Adrienne Farricelli

You are very welcome! Cosmo is very lucky to have such a dedicated owner who is willing to put in the time in helping him be more at ease! I hope things work out for you. You may sometimes need to use more than one approach and see how it goes. Baby steps. Consider that as you're working on the issue, it's quite normal for sometimes the behavior to come back every now and then. That's a phenomenon known as "spontaneous recovery." With time these should subside and you should see more and more of the desired behaviors if all is implemented correctly. If though he keeps on acting antsy, it may be time to take a few steps back and make things easier for him and see how it goes, or in some cases, possibly go back to the drawing board, assessing whether a different approach may be needed. Keeping track of the behavior is helpful (like creating a basic graph depicting how much whining/pacing takes place over the course of several weeks). This allows you to carefully assess whether there is a steady decreasing trend. Factor in whether any stressful events take place in his life (e.g. fireworks, then being left alone for some time, then loud neighbors coming over) as those can cause setbacks too as the result of trigger stacking. I am always here if you want to post any update or have questions. Best, Adrienne

Thank you for the extra details! I was hoping to get an "a-ha!" moment with something jumping out at me, but so far I see nothing really salient that grabs my attention. Only thing that come to mind is whether the diamond art may have parts that shine or shimmer creating maybe some lights on walls that may cause your dog to react to them. And then wondering what happens if you just sit at the table and read a book or eat a small snack. Sure, the sitting at the table may evoke the behavior since it has a strong rehearsal history, but it would be interesting to know whether once she notices you're not doing any crafts she may calm down. This could help us pinpoint whether there may be an issue with the actual crafts, BUT, there may be chances that issue may be also the length of time spent there crafting, so there may be chances that she might just decide to pace and whine even if you sit there for an hour to read. We can surely do several trials to see whether there are some common denominators so to find the triggering stimulus/event. This is done by conducting several trials with somethings not present, and then present, to see if it makes a difference, but this can turn out to be a tedious task, because basically, you may have to try to do crafts standing up, try doing a completely different craft for a while (like a puzzle), try not using any paints, etc. and see if this makes any difference. So far with all these details there doesn't seem to be anything particular that seems to evoke the behavior other than you sitting at the table and crafting. So if the behavior occurs reliably when sitting at the table and doing crafts, then there's something in there that evokes the behavior that we may never really know, so we may just have to accept the whole stimulus package of you sitting there and crafting as being the ultimate triggering event. It could be that your pup being a GSD mix may have a bit of some that protective behavior, sort of like feeling that she has some type of "duty" to perform so she is unable to relax until you settle down on the couch and relax too. Only then, she can put "her guard down." If there was an element of attention seeking, it could be that, by ignoring Cosmo and then giving up, (meaning giving her attention of any type), you may have inadvertently shaped longer duration of the behavior with the dog carrying on the pacing and whining for a longer period of time, since it was ultimately rewarded at some point. But even if you never gave her attention while crafting, just the fact that, after an hour of her whining/pacing, you stop crafting, she may come to believe that her whining and pacing achieved that (sort of like dogs who bark at the mailman come to think that their barking sends the mailman away, when the mailman just had to leave anyway!). Remember the toddler in the store example? If mom gives up and buys candy after 1 hour of the child crying, the child will cry for longer and longer. Even if the child doesn't cry for the whole hour, but just on and off, or never cries at all, but he resumes or starts crying when he notices mom is almost done shopping, and she gives in and buys the candy then, that would have strongly reinforced the crying. So in these possible stimulus package cases, one way we can tackle this is by using DRO or DRI, that is, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) or differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI). Basically, in the first option, we aim to reinforce any other behavior that occurs other than the pacing and whining. In the second option, we reinforce any behavior that prevents her (and therefore, is incompatible) from pacing and whining ( for example, a dog can't pace if we ask them to lie on a mat). This would require you to give up hour-long crafting sessions for some time, since as mentioned, the more a dog rehearses a behavior, the more it puts roots and establishes. An errorless approach where the dog is put into the position of not feeling the urge to pace/whine would be therefore be important. So during the day, you can place a bowl of kibble/treats on the crafting table (if he doesn't jump on the table, otherwise keep in your pocket/treat bag) and you can ask Cosmo to lie on a mat nearby. Here is the guide on training dogs to lie on a mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Praise and reward by dropping a kibble in between his front legs for laying down there. Gradually add duration, but don't sit at the table yet, Do several reps of this and then start sitting at the table for just a few seconds while your dog lies on the mat, but don't do crafts yet. Do several reps of this, you can ask your dog to go to her mat, (tell her to stay if she knows that), you sit at the table, count 1-2-3 then get up and feed a treat in between her paws. Rinse ad repeat, gradually increasing duration, but make sure to add shorter duration stays on the mat so your dog doesn't feel like the exercise is increasing in difficulty. So it's like 3 second stays, then 5, then 8, then 4, then 6, then 10, then 5, then 12, then 7 etc. Try to build up to at least one minute. These are cases that need to go very slowly. The biggest setbacks occur when we go through the process too fast. Then, one day, have your crafts already set on the table area, ask your dog to lie on the mat, sit down and pretend to work on the craft for a little bit, careful not to push it too much, start easy-peasy going back to holding a stay on the mat for a few seconds since you are raising criteria by adding the increase in difficulty, which is you crafting. Do several reps always mixing in briefer stays on the mat with the longer ones. Now, as you increase duration on the mat, you would need to provide foods that take longer and longer to eat. So you may start with kibble (if she likes that) otherwise start with treats and then progress to a cookie, then a little pumpkin on a Licki-mat or inside a Kong, then progress to a cookie in a Kong, then layers of cookie, peanut butter in the Kong, then a bully stick, then maybe a Kong filled with frozen layers of peanut butter and kibble/treats (which is one of the longest treats dogs get). If your dog struggle with any of this, go back to something she's more eager to eat and is less difficult to extract. Now, I know you mentioned, your dog will pace/whine carrying bones in her mouth, but in this case: 1) we are going at a more gradual pace, so she should be calmer and better under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ 2) we are skipping bones since many dogs won't chew things that are long-lasting as a bone when they are anxious, but may do better with things that take less time to chew. If she struggles eating anything, take that as a sign that she's too anxious. She may need the plan to be split into smaller steps or calming aids like supplements such as l-theanine to help lower the threshold. If she is too anxious, learning new behaviors becomes difficult and even close to impossible. At this point, you'll need to strategically time your crafting sessions with when your dog finishes chewing. Make sure to do this *before* your dog has a chance of rehearsing the pacing and whining behavior. We want to use an errorless approach where we help the dog not rehearse the undesirable behavior. The above is using desensitization and counterconditioning. Desensitization means using baby steps: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning means creating positive associations:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ It could be that your pup bein a GSD mix may have a bit of some protective behavior feeling that he has some type of "duty" to perform so she is unable to relax until you settle down on the couch and relax too. Another good exercise may be capturing calmness. You can simply put a leash on your dog and sit down on the couch and ignore her. Wait for her to lie down. Once she lies down, provide a treat in between her paws. Keep placing a treat between the paws several times, gradually increasing the time between one treat and another. If your dog gets up, ignore and wait again for her to lie down again. You can then increase criteria and try doing this exercise at the table, as you're sitting down. If she starts getting anxious, though split things further, and start with the chair at a distance from the table and gradually move it more and more closer to it. Keep capturing calmness. Make it short and sweet, at first, and gradually increase time. You can then give longer lasting treats as you sit there, but don't do crafting yet. Keep it easy. The end goal is placing a mat near the table and trying to coordinate enjoying goodies there as you craft. At some point, you can remove the leash. Other tips/ideas that come to mind: -Plan to stop your crafting sessions only when at least 20 seconds of quiet non/whining non/pacing has occurred. This so to not reinforce her behaviors. -After crafting, don't rush to sit on the couch or feed your dog so to not create anticipation for these behaviors. Do something boring, like washing your tools and spending some time doing something neutral to your dog. -Teach your dog better impulse control and frustration tolerance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ -Coordinate your crafting with times when she is more calm. -Invest in a remote treat/kibble dispenser like Manners Minder and use the remote to dispense treats when you craft and your dog is at least 20 seconds with no whining/pacing. -Alternatively, if you can multitask and keep a hand free and clean, you can place a bowl of treats/ kibble by your table and randomly toss a kibble treat in your dog's direction, every time you hear/notice at least 20 seconds of silence and no pacing. -If this above difficult, you can try investing in a Pet Tutor which is an automated feeder that can be coordinated with an app that detects barking so to release a treat when the dog remains quiet for some time. Here is a video: Positive reinforcement to treat barking with Pet Tutor® -Consider that severe cases of anxiety may need prescription meds and possibly the intervention of a professional for correct implementation of behavior modification. -When worse comes to worse, have a helper walk your dog in the hours you are crafting or see if a friend can bring over a playmate and have dogs play in the yard as you craft. I hope this helps you! In the dog training world, there is a saying : "be splitter and not a lumper" which means it's important to split exercises into smaller steps rather than lumping things together. Keep me posted! Best, Adrienne

Sounds great! Adrienne

Also any additional info/detail you can think of, will be extra helpful! Like if your are facing away from Cosmo when you sit down for crafting. What products/materials you are using. Any solvents? I used to paint and turpentine used to be very strong. Do you use a craft light? Any equipment that could be letting off light, sound or vibrations? Any other pacing/whining in other circumstances? Have you ever accidentally scared the dog while crafting (e.g. dropped a box of beads on the floor)? What we are looking for is a possible antecedent that may be setting the behavior so it can be tackled correctly.

You're very welcome, keep me posted on how things go!

Hi Diane and Cosmo, Thank you so much for the extra details, they are very helpful! Please see your statements in bold and my observations below. She has always exhibited this behavior with me sitting at the dining table far as I can remember. Sooo....if she has been performing this behavior for as far as you can remember, we are dealing with a strongly established reinforcement history. In other words, the behavior has been rehearsed for quite some time, and the more they are rehearsed, the more ingrained and established they become. This makes them more difficult to overcome, compared to behaviors that have recently started from fresh and can be better nipped in the bud, so to say. So it's not going to be easy. I do not believe that there is any specific sound or smell that bothers her. I am either doing diamond art or paint by numbers but it doesn’t matter which one I’m doing….Cosmo’s response is the same There can still be some issue associated with smells although, we may really never know, so speculating on this won't get us much anywhere but thought to bring it up as a possibility. Just to share some anecdotal evidence: when cooking lamb meat, I use high oven temps and the meat tends to make a lot of smoke due to its grease content, so it would turn on our smoke alarm. Our Rottweiler Petra, hated the sound of the smoke alarm, but I think it was for a good part also because my husband upon hearing it, would get up with a sense of urgency and go open all the windows and doors. It took a couple of times for this scene to repeat, that Petra started acting anxious whining and pacing anytime I was cooking lamb meat even if the smoke alarm never went off as we took precautionary measures such as opening all windows before or covering the alarm with towels. This just to say, that some dogs can quickly learn to associate a particular activity with something they dislike, even if what they dislike doesn't always present itself. I know some dogs who get anxious in response to certain smells such as solvents, strong glues or paints. Einstein used to get anxious upon smelling skunks after being skunked once. Single-event learning. He never forgot. Once I sit down the pacing seems to start fairly quickly and just doesn’t stop. I think one time it went for over an hour because I was trying to fully ignore her to see if she would calm herself down at all. Ignoring works well for behaviors that are reinforced by attention. However, when ignoring a behavior that has established, it would take some time for it to extinguish and you must be aware of the phenomenon of extinction bursts. Here's the thing: our attention can be very reinforcing to our dogs, and that includes attention of the positive type (praise, petting, food, toys, caringly making eye contact, sweet talking to our dogs) or attention of the negative type (looking at the dog sternly, scolding the dog, pushing him away, getting any type of angry/frustrated reaction from us. With this in mind, in order for ignoring to work, you would need to therefore be totally unaware of your dog. This takes a certain skill, and be even not feasible, especially when the barking is sustained and very loud and we live in a tight-knit neighborhood You may need to wear headphones to endure the barking and remind yourself to not look at your dog or interact with her in any way when she is barking. All family must be consistent and on board in not giving the dog any attention of any type when the dog is demand-barking. When a dog has been receiving attention of any kind for many weeks, months or even years, and now you are totally ignoring, an extinction burst will often take place and this may at first appear as if ignoring is not working. An extinction burst in dogs, is the phenomenon of behaviors getting worse before they are getting better. As bad as this sounds, it's actually a good thing if you know how to tackle it. For sake of an example, a mom who always gives in and buys candy for her toddler when she cries upon visiting the grocery store. Then, one day the child's dentist notices the candy is ruining the child's teeth. So from the next day, no more candy. At the store, the toddler therefore cries, and cries and cries in hopes of candy, and then eventually starts throwing a super big temper tantrum at the store (behavior getting worse)., since the crying is no longer working as before. What happens though if, after several days in a row, the mom is super determined to not give in? After the crying has gotten temporarily worse, it eventually extinguishes just like a fire that is deprived from oxygen. Moral of the story: if you decide to totally ignore your dog's barking expect the behavior to get worse before it gets better. During the extinction burst your dog may bark louder and for longer or she may even try new behaviors in hopes of regaining his attention. If you stick to the plan though, after such increase, you should see the behavior gradually declining and then eventually extinguishing. What happens though if during an extinction burst, you happen to inadvertently give any attention? This would be a recipe for disaster! The reason is because now, you will have reinforced persistence. In other words, back to the toddler example, what would have happened if the mom would have given in and bought candy right when the child had a tantrum, yelling and screaming to her embarrassment? This would have caused the old behavior of crying for candy to make a quick comeback, becoming even more established than before! Now, if mom decided again to be more determined to not buy candy, she would likely have to go through more intense yelling and screaming behaviors because the toddler has learned that if he insists, and reaches mom's breaking point, he can finally get what he wants. Sure, dogs may not intently think in such a way, but extinctions bursts are a real thing and we are deemed to encounter more hurdles if we inadvertently reinforce a behavior during this delicate stage. Now in your dog's case though, the behavior may not be necessarily attention-driven, there may be some element of anxiety at play. Pacing and whining sounds more like anxiety versus a more confident demand-barking. So an ignoring-the- dog strategy may not work well, and even if it would, I wouldn't recommend plain ignoring as a stand alone method as it's likely to cause lots of frustration. "As soon as I sit on the couch she stops and lays down" This seems to prove that there's something about your activity that is disturbing her. If she were to want attention, we would expect her to also do so when you sit on the couch. However, if you have been petting her and giving her attention on the couch and ignoring her when crafting that can bring attention-seeking back to being a strong possibility. So I have further a questions (sorry, this is quite a puzzle, but the more puzzle pieces the better!) -What do you do on the couch differently? Are you petting her, giving her attention when there? Many of us have an established habit of petting dogs automatically when we sit on the couch. It soon becomes a desired routine, so there could be chances a dog may be whining/pacing in anticipation of us sitting on the couch, especially if we always sit on the couch after crafting or at the same times every day. -Have you ever tried working from a different table? I don't suggest trying to do the crafts on the couch because we don't want her to associate it with that since she settles so nicely there. Just trying to exclude a possible issue with a certain table. -Do you wear different glasses when you work at the table? Anything that changes our appearance can sometimes upset dogs. -Do you do crafting mostly at a certain time of the day? Is it a set routine? What do you right after? Like if you feed her meal right after, she may be whining because she may want to be fed earlier. Even if you keep on crafting and then feed her, she may think that her whining worked in getting you to feed her. If you sit on the couch right after, she may also think she has gotten you to join her thanks to the whining. -Have you tried crating her with a stuffed Kong at a distance from you (in case there's some smell that bothers her). Have you tried placing a blanket on the crate? In case there's something visually bothering her. -After how much time of her whining and pacing, do you sit on the couch? She may be tired/exhausted by the time you go there after all the pacing and whining. -Can you sit on the table without her whining when you don't do crafts? Like for eating? Thanks again!

Hi Diane Lindner, Welcome to the forums! You puppy at 7 months is at the dog adolescent stage, and this time can be very trying to us dog owners. You can read more about this stage here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ So it sounds like, upon sitting at the dining room table to do crafts your dog is pacing and whining? To better help you, can you please provide some extra details? Is this a new behavior or has she always been this way? For how often in a week and for how long (minutes, hours) are you doing your crafts? Are you using tools that make noise or products that emit certain smells? When does the behavior exactly start? When you sit down, when you start doing the crafts? When you use a specific tool? What have you done in the past in response to this behavior (other than taking her out) How much does your dog sleep during the day? Is your dog crate trained? Can you use an exercise pen? If you are using these, what is your dog doing when in there? What happens when you give her the bone? Does she refuse it? Does she finish it too fast? Thank you.

Hi there! Welcome to the forums, sibling rivalry can be a real thing! Please see my tips/ideas in bold. So my dad surprises the family with an 8 week old German Shepherd puppy - 2 actually. Littermates brother and sister. Since I am the one who stays at home the most, I’ve been charged with watching them while everyone else goes to work and disclaimer: I have never raised a puppy. My last dog was about a year and I had her more than 10 years ago. So I had NO idea what I was in for. About two days in, we noticed a lot of fighting between the siblings and when we learned about “Littermate Syndrome,” we decided to return one of the puppies to the breeder. Our remaining puppy, Lucky, is a lot more calm now since his sister usually started the rough play, but he is nipping more than usual. It seems that now with your pup's favorite playmate gone, he is now searching for a human playmate! One of the biggest advantages of littermates, is that they come to rely on each other for play so there's less nipping on us. However, yes, part of that relying on each other can easily turn into overdependence and risks for sibling rivalry, where one puppy becomes more confident and bullies the other one. I understand that it’s common for puppies, especially GSD, and that I have to redirect his biting with a toy or chew, OR make a verbal correction and stop playing when he doesn’t listen. This is my problem: I want to be a good owner, but both my parents are “old fashioned,” and they are used to hitting a dog for correction. I told them it could be detrimental and ineffective, so they’ve held back with this puppy, except once. My dad forgot to cover up and Lucky bit his bare ankle, causing him to immediately slap the dog away and give a loud “No”. As awful as this will sound, I am a little jealous because it worked. Since then, Lucky hasn’t but my dad. He still plays with him, goes to him, and seems genuinely okay with my dad. Meanwhile I am out here, with my torn up boots, getting bit and getting frustrated. Usually, when we see a loud "no" or physical intervention working, we are seeing a puppy reacting out of fear or better, a state of learned helplessness. When well timed, the puppy can learn to associate the action (biting) with the no and physical correction, but there are risks for "side effects." Sure, these methods have worked in the past and do continue to work , but it is is not the type of relationship we want to establish with our dogs. There have been loads of studies proving that these methods risk paving the path for defensive aggression. What can I do to curb his biting without resorting to hitting? I already offer different toys (which he will chew for a bit and then go back to gnawing the zippers of my boots) and leaving (which he just cries and waits until I come back and resumes the behavior)? There are a variety of successful methods that you can rely on that don't involve yelling and hitting. Here are several games that you can play with your puppy to encourage alternate activities than using mouth on skin. I crafted these games when working with a very nippy German shepherd puppy who had a history of being physically corrected. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ On top of playing the above games that gives pups alternate ways to interact with us that doesn't involve biting, I am a big proponent of catching puppies *before* they bite so we can help them succeed. Here's the thing, once puppies are biting, they are having too much fun to pay attention to other things. Also, it becomes very habit-forming so we end up becoming their favorite playmates depending on us for physical play. While this is something to honor, we are just not adept to withstand sharp puppy teeth all day long. So we need to change the way they interact with us. This doesn't mean no more playing, it just means encouraging different interactions. So as soon as you notice your puppy approaching you with the intent to bite *before* he has a chance of latching on: - Try engaging him with toys that add movement into the game such as a tennis ball tossed in the opposite direction (make it extra fun!) or a flirt pole (stick with a stuffed animal attached one end). The goal is to find a way to make these toys much more interesting, rewarding and fun to interact with than your body/clothing. I like to carry several tennis balls in my pocket (gotta love those cargo pants!) and a flirt pole around my waist so I can use these tools at moment's notice. -Try redirecting to a kibble toss game. I like to keep kibble always in my treat bag/pocket ready for this. As soon as he approaches you, ask him for a sit (if he doesn't know it yet, skip the sit for now) and toss a piece of kibble/treat. He'll likely eat it and come for more if he perceives them as valuable enough. Repeat several times, catching him always before he even has the chance to think of biting. This makes your pup tired, provides an outlet for chasing instincts while you incorporate some fun obedience. Here is how to train sit, which is an incompatible behavior compared with biting (a dog in general cannot sit and bite ankles/pant legs at the same time). It's very easy to train and you'll impress your parents on how quickly positive reinforcement works! https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/ -Try redirecting to an empty water bottle with no lid filled up. Most pups cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your dog when chewing if your dog tends to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ Also, make sure to: -Provide outlets for pent-up energy. Brain games, training, and opportunities for socialization should wear a puppy out and provide outlets for their basic needs. With brain games that allow him to chase things and get rewards out of them (like kibble out of a bottle or a in a Kong Wobbler) he should seek these games more and more which can turn ankles pretty boring after a while because he gets more out of these activities when he's bored/frustrated/overstimulated. -Train your pup some bite inhibition. This is a very important skill. A good exercise to train this using treats is here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ -Provide a variety of food puzzles (you can fill them with kibble ) and safe puppy chew toys. Rotate them to keep his interest alive. Here are some ideas: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/adriennes-picks/top-5-dog-feeding-toys/ -Enroll him in puppy classes (once your vet says it's OK). Look for one run by positive reinforcement dog trainers who check puppy vaccination status and sanitize their properties to prevent spread of infectious diseases. Your puppy benefits from being around other people and play with other puppies in a structured, positive manner. -Keep an eye for Lucky getting cranky as he may be tired. Puppies need a lot of sleep, and when they're tired they get more nippy and likely to misbehave. Give your puppy routine opportunities to sleep in a quiet place in his crate/exercise pen and offer something to chew while in there. Other important skills for puppies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ So to re-cap: The main goal in getting a puppy to stop biting arms/hands/ankles/pant legs is to teach that it's boring playing with them because there are far better forms of play out there that don't involve human body parts. So move less and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food, play the kibble toss game. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, puppies should outgrow the habit of chasing ankles/pantlegs just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails. You may have to try several of the above options and see what works best. Rotating them helps provide variety. Redirection to a rewarding treat-dispensing toy or game that uses treats should be moderately easy at this age if these activities are made rewarding. Teaching an alternate behavior (like sitting, hand targeting, or giving paw) is also important because dogs cannot misbehave if they are busy targeting our hands or sitting! It may take a bit of time though to teach these alternate behaviors fluently, but it is sure worth the time and effort. By providing outlets for his energy and needs for mental stimulation and reinforcing appropriate behaviors, you should eventually start seeing a decrease in the biting behavior. Keep track of it so to measure whether things are getting better with time. However, keep the teething stage in mind so make sure to offer lots of chew toys that are safe during this time. For obstinate cases, it may help to temporarily avoid temptations by refraining wearing clothing that attracts puppies a lot, such as shoes with shoe strings, leather shoes, pants with wide pant legs, long skirts and dangling scarves. Some puppy owners who are around their pups for most of the day like to wear tall boots or tuck their pants in their socks. Puppy nipping/biting doesn't stop overnight, it's a gradual progress, waxing and waning over time, but with feedback to reduce its intensity, management to prevent rehearsal of over threshold behaviors and encouraging engagement in alternate behaviors, with time, you should see a reduction in the intensity and frequency of the biting. At first, there should be small signs of progress, the biting initially reduces in pressure and intensity, and then gradually reduces in frequency. Most pups get better by the time they are 5 months, although some may take a bit longer. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more other questions! Best, Adrienne

You are very welcome! Your border collie is extra lucky to have found such a loving and committed family! Hmmm, the sloppy sitting raises some suspicions. It's reassuring though that your vet says he's healthy. How long has he started sitting sloppy? Is it a new thing? How long ago was his orthopedic exam? What did the screening consist of? X-rays, bone scans? Did the vet ever do a drawer test? I ask because my female Rottie started sitting sloppy after an ACL tear, but her first two vets missed it. It takes a specific approach to figure it out and the third vet was the only one to diagnose it. I had to push for it though. Most dogs show other signs, but Rotties can be pretty stoic. Her only signs initially were the odd sitting and then she smacked her lips at night when re-positioning herself and I soon learned she did that out of pain. If I go in the front room to relax and read, he comes and settles on the rug. If I get up and walk out he does the same. He's always watching me like a hawk. The exercises for more independence and desensitizing to our getting up can help with the Velcro dogs who keep an eagle eye on us watching every move. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/following-owners-around-house/ One positive, he's always slept in his crate downstairs in the kitchen, right from day 1. He feels safe in there and each night we put him in with a small frozen kong and a dental chew and he goes and sits by himself, even before we're ready to close the door. It's his safe zone. It's got a cover, just the front uncovered. He never barks at noises outside in there or whines. It's a big success with him and we're very reluctant to use it for anything else, incase it spoils. We can go to bed and relax without him barking at noises outside. He can hear us upstairs and he seems happy. We really can't do with jeopardising our one sanctuary where everything is calm for him and us. That's very nice that he feels safe and secure in his crate! This is proof you have diligently worked on making it a great place and the frozen Kong has certainly helped create positive associations. I would maintain that the good place for night sleep and if you need to work on his separation anxiety it would be ideal to use a different area however, the goal would be creating the same positive associations always under threshold so that it doesn't assume any negative connotations. . We currently give him a calming supplement every day L-theanine and we're not sure whether it's effective or not because there's so many variables, but we have a feeling it takes the edge off. There's a lot to digest here and as with all the other things we're doing we'll give your protocols a real go. Anything to help him be happy. Love is clearly not enough for dogs like this. We'd have thought after 2 years he'd be able to trust us completely but his brain is working against him. Many many thanks Adrienne. L-theanine is one of my favorite go-to for anxiety issues that are mild and need just that little extra touch to help the dog relax enough to feel less on edge. There's also Zylkene made with caseine, and a veterinary behaviorist recently at a conference has been talking well about Calming Care by Purina Pro. However, she recommends RX meds for most cases of separation anxiety or in adjunctions to the nutraceuticals to keep the dog best under threshold. There is really a lot to digest on separation anxiety, and there are always new books and protocols coming out. When there are lectures I always try to attend as much as I can because it's a field that's always evolving. Even as to new technology! Who would have thought that one day Furbo Cameras would have come to the rescue, allowing us to monitor dogs and toss them treats too? Keep me posted on how things go.

As mentioned, this is just a general sample, therefore not to be used as a recommendation for a specific case, considering that every dog is different and needs an individualized approach under the guidance of a professional.. What's needed? Interactive toys, treats, food, a mat, baby gates, vet-prescribed medications for the most severe cases, possibly vet-recommended calming aids/nutraceuticals for the milder ones, and some technological gadgets such as remote monitoring devices and/or automatic treat dispensers can be used in the exercises. Although optional, the use of these technological gadgets come extra handy considering that they allow to monitor dogs remotely so to evaluate whether it's a good time to raise criteria or whether a dog is being pushed too hard. A safezone will also need to be established. This safezone is the dog's confinement area where the exercises will be performed. For comfort, it is best to use an area that is central to family activities such as an office, kitchen or living room. Dogs who enjoy their crate, exercise pen or playpen and love to lounge in it, can have it placed in the safezone as long as these enclosures remain open as some dogs with separation anxiety suffer from concomitant containment phobias. A safezone should be blocked out by a baby gate or in homes with open-plan layouts, a super wide gate may be needed. 1: Protocol For Clingy Dogs Who Follow Owners Room- to- Room One thing many dogs suffering from separation anxiety share is extra clinginess, so much so, that many dog owners have started to nickname their dogs "Velcro Dogs." These dogs follow their owners from one room to another and like to sleep by their owners' feet so to be the first alerted when their owners are about to get up and walk around. This component of treatment for separation anxiety in dogs needs its proper protocol since it would be non-productive starting practicing outdoor absences if these dogs aren't even able to tolerate brief absences within the home. The goal of these exercises is to gradually build on distance until the dog can be left in a room while the owner is in another. On top of these exercises, it's ideal to encourage these dogs to sleep at night on their own bed or mat and sleep there as well during the day (rather than sleeping constantly on the owner's lap, glued to the owner's body or at the owner's feet). Note: some dogs are particularly attached to one person. To start the exercises easily, it is best to start with the person the dog is less attached to and then progress using the person the dog is attached to. Step 1: The first step entails having the dog to be able to relax and cope without following their owners everywhere. These dogs need to learn to perform brief sit/stays or down/stays on a mat or other comfy place while the owner walks around, but initially remains always in the dog's sight. Here is how to train these: Sit: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/ Down: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/lie-down/ Stay: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/stay/ Stay on a mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Initially these sit/stays and down/stays should be very brief for just 1-2 seconds while the owner just takes a step or two away in various directions and then returns to reward. Criteria is then raised with the owner just walking a few steps away (3-4) and then returning to reward. Gradually, distance and duration can be added, but it's important to make sure to not make increases in time and distance predictable as dogs will soon come to predict this increase in difficulty and may grow incrementally anxious. To avoid this, mix in shorter (less time) stays and closer stays (less distance) frequently. For example, 2 second stay, then 4, then 3, then five, then 1, then 4, then 6, then 2 etc or 2 steps away, then 1, then 3, then 4, then 1, etc. Distractions at some point can be added as well. Clap your hands as you walk away, count to five out loud, turn your back to your dog, lift your arms, walk around your dog etc. If your dog ever breaks the stay just say a casual "oops" and send your dog back to the area where he was asked to stay. Resume the exercise, this time making it a bit less difficult before progressing to asking for more. Many clingy dogs follow their owners every time they get up from sitting. If your dog gets ready to follow you every time you are sitting on a chair or couch, and you put your hand on the arm rest or put down the remote, practice sit/stays and down/stays as you repeat these actions over and over. Then increase criteria, and start to get up repeatedly from your chair/couch/. Then get up and take a few steps and may be even walk around your dog and go back to sitting. These exercises should be done until fluent and the dog appears totally relaxed and no longer eager to follow. End the sessions with a jackpot of treats. Step 2: Gradually increase distance/duration. With longer duration, it's best to request down/stays to prevent tiring. Take more steps away (from standing or sitting) and for gradually longer times and start going out of sight. Ask your dog to down/stay on a mat as you briefly get out of view behind a wall or door for a split second, then return and reward. Repeat several times as you gradually mix in shorter absences and longer absences and shorter distances with farther distances, making sure to not allow you dog to detect an incremental pattern of difficulty. You can mix in brief errands too such as opening/closing a closet, grabbing a beer from the fridge or closing a window as long as they don't cause you to be out of sight for too long. These exercises should be done until fluent and the dog appears totally relaxed. Always end the sessions with a jackpot of treats. Step 3: Increase more the distance and duration. Install a baby gate, hide several treats around the enclosed area, send your dog there and have your dog explore his new confinement area and find the goodies. Leave the baby gate open for a couple of days so that the dog can freely visit and discover goodies in there Next, practice briefs stays as you get in and out of the baby gate and return. Stay always in sight. Gradually increase the time you stay out as always mixing in briefer stays with longer ones, but not more than a minute in length. At some point, get out of the baby gate and start preparing a stuffed Kong that can be easily unstuffed in just a minute or so. Place the stuffed Kong behind the baby gate where your dog can see it and smell it and cannot get it. Your dog should try to get the Kong. Wait for a little bit of frustration to set in such as your dog trying to paw it or whine. Grab the Kong and give it to your dog as you remain in view at a distance behind the baby gate for 1 minute. Return inside. Repeat, reloading the Kong again making it more challenging to unstuff and then less challenging, so that you can increase the the time you stay out as always mixing in briefer stays with longer ones. Try to return when you know your dog is just about to finish unstuffing his Kong. Step 4: Start incorporating the treasure hunt game, using a portion of your dog's meals as outlined in the course. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/ Have your dog sit/stay or down/stay as you get a portion of your dog's meal allowance and hide the kibble around. Have your dog watch you in anticipation and then as you leave the room and release your dog. Allow your dog to hunt as you are briefly out of sight. Return and repeat the exercise hiding the remaining portion of your dog's meal allowance and leaving as your dog goes on his hunt. As always, gradually increase the time you stay out of sight, mixing in briefer stays with longer ones, but not more than a minute in length. Alternatively, in lieu of the treasure hunt game, you can stuff a slow food dispenser such as a Kong Wobbler, Buster Cube or regular Kong with the kibble and let your dog work on it while you are away. At some point, start delaying your returns a bit so that your dog has finished hunting or eating from the Kong but doesn't appear to anxious about running out of food and being alone. 2: Protocol for Uncoupling Pre-Departure Cues Dogs in general are masters in reading body language and learning all the cues that culminate into our departures. It's therefore not surprising when they start acting nervous when dog owners get up, have breakfast, and then put on makeup, shave, brush hair, put shoes on (as in your case!) and grab the keys. These are all pre-departure cues that put dogs on high alarm, as these cues have been chained one to another and associated with departures. Uncoupling these associations requires some work. The work encompasses desensitizing to the pre-departure cues and breaking up their associations with the departures. These exercises are done when not leaving the home. Make sure that you therefore have time set aside for this. To start, compile a list of behaviors you perform normally when heading out and identify the ones your dog seems to react to. Then, place them in order chronologically, starting with the one that is farthest away from leaving the house. You will then work on exposing your dog to these behaviors starting with the first and then chaining them one by one until the dog becomes uninterested in them as they lose value due to them no longer leading to departures. For instance, if your list looks something like this: put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys and walk out the door, your exercises will look something like this: (please note, sit on the couch/watch TV is an example, you can do many other things that your dog associates with you being home like knitting, washing the dishes etc.) In your case though, you may need to work more on the shoe component taking a very gradual approach so not to evoke anxiety. Your vet may recommend meds to lower the threshold. Put on shoes, sit on the couch, watch TV (when you sit down and watch TV or read a book or go prepare a meal, do so for a few minutes each time) Put on shoes, grab briefcase, sit on the couch, watch TV Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, sit on the couch, watch TV Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, sit on the couch, watch TV Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door slightly, close door, sit on the couch watch TV Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, then back in, close door, return, sit on the couch watch TV Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, sit on couch, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door (with you outside), quickly reopen door, close door, return, sit on the couch, watch TV. Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, sit on couch, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door (with you outside), lock the door, unlock the door, return, sit on couch watch TV. Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door, lock the door (with you outside), and increase duration of staying outside gradually, but for no more than half a minute (always mixing in shorter absences in the midst of longer ones), then unlock the door, return, sit on the couch, watch TV. Note: If your dog seems upset by any of these behaviors, you may need to split them further. For example, if your dog is doing well up until you start opening the door (like you catch your dog whining), then, you may want to split the action of walking to the door in further segments (e.g take a few steps towards the door, return, sit on couch, then, walk to the door and stand in front of it, return, sit on the couch, then, walk to the door and touch the knob for a split second, return, sit on the couch, then walk to the door and open the door a bit for a split second, return, sit on the couch. Do this until the door can be successfully opened without the dog worrying about it. 3: Exercises by the Door Monitor your dog for signs of distress These exercises are more difficult, and therefore, require dogs to be very well proficient at the previous tier level. Dogs should therefore have reached a point where they are fine with being left alone for up to half a minute as the owner stands behind the closed door. Because these absences are longer and more distractions are added (car engine starting), it helps to provide some high-value long-lasting goodies for the dog to consume such as a strategically stuffed Kong with layers (e.g a layer of cookies stuck at the bottom, kibble mixed with peanut butter, a cookie stuck midway, canned food, another cookie at the top). For longer absences, on top of a Kong, an automatic treat-dispenser set to release treats at frequent intervals can turn helpful. When providing goodies to consume for these absences, it's important to provide them as well while you are at home to prevent them from turning into a pre-departure cue signaling to your dog you are about to leave. At this point, it may also be important to use some form of remote monitoring so to assess how the dog is doing and keep tabs on progress and/or setbacks. Body language should be carefully assessed. Anytime a setback is noticed, it means that one must work more on a lower level until the dog is perfectly comfortable with that level. For example, if the dog becomes anxious upon being left alone for 8 minutes, more time should be spent practicing at lower times. Increments should be done in seconds rather then chunks of minutes always mixing in briefer times to make the exercises as variable as possible. Build the time gradually up to 30 minutes if possible. Arrivals should always be no big deal. Ignore your dog as you walk in and just go straight to the couch. Example of exercises: Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door, lock the door, start car engine, then unlock the door, return, sit on the couch, watch TV. Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door, lock the door, start car engine, spend a bit of time in the car, then unlock the door, return, sit on the couch, watch TV. Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door, lock the door, start car engine, move the car a bit ahead and then back into parking space, then unlock the door, return, sit on the couch, watch TV. Put on shoes, grab briefcase, grab keys, walk towards the door, touch the door knob, open the door, take a step out, close the door, lock the door, start car engine, drive the car around the block and then back into parking space, then unlock the door return, sit on the couch watch TV and so forth. Gradually increase more time spent away, mixing in shorter absences. A Word About Treatment For Separation in Anxiety in Dogs It's important to consider that slow and steady wins the race in behavior modification. It will take time, commitment and determination to attain results with the dog being calm enough to cope with gradually longer departures. The goal is to get a dog to be calm and reward that. Setbacks are always possible during behavior modification no matter how well planned the program. To reduce the chances of setbacks, it is best to perform separation anxiety exercises with the help of a professional for in-person evaluations and coaching. Some of the more severe cases may require prescription medications (prescribed by a vet) to help the dog relax enough and open the lines for learning to take place. Calming aids may help too for milder cases. These may include: -Using a recorder you can program to play every thirty minutes a recording of your voice. -Calming supplements such as those containing L-theanine (ask a vet for recommendations) -DAP diffusers such as Adaptil/Comfort Zone -Adaptil collars -Dog calming CDs (like Through a Dog's Ear) or calming music for dog on YouTube -Puppy toy with heart beat (Snuggle Pups Behavioral Aid) -Thundershirt, Anxiety Wrap, Storm Defender I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Best, Adrienne *Disclaimer: certain types of training/behavior modification come with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) or severe anxiety, for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional (DACVB, CAAB or dog trainer specializing in anxiety/aggression) who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction.

Another issue we could do with some help on is his separation anxiety. Since the lockdown in the UK finished, he's very stressed at us leaving. So we've watched the training videos and flagged up that we're leaving, put him in the utility room, put on relaxing music, given him a chew and are leaving for just a few minutes at a time, increasing duration very slowly. We return and take him out immediately as a reward. It's been hard. The whining and crying is difficult to take. But it's now led to a side effect, if he sees either of us go anywhere near our shoes he goes absolutely mental, barking, spinning, jumping, even if we're just going out to take the trash. We've tried doing it quietly whilst he's in another room but he can hear us. This has only just started since we've been doing the separation training. You are very welcome. So for treating separation-related issues, there is a lot to cover. There are many books over 200 pages long covering the issue since things can be complex and I have attended several virtual conferences, the best coming from veterinary behaviorists and these last over two hours long. You are definitely not alone as the pandemic has put us all in a situation never encountered before. Many dogs have never had the opportunity to learn how it feels to be left alone, or the dogs may have been fine before, but now that we have been working more from home, they have gotten so used to our salient presence, that leaving them now has become their biggest fear. The very first step in these cases is a veterinary visit to rule out any medical issues and for an accurate diagnosis. Some dogs in pain have been reported to be more likely to become anxious when left alone and separation anxiety can be a little tricky to diagnose at times (it's now called "the great imitator" for this very reason). The best way to diagnose separation anxiety with more certainty is recording the dog's behavior when left alone and having your veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist take a look at it. Important would be to set your recording device with a clear view towards the area you exit and both leave for a brief absence sticking nearby as you monitor your dog using your remote monitoring device (camera) so that you can come back quickly as needed. Once diagnosed, usually these case are treated using a multi-modal approach consisting of management, medications and behavior modification. Let's take a closer look into these. Management: Management entails not allowing the dog to rehearse the full-intensity behavior. This is the part that most dog owners find challenging, because this means that the dog should never be left alone, at least initially. Medications take on average 4 weeks to take effect, and in the meanwhile the dog needs to stay under threshold as much as possible. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ If owners work, the dog can be taken to daycare or a pet sitter may swing by. If owners for one reason or another cannot take the dog to day care of hire a pet sitter, then additional event-based meds that are short-acting and effective more quickly, can be added always under the guidance of the vet. Medications: There are only 2 FDA approved maintenance drugs for treating separation anxiety in dogs and they consist of Clomicalm (a tri-cyclic antidepressant) and Reconcile (an SSRI). As mentioned, these take some time to kick in, but once effective, they help calm the dog enough so that he is no longer over threshold and behavior modification can be started. As mentioned, situational, event-based medications( like trazadone) can be used on specific occasions for example when the otherwise stay-at-home dog parent needs to be absent or the left-alone time is expected to be longer than usual. Such event-based meds kick in quickly, although they do not last very long. Used alone, they can be an option for dogs with milder forms of separation anxiety, but in more severe cases, it is best to combine them with the above maintenance drugs and use the event-based medications as a booster. An advantage of medications is that they can help work on concomitant forms of anxiety. Research has shown that many dogs with separation anxiety also suffer from noise phobias and thunder storm phobias, so the meds can also help with that. Behavior Modification Behavior modification often entails desensitization and counterconditioning techniques. Here is more about them: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ Often it consists of uncoupling pre-departure cues, instilling more independence and creating positive associations with absences. Uncoupling pre-departure cues often entails repeating an action that dogs have learned to associate with the owner leaving without the actual leaving. In other words, if your dog is nervous when you put on your shoes, you could start by keeping your shoes by the couch and practice several times of putting them on and then sitting on the couch to read a book. Since putting on the shoes have led to such an intense emotional response (you mention spinning, barking, jumping) it would be important to work on this after meds have kicked in. Time after time, putting on the shoes should become a boring activity as the dog disassociates the action with departures. Other pre-departure cues need to be included as well, basically any thing that has been done before leaving that has set the dog in an anxious state. More on this below in the general protocols I will be posting shortly. When one must really leave the home, it would be best to keep the shoes outside so that this anxiety-evoking action is not presented. However, it would be important never leaving the house with a dog who is frantic or panicky as that leads to sensitization rather then desensitization, hence the importance of using meds and taking a very gradual approach in getting the dog used to our departures. Dogs also need to learn how to become more independent, no longer follow dog owners room-to-room and they need to get used to very gradual departures. Starting with very brief absences, and as the dog gets better, we can then very gradually add longer absences, but it 's a good strategy to mix in some shorter ones as well so that the dog doesn't sense an increase in difficulty which can be stressful. Food that lasts long (like a Kong stuffed and frozen) can be used to create positive associations with departures, but it's important to practice caution. If one is not diligent, food can become a predictor of us leaving, and the dog may come to dread that and even start refusing the food only to eat it upon our return. It's helpful therefore providing the food as well when we are planning to stay home so to prevent it from assuming this negative "stigma." I am posting below just some examples of general protocols used for behavior modification. Please note that every dog is different and may require a different protocol that is custom-made based on several variables and specifics.

You are very welcome! I love your determination and positive mindset despite the hurdles you have encountered. Keep me posted on how things go, and if you need any in depth guidance or encouragement on any of the issues you have listed, this is the place and we are here to help! Best, Adrienne

"Well, she got to see firsthand the fighting. We went about 4 months, I think, without a fight. It's just too exciting with the trainer there and her super good treats. The girls were under the table, I don't remember where Leah was, and I was sitting in the corner with Esther. My best guess is Esther pushed Gertie one too many times and Gertie snapped then a fight ensued. This time, though, Gertie got the better of Esther before we pulled them apart. Leah did the wheelbarrow with Gerts and Esther kept trying to lunge towards Gertie. Esther was tethered to me, though, so she wasn't going anywhere. Esther ended up with a couple small abrasions - one below her eye and one further down her cheek. Gertie was fine. Esther is showing her street cred with her tear drop scab! Leah's assessment was that Esther had nowhere to escape to so it was all fight. Esther was in the corner with me while also being leashed to me and with them being under the table it was even more confining. She wasn't overly concerned as both girls showed restraint and each could have greatly harmed the other but did not. She advised to keep the rest of the day calm so they could decompress so I put Esther in her kennel with a treat and Gertie on their bed with a treat so they didn't have to be near each other for a couple hours." In lieu of this setback, on the positive side you had an expert observe the interaction and intervene and then provide suggestions on how to help them destress. I am glad to hear Gertie was fine and Esther had only a few scrapes. Out of this, I guess the teaching lesson here is to work around an area with more open space. The Drop training, Patel style, is going well. Esther is picking up on the cue and I think we're just about ready to step it up a notch. I'm still using her morning meal and am keeping my eye out for chicken to be back on the shelves. Muzzle training is going well, too. We had to remodel it a bit. Instead of waiting for 5+ seconds and excitedly taking it off her I'm slowly taking it away at 3 or maybe 2 or maybe I do wait until 5+, etc . . .. She gets a whole Ziwi Peak if I give the treat while her nose is in the muzzle and a quarter of one if I give it outside of the muzzle. After muzzle training she gets to do a search game outside with treats scattered all over the patio. The idea is kind of like when we get the brussels sprouts eaten we can have dessert - do the least favorable / hardest things out of the way so the rest of the day is fun / easy. We'll work up to moving into the yard eventually but for now that's a no go because we have 3 hawks and 2 owls who keep dropping all manner of disgusting things in the yard that the girls are excited about. We have 1/3 acre of carcasses it seems some days - it's basically a bone yard! Sounds great! I am not surprised to hear she's doing so well with the Patel-style drop. With the muzzle training, sounds like baby steps and gradually raising criteria is helping. Also, yes, mixing and matching longer and shorter duration reps as done with stays helps since the dog doesn't recognize a pattern of the exercise getting increasingly difficult. Yup, you're describing perfectly the Premack principle, also known as Grandma's Law of "eat your broccoli first and then you can have ice-cream!" She's still pulling on the leash but not nearly as much. I made a potty station near the "trail" and that's helped a bit with expectation. I have a scoop with a bag on it out there to keep it clean and I don't have to walk half a mile to go dump it each time - that was messing with our cadence. I remove the bag before each trash day and dispose of it. No more hunting for things (well, I still kind of do because of the cataracts, but at least I know where to look now!). Gertie is mostly working on polite greetings. Esther isn't ready for that training, yet. We've worked Gerts up to knocks on the wall serving as a cue to lie down on the mat. The goal is to have her up to the door handle being rattled, maybe even the door opening, by the time Leah returns. Sounds like a great plan! It would be great if Gerts could do that in presence of Leah, she will be impressed! Maybe after a bit once the whole novelty of her being there has weaned off a bit. Last Monday I almost packed Esther up and headed your way, lol. It was a bad bad day for us. She was 100 mph from the start of the day. My breaking point was when we were at the base of the stairs and she had a burst of energy for no reason I could discern. She kicked her porcelain feeding bowl and sent it flying. It broke in half and that was that for me. I was d.o.n.e. done! Almost wrote the husband a note: "taking Esther to Adrienne's, be back later. xoxo" Rofl! I am so busy with work right now that I have half a mind to send Esther to a boot camp, but I don't trust everyone's methods. You or Leah are the only ones I would feel confident with and Leah doesn't have the space (and she has 3 dogs, 2 of which are dog aggressive). Hope all is well in your corner of the world! Aww, thank you for the kind words! You are right to be concerned about training methods, especially those that advertise as boot camp, which more likely than not, involves using old and often aversive methods. Honestly, I see not much value of board and training for certain behavior issues such as dogs fighting in the household other than marginally working on replacement behaviors/impulse control (which will need to continue being implemented once back home). This is because there's so much hands-on needed in these cases due to the amount of management required, identifying the antecedents (triggers) that evoke the fights and providing the recommended course of action based on the behavior consultant's observations in the dog's home environment. On top of that, after several weeks of being apart, it would be necessary to take several steps to gradually reintegrate the dogs to prevent any added stress. I really wish Esther improves and things become more manageable in the near future for you. She is young so these bursts of energy are not unusual, sometimes they may be diet-related (some foods/ treats may cause more hyper behaviors) other times, it's just their joy of life, a way to de-stress, or just a need to get rid of some excess energy. It can feel overwhelming at times, sort of like working with toddlers, and we certainly deserve cutting some time for ourselves when things get a little too much.

Hi there, welcome to the forums! There is tail biting and tail biting. Can you please provide more details please? At what age did this behavior start? Is this behavior really constant? I know it often may feel constant to us, but in other words, does she seem to be engaging in any other activities during the day? Like can she enjoy a meal without thinking about the tail? If there are other dogs to play with, will she still focus on her tail? If you are training her or doing brain games, does she go back to her tail? You mention this has been going on since a puppy. What has been your response to her tail biting ever since? And what have you tried so far? What is her typical day like? Is she being walked, provided with brain games, training and food puzzles? Do you work long hours? Does she show signs of fear or anxiety? Did you ever notice a pattern where the tail biting occurs in a specific situation? Does she even do it when you are not around? Has the vet done a very thorough physical exam? I mean did they check her anal glands? Did they rule our skin allergies? Did they rule out parasites? Did they run bloodwork? What have they suggested so far? Does she cause any problems to the tail? Bleeding, loss of hair, cuts and scrapes? Is he free-fed his meals? Like do you keep the food out all day or do you adhere to scheduled meal times? What food is he fed? Is it high in fats by any chance? Sorry for all these questions, but this behavior can stem from a variety of underlying causes!

Reading around there seems to be a split of opinion amongst the dog trainers and behaviourists. Some advise lots of activity to tire them out. Some say that activity hypes them up, particularly games of fetch, chase or tug, which further arouse them. These trainers advise a ‘do nothing’ protocol to try and get them to calm down so they have to mooch about without rehearsing. Hi there! This is a great question. In the dog trainer world there is a popular saying: "The only thing two dog trainers can agree on is that the third trainer is wrong." This just to point out how many subjects of controversy there may be when it comes to training methods and other various things like this famous "exercise conundrum." There is really no easy answer when it comes to how much exercise is needed for a specific dog, there are just too many variables at play. For instance, let's consider breed. Most dog breeds on this planet have been carefully crafted to fulfill some important roles through many years of careful selective breeding. Retrievers were selectively bred to retrieve downed birds and return them to the hunters with a soft mouth, spaniels were bred to flush birds out of dense bushes, livestock guardians were bred to protect vulnerable livestock from predators, small terriers were bred to hunt and kill rats and so forth. Knowledge is therefore power in knowing what to expect when one brings a specific dog breed into their lives. Variety is the spice of life and dogs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and personalities! Activity levels will vary greatly from one dog to another based on their histories. Many dog breeds were built for having lots of stamina and their high energy levels made them prized workers. These dogs are naturally drawn to movement (its self-reinforcing!) and staying still is difficult. Other breeds led less active roles such as keeping an eye on valuables, saving the occasional distressed traveler or drowning person, or warming the laps of aristocratic ladies. Knowing what a dog breed was selectively bred for can give us an insight on what type of exercise and what activities the dog may enjoy. For instance, huskies, which were selectively bred to pulls sleds, won't be very happy with a short walk around the block. But even then, even within breeds, there are no rules written in stone. There are show lines and working lines in many dog breeds, and there can be even great variances between puppies of the same litter! Then factor in other individual factors such as the environment in which a dog is raised (a sporting breed in an apartment will crave more exercise than the same dog raised on a farm) and some dogs on top of being energetic are also anxious, which can aggravate things. And then, wen need to also consider that not all exercise is created equally. Excessive exercise of the wrong type may be doing more harm than good. We may be exhausting our dogs, and on top of that, with too much cardio exercise, we may be increasing our dog's fitness and endurance which means they'll need more and more and this may not be feasible nor sustainable for us. While it's true that beneficial endorphins are released when exercising, when accompanied by high levels of arousal, there are risks for other hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline being released as well and these hormones are related to stress. I personally think something important to consider the quality of the exercise and balancing it out with other forms of activities. Many dog owners get stuck with playing too much fetch with their dogs. A game of fetch in certain predisposed dogs may turn into an adrenaline-pumping ordeal and some dogs may even get addicted to that due to the games repetitive pattern. Or some other dog owners may rely on taking their dogs too often and for too many hours to day care or the dog park. Relying excessively on certain, specific forms of exercise, may create a narrow view of exercise and mental stimulation coming to depend too much on them and never having the opportunity to explore other forms of activity and play. These dogs risk living their lives constantly looking for a ball or playing wild at the park rehearsing hyper behaviors over and over. There are fortunately, more productive forms of exercise that may benefit both dogs and dog owners. I personally find, that often, the ideal solution is the golden way in between. That is finding the perfect balance between a dog's need for exercise and mental enrichment (brain games! food puzzles!, sniffing adventures!), basically, that ideal sweet spot that will help keep dogs and dog owners happy. Of course, breeds needs to be considered as well, with that some dog breeds being more needy than others due to their heritage. A certain dog breed can be a nightmare for some while it can be a dream dog for others. With Finn our border collie cross, he has 3 short toilet break walks down the lane for leash work, about 1/4 mile there and back. He also has two 20 minute exercise bouts in our paddock, chasing balls, fetch, frisbee work and at least one session of find a scent object off the lead. As we’re retired we often go for longer walks and take him to parks, woodlands etc. We’ve also done a lot of socialisation stuff walking around busy car parks, town centre, eating at cafe’s etc. But at just 2 years old he still struggles to settle, particularly in the evening when we watch TV, listening for any noises outside, barking when he hears anything. He moves from position to position and frequently scratches the floor or furniture. Wonder if we should do less? It sounds like Finn has a nice array of activities! It may take some trial and error at times to find the perfect balance. I feel that after providing a dog with the right balance of exercise and mental stimulation, we may sometimes need to help set the mood for some well-deserved relaxation. Some dogs need more help to learn how to settle down and relax. Some dogs may even get cranky when they are tired and misbehave until they get tired enough to fall asleep. We can help these dog by creating "quiet zones" that promote relaxation. These are simply quiet areas away from the areas of the home buzzing with activity, where there are comfy dog beds and temptations are kept out of reach. If your dog barks at outdoor noises, it may help turning on a fan to create some "white noise." If you can identify whether certain noises trigger the barking, you can try the "hear that' method: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/, this may keep him awake for some time, but he may habituate to them which can help in the long run. One can therefore help a dog practice relaxation, by creating a routine while reading a book or watching TV. Creating a routine and praising the dog in a calm tone when he lies down on his bed can help reinforce calmness. When practiced day after day, this should become easier and easier over time. It's a good sign when dogs start to emit a sigh and lie down on their side for some restorative REM sleep. Some high energy dogs may struggle settling down and these dogs do best if crated or placed in an exercise pen so to limit their movement and encourage them to settle down. Offering them a long-lasting edible to chew such as a bully stick or a frozen Kong can help them wind down and make good choices. However, if there are some other concomitant forms of anxiety at play, this may require a more involved approach.

Oh my, that sounds like very intense behavior, almost to the point of an obsession. Dogs can get compulsive disorders (CD) too and it's unfortunate that border collies are a breed that is prone to it. Many get obsessed with shadows and lights others may engage in fly snapping, circling or tail chasing. I would think that, as a starting point, it would be a good idea to have a screening done by a veterinarian/veterinary behaviorist to see whether there may be something going on medically (vision issue, seizures etc) and then by exclusion determine whether this may truly be a case of a behavior issue. We want to get this ruled out sooner than later considering that many dogs with (CD) often display the first signs before 1 year of age, but it's often not readily recognized as such (just interpreted as normal young dog behavior) and treatment is therefore often sought later on, once the repetitive behavior has become quite ingrained and more difficult to tackle. Of course, it can be that there is no medical condition at play and there is not CD, but there likely is some strong underlying anxiety at play and some cases of intense anxiety may benefit from medications so to lower those threshold levels just enough for these dogs to be able to cognitively function enough to learn alternate behaviors. Of course, this is something a veterinary behaviorist would have to determine based on a careful assessment. If you happen to have a video of the behavior you have made in the past, It would be a good idea to show it to the vet. Of course, don't make a video now considering all the dangers associated with this behavior and the risks in allowing her to rehearse something that you have so carefully managed. If you don't have a video, a very detailed description of the behavior can help. Provide info of what happens typically before the behavior (are you always present when it occurs? is there anything that seems to set the behavior?), what your dog does, and what happens afterward (what seems to makes it stop? what have you done in the past? what happened when somebody intervened etc) also provide info on whether she has any particular fears or anxieties and whether there have been any recent changes in her life since it started. In the meanwhile, preventing the behavior from being rehearsed as much as possible is important. It sounds this is not easy being that there are many trees in the area you live. Some border collies with these tendencies improve when provided with outlets for their natural drive to herd when taken to sheep herding trials, in lieu of that, some herding dogs may benefit from the sport of Treibball or the use of large balls made for herding. Flirt poles at times can help too, considering that they may help provide some closure in being able to chase and capture something versus engaging in a fruitless pursuit of something dogs may never get which can therefore cause predisposed dogs to become mentally disturbed by that. However I would leave all of these options as possibilities to try only *after* having ruled out other causes and therefore after carefully discussing with a veterinary behaviorist considering that certain interventions may worsen problems (or even create new obsessions) rather than ameliorate them. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Best, Adrienne *Disclaimer: certain types of training/behavior modification come with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) or severe anxiety, for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional (DACVB, CAAB or dog trainer specializing in anxiety/aggression) who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Well that's a big plus! It's great that she's showing signs of not being prone to resource guarding. I am sure you have contributed to her 100 percent trust with hands. There's a big chicken wing shortage everywhere apparently due to the upcoming Super Bowl, but it looks like anything chicken related lately is being sold out. I think it's OK to start with kibble on the Chirag Patel drop exercises, especially at the very beginning when nothing is being dropped. Just to introduce the concept. When then swapping to meat it'll be a pleasant surprise for sure!

Yes, Chirag Patel's method is very cherished by behaviorists world-wide. I have been using it more and more for some challenging cases. It does take a little longer because initially you are just saying drop without the dog mouthing/ carrying any objects/foods, but the extra steps are totally worth it because it creates a positive association with the word and the dog gets so reflexively used to eating savory foods upon hearing it, that he more easily drops anything from the mouth. As a bonus, as you gather the chicken with the finger, it helps build trust with hands nearby food. Of course, it's not suitable for dogs who resource guard, but I think it works great as a preventive. Yeah, that fluff ball teddy-bear Pom has a special place in my heart, so full of character! One day I saw her eat something, and since she was in my care, I took the risk and opened her mouth worried it could have been something harmful. I retrieved the item from her mouth and popped a treat from my pocket in her mouth in exchange, only to realize later it was ---uggh, I feel like gagging still to this day--- it was her poop! I was literally retching as I rushed to clean up my hands. So drop it and leave it turned out being the main training she needed, along with learning to trust me being around when she pooped (owner used to scold her). She eventually got very good at her drops, so much so, one day, I was sitting on the couch reading emails and she intently, with great purpose jumped up right next to me and dropped her poop on my lap-and looked up at me with the expectation of a treat to exchange! This is normally a pleasant consequence of teaching drop it. It's a sign you have instilled a higher level of trust. My female Rottie Petra, used to chew my pens, but then once she learned to drop well, she would carry any pens I lost to me rather than chew them on her own which was great, but I never thought about this happening with poop, eeek!

Well, that gives you a starting point! Next step, may be trying putting some peanut butter on that celery he seems so disinterested in and freezing it (make sure the peanut butter' doesn't contain xylitol) or making a mix of mashed celery with some yogurt and a little bit of peanut butter (again make sure it' doesn't contai xylitol) and shape it as a log and freeze it or mashing some banana with peanut butter and freezing it into large, easy-to-carry and drop shapes. Be generous when he drops, especially those first ones, rather than just one piece of chicken, try tossing several pieces to leave more an impact. This doesn't necessarily mean more chicken, just offered in several pieces so to offer a little fun treasure hunt. Surprise your dog, make it feel like you're throwing a party! Most dogs will trade fruit/veggies for protein with not much thinking.

You are very welcome! The first video, at the very end there are some 'drop it' demos done with a white Great Pyrenees which involved a generally very high value chew, basically a rawhide chew which many dogs would never want to give up and may even fight over it given the chance. The second video by Chirag Patel at the end involved dropping whole hot dogs which are also often at the very top of high value food for many dogs. Of course, these are things to practice with only once reaching a certain level of responsiveness. We want to therefore start training drop its at elementary levels, and then build our way gradually to middle school and then progress to college levels. As Jennifer pointed out you can try with some dog-safe veggies, the plus is they are low calorie if he happens to eat some. Sometimes we need some extra experimenting with certain dogs. Some dogs just need to grasp the concept which can be sometimes challenging with foods as they're just so used to gulping things down without our intervention so now they're wondering what in the world we're asking them to do. Dogs may think: "why in the world would I do that?" So we may need to gain their trust and help them gain those thinking skills to reach that lightbulb moment of "oh, so that's what you want! I can do that! Cool! Every time I drop something I get something better!" If you are at the point of getting an almost reflex -like response with dropping toys, then I believe you are on the right track and need to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You may just need to find the right foods to get started. If he's so quick eating bread or kibble, then you may need to find some ways to gather a little more time before he devours them and gain that little extra momentum. When you move to food, you'll may therefore need to find a starting point and maybe start trying with something large or hard enough that he can't just gobble down in seconds. I would skip the kibble as that's not easy to spit out and most dogs inhale it without even chewing. Dogs are also so used to eating it so consumption of it may be such a reflexed action you can't gather a thinking moment. If you are using small and soft pieces of bread and not getting anywhere skip that too for now. You can try with these instead: -A half or quarter loaf of super hard, stale French baguette-style bread (that would have been tossed anyway.) -An ice-cube made with low-sodium chicken broth or a popsicle for dogs (there are many recipes online on how to make these, never use sticks as dogs may ingest those too). Many dogs will lick an ice cube rather than chew it and this will give you time and make the- easy- to- swallow chicken more appealing. You may have to wait for your dog to carry the ice cube or popsicle in his mouth or try to chew it to strategically execute your drop it. -Or maybe you can find an intermediate step and stick with toys for now, but adding some element of food. Like you can try with a toy with a dog cookie stuck inside that is almost impossible to extract. You can say "drop it" and toss the chicken when he seems tired of trying. Then entice him to take the toy again and tell him to drop and toss the chicken at a distance and as he eats that far from you, get the toy and walk away and quickly remove the cookie inside and hide in in your pocket or behind your back. Then, come back, drop the toy and wait for him to grab the toy again, and ask for a final drop it and if he does, give him the cookie. -Or, if your dog isn't prone to resource guarding and has a soft bite (meaning doesn't hurt when he mistakenly misses and grabs things that are close to your hands as in a game of tug), you can even start your drop its by holding on to one side of something big enough such as a long piece of celery or carrot and asking your dog to "take" and then once he does, then ask for "drop it" (in this case it doesn't really drop, he just lets go since you're holding on to it,) as you show with your other hand some tasty chicken and toss it. A disclaimer is warranted here: some dogs may grab carrots or other large chunks of difficult to digest foods and swallow them whole or in large chunks and this may lead to bowel obstructions, so something to be aware of. If that works, then rinse and repeat a couple more times, until at one point, you ask for the drop it without showing the chicken. If he drops, then praise and reward by tossing 2-3 pieces of chicken at once to inform him that "bingo! that's what you wanted!' Now, with drop its, we want to minimize as much as possible the chances for failure because what happens if our dogs often enough hear "drop it" and the next thing they do is they just swallow the food? They may come to think that "drop it" means eat and swallow and they get reinforced for that with the tasty food going down their throats! So we need to break this cycle and do lots of reps with toys to enforce in the dog's mind that "drop it" means to spit things out and not eat and swallow and if you feel like going back to basics using Chirag Patel's method (video number two) it may be super worthy in the long run. Alternatively, before he's reliable enough, you can routinely do some tests. In other words, when your dog has an edible that he's carrying around or taking some time to chew, approach, but keep some distance, and try to "test things" by tossing something that you feel may be far more valuable and that he'll likely get up to get. If he goes for that, you know you have a potentially good valuable for training drop its, so when he goes back to the edible chew, and again holds it in his mouth, you can start to add the cue 'drop it' as you toss the valuable nearby. When he drops the edible, make sure to praise as he goes eat the valuable you have tossed. After some time, remember to delay the food tossing as we don't want them to rely on the sight of food. Simply, say "drop it" and wait for him to drop and then toss the valuable. As with other types of training, we want to prevent food lures from becoming potential bribes. As always, with any training or behavior modification using food, caution is needed. Never forcibly remove food from a dog's mouth and with dogs with a history of resource guarding or dogs who show any signs of aggression, professional intervention is required for safety and correct behavior modification implementation. *Disclaimer: certain types of training/behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional (DACVB, CAAB or dog trainer specializing in aggression) who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Thanks again. Great stuff! Just what we’re looking for. Finn will eat anything as long as it’s food but paper, plastics, socks etc he’ll chew but won’t swallow. Which is good. Yes, that's a big advantage! When boarding and training this dog I felt like I had to grow an extra pair of eyes on my back. I mean the first night at my place, he woke us up in the night gagging and when I got up to check on him, he had just puked a black sock. Owners told me they were glad they brought him to me a day later, as the day prior to that he puked the wives' underwear!😬 We’ll try to up the anti on ‘leave it’s’ Just like you show, but I’m not holding out any hope for dropping anything food related out of his mouth, even though he’s getting very good with different objects. Management can have you covered until you can work on a more reliable response with leave its and drop its progressing to involving foods starting with lower value. Here is a demo on drop it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnItd7OEmw Now, for more challenging cases (like when all food is super valuable or in cases of dogs lacking trust or prone to resource guarding), we can also try a different approach. More and more trainers and behavior consultants have been suggesting Chirag Patel's approach which adds a classically conditioned twist to the exercise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndTiVOCNY4M I have personally tried this method and found it helpful as a starting point with certain dogs. It may take a little longer to implement, and it may seem a little odd at first, but it turns the act of dropping almost into a reflexive action. Of course, if there are any signs of aggression, such as a dog who growls, stiffens or tries to bite when approached when the dog is in possession of food/ toys or other valuables, professional intervention is required for safety and correct behavior modification implementation.

Great tips from Jennifer! Other things that come to mind: have you tried a front-attachment harness? There are several makes and models, but lately the Perfect Fit, Balance Harness and the Ruffwear Front Range harness have had rave reviews. Also, make sure to keep your dog under threshold. In such cases, distance is your best friend. If you keep distance from other dogs, your dog is more likely to be calmer and this leaves space for her to cognitively function, so that she can learn to engage in alternate behaviors such as doing some attention heeling as you walk by other dogs. Important is not to let her meet other dogs in this state of mind. If we allow her to greet in this overexcited state of mind, we will be reinforcing that excitement along with the whole package of lunging behaviors and these behavior will put more roots and become more difficult to eradicate. Once she has learned to better control herself, then we can start working more closely around dogs and encourage calmer behaviors. Group dog training classes are a great way to accomplish this as your dog will have to learn to pay attention to you for several weeks while in presence of other dogs. Alternatively, if you have some friends who own dogs, you can also practice some great structured impulse control exercises like having your dog walk in circles around the other dogs calmly, or weaving in and out nearby them. You will have to do this in small incremental steps otherwise we would put her to fail. High-value treats are needed to help the dog make good choice and reinforce desired behaviors. If any time her behavior seems to start breaking apart, that is often indicative that she wasn't ready for that level of a challenge yet. So a few steps back need to be taken. Finding some good walking buddies (where the dogs just parallel-walk without interacting) is also a good way to allow dogs like yours to learn to act calmer. I would also suggest teaching her some impulse control games which will help her learn better how to cope with frustration: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Happy training! Adrienne

Sounds like a plan! You know your dog best, so base the training keeping in mind his personal preferences. Now, this can be a little challenging with dogs who have a strong instinct to wolf down anything edible. I recently had a dog with possible pica (recommended vet visit to see whether there was something amiss), and therefore he would gulp down everything like there's no tomorrow. He swallowed tissue paper, rocks, socks, any type of dropped foods, you name it. I had to let him sample several things to figure out his hierarchy of foods by watching how he reacted. When he was drooling or acting super eager/antsy to have more of something, I knew it was something he really liked more than the other things. Turned out stinky treats worked best- the stinkier the better! This is not surprising though considering that a study has found that when given the choice, dogs show a clear preference for animal protein with a meaty texture, strong smell (and likely taste) over other foods. Here are two videos on leave it, a demo on how to train it and some leave it exercises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwbbAeEZPaU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCVN6NdM4n4 The setter leaving the dropped paper with pizza in the video above was the one with possible pica how loved ingesting tissues and paper. He had a double whammy of temptations here: the paper wrapping and parts of pizza attached to it (yuk, the stuff people toss on the ground!). Destiny wanted that the day the owners came to pick him up, with the wind, this same wrapper was right in front of the owner's car. I didn't see it between my mask being on and talking with the owners so as I had him on leash just before jumping into the car he grabbed it and jumped into the car with it in his mouth. I told him "drop it" and the owners were so proud of him since he normally would have just gulped it down. I am glad I had some high-value treats in my pocket to reward that! This is a perfect example on how you can get a nice return on your investment after working on something so much!

Hi Cathy, Welcome to the forums! Labs have a reputation for being always hungry! I think an interesting study came out on this not too long ago, let me dig for it. Just a moment..... OK, I am back, the study was published on Cell Metabolism and the finding was that there appears to be a gene alteration in Labrador retrievers along with their flat coated retriever relatives, and this may be the cause for these dogs' insatiable appetites and predisposition to beg and search for food and any associated canine obesity. Interestingly, the study found that 23 percent of Labs in the study carried at least one copy of a variation of a gene called POMC (pro-opiomelanocortin). This means that statistically, about 1 in 4 Labradors has this variation. What effect does this variant of the POMC gene have on these dogs? Affected Labradors basically seem to be lacking an "off switch" when it comes to feeling hungry. It's as if they never get to feel fully satiated. While not all the affected Labs were reported to be obese, most of them showed signs of being more likely to search and beg for food, according to surveys sent out to the owners. And the more copies of the gene variants these dog had, the fatter and more food-motivated they were. It was estimated that for each copy of the gene carried, the dog was 2 kilograms heavier. Because some humans also have been reported to show a variation of the POMC gene just as the dogs in the study, further research like this may come handy for human health too! In any case, regardless of genes, and how hungry/not hungry a dog may be, to stop a dog from surfing the counters, you'll need a mix of management and training. Here are a few tips: -Avoid getting upset or frustrated. It is easy to get upset, chase the dog around and one may be tempted to pry a dog's mouth open to release the stolen food. Refrain from doing that as much as possible. This only teaches your dog to fear you and associate you with the loss of a high-value resource. It also encourages sneaky behaviors such as eating things he shouldn't have out of your sight. With time, your dog may no longer trust you around food (or any other high-value items) so he may start running away, gulping things down very fast (possibly without even chewing which may predispose to blockages) hiding, or at some point even engaging in defensive, resource-guarding behaviors culminating in aggression. I explain why it's so important in puppies to not create conflict over foods and other valuable resources here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ -Skip booby traps. The old advice of putting a string of cans on the edge of the counter in hopes of the dog making them fall and startling, is the best recipe for creating noise-phobias in dogs. Management-wise: -Keep the counter clear of food. This means no more food left near the edge (that's just like dangling candy in front of a child), just push it out of the way, or even better, keep no food at all there so that your dog's almighty nose won't feel tempted. -Erect a baby gate. It is not easy to keep counters always free of food. Many people start off with a strong intent, and then, as time goes by, they start slacking off and that is when opportunities arise. By erecting a baby gate, Rover doesn't get to visit the kitchen with all its wafting smells and temptations: out of sight, out of mind! -Train your dog the leave it and drop it cue. Here are the guides: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ Here are some video demos just to have an idea of the mechanics execution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwbbAeEZPaU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnItd7OEmw This training can prove to be even life-saving if your dog is about to grab or has already grabbed a potentially toxic food or something he may chew on and risk an intestinal blockage. Make sure to practice this even when you are at a distance from tempting items and always reinforce by giving your dog something much higher in value (from your dog's perspective, not yours!) than the item left/dropped. Basically, just as you are training to leave it with things on the floor, you'll need to practice as well with items on the counter. -Train an alternate behavior. We often tell dogs what not to do and invest very little time in telling them what to do. Since, most likely, your dog counter surfs when you are busy preparing your meals, why not teach your dog to lie on a mat and turn that into his favorite surface to receive goodies? This way, your dog will eagerly go there when you're cooking and you have established a desirable routine. Praise and reward your dog with treats (or safe people foods) given at various intervals so that your dog holds his stay there (or if you want more time, give your dog a frozen Kong filled with his kibble and a little bit of water. Here is a guide on mat training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ With no more food left around the counter when you are not around, a fluent response to the "leave it" and "drop it cues done in carefully structured settings," and food being fed contingent upon your dog lying on the mat, with time, you should see a reduction in your dog's counter surfing behaviors. Happy training!

In some cases we’re struggling with progression. He’s getting great at drop now, but if he finds something on a walk he still won’t drop it. This is because objects to food is a massive step with no in between. He’s done dozens of different objects in different locations, but as soon as he gets a bread stick or similar, whatever treat you have he’s going to eat it! Yes, indeed, there can be a massive step from objects to food, especially with dogs who value food much more than toys, but we can lower the challenge and help our dogs by adding some intermediate steps in between. For instance, we don't go from training a dog to drop a toy to dropping a steak one has dropped from the counter in one day. Now, of course, on walks we can't control the level of value of things found on the road, but we can empower our training by using management, strategically creating set-ups starting with lower value things (like a piece of bread), gradually upping the value of things, and working on preventive measures so that a "drop it" on walks becomes more of a back-up plan when other measures may go wrong. So firstly, let's tackle why a dog is so eager to grab things on walks. This is due to a strong instinctive drive that is deeply ingrained in them. We can't blame them though: dogs are naturally predisposed to scavenging for food. Descending from gray wolves through a process of domestication, dogs have evolved from a predominantly hunting to a scavenging lifestyle. While the exact process from hunter to scavenger remains under debate, we have proof of the change through a dog's enhanced ability to digest carbohydrates, a major adaptation which enabled dogs to efficiently adapt to living among humans and eating leftovers found in waste dumps. While dogs no longer eat leftovers and are now cherished companions, the instinct to scavenge remains. Now you know why many dogs love to raid the trash bin, counters and search for crumbs under the table! To stop a dog from picking up things on walks, we therefore need to put ourselves a little in their mind and do some troubleshooting. The Importance of Taking a "Holistic" Approach Now, dog behaviors don't just start out of nowhere. Being aware of the "nuts and bolts" of why dogs behave in certain ways can help us work directly on the root of the problem, allowing us to take a holistic approach that helps us tackle the issue from different angles. Many behavior issues are directly linked to a dog's physical, emotional and mental health. In order to succeed in changing certain behaviors, it's important to keep into account the dog's health, nutrition and wellbeing. Is the dog healthy? Is the dog eating a well-balanced diet? Is the dog exercised enough? Different dogs have different energy levels. Is the dog receiving enough mental stimulation? How is the relationship between owner and dog? Is the dog anxious? These are all important questions to address when considering working on a dog who is posing some behavioral challenges. With all this in mind, following are several ways to stop a dog from picking up things on walks using a holistic approach that tackles potential issues from a variety of angles. 1) Consider a Veterinarian Visit If your dog is picking up things on walks with the intent to consume them (regardless if they are edible or not), it may be helpful to stop by the vet and have a little talk. Chances are, the dog is just fine, but it's not bad to err on the side of caution. Dogs who eat excessively and have ravenous appetites can sometimes be suffering from several underlying disorders such as diabetes, Cushing's disease, pancreas problems and heavy parasite burdens which causes them to eat more because the pesky parasites may be depriving them from nutrition. Even certain medications can cause a ravenous appetite in dogs. For instance, prednisone is known for causing increased hunger as a side effect and dogs may start eating odd things (my dog at the age of 11 started eating poop for the first time). 2) Skip Aversive Methods When implementing a holistic approach, the last thing one wants to do is suppress the behavior using punishment. No yelling, no corrections using a shock collar, no forcibly remove the item from the dog's mouth (unless it's something really harmful, but be warned-you risk getting bitten this way). All these methods do is create an adversarial relationship with the dog which can lead to a dog who will snatch things when one isn't around or worse, becomes aggressive or swallows foods or items fast in hopes of us not noticing them or to avoid us from trying to remove them from their mouth. Sure, while swift intervention is needed should a dog get ahold of something potentially harmful, but it's important to use the least aversive methods possible that do the least damage. Some of the methods require training, so in the meanwhile the best bet is to implement management. 3) Provide Outlets for Natural Behaviors As mentioned, scavenging is a natural, instinctive behavior in dogs. We cannot entirely remove instincts from a dog , especially when they have an adaptive value, but we can provide some outlets for them in a controlled setting. For instance, many brain games provide opportunities for dogs to search for food and the best part is that we can use their kibble for several of them. We can teach them too some impulse control too by asking them to sit/stay down/stay as we scatter the kibble around or prepare these games for them: The treasure hunt game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/ The bottle game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ The muffin game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/ 4) Prevent Rehearsal of the Problematic Behavior The more a dog engages in a problematic behavior that is reinforcing to the dog, the more it establishes and puts roots. But here's the deal: even if your dog gets to practice the behavior sometimes yes and sometimes no, it establishes even more strongly due to its "intermittent reinforcement." Humans who are addicted to gambling know this too well. Since winning at a slot machine in Vegas happens only on rare occasions, it creates an obsession that draws the player to keep trying. The brain chemical dopamine plays an important role in this sort of addiction. The rush and euphoria when the wheel starts spinning makes the whole experience exhilarating. Some similar feelings are likely to happen in dogs when they find things on walks, although the whole pursuit (the thrill of the hunt!) is ultimately what triggers increased dopamine levels in the dog's brain. "Dopamine is about the anticipation of pleasure, it's about the pursuit of happiness rather than happiness itself." said Robert Salposky in a presentation. To prevent rehearsal of the problematic behavior, you will therefore have to implement several management strategies as explained below. 5) Actively Scan the Environment When we take out dogs on walks, as caring pet parent it's ultimately our job to steer clear of any temptations that may draw our dogs like a magnet. Dogs don't know any better and need our gentle guidance just as toddlers put everything in their mouths and we need to lock up medicine cabinets and store chemicals high out of reach. Let's think about dangerous consequences. What if a dog picks up a bone and swallows it whole? The bone may get stuck in the airway, or may scrape the throat or puncture the intestines. It may lodge somewhere along the way causing an intestinal blockage that can turn into a costly surgery with a long recovery period. So when you walk your dog, try your best to pay extra attention. I recently had a dog over for board and training who wanted to eat everything, from tissues to dead animals to wrappers, leaves and stones. It was almost painful walking him initially because it required so much attention. This of course was not the time to be answering the phone or admiring any surrounding sceneries. I had to actively monitor the road and look out for things that could have been on the ground. Even with all the attention one day he was able to snatch a piece of bread somebody left for the pigeons. As the pigeons were eating and flew away, it was hard to see until the very last moment-which was too late. Careful scanning not only will save a dog from ingesting something potentially harmful, but will also prevent us from stepping on any yucky messes, tripping over things or bumping into any electric poles! Note: With the pandemic, things may be a little challenging due to face masks blocking our lower peripheral (side) vision, especially if we wear glasses. Walking slower and ensuring a tight fit can help us see better. A snug fit also helps reduce the chances of glasses fogging up. 6) Walk in Clear Areas Avoid walking your dog in areas where it may be difficult for you to see what's ahead or hiding underneath. You want a clear, unobstructed view of what's ahead and around you and your dog. For instance, you may want to avoid walking your dog in places with tall grass. Dogs have a strong sense of smell, so they are easily drawn to foods that may hiding under tall grass. You may also want to avoid tall grass because this is also a favorite hiding spot for ticks. As opportunistic feeders, ticks stick to areas with tall grass because it becomes easy for them to crawl onto passing people and dogs as their legs brush against the blades. 7) Use the Right Walking Gear You want to use walking gear that will make it easy for you to collect your dog in case you abruptly notice something lying on the ground. A retractable leash (also known as "Flexi Lead," is a big no-no because your dog is likely to walk ahead of you and you won't have time to retract the leash. Same goes with long lines (long leashes). You want a leash that is no longer than 4 to 6 feet. Also, you may want to use walking gear that allows you to better control your dog, especially if you have a large and strong dog. Clipping the leash to a front-attachment harness gives you more control that a regular buckle collar, and a head halter (properly introduced though gradual steps and positive associations) gives you even more control since it controls the head of the dog. 😎 Train Your Dog to 'Leave it" The very first step in training a dog to not pick up things on walks is training the "leave it cue." Training for this needs to start indoors using low value items and always rewarding the dog for leaving things using higher-value items. With time, your dog will learn that if he controls his impulse and "leaves things" something even better awaits him. Once your dog does well in responding to your "leave it" cue at home, it's time to start doing the exercise outdoors such as in a safely fenced yard. 9) Play the "I am a Magnet" Game This game is meant to draw your dog to you (like a magnet) despite some temptations placed on the ground. When out in the yard (with your dog inside), place something tempting that your dog may like to eat, but that he's not crazy for and that is safe if he should happen to eat it. I like to use a chunk of bread for this part of training. Then put your dog on leash and practice walking past the bread and tell your dog to "leave it" the moment you notice any interest in it. When your dog walks past it without trying to get it or looks at you, praise lavishly and reward with something very valuable (like 2-3 pieces of chicken or some high-value treat your dog goes crazy for). Once your dog gets good at this, practice it as well on walks. Have a helper place some bread in some areas you and your dog will pass through and practice the game. To help your dog succeed, keep some distance from the tempting food at first, and then once your dog gets the concept, you can walk closer to it. You can also increase the value of the things you use to practice on the ground (always using safe things, if unsure please look up lists of foods that are dangerous to dogs to make sure to avoid them) while also increasing the value of the foods you feed to reward. With time, you may get to to point of being able to even walk your on a loose leash or even off leash (in a safely fenced area) and your dog listening to your "leave it" cue because it predicts wonderful things! Note: If your dog happens to eat the bread or other safe food, say "oops!" and ignore your dog for some time. You want your dog to know that wrong choices lead to not superior in value treats or attention. However, make a mental note to be extra careful next time as the more your dog gets to make mistakes, the more effort you'll need to succeed. However, there's another valuable training you'll need to add in your arsenal, which is the drop it cue, which you are already working on. 10) Train the "Drop it" Cue The drop it cue is essentially a back-up plan in case your dog for some reason still manages to pick up something. Perhaps you missed seeing something before your dog did or you said "leave it" too late or/and your dog didn't listen. Life may throw us these things every now and then and nobody is perfect. In such a case, try saying your "drop it" cue. As with the leave it cue, you'll need to practice your drop its using safe, lower value things (like toys) always rewarding your dog using other toys or foods that are perceived as superior in value than what was dropped. You want your dog to be pleasantly surprised, and since this can be a cue that may save your dog's life, it's not a time for being stingy. Compile a hierarchy of foods your dog loves and use the foods at the top for rewarding dropping things that may pose a challenge. Quantity, size and duration (long-lasting edibles) can matter. Dogs are likely to be more impressed if you feed several pieces of baked liver in a row when your dog drops a meat-less bone, getting a whole cookie has more of an impact after dropping a small piece of bread and giving a bully stick may be more valuable than a hollow marrow bone. Every dog though is different, so you will need to pay extra attention on what your dog personally values more or values less. To some dogs a used piece of tissue may be as valuable as a cookie! 11) Implement More Impulse Control Training Controlling impulses is not something that dogs are born with. Sort of like children who aren't born knowing how to be patient and not wanting everything right away, dogs need to learn the virtue of delayed gratifications. This is not something that will immediately stop a dog from picking up things on walks directly, but it will help the dog attain calmer behaviors in face of distractions and better frustration tolerance: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ The Recipe for Success So to sum it up, with more mental stimulation, more outlets for natural behaviors in a controlled setting, with careful management to prevent rehearsals, with training a good response to leave it, and practicing lots of drop its with a variety of foods and scenarios, we should up the chances for success, while strategically lowering the chances for failures. I hope this helps, Happy training!