puppy problems Archives - Brisbane Dog Training & Pet Behavioural Specialist

How to train a puppy | One thing you must know when training a puppy

So you have a new furry family member and you want to know how to train a puppy. You have quickly enrolled in your local puppy school hoping they will help you create your dream dog. When deciding what puppy school to enrol in, what were the deciding factors? For most people it is location and schedule that are the motivating factors. However, if you really want to know the secret to training your dream dog, you should be looking at what do the trainer and training provider know about looking after the emotional health of your puppy. That starts with making sure they are certified by the Pet Professional Guild Australia, who have checked out each individual trainer and certified that they have relevant qualifications and experience and are committed to the latest scientifically proven methods that are ethical, positive and effective.

How to train a puppy whilst considering emotion

The most important tip that I wish every pet parent knew when training their dog is “what they are feeling is what they are learning”. This does not matter what you are training them to do. If you are socialising them to playing with other dogs then how did they feel during this encounter? If they felt overwhelmed, then they are learning to feel overwhelmed when encountering other dogs. Perhaps you are working on separation and home alone training; how did they feel when you left the room or left the house? If they felt frustrated or distressed then they are learning to feel frustrated and distressed when separated from you.

To put the science nice and simply: When your pet experiences something new, it builds a neural pathway in the brain. If it experiences something again it is more likely to travel along that neural pathway. For example, let’s say you go on a road trip. The first time you need to build a bit of a road map (let’s imagine a world without GPS). If you go on that road trip again, you are more likely to travel that road again. But this will also be influenced by how you felt on that first road trip. If that feeling happens again on the second trip then the emotional association is going to get stronger each time you travel that road.

Emotions drive behaviour

What we do also know is that feelings and emotions drive behaviour. The majority of concerning behaviours to pet parents have an emotional basis, and once we change that emotion to be more desirable for the pet and the parent the desirable behaviour easily follows. So whenever starting a training session or exposing your puppy to something for the first time, always ask yourself “what are they feeling?” as that will be the most powerful thing they are learning. It is why the science now also only supports the use of methods based on positive reinforcement, because if we punish a dog what are they likely to be learning?

How to choose a good dog breeder

You’ve decided to get a puppy and you’ve made the decision to get one from a dog breeder. You’ve done your research on different breeds and picked a breed that is right for you. Now, how to find a good dog breeder?

Below is our top list of things to consider when choosing a good dog breeder.

Is your puppy coming from a dog breeder or a puppy farm?

Can you meet your puppy’s mother before you select your puppy? Ideally you can meet the father as well, however this may not be possible if the father does not live at the breeder’s place.

Too often we are helping puppies with anxiety disorders. When we take a history for these cases, we often find out that the breeder wouldn’t let the mother be viewed by the adopting parents. They might have said something such as, ‘let’s meet half way and we’ll bring the puppy.’ Or, if you get to the property the breeder prevents you having access to view some areas of the property.

This type of behaviour from the breeder are big red flags. Most likely these dog breeders are actually puppy farms where large amounts of dogs are bred. The majority of dogs from puppy farms have ongoing physical and behavioural conditions due to how they were raised.

How a good breeder can minimise genetic physical and behavioural issues

If you do get to meet the parents and mum or dad appear anxious, hyperactive or aggressive, these behavioural traits have a good chance of being passed on to puppy.
Has the dog breeder done any relevant health or genetic tests for the mum and dad dog, and if relevant, the puppy? Each breed will have specific health issues that can be genetic such as hip displaysia or luxating patellas and these should be tested for before the mum and the dad dog get together. If an adult dog has a health issue, this can be passed on to the puppies.
The breeder should be keeping in contact with the families of previously adopted puppies to track if any behavioural or physical issues have occurred. This is important info for any breeder as it gives them information to alter future pairings of a mum and dad dog to avoid future issues.

Setting puppies up to be emotionally resilient

Is the dog breeder open to you visiting multiple times before puppy is ready to go home with you? This is ideal as it allows you to observe puppy and parents a few times. It also allows puppy to become accustomed to you. Also, we have heard stories of puppy farmers setting up a house to appear like a good breeder. If you visit multiple times you may pick up things like the littermates changing.
Can your dog breeder show you what socialization program they do with each litter of puppies? We now know that puppies can be set up to become more emotionally resilient individuals if they have a socialization program which commences at day one, that is at the breeder’s.
Note that socialization should extend beyond just meeting other dogs and people, and your breeder should be able to articular more than just these things. For some basic info about dog socialization, watch this video: Puppy Socialisation.
Can the breeder tell you when the sensitive or fear periods are for a puppy? This is important is it will impact the intensity of their socialization program each day.
Does your dog breeder have a commitment to positive reinforcement methods. Ask them what happens if either the puppies or dogs do any behaviour they don’t like. Beware responses including shouting, hitting, ‘time out’ or any other form of punisher. These responses impact on the short term welfare of the dog. These methods can also have long term impacts and create behavioural issues.

Final things to consider

Does the breeder interview you? You want a dog breeder who cares and wants their puppies to go to good homes.
Is your dog breeder registered with the Queensland Government? Legally every breeder needs to be registered to sell or give away dogs. More info can be found here: Information · Dog Breeders Register (daf.qld.gov.au). In addition, your dog breeder should be affiliated with other professional organisations such as Dogs Queensland.
Do they breed more than one litter at a time or multiple breeds? These are warning signs that they may be more focused on financial return rather than welfare of the dogs.
Were the puppies raised in a normal home environment? If they were raised in sheds, this does not set them up well for adjusting to a domestic home and often means they may have trouble with independence training.
Search google and social media for any stories or reviews about the breeder. Don’t be afraid to post on a breed specific Facebook page for experiences too.

If you have been in contact with a dog breeder and you aren’t so sure – trust your instinct and keep looking.

Once you get your puppy don’t forget to enroll them in a puppy school!

Why you shouldn’t use time out to change dog behaviour

What is time out?

Time out is a method of dog training that attempts to change dog behaviour by isolating the dog immediately after the unwanted behaviour occurs.

Time out works as a form of negative punishment. This means that something the dog likes is taken away from them in order to reduce an unwanted behaviour. Usually, the ‘thing’ that is taken away is social contact. For example, if the dog jumps up on someone, the dog is removed from any social contact to reduce jumping. The dog is usually taken to a boring room or space which has no other potential rewards such as toys or food.

Why don’t we use time out to change dog behaviour?

Just like other forms of punishment, time out doesn’t work to change the dog’s behaviour as it does not address the underlying issue. It also has a high chance of increasing unwanted behaviours due to creating frustration and anxiety. Other points to consider:

1. Time out doesn’t teach our dogs what we want them to do instead

Reward the dog you want. Focus your energy on rewarding the behaviours you want in your dog and the unwanted behaviours will reduce. For example, I don’t like it when my dogs are underfoot when I am cooking in the kitchen. This is simply because I might trip on them and drop a hot pan or a knife. Instead of using time out to stop them coming into the kitchen, I reward them for being on their mat instead.

2. Change the emotion and you will change the behaviour

Often unwanted behaviours of jumping, barking or destruction occur due to emotions of anxiety or fear. Just like other forms of punishment, time out doesn’t work in addressing the underlying issue. If you have anxiety or fear underlying that behaviour, other unwanted behaviours will crop up after the initial unwanted behaviour stops. This is because the underlying emotion hasn’t been addressed. Not to mention it is a little cruel to respond to fear or anxiety with punishment.

3. Inducing stress or anxiety does not improve behaviour

Many punishment based techniques have an adverse impact on dog welfare. For most set ups of time out, the dog is moved to an area where there is nothing for them to do. No toys, no people, no food, no smells. Dogs are highly social animals, and to be removed from social contact is distressing and this can start to teach them that separation from you is punishment and therefore setting the stage for separation issues to develop.

Trainers who are not committed to modern and force free methods usually recommend time out and teach the humans to not go to the dog if they are barking, whining or crying while in time out. This teaches the dog that when they are upset, they will not be comforted. This reduces the dog’s emotional resilience, which then makes it harder to help our dogs address point 2 above.

From our experience in seeing the application of time out methods, time out causes emotional distress. Some dogs this is seen during the event and/or it is teaching our dog how to feel negatively about situations. For example we have seen many dogs that were timed out as a puppy for jumping on visitors that then develop into dogs that are fearful/reactive to visitors. Another example is a dog that licks a toddlers face and the owners responded with time out for this behaviour. This dog over time developed a fear of a toddler approaching as in their eyes toddler = punishment and discomfort.

There are far better ways to change behaviour that don’t involve stress or anxiety for your dog.

4. What if “rewarding the dog you want” is not working?

In the human world, an alternate way of applying time out is to use it as an opportunity for the child to regain control of their emotions, and this is done with the support and contact of the parent. Ideally, this type of time out is implemented before the child truly looses grip on their emotions and has a tantrum. This is an effective and kind use of time out. Instead of time out, we think of this as chill out time or time to do some dog yoga activity.

A common example of using chill out time is when we have an overtired puppy who is biting us and generally being out of control. An overtired puppy is as emotionally fragile as an overtired human toddler. This isn’t a time to train or teach tired puppies. Instead, we need to help them chill out by giving them a chew in their crate. Many pups are soothed if we are near them, so sit next to the crate and talk to them in a gentle voice while they are having a chew.

Want some help?

We are always here to help with addressing your dog’s unwanted behaviours and anxieties. Our focus is to do this in a way that is kind and effective for the dog. Get in touch with us for more information.

Puppy Fear Impact Periods | Dog School Brisbane

Puppy Fear Impact Periods – bringing home a new puppy or teenage dog

It’s exciting bringing home a new puppy. Most people who bring home a new puppy get themselves prepared for all of the fun and challenges of puppy hood. However many new puppy parents don’t know about the puppy fear impact periods. To help your puppy feel supported and safe as they develop, it is important to know what to do when they are experiencing their puppy fear periods.

What is the puppy fear impact period?

Our puppies go through several fear impact periods. This is where your pup may suddenly appear fearful of new things or things they have been comfortable with in the past. For example, your pup may have previously been comfortable with different people coming to the house. During a fear impact period they may now appear fearful or even aggressive towards visitors.

Fear impact periods for puppies usually coincide with different stages of their development. The main hypothesis for these fear periods is that each of these life stages is when puppy develops greater levels of independence. When our puppies become more independent, they need to have an increase in their fear response to any change in the environment.

When do these fear periods happen?

Puppies usually have their first fear period at around 5 weeks of age. This is when they are with their mum and siblings, so most puppy parents won’t see this stage.

The second puppy fear period occurs during the 8-12 weeks of age period. So, if you bring your puppy home at this age range, they are most likely going through a fear period. This second puppy fear period coincides with the end of our pup’s socialisation period. This socialisation period is between 3 weeks of age and finishes anywhere from 12-16 weeks of age depending on the breed of dog.

The third puppy fear period occurs at some point between 5-14 months. This coincides with further developmental changes and sexual maturation of the pup.

During these fear impact periods, try to ensure your pup is not exposed to anything particularly scary or stressful. If this does happen, it can impact on our puppy’s ability to cope with changes in the environment and to cope with stress for their adult life. For example, if a puppy has a bad experience with kids during a fear impact period, they can develop a long term fear of children.

My dog Henry, in the photo above, was in a council pound for his first two fear impact periods. It is an unfortunate reality that these kennel style environments are scary for most animals. This experience in the first four months of his life meant that Henry’s ability to cope with any change in the environment had been significantly compromised when he first came to live with us.

As Dr Ian Dunbar notes, these fear impact periods for our puppies do not start and finish at exact times. These periods are rough guidelines only and vary greatly depending on the breed and individual dog.

What to do during a fear impact period

If you see your puppy being fearful of something, the biggest thing to do is to try not be worried or upset. We want our voice and body language to be relaxed. This means our puppy sees that we are relaxed and not worried about the thing they think is scary. Try and add a light happy tone to your voice and talk to your puppy. For example, “what’s that silly thing over there, what a clever puppy you are!”
Give your puppy the choice to move further away or go closer to the thing they are scared of. We never want to force our puppy to interact with something they are scared of. Similarly, we don’t want to lure them closer to the scary thing using food or a toy. If we do this our pup will follow the lure and then realise how close they are to the scary thing and become even more scared of it.
Pair a tasty treat with your puppy seeing the scary thing. Over time your puppy will build a new association that when they see the scary thing, good things happen. If your puppy is not taking treats in this situation then it is likely that they are too scared. In this case you need to get your puppy much further away from the scary thing straight away. Always work at a distance where your puppy is not so scared that they don’t want to eat.
Avoid any big changes where possible. If you think your puppy is going through a fear impact period, try and avoid doing things such as invasive vet procedures, long distance travel or changes in the household.

Is it a puppy fear period or something else?

We offer one on one consults and both puppy and adolescent classes to help support you during your puppy’s development. Please get in touch if you would like some extra support.

In particular, if the level of fear that you puppy is experiencing towards something is not changing or is getting worse over time, please get in touch so we can help reduce your puppy’s fear.

Looking After Your Pet Dog & Kids

Choosing a Pet Dog Who Gets Along With Kids

A friend recently asked me what type of pet dog she should get that would be good with her two young children. Like most parents, she was concerned of getting any particular breed that could be dangerous to kids.

My main advice to her – choosing a dog who is suitable and safe to be with kids is not about the breed. Sure, the breed of the pet dog a person chooses is important. However mostly it is important for deciding if you can look after that dog’s welfare by meeting their enrichment needs. Instead, the decision to get a pet dog who will be good with kids is about if the parents are in a position to always be providing supervision whenever the dog and kids are in the same space.

Different Types of Supervision

This sounds easy, however maintaining the correct level of supervision can be challenging. Particularly when trying to juggle other priorities in life. The beautiful graphic below by Family Paws Parent Education outlines five types of supervision. To look after the welfare of our pet dog and kids, we need to practice the proactive and active levels of supervision only. Planning, commitment and time are all needed to do this well.

Why Proactive and Active Supervision?

These two types of supervision provide the dog and children opportunities to make good decisions about their behaviour. In the circumstance where the child is too young to make their own decisions, it provides the closeness of contact for the parents to intervene before any inappropriate behaviour happens from the dog or child.

Spotting the moment before inappropriate behaviour occurs can be difficult. This is also dependent on the individual dog and child.

We don’t want to wait until the child is overwhelming the pet dog by being overexcited and in the dog’s space. In the opposite situation we don’t want to wait until the dog is overwhelming the child by rushing up to them. If either the child or pet dog are overwhelmed, then they are creating a memory of when their interaction with the other party didn’t feel safe. When these overwhelming experiences happen too often, this is when our pet dog or child will start to view the other as unsafe or scary.

In the situation of our dog or child get a little excited, we want to intervene and redirect them to a different activity away from each other. This will give them an opportunity to calm down.

How To Tell If Your Pet Dog Is Overwhelmed

It’s easier for us to determine when the child is overwhelmed simply because we are better at reading human body language. With practice, we can start to learn dog body language to determine those early signs that our pet dog is not comfortable. In our next blog we will talk more about dog body language in the context of being around kids. To get you started, here is a great link about body language of fear from Lili Chin and Dr Sophia Yin.

Want Some Help?

We are here to help if you want support with your pet dog and kids living together safely. Get in touch with us for more information about what support will best suit you and your family.