Teach Dogs AND Children to be safe!

"It’s a matter of proactive parenting to build your child’s powers of observation and good judgment. Show her the right things to do ahead of time."
Madeline Gabriel

Visit her blog here:
http://dogsandbabies.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/helping-toddlers-not-be-magnetized-to-dogs-part-3/

I LOVE the way Madeline thinks and teaches! Take time to read her whole series on how to help your dog feel safe with children and to help children be appropriate around ALL dogs.

Fantastic. Can't wait for the book! :)

Train Your Dog to Be Friendly!

I cringe every time I see someone thump a dog on the head. Flat hand pats dog in varying degrees of thump-itude. Dog winces, blinks. Sometimes the dogs don’t mind. I am thinking of a certain Labrador I know who is so happy to have anyone touch him, he doesn’t mind where or how and he’ll thump you back with his tail so hard it’ll nearly break your kneecap. But other dogs… sometimes they are bothered with the thump-approach to greetings.

A polite canine greeting involves lots of body arcs and nose-to-tail inspections. Polite dogs don’t confront each other squarely with direct eye contact. That’s “cruisin’ for a bruisin’” language! However, this is how most people approach our dogs, so we have to help our dogs learn to accept, if not enjoy, these kinds of greetings.

You can teach your dog to accept rough handling, even from strangers. You can start simply, with an easy game I teach children and parents to play with the family dog. It’s called, “I Spy.” Mom says, “I spy Sparky’s shoulder.” Child touches Sparky’s shoulder with a flat hand. Mom feeds Sparky some cheese. “I spy Sparky’s ear.” Child pats Sparky’s ear. Sparky looks at Mom for the cheese and gets some. In this manner, Sparky can be desensitized – made less sensitive – to touches from family members. When Sparky begins to seek out the touch (in order to earn the cheese!), you can begin asking friends to touch Sparky while you reward him.

You can also give Sparky easy tricks to do so that he has a predictable interaction when strangers approach. Usually, if a dog is offering a Sit-Up behavior, people stand back and watch rather than thump him on the head. If Sparky can shake a paw in greeting, this gives those pesky strange hands a predictable place to touch Sparky. Remember to reward Sparky for his good behavior!

A week ago, I watched as about 9 children gathered around my dog to pet her all at once. There was plenty of thumping and patting. Since this isn’t something that happens to her often, I automatically rewarded her with huge chunks of jerky. She was happy to hit such a jackpot and eagerly accepted all the busy hands touching her. I expect that the next time she’s surrounded by children, she’ll wag her tail and tell me that all the thumping in the world is worth it if I pay her well enough! Your dog also deserves a reward for being a good dog. And, if your dog is sensitive, be proactive and train him to accept the affection of a stranger, no matter how thumpily it’s offered.

Iced In!

We’re iced-in today. School is closed and kids are home. It’s Saturday in the middle of the week. If the power goes out, computer is down, X-box and Wii won’t entertain the children, but they can still have a lot of fun. Gather the kids and the dog, some tasty treats for both (popcorn is a great dual-species treat!) and let’s play some games.

Remember the one-foot-per-year-old when giving your child and dog freedom to play. For example, if you have a 10 year old child, you should be no more than 10 feet away, and paying attention to how your child plays with the family dog.

Things the children can do with the family dog, named Gypsy for our examples:

Children 2-6

• Bring her a toy or a treat, just drop it on the floor and walk away.
• Play the “I spy” game (“I spy Gypsy’s paw” – child gently touches paw – you give Gypsy a treat for permitting it. Change the underlined item to other body parts.)
• Help the child lay a “treat trail.” Someone holds Gypsy while the child walks away, putting down a treat every 2-3 feet, down the hallway, around a corner… and then a pile of yummies at the end. Return to Gypsy, release her and watch her follow the trail. (Hold your child’s hand to keep him from getting ahead of Gypsy in her search.)

Children 6-10

• Read her a story. Dogs don’t judge – just let the child read. You reward Gypsy for laying still next to the child. (Reward can be petting or massage to keep her quiet.)
• Brush her, under your supervision – some dogs may be sensitive to this, so reward her for every brush stroke with a tasty treat. (Stop before Gypsy’s tired of this.)
• Have the children do jumping jacks nearby while you reward your leashed dog for ignoring them.
• Round-Robin-Recalls. Have all family members sit in a circle. Give each person several tasty treats (for Gypsy). One person calls Gypsy. If she does not immediately come, the caller may pat the floor or show the treat. Gypsy comes and earns the treat. That person says the name of the next person to call Gypsy. Play as long as Gypsy enjoys the game.
  

Children 10-15

• Play the “shell” game – with your supervision: Get three small plastic bowls or cups. Put one treat or piece of food under one cup with Gypsy looking. Teach Gypsy to sniff the cup and knock it over to get the food. Start easy, then get more difficult as she gains experience.
• Play Hide-and-Seek Come. Hold Gypsy by the collar. Let your child show her a treat or toy and then run away to hide (easy at first) in another room. Have your child call Gypsy and release her. When she finds the child, she earns the treat and big happy praise! Repeat, changing roles.

Who says an indoor-day has to be boring! Children and young dogs have boundless energy. Enjoy the opportunity to make an iced-in day a relationship-building day for your whole family.

Dogs. Bite.

I was about 10 years old and my dad was a police officer with a working K9 partner. He and another officer from his department had just competed in the state Police K9 Olympics. The other officer had just won third place overall and first place in Officer Protection. In other words, his ramped-up, trained attack dog had just been playing the “bite the bad guy” game. The officer was standing with his dog and his trophies and people were trying to take photos. Comfortable with this dog – I knew him, after all, and ever helpful, I knelt in front of them and went, “SSSSSSssss!” (This is the sound the agitator makes during training to get the dogs excited.) The lovely silver and white shepherd mix launched – right at my face - and connected on my forehead and chin with a wide bite, just as he’d been trained.

I fell on my fanny in shock and started crying. Mom didn’t have much sympathy. In fact, I am pretty sure she said something like, “Well, that was a stupid thing to do!” The dog was not punished, but this child learned a valuable lesson. Dogs. Bite.

Children are impulsive, lack common sense and usually cannot begin to read dog body language. Even if a dog is showing warning signals as obvious as a construction worker waving a “Stop” sign, the child will not notice. I blame Disney-type shows for this, as well as parents who think that the family dog is part of the family – a sibling – a human – and not a dog. Surely Bowser would never BITE Bobby – Bowser loves Bobby. “You should see them; Bobby lays all over Bowser – every day! – and Bowser never growls or anything.” Well, all fine and dandy ‘til one day Bowser’s tired and cranky. Maybe his ear is infected or his belly aches. Maybe he’s just tired of Bobby laying on him. Bowser stiffens. Bobby approaches. Bowser growls. Bobby thinks Bowser’s snoring. Bowser snaps. Bobby bleeds. Bowser is… put to death?

One foot per year of child’s age. That’s how much freedom you should give your child with the family dog. Your 5 year old child should be within a long-arm's reach of your intervention. Additionally, you need to know when to intervene.

If you live with children and a dog in your home, you have a huge responsibility to educate yourself on canine body language. (I highly recommend Brenda Aloff’s great book: Canine Body Language; A Photographic Guide. ) Understand that your dog is NOT human. He’s a dog. He will communicate like a dog (not like a wolf, by the way, but that’s an argument for another article.) He will likely give warning signals and it’s up to you to know how to read them and intervene if the child within your reach is annoying him. He may tolerate all sorts of abuse from your children – but should he? Do you reward him lavishly for doing so?

When a child in my home trips and falls on the family dog, we run to the refrigerator and the dog gets a glorious snack of whatever I can find quickly. A block of cheese – sure! – since we don’t have to go to the hospital!

Think about it. You live with a predator. With sharp teeth. Even dogs bred for companionship still have personal boundaries. What are you doing today to help your dog learn to accept mistakes from your child? What are you doing today to protect your child from being “stupid” toward your dog? Are you close enough to intervene before Bowser takes it upon himself to train your child? Are you aware how an older dog punishes a pup? It’s an escalation of force – one you’d do well to understand and prevent by keeping the one-foot-per-year-old rule.

My mom was less than 10 feet away when the police dog flew at my face. She grabbed me and the leashed dog was quickly restrained by his professional handler. If the bite had been worse, it would have been all my fault, but the poor dog likely would not have been forgiven. I am glad for both our sakes that it ended as well as it did. I hope to prevent other children from learning the hard way that dogs bite.

Seeing the Invisible

Lots of times I see the invisible. The dog tells me – sometimes directly through body language, sometimes through the owner’s voice describing a behavior. This adolescent pup was gnawing at my hands, increasing in bite force and starting to get wild-eyed – fear. “Don’t hold my collar like that, it scares me.” I think, “Why does that scare you?”

The answer wasn’t long in coming. The owner said, “This dog rolls over and pees every time I put the leash on him – and he just went out!” I didn’t ask the obvious: “Does that make you angry?” I already knew the answer. The dog told me: “I get scared when you touch my head-my feet-my tail- but I really want to play with you – see?” Wiggly body, open mouth, laugh lines and a twinkle in his eye. He says it louder: “Play with me?”

Okay pup, we’ll play. See this food in my hand? I close my fist around it. “Want the food.” Lick-lick- nibble-nibble –bite –bite – turn head… “Get it!” I say and offer it to him. “Yum! – want more food.” Lick-lick- nibble-nibble –bite –bite – turn head… “Get it!” I say again. In a little while, he waits for the food… staring at it, knowing if he turns away, I will bring it to him. Another few minutes pass. I put food on the floor. He reaches for it. I cover it up. He looks at me. I reward from another hand. I uncover the food on the floor. He waits. I reward. He looks at the food on the floor. I say, “Leave it.” He looks at me. I give him several in a row – a jackpot! I pick up the food on the floor. I drop the food in front of him and say, “Leave it.” The dog looks at the food and then back at me; tail waving, smile broad. “I understand. To get yummies, I don’t touch what you put there.” The owner’s jaw has dropped and he says, “I don’t know what you just did…” I reply, “I am teaching him to think, not to react.”

A few minutes later, I lure the dog into a Down position two times. I add the cue, “Down,” followed by the lure two more times. The third time I say, “Down,” the dog throws his body on the carpet and grins at me. “Smart dog!” I say, and jackpot the choice. “He doesn’t know Down!” the owner exclaims. I hand the food to him. “I think he knows it now,” I say.

“Down,” the owner says. The dog flops to the floor, tail wagging. “Smart dog,” I repeat.

A philosophy shift is occurring. Training is possible without force. In fact, training is much faster without force. And look what a happy dog results! The owner shakes his head at me, smiling in wonder.

Suddenly, the invisible comes to light. The wife says, “He beats the dog with a belt.” I meet the man’s eyes. He does not deny it. I say, “You need to stop that. Are you willing to learn another way?” “Yes,” he says, looking at his wife. “The way I treat the dogs causes fights between us.” The wife begins her accusations, her frustrations splattering across the kitchen like a dropped jug of milk. I interrupt her attack. “I am pretty sure he’d like to change, or he wouldn’t have called me,” I point out. “Remember that positive reinforcement works for husbands, too.” I smile at them. She says softly, “You did a good job tonight, dear.” The room goes quiet.

As I drive away I wonder if I can help him see that pain and force causes fear and aggression. Maybe I can teach him to control his anger, to think things through, to put away the belt and consider a new way. I think back to something they mentioned earlier. “We are trying to have children.” I truly hope that in the coming weeks, my message of training with kindness is met with acceptance and a willingness to learn a new way. And, I hope the message sticks around when the baby comes. I hope that the invisible I see in the coming weeks will be bonds of love and understanding.