Category Archives: Dog Behaviour

10/22/13

How to Introduce Your Kids and Puppy



Exceptional Canine: Active Dog

How to Introduce Your Kids and Puppy

By the Editors of Exceptional Canine for Exceptional Canine

How to Introduce Your Kids and Puppy

Your kids have been clamoring for a puppy for a while. Now the moment has come, and you can’t wait to introduce your kids to your new puppy.

But don’t let your eagerness and your kids’ excitement keep you from laying the proper groundwork for what should be a long and joyous relationship.

There are a number of steps you can take to make this a positive interaction.

Teach Kids to Respect Your Puppy
Like puppies, kids need boundaries. It’s up to you to establish how they’ll handle the family’s new addition. Consider these steps:

  • Lay ground rules. Remind kids to be gentle. Demonstrate by petting their forearms and heads as you would your puppy. Ask them to practice by stroking your forearm and head. Set a policy about how and when they can pick up your puppy, and think like a kid to determine any other regulations: Plenty of kids have been tempted to dress poor puppies in doll clothes, for example.
  • Ask for soft voices. Remind kids to talk in gentle, soothing voices, as they would to a baby. Your kids should never yell at your puppy, even if he makes a mistake. Explain that dogs can be startled by loud noises.
  • Establish space. Teach kids to respect your puppy’s space, especially at mealtimes. Even the best-natured puppies might bite if they feel threatened.
  • Teach patience. Remind kids to let the puppy come to them. Even the smallest child can spook a young dog if it reaches or grasps for the dog.
  • Make rough play off-limits. Tail-pulling and teasing are neither funny nor cute, and these behaviors can lead to your puppy establishing bad habits, such as jumping up. And holding a toy just out of your dog’s reach isn’t kind.

When Puppy Comes Home
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, aim for a smooth homecoming. Try these steps:

  • Keep your home quiet and normal. Now is not the time to host a sleepover with a half-dozen shrieking preteens. Until your puppy settles in, avoid loud play dates or disruptions.
  • Introduce your puppy gradually. Let your puppy experience your home one room at a time.
  • Limit puppy-kid playtime. Keep interactions short and sweet — between 15 and 30 minutes, two to three times a day. Explain that puppies need plenty of rest.
  • Supervise puppy-kid interaction. Always supervise interaction between your puppy and your kids, correcting behaviors as needed.

As you take the time to make this a positive
experience for both your kids and your puppy, remember: The lessons you teach
now will go a long way toward helping them bond for years to come.

08/18/13

Do dog dreams matter?

Border terrier puppy sleeping on a couch with question above 'Do dog dreams matter?'.


Listen by clicking play above, or read on…

 

Ever since I’ve been a child, I have had very significant nightmares. I often dream about my house being on fire, or being maimed or killed in a robbery or abduction or any other type of foul play. I have died many times in my dreams – more often than I can count.

Furthermore, I experience sleep paralysis.  I wake or semi-wake from nightmares, only to not be able to move from bed, and have the terrifying experience of both being conscious of the fact that I am dreaming, but unable to remove myself from the situation.  Then there are the times that I have just sleep paralysis with no dreaming, which is almost as frightening as your body tricks you into believing that you are also unable to breathe.

Luckily, I know that my dreams and nightmares are merely figments of my imagination, and I can rationalise the sleep paralysis experience.  I know that a masked intruder has never entered the house and killed me or my partner.  I know that I have never been in a house fire.  I know that I have never been involved in a robbery and witnessed the slaughter of bystanders. I know that I have never, actually, been unable to breathe.

Despite ‘knowing’ that these things are not real, they still make way to very real fears for me. I slept with a light on until I was 14 and sometimes still do if I am home alone. I always lock my car doors when I am driving. At night, I am hyper-vigilant in public spaces, and often find myself looking for weapons to use in self defence.

Me, a rationale adult human, is very affected by the nightmares I have – even though they’re not real. Like Phoebe, in Friends (watch from 3 minutes).

http://youtu.be/2EomKbf9gks?t=3m

But I often I wonder if our dogs can conceptualise their dreams as real. Is it far-fetched to think that maybe dogs are psychologically affected by their dreams?

We know dogs must dream. We can see them partake in REM sleep. What they are dreaming about, however, remains a mystery.

Dreams are something we learn about.  I remember a six year old telling me over breakfast, with a bemused expression, “I think I had a dream”.  This child has knowledge on the concept of ‘dreams’, but was still connecting this term with her own cognitive processes.  While we can teach children on what a dream is, we do not have this luxury with dogs.

Is there much of a difference between the memory of a dream and a memory of a real experience?

I have nightmares that result in real-life fears. Despite my capacity to conceptualise and rationalise my dreams, they still translate to fears in my life.

Is it possible that dogs are having nightmares? And is it such a big stretch to suggest that these dreams may affect a dog’s behaviour?

What do you think?

 

Further reading:

A post on DOL forums on dogs and nightmares.

The Science of Dreaming.

06/7/13

The Range of Imitation in Dogs

ResearchBlogging.orgThis is a brief review of the extensive work by German researcher Friederike Range, looking at imitation or modelling behaviour in dogs. Previously, I posted anecdotal evidence on modelling in dogs (which many people shared their experiences on). This post is more sciencey!

Border terrier and young woman running in large paddock with bushes behind them.

Dogs can imitate the behaviour of both dogs and people. Imitation success depends on a range of factors, including:

  • The task at hand, including its complexity, has a role in imitation.
  • If a human is modelling the behaviour, if they are talking, this can either help or hinder the dog’s modelling, depending on the task. Eye contact can also help (or hinder) a dog in a task. It can help, as it may illustrate to the dogs bits that it should pay particular attention to. However, it make hinder as it may distract the dog from the task at hand.
  • Training plays a role. Dogs that are ‘better trained’ are better at making deduction on behaviour from witnessing a model.
  • The dog’s individual personality.

Interestingly, dogs don’t ‘blindly model’ behaviour of other dogs. They will try to be more efficient, they will learn from the other model’s mistakes, and make adjustments based on particular circumstances. For example, if a dog witnesses the model dog carrying a ball and pushing a lever with its foot, the dog will imitate by pushing the lever with its mouth. The dog seems to realise the model dog used its foot because its mouth was occupied. However, if the model dog pushed the lever with its foot without anything in his mouth, the dog will imitate the foot-push. (Almost, the dog imitates superstitious behaviours.)

Fascinatingly, several dogs have been trained to imitate behaviour.  A dog called Joy was trained with the cue ‘Do it!’.  The experimenter would do one of eight behaviours, say ‘do it’, and Joy would then do the behaviour just demonstrated. After several weeks, they then asked Joy to ‘do’ a behaviour that the experimenter had never demonstrated behaviour. Joy did it. Joy understood the concept of ‘do what I do’. You can see more videos of dogs ‘doing it’.

The conclusions are: Yes, of course dogs model the behaviour of people and dogs. Indeed, they can be trained to do so. There is still a lot of research going on about all the facets of imitation, and it’s all truly fascinating. Definitely a space to watch.

 

 

Links of Interest

Do dogs imitate? by Patricia McConnell.

Dogs show human-like learning ability.

If you’re aggressive, your dog probably will be to.

Dogs automatically imitate people.

 

References

Huber, L, Range, F, Viranyi, Z & Voelkl, B 2008, ‘The evolution of imitation: Old wine in new bottles?’ (PDF).

Range, F., Heucke, S., Gruber, C., Konz, A., Huber, L., & Virányi, Z. (2009). The effect of ostensive cues on dogs’ performance in a manipulative social learning task Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 120 (3-4), 170-178 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.05.012

Range, F., & Viranyi, Z. (2009). Different aspects of social learning in dogs Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 4 (6) DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2009.05.007

Range, F., Viranyi, Z., & Huber, L. (2007). Selective Imitation in Domestic Dogs Current Biology, 17 (10), 868-872 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.04.026

Szucsich, A, Range, F, Miklosi, A, Huber, L 2008, ‘Imitative ability of dogs‘.

Tiefenthaler, M, Range, F, & Huber, L 2008, ‘Personality in dogs and its influence on social learning behaviour‘.

Virányi, Z., & Range, F. (2009). How does ostensive communication influence social learning in dogs? Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 4 (2) DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2008.10.023

Viranyi, Z, Range, F, & Huber L 2008, ‘The influence of ostensive demonstration on selective imitation in dogs‘.

05/30/13

Are they good with kids?

The common question: Are they good with kids?

What it is really asking is: Does this particular breed bite?

And the answer is: Yes. This breed, and every other breed, bites.

 

Puppies in a pen with a child peering in.Dog bites are a lot more complex than simple ‘breed’.  Families with children and dogs need to recognise that any child-dog interaction can end up in a bite, regardless of breed.  However, there are a number of ways that dog bite risk can be minimised.

It is very possible for dogs and children to live safely together, but it involves setting the dog and the child up for success, and managing interactions to ensure they are positive.

 

The Dog

Dogs need to be selected with care as they form an important part of the picture.  For a dog to be ‘good with children’,  they need to be adequately socialised, trained, and have a stable genetic personality and temperament.  Your role, if you’re looking to add a dog to your family, is to select a breeder using stable dogs with good temperaments who socialise their dogs and puppies to all people, including young children.  Once you’ve added one of these well-bred, well-socialised puppies to your family, the next step is to continue to socialise the puppy well with all people, train the puppy appropriate behaviours (e.g. not to jump up), and police child interactions with the dog.

That is, a dog needs to be selected, socialised and trained to be the best dog they can be, and then well managed – for life.

 

The Child

Children need to be taught to interact appropriately with dogs.  Dogs with stable temperaments should not then be an invitation for children to climb on, poke, or otherwise tease or irritate the dog.  Even good dogs have limits.  Children should be taught to:

  • Always leave dogs alone that are sleeping.
  • Always leave dogs alone that are eating.
  • Always leave the dog alone when they go to their special place (which could be the dog’s crate, bed, or kennel).
  • Always leave dogs along that are acting fearful (and how to identify a dog that is scared).
  • Always leave dogs along that are acting aggressive (and how to identify a dog that is angry).
  • To pat dogs on the chin and chest, and avoid hugging or squeezing a dog.
  • Never do anything that could hurt the dog.
  • Never grab a dog by its collar.

All these interactions are high risk for children, as dogs don’t like being interacted with in these ways, and it may lead to them biting.  Children need to have rules concerning their interactions with all dogs, for their own safety.

 

Management

As the dog’s owner and child’s parent, you play an important role in managing the interactions that take place between the dog and the child, and ensuring they are appropriate and safe.  For example, it is your job to ensure that children know not to approach a dog that is eating, while also ensuring that the dog is always removed from the children while eating.  If you think your dog may be fearful during a child’s birthday party, perhaps putting the dog in boarding kennels for the weekend or otherwise confining the dog would be an option.  Management also includes alert, conscious supervision of all dog-child interactions: The mantra of “Supervise or Separate”.  If you can’t watch how dog and child are interacting, then separate the dog from the child.

If you know there are deficiencies in your dog’s temperament or your child’s behaviour, then your management attempts should be set up to prevent these deficiencies giving rise to a dog bite.

 A young border terrier sleeping with a child reading the puppy a story.

 

Any breed that is described as ‘good with kids’ is, at the very least, being deceptively advertised.  Dogs are living individuals, and there’s no guarantee how they will behave with children.

As you can see, the question “Are these dogs good with kids?” is a complex question.  Any dog can be good with kids, provided they are come with a genetic ‘good temperament’ and are well socialised, and well trained.  However, this dog can only be expected to be ‘good’ if the kids interact in respectful and safe ways with the dogs, and all interactions are constantly monitored to ensure all parties are safe.

Having a safe home environment for children is a lot more than just choosing the right breed – it’s an ongoing commitment to education and management of both dogs and children.

If you want your dog to be good with the kids, you really should be asking, “Am I good at management?”

 

Further reading: See Resources for New Puppy Owners, particularly the links under ‘Children and Dogs’.

03/26/13

Classical Conditioning in Dogs

‘Classical conditioning’ is a term originally coined by Ivan Pavlov.  This type of conditioning is highly relevant to dog training.

While using dogs to experiment on digestion, Pavlov noticed dogs had what he called “psychic secretion” of saliva, where the dogs seem to know when they were going to be fed and began to salivate.  On further investigation, he found that whenever his lab assistant entered the room, the dogs began to salivate.  Salivation is a reflex, that is, a behaviour outside of the dog’s control, but the dog learnt to exhibit this reflex when associated with an incoming lab assistant.  Pavlov modified his experiment to further examine this phenomena.

Poodle type dog jumping over an agility course jump.

From here, the specifics of classical conditioning (sometimes also called Pavlovian conditioning) became published and well known. Basically, classical conditioning is where a previously neutral thing becomes paired with the reflexes associated with something else.   Continue reading →