5 Considerations When Adopting a Dog

by lennearbNo Comments
Obviously, there are a lot more than 5 things you have to consider when you are adopting a pet. However, here are 5 that I believe are important when adopting a dog, but which often get overlooked in the urge to ooh over that cute little face. Size: Size is an important factor. It will affect many other aspects, such as expenses and energy level, and may also impact the expected lifespan of your new dog. Additionally, for apartment and condo-dwellers and renters of all types, size may impact where you can live. If you live somewhere with size restrictions, or think that you may, this is especially important. If adult size is particularly important to you, you may want to consider adopting and adult dog, as predicted adult-size of mixed breed puppies is not always reliable. I have known 80-pound dogs that were expected to be no more than 50 and 30-pound dogs that were expected to reach 50. Age: Let...
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An Ounce of Prevention

by lennearbNo Comments
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We've all heard it, but we don't always apply it successfully to our own lives. However, prevention, often in the form of management, is a key aspect of training and behavior modification. This is especially important when we bring a new pet into our lives. Of course, no new pet, whether 8-weeks-old or 8-years-old is a completely blank slate; but, when we bring a new pet into our homes, we are creating new relationships and setting new patterns for behavior. At this point, we have the opportunity to act to prevent many behaviors that can cause problems in the future. One important step in this process is taking stock of the environment your new pet will be entering. Are there items a puppy or an anxious dog might chew? Expensive or irreplaceable items that might be knocked over or destroyed? For cats, is there an easily accessible litterbox that is not being used...
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Behavior Suppression

by lennearb1 Comment
"What if he has no personality?" "He has a personality." "How do you know?" We both stared at the dog, who was lying unmoving on the floor of the living room, in the same spot where he had lain down upon entering the room. No personality was in evidence. Six years of experience has proven me right: Sirius Black is full of personality. However, it is equally true that he demonstrated little of this personality during the first days and even weeks in our home. In fact, confident as i was that he had a personality somewhere, i anxiously questioned the trainer about the fact that he wasn't accepting trrats from us and other similar concerns. While not always as extreme as what we observed during our first days with Sirius, it is common to observe a reduced behavior in dogs both in the shelter and in the immediate post-adoption period. This period is sometimes referred to as the "honeymoon" period, because adopters may observe...
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How I Got Here

How I Got Here

by lennearbNo Comments
My parents were visiting this weekend, and that got me thinking about a question I am asked fairly often: How did you become interested in working with multi-pet households? It's a question that I am never sure how to answer because I have never felt that it was something I became interested in, but rather, that I was born into. When I was born, my parents' household consisted of three dogs and a cat. One dog and a cat were my mother's from before their marriage, while one dog was my father's. They had rescued the third dog when they found her running loose in a grocery story parking lot. While these animals were a story of integration themselves, throughout my childhood, the animal composition of our household changed several times. As exciting or painful as each change was in itself, every change also necessitated a process of integration help new and resident animals adjust to new routines. During my childhood, I was...
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Out of Place

by lennearb1 Comment
We were walking today when we saw two Canadian geese. I barely noticed them, as we see geese several times a week, but Sirius, who normally walks by geese without a second glance, started watching them intently as he prepared to charge or bark. What made these geese worth noticing? Instead of being by a lake or stream, they were hanging out on the University of Maryland Quad. In other words, they were out of place. When working with dogs, on both training and behavior modification, it is important to understand how they see the world and when they will or will not generalize. In my training classes, I often tell my students that dogs don't generalize well. No matter how well they demonstrate "Leave It" in class, they are likely to go home and revert to their previous habits of picking up things that catch their attention, unless a lot of work is put into the activity at home. That happens because, in...
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Give me space!

Give me space!

by lennearbNo Comments
The room had been set up with round tables, and I was sitting with my back to the presenter. Which was fine, until she walked up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. My friends around the table could all tell immediately that I wasn't happy, but I don't think the trainer ever noticed. In that way, it was a lot like many dog-human interactions I have observed over the years. It's not that I hate touching under all circumstances. I love hugs with my family. After years of conditioning, including one intense semester in Costa Rica, I have even learned to enjoy social hugs with friends. And, of course, I love cuddling with my animals, especially when I am upset or have had a hard day. I don't like strangers to come up behind me and touch my shoulders. I don't like hugs at business meetings. Many dogs have similar preferences. While there are a few who love all contact...
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“Drop It!” Dos and Don’ts

by lennearbNo Comments
Scene familiar to most dog owners. The dog is in the next room. You hear a noise, and then in walks the dog with something in her mouth. What happens next? A reliable drop cue is a lifesaving skill for your dog, but it is one that I find particularly difficult to demonstrate in class, where most dogs are so focused on treats that they aren't interested in picking anything up. This blog post is intended to serve as a refresh or supplement for training drop at home. The basic mechanics of teaching drop are easy. Your dog has something (ideally a toy or another safe object). Say drop. Present a reward (food or toy) that is more exciting than the object. When the dog drops the held object, click or use a verbal marker, give rewards. Five dos and don'ts: Don't wait until your dog has something dangerous to practice drop Don't reward dropping with a less valuable reward Don't let your dog turn grabbing off-limits...
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Talk to your dog! (Your phone’s not listening)

by lennearb1 Comment
Have you ever seen this? Someone is walking down the street with one hand on the dogs leash and the handle of the stroller and the other holding their phone to their ear. As you approach with your dog, what are you thinking? Do you feel confident that they will be able to react if their dog starts to lunge at yours? Or maybe you are a parent of small children. How do you feel as someone approaches your family texting on their phone while their dog eyes your unsteady toddler warily? I will admit right now that I am sometimes guilty of paying more attention to my phone than to my dog, whether it's texting, talking, or checking the baseball scores. However, in a recent push to improve our walking, I am working to become more aware of my own behavior and how it effects my dog. Part of this effort is understanding the role of technology. I have recently heard several...
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4 Life-saving Uses of a Strong “Stay”

by lennearbNo Comments
Most of the dogs I see professionally, as well as most of those who grace my personal life, are in serious need of some practice with relaxation. So I concentrate a lot of my energy, as I have discussed before, on helping dogs develop a strong relaxed down. However, there are many of times that call for a strong stay without the relaxation. To clarify, since "wait" and "stay" can be used in different ways, in these cases we are looking for the dog to hold his or her location until released. Holding a certain posture is less critical. Stay in the car. Stop me if this has been you. The dog and a bag of ________ [groceries, laundry, fill in the blank] are in the back of the car. You park the car, get out, and open the back. Before you can grab the bag, out pops the dog. Wouldn't it be nice to have a strong stay so that the...
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Big Noise and Baseball

by lennearbNo Comments
"Play Ball!" I'm a huge baseball fan, and I consider this one of the most exciting phrases in the English language. I have also written previously about how much I like to take Sirius Black out and about with me, so you might think that the increase in dog-nights at baseball stadiums would be a perfect fit. Not so fast. One of the most important elements of taking your dog out is to select the right places to go. By all the reports I have heard, most of these events are well-run, and the money raised from "dog tickets" goes to support good causes, but that doesn't mean these events are well-suited to all dogs. They definitely are not a good match for Sirius Black. Sirius hates loud noises. Nationals Park holds over 40,000 fans at full capacity, and on non-dog days at least, they have fireworks for Nationals home runs. In fact, I once attended (without a dog) a dog-game at a minor...
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