Science SundayWhat's the Big Deal About Fetching How come some dogs will drive you crazy to play fetch, while others just don't get it (pun intended). We all know it has to do with breeding, but even within breeds we do see variation in this drive. I can anecdotally testify to the differences between breeds. Years ago when our kennel was dedicated to dog sledding and Siberian Huskies, my main interest was still obedience. As you know, retrieving is involved at the higher levels of obedience. Well Maddie, being a sled dog, could never see the point of retrieving, and it took me several years to get her to the level my retrievers are at, at 8 weeks of age. So as we suspected it probably has to do with breeding, but a recent study has found that there may be an element of retrieving innate in all breeds. Christina Hansen-Wheat of Stockholm University, Sweden is interested in how domestication affects animal behaviour, and to that end raises litters of both dog and wolf pups. In one test, a ball is thrown across the room and the pups reaction is documented. It was expected that the wolf pups would show no interest in chasing balls, and indeed this was the case in two of the three wolf litters. However, to their surprise, in the third litter several individuals not only chased the ball but returned it to an unfamiliar person. Although unexpected, in retrospect, Hansen-Wheat surmises that it makes sense. "Wolf puppies showing human-directed behavior could have had a selective advantage in early stages of dog domestication," she says. In other words perhaps a willingness to retrieve led to domestication. Dr. Stanley Coren talks about three different types of intelligence in dogs:
For retrieving breeds on the other hand the activity of retrieving is innately rewarding. If you like playing football, you play football even if you don’t get paid to do it. It just feels good to do it. The same is true for dogs. The one thing common to almost all dogs is their compulsion to bond with their humans. If throwing a ball is how we spend time with our dogs, then it makes sense that they are going to drive us nuts wanting to fetch.
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Why do Dogs YawnIs she really that tired? Bored maybe? Turns out that yawns are another canine body language device that is often translated incorrectly by us humans. Yawns can have a variety of meanings, but to be interpreted correctly, the context of the situation is all important. So what is she tying to tell you:
References: Stanley Coren, Psychology Today, April 25, 2012
Deanna deBara, rover.com, Dog Yawning Decoded Katie Findlay, Why do Dogs Yawn, akc.org, June 15, 2017 Genetics and Dog OwnershipWhy do we love our dogs so much? Could it be that we are slaves to our genetic makeup? I can think of several owners of multiple dogs that would embrace this argument, so lets take a look at a study out of Sweden that asked this very question. Why Sweden? Sweden has a huge registry of twin siblings both identical and fraternal. Identical twins share 100% of their genes, while fraternal twins share 50% genetic makeup. Since twins are raised in the same environment, they offer a perfect laboratory for investigating nature vs nurture studies. Twins share the same environment, so if a trait is genetic, identical twins will look more like each other in that trait than fraternal twins do. The study found that if one identical female twin owned a dog, there was a 40 percent likelihood that her twin would, too, compared with a 25 percent likelihood with fraternal females. When an identical male twin owned a dog, there was a 29 percent likelihood that his twin did, compared with only an 18 percent likelihood for fraternal males. Crunching the numbers further showed that genetic pre-disposition for dog ownership was 51% in men and 57% in women. Dogs themselves are complicit in this strategy by being so darned lovable. So when you are questioned about the number of dogs in your life, now you can explain that it can't be helped, its just in your genes. Puppy BitingIsn't that cute, you may hear as the puppy chews on your hand. Well guess what... not everyone finds it that cute and if not mitigated early, could become dangerous. Puppies learn about biting and nipping as they play with their litter mates. Their litter mates also teach each other how far they can go with this by yelping when it hurts which startles the culprit into letting go. We can co-opt this strategy by yelping "OW" when the puppy nips at us and withdrawing momentarily from the play session. Make sure the puppy is releasing and do not pull your hand away while she has hold of it, this could trigger the chase or tug instinct, which is opposite to what we are looking for. The goal here is to teach the puppy that gentle play continues; rough play stops. Another strategy is to redirect the chewing or nipping to a chew or tug toy. The tug toy option allows the play session to continue without any skin being broken. Be careful that this does not get too aggressive though, it is an ideal time to teach "leave it" or "give" which can prevent problems later on. Herding puppies tend to be "ankle biters". To mitigate ankle biting stop moving, when the puppy stops biting offer him an alternative toy as above. Treats are another option but use soft treats that can be an instant gratification, a biscuit or something similar take a few minutes to be consumed and the puppy will have forgotten why she got it. Puppies and dogs for that matter do not understand "maybe" or "sometimes" . You must be consistent with this and all training for that matter. What are Tails For? Tails are indispensable for canine activities. Even such mundane functions as balance and motion are facilitated by the often mocked canine appendage. Watch how a dog uses it's tail for balance, like a tight rope walker's pole, when navigating a narrow path. Dogs bred for running have long narrow tails used to aid in making high speed turns. In such cases the front legs are thrown into the turn, but the back legs continue in the original direction. To counteract that, the tail is pointed into the turn. Beyond physics though, the tail is an extremely important communication tool in several ways. A wagging tail causes muscles to contract which causes the anal glands located under the tail to release a scent unique to each dog. A dominant dog carries it's tail high and wags to spread the scent, whereas a less dominant dog keeps his tail low, covering the anal glands. Newborn puppies pretty much spend all their time eating and sleeping and have no need for communication and therefore do not wag their tails. By thirty days of age about half of all puppies are tail wagging and the behavior is usually fully established by around forty-nine days of age. They have learned that they can communicate intentions to litter mates with their tails and avoid conflicts or to possibly instigate one. The tail's position, specifically the height at which it is held, can be considered a sort of emotional meter. A middle height suggests the dog is relaxed. If the tail is held horizontally, the dog is attentive and alert. As the tail position moves farther up, it is a sign the dog is becoming more threatening. As the tail position drops lower, it is a sign that the dog is becoming more submissive, is worried, or feels poorly. The extreme expression is the tail tucked under the body, which is a sign of fear. Other common tail movements: ● A slight wag, with each swing of only small breadth, is usually seen during greetings as a tentative, "Hello there," or a hopeful "I'm here." ● A broad wag is friendly: "I am not challenging or threatening you." This can also mean: "I'm pleased." This is the closest to the popular concept of the happiness wag, especially if the tail seems to drag the hips with it. ● A slow wag with the tail at half-mast is less social than most other tail signals. Generally speaking, slow wags with the tail in neither a particularly dominant (high) nor a submissive (low) position are signs of insecurity. ● Tiny, high-speed movements that give the impression of the tail vibrating are signs the dog is about to do something, usually run or fight. If the tail is held high while vibrating, it is most likely an active threat. Recent studies have found a right/left bias in tail wagging indicate state of mind. In humans, the left brain is associated with positive feelings, like love, a sense of attachment, a feeling of safety and calm, whereas the right brain is associated with fear and depression and behaviours that require energy such as fleeing or fighting. Since the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, it follows that the happy, positive feelings of the left brain would bias the tail wagging to the right (dog's right). So what happens with dogs who are appendagely challenged? Anecdotally, it was reported a dog which had always formed playful relationships at a local dog park was assessed very differently after an accident which required amputation of her tail. To study this Dr. Stanley Coren conducted an experiment involving 431 dogs and found that of the encounters involving aggressive elements, the majority involved dogs with docked tails. However there may be a confounding element here in that dogs with docked tails are often more aggressive breeds to begin with. Researchers at the University of Victoria carried this one step further by building a robot Labrador Retriever with a replaceable long and short tail. They found that when the robot was placed in a dog park with the long tail wagging, other dogs approached in a friendly playful manner, however when its tail was held upright and was motionless (a dominant threat signal) the other dogs avoided it. This is what would be expected if it were a real dog. The tail was then replaced with the short tail and all dogs avoided it whether the tail was wagging or not. So it looks like dogs depend on their tails for a variety of functions which makes one wonder why evolution left us humans without one.
New Study Shows More than 70% of Dogs show AnxietyA new study from Finland looked at behavioural traits among 13,715 dogs representing 264 breeds. This study was carried out using surveys filled out by owners. The researchers asked the dogs’ owners to fill in questionnaires surveying behaviours that related to seven anxiety-related traits. These were noise sensitivity, general fear, fear of surfaces, impassivity or lack of attention, compulsive behaviours, aggression, and behaviours relating to separation anxiety. By looking at the survey data, the investigators found that 72.5% of the dogs expressed anxiety-like behaviours. Surprisingly, noise sensitivity was most prevalent, affecting 32% of all the dogs in the study. Among noise-sensitive dogs, the most common fear was that of sounds associated with fireworks which I would assume is similar to gunshots. General fearfulness affected 29% of the dogs in the study. “Specifically, 17% of dogs showed fear of other dogs, 15% fear of strangers, and 11% fear of novel situations,” the authors write. This is the most troublesome trait, since it often leads to unpredictable behaviours such as aggression. In fact the study related the found traits to particular behaviours, which they termed co-morbidity and found that fear and aggression were strongly co-related. I think most dog trainers would have predicted this result, since it is one of the most common problems we encounter. In our experience the best mitigation of fear/aggression is basic obedience training. One anecdotal case was documented in a post from Dog Training Genesis: "I was walking my dog reactive pup on a paved trail this morning. I was giving a little free rein on a six foot leash and she was on my right side. Out of nowhere a woman open her back door to let out her chocolate lab. Also to our right. He came charging and barking down a set of stairs and across the yard to the fence. Only an alleyway separated us. You know how fast it can happen. Before i even had a chance to react, Zoe went into a left side heel and looked straight up at me." The author attributed this outcome to basic obedience training as we have also seen in many cases. Interestingly the study related some of the behavioural traits to breeds as shown in these charts. The study (and larger versions of the charts) can be found at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59837-z#Fig2
Dogs and COVID-19Coronavirus is a large family of viruses which are generally species specific. Coronaviruses in humans cause one third of what is generally diagnosed as common cold and upper respiratory infections. Rarely species specific coronaviruses will jump the species barrier and infect humans. This is what happened with SARS, MERS and is suspected in the current COVID-19 outbreak. Dogs can contract certain types of coronaviruses, such as the canine respiratory coronavirus which is responsible for 9.8% of cases generally known as kennel cough (Wikipedia article Kennel Cough). These types of the virus do not affect humans. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) said that infectious disease experts and multiple international and domestic human and animal health organizations, all agree there is no evidence at this point to indicate that pets become ill with COVID-19 or that they spread it to other animals, including people. That being said, there have been two cases of dogs testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, both from the same residence in Hong Kong. Neither of these animals showed any symptoms of the virus and are believed to have been infected by their owner who did have the disease. Veterinary diagnostic company IDEXX laboratories report they have tested thousands of dogs and cats and have not found a single case of COVID-19. The American Veterinary Medical Association Chief Veterinary Officer Gail Golab says, “We’re not overly concerned about people contracting COVID-19 through contact with dogs and cats.” And there’s science behind that: “The virus survives best on smooth surfaces, such as counter tops and doorknobs,” Golab says. “Porous materials, such as pet fur, tend to absorb and trap pathogens, making it harder to contract them through touch.” The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States says "At this time, there is no evidence that companion animals, can spread COVID-19 or that they might be a source of infection in the United States." But there is always a chance and we don't know to much about the virus yet, so just make sure you are watching that your dog isn't coughing more then normal or have a fever. Our dogs, as always, are a source of comfort and calm for us and especially in this stressful time. So at this time there is no need to practice physical distancing from our dogs, unless you yourself are infected and need to protect your dog. References: American Kennel Club, Can Dogs Get Coronavirus, posted March 20, 2020
Centers for Disease Control, Animals and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), updated March 16, 2020 MarketWatch, Second Dog Tests Positive for Coronavirus as owners warned not to abandon pets, March 21, 2020 WebMD, What are common symptoms of coronavirus, January 22, 2020 Wikipedia, article Kennel Cough Kids and Dog TrainingSo it looks like the kids are going to be home from school for a few weeks. What better chance to get them involved in dog training. This can be a good experience for both the kids and the dog. Kids learn lessons in communication, patience and more importantly in today's world, empathy. The dog will learn that you are not the only person she is required to listen to. Many of the world's best dog trainers began in this way as children (me included) and developed their skills and love of training over a lifetime of interaction with dogs. To begin set both the child and dog up for success. Start with something the dog already knows such as the sit. This may seem redundant, but what we are trying to do is get the child and dog working together. Begin by having the child lure the dog into the sit position just as you taught him originally. Keep this training time fun for both and always offer a lot of encouragement and praise for both dog and kid. A fun game to play with more than one kid can really help strengthen the dogs recall. Have the children in different rooms with treats in their pocket. One kid will tell the dog to come, and when she finds him will sit just as in a normal recall and will be treated. The second child will then call him and so on. As the dog starts to understand the kids can hide in more challenging locations. The dog is learning to think and the kids are having a fun game and learning the basics of obedience. Dogs, especially puppies often jump up on kids, or even adults. The kids can learn to correct this by turning their back on the dog until he stops, turn back and get him to sit and treat. Also, by having your kids teach this technique to guests, they will see how challenging it is to convince other people to follow directions. Since kids can sometimes be unpredictable and inconsistent, you may want to consider having them use different words for the basic commands. If the dog becomes confused about the meaning of a word it can be difficult to retrain it. It has been suggested to have kids use words like "here" rather than "come" so that if the child confuses the dog, you will still have your come command. Teach your child to be patient and never loose their temper with the dog. This will be a valuable skill for both dog training and life in general. Have fun and keep heading Duenorth, the right direction to a well trained dog. "Roses are grey, violets are a different shade of grey, let's go chase cars.", this old joke by Bo Burnham perpetuates the myth that dogs are totally colour blind, they're not. Animals including humans have light receptors in the back of the retina called cones. Humans have three distinct types of cones each of which is tuned to a different frequency of light. In our case, with our some 6 million cones in each eye, we can detect frequencies in the blue, green and red range, giving us the vibrant view we have of the world. Dogs have far fewer cones and only two types, those for blue and green, and are lacking any detector for red. This results in a different perception of the colour spectrum than humans as seen in this chart. So that bright red ball we just thru for our ball crazy friend will be seen as the greyish green at the top of the chart, almost camouflaged on the yellow grass in the middle of the chart. Even at that, the much lower density of cones renders the colours much less vibrant so buddy's bright red ball may be almost invisible. However, we don't need to feel to bad for them, since what they lack in colour perception they make up for in low light acuity. Another structure around the outside of the retina, called rods, are sensitive to low light levels but not colour. The ratio of rods to cones is about 2.5 times higher for dogs than humans, meaning they can detect objects in low light much better than humans. Another adaptation contributing to low light acuity is the larger pupil, allowing more light to reach the retina. Still another adaptation, called the tapetum is a reflective layer behind the retina which reflects light back into the rods and cones. This is what causes animals eyes to shine in the dark when illuminated (this is different from red eye in flash photos of humans which happens because the iris cannot close quick enough to filter the light and we see the reflection of the blood rich retina). Humans do not have a tapetum. So it turns out dogs do see colours, although not as vibrantly nor as many hues as we do but have built in night vision. References: Are Dogs Colorblind? Elizabeth Palermo
Live Science June 27, 2014 Can Dogs See Colors, Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC Psychology Today, Oct 20 2008 Do Dogs Actually Use Color Vision?Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC Psychology Today, July 22, 2013 Doggone: Your Best Friend Is Red-Green Colorblind,Laura Geggel Live Science Nov 8, 2017 Do we really need the "Stay" commandSo you've taught sit, down and maybe even place. Do you really need "stay" to get her to keep doing what you just told them to do? Each command needs to have an end point. In the case of the "sit", do we mean the command is finished when her butt hits the ground and now she can decide what's next unless we follow with a stay? Many trainers feel the stay is unnecessary since when you taught sit, it should mean sit and keep doing it until I tell you otherwise. The otherwise could be another command such as "come" or "down" or whatever. Even the "stay" needs an end point, but often we just leave him there until he decides what's next. If stay is used it needs to be reinforced until the handler decides its done. On the other hand you can have the same result by just reinforcing the original command of "sit" or "down" or whatever it was until the finish.
Another way to indicate the finish is the "break" or "free" marker. This means we are done and you can do what you like. But it can also be used as the reinforcement for other commands. Teaching "break" with a reward such as food or play gives you another tool to reinforce other commands and this is how you do it. Suppose we are teaching sit and you have the behaviour and have named it. Now stop feeding at the command but wait a few seconds then give "free" signal and treat. Now keep extending that time until the dog learns " holy cow I've got to keep doing this until she releases me or I don't get paid". This is maybe a subtle difference from stay but interesting concept. Let us know what you think. Puppy Dog EyesAhh. So cute. We've all seen those "puppy dog eyes" and usually with the same reaction. But why do dogs give us this endearing gaze? Studies have shown that eye contact is an important aspect of human bonding and is associated with increased levels of oxytocin, the feel good hormone. In a study documented in Live Science, researchers found elevated levels of oxytocin in both humans and dogs after they spent some time just gazing at each other. It has been well documented that dogs as we know them evolved from more social wolves hanging around human encampments and scrounging for food. So have dogs actually developed this trait as a way of weaseling more food from us? Since dogs do not generally use eye contact in intra-species communication, the same study surmised that this endearing trait developed strictly to communicate with humans. Indeed, in a study documented in Current Biology, a group of wolves that had been socialized to humans were unable to locate food treats pointed out by the humans by either touching or pointing to the same degree of success as dogs. In a second part of the same study the animals were given an insolvable task such as getting to food in a jar. The wolves in this case would eventually give up and leave, however the dogs, presented with the same dilemma, tended to turn to the humans for help, engaging eye contact. This behavioral development actually led to a physical evolutionary development in the facial muscles of dogs. The excellent PBS program Nova looked into this and documented studies showing that wolves lack two sets of facial muscles required to manipulate the facial expression we know as puppy dog eyes. One set of these muscles is used to lift the eyebrows up, while the other, pulls to the outside resulting in the wide, expressive eyes that remind us of human babies, or a person on the verge of tears, generally resulting in an emotive response from the subject human. As a sort of "missing link" in this evolutionary development, Nova reported that one species, the Siberian Husky, has only one set of these muscles, the ones used to pull the eyebrows up. This is because Siberian Husky's are more like their distant relative the wolves and have only developed one set of these muscles. So are our four legged friends master manipulators or just making use of an evolutionary response taught by eliciting a beneficial response from us. Either way those puppy dog eyes seem to benefit both species.
Charging Your MarkerSo your ready to start training your new dog. You tell her to sit and.... nothing. We need to start by getting her to pay attention. This is generally done with food treats. Your dog needs to be food motivated so you may need to skip a meal or two to get to the starting point. Once she is food motivated and ready to work, now we can start "charging the marker". By marker we mean some sort of signal that she has done well and is about to be rewarded for it. Dogs live in the moment, second to second, so we must signal them the instant we get the behaviour we are looking for. Just giving the reward without a marker is ambiguous for the dog, he may think he just lucked out, and you will not be able to present the reword at the exact right moment every time. The marker will establish anticipation and attention. The marker can be anything, some people use a clicker but that can be inconvenient when you can't find it. Easier to just use a word like "YES" or "GOOD". At this stage we are not trying to teach commands, just establishing the marker and payment. So suppose he is on a leash, walk backward away from him and stop lure him into a sit position but don't name the command just say "GOOD" hold the food in front of you so he's looking at your face then give the food. If he moves away give a negative signal "NO" and withhold the food. When he looks at you again "GOOD" and treat. Repeat this many, many times until he knows "GOOD" means payday. Again we are not naming any commands at this stage because we are only teaching that "GOOD", or clicker or whatever you are using means a reward is coming. This is called "charging the marker" and once you have that firmly established you are ready to start using your marker to teach any behaviour. Don't forget she needs to be food motivated for this to work. Some trainers, when doing continuous training, will never feed the dog from a bowl because they are using food strictly as rewards and they are getting all their food that way, but if you are not working that intensely with your dog, remember that they have been getting fed all through the training process and to cut back some at feeding time. We don't want a bunch of fat dogs even if they are beautifully trained. Have fun and keep heading Duenorth, the right direction to a well trained dog. Why do dogs scratch the ground after peeingDivots all over the lawn, gravel flying all over. Someone just had a pee. But why do dogs need to scratch the ground after peeing? Actually, only around 10 percent of dogs do it," said Rosie Bescoby, a clinical animal behaviorist with the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors in the United Kingdom and she says that it appears to occur equally in males and females, although it was observed that males that do it, do it more frequently than the females that do it, which may be why most people think it is a male thing. A 2004 paper studied 12 female Jack Russels, 6 spayed and 6 intact and watched their urinary behaviors. They observed that these dogs were more likely to urinate more frequently and aim their urine at objects when away from home in comparison to when they were walked close to home and concluded that scent marking was an important function of urination, especially away from home area. Male dogs have also been observed to raise their legs more frequently to urinate when in the presence of another dog. We can corroborate this from observations in our boarding kennel where all the dogs are away from home and around strange dogs. But still why the scratching? Most studies conclude that, given the marking functions explained above, the scratching is just a method of distributing that scent over wider territory. In addition, dogs have sweat glands in their paw pads and by scratching at the ground they are also adding that additional scent to the already lovely odour. Most studies also hypothesize that the marks left on the ground contribute a visual component to the marking function of the behaviour for passers by. Scientists who study this sort of thing call this a composite signal. At any rate, ground scratching is not a behaviour we need to discourage, just stand clear when the dirt starts flying. Have fun and keep heading Duenorth, the right direction to a well trained dog. References: Physiology Today, Ground Scratching by Dogs: Scent, Sight, and Ecstasy, Mark Bekoff PhD March 03, 2019 Eileen and dogs, Ground Scratching: Why Does My Dog Do It? Eileen Anderson, December 02, 2014 Live Science, Why do dogs scratch the ground after they pee? Emma Bryce, August 04 2018. PetMD, 12 Dog Peeing Positions and What They Mean. Jennifer Coates DVM Can Dogs feel guilty? You’ve come home to find the counter cleared off and the empty bread bag on the floor with Fido nearby, head down eyes averted looking guilty as hell. But does she really feel guilt. Seventy-four percent of dog owners believe that their dogs experience guilt. It sure looks like guilt. Psychologists label feelings like happiness and fear as primary emotions, that is a direct response to external events, and there is plenty of evidence of these emotions in dogs. But emotions like jealousy, pride, and guilt are termed secondary emotions and are feelings about feelings. There has been little evidence of secondary emotions in animal cognition literature. That does not mean that dogs do not experience guilt but perhaps that hang dog look is really something else. Charles Darwin observed that the types of behaviours associated with guilt - keeping one's head down, and averting one's gaze - are also seen in other social non-human primate species. These behaviours have been interpreted as a means to mitigate retaliation for transgressions in social groups and as such are more pragmatic than emotion based. Indeed, anecdotally pet owners report that they chastise their pets less harshly when these displays of apparent guilt for transgressions are displayed. Is Fido, then, attempting to lessen the anticipated reprimand rather than actually feeling guilt? A group of canine cognition researchers from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, created an experiment to find out. Sixty-four dogs were selected and a normal greeting behaviour was established for each. Then the dogs were presented with an opportunity to misbehave when left alone in a room (stealing food from a table) and the greeting behaviour when their owners returned was recorded for both those that had misbehaved and those that had not. Keep in mind that they were all aware of the possibility that they may be in trouble. The two groups were equally likely to display guilt type behaviours whether they had transgressed or not. It seems like the guilt type behaviours are a means of mitigating an anticipated punishment and probably not an emotional response. Reference: Scientific American By Jason G. Goldman on May 31, 2012 https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/do-dogs-feel-guilty/ Business Insider: Dogs don't experience guilt. Ben Gilbert https://www.businessinsider.com/dogs-guilt-fear-look-2017-2 The Dodo: Think Your Dog Has A "Guilty" Look? Think Again. Julie Hecht https://www.thedodo.com/does-your-dog-really-have-a-gu-395330716.html Welcome to our new feature where each Sunday we will delve into the world of science as related to dogs. These posts will be our crude interpretation of recent scientific studies in the canine world. Today's topic: Early Exposure to pets effect on mental healthIt has been well know (to some) that some psychiatric disorders may be linked to environmental exposure to immune system disrupters in early life. Dr Robert Yolken of Johns Hopkins Children's Center conducted a study investigating the relationship between exposure to a household pet cat or dog during the first 12 years of life and a later diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The study found a statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of schizophrenia in those exposed to a dog early in life. Yolken found as much as 24% fewer schizophrenia diagnosis among those brought up with pet dogs before their 13th birthday. Yolken did not find any such relationship between exposure to dogs and bi-polar disorder. More significantly, he found no significant relationship between exposure to cats and either schizophrenia or bi-polar, however there was a slight increase in risk of developing either disorder for those who were first in contact with cats between the ages of 9 and 12. Multiple epidemiological studies conducted since 1953 have shown there also is a statistical connection between a person exposed to the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis and an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Toxoplasmosis, is a condition in which cats are the primary hosts of a parasite transmitted to humans. Some of our own thoughts on this are:
My interest since early childhood has been in breeding and training dogs. My young family, in the late 1980’s was more interested in camping and adventure sports so we spent most of our time on canoe trips and expeditions and I was limited to one family dog. Then I came up with an idea. If we just got a couple of Huskies, we could go winter camping too. The dogs could pull the gear and we would be able to snowshoe or ski along with them.
Well a couple of Huskies just wasn’t cutting it, and the dogsledding caught on with the family so we started accumulating sled dogs and joining sledding groups. We had to have more dogs to keep up with our new sledding buddies and the first part of my dream came true when I started breeding Siberians. A breeding kennel has to have a name and since Siberians and sledding exemplify the north and my husband was involved in land surveying at the time we settled on DueNorth as our kennel name and registered with the CKC in 1991 . Needless to say the canoe tripping was now a thing of the past with up to thirty sled dogs to care for year round. Eventually as they and we aged the sledding took a back seat and, since we had a kennel anyway and my husband, by this time, was excellent at picking up dog poop we started to take on boarders but kept the DueNorth kennel name. So the DueNorth name still brings back fond memories of long canoe trips in northern Ontario and multi day dog sledding expeditions with like minded friends and our beautiful Flat Coats never question why they are named DueNorth. Years ago, when we were a dog sledding kennel and breeding Siberian Huskies, my main interest was, and still is training obedience. Now it turns out that Siberians are not the first choice when it comes to obedience, being very independent minded; and that brings me to the subject of this post; does breeding for specific traits really work? Siberians needed absolutely no training when it came to pulling a sled, or anything else, but in competition obedience they make you work for every point. My girl Maddie absolutely refused to do the retrieve exercise and was not really keen on the scent articles either. Unfortunately pulling things was not a requirement for the obedience ring. Years later we left the sledding world behind and I got my first Flat Coated Retriever, and holy cow he just did the retrieve exercise right out of the box. You throw something he brought it back. Then you have your herding breeds. I’ve seen young children traumatized by the family Border Collie trying to keep them grouped together. A friend in the sledding world had Malamutes, but was of the opinion that any dog could do any job and took one of her dogs to a herding demonstration where the contestants were to do some work with a flock of ducks. After the demise of several members of the flock, she was asked to leave. These traits have been inbred into working breeds for many generations. If you are interested in pure bred dogs you really need to do your research to see what the breed was bred to do and not just pick by appearance. For instance: the Doberman Pinscher were originally bred as guard dogs, German Shepherds as herding dogs, Terrier breeds were bred to “go to ground” after burrowing rodents, not good if your into gardening. The Bulldog was bred for the now rightfully banned and grotesque sport of bull baiting where the winner of the match was the dog that survived and was able to bring down a bull, and of course those Northern breeds were meant for pulling, which brings us back to Maddie. It took me two years but eventually she got her CDX title and was the second highest scoring Siberian in the country, so it can be done, but it sure is easier with a Retriever. Most dog training is actually occurring in your home while you are simply hanging out with your dog whether you are aware of it or not.
Taking a group class is not as time consuming as it seems and can provide high quality training for a very reasonable fee. You do have to spend about 20 to 30 minutes a day doing some work at home but you should be spending that time with your dog anyway. If you feel that a group class is not something that you have time for you have a couple of different options. You can usually find a trainer that will provide you with a similar sort of conventional obedience class in a private format that will take a bit less time and be more focused on you and your dog. Look for a trainer that has dogs of their own to supply some socialization for your dog. Of course there still is that training at home that you must do. Another option is to move to a totally different method of training such as a remote collar. Dogs typically learn a great deal faster with this method because it creates total attention when you are working with the dog. Dogs become far more reliable with remote collars. Trainers that use remote collars will work with you to develop your skills and can have all the basic skills firmly entrenched in your dog in two weeks. With this method, you do all the training yourself under the guidance of the trainer. So although the two weeks is fairly intense in terms of training it is a safe, reliable form of training that is well set in a very short period of time. The final option is a board and train. With this method you drop your dog off at a kennel and the trainer does all the work for you and you go back in two weeks and pick up a trained dog. You will be paying for a professional to work with your dog daily (usually several times a day) and you will also be paying for the boarding. Also included in the price is the guarantee for further training should it ever become necessary. This will make this the more expensive choice. This method results in a very well trained dog that only requires maintenance to keep up the level of obedience. If you chose a kennel that does boarding to train your dog, your dog will usually receive a free brush up when they are boarded. Remote collar training has the added bonus of being able to correct a vast number of problem behaviours. It is vitally important to seek out professional help with remote collars so that the dog learns first how its actions can turn the collar off. Simply putting a collar on and pressing the button will create a confused and frightened dog and will make future training much more costly and difficult. It can happen in a split second when an older dog tries to attack a younger dog. This can have a very severe effect on a young dog especially when it didn’t see the attack coming and the pup was not doing anything wrong at all. Yes I have seen adult dogs do this and it is not okay….it is not okay at all. I had this happen to one of my own dogs many years ago and it took years for my dog to recover from it. All dogs go through critical fear periods that are very well documented in scholarly literature. The first one occurs between 8 and 11 weeks of age: It is really important not to frighten the puppy during this time, since any traumatic event during this time will have a profound long term effect. Now your pup has the brain wave an adult dog and this is the ideal time to go to his new home. He can now learn the basics of come and sit. Potty training can begin now Housebreaking begins. He now learns by association. He is ready now to start to bond with his human, accept some gentle discipline and develop confidence. Children or animal should not be allowed to hurt or scare the puppy -- either maliciously or inadvertently. It is very important now to introduce other humans, but he must be closely supervised to minimize adverse conditioning. Learning at this age is permanent. If puppies have “bad” or scary experiences during this time, the impressions are likely to last a lifetime and resurface during maturity. So, protect your puppy from these long-term effects by avoiding bad experiences. Should your puppy become afraid for any reason, dangerous or not, immediately step in and remove him/her from the situation. That is good parenting! Let your dogs meet safe, calm non reactive dogs during this period, so that your dog learns social behaviour from the best that you can find. The Second Fear impact period (6 - 14 Months): Also called, "The fear of situations period", usually corresponds to growths spurts. This critical age may depend on the size of the dog. The fear period at this stage lasts about one month and can vary depending on the size of the dog. During this time a reactive dog or any other scary event can affect the puppy for the rest of his life. Take great care not to frighten your dog during this period. Soothing tones may serve to validate his fear. His fear should be handled with patience and kindness, and training during this period should put the dog in a position of success, while allowing him to work things out while building self-confidence. Praise during training experiences goes a long way to overcoming fear. _
As many will know, we have been running Sport Scent Dog Discrimination classes at the Academy for some time now. In researching for presentation of this class I ran across a recent study published in a scientific journal presenting some insight to the extent that scent plays in the life of our canine family members. The study was designed to identify any differences in response to human vs canine scents. But what I found more interesting than the result, was the whole experimental design and training involved to carry it out. According to the study there is a well known area of the brain responsible for prediction of a reward. The study group used a functional MRI to examine the brain’s response to various scents. Now I have never personally been in an MRI machine, but from what I have seen on TV and heard anecdotally, they are loud, Closter phobic and scary. And that’s for humans! The dogs had to be trained to remain motionless with there head on a chin rest inside the machine for 30 minutes at a time while the scents were presented! Quoting directly from the report; “The program was based on acclimatization to the MRI scanner noise, tight scanner enclosure, scanner steps, and operating vibrations and the shaping and ultimate chaining of several requisite behaviors. To do this, we constructed two replica MRIs, each of which consisted of a tube of approximately the same dimensions as the inner bore of the actual Siemens MRI, a patient table, portable steps, and multiple simulated receiver coils that adhered closely to the dimensions of a human neck coil. We also constructed a proprietary chin rest that facilitated comfort and proper positioning for the animals and that adapted the apparatus for the uniqueness of the canine anatomy. Once the animals became confident and competent regarding all the preparatory steps – proven by completing a simulated MRI in the replica apparatus – we then performed live scans in the actual MRI.”…” They were all highly proficient remaining in the chin rest, wearing ear muffs, while hearing the scanner sounds.” And further on: “Training for the smell experiment consisted of biweekly instruction at our training facility and practice at home with the mock head coil and chin rest. Because the dogs were already proficient in the basic behavior of placing the head in the chin rest and remaining motionless, the added training was aimed at acclimating the dogs to the presentation of a cotton swab in front of the nose. Using 6-in. sterile cotton swabs, handlers moved the swab to within a centimeter of the dog's nose. In the initial stage of training, dogs were rewarded quickly for not moving either toward or away from the swab. This was achieved through either clicker or praise and followed by a food reward. Once dogs demonstrated proficiency at not reacting to the swab, we replaced the clicker and praise with the hand signal learned in the original experiment. The hand signal thus functioned as a “visual clicker indicating correct behavior and imminent reward (because clickers cannot be heard reliably in the scanner)” The scents presented were ; · Self · Familiar Human · Strange Human · Familiar Dog · Strange Dog In every case, each of the scents stimulated the olfactory area of the brain, but the area associated with positive expectations was stimulated maximally by the familiar human scent, negatively by the strange human and strange dog and not at all by the dog’s own scent. (I’m not clear how the negative responses were measured) What we can take away from this is the malleability of our dog’s behaviour even in situations most humans find uncomfortable, and what every dog owner already knew, the extent of olfactory experience in the dog’s life. It may be interesting in our next Scent Dog Detection Class to try the Familiar Human scent experiment. The complete study can be found at : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635714000473 |
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Other enterprises under the DueNorth Brand: DueNorth Pet Care for excellent dog Boarding, Duenorth Flatcoated Retrievers for beautiful flatcoats