A MOUSE BAIT MISHAP, A CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR CASE AND OUR INSTRUCTOR ACADEMY
Mouse Bait Mishap
We use mouse bait to control rodents in our barn. Mice and rats can overrun a horse barn where grain is abundant and easily accessed. Our feral cats do a good job of rodent control in our lower hay barn, but they don’t come up to the horse barn – too many humans around! My husband has always been very careful to set the bait out in enclosed containers (with an opening just large enough for mice to enter) so the dogs can’t get to it. The brand we use is called Tomcat BAIT CHUNX, and the active ingredient is Diphacinone – an anticoagulant which causes internal bleeding. Not nice, I know, but neither were the mouse traps we had been using. I hated when I found a trap that had been tripped and the mouse was trapped but still alive.
Sunday evening as we were coming back to the house after barn chores our 5-year-old Australian Kelpie, KC, was very interested in a spot beneath the curly willow tree that grows next to our garage. Paul called her, and as she came to him we realized she was eating something. I ran to the spot where she found it and discovered that our bucket of mouse bait had somehow ended up on the ground with the lid off, and she had eaten a chunk. PANIC TIME!!
The bucket had a poison control phone number to call, which I did immediately. The woman who answered was very kind and helpful. She reassured me that given KC’s age, weight and medical status (very healthy) and the amount she ingested, she would probably be okay – but cautioned us for the next two days to watch for blood in her stools, and significant lethargy – as in not even wanting to stand up and walk. If she makes it through that with no signs, she is probably okay.
Two days are up tonight as I write this and, thank Dog, KC seems none the worse for wear. PHEW! It’s a good reminder though, to always be aware of potential hazards in your home. I know I might get some shade for sharing this information with the world, but I think it’s helpful to let people know this can happen to anyone. We still have no idea how the bucket ended up where KC could get to it, but you can bet any mouse bait we use in the future will be stored somewhere where it cannot possibly end up in dog’s reach!
Susie the Bitey Shepherd/Hound
Target Behavior: Stress/fear-related barking and lunging at people when walking on leash and nipping at visitors to the home.
Goal Behavior: Susie is calm and socially appropriate in the presence of dogs and humans when on leash, and when there are guests in the home.
Description of the Behavior: Susie is six years old and has been living with her current family (two adult humans) for the past two years. She was one of 14 dogs rescued from a sealed U-Haul truck in Corpus Christi, Texas, on a 95-degree day. (The owners were charged with animal cruelty.) She was one of only three out of of the 14 who survived the ordeal – nine were found dead in the truck, two more died at the vet’s despite emergency treatment. https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/reports-11-dogs-found-dead-in-uhaul
Susie was eventually sent to a German Shepherd rescue group in Virginia, where she stayed in a foster home for several months until my clients adopted her. Unfortunately, the rescue group added to her trauma by sending her to a shock collar trainer for more than a month. It’s no wonder she came to her new home with a boatload of stress! Her humans, Bob and Anna, brought her to me because of her stress-related behavior toward people and dogs – barking/lunging at them when she was being walked on leash, and nipping at visitors in the home.
Susie was extremely stressed while she was here, panting and pacing around the entire room during much of the session. During the first 30 minutes she softly and randomly mouthed my leg, arm, waist, chest and clipboard multiple times, until I gave her a frozen stuffed Kong to keep her occupied. When she nipped me gently I did not react, and she never escalated to more intense biting. After she finished the Kong she was clearly less stressed, and did not re-engage with nipping me until after we did counterconditioning and desensitization (CC&D) with Anna feeding her chicken as I passed by, which clearly was stressful for her. After that she again nipped me softly several times randomly during the remaining 30 minutes of the session. This confirmed for me that the behavior is stress-related – she had stopped doing it when her stress subsided during the first 90 minutes in the training center, and resumed the nipping after her stressed increased again with the CC&D.
Despite working professionally with dogs for some 50 years, this was a new presentation of stress-related behavior for me. I see lots of dogs with aggressive behaviors, and normally my neutral presence is reassuring them and they don’t try to bite me, as I am very careful not to cause stress and trigger a response. For example – I am already seated when the client enters the room with the dog and don’t make eye contact or speak to the dog unless and until the dog is clearly offering affiliative behaviors.
Although Susie’s nipping appeared to be offensive aggression (she chose to approach me and I made no attempts to engage with her), this is actually a defensive behavior for her. A lot of fearful dogs learn that the best defense is a good offense, and so, according to Bob and Anna, Susie nips at strangers, often from behind (another fearful dog strategy) to warn them to leave her alone, and hopefully to encourage them to go away and not come back. Since I was very careful to do nothing to overtly provoke her nipping (other than being present) – no eye contact, no speaking to her, I could understand why this behavior was quite concerning for her humans – it concerned me too. They hadn't sought help sooner because they kept hoping she would get better, but instead, not surprisingly, she was getting worse.
Protocols: We discussed a number of protocols to help Susie get to a place where she no longer feels the need to nip. This included reducing her stress through anti-anxiety medication as well as working to change her association with people and dogs using CC&D to change her association with her stressors, and Operant behaviors that she enjoys, to help move her emotional brain from worried to happy.
Counter Conditioning and Desensitization (CC&D)I have had much success with CC&D for dogs with fear-related and aggressive behaviors. This protocol works to change a dog’s association with the things she is worried or too aroused about by pairing them with high-value treats. You want the dog to notice the aversive or arousal-causing stimulus, but at an intensity of stimulus that keeps her below threshold – far enough away, minimal movement at first. When she starts looking at the stressor and looking quickly back at the person delivering the treats she is giving “conditioned emotional response” looks (CERs). This tells us that the emotional part of her brain is beginning to make the connection – “That thing (person, dog, etc.) makes chicken happen!!!”
When CERs start happening it is tempting to wait for the dog to look back before feeding. Do not wait; it is important to still feed as quickly as possible when she looks at the “thing.” You are not reinforcing a “look at me” behavior – you are working to create a positive association with the aversive stimulus. When consistent CERs are happening it is time to increase the intensity of stimulus, one element at a time – more movement, more volume, more animation or move closer – not several at once.
The keys to successful CC&D are
1.) Lots of repetitions over lots of sessions.
2.) Managing the environment to prevent opportunities to practice the behavior and sensitize the dog further
3.) Working with the dog at a sub-threshold intensity of stimulus during CC&D sessions and
4.) Patience. The longer the dog has been practicing the unwanted behavior(s), the more time it will take to convince her that it’s no longer the best behavior strategy. (Think crockpot, not microwave)
We did about 10 minutes of CC&D with Susie. She was quite worried and over threshold (barking) at first, but she was able to come back down when I reduced intensity of stimulus (stayed farther away – about 40 feet) and she started appreciating the chicken. Key to our success with this protocol will be Bob and Anna’s ability to find a location where they can have people far enough away that she stays below threshold. Parks and parking lots are often good choices for this. Her behavior with guests in the home suggests that she can probably work with a shorter distance if they put her away while guests enter and are seated, and then bring her out on leash for CC&D.
Operant Conditioning(OC)
I include OC behaviors with clients as well as the CC&D. Operant (deliberate, thinking) behaviors can help to manage a stressed dog’s behavior (as long as they are below threshold) as well as move the brain to a happier emotional state (if you ask the dog to do something she loves, she gets happy). Since you often see results more quickly with OC behaviors, it also gives the humans something easier to do and they have success – which is reinforcing to the human and helps keep them motivated to keep working on the more challenging behaviors was well.
Key to success with OC protocols is making them really fun so the dog gets very happy when you give her the cue. For Susie we practiced Treat & Retreat; Find It and Search; the 1-2-3 Pattern Game; and discussed the UPenn Relaxation Protocol to help her not be stressed when Bob leaves. Bob is her primary human, and she demonstrates some mild to moderate separation-related behaviors when he leaves the house. Susie and her humans did well with these.
Management
Management is critically importance for the success of any behavior modification program, prevent over-threshold exposures. Failure to manage results in further sensitization to the aversive stimuli as well as reinforcement for the undesirable behaviors. As we know, behaviors that are reinforced increase…
For Susie, this means not allowing her to be loose in the house when Bob and Anna have guests. I suggested putting her in the bedroom (crating her when guests are present is likely a stressor) and giving her a frozen stuffed Kong or other irresistible chewie to keep her happy when she’s separated. Then when guests are settled they can bring her out on leash and use the opportunity for CC&D, Treat & Retreat, and some of the other Pattern Games such as Up-Down and Ping-Pong. Anti-anxiety medication also comes under the heading of “management” and can be critically important in helping many anxious dogs succeed.
I reminded Bob and Annie to not reprimand Susie in any way for her behavior. We know that aggression is caused by stress, and reprimands will escalate her stress levels, making nips more likely in the future.
Stressors: Because aggression is caused by stress, one of the things I do with aggression clients is list all their dog’s stressors and then assign strategies for reducing stressors. Here is a link Susie’s stressor list (15 total):
I don’t expect a client to work with all of their stressors at immediately. Any marked for management or “get rid of” will happen right away. Beyond that we agree on our priorities for “commitments” and that’s what we focus on. The others can be addressed when opportunities arise, and/or when we are doing well with our priorities and we’re ready to move forward.
Behavior Modification Protocols/Minimum Commitments: After we agree on which protocols we will be implementing for the dog, I always have my clients tell me what is realistic for them in terms of frequency, rather than me telling them what they need to do. They know what their life is like, and if I overload them, the entire program is likely to go in the dumpster. Here are Susie’s commitments:
1. Medication: Within the coming week; have discussion with veterinarian about long-acting anti-anxiety medication and use of fast-acting one until long-acting takes effect. Let me know the outcome of the discussion.
2. Treat and Retreat: As opportunity permits. Be sure to be very clear with person doing the treating that they do not try to pet her.
3. Operant: Practice each at least one time per day, 5-10 minutes or more, 5 days per week (more is fine/better!); Feet/Find It, 1-2-3; UPenn Relaxation Protocol.
4. People/Dogs: Do CC&D at least 2 times per week, 20 minutes or more per session. As we practiced here – be sure to find a sub-threshold distance where she can work without barking. It is likely to be farther than the 40-foot distance she was able to work at here because there are more stimuli out in the real world. It probably can be close in your home.
5. Management: Immediately – put management steps into place to reduce Susie’s stress, prevent further sensitization and reinforcement for behavior, and keep guests safe.
Prognosis:
I gave Susie a prognosis of Guarded to Fair. Guarded because of the level of stress she is demonstrating, her history of neglect and aversive training methods before she was adopted, and the fact that she has had several years to practice her stress-related behaviors. Fair because she has two humans who are deeply committed to helping her improve her quality of life.
Instructor Academy
Another seven dogs and humans were here the last week of June for Instructor Academy. We had a great time, with lots of laughs. I hadn’t offered this academy for several years due to lack of interest and only added it this year when several trainers requested it. Each morning two different students took turns teaching the “class” – and each student was assigned a role that they played when they weren’t instructing. Each afternoon students took turns coaching each other, again playing their role when they weren’t the coach. Then, at the end of each day, students wrote up their feedback for their teachers for the day.
Here are the roles they played:
STUDENT ROLE #1
You are an experienced clicker trainer with a new dog. You buy into the positive training philosophy completely and are totally on board with this training. Your dog is a family pet – you have no interest in showing, despite your considerable experience. You’re a single adult with plenty of time to devote to your dog and his training.
STUDENT ROLE #2
You are a first-time dog owner, and have gotten advice from friends and dog professionals (vet, groomer, pet-sitter) that’s all over the place – from shock collars and alpha rolls to training with treats. You’re confused, and not sure who to believe. You are married with three children, ages 2, 3 and 5, so training the dog is not your highest priority.
STUDENT ROLE #3
You have owned dogs all your life, and have been successful with a training model that incorporates a fair degree of intimidation in your relationship with your dogs. You love your dogs and are committed to their training and welfare – are open to new ideas about training, but skeptical about the clicker gadget and concerned about dependency on food for training. You think Cesar Millan rocks. You are married with no children – your dog is a fairly high priority in your life.
STUDENT ROLE #4
You’re a bit of a carry-over from the 60’s and 70’s, kind of into the free-spirit thing. You want your dog to respond to you out of love, and you’ll never be a strict disciplinarian, which is why this training appealed to you. You live with a partner who has insisted you need to get a handle on your out-of-control dog, so you’re here at class, a little reluctantly. You have an out-of-control teen-ager from a prior relationship.
STUDENT ROLE #5
You’re getting on in years, have some physical limitations, and your darling adult child thought it would be a good idea to get you a dog. Unfortunately you have a great deal of difficulty controlling the dog – he has more energy than you can deal with, and you’re a bit afraid of him, since he has hurt you on more than one occasion.
STUDENT ROLE #6
You are an experienced, serious dog person. You have been exposed to the clicker and like it, but aren’t yet fully proficient at it. You would like to get better. You hope to show your current (new) dog in obedience eventually, and then perhaps Canine Freestyle. Your first goal is a CGC certificate, and you’d also perhaps like to do some Animal Assisted Therapy with your dog. You’re married with one pre-teen child, and your family fully supports your interest in dogs.
STUDENT ROLE #7
You have shared your home with several dogs over the years (you are middle-aged) and recently lost your heart dog. You thought getting another would help, but now you are seriously questioning that decision. This dog is a lot to handle (your last dog was perfect!) You’re trying hard to make it work and are a reasonably competent trainer but you don’t know if you will ever be able to love her.
Students reported having a great time during the week, and felt it was very valuable.
I’m attaching our curriculum for the week here so you can see what we did:
THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD AT PEACEABLE PAWS AND PASTURES
And... more photos from the paradise we call home:
Butterflies are out in force these days! And Freddie - scratching on his new scratcher tools... and learning Speeday.
Warm Woofs and Happy Summer,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
