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New Help For Dogs Scared During Veterinary Exams

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Fear Free Pets Announces New Program

Fear Free Pets
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When great things happen, it’s pure joy announcing them to pet owners across the world! Fear Free Pets, whose mission is to take “pet” out of petrified, has launched a new program that will teach dogs (and other pets) to enjoy veterinary visits. Drum roll, please! They’ve launched a Fear Free Animal Trainer Certification Program for qualified dog trainers, which is a huge step in the right direction for everyone.

Fear Free Animal Trainer Certification Program

Yes, there are now expert dog trainers who can complete an intense program to learn how to help dogs (and puppies) stress less when visiting the vet’s office. To qualify for this course, dog training experts must earn a national dog training certification first and pass a very difficult entrance exam before enrolling into the program.

Once accepted, dog trainers must complete six lengthy modules and pass assessments along the way. Each module builds upon itself and focuses on reducing stress before, during and after veterinary exams. Once dog trainers complete this course, they become qualified to partner with veterinary clinics to implement fear free practices and offer group courses (or one-on-one training) to teach dogs and puppies that veterinary clinics are fun.

How This Program Helps Your Dog

Before, there were limited resources and loose standards for dog trainers offering stress-free vet visits, leading to questionable results. As a dog trainer, this is why I’m so excited about this massive breakthrough! Dogs (and cats) hate visiting the vet’s office, and pet owners have learned to strongly dislike bringing their stressed pet to see a vet too.

Certified Fear Free Animal Trainers teach puppies to enjoy every aspect of vet visits and exams, and can certainly reduce stress for dogs that already dislike visiting the vet’s office as well. As a professional dog trainer completing this certification program, I find it to be very thorough. It also provides scientific research showing stress is certainly damaging to pets. If your dog hates going to the vet, demand a fear free certified veterinary clinic and partner with a certified fear free animal trainer. Additionally, these folks will ensure your dog learns that vet offices are fun! Find a qualified fear free veterinary clinic and animal trainer here.

Be your dog’s advocate. Choose fear free vet clinics and training!

Why Pet Owners Should Choose Fear Free For Pets

Is My Dog Protecting Me Or Is He Scared?

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Dangers of Protective Dog Behavior

Protective Dog Behavior
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This is a difficult question to answer because human feelings are being used to describe a dog’s reaction. Many pet owners feel their dogs are protecting them from threats. It’s a comforting feeling for humans, but dogs feel frustrated. When dogs growl at people approaching, while sitting in their pet owner’s lap, this is called resource guarding. Yes, your growling dog is protecting his resource, which is you, but protective dog behavior is dangerous that will get worse, if not addressed quickly.

Why Dogs Resource Guard Owners

Guarding valuable resources is a natural dog behavior, but it can cause issues within human homes. Dogs will guard beds, food bowls, high value toys, treats, space and people. Every dog has a different personality, but most will resource guard whatever they find valuable to a degree. Humans are certainly valuable because they put food in dog bowls, provide treats and toys, keep them safe, and can open doors.

Some dogs can bond so deeply with a specific person that they will start to resource guard her from other dogs, people and even children. Sometimes, resource guarding goes undetected until another person or dog enters the home, and then the chaos ensues. Resource guarding should certainly be addressed as soon as possible, as it can result in biting behavior. Plus, no one wants to live with a bully.

How to Change Protective Dog Behavior

While many pet owners feel flattered when their dog resource guards them, it’s important to know this behavior will only escalate, if not addressed immediately. When a dog is protecting a person, he’s reacting to a dog or person approaching the pet owner and himself. Protective dog behavior manifests differently for different dogs. Dogs will either freeze, glare at the approaching person, snarl, show teeth, snap or even bite. It’s important to change a dog’s perspective of people approaching while he’s next to his pet owner.

Make It Rain Cheese

Find treats your protective dog absolutely loves, and then chop them into pea-sized treats. Cheese, hot dogs, baked chicken or diced lunchmeat are excellent examples of high value dog treats.

Have a seat on the sofa (or wherever your dog usually resource guards you), and ask your dog to join you. Then, ask a friend to slowly walk into the room and stop at the entrance. As your friend approaches, ask her to toss a steady stream of treats toward your dog’s mouth. After a few seconds, ask your friend to leave the room. Pairing good things with scary situations will change your dog’s perspective, and soon he’ll learn that an approaching person makes cheese rain from the sky.

Oops, He Barked

If your dog barks at the approaching person, ignore him until he stops. Once your dog stops barking, say “yes” and reward with treats while your friend walks out of the room. Next time, practice with your friend standing a bit farther than last time, and continue having her toss treats to your dog. Dog training sessions should last 2-3 minutes maximum.

When to Get Help

Resource guarding can be tricky to address, so it’s always important to partner with a professional dog trainer who only uses positive reinforcement. If a dog lunges, bites, muzzle punches (hits person with muzzle) and/or snaps at someone, then it’s time to bring in a professional. Timing of treats and distance are critical components of resource guarding, and a professional dog trainer can address issues quickly and effectively.

Is Your Dog Aggressive When Startled?

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Help for Dogs That Become Aggressive When Startled

Dog Startles Easily
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Being startled is a normal response when someone or something surprises you from around a corner, when someone suddenly walks through a doorway, or when you hear a scary sound. When most dogs are startled, they will jolt, bark or freeze, and then recover within a few minutes. However, there are some dogs that will panic and react by lunging forward, charging, barking and growling. These dogs have a difficult time recovering from being startled; it can take hours for them to recover. If your dog is aggressive when startled, it’s time to change her behavior.

Why Some Dogs Lunge or Charge When Startled

No one enjoys being startled; it’s scary and it can cause anxiety if it happens often. If a dog is severely startled, it can dramatically change the dog’s behavior around the thing that initially startled him.

As an example, if a strange dog startles your dog by running up to him during walks, your dog can easily become afraid of other dogs approaching. Think about it from a human perspective: If a scary clown suddenly appears in your living room, you’ll learn to dislike clowns and walk cautiously through your living room for a while.

Many anxious dogs, when startled, will charge forward, lunge, growl and even bite someone when startled. Anxiety is a key component. For some dogs, their anxiety triggers an excessive response when startled. Some dogs will react this way even when startled by their pet owners or family members. When this happens, it’s scary for everyone, including your dog. Think about it this way: Some humans react aggressively and start punching or kicking when startled while others just jump and recover quickly.

How to Change Reactive Startled Behavior

When practicing this behavior, the goal is not to startle your dog. Instead, pair something yummy with previous scary experiences slowly to change your dog’s perspective of this scary experience. Remember, when pairing good things with scary things, your dog learns that scary things make hot dogs appear.

Most dogs startle when someone walks into a room while they are sleeping. If your dog jumps up and lunges in this situation, then it’s time to change her behavior. Be prepared next time; stand sideways (face and front of body turned away from the dog) in the doorway, and softly say your dog’s name or “hello.” When your dog wakes up, toss chunks of cheese or hot dogs toward your dog. Practice this several times a week, and soon your dog will wag gently when you say “hello” or walk into a room.

When to Get Help

If your dog is anxious and has a difficult time settling down, or has hurt someone when startled, it’s time to get help. Locate a veterinary behaviorist in your area as well as a professional dog trainer who specializes in dog anxiety and only uses positive reinforcement training protocols. While your veterinarian can prescribe anxiety medication for dogs, it’s best to leave dog anxiety medication recommendations to a veterinary behaviorist.

What Is A Dog “Shake Off”?

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The Meaning Behind the Dog “Shake Off”

Dog Shaking
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Dogs communicate through body language every day, but unfortunately many people have a difficult time understanding them. If anyone should take the time to understand canine body language, it should be pet owners. Knowing what your dog wants or needs will keep everyone, including your dog, safe.

Every eye, ear, body or tail twitch means something—and looking at your dog’s entire body will give way to exactly what your dog is saying. “Shake off” is a dog body movement that is easily seen and has a very clear meaning. Let’s discuss exactly what a “shake off” looks like, what it means and why it’s a good thing.

What Does a Dog “Shake Off” Look Like?

It’s common to see a dog shake his entire body from nose to tail. It looks like the dog is shaking off water. Dogs will certainly shake their entire body to remove excess water after a swim or bath, but dogs also shake off when their coats are dry. When polling pet owners about shake offs, many are puzzled why their dogs do this behavior, especially when their coat is dry.

What Does It Mean?

When dry dogs “shake off,” they’re doing a few different things. First and foremost, they are shaking off stress. Humans do the same thing after scary or worrisome encounters; they take deep breaths while saying “phew.”

“Shake off” behavior is your dog’s response to dealing with stress. Instead of freaking out and lunging toward something scary, he shakes it off, which is a good thing. Usually, “shake offs” happen once a dog stops playing roughly with another dog, after meeting or seeing another dog, or during any human interaction.

Reward “Shake Offs”

Since dog “shake offs” are a positive way to deal with stress, they should be rewarded. When your dog shakes off, say “nice shake off.” Then, reward him with a treat, a game of “touch,” tug or something else your dog loves. When dogs aren’t handling their stress well, they become rigid and freeze. If this happens, remove your dog from the situation and reward “shake offs.”

Now, you’ll think of something totally different when listening to Taylor Swift’s song “Shake It Off.” 🙂

Help! My Restless Dog Doesn’t Sleep

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Why Your Restless Dog Isn’t Sleeping and Solutions

Restless Dog
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Everyone needs sleep—even our dogs. Being able to sleep soundly is an important part of our health because it’s when our bodies repair and heal. When deep sleep is interrupted, regardless of the reason, it creates sleep deprivation, which is unhealthy. If your restless dog has a hard time falling into a deep sleep, it’s time to contact a professional dog trainer or veterinary behaviorist.

Is Your Dog a Restless Sleeper?

Depending on your dog’s age, dogs sleep between 11-14 hours per day. Senior dogs sleep much more than puppies, but all dogs should sleep deeply at night and during naps. Restless dogs never really sleep soundly. These dogs wake up every 20-30 minutes, stand up and walk around until they find another spot to nap, and repeat this process all day and night long. Some restless dogs sleep for an hour, pace for an hour or longer, and repeat the process.

Many pet owners assume their dogs get too hot or cold, so they wake up to look for another spot. While it’s normal to wake up once or twice a night, dogs that continually wake up or pace at night are not getting enough deep sleep.

Why Can’t My Restless Dog Sleep?

There are many reasons restless dogs have a difficult time falling into a deep sleep. Here are the most common causes for your dog pacing at night as well as solutions.

Sounds

Barking dogs off in the distance, sirens during the night, construction sounds during the day and ringing doorbells are common sounds that cause dogs to wake up.

Solution: Turn on a box fan or sound machine to drown out distracting noises at night and during the day.

Boredom

Dogs need physical and mental enrichment every day. If a dog’s needs are not met each day, he will find something to keep himself occupied. Think about it this way: Dogs are unable to binge-watch Netflix all day while their pet owners are at work.

Solution: Provide multiple food puzzles and 30-minute walks daily.

Health Issues

Dogs have a difficult time sleeping when in pain. These dogs will pace at night and often wake up to reposition themselves.

Solution: When in doubt, schedule a thorough veterinary examination to rule out any health issues.

Anxiety

Anxious dogs have a very hard time sleeping deeply. Sometimes, they may fall asleep due to pure exhaustion, yet wake themselves up with a startle. These dogs have a hard time settling down and sleep mostly on their sternum (chest) instead of flopping over onto their sides. If someone walks nearby, anxious dogs will become startled and jump up. They have multiple spots they rotate through at night, and they never really fall into a deep sleep.

Solution: It’s important to find professional help to reduce your dog’s anxiety.

Getting Help

Drowning out sounds and providing daily enrichment are easy fixes; however, anxiety is an ongoing challenge. If a dog seems anxious, then it’s time to partner with a positive reinforcement dog trainer and veterinary behaviorist to address the issue.

Anxiety won’t get better on its own. The sooner it’s addressed, the better. Never punish an anxious dog; it will only make his anxiety much worse. The same goes for health issues. Follow your vet’s advice, and be your dog’s advocate if his pain does not subside.

Everyone deserves a peaceful night of deep sleep. 🙂

Dog Training Nation is a dog training blog for pet owners and dog lovers. We cover a range of topics from puppy socialization tips to dog aggression to dog health. It is our hope you share our content to make the world a better place for dogs.

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