A Case of Predatory Drift

Hi,

Recently been reading some posts on line questioning the if predatory drift really exists. The following experience is in my opinion an example.

Chi-Ping, the rat terrier mix and Blondie, the big former street dog were playing tag running from the yard to the porch. Smoki, the curmudgeon cat inserted himself into the game hissing and puffing at the big girl, who had her play face on and backed up as he puffed at her. She even gave him a half assed play bow. It was a sweet family moment. I smiled feeling good about my animal friends.

Something in the grass or down the hill caught Blondie’s attention for a second or two at most. She looked in the direction of the edge of our property, when she looked back her whole demeanor had changed. She was stiff, upright, ears forward.

The cat raised his paw to swat her again. Her mouth opened. I delivered the stop what you are doing sound. Luckily both critters looked at me. Blondie looked as if she came back to a place where she wouldn’t hurt Smoki.

The whole thing lasted but a moment, but it was a Jekyll and Hyde moment.  I suspect this was one of those predatory drift moments.

Blondie and Smoki have lived together for eight months. Smoki is the house boss because he is the one most comfortable with his humans. With a life time of experience training dogs Smoki had no problems with the tough street veteran in the house.

Outside on Blondie’s home turf where she has killed rats and cats and who knows what else. This was the first time I had all three of them outside together.

So much of the discussion on line is about dogs in play groups. During my years running dogs in day care groups, it seemed to me that most of what people thought of as predatory drift was another behavior anomaly or one dog with a history with another taking a cheap shot.

So what do you think?   

Dog Day Care Attendant; What Skills Are Required?

Day care workers need skills in recognizing which dogs can go with each other, what signals mean a confrontation is imminent. The attendant, who redirects play when signals are sent, is better than one skilled in the fastest correction. Both are better than the lovely lady, who loves dogs, but stands shocked when they become animals.



Entertaining dogs is another educational category. Have you ever watched half dozen eager labs wait for one ball to be thrown? The skilled day care attendant can throw the ball, throw the next ball, so all the dogs have a shot at a ball. Not every dog wants to play fetch; what’s in your bag of tricks for these dogs? My personal favorites are the smart dogs tired of the usual day care games; what do you have to offer these pooches so they don’t go home restless and bored.


Lack of knowledge runs deep with inexperienced day care attendants, this is a skill set that must be learned by every new employee, we hire. Owners of day cares have a huge investment in staff.


Observing the dogs is an art form honed over years, where do you begin with a newcomer? Sadly, I’ve had people tell me that they didn’t count the dogs until they moved them to the yard where they were going to play. It’s already too late!


The day care attendant who thinks the dog lying in the corner is a good dog has ever so much to learn.


Have you ever watched the day care attendant who runs behind the dogs correcting all forms of doggie behavior, such as butt sniffing? Understanding normal dog behavior, when to correct and when not must be part of the training.


Dogs forgive us for tons of mishandling, but good in service education is a must for our business. This is an industry that must develop a skill set for staff, so perhaps we should identify what the skills are.

Dog Center For Rent

Hi,
Since a kid, I’ve always wanted to be around dogs.

Since 1983 people have brought their dogs to Carrvilla for help with behavior problems. I did it for free in the beginning, for the pleasure of having the opportunity to learn more about dogs.


That’s been my life.

www.carrvillak9.com is the web address. We are on a major highway in Kendall County, Illinois. It doesn’t get better than next door to the forest preserve.


The place was built by a dog lover- in floor heat, well fenced. This is a great place for dogs.


What the place needs is an enterprising dog loving entrepreneur to rent it.


This is my home, but my heart and passion have moved in with the feral dogs of Puerto Rico.


I’ve lost my passion for running this place and it breaks my heart.


A very reasonable price to take over an existing business and rent a beautiful property that was set up for dogs.


PLEASE, pass this on to the dog lovers in your life.


Thanks & God Bless!


Oh, check it out (online) don’t contact my staff and then expect to get along with me.


I welcome serious enquiries carrvilla@msn.com

Canine Post Traumatic Stress

Watching Shaker go from happy well met to hyper-reactive was painful. Soon I noticed him having bad dreams. His eyeballs popped and darted during REM sleep. Low whimpering became pathetic sobs. His feet paddled the air.



I couldn’t take it. I’d wake him, then thump him and play with him. We’d end up snuggling on the sofa together.


My way of seeing this is that a dog who is attacked by another has had his innocence taken. It comes as a big shock when some surly presence crosses the line beating the snot out of you. Could it be possible to hurt more than this? In that moment the world becomes a monstrously scary place.


Shaker has been well socialized from birth on, when he started acting out, I hoped that his social experience would out weight the effects of the trauma. We put him with select dogs he knew since he first began day care. I worked with my staff to get better at recognizing body language and redirecting. Paula is getting exceptionally good.


My staff is good, but they are not behaviorists, so Shaker was removed from day care, except for certain groups and only with Paula.


It’s interesting to note that the first forty-five minutes Shaker is joyously running with his buds like old times. When the edge of needing the exercise is softened, he begins to look around to as if to see who could do him harm. It is at that point that we are bringing him back in.


The safety of the day care dogs trumps Shaker’s rehab so we’re pursuing other options.

Quieting The Chronic Barker

My dear friend Melissa has asked that I explain more on quieting the chronic barker. I love that you never ask anything easy.
Some breeds tend to be more verbal than others. Dogs living in high energy households seem bark more. Barking becomes a choice behavior for bored pooches.Sometimes I see barking as the way a dog handles stress. Chronic barking is really multifaceted. Sometimes these dogs remind me of people who repeat what they are saying in a louder voice when they want to get their point across.
The first chronic barker whose behavior I modified was a beautiful sable male GSD. This dog had just been shipped here from Germany. He was stressed out of his mind and would not stop barking. The dog came to stay with me. It took a week to rehabilitate him. He went with me every where.
This dog was in my car for twenty minutes before he stopped barking for a few seconds; he was caught in a behavior loop. Each time he would stop to get his breath I praised him. The first day my words seemed to have no effect.
By the second day we could go a couple of minutes without barking, if I continued to talk to him.
By the third day, he was engaging me by looking at me when I talked to him. I added replacement behaviors by doing some obedience. I didn't start rewarding him with games of fetch until the next day; overstimulating him was a big fear. 
It took a week to build a relationship with this dog. When he trusted me to pay attention to him, he gave up the incessant barking. This became my model for quieting the chronic barker. 
All too often people come in with dogs that chronic barking is just one of several problems. We end up finding an effective way of correcting the dog, not the problem. 
Most day care dogs quiet when they receive enough exercise. Releasing those endorphins is huge. We have a very bright Giant Schnauzer requiring mental challenge to stop barking exercise alone will not do it. The first time we got him to stop barking was the day I taught him to put balls in a box. 
My experience watching and listening to the Satos, the free raninging island dogs of Puerto Rico, has taught me that dogs do indeed speak or express themselves verbally.

Can you imagine the frustration of trying to be heard and understood? It's all about the relationship, which does include our rules of behavior.
Hope this helps; any other questions?

 

A Doggie Day Care Day

Each day care day has a different character depending on the breed composition for one thing.
Today is herding dog day at Carrvilla. The first group out in our three acre dog park has a few German Shepards, a couple of Aussies, some mixed breeds and two Golden Retrievers.
The GSD's line up like a soccar team heading toward the goldens, which they try to herd. Nice teamwork as they play golden round up.
Jake, the wise older golden goes off to sniff things. Shaker, who is not quite a year yet, engages the GSD's.
Before long Shaker and Disney, the youngest GSD are happily sparring. Disney is older, he takes the offense. Shaker plays defense. They move, counter move. It's great fun to watch as these two learn each other.
Herding drive sometimes appears as a need to rule. To me it looks like the GSD is saying, " I want you over here. No, you can't do that. No, that's not right." My Sadie was a very bossy GSD.
Shaker is probably the "softest" (temperament) puppy I have ever raised. In my opinion, the day care experience has taught him to not be overwhelmmed by pushier dogs. He lays in the grass mouth dualing with the two year old male, who is getting tired. Shaker has enough stamina to play all day and then go out dancing at night.
As Disney tires, Shaker pushes the beautiful light sable GSD harder. His reply sounds gruff enough that the other shepards run over to supervise the activity.
The day care director I am training is ready to correct and break it up. I signal her to wait. These are good dogs; I trust them to slow down the activity. This is the hard part. When we intervene too soon, the lesson is not learned. That means a repeat is coming.
The two boys are up ready to play again, but the female GSD now on the scene has plenty to say. She is very vocal with strong herding traits. Her barking is adding too much energy. It's time to redirect.
That intense barking that some dogs do often will negatively affect the energy dynamic when it's time to calm down. If we get the barker quiet, the situation gets better.
Teaching a chronic barker that there is something in life other than barking is a lot of work. When you see a dog three days a week; it's worth the effort.
We truck around the park a couple of times before bringing them into the building to rest a while.
Disney and Shaker became great buddies today. The older shepards joined Klondyke and Max the two Siberian Huskies for races while Paula and I whooped it up for them.
I smile to think that if a society can be judged by how animals are treated; good things can be said about us here in Illinois.

Canine Camp Director Leadership Skills

Controlling a group of dogs means knowing what you want to do with the dogs, setting the agenda. Sometimes the agenda is as simple as I'm taking all the dogs to the northwest corner of the park. 
The big problem is to keep people (humans) focused on what they are doing. All too often people playing with dogs drift into thought. We need to stay focused. 
Our yards are large enough that dogs can go off to do their own thing, which is very cool for dogs. When they are out exploring, we must know where they and what they're doing is obvious; isn't it?
Part of setting the agenda is to call all dogs to you. Heads up! This is the key part of how to do this!! 
As they head toward you, look at them, call them by name. Then tell them how by gosh happy you are that they are coming.
Dogs love it when they know we like what they are doing.
If you are really a class act in the dog park, when the dogs get to you you greet each one and then give them a thump or a stroke. You will know you are in control when your dogs line up to greet you. No pushing, no jumping. 
This puts you in the leadership role, dare I say dominent, in a lovely way. 
Don't drop the ball now, you have to throw enough for all dogs; none of this one or two dogs getting the ball and the rest just standing around. 
When you lead keeping all dogs happily occupied, hmm I just know I don't need to finish that. 
So does this make sense? What questions or comments??
In the years that I personally did the day care I never had a fight, a bite or a spat. 

Canine Camp Director cont.

For beginners it is difficult to trust the dogs enough to just watch. People stop any conversation in which dogs sound growly. Many people have told me, "I just don't want my dog to growl." That could be like me telling you not to use verbs.
If you have a dog proven to be a canine jerk, that dog is a candidate for behavior therapy; not day care.
I am talking about normal pet dogs. 99% of the time dogs have a spat; it ends without injury. 
At the next level of training day care workers learn the difference between a spat and a dog fight.  We break up dog fights, but stay out of spats. Ooow, there's a tricky one. 
Many people cannot get beyond correcting instantly when they hear a "rrraaghr" because it's scarey. The big trouble with stopping a spat is that the dogs don't settle their differences.
A spats don't last more than a few seconds. One or both dogs will walk away creating space between them. The skilled handler will redirect play so no other dog can contribute attitude.
Don't panic if the two having the disagreement aren't ready to join the group. I give them a little time to finish their moment.
My very best advice is to take a deep cleansing breath when you hear the first "raaghr". It's difficult because we want to take charge. You think you are helping. Years ago when I first started taking the deep breath, I began to notice that it was all over as I exhaled. For most people calming themselves down is the hardest part.
If you have a good dog, trust your dog.
So after reading this what questions or comments do you have?? Does this make sense? What results do you get when you try this?