Puppy Development

[Jones]

As requested I'm copying a post from another thread here. I had planned on expanding on these points but also writing more about other critical periods in a puppy's development before starting this thread. While I have started gathering and sorting my notes, I will not be moving on this as fast as I would have liked since some personal stuff has come up and so will add more in the coming days and months.

Since I have also found that I really enjoyed revisiting my study notes and recalling some of the case histories of both dogs that I have worked with and also remembering case histories that my lecturers and mentors talked about, I will also in the coming months where time allows, write more about other training and dog behavioural subjects in this forum.

[...]

A dog has a number of what are referred to as 'critical fear' periods during it's development. My lecturer at the time suggested that the natural purpose of the fear periods were to give the dog an edge of suspicion or caution. Apparently, and we were given a few examples, any learning that takes place in relation to fearful triggers can be permanent, but if not, it can take a higher degree of work to desensitise the dog to its fear triggers.

[...]
One interesting thing that was noted is that the resultant behavioural or emotional responses to intense fear or trauma during a critical fear period may not actually show up until after sexual or mental maturity. To the dog owner, it often seems that the behaviour/reaction come out of nowhere but often a detailed case history with attention to the critical fear periods will lead to uncovering how the behaviour was developed and a clue to what the triggering stimulus is for the current behaviour/emotional response.

One case history we discussed was of a dog that developed what seemed like random human aggression. It was difficult to pin down what was common between those that he reacted to and those he didn't. It turned out that it was the smell of pizza! The dog had had a frightening experience with pizza delivery guy in the dark during a critical fear period, and since dogs have a greater sense of smell, he could react to people who had eaten pizza up to 24hrs prior.

The major critical fear periods in dogs are between 12-16 weeks and 8-16 months. These are ranges but for the individual the fear period may only last for a week or two depending on genetic temperament. There is a minor critical fear period around 7 - 9 weeks.

Professional dog trainers who have selected dogs for particular working purposes often schedule training and development activities around these critical fear periods to the extent that all activities are off and the dog is kept in a quiet, calm environment to protect the temperament of the dog.

I made some errors in my dog before I learned/understood this and she developed reactivity to other dogs who approached her, a socialisation error where I learned that 'free for all' socialisation is not always good for all temperaments. Her reactivity to other dogs didn't show up until around 18 months.

Also, in training her for the competition heel during which would have been her first major critical fear period, I was playing with her and just rewarding her for walking on my left side or being in the heel position and she started to put the pattern together and anticipating the food treat. She jumped up to get it as I bent down to deliver it and she hooked a puppy tooth into my finger pad - all totally accidental - and I stood up with 13kg of pup hanging of my finger by one tooth. My reaction in that moment (I screamed and shook her off my hand)frightened her and I had difficulty getting her back into heel position. Even now, if I reach to her with my left hand she ducks her head slightly, at times almost imperceptible, but still there :(.

In the first picture below, and much earlier in training than her current age, you can see my dog while other wise complying to everything asked of her by way of both position and focus is leaning her head away from my left hand. It was initially a lot of work for her to actually return back to the close heel position.

The second picture shows me holding my left hand away from her and that is how we continued our training when it seemed that she was happier to bring her head closer to my side when I made this adjustment. However in this picture, the position that she is holding her ears in indicates that, while she is complying, she is not entirely confident that she is safe

 

[loreta]

Thanks to share this information, Jones. This is very interesting. I hope you have more and more stories about dogs.

 

[Jones]

Thanks to share this information, Jones. This is very interesting. I hope you have more and more stories about dogs.

I've totally enjoyed the time I spent learning about dogs :) and have had them all my life, so have plenty of stories.

While I've studied formally and informally and observed thousands of puppies and dogs and their handlers, in training and competition environments for 6 years, in shelter and rescue environments where I volunteered full time for around two years, I've probably worked on/with much less than 1000 dogs in a hands on way with training and behavioural modification - so my theoretical and observational understanding is probably stronger than my practical hands on experience. So it's probably best to read with that in mind...however, I made plenty of mistakes to learn from before studying!

For the benefit of understanding what will follow, I’m adding some notes on temperament since intensity of responses to new stimuli and the puppies sensitivities to different periods of development will be dependent on basic genetic temperament and the balance and strength of its instinctive drives.

Of most importance, I think are the body language and behaviours that indicate where the pup’s stress threshold may be because for me this has been the most reliable indicator for temperament.

I prefer to use materials from those trainers that select and train dogs for specific professional working purposes because they are generally describe more distinctive and measurable differences than sources that are aimed for the pet dog market, which often seem to either gloss over or be very vague about temperament markers or body language.

For example, Turid Rugaas, a popular resource amongst many pet dog owners and some competition dog owners states in her material on ‘Calming Signals’ that a wagging tale is a calming signal. It certainly can be, but whether a wagging tale is a calming signal or a signal that a dog is very confident about meeting beating a potential threat with aggressive behaviour is dependent on the position of the tail in relation to the topline of the back and whether it’s relaxed or stiff. A wagging tale can also simply mean that a dog is relaxed and happy.

From a 2005 Craig O’Murray seminar:
(From memory Craig O’ Murray trained Search and Rescue Dogs, Cadaver Dogs, and Personal Assistance Dogs for people with disabilities or illnesses)

Character of Your Dog – Soft vs Hard (or Omega vs Alpha)
Soft Dogs
Have a low stress threshold.
Generally display more behavioural problems because they are more prone to stress.
Have a low pain tolerance.
Low dominance levels unless they have a soft owner.
Does not bite hard, however is likely to bite more frequently because it is more likely to feel threatened.
Higher levels of compliance or is more accepting of obedience training or submission to a leader.

Hard Character Dogs:
Generally display fewer behavioural problems because they are much less likely to feel stressed.
High stress threshold.
High dominance level, can be dangerously dominant with a soft owner
High pain threshold.
Is less likely to bite because it doesn’t often feel threatened, but if it does it means business and will bite very hard.
Lower levels of compliance and without a firm leader will always test or ignore obedience training.

Moderate Dogs: (or Beta dogs) are somewhere in between and can show various combinations of the above hard and soft characteristics, and to varying degrees of intensity.

Some other notes on temperament:
The most frequent fighting or overt posturing in a pack is Beta to Beta or Beta to Omega.
Where a Beta dog seems to go overboard on forcing lower pack members into submission, and will make the opponent or challenger hold a submissive position for lengthy periods of time, an Alpha dog really doesn’t seem to need to put that much energy into getting his point across. He can often control a lower pack member by body language alone and only escalates if a sign of submission is not offered. An alpha also seems more likely to back off as soon as the slightest sign of submission is offered from a lower pack member.

A friend of mine had four dogs one of which was an alpha and when she put dinner down for her dogs, the alpha would frequently walk away from his dish and lay down without eating. If one of the other dogs showed any interest in his meal, he only had to look at them and they’d slink away from his dish. If he were a beta dog, there’d be a lot more noise and a lot more action in forcing the submission.

Beta Dogs are often referred to as ‘Alpha Wannabe’s’ because they often behave as though they are Alpha’s or observers mistake them as Alpha’s but they don’t quite have the temperament to pull off being a leader and the give away clues are generally found in their reactions or over reactions to stress.

The reaction to stress is observed/measured by both the intensity of the reaction and the time it takes to recover from the stressful or startling event. An Alpha has a low intensity reaction and recovers very quickly, and omega has a high intensity reaction and takes longer to recover and in fact may not recover while still in the presence of the stressor.

Watching a dog defecating can often give clues to temperament. An alpha or beta at the higher end of the stress threshold, will just squat in one position and be relatively oblivious to the world around them. An omega or a beta at the lower end of stress threshold will move around a lot and circle to keep an eye out for threats while defecating. (Thanks to Steve Courtney for that tip).

The following link is to an article by Lou Castles, Police Dog Trainer for over 30 years, and demonstrates some of the above.
This is a selection test for Police Dog Training that Lou puts dogs through. I remember him commenting once that only about 1 in 175 dogs specifically bred for or selected for working purposes pass this test. It’s a good article for the fact that Lou mentions both minor and major signs that the dog has a softness in temperament.

For the pet dog owner, this softness in temperament may not necessarily pose any issues, however it’s good to know what to look for when trying to guage the temperament of a dog so that you can observe the earliest signs of stress to help protect the temperament of the dog.

http://www4.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/castle1.htm

And from this SOTT article, the wolf with the light patch above on it’s back above it’s tail shows the most Alpha characteristics. I don’t think he is entirely Alpha, but he has a strong balance of Alpha characteristics. Notice that a urine patch appears on the snow in front of the woman during a minor confrontation involving this wolf.

http://www.sott.net/article/245169-Woman-reunites-with-wild-wolves-she-socialized

 

[KristinLynne]

Hi Jones, I look forward to more of your research on the temperaments of dogs. I have two English Bulls one male at 7 years and a female at 3 years. The male, Gus was my first dog and he was trained by the time I got him. But my roommate got our female, Lily from craigslist and she is a hyper nervous and super shy dog. I recently purchased a video and book named Unleash Your Dogs Potential (video) and Getting In Touch with Your Dog by Linda Tellington Jones that uses special massages techniques or body work to modify behavior. Since this is my first time having and training dogs do you have any other recommended sources by chance?

Here is the website _http://www.ttouch.com/

Edit for spelling.

 

[Jones]

Hi Jones, I look forward to more of your research on the temperaments of dogs. I have two English Bulls one male at 7 years and a female at 3 years. The male, Gus was my first dog and he was trained by the time I got him. But my roommate got our female, Lily from craigslist and she is a hyper nervous and super shy dog. I recently purchased a video and book named Unleash Your Dogs Potential (video) and Getting In Touch with Your Dog by Linda Tellington Jones that uses special massages techniques or body work to modify behavior. Since this is my first time having and training dogs do you have any other recommended sources by chance?

Here is the website _http://www.ttouch.com/

Edit for spelling.

Yes, there’s lots of good stuff around, however with much as is often stated in this forum, the devil is in the details. I’ve not had much personal experience with Linda Tellington Jones material, however do remember some from the competition obedience world used her methods with success. If I remember correctly she does a kind of body wrap/strap that is helpful for calming a stressy dog?

Exercise is very important for a very soft dog – one with low stress thresholds. Have you heard of the ‘runners high’? A nervous dog can really benefit by having the stress broken by these natural highs. You may have to choose the environment that you exercise her in carefully though initially to help her avoid stress triggers and until she builds some confidence.

Biting and chewing can be very calming for a nervous dog. So give her bones and perhaps some of her meals in a Kong.

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/rubber-toys/

A nervous shy dog needs good leadership just as much as a dominant dog does. Thing is, for dogs the pack has to have a leader, and if you’re not it they feel they have to be and for a dog with a low stress threshold, this just adds more pressure, the stress increases.

So your dog will get calmer if you display some alpha characteristics. Simple but true. It can sometimes feel as though you’re being greedy and mean. But a constantly stressed nervous dog is in quite a tortured state, and it’s best to act in ways that help her relax, from the point of view of a dog and in ways that really communicate something to the dog. It may mean that you will have to play act depending on your temperament – you will need to act very calmly when the dog is stressed. While it’s not a good idea to show her too much attention when she is highly stressed, as this can actually reinforce the stressed state, you can act to minimise the things that seem to be causing her stress – either remove those stressors or remove her from them in a calm and direct manner. The instinctive goal behind the nervous behaviour is to increase the distance between the dog and that which it finds threatening, so you can provide for that. But don’t pay too much attention to her. If the instinctive goal is delivered, then the dog can gain confidence. This is basically what Lou Castle was doing in the above linked stake out test, where he mentioned 'bringing a dog back up'. He was returning the dog to confidence by delivering the instinctive goal.

Some exercises to help her perceive you as being higher in rank:

Triangle of Temptation – a feeding program that can be found here:

http://k9pro.com.au/services/the-triangle-of-temptation/

If your dog hasn’t had any obedience training – just use this program up until step 6 for now. Until you’ve taught her obedience exercises just concentrate on getting her to look at you for longer periods of time before you release her to get the food.

The good thing about this program is that it’s training in a positive drive for survival. So over and above the reward of getting the food, the dog, through the manipulation of this drive will also get an internal reward that is similar to the ‘runners high’, or another break from stress. These breaks from stress are really important for these dogs. Some of them have not known what it feels like to be stress free. And if you’re showing them the way to that then the bond and loyalty increases.

Another great thing about the program is that it teaches the dog to focus on you in the presence of a distraction or stressor (in this case the bowl of food) and I cannot over emphasise how valuable to a nervous dog this can be. If you can imagine that 100% represents your dogs stress, if you can control 50% of her focus then you can effectively halve her stress.

My dog is frightened of the wind, and all those things that seem to take on a life of their own in the wind – slamming doors, plastic bags blowing around, things flapping and fluttering etc. At one obedience trial I attended, the organisers had used plastic carton strapping tape to string around the boundaries of the competition rings. Then the wind come up and the tape was roaring as it fluttered furiously. My dog was beside herself as we waited outside the ring. But as soon as I gave her the trigger to work, which started the drive progression for her, and she focused on me, it was like the roaring tape almost disappeared to her. She flicked the odd glance at the tape as we went through the routine but mainly held focus on me and didn’t miss a single command or direction. Had she been in the same state that she’d been in outside the ring, she may not have even heard the commands or seen the directions. She peed in the ring though, which was an automatic disqualification.

Next there is the NILIF program, or Nothing in Life is Free. This program can be very calming for a nervous dog. There are lots of links available to NILIF on the net – but here’s one:

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

In addition to what is talked about in the above link, if your dog has a favourite toy it is best that she no longer gets free access to it. This toy needs to become your favourite toy and the dog gets to play with it when you allow it. You also need to ensure that you eat before your dog does. It doesn't necessarily need to be a sit down meal...just a snack and let your dog see you eat it.

Next for teaching static obedience commands (sit and drop) I prefer Compulsion training AKA ‘Guide, Show, Place’ for nervous dogs. Though it will be dependent on how your dog reacts to it. If she is so submissive that she rolls over at the slightest touch, we might need to reconsider this.

Compulsion training by the definition I use basically means gently but firmly placing the dog into the position you are teaching and holding it there with your hands. Compulsion training reduces the errors that both the dog and the handler can make and consistency is very important to nervous dogs. When the dog is relaxed (don’t release it until it relaxes) under your hands in the held position you can mark the behaviour with the word ‘good’ and then release the dog for reward.

In the article about the Triangle of Temptation, Steve Courtney uses the word ‘Yes’ as the release word. I prefer not to use the word ‘yes’ because it’s too common in everyday talking and can end up being confusing for the dog. The dog may believe it is being released for reward when your flatmate asks you if you want a cup of tea! I use the word ‘Bingo’ as my dogs release. If you’re training more than one dog, they all need to have different release words.

The good thing about this progression is that the dog can also learn to relax when you place your hands on it, a valuable tool in many situations with a nervous dog, and your obedience commands can become a cue to relax. This can be very dependent on how hands have been used on her in past though. It works in well with the Triangle of Temptation however they should be trained separately until the dog understands the obedience commands – then you can add the steps from number 6 on.

Don’t introduce the command for the position until the dog becomes used to, or seems to have put the pattern of ‘I relax, I get released, I get rewarded’ together because in the early phase the dog can begin to relate the command to struggle and resistance against pressure. This can be overcome, it just slows up the learning a bit. I don’t anticipate too much by way of resistance from her though given her low stress threshold.

For sit place one hand on the dogs chest and the other on its rump. Rock the dog backwards with the hand on the chest and gently but firmly push down on its rump.

For the drop, hook the thumb of one hand into the dogs collar at the front of the throat, and place the other hand on the back over the top of the shoulders. The direction of pressure is guided by the hand holding the front of the collar. This hand should travel in an approximate 45 degree angle as though you were moving your hand between the front legs and down towards the back feet. The hand on the shoulder travels in the same direction with a downward pressure.

Compulsion training sometimes gets some bad publicity but that’s just another area where the devil is in the details.

The above is just basic foundational stuff and is all easy enough to put into practice right away. For more specific information, you’d need to give more specific descriptions of what is actually happening and how you’d like it to be different, however it’s best seen to by someone local to you.

Since your dog is 3 years old, you will see some improvements with the above, but it’s hard to know whether you’ll get full recovery without knowing more about her, her background, likes and dislikes, your lifestyle and how you’d like her to fit into it. She will still be an awesome pet though when she gains some confidence in you.

Finally, I wouldn’t breed from her. At least not until it is known how far she can go on the road to relaxed confidence. The dam provides the total environment for the earliest development of puppies and this can negatively impact the expression of the pups temperament.

 

[KristinLynne]

Yes, there’s lots of good stuff around, however with much as is often stated in this forum, the devil is in the details. I’ve not had much personal experience with Linda Tellington Jones material, however do remember some from the competition obedience world used her methods with success. If I remember correctly she does a kind of body wrap/strap that is helpful for calming a stressy dog?

Exercise is very important for a very soft dog – one with low stress thresholds. Have you heard of the ‘runners high’? A nervous dog can really benefit by having the stress broken by these natural highs. You may have to choose the environment that you exercise her in carefully though initially to help her avoid stress triggers and until she builds some confidence.

Thanks for the review and saving me a bit of time. I have come a long way with Lily but I need more of a direct plan to go any further with training. I usually walk the dogs in the evening when it's cool for a long, slow, (sniffing) stroll. But there has been a lot of times that while in our back yard, Lily breaks into a marathon run doing laps at high speed and I have noticed how much calmer she is after those spontaneous runs.

Biting and chewing can be very calming for a nervous dog. So give her bones and perhaps some of her meals in a Kong.

Both dogs bite and chew their paws only every so often, but when I see it I stop it since I'm with them almost all day, everyday. Usually there is a reason like an ant bite or maybe a scratch if they were playing a bit too rough, and we have several of those Kong toys, as well as tug of war ropes and tennis balls. The sad fact though is both of these dogs would much rather chew on an empty water bottle... with all the labels and plastic rings taken off. They find more enjoyment with the free stuff than anything I could buy. They both love a good raw bone too and get them a special treats when we have extra.

A nervous shy dog needs good leadership just as much as a dominant dog does. Thing is, for dogs the pack has to have a leader, and if you’re not it they feel they have to be and for a dog with a low stress threshold, this just adds more pressure, the stress increases.

So your dog will get calmer if you display some alpha characteristics. Simple but true. It can sometimes feel as though you’re being greedy and mean. But a constantly stressed nervous dog is in quite a tortured state, and it’s best to act in ways that help her relax, from the point of view of a dog and in ways that really communicate something to the dog. It may mean that you will have to play act depending on your temperament – you will need to act very calmly when the dog is stressed. While it’s not a good idea to show her too much attention when she is highly stressed, as this can actually reinforce the stressed state, you can act to minimise the things that seem to be causing her stress – either remove those stressors or remove her from them in a calm and direct manner. The instinctive goal behind the nervous behaviour is to increase the distance between the dog and that which it finds threatening, so you can provide for that. But don’t pay too much attention to her. If the instinctive goal is delivered, then the dog can gain confidence. This is basically what Lou Castle was doing in the above linked stake out test, where he mentioned 'bringing a dog back up'. He was returning the dog to confidence by delivering the instinctive goal.

I'm learning to be a pack leader, but have so far to go. Usually when Lily gets hyper excited when we are out walking it is due to another dog barking or maybe another person walking by. I stop the walk and make her sit down, to calm down as the perceived threat passes. But she is still anxious and has a hard time sitting still. Even at home if something is out of it's normal place, such as a large step ladder in the kitchen, she distrust it and gives it a wide birth when having to walk past it. But once the step ladder was put away she was fine.

Some exercises to help her perceive you as being higher in rank:

Triangle of Temptation – a feeding program that can be found here:

http://k9pro.com.au/services/the-triangle-of-temptation/

If your dog hasn’t had any obedience training – just use this program up until step 6 for now. Until you’ve taught her obedience exercises just concentrate on getting her to look at you for longer periods of time before you release her to get the food.

The good thing about this program is that it’s training in a positive drive for survival. So over and above the reward of getting the food, the dog, through the manipulation of this drive will also get an internal reward that is similar to the ‘runners high’, or another break from stress. These breaks from stress are really important for these dogs. Some of them have not known what it feels like to be stress free. And if you’re showing them the way to that then the bond and loyalty increases.

Another great thing about the program is that it teaches the dog to focus on you in the presence of a distraction or stressor (in this case the bowl of food) and I cannot over emphasise how valuable to a nervous dog this can be. If you can imagine that 100% represents your dogs stress, if you can control 50% of her focus then you can effectively halve her stress.

Just reading the one page that you suggested seems so much more doable and I'll read the whole program to learn how to help her. As for eating, both dogs eat their food in about a minute. They do not waste time when it comes to food so this may be a challenge during the training. But Lily seems to suffer from food anxiety and I'm not sure how much that has to do with it.

My dog is frightened of the wind, and all those things that seem to take on a life of their own in the wind – slamming doors, plastic bags blowing around, things flapping and fluttering etc. At one obedience trial I attended, the organisers had used plastic carton strapping tape to string around the boundaries of the competition rings. Then the wind come up and the tape was roaring as it fluttered furiously. My dog was beside herself as we waited outside the ring. But as soon as I gave her the trigger to work, which started the drive progression for her, and she focused on me, it was like the roaring tape almost disappeared to her. She flicked the odd glance at the tape as we went through the routine but mainly held focus on me and didn’t miss a single command or direction. Had she been in the same state that she’d been in outside the ring, she may not have even heard the commands or seen the directions. She peed in the ring though, which was an automatic disqualification.

Lily's the same way with any loud noises or anything out of the ordinary. Thanks for the example of working through the issues and sorry about the disqualification.

Next there is the NILIF program, or Nothing in Life is Free. This program can be very calming for a nervous dog. There are lots of links available to NILIF on the net – but here’s one:

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

In addition to what is talked about in the above link, if your dog has a favourite toy it is best that she no longer gets free access to it. This toy needs to become your favourite toy and the dog gets to play with it when you allow it. You also need to ensure that you eat before your dog does. It doesn't necessarily need to be a sit down meal...just a snack and let your dog see you eat it.

Next for teaching static obedience commands (sit and drop) I prefer Compulsion training AKA ‘Guide, Show, Place’ for nervous dogs. Though it will be dependent on how your dog reacts to it. If she is so submissive that she rolls over at the slightest touch, we might need to reconsider this.

Compulsion training by the definition I use basically means gently but firmly placing the dog into the position you are teaching and holding it there with your hands. Compulsion training reduces the errors that both the dog and the handler can make and consistency is very important to nervous dogs. When the dog is relaxed (don’t release it until it relaxes) under your hands in the held position you can mark the behaviour with the word ‘good’ and then release the dog for reward.

In the article about the Triangle of Temptation, Steve Courtney uses the word ‘Yes’ as the release word. I prefer not to use the word ‘yes’ because it’s too common in everyday talking and can end up being confusing for the dog. The dog may believe it is being released for reward when your flatmate asks you if you want a cup of tea! I use the word ‘Bingo’ as my dogs release. If you’re training more than one dog, they all need to have different release words.

The good thing about this progression is that the dog can also learn to relax when you place your hands on it, a valuable tool in many situations with a nervous dog, and your obedience commands can become a cue to relax. This can be very dependent on how hands have been used on her in past though. It works in well with the Triangle of Temptation however they should be trained separately until the dog understands the obedience commands – then you can add the steps from number 6 on.

Don’t introduce the command for the position until the dog becomes used to, or seems to have put the pattern of ‘I relax, I get released, I get rewarded’ together because in the early phase the dog can begin to relate the command to struggle and resistance against pressure. This can be overcome, it just slows up the learning a bit. I don’t anticipate too much by way of resistance from her though given her low stress threshold.

For sit place one hand on the dogs chest and the other on its rump. Rock the dog backwards with the hand on the chest and gently but firmly push down on its rump.

For the drop, hook the thumb of one hand into the dogs collar at the front of the throat, and place the other hand on the back over the top of the shoulders. The direction of pressure is guided by the hand holding the front of the collar. This hand should travel in an approximate 45 degree angle as though you were moving your hand between the front legs and down towards the back feet. The hand on the shoulder travels in the same direction with a downward pressure.

Compulsion training sometimes gets some bad publicity but that’s just another area where the devil is in the details.

The above is just basic foundational stuff and is all easy enough to put into practice right away. For more specific information, you’d need to give more specific descriptions of what is actually happening and how you’d like it to be different, however it’s best seen to by someone local to you.

Since your dog is 3 years old, you will see some improvements with the above, but it’s hard to know whether you’ll get full recovery without knowing more about her, her background, likes and dislikes, your lifestyle and how you’d like her to fit into it. She will still be an awesome pet though when she gains some confidence in you.

Finally, I wouldn’t breed from her. At least not until it is known how far she can go on the road to relaxed confidence. The dam provides the total environment for the earliest development of puppies and this can negatively impact the expression of the pups temperament.

Excellent information and thank you for making it easy to understand with the links that will help. It will be a challenge and now I have more confidence in helping her the right way. As for breeding, I did want to have a puppy by Gus because for me he is the greatest dog ever, but I've since decided that it would be better to rescue other dogs than to breed, later whenever there is a need.

Lily and Gus :)

 

[Jones]

I lost the document I was writing on puppy development somehow, so between that and some problems with keeping an internet connection over the last couple of days, I've put some more info together for you before I start writing the other one up again.

I'm learning to be a pack leader, but have so far to go.

I hear ya! It was at the Craig A Murray seminar in 2005 when he predicted that I would have problems with my dog because there were areas where her temperament was a bit firmer than mine

That was one of my motivators for starting to work on my own anxiety issues.

Usually when Lily gets hyper excited when we are out walking it is due to another dog barking or maybe another person walking by. I stop the walk and make her sit down, to calm down as the perceived threat passes. But she is still anxious and has a hard time sitting still. Even at home if something is out of it's normal place, such as a large step ladder in the kitchen, she distrust it and gives it a wide birth when having to walk past it. But once the step ladder was put away she was fine.

I know that a lot of sources suggest exactly what you’re doing with a stressful dog out on a walk – but there are some other things to consider. I’m not sure if the following is the case because I can’t see what’s happening, but will write about it in case it is so hopefully you can understand why it is.

There is a training term called ‘Flooding’. Flooding is leaving a dog in the presence of it’s stressor until it gets over it and relaxes. The thing with Flooding though is that in order for it to be effective the dog must get to the state of being relaxed for Flooding to deliver the desired outcome – which in Lily’s case is reduction of stress. When using flooding, therefore, you have to be in total control of the stressful stimuli – both the intensity and the duration. The problem with using flooding on stimuli that you can’t control, like people walking by or other dogs barking, is that she may not recover from the stress before the stimuli ceases or passes by.

This actually protects the stressful state/behaviours through negative reinforcement (rewarding a behaviour or emotional state by removing an unpleasant stimulus). For this reason, flooding is generally not a good option without a lot of consideration and planning for total control of the stressful stimuli in the training environment. Basically the dog will return to the last internal state that he recalls in future similar situations and you can end up sensitising a dog to it’s stressors instead of desensitising it.

This is one reason why it can be very difficult to desensitise dogs to thunderstorms. Nobody can predict or control them.

The second thing is for a stressed dog to hold a static position like a sit in the face of it’s stress triggers can actually be stress loading – they are producing adrenalin that is not being burnt up in their body because they are not moving. So often it is best to keep the stressed dog moving. I know that I have suggested some exercises for static positions, but these are best done at home for now where other stressors are limited or you can have some control over them.

Also there are three phases to a training program – teaching, training and proofing. Teaching needs to happen in an environment with as few distractions as possible- preferably in an environment that the dog is familiar and comfortable with. This gives them the best chance of being clear headed and being in a state of mind where they can learn and put the patterns that you will introduce together.

The best way to know whether or not the above apply in Lily’s case is to ask yourself what is happening with the stress in the face of her triggers for example a person walking by. Is it the same, is it increasing or is it decreasing? If it’s the same, or increasing then the stress is being being protected or reinforced instead of being diminished.

Another way to know if she is actually being sensitised to her stress triggers is to pay attention to distance. For example if she started showing stress when the by passer was 5 meters away, but now she’s showing stress or starting to load up when they are 10 meters away, then she is being sensitised to her stress trigger instead of desensitied – or her threshold to the stressing stimulus is being lowered instead of being raised.

If it seems that the above may be occurring and she absolutely has to be walked because the size of your yard limits exercise, for now it’s best to choose an area or a time of day when you are unlikely to come across people or dogs. However, if you can get her enough exercise through play in your back yard for now then that’s great.

Just reading the one page that you suggested seems so much more doable and I'll read the whole program to learn how to help her. As for eating, both dogs eat their food in about a minute. They do not waste time when it comes to food so this may be a challenge during the training. But Lily seems to suffer from food anxiety and I'm not sure how much that has to do with it.

How does she display food anxiety?

Lily and Gus :)

Nothing like a bulldogs smile :)

 

[KristinLynne]

It is so easy for me to lose that one doc I need, when I need it too so I hope you run across it soon.

There is a training term called ‘Flooding’. Flooding is leaving a dog in the presence of it’s stressor until it gets over it and relaxes. The thing with Flooding though is that in order for it to be effective the dog must get to the state of being relaxed for Flooding to deliver the desired outcome – which in Lily’s case is reduction of stress. When using flooding, therefore, you have to be in total control of the stressful stimuli – both the intensity and the duration. The problem with using flooding on stimuli that you can’t control, like people walking by or other dogs barking, is that she may not recover from the stress before the stimuli ceases or passes by.

Another way to know if she is actually being sensitised to her stress triggers is to pay attention to distance. For example if she started showing stress when the by passer was 5 meters away, but now she’s showing stress or starting to load up when they are 10 meters away, then she is being sensitised to her stress trigger instead of desensitied – or her threshold to the stressing stimulus is being lowered instead of being raised.

I hadn't heard of this term but I did see one show on tv a while back on this and the trainer was suggesting to use treats as a distraction while the "threat" passes but we had not gotten that far yet. The act of sitting down happened by necessity because when I walked the dogs and Lily becomes excited, she then becomes more aggressive too. She pulls and lunges, then gets Gus excited and when I have 2- 55lb dogs pulling, I feel like I'm about to go skiing! As for the distance Lily reacts to movement of any kind even from distances of say 20 to 30 yards. The closer we get to it, or them to us, the more barking, pulling and trying to get away happens. If I can't keep her moving say like on the sidewalk with some one approaching then I just make her sit, more for safety. We live in the city and it's happening around here all hours of the night.

I also walk the dogs at night so most of the distractions are kept to a minimum and take the same route so she feels familiar in the surroundings. She knows where the other dogs are and they are kept outside behind a fence (usually well away from the road) but she starts getting nervous or excited well before we even get there... even before confirming whether the dogs are outside or not. Right now she is in heat and I just don't walk her when that happens, because every dog in the neighborhood start howling. I have talked to my roommate about her, and he's not ready to make the decision to have her fixed right now.

As for the food anxiety, I'm not sure if I had the term right but she has not slowed down in her eating habits and she's been her for over a year now. Gus woofed down food at first but after a while he slowed down. Not Lily, for she inhales her food and then runs back to her spot when in the house. But when on walks she loves to eat acorns before I can stop her or anything dead we may come across. I'm not sure but I think the previous owner restricted her diet perhaps severely in the first few years of her life. I've also wondered if that's why her head was smaller than normal but I can't say for sure. Anyway I cook both the dogs meals at home and feed them them really good can food only on occasions because Gus has had yakking issues since the first. Which they are much better now. Whew.

Thanks for the time and the directions, it helps a lot! Good luck on your research too.

 

[Jones]

I hadn't heard of this term but I did see one show on tv a while back on this and the trainer was suggesting to use treats as a distraction while the "threat" passes but we had not gotten that far yet. The act of sitting down happened by necessity because when I walked the dogs and Lily becomes excited, she then becomes more aggressive too. She pulls and lunges, then gets Gus excited and when I have 2- 55lb dogs pulling, I feel like I'm about to go skiing! As for the distance Lily reacts to movement of any kind even from distances of say 20 to 30 yards. The closer we get to it, or them to us, the more barking, pulling and trying to get away happens. If I can't keep her moving say like on the sidewalk with some one approaching then I just make her sit, more for safety. We live in the city and it's happening around here all hours of the night.

The intensity of the stressor is too high for her to be able to learn. When she is barking, aggressing, lunging she is in a state of mind where she is not recording memories, she can't put new patterns together, and she can't hear you. Under the affects of adrenalin, her threshold to physical discomfort is high - so she can't even feel that she is pulling against you. Also, frustration increases drive - if she is lunging to aggress at something or someone but you're holding her back you're creating frustration. This is a tool that those that train dogs for bite work use. They have a collar that is called an agitation collar and it has a handle on it. They trigger the dog and then hold the collar and bounce the dog and pull against it to fire the dog up more. So this scenario really needs to be avoided.

Consider walking one dog at a time, you can then give individualised training attention. The more the dogs can pull you off balance, the less of a leader you appear to them. That's one of the reasons that Steve Courtney uses a tie out to something solid in the Triangle of Temptation instead of holding the lead. The dogs can pull on the lead all they like and they do not move the handler - there is no give.

I think that Lily only needs to go as far as the area where the other dogs are on her walk. Keep a close eye on her and at the point where she very first starts to show a stress reaction in her body language on approach to the dogs- try to pick the reaction at the lowest intensity -that's the point where you need to start the training - while she is still in a frame of mind where she can hear you and focus on you. Change her drive at that point. To do this - take a toy with you if you have to or if treats are the thing she values most - get her focus on the toy or the treat - and while you're still moving turn in the opposite direction - you're then decreasing the intensity of the stressor for her by using distance - and when she relaxes and you have her focus, then ask her for the sit before delivering the treat. Take the time to give her lots of praise and pats. Repeat this on a number of times on her walk. You can spend the same amount of time on the walk, but you'll just be covering the same ground by going backwards and forwards over the same area.

With a dog like Lily it's a good idea to give up on reaching a particular destination or completing a given route. If you normally walk her for 30 minutes, you can still spend 30 minutes out with her but you may be covering the same ground for a while.

By doing the above you've managed the intensity of her reaction, you've helped her switch from defense drive to prey or food drive (depending on whether you've used the toy or the treat), and ultimately reinforced pack drive with you as leader. The last 3 drives mentioned are positive drives for survival, so the dog feels good. You've also kept her moving so that she burns any adrenalin in her system. The new pattern that you're introducing the dog to is: 'I feel stress > I feel good/calm/relaxed > nothing bad happened'. Her last of the experience of her encounter with the other dogs is of feeling good instead of having her stressed state negatively reinforced by the encounter. You may never get rid of her stress all together, but by doing the above you can raise her thresholds to her stressors and diminish her stress response.

With repeats you'll most likely find that you'll be able to get closer and closer to moving past the other dogs with a much lower level reaction from Lily. This is because she will put together the pattern and start managing her own focus because it feels better not to pay too much attention to the things that frighten her.

You can do the same exercise with people, but it would need to be in a more controlled environment than what you'd get on the street. I'd start the exercise with volunteers in your back yard. Have them sitting very still on a chair and totally ignoring Lily to start off with.

You also use the things that you find that she reacts to around the house, like the step ladder, to run the above exercise with - the different and more varied the stress stimuli you use for the exercise, the more likely Lily will be able to generalise what she learns to all stressors. I feel though at this stage, the best that can be hoped for is diminished response. I'd like to be proven wrong though :).

As for the food anxiety, I'm not sure if I had the term right but she has not slowed down in her eating habits and she's been her for over a year now. Gus woofed down food at first but after a while he slowed down. Not Lily, for she inhales her food and then runs back to her spot when in the house. But when on walks she loves to eat acorns before I can stop her or anything dead we ma come across. I'm not sure but I think the previous owner restricted her diet perhaps severely in the first few years of her life. I've also wondered if that's why her head was smaller than normal but I can't say for sure. Anyway I cook both the dogs meals at home and feed them them really good can food only on occasions because Gus has had yakking issues since the first. Which they are much better now. Whew.

Thanks for the time and the directions, it helps a lot! Good luck on your research too.

Try leaving her in a room by herself to eat. You'll note in the Triangle of Temptation Steve Courtney suggests that there are no other dogs around and also that after you have released the dog to eat, you go inside. An alpha walks away from the food and allows the others to eat. Food anxiety may be caused by eating in the presence of Gus if she percieves him to be higher in the pack order, or by the fact that you're still there.

Having said that, my dog's nickname is 'Hoover Hound' as she still vacuums food up despite the above I went as far as training a 'slow' command and feeding her from my fist and only allowing access to a small portion of food at a time. She will sometimes eat more slowly if I keep repeating the command while she's eating but it's a fine line between that and her deciding that she is not allowed to have the food and at those times she just sits and looks at me. If it's a persistent behaviour despite trying the above then there's a great possibility that it's indicative of the genetic temperament of the dog - like the defecation example, the dog feels uncomfortable not being able to keep an eye on the environment for possible threats or what she percieves to be challenges to her right to eat what is in front of her. And if it is genetic temperament, then it's likely to be a pattern learned since she first started suckling.

I think it's a good thing that this has wondered into some discussion of training issues since starting out with temperament and heading towards critical periods in the puppies development because we've basically covered some of the issues that dogs can end up with when the critical periods are not managed for the optimal development of the pup. :)

 

[KristinLynne]

The intensity of the stressor is too high for her to be able to learn. When she is barking, aggressing, lunging she is in a state of mind where she is not recording memories, she can't put new patterns together, and she can't hear you. Under the affects of adrenalin, her threshold to physical discomfort is high - so she can't even feel that she is pulling against you. Also, frustration increases drive - if she is lunging to aggress at something or someone but you're holding her back you're creating frustration. This is a tool that those that train dogs for bite work use. They have a collar that is called an agitation collar and it has a handle on it. They trigger the dog and then hold the collar and bounce the dog and pull against it to fire the dog up more. So this scenario really needs to be avoided.

That makes a lot of sense and tells me what I was doing wrong with her. Even avoiding as many "threats" as possible wasn't enough, so now I'll keep it short and close to home. For me this is really important, because I am not trying to make her even more aggressive when she's scared! I'll also try walking one at a time and you are right, it'll give me time with each individually which is something I've missed with Gus.

Try leaving her in a room by herself to eat. You'll note in the Triangle of Temptation Steve Courtney suggests that there are no other dogs around and also that after you have released the dog to eat, you go inside. An alpha walks away from the food and allows the others to eat. Food anxiety may be caused by eating in the presence of Gus if she percieves him to be higher in the pack order, or by the fact that you're still there.

Excellent idea and I don't know why I haven't thought of that before! All the advice was what I was looking for to help her even calm down enough to be able to start the training. I know we both have a lot of work to do (and I only have about a year or so before Gus and I move) but now I think we can get there and I want to thank you so much for the time. It was really invaluable!

I think it's a good thing that this has wondered into some discussion of training issues since starting out with temperament and heading towards critical periods in the puppies development because we've basically covered some of the issues that dogs can end up with when the critical periods are not managed for the optimal development of the pup. :)

I so glad you were going to cover some of these issues because us new puppy parents are sometimes in way over our heads. So thanks again for everything you do!