SWIMMING IN THE DEEP END OF THE POOL

The year I was seven was the year I really learned to swim.  I LOVE to swim.  Up until that year, I had puddle ducked around the shallow end of the pool in the company of my mother, where I could touch the bottom, but the year I was seven, I learned to swim.  Swimming was an important skill from my perspective.  I am not sure why, but I was especially attracted to the deep end of the pool, where the water was over my head.  Where I could not touch the bottom.  Where the big kids got to swim.  I wanted to be just like them, able to jump off the diving board, able to swim across the pool, all by my self.

I watch a lot of reactive dogs in my classes, and I have often though that being a reactive dog can be a little bit like being seven and wanting to be able to swim in the deep end of the pool.  Many of these dogs seem to be magnetized towards the targets they are afraid of.  They want to go say hi, but when they get close, they begin to worry and get overwhelmed.  And then they get to the point where they cannot cope.  And then they bark and lunge, or freeze and bolt, or sometimes they bite.  These dogs seem to be attracted the very things that frighten them the most.

When these dogs are at home, they are often calm and easy going.  When a stranger appears, or a dog, they go on alert.  And they often walk right up to the target looking calm and confident.  They are just like I was at seven in the swimming pool.  I desperately wanted to swim in the deep end and I would start out confidently swimming where the water was not over my head.  Then I would approach that magic rope that marked off where the water got suddenly deeper.  Then I would tire and put my foot down.  For a moment, there is hope that I could rest with my foot on the bottom of the pool, and then there is that sickening realization that I cannot touch and the water is over my head.  One time I panicked and the life guard had to jump in and get me.  And still, I wanted to swim in the deep end of the pool.

When a dog approaches the target of his fear, he is quite a bit like I was.  He wants to go say hello, but when he gets there, he is overwhelmed and panics.  Dogs who panic behave fairly predictably; they usually bark and lunge, or they may scoot away as though they touched something hot.  If the target of their fear is a person who reaches out to them, they may actually bite.  A portion of the dogs will freeze and stare with a deer in the headlights sort of look to him.  All of the dogs who get into the deep end need what I got so long ago.  They need swimming lessons.

In my case, panicking and being pulled from the water by a life guard was a turning point.  I was banned from the deep end for two weeks, and during those two weeks, I spent time learning skills that would help me to be a better swimmer.  I learned to fill my lungs and make myself into a floating balloon in the water.  I learned that people in the deep end of the pool could stand on a ledge around the deep end that was not as deep as the rest of the pool.  I learned to duck my head under the water and then push up against the water and to take a breath and go down again.  I practiced swimming almost all the way across the pool and finally after two weeks of practicing I could swim all the way across the pool.  And for two weeks, I wasn’t permitted to get overwhelmed by sneaking myself up to the rope that marked off the danger zone.

Working with a dog who is reactive is very much like teaching me to swim.  They need a vacation from being overwhelmed and a chance to learn different and new skills.  They need to learn that the target of their fear is not as frightening as they thought.  They need to learn how to escape and swim to the ledge at the side of the pool.  They need confident people who can help them to succeed and who won’t just toss them in to sink or swim.  Slow careful exposure to the target helps the dog to practice the skills he is learning to be successful.   

Most of all, not drowning the dog over and over again is the foundation for success when working with reactive dogs.  For all the reactive dogs out there who are working on overcoming their fears, remembering to keep them from drowning is probably the most important part of what we do.  And to all the reactive dogs who have passed through the Good Dog program, congratulations!  You learned to swim in the deep end of the pool!

CONSIDERING AN INVISIBLE FENCE? CONSIDER THIS!

Invisible fences are becoming more and more popular and in a few cases they are a very successful method for keeping your dog on your property.  In most cases though, this can go badly wrong.

Consider for starters that you are depending upon a boundary that the dog cannot see.  Invisible fences work best when they are the back up to a visible boundary.  This is why you start out with flags.  Most people take the flags away far too soon, and the dog is not exactly clear on where that boundary is or is not, meaning that they will get shocked more often than is strictly necessary for success.  When I recommend an invisible fence, I would put it along natural boundaries that are visible to the dog, such as a flower garden, along a driveway or lane, or along a row of trees.  I would not use a sidewalk or the street as a boundary for reasons I will outline below.

Consider that you often cannot control the degree of shock that the collar delivers.  If you really want to know what your dog is experiencing, put the collar on your upper arm with the electrodes against your skin on the inside of your arm.  Walk towards the fence.  Repeat that five or six times so that you are certain about the outcome.  There is a caveat.  This will hurt and it will hurt a lot.  Electric shock is one of the most intense sorts of pain we are able to deliver, and most collars are factory set to deliver a very intense pain.  

Consider what happens when your dog sees the kids coming home from school.  If he darts out meets the kids right at the boundary line, he may learn that the kids cause pain.  I have seen four cases where this happened and in one case the dog became so aggressive towards people that we could not safely live with him.  When looking for the cause of the shocks, the dog is not going to naturally gravitate towards his behaviour as the underlying cause of the pain.  He will look for clues about when he gets shocked.  He may decide for instance that cars, kids, other dogs, the mail delivery person, or the contractor who comes to install the air conditioner is the source of his pain.  Dogs in pain are much more likely to bite than dogs who are not, and if the dog decides that the contractor is the source of his pain, then the contractor is who he will bite.

Consider that you are depending on a piece of equipment that may not remain charged and may not work all the time.  If your batteries die and you don’t notice, your dog may approach your boundary and not hear the tone he would normally associate with approaching the edge of his yard.  Not hearing the tone, he will eventually test that boundary and then discover that the fence does not currently shock him.  This leads to a gambler’s effect.  When the fence is sometimes live and sometimes not, any time your dog approaches the boundary and he doesn’t receive a shock, he in effect receives a reward.  This means that he will start to gamble to try and figure out when he can win and when he cannot.  This means that in reality you are increasing your dog’s likelihood that he will try and test the fence, even if that means that some of the time he gets shocked.  The rule for using punishment is that it must occur every time that the dog behaves in the targeted manner, and when you use shock as a punisher, this is especially important.

Consider that your dog may learn that the equipment is what causes the pain.  If you do not condition the collar properly, your dog will learn that having equipment put on is going to create pain and they may become difficult to catch and also difficult to put other collars and harnesses on, or even to bandage if they are injured or ill.

Consider that other animals can get into your yard without penalty, and if those animals (foxes, skunks, raccoons, other dogs, children, adults, cats, coyotes, bears, wolves, deer, sheep, goats and pretty much anything else with feet in your neighbourhood) are aggressive or dangerous to your dog, he cannot escape.  This means that if a person comes into your yard with the intent to harm your dog he cannot leave unless he is willing to be shocked.

Consider that most pet dogs are breeds that were intended to stay close to us, and they don’t actually like being outside alone.  They want to do stuff with their people, even if that stuff is just laying close to you while you type on the computer.  Invisible fencing makes it easy to leave the dog out of doors unattended and able to learn nuisance behaviours such as barking at the fence line and ripping the siding off the house.

Mostly...dogs just want to be with their people!

Consider that if your dog sees a squirrel, another dog or a friend across the street and he breaks through the invisible fence, he may learn that the cost of roaming where he wants is a moment of intense unpleasantness.  If he is running towards something fun, he may consider the pain worth the gain.  Coming home is another story though.  Coming home means facing angry and upset people AND experiencing shock.  Thousands of dogs every year die because they broke through an invisible fence.

Considering the eight points above, you may wonder if there is ever a place where I would recommend an invisible fence, and how I would suggest using it.  For rural properties of five acres or more where you want to contain the dog in a specific component of the property, and where there are good visual landmarks, I would consider an invisible fence.  Why five acres?  Because I want the fence to be far, far from a road.  Because I want to be able to see when people are approaching so that I can bring the dog indoors when someone comes to the house.  I want permanent visual boundaries that can be seen even after it snows (tree lines, garden beds, decorative fences, laneways or livestock fences are all possible visual barriers).  I don’t recommend only putting the collar on the dog when he goes outside; I recommend keeping it on all the time.  I suggest that your dog should be accompanying you most of the time and should be in the house when you leave the boundary area.  If you need to remove the dog from the boundary area, take the collar off and either go through a physical gate or take your dog in your vehicle to get him out.  Even then, I have to say that I am not a huge fan. 

If you live in a covenant community that does not allow fenced yards, consider treating your dog as though you lived in an apartment.  Take him out on leash to toilet.  Teach a rock solid recall and a rock solid down stay.  Keep him with you more often than not.  When I compare the number of behaviour problems I see in dogs who live with invisible fences to those who live in apartment buildings, I have to say that I see far fewer dogs who live in apartments.  That says something profound about the life style of dogs who live in apartments.  They just don’t have the opportunity to experience the problems and pain that those who live with invisible fences do.

Ribbons aren’t Important. They are Essential.

I have been in a number of discussions on the net lately talking about different training methods and the importance or not both of certifying and/or competing with a dog to prove your worth as a trainer.  I seem to be a bit of an unusual person in where I stand.  I currently have two industry designations; the CPDT-KSA and the CDBC.  I worked really hard to learn the material necessary for my designations, and I continue to work hard to maintain my designations by learning new information in my field as it becomes available.  I am also getting ready to write my CBCC-KA because I feel that it is important to continue to grow and develop as a trainer and behaviour consultant.  I also compete when I can in obedience and rally with my German Shepherd Eco.  At least once a year, I enter him in a show and compete against other trainers.  I don’t always win, and I don’t have a lot of titles behind me, but I do prove my ability as a trainer by passing someone else’s test.  I also train service dogs for other people-meaning that I have to prove that I can train a dog to a minimum standard for someone else’s need.

A number of people have suggested that credentialing is worthless and should not be pursued because it only proves that you can write a test and prove you know what someone wants you to learn.  Perhaps.  Interestingly, none of the people who have suggested that credentialing is not worthwhile actually have passed a test showing what they know.  

Likewise, I have heard from another group of people who suggest that showing dogs and earning ribbons is without merit because it is really just a statement of who you have buttered up.  I also hear from a number of positive reinforcement trainers that they won’t compete against the trainers who use methods they don’t approve of.  Funny-but the people who don’t approve of showing their dogs and earning ribbons in any discipline are also the people who haven’t done it.

I will keep this short.  I probably didn’t score the highest on my CPDT exam.  And although I have taken a number of first place ribbons in the obedience ring, I have several firsts and seconds and thirds, a novice obedience title and multiple legs towards rally titles on my current sport dog Eco, I have never scored a 200.  I am getting ready to sit my CBCC this November, and concurrently, Eco and I are preparing to compete in Open and finish his Rally titles this winter.  So I have a challenge for everyone.  

Eco and I and our ribbons and trophies at the GSD National Specialty.  Yes, I know I look like a deer in the headlights!  We don't get fancy pictures like this when we pass a certification.  What a pity!

If you have passed the book tests, don’t tell me that the performance tests have no value unless you have actually titled a dog.  And if you have titled a dog, don’t tell me that the industry accreditations are worthless unless you have done those too.  Because if you think that there is no merit in understanding the theory behind the work we do, or proving the theory by showing the work, in my opinion, you are only living up to half of your potential.