Bare With Us!

Here in ARF's Behavior Department we are busy discussing ways to spruce up Critter Chronicles. Just know that we haven't forgotten about all of you or the dog and cat behaviors that fascinate and inspire. Check back early next year for some exciting new posts.

We can't wait! Well...some may just chill till the New Year!

Photo courtesy of GNS Photography

can you hear me now?

Something I see all the time that continues to perplex me is this: Folks who are quite obviously using reward based training methods with their dogs yet who for some reason still feel compelled to deliver all verbal cues in stern/harsh tones of voice. The whole misconception folks have about needing to "use a firm tone of voice" so that the dog knows that you "mean it" is just mind boggling. It plays into the whole myth of dogs somehow being our "adversaries" and us needing to keep them in line. Here's something to consider: dogs are quite adept at noticing all kinds of nuances and components that make up a scenario, so it's easy to see how the vicious circle of "firm tone of voice" starts - the handler uses a "firm tone of voice" to deliver verbal cues hence that tone of voice becomes part of the whole training picture to the dog. Every so often the handler delivers a cue in a normal, non firm tone and the dog either doesn't respond, or responds more slowly. The handler assumes this is because they didn't use a "commanding" enough voice, whereas the more likely explanation is that the dog recognizes the cue when it's delivered in the "stern" voice and when it's said in normal tones the dog is unsure if it's the same cue because part of the picture has changed. Usually in this case the handler will then adopt "stern voice" and deliver the cue again and the dog has a lightbulb moment "Ah, I recognize that cue now!" and responds, thus perpetuating the handler's belief that they have to "sound like they mean business" all the time. Personally, given the choice of a lifetime of delivering cues in "stern voice" or one spent giving cues in "pleasant voice", I'm going to opt for the latter option. My dogs have learned all their cues delivered in a conversational tone of voice, and respond beautifully to it. If one of my dogs doesn't respond to a cue, then I'm going to make it easier for them to understand by following the verbal cue with a hand signal/lure. Or maybe I need to make the task easier, or find a location to work in with less distractions. When we're working with our dogs we're teachers, so what kind of teacher do you prefer to be - one who finds a way to communicate their message clearly, guided by patience and understanding? Or one who gets exasperated and resorts to anger and threatening tones?

Notice that I choose to use the term "training cues" vs. "training commands" - again, it may seem like much of a muchness to some, but there's a big difference to me - I'm not ordering my dogs around, or being the boss of them - we're in a partnership, and it's a pretty awesome one if I do say so myself. In a good partnership you work together and help each other out. In a bad partnership you bully, threaten and intimidate, which doesn't really sound like much of a "partnership" now, does it?

Summer is winding down here (not that you'd know it with the late heatwave we've been having!)and we've had a lot of great adoptions. Here's looking forward to the Fall, cooler weather, and more critters finding great new homes!

Q. How do you approach a dog you don't know? A. You don't!

I was at a BBQ recently where I saw an all too common sight: A woman was restraining her chihuahua so that a 2 year old girl could come up and pet him. Problem was that the feeling wasn't mutual and the wee chi quite clearly did NOT want to meet the wee girl - he was alarm barking up a storm as she approached. His owner told the wee girl "It's all right honey, just put your hand out for him to smell..." Which the child did, resulting in more barking from the panic stricken chihuahua. At this point I intervened and told the owner that her dog didn't appear to want to interact with the little girl, and explained to her that he was trying to communicate that via his barking. The thing that really got me about this scenario was that the chi's owner KNOWS that he was never socialized with kids and doesn't feel comfortable around them, yet was still putting him in a situation that could have literally and figuratively ended in tears. It ends up that she thought that by asking the little girl to approach "the correct way" with her hand extended, that all would be well and her chi would stop barking. After all, she'd always read that that was the "right" way to introduce yourself to a dog. Later in the evening the wee girl's mum approached me and said that she'd been quite uncomfortable with letting her daughter approach a barking dog like that, but had gone along with it because the dog's owner had said it was "ok". We ended up having a great conversation about appropriate ways for kids to meet/interact with dogs. Here in the intake department we have a lot of experience meeting new dogs as on a weekly basis we interact with 100+ dogs at the source shelters on rescue run day. On thing you won't see us doing is sticking our hands out for the dogs to smell. Instead we enter the dog's kennels and let them choose (or not) to approach us. Legions of children (and adults) have been told over the years to "extend the back of your hand for a dog to sniff..." as a way of meeting strange dogs, and I have to say, every time I see it happen I cringe a little - if we as humans decrease distance when meeting a strange dog we've just removed one of the dog's modes of communication, namely choosing to create distance, so if that dog doesn't particularly want to interact with us what other methods does he have left to try to communicate that to us? The ones humans find alarming - namely growling, barking, snapping etc. Right now I'm sure there's a chorus of folks out there saying "Well I've always done that when meeting a dog without any problems...." and my answer to them would be "Yes, but you've probably been lucky enough to meet dogs who want to meet you - what happens when you finally come across the dog that doesn't want to meet you?"

Recently, our vet here at ARF, Dr. Heather, sent out a link to an online article about a study conducted in Hungary regarding dog growls. The article included three mp3's of different types of dog growls: a playful growl, a threatening growl, and a food guarding growl. Basically the study was trying to see if dogs understand and react to different types of growls. Dogs were played the sound of a "food guarding" growl as they approached a meaty bone and from the group of dogs used in the study, only one continued to approach and ate the bone, the other dogs backed off or if they did engage with the bone, walked away from it when the "food guarding" growl was played a second time. Interesting stuff. I played the mp3's of the different growls at home on my laptop to see how my own dogs would react. When I played the "playful" growl my Chow-Pug mix, Nugget got super waggy and animated. She didn't react to either the "threatening" or "food guarding" growls. But my corgi mix, Stella, who slept through the "playful" and "threatening" growls woke up and looked very concerned, scanning the room, when I was playing the "food guarding" growls. Stella, by the way, can be a wee divil about guarding stuff from Nugget. I'll wager that Stell knew EXACTLY what that growl meant, she's just not used to hearing it from another source! Play it for your own dogs at home and see what they think!

try walking around in your dog's shoes for a bit, they might be a bit small, but it'll be worth it...

Imagine the scenario: You see some friends walking towards you and they're with someone you don't know. This someone looks interesting/cute/unusual so you go up to say hi to them. But as you get nearer and extend your hand in greeting they start backing away from you - at first they're quietly saying "I'm warning you, don't get any closer...." but you don't notice because at that exact moment you look over to your friends and say "Who is this? They're so interesting/cute/unusual...." By the time you look back towards the person you're trying to greet they've started shouting at the top of their lungs "GET AWAY FROM ME!!! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME THE FIRST TIME??!! JUST BACK OFF, I MEAN IT NOW - GET AWAY!!!!" You don't understand because, hey, you're a nice person, don't they realize that? "It's ok" you say as you keep advancing on them, "I just want to say hi...." By now the panicked person has lost all control and before you know what's happened to you they've punched you in the face.

Seems like kind of a ridiculous scenario doesn't it? I mean, who amongst us would keep advancing on another person, that we didn't know, while they were shouting at us to get away? Some of us would've noticed the person muttering "I'm warning you, don't get any closer...." and thought to ourselves "No problem pal, I don't intend to!" And if we had missed that sign we most definitely would've backed off when confronted with a hysterical shouting person, right? Yet time and again folks DON'T show dogs the same courtesy - I walked by a situation involving a guy trying to say "hi" to his friend's new dog and it was basically identical to the one related above - only difference is that the dog DIDN'T bite - this time.... Next time though, the person saying "hi" might not be so lucky... Moral of the story? Folks need to try walking around in a dog's shoes and see things from the critter's perspective. Owners need to advocate for their dogs and recognize when they're uncomfortable/anxious/scared and then endeavor to get them out of that situation ASAP. It's perfectly ok to say "Sorry I don't think my dog wants to say "hi" right now...." And while we're dreaming of utopias, wouldn't it be great if the general populace could become well versed enough in basic dog body language to be able to recognize when a dog doesn't particularly want to say "hi" to them? Hey a gal can dream, right?

dogs aren't wolves, humans aren't apes, and the earth is round, not flat....

I recently stumbled across a great blog post from a UK dog trainer on the topic of why dogs aren't wolves and why we shouldn't be looking to "wolf pack theory" as a means to interact with our dogs. The blog was posted on the website of The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, a UK organisation who try to promote professionalism in the field of dog training/behaviour counselling, as well as the use of science based training techniques vs. pop mythology and outdated, outmoded, strongarm methods that rely on the use of force and pain. Here's a link to the blog post: David Ryan blog

It's amazing just how pervasive the whole "dogs were wolves once so we need to replicate pack structure in the home blahblahblah..." fallacy still is. I know people who've never even had a dog, yet they will spout off at length about "dogs needing to know who's the alpha etc etc etc.." and who'll bandy about the term "dominant" with wild abandon - mind boggling really. Entire careers have been made based on perpetuating this myth, by self styled "gurus" who want to instill a sense of unease amongst the dog owning public, making them think that their dogs are some kind of sly adversary, waiting for the right moment to stage a coup. Interestingly, none of these gurus have actually lived amongst and studied wolves in the wild. They also don't tend to have any background at all in animal behavior or learning theory. But hey, who needs all that academic guff when you've got marketing and celebrity culture on your side, right?

One fella who HAS lived with and studied wolves in the wild for 20+ years is biologist David Mech. Way back in the day, as a postgrad student, he too thought that wolves were governed by strict dominance hierarchies. He was studying captive wolves at the time, where he observed a lot of conflict going on. It was only when he went to study wolves in their natural environment that he realized that real wolf packs were actually family units, ma wolf, da wolf, the young 'uns, some adolescents who were still hanging around helping out but sometimes went off to start their own families. It also became apparent that the "man made" packs that he'd observed amongst captive wolves were just that - man made, not a natural family unit. It was just a bunch of non related wolves thrown together and expected to live with each other whether they liked it or not, in other words a completely unnatural situation, yet it's been used as the basis for "dominance theory" advocates ever since. David Mech pretty much hit the nail on the head when he made a statement to the effect that humans may be descended from apes but that doesn't mean that we look to Silverback Gorillas for tips on raising our kids - similarly dog owners shouldn't look to wolves for tips on raising their dogs. So after that rather long winded rant, what's the take home message? Simple really - your dog isn't your adversary: if your dog goes out the door ahead of you, he's not trying to exert his "dominance", he's just excited about wanting to go on a walk. If you don't like him barging out the door like that, ask yourself this - did you ever actually teach him to politely wait at the door instead? You can't expect him to do what he doesn't know.

The culture of blaming the dog for his perceived short comings really needs to stop. We're the ones who've asked another species to come live in our homes, so it's up to us to develop relationships based on trust and partnership, not fear or the threat of force. The last time I checked dogs were unable to do a Google search for "waiting at the door 101", and similarly they aren't able to grab the laptop and go to Amazon to order "Living Harmoniously with Humans for Dummies". Someone actually has to step up to the plate and take the time to teach them the skills they'll need to live with humans, and that someone is us. All of this bogus dominance "you gotta be the alpha", threats of force or pain stuff is just too "caveman"-ish if you ask me. So three cheers for the 21st century and let's have a big round of applause for patience, trust, clear communication, partnership and most importantly, viewing dogs as our companions, not our adversaries.

Lots and lots of great adoptions recently - it was particularly great to see Bookworm, Tim Tam, Deeley and Happy go home in recent weeks. Here's looking forward to more of our critters finding their forever homes, and in the meantime all of us at ARF will keep on doing our best to keep them all happy and healthy with plenty of time for play, training, power naps and snacks while they're here with us!

Through A Dog's Eye's - don't miss this show coming up on PBS!

Just wanted to let everyone know about a program that's going to air on PBS in the next few weeks - it's called "Through a Dog's Eye's" and is about service dogs. If you go to the PBS website they've got some sneak preview clips up and it looks like it's going to be awesome! The thing I really love, from what I've seen of the sneak previews, is that the group the program follows, Canine Assistants, advocates the use of positive, reward based, pain and fear free training methods! At every opportunity they are promoting how effective these methods are, how dogs learn, and debunking myths like dominance theory etc. One of the trainers in one clip makes a particularly astute point when he mentions that many of the folks who'll be getting a service dog from them have limited mobility and need to be able to ask their service dogs for behaviors without having to use force or the threat of force. All the Canine Assistant dogs are clearly and quite visibly working for their handlers because it is a rewarding task for them, and not because they're afraid of being punished. I'm really looking forward to seeing the entire program when it airs - we need more shows like this on television, ones that encourage teamwork and building relationships with our critters based on trust, not intimidation. Our dogs aren't our adversaries, and this program is a great example of that fact. Here's a link to the program, tell all your critter loving friends about it!

Through a Dog's Eyes

UPDATE: Got a chance to see the above program last night (it aired earlier this week but you can still view it in it's entirety online). It was pretty cool to see all the stuff the service dogs can do, and all of it trained via positive training methods, and pretty inspiring to hear that the gal who is the founder of Canine Assistants herself suffers from MS. It was also interesting to see that even with 18 months worth of training, a few of the dogs were not able to handle the stressors involved in assisting someone with disabilities. I think it was important for that to be shown to the viewing audience so that folks could see that there isn't some "Lassie Saving Timmy from the Well" gene that makes service dogs superhuman (or more correctly "superdog") and therefore unaffected by stress.

This year's Business of Saving Lives conference here at ARF has come and gone and the consensus is that it was a roaring success. There were lots of great speakers on offer, great attendance and general excitement and enthusiasm about all of the information being shared. Jean Donaldson was the first keynote speaker on the opening day of the conference and she was brilliant - she spoke about some of the commonly bandied about myths regarding dogs and their origins and behavior. Presenting her information in engaging style, full of insights and humour, she was hands down my favourite speaker. In a world where media created celebrities try to outshine real facts and science we are lucky to have someone like Jean Donaldson flying the flag for facts, not fiction. Dr. Tess Kommedal's sessions appealed to both cat and dog folk and proved to be very popular. There were some great practical presentations, such as Bay Area dog trainer Kim Moeller, formerly of the Behavior Dept. at the SF SPCA, speaking about evaluating dog-dog skills in the shelter/rescue environment. For cat folk, there was Mikel Delgado and Dilara Goksel Parry, owners of Feline Minds, cat behavior consulting, talking about behavior modification for cats in a shelter setting. They too have a sheltering background, having both worked in the cat behavior department at the SF SPCA for many years. They were definitely another weekend highlight for me. Other presenters during the weekend covered topics such as volunteerism, internet marketing, nutrition and alternative medicine. This year's conference has certainly set the bar high for next year's one, so here's looking forward to BOSL 2011, and another stimulating and informative weekend!

We've had some notable adoptions this past few weeks - wee Caboose, the unofficial Behavior Dept. supervisor went home finally. It's been brilliant to watch her morph from an overwhelmed wee thing to the sassy and brassy Caboose that we all know and love. We're delighted that she finally got the happy ending that she so richly deserved! I miss watching her gallop around the office playing with her foster brother, Lincoln. Denver our big goofy boxer guy went home as well, as did little Tim Tam - hurrah!

Shelter dog Fred, ready for his close-up and earning his CGC!

Here, as promised is some video we shot of shelter dog Fred earning his CGC a few weeks ago - Fred wants us to remind you all that CGC stands for "Canine Good Citizen", so make sure you address any fan mail to him accordingly! Fred rocks!



For more information about the AKC's Canine Good Citizen Program, click here!

cars, guitars and dogs....

I was recently car shopping. I've always previously had great luck buying used cars, never got a lemon or a money pit, always dealt with honest and straightforward folks who were simply trying to sell their old cars. But this most recent experience was another story altogether - I saw a car with a big crack in the engine and a very bad weld trying to camouflage it, I saw cars leaking copious amounts of oil, and cars described as being in "mint" condition only to discover that they were dented up, and needing lots of $$$$ worth of work done to them to get them road worthy. And that was just one weekend! But it was enough to put me off looking for a used car via craigslist - a few days later I went to a car lot and got a car there. Having always had great luck buying via private sales, it's interesting that I was so quick to turn to a car lot. But here's the deal: I've had 5 cars in my entire life - and while each purchase was a good and positive experience for me, there just weren't enough of those to offset my weekend's worth of bad experiences. My faith was easily shattered because it was only built on 5 used car purchases.

Now compare that to something else I've invested money in over the years - guitars. I've likely owned anywhere from 75-100 guitars, always choosing to buy used to get more value for money. Of that number, I've bought a few that were duds, but did that stop me from buying another used guitar? Nope, not at all. Probably that's because I'd had so many successful purchases that I just chalked the bad ones up to experience, didn't get knocked out of my stride at all, and continued on my merry way.

Ok, now for the dog content: the same thing applies for socialization - you've got to pad your puppy with positive experiences, so much so that when the odd crummy one happens it doesn't knock your dog out of his stride, he just gets up, dusts himself off, and continues on his merry way! Sometimes folks will say that their dog was "around kids all the time" as a puppy, but there's a big difference between being "around" kids and having kids actively handling that puppy all over and it being a fun experience for the pup. Was the puppy around kids of all ages, or just the family's ten year old son and his similarly aged pals? Or take the example of the vet's office - our dogs generally only see the inside of a vet's office once a year for vaccines/check ups, so is it surprising that they don't tend to have very positive associations about the place? Compare that to the dog who's owner drops into the vet's with him regularly just to say hello and get treats from the staff. The yearly vaccine jabs will quite likely still be a less than joyful experience for the dog, but one that is potentially outweighed by the dog's accumulated previous learning of "This is the Place Where My Friend the Receptionist Gives Me Cookies...."

Moral of the story: when socializing your puppy, think about padding, nice, comfy, resilient padding, and as much of it as possible, so that stuff like "Big Needles at the Vet.." or "Small Loud Child Pulling My Tail...." bounces right off it.

Big news last week: Shelter dog Fred earned his CGC!!! How awesome is that?! And not surprisingly, his stubby tail was wagging the whole time! We filmed the whole thing so we'll get some video of it up next week so folks can see our big happy fella showing off his skills! Well done and a huge thank you must go out to volunteer Debbie R., who devoted so much time to taking Fred through the CGC prep classes and also came to the shelter every day to go over his "homework" with him - cue cyber applause now!

What a Difference A Week Makes!

The trainers here at ARF have continued to work with Shelby on impulse control with the flirt pole. Check out her "Leave it" and "take it" now!

Flirt Poles and The Terrier

We have a great dog here at the shelter named Shelby. She is an awesome dog with a load of energy. Because she is a bit of a steamroller with other dogs, we were looking for a way to bust her energy and work on manners training with her. Intro the flirt pole and we have our answer!

Essentially it's a PVC pipe, with a rope inside and a pom-pom on the end... but to Shelby, it's the most fun ever! Many dogs love this activity and will expend multitudes of energy chasing and pouncing. It's also a great opportunity for impulse control.

Here is a video of Shelby from last week playing with the flirt pole. Fast forward to this week, she has learned to "leave it" until instructed to "take it" and her sits and downs are cleaner than ever! By the end of our flirt pole session, she is ready to take a power nap in her condo! Energy busted!






The flirt pole is easily constructed and can be used for dogs big and small- you just need to adjust the size of the pole and pom-pom to the size of the dog.

rambling thoughts about dog training in the new decade, with a tip of the hat to the internet....

So we're only a few weeks into the new year and there has been all kinds of activity here at Intake and Behavior: Shelter trainer Lindsey is back from maternity leave and we're delighted to have her around the office again, as are all the dogs I'm sure. We've also expanded the department, adding a third Intake and Behavior Specialist position and this week have welcomed Alicia P. to the team! She's moved over from Animal Care and it's going to be awesome having an extra person on board! Hopefully now that we're fully staffed again, and the hectic holiday season is past, we can get back to posting here more frequently!

So, like many trainers, I subscribe to all kinds of training and behavior related online mailing lists, message boards and forums. It's kind of mind boggling how the internet has opened up so many avenues to the dog training community - there are online groups for folks who own/work with: shy dogs, dogs with separation anxiety, dogs who resource guard, reactive dogs. There are groups and message boards for clicker training enthusiasts, agility aficionados, shelter trainers etc etc. I recently got the online newsletter that British trainer Kay Laurence sends out - she is, to quote Karen Pryor, "one of the world's top clicker trainers....". There was one particular sentence in it that jumped out at me: Training is a process, not an event. Kay was writing about how people sometimes have the misconception that training is an event, something that begins when you enter training class and ends when you walk out the door. Or that it begins when you pick up the clicker, and ends when you put it down. So not true. Kay's goal is to get her students to shed that mindset, so as to better train their dogs. Humans continue to learn for their entire lives - we learn the best routes around town to avoid traffic, we learn new skills via new jobs/new hobbies & interests, we gain new knowledge from reading about topics that interest us. Learning didn't stop just because we left school. Similarly our dogs continue to learn for their entire lives. Therefore training, which is learning, is something that should be seen as ongoing, part and parcel of sharing our lives with dogs. If we fail to recognize that then I don't think we'll be able to get the most from our relationships with these amazing critters. It also got me thinking about something we say a lot as regards working with dogs with behavior problems - that when you're working with, for example, a resource guarder, you should be either training or managing at all times - you're actively doing behavior modification training with your dog, or when you can't, you are managing your dog so that they can't continue to rehearse the undesired behavior. Kay's quote reminded me that ideally we're doing this (training or managing) with all dogs, whether they exhibit problem behaviors or not, because training is a process, not an event. When we can't train, because let's face it, there are times when life happens, then we need to manage the environment and our dogs, to set them up to succeed, by not giving them opportunities to learn or enact the wrong behavior.

So how does this rather rambling post relate to shelter dogs? Simple: many dogs end up in shelters because their original owners never took the time to train or socialize them properly. On top of that, it's likely that their owners didn't know how to manage their dog's behavior either, to prevent it from escalating. As Dr. Ian Dunbar said when he spoke at the Business of Saving Lives conference here last year "Shelter dogs are created..."

Speaking of Dr. Dunbar, if you haven't yet checked out his DogStarDaily website, you really, really should - there is new content added all the time: blogs, photos & video clips submitted by members, downloadable training manuals (Before You Get Your Puppy & After You Get Your Puppy are both available for download), all kinds of training tips and advice, and "DogStar TV". An interesting and enjoyable way to while away some time online and a must for new dog owners - I have a friend who lives with his family in the rural Irish countryside. They've been wanting to get a puppy, but live literally hundreds of miles away from the nearest trainer. I love the fact that I'll be able to send them to DogStarDaily to learn everything they'll need to know about raising their new critter! See how I've cycled this post back to my opening paragraph about the mind boggling possibilities the internet has opened up for the dog training and owning community?

So as we embark on a new decade it's pretty clear that there's never been more access to information and support for the average dog owner. Here's hoping that folks take advantage of the wealth of information out there and utilize it. In the sheltering world we commonly set ourselves the goal of wanting to rescue more animals each year. Well I'll let you in on my secret wish - it's that as the decade progresses I'd like to see shelters like ourselves save less animals, because if more dogs get the socialization and training that they need as puppies, and ongoing throughout there lives, then there will be less animals needing to be saved. Combine that with continuing to spread the message about spaying and neutering and the possibilities are mind boggling to say the least.

Here's to the new decade!

puppy + foster family + socialization x 100 = great start in life!

What could be cuter than a basket full of sleeping wee puppies?

Every few weeks the intake team brings back several litters of underage puppies, some still with their ma, and some without. That we're even able to do this is down to a great and coordinated team effort between the source shelter and ourselves, our foster coordinator and our volunteers. Generally we'll find out beforehand from staff/foster volunteers at the source shelter that they've got some underage pups for us. When it's only one or two litters we'll usually have them travel back in crates in the cab of the rescue truck with us - this is a sometimes noisy, and sometimes odoriferous experience! But many times we'll have too many litters to be able to fit up front with us, so we'll rustle up a volunteer to wagon train down to the Central Valley with us in a smaller van. Their generous donation of time and driving prowess allows us to save multiple litters at one time and get them transported back to the shelter completely separately from the adult dogs that we pull, hence lowering the risk of the pups being exposed to disease.

Upon arrival of the puppy transport back at ARF, they're met by our foster coordinator Erika, and a bevy of expectant foster volunteers, not to mention some of our animal care staff who help Erika clean up some of the pups who've had a bit of a, shall we say, messy journey!

You might think that these puppies "start" their new life once they're adopted, but in actual fact their new life begins the moment they're handed over to their new foster family. Every pup we bring back is a "blank slate" as it were, everything they experience is a learning experience. Fosters don't just serve to provide a warm, safe place in their home for the pups to develop and grow - they also play a huge role in introducing these wee critters to the sights, sounds and experiences they'll encounter in life. Puppies need to meet folks of all shapes and sizes, and kids of all ages. They need to be handled all over and regularly, in a manner that is positive and enjoyable, so that they grow up to be comfortable being handled and take it all in their stride. We ask our pets to accept all kinds of invasive handling by people they hardly know - being restrained at the vets office, getting their nails clipped by the groomer, but there isn't a "handling rocks" gene, so it's the job of us humans to set our pups up to succeed by teaching them that handling rocks!

When the pups are old enough to go up for adoption they'll return to the shelter and we'll conduct their puppy evaluations - definitely a fun part of the job, as it's always fascinating to see all the different personalities in each litter. Then they're ready to embark on the next leg of their journey, and hopefully well prepared for it thanks to the effort put in by their foster family!

great expectations.....

Finding folks who specialize in cat behavior can be challenging in a field that has tended to be very "dog-centric", but here in the Bay Area we are very lucky to have the wisdom of the folks at "Feline Minds" at our disposal. This cat behavior consulting business is run by Mikel Delgado (certified cat behavior consultant) and Dilara Parry, both formerly of the SF SPCA's cat program with years of experience between them. They have a really great, interesting and informative blog, which can be found by going to their website: http://www.felineminds.com/ Some folks might scoff at the thought of someone needing an in home cat behavior consult, but when you think about all of the pressures and expectations required of the modern companion animal, it's really not so unusual:

Both cats and dogs are expected, in 21st century life, to tolerate and accept a huge variety of things/events/interactions that the critters of the past never really had to deal with. More dogs are living in urban/suburban environments than in the past. Our city space has become more "dog dense" as a result and dogs are expected to be able to deal with all kinds of random things - noisy traffic, big lumbering buses and trucks, motorcycles , bicycles passing close by, skateboards, people popping out of doorways or cars, not to mention lots of other dogs encountered while out on walks, of varying levels of sociability. Our cats are expected to not scratch on furniture, to be able to discriminate that the litter box is the only place they should relieve themselves, to live harmoniously with other pets in the home. Folks also expect critters to be ok with being hugged, kissed, petted and picked up, not just by ourselves, but by other people/kids as well, even in instances where our pets don't know these folks!

Wow, talk about great expectations to be putting upon our animals. All of these expectations can quite understandably turn into pressures that our critters have a hard time dealing with. It's our job as humans to help our pets learn to feel more comfortable with new stuff/situations they encounter. But it's also our job to recognize when we're asking too much of them - would YOU feel ok with random strangers rushing up and hugging/kissing you? So many things that we associate with affection - hugging for example - can make our animals uncomfortable. We think "hug" and the critter thinks "restraint". If our own pets feel a wee bit uncomfortable when we hug them, imagine what it's like for them when a total stranger or someone they barely know does it?

Many dogs and cats end up in animals shelters purely for the "crime" of acting like what they are - a dog or a cat. An example being a cat surrendered because it "wouldn't stop scratching up the furniture..." Cats need to scratch, and if we don't provide them with appropriate scratching devices, they quite understandably will utilize whatever is to hand, or in this case, paw. Keep in mind that cats have preferences for surfaces they like to scratch, so if one type of scratching post/surface doesn't rock your cat's world, then it's time for a "scratching post casting call" - try out some different types. Many dog behaviors that humans find problematic are not only normal from the dog's perspective, they're also ones that we as humans selected for way back in the day when we decided that these dog critters were kinda useful: barking = "cool, that will alert the village to an intruder, we like dogs that bark!" or chasing stuff = "awesome, we'll harness that so you can keep our livestock under control!". Nowadays many of us just want our critters to be companions, but guess what - the behaviors that are natural to them, that we selected for, can't just be turned off like a tap because we find them inconvienent in the modern world. We need to make sure we are providing appropriate alternatives for our pets.

So if folk wonder why there's the need nowadays for the services of dog or cat behavior professionals, the answer is: because the modern world and it's expectations puts so much pressure on our critters. Just because some pets seem to be able to take it all in their stride doesn't mean that all pets are going to be capable of that.

On a final note for those of you still reading, Thanksgiving is almost upon us. That can mean houses full of visitors, lots of tempting food about, front doors opened for longer than usual as folk arrive/depart. Maybe your critter thinks this kind of busy, hectic scenario rocks, but if not, giving them a quiet place to relax in another room or area of the house will likely be something that your pet is thankful for! Don't fall prey to the very human notion that your dog/cat will feel "left out" or "lonely". If a house full of visitors is too overwhelming for them, then having a peaceful room to relax in will be akin to a relaxing day at a spa in comparison! Ok, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

defensive driving for dogs...

I've been thinking a lot recently about that old adage "prevention is easier than the cure..." and how important it is to be proactive, rather than reactive when it comes to preventing behavior problems. An example would be when out walking a dog - rather than not paying attention to the environment at all, and then being "reactive" as a handler, having to react because a dog lunges up a tree after a squirrel, or starts to bark when seeing another dog, a more successful strategy is to be "proactive", by being aware of your surroundings, ready to help your dog succeed no matter what scenario is thrown at you. Among other things, this requires being "present" when out with your dog, keeping them engaged, talking to them, keeping them focused on you when passing temptations such as cats, squirrels, or a half eaten burrito! It's like defensive driving - you can be an excellent driver, but you still need to be aware and prepared for the potential for unexpected events. Example: one of my neighbors has a very reactive dog - when I see her approaching with her dog I don't just assume that she's going to manage her dog's behavior, I'm proactive and manage my dogs' behavior instead - I'll cross the street, or stand using a parked car as a visual block until the reactive dog has passed, all the while keeping my own dogs focused on me using treats. My pups aren't reactive, and I'd like them to stay that way, so that means I have to be proactive and manage the situation so that they don't get the opportunity to learn that "shouting back" at the reactive dog is a viable option. Another example would be the dog park - some folks who are there with their critters are very "present", keeping an eye on their dog, able to interrupt and redirect play if it seems to be getting out of hand, mindful of whether or not their dog is enjoying himself, or overwhelmed. But some folks will show up, unclip their dog's leash and then pay more attention to their latte, or chatting on their cellphone, not mindful of whether or not their dog is playing appropriately, being harassed by unwanted playmates, or eating/rolling in something unpleasant. They're left in the position of having to react if their dog gets involved in a scuffle, whereas if they'd been "present" they likely would've had opportunities to prevent the scuffle from happening in the first place. 

We all know about how important it is to prevent medical problems in our critters - that's why we vaccinate them, give them monthly flea/heartworm treatment etc. It's equally important that we take measures to prevent behavior problems from developing, that's why it's so vital that we become proactive, rather than reactive. As Jean Donaldson says, "dogs are learning all the time, whether we want them to or not...." If we're present and proactive we can guide that learning, so that the dog can be set up to succeed - if we're reactive we just end up reacting when we notice a problem, and "prevent" mode is no longer an option, we're looking at "undo" instead...

Other news: Shelter trainer Lindsey is now Shelter trainer Lindsey, CPDT - KA, that stands for "Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed".  She earned this credential by passing a lengthy exam held by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers back in September. Well done and congratulations to her! Now when are you coming back to work? Joking, joking, no rush!

Lindsey stopped by the Behavior office with the new baby, Cassius, last week. The wee lad has a great set of lungs on him, and he got to meet Wilma and Jethro - Wilma showed him her green ball, and Jethro gave him a wee kiss..

a big round of cyber applause for... Animal Care staff!!

October really started on a high note because on the first of the month, Pickle, star of that box office smash "Pickle's Playhouse", was adopted! Just like the title of this post reads - let's give a big round of cyber applause to ARF's Animal Care staff, who helped make her time here with us not just bearable for her, but downright enjoyable! The photo above shows Pickle, now "Pepper", in her new home.

As nice as our facility is, the whole experience of being sheltered can be tough on dogs & cats. Some aspects of sheltering can be overstimulating for our four legged guests, while other aspects are understimulating. Here at ARF we are lucky to have our awesome Animal Care staff, who play a huge part in ensuring that our critters time here is as stress free as possible. As well as seeing to all of the animal's basic needs, the AC staff also find time to do stuff like: take a dog on a trail walk, run playgroups, teach dogs to use the agility equipment (Salty Dog and Suze are agility superstars!), play fetch, work on training cues, quietly socialize with the shyer cats, and play with the livelier ones. It's not just our modern facility that makes our shelter a nice environment for the critters - it's down to the hardworking folks who keep it running too - cue cyber applause now! 

Other news to report:

Shelter trainer Lindsey had her baby, a wee boy, named Cassius, I've seen photos of him, and the lad is a looker! Covering for Lindsey during her maternity leave will be fill-in trainer Ana, who just started, and will be working full time. She's a friend of Lindsey's, as they were classmates at the Academy for Dog Trainers last year. Her very lovely Portuguese Water Dog, Dara, is coming to work too - herself and Jethro are already fast friends!

Well, we are absolutely delighted that another ARF dog, wee Henrietta, has made the journey up to Dogs for the Deaf in Oregon, to begin training as an assistance dog! I'm sure she'll thrive on having a job to do, and what a difference she'll make in somebody's life!

The APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) conference is being held in Oakland this year, and there is an entire day devoted to issues surrounding working with shy/fearful dogs. Like many shelters, we see our fair share of shy critters, so it should be a really helpful and informative day altogether.

Raider Nation Cat Celebration

ARF's second annual Raider's Nation Cat Celebration is off to a great start sending home some wonderful older and overlooked cats. From September 24th-October 25th ARF waives the adoption fees on all cats over one year courtesy of the Oakland Raiders. 8 year old Lela and 5 year old Waffles have found new, loving homes. 3 year old calico sisters Touchdown and Coach went home together. 3 year old Quarterback and snuggly staff favorite Slim have also left the building for their forever homes. But the highlight of the Celebration is shy and gentle Helen who lived at ARF for a year and a half and is now in a home of her own. So at the end of the first quarter that's a total of 14 adult cats who have scored loving homes thanks to the Raiders!

happy beginnings...

It's always great to hear follow up stories about our former shelter guests or see photos of them in their new homes. As a member of the intake team here at ARF these follow ups are made all the sweeter because I can't help but remember where these critters came from and how they started out. Seeing and hearing about these dogs and cats living out the happy endings they so richly deserve never fails to make everyone's day here at ARF, as every single one of us has had a vital part to play in their journey from homeless animal to homeward bound. By and large, our shelter alumni are now enjoying being cherished companions and family members, but recently one of our shelter dogs was selected for some very special duties:

Marcus, is a 1 year old wirehair terrier mix we pulled from the Madera shelter back in August. He recently made the journey up to Dogs for the Deaf's training facility in Oregon. He was hand picked by one of their trainers, Erik, on a recent visit to ARF, and drove back up there with him the following day. Apparently Marcus really enjoyed his roadtrip, and soon will begin training to become a Hearing Dog, learning all the skills he'll need to be able to assist a deaf or hearing impaired person. This is kind of like a "happy beginning" for Marcus, as I'm sure he has a real adventure ahead of him! How awesome is it that a wee homeless dog from the Central Valley is going to get the chance to make such a difference in someone's life? And how awesome is it that we count him as one of our ARF alumni? Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Foster Socialization Training for Shy/Fearful Critters

Last Thursday evening, we had a great turnout for our Foster Training for Shy/Undersocialized cats and dogs. We had over 15 volunteers/families sign up to help our dogs and cats blossom into wonderful companion animals. The volunteers are now trained on how to make a dog or cat more comfortable in their foster home and out in the world, which will in turn help them to get adopted. What a great asset to have a team of core fosters who can help with specific behavioral needs! Welcome Socialization Fosters!

The subject of fear (and working with shy critters) is near and dear to my heart. Two of us behavior lasses have shy/fearful dogs in our homes and continue to work them on a daily basis. Working with these dogs is a labor of love, but it's well worth the kisses and tail wags at the end of the day.

Sibley (Lindsey's dog) is pictured below- happily hanging out in the truck as others are working!

We both frequent the Shy K-9's Yahoo Group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/shy-k9s/
and enjoy the resources of one of the members at http://www.fearfuldogs.com/. Check them out if you have a shy dog.

If you are interested in fostering (shy critters or medical need critters), please contact Erika at ekleoni@arf.net.

Rural Dog Syndrome

The majority of the dogs at ARF come from shelters in rural central California. Most adapt quickly to life in their new suburban or urban Bay Area homes. Others may take a bit longer because of what we have been calling "rural dog syndrome." I'll explain using my foster pup Jethro as an example.

We came across little Jethro in a kennel on the adoption floor of Madera County Animal Services. He was the first pit bull we had seen in their new adoption building so we figured he must have caught staff's attention to be lucky enough to make it up there. Turns out he came in as a stray covered in hundreds of ticks. While the patient shelter staff carefully pulled off all of the vile bloodsuckers little Jethro fell asleep on the table. When I met him in his kennel he showed me what a softie he was when he climbed into my lap to give kisses. Needless to say, he won himself a space on the truck.

Fast forward to Jethro in foster in Oakland. Whatever socialization he received in the rural town of Madera during his first seven months did not adequately prepare him for the change of scene he now finds himself in. He's quite noise sensitive, leaping up from a deep sleep to run to a window at the sound of a shopping cart full of cans and bottles rolling by. Everyday things can send him skittering away. This morning on our walk a gull the size of an adolescent pterodactyl swooped low over our heads and Jethro hit the deck. Walking up the stairs and over the pedestrian walkway spanning the train tracks is a trial that I've never given a thought to before now with Wilma, my well socialized dog who grew up in Berkeley.

It's not that Jethro has "bad" or "negative" associations about all the new sights and sounds he's encountering, more likely he has no associations or experience of them, so has no ability to process all the new stuff in his world. Finding ways to make Jethro think that all this new stuff rocks is ultimately what will enable him to thrive in more urban surroundings.

My job now is to help Jethro go from "country mouse" to "city mouse"- he absolutely loves people and that, and having a relaxed and easygoing sister dog helps him realize that things aren't really as scary as he he once thought. With patience, treats, and lots of positive experiences with the things he's never seen before, Jethro will be a happy boy, comfortable living in the busy Bay Area.

Introducing Shelter U

We're now on Week 3 of Shelter U and the volunteers and dogs love it! Through Shelter U, volunteers get to work with the dogs on the adoption floor to give them a bit of training before they find their forever homes while providing mental stimulation. The volunteers are learning training skills to train current and future dogs here at ARF. As a bonus, they learn skills to use on their own dogs at home. Today, one volunteer reported that her dog loves training with the clicker. She is using it to pass "squirrel city" near her house with quite the success!

Thus far we've worked on sit, down, watch, go to your mat, wait at doors, touch, and leave it. Many of the dogs attending class are new each week, but we also have a few repeat clients. They sing the praises of our volunteers efforts and look forward to class each week.

Here's a clip of shelter dog Suze at the very first class - Suze says "Learning ROCKS!"