How to Give a Dog a Pill

December 19, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Easiest Way to Give Your Dog a Pill

How to Give a Dog a Pill — It’s not that simple. Learn the easiest ways to give your dog a pill. tonodiaz/Deposit Photos

Oi, having a sick dog is the pits and then having to give pills several times a day — I feel your pain. Recently, Sobek (my Rottweiler) has been sick and his tummy issue has lingered for days. I’ve had plenty of time to test the easiest ways to give dogs pills and I want to share my success!

Hide the Pill

Make it fun with lots of rewards or pill-giving will be you and your dog’s worse nightmare. It’s best to hide pills in strong smelling soft food, which hides the smell and taste of pills. My fav pill-hiding foods are:

Peanut butter
Cream cheese

Both foods have a low liquid consistency so they easily mold around pills while still tasting really good! During the day, reward your dog with random fingerfulls of peanut butter without hidden medication. By giving pill-free rewards, you’re lessening the chance she will not smell or taste the pill. Teaching positive associations to peanut butter ensures eager swallowing of pills.

Keep Pills Out of Dog’s Meals

Keep pill giving separate from meals. You don’t want your dog to associate meals with pills. This can cause her not to eat meals. I usually give meds right before meals, as they’re hungry and will gobble down their hidden meds.

Oh Oh, She Tasted the Meds

Don’t freak out. Pick up the pill and take a 10-minute break. If you immediately try to hide the broken pill in something else, your dog will refuse it. He knows what you’re up to. 🙂 Bring her outside to potty and try again using another flavored pill hider, such as cream cheese or canned pumpkin. This time, take a large glop and bury the pill from view. As your dog eats the pill glop, reward with lots of praise. Badabing! You did it!

VIDEO: Easiest Way to Give Your Dog a Pill

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Using Treats to Train Your Dog

December 15, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Dog Training Treats Work

A common question from dog owners is if it’s possible to give too many treats during dog training. They’re concerned about treat dependency, digestive issues or the wrong message being delivered during training. Let’s chat about why treat training is so effective as well as when to give treats for maximum effectiveness.

Why Use Treats During Training?

Think of dog training treats as currency for your dog. It’s payment for a job well done. When training your dog a new behavior, it’s important to reward your dog often with clicks and treats. This teaches him what is expected.

Another way of explaining the power of dog treat training is using the child’s game of “Hot and Cold.” Clicking and treating means “hot” and silence (no clicks and treats) means “cold.” As a child, it was pretty frustrating when you heard “cold” for several minutes so you gave up. The game was too hard and you didn’t know what was expected.

If you’re still not convinced, think of each treat your dog eats as money deposited into a banking account. You’ll have withdrawals while your dog is learning, but you’ll hopefully have a nice cushion to prevent overdrafts. 🙂 Each treat given ensures your dog repeats good behavior and, honestly, it’s much easier to reward with a dog treat or two than chase him down the street for hours.

Plus, dog treat training is much faster. You can easily teach a new behavior in minutes!

RELATED: Can I Feed My Dog Eggs?

Dog Training Treat Myths

Digestive Issues

Usually, this is a concern during the first week of class. Many dog owners are convinced that too many dog treats will cause projectile diarrhea and vomiting. This is far from the truth. Training treats are tiny (pea sized), used during short training sessions (1-2 minutes) and cause minimal, if any, digestive upset.

It’s important to choose training treats your dog loves. Would you rather be paid with broccoli or cheesecake? It’s your choice and what you find rewarding. Personally, I would do back flips for cheesecake. 🙂

If digestive issues sneak up, change treats. If you’re using hot dogs, switch to turkey hot dogs, which contain less fat for sensitive tummies. For food allergy dogs, chop up and bake canned variety of their prescription food at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.

Treat Dependency

Contrary to what you may believe, training treats don’t teach your dog to only respond to treats. In all my 22 years of training, I have never encountered a treat dependent dog.

If a dog is dependent on treats, he probably doesn’t understand the cue (i.e. sit, down, come) or hasn’t been weaned from continuous reinforcement (i.e. clicks/treats every time he responds to a cue). Continuous treats (lots of clicks/treats) are used for teaching new behaviors, such as loose leash walking.

Let’s use the example of loose leash walking. Once your dog understands to walk on a loose leash on cue (lets go), start clicking/treating for perfect behavior. Instead of rewarding every two feet, start rewarding every five feet. Now reward as you give the cue (lets go). This teaches your dog to respond to the cue quickly. Finally, reward when your dog when he ignores distractions, such as an approaching dog.

What are your favorite dog training treats?

You may also like: Pros, Cons & Myths of Canned Dog Food

Dog Socialization Tips

December 12, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Socializing Dogs

Dog Socialization — Follow your dog’s lead. Walk away if he’s uncomfortable.

Pet parents are bombarded with: “You’re a terrible owner if you don’t allow your dog to greet other dogs,” “The socialization window closes before 16 weeks so hurry and meet as many dogs as possible,” “Dogs must meet 100 new dogs before a certain age” statements. These statements are valid, but it’s important to add limitations and boundaries first. Follow these dog socializing tips and be their voice.

What is Socialization?

Socialization means puppies and dogs learn how to interact within their worlds. Socialization is vital. Each interaction must be tailored to your dog’s personality with the purpose of teaching him how to interact within his world with confidence.

Greeting: Engage and Disengage

Greeting means a dog walks directly over to another dog with the purpose of engagement. During socialization, puppies and dogs are learning how to politely meet (engage) and end (disengage) greetings. Not all dogs are polite greeters. They can be downright rude by invading space, staring or being too rough. This is where disengaging becomes tricky. It’s kind of hard to move away from a rude greeter while on leash so some dogs will resort to threatening behaviors to make the rude dog go away. Now, your confused disengager learns threats work and is the normal way to disengage.

Living with a Gregarious Greeter

Beagle — “Hello! I’m uber friendly!” Note soft eyes, open mouth and slight panting moving forward.

Not all dogs are comfortable meeting your gregarious greeter. Always stop 15 feet away and ask first. It’s the polite thing to do. If the other dog looks uncomfortable or scared, walk away quickly. Sticking around will make it much worse.

Think of it from a human perspective: Do you shake hands with everyone shopping at the grocery store? “Hi, I see you’re buying grapefruits today. My name is Fanna,” “Hi, those pork chops are lovely. My name is Fanna” or “Oh I buy that type of toilet paper too! My name is Fanna.” Could you imagine?! You would think I was nuts, right? But what if I followed you down an aisle saying, “But I want to meet you. My name is Fanna!” Creepy, especially for people not comfortable greeting strangers!

Instead, while shopping at the grocery store, we make eye contact with a stranger, smile, nod and continue walking past him. When walking past, provide plenty of room by turning sideways, walking down a different aisle or politely allowing a stranger to walk past you because it’s human etiquette. This works in the dog world too! 🙂

My Dog is a Wallflower

Scared Dog — “Stay away, please!” He’s not sure. Hence, the backwards lean (away from you), mouth closed (no panting), still body and wide eyes.

If your dog finds greeting other dogs stressful, it’s okay. All dogs are individuals. Some are introverts while others are extroverts just like people. An introverted person (withdrawn from strangers) finds attending parties with lots of people torturous. Remember, people are able to control their outcomes. Dogs can’t unless their pet parents notice their uncomfortable behavior around strange dogs or people.

When a dog is forced to meet another dog, scuffles or fights often break out because one dog is not comfortable meeting another dog and tries to disengage using threats. Note, it only takes one scary incident for a dog to become terrified of other dogs. Then the vicious cycle begins. Well meaning pet owners forcibly socialize their newly terrified dogs to fix the aggressive issue, which only makes it worse. Pet owners say, “My dog was really good with other dogs before. So he must need more socialization, right?” This will only make the problem worse.

Never introduce a known aggressive dog to another dog, as this is a recipe for disaster. Socializing known “dog aggressive” dogs will not make your dog better. It will make him much worse. He’s practicing this behavior and we all know practice makes perfect. Plus, there’s a really good chance the other dog, now having a terrible experience, is afraid of other dogs too.

Instead, enroll newly terrified and dog aggressive dogs in a Relaxed Rover class or contact a professional dog trainer or animal behaviorist. By partnering with a professional, your dog will learn confidence around other dogs while developing skills to engage and disengage greetings without resorting to threats. Shoot, all dogs will benefit from learning these skills. 🙂

Socialization with Boundaries

Anxiety in Dogs — “Can we leave? I’m not comfortable.” Note leaning away from you, holding one foot up, ears pulled down and back and worried eyes.

Tip One: Follow your puppy’s or dog’s lead. If he’s not comfortable meeting another dog, walk away (before they greet). You’re teaching polite disengaging behavior by saying “hi” from a distance and politely walking away (remember the nod at the grocery store).

Tip Two: Enroll your puppy in Positive Puppy Manners class and Puppy Playtime after his first puppy vaccination series with a professional dog trainer. If your puppy chooses not to play with other puppies, it’s okay. He probably enjoys human contact more than puppy play.

Allow your dog to choose his friends. Sometimes, dogs and puppies love to play with certain dogs like your neighbor’s or sister’s dog, but he’s not comfortable playing with other dogs. That’s okay too. Personally, I have a tiny group of friends while my sister has unlimited friends, and we came from the same litter. 🙂

Tip Three: When accidentally meeting another dog on leash, allow them to briefly greet for two seconds, then walk away. You’re interrupting the greeting to keep it positive and teaching polite disengaging behaviors. By keeping greetings short with strange dogs, it prevents rude behavior from sneaking up.

Tip Four: If a person and his dog are making a beeline towards your dog, say, “We’re training, sorry,” and step away, turn around or cross the street. Trust me, you’re not being rude by moving away from the approaching pair. You’re speaking up for your dog and he thanks you. 🙂 As for the beelining dog and person, they’re learning that not all dogs should meet, which is a good thing!

I know this is a controversial topic and you can never go wrong by following your dog’s lead. Always socialize, but put a few boundaries in place first. 🙂

How to Teach Clients to Train Dogs

October 29, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Teaching Clients with Dogs

Teaching Pet Owners the Basics of Dog Training — Use clear and simple directions when teaching pet owners the basics of dog training.

Dog trainers are expected to take a complex process, such as dog training, and break it into easy-to-understand terms–this is hard! The better you are at breaking complex behaviors into simple nuggets, the faster your clients will retain knowledge. Voila!

But can you effectively explain dog training easily? Of course, with a few tips!

Before we begin:

In my opinion, dog trainers are expected to possess a higher understanding of learning theory, ABCs of learning (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence), and so forth. Remember, clients are not expecting to become mini dog trainers. They just want their dogs to stop pulling on the leash and come back to them when called (this is why they enrolled in the class).

You’re not undermining the meaning or power of dog training. You’re actually doing the exact opposite. It takes great skill to understand a complex process and then turn around and explain it in easy terms.

Three words: keep it simple.

Refrain From Using Learning Theory Jargon

Pet parents zone out when we use learning theory terms. If you don’t believe me, try saying this during your next class, “Let’s teach an incompatible behavior using negative punishment to prevent jumping. To begin, we choose an antecedent, which elicits a behavior for a desired consequence. Who wants to volunteer to go first?” Clients will shrink back and look at one another. They are totally confused. 🙂

Instead, give clear directions in terms pet parents can relate to and understand, such as:

“We are going to teach your dog to keep four feet on the floor instead of jumping up. When any of your dog’s feet leave the ground, you’ll walk away from him. Once all four feet are on the ground, you’ll click and toss him a treat.”
Clients are learning “feet leave ground, I leave (neg punishment).” “Feet stay on ground, I stay and click/treat (positive reinforcement).” Voila. Simple problem-solving they can use to decrease a behavior, such as barking and so on. 🙂

Use Analogies Often

I’ll admit it: I’m an analogy queen. I use them for everything 🙂 Analogies are a comparison showing a similarity, which can help explain meaning and how it relates to real life. OK, I may have lost you in that sentence so let me bring you back by keeping it simple.

Politely greet dogs:

Refrain from petting dogs on top of the head. This is rude in doggie language.
Think about it this way: What if I petted you on top of the head instead of shaking your hand? You would think I was crazy right?
Same thing with dogs. Touch dogs under the chin instead.

Give Simple Instructions

Keep explanations and stories to a minimum. A person can only absorb so much knowledge in an hour. A few years ago, I completed a Tag Teaching seminar and it literally changed my life.

When explaining anything:

Explain using 5 or less words.
Demo using the same 5 or less words (demo with a dog and person).
Ask a student to demo using the same 5 or less words.
Ask each student to practice with his dog (5 reps).

Example: Teaching “Touch”

Explain: Dog touches nose left palm.
If students become confused, break down the behavior even further. Nose left palm.
For reps, I ask clients to count out 5 treats (this equals 5 reps).

What are your tips for effectively teaching clients about dog training? Please share!

Dealing With Learned Helplessness In Dogs

October 29, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness is the condition where a dog has been repeatedly exposed to a scary stimulus and has learned he no longer has control over the adverse situation. The dog shuts down and becomes helpless, knowing he can’t change the outcome.

Dogs can shut down during group dog training classes, private lessons and even puppy playtime. As your dog’s voice, you should learn what causes dogs to shut down and how to prevent it.

What is Learned Helplessness?

Dogs either fight or flight when they encounter a scary trigger. However, there’s a new response I’m seeing more and more of during my dog training sessions. It’s freeze or shut down. Dogs that have learned to become helpless basically giving up, flop over, and hope the scary trigger goes away and doesn’t hurt them.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]People see the dog giving up and mistakenly assume the dog has learned to stay still or behave. Oh, but it’s far from it.[/perfectpullquote]

Can you imagine being so scared, your entire body shuts down, you go limp, you roll over and you wish with everything you have that the scary thing would leave you alone? Wow. That’s terrible right!?

Well, I’m seeing an increasing amount of learned helplessness in dogs introduced to scary triggers. Many times, dogs shut down at the vet’s office, on a groomer’s table, or during class because they’re so confused or scared that they simply give up. People see the dog giving up and mistakenly assume the dog has learned to stay still or behave. Oh, but it’s far from it. The dog was pushed way too far.

What Does a Shut Down Dog Look Like?

When dogs shut down, they usually become frustrated and display calming and appeasement signals. Dogs will usually begin with subtle versions of calming signals to indicate they’re confused and scared. If the scary stimulus continues, their calming signals become more apparent, such as an increase in panting, salivation and sometimes vocalization. You may also notice their:

Tails tucked between their legs
Ears pinned back against their head
Body weight shrinks backwards
Bodies flop on the floor and become very still

What Causes Learned Helplessness in Dogs?

Any number of triggers can cause a dog to shut down, including:

Loud echo
Sound of a clicker
Other dogs being too close
Strange smell (we may never discover this one)
Chronic anxiety caused from past experiences during dog training
Combination of triggers

Shutting Down vs. Learning a Incompatible Behavior

Let’s be crystal clear here. There’s a major difference between shutting down and learning an incompatible behavior—huge difference. Teaching an incompatible behavior means teaching a dog to sit instead of jump or target your hand instead of pulling on a leash.

The dog has a choice in this situation, and is a willing participant in the learning process. Shutting down means the dog is not a willing participant in the learning process, and is so confused he gives up and flops on the floor wishing you (or whatever the stimulus causing him to shut down) goes away.

How to Prevent Dogs From Shutting Down

Whether you’re a dog trainer or dog owner, it’s so important to become fluent in dog body language and notice the nuances before the dog becomes stressed. The moment you notice your dog is stressed by a trigger, look at your dog’s environment for the trigger. What is causing your dog to stress out? Once you identify it, remove it.

If a dog is stressed with another dog too close, ask the other dog to move away from the stressed dog. If the trigger is a loud sound, move the scared dog further away from the sound or use visual barriers to calm a stressed dog.

While some stress is a good thing and is actually needed during the learning process, we’re talking about beyond normal stress levels that border into anxiety here. When you’re stressed or anxious, you can’t learn. It’s impossible. Think about it: If you’re scared of spiders and I hold a tarantula about 3 feet from you while teaching you how to recite Shakespeare, would you remember a word I said? Bingo, that’s the feeling right before you shut down. 🙂

If Your Dog Doesn’t Recover

If a stressed dog becomes even more frantic when triggers are removed, take your dog outside for a walk or remove him from the situation. Then, try to identify exactly what caused him to shut down.

If you’re a dog trainer, ask the owner to step outside the session with her dog and come back to watch until the session ends. Afterwards, ask the owner to list out any known triggers that cause anxiety and begin a simple desensitization program for each trigger. Begin slowly and remember desensitization always works. If it’s not working, it’s not being done right, so take a deeper look at the process. When in doubt, split a behavior, which means make it even simpler.

If, at anytime, a dog becomes worse or does not improve, I recommend partnering with a qualified animal behaviorist.

How do you prevent a dog from shutting down? I want to hear from you. 🙂

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