Our dogs are sweet and fun and highly food motivated, Luna in particular. Labrador Retrievers are known for not having a "full" signal. There are reports of Labs who have eaten to excess and harm. I've never seen Luna "full," and it seems that if I fed her dinner 10 times in a row, she would be just as excited about the 10th bowl as the 1st. Something that we work on frequently is her acceptance of treats.
Foster is the most gentle food taker we've known. Well, I'll say he's on the same level as Koko. There is a softness in Foster's technique of taking food from my hand that feels like kindness and appreciation. It's really wonderful. Luna is so excited about anything we prepare to give her, that the drool begins immediately and she is supremely focused.
Luna came to us with an eye injury, and for years, I thought her depth perception was a bit off and that was why she wasn't the most gentle food taker. Luna is an Expert at taking food from a fork, but from your fingers, she's not so great. When Luna & I visit schools, I encourage kids to give her treats from their open hands. While they will have a drooly hand using this technique, there isn't a chance of teeth-scratched little fingers.
To help Luna relax, and not overshoot her treat taking, we work on the command "Gentle." This command seems to slow her down to accept a treat without her teeth touching my hand. Some dog owners like to throw treats so their dogs can catch them. Luna is remarkably good at this "trick." Remarkably. I don't love this trick, because for a zealous treat eater like Luna, catching treats reinforces a quick mouth grab. Jason calls her a shark.
She's fast, man.Did you hear that mouth?
I prefer telling Luna to accept the treat from my hand. This works especially well with children who may pull back a treat when a dog's mouth is near. Some people may call a child's pull-back "teasing" a dog,
but I see it as a potential Dog-Mouth-On-Child-Therefore-Your-Dog-Bit-My-Child Drama as the dog follows the treat. Offering a treat from the palm of your hand is safer, more polite, but does have the potential for leaving more slobber. There's always the option of leaving the treat on the floor and telling the dog when she can have it, but I find people say that is less rewarding to them...good grief. So to please everyone and keep everyone safe, try practicing the giving and receiving of treats, and maybe consider the option of an open hand a good one.
Luna waits patiently for permission to take the treat.
Look at her sweet face...she is so great!
We are nearing Foster's 1 Year Anniversary. He has been bringing us smiles and sweetness and new knowledge for almost one year! When I realized this, I felt some confusion. How has it been one year? Hasn't he always been in my family? Why haven't I taught him more things?!
In this almost one year, Foster has taught us several things and he has learned several things. One of the best things he's learned is how to walk on a leash. Walking on a leash is also one of the skills we continually need to refresh. And sometimes I have to use a leash to keep him in the yard.
I don't like my dogs to pull on the leash and I don't like them to walk in front of me or trip me up. Sometimes Foster is still a little over-excited and he needs to be reminded that we're walking together instead of him leading me on a walkabout. The leash, or "Hey, Fosse, you're with me," refreshes our loose leash walking.
This wrap around leash technique helps remind Fosse to walk closely and not pull. Though we rarely have to use it after almost one year, it's still in our walking repertoire.
Foster loves deer so much that he doesn't care what I say or how I feel as I yell, "Foster!" when he runs after them at dusk. Even though Foster has returned home following each unsupervised field trip, it's not safe or polite for him to run through the backyards and wetlands of our neighborhood. Therefore, Foster and I stay connected by leash during our jaunts in the yard. It refreshes his awareness of the boundary, and sometimes, I give him a chance to show his understanding of the limit, and he shines.
Foster Dog at the end of the driveway. Not in the road. Not running away. Waiting at the edge. Staying in his yard.
Something I am always working on with my dogs is our manners at the door. We have several people come in and out of our home every day, which is very exciting for our dogs, and a continual supply of opportunities to practice our manners. How I envision their behavior isn't always what occurs, but what does occur is a chance to reinforce the rules, boundaries and limitations of our life. I expect my dogs to behave a particular way and I create the opportunity for them to succeed.
When someone comes to the door, my dogs have learned that I want them to give our guest the space to enter, hug our hellos, and then take off his or her coat before the dogs approach. And they are not to approach our guest until given permission. This is truly a challenge for my dogs who are extremely social and interested in all humans. I see this challenge as wonderful and feel little stress about whether we will succeed or not. Honestly, I do feel some concern when a new person is coming over and I tell my dogs, "Now I know it's hard to accept, but not everyone we meet thinks you are as fabulous as I do. We have to feel this person out before you can say hello."
Our guest-welcoming routine is:
1. We see the person's car arrive and I tell the dogs to sit and stay in their designated spot.
Their eyes are focused on the front door!
2. I open the door and welcome our guest. The dogs are often reminded to stay.
An open door does not mean I've invited my dogs to the door or to walk outside.
Some behaviorists or trainers encourage dogs to follow their owners to the door and then give space to the visitor.
When I am expecting someone on a personal visit, my dogs come much closer.
This is our most conservative greeting style for those visitors who are new to us or uncomfortable with dogs.
My dogs can get a lot of scent information from this distance until we assess the comfort of our guest.
3. Our guest and I hug and say hello and I take his or her coat.
4. I ask our guest if he or she would like to say hello to the dogs. If the answer is Yes, the dogs are allowed to approach.
Foster & Luna have been given permission to greet.
5. Following the hellos, the dogs are told to give our guest space again and we enter further into the house. The dogs can still smell our guest from a distance and get whatever information is useful to them while giving the socially acceptable and comfortable space most people need.
We practice this every day. Some days there is more excitement than others and some guests bring treats adding steps to the welcoming process. Some days the dogs seem to remember their manners better than others, but I like them to have the chance to practice every time. Some people dread anyone coming to the door, or ringing the doorbell in particular, and I'm happy to say, we always enjoy the experience of honing our door manners. Every guest is a chance for my dogs to see I always want the same thing at the door, and for them to shine their wonderfulness on people!
I went to see Cesar Millan in Akron, Ohio, February 3rd, one of few stops he made on The Pack Leader Tour in the United States. My love for Cesar Millan is deep. I appreciate him and his philosophy and his story and his kind communication style. I left the lecture loving him and my dogs all the more. I also left with less weight on my shoulders and a more forgiving heart toward myself.
Whenever my dogs make a mistake or don't listen to me, I look to myself and what I am doing wrong. I think about what I am lacking in our relationship that causes them not to trust or respect me. I watch Cesar's show, The Dog Whisperer. I have all of his DVDs and have watched them. I have all of his books and have read them. I subscribe to his newsletter and watch the short educational videos he posts. I have heard his message that it isn't the dog or the breed, it is the human behind the dog. I have loved his dogs and mourned the loss of Daddy, Cesar's perfect dog who changed the world. I've seen virtually everything he has shared and tried to teach me. What I missed was the continual process. I only saw Cesar's "product," the wonderful way he interacts with dogs, how he encourages and creates transformation in minutes, and how he communicates to humans that they can make it all happen too. I missed the process that he continually goes through with his own pack - there is continual reminding and enforcing of the rules, boundaries and limitations.
Cesar and Junior at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio February 3, 2012
As Cesar demonstrated his feeding ritual with Junior on stage, I smiled. I had just coincidentally covered feeding on I'm a D.O.G., and everything the audience was ooohing and aaahhhing over was something I could have done with Luna and Foster right then. Nothing Cesar was demonstrating with Junior was unusual in our everyday life. I felt such happiness for my dogs and our relationship. I felt so lucky to have the same kind of respect in our relationship that Cesar and Junior shared. Then Junior started to sort of crab walk to the bowl of food without Cesar's permission. Cesar corrected Junior with his "tsst" sound, and Junior stopped, and all was well, and my heart started to pound. My heart pounded quickly again when Cesar had to say "tsst" to Junior a few minutes later during a toy demonstration. Junior needed correction. Junior needed to be reminded of the rule, boundary and limitation set by Cesar. Junior respected Cesar, but still needed a little bit of correction. It hit me hard that the process is continual and I am not lacking. My relationship with my dogs is not lacking. We rock.
This week, I am inspired to cover some of the things I continually work on with my dogs. I'll try to show what we do, why we do it, and how we remind each other we need to revisit the rules, boundaries and limitations that keep our pack strong. We are filled with trust and respect. Our Pack Rocks.
Just two more things about feeding my dogs.
1. I like to feed them twice per day. I split up their caloric needs into two meals. I think it gives more structure to the day and gives them something to look forward to in a sense. Not that dogs are thinking and planning their days, but I don't believe anyone who says dogs can't tell time. My dogs may react to their breakfasts out of knowledge of the routine, but when it's 4:30pm, they start looking to me as if I've forgotten something. I tell them, "It's not time yet. We eat at 5pm."
2. Everyone's dog has its own body routine, but approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours after eating, my dogs need to go outside. Puppies tend to need to go out within 20 minutes of eating, or even playing, and some adult dogs may have this need as well. My dogs' digestion tells them they need to go out by around 7pm. This kind of information is important. Any variation from this would let me know there's something potentially amiss in my dogs' internal health.
Such great information can come from a feeding ritual. Who knew?
Luna knows everything!
Some people experience what is called "food aggression" or "resource guarding" with their dogs. These are displayed by a dog's growling, snapping, barking, etc. toward a person or other animal that approaches it while it is eating or chewing on a high value item such as a rawhide, bone, or favored toy. This is dangerous behavior and it is unacceptable in our pack.
There is not one command or "thing" we do that discourages resource guarding. I believe it is the one hundred little things we do every day that inform our dogs we provide for them, everything belongs to us, they do not need to defend themselves, and we will not accept possessive or aggressive behavior. Our feeding ritual provides examples of a few of these.
As already highlighted, our dogs work for their food and wait calmly. They also have to receive permission to approach their feeding stations.
Fosse's bowl is filled with dry dog food, frozen green beans, pureed sweet potatoes and hot water. He looks to me for direction of when he can eat. He's such a good puppy!
Once my dogs are eating, I should be able to have my hand in their bowls or move them away from their stations or touch them without any irritation or aggressive behavior. I am guaranteed this due to the trust and respect in our relationship. It creates a secure environment for everyone. My dogs trust that they never have to defend food, and I trust that my dogs are safe around anyone any time.
Luna licks my hand assuming something good is coming from it.
Not everyone has this kind of relationship with her dog, but I wish it for everyone.
Foster moves slightly from my hand as it approaches his food, giving me space and preparing to stop eating if I demand it.
He was unsure during feeding time when he first came to us, but now he's healthy, respectful, appreciative, and happy to eat.
Feeding time can be an exciting and active time in some households. I am told of food spilling, people tripping, dogs jumping and general chaos leading to people just leaving food out for their dogs to eat at will. For a few reasons, free-feeding is not something I provide, but what I do create in my home is a structured and relaxed energy surrounding our feeding ritual.
After we've walked - accomplishing a task before being rewarded with food - my dogs have a particular location in which to sit while I prepare their meal. This location gives them the opportunity to see what I'm doing while ensuring everyone's safety and composure. It doesn't take long to prepare their meals, but there are a few steps, and having my dogs sit until I call them to their bowls gives them another task to perform, and it provides them with the predictability that food comes when everyone is calm. There is a serene feeling and reverence for the gift of food in our house.
This isn't all to assert my power over them, though it does create an understanding that all good things come from me, but it gives everyone a job, a place, a security that we each have a role in this ritual and it's always a gift, happily provided and received.
Luna watching carefully and patiently. Fosse interested in both the meal prep and the squirrel he sees out the window.
