Articlel From CKC

Here is a great article for the Canadian Kennel Club web page. This one is on Socializing your new puppy! Socializing is a key component to owning a puppy. When your dog is socialized to different situations at a young age the likeliness of them being fearful or acting out decreases! So get that pup out there, in a positive fun manner.

Socialization scavenger hunt



March 17, 2011, By Gillian Ridgeway, ARTICLE, BEHAVIOUR, TRAINING


When we think of a scavenger hunt, we think of a game where people collect items, usually outdoors and over a wide area. Now, take that concept and apply it to socializing your puppy, and you have a game that’s fun for the whole family and should ensure you’ve done your best to get your pup out and about and secure in the world.


Sure, many new puppy parents understand that socializing their new charge is a primary concern and think they are doing the right thing. But walking your pup down the same street, to the same park, to meet the same group of neighbourhood dogs isn’t enough. While we never think we’ll move to a more densely populated area, or live on a busier street, or have to take our dog on public transit, life has a funny way with its twists and turns. Dogs that have had a lot of exposure to unusual circumstances during their formative weeks tend to go with the flow more easily later on.


Making a plan


With this in mind, let’s play socialization scavenger hunt with our pups. To do this, you’ll need to construct a plan that incorporates as many unusual people, objects and scenarios your imagination can muster up and your neighbourhood can provide. (Before embarking on your hunt, check with your veterinarian that your pup’s vaccinations are up to date.)


Make a list to chart your progress. Mark all your goals in the first column and put three date columns beside it. Start your list with some obvious choices, then get creative. Keeping in mind that most of my clients live in a large metropolitan area, my list is as follows:


Your pup should


•go for 3 car rides;


•have a bath just for the fun of it;


•meet a senior citizen, or a man with a beard;


•meet someone using a wheelchair or cane;


•visit a local garden centre or hardware warehouse… or both;


•pop in for a visit to your veterinarian, just for a pat from someone in the reception area;


•visit two friends at their homes;


•take three biscuits from three school-aged children of various ages;


•ride the transit system;


•hear the vacuum cleaner and blender being used;


•while on a leash, meet a domestic pet such as a cat or rabbit. Of course, safety first for everyone;


•be driven to a different area of your city or town once a week, and walk among the streets and parks there;


•be left for one hour with a reliable friend.


You must always consider safety first. Provide the treats for your puppy and supply them to any friends, children and strangers you’re including in your plan. When driving your pup in the car, use a crate. Make sure all children are accompanied by a parent. These are just a few examples of what to socialize your pup to.


All things strange


You can also use your home to increase your puppy’s awareness of “all things strange.” You can do environment-awareness exercises yourself or with the help of family and friends. Put on a large hat. How about glasses? It’s important to get your puppy used to as much as possible. Children can be masters of disguise and silly walks. Use your imagination, but don’t scare your puppy. Your goal is to have him feel comfortable in these circumstances.


Add various surfaces and objects to your scavenger hunt list. Many pups are exposed to only carpet and tile indoors, and grass outside. Try getting him onto concrete, vinyl, scrunched up paper, stones, a sandy beach and rougher terrain. Even his toys should vary in size, shape and texture.


Now, what should you do if your puppy doesn’t take to our scavenger hunt as well as you’d like? It’s usually just a matter of pairing the strange thing with something good. If your pup backs away from anything, don’t force the issue. Instead, let your pup observe what he’s worried about from afar. While he’s looking at what is disturbing him, give him a treat or special toy. You’ll soon see him relax. You can try again on a different day with the same item or scenario. Take your time; it’s important to build up trust in your puppy. If he is still nervous, let him observe from further away.


Let’s take the blender or vacuum as an example. Both make a loud noise. Put your puppy a distance away, even in an adjoining room. Turn the blender on for a second, then feed your pup. Systematically desensitize him to the sound by bringing him closer over time, and putting the blender on for a few seconds longer. This can be done for most of the scenarios, with the key being to take your time. Although it seems that we are teaching him to tolerate the blender or vacuum cleaner noise, the lesson extends to any loud or unusual noise. He will tend not to panic as much as an adult if he has been exposed as a youngster.


Adding people


When it comes to adding people to your list, it’s important to incorporate children, men with hats and people using canes and walkers into your plan. Scavenger hunt means that you have to hunt out the people and situations you need.


Arm yourself with your pup’s favourite toys and treats.


Keep your pup on a leash, and have him sit. Don’t overwhelm him – it’s best to seek out one or two children initially, to see how he reacts. If he’s nervous, create distance, and reward him for just watching the children.


Adults can present a problem. If your pup is nervous around strangers, you need to be an ambassador for your pup. Many people will try to get closer, saying, “Dogs like me.” In fact, they can become insulted if your pup doesn’t come running toward them. Once again, let your pup take his time. Ask your helper to remain still and let the pup approach when he’s comfortable. It will work out best in the long run if he’s allowed to discover that people are friendly on his own terms, rather than being pushed too quickly. Give the reward to your pup yourself, rather than have it come from the stranger.


If you’re having a particularly difficult time, toss small treats close to your pup so he’s not under pressure to be social. It will still show him that when he sees something odd, good things happen for him.


And, although this is best done with younger pups, dogs of any age can benefit. My wonderful Pyrenean Shepherd, ‘Noah,’ came to me with a few fears and concerns of his own. It took five or six months of creating odd scenarios and seeking out loud and unusual noises (with many days spent in front of a grocery store, feeding him while the shopping carts rattled by). This may seem like a long time, but it went by fairly quickly and now I have a happy, secure, loving dog that’s able to travel and perform. It was easily worth the effort, and worked like a charm.


Before you know it, you will have created a secure adult dog, one that doesn’t panic when something or someone is unusual. This lesson will be worth its weight in gold moving forward with your puppy into adulthood, and all your extra effort will pay off

The Barking Dog

I read an amazing book! It is a great easy read! Usually it takes me forever to get through a book but this one only took 1 hrs to read. If you have ever questioned why your dog barks all the time or at certain things, this is the book for you. It's called Barking - The Sound of a Language by Turid Rugass.

Turid Rugaas seems to be an amazing behaviourist, I am now disappointed that I did not jump on the chance to see her speak in Calgary last August.

Here I have briefly laid out the book for you, but please go buy it if you want to learn more than what I show you!

The Barking Dog

A barking dog is divided into six major classifications.

1. Excitement Barking

2. Warning Barking

3. Fear Barking

4. Guard Barking

5. Frustration Barking

I've left the 6th one out so you have to buy the book! HA!



Excitement Barking:

Excitement barking expresses emotions ranging from happiness to the excited expectation of something good about to happen.

How It Sounds- It is a high frequency sound, and it can sound a little hysterical. Barking is more or less constant with winning in between barking.

Activity Involved- Because of the excitement level the dog will probably exhibit a higher stress level than usual. The dog will be moving more because his muscles are full of adrenalin, it’s impossible for him to keep still. Wagging of his tail and in some cases everything at once. Some dogs will go and pick something up in their mouth as well.

What Can We Do:

1. Be calm yourself. Your calmness will influence the dog.

2. Have some objects available and let the dog carry one of them. It’s difficult to bark when there is something in your mouth.

3. Ask the dog to fetch something, and then let the dog search and find it for you. Of course this will mean you have to teach him how to fetch you something.

4. If the dog is only a little agitated have him sit and stay just a few seconds before going and answering the door. Always use a hand signal as dogs will more likely be able to take cue on that when they are overly excited. Always be between the door and the dog.

Always reward the dog for silence. You want to make sure the dog does not associate the reward with barking so timing is key. example… Bark… Sit… Reward.



The Warning Bark

The warning bark is a vocal expression you will not hear as often as other types of barking. They will bark when they perceive others need some sort of warning.


How It Sounds: One short, sharp “Woof”, meaning “get away, the enemy is coming”.

Activity Involved: Flight from the threat is common; one pack member will stay back and take the responsibility to defend the rest. With human families the dog tend to learn that barking a lot is more useful as only one bark usually doesn’t get the attention of others.

What Can We Do: Since the dog might think his job is to warn the pack about danger and since this is a natural thing for a dog to do, we humans should react in some way to show we understand what the dog is expressing. It is important to communicate to the dog that you get the message, and that you will now take over responsibility for dealing with the threat.

1. The simplest thing to do is calmly place yourself between the dog and what appears to be the threat. This is one of the simplest and most efficient techniques to sue to inform the dog you heard him and are in charge.

2. Get up calmly without looking or talking to the dog.

3. Place yourself in front of the dog, between him and the sight or sound with your back to the dog. Hold your hands a little out from your body with the palm of your hands visible.

4. Stand still. Wait for the dog to be quiet or turns around and goes the other way.



Fear Barking:


Almost all dogs are afraid of certain things. When an individual feels fear the stress level goes up, this also happens with dogs.

How It Sounds: This bark will be high pitched, and come in long series of barks. Similar to excitement barking, but you will clearly hear the fear in the dog’s voice. This is a long series of hysterical barking which may end in a howl.

Activity Involved: Because of the high stress level involved the dog will be active, muscles full of adrenaline. The dog will be restless, running back and forth, looking out windows, scratching on doors, trying to get out.

Dogs can be fearful of many things or everything. Dogs are not born fearful this is a learned behavior over time.

What We Can Do:

1. Avoid whatever is making the dog afraid enough to start barking, especially during the times you are training him to stop being fearful.

2. Be careful not to show any reaction yourself. Do not talk to him, soothe him or pet him. Just act as though nothing happened, and the dog will be more likely to forget about it.

3. Do not pull or force the dog into a situation where he doesn’t feel safe. Wait, keep a loose leash, and let the dog decide when he feels safe.

4. Go between the dog and the scary thing, acting as a barrier.

5. Avoid an oncoming threat by curving away from it or changing directions.

6. Counter-conditioning can be very effective method.



Guard Barking


This kind of barking is probably the most misunderstood of all. It is usually accompanied by growling sounds, which people view as being aggressive. Guard barking occurs when a dog feels as though he needs to defend himself or something.

How It Sounds: If the dog is guard/defensive barking, there will usually be some growling in it, like: Grrrrr…. Bark, Bark…. Grrrrr. The guard barking sound will generally be shorter and deeper than fear barking.

Activity Involved: The dog will move forward, lunging towards the object he is defending himself against. He may try to scare something away by:

• Showing teeth

• Growling

• Lunging forward

• Snapping

• Barking

• And eventually biting

What We Can Do: It depends entirely on what the circumstances are that result in guard barking and what the dog is guarding or defending:

1. Avoid letting the dog get into a situation where he feels he has to defend himself.

2. Be quicker to pick up the signals that the dog gives off as he begins to feel defensive. Learn to recognize them before they escalate into stronger emotions.

3. Early in the situation before the dog finds it necessary to get defensive, you can show you are taking responsibility for things by going in between the dog and the object.

4. Walk the dog in a curving pattern past the approaching people or dogs since being approached directly and straight on is threatening for dogs. Even just a slight change in direction is good enough.

Training Techniques:

1. Parallel Walking: If the dog has a problem with other dogs, etc, start with parallel walking. This means setting up a situation in which you walk with your dog on a leash parallel to whatever he fears. With enough distance between the two of you to ensure the dog does not engage in a guard barking response. The distance will vary from dog to dog. Walk slowly in a relaxed fashion. Praise for good behavior.

2. Walking in a Curve: Make the dog follow you in a curve past the approaching dogs. The size of the curve depends on the dogs reaction. Slowly decreasing your curve.

3. Counter conditioning: Place the dog well away from an object that he has had a negative reaction to in the past. If he reacts to this situation calmly, you should praise and reward him. Providing the dog with a positive association to something he has reacted to negatively in the past will begin to change his attitude.



Frustration Barking:

This is the kind of barking that is heartbreaking to listen to. You can hear the desperation and frustration in the dog. Long term stress is always at the bottom of it. Being tied up, in a kennel too long, ignored, hunger, loneliness are a few examples.

How It Sounds: Endless rows of static barking, the same tone over and over and over.

Activity Involved: Typically a behavior that is repeated over and over and over. It causes certain hormones to be release which make the dog feel a little better and makes him better able to endure a terrible or hopeless situation.

What We Can Do: Frustration barking is painful to listen to. It means a dog is in real trouble.

1. Remove the dog from the situation that is causing frustration. Take him inside, be together with him.

2. Give him something to do- usually it doesn’t need to be much. Go for a walk now and then, Have him search for some treats in the yard.

The most important thing is for the dog to be part of the family. Do not leave your dog alone for long periods of time.

Frustration barking is the kind of barking that will start to occur when a dog becomes so desperate and frustrated over a long period of time that he starts adopting behaviors that will help him cope with the situation. Barking is one of these behaviors. If you cannot give your dog the time he needs than maybe you should think twice about having a dog.