It's Ok to Be Alone - Helping Our Dogs Prepare for the Return to Normal

We love the extra time we're getting to spend with our dogs.  

But the truth is we're going to need to go back to work at some point.

The more we can do right now throughout this quarantine period to help our dogs prepare for that, the better. This is especially important if you have a new puppy at home.

A few weeks ago, I teamed up with Megan Wallace of Dogs Deciphered on two weeks of daily challenges focused on preparing our dogs for separation from us when the world returns to normal after Covid-19.

Here are some simple things you can be doing to help your pup prepare to send you back to your out-of-the house routine with confidence.

This is only half of the challenge content - for the other 5 daily challenges, be sure to check out Dogs Deciphered’s blog on this same topic! You’ll find the missing Odd Numbered challenges on the Dogs Deciphered blog.

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#2 - Add Separation to Your Routine

While you are stuck at home, think about adding some routine times when your dog is on the other side of a barrier from you, or just out of sight. One easy way to add this to your routine would be at meal times!

When you give your dog their regular meals, intentionally leave the room for a few minutes. You don't have to be out of sight if that's too difficult for your dog at first. Just start by stepping over a baby gate and getting some distance from your dog while they eat.  

After a few times of this, if it's getting easier for your dog to relax and eat with a baby gate separating you, start ducking out of sight for that time.

Remember, go slowly. If your dog is panicking or stressed out, break down the difficulty a little bit and work up more slowly. 

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#4 - Get In the Crate!

Building off of Dog Deciphered's first challenge post, let’s talk about foundation crate skills!

This is especially relevant if you have a new puppy, but even older dogs can use a brush up on crate skills every now and then.  

Crates are used for so many beneficial things throughout your dog's life:

❤️ Safe alone time when you aren't home.
❤️ Restraint at a groomers or veterinarian office.
❤️ Riding safely in the car.

We can teach our dogs to love their crate, and one of the first steps for that is teaching them how to "crate up" on their own four feet instead of needing to be placed inside.

Watch the video to see Jamie learn the foundation step of walking into his crate on his own!

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#6 - Take a Nap in the Crate!

For puppies (and adult dogs too), being able to nap calmly when in a crate or behind a barrier is an essential life skill.

On today's edition of the #itsoktobealone challenge, join Amber as she puts puppy Jamie down for a nap. We made a few cuts to reduce the video in length, but otherwise you'll see some real-time steps that Amber takes to help Jamie relax (and eventually fall asleep) easily in his crate, without a lot of crying & panicking.  

Supporting our dogs to calmer behaviors before leaving them is actually a critical piece of preventing separation anxiety. If we leave our dogs when they are upset, we are just giving them more opportunities to rehearse stressed behaviors. (If you need a refresher on what stressed behavior looks like, check out Dogs Deciphered’s post #5 for some resources!)

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#8 - Use Technology to Collect Data

Technology can be our friend, especially when it comes to evaluating our dogs' behaviors when we aren't home.

This next installment of the #itsoktobealone challenge: Leave your house for a bit (maybe run to the store or take a walk around the block) and record your dog while you are gone!

When you get back, watch the footage and take a few pieces of data.  

1. How long does it take your dog to settle down after you leave?

2. If your dog is relaxed when you leave, is there a point where they start exhibiting anxious behavior further into your absence?

3. What body language do you observe from your dog throughout your absence?

Taking data on these three points will help you evaluate how your dog feels when you leave them. From there, you can best plan your separation anxiety prevention or modification plan. 

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#10 - Know When to Contact a Professional

We have talked about a lot of different ways that you can help prepare your puppy or dog for the time when you are back to work when the world is back to normal. It all starts with working on this NOW, rather than waiting until the week before or the day of.  

We talked about: 

(Remember, Odd Numbered challenges are on the Dogs Deciphered blog!)

1. Teaching your dog that going behind barriers is fun!

2. Working time behind barriers into your normal routine (like meal times)

3. Practicing leaving routines (like picking up your keys and putting on your shoes) regularly even when you don't actually leave.

4. Crate Training foundations, teaching your puppy how to put themselves into the crate on their own!

5. Getting good at recognizing dog body language, specifically stress signals that might indicate that your dog is anxious about you leaving.

6. Puppy nap times in the crate, and how to help your puppy (or older dog) get to sleep quickly with minimal stress.

7. Calming Yo-Yo game to work on building duration and distance between you and your dog behind a barrier.

8. Using technology to take data about your dog's behaviors and their comfort level when you leave them alone.

9. Adding puzzle toys and enrichment activities to their alone time to build a positive association and keep their brains engaged on good activities!

To wrap up today, let's talk briefly about how to tell if you need some additional help. You might benefit from the guidance of a professional trainer and/or a veterinary behaviorist if your dog exhibits any of the following, and working on it on your own isn't improving things:

• Extreme destructive behaviors, like destroying crate & baby gate barriers, chewing into walls & doors, etc. 

• Self-destructive behaviors, like excessive paw licking, tail chewing, etc.

• Pacing, panting, shedding, lip-licking, and other body language stress behaviors persisting throughout your absence.

• Reaction to you leaving (or pretending to leave) as you are working on exercises is getting worse, and not better, in any way.

The good news is that professional help for separation anxiety doesn't require your trainer or veterinarian to be present with you and your dog at all. 

In fact, the best separation anxiety coaching is done remotely, through video conferencing to set an appropriate training plan and then reviewing videos of your trial absences to make follow-up recommendations.  

That means that now is the perfect time to be working on this with some professional help if you feel like your dog could benefit from this!

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Thanks for joining us for this series! For additional separation anxiety resources, check out this blog from a few months ago.

Don’t forget to check out the other half of this content on the Dogs Deciphered blog!

Dog Bite Prevention

It’s National Dog Bite Prevention week, and a perfect time to share a bit of useful information that might help protect a human and a dog. Most dog bite incidences are not what you might imagine: a human getting bitten by a dog they have just met or are unfamiliar with. In fact, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the vast majority of dog bites involve a familiar dog. A majority of those bites involves a child. These unfortunate statistics show that early education could have prevented most harm done by dog bites. The brunt of these cases are not rogue dogs running around biting strangers, they are kids missing signs to stop, give space, or find an adult. These signs are shown almost exclusively through body language, which has to be explained to be understood. Most of the kids injured by their family dog simply don’t know how to safely interact with a dog, or they are too young to be taught and should only interact with their dog under the watchful eye of an adult. If a dog is scared, stressed, threatened, easily startled, sick, or sore, it’s especially important for the adults in the equation to observe all interactions with kids. 

Of course, the rest of the dog bites that occur annually happen under different circumstances. A dog who lacked socialization as a puppy might have issues with boundaries as a grown dog. A puppy who was encouraged to play by nipping hands rather than by redirection to an appropriate toy is practicing nipping behavior with humans so biting might become a natural extension. Some dogs who are sick or injured might bite in an effort to get a human to stop handling them because it hurts. Plenty of cases fall under the old adage: “let a sleeping dog lie.” When dogs are startled out of sleep, they can be scared and might react rather than respond. Dogs with a long history of maltreatment and abuse might learn that the only way to protect themselves is with their teeth. Dogs trained with the intention of them biting, like police dogs and guard dogs cannot be discussed under the same umbrella. There are outliers in any curve, but the bulk of dog bites have the same few causes. Just like humans, dogs pushed past their threshold of bearable stress and fear may lash out. 

Without an understanding of dog body language, things get lost in translation. It’s important to remove stressors to our dogs when they first show signs of discomfort or fear, and not to allow that stress to build to the breaking point. Tense muscles, squared shoulders, curled lips, panting with no relation to temperature, trembling, cowering, and hiding are all signs that your dog is having a bad time! It’s your responsibility to find out what it is that is causing distress and to remove the dog from that situation as soon as possible. Some stressors can be very subtle, and so can the body language signs from your dog. “Calming signals” are signs that a dog is attempting to calm themselves down, and they can be as subtle as a head turned intentionally away from someone trying to interact with them, or an eye open extra wide and bugging out. The stressor might not be bothering you at all. It might be loud music, too many people in the house, too many dogs at the dog park, a kid with a nerf gun, or even a kid armed with nothing but enthusiasm. When a normally friendly dog is chased and cornered with no escape, their demeanor might change suddenly. They are scared! Each dog is different, and each day is different. Reading dog body language to the best of our abilities is a constant responsibility as dog owners and we owe it to our dogs to not set them up to fail. Listen to quiet signs that your dog is stressed and do not allow them to escalate to loud signs like growling, barking, lunging, or biting. 

There are a few scenarios that can often increase stress and pose a much greater risk.  A dog having a resource such as food or a toy is one such situation with a higher bite potential. We are lucky that we have so many dogs as house pets that do not display resource guarding (manifested in protective behaviors around food, beds, toys, etc) and we should do our best to understand those who do display the undesirable behavior. There are many training options that might help your resource-guarding dog, but the best practice from when you first notice the behavior is to manage it carefully. Do not give your kids the chance to accidentally take a valuable resource from your dog and get hurt in the process. Resource-guarding dogs should be fed on their own and toys should be carefully managed. 

Along the same lines as resource guarding is barrier reactivity. Some dogs are happy to interact with others when there is no physical barrier between them but the presence of a barrier can change their behavior about a greeting. It can be unsafe for a kid (or an adult!) to reach over a fence to pet a dog. Further, everyone ought to know that dogs are only safely approached with permission from their owner and from the dog themselves. Some of the dog bites that occur each year happen while the owner isn’t present, and the dog is scared by a stranger approaching. Owners also often “force” their dogs to “say hi” to people when the dog is showing signs of stress. Those were missed opportunities for the humans to practice good verbal communication. For instance: “My dog doesn’t look like he feels like a greeting right now. Maybe another day.” If dog owners don’t communicate verbally, they miss opportunities to protect themselves, their dogs, and others. And, if people don’t learn to speak the language their dog speaks, misunderstanding is almost inevitable! 

It’s the hope that dog bite incidences will decrease as education on the issue increases. Dog bites can cause serious damage to people and most can be prevented! The consequences for dogs who have bitten a human are sometimes deadly, and it’s sad to know that it’s usually humans that failed the dog in those scenarios. We take our pups into our homes and our hearts and we ought to bring them into our conversations and classrooms as well. A bit of free education can go a long way in protecting harm on either side: human or canine.  

Blog post by Emily Jacobs, Summit Admin & Content Specialist 

Graphic by Amber Quann KPA-CTP, CPDT-KSA

Socializing Your Pandemic Puppy

If you recently brought home a new puppy, now’s the time to be creating positive experiences & exposing your puppy to the world. Unfortunately, with our world in a lock-down over the Covid-19 pandemic, activities we might normally think of doing in the name of “socialization” aren’t available to us right now.

That’s doesn’t mean we need to just wait around for this to blow over. Puppies don’t stop growing up, and since the prime socialization window closes at about 4 months of age, we want to make the most of the early weeks despite our social limitations currently.

The good news is that quality “socialization” doesn’t require that your puppy greets, plays, or interacts in close proximity with anyone, dog or person. In fact, over-doing it on the social greetings with young puppies can have unwanted consequences of making social interactions SO exciting and SO desirable that your puppy has a hard time responding calmly in those situations. (Check out this fascinating discussion of the differences in dog culture in the U.S. versus Europe to see how our cultural expectations that dogs should say hello to everyone might create misbehaviors instead.)

So if we can’t do greetings with other people and dogs in the name of socialization, what can we do instead?

What we are looking for in a quality socialization regime is teaching our puppies that novel is normal.

And the good news is that we can create a lot of novel without violating shelter-in-place orders or social distancing guidelines.

Of course, please take your own health and safety, as well as the specifics of your local Covid-19 ordinances, into account when planning these novel experiences for your puppy. Modify as needed to comply with any additional requirements in your individual situation.

Here are some ideas for some Novel is Normal experiences:

• Sights - Puppies need information about their world, and a big part of that comes from just observing from a safe distance and absorbing information about what they see.

  • Drive to the Grocery Store or Closed Mall: Park at the back of the parking lot and sit with your puppy on your lap, or if you are far enough away from regular traffic, on a mat just outside your car door. Let them watch the world, including traffic, shopping carts, people walking, etc.

  • Walk to Your Local Park: If you are in an area where outside exercise is still permitted, find a spot away from people at your local park and let your puppy watch the world.

  • Put on a Costume! You don’t even have to leave your house for this one. Find the Halloween bin in the storage room and raid it for all the weird things you can wear around your puppy. Remember, the more they think weird & wacky is normal and no big deal, the better!

• Surfaces - Puppies need to learn how to walk on all textures and surfaces! Raid your garage and closets and find as many options as you can. This could be camping tarps, folded up dog crates, sand paper, scraps of wood from your last home improvement project, kids toys, exercise equipment, cookie sheets. Supervise your puppy during all interactions, of course, and let them explore at their own pace. Never force your puppy to walk on something that they don’t want to!

• Sounds - You can come up with so many weird, exciting, and new sounds for your puppy to experience without leaving your house! Try finding some animal sounds clips on Youtube to play in the background during your puppy’s play time, or maybe feed your puppy around some metal kitchen utensils that clatter on the floor. Or if you have family members that play musical instruments, have them put on a show!

• Separation - Perhaps not usually thought of in the category of “socialization,” but separation training is of critical importance for young puppies, especially ones that are raised when the family is home an out-of-the-ordinary amount during their early months. We just finished a series on separation anxiety prevention on our Facebook page in collaboration with Dogs Deciphered. You can search both pages for the #itsoktobealone challenge posts and you’ll come up with some tips on that there!

When giving your puppy any new experience, keep an eye out on their body language and make sure that they are not overwhelmed. Whenever possible, allow them to determine how close they get to the new experience, and never force them closer than they are willing to go. You can provide treats and toys to make it a good experience if necessary, but for many “Novel is Normal” experiences just letting your puppy watch and gather information from a distance is enough.

Remember, we are trying to make new experiences into completely run-of-the-mill, nothing-special-to-see-here experiences!

Happy training!

For more socialization ideas and basic training assistance during this time, check out this blog by our friends at Clickety Split Dog Training. We are also offering online classes and online one-on-one coaching to help you and your puppy get off to a great start together!

Coronavirus Action Plan

UPDATE March 26th, 2020

Hi everyone,

In light of the state-wide shelter-in-place order, we will continue to be closed for another 3.5 weeks at least.

If you are enrolled in a class that was in progress, or starting on any future date, please keep an eye on your email for reschedule notices over the next few weeks. We will wait to make final reschedule decisions until it is clear when we can reopen after April 17th.

To help us be able to reopen as soon as possible - please do your very best to abide by this shelter-in-place order. The more people that follow this directive, the faster we can all get back to normal! 

In the meantime, if you are feeling stir crazy with your dogs, we have a Virtual Classroom with a lot of fun content!  
Check it out here!

We also continue to offer virtual consults via video conferencing if you and your dog need some one-on-one assistance. Please reach out to our admin, Taylor, for questions and scheduling at admin@summitdogtraining.com. 

For continued updates, please see our website or Facebook Page.

Stay safe, love on the small businesses in your community as best as you can, and we'll all come out on the other side of this stronger and more determined than ever!

- Amber & The Summit Team

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Hi friends,

As the threat of COVID-19 continues to develop, we are implementing the following steps to ensure the safety of our staff & our students.  This is an ever-changing situation, so we will update this action plan as needed over the upcoming weeks.

• Cleaning – Additional cleaning measures have been added to our routine at the training room. This includes wiping down commonly touched surfaces with disinfectants after each class period and routine floor mopping with Lysol disinfectant in addition to our regular anti-viral floor cleaner. 

• Minimizing Risks in Group Classes – As we continue to meet for some group classes (until directed otherwise), we are taking a few measures to reduce the risks. Our class sizes are already small, so with maintaining a polite distance from each other we can still support the social distancing approach. In addition, we’ll be adding the following steps: 1) We will be washing hands our hands obsessively between each group class. Please bring hand sanitizer with you to use before entering the training building, or use some of our (limited) supply. 2) We will not be demonstrating with student dogs during class time to minimize potential germ transmission through leash handling. 3) While we normally encourage the whole family to attend classes with your dog, during this time we are encouraging our students to send one or two family members maximum to each class.   

• Summit Instructors’ Commitment to Not Teach If Sick – Often in our industry, dog trainers are tempted to teach through mild ailments because we don’t have “sick days” to use and our clients need us to be reliable for the times we have scheduled with them.  During this time each of us are going to be extremely diligent to resist the temptation to press on with our teaching schedules if we or a family member is feeling under the weather. This might mean more reschedules for privates and classes. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility in advance!

• Cancellation Policy Leniency – Our normal cancellation/reschedule period to receive a refund or credit for any service is 7 days out from the time of the service.  We are temporarily suspending this cancellation policy window for any cancellations or reschedules due to illness in the family or known exposure to others with a virus. We do still ask that you give us as much notice as you can if you need to reschedule your private lesson or cancel a group class enrollment due to illness, as this helps make sure that our instructors can fill their calendars with other students whenever possible.  Please note that this cancellation policy suspension only applies to illness-related cancellations.  

• Group Class Make-Up Options Discount – For those of you who have already started a group class, if you have to miss a week or two of your group class due to illness, we have a few different make-up options for you.  For the duration of this action plan, we are offering a discount of 30% off on these make-up class services.   This means tuition for an All-Level Drop-In make-up is $10, and tuition for a 30 Minute Make-Up Private is $28, if you have to miss a week of class and choose to do one of those two make-up options.  Please note that this discount only applies to classes missed due to illness.  

• Consider Online Private Lessons – If you have been exposed to illness or are seeking to prevent your exposure as much as possible, we highly recommend checking out our online lesson option!  We meet with you via video conferencing and you’d be surprised how much we can accomplish without being physically present with you and your dog.  Whether you are a new student just getting started, or an existing student working through a package of in-person lessons, we’d love to discuss whether private lessons would be a good option for you and your dog during this time when we are all trying to keep a little bit of extra distance! 

• Online Classes - Coming Soon! - We are working on putting together some online speciality classes to keep us (and you and your dogs) busy during this weird time. Watch our Facebook page and email newsletter for details about these when they are released!

Other Resources:

• American Veterinary Medical Association on COVID-19

• CDC FAQ About COVID-19 & Animals

We are continually monitoring the situation, and we will make adjustments to this plan as we receive additional directions from our national and local governmental authorities.

We wish you and your family and dogs all the health possible during this pandemic. If you have any questions about this action plan please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at admin@summitdogtraining.com.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all figure this out together!

- Amber & The Summit Team

Happy Responsible Pet Owners Month!

Did you know that February is Responsible Pet Owners Month?!

We hope every pet owner is responsible all the time, but this month we want to focus on what makes a pet owner “responsible”. Here are some easy steps you can take to be responsible for your pet and also for your community.

1. Use a Leash: There are so many reasons why following the leash laws in your area is important. Even if your dog’s recall is always reliable, there are health and safety reasons that you should be considerate with your leash use. In natural areas, your dog off-leash can do serious damage to wildlife habitat and to the wildlife itself. You also want to consider that in a leash area, other owners expect dogs to be stuck to their owner’s sides, not loose and running freely. They might bring a reactive dog to an area where they aren’t expecting to have any nose-to-nose encounters and your free dog could really ruin their day while risking everyone’s safety. Not to mention that there are lots of places where you will get fined a pretty penny if you’re caught breaking the rules! Everyone who walks their dog has the same goals for the most part: to get some exercise, have some fun, and make it home safely! Keep your pup leashed and follow the rules, responsible owners! 
   

2. Scoop the Poop: Dog poop can spread disease, medications your pup takes can make their way into the ground water and waterways, and don’t forget that it’s just plain gross when you leave your dog’s poop around! Bring clean-up bags with you on all the excursions you take. If you’re going to be awesome and pick up your dog’s poop in a bag, then don’t ruin your hard work by leaving the bagged poop on the side of the trail!  Need more reasons? We wrote about this topic more here.
   

3. Teach Polite Manners: Your dog can be a model citizen with some coaching and practice! Little spurts of training work put in on a consistent basis can generate a polite companion in the world. Training is engaging and enriching for your dog. It is great for improving mood and encouraging calm behavior in general. It’s also a great time for the human involved as well! There’s nothing quite like succeeding in learning a new skill with your dog. We’d love to help! We would love to see you in a class or a private lesson, but mostly we just hope you and your dog area having fun learning and growing!  

Thanks for going above and beyond to demonstrate responsibility for your pet in these ways and others. We appreciate you!

Learning About Separation Anxiety

Blog post by Emily Jacobs, Summit Admin           

My first childhood companions were a gray cat named Fiona and an orange bowling ball named Charlotte. Charlotte was also a cat, but it feels right to describe her in the most honest terms: bowling ball. They were my buddies and they were good company, to be sure. They did their very best, but they couldn’t fill the very specifically- shaped hole in my posse. They were not dogs. 

            I’m sure I was always interested in having a dog, but I have a distinct memory of the day when my lack-of-dog became too painful to bear. I had just returned to school for the fall, fresh from a sleepaway camp where a Golden Retriever named Sunny had stolen my 10-year-old heart. He was the camp dog, and he was, in my opinion, perfect. My dad pulled up to deliver me to academia again when a Golden Retriever stuck her head out of the window in the car before us in the carpool line. I dissolved into tears. Thinking I was upset to be returning to class after the break, my dad tried to console me and usher me on my way to homeroom. I explained to him that I was not at all reluctant to go to homeroom. I was reluctant to continue life on this earth for one more agonizing second without a dog. I needed a dog. Now. 

            Being the responsible and calculated man that he is, and having never owned a dog before, my dad did not rush straight out to set a dog into my quivering arms. It actually took him a few more years to put together the money for a down payment on the house my dad was sure our future dog needed and deserved. During that time, he did research on crate and potty training. He looked into the costs of veterinary care. He narrowed down the list of shelters where we would look for our new family member. He prepared himself for introducing the dog to Charlotte, the bowling ball. He covered a lot of bases, but he didn’t cover separation anxiety. 

            We moved from our one-bedroom apartment into our house, then went out to select a dog to make it a home.  At the shelter, there were what seemed like stacks and stacks of puppies. Rolling over each other, smashing into the plexiglass, peeing and whining and eating kibble with reckless abandon. In contrast to her kennelmates, a puppy walked up to the plexiglass with earnest eyes. When we visited with her, the shelter staff assured us time and again that she was quieter than usual. She had just been spayed and was still coming out of sedation. She doesn’t always fall asleep in your lap, they urged. We adopted her enthusiastically and (quite accidentally) ignored their honest assessments of her behavior. She had fallen asleep in our laps, after all.

            You might already be guessing what happened next. We named her Coco Puff, and she woke up the next day with enough energy to plow us over. She chased her tail so vigorously that she broke end tables apart. She pulled on-leash like she meant to participate in the Iditarod. She inhaled her meals. She ran so fast on the wood floor that her brakes became useless and she collided with walls. We were surprised by her gusto, but we were prepared for all of those puppy behaviors and felt like we had the tools we needed to manage them. What we weren’t prepared for was the noise. Oh, the noises Coco made during her first months with us. The eardrum rupturing, neighborhood waking, mournful wails she would let out when we left the house were unexpected. We had a puppy with separation anxiety, and we had no idea what to do about it. 

            In his typical fashion, Dad hit the books. He discovered that we were not alone, and that separation anxiety affects about 17% of the dogs in the United States (DeMartini-Price, 135). He found that there were resources available to help us. There are even more of those resources available now. If you find yourself with a case of separation anxiety on your hands, I encourage you to implement management strategies while seeking help in a trainer and in literature. Primarily, I encourage you to be patient and to remain optimistic. Three quarters of separation anxiety cases are resolved completely (ibid, 135). The quarter that never resolve are attributed mostly to the propensity of owners to become discouraged and to give up training after a few weeks – which turns out to be the most pivotal learning period for dogs working through the disorder (ibid, 135). Behavior modification can be slow, but don’t give up! While you are training, reach out to your village to help. Ask a friend to walk your dog while you go the store. Consider the option of dropping your dog off at a reputable doggy daycare on days when you need to leave for extended periods. With Coco, we made almost no progress at first, but succeeded in modifying her behavior in the long run, which is normal!  

            It’s worth mentioning a few things about separation anxiety, and about learning theory in general. Your dog is not shredding your couch out of spite. They cannot “snap out of it” automatically. They are not using logic to determine their behaviors. They are reacting to fear and panic. You don’t learn much math if your teacher is yelling formulas at you, and its equally difficult for dogs to learn if your training methods contribute to their distress.  For this reason, we couldn’t hold a grudge against Coco when she ate her way through our brand-new rope hammock before it was even hung up in the yard. It wouldn’t have been fair to attribute feelings of malice, or menace, or really any intent to her actions. She was afraid, and we wanted to help her. 

            We didn’t help Coco alone, and if you’re dealing with a case of separation anxiety, you probably can’t help your dog without support either. See your vet to rule out a medical condition, while seeking professional training that is backed by science and uses no aversive methods. Melena DeMartini-Price’s Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs is a great resource for information and aid in your search for an appropriate trainer. If the trainer you’ve hired uses methods that are out of alignment with the philosophies in her book, don’t feel guilty moving on and continuing your search. A positive reinforcement professional can diagnose, asses the severity of, and set up a training plan to lessen your dog’s separation anxiety. They will never suggest scolding your dog, making a scary noise the quiet them, or collaring them with something painful or surprising like electricity or citronella. They won’t whisper an incantation that will change your dog’s behavior right away. They can’t do that type of magic. However, the right trainer will do another kind all together. They will help you through the process emotionally, and make sure that you feel supported in supporting your dog. 

Practical Separation Anxiety Tips from Summit Head Trainer Amber:

• Create a safe place for your dog to be left. That could be a crate, a “dog-proofed’ room, or a section of the house separated by baby gates. Remove things your dog could easily chew or harm himself with.  

• Have your dog spend time in this safe space regularly when you are at home, first with you in the room with him but then with you stepping in and out of the area briefly to do routine household tasks. 

• If you can commit to a few weeks of not leaving your dog home alone to practice their anxious behavior, this really helps to catalyze their separation anxiety behavior modification. If your dog is rehearsing anxious behavior several times a day when you leave it, it’s going to be harder for him to learn relaxed behavior patterns to replace that anxiety. If you have to leave the house without your dog, utilize a combination of pet sitters, dog walkers, dog daycare, neighbors and friends to give your dog a support network during this critical learning period. This isn’t forever, but it is an important part of helping your dog work through separation anxiety.

• Start adding in absences in small doses.  Think in increments of seconds and minutes at first, not hours. Utilize video technology to evaluate your dog’s body language when you leave the room. If you notice your dog exhibiting the early signs of stress (panting, lip licking, pacing, whining, etc.), come back into the room immediately. Work at shorter durations and stretch your time gradually as your dog is exhibiting relaxed behavior.  

• For a complete behavior modification plan for separation anxiety, I highly recommend Malena’s Treating Separation Anxiety book or setting up a consult with a professional trainer! 

Puzzle Me, Please - Part 3

Blog post by Amber Quann KPA-CTP, CPDT-KSA

I’ve written before about our favorite types of food-puzzle toys. Check out Puzzle Me, Please Part 1 and Part 2 for lists of our favorite store-bought food puzzles to keep your dogs’ brains happy and enriched!

But it’s a snow day here in Fort Collins (17-ish inches and still snowing!) and for those of you stuck inside with your dogs, here are a few options to add in some enrichment and entertainment into your day without having to make a trip to the store for more puzzles!

• DIY Food Puzzles - Instead of feeding your dogs out of their bowls today, deliver all of their kibble through some sort of enrichment toy. If you don’t have any on hand, you can still come up with some creative challenges from what you have at home!

  • Cardboard boxes - drop the treats in and turn over or fold the lid closed. Let your dog brainstorm how to get inside!

  • Egg Cartons

  • Treat Scatter with a towel on top

  • Muffin Tins

  • Cookie Sheet with peanut butter smear (freeze for extra difficulty)

• Nose Work Games! - Hide things for your dog to find! You can do this with food, toys, people or anything else that your dog will search for!

Roo loved playing games in the house! This was a big part of his enrichment and exercise routine. Here he is demonstrating finding his toy using his nose work skills! For a new dog playing this game, make it a lot easier and hide the toy closer to your dog's starting position.

• Hide & Seek - A variation on the nose work game, except that you are the one doing the hiding! Tell your dog to stay (or toss a handful of treats down on the ground for them to find if they don’t have a strong stay behavior yet). Run to the other room and duck behind an obstacle like a door, shower curtain, or piece of furniture. You can call your dog softly or wait for them to start looking for you (only if you did the treat toss instead of a Stay!). Be ready to party as soon as they find your hiding spot!

• Teach a New Trick - Snow days are a great time to do some training, and teaching a new trick is always a fun way to get your dog’s brain and energy directed in a positive way. Pick something your dog hasn’t learned before, or pull out a rusty skill from the archives and brush up! You can use props you have in your house, like step stools, laundry baskets, chairs, balls, etc. and teach a variety of fun tricks using what you already have on hand!

• Come up with a new game! - Make up something new that your dog loves to play. Charlie had a silly game he used to play with Roo called “Darts”. As long as your dog is enjoying the game (not all dogs will like things launched in their face like Roo did), keep playing!

Make up new games to play with your dog! Roo and Charlie had several fun games they played together. This one Charlie called "Darts" - Roo would sit or stand in a certain spot and then try to catch or hunt for the treats that Charlie launched his way.

Remember, when your dogs are stuck inside they have a lot of energy that needs to go somewhere! Help them direct their crazy energy in a positive direction and you’ll both have a much more pleasant snow day!

What is your favorite non-store-bought form of mental enrichment? Tell us in the comments below!

Roo's Story - Pet Cancer Awareness Month

Blog post by Amber Quann KPA-CTP, CPDT-KSA

This isn’t the project I am supposed to be working on right now.  That’s the funny – and frustrating - thing about grief.  One minute you’re getting ready to knock some stuff off the to-do-list, and the next minute you are on your knees with no way up. 

But it’s Pet Cancer Awareness Month in November. So of course I’m thinking about the best friend that I lost to cancer just four months ago.  I haven’t really shared much about the specifics of the last period of Roo’s life.  Looking back, it seems like a blur, from diagnosis to death.   Here it is, to the best of my recollection. Maybe it will bring comfort or solidarity to those of you working through similar trauma with your own loved ones.

Last January, we road tripped to Portland for Clicker Expo.  We had the best time together. Roo was an angel every step of the way.  

During the trip, his ability to jump into the car deteriorated very suddenly. All of his life, hopping into the crate in the back of my SUV was a breeze.  Suddenly, in January, he stopped wanting to do that at all. I had to lift him up and down every time. (Interesting note, after ONE chemo treatment and getting started on prednisone, he was back to jumping in the car willingly and accurately every time. Lesson: Listen to your dog. Seeing him decline to jump in the car so suddenly was one of the big reasons I knew we needed to get into the vet so quickly.)  

After the wrap-up night of ClickerExpo, we had just gone to bed when Roo started coughing like he was . . . going to explode. I don’t know how else to describe it. He had been coughing occasionally for several months (for which we had been to the vet for and had a different working diagnosis), but this was different.  It is so crazy to me that it came on so suddenly – he didn’t do anything like this at all on the trip until that last night. 

We had a two-day drive home from Portland to Colorado. The whole time, it was obvious that he didn’t feel well.  He couldn’t lie down in his crate without coughing, so he spent most of the 17-hour drive sitting up.  I called the vet and made an appointment for as soon as we got back into town at the end of the second day of driving. We drove straight there. 

The next three weeks are kind of a blur.  Chest radiographs.  Suspicious looking shading in his chest.  Referral for an ultrasound-guided needle aspirate. Biopsy sent to CSU. Lymphoma diagnosis. Referral to an oncologist. 

We drove to our oncology appointment in the middle of a blizzard in February. We got out of the car and Roo almost immediately had a seizure in the parking lot.  Bloodwork. Leukocyte counts off the charts. Leukemia/lymphoma diagnosis. Additional tests ordered from CSU. First chemo dose administered. Prognosis good because it is very likely “chronic” lymphocytic leukemia but we need to wait for test results from CSU. 

I went to Germany that weekend. It was a trip we’d already had planned for months, supposed to be three weeks in Europe around my husband’s work. Up to that point, one of the most agonizing decisions I’ve ever had to make. Roo stayed with a very capable pet sitter, and we planned to continue treatment when I got back. Five days into our trip, test results came back from CSU – it’s acute lymphocytic leukemia, not chronic.  Prognosis one month – treated or untreated, I asked?  That’s the average of both. 

Europe can wait. Got the next available flight that I could, flew home, another round of chemo as soon as I got back.  

Then we hit status quo for a few months. We hiked. We camped. We road-tripped.  We managed a few seizures here and there. We slowed down a little but definitely not a lot. I kept a hiking journal for the first half of the year – Roo and I did 30+ hikes together between January and July.  What a trooper. 

After finishing the last chemo treatment, we had about a week and a half before we saw him going downhill again.  Basically, no remission for Roo.  We maintained on a higher dose of prednisone for a little over a month after that.  

And then it was time. 

The hardest, most agonizing decision I’ve ever had to make. Ever. 

I laid on the bathroom floor next to him in the middle of the night. We’d just cleaned up vomit filled with blood. He’d been laying in the middle of that puddle when I woke up and found him.  The next morning he had three seizures, every time he went outside and walked more than a few steps.  

I’d like to say “oh his eyes said it was time” or “I knew for sure he was ready to go.” But I can’t say that. 

The truth is I knew he was in pain but that he would keep going if I asked him to.  Because that was him, to the core. He was the dog who would keep playing ball with four scraped paws without even a limp.  He was the dog who would keep running helter-skelter through the snow with ice balls hanging from every hair on his body.  He was the dog who on the last day of his life asked to play in the sprinklers right after being flat on the sidewalk from a seizure (and then had to lay down again right after playing in the sprinkler to fight off another seizure).

So, my little red dog, you would have kept going for me. I know you would. But I couldn’t ask you to do that anymore. You gave me so much of yourself. You helped me with so many decisions.  I’ll take the burden of this one off of your shoulders.  

Run fast and bark loud, my little red dog. 

Pet Grief Resources

For those of you struggling with the loss of a pet to cancer (or other cause), here are some resources I have found helpful:

• Book: Heart Dog – Roxanne Hawn (https://championofmyheart.com/books-by-roxanne-hawn/)

• Podcast: Grief – Unleashed at Work & Home (https://unleashedatworkandhome.podbean.com/e/grief-kristin-buller/)

• Ted Talk: Nora McInerny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkJkR-ipfw)

• Professional Help: We all handle grief differently.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to a licensed professional counselor to get help for where you are at. I am starting this phase of my grief journey in January. 

 Do you have a grief resource that has helped you through loss?  Please comment below! 

Hugs to you at whatever stage of this journey you are on. 

 - Amber

Hellloooo Holidays! - Prepare Your Dog to Be the Best Behaved Family Member This Holiday Season

Unless you happen to be one of the rare few whose family comes together in perfect harmony and whose recipes never fail, your feelings surrounding the Holidays are a bit of a mixed bag. There is joy, yes. There can also be sweaty palmed anxiety. “Last time I saw this family member it ended in a drop down, drag out fight” recollections. It’s possible around the Holidays for there to be too many feelings in one room, or too many cooks in the kitchen.

All of this stuff is pretty similar when you’re a dog. For many dogs, the Holidays are a time of intense excitement but also potentially some anxiety as well. The doorbell rings more often. The people who enter are often much-loved and seldomly seen. They might bring punch bowls or toddlers or dishes full of glorious, aromatic turkey. Stimulation is high, and quarters are close.

As Thanksgiving approaches, think about what tools you have at your fingertips to set your dogs up for success. Imagine that when your elderly relation comes in the front door with a walker, your dog settles quietly on his mat. Wouldn’t that be a reason to celebrate?! 

Imagine your perfect guest-entry scenario. Where is your dog when the doorbell rings? How do they greet your guests? Once you’ve imagined it, use some of these exercises to bring it to life!

Start training ahead of time! Guests arriving for the first time on the holiday is not the time to start practicing. If you’ve missed the boat for this year, see our management suggestions below!

Skill #1: If your dog barks at guest-at-the-door sounds, do some knock and/or doorbell conditioning: 

• Start off with your dog in front of you on leash. They do not need to be sitting or lying down at this point.

• Knock lightly on the wall next to you. Treat when your dog acknowledges the noise, even just with an ear flick.

• Repeat 5 times, or until your dog looks at you expectantly when they hear the knock.

• Increase the volume of your knock in small increments until a normal knocking sound cues a check in.

For doorbell conditioning, try using a youtube video of a doorbell on your phone instead of knocking on the wall. Then, work your way up from a phone sound to the real deal. You can have your neighbor help with this because they will inevitably be needing a few eggs or a cup of flour from you in the coming weeks, anyway. 

Skill #2: Hand target greeting as a replacement for jumping up.

We want to replace the jumping behavior with a better behavior. Recruit a different neighbor for this. Didn’t they use your generator last year for their in-law’s RV? They owe you one. Or, ask someone else who is pretty unfamiliar to your dog to help out. Having your dog greet a stranger by targeting their hand is not only fun for your dog and a neat trick to show off, but it keeps them lower to the ground during greetings. Interacting with the stranger low to the ground is incompatible with jumping up on them!  

First step is teaching a hand target. If you haven’t taught your dog that skill yet, review this video to help out:

Next, apply your hand target skill to a “friendly stranger.”

Warm up your dog's hand target behavior a few times. With your dog on leash, have the friendly stranger approach you and your dog (or you can approach them instead). Ask them to stop just out of reach.

• Ask the friend to extend their hand out towards your dog, and cue your dog to "Say Hi" or "Greet." You can also use a verbal "Touch" cue the first few times if that helps your dog understand the game better.

• When you dog runs up and targets the hand, mark (click or "Yes!") and feed in front of you as you take a step or two back.

• Repeat. Continue to play the game until your dog is touching the friend's hand and returning to you quickly. Mix this game with calm sits or downs at your side to reinforce calm.

• Make it more difficult! Start farther away from the friendly stranger (more excitement wind-up time!). Have the friend get more excited. Play with different people. Use strangers as a tool when your dog is ready.

If this hand target greeting is too exciting for your dog to handle calmly right away, start with just some approaching and retreating first without any hand targets.

Practice before the big day. 

Choose different distractions and environments that are within your dog's range of success. If you can adjust the distraction level (by adjusting the types of greeters, the distance from the greeter, etc.) you can set your dog up for making the right choice - greeting calmly! The more incrementally you can increase the levels of exciting greeters, the easier it is for your dog, and the faster he will move through them.

Quite literally, don’t try a new recipe on Thanksgiving. Start working on training exercises early, and your chances for success on the big day will go up exponentially. Start with small stimuli and move to larger distractions. Reward what you like and ignore what you don’t.  Practice in frequent but short sessions, and reward incremental success. 

Don’t Forget Your Management! 

One final ingredient – if your dog needs some extra help being successful during the big holiday gatherings, it’s ok to use some management strategies to make that happen. Have lots of stuffed kongs prepared and frozen for longer-lasting fun and distraction from the turkey dinner. Set up a crate safe space in the bedroom or basement for your dog to take crate naps throughout the day. Keep them attached to a leash around your waist so that you know exactly where they are – and can rest assured that they aren’t jumping on guests or cleaning the platters on the dining room table for you.  

Remember – your dog’s behaviors are functioning to get reinforcement out of the environment. They can either get that reinforcement in the form of attention for unwanted behavior like jumping up, or a delicious snack from edge of the turkey for counter-surfing. Those are very reinforcing behaviors for your dog! Even if you think “he knows better!” or “she would never do that!”, when you throw in a lot of extra people into the mix of a holiday gathering, expect some abnormal behavior from your dog too! Brush up on some training ahead of time and be ready to manage your dog well during your holiday celebrations to help all of you have a wonderful time together.