1. Fencing. Yep, it is that simple. I don’t even bother planting any vulnerable plants without it. I use all types of fencing. My vegetable garden is entirely fenced, a yard within a yard.

I also fence individual plants. I have all kinds of different types of fencing, the cheap wire does keep out my dogs for the most part and you can see some of it in the picture above. I also use nicer decorative fencing. In my perfect world I’d have fencing that looked really nice around everything, but realistically speaking it gets pricey. That said, be creative, and remember that wire fencing is not always noticeable from a distance.

I also have found that if I fence a plant for a season or two, sometimes my dogs stay in the habit of leaving that plant alone. So at times I have been able to remove the fencing and the dogs leave that plant alone. I only test this out with well established plants though.

2. Minimize lawn. I have yet to figure out a way to get grass to thrive in a multiple dog household. Dogs rip it up, especially in early spring when everything is wet. My yard is partially shaded to boot, so not ideal for grass growing. Eventually, I would like to get the amount of grass down to a minimum, but in the meanwhile, it is a work in progress. One solution we recently came up with was to have this swath of lawn that followed my dogs natural running track (code for “path of mud”) regraded and covered with mulch. A decade of fighting and trying to get grass to grow there was just not worth it. So far, its working very well. I really hated how that area looked so much I never took a complete photo of it. I preferred to live pretending it didn’t exist. Here is a picture that shows a small part of the area.

Before regrading and mulching project.

And the way the area looks now.

After regrading and adding mulch

Now, I can hear my clients saying–but my dog eats mulch. Most dogs eventually outgrow eating mulch or just get bored of it. I provide a number of toys that I rotate in the yard to try to draw my dog’s attention away from mulch, shrubs, so forth. That said, if your dog is really focused on mulch, then obviously, mulch is not going to be the right choice. Look at other substrates like pea gravel (of course, if your dog likes to eat rocks, you may have to be even more creative!)

3. Plant dog-resistant plants. Liriope and daylilies do well in my yard and I do not protect them with any type of fencing. My dogs don’t eat them and they seem to survive in spite of being repeatedly urinated on. We also have two Yucca plants, and both are still alive. When I think about what will survive my dogs, I go for native plants and look at the public plantings along route 66. I figure, if it is low maintenance enough to survive next to a highway, it stands a chance at surviving my dogs.

One thing I don’t have to worry about is my dogs eating plants. They really don’t eat plants other than grass sometimes and those nasty clumps of grass left behind a freshly cut lawn. If your dog may eat plants, you will want to check whether any plants you select are poisonous to animals.

4. Provide some appropriate canine entertainment. We have some durable dog toys that we rotate and leave out in the yard as well as some very low height agility equipment. In the summer, we put out a small plastic wading pool for the dogs. Sometimes I hide treats in my yard and let my dogs have a great time tracking them all down.

5. Supervise your dog when he is outside. You can make good use of your yard time by playing with your dog yourself or doing a little training session. If you leave your dog alone, you may find your dog has worked on his own landscaping plans.

6. Have a sense of humor and be ready to experiment. Not everything is going to work out, but then that’s really part of the adventure of gardening. Sometimes, it is better to just let the dog enjoy the plant. My little Firefly loves to pick strawberries, and I think it looks too cute when she forages to deprive her. Periodically I let her come into the fenced garden so she can pick a few and enjoy them too.

I am not a professional gardener or landscaper at all and I’m always looking for other ideas on how to make my dog-friendly garden even better. If you have any ideas to share, please do feel free to chime in. Happy gardening!

]]> http://cooperativepaws.com/blog/2012/05/19/my-garden-has-gone-to-the-dogs/feed/ 0 http://cooperativepaws.com/blog/2012/02/07/is-therapy-work-the-right-fit-for-my-dog/ http://cooperativepaws.com/blog/2012/02/07/is-therapy-work-the-right-fit-for-my-dog/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:32:27 +0000 Administrator http://cooperativepaws.com/blog/?p=254 Continue reading →]]> I often receive requests for therapy dog training and preparation. I am always happy to help owners prepare their dogs for this kind of work. One of the first things I discuss with my clients is whether their dog truly would enjoy being a therapy dog.  Just as not every dog is going to enjoy competing in agility, working in search and rescue or work as a service dog, not every dog will enjoy working as a therapy dog.

When thinking about therapy work, it is important to keep in mind there are a wide range of therapy roles available for dogs. While all therapy dogs do need to be very friendly with people, a crisis response therapy dog traveling to a location where there has just been a tornado to support displaced residents is going to need a different level of training than a dog that is visiting a nursing home once a month for an hour or two.

All therapy dogs need to be friendly with people, happy, confident and well adjusted. While therapy work can be enjoyable, at times it also can be stressful.  Behavioral problems are exacerbated by stress and these should be addressed completely before undertaking training for therapy work.

Sometimes people call me with a young puppy that they would like to train for therapy work. Trying to predict what a puppy will enjoy doing as an adult is a bit like trying to predict the future career of a human toddler. Most of the time, you will not know if your pup is a good fit for therapy work until he is mature, closer to ages 2-3 or later. Just as great parents encourage their child to try different things with an open mind, a great dog owner will objectively look at their individual puppy as he develops before deciding definitively that therapy work is the right activity.  If it turns out that therapy work is not the right fit for your dog, there are countless other fun activities to choose from including agility, rally obedience, flyball, herding, lure coursing, canine scent work…and much more! Some dogs mature into being great therapy dogs when they are in their senior years. My akita-husky mix, Cupid, was far too rambunctious for therapy work when he was young, but when he turned 8, he was perfect for that role.

What if you had your heart set on doing therapy work but your dog is not really the right fit? Rest assured, you can still volunteer yourself! In fact, often times programs have many people who would like to participate with their pet and a shortage of people willing to do the behind the scenes work that makes running the therapy dog program possible. Also, most volunteer programs that run pet visitation programs also have direct face-to face support opportunities available. In fact, in my experience doing visitation with my own pets, I realized very quickly that residents truly enjoyed talking with me just as much as they enjoyed my dog’s visit.

Interested in learning more? Here is a short list of some information on therapy dog programs and certifications:

Therapy Dogs International

Delta Society Pet Partners

Hope Crisis Response

READ Therapy Dogs

Some Northern Virginia Therapy Dog Programs:

Fairfax Pets on Wheels

People Animals Love

Washington DC Therapy Dog Program:

National Capital Therapy Dogs

“My dog loves dogs so much he goes crazy! He pulls and barks, and when he gets there he loves them so much he jumps. I wish other dogs understood he really wants to play, but sometimes they get mad.”

While I certainly believe dogs can feel love, that’s not the emotion I would attribute to these and many other similar situations. In cases like this, a more accurate description is to say that the dog is excited. Dog trainers often refer to this over the top behavior as arousal.  Arousal can lead to a lot of unwanted behavior and occasionally even tip over into aggression.  Dogs may exhibit arousal for a lot of different reasons and the underlying emotions may vary.  The truth is the dog showing a lot of arousal when it sees a new person, may not “love” people at all. He might actually be nervous or unsure about them. Or may be he just becomes very excited by anything that happens near the doorway and his over the top behavior with visitors may have less to do with the visitor than it does with the fact that the doorbell rang just a second earlier.

There are also other reasons that some dogs may show arousal more quickly than others. Dogs that are under stress may become excited more easily. Some breeds and individual dogs may show a tendency to become excited very quickly.

Sometimes owners misinterpret their dog’s arousal as happiness and end up encouraging this behavior. Consider owners that throw a party when they get home “hey Rover, I’m home! Yay!” The dog responds by leaping all over the owner. The next day when a visitor enters, Rover reacts the same way, annoying the visitor and embarrassing the owner. Arousal can cause much more serious problems as well. For instance, the parent who enjoys watching his children wrestle with the family dog. One day a child is bitten and the parent is confused how this could happen when the dog seemed to “love” wrestling with the child so much. A very common situation I see in Northern Virginia is the owner who takes her dog to the dog park because she misinterprets her dog’s excited behavior in the park. One day her dog ends up getting into a fight and she is confused because her dog always seemed to “love” other dogs. A dog that is running might be having fun, or it might be nervous, scared, angry or just excited. A lot of movement does not necessarily mean a dog is happy.

Fortunately, we can help our dogs really be happy when we recognize arousal and excitement for what it is. Sometimes it is a matter of changing our own behavior, for instance by interacting with our dogs in a calmer way. Other times we may need to train our dogs a new behavior, such as to hold a calm stay when people enter the home.  We may need to come up with different ways to exercise and play with our dogs so that they are really having fun.  All of us need to make sure we are also spending some down time with our dogs, walking with them in a quiet park or relaxing with them at home.

Happy relaxing holidays to all!

The truth is that what may seem like a relaxing experience for you – a walk around the block – may be stressful to some dogs. The last time I took Firefly for a short walk we were barked at by 3 dogs, and one was literally just a foot away barking intensely behind a fence adjacent to the sidewalk.  These dogs were certainly not saying “hello, welcome to the neighborhood.” In fact most dogs are communicating “get out of my space!” with their barking.  Unfortunately, dogs do not understand property lines the way we wish they would.

Imagine if you were being yelled and threatened by many people while you were walking. Would this make you feel nervous? Some confident dogs may not be bothered by it and realize that they are safe since the other dogs are confined. However, some dogs react by starting to show aggression themselves. In fact I suspect this is part of the reason that dog-dog aggression is the most common behavior request I receive.  I remember one particular neighborhood where I worked with no fewer than 4 dog owners, all with dogs that exhibited dog aggression. They all lived within a few blocks of each other. I think that in some neighborhoods there are so many reactive dogs it becomes very challenging to avoid having this behavior triggered by the other dogs in the environment. Over time, when a dog is barked at repeatedly by the same individual dog very intensely, the emotions start to build and both dogs may begin reacting to each other. Voila, the neighborhood nemesis.

Many neighborhoods in Northern Virginia are really not set up to promote positive inter-dog reactions. Dogs need space, more than they have here! Dogs also don’t like surprises and most of our neighborhoods have large shrubs and vegetation that prevent dogs from having a good sense of what lies ahead. Combine that with narrow sidewalks and dogs whose exercise and behavioral needs are not met and you have a recipe for a lot of frustrated dogs behind barriers!

So, what is a pet owner to do? Sometimes the solution is simple, avoid the areas in your neighborhood that stress your dog.  Look for local parks where you can hike in a truly relaxing environment with your dog. You also can teach your dog to look at you for a great treat when it hears a dog barking. If your dog has a particular dog he is starting to become nervous about, be proactive. Bring extra great treats on walks so you are ready to start to turn his emotions around and keep as much distance away from the dog(s) he seems sensitive to as possible.  If your dog is already showing signs of significant stress or aggression on walks it is a good idea to get some professional help for your dog’s behavior. Firefly and I are on a mission, looking for a peaceful path in our neighborhood. It is not easy to find one, so wish us luck!

One of my favorite dog toys is the “chase it” toy available at www.mychaseit.com this great toy can be used inside or out.

I like indoor scent finding games, you can sneak a few treats in plastic food storage containers and scatter lots of empty containers too. Then send your dog on a sniffing hunt to find the hidden treasures.

If you have a flight of stairs use them, nothing to tire out a pooch like running up and down the stairs to play fetch. Of course if the stairs are really slippery or if your dog has orthopedic issues, you may be better off playing on a flat surface.

Don’t forget to train your dog, training burns up a lot of energy. You can train your dog tricks or even work on basic skills inside the house so he’ll be ready for those nice and dry winter days.

Fortunately, with a young puppy, there are some simple steps owners can take to prevent car sickness and anxious behavior in the car:

1. Start out with several very brief trips to new locations right as soon as you get your puppy. These trips should not be very exciting, the main purpose is just to get the puppy used to the car. A five minute drive to a quiet park is a great starting point.

2. Use a crate to confine your puppy in the car at first or use a leash or harness restraint. Provide a long lasting chew and toys for your puppy in the car.

3. Classical music may help some puppies relax in the car. See http://throughadogsear.com/ Remember that even if you like listening to loud music, the noise can agitate some dogs, keep the volume low.

4. The scent of lavender may help some dogs relax in cars.

5. Limit how much you feed your puppy before the car ride and crack open a window during the ride.

6. Avoid very hot weather and extreme cold for the first trips. Try to have the car temperature comfortable when the pup first enters the car.

7. Relax yourself, remember that dogs are tuned into their owner’s emotions too.

If your dog is already very anxious about car rides you may need to consult with a trainer or behavior consultant to address your dog’s anxiety more gradually. In some cases, owners need to work with a veterinarian to address the motion sickness medically as well. Behavior modification usually takes time, so preventing this behavior problem is always the best bet whenever possible.

The hard reality is that dogs do not all follow the same set of rules. Every dog develops at a different rate, even individuals of the same breed.  Some dogs mature very quickly, others may need a structured environment for much longer. Additionally, breeds change over time in their behavioral characteristics. Just because you owned many dogs of a particular breed, does not necessarily mean that this new individual dog will behave the same way your previous dogs did. The strategies and training techniques that helped you raise those dogs may not apply to your new pet.  Really, something might apply to 9 of your previous pets that were all members of “x” breed and not the 10^th!

Changes in society over time also influence how dogs are raised and trained. For instance, when I grew up dogs spent much of their time outdoors. We did not use crates and the dogs did not soil or destroy the house. Dog parks did not exist and people did not really care if their dog liked anyone else’s dog. We also did not mind when the dogs ate shrubs or damaged the landscaping. Similarly, people tolerated behaviors that they no longer tolerate. Barking, growling and even biting was not regarded the same way it is today in this litigious society.

As we age and our life changes, the challenges of raising and training a dog changes. Raising a dog when you are a young, active single person is a very different thing than raising a dog while raising children at the same time. Also, the dog breeds that seemed the perfect fit to you when you were 25 may not be the right match when you are 45 or 75.  Continuing to choose the same type of dog throughout your entire life because you are haunted by the “perfect” pets of your past is a recipe for frustration and disappointment.

Sometimes people are haunted by the memory of an imperfect pet, they are constantly worried that their new pet will follow the same path.  For instance, they will tell me “my last dog was very aggressive and I want to do everything possible to avoid this problem.” This is a wonderful goal, and perhaps even the impetus for their seeking training which is terrific. The bad part is if the owner is so anxious that she is constantly vigilant, looking for any possible indication of a problem. The owner’s behavior and body language conveys the anxiety to the dog and the dog may develop a problem –confirming the owner’s worst fears.

Often dog owners will say, “maybe I don’t really remember things accurately but…” The answer to this is, “there are no buts, you are not remembering things accurately.” Memories are selective. We often remember extremes – the best and worst parts of our past pets’ lives.  Comparing a current pet to our selective memory of our past pets is not only unfair, but risks damaging our relationship with our current pet.  Now the current pet either has to live up to an impossible standard of perfection or the relationship is strained by the fear of “what if something goes wrong.”

So what’s the answer? It is simple, appreciate the memories of your previous pets, honor those pets by remembering them as they really were: wonderful, special, imperfect.  You will not be able to recreate that relationship, but that’s what makes relationships with pets so special. Do not let those memories haunt you and interfere with your relationship with your new pet. Appreciate your new pet for the special individual that he is.  Enjoy training and spending time with him without comparing him to your previous pets and you will be able to cultivate a wonderful new relationship with him that is happy, fulfilling and most definitely not haunted!

Happy Halloween!

Most adult dogs are not happy to have an unfamiliar dog rush up into his or her face. Some dogs may react with a growl or a snap or other aggressive behavior, others might become frightened. Even those dogs that patiently tolerate the behavior may become less tolerant over time.  Moreover, some dogs that rush up to an unfamiliar dog show additional pushy behavior such as jumping on top of the other dog, standing with their head over the other dog’s shoulders, and may not respond to the other dog’s signals to back off. Owners often misinterpret this greeting behavior as “friendly.” This is not friendly, it is rude!  Add leashes to this situation and now you have two dogs that are trapped in this uncomfortable situation.

Recently, at a practice event for competition obedience that I attended, there were a number of dogs of various breeds in close proximity. Many of these dogs had advanced training, some titled at very high levels. None of the dogs were interacting with each other, they were paying attention to their owners. Why didn’t the owners have the dogs interact? Simply put, because most adult dogs do not necessarily enjoy interacting with unfamiliar dogs. Even adult dogs that are highly trained and extremely obedient will not always interact in a friendly way with another unfamiliar dog. Instead, these dogs know to listen to their owners, and – even more importantly – their owners know to handle their dog in a way that prevents their dog from making another dog uncomfortable.

Compare this situation to a typical visit to a pet store on a weekend, pet owners give their pets the full leash length and allow their pets to rush up to greet many of the other dogs in the store. These dogs temperaments and vaccination status is completely unknown. Since the dogs lack training, when the dogs become too excited or even aggressive, the owners have little to no ability to stop an altercation.

Pet owners sometimes mistakenly think that they are “socializing” their dog by allowing their dog to greet every dog they see on a walk or outing. Instead they are creating the very problem they hope to avoid, they are teaching their dog to be rude to other dogs. The dog is also learning to ignore the owner, that pulling on leash gets rewarded by the opportunity to greet a dog, and because some dogs will react aggressively, the dog is also learning that other dogs are not that friendly. Sometimes these dogs develop aggressive behavior to dogs themselves as they mature after repeated negative experiences.

The nice thing is that it really isn’t that hard to prevent your dog from becoming a canine close talker. Simply respect other dogs’ space. Do not allow your dog to greet every dog you see on a walk. Reward your dog for paying attention to you when other dogs are nearby. If your dog is friendly with other dogs, you can let your dog greet another friendly dog whose temperament and vaccination status is known after giving him or her permission to do so. Ask your dog to sit before letting him greet the other dog – do not let your dog pull you to greet the other dog.  Train your dog or work with a professional trainer to teach your dog to look at you when other dogs are around. Take the time and effort to prevent your dog from becoming a space invader – your dog and the other dogs you encounter will thank you for it!

This field requires much more than just a passion for and love of animals. While to my knowledge there are no statistics monitoring this, my colleagues and I often comment on how fast turnover seems to be. People start taking on clients, then find the job was not what they imagined it would be and move on.

So a few things to keep in mind as you consider this career choice:
First, loving working with animals is nice, but you must love working with people just as much. Unless you are working in a kennel situation you will be working hard to help people with their pets. While some people will want help with some basics, some of the people you will work with will be very stressed and frustrated by their dog’s behavior.

Many dog trainers run their own businesses, in which case you will need to be great at managing, marketing, and doing everything involved in keeping a business afloat. When you run a business you will find that you are spending a significant amount of time doing things unrelated to animals, for instance, bookkeeping. If entrepreneurship is not your cup of tea, you can always work for someone else. Dog daycares, training companies and animal shelters are often looking for experienced, educated trainers.

There is overlap between dog training and dog behavior consulting however, they are not the same thing! Because most people who contact me are interested in both, I am including information for both. That said, most people start out just offering basic training services and often work along side of more experienced professionals. It is absolutely critical for novice trainers not to take on behavioral work, especially aggression, until they have adequate experience and education. It takes many years to gain this, but to do otherwise is very risky for both the dogs and their owners.

There are a variety of ways to get started in this field but some common ways:

Getting a college education, courses in animal science, counseling, psychology, biology, education, and business are helpful. Also, a college education is great because it offers you some flexibility in case you decide you want to choose a different career path later on. Some professional associations have specific educational requirements as well.

Hands on experience is a must. Yes, you do need to have owned at the very least one dog and ideally more. Also, you should have trained these dogs to a reasonably high level. Of course, just training your own dog and helping friends, family members with their pets is not enough. Working with animals in a dog daycare, animal shelter or other similar environment is helpful. An apprenticeship or internship program under a highly qualified trainer is even better. Free apprenticeships are rare now, just like an electrician would not want to teach a potential competitor for free, most places will charge to take on an apprentice or intern.

In addition to having an education in animal behavior, hands on experience with animals and experience learning from a qualified trainer, there are a number of different certifications that a new trainer can work towards. Some reputable ones for professional dog trainers include:

The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers
National Association for Dog Obedience Instructors

For those interested in working with animals with behavioral problems:
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants
Animal Behavior Society

There are some nice resources for prospective trainers as well, Nicole Wilde’s book “So You Want to be a Dog Trainer?” Seminars, conferences are also terrific opportunities. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers (apdt) is a good resource as well. And if you are wondering what trainers make, the Department of Labor has these statistics online.

Happy career exploring!

I love Labradors. One of the first dogs I grew up with as a child was a mix who was mostly Labrador (I even trained him to track turtles). I enjoy working with them as a trainer because they are usually quick to pick up new skills. There is a reason so many guide, working dog and service dog programs use Labradors, it is because they are often easy to train complex behaviors and they are also usually very friendly to boot. Most of the Labradors I have met have been very tolerant, happy and confident dogs that can adapt to a wide range of living situations.

Labradors have been popular for a long time, and there are a lot to choose from. When choosing a Labrador it is important for pet owners to be aware that in this breed (as with many) there is a significant difference between Labradors bred for “working” purposes (hunting dogs) and those bred for show. The working Labrador (often referred to as “field type”) tends to be taller and leaner. The show type is stockier. Some breeders will cross the two (“dual lines”). The behavior and energy level of these two types varies as well. While there are exceptions, in most cases, the working type dog is too energetic for most suburban and urban pet owners. You cannot be the kind of person who jogs once or twice a week with a really energetic field bred Labrador. You have to be able to meet the dog’s exercise needs every single day even in the snow, sleet and rain. The show line dogs usually are lower key and usually are a better match for most pet homes. The dual line bred dogs usually fall somewhere inbetween both types in terms of energy level.

Of course, every breeder’s lines and individual dogs vary, so it is important for a prospective pet owner to examine the individual dog and line as well.  Pet owners often overestimate the amount of walking and exercise they are realistically able to provide the dog.  Remember, breeders may not necessarily guide you in the right direction so do your research and do not take a breeders’ word for it that his/her dogs are easy to live with in suburban/urban settings. Of course, if you are getting the dog from a breeder make sure that he/she is responsible and has done the recommended health screenings as well. If you are choosing the dog from rescue/shelter, take time to learn about the shelter/rescue group.

I also often see people drawn to Labradors because they assume that the dog will be the quintessential, easy family pet. Sorry folk, there is no “low maintenance” dog breed. While Labrador Retrievers can make wonderful pets, this requires time and effort on the owner’s part. Those working dogs that everyone admires have often had over a year of initial training and are continuously practicing and having brush up training sessions throughout their lives in order to maintain skills.

As young puppies most Labradors are very mouthy, as adolescents they can be “bulls in a china shop” with their bodies. Their powerful movements can knock down children and adults. I have received several calls for training help because the owner was seriously injured (broken limbs, fractures, muscle/tendon injuries) by his/her over-exuberant Labrador’s behavior causing a fall. Now of course, proper training from the start can prevent these types of situations. However, like with human teenagers, even if parents do all the right things, Labrador teenagers will have their moments. If your family includes frail people or small children, consider carefully how you will safely manage exuberant behavior before bringing in an energetic large breed dog (whether Labrador or other) into your home. Remember young puppies grow quickly!

Last but not least, any breed of dog can develop aggressive behavior and yes, I have worked with Labradors with aggressive behavior towards people and dogs.  Appropriate socialization and training from the start is important for all dogs-including Labradors!

So if this is the breed you are thinking about, do your homework, consider talking to a trainer or two (many trainers, like myself, offer pre-puppy purchase consults) to discuss the pros and cons. If you have children (or will be having children within the dog’s lifespan), you need to be even more thoughtful about the dog you are choosing. Happy researching!