Testing for food aggression

As a foster, I need to be prepared to answer questions about dogs in my care. One question not always thought of is "What can trigger an aggressive response?" Many of the dogs come with incomplete histories, so I often run the pups through a gantlet of scenarios to see how they react. Right now I want to talk about food aggression.

Even the best of dogs can have some food issues, so I don't typically consider it a deal breaker. However, it is vitally important that we can paint an honest picture of dogs available for adoption to make sure the match is forever. Food aggression could mean nothing to a family with no children or other dogs, or everything to a family with both. When we get a foster dog I end up checking their levels of food aggression and their triggers systematically.

Dogs first start out with meals in their crates. This actually ends up being very helpful to nervous dogs who are over whelmed with all the changes. From here I can also see the pace and interest in kibble. Some dogs inhale the food, others graze, some only eat when they see others eating. If I have multiple fosters in the house, my next step is to start each meal with pups in their crates. Then I will let them out, one at a time, directing them to their specific bowl, based on the speed that they eat. I always stay in the room to play referee. Invariably, one will try to wander over to another bowl. I just guide them back to theirs and pick up all the bowls once a meal is done. What I'm looking for here is which dogs try to muscle and how each dog reacts to the proximity.

From this baseline of kibble at meal time, I can test if different foods trigger different responses. We feed a variety of food and snacks here, and expose our fosters to them little by little. Biscuits, dried meats, can food, home made dog food, bully sticks, cooked meats, raw meats. Those last three are the ones to watch for severe reactions.

Before any snack I make sure that each dog is sitting. Once they are chomping away, I approach, and then walk away. A little later, I come back, this time a little closer, and walk away. Lastly, I walk on over, say "good boy/girl" and give them a pat. With Relay it doesn't matter what the food is, if I came over and took it straight out of his mouth, he would not react at all. Some of my fosters may growl a little until they figure out I mean no harm. Only on two occasions have I encountered an aggressive response.

It was actually our very first foster, Holly who bit me. We had never had any indication of food aggression up to the incident. I gave her a bully stick and she went over to the couch to chomp away. Both Jeff, Relay and I were in the living room, moving around. I sat on the couch and she growled. Thinking I would send her to 'time out' I motioned towards her, and snap. This sweet little beagle, loving as the day was long, clamped down on my hand and took out a chunk for good measure.

Looking back I can tell I took her sweet, submissive demeanor for granted. Also, I wasn't paying enough attention to her physical cues. But the good news was I now knew that there was a problem to address. I trained with her over the course of the next few weeks until I was able to give her that same bully stick, take it away and give it back, and sit next to her, petting the whole time as she enjoyed it. And before she was adopted, I made sure to inform the family.

I am by no means professional dog trainer, but a year of living with pups, smoothing out their rough edges, research, and good old fashioned trial and error is helping me become a better foster mom. As I figure things out, I'll be sure to share my two cents, but I'm always looking for insights. So, what about you? Ever encounter food aggression? What worked, what didn't?

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I need to remember that spoon full of sugar

My better half has left me. Jeff had to fly to the middle east for a week or so and I'm here alone with the three poochies. Or should I say the two dogs and Trixie. She gets a special mention.

I suppose that after a string of great fosters I needed one pup to keep me grounded. Trixie is a sweetheart, but oh my goodness I am tired. Without Jeff it is just me on Trixie watch. The chewing is insane. And worse still is that she eats what she chews which can become pretty dangerous. But there are consequences to being in a constant state of stress: I've become a grouch.

It dawned on me yesterday at the Bea Arthur Park. Everyone was playing and having a great time. Trixie was even interested in jumping into the water after seeing the fun other dogs were having. I tried to call her over to the ramp a few times. And then I tried calling to her to play fetch. And then I tried to just call her to me. I was getting no response and it hit me. I'd spent a few days of just saying, "Trixie, NO!" that she only recognized her name from me in a negative context.

Time to regroup. This compulsive chewing is a big negative that will hamper her from finding the forever home she deserves and I need to correct it. What I need to do first however, is establish and maintain that level of trust, respect, and affection that is the basis of any relationship. Trixie isn't her bad behavior. She is a dog that hasn't had a stable home in no one knows how long and is just looking to love and be loved. She loves me no matter how upset I get, I need to remember to love her just as unconditionally. After that, everything else will fall into place.

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A good rescue will let you take vacation

One of my favorite advantages of fostering is that generally you can have all the perks of owning a dog with half the responsibility. The rescue covers the vet bills while we "rent" Relay a playmate. But what happens when you need a break? Well there's a whole foster family network that can cover. We got a call from K9 Justice League to say that Murphy's foster parents were headed on their honeymoon, so... Introducing Murphy!

Just before Murph was dropped off, I had read a post by Blueberry's mom on Spotty, Spotty, Polkadotty musing if she should start fostering again. I commented that acting as a temporary foster or foster sitter as it turns out here can be a great way to test the waters to see if you and your household are ready to foster a dog. The time commitment is limited, and if you find it doesn't work a good rescue will find a better suited foster home. 

Murphy is an absolute sweetheart!

But oh my goodness we sent him back.

Yeah, not my proudest moment, here, but let me explain. Most rescue dogs are not perfect family pets right away (not even Relay), but thankfully most dogs have just a few rough edges that need to be worked out and become great companions in no time. I've dealt with poor potty training, poor leash manners, no crate training, dogs that get territorial, dogs that steal food from other dogs, dogs that steal food from you, some separation anxiety, and even a little barking. Murphy has all those issues and then some (big baby is afraid of doorways and storms), but thankfully he was cute and so sweet we thought we should be okay. 

Thing is his seperation anixiety is much worse than I have ever encountered. The pups sleep in the front room at night, and if you aren't fully potty trained you are crated at our home. This did not sit well with Murphy and he barked non stop. Unfortunately, we do not live in a single family home; so while I signed up as a foster to work through those sort of problems, the very kind lady who lives below us did not.

Reading back on my comments to Blueberry's mom about trails and errors with fostering I smile a little and wonder if I was just tempting fate... maybe I needed to live through something first before I was entitled to give advice on the subject. 

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Guess I need training in potty training

Imagine this: Yesterday, Jeff was on the couch and stopped mid-sentence give an elaborate movie style "Nooooo!" He sprung up and rushed Holly who had about to squat on the floor. She was startled and bolted, with Jeff right behind. Jeff managed to get his hands on her and she flattened out, with her belly on the floor, peeing, while trying to scramble away. He later told me it looked like Holly was trying to swim through it. He flipped her around (still spraying) and carried her outside.

When we first got Holly we were told that her background was unknown for the most part. I don't know if she spent her first few months in a box, tied up in a yard, or left to wander around and fend for herself. What was clear, was she had never been a traditional indoor pet. She spent a month or so at The Family Dog Club before we got her. Good thing was it began to expose her to being around people and a house, but the in the context of being around a very large pack of dogs, and no direct supervision. So, when she did use the bathroom indoors, it went uncorrected. 

When I brought her home it was apparent she was not a fan of being in her kennel. I limited her kennel time to when she slept at night, and if I wanted to give each of the dogs a special treat they could try and steal from each other. For me, crate training was out as a viable option to help house break her.

There is a second method where you tether the dog to you so that you can interrupt a dog at the signs of trouble and bring them outside. We tried this, but the concept scared her. If you moved too quickly, she would shut down and be dragged. The first time I heard her thunk into a door frame, I gave up on this idea.

What have we been doing? Praise. Every time we go to the back yard she is supervised, and each time she uses the bathroom she gets cheers, loving, and attention. Often times she will come bounding over, tail wagging like she knows she accomplished something great. So, Holly understands that using the bathroom outside is good. What we are missing is the part that using the bathroom inside is bad. 

Holly has no pattern. She doesn't yet respond to the command "potty", she doesn't try and use the bathroom every time we go to the yard. She doesn't even mess in the same spot indoors. What makes this harder is that almost never "catch" her in the act. You can't correct a bad behavior after the fact, they won't know what it is you're punishing them for, so we have been waiting for a chance to interrupt her... Cut to yesterdays blooper reel.

For all those interested in possibly adopting Holly, don't despair. She is making progress. Holly doesn't have accidents regularly. There are days that string by without incident. In the month she has been with us, I think there has been about ten accidents. She can also hold her bladder for hours comfortably. She never messes in her kennel at night and doesn't hide to use the bathroom outdoors. These are all good signs. Positive reinforcement is working, but slowly. In the mean time I need to start looking up some new training techniques. 

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Book Review: Tamar Gellar's The Loved Dog

 The Loved Dog is worthless.

I want to say that pretty much catches you up on this waste of time, but in case you need a little more explanation I'll elaborate.

First off, the entire beginning of the book is an overly detailed description of her life story. There's some merit for explaining your perspective, but this book should not sub as a biography to stroke your ego. You're about a quarter of the way through before she even gets to the subject of dog training.

Then there's the never ending name dropping. I've worked with so and so's dog, I hung out at the beach with this person and there were paparazzi. Here there is absolutely no relevance to training, and it annoyed me to no end.

What made all of this worse was a bombardment of flowery language. Using excessive similes, adjectives, and long tangents, made it a painful read. It read like an amateur prose at a coffee house poetry night.

It comes down to this: She had nothing to say. The book is all filler, and no content. What "patented" training techniques she talks about have been around for quite some time. The basic premise is sugar gets more flies than vinegar. That statement and a Wikipedia search on dog training gives me the same insight and doesn't waste hours of my life. I read this cover to cover and wanted my money back and an apology.

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Nightime negotiations- Crate training at bedtime

I don't love it, but I'm willing to talk.

Success!
Patience wins out and I'm glad to say we've made some progress that I'm very happy about: Holly can now sleep comfortably at night in her kennel.

When I picked up Holly, BTTR had informed me that they had begun her crate training. I opted to continue with it, not knowing how she would react in a new location unsupervised nor how far along she was in her housebreaking.

The first night Holly slept great. Saturday night she cried. Not a howl, but more of a whimper. This went on for three hours. Sunday night she threw in some light barking, but it only lasted a little over an hour. Monday night she cried again, but this time it was a bit quieter and only lasted thirty minutes. And last night? Holly went right to sleep.

What I did right, what I did wrong:

1. Tire them out.
I think the success of the first night had to with how much we did that day. She had little time to rest between the play time with Relay, the travel and exploration, the hour and a half walk at Mt Trashmore... it was a big day for Miss Holly and she was tuckered out.

2. Ease into it.
There are two techniques that I had planned to work through that I didn't try this time around.
First is exposure. I should have allowed her a chance to explore her crate. Let her go in and out, throw in some treats in there when she is hanging out, hide some treats and chew toys in there for when she was alone.
Second is location. There is a strategy that has you place the kennel the first night in your bedroom. From there each night you move it further from you until it is in the intended location.

3. Cry it out
The same principle of self soothing applies to dogs as well. It will pass. Without interference Holly sorted it out in just a few days. She had Relay nearby, we used a soothing scented spray, and tucked her up with a few articles of clothing that smelled like us.

4. Be prepared for casualties
Some dogs are soothed by covering the kennel to replicate a cave environment. Holly didn't feel that way. Just be prepared for trial and error.

Crate training has it's supporters and dissenters, but it is important as a foster to start the process so that adoptive families have an easier time of it if they choose. I also think that it is important for any pet family to work on this in the event of travel and crating is a necessity.

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Book Review: Cesar Millan's How to Raise the Perfect Dog

Trying to be a better poochie parent, I took some time to do some research on pets. I figure while I wait on the next stage of my fostering project I would take the opportunity to review some of the material I have read.

Not overly familiar with his show, The Dog Whisperer, I had heard of Cesar Millan. His book, How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond was the first book I had read on the topic of pets, and I was very glad that it was. Overall the book was easy to follow and had a conversational feel to it. There were plenty of cute stories and good advice to keep the book moving and helpful.

There are two disclaimers with this book. In an attempt to ensure he was conducting a thorough approach to dog rearing, he uses a pack of puppies of various breeds, from various locations to illustrate his points; so, much is made on these dogs background and their personalities and growth. Some will appreciate this more than others.  Second isn't really about the book, but of the author. Cesar Millan does not employ a completely hands off approach to raising pups. There is no harm or violence condoned to pets; he stresses positive reinforcement, but distinguishes his approach with a structure and discipline with which some are simply uncomfortable. In this book it really didn't touch on those ideas and I read nothing I found out of line. However, I have since read criticisms of his methods employed on his show.

This book is geared towards people who are planning on bringing a puppy into their households. If you do not yet have a dog and are thinking of adopting a puppy, I would recommend this as a crash course. Or if you just like to hear stories about puppies, there is plenty to entertain. However, if you are looking for the end all be all of dog training, have specific habits or behaviors you need to work through, or already have a full grown adult dog, there may be other options better suited to your needs.  Overall, I would highly recommend this book.

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