Tuesday July 5th, 2011 : TRAVEL ANGST In the past couple of weeks, I have been faced with a couple of people who need help "re-setting" their dogs after a trip. Each of these people has called or emailed with bewilderment at the set-backs their dogs were having, and utter confusion about why the recurrence of things like biting, anxiety, peeing in the house, or destruction had occurred. Each of these dogs had just returned from vacation. Now, I try to emphasize to people that dogs are creatures of habit, but these set backs remind me how much they really can be thrown by changes in the environment. If a new person moves in, we always feel a little off our game for a while. Nothing is the same for a dog when it's owners go on vacation, and the attempted smooth transition back to "normal" can be hard on everyone. Dogs handle stress and change in different ways, but don't be surprised if housebreaking reverts, meals get missed, tummy get upset, dogs get more needy, or things get destroyed. To mitigate the damages, do anything you can to avoid major changes in routine. If you have to go on vacation (and who wants to stay home all the time) there are some options to consider that may help your return to real life be as painless as possible for both you and your dog!

Dogs that have housesitters: these dogs often fair pretty well. The best case scenario for most dogs is that a new person, similar to their owner comes and stays with them in their home and helps to maintain their daily routines. If the owner works 9-5, it is best if the person housesitting does too. If the person works from home, same thing. Detailed directions from the owner can be really helpful in helping to keep the dogs life on as even a keel as possible. This isn't to say that the dog won't be unsettled, but the reassurance of it's routine certainly help.

Dogs that go to the Kennel: the listings for kennels in Maryland is long enough that it fills more then one magazine each year. The kennels vary in location, style, age, specialty, and price. Some of them are private homes, some of them are wire and concrete cages, some of them are swanky resorts. Some of them have playtimes, some daily k9 ice cream socials and snuggling, some of them have hikes, a la carte walks or agility practice. Most of them are average at best, but some of them do a great job of providing enough mental and physical stimulation that the dogs are so excited and fulfilled while they are there that they come hom happy and tired. This isn't always true for every dog, and certainly going to stay in an new environment without anyone you know can be hard. Often dogs that don't do very well in kennels will come home with physical signs of their stress like the skin worried off the nose, or the pads of their feet torn up from pacing. Sometimes they have lost weight, had diarrhea, lost their appetite, etc. Because of the stark contrast to their regular home life, there are some dogs who ease right back into home life as a welcome relief or rest. My dog is personally one of these dogs. He loves the people at the kennel where he stays and he has been there for long periods of time without problems, but he is always happy to get home and back to his routine, where he can sleep all day and hang with me when I get home. This is the most seamless transition I have seen Deuce make in his life. He does better with this then when we go camping with him.

Dogs that go with you on vacation: It takes a really special dog to weather this situation. First of all, they are often with their family who they love and enjoy, all day every day for many more days then they are used to. Secondly, these dogs often get to see and experience new things like the ocean, or hiking. And then they come and we go back to our regular routines. This can also be hard for dogs on a couple of levels. First, they aren't with us all day as they were on vacation, secondly, they are back home which is still a transition.

Ways to make that easier are as varied as there are people and dogs. But here are some of things that I suggest to my clients:

*Give yourself at least one day at home before returning to work. This will allow you to ease your dog and yourself back into a routine or morning and evening walks, meals at regular times, sleeping in their own environment. *Hire a dog walker for the first couple of days back at home, so that you dogs who have gotten used to going out multiple times a day during vacation, can take a couple days to ease back into the home-housebroken schedule. This is especially important for young dogs and senior dogs with incontinence issues. *If you are going on a MAJOR vacation like a move to europe for 6 months, or a trip cross country with hotel rooms, it is important to take a couple of mini-vacations. Even if you just go stay at a friend or family members house for a couple of days, easing your dog into a new routine gradually can reap huge rewards *If you can't take your dog with you on vacation, be sure to hire a reliable and knowledgeable dog sitter or take your dog to a well-respected kennel. Both of these options can be pricey, but it is worth the money for the peace of mind that a skilled professional can bring. If you have to hire a college student or a friend of a friend, be sure to ask for references from past employers or from other people they have pet-sat. Not everyone is good at pet care, not everyone can feed or walk an animal on schedule, and not everyone will follow through on your instructions. * Even if you are getting someone to stay at the house, be sure to check in on your pet a couple of times during the vacation. Cellphones all have cameras now and almost anyone should be able to send you a photo of your pet happily enjoying their routine while you are away. Anyone that is unwilling, or claims to be unable to send you a photo of your dog should be met with suspicion and you might want to check up on the pet thru another avenue. It is terrible to think, but our dogs are our kids, and since we can't ask to speak to them on the phone to ascertain their safety, a photo is the next best thing!

I hope this helps you meet your vacation and the return from it with a better degree of relaxation.

Tuesday 4/5/11 My amazing students have had me thinking in the past two weeks that I need some new classes to offer and some new material to teach. Mostly I think people want to do more tricks, more playful training, and more kinds of reinforcements. So I am hoping that my wonderful readers will have some ideas of things they would like to learn and maybe some new titles for classes. *I am most interested in a new name for Nosework * A new name for more advanced parlor tricks * A class that involves outtings into the world * A class that teaches useful skills around the house like picking up keys or phones * And a class for people who have their own ideas of things to train, but need some guidance.

If you have ideas or suggestions, please email me! Lauren@b-morecharming.com

Wednesday 3/9/11 10:14am

For the last 2 weeks, I have had electricians rewiring my house. They were nice enough guys, but it meant some serious disruptions to my work life and my home life. And most imporantly, to my animals' lives. Deuce the 8 year old Border Collie, has a fairly set routine during his day that involves sleeping in his crate and not making a noise until his father gets home in the evening. Then he hangs around with us while we cook and eat dinner. He then spends the rest of the evening chewing on something or working for food in other ways while Rob and I relax/work/read/watch tv. With the electricians here, there were 2 weeks where Deuce got no sleep during the day because of all the banging and strange noises. His walk schedule was interrupted by the workmen because they were afraid of him and wanted him kept in his crate while they were there. His crate had to be moved around the house to accommodate the moving of furniture and their need to cut holes in my walls and floors. He had to be flexible and reassured of his good behavior almost every day. This brought to mind a couple of things that I think are important for owners to remember. Dogs are not flexible animals by nature, they don't often "go with the flow" well, and when asked to do something different it can create some anxiety/excitement/unrest. The longer a dog has had a given routine, the harder it will be for them to be flexible about changes. Luckily the disruption to Deuce's routine was one that was easy to predict. I knew they were coming, I knew what was going to be involved in the work, and I knew how it would impact my dog's life. So, for several weeks before the work began, I started messing up his routine a little at a time. This involved things like, feeding him at odd hours of the day, and walking him at strange hours for varying amounts of time. I took him out of the house during the day on errands with me, and took him with me to my training space a couple times just to get away from the routine of sleeping all day. I moved his crate around the house preemptively so that wouldn't blow his mind when coupled with all the noise from the construction. And even with all this, probably the most important thing that I did was set up chew toys, and food dispensers, and big bones, and frozen kongs that he could have in his crate so that he would have an outlet for any angst. I knew there would be some barking and some excitement and some anxiety, but I didn't want it to throw him so far off his game that he would panic or injury himself, or make himself ill. And by being there when the workers started each day, and by being sure to rotate in the crate activities for him, I was able to get him thru the 2 weeks of construction unscathed. All in all, it was a hard time for all the creatures in this house. Rob and I included. The cat had to be flexible about her litter box and food being moved twice, the rat had a different view everyday for 5 days, and the lizard had to go a couple of days with no crickets, but overall everyone was great about it. And how I can blog and podcast and work to my hearts content without having to worry about my house catching on fire. And the dog has gone right back to his stable routine of sleeping in his crate in the bedroom all day until Rob comes home and he can begin his evening routine of being a Border Collie of leisure.

Tuesday 2/22/11 8:57am

Another snowy day here in Baltimore. Which means I should blog about some indoor dog entertainment. If you are home for the snow days, getting out for walks is great...unless your dog is afraid of the snow, or has long enough hair to get snowballs packed between their toes. Or, I suppose if the snow is taller then you or your dog! But let's say you want to stay in your pj's and drink cocoa and skype with your friends. What do you do with your dog then? Well, first and foremost, I recommend training. Train new behaviors, shape something cute that your dog already offers like sneezing or shaking or bowing. But if you are working from home or are stuck entertaining your human kids all day, then make some fun for your dog that they can enjoy independently. I am a huge fan of anything frozen. If you are outside shoveling, take out a frozen bone or even a frozen hamburger from the freezer and let your dog chew it, or bury it in the snow if they like. You can also scatter kibble or treats around the house. I recommend using cups of kibble for this, so you don't lose any volume. You could also move their dog bowl to a new location and then set them loose to find it. If you have one of those red kongs laying around, you should stuff it. Not just the usual smear of peanut butter that entertains your dog for 5 minutes. I am talking about making some instant potatoes with melted peanut butter, taking some apple or banana and some kibble or dog biscuits and filling that kong completely full. If you have a beginner dog at this kind of work, then I would recommend giving it to them at room temperature. If your dog is advanced at problem solving, or is a hard working/highly motivated breed, then freeze that sucker and let them have it frozen. I keep a couple of dollar store stuffed animals in a closet for rainy days too. They are easy to replace, and most dogs enjoy tearing them apart. If you are handy you can sew them back together, if not, at least you aren't out $10 per destroyed toy. And lastly, playing fetch or tug in the house can be great fun. Move the furniture aside, create a safe pathway and roll a ball around! Or do some running slides in your socks and let your dog run along too! After you have worked off some of your dogs excess energies, you can surely get some couch/napping time with as little interruption as possible!

Monday 2/21/11 8:03am

I was reminded last week of how many different version of dog training and dog trainers there are in our world. I was having a conversation over the internet with a member of a forum community that has nothing to do with dog training, and discovered that we were both professional dog trainers. Now, I am wary of people who say they are dog trainers, mostly because anyone can say they are a professional, and all that means is that someone is willing to give them time or money to work with their dog. I was hopeful to hear that this person use phrases like positive reinforcement, and dog friendly training. But when I checked out her website it was far from accurate in my opinion. She uses prong collars, and dominance theory to teach dogs to submit and behave for their owners. When I asked her about this, she listed several books that she loves that discuss how the mother dog would discipline the puppies and how both prong collars and dominance rolls are normal for dogs. The truth is that Positive and Reinforcement have become diluted by their use by people who have no intention of being postive or reinforcing to dogs. I find a great deal of resistance to "clicker training" when talking to clients because they have heard or experienced it not working. What this tells me is that there are trainers out there misusing the clicker, or using it without the understanding of the science and applications behind the device. The clicker isn't a magic wand....it is just a meaningless noise until you know what to do with the science. Let me pause here and lament the HUGE amount of pseudo-science and hokey-pokey bs that is available out there for willing and innocent dog owners to stumble across. I don't blame the dog owners for being confused or even for digging their heels in on issues like treats and dominance. "Professional" dog trainers have done them a massive disservice by presenting anecdotal evidence as scientific fact, and for taking their own limited training/learning experience and making it law. Quality assurance in dog training doesn't exist, and so consumers are left to assume that if someone has written a book, or been training for 15 years that they must know a thing or two. Often this couldn't be further from the truth. There are many examples of these pseudo-scientific explanations that are often given to novice dog owners. One of the most dangerous in my mind is that dominance is the answer to all problems, and that you can calm/motivate/redirect/scold/reassure your dog with different tactile or positional moves like scruff rubbing, dominace rolls, laying on the dog, even who goes thru doorways first. And the justification of these behaviors is often rooted in how dogs behave towards each other. "Mother dogs do this to scold the puppy, so do this to get them to stop mouthing. You are the dominant animal now....make that puppy respect you." Or, " the prongs just mimic teeth on the neck, which dogs are used to, so it actually calms them. They aren't in any pain." Most unfortunate, is that people see these methods in TV programs, in their local mega-pet stores, and in a huge percentage of the books available in their local book stores. If only there was some labeling that could be used to help dog owners distinguish between unskilled or undereducated dog trainers and the actually professional scientists who are available to enhance your dogs life as well as your own. There is only one regulatory body for dog trainers that is independent of a school or correspondence course. That regulatory body is the CCPDT. They are affiliated with the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) which is a professional organization for trainers. The APDT mission statement says there are there to further positive dog training and education for trainers. Google them if you are interested. Without having to be a member, anyone who wants to be a 'certified' dog trainer can pay them several hundred dollars to take their test and hold the title for 5 years. But even they have questions about choke, prong, and shock collars on their test. All of the other certifying bodies in dog trainer require you to be a student of their school first, to learn their methods before they will put a piece of paper in your hand and tell you to go train dogs. It is an imperfect system. Even tho I hold the title, I found the test to be less then positive and certainly not based in current scientific dog training tactics. So, what is a dog owner to do? Well, first off, reading this blog is a great start. Be sure to check out resources listed on this website. Next finding a good trainer who understands the actual reproducible, graduate level science behind learning theory and ethology is critic. If your dog trainer doesn't discuss Pavlov, Skinner, or Pryor, look elsewhere. If your dog trainer isn't attending continuing educational classes with PhD level speakers, look elsewhere. If the trainer's methods couldn't work on other species (any other species), look elsewhere. If your trainer doesn't give you sources for their statements or information, look elsewhere. If your trainer suggests that you can be "dog-like" in your training methods, look elsewhere. You and your dog are fundamentally different species, and because you are the one with opposable thumbs, and the capacity for logic, you are the one who needs to learn to comprehend and accomodate and make comprehensible for your dog. And if you really need a good dog trainer, ask us, we can find you someone near you whose methods are sounds and who we can endorse.

Tuesday 2/15/11 7:45am

Welcome to the B-More Charming School for Dogs BLOG! We are looking forward to using this space to address topics that are of interest to our clients, animal care professionals, and the general pet owning public. We will have blog entries from our staff, from our friends, and occasionally from some of our clients who are tackling particularly difficult or relevant issues.

As always, we welcome your feedback, questions, concerns, and requests for information. We are also in the process of adding a podcast, and some free homework videos in the near future! Check back often and as always, email us training@b-morecharming.com with any questions or concerns!