Ora the Pit Bull

What can I say, Jasper is improving in all ways. With house full of dogs, traveling for work and the holidays I shamefully admit I have not been giving the dogs the attention I would like. Poor little Haley started favoring one of her back legs a couple days ago so she is spending a lot of time in her crate or when out she is out alone with us. She so loves to play with Jasper and Ora that I am afraid one little romp with the other dogs will slow her healing so for now we are trying to keep her calm to see if she just pulled something or if its more serious and we need to take her in.

Jasper on the other hand seems to know its Christmas time and like any kid is bouncing off the walls in anticipation. With the deep snow now and cold temps our outside disc play has come to an end but we still do a little work in the house. Ive primarily been working on his flips, which slowly but surely he seems to be getting more accustomed to. He certainly isnt a natural flipper so its going to take some time. In addition, he is working on some overs and vaults. My timing of throws could use a little work, but with the limited space in the house and the little guys explosiveness I dont always have time to set up for a back vault but we are making do. He is also getting more comfortable contacting my chest so we are making a little headway there as well.

A couple posts ago I introduced this Jasper, a high drive little love bug of a dog. He doesnt seem to have a mean bone in his body and like many high drive dogs he has a huge zest for life and all the fun things in it, which invariably means anything that moves!

Since he has only been with us a couple weeks we are just easing into everything, no heavy demands, just quality play time together but thats not to say we havent been working at all. We have spent a little time on eye contact, targeting, tug of course and all its related behaviors and just the other day have moved over to play a little disc. Here is a little peek…..

I had the opportunity over the last couple days to spend some time chatting with Ron Watson @ pawsitivevybe about various things such as contextual VS conceptual learning/teaching, tug, confidence, shy dogs and a few other topics to boot. I want to publicly thank Ron for the time he takes to talk with fellow dog lovers and more importantly his desire to always advance his own understanding of the human and canine bond and tenaciously endeavor to improve that bond for the benefit of us all.

During our conversation Ron made the comment “Marking and reinforcing small decisions gives them confidence.” and of course he is absolutely right. How many people hear things about handling a dog and just apply it without another thought and how many people have actually pondered what they have read or heard? If there is one thing that I have become increasingly aware of is that people generally dont spend a lot of time (or any time in many cases) pondering things they are told or read. They simply take direction as written or heard and apply it to their situation never giving it a second thought unless for some reason it doesnt provide the desired result. As Ron would likely put it, this is contextual learning, and there is nothing wrong with it but it certainly has its limitations.

For me though, having an answer simply is not enough. If something intrigues me I want to know more than just a step by step instruction on how to accomplish something. I want to know WHY it works not just how to accomplish a task.

With the above in mind I wanted to spend some time looking at confidence, what it means to me and why I think its important. Lets start by looking at the definition of confidence. Websters states the following……

belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance: His lack of confidence defeated him.

Websters own definition eludes to the fact that a lack of confidence can be problematic and I think we can all recall a time when we have seen a person or dog who definitely did not have confidence and that lack of confidence had a direct impact on how the individual was perceived. Not only does a lack of confidence affect ones perception to others but it can cause very real and physical side effects to the individual that is lacking confidence.

For years we have all heard that training a dog builds confidence and I wont disagree with that general principle but I do not feel all training is equal in its ability to build confidence and I think this is exactly what Ron was getting at when he said “Marking and reinforcing small decisions gives them confidence.”. The key word in that phrase is decisions. Let me elaborate…….

Everyone knows that we have rules in society, these rules allow us to live relatively happy and safe lives. On a much smaller scale, as a dog owner we also set rules for our home and what is expected of our dogs. By and large the average dog has very little input regarding the rules, but once learned are generally content to live by them….not that they actually have a choice.

Book after book, web site after web site we are inundated with phrases like “your dog must know your in charge”, “Dont do this or that unless your dog knows your the boss”, “If your dog knows a command and refuses to perform it a physical correction is required”. Im not going to dwell on the specifics of these but simply bring them up to highlight that when it comes to training and life with a dog in general people rarely seem to offer their dogs the freedom to choose without the shadow of negative consequence, the freedom to think and make choices. Please note I am not saying we should allow our dogs to run rampant and do as they wish, when they wish. What I am saying is that there is a lot of power and benefit in allowing your dog the freedom to make its own choices when safe and appropriate.

Lets look at a couple scenarios in human terms, put yourself in these examples and think about them, how they make you feel and what effect they would have on your confidence.

Example 1.
Your boss walks in your office and says she would like you to put together a presentation and she hands you a CD with a bunch of quotes, images and data she would like you to use to create the presentation. You sit down, wade through all the data and arrange it in a pleasing format for the presentation later that day. The presentation goes off without a hitch and your boss tells you “job well done”.

Example 2.
Its Monday morning and your department has its weekly status meeting. On the agenda you see a big client is coming in for a presentation your boss will give at the end of the week. You stay at work late that night and put together a presentation and send it off to your Boss. The next morning your Boss comes into your office and gives you a gift card to Starbucks, thanks you for your dedication and going above and beyond and taking the time to create a presentation for him.

How do these two scenarios differ? In both you created a presentation and for both you received praise and were acknowledged for a job well done but at the heart these are very different. In scenario 1 you had choices, create the presentation or dont create the presentation but there were expectations there as well and along with those expectations there were consequences. What would happen if you refused to do the presentation? Would you be written up and reprimanded? Perhaps fired? At the end of the day you technically did have choices but you also have other responsibilities which rely on income from your job. You dont want to lose your house and car and you have this nasty habit of eating which of course costs money so invariably you comply with what was asked.

Even though you may not have a problem with doing the presentation when asked in scenario one, the undertones of expectation and consequences exist to influence your decision making process and ultimately will also have an impact on how you perceive praise. The praise is always nice of course but after all its still your job, your just doing it as requested and as expected, what was the alternative?

In scenario 2 however you were not asked to create the presentation. It was not expected and therefor the consequences of your decision to do it where totally different. Worse case scenario your boss just wouldnt use your presentation but the chances of being reprimanded or worse yet, fired, were slim to none. On the flip side the potential benefits were palpable. It was an opportunity to show your boss your dedication and perhaps some other skills he didnt know you had. And when the praise came for successfully making the decision to take a chance it meant so much more than just praise for doing your day to day duties.

So how does this apply to dogs or more specifically a dogs confidence? I think most people play the roll of Boss in example 1, they request and expect results. They dish out consequences when results are not realized and on the flip side freely dole out praise when a dog behaves as requested.

At this point you are probably saying whats wrong with that? And to that I reply its not about right or wrong, what works and what doesnt work, its about degrees of success, shades of grey if you will. Its about taking advantage of all the tools in our tool box when and where they apply. Our dogs are always acting as the employee of example 2 but I fear that most people simply miss it or if they do see it often dont take advantage of it and use that opportunity to build your dogs confidence and encourage it to think on its own.

Of course we want to be conscious and careful about how we reward the decisions a dog freely makes so we dont encourage unwanted behavior but thats a conversation for another time.

Its a sad day when you have a dog this age that is so tentative to play with a human but thats what you get when you take in a bust dog. A dog that has been robbed of its childhood and the joys of life most dogs get to experience. When it comes to bust dogs we often think of the physical conditions, the bites and wounds associated with fighting but the mental abuse can be every bit as traumatic. Dogs by their very nature are generally social animals but those confiscated are often deprived of canine as well as human contact or at least any loving contact.

I took some time today to get some video of Haley during a little play session. My goal was to to help her build a little confidence and help her become a bit more trusting of people.

Life in rescue is a turbulent one. The constant influx of dogs, managing volunteers, fosters, vet appts, adoption days, fundraising events, education events etc places many demands, both physically and emotionally, on those who try and coordinate the various rescue activities.

As if the managerial demands where not enough, the powers that be in a given rescue constantly have to try and strike a balance between the rescues available resources, the programs dogs, the well being of its program dogs, its volunteers and even those who would adopt a program dog but also the breed of dog they represent as a whole.

It really is a daunting task to say the least and the only way those on the outside looking in would ever truly understand the pressures imposed would be to live it. In almost every rescue that I can think of there comes a time when tough decisions need to be made.

What exactly is a tough decision you say? Tough decisions come in many forms but one example would be seeing a wonderful dog that needs a home. It stares at you silently pleading for help with its eyes but you must walk on by because you don’t have the resources (ie foster homes etc) to save the dogs life.

Another tough decision is one where a dog that’s been adopted out needs to be reclaimed for temperament or other issues. A much more common tough decision is when you have multiple qualified applicants to adopt a dog and a forever home needs to be decided upon. The toughest of all however is when a decision needs to be made about euthanizing a program dog.

The circumstances behind the decision can vary greatly from situation to situation. It may be ill and the rescue may not have the funds to address the illness. In some cases a dog just may not be behaviorally sound and the rescue does not have the monetary or professional resources to properly deal with an animal and even if they did there is no guarantee it could be managed or improved. In the rare situations something like this happens it becomes a very emotional affair.

When euthanasia occurs often times fosters are involved, possibly aggression and human or other animal damage. The sad truth is that regardless of the circumstances someone always gets hurt, be it physically or emotionally. Everyone involved in rescue is in it for the love of the dogs but not everyone is burdened with having to make the hard decisions that need to be made. The people behind these decisions have the unenviable task of having to choose between multiple no win situations. They not only have the responsibility of the dogs they take in but to the adopters they place dogs with and above all else, the breed and dog owners as a whole.

Making these decisions does not come lightly. They are often not only fettered with immense amounts personal guilt and sadness but concerns about what volunteers will think. Just how much guilt and sadness can also be heavily influenced by the rescues volunteer body and how they react to the news.

With the above in mind this blog post is a big virtual hug to those in rescue that are burdened with making these tough decisions. It is also a plea to those in rescue who do not have the unenviable task of making these tough decisions to be supportive of those who do. Your support, understanding and sympathy during trying times can mean all the difference in the world.

Next time you see one of your rescues directors or decision makers shake their hand, pat them on the back or give them a big hug and simply thank them for what they do. Sometimes the rescuers need a little rescuing too.

Last night we had to say goodbye to our most recent foster. He had been with us for almost 7 months so it was no trivial task. He wasn’t a perfect dog by any means, but damn close to it. He was our little Mr. Jekyl and Hyde. Around the house he was happy, fun loving and just a goof ball. Out in public however he had no leash manners and quickly went over threshold and was unreachable when he saw another dog while out in public.

This of course made our Pet store adoptions days quite the test of ones patience. He gets along with other dogs, at least the dozen or so he has met, wonderfully but when on a leash and he cant go say hello his anxiety builds to a blinding level.

Every adoption day we attended he improved, slowly and steadily and I have no doubt that in time he would relax and become a real crowd stopper. He was a pocket pit for sure, a solid 47lbs that could jump straight up in the air and French kiss you before you knew what hit ya. He adored people of all shapes and sizes and showered everyone with kisses. He was one of the few dogs I’ve met who will go almost limp in your arms when picked up and when hugged rarely showed any signs of discomfort.

Knowing we saved the life of that little dog brings with it a great deal of comfort yet at the same time waves of sadness crash down in the void left by his absence. In time the sadness will dissipate and it will be replaced by the joy of helping yet another dog but as the cycle of rescue continues we will be faced once again with the pain of sending yet another dog on its way to its forever home.

Sometimes I have to ask myself why we put ourselves through it, but that’s a topic for a future post.