Tag Archives: dog

06/25/12

Going Rawr! for Fussy Eaters

I am a long time advocate of raw food diets, and was excited when approached by Maggie Rhines’ regarding her new book Going Rawr! Dog Lover’s Compendium.

In his book, Maggie explains how some picky eaters may struggle to make the change to a raw food diet.  But you know you need to persevere because it’s for the good of your dog. Fortunately, there are some tips out there that will help you help your dog adjust to this new and healthier diet.

Here are 7 tips from Maggie’s book to help you encourage your picky eater onto raw food:

 

1. Adjust your feeding schedule.

Having a set feeding time can encourage dogs to eat, setting them up for the habit of eating at a set time.  This means that their digestive juices get flowing (in a Pavlovian, classical conditioning way) and you will also know that your dog is definitely hungry by this time.  Dogs have also developed to exercise before a meal (i.e. ‘hunt first’ then eat), so a jog or run before a meal can sometimes help a dog to build up their appetite.

 

2. Regulate how much food your dog is getting.

If your dog is regularly leaving some of their meal in their bowl, then you may be feeding them too much. You may need to reconsider how much you are feeding. The dog might also be in a habit of leaving food. One way to help your dog finish his food and finish it quickly is to set a certain amount of time for them to eat. Say you only give them 20 minutes to finish their food. After that, take away his food bowl. That way, he’ll be encouraged to eat his food and to finish it quickly. You could also have a look at Sue Ailsby’s teaching a dog to eat guide, to break any bad-eating habits your dog may have.  Removing food after 20 minutes or so also prevents the raw food going off – obviously not desirable!

 

3. Lay off on the treats.

If your dog is often disinterested in their meals, maybe they are getting too many treats and snacks in between meals. If you cut out these treats, it may increase the dog’s appetite and make them more keen to eat raw. If you are the type to do a lot of training with your dog, make your raw meal into the training treats, or switch to play-based rewards for a week or two, could help encourage your dog’s appetite.

 

4. Variety is the spice of life.

Some dogs respond well to variety. The joy of raw food is that it is quite varied naturally! Planning a varied meal doesn’t have to be complicated. You can rotate his meals every 3 days. Serve different kinds of meat or different kinds of fruits and vegetables to keep him excited during meal times.

 

5. Make it fun.

Sometimes dogs enjoy the packaging of a meal more than the meal itself!  Dogs that are used to using food toys, like Kongs, may be inclined to extract raw food from these toys as well.  Some dogs may be inclined to get stuck into a raw bone or carcass if you were to drag it around or use it as a lure or tug toy first.  If your dog is used to receiving food treats in training, start using raw food as training treats.  These are all fun-based strategies that could work to getting your dog to try the new food.

 

6. Maybe he’s not feeling well.

When you’ve tried different methods and your dog is still not eating, it could be a sign that your dog is not feeling well.  If his lack of appetite is accompanied by a general lack of interest in any activity, a vet check may be in order.

 

7. Do the slow switch method.

Some dogs just need more time to adjust to raw food diet especially after being so used to a different type of food for a long time. To help a smooth transisition, you may like to mix some of the old diet in with the new diet, and gradually increase the proportion of the new diet, until the new diet is fed exclusively. This method has the extra benefit of reducing the incidence of upset tummies as a result of a diet change.

 

Introducing the raw food diet to your dog isn’t always as easy as just giving him raw meaty bones to munch on. There are a lot of things to consider, especially if your dog is the sensitive/picky eater type.

To learn more about switching raw, be sure to check out Maggie Rhines’ Rawr! Dog Lover’s Compendium.

(Thank-you, Maggie, for your article ‘Why is it important for a dog to undergo detoxification before switching to raw?‘, in which a reciprocal link was provided. Thanks!)

06/19/12

“The Boys”

We welcomed these boys as fosters into our home last week. They were surrendered to us as the family didn’t feel they had the time for the dogs, and the dogs were also too boisterous for their young children. They’re a bit of a handful together! But individually, they’re pretty nice dogs. They can get a little overwhelmed in some situations, but they’re quite consolable and are never worried enough to refuse treats. We are working on their jumping up and their lead manners. Considering they were practically raised by a backyard, they have relatively few issues and will make charming pets for the right home.

First of all, there is Mack:

Black and white kelpie, labrador, border collie crossbreed dog looks at the camera.

Mack, being a lovely attentive boy for the camera.

Mack was a bit of a snob for the first couple of days, but when I took him for a walk without his brother, he totally changed! He started looking to me for reassurance and guidance, and then never stopped when we got home. Now we’re pretty good friends, and I am sure his new family won’t have to do much to win him over, either.  For more details about Mack, view his PetRescue profile.

And then there’s Jet:

Black kelpie cross labrador cross border collie dog, looking at camera.

Jet, much harder to photograph, and looking much older than his 20 months!

Jet has a sooky soft temperament, and is much more likely to win you over quickly than his brother.  Jet is one of those floppy submissive dogs that lay on their back for belly rubs and generally just is soft natured!  I think this boy will find a home easily with whoever meets him first – he’s quite endearing. Read more about Jet on his PetRescue profile.

Both Mack and Jet are available in South Australia to an appropriate home. They were surrendered as half Kelpie, half Labrador x Border Collie. They are 20 months old and will be available from Wednesday 20th June as vaccinated, desexed, and microchipped.

06/17/12

Reward Training Techniques (Dunbar)

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dunbar described five reward training techniques:

 

 

Lure Reward Training
He called these ‘techniques that cause the behaviour’ and the ‘Plan A’ of dog training – that is, it should be the first option when teaching a dog a behaviour.  More about this method is outlined in my lure reward training post.

 

All or none reward training
Dunbar created ‘all or none’ reward training after thinking about dogs in shelter situations.  These dogs need to default to good behaviour, or just be ‘good’ without any verbal cues.  In all or none reward training, you just wait for the animal to do what you want, and reward it.  For example, if you have a dog on leash and wait long enough, they’ll eventually sit.  The term ‘all or none’ comes from the behaviour: He’s either sitting, or he’s not.  Dunbar advocates this way for inattentive or ‘crazy’ dogs, and suggests it should be the ‘Plan B’ in dog training.

 

Black and white working cross breed runs with a tennis ball in mouth.

Life rewards: Running, playing fetch. Much better than any boring treat!

 

Shaping (often with clickers) Continue reading →

05/17/12

Seven Steps to Off Leash Reliability

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

A reliable recall is often difficult to train.  Dunbar has many suggestions on training a dog to be reliable off-leash – however, he doesn’t teach a recall as such, more cues at a distance.  The logic is that it is just as useful for your dog to sit immediately, on cue, in any context, as it is for you to train a recall – and perhaps even better if you do not want your dog to move towards you (for example, if there was ongoing traffic or other hazards associated with approaching you).  Dunbar’s logic is partly based on not removing a dog from their rewards, as well.  For most dogs, being off leash is associated with a lot of fun, and calling a dog away from that fun is inherently punishing, despite any rewards you think you may offer.

Without further ado, here is Dunbar’s seven steps to off leash reliability.

 

Small back and tan crossbred dog running towards camera.

Photo © Ruthless Photos.

 

Continue reading →

05/10/12

Repetitive Reinstruction (Dunbar)

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dunbar advocated what he called ‘repetitive reinstruction’ as a form of verbal punishment for dogs that do not obey a trained cue.

He called this technique negative punishment (taking away something good), but this only happens if you are always rewarding the behaviour in the first place. Repetitive reinstruction is taking away the ‘nice sweet speaking person’ and you get ‘annoying and over the top’ person. It works quickly, and response reliability increases after successive trials.

Staffordshire bull terrier crossbreed smiling at the camera.

This is Dexter, a young Staffy X available for adoption through Adelaide All Breed Dog Rescue. Click his picture to visit their Facebook page.

 

The best way to illustrate this technique is by describing training a distance sit.  Here is the process:

1) While the dog is playing, grab the dog by the collar, give them a treat, then release them to continue play.

2) While the dog is playing, grab the dog by the collar, ask for a sit, give treat, and then release them to continue play.

3) Without touching the dog, cue sit, then grab the collar, give a treat, and send them to play.

4) From a casual position, cue “sit” as many times as necessary (perhaps decreasing distance and increasing urgency in voice) until the dog sits.  Once the dog sits, release the dog, ask for a second sit, reward when the dog sits on the first cue, treat the dog, and send it to go play.

 

In this way, the dog is repetitively reinstructed to perform the behaviour until it does so.  Though this may be a number of cues in the first instance, over time, the number of cues will reduce to 1-2 cues.  He assures us that this does work – the number of responses increases per the number of cues, over time.

Dunbar acknowledges that collar grabs should always be associated with good things, in order to reduce the likelihood of dog bites from this interaction (touching a dog collar is often a precursor to a dog biting).

Obedience competition has made a second cue a ‘crime’.  In reality, we are aiming for one cue eventually, but it’s okay to use multiple cues in training. Dunbar has collected figures to graph the improvement and there is an improvement over time (i.e. the number of cues diminishes).

Not only is this repetitive reinstruction, it is also specific redirection.  It is instructing the dog what to do in order to stop the negative punishment.  This can be a useful way to direct the dog during ‘crazy times’ (when the dog is over aroused, like when the doorbell goes).

Dunbar argues that the cue doesn’t become ‘irrelevent’, because if the dog doesn’t perform the first time, the cue was irrelevant anyway.

This is one of the more controversial suggestions from Dunbar, with many dog trainers advocating for one cue only.

 

Suggested further reading:

Patricia McConnell on repeated cues.

“Rover, sit. Sit. SIT. SitSitSit!!!” – a review of Dunbar’s suggestions by Boulder Dog.