Pet Parents or Pet Owners?

There's been a general push by the pet industry to market the idea of "pet parenting."  This includes encouraging pets to sleep in our beds, eat gourmet food, and engage in other such practices that are usually only reserved for the human members of our families.  Also, it means putting the same amount and type of resources into pet care as we do for child care.  

The foundation for this concept has clearly existed for quite some time.  Pet owners do owe their pets proper love and care for the duration of their lives - that is the pact we make when we take ownership of them.  That means that throughout financial hardships, life changes and other bumps in the road, we still have to provide for our pets.  For this reason, the pet industry has long been considered "recession-proof."  But companies like Petco and PetSmart are taking this to a new level.  They want to grow and solidify their business, so they're upping the ante for human investment in their furry counterparts.

But what does the concept of "pet parenting" mean, really?  This article in Slate talks about the implications.  I think there's certainly some merit to the author's argument that pet owning and parenting a child should be separate ideas.  But, I see pet parenting as a separate thing from parenting already.  Dogs have different needs than children, obviously.  Pets play a different role in our lives than our kids do, for sure.  But does that mean that we still don't parent our pets, in a way?  We still have to equip them to live in the world comfortably and efficiently.  We have to provide for their emotional, physical and nutritional needs.  Owning a plant is different - we have no obligation to the emotional lives of our plants, but we do need to provide it with nutrition and physical safety.  So those two things might be the defining factors of "parenting" -- providing for emotional well-being and instruction on how to exist in the world, both of which we do for our dogs and cats as well as for our kids. 

Doggies on Diets

Does your dog have to watch his figure?  Retire his food bowl for a while and use his food for training.  Feed it to him during his morning walk, for example, to reward loose leash walking.

It's not magic... it's liverwurst

Having trouble keeping your dog’s attention?  Use better treats!  When in doubt... break out the liverwurst.

Tip of the Day: Food is Food

There’s no difference between “human” food and “dog” food.  Dog food is made of the same things as human food!  Plus, dogs will never learn the difference.  They can learn that food on the table is not for them, but it’s not because they perceive the food as different from the food that they eat.  

THIS IS HUGE.

Reward your dog every time she sits without being asked.  Especially in front of doorways, her food bowl, or in front of a stranger with food! Sitting will then become her default behavior. She'll ask for things she wants by sitting, not jumping, counter-surfing, or barking!

Tip of the Day: Leverage Prey Drive

If you’re having trouble getting your dog to come to you, try making a crazy sound and running in the other direction.  Sounds bizarre, but it’s a good bet in a pinch.

Tip of the Day: When in doubt, switch treats!!!!

Switch the treats you use for training.  Keep it new and interesting for your dog and you’ll get better focused attention from him.

Thinking is exhausting...

Remember that for dogs, working their brains can be just as tiring as working their bodies.  Get some food-dispensing puzzles so that your dog has some good mental stimulation on a daily basis.

Tip of the Day: Bones.

Ask your butcher if he’s discarding any bones that week.  Take them off his hands, freeze them, and give them to your dog when he’s bored.  He’ll love it!  Just make sure they are dog-safe - chicken bones, for example, are not.

Tip of the Day: Too Many Leftovers!

Don't know what to do with all your leftovers? Put them in a Kong, wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap, and freeze it.  Your dog will appreciate it!  Just make sure all the food is dog-safe.

DIY Healthy Dog Treats = Revolution in my kitchen.

Yours truly has just received in the mail a brand new food dehydrator.  I couldn't be more excited.  Now, I've been known to go above and beyond when it comes to treats for the many dogs in my life, but this is different.  I know everyone's not going to make fish brownies (see photo) or liver cakes (both recipes from the book How Many Dogs?! by positive trainer Debby McMullen).  Although if you do make them, your dogs and/or cat will thank you profusely.  (And any humans you live with will threaten to throw up all over the kitchen if you make them again).

Anyway, despite the fun that that activity inspired, there is an easier way!  BUY A FOOD DEHYDRATOR.  Dry meats from your nearest Halal butcher or fruits and veggies from the farmer's market.  They will last forever, they're cheap, and they are HEALTHY.  I highly recommend it.

Not only will this save you money, you'll be doing your dog a favor by avoiding preservatives and other junk that's in store bought treats.  If your dog has a weight problem but you still want to continue the fun training you've been doing, this is a solution.  If your dog has a sensitive stomach, this is a solution.  Hot dogs and cheese aren't the only way to feed your dog something she loves.

And now I have to go - getting ready to dehydrate some goodies for the lovely dogs at the Humane Society tomorrow.

A few days later:  I just came across this warning about various jerky treats being dangerous to your dog.  

The age-old complaint, "my dog only listens when I have food."

I was volunteering this past summer for a rescue organization, handling a black lab mix-looking puppy who couldn't have been more than three months old.  I was having a great time getting her to do a few basic skills for potential adopters.  She clearly hadn't had any training before, and the woman who worked at the kennel where she was being boarded confirmed this.  When I told her that Mandy (the puppy) had been successfully practicing Sit, Down and Paw, she said, "Yeah, well, of course she'll do that for treats."

Yes, Mandy would do all those things for treats.  And lucky for us that she would, because that's what makes it so easy to train her.  Why would I not use treats?  If you have poor eyesight that can be remedied with prescription glasses, why not get the glasses?  Yes, you'll have to wear them on your nose, and they  might be cumbersome at times.  But wouldn't you rather that than not be able to see?  I would rather have to reinforce my dog's behavior with treats every once in a while than have to either intimidate them into compliance or just have an ill-behaved dog.

But I am, in fact, being kind of unfair to the kennel woman.  We aren't referring to the same practice when we talk about using food in dog training.  Debby McMullen, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, explains that food can be used in dog training in three ways: as a bribe, a lure, or a reward.  The woman from the kennel was deploring the use of food as a bribe.  I am endorsing the use of food as a lure or a reward.  And it's true - she's right that using food as a bribe will likely teach your dog not to listen to you unless he sees the food in your hand.  And that's not good.

So in conclusion: Use food.  Use it sparingly to get your dog into the position you want to reward.  Then fade out the food by faking out your dog.  Use the same hand motions but without food in your hand as a lure.  Your dog will perform the same behavior, thinking you have food - so start to make it clearer and clearer that you have no food visible on your person as you cue him to the behavior.  He will realize that not seeing food does not mean that you won't produce it out of thin air if he just does what you ask.  That food magically appearing out of thin air is the reward.  Reduce the frequency of the reward, but keep it present so the behavior remains strong.  That's a quick description of how to correctly use food.  Don't bribe your dog, and you won't teach him to expect that.

"If you walk into a wall, you will get hurt."

My aunt, a veterinarian, once argued for the use of shock collars by dog trainers by saying, "Well, if you walk into a wall, you will get hurt."  She meant that if dogs get shocked for doing something wrong, that was okay, since we humans experience the same type of consequence and don't consider it unusually cruel.

But it's not the same.  How many times after you walk into a wall will you repeat that action?  Never, if you can help it.  So you've learned your lesson after one broken nose.  That happened for one reason and one reason only: timing.  You felt pain the moment your face made contact with plaster, and so you were able to make the connection between forceful impact with a wall and the painful consequence.

Training dogs using punishment doesn't work that way.  Because our timing is so dreadful when attempting to catch the actions of dogs who see many more frames per second than we do, they rarely ever make the connection between what we consider the "wrong" action and the consequence.  So they produce that action again and again, getting shocked, yelled at, kicked out of the house again and again.  What a miserable way to live - and forget about learning anything.  After all, would you be able to think clearly if throughout the course of your day a fist would come out of the sky and punch you in the face?  Would you get kind of anxious, paranoid, unsure of yourself and your environment since you never knew what situations would cause that punch to land on your nose?  Imagine - you wake up, forget to brush your teeth.  Hit in the face.  Go to eat breakfast and sit in the wrong chair - hit again.  Then, you finally proceed to go about your day.  Just as you've almost forgotten about the looming danger, you're hit again and have no idea why.  My guess is that after the he third blow, you'd be ready to yell at anyone who looked at you funny.  Not surprisingly, dogs react the same way to constant aggravation.

Positive trainers see plenty of fallout from shock collar courses and even much lesser forms of punishment like raised voices or intimidating physical postures.  None of it is worth it!