The possible fallout of old-age deafness on our dog

My Working Cocker Spaniel, Pickle, used to be as the breed name suggests – cocky!

Pickle was confident and lively.

Heralded by sound

A highly alert dog, he was ready to react immediately to things happening around him. He loved action of any kind. On thinking about it now, a sound of some sort would have given an early warning.

Louder things like a car door slamming before someone comes to the door. Like hearing a crash before seeing an upside-down dish on the floor. Like someone walking down the stairs before entering the room.

Pickle’s super-hearing for at least 12 of his 14 years also made him aware of subtle things we ourselves can’t hear. Dogs can hear about four times as well as humans,

He got warning when humans moved or got up to walk out of the room. Before taking him outside he would hear me draw breath and he was immediately there, waiting for his lead. Literally he could alert if a pin dropped.

A silent world

There has been a big change in his personality recently and it’s coincided with his loss of hearing. This has happened over a relatively short period of time. Certainly since I moved into my new house eighteen months ago. The increasingly deaf Pickle has had a lot of new things to get used to.

He is soon to be 14 years of age.

Pickle has now lost his early warning system. He won’t hear someone coming into the room – they are suddenly there. If he’s asleep, he may wake to find himself alone in the room. He never heard people walking out.

This has resulted in a general loss of confidence, particularly when he’s in an unfamiliar situation. He now reacts to things which he would before have had audible warning of.

No early warning system

His hearing had been his early warning system. Now he uses his eyes. He is watching for anything that may move. He’s become a lot more reactive to things he sees. Being generally more jumpy, he barks out of the window at birds – something he never did before.

He now shakes like a leaf when in a new place. He trembles at the vet’s (I’m working at helping him out with frequent social visits to the vet waiting room). He now shakes on walks when someone approaches us.

I believe he would have adapted to deafness better had he been younger.

Hand signals and body language

One thing he’s adapted to brilliantly is hand signals and gestures. These depend upon getting his attention in the first place of course. Calling out “It’s okay- it’s only a bird” falls on deaf ears literally.

I went out for three hours today and watched him on the camera. Where before he would have settled happily, he was pacing from door to door for much of the time until we got back home.

A silent world

I try to imagine what it must be like for him. Pickle is now in a silent world – a world in which as a pet dog he has little control. He has no early warning system anymore.

I never realised before how reliant he was on his sense of hearing. He now has only his eyesight and sense of smell to rely upon.

We underestimate the influence of hearing on our dogs’ behaviour.

Pickle still has his lively, enthusiastic and humorous times. But due to what I am sure is his deafness, he has lost some of his cocky confidence.

For dog behaviour help: www.dogidog.co.uk

You say your dog is ‘a member of the family’. But….

We may say our dog is a ‘member of the family’. But do we really treat him or her like another member of the family?

When you come home, do you welcome your teenagers with ecstasy, kissing them and fussing them while they jump all over you so that the whole thing becomes almost unbearable with excitement?

When you eat your meals, do you have your children jumping on you, letting them help themselves from your plate?

If your kids alert you to something scary, do you tell them to shut up?

Do your kids jump about and scream at you until you take them out for a walk? Do your children drag you down the road, kicking and screaming at people you pass?

Do you share your bed with your teenagers and do they have a tantrum if told to go?

If you want to watch TV in peace, are your kids jumping all over you and demanding attention.

While they sit beside you, do you touch and cuddle them all the time?

Would your teenagers follow you all over the place and cry or cause damage when you go out?

Some dogs could well be happier if they were treated more like we treat our kids.

Food for thought.

(For the record, my own dogs share my bed when they so wish, but happily get off to let me in. I might feed from the table at the end of the meal if there is something left over – but not if I’m being jumped on. If I’ve been out for half an hour I don’t welcome them like I’ve been away for a month. They are treated much like the dog equivalents of how I used to treat my children….)

My website with 1300 case stories: www.dogidog.co.uk

Shades of grey between leadership and giving our dogs autonomy and choice.

Which should it be? Giving our dogs autonomy and choice, or leadership?

Eleven years ago I started to write up some of my case stories (starting at number 815).

Looking back I see little mention of the word ‘choice’. The word I used was ‘Leadership’.

Going through the stories of eleven years ago, find myself cringing at some of the language I used to use. I never realised I had changed so much in my approach over these years.

‘Leadership’

In nearly every story I go on about ‘Leadership’. I believed that being a good ‘Leader’ to our dogs underpinned everything else.

A Leader, by making all the decisions, removes the stress of responsibility from the dog. (There is an underlying implication that leadership means a degree of dominance).

It seemed to work okay. Maybe because indirectly it reduced the dog’s stress levels.

Here are a couple of examples of my wording.

Molly was withdrawn and needed to get her old mojo back. Here is an excerpt:

“This again is a ‘Leadership’ issue. She now needs strong owners to behave like her ‘rock’ and not to over-fuss her. ….. In nearly every aspect of Molly’s life she is making the choices, whether it’s where she sleeps, when she eats. when she comes in. Where and whether they walk and so on. This could be a big pressure upon a child let alone a nervous dog in a human’s environment”.

Here’s the story – I have changed the wording to ‘parenting’ as it now makes me feel so uneasy.

….and, a second story:

I headed this one ‘Being King isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be: “

“For Benson there is a downside to being King in that without leadership he feels exposed and unprotected. He’s easily scared of things like bikes, pushchairs, umbrellas and so on. When mainly men look at him or lean over, approaching directly or entering his personal space, he’s scared. With convincing human leadership he will be much more relaxed. He will be less touchy about his own personal space. Less likely to worry about collecting and possessing trophies. Less jumping up, humping and dominating.

It can be a long job gently and fairly to convince a dog like this to relinquish his responsibilities. To be more relaxed. Trying to do it through domination and force would make things a hundred times worse.”

Oh dear!

Today I believe it’s important for the dog to be given choices. Particularly when the dog is fearful or anxious. Our job is to help him or her to make the ‘right’ choices (in our own eyes of course) – or to think she has choice! Often these really have to be our own choices.

I remember when my children were little. At bedtime I would ask them ‘do you want to walk upstairs or shall I carry you?’. The real question, ‘do you want to go to bed now?’ wasn’t one of the choices!

Questions. Shades of grey.

How much freedom of choice and autonomy should our dogs have?

How much decision-making is a stressful burden?

Should there not be some boundaries put in place by ourselves? A dog living in harmony with his or her humans, living within the rules of the household, surely is going to be a happier dog?

Won’t a dog who doesn’t believe he owns all resources be a happier dog? A dog that can allow people to come and go without jumping all over them be a more relaxed dog? A dog that doesn’t feel he has to ‘sort out’ other dogs on walks a happier dog?

Is a very well-trained dog who is constantly ‘commanded’ and controlled, a happy dog?

Freedom of choice

I’ve found a more recent story with a ‘freedom of choice’ quote that I feel comfortable with today:

Maggie was so scared she wouldn’t go outside. Giving Maggie choice:

“If things don’t improve she (the lady owner) will take things back to the beginning and deal with them one at a time. Harness on. Walking towards the door or maybe garden gate. Walking out and back in. Getting in and out of the car. Walking a few feet down the road in the direction of the nearby field and so on.

Maggie would have choice at every stage. The lady will be able to use food because she will keep Maggie under threshold.” Over threshold, she won’t eat.

No mention of ‘leadership’.

So what should it be? Giving our dogs autonomy and choice – or leadership? There will be many shades of this grey amongst trainers, behaviourists – and owners/guardians.

My knowledge in ‘force-free’ training has come a long way since I began eighteen years ago with case number 1. I’m actually quite relieved I can’t read my case stories from the beginning!

Now my prime underlying goal is reducing stress – from wherever it comes and whatever it takes. But leadership? Yes, where Leader means Protector and, in cases where the dog can’t make the decisions, Decision-Maker.

My case stories: www.dogidog.co.uk/my-case-stories

The most important thing for a dog to feel? Safe.

The young man I saw yesterday sat at a table outside the café with his German Shepherd on a head halter. I recognised him so I said hello.

I had to approach nearer than the dog would have liked in order to go into the café. The dog barked.

Why? She felt unsafe.

I look through my ten most recent cases. The underlying cause behind nine of their issues is the dog doesn’t feel safe.

He or she feels disempowered.

The dog may not trust the person who is trapping him on lead to protect him sufficiently.

Little Alfie barks and growls at new people, particularly in the house. He doesn’t feel safe.

Working Cocker Hattie will stop, lie down and shake when a car goes by. She doesn’t feel safe.

Cocker Spaniel Jet, when out, will bark at approaching men and show aggression towards certain dogs. He doesn’t feel safe.

Young Ozzy barks at the lady and may pull at her clothes. Probably nothing to do with feeling unsafe.

German Shepherd Annie, on lead, barks and lunges at other dogs. She doesn’t feel safe.

English Springer Beau barks and lunges at people on walks. He feels unsafe.

Labrador Smudge barks and cries when left alone. With nobody about, she may not feel safe.

Labrador Indie cowers and runs from certain beeping sounds. He doesn’t feel safe.

Darwin, an Australian Cobber Dog, gets over-excited when people come to the house and won’t leave them alone. This may not be pure joy. He may feel unsafe.

Fritz, a German Wirehaired Pointer, has damaged the metal crate and caused himself injury by trying to break out. He panics. He certainly feels unsafe.

The big question is, how can we empower our dog to feel safe?

For finding help so your dog can feel safe, go to www.dogidog.co.uk

Getting your deaf dog’s attention with a remote control

My Pickle, now 13, has gone completely deaf over the past few months. He is still very active and adventurous.

For Pickle to have off-lead freedom, I need to be able to get his attention. Checking in with me regularly isn’t enough. That’s not ‘recall’.

All I want him to do is look at me.

I needed to get his attention remotely – to give him a little nudge. He would then respond to my visual ‘come’ signal straight away.

The government is to ban electric collars in England from February of next year.

At last! They have been banned in Wales since 2010. This is because they are used as a warning or a punishment. They can cause pain, fear and confusion. They are unethical and inhumane, particularly in the wrong hands.

The draft legislation has this definition of an electronic collar:

‘Electric collar’ means a collar with an integrated electronic device that may be activated and directly controlled by a person by means of a remote-control device so as to send an electric current from the collar to the cat or dog that is wearing the collar.”

For those who think it also may be banned, using a vibrating box with remote control is altogether different. There is no electric current, They need not be attached to a collar. They are two different things.

The first delivers a shock. The second either a vibrate or vibrate with a buzz.

We can make use of this in an ethical way – the ‘remote’ controlling of a gentle vibration. A gentle and humane method of getting a deaf dog’s attention.

Like a gentle tap on the shoulder.

How I use it:

The little box that vibrates and buzzes, the receiver, I fasten round Pickle’s waist with the box on his back. (Pickle will be unable to hear the buzz but I can). He feels the very short vibration on his back. This is from the box itself vibrating, no metal prongs conducting electricity like a shock collar.

I worked out an effective way and 100% aversive-free way to do this.

NB: if you do this, at any sign of unease, immediately stop. It may not be appropriate for your dog.

The end result?

One press of the remote button gives half a second only of gentle vibration on Pickle’s back. He then will reliably seek me out to look at me. I may have to wait. I don’t keep pressing the button as one half-second gentle vibrate should be enough.

I then signal for him to come to me – or indicate we are changing direction (his recall has always been good). I reward him. Job done.

The vibration is to become a CUE – similar to a whistle or a cue word. Not a warning or correction of any kind. It’s a cue to look at me from wherever he is, that’s all. Much like I may gently tap his back when he’s near in order to get his attention.

A summary of how the process went:

I began by holding the vibrating box lightly to his back and feeding chicken heart treat during the half-second vibrating. I watched him carefully. No signs of stress at all.

I increased pressure carefully. No reaction.

I fastened the collar with vibrator quite loosely round Pickle’s middle not his neck, the gadget touching his back.

I continued to pair the half-second vibration with chicken hearts. Vibration set at a low level (which I have never increased).

Next I waited for eye contact then paired vibrate with Pickle looking at me, along with food.

A problem: I found that he stared at me, or he fixated on the food bowl or the remote in my hand. I realised I was using vibrate as a marker for already looking at me – and not a cue to get him to do so.

Removing food bowl and remote. I now put the food further away and hold the remote in my pocket where he can’t see it.

A visual marker. I then introduced a different marker for when he looks at me which has to be visual – a thumbs up. The principals are those of clicker training.

The sequence now: I press the remote. Pickle looks at me. I mark with a thumbs-up immediately he does so. Then I step over to the treats and feed him. The food follows the thumbs-up which is a ‘bridge’ between looking at me and the reinforcement.

I wait for him to lose interest and look away before repeating the process

He’s getting it!!

Now I am doing this over and over, in various locations so he learns to generalise. It needs lots of practice.

A little lesson learnt: don’t make it too hard too soon. Keep away from too much distraction. I made the mistake of taking Pickle into the garden too soon and the competition from other things and sniffs took priority. His response to the vibrate needs to become more of a reflex first and changes in environment done more gradually.

Keeping Pickle safe and for me to fully enjoy my walks again

This isn’t about teaching Pickle recall or any other training other than to look at me. It’s not about correction in any shape nor form.

It’s solely about getting Pickle to clock in when I want him to, not just when he so decides. Just as he used to when he could hear me and I called his name.

Once he looks at me I can signal to him. Then I can keep him safe on walks and relax myself. The long line just gets tangled the way he runs about, in and out of undergrowth and around trees.

For help with your deaf dog, go to www.dogidog.co.uk

Cryptorchidism? The Lost Ball

A client of mine has a dog with an undescended testicle. She has been looking into the possible association with some of Jasper’s behaviour.

Interesting.

What is cryptorchidism?

To quote Wagwalking.com, ‘cryptorchidism is the failure of one or both testicles to drop into the scrotal sac in male dogs. The testicle can be retained in the abdomen or anywhere along the path to the scrotum pouch’. 

It’s hereditary and most common in pure-bred dogs. Research suggests dogs with cryptorchidism may have other congenital problems as well. If the ‘lost ball’ isn’t found and removed, torsion can develop. This is an extremely painful condition.

Physical problems

The testicle twists upon itself, inhibiting blood flow if the undescended testicle isn’t removed. The dog is thirteen times more likely to develop testicular cancer.

My client’s dog suffers from unexplained pain with possibly associated behaviours. This started her down this route of exploration.

What about behaviour?

I am particularly interested in the possible behavioural impact. Bearing in mind that behaviour and pain are closely related.

And….

‘In cases when a dog’s neutering history is unknown – even when the dog appears outwardly neutered – and the dog exhibits the libido or other hormonally driven behaviors typical of intact male dogs, the possibility of a remaining, retained testicle should be considered’.

Hormones

Vet HQ gives a little bit more on the behaviour angle and how it affects hormone production, hence behaviour. To quote:

1. The internal testicle may make too much female hormone and result in a “male feminization syndrome.” These dogs will develop prominent nipples and be attractive to male dogs. Other dogs may produce excessive amounts of male hormone. This can lead to prostate disease and anal gland disease. Excessive hormones can also affect the bone marrow.
2. Behavioural issues associated with excess hormone production. This can vary between excessive aggression, being attractive to male dogs or being constantly picked on by other male dogs because they are seen as a threat.

I can’t find online a specific link between cryptorchidism and behaviour backed up by any depth of scientific research. I would like to find more than the odd anecdote here and there.

Colman wrote that her dog’s hormonally driven excessive sniffing had greatly reduced. This is anecdotal and could also be the case with a regular castration.

Maybe you can point me to something I’ve not found?

www.dogidog.co.uk

Esperanto for Dogs?

Esperanto is a ‘constructed’ language, created by Ludwig L. Zamenhof, a Polish doctor in the late 1800s.

To quote: It is the most appropriate language to eliminate language barriers and to allow international communication for everybody on a basis of mutual respect and understanding. The aim of Esperanto is not to replace the other languages but to be a “bridge” between different language communities.

Zamenhof’s aim was to create a language of communication that was neutral with the idea of creating a tolerant world, free from the horrors of war.

What has this to do with dogs?

Imagine two people who only know a few words in each other’s language. They have to make do with signing (at least they did, before technology provide instant translating via mobile phones). It’s very likely that one understands the other’s language better than the other or is expected to do most of the compromising.

Someone contacted me today with this message, and it got me thinking: ‘I have a Romanian rescue of about one year old. We have a huge issue with him in that when my partner goes to kitchen or comes into the bedroom he growls badly and shows his teeth and on two occasions he has actually bitten him. Then at all other times he loves my partner to bits’.

In the crucial months of this dog’s life he was on the streets.

Pet dogs are taught that some of the strange or rude (to a dog) things humans do, present no threat. A puppy that has missed out on this can only judge human behaviour by what would be acceptable from another dog.

Any contact this dog did have from humans will no doubt have been harsh.

So both these dogs and their humans need to learn ‘Dog-Esperanto’.

An example of unacceptable human behaviour: a human walks into a room and directly towards the dog, staring at him. He’s being friendly. BUT, If another dog approached like this it would be confrontational. Our dog would be scared and respond accordingly.

Another human example: A human puts a hand out to the dog. Worse still, tries to touch the top of the dog’s head. This would be would be very bad manners and possibly threatening to the dog.

An example of dog behaviour the human may not understand or even notice: The dog looks away and maybe licks his lips or yawns. The human ignores this so the dog may next show his teeth or growl. The human takes this as unprovoked aggression and continues doing whatever it was that prompted the response.

The dog may now bite.

The human may now become aggressive towards the dog.

How would ‘Dog Esperanto’ work?

The human would learn that a mutually understood way of approaching a dog would be not so direct and avoid hard eye contact.

The dog would learn that if he looked away the human would understand. He would then be able to relax.

If the dog growled, the human would understand he was only communicating his acute unease. The human would back off.

The dog would be given the opportunity to learn that hands only brought good things – food and fun.

A puppy living with kind humans from an early age would have learnt to accept the quirks in human behaviour that would be alien to a street, wild or feral dog.

A human living with and loving a puppy would make an effort to understand puppy language (hopefully).

If those crucial first few weeks have passed by before the dog comes to live with humans, the mutual language has to be learnt.

Not just by the dog. By the humans as well.

The dog, of course, is another species living in the human’s environment. It’s only right we should put in most of the effort to ‘read his language’.

Get help with reading your dog

Anticipatory Barking

Does your dog’s barking drive you mad?

Barking is one of the most annoying things our dog does, isn’t it. It can be so hard to stop.

And this is the point. When our dog barks we try to stop the barking rather than change the cause of it.

There is a huge market in devices to stop barking by making it uncomfortable for the dog. This by either an electric shock or an uncomfortable sound, vibration or smell.

In America and maybe other countries, horrendous surgical de-barking is still legal.

Like when a baby cries, barking has an urgency about it.

Barking annoys the neighbours.

Most dogs will alarm bark on hearing a sudden sound. It’s natural and to be expected.

An aggressive bark will mostly be as the dog tries to increase distance between him or herself and something they feel is a threat.

Most dog owners will at some time experience demand barking. This when the dog wants something. Or attention barking.

Is not most barking actually in anticipation of something?

Some alarm barking will be in anticipation (or fear) of something that the dog fears might follow. Aggressive barking may be in anticipation of a threat getting too close.

Demand barking is in anticipation of the dog successfully getting what what he or she wants. It’s the same with barking for attention.

Nearly all my noisy Working Cocker Pickle’s barking is anticipatory in some way.

When we get up in the morning he barks with excitement in anticipation of running outside. (Now I wait for a short while and do something else first before going to the door).

He then will bark in anticipation of his breakfast (I now feed him randomly).

He then sits at the door barking for someone to come downstairs and into the room. This person has made a routine of giving the dogs a biscuit first thing. He now waits a few minutes first.

I used to draw in breath before getting up to take the dogs out. Pickle knew that was the signal for getting ready to go out. He barked. (I now sometimes draw breath without going out, or take the dogs out without first drawing breath!).

In the early evening my 12-year-old Pickle recently started staring at me and barking. I really don’t know why, but it will be in anticipation of my usual reaction (to talk to him). I now either call him onto my lap (not what he’s barking for whatever that might be), or I get up and walk out of the room.

Importantly, I now give him some wanted attention before he begins to bark.

….and so it goes on.

Looking at most barking as anticipatory doesn’t have to be very scientific.

We can cut down the barking by breaking the connection between the trigger and what the dog anticipates. Just common sense really.

More instances: If the dog is alarmed at a certain sound, then make that sound trigger food. This changes what he anticipates (counter-conditioning).

Does seeing another dog trigger barking in anticipation of it getting too close? Let seeing another dog trigger walking your dog away from it while you cheerfully feed him. (Counter-conditioning).

Routines and rituals.

The best way to deal with a lot of barking which has an anticipatory aspect? Regularly change our routines and rituals.

Dogs are very clever at reading the smallest signals. They only have to take place two or three times to create that pattern that causes barking!

Is your dog a chase junkie?

Be his supplier no more.

The young couple has a beautiful Border Collie pup called Sabre, five-and-a-half months old.

He greeted me outside the house, pulling hard to get to me. Most of the time I was with them he was flying all over the place or barking at the young man in particular. He barked for him to throw a toy. The man always complies because the barking ‘goes right through his head’.

He barked at me too but not so much. I ignored it. After a couple of hours of ignoring the barking and giving Sabre things to do, I introduced Click for Calm.

At last Sabre understood what we wanted of him.

The wrong kind of stimulation

They have a very clever puppy (he’s a Border Collie!) that needs a lot of mental stimulation. Too much stimulation of the wrong kind can cause problems.

They are pumping him up too much, the young man in particular. The fallout comes in the form of over-excitement. He barks and obsesses with people throwing things for him. .

There are issues that need addressing. These are chasing their two cats, chasing cars, jumping all over everyone and barking. The barking is relentless and constant barking. Like many Border Collies in particular, Sabre repeatedly drops a toy onto a lap. Then he barks. And he barks — until someone gives in.

Mealtimes are impossible. To stop Sabre barking, the young man plays while he’s trying to eat.

Honing Sabre’s chasing skills

Then don’t want him chasing the cats or traffic.

With all the throwing they are practising and honing Sabre’s chasing skills. Border collies herd because they were selectively bred to and it’s in his genetics. The sequence is staring, stalking then chasing.

They are making super-skilful his already predatory instincts. All the throwing fires him up to the point of obsession. He would go on until he dropped. His brain gets a buzz every time he chases. To his brain, like cocaine, constant chasing is addictive.

He now needs to go cold turkey.

They will cut right down on throwing and never respond when he’s pestering. They don’t need a thrower on a walk (see ‘I Hid the Ball Thrower‘). While he’s chasing his obsession he is missing out on the enrichment of the environment. This is where all the sights and smells are.

Unwittingly taught him to bark

By always giving in they are reinforcing the behaviour they don’t want. Because barking drives them mad, they give in! They can see that they have actually taught him to bark.

Now they will show him that the barking and flying all over them doesn’t get the attention he wants. They will do this by looking away, ignoring it and even walking out.

This is not enough. Equally important is to show him what he can do instead and to fill his life with more suitable stimulation. We started Click for Calm and that’s the way to go with Sabre. If they have no clicker on them, ‘Yes’ will do, followed by food (but no chat as chat would simply pump him again).

He caught on super-fast and was soon experimenting to find what would earn him clicks!

Click for Calm is the antidote.

Yes, he can have a ball, but only for ‘changing the target’ work and nothing else. They can throw other toys, but only a few repetitions and never when he’s asking for it. After three or so throws, they should remove the object.

They will provide alternative behaviours to the things they don’t want. They will find alternatives that are incompatible with cat-chasing for instance. When he’s eyeing up a cat, on a cue word he can chase a ball in the other direction instead. Change the target.

With Sabre on lead and in a room with the cats, they will use Click for Calm. Each time he relaxes, looks away or settles he will earn a click.

Suitable enriching activities

They will provide as many ‘calming’, brain and chewing activities as they can. Already they feed him in various imaginary ways and teach him training tricks. They will add ways of allowing him to let off steam like a rummage box or snuffle pool.

Now they will instigate plenty of play and training sessions, but only when Sabre is quiet.

He will learn to keep away from them when they are eating. They can give him something to do that is incompatible with barking at them while they eat. For now they will throw a handful of kibble all over the grass and shut him outside. He must never again think that barking at them while they are eating will get him back in. They will need to hold their nerve — let him in once and will never stop.

They live in a friendly environment with people calling. They will need to pass the word around. The will ask other people to give Sabre a chance to calm down before they say hello to him — a notice on the gate too.

As the barking affects the young man the most. I gave him my clicker. With this small object and a supply of tiny bits of food in his pocket, he has the power to stop the demanding barking.

With Click for Calm Sabre can settle down.

NB. For the sake of the story and for confidentiality also, this isn’t a complete report. Details and names may be changed. If you listen to ‘other people’ or find instructions on the internet or TV that are not tailored to your own dog, you can do more harm than good. Click here for help

For many more stories of dogs I have worked with, please go to my website www.dogidog.co.uk

Patience is a virtue and virtue is a grace…..

…and Grace is a little girl who wouldn’t wash her face. If you were my age you may be familiar with this saying from your school days!

Each time I hear the word ‘patience’ it triggers this saying in my head. Then it makes me think of my childhood.

From an early age I’ve used patience and stickability.

I was self-driven to excel at playing the piano. I had an end goal in sight. Two end goals actually. I went to a school that specialised in music and the competition was strong. I also wanted to be able to play wonderful piano music.

I had a great teacher who inspired me.

In my dog behaviour work I need to be a great teacher too.

I must instil patience and stickability.

Elizabeth B Moje of the University of Utah said “I teach students, not subjects’. So true.

Instilling patience in a worried dog caregiver is a huge challenge when there can be no honest guarantee at the end of it. The most scientifically knowledgeable behaviour expert in the world would be ineffective as a behaviourist without being able to inspire patience.

Your being patient hangs on one thing and that is belief.  Belief in me. You have to believe that, if you stick to my plan for long enough, the outcome will be successful.

In our line of work we can never make promises, so this can be tricky. ‘Follow my advice for long enough and I can promise you will be able to leave Bertie for up to six hours a day’. That would be unethical.

Guarantee of future success with your dog is impossible.

We humans can believe in things of which there can be no proof of – like the existence of a heaven. But achieving everlasting redemption may depend upon avoiding doing things.

Using threat would be as unethical as promises. ‘If you don’t follow my advice your dog will likely end up being rehomed or put to sleep’.

Instilling belief in me and my advice is my biggest challenge. If, as a child, I didn’t believe I could eventually conquer Bach’s Italian Concerto I wouldn’t have put in the time and practice.

Belief instilled in dog owners hinges upon understanding. Understanding based on the principals and methods behind the advice. Understanding of the amount of systematic work and repetition necessary.

Belief is best backed up by ‘what others say’. Testimonials and Google reviews infer some kind of guaranteed success. Other people can say on my behalf what I myself can’t.

I often tell my piano-practice story to a client whose dog, for instance, has separation problems or reacts negatively to dogs he meets on walks.

If I wanted to play the piano well it meant practice. Hours of practice. Scales, One hand at a time, slowly then faster and then hands together. Then the same with a new piano piece.

One step at a time.

It took hours, days and weeks. I kept the end goal in mind all the time.

With so much repetition I was setting up brain memory until I could play the piece by heart. When on a stage in a concert or taking an exam, my hands just played it. I never thought about the individual notes anymore.

So it has to be with many dog behaviour and training protocols. This includes unlearning old habits whilst building new ones.

“Repetition creates the strongest learning—and most learning—both implicit (like tying your shoes) and explicit (multiplication tables) relies on repetition. It is also why it is so hard to make behavior change, because the new behavior must be repeated for so long—and the old behavior must be held in check.” (Gretchen L. Schmelzer, PhD – not referring specifically to dogs).

Schmelzer ends “So with rare exception, repetition is the only real option for learning, unlearning, and re-learning—and yet as adults we so often believe that we can and must learn everything fast. Everything is supposed to be 3 easy steps, or maybe 5, but not 100. We are designed to learn through practice”. We can apply this to both ourselves and our dogs.

Repetitions build proficiency.

Repetitions require patience.

Patience requires motivation.

Motivation requires belief.

I had total belief that, if I worked for long enough at the last movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique piano sonata, I would conquer it. So I did.

In these days of instant everything, we are working against the flow.

Chip away at it, a bit at a time, and suddenly you realise things are falling together. (That’s not a guarantee but a high probability).