How to tell if your dog is anti-social

(Cesar Millan)

Dog socialization begins almost from birth, when the mother dog starts teaching her pups what they can and cannot do. If they break the rules, she corrects them immediately and if they wander too far off she brings them back.
If all goes well, by the time those puppies are a bit older, they know their place in that pack, respecting other dogs with a higher position and guiding dogs with a lower position.
That’s if all goes well. However, quite often when humans adopt a puppy very young — twelve weeks is not uncommon — they fail to continue the lessons of the mother dog by not creating the rules, boundaries, and limitations that all dogs need to be socialized.
Even if a dog is adopted much later in puppyhood or as an adult, if the humans don’t establish the rules of their new pack, then that dog is not going to know how to behave.
A dog that respects its fellow pack members, knows their place in the pack, and follows the rules is a socialized dog. When a dog is anti-social, it can lead to various problems. So, how can you tell whether your dog is socialized or not? Here are some things to watch out for.
Not Respecting Space
A socialized dog knows its place in the pack, while an anti-social dog does not. One of the ways that this can manifest itself is a dog that does not respect the space of other humans or animals, especially those in its own pack.

These are the dogs that nudge humans to beg for food during meal time, or try to “herd” people or other animals in the house by circling behind them or pushing them. They can also cause embarrassment for their humans by trying to mount guests’ legs or jumping on any people who come into the house.

Solution: the humans in the pack must claim their space and consistently correct the dog to set the boundaries. This means physically blocking the dog or pushing it away when it tries to invade.

Showing Over-Excitement
To humans, it’s easy to see a dog that goes crazy with spinning and barking and jumping as just being happy to see us return home, but that’s not what’s happening from a dog’s point of view.

The over-excited dog is acting like that because she doesn’t have any rules on where to go or what to do in certain situations, so all of that energy gets expressed physically and at random. And when a dog’s body is that physically excited, it’s impossible to reach the dog’s mind to calm her down.

Solution: Over-excited dogs need a lot of exercise to drain that excess energy, but the humans in the pack need to also stop rewarding that excited behavior. If you don’t want your dog to keep jumping and spinning every time you come home, then you need to ignore the dog when it’s in that state. The dog won’t take it personally; she’ll just learn that over-excitement does not earn a reward.

Pulling or Lunging on the Walk
As the Pack Leader, we should always be the one in front on the walk, but that isn’t always the case, and one of the most common issues that Cesar deals with is people whose dogs pull them, or otherwise well-behaved dogs that will suddenly lunge when they see another dog or person on the walk.

In these cases, the dog is not getting the leadership it needs from the human on the other end of the leash, so he naturally moves to the front because every pack has to have a leader.

Solution: The human on the end of the leash needs to learn to be calm and assertive and to not let the dog get out in front, as well as how to not react to things in the environment that might get the dog excited. (You can find more information in the Dog Walk section at CesarsWay.com.)

Avoiding Other Dogs or People
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the dog that tries to avoid everyone, or at least unfamiliar people or animals. These are dogs that would naturally be happy at the back of the pack, where they are protected by the rest of the pack members but, for whatever reason, they feel as if they have been pushed forward in the pack and their reaction is to avoid or flee.

Not every dog that runs away from something is anti-social — a normally calm, happy-go-lucky dog may suddenly hide under the bed if there’s a loud, unfamiliar noise like fireworks or thunder, for example. But the dog that does it every time there is something new is showing anti-social behavior.

Solution: Timid dogs can be harder to rehabilitate than aggressive ones, but it all begins with the dog learning to trust you as their Pack Leader. And, although difficult, if you’re a Pack Leader with a timid dog, you may have to force yourself to ignore the dog for a while, practicing “no touch, no talk, no eye contact” until the dog feels comfortable approaching your space.

Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-training/dog-socialization/How-to-Tell-if-Your-Dog-Is-Antisocial#ixzz3HOAfsLtG

How to socialize an over-protective dog

(from Cesar Millan)

Dogs can become overprotective for any number of reasons. Perhaps you’re projecting fearful or submissive energy and he feels like he needs to take charge and keep you safe. Or you haven’t done the best job at following the exercise, discipline, affection model and your pooch simply sees you as a free source of food and love. Why wouldn’t he try to protect such a valuable commodity from other dogs and people?
Whatever the reason that your pup’s overprotective nature developed, it’s something that you need to curb before it gets out of control. Left unchecked, this behavior can lead to more serious aggression, and no one wants that for their dog.
One of the best ways to rehabilitate her overprotective behaviors and have a balanced dog is to socialize her. But how do you do it with a dog that’s already acting out around others?
Steps to Socializing an Overprotective Dog
You can’t just expect your dog to change his behavior simply by forcing him to interact with more people. But you don’t want to keep him locked away, either, because doing that will only reinforce their overprotective and aggressive instincts.
The key is to control the socialization as much as possible — especially in the beginning stages. What does that mean?
Practice Maintaining Calm-Assertive Energy
At least part of the reason your dog acts out when you’re with her is because your energy is telling her to do so. That probably seems odd if the problem is that she growls whenever your significant other comes over, but it makes sense.

If you become nervous that she’s going to act out, she’ll read this energy and become nervous herself, causing her to behave aggressively. When you can keep your own feelings in control, your dog will be more in control, too.

Choose Your Guests Wisely
It does your dog no favors if you try to socialize him by inviting over your neighbor and his aggressive dog. When socializing a dog that’s overprotective or aggressive, you need to seek out dogs that are calm and balanced and people who are calm and assertive.

Just as your dog reacts to your energy, he will also feed off of the energy of others, so you want to make sure their energy is projecting a sense of peace and safety.

Social-cize
One of the best ways to get your dog used to other dogs and people is to go on a walk with them. Now this doesn’t mean that you should necessarily have your Uncle Ed walk your pooch if she tries to bite him every time he comes over, but what you can do is have him accompany you both on the walk and maintain your calm-assertive energy.

This, in conjunction with the calming effects of getting a workout, will eventually help your dog to relax more around him. It’s something that works with other dogs, too, though you may want to have the other owner walk several paces ahead with their pooch until your dog gets used to their presence.

Work with a Professional
For many people, it’s not easy to establish pack leadership with an overprotective dog on their own. Using the help of a canine professional who is willing to work with both you and your dog can make a big difference, and it can be especially important if you have any safety concerns.

Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-training/dog-socialization/How-to-Socialize-an-Overprotective-Dog?utm_content=Socializing%20an%20Overprotective%20Dog&utm_campaign=CW.com%20Article&utm_source=Facebook&utm_term=Socialization%2CSocialization%20DVD%20Pre%20Order&utm_medium=1414198266#ixzz3HBLTWqrY

Understanding why your dog growls

Why you should never punish a dog for growling.

By Pat Miller

Clients always appear a bit stunned at first when I tell them their dog’s growl is a good thing. In fact, a growl is something to be greatly treasured.

These are my aggression consultation clients, who are in my office in desperation, as a last resort, hoping to find some magic pill that will turn their biting dog into a safe companion. They are often dismayed and alarmed to discover that the paradigm many of us grew up with – punish your dog harshly at the first sign of aggression – has contributed to and exacerbated the serious and dangerous behavior problem that has led them to my door.

It seems intuitive to punish growling. Growling leads to biting, and dogs who bite people often must be euthanized, so let’s save our dog’s life and nip biting in the bud by punishing him at the first sign of inappropriate behavior. It makes sense, in a way – but when you have a deeper understanding of canine aggression, it’s easy to understand why it’s the absolute wrong thing to do.

Communication efforts
Most dogs don’t want to bite or fight. The behaviors that signal pending aggression are intended first and foremost to warn away a threat. The dog who doesn’t want to bite or fight tries his hardest to make you go away. He may begin with subtle signs of discomfort that are often overlooked by many humans – tension in body movements, a stiffly wagging tail.

“Please,” he says gently, “I don’t want you to be here.”

If you continue to invade his comfort zone, his threats may intensify, with more tension, a hard stare, and a low growl.

“I mean it,” he says more firmly, “I want you to leave.”

If those are ignored, he may become more insistent, with an air snap, a bump of the nose, or even open mouth contact that closes gently on an arm but doesn’t break skin.

“Please,” he says, “don’t make me bite you.”

If that doesn’t succeed in convincing you to leave, the dog may feel compelled to bite hard enough to break skin in his efforts to protect self, territory, members of his social group, or other valuable resources.

Caused by stress
What many people don’t realize is that aggression is caused by stress. The stressor may be related to pain, fear, intrusion, threats to resources, past association, or anticipation of any of these things. An assertive, aggressive dog attacks because he’s stressed by the intrusion of another dog or human into his territory. A fearful dog bites because he’s stressed by the approach of a human. An injured dog lacerates the hand of his rescuer because he’s stressed by pain.

When you punish a growl or other early warning signs, you may succeed in suppressing the growl, snarl, snap, or other warning behavior – but you don’t take away the stress that caused the growl in the first place. In fact, you increase the stress, because now you, the dog’s owner, have become unpredictable and violent as well.

Worst of all, and most significantly, if you succeed in suppressing the warning signs, you end up with a dog who bites without warning. He has learned that it’s not safe to warn, so he doesn’t.

If a dog is frightened of children, he may growl when a child approaches. You, conscientious and responsible owner, are well aware of the stigma – and fate – of dogs who bite children, so you punish your dog with a yank on the leash and a loud “No! Bad dog!” Every time your dog growls at a child you do this, and quickly your dog’s fear of children is confirmed – children do make bad things happen! He likes children even less, but he learns not to growl at them to avoid making you turn mean.

You think he’s learned that it’s not okay to be aggressive to children, because the next time one passes by, there’s no growl.

“Phew,” you think to yourself. “We dodged that bullet!”

Convinced that your dog now accepts children because he no longer growls at them, the next time one approaches and asks if he can pat your dog, you say yes. In fact, your dog has simply learned not to growl, but children still make him very uncomfortable. Your dog is now super-stressed, trying to control his growl as the child gets nearer and nearer so you don’t lose control and punish him, but when the scary child reaches out for him he can’t hold back any longer – he lunges forward and snaps at the child’s face. Fortunately, you’re able to restrain him with the leash so he doesn’t connect. You, the dog, and the child are all quite shaken by the incident.

It’s time to change your thinking.

“Help!”
A growl is a dog’s cry for help. It’s your dog’s way of telling you he can’t tolerate a situation – as if he’s saying, “I can’t handle this, please get me out of here!”

Your first response when you hear your dog growl should be to calmly move him away from the situation, while you make a mental note of what you think may have triggered the growl. Make a graceful exit. If you act stressed you’ll only add to his stress and make a bite more, not less, likely. Don’t worry that removing him rewards his aggression; your first responsibility is to keep others safe and prevent him from biting.

If the growl was triggered by something you were doing, stop doing it. Yes, your dog learned one tiny lesson about how to make you stop doing something he doesn’t like, but you’ll override that when you do lots of lessons about how that thing that made him uncomfortable makes really, really good stuff happen.

This is where counter-conditioning comes in. Your dog growls because he has a negative association with something – say he growls when you touch his paw. For some reason, he’s convinced that having his paw touched is a bad thing. If you start by touching his knee, then feeding him a smidgen of chicken, and keep repeating that, he’ll come to think that you touching his knee makes chicken happen. He’ll want you to touch his leg so he gets a bit of chicken.

Note: Make sure your dog’s discomfort with you touching his paw is not related to pain. If it hurts when you touch him there, counter-conditioning won’t work. It’s a good idea to get a full veterinary workup if there’s any chance your dog’s growling may be pain-related.

When you see him eagerly search for chicken when you touch his knee, you can move your hand slightly lower and touch there, until you get the same “Where’s my chicken?!” response at the new spot. Gradually move closer and closer to his paw, until he’s delighted to have you touch his foot – it makes chicken happen! Now practice with each foot, until he’s uniformly delighted to have you touch all of them. Remember that the touch comes first, so it consistently predicts the imminent arrival of chicken.

If at any time in the process – which could take days, weeks, or even months, depending on the dog and how well you apply the protocol – you see the dog’s tension increase, you’ve moved too quickly. Back up a few inches to where he’s comfortable being touched and start again. Or, there may be other stressors present that are increasing his tension. Do an environment check to be sure nothing else is happening that’s adding to his stress. Have the rowdy grandkids leave the room, give him a little time to relax, and start again.

Remember, dogs can’t tell us in words what’s bothering them, but they can communicate a lot with their body language and canine vocal sounds. Pay attention to what your dog is telling you. Listen with heart and compassion. Be gentle when your dog tells you he needs help. Come to his rescue. Treasure his growl.

Stress-free dog walking

By Jon Bastian (From Cesar Millan’s website)

Cesar’s fulfillment formula is Exercise, Discipline, and then Affection, in that order — and the best way to provide exercise is to walk your dog.

But one of the areas in which people seem to report the most trouble is … walking their dogs. Their dogs pull ahead, or act aggressively toward other dogs, or bark or snarl at everything. When you experience this type of behavior, it can really be a big disincentive to walking, which just makes things worse.
If you don’t walk your dog, it’s not getting exercise, so it isn’t balanced. It’s missing out on the most important half of the fulfillment formula and will be full of excess energy. A dog with excess energy cannot focus on discipline, while showing affection toward an over-excited dog will just make it worse.

So, what to do? The key thing to remember is this: the energy you bring with you affects the walk. That leash you’re holding in your hand is a direct communication system to your dog, and everything you feel just gets telegraphed down it. Are you anxious? Tense? Nervous? Excited?

If you’re in a negative energy state, your dog is going to pick up on that immediately and act appropriately. Why? Because they are looking to you for cues on how to behave, for example, if you see another dog approaching and tense up on the leash, your dog is going to understand this as, “Uh-oh. Something is dangerous. Must protect!”

So, instead of passing that other dog without incident or with a properly socialized greeting, your dog is going to react to the threat, probably with aggression. This leads to that awkward situation we’ve all faced of pulling our dog away, apologizing profusely, and then dragging our dog past the other dog and owner, a good walk ruined.

Remember: dogs live in the moment. The dog they had a fight with yesterday can be their best friend today because they don’t hold grudges. The problem is that humans do hold onto the past, so the dog our dog once got into a scuffle with is forever the enemy — to us.

But that’s the human way of looking at things. If you want to have a pleasant walk with your dog, you need to do two things. The first is to make sure that your dog is in a calm-submissive state before the walk even starts. To do this, you need to teach your dogs that they do not get to go on the walk until they are calm-submissive. In order to do that, you have to be patient and consistent, and not put the leashes on until your dogs calmly sit and wait.

The second is to check what energy you are bringing on the walk, and put yourself in a calm-assertive state before you walk out the door. Here are some things to avoid:

Don’t Anticipate the Worst
Expectation can become reality, so if you head out the door worried that something bad might happen on the walk, you’ve already set the scene for bad things to happen. Before you go out that door, visualize a pleasant stroll with your dog at your side.

Don’t Avoid Other People
We’ve probably all seen or done this: when one dog walker sees another coming down the street, they suddenly pull their dog aside and drag them across the street in a panic. All this does is alert the dog to danger, and if their human does this a few times then the dog will make the association with other dogs and danger. Again, expectation becomes reality.

Don’t Panic
When you see or encounter other dogs on the walk, remain calm. If you’re calm, then your dog is calm — and the other dog will sense this. Maybe they’ll just walk right by each other, or maybe they’ll exchange a friendly greeting. Even if the other dog does become over-excited or aggressive, your calm-assertive energy will tell your dog that this is nothing to be worried about, and it will be much easier to steer your dog clear.

Don’t Pull
If your dog does start to bark at another dog, do not pull back on the leash. To a dog, this sudden tension actually makes them pull and lunge harder. Learn how to give a correction by giving the leash a quick tug to the side or by pulling up instead of back. When you’re working to train your dog to not pull, it’s perfectly fine to use your body to block them by giving them a nudge with your leg or standing in front of them.

Don’t Yell
If your dog does become over-excited or aggressive on the walk, resist the natural human urge to control them by shouting. This only makes them more excited or aggressive because, by that point, they aren’t hearing the words, they’re just sensing loud noise and your own excited energy. Dogs mirror our energy state, so if you want your dog to calm down, stay calm yourself.

Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-training/dog-walk/Helping-Your-Dog-Be-Social-on-the-Walk?utm_content=Helping%20Your%20Dog%20Be%20Social%20on%20the%20Walk%20Copy&utm_campaign=CW.com%20Article&utm_source=Facebook&utm_term=dog%20walk%2C%22dog%20training%20channel%22&utm_medium=1412612824#ixzz3FPGi25OT

How to deal with dogs who bite

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/help-my-dog-bites-how-to-deal-with-dogs-who-bite

Plus information about the “Learn to Earn” or “Nothing in Life is Free / NILIF” Program, and why it can be SO helpful!
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/the-learn-to-earn-program

Questions:

My adopted Chihuahua, Chico, has come a long way. However, if anyone comes to the house or if he is outdoors and meets a stranger and he is on the ground, he immediately wants to attack, following several displays of barking and aggressive lunging. One time he did clip a woman’s knee and drew blood. What do you advise for training Chico to be receptive to friendly people when he is outside and walking on the ground?

Gloria Aceti
Washington Crossing, PA

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We just adopted a loving terrier that is loving and sweet. Unfortunately, she exhibits extreme aggression at times. She does not do well with visitors coming into the house, and refused to stop barking and nipping at them. We encourage our guests to give her treats upon arrival, at the suggestion of our vet. We tell her NO firmly and attempt to grab her snout when she behaves this way, but nothing seems to work! She’s also aggressive when we try to wipe her feet. What do you suggest?

Reluctant to Return our Rescue Dog
Rocklin, CA

Answer:

Some people may read these descriptions and assume that these and other dogs who bite are just mean, but it turns out the most common cause of aggression in dogs is fear. It’s not fear brought on by abuse, but, rather, fear that developedbecause these dogs failed to receive the amount of socialization they needed starting before three months of age and continuing into early adulthood. Even fromthe short descriptions above, the telltale history is there. These dogs quickly got used to their adoptive families within a few days or weeksbecause it’s easy to get used to people who are constantly around them; but new people who pop into their lives fleetingly are another story.

Once Fear or Reactivity is Recognized, Take Action Before the Behavior Progresses to a Bite
Generally fearful dogs start off by trying to stay away from the things that scare them. But as they are confronted with scary situations repeatedly, they can learn that offense (barking, snapping, biting) is their best defense because it makes the scary people go away.

To see the body language of fear/anxiety, see Dog Bite Prevention Week: Poster on Body Language of Fear and Aggression and Dogs Bite When Humans Greet Inappropriately.

Treatment of Fear, Reactivity, or Aggression Focuses on Two General Approaches.
One approach to dealing with fear and aggression towards people is to train the dog to associate unfamiliar people with good things in a systematic/graded manner. This process is desensitization and classical counterconditioning (DS/CC),and it involves exposing the dog to the fear-inducing “stimulus” at a level where she barely responds and keeping her in a happy state, instead of a fearful or reactive state, by pairing the experience with things the dog likes (such as food, play, toys). The goal is that, as we systematically increase the level of the stimulus (how close the people are, how quickly they move, or how scary they look) while keeping Fido in a happy emotional state, the dog will systematically come to associate the scary people with this positive emotional state permanently.

Now, a lot of people try this method and have only partial success because they omit a few vital points.

The first is that you must stay below the level of scariness where Fido barks, lunges or has any major reaction. This is referred to as staying below threshold. That usually means that the visitor must pretend Fido doesn’t exist. That is, stand sideways to the pet and look away as if the visitor is actually ignoring Fido even though he’s tossing treats. Ideally Fido just looks like he’s happy to get food.
The second key point is that the food or fun thing must be occurring the entire time the scary person is near. For instance, if the scary person is tossing small treats, the treats must come at a rapid enough rate that Fido doesn’t have a ton of time in between treats to decide that he’s still scared. Usually that means starting with treats coming rapidly at first and then slowing the treat rate down.
Treats also have to continue long enough so that Fido decides that the person is safe. That may take just a minute or it may take several visits, depending on Fido. In the latter case, when the visitor is running out of treats, the dog should be removed from the room or the visitor should leave.
The visitor also must make sure she doesn’t move too close too quickly or move in a quick or threatening manner since these can make the dog react defensively (e.g. going above threshold). (For tips on how to approach correctly so you aren’t accidentally threatening: refer to the How to Greet a Dog book and poster)

The second method for modifying behavior is to train dogs to perform appropriate replacement behaviors that are incompatible with the fearful behavior. This is called operant counterconditioning. The replacement behaviors we train must be ones the dog enjoys so that Fido is at the same time learning a positive association with the situation. For instance, when a dog is fearful, we can train the dog to focus on us and engage in fun behaviors such as heeling and other focus games that we have taught through reward-based training. Why do we have to be careful to avoid methods that use force or punishment to train or maintain the replacement behaviors? Say we train the dog to focus on us so he doesn’t bark or lunge and we do so using choke chain or pinch collar corrections. The dog may learn to focus but will do so out of fear of getting a correction. As a result, the dog is not likely to develop a positive association with the scary person/object/environment. The dog may outwardly look more controlled, at first, but side effects such as greater reactivity and fear are likely to occur in the near future. The dog may hide that he’s scared or that he wants to react, prompting us to put him in a situation where scary people are even closer to him. Then, at some point, he might not be able to contain himself and may break out in a reaction more severe than before.

As with the DS/CC we described in method 1, always start at a level where you can keep the dog happy and focused on you, keep the dog focused the entire time, end the session and remove the dog from the situation before he’s tired or you run out of treats. The better your technique and ability to train in a systematic fashion the faster the training will go. Technique is the difference between taking 10 minutes and 10 months to see a huge change. (For more information on technique, read Dog Training Classes Can and Should Be More Than Sit, Stay, Stand)

To learn more about:

Understanding How They Learn and The Principles that Guide Learning (Timing, Motivation, etc):

How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves, Chapters 5-10, 13
Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification of Dogs & Cats, Chapters 3-4 (includes video)
Why We Tend to Avoid Punishment and Aversives and Dominance Theory

How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves, Chapter 12
Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification of Dogs & Cats, Chapter 2 (includes video)
Treatment Must Also Address Impulsivity
These general approaches are pretty straightforward and, with good technique, you can get dogs through situations relatively easily. However, it turns out there’s more to these situations than just using the DS/CC techniques in the reactive situations. In fact, the first thing that we often have to do is address the dog’s impulsivity (lack of impulse control) and his lack of ability to look to the owners for guidance, especially when he’s scared or highly excited. How are these things important? Impulsivity is the tendency for animals to perform behaviors without first thinking and evaluating the situation. Dogs with high impulsivity or low impulse control tend to rush towards items they want (food, people, dogs) and react in an extreme manner when excited (jump, whine, pace, bark, lunge). The more they practice acting impulsively, the more likely they will react impulsively when scared. These dogs also have an inability to look to their owners for direction, especially when they’re scared or distracted.

Luckily, one program can address both of these issues. In my version of the Learn to Earn Program where dogs are required to automatically say “Please” by sitting for everything they want – every bit of kibble, petting, praise, attention, getting their leash on, going out the door—dogs learn that they can have what they want if they ask politely by sitting and looking at their owners for permission. In this intensive program, dogs can exhibit huge changes within a week. The trick is that the humans need to learn to reward the dog’s good behavior consistently and must be aware of their every interaction so that they don’t accidently reward unwanted behaviors, such as jumping, whining, and pushing for attention. So, at the same time, this program teaches owners how to give the right body signals and cues that their dog naturally understands and how to actually provide leadership and guidance through skill rather than force. As an added benefit, once owners have these skills they are better bonded to their pet and their pet feels more comfortable looking to their owners for guidance in the scary or highly exciting situations.

The Step-by-Step Approach:
Now that you know some of the general approaches. Here’s the basic order of approach.

First, keep safe: avoid all situations where the dog is fearful or aggressive until you have gained the skill to work productively in these situations. And when you do work with your dog with visitors and unfamiliar people present, you may choose to avoid having the visitors or unfamiliar people give your dog treats. It can be unsafe to rely on other people to give treats because the visitor may do something inappropriate such as moving too close, staring at, or suddenly trying to pet the dog. Or because they toss the treat too closely to themselves and the dog comes closer and then realizes he’s too close for comfort and snaps. Instead, you, the owner, can give the dog the treats or have the dog perform exercises where he focused on you. Also, it’s best to have the dog on leash, even on a gentle leader, snootloop or halti head collar. Make sure you’re holding the leash short enough that even if your dog does lunge towards people he can’t reach them (e.g. he can only lunge a few inches). For added safety, some dogs will need to learn to enjoy wearing a muzzle. You can cut a hole in the front of the muzzle to give treats. (See Training Dogs to Love Wearing a Muzzle)
Second, identify all other situations where your dog is fearful or highly aroused (e.g. uncontrollable barking, whining, lunging) and address these issues too. This is important because fear of objects and other things can heighten fear of people. For instance, if your human-fearful dog gets scared of a loud noise or object in the morning and then goes for a walk, he’s more likely to react fearfully to people on his walk. Similarly if your dog practices rough, overly rowdy behavior, then, when he’s fearful, he’s more likely to display that fear with the same rough, overly rowdy behavior.
Avoid the other fear and high arousal situations until you have the skills to modify the behavior in these situations. Generally you can gain some skills quickly and just start working in the situations at the distance or intensity that you can handle. For instance, if your dog gets scared around inanimate objects on walks, when you see the type of object he might bark or lunge at or run away from, you can work at the distance where you know you can keep him happy and focused on you.
Take your dog through Dr. Yin’s version of the Learn to Earn Program so that you can systematically and quickly develop the ability to provide direction for your dog and so your dog can quickly develop the ability to control his impulsivity. Some dogs only take a few days to a week while others may take a month or two—the biggest variability is the human’s awareness of what they are doing. If owners could be 100% consistent in rewarding desired behaviors and removing rewards for unwanted behaviors, they’d have a nearly perfect dog in just a week or two but for many owners it takes weeks to become aware enough to be 80% consistent. The benefit of the Learn to Earn program is that even if you never reach professional level skill, you’ll still be way better at communicating with your dog and moving in ways that make your signals and intentions clear.
DS/CC to the specific fear, reactive, and/or aggressive situations. Generally, this means going about your day in a normal manner, but, whenever you pass an unfamiliar person, you have your dog perform the fun heeling games so that he can focus on you while learning good things about the people that pass by. The better your technique, timing, and ability to use your body movement to help keep the dog focused on you, the more successful and efficient you’ll be. Similarly when guests visit, set the situation up so that you can keep Fido focused on performing replacement behaviors and then you separate him from the guests if he’s not completely comfortable and under good control.
Also, DS/CC to any handling type procedures that are an issue: In many fear or reactivity cases, the dog is also difficult for being handled in certain ways (such as for toenail trims or grooming). Generally I recommend starting with classical DS/CC where the owner pairs the procedures with food and then increases interval between food until food is no longer needed (See Training a Dog to Enjoy Toenail Trims). Once less food is needed, I often switch to rewarding a specific behavior such as holding still for 10 seconds while being groomed and increasing the amount of time the dog must perform the good behavior to earn the reward.

This is the overall approach to the fearful or reactive dog in a nutshell. It’s all about addressing the dog’s overall ability to look to you for guidance, and your ability to be aware of his emotional state and to reward desired behaviors and remove rewards for unwanted behaviors. Because the techniques do actually involve skill and technique, unless your dog is extremely easy, you will most likely need coaching. But now you’ll know what to look for and you’ll be aware of the common mistakes to avoid.

Fear of going to the vet

https://positively.com/dog-behavior/behavior-problems/fears-and-phobias/fear-of-going-to-the-vet/
(Victoria Stilwell – “Positively”)

For your dog, the veterinarian can be a scary person to visit, and for good reason. A puppy’s first veterinary experience is often for vaccinations, which can create a life time of fear. If your dog puts the brakes on in front of the veterinary hospital or trembles as he waits for the vet to arrive, he is not alone. Most dogs have some kind of aversion to the vet’s office from understandable nerves to full blown panic attacks.

Modern veterinary medicine is trying to create a more relaxing environment for their clients. Dr. Marty Becker is currently developing an exciting new initiative called Fear Free Vet Visits which will help provide tools to attack this issue from many different angles – the owner, the vet, the vet’s staff, medical and procedural.

But what can you do to make the experience a little less frightening for your dog?

How to Help Your Dog Be Less Fearful of the Veterinarian

Make sure your puppy or dog likes or at least accepts being touched. Handle your puppy or dog’s paws, mouth, ears etc .and make it a pleasurable experience by pairing it with something your dog loves, such as food. When it comes time to being handled by a vet, the sensation should not be so unpleasant.
Take your dog to the veterinarian but not for a procedure. Have the receptionists, vet techs and veterinarians give your dog his favorite food or toy and build up a pleasant association with their presence.
Try to stay with your dog as much as possible for procedures. There might be procedures that have to be done away from you but you will give your dog much more confidence if you are there to comfort him.
Ask the vet techs get a non slip mat for the floor or table. Most examination tables are metal and slippery. This makes dogs very uncomfortable and even more insecure.
Take tasty treats with you and give them to your dog while you are waiting. If your dog is too stressed he might not feel like eating.
If your dog likes being touched give him a massage to relax him. Long, gentle strokes should bring down his stress levels.
Be calm because the more stressed you are the more your dog will feel it.
Play calming music to your dog, which helps reduce anxiety.
Ask your vet about hosting puppy play parties so that pups build up a positive association with the environment.
If your dog is too stressed you might have to give him a sedative to calm him down before you leave for his appointment.
For wellness visits and simple procedures consider having the veterinarian do a home visit. This kind of medical practice is becoming a lot more popular.

Games for building reliable recall behavior for your dog

(From The Whole Dog Journal, Sep 2014)
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/17_9/features/Games-for-Building-Reliable-Recall-Behavior-for-Your-Dog_21038-1.html

Take some pressure off by turning your recall practice into fun and games.

I love incorporating play and training, especially when training recalls. The recall is a really important behavior – one that can mean the difference between your dog having to stay on leash or having leash-free romp time. It is also a life-saving skill – like when a dog is running toward a busy road, and you need him to respond to your cue to return to you, quickly! But teaching the recall behavior to your dog can be challenging – and sometimes a little overwhelming.

Take some pressure off by turning your recall practice into fun and games. This can help you and your dog enjoy the training and take it to the next level. Some of these games focus on a specific element of “Come,” while others help build enthusiasm for the recall.

Keep Away
One of the most important elements of coming when called is what your dog does when he gets to you. Dog trainers call this the “finish” or end behavior. To play the “Keep Away” game, first think about what you want your dog’s end behavior to look like. Get a really clear picture in your head. Here is my picture: My dog runs up to me, flies into a sit, and makes eye contact. Some people want their dogs to run up and stand, touch a hand target, or run to their side into the heel position. All are great choices.

Now that you have a picture in your head, help your dog understand what you would like her to do. For a sit-in-front finish, back one step away from your dog, say “Come!” (or whatever your recall cue is) and encourage her to follow. As she comes up to you, ask for a sit, and when she does it, click – or use another marker, such as the word “Yes!” – and reward your dog with a tasty high-value treat. Practice your finish behavior in a low-distraction environment until your dog understands what to do when he hears “Come.” (Dogs usually get it in a few short sessions.) This is where the real fun begins!

Now that your dog knows that “Come” means move toward you and sit in front of you, you can make it more exciting and interesting by adding in the “keep away” piece. Complete the exercise as described above, and then, immediately after rewarding your dog, turn 90 degrees, and say “Come!” while moving a few steps away.

Click (or “Yes!”) and treat when your dog catches up and does the finish behavior. Repeat with the excited attitude of “You can’t catch me!” and then celebrate when your dog does! Gradually make this more fun and more difficult. For example, once your dog is finding your front easily, say “Come” and then turn and run in the other direction for a few steps before you stop. Your dog will enjoy the chase and have fun practicing the finish.

Tips:Be exciting. Use high-value rewards, such as great food treats, tug games, or chase games to build enthusiasm. If you can’t move quickly or run, try tossing your treat rewards a short distance away so that your dog has to run back to you to play again.

Whiplash Head Turn
Where the “keep away” game trains the end behavior of a recall, the “whiplash head turn” exercise trains the beginning – when your dog turns his head quickly away from something interesting and re-orients to you. There are tons of versions of this game. Here is one of my favorites.

Start with tossing a treat a few feet away from you so that your dog moves away to get the treat. I like to say, “Get it!” as I toss so she knows she has permission to eat it. As your dog is finishing the treat (but before she looks back at you), say her name. As her head turns in your direction, click or “Yes!” and give him a really awesome reward – something super special. Then repeat, gradually tossing the treats a little farther away as your dog’s confidence in the game grows.

A fun variation on this game is to toss a treat in one direction, tell your dog to “Get it,” and then, as he grabs that treat, say his name and toss another treat in another direction. Repeat until your dog is racing back and forth. For energetic dogs this is a great way to build excitement for the head turn.

Tips: Timing is important with this game. Be sure to click or “Yes!” when your dog’s head is turning back to you to encourage the speedy whiplash turn. If your dog loves to run, gradually toss the treats farther away so she gets to run more.

Hide and Seek
Hide and seek is a fun game to play in the house, in your garden, or on off-leash walks. It can be played with your dog knowing the game is afoot or as a surprise game, played at unexpected times throughout the day. It helps your dog learn to look for you when she hears your recall word and, when played randomly, it also helps your dog learn to come when she is otherwise engaged.

To get started with the basic game, have your dog wait in one place or one room. If your dog doesn’t know how to wait, you can also have someone restrain or distract her. Go into another room, behind a tree or around a corner and hide. Ask your dog to “COME find me” (emphasize your cue for the recall). When your dog finds you, give a great big happy reward: a game, happy petting, or a special treat. Repeat few times (stop while your dog is really engaged).

Once your dog understands the basics of this game, you can play the surprise version at various points during your day. For example:

When walking at the beach, when your dog is sniffing something, hide behind a nearby rock. Call her “Come find me” and when she finds you, get crazy happy and play one of your favorite beach games such as tossing the ball or running into the water together. Note: If your dog doesn’t head in your direction pretty quickly, pop up from behind the rock and wave your arms so she can get to you.

In the woods, duck behind a tree when your dog is just a little way in front. Call her enthusiastically and when she gets to you, reward her with a small handful of great treats.

When your dog is hanging out at home or cruising the backyard, hide and call, “Come find me!” Reward her with a great game of tug when she finds you.

Tips: When you are away from home, do not make the hiding place too difficult. This may cause too much stress for your dog, which will not be fun. In addition, time your calls so that you know your dog will disengage from his exploring easily. I do not recommend hide and seek as a way to frighten your dog into thinking you’ve abandoned him because he was not paying attention. Make this game fun, upbeat, and full of happy reconnections.

Round Robin Recalls
This is a great recall game that involves two or more people. It is also a great game to play after you’ve played “keep away” and “whiplash head turn.” “Round robin recalls” build on your dog’s ability to turn away from something she likes (a person who has just given her a treat) and run to the person calling her.

To get started, you and your game partners will stand about 10 to 12 feet away from each other. If you have two people, you will face each other. With three or more people, create a circle with all of you facing the center. Your dog is with one of the people or in the center of the circle.

One person calls the dog by saying the dog’s name and then “Come!” For example: “Jessie, come!” As the dog looks for the caller, the caller can encourage the dog to come by clapping, opening his or her arms, getting low, cheering, or running a few steps away; encourage your dog in any way except by saying her name or giving the recall cue again.

Once your dog gets to the caller, the caller will click or “Yes!” and reward the dog generously. Each person calls the dog randomly and in no particular order. At first, make it super easy for the dog by keeping the distance close, providing encouragement, and rewarding generously and with enthusiasm. As your dog gets the hang of the game, encourage her to do the “finish” behavior when she gets to the caller.

To make this game more exciting, increase the size of the circle so your dog really gets running. After a few play sessions, try having people move randomly in the area to new spots. This helps your dog start to look for and find the caller. (After dozens of play sessions, my dog will now run across the park to get to us when we play this game. We also move from place to place in the park so that she has to figure out where we are; it’s tons of fun and great exercise for us all.) Do remember that your dog runs a lot in this game; stop while she is enjoying it and before she gets too tired.

Tips: At first, have everyone who is calling the dog use the same treats. But after the dog learns the game, you can vary the types of treats between each person. Just make sure they are all things the dog really loves (silly play, great food treats, or a game of tug).

A Few More

Here are three more quick games:
Dinnertime recalls. Have your dog sit or down and stay while you prepare his dinner. When his meal is ready, move a few feet away and say, “Come!” When your dog gets to you, put his dinner bowl down. Once your dog is really good at this game, continue to have your dog stay while you take the food bowl into another room. Call your dog to you; getting to eat his yummy meal is the reward.

“You’re the most wonderful dog” recall. Call your dog to you. When your dog comes, get down on the ground and play, play, play for at least three solid minutes. (I love this game because my dog’s reward is also my reward!)

Get the Ball Recall. Have two balls ready. Call your dog to you, and as she comes to you, click or “Yes! for the sit or finish, and then instantly throw the ball. When your dog gets the ball and has turned back toward you, say, “Come!” – yes, even though your dog is already running your way! Click or “Yes!” when your dog gets to you, and throw a second ball in the other direction as the reward. This game can be fast and furious; it’s great fun for ball-crazed dogs.

Be careful to wait and call your dog back to you after she has the ball (so she doesn’t learn that getting the ball is part of the coming when called).

Practice Makes Perfect
Remember, just as when we play any new game with our dogs, it will take a few play sessions for your dog to learn the rules and goals of these “coming when called” games. But once your dog understands and enjoys them, you can get creative, adding challenges to the games, switching rewards, and building up by incorporating more distractions. In addition, make up new games to play and incorporate the things your dog loves into your recall practice. Practicing with games can motivate both you and your dog to train and play your way to a fantastic, impressive recall.

Author/trainer Mardi Richmond, MA, CPDT-KA, lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. She shares her life with her wife and a wonderful heeler-mix. She is the owner of Good Dog Santa Cruz, where one of her specialties is helping people work through recall issues.

Combating your dog’s urine-marking behavior in the house

(From The Whole Dog Journal Sep 2014)

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/17_9/features/Combating-Your-Dogs-Urine-Marking-Behavior-in-the-House_21041-1.html

Are you dealing with a dog who “urine-marks” in the house? Don’t despair! There are many things you can do to stop this vexing habit.

By Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

I can still remember the day, more than a decade ago, when I first realized with horror that our Scottish Terrier, Dubhy (pronounced “Duffy”), was marking in the house. We were trying to sell our Tennessee home at the time, which made the indoor leg-lifting behavior doubly disturbing. Homes with urine stains and odors don’t show particularly well. Dubhy was young, just over a year old. I wrote off the amber-colored stains I found on the heater vent to not-quite-finished housetraining, redoubled my management efforts, and stepped up the “potty outside” routine. It didn’t help. I began to question my professional dog-trainer credentials. Personally faced with persistent indoor marking, one of the more frustrating challenges dog owners encounter, I was not succeeding at resolving it.

Leg-lifting is a natural, normal behavior for dogs, especially (although not exclusively) for males. Of course, like lots of other natural, normal dog behaviors, it’s unacceptable to most owners. Fortunately, most male dogs learn pretty quickly that humans, for some unfathomable reason, don’t appreciate their efforts to tell the world that the house, and all items within in it, are the property of the dog and his family. “Keep your paws off!” he is saying to the world.

Indoor marking is also often a function of stress. Dogs who are anxious about their environment are more likely to mark indoors than those who are relaxed and calm. Stress-related marking is harder to modify than the simple “This is my stuff” leg-lifting. Dubhy was a calm, easygoing, laid-back dude. The idea of stress-induced marking didn’t even enter my mind.

Only after several years had passed did I realize that Dubhy’s indoor marking coincided precisely with the start of his dog-reactive behavior. The dog reactivity emerged as the result of a pair of roaming Labradors Retrievers (who lived a mile away) who repeatedly breached their underground shock fence, visited our yard, and fought through our fence with our indomitable Scottie. I eventually realized well after the fact that the two behaviors were connected. Duh. The stress of the two intruding Labradors set off Dubhy’s marking.

Modifying Marking: The Surgical Solution
In Dubhy’s case, my initial analysis of incomplete housetraining, although incorrect, was not entirely off base. Indoor marking often begins in adolescent males because it is a natural behavior. Those “easy” cases often respond well to standard housetraining protocols: increasing the dog’s management to reduce his opportunity to mark, taking him outdoors to potty far more frequently, reinforcing appropriate elimination outside, and interrupting any leg lifts you happen to see with a reminder: “Oops! Outside!”
Of course, housetraining and/or behavior-modification efforts need to be accompanied by a good clean-up program using an enzymatic cleaner, to eliminate any lingering odor of urine (which invites the dog to mark again). It’s also important to rule out or treat any urinary-tract infections as possible contributors to inappropriate elimination. And don’t forget neutering!

According to Dr. Nicholas Dodman, veterinary behaviorist at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, about 60 percent of intact male dogs will stop urine-marking within weeks or months if they are neutered. Other sources claim as high as a 90 percent success rate post-neutering.

Suffice it to say that neutering is a good first step if you are faced with a house-marking challenge. This is at least in part because intact male dogs will mark everything in response to the scent of a female in season somewhere in the area, and in part because testosterone in general contributes to the motivation to make a “this is mine” statement. Marking by female dogs will also usually resolve with spaying. Of course, the older the dog and the longer your dog has been practicing the marking behavior, the less likely it is that sterilization alone will fix the problem.
Dubhy, however, was neutered some five months before he started marking. That clearly wasn’t the answer to our dilemma. Nor did our return to a basic housetraining protocol stop his behavior.

Modifying Marking: Stress Reduction
The 10 to 40 percent of dogs who don’t stop their marking after neutering and remedial housetraining efforts are probably, like Dubhy, marking because of stress. In some cases, identifying stressors and removing them can eliminate marking. There are a variety of different strategies for removing stressors (see sidebar, right). The more stress you can remove, the more likely it is the marking will cease. Other than his reactive aggression toward other dogs, however, Dubhy was a pretty laid-back, mellow guy. We had talked to the neighbors on several occasions about keeping their wandering Labrador Retrievers at home, but Dubhy really didn’t seem to have a whole lot of additional stress in his life.

Exercise is an excellent stress reducer that can help your indoor-marker feel less compelled to lift his leg in your living room. Vigorous off-leash aerobic outings can work wonders with a variety of behavioral issues, as can force-free training routines that require a dog to think, and that tire him mentally. Products such as Adaptil (plug-in pheromone diffuser) can also be effective in decreasing stress levels for some dogs, as can calming massage, aromatherapy, and musical products from Through a Dog’s Ear (see “Rest Easy,” WDJ August 2014).

Modifying Marking: Medicate or Manage
Dr. Dodman suggests that dogs who persistently mark indoors and don’t respond to neutering and housetraining protocols almost always need anti-anxiety medication to resolve the problem. Indeed, pharmaceutical intervention can be quite successful, especially when combined with an ongoing behavior modification program.
Many dog owners prefer to avoid medication if possible, and choose, instead, to use a belly band for their indoor male markers (diapers are necessary for females). This is a reasonable solution to a vexing problem, if the dog accepts the device easily. If the dog can routinely Houdini his way out of the band, or is clearly distressed by wearing it, then it’s not a viable option and medication is a better choice.

We opted for management with Dubhy. He happily accepted his belly band, lined with a sanitary pad, and stood quietly when I told him it was time to put his pants on. Delivering a treat after applying the belly band helped keep him happy about the procedure. He would still mark into the band, so I had to change it as needed to prevent urine burns on his sensitive, bare abdomen.

Our earlier housetraining effort had at least succeeded in convincing Dubhy not to mark in our presence, so he could go pants-free when the family relaxed together evenings in the living room, and for sleep-time overnight in our bedroom. We used baby gates and closed doors to keep him in view. It was only for his unsupervised house-time that the band was required. Sure, I occasionally grumbled internally about the inconvenience of replacing pads and laundering belly bands, and groused out loud when he occasionally managed to pee out from under the band and I had to do clean-up duty, but it allowed us to have a peaceful life with our boy who might otherwise have been the source of much angst over the years.

We lost our beloved Dubhy a few months ago to lymphoma – a nasty and aggressive cancer. We miss him a lot. I’d give anything to have the privilege of putting belly bands on him again.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers.

Strategies for Stressors

I utilize five strategies for dealing with stressors. When I’m working with a client whose dog has stress-related behavior issues such as marking, aggression, or generalized anxiety, we list as many stressors as we can think of, assign one or more strategies to each stressor, and agree on which ones we will actively work on. Removing stressors doesn’t necessarily make the unwanted behavior go away, but it does make your behavior-modification efforts much more likely to be successful.

Here are the strategies:

1. Get Rid of It: Get rid of anything aversive that causes unnecessary pain or stress, including shock collars, choke chains, and prong collars, and penny cans or throw chains. Even head halters, considered by some trainers to be positive training tools, are aversive to many dogs.

2. Manage your dog’s exposure to the stressors: If your dog isn’t fond of small children and there are none in your life (and he doesn’t encounter them regularly in your neighborhood), you can manage him (as I did) the one time each year your sister comes to visit with your young niece and nephew, by keeping him in another part of the house when the kids are awake and about.

3. Change His Association to the stressors: Convince him that something that stresses him is actually very wonderful by pairing it consistently with something else wonderful. If your dog is stressed by men with beards, you can convince him that men with beards always make chicken happen by having a bearded man appear, and feeding your dog bits of chicken, over and over and over again, until he wants furry-faced men to appear so he can have more chicken. The key to successful counter-conditioning, as this process is called, is to always keep the dog below threshold; you want him a little aware of and worried about the aversive stimulus, but not quaking in fear or barking and lunging. (See “Counter-Conditioning,” next page.)

4. Teach Him a New Behavior around the stressors: Perhaps your dog becomes highly aroused by visitors coming to the door. He’s not fearful or aggressive, but the high arousal is a stressor. You can teach him that the doorbell is his cue to run and get in his crate, where he’ll receive a stuffed Kong or other doggie delectable (see “Knock Knock,” February 2010). Or you can teach him that visitors will toss toys for him to chase if he sits politely when the door opens.

5. Live With the stressors: You don’t have to actively do something about every stressor in your dog’s world; every dog can tolerate some level of stress and a few stressors. Just try to do something about the ones that are easy to manage or remove from his environment, and be conscious that when he’s being exposed to the ones that you can’t do much about (say, sounds of construction coming from the building project next door), he may be more likely to exhibit urine-marking or other stress-related behaviors at that time.

Counter-Conditioning

Counter-conditioning involves changing your dog’s association with a scary or arousing stimulus from negative to positive. The easiest way to give most dogs a positive association is with very high-value, really yummy treats. I like to use white meat from chicken – canned, baked, or boiled, since most dogs love chicken and it’s a low-fat food.

Here’s how the process works:

1. Determine the distance at which your dog can be in the presence of the stimulus and be alert or wary but not extremely fearful or aroused. This is called the threshold distance.

2. With you holding your dog on leash, have a helper present the stimulus at threshold distance X. The instant your dog sees the stimulus, start feeding him bits of chicken, non-stop.

3. After several seconds, have the helper remove the stimulus, and stop feeding chicken.

4. Keep repeating steps 1-3 until the presentation of the stimulus at that distance consistently causes your dog to look at you with a happy smile and a “Yay! Where’s my chicken?” expression. This is a conditioned emotional response (CER) – your dog’s association with the stimulus at threshold distance X is now positive instead of negative.

5. Now you need to increase the intensity of the stimulus. You can do that by decreasing distance to X minus Y; by increasing movement of the stimulus at distance X (a child walking, skipping, or swinging her arms); by increasing number of stimuli (two or three children, instead of one); increasing the visual “threat” (a tall man instead of a short one, or a man with a beard instead of a clean-shaven one); or by increasing volume (if it’s a stimulus that makes noise, such as a vacuum cleaner). I’d suggest decreasing distance first in small increments by moving the dog closer to the location where the stimulus will appear, achieving his new CER at each new distance, until he is happy to be very near to the non-moving stimulus, perhaps even sniffing or targeting to it.

6. Return to distance X and increase the intensity of your stimulus (move the vacuum a little; have two children instead of one; have the man put on a hat, or a backpack), gradually decreasing distance and attaining CERs along the way, until your dog is delighted to have the moderately intense stimulus in close proximity.

7. Now, back to distance X, increase intensity again, by having your helper turn the vacuum on briefly, feed treats the instant it’s on, then turn it off, and stop the treats. (Or turn up the volume, or add more children, etc.)

8. Repeat until you have the CER, then gradually increase the length of time you have your dog in the presence of the increased-intensity stimulus, until he’s happy (but not aroused) to have it present continuously.

9. Begin decreasing distance in small increments, moving the dog closer to the stimulus, obtaining his new CER consistently at each new distance.

10. When your dog is happy to have the higher-intensity stimulus close to him, you’re ready for the final phase. Return to distance X and obtain his new CER there, with a full-intensity stimulus – a running, moving vacuum; multiple children laughing and playing; a tall man with a beard wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a backpack. Then gradually decrease distance until your dog is happy to be in the presence of your full-intensity stimulus. He now thinks the stimulus is a very good thing, as a reliable predictor of very yummy treats. In the case of a human stimulus, you can gradually work up to actual interaction with the human(s) at this stage, by having the person(s) drop treats as they walk by, then letting him take treats from their fingers – without direct eye contact, and eventually working up to normal interaction.