APOLOGIES!!!!!
My apologies for the malfunction of last week’s Zoomies video. I have now replaced it with two other Zoomie videos that are working – so if you want something to smile about go back to last week’s blog and take a look. By the way, did you know that the technical term for Zoomies is “Frenetic Rapid activity Period”? FRAPPING!
CANCELLATIONS AND A BOOK
Well, my slow holiday week got even slower when my two clients cancelled/rescheduled their appointments. One realized it was time to say goodbye to her other (senior) dog – and we all know those things cannot wait; when it’s time, it’s time. The other was down with a bout of stomach flu. Both legitimate reasons to cancel, and the $100 deposit I started charging recently will transfer to their future appointment date. It’s the no-shows, and last-minute poor excuse clients who lose their deposits.
Just because my clients cancelled didn’t mean I wasn’t doing anything, however. The deadline to submit my finished manuscript for my next book (on Canine Cognition) was today, December 1. I just finished sending it off to Dogwise – Phew!!! Release date is probably sometime late Spring/Early Summer 2025. I will keep you posted!
ON THE FARM
We had a lovely Tofurkey dinner (we’re both vegetarian) with all the trimmings. USDA says tomorrow (Monday) is toss-out day (time to throw away your leftovers) but I don’t think so!!! I suspect they’re being ultra-conservative – we eat our leftovers until they’re gone – or have obviously gone bad. Do you throw away all your leftovers just four days later?
Freddie the pig is settling in nicely and becoming a lot more social. While he is clearly very much Paul’s pig, he now let’s me scratch his head and back, and seeks me out if Paul isn’t with us in the barn. Yesterday when I came in the back gate of the barn, Sunny, Kai and Freddie were all at the far end of the aisle. When they saw me come in all three of them galloped full speed to greet me. If you haven’t seen a pig gallop, you are really missing something. Wish I’d had my camera with me to video it! I will try to recreate and video for you.
And now it’s d*** cold out there. Fifteen degrees wind windchill when I woke up this morning. We had put heaters in the horse water tanks yesterday and realized that two of the tanks were shocking the horses!!! Oh no… Horses react badly to shocks – we once had a pony whose tank shocked him, and it took us weeks to convince Mikey that it was safe to drink out of the tank again. Colic is a major danger when horses don’t drink enough water – and colic can be deadly.
After some sleuthing we discovered that the culprit was the engine block heater from my husband’s truck that was plugged into the same outlet as the heaters. Fortunately, Levi had already discovered that the tank was safe. For Suede, Jack and Percy, we had to take a plastic food bowl, fill it with water, get them to drink out of the bowl, gradually bring the bowl closer and closer to the tank, eventually submerging it in the water until they were drinking out of the tank again. Fortunately, they recovered much more quickly than Mikey did.
LET’S TALK AGGRESSION
A lot of behavior professionals don’t take aggression cases, and I respect them for that. There can be a lot at stake when you’re working with a dog who bites. I do take aggression clients, and in addition to my mainstay counter conditioning protocols and a long list of adjunct operant protocols that can help with management and modification of aggression, I do a heavy focus on stressors – identifying them and eliminating as many as possible from the dog’s world.
By the way, I always refer to these canine clients as “dogs with aggressive behaviors,” never as “aggressive dogs.” Because they are great dogs most of the time, which is why clients are willing to invest in helping them have a better quality of life.
Aggression is caused by stress. Across the board, with only the very rare exception of idiopathic aggression (which used to go by the unfortunate label “rage syndrome), aggression is caused by stress. Not just the immediate stress of the trigger that induces the dog to aggress, but all the other stressors in the dog’s world. So I work with a client to list as many stressors as we can think of, and then assign strategies to each stressor to help shorten the list. My five strategies are:
1. Counter conditioning (CC&D; Change opinion)
2. Operant conditioning (Change behavior)
3. Management
4. Get rid of it (the stressor, not the dog)
5. Live with it – because you can’t make all stress go away.
Here’s what a list might look like (numbers assigned from above strategy list):
Xander (other dog) - 1,2,3 - use leashes, baby gates, etc. to manage, use Mat and Touch, consider medication
Dogs going outside (arousal) 1,2,3 - take out on leash until calm, use Mat and Touch, consider medication
You getting up - 1,1,3 - Do CC&D as discussed in session
Vehicles in driveway - 3 - Cover windows, white noise (calming music), cotton balls in ears, can do CC&D
Dogs barking on TV - 1,3 - cotton balls in ears, can do CC&D
Neighbor dog howling - 1,3 - white noise (calming music), cotton balls in ears, can do CC&D
Use of Aversives - 4
Shock collar - 4
Car rides - 1,3 - Can do CC&D
Vet Hospital - 1,3 - Happy Vet Visits
Visitors - 1,2,3 - leashes, baby gates, etc. to manage, use Touch and Mat, Treat and Retreat
Emery (child) - 3,5 - Always have direct adult supervision, do not allow inappropriate interaction
Itching - 3, 4 - Watch to see if additional treatment is needed
Household Stress - 5 - Live with it; be aware that household stress can affect your dog - increase management
Ivy’s humans, by the way, are overdue for their progress report to me. I will go nag them, and let you know how Ivy is doing if I hear back from them.
NEXT
Another slow week coming up – I think everyone is busy with the holidays. Assuming she doesn’t cancel, I have one client coming, with a six-month-old Heeler mix with dog-reactive behavior. I will let you know! Meanwhile, stay warm and dry… I hear Pennsylvania and New York might be getting six feet of snow! Ouch.
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
Perfect timing for this blog, thank you Pat! Glad to hear the horses are back to drinking from the tank again. Also, we've been known to freeze some leftovers especially during the busy holiday time, makes for a quick stress free already cooked meal.