Can Hemp CBD Oil Reduce Anxiety In Dogs?

February 15, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Hemp CBD Oil for Dogs

As a dog trainer who works closely with reactive dogs, I’m often asked if hemp oil reduces dog anxiety. Before jumping into the benefits of hemp CBD oil for dogs, let’s first discuss reactivity in dogs.

Anxiety in Dogs

Dogs react in the form of growling, barking, lunging, snapping or biting because they’re fearful. Anxiety emerges when dogs constantly predict something scary will happen, as it has in the past. When a dog’s anxious, he’s likely to overreact to a situation because he’s already highly aroused. When anxiety is reduced, reactivity is usually reduced as well, but can fire back up within seconds. Dog anxiety is a vicious cycle, and it’s exhausting.

Differences Between Hemp, Marijuana and CBD Oil

With the recent popularity of legalized marijuana, the differences between hemp, marijuana and CBD (cannabidiol) is stirring up some consumer confusion. Hemp oil and cannabis oil both contain CBD, yet they have differing amounts of THC—the psychoactive property of marijuana (Hemp CBD vs Cannabis CBD: What’s The Difference, ND). It’s important to note that cannabis CBD is illegal in most states. However, hemp CBD oil can be easily found online.

Hemp CBD Oil for Dogs With Anxiety

As for reducing anxiety, hemp CBD oil for dogs is showing some promise. Research is slow, but personal testimonials find hemp CBD oil beneficial for dogs. When clients contact me about their reactive dogs, I recommend a thorough veterinary exam to rule out any health issues first. I also recommend them to ask their veterinarians about hemp CBD oil for dogs. In the past, hemp CBD oil has reduced dog anxiety, but it’s not a cure-all. It works well with additional pharmaceuticals taken for dog anxiety.

Does Your Dog Need Hemp Oil?

Hemp oil for dogs provides numerous health benefits while reducing seizures, anxiety and pain. While some pet owners incorrectly assume hemp CBD oil for dogs is a behavioral crutch, it’s a natural product that provides dogs relief from anxiety. In most cases, clients have noticed minor positive changes in their dogs’ behavior. When changing dog behavior, any positive changes are considered progress—even slight ones.

Deaf Dog Training: How To Stop Barking

February 13, 2017 by Fanna Easter

How to Stop a Deaf Dog From Barking

Deaf Dog Training — alexei_tm/Adobe Stock

All dogs bark just like humans talk and birds chirp; it’s natural dog behavior. However, when dogs bark incessantly, this can become an issue with neighbors. Plus, barking is annoying and frustrating to pet owners too. When barking happens, it’s important to teach dogs to do something other than bark. This principle applies to deaf dogs too. Learn how to stop your deaf dog from barking.

Why Deaf Dogs Bark

First, let’s address this question. Do dogs bark if they’re deaf? Yes, deaf dogs still bark and they bark for numerous reasons. Frustration is usually the main cause for excessive deaf dog barking. When deaf dogs are frustrated, barking becomes a calming mechanism in a way. Think about it this way: When people are nervous, they talk a lot. It’s an easy way to calm oneself when stressed or frustrated. Soon, deaf dogs learn to bark every time they’re frustrated and hence excessive barking.

Sounds and visual stimuli are other reasons deaf dogs bark. While hearing impaired dogs are unable to hear certain distractions, they’re able to see. Hearing impaired dogs will bark whenever they see people and dogs walking nearby too. Plus, deaf dogs learn super quickly. When their pet owners walk to the front door, they’ve learned that someone is there and will bark.

On the flip side, hearing impaired dogs will bark when they’re excited too. It’s fun when visitors walk through the door or their pet owners arrive home from work. By far, this deaf dog behavior is the easiest to redirect with toys and games.

Training a Deaf Dog Not to Bark

Take a day or two to figure out what causes your deaf dog to bark. Once a trigger is discovered, it’s time to get busy and teach your dog to do something else besides bark. You’ll need lots of super yummy treats, a pen flashlight (as a marker) and leash. In the beginning, set your dog up for success by keeping him leashed until he understands what to do instead of bark.

For Visual Stimuli

It’s best to take a two-prong approach and use management tools to change your dog’s behavior. One way to manage your dog’s behavior is to block access to windows facing foot traffic with baby gates. If blocking access is impossible, keep curtains and blinds closed. For a deaf dog that barks at visual stimuli when you’re away, consider crating your dog.

To stop your deaf dog from barking, leash your dog and stand next to the window with super yummy treats. Ask a friend to walk on the sidewalk and wait for your hearing impaired dog to stop barking. It will happen, even if it’s just for a nanosecond, so catch it when it does. The moment your deaf dog stops barking, point the pen flashlight near his front feet and give him a treat. Continue to practice 1-2 minutes per day.

For Frustration

Hearing impaired dogs become frustrated for many reasons. If visual stimuli are an issue, follow the above recommended dog behavior protocol. For bored dogs, it’s important to offer daily mental stimulation. Take your deaf dog for a 30-minute walk every day, feed meals using interactive dog toys and hire a pet sitter for midday walks. Playing a game of tug or fetch is an excellent way to release pent-up stress too. You can also purchase a food dispensing toy, such as Pet Tutor, to reinforce quiet behavior while you’re away.

When Professional Help is Needed

Hiring a positive reinforcement dog trainer is always a good idea, especially if he or she has experience with deaf dogs. Having a dog training expert in your home is worth its weight in gold! Deaf dogs can suffer from separation anxiety or general anxiety as well. When in doubt, bring a professional into the mix to pinpoint exactly what’s going on.

Should You Look Your Dog In The Eyes?

February 10, 2017 by Fanna Easter

The Truth About Dog Eye Contact

With so many opinions and misinformation about dog eye contact, it’s understandable why people wonder what eye contact means to a dog. Eye contact happens naturally; it’s part of normal body language. However, staring is considered rude and it’s scary to most dogs. Learn the difference between making eye contact with and staring at your dog, and how your dog perceives both.

Making Eye Contact With Your Dog vs. Staring at Your Dog

Dogs and their humans will make eye contact several times a day. It’s normal and natural behavior. Many dogs will make eye contact with their owners when it’s dinner time, treats are nearby or someone is ringing the doorbell. Likewise, some pet owners will look directly at their dog’s face when calling them over for a quick game of tug, when arriving home from work or when relaxing on the sofa at night.

This type of eye contact is fleeting. You and your dog make eye contact, then you both immediately look away and focus on another task. Polite eye contact lasts 1-2 seconds and moves fluidly with other friendly body language.

Staring is different, and considered rude to dogs. When a person stares into another dog’s eyes, the dog perceives it as a threat. Think about it this way: If someone stares at you, you’d wonder why this person was staring at you or assume the person was upset. When people stare, their bodies freeze in place with still arms, yet their heads follow the dog or person they’re staring at while they move away. This body posture not only freaks you out, but dogs too.

What Happens When You Stare at a Dog

Dogs will likely move away from a threat. If they catch someone staring at them, they’ll try to disengage from the person staring. Some dogs will:

Look away from a staring person
Slowly slink away
Yawn
Hold up a front paw
Shake it off (looks like he’s shaking water off his coat

If this happens, the person unintentionally staring at the dog should turn sideways and look away from the worried dog. Intimidation teaches a dog that a person is unpredictable and scary. It’s tough learning from someone who’s intimidating, and it’s unfair to force a dog to learn this way. Remember, staring is considered rude in both the human and canine world. 🙂

Dog Eye Contact Dominance is a Myth

There’s no such thing as dominance between dogs and humans. If someone mentions staring at a dog to show dominance, explain that this outdated dog myth was dispelled by the person who wrote it. Staring at a dog won’t teach him you’re dominant; he’ll just think you’re being rude. While 90% of dogs will disengage from a person staring—they don’t want trouble—the other 10% will likely engage. Remember, dogs don’t need to be dominated. Dogs need someone to positively teach them polite manners instead.

A Guide To Training A Hearing Impaired Dog

February 8, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Tips on Training a Hearing Impaired Dog

Training Deaf Dogs — whyframeshot/Adobe Stock

Regardless of age, anxiety, fearfulness or physical disabilities, all dogs are able to learn. Since every dog is an individual, pet owners should tweak their positive reinforcement training style to accommodate each dog’s needs. When training a hearing impaired dog, it’s important to follow the same principles of learning while adding a few tweaks to accommodate their hearing impairment.

Use a Tiny Penlight & Yummy Treats

Using a marker word and super yummy treats is the easiest way to teach or reinforce a dog’s behavior. However, since hearing impaired dogs are unable to hear a marker word, you need to engage their other senses, such as sight.

Replace a verbal marker with the flash of a tiny penlight. Remember, a marker provides valuable information to your dog during a dog training session. It’s like taking a picture in time and saying “yes, that’s the behavior that earned you a treat.” Using a penlight as a marker works quickly. I once taught a betta fish how to “touch” and swim through a hoop within a day using a penlight and fruit fly rewards.

When using a pen flashlight, point it on the ground right between your dog’s front feet. When a hearing impaired dog does something right, click the pen flashlight on and off. It should take less than a second. Every time you click the flashlight on/off, give your dog a super yummy treat.

Never point the light in your dog’s eyes because she can see the flash even during daylight hours—a shaded area may work best during bright sunlight. When a dog training session is complete, put dog treats and the flashlight away in a cabinet, which signals to your dog that the training session is done.

Train a Hearing Impaired Dog the “Look At Me” Cue

While sound isn’t a distraction to hearing impaired dogs, movement is. It’s important to train a hearing impaired dog to look at you when given a cue. At first, mark (using a penlight) and reward your dog every time she looks at you during a training session. Start in a low distraction area, such as inside your home, and practice 1-2 minutes each day. Once your dog learns to look at your face, it’s time to add a cue.

A hearing impaired dog will likely ignore a hand signal because she’s looking at something else, so in this case physical touch works great. During a training session, when your dog looks at you, mark and toss the earned treat a couple of feet away from you.

After your dog eats the treat, lightly touch your dog’s right shoulder and wait for your dog to “look at you.” When this happens, flash your penlight and toss the earned treat a couple of feet away. Continue touching your dog’s shoulder and waiting for your dog to look at you. Then, mark and toss a treat. Quickly, your dog will learn that a touch on her right shoulder means to look at you.

Teach Hand Signals

Dogs learn hand signals rather quickly because you use them often. Before training a hearing impaired dog polite manners, choose a hand signal for each behavior. Here are a few suggestions for hand signals:

Come: Squat down and hold arms out.
Down: Lower flattened hand (palm facing down) downward from waist.
Sit: Raise flattened hand (palm facing up) upward from waist.
Walk on loose leash: Wearing a leash is the cue not to pull.

Always Keep Hearing Impaired Dogs on Leash

Movement is very distracting, so keep a hearing impaired dog on leash at all times. If they run away, hearing impaired dogs won’t be able to hear a verbal “come” cue nor approaching cars. Keep your hearing impaired dog on leash whenever you leave your house or you’re in a yard without a fence.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Shocking a dog is cruel, and shocking a hearing impaired dog is animal abuse. [/perfectpullquote]

Stay Way From Shock Collars

There is no reason a hearing impaired dog should wear a shock collar even at the lowest setting. Shock collars hurt. Don’t believe me? Put one against your throat and have someone else press the button. Yes, it stings. Shocking a dog is cruel, and shocking a hearing impaired dog is animal abuse. Keeping a hearing impaired dog on leash and teaching her life-saving cues work better than shocking her.

What To Do If You See A Tethered Dog

February 6, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Helping Tethered Dogs

I’m visiting my family in rural south Louisiana for a few weeks. My family lives in a very affluent neighborhood, but I noticed something odd quickly upon arrival. A close neighbor had a tethered dog in her front yard. Before I could mutter a single word, my mother said, “I’ve called Animal Control and the police. There’s nothing I can do for this poor dog.” Hum, let’s see about that.

It goes without saying: Tethering dogs is cruel. Please never chain a dog. If you notice a dog tethered outside, please say something to the owner. Dogs don’t have a voice, but we do.

Check County Ordinances

With easy access to the Internet today, it’s super simple to find city (or parish in Louisiana) ordinances online. Once you’ve found your county’s ordinances and laws, browse for the chained or tethering dog section. This can usually be found within ordinances pertaining to dogs, animals or animal cruelty.

Is Tethering Dogs Legal?

Every county is different when it comes to tethering dog laws, but most counties require tethered dogs to have access to food, fresh water and shelter. Additionally, pet owners may not deny dogs access from food, water or shelter for more than 24 hours. (24 hours is a long time in Louisiana heat.) You may also find strict dog chain length requirements for your county.

My Experience

In the beginning, my family called Animal Control because this dog didn’t have shelter from Louisiana’s sweltering summer temperatures. About 24 hours after Animal Control spoke with the owner, a huge Igloo dog house was provided and the dog was tethered to a longer chain per specific county recommendations. However, this poor dog would run around in circles, shortening her chain, which restricted access to shade and water.

Well, I started taking videos and pictures every time the dog was restricted from shade and water as documentation. Apparently, the owner noticed me standing in the road taking pictures and recording her dog. Shortly after documenting, I noticed the owner started walking outdoors to unwind her dog’s chain and pour fresh water in the bowl. She knew I was watching.

Talking to the Dog’s Owner

By far, this was the hardest part. Somehow, I pulled together every bit of patience possible, walked over and knocked on the door while smiling. A middle-aged woman opened the door smiling back. After a few polite pleasantries, I expressed my concern about her dog tethered up in her yard. She explained that her German Shepherd Dog didn’t get along with her other dogs, so it was chained up. Being the dog trainer that I am, I offered her a few tips on keeping dogs separated indoors using dog crates. The owner thanked me for my advice sincerely.

Within a day or two, I noticed this young German Shepherd Dog was brought inside at night. By morning, she was chained up outside again, but at least it was a start. I will continue to educate and document for this poor dog’s sake. If you see a tethered dog, I advise you to read these tips before confronting the dog’s owner.

Be a dog’s voice because she doesn’t have one. Please.