Your Dog Is Anxious, Now What?

August 14, 2017 By Fanna Easter

Behavior Protocol for Dog Anxiety

It’s a difficult moment when a dog trainer confirms your sneaking suspicion: your dog has anxiety. While it’s something you always kind of knew, it’s still difficult to digest once a professional confirms it. Before freaking out, and withdrawing from society, there are steps that can help reduce your dog’s anxiety. These tips will help get you started on a behavior protocol for success.

Take a deep breath, summon all your patience and get busy teaching your dog that scary things make good things happen. It works!

Stop the Trigger Exposure

Give your dog a trigger-free siesta from scary stuff. This will reduce your dog’s stress level and prevent your dog from practicing unwanted behavior (e.g. barking, lunging, running away, etc.). This seems simple, but it’s very difficult for most pet owners. A “trigger-free” siesta means halting all trigger exposure until your dog learns how to handle scary exposure positively. A undetermined “behavior” siesta will have a profound effect on your and your dog’s success.

During your dog trainer’s consultation, your dog’s triggers were likely discussed in detail. Triggers are events or things that cause your dog to become anxious. If your dog is afraid of meeting new people, stop all greetings immediately. When guests come over, crate your dog in another room (away from guests) with a food stuffed toy and play soft music in the background.

Many dogs are afraid of other dogs, so stop all dog-to-dog greetings and daycare events immediately. If you’re unsure of your dog’s triggers, consult a professional dog trainer who has experience working with anxious dogs.

Put a Plan Into Place

During the consultation, your professional dog trainer should provide you a list of recommended behaviors to reduce your dog’s anxiety. Of course, a trigger-free siesta should be the first step.

Next, your dog trainer should explain, demonstrate and provide a dog training plan with exact steps for the next 2 to 3 weeks. It may seem odd teaching your dog “touch” and “leave it” when your goal is to reduce your dog’s anxiety, but there’s a reason for it.

Teaching your dog to do something else, instead of freaking out, works great. Once your dog is ready and willing to greet people, “touch” is a non-confrontational way to greet guests. Also, your dog trainer should recommend tips for counter conditioning and desensitizing your dog to scary triggers, which is another important part of your dog’s behavior protocol.

Follow Your Training Plan

Training sessions should be short and fun with lots of yummy rewards. Practicing over and over again becomes exhausting so much so that many dogs will react or quit. Keep dog training sessions to 1-2 minutes long, and progress to the next step only when your dog is ready. Work at your dog’s pace, and reward generously!

Follow Up With a Dog Trainer

Solving complex dog behavior issues within a one-hour consultation is impossible, so plan to follow up with your dog trainer regularly. On average, plan a virtual phone consult every 2 weeks and an in-person consult monthly.

Each session will build upon itself until your dog’s anxiety is reduced. Skipping regular follow-up sessions will certainly halt your dog’s training process, so it’s important to have a professional guide you through the next steps.

When to Seek Additional Help

Sometimes, dogs and pet owners need additional help and that is OK. Professional dog trainers will bring in veterinary behaviorists when progress has halted. Many times, dog trainers will reach out to fellow dog trainers for a second opinion, which is a wonderful way to identify any issues. Partnership is critical when progress has stopped, so ask your dog trainer for a second opinion to boost your success.

Anxiety in dogs is quite common, but you can help reduce it by following these steps. Remember to always reach out for help when progress halts or regresses.

Next Time Someone Wants To Greet Your Dog, Ask Your Dog First

August 7, 2017 By Fanna Easter

Give Your Dog Choices During Greetings

Dog Greeting Behavior — tamifreed/Adobe Stock

It’s all about choices, especially for dogs. Let’s face it: Dogs really don’t have many choices in life. Dogs don’t choose their roommates (i.e. other dogs), veterinarian, food, treats, daily walking path and potty times.

While I have discussed choices extensively in other articles, let’s discuss giving our dogs choices when they’re meeting other dogs or people. It’s important to note that many dogs react aggressively during greetings because they’re scared. They don’t want to meet other dogs or people, so they run away or lunge forward to stop introductions. Giving your dog a choice during greetings will drastically reduce fearful dog behavior.

Not All Dogs Want to Meet Other Dogs & People

There’s a huge human social element when dogs meet other dogs and people. Most pet owners are painfully embarrassed when their dog dislikes greetings, but they don’t know how to handle the situation. No one enjoys saying “no” to strangers or children; some may even feel conflicted, especially if their dog dislikes greetings.

Pet owners hold their breath, hoping the greeting will be better than the last one, so they stand rigidly holding their breath while their dog’s eyes widen. But there is a better way—a human socially acceptable way to stop this from happening.

Do know, most dogs are uncomfortable with greetings even if they’re meeting friendly people. If this helps, my dogs don’t meet other dogs on leash and I’m a professional dog trainer. When my dogs meet people, I give them choices during the greeting and I support my dogs’ decisions overtime.

Ask the Dog First

In the past, I instructed pet owners to say, “We’re training. No petting please” to strangers, children and other dogs when they approached for greetings. While it worked to keep others away from their dog, many pet owners felt awkward and a bit rude during these “no, stop it” interactions.

There had to be a better way that worked for everyone, especially the dog. The method I now use and tell my clients is the “Asking the dog first” method. It’s a socially acceptable way of disrupting a greeting while allowing your dog to make a choice.

Next time someone barrels toward your dog with an outreached hand, asking to pet your dog, step between your dog and the person and say, “Let’s ask my dog first.” If your dog walks over and greets the person, then reinforce calm behavior (i.e. no jumping and sitting politely for petting).

If your dog decides not to engage, respect your dog’s choice and explain, “Well, he’s feeling a bit shy today and that’s okay, so we’ll respect his choice. Maybe next time.” Many pet lovers graciously understand this explanation because no one wants to force a dog to do something he doesn’t want to do.

When Your Dog Chooses to Disengage, It’s Okay!

When your dog makes a choice, support his decision every time. Yes, it’s uncomfortable watching your dog choose to disengage and the person’s feelings may be hurt. Instead of standing quietly and awkwardly, take a moment and explain why choices are so important for dogs.

When your dog makes a choice, support his decision every time.

Lightheartedly explain, “Dogs really don’t have many choices in this world, so this is my way of offering my dog choices and it works well for both of us.” Not only are you supporting your dog’s choice, but you’re also planting the seed that dogs need choices. Soon, pet lovers will mimic this behavior, which will drastically reduce dog bites and prevent aggression.

Choices are everything!

Does Your Dog Have Separation Anxiety Or Is He Just Bored?

July 28, 2017 By Fanna Easter

Separation Anxiety vs. Boredom in Dogs

This is the magic question: Does your dog truly have separation anxiety or is your dog bored? It’s not easy to answer, but there are a few telltale signs that differentiate separation anxiety from boredom.

As a professional dog trainer, who works with separation anxiety in dogs as well as bored dogs daily, I’ll discuss: the major differences, a few solutions for boredom and when to seek professional help.

Boredom in Dogs

Most dogs and puppies are bored. They’re left home alone while their pet owners work all day. When dogs are bored, they will find something to do if mental enrichment is not provided. Bored dogs will bark incessantly, chew on or through everything, climb on counters to forage for food, and so forth. If potty trained dogs are not provided plenty of opportunities to use the restroom, they will potty indoors too.

Oh, bored dogs can destroy a house quickly. Restless dogs will pull down curtains, chew baseboards, scratch doors (if left alone in rooms), whine when pet owners leave, and destroy window blinds when barking at people and dogs. With bored dogs, anything can happen because they’re just trying to find something to do.

How do you prevent your dog from tearing up your house? Provide daily food stuffed food puzzles, such as Kongs, take him out for regular potty breaks via pet sitter and go on long walks before you leave for work.

RELATED: How to Find a Pet Sitter

Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Separation anxiety is completely different than boredom, and it’s much more difficult to address. Dogs with separation anxiety have a panic attack when left alone. Panic attacks are uncontrollable, severe and often self-destructive responses to being left alone.

Many dogs diagnosed with separation anxiety will paw their crate, doorway, windows or flooring until their paws are bloody. In certain dog separation anxiety cases, some dogs have pulled out their teeth or degloved their ears when trying to escape a crate or home.

Dogs with separation anxiety are inconsolable when they’re left alone, and they won’t lick Kongs or puzzles because they’re freaking out. It’s similar to having a panic disorder in people; these dogs are unable to control their response, and it only gets worse if not addressed quickly by a professional.

When to Seek Professional Help

Both situations require professional help, but separation anxiety needs to be addressed immediately. Never assume a dog has separation anxiety until a professional dog trainer or veterinary behaviorist diagnoses it. Usually self-mutilation is a telltale sign though.

So many pet owners assume their dogs have separation anxiety when they’re actually just bored. Enriching a bored dog’s life is easy. It takes a bit of preparation, but it’s worth it because no one enjoys coming home to a destroyed house.

Boredom in dogs is much more common than separation anxiety, but both should be addressed quickly.

Does Your Dog Have An Attitude?

July 24, 2017 By Fanna Easter

Dog Attitude Problem

So many pet owners are convinced their dogs have a major attitude; I hear it from clients daily. They become extremely frustrated when their dogs ignore cues, run away or destroy furniture. But do dogs really have attitudes? I think the answer just might shock you!

Defining Attitude

Having an attitude means someone or something is uncooperative, selfish, defensive, rude, resentful, defiant, resistant, combative and sometimes aggressive. Wow, while this may sound like your dog’s behavior, it’s important to note these adjectives are human behavior traits.

As humans, we link inexplicable, defiant and frustrating dog behaviors quickly because these traits are linked to human behaviors. Additionally, we tend to justify labeling certain behaviors because it’s what we know and are familiar with, which can be a very slippery slope. Certainly, we all know someone with an attitude, especially in certain situations, but assuming a dog has an attitude doesn’t benefit dogs nor their pet owners.

Drop the Attitude

Take a step back, and look at your dog differently. I know, it’s difficult because I’m asking you to look at your dog from a non-human perspective. When frustrated, pet owners become laser-focused and are determined to attribute human traits to a dog’s behavior. If this happens to you, take a deep breath in and remember dogs are totally different from people. Dogs live in the moment.

In previous blog posts, I’ve discussed that dogs are not vengeful, spiteful or guilty. While it seems like they are those human traits when you find dog poop in your shoe, it’s just not so. When people assume non-humans are displaying human traits, it’s called anthropomorphism.

Honestly, people do this all the time. I know I’m guilty of assuming my car is tired after a road trip, or my toaster is spiteful for burning my toast even though the settings are correct. It’s human nature and, while it’s funny at times, it’s important to understand it’s simply not true. Dogs don’t have attitudes. Dogs do not purposely act uncooperative, defiant or resistant.

Then What’s Really Going on With Your Dog?

Dogs do what works for them. They chew shoes because they’re in front of them. Dogs potty indoors because they need to potty and have not been taught to potty outdoors yet. Popping pillows and chewing furniture is fun, and it’s certainly something to do when bored. Stealing food tastes good and becomes a game. It’s that simple. Dogs don’t have pre-calculated intentions; I promise. 🙂

When dogs ignore known dog training cues, such as “sit,” it’s probably because they got too excited to respond or don’t really know the cue. It’s the same with the “coming when called” cue; most dogs have not practiced it enough to become fluent around running squirrels, passing cars, nearby dogs and so forth. Dogs don’t have attitudes. They may be confused and scared instead.

Before assuming your dog has an attitude, take a moment and look at him from a different perspective. When in doubt, pick up all chewable items, crate your dog when unable to supervise and practice cues daily.

Tips To Prevent Overly Excited Dog Greetings

July 10, 2017 By Fanna Easter

Calming an Overly Excited Dog

Dog Gets Too Excited — Syda Productions/Adobe Stock

Ding, dong! Every pet owner’s heart drops as her dogs charge toward the front door. Ringing doorbells and door knocks can literally cause chaos, which translates to overly excited dogs greeting guests. Next time you’re planning a summer get-together, try these polite greetings tips. It’s important to practice this with your dog every day and reward good behavior generously before your party.

Control the Chaos First

Containing your dogs’ excitement is key before guests ring the doorbell or walk into your backyard. Calm dogs generally greet guests with polite manners, so crate your dogs in a back room with soft music playing in the background (this drowns out doorbell sounds).

Once guests are gathered, allow one of your dogs to visit guests. This prevents your dog from riling your other dogs up with barking and fast movement. When the first dog has calmed down, add another dog to the mix and so forth.

Ask Guests to Ignore Dogs

Before the day of your party, ask each guest to simply ignore your dogs when they first arrive. Overly excited guest greetings will send excited dogs into a frenzy of jumping up and knocking people over. If guests have a hard time ignoring your darling dogs, ask them to stand around your kitchen island, picnic table or BBQ pit.

Giving guests something to do, other than greet dogs, works wonderfully. Don’t worry, your dogs won’t be upset they missed a super friendly greeting. Instead, your dogs are learning polite manners around guests.

Ignoring dogs means:

No petting.
No eye contact.
Turing sideways from an approaching dog.
Refraining from any high-pitched, rapidly repeating sounds.
Acting like they don’t see your dogs.

What guests should do when ignoring dogs:

Eat.
Drink.
Pass food around.
Talk to each other.
Freely move around without making eye contact with your dogs.

Keep Greetings Short

Once you’ve welcomed your guests and they have successfully ignored your dogs, it’s time for a break. It’s important to keep dog greetings short. After 10 minutes of your dogs greeting everyone, put them back in their crates with a food stuffed Kong.

It’s now time to enjoy your guests without worrying about jumping dogs or guests having their eyeballs licked while sitting on the sofa. Of course, your dogs can certainly tell guests goodbye, but they should do so politely. 🙂

Treat & Retreat

If guests ignoring your super excited dogs doesn’t work, then ask guests to play the “treat and retreat” game. For this dog game, guests sit still and toss food behind your dog’s behind, so your dog has to turn away to get the treat. Not only does this teach your dog that guests make food happen, but your dog also learns to keep all four feet on the floor during greetings. If your guests are unsure about the game, toss the treats for them to create the positive association for your dog.

Gatherings are perfect opportunities to practice polite dog greetings.