Woo hoo! Fish on! Reel 'er in!

• Ideally, a small dog, or any dog for that matter should be walked on a short leash; next to your left side; abeam or slightly behind you in a classic heel position.
• Ideally, when your dog is in the classic heel position, the leash should be slack and incidental to the walk.
• Ideally, the leash should act as a safety line, only called into use when your small dog is distracted for a moment and strays from your side.

O.K. you can stop laughing now.

There are dogs out there that are paragons of discipline. There are dog owners out there that practice proper heeling techniques at all times. I know a few. I know far more people who let their dogs run willy-nilly at the end of a leash. For them, the leash is a tug-of-war device. Then there are those who use a retractable leash like a fishing line. The dog makes a run for it, then the owner reels the dog in.

People are going to do what people are going to do. If you do walk your dog on a retractable leash, here a few pointers to keep in mind:

1. Never let your dog run out in front in you further than you would let him run to your side. This is a big deal when you are walking on a sidewalk next to a busy street, or on a bike/walk path with plenty of traffic. If the street curb, or opposite lane is four feet to your left, for example, you should not let your dog run more than 4 feet in front of you. If your dog suddenly takes an interest in a squirrel across the street, in less than a second, he could change his direction of travel from straight ahead to straight to the side. Given too much running room, he could dart into traffic before you could reel him in.

2. You and your dog share the sidewalk with others. All sidewalks are public domains. You and I have no greater right to a patch of sidewalk than the next person, even if we are walking five dogs. If your dog is out on in front of you on an extended leash, please reel him in so he does not interfere with other people.

3. Dogs on extended leashes are more likely to get in trouble with other, unfamiliar dogs. A dog out in front of you is in an awkward position. He is leading the way and essentially has control of the walk. At the same time, he does not have the same freedom of movement he would have if he were off-leash. He is in a middle ground where he is in control, but not entirely in control. If he tends to be aggressive around other dogs, especially when he is on-leash, this tendency will be magnified by the awkwardness of being at the end of a long line.

There are some pretty good arguments for walking a dog on a retractable leash. The dog on a long leash gets to stop and smell the roses and the telephone poles. He gets an opportunity to engage in dog behavior while still being restrained. Free rein is free rein. On the other hand, when you and your dog are out on a walk, the two of your are not operating in a vacuum. You share the path with others. Here comes the pun: Please exercise restraint.

“People tend to forget that play is serious.”
David Hockney, British painter

“The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression.”
Brian Sutton-Smith, American folklorist

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.”
Stuart Brown, M.D. psychiatrist

photo courtesy of Airbeagle @ Flickr.com

Puppies awaken the child in us. Watch a person play with a puppy and what do you see? You see a person acting silly. I mean that in only the very best and affectionate terms. The person will speak to the puppy in a high-pitched tone, often repeating nonsense words. There is usually some hand clapping; goo-goo eyes; a lot of smiling; and an impromptu game of chase or follow the leader or rolling around on the floor together. Silly stuff. It does wonders for the person’s spirit and the puppy benefits too.

Fast forward a few years and take a look at the relationship between the former puppy and the person. The mood has changed. Dog ownership is serious.

“Bobby, sit. I said sit!!”

“Bobby, come! COME!!”

“No Bobby! Stop that! Get off me. I’m busy.”

What happened to the joy of puppyhood? Where is the fun of dog ownership? It is down the toilet. Don’t get me wrong. It is very important for your dog to respond to you correctly. It is important for a dog to know boundaries and limitations. I am afraid we have taken the notion of dog obedience so seriously, that our lives and the lives of our pets have been thrown out of balance. In the name of dog obedience, we have either forgotten about or discounted the importance of letting our guard down so our dogs can have a little fun. Or, we are so busy with our day-to-day work routine, that no time is set aside to have some fun with the dog. Or, the “down time” we do spend with our dog is so structured, it is devoid of spirit:

PDA Schedule Entries for Monday:

5:30 Arrive home from work

5:35 Check mail

5:45 Walk dog to end of block and back.

6:00 Prepare dinner

There are a host of studies that show how play is vital to the social development of all thinking creatures. Play-deprived animals grow up into socially stunted, emotionally withdrawn beings. Later in life, lack of play can lead to a variety of psychological and even physical problems. Since this is an article about having fun, I won’t bog it down with quotations from these studies. If you would like to check the literature, you can go here, here and here for starters.

We really don’t need formal studies to tell us play is important to a dog. Look at a dog that never gets an opportunity to let loose and play. The word that comes to mind is “dour.” We occasionally see a dog at Kelsey’s Dog House that probably has not done much more than get in an occasional walk with its owner. The dog seems lifeless and devoid of personality. If we try to play with it, it looks at us like we are crazy. If other dogs approach, it retreats.

On the flip side, adult dogs that frequently play with their owners or dog friends seem to thrive. They are more alert, happier, generally healthier and more energized than their play-deprived cousins. Here is an added benefit of play that is hard to quantify, but you will notice right away. If you precede and follow your formal training sessions with play, your dog will respond to your obedience commands with more enthusiasm than a dog that never plays with its owner. Whenever I plan to train a dog, I begin with some sort of informal game to energize the dog and get him to focus on me. After training is over, I finish with play because it is an added and much appreciated reward for a job well done. In fact, if I do my training work correctly, the line between informal play and formal training should be rather blurred. I want my dog to feel training is just another form of play—something to look forward to rather than dreaded.

Get silly!
(photo courtesy of wanderingone@Flickr.com

I know there are people who thrive on structure. Any form of play, even structured play, is good for a dog. There are many ways to engage in structured play with your dog. I’m talking about formal activities, such as flyball, agility competition, and even freestyle dancing, (which is not really all that freestyle when you consider that it requires forethought, a suitable location, and some equipment.) I love doing certain structured activities with my dogs; but we don’t do them very often because they take time and effort to put into motion. For a long list of structured activities with your dog, you can go to this website as a resource. Even better, take a look at The Little Dogs’ Activity Book: Fun and Frolic for a Fit Four-legged Friend. This is fun read and a get-started-immediately type book. I have written a review of it here.

Having fun with your dog can be extremely informal. If you have ever played with a puppy, you already know how to play with a dog: Make silly sounds. Run and jump around the house or yard. Get down on the floor and tickle your dog. Let loose for goodness sake. Your dog will be happier, healthier and more spirited. So will you!

Up next, a series on intentionally crossbred dogs, including Puggles, Goldendoodles, Labradoodles, Peek-a-poos and other poos.

Let's play!

(Photo courtesy of playerx @ Flickr)

What I am about to write may be rejected out of hand by some dog owners. I hope not, for the sake of their dogs. Emily Dickenson wrote a poem that begins “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant. Success in circuit lies.” I’m not very good at skipping around an issue or zigzagging my way to the truth, so here it comes, served straight up and ice cold. You, or someone you know, may be unintentionally teaching your dog to bite. If you rough-house with your dog and allow him/her to mock bite you repeatedly, don’t be surprise if one day that dog tries to take a chunk out of you or someone else.

“But it’s all in good fun.”

“We are just playing.”

“He knows the difference.”

“He seems to enjoy it.”

“My dog wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

I’ll get back to these statements in a couple of minutes. Right now, let’s approach this issue with a look at dog aggression. Veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Bruce Fogle says in The Dog’s Mind there are eight different reasons why a dog might behave aggressively. Some of the reasons are obvious, such as predatory aggression and pain-induced aggression. There are two items on his list that provoke controversy. The first is idiosyncratic aggression. Idiosyncratic aggression suggests some dogs have a hidden pre-disposition for violence driven by their genes. By this he means although a dog may appear to be calm and easygoing most of the time, a dog with the wrong combination of genes has the potential to snap, literally and figuratively. (I’ll cover this more thoroughly in a future article.)

Dr. Fogle also talks about learned aggression, something we are all familiar with. For centuries, people have trained dogs to be guards, cooperative hunters, and blood-sport fighters. Training does not teach a dog how to be a predator. That comes naturally. Training attempts to direct when and where a dog uses predatory aggression. It usually involves 1) Stimulating a dog so its energy level peaks; and 2) Training a dog to direct that energy towards a target—human or animal. (Hold on to these two bullet points. We will be back to them in just a moment.) What happens next depends on the desired outcome. A person may train a dog to use its energy to simply grab and hold its target. A dog may also be trained to inflict injury or kill its target. Police dogs in particular are trained to grab and hold in a manner that more closely resembles fetching than attacking. With the exception of dog fighting, aggression training always includes a way to call the dog off its target reliably. I realize what I have described here is very rudimentary. I have done this purposely. The details of guard-dog and other predatory training are best left to professionals who can do it safely and reliably. As for dogfight training . . . let’s not even go there.

If we can all agree that what I have just described is learned aggression, intentionally taught to dogs by people, then we can move on to how people accidentally teach a dog to be aggressive. When a person roughhouses with a dog, what is that person doing? He or she is stimulating that dog to a higher level of energy. That covers bullet item 1 as I described in the previous paragraph. What about item 2? How a person roughhouses with a dog makes all the difference. If the dog is allowed to use its teeth to mouth or even slightly nip the person doing the roughhousing, that person is doing exactly what a trainer would do to begin to teach a dog to attack a target. Even if the person is not trying to provoke the dog to nip or mouth, a dog will likely nip and mouth the person simply because it has a limited number of tools for making physical contact and teeth are one of those tools.

Many dogs have a hard time regulating their own behavior, especially behavior that is occurring at a fever pitch. This is why professional trainers spend so much time teaching a dog to turn off its aggression behavior on command. Without human control, a dog on the attack may fight to exhaustion or death. This is the tendency that makes organized dog fighting possible and so tragic.

In its frenzied state, a dog may shoot past the bounds of normal behavior and really chomp down on its human opponent. Dogs that have a genetically programmed tendency towards aggression are especially prone to sudden and spontaneous biting. When that first bite happens, the dog will have crossed over a line from which it may never return. There are ways to re-train something called bite inhibition, but once that line is crossed, re-training may be impossible. (For more on training a dog to bite inhibit, see this article.)

This is what it comes down to. Noted animal behaviorist Temple Grandin is on record as saying a dog that never bites a person is simply a dog that does not know it can bite a person. Once that dog crosses the line and bites someone, it now knows it can bite. The records of animal control units around the country back this up. A dog that has bit someone in the past is likely to bite again.

A game of roughhouse may all be in good fun. It may just be playing. The dog may enjoy it. Under normal circumstances, the dog would not hurt a fly. I have no quarrel with any of those statements. The argument that fails the sniff test is this: “the dog knows the difference” between play biting and aggressive biting. A dog bite is a dog bite. If a dog breaks a person’s skin with its teeth, it’s a bite, and play drops out of the equation. A dog that bites once can never be trusted again. It is not worth ruining a dog for life simply for a few moments of roughhouse play.

Closing thoughts: It is just my opinion, but I believe roughhousing fills a human need more than a dog need. There are so many better and safer ways to play with a dog with enthusiasm and high energy. There is a huge difference between a roughhouse game in which a dog makes contact with a human using its teeth and, say, a game of tug-of-war in which a dog uses its teeth to hang on to a rag or toy. As long as the dog uses its teeth to hold an inanimate object, animal behaviorists agree there is nothing wrong with a rowdy game of tug-of-war. A game of chase, or hide-and-seek, flying disc, or kickball/soccer with your dog are also great, high-energy alternatives that require little or no equipment or preparation.

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Coming up next: Why playing with your dog is vital for the dog.

You can still love a small dog without owning one. (Photo courtesy of solar ikon at Flickr.com)

We usually walk our small dogs, Royce and Kelsey, two times per day. The first walk is a long, fast-paced walk for exercise. The second walk, usually after dark, is shorter and at a more relaxed pace. Just before we depart for the second walk, we say to our dogs “Let’s go see ‘Mr. Cookie.’” Mr. Cookie is a friendly and warm-hearted retiree who hangs out in the evening in front of his house. If it is dark, you can sometimes spot the glow of his pipe before you see him standing on his driveway. He keeps a large box of dog treats in his garage. As the nightly parade of dogs passes, he dispenses cookies, belly rubs, and good humor. Although Mr. Cookie loves all the neighborhood dogs, he and his wife currently have no dog of their own, which leads me to the point of this story.

If now is not the right time for you to own a small dog, but you still want to have contact with dogs, there are plenty of ways to do just that. As a side benefit, the options I am about to offer here can also be treated as a test-drive of dog ownership if you are considering a dog for the future. Here are some ideas:

Volunteer at an Animal Shelter or Pet Rescue

Here is an opportunity to work with hundreds of different kinds of dogs without having to keep one at home. The upside is you will have contact with dogs in need. The downside is you will have contact with dogs in need. Working at an animal shelter or rescue operation is similar to working at a hospital. You will be able to help many animals and people. You will also have to deal with the heartbreak of dealing with some lost causes and sad endings. It can be very rewarding, but it is not work for people who are extremely sentimental.

Work at a Dog Care Business

At Kelsey’s Dog House, we have one employee who owned a dog that died at a young age. This employee cannot bring himself to own another dog right now because he still feels the pain of losing his first. Instead, he works at our place to enjoy the company of dogs without getting too attached to any single dog. It works for him and it works well for us.

Pet Sit

Everyone who owns a dogs has need of a pet sitter every now and then. It is one of those win-win situations in which you get to enjoy and care for a dog for a period of time without a long-term commitment. It’s sort of being a grandparent because you get to have fun with the dog, and then the dog goes home. The dog benefits, you benefit, and the dog’s owner benefits as well, knowing their dog is in good hands.

Visit a Pet Park or Pet-Friendly Business

Some folks enjoy people watching. There is a variation on this called dog watching. If you have ever visited an off-leash dog park, you know what I am talking about. Bring along some treats or a bowl of water and you instantly have an appreciative audience. It works for Mr. Cookie, and it will work for you too.

Foster a Dog

Many rescue organizations have a need for short-term dog placement while they work on getting their dogs adopted. Being a foster owner is usually a big responsibility, even though it is short-term. Dogs in foster care range from low-maintenance to extremely needy. When you take a dog into foster care, you may be called upon to socialize a traumatized dog; or tend to a wide range of canine medical conditions. A foster dog may need extensive obedience training, or simply a warm and comfortable place to sleep and eat. Many people who foster dogs enjoy it so much that the temp job becomes a lifetime occupation. Others end up adopting the dogs they foster. We have one employee at Kelsey’s Dog House right now that is about to return her fostered dog to its rescue service. The dog has lately been showing signs of aggression and is turning out to be more than she can handle. This is one job where it really pays to know what you are getting into before you start.

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Perhaps now is not the right time to own a dog. You may travel quite a bit. Or, the apartment complex in which you live does not allow dogs. Or, perhaps your budget would be strained by having to feed and care for a dog. Or, your personal relationship with another person needs your full attention. Or, you simply love dogs but enjoy coming and going as you please without worrying about the needs of a dog. Whatever your personal reason, there are alternatives to ownership. Our neighbor, Mr. Cookie, has it figured out. So can you.

Illustration A. One problem with the Shell Game: the cup won't tip over.

Here is a quick note today for those of you who have purchased the book The Little Dogs’ Activity Book: Fun and Frolic for a Fit Four-legged Friend. On pages 22-23, the author, Deborah Wood, describes an activity called the “Shell Game.” In this game, as your small dog watches, you hide a tasty and aromatic treat under one of three cups. Then you shuffle the cups in front of the dog so it is no longer obvious which cup the treat is under. Sound familiar? Your dog should then be encouraged to try and find the treat by sniffing each cup and, hopefully tip over the cup that is hiding the treat. Both of my dogs enjoy this game. Kelsey gets so excited when we play the game that she shakes. Here are two problems I discovered with this game along with two solutions.

First, it will take a while before your dog understands that the treat is under the cup after you cover it up. The book recommends you make a big show out of covering over the treat so your dog understands the treat is being hidden. My experience with both of my dogs is this. The first several times I covered the treat with the cup, they thought the treat had disappeared. Out of sight equals gone. I overcame this problem by letting a corner of the treat stick out from under the cup for the first several attempts. Once they went for the cup repeatedly with the treat sticking out, I was able to cover the treat completely with the cup and they still went for it.

Illustration B. Hiding a treat under a cardboard tube works better because your small dog can tip the tube over.

Second, getting the dog to tip the cup over to get at the treat does not work with cups. Most cups are wide at the lip and tapered toward the base. When you cover a treat with an upside-down cup, the tapered design makes the cup wide at floor level and narrow at the top. This makes the cup very stable on the floor, (i.e. hard to tip over.) A dog will typically try to nudge the cup very close to the floor because this is where the aroma of the treat is escaping. All that happens is the dog scoots the cup along the floor without tipping it over. (See illustration “A.”) My solution is to use a small cardboard tube to cover the treat. A bare toilet paper tube or a cut section of a bare paper towel tube works well. The cardboard tube, with its straight sides is very unstable and easy to tip over. (See illustration “B.”) The author implies you can simply reveal the treat to the dog when he sniffs the correct cup by uncovering the treat yourself. Most dogs will try to sniff all three cups, so lifting the cup for your small dog is not as effective. I think arranging things so your dog finds the treat himself by tipping the cardboard tube over is a better solution.

You may find a full review of The Little Dogs’ Activity Book: Fun and Frolic for a Fit Four-legged Friend. by clicking here. Have fun!

Here is the talker on the back cover:

“Are you living with a desperate housedog? It’s time to exercise his mind and body! If you have a lap-sized dog, the chances are he’s spending too much time on your lap. He probably doesn’t use his brain as much as he’d like to, either. In short, your portable-sized pooch is bored, bored, bored. That’s where the Little Dog’s Activity Book can help. Filled with dozens of games, tricks and fun things to do, this guide is sure to keep you and your pooch entertained.

There are ideas and activities for every dog, from high-energy to senior, and every human. You’ll find step-by-step instructions for tricks, ideas for mind-challenging games, details on how to throw parties and travel, plus tips for participating in organized sports. And even if you and your dog aren’t athletes, you can still keep him busy without leaving your living room chair!”

“Deborah Wood is the award-winning pet columnist for The Oregonian newspaper and the author of several pet books, including Little Dogs: Training Your Pint-Sized Companion and The Little Dogs’ Beauty Book.”

The book begins with simple, enjoyable activities for you and your small dog, including “nose games” that encourage your dog to find treats and objects by scent. Example: The Shell Game—a variation on the cup and ball street scam in which your dog finds a treat hidden under one of three cups by using his scenting ability. From there, Ms. Wood goes on to explain how you can arrange a “Disneyland” in your home for your dog that will keep him/her occupied and entertained. Example: Living Room Agility in which you use household objects to create an obstacle course for your dog. Next comes how to teach tricks using positive reinforcement; how to create dog parties; playing in organized events; enjoying human and dog sports together; traveling in comfort; training a therapy dog; and how to enjoy activities into your dog’s old age. This is a beautifully and colorfully illustrated book that will excite you with new possibilities. From the first page, you will find ideas you can try immediately with your small dog. It is an absolute must-read for anyone with a small dog. Now, excuse me while I go play the Shell Game, (page 22,) with my Min Pin, Royce. Then I’ll send the thank you letter to the author.

Note: I have included a link to the book at Amazon.com. When you buy this book using the link, I receive a small commission that helps pay for the operation of this website. Even if you do not use my link, get this book. It will change you and your small dog’s life together!

Here is how my vision turned out. My mental picture of a Labrador has been replaced with the reality of a Schnauzer-Poodle mix (Schnoodle,) and a Miniature Pinscher (Min Pin.) The craggy ridgelines of the Rockies are actually the slopes and hills of North Georgia. My beasts are anything but rugged or sure-footed. The Min Pin has a penchant for getting stung by bees and the Schnoodle loves to roll in horse manure on the trail. Neither one looks at me, and neither implies “Job well done!” Typically the Min Pin wraps his retractable leash around the nearest bush while the Schnoodle takes off after a teasing squirrel. And yet, it’s all great fun; and a small time adventure every time we go hiking together.

When we think of taking a hike with a dog, we typically think of traveling with a large “outdoorsy” dog—a retriever or a gun dog.

Belle, the 2-pound gun dog.

It’s true some small dogs with short or spindly legs will have a harder time coping with rutted and steep trails than their larger cousins. Low energy dogs that prefer a nice warm lap to a romp in the park are probably not going to do well on the icy slopes of Mt. Ranier. Even so, with a little research, you can probably find a trail somewhere in your area that matches both you and your small dog’s physical capabilities. I will have more on how to find the perfect trail at the end of this article.

Once you have found the ideal trail, it is time to prepare for the hike. The general rule of preparation is: whatever you would do for yourself to prepare, do for your dog as well. Water? Pack enough for da both a yuz, (as they say in the Bronx.) Food? If you think you will need food for energy on the trail, then your small dog will too. Mosquito protection? Here it gets a bit tricky. The ingredients in most mosquito repellents used by humans will make a dog sick. There are some citronella-based repellents that are safe for dogs, but they are also not very effective. Some flea and tick formulas for dogs also have an anti-mosquito ingredient. Check with your veterinarian. Shelter? If you are going to camp out overnight, your small dog will probably do okay sharing your tent with you. Sun protection? Again, it gets a bit tricky because you cannot smear sunscreen all over your dog. Realize your small dog has his own protective cover in the form of a fur coat, as long as your dog is not a hairless variety, or has recently been shaved short. In all cases, as you hike, you will want to give your dog plenty of opportunities to get out of the sun to cool down and rest. Common sense should prevail. If you choose to hike in cold weather, realize that small dogs, with their lighter body mass, tend to chill easier than large, heavy-set dogs. A dog coat and careful monitoring of your dog’s physical condition should ward off the cold.

Speaking of physical condition, make sure your dog is physically ready for the challenge of the hike you are about to take. It makes no sense, and could be dangerous, to take a couch potato on a long march without some pre-conditioning. Your best bet is to start with easy hikes of no more than 45 minutes on level terrain in cool weather. Then build up to more difficult walks as your dog’s stamina improves. Come to think of it, the same regimen applies to you.

Let’s conclude this discussion with a word about control. When you are out on the trail, it would be an understatement to say your dog’s senses will be actively engaged. He or she is going to be extremely excited. All it takes is a squirrel dashing across the trail to instantly send your dog into overdrive. All dogs have an instinctive need to chase fleeing animals. Even a leaf blowing away from your dog or a small rock sent tumbling down a hill may trigger the chase instinct. Before you know it, your dog will be off towards the next county in pursuit of a rabbit. The solution? Keep your dog on a leash.

Kelsey on the trail. She has perfect recall, so we let her go off-leash.