog? It can mean a world of things. Every reason is different, depending on your dogs environment and social attitude. We will hold a monthly "growl class" that will fill up at 7 people per class. The classes are geared toward understanding and handling dogs who have social issues regarding other dogs and people. I will post the dates for the "growl class" as well as the final dates, rates, and availability for the group classes that are forming in September at the completion of the holiday weekend. Look for those Wednesday or Thursday!!! Cant wait to get it started.

Remember too, the video blog will begin on Sept. 18th!!!

New Information

Our classroom series will begin on September 20th. The September 20th session is already full, but we are taking new dogs for the same series of classes that will continue through the end of October. The classes will generally be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and depending on the package you select you can attend as many as you want. Also, I will begin a video blog on here on Tuesdays (beginning September 18th) that will coincide with the class.

I was also informed at the ARFhouse gala this week that I have been invited back to Good Morning Texas. They have not set a date, but they will be featuring me and my family dogs - especially focusing on my introduction of physically and socially challenged into the family environment.

I have been doing what I am doing now for years, and am so very grateful to have the opportunity to share my dogs and my work with other people. They are truly my greatest asset.

"The best part of a man, is his dog" - unknown

Sleeping En Masse

I sleep en masse with my dogs. In other words, my dogs and i share the same bedding on a nightly basis. All six of my dogs sleep in my bed, and honestly, it is probably the most vital part of my relationship with at least two of my dogs. Hooter is a blind and deaf (since birth) australian shepherd, that is just now 8 months old. Dobi is a two legged (birth defect) rat terrier who is 3 years old. Both share my bed, and have come to understand who I am in their world through this ritual more than any other. Dobi clearly recognized that sleeping positions in the bed held rank, and quickly recognized who dictated the positions. For Hooter, I quickly became the common stimulus whenever her most relaxing and vulnerable times were (sleep - especially for a deaf and blind dog)....thus quickly advancing her recognition of my scent and presence as a positive, and quickly became less apprehensive in handling her through new situations....such as water. As always, I use all of my other dogs in the process of teaching a new member of the family - they usually do more work than i do. Dogs are amazing creatures, and I completely understand the desire to NOT have your dog bed with you. Just remember, it doesn't always make them spoiled, or pampered.....sometimes it helps make them family.

Thanks

I would like to say thanks to everyone at Good Morning Texas, they were very receptive and thoughtful on Thursday. Mr. Cogill, especially, was very helpful in getting our message out in the way I like for it to be seen. I love dogs, and that is the principle value in all of my work.....I hope that translated well. (I feel it did). I have the best job in the world, and watching the idea grow is wonderful. I will post a full Tailwaggers update on Monday the 20th. See you guys at the Grand Opening!!

No Bad Dogs...(Case study)

Case 1- For this case I will use one of my own dogs as an example. He is a male, 3 year old American Bulldog mix, rescued directly from the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. He lived on the streets for approximately 2 weeks, before being rescued and housed in a shelter. I was part of the rescue effort so I can assure you his past is a mystery. He had a fair amount of existing scarring under the neck and on the back legs. He is missing several teeth, including one of his canines. To this point I knew he had shown aggression over food, and for the most part his body language was very timid - almost sad. Now lets get to the aggression. Within days of bringing the newly named “Saemus” home, I realized his body language had become much more evident - he kept his head below his shoulders at all times, never made eye contact, and avoided close communication with other canines or humans. He would aggress at either if they became too inquisitive. I could enter his bed, but could not touch him. As long as no contact was made I could circle him, raise my arms, and if I moved too fast he would close his eyes and lower his head. At this point, I dismissed the food aggression as a “primal issue” - an issue that is relative to circumstance. In other words he hadn’t been fed a proper meal he didn’t have to fight for in quite some time. Once he was given a pattern of provided food without consequence his aggression was alleviated. Within two weeks I could put my face in his bowl while he ate, and reach my hands in as well. There were many other particular issues to address with Saemus, but the food aggression gives us a clear example of testing the dog and coming up with a diagnosis. In this particular case what we are actually doing is ruling out the behavior as a true aggressive behavior. Had he truly been food aggressive, it would not have been motivated by the level of hunger as much as it would be motivated by his general demeanor.
It is absolutely critical to understand the difference between aggressive actions that are in response to fear and physical circumstance and understanding a truly aggressive dog. In a case like this, aggressive action is taken as a final resort, or at least a secondary action. In a truly aggressive dog, we would have seen what would seem like unprovoked attacks, lunging, biting, and very confident posturing (at least during the aggression). Again, it is absolutely critical to understand the difference between aggressive responses, and a dog with a true aggression problem.

The Sad Truth About The Electronic Collar

Electronic collars........or "shock" collars, as they are more commonly referred to, are misused by most facilities and trainers these days. That's because they use them as an aversive for the dog - in other words, it is used to deter a dog from doing something that you find undesirable. The sad truth is that in most of these cases, the dog learns nothing and gets traumatised. If in fact you are an advocate of an electronic collar - which I am not (in fact i use no collaring for the most part and use NO restrictive collaring at all) - then you should know that the setting should never be high enough to cause the dog ANY pain. An electronic collar is used to create a break in the action - so that the trainer or handler can then step in and correct the problem humanely and properly. This is rarely performed in this manner, and more often it is used as punishment for poor behavior (i.e. barking)......the dog never is able to connect the issue to the correction, because there is no one there to guide them - just a jolting shock to one of the more sensitive areas of a dogs body. The same goes for a "no bark" collar......same principle. A trainer or facility should be willing to disclose all operating procedures with the dogs - and I would never leave my dog with someone who uses escalating collar techniques to control behavioral issues. I only say this because that tends to signal that the handler is less concerned about the education and progress of the dog as a living being, and is more concerned with immediate results - whether that be silence, or obeying obedience commands. Pinch collars, choke chains, and electronic collars all present an aversive to the dog, behaviorally speaking. The way I look at it, if I wouldn't want to wear it, why would they? I have been shocked with a typical no bark collar - it does not feel good, and I am a 6 foot 185 pound guy.....and I only administer it to my arm - just so clients can see that my entire arm will seize up on only the milder settings. Imagine that on your neck. Its time for owner education to turn a corner, and I am glad we can do it together.

Moving In!!!

We officially began the move to the new facility yesterday. The dogs are excited and so are we!!! The new building is amazing, the in ground pool is already a guest favorite. I am also very excited about being asked to appear on Good Morning Texas August 16th to discuss my behavioral work with aggressive dogs and dogs with social anxieties. I look forward to seeing everyone at our openings, and discussing dogs. I will post some new pics of the facility and the pool in the next day or two, and get a Tailwaggers group play update in over the weekend.

The Growl

Do you know what a "growl" means? Well, for starters it is NOT a precursor to a bite. That is a fact. That's like saying that owning matches makes you a pyromaniac, when in fact it would be your actions while in possession of the matches that would make you a pyromaniac. A growl is not an aggressive action - it is a last resort communication. Believe it or not, when a dog growls he is asking for a response - if the response is incorrect then biting becomes a possibility. I bet your dogs occasionally growl in play, they will growl during tug of war, they probably will even give grunts and growls while wrestling with mom or dad.......but, if the dog growls hovering over a food bowl - we all point to aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, its just not that easy of an answer. It also is unfortunate that misunderstanding a growl, or how to respond to one, is all too common. Pictured above is Duke, a weimaraner that came to me from New Jersey. His family cared for him deeply, but he bit a neighbor.....then while in quarantine, he bit again (both incidents concerned food I later found out). He was slated for euthanasia, and the family was able to work out a deal with the county that if I would take responsibility for him and not adopt him out to another home - they would allow the family to bring him to me. They drove straight through, and Robin was a pleasant woman - who simply said "I love him, but I don't know what to do." Duke appeared food aggressive, and he wouldn't give me clear communicative signals - so I had my vet do a work up on him (which I recommend prior to trying diagnose any food or "touch" aggression - remember dogs can have lupus, addisons, or several other diseases that can affect a dogs sensitivity). To make a long story short, we learned how to talk - I didn't take his growl as aggression, and I am so glad i didn't.

Tailwaggers Playtime 8/6

Today was a hot day. The misters were on in the afternoon, and the pools were full. We cant wait to have the in-ground pool at the new facility. Again, the dogs were out the longest in the morning playtimes, and the afternoon playtimes were a little shorter (with more frequency). Pictured above is a play group in the afternoon session. Abby (golden), Abby (viszla), Do-E, Miles, Cutter, Gordon, Max, Bailey, Molly, and Holly all managed to squeeze in the photos. They have so much fun - a very fun play group.

Diagnosing Fear Aggression

First of all, I believe that dogs aggress due to fearful motivation. This is a fairly simple conclusion based on the observation that confident dogs with a well structured background tend to exhibit aloofness, almost a sense of entitlement in most social settings. So, as we begin our preliminary diagnosis of aggressive actions in a dog, we must first determine what type of fear motivation we are dealing with. I break it into two categories, one that is common and tends to follow a more consistent pattern - and one that is less common and is also more difficult to solve.
Fearful Anxiety is the type of fear motivation that resembles a recipe, and is also the most common. There will be certain “ingredients” (environmental stimulus), that will remain constant in bringing the aggressive behavior about. Yet, other ingredients are like chocolate chips, walnuts, or frosting - all can be present without changing the fact that the item is a cookie……In other words there will always be environmental stimulus that is present that doesn’t actually impact the aggressive action, although it could impact the aggressive action taken. In this type of case we want to address the issues that elicit the aggressive behavior, the other issues will be inconsequential once we have solved the actual stimulus that creates the anxiety.
Focused Fear is much more direct in manor. The environment will hold little weight in the dog determining to aggress or not. It wont be impacted by owner presence, other dog presence, or presence of most other environmental stimulus. These actions are usually directed at specific individuals, objects, people, or dogs and appear to be irrational actions much more than they seem to be protective or dominance issues. Unfortunately, these dogs are less predictable in their aggression - thus making it imperative that we understand the dog and have a good working knowledge of his behavior pattern.
Once you can place a dog in one of the two categories you can then begin to seek resolution on the aggression. The truth about aggression in canine behavior is that, up to this point and time, we have solved it by pushing our dogs to suppress the actions instead of relieving the pressure of the aggressive tendencies. When a dog attacks the door when company knocks, most commonly we treat that by training a dog to hold a good sit stay while we answer the door. Possibly treating the dog for not offering aggressive behavior, or worse punishing the dog if it breaks into a tirade. Yet, in either circumstance we didn’t deal with the issue at hand. The fact is that we need to take this subject and start with a clean slate. No predisposed notion of training paths, or curriculum - just a blank slate. If I were working on this case - I would have to start with what I know……When the combination of having myself in the house, being in the house itself, and having a guest knock are all present when aggressive tendencies appear. So we have to test what we know. I would first remove myself and videotape the dogs behavior at a guests arrival while it inhibits the home alone. If the behavior is the same, we can begin to rule out certain aspects of our relationship with the canine as the reason at fault. You would be amazed at how many dogs aggress at a front door in hopes that they are bringing some sense of comfort to their owners, regardless of our response once the aggression is engaged. It is also quite possible that they may take these opportunities to indirectly show us that they are socially unprepared to handle common greetings with new people - in other words, they don’t want them to come in the door because they aren’t adequately versed in human/canine greeting rituals. I use this example because most people would immediately lump this dog into the category of “focused fear” - where his fear is focused at the door in the home. In fact, there are obvious indicators to tell us that it is not. The fact that the person knocking has no identity to the dog until the door opens, tells us it isn’t focused on one person. The fact that the dog doesn’t bark at the door when there is no one there tells us the door isn’t the stimulus. Once we eliminate ourselves as the cause for the actions, we can start to look toward the anxiety that the dog is trying to avoid or alleviate. They obviously don’t want the door opened, and now we have excluded the door, ourselves and the guest as potential causes of the anxiety………so how can we determine how to alleviate this anxiety without forcing the dog to bury it (where it will just resurface somewhere else anyway). By knowing the dogs personality a little better we can begin to slowly piece together the puzzle. I assure you that knowing the dog that you will be dealing with on a personal level is the first step to gaining the insight in dealing with any aggressive actions.

Tailwaggers Update 8/4

The weather is warming up, so we are doing more indoor activities today than yesterday. The small dogs are getting a ton of office and living room time. Roadie (pictured above), is a first timer who is staying in the office and has adjusted great. His mother was nervous, but he is wonderful and has already made friends with Bentley, and Shiloh. The play times this afternoon will be shorter than usual due to the heat, but we will add an extra session - we will be running the misters this afternoon too. Abby White comes in today !!! Its nice to have dogs that come to visit as adults that you knew as puppies. Buddy Kuan is having a blast too, he especially enjoys the sneakers his parents sent this trip.

**The landscaping is finished at the new building ( looks great )!!

"Francis" Update

We found out today that Francis is heartworm positive, as we expected he would be. He is on antibiotics for the next two weeks to treat his skin, and prep him for his heartworm treatment.....that can be hard on a dog. I have total faith that he will make it though. Tailwaggers is supporting him for now, and thats just another reason why i love my job.

Assessing Aggression (an excerpt)

The real breakdowns in aggressive behavior always involve communication breakdowns. Again, the problem here is commonly addressed by the feeling that we have not taught our dog well enough, we didn’t teach them right from wrong, etc.. This is another ignorant assessment of the situation. The real problem is that humans communicate, for the most part, audibly - with minimal body language, and an extensively large vocabulary ( in multiple languages no less ). Our canine counterparts communicate as a whole unit - a dogs entire body speaks…..they will use tone, movements, gestures, and they will demonstrate strength in unity as well as alone.
In other words, the aggressive act is usually not as unwarranted as we may think. It is usually the result of a given environmental stimulus that the dog will not, or cannot deal with or control. It is also almost always the final attempt to alleviate the problem, not the first. When trying to figure out what exactly the given cause of an aggressive tendency may be, we have to first understand the tendencies of the dog. Once you have a successful working knowledge of the dogs tendencies you can then begin to test the patterns in multiple scenarios - looking for breaks in the patterns you have built, then investigating differences and testing individual stimuli.

Tailwaggers Update 8/2

It was overcast for a good part of the day today, so we were able to get lots of play time in early on in the day. Everyone got to stay out for a little extra time. Cassie (pictured above) arrived and immediately starting playing in the pool. Cassie is a very well trained and well adjusted dog. Almost every guest we have come here to Tailwaggers is well adjusted within a few days. Caramel, of the pair "Caramel and Chloe", is enjoying herself more and more each day. Our pet parents put forth a diligent effort to keep us informed on their pets behavioral needs - and I promise you it pays off. The dogs enjoy the stay much more, which allows you to enjoy your vacation more.

**The new building is extremely close to being "move-in" ready - a week to ten days maybe....

**I will post dates for the "Classroom Series" as soon as I have a firm move in date. Several of these classes will be free to our existing client base.