Pet Training and Behavior and Underlying Health Issues

Let me start this out by saying if your cat is straining in the litter box, suddenly stopped using the litter box, and/or is going in and out of the litter box without producing anything that is a MEDICAL EMERGENCY!!!!! GO TO THE VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY!!!! DO NOT WAIT OR YOUR CAT COULD DIE!!! These are potentially symptoms of urinary obstruction, where the urethra gets blocked, usually in male cats. This can lead to toxicity, bladder rupture, and DEATH! DO NOT WAIT, EVEN FOR A FEW HOURS! GO TO THE VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY VET! Your cats life may depend on it!

Ok, now that that's been said... Whenever there's a training or behavior issue with dogs (or any companion animal really), especially if a new behavior issue comes up with an adult animal, the first thing that should be done is a veterinary visit with bloodwork, urinalysis, and fecal check. Health problems can be a cause of or contribute to behavior and training issues.

I recently commented on a post of a training company that I follow on Facebook. They shared a video of their training basics, part of which was about hand feeding. A woman commented that her dog was an incredibly picky eater, to the point of skipping food for up to several days in a row to the point of vomiting bile almost weekly. That's NOT normal! Yes, we can create picky eaters through how we feed. However, skipping food for that long and to the point of vomiting on a regular basis is a HUGE red flag for a physical issue, even if the dog was turned into a picky eater. The way this woman described what was going on, it didn't sound as if she'd made the typical mistakes that often create picky eaters. And even if she had, this dog is making itself sick and that needs to be addressed.

This trainer told the woman to continue only feeding the dog by hand only during training sessions, that the dog will eat when it gets hungry. Well, apparently it won't if it's not eating for multiple days in a row to the point of vomiting bile! I commented and suggested two things. First, that for whatever reason, the dog seems to be finding feeding by hand to be stressful. So stop doing that. Put the food in the bowl, put the bowl in a quiet place, and leave the dog alone to eat. Still do timed meals with no snacks between mealtimes (typical recommendations for coping with a picky eater). But I also suggested a vet visit. Vomiting on a regular basis and that often isn't normal. It's also NOT healthy. We know the repercussions of repeated vomiting for humans and they aren't good. In dogs, this could be indicative of chronic low grade pancreatitis or some other digestive issue. It needs to be addressed by a veterinarian.

Turns out, I was correct. The owner ended up with an emergency visit to their vet with a VERY sick dog. The owner states that the vet said what I said was correct, and continuing to allow the dog to forego food and only hand feed during training was very detrimental to the dog and caused it to be very sick. Turns out the dog has food allergies. So its food was making it not feel well, plus it was stressed out by only being allowed access to food by being hand fed during training sessions. So no amount of allowing the dog to starve between hand feeding only during training sessions was going to help this dog. In fact, continuing to follow that advice would have likely resulted in the dog getting very sick or worse.

No amount of training techniques is going to help a dog whose behavior issue is caused by a physical issue. For another example, no potty training techniques in the world are going to help fix a dog with a bladder/urinary infection (causing pain, urgency, and increased frequency of urination), kidney disease (causing increased water consumption to try to compensate for the kidneys deteriorating ability to concentrate urine), diabetes (causing increased thirst and urinary output), urinary incontinence  (physical inability to hold urination), etc. Thyroid issues can contribute to aggression. And the list goes on and on....

So please consult a veterinarian if your pet exhibits a change in behavior or develops a training issue, especially if they were previously doing well with training and behavior.

New Year's New Beginnings

Well, it's officially 2017. I'm going to work on posting here more regularly. I'm still not entirely sure which directions I want to go with this blog. Though I'm not physically capable of doing professional pet dog training right now, due to chronic illness issues, I have this drive to share my knowledge, expertise, and to help people. So I'm going to try out a few things over the next few months and see what works out best.

Starting Fresh Here...

It's been a while since I've posted. I went through some difficult physical issues over the past few months. I pulled my back badly several months ago. It was probably the most painful thing I've experienced, and I've had 2 surgeries. The physical stress of pulling my back has triggered a months long flare of my chronic illness issues. I'm only now finally starting to improve, though my back improved about 2 months ago.

The physical stress and flares also contributed to a mental flare too. I've been working through some anxiety, depression, and grief.

I've also had to work on coming to grips with the fact that I am absolutely not physically capable of working with dogs right now. This realization has brought back some more grief, as working with dogs and other animals is something I am very good at and am very passionate about. To not be able to do so is incredibly difficult for me.

I just couldn't face blogging here for a while. I was angry and upset and burned out from online dog training and service dog drama.

I've decided to take a different tack here. I had originally started this blog with more of a dog training focus in mind. Well, not much of that is going to go on. So I'm going to focus on me and my pets and service dogs as I continue to navigate my way through chronic illness. I'm going to share stories about daily life with my critters and articles of interest that I find. My goal is to post here at least once a week. I hope you'll join me.

Doctors Prescribing Service Animals

I just read this article. It makes VERY many excellent points. However...

http://www.mmilani.com/7270/prescribing-animals-human-health-no-harm/

This article it lacks an ESSENTIAL point. While a doctor may feel that a patient might benefit from a service dog or a patient may inquire about them, doctors have NO business making recommendations beyond the scope of their knowledge and training. If a doctor doesn't have specific knowledge and experience in training dogs then they have absolutely NO business making selection and training recommendations. They should be recommending that a patient seeking a service dog find a knowledgeable DOG TRAINER to assist them with their search and training of a service dog. Or recommend a patient seek out a reputable service dog training group program/organization.

As a dog trainer and as a disabled individual who has owner trained two mobility and balance assist service dogs to assist me, I can say this. A doctor giving advice on the selection and training of a dog would be like me, a professional pet dog trainer, making recommendations for medications or a treatment plan for a person's medical needs. Absolutely inappropriate and well beyond the scope of knowledge and experience, and inappropriate and unethical.

In addition, a person with a disability does NOT legally require a doctor to prescribe a service dog or even support a person's choice to utilize a service dog. How a person chooses to mitigate their disability, the tools they choose to use, are entirely up to that individual. Yes, hopefully with assistance and support of their doctor. But not all doctors are supportive of their patients or supportive of their choices in how they choose to mitigate their disabilities. In the end, it is only the doctor's responsibility to confirm a diagnosis or the presence of a disability, when it comes to choosing and utilizing a service dog.

I Don't Want To Teach People How To Train Their Dogs

I have come to a very important realization recently. I want to train dogs. I DO NOT want to teach owners to train their dogs. I want to train dogs and teach owners maintain that training.

Not everyone is a good dog trainer. Dog training takes timing and coordination and a knowledge of dogs, dog training techniques, and ability to read dogs. Many people don't have that and there's nothing wrong with that.

We constantly denigrate owners who seemingly don't want to put in the effort to train their dogs. I think this is wrong. I also think that in many situations, teaching people to train their dogs is less than effective. We're teaching people a brand new skill and expecting them to apply it as they learn it. That makes no sense. I don't want my hair dresser teaching me to cut my hair. I want her to cut it and cut it well. I don't want my electrician teaching me how to fix my electrical problem, I want them to FIX it. So why is it so wrong to want a dog trainer to TRAIN the dog, not teach people to train their dogs?

Dog training is a skill and not everyone is good at it or has a lot of time to invest in it. People have busy schedules. They are frustrated by their dog's problem behavior and want it fixed and fixed quickly. In my experience, I can train a dog much more quickly, easily, and efficiently than the average owner. So why not train the dog to a level of proficiency and then teach owners to maintain that training? I personally believe everyone would be happier and less frustrated in that situation.

So that's what I plan on doing. Focusing on training dogs quickly and efficiently, utilizing my skill and knowledge as a dog trainer, and teaching owners to maintain that training

Dog Nail Trimming-Dremmel vs. Clippers

Nail trimming... The bane of many dog owners. With every dog I've owned, nail trimming has been a stressful experience. From my childhood German Shepherd Onyx, who would yelp and jerk her paw away with every single snip of the clippers, to my first service dog, a Rottweiler named Fawkes, who would tremble and shake and only allow me to clip a couple nails at a time before putting up such a fuss that I had to quit, to my current mobility service dog, a German Shepherd named Malcolm, who would yank his paws out of my hands when I even brought clippers close to his paws... Stress!

I've come to realize a few things. First, I truly believe that using most nail clippers on most dogs is actually painful. Most dogs, especially larger ones, usually develop an aversion to having their nails clipped. When I worked at veterinary clinics we had dogs come in that would have to be sedated every single time they needed their nails trimmed. That can't be healthy physically or emotionally. I remember practically having to sit on some dogs to try to restrain them for nail trims. Not good... I believe that this is because the mechanical action of the clippers causes pain, pure and simple. Couple that with getting their quicks nipped a few times (also painful, if not excruciating), and you've got a recipe for a nail trimming aversion.

With my chronic health issues, stress is a HUGE trigger for me. Trimming my dogs' nails became so stressful for the dogs AND me that I tended to avoid it. That's not healthy at all. Nails that are too long affect how a dog walks and moves and even affects the way they hold and move their legs. This can lead to joint stress and even injuries. With a working mobility dog, being in healthy physical shape is essential to working ability. I had to figure something out...

I decided to try using a dremmel to grind down my dogs' nails, instead of using clippers to clip them. The change was MIRACULOUS!!!! I went from a dog that would jerk his paws away and try to run away to a dog that literally rolled over in my lap and allowed me to dremmel his nails without complaint in TWO SESSIONS! I vowed NEVER to use nail clippers on him ever again. Not all dogs will be rehabbed so quickly, especially if they've had a lot of negative nail trimming experiences. But the results were so obvious that it made up my mind. I do my best to let my dogs tell me what they like and dislike. Obviously, some things just have to be done whether they like it or not. But I try to make those things as easy as possible.

I went from a dog trying to get away from me to a dog that actually ran up to me excited when he heard the dremmel turn on! Yes, I used treats to help reward him for calm behavior. But that's not what did it. I used treats with nail clippers for YEARS and my dogs NEVER came up to me when the nail clippers came out, EVER. And treats NEVER helped them get over their stress and fear with trimming with nail clippers. Now, Penny and Malcolm practically bicker over who gets to have their nails done so they can get the treats.

I think treats are important to this process, but technique is also very key. First, I realized that Malcolm was much more sensitive about his front paws. So I started with his back paws. I let him sniff the dremmel while it was off and rubbed the off dremmel on his paws. Lots of treats with that. Then I turned it on and lots of treats for listening to it while on and letting me touch the back end of the on dremmel to his paws so he could feel the vibration. I was able to start this so quickly because he was already quite comfortable with me handling his feet. If your dog isn't comfortable with even having their feet handled, start there first. Using positive reinforcement and even clicker training can help speed the process along. The process may go quickly or may take many sessions. Please try not to be discouraged. I truly believe that once the dogs realize that nail grinding with the dremmel won't hurt them they'll make a breakthrough and the process will go faster and easier.

Once he was ok with that I started with his nails. It is ESSENTIAL to NOT spend too much time on a single nail. Grinding makes the nails get hot, which can become quite painful. I started with the dremmel on low. I "tapped" each nail a few times, zip-zip-zip-zip on each nail and then moved to the next. I alternated which feet I was doing. I created a bit of a pattern to the "tapping" so he would learn what to expect. You're not really tapping. I'm just using that as a way to describe to just use maybe a one second touch of the grinder to the nail, a few times, and move to the next nail. It helps to hold each toe and nail firmly but gently so the nail doesn't slip around or vibrate too much.

Grinding too long on a nail will allow that heat to build up. I went over each toe and then to the other foot, then back to the first foot, then the second foot again. I never spent too much time on one toe or one foot. Part of that also helps make sure you're basically trimming each foot about equal to the other foot. You don't want the nails of opposite feet to be too different in length as this will create stress on the dog's movement.

At first I gave a treat after every single toe. This was to create a positive association with the grinding as well as reward him for not jerking his foot away. After he seemed fairly comfortable with the process I went to rewarding after a couple of toes and then once I finished an entire foot. I continue to alternate toes and paws so no one toe or paw gets too much attention at one time.

With his latest session I was able to use the grinder on high, instead of low, and the "trimming" went much faster. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL to only spend a short amount of time on each nail when you have the dremmel on high. The heat builds up MUCH faster. Some dogs may only ever be comfortable with the dremmel on low, and that's ok. Also, I'm using a cordless dremmel. Cordless dremmels rotate at a lower speed than corded dremmels. I would avoid using the high speed on a corded dremmel to do dog nails. The heat will build up way too quickly.

As I said before, the difference is absolutely astounding! Malcolm now gets excited and comes running up to me when I pick up the treat pouch and dremmel. He willingly lays down and lets me grind his nails without jerking his paws away. I still allow him to get up and take a break if he needs it so he can stretch and move around a bit. But he comes back willingly and lays down readily to finish the process. He even rolls over onto his back, practically in my lap, as I do his front paws. It's like night and day from the fight it used to be to try to use nail clippers.

I haven't mentioned Penny much in this post. Penny doesn't really have an issue with her nails. I'm able to use the clippers to trim them if they're a bit long, as well as use the dremmel to grind them back. As long as I have treats she'll let me do just about anything I need to with her. :-) Malcolm has been the one to have issues. Because of his size, his nails are MUCH larger and thicker than Penny's. I think that is a big contributor to his issues. Trimming his nails with clippers, I think, is just more painful, given the size of clippers and the thickness of his nails.

I highly advocate using a dremmel to trim your dog's nails, instead of nail clippers, especially if they have issues with getting their nails trimmed. It is a process to get them over a nail trimming aversion if they've developed it. But I've seen that it is absolutely possible to do so with using a dremmel instead of nail clippers. It's well worth the effort to try. It will be much less stressful for both you and your dog.

How does your dog do with nail trimming? Do you have any tricks to help with the nail trimming process? Please feel free to share in the comments.

Medical Alerts From My Service Dogs

I'm very lucky in that I have two current service dogs that perform medical alerts. They alert me to changes in my physical condition so I can take actions to try to mitigate those changes. This just happened a little while ago...

First medical alert, from Penny.

Penny exhibits a very specific behavior change with her medical alerts.

The second, and corresponding medical alert from Malcolm just a few minutes later, who also does balance and mobility assist.

Malcolm was trained to do a paw touch for his medical alerts.

So for all the doctors who say "it's just in your head" SCREW YOU!!! Tell that to my service dogs... They've NEVER been wrong.

What's amazing is that both dogs will consistently alert within a few minutes of each other. Sometimes Penny alerts first, sometimes Malcolm alerts first. But they both alert within a few minutes of each other. It still amazes me...

I'm so incredibly lucky because these two are my second and third service dogs, out of three total service dogs I've trained and handled for myself, that perform medical alerts. My first service dog (now passed away from old age and cancer) also performed medical alerts. I don't know how I got so lucky to have all three of my service dogs perform medical alerts. The medical alerts for me can't be trained, they had to start naturally. I'm not even sure what exactly they are picking up on that they're alerting to. This is unlike a diabetic alert dog, for example, who is trained to the actual physical scents of low and high blood sugar blood samples. So it's extra amazing that all three of my service dogs have done medical alerting for me.

My first service dog Fawkes and Malcolm have also both also clearly performed medical alerts for other people as well. That's also very awesome too!