Keep on Moving….

This past week, Eddie and I’ve been working hard like little bumblebees.  So much so, I’ve dreamt I’ve been .chased down by them.  The bee theme even continued in my waking life from bees trying to get in my house and even stinging my little Boogs to hearing about bees on NPR.  Whatever the relevance, we know the bee is symbolic of our week.

You may be wondering what’s precipitated all this buzz and energy?  Well, we are moving. Eddie is in the military and with that comes many, many moves.  Once we get settled, he comes down on orders for another move.  Such is our life and one I don’t readily accept. I’ve built a life for myself here and I’ve delved into a new career path as a dog trainer.  I’ve forged friendships and partnerships and it can make me tear up thinking about parting ways.  I know I feel the stress of strangers coming into my home and touching my things in order to put in boxes and see all of our things get put on a truck and hoping things don’t get lost, stolen or broken.  I wonder how my Jack and Bernie Bear feel?

I’ve learned a thing or two of dogs and dog behavior.  I understand my own dogs’ limitations and I strive in keeping things as stress free as possible during this time of our lives. We decided to board them for a couple of days while the packers and movers are here.  I know they enjoy their time at Howl A Day Inn and I’m rest assured they are relaxed and having hours of playtime.

Moving is an unbelievably stressful experience for a dog.  First a stranger comes into the home wearing a uniform.  This alone can set any dog off.  I know my pups would be constantly trying to figure out this person or persons and trying to make a determination if they are ok people.  Then pile on these strange people coming in and putting together boxes and watching the packers put their stuff into them.  I know this would heighten any level of anxiety.  I know I feel uncomfortable when we allow for strangers to touch our things and pack them away.  Its out of our control at this point.  Thirdly, watching the constant door opening and closing, this alone can make a dog decide on fight or flight response and bolting can totally add to the stress of this event.

In thinking about all these triggers, I wondered what other people did who are also wearing similiar shoes.  How do other people, military or not, manage their pets when movers are in the house.  I asked the experts.  During lunch on the first day of the packers being here, Eddie and I asked them if they had any crazy stories of packing people’s stuff.  They shared with us some of their both misfortunate and funny experiences.  One thing they did highlight for us was a usual response by families with dogs.  The packers often hear, “Oh don’t worry, he/she won’t bite”.  When I heard them start the story by saying this, I thought “uh oh” this isn’t going to be good.  They told us a story of one of their colleagues who was packing up a house. The family dog was watching the packer and standing nearby him.  The packer asked the family if the dog is friendly with people.  The owner said, “Oh don’t worry, he won’t bite”.  So, the packer took the owner’s word for it and started packing.  If you ever watched packers, they are fast and with laser focus, well at least the ones who came to our house. As the packer was wrapping and tearing tape, the dog still stood there. No one was observing the dog or even interpreting his calming signals (like lip licking, hard stare, rigid body to name a few)  because I can almost guarantee he was giving them.  As the packer started on the next box, the dog lunged and bit the packers hand.  I saw a picture and it was a severe puncture to the hand.  The packers we had who worked with him said he was given worker’s compensation since he had to receive medical treatment for this injury.  I don’t blame the dog.  I blame the owner of the dog for not understanding and interpreting the dog’s stress response to this situation.

After hearing this story, I said, a response to a family who says “Oh, don’t worry, he/she won’t bite” is “the dog has teeth, he/she can bite”.  Maybe them saying this to a family will make the family think twice about keeping their dog away from them.  Maybe they will consider saying this to a family, maybe not, but I know I was relaxed knowing my Bears were playing in a safe, caring environment and away from all the chaos.

Pets and Mental Illness

The other day, I was in Albertsons picking up a few odds and ends when I came across Time Magazine in the checkout aisle.  Time devoted its most recent publication and titled it, The Animal Mind: What They’re Thinking and Feeling and How to Understand Them.  You can check out a bit on the edition: The Animal Mind.

Time discusses aspects of the animal mind from what is their level of awareness or consciousness to concepts of language and communication and pack units.  The one area of focus which struck me and I’ve found relevant in my work as a dog trainer is the idea of mental illness and animals.  I find mental illness so intriguing in both the human and animal world and how it manifests and becomes integrated into an individuals world and the impact into the family and larger community.  I’ve studied Social Work in both undergrad and graduate school and I have direct care experience in working with people, particularly, children with mental illness.  I don’t espouse myself an expert in the field, but I do have a deep understanding the impact of it in our lives.  Now, I find myself seeing mental illness in our furry companions.

I’ve heard this before, but not in specific context of animals having mental illness, “Animals in the wild live lives they’re intended to live.  Animals forced to interact with us live very different ones.  They live in our homes, zoos and amusement parks….And so they go nuts.  Animals that live in zoos sway, pace or sink into languor.  Parrots in cages tear at their own feathers.  Abused dogs retreat in terror at the sight of a human hand” (Mental Illness is Not Just For Humans, Time Magazine Aug 2014 pg 84).  Yes, dogs are domesticated.  Yes, over generations have become integrated into family units and look to their human counterpart for direction, love, partnership and work.  The last part, I see becomes lost and a dog’s purpose becomes fuzzy which leads in varying degrees to mental illness.  In the traditional sense, dogs such as Great Pyrenees worked on farms in herding sheep or chickens and it modern terms, Belgian Malinois work in deployment zones finding IED’s or work for the Secret Service in chasing down perpetrators.  Now, not all dogs would excel in these capacities, but dogs have a purpose depending on their breed and the essence of being a dog.  Its our job in drawing out what that purpose is and integrating it as work into our dog’s lives while making the experience fun and rewarding.

The above examples show instinctual traits being harnessed into desired behaviors. These along with many other breeds of dogs are intelligent and highly energetic dogs. Generally speaking, the working breed dogs have a deeper level of energy for work.  If their energy isn’t matched with a job, their behavior becomes destructive.  I’ll take my Jack Bear as an example.  When we adopted him, he was completely frustrated.  Up until that point, he didn’t learn what his role was in the home and would constantly work out his frustration and maybe some anxiety on destroying shoes, purses or anything else which was in his reach.  At that time, he was unemployed and with his high energy and his deep desire for something to do, he found ways in releasing that pent up energy.  If we remained complacent and directionless, I bet you, Jack’s behavior would escalate and he would become unmanageable and it probably would have required a behaviorist’s treatment plan for mental health improvement.

In my short tenure as a dog trainer, I’ve often encountered families who adopted dogs, but have done little or no research on the breed(s) of the dog.  Often, families adopt dogs like German Shepherds or Weimaraners thinking they are so cute as puppies or desire them in becoming a service animal.  When I get referred a client, I often meet the family after the dog began being destructive or displaying more anxious or skittish tendencies.  At this point, its not just basic obedience training, but behavior modification which requires changing the emotional response of the dog.  This type of work is more challenging not only for the dog, but for the owner.  It requires completely knowing your dog from triggers to what the dog finds pleasurable and incorporating BAT training.  This type of work can take months or even years to overcome and may even be for the life of the dog.  Sadly, I may not see a client and their dog until a behavior becomes compulsive.  For instance, I recently met a Belgian Malinois who paced the fence to the point of wearing a circular track in the yard.  He even would chase his tail when becoming overly aroused and needed something to do to displace his energy.  These behaviors are a manifestation of his high level of energy turning into anxiety.  The clients thought the tail chasing was enjoyable and fun to see the dog do while they were upset their backyard was “ruined” because their grass was destroyed by the constant pacing.  Now, it takes more concentrated time and energy by the family in interrupting these behaviors, providing a more appropriate outlet for the energy and constant supervision until the dog is more settled.  The more attention required by the family at this point is overwhelming and often I hear I can’t do this and discussion moves towards re-homing their dog which they’ve had for several months or years.  If the family understood the needs of the Belgian Malinois before this point and provided him with basic obedience as soon as he entered the home and learned about some other higher level training like agility or herding classes (herding is the natural instinct for Belgian Malinois), then he most likely may have found fulfillment in his life and his energy would be properly displaced on to more desirable activities.

The main takeaway is remember your dog is still a dog and even though he has the capability for love and requires the utmost consideration of his wellbeing, he still needs and will thrive with structure, rules, obedience and finding his purpose for life.  If you find yourself in a situation where you think you may need some help, look for positive reinforcement trainers in your area.  Your trainer will be able to evaluate if the behaviors warrant a trained behaviorist.

Pet Nutrition and Diet Graduate!!

WooHoo!  I successfully completed the continuing education class, Pet Nutrition and Diet.  Man, this was a information dense class and one I’m glad I enrolled in through ABC.  The program delved into what is required for our pet’s diets (eh hem, it would be applicable for our diets too) down to how food is digested and broken down and used for energy, repair, growth and protection.  I’ve learned a great deal about how out of sync the Western Diet is and in fact, how detrimental it is not only for our pets, but for us too.

In no way do I claim to be an expert nor do I feel at this point I could provide an outline of a diet for a specific purpose such as if a client came to me requesting a nutritional plan for their dog with cancer, diabetes, ect…  What I can do for those specific special cases is give adequate and trusted referrals to those who are able to help them.  What I can also do is share with my clients the basic principles of diet and nutrition for longevity and vitality with my hope being, if clients begin making the change before a degenerative illness takes its course, then the chances of those diseases decrease and long term health benefits are met.

I look forward to hearing from readers about their experiences with their pet’s diets and feedback on the issue is always welcome!!

Pet Nutrition and Diet Certificate