Rachel's Guide to Puppies

Everything is new to puppies; that also means that everything new could be scary to puppies. You will have to pay close attention to your dog to be able to tell when they fear something.

What signs tell you your dog fears something? Well I recently realized Koopa was afraid of some new additions to our house, so they are fresh in my mind:

• Slowly approaching something
• Tail tucked
• Stretching to reach something- puppies especially will do this
• Their neck will be stretched out while their back legs are as far away as possible so they can get away quick!
• Standing near something to watch it but not really going close 
• Ears flying back against their head
• Also pay attention to when they run away
• If you notice them running away repeatedly after you do a certain task or use a certain object, it's very possible that task or object is what they fear

The good news is most fears can be trained out of dogs very quickly! One thing you have to be careful with is not reinforcing the fear. For example, Koopa is afraid of his aluminum bowl. If I made him jump every time he went near it, I would be reinforcing his fear instead of helping him get over it.

So, how do you get your dog over their fears? It's really quite simple. For this, you'll need a bag of treats.

• First, sit down on the floor next to the feared object. For Koopa, this was his bowl
• If your dog is afraid of the noise it makes, tap on the object. If he's afraid of its movement, move the object
• Immediately after you tap on/move the object, give a treat. 
• If the dog won't come near, you can throw the treat to them
• The point here is that they need to associate the noise/movement of the object with something good- the treat
• It's most likely that the dog will start very far away from the object- that's not a bad thing. 
• Start by throwing treats to them
• As the dog starts to loosen up a bit and isn't as jumpy when the object is moved/tapped on, toss the treat closer to you and the object, drawing the dog in
• Continue drawing the dog closer, but ONLY as they get more comfortable. If they seem more anxious when you draw them closer, allow them to back off
• Once the dog is next to the object, tap/move it constantly while giving treats in a row
• You only need to do this for about 3 treats

By now, your dog should be more comfortable with the object. After one session of this, Koopa drank an entire bowl of water. Before, he'd just run up quickly, steal two quick drinks and retreat as quickly as he could.  Most dogs will probably need more than one of these training sessions to get over their fear.

Remember to be positive, but stay calm. Added excitement will only cause your dog to enter a more energized state which will add to their fear.

Here's a video of Koopa working on the fear of his bowl. Notice how I throw the treats a little further away when I start to notice him getting nervous. I could tell he was nervous because he started to act more energized as he got closer. Dogs should remain just as calm as they were when they started the exercise. If you notice their energy level increasing, allow them to back off. Make sure you distinguish between excitement for getting a treat thrown at them and nervousness about being close to their feared object. Feel free to give them praise at the end of the exercise, but make sure not to startle them!

 Koopa and I visited the dog park tonight. We hadn't been in quite a while, so we (read: he) was VERY excited. When we got out there, there were just a few dogs surprisingly. We had gone pretty late so that it could cool down just a bit, but with an hour of sunlight left, I expected more people.

Anyway, there were a couple of Chihuahuas, a couple of Boxers and an Aussie. Koopa loves Boxers because they match his energy level when he wants to play. So I was thrilled that there were at least a couple of dogs he could play with. Of the two Boxers, one was a puppy and the other was probably a little older than Koopa. Koopa went straight into play mode as I expected- chasing and then trying to be chased. He would nip at the younger one's cheeks and then run away. Typical puppy play behavior. All of a sudden, both the puppies owners were up and trying to block Koopa from their dog. Then they told him it was "time to go home." I just stood there, completely shocked. He hadn't even gotten really riled up. This was TAME puppy play. Probably the calmest and gentlest I've seen Koopa be with a puppy. I had just been thinking how proud I was that he was going slow with her. So I spoke up and said, "They're just playing. That's how they play. If they were really playing hard, they'd have a hold of each others cheeks and be swinging each other around by them." They just responded saying their two just boxed like Boxers do.

But I'm not rude, and I don't want to upset anyone, so I just took Koopa away. Guess what happened? Baby Boxer comes bounding after Koopa wanting to play more. Surprise, surprise. So that got me thinking that a lot of people baby their puppies and do not let them set their own limits. Dogs WILL set their own limits. If they feel victimized or scared they will squeal or whimper. Other dogs have learned to back off at this point and most will, assuming they've had adequate puppy play experience. If you never let your dogs play, they won't learn their limits or when to back off when they reach other dog's limits.

Aggression is very easy to see. I've included a video of my dog and his best bud going at it and then a clip of a dog fight. Pay attention to the difference in body language in each clip. I can tell you that both my dog and Cassie (the other dog) were bleeding after their play date, but they never showed any aggression toward the other. Dogs play hard, that's a fact of life. You need to learn to be ok with it and not step in when you think things get too rough. After watching these videos you will know when it's a dog fight. Then you can step in.

If you step in during normal dog play and scoop up your dog, he will learn to fear other dogs. This can lead to them becoming unnecessarily aggressive or scared around other dogs.

The best place for your puppy to learn their limits and to learn how to play is a puppy play time. The Petco in Lawrence (and I'm sure Petco and Petsmart in OP) have puppy play times for puppies under 6 months old to come and learn how to play. The one in Lawrence is on Sundays at 2pm. These sessions are FREE....did you read that? FREE SOCIALIZATION!...and are completely necessary for your puppy AND for you to figure out how they play. Go to these sessions and go often.

Here is Koopa and Cassie PLAYING (make sure to watch the whole thing for pointers):

• Things to pay attention to:
• Tails wagging
• "Smiles" on their faces (mouth open, tongues hanging to the side)
• Relaxed bodies
• No raised hackles (the hair down the center of their back)

Now here is the dog fight. What cues should you be looking for here?

• First you have one obviously nervous dog that is whimpering. This raises the energy level of the other dogs and is never good. Socializing your dog usually minimizes this. 
• When the boxer comes over neither one smells the others butt, they also pause for a second without really looking at each other
• Right after the pause, you can hear the growling. That is a very distinctive sound to listen for- quick barking growls. That tells you they are fighting
• If you focus on their mouths you can see their lips are raised, baring their teeth
• Some dogs do this when they're playing. When the sounds are paired with it, you know it is NOT playing
• You can also see their body language is very stiff. Even after they stop fighting at first, you can tell more is about to happen
• Their hackles are also raised
• Another good indicator that it is a fight and not play is if they are both standing up on their back feet, biting and growling at each other
• The owner of the Boxer (Lexi) does the absolute wrong thing- she starts SCREAMING her dog's name. If your dog gets into a fight, do exactly what the owner of the black dog does- speak in a very calm voice and ask your dog to come and sit.

Can you see the difference?

Bite inhibition is very important. Dogs, no matter how trained, will get excited when they're in play mode. From a very early age you need to make sure they know that under no circumstance are they allowed to bite you hard.

The great thing is that this is so easy to teach! Dogs usually learn bite inhibition from their litter mates or other dogs they play with- but don't assume they already have or will learn it from other dogs!

Here's what to do:

• Stick your finger in their mouth and let them chew on it
• With young puppies this will probably hurt because they won't know how softly to chew/bite
• Even if the puppy is not hurting you, whimper loudly- try to imitate a puppy "yipe" or yell "ow" loudly
• They should instinctively spit your finger out
• If not, take your finger out quickly like you've been hurt and turn away from the dog
• Do it again; this time the dog should at least be a little weary to take your finger in its mouth
• Repeat this until the dog can chew SOFTLY on your finger without hurting you
• This is important because if it only hurts a little and you allow it, the dog will think biting you that hard is ok

You'll need to practice this quite often to remind the puppy. I also liked to teach it after I had gotten Koopa really riled up so he could learn that he has to use bite inhibition even in high energy situations like that.

Here's a short (and slightly embarrassing) video of what a dog who has learned bite inhibition should do.